The Second Time Around Ch. 09

Confusion. It was clouding Brigitte's mind, impeding her ability to analyze and process everything that she had just witnessed over the past four hours. Saying that she was confused was an understatement. It was more like she was flabbergasted, muddled, disordered, dumbfounded, damn near mixed up on the inside. She didn't know what to think. How was she supposed to respond?

She was dragging on a cigarette, a horrible habit she had denounced at the age of nineteen, but so great was her shock that she needed something to take the edge off. Even as she inhaled the smoke, allowing the thick fog to seep out of her nostrils, Brigitte was regretting her decision for a quick smoke break. Her lungs felt heavy and she couldn't help but coughing them out on her lap.

"Brigitte."

She felt Adriano's hand on her wrist stopping her from putting the cigarette back to her lips while still choking. They hadn't spoken since his reawakening. In fact, both he and Gina had willingly given her space as if they knew that she needed the time alone before further blowing her mind with the truth.

"That's enough."

Her glassy brown eyes landed on his magnificent face and Brigitte shuddered. What she hadn't understood the most, or rather, what had left her the most boggled and speechless during that entire...strange situation was that somehow she had seen Caid. Or at least she had thought that she had seen him when Adriano's nearly lifeless body was hanging on the balance. It was as if she had been looking down at a merged form of the both of them. It had left her befuddled and feeling as if she was on the verge of going insane.

"Don't tell me what is enough for me," she managed to say with a steady voice after wiping the tears from her eyes caused by the intense burning of her pulmonary organs.

She watched Adriano grab the lit cigarette and out it in the palm of his hand.

"Are you crazy?! Why would you do that?" she demanded grabbing his hand and pulling him inside of the house to run it under cool water.

"Brigitte."

"What if you seriously hurt yourself?"

"Brigitte," Adriano repeated. He knew exactly what she was up to. She was trying to avoid the subject. She often had the tendency to do that in the past when she was completely overwhelmed.

"I need to wrap your hand in some gauze."

"BRIGITTE!"

She jumped startled by his outburst as she dropped his hand and walked away. She got as far as the kitchen before he cornered her, grabbing her arm to spin her about in his direction.

"Non andare via da me!" Adriano told her unaware that he had spoken in Italian.

"What?" Brigitte responded confused.

"Why don't the both of you calm down and have a seat. Getting angry with each other or pretending that everything that just happened was an illusion won't resolve this issue," Gina told them.

Adriano closed his eyes to compose himself then took a deep breathe. "Don't walk away from me," he repeated more calmly. "Let's do as Gina suggested. Have a seat so that we can all talk."

Brigitte ran shaky fingers through her hair, sitting down warily at the kitchen table while the two siblings carefully watched her every move.

"What's going on?" she asked finally mustering up the courage to speak.

"It's a long story."

"Then try me, Gina, because what happened is something more out of a science fiction flick than real life."

"Brigitte," Gina tried to calm her.

"You don't make an orb of energy magically appear out of thin air! You're not supposed to be hovering above your own body while manipulating the molecular atmosphere as if watching a movie! It's humanly impossible to see a body turn completely black!" Brigitte listed jumping to her feet in panic. "And you're not supposed to see your dead lover lying in front of you after you spent years learning to accept that he's gone," she told them more defeated as she burst into tears.

"What's wrong with me? What's happening? Am I some sort of freak?"

"No," Gina told her reaching for her hand to softly caress it. "You're not some sort of freak and everything you're talking about is real."

"It can't be real," Brigitte refuted.

"It is."

She glared in her lover's direction, crossing her arms above her waist then shook her head. "If that's the case then that means that you're really Caid instead of Adriano," she said on an ironic laugh. She expected the both of them to laugh with her instead of giving her a serious regard that informed her that she was one hundred percent correct.

"I'm not feeling too well. I think I'm going to lie down for a while."

"Brigitte, don't run away from the truth," Caid said standing to his feet.

"The truth? What truth? The only thing I believe right now is that the both of you need a visit to the loony bin, without me. Now, I'm going to try to take a three day nap and when I awaken, this shenanigan better be over with." She dropped her arms, wheeling about on her heels to walk away.

"You were the only woman I known to have cried when you found out that Wanyá Morris from Boyz II Men was a woman abuser even though he sung such beautiful love songs. You told me that you never attended a Halloween party when you were younger so we had our own on our fifth date. You wanted to dress as Scary Spice, but ended up looking like Ginger because your hair wouldn't puff out. You—"

"I could have told anyone what you just said. You're not Caid."

"The first time that we ever made love was on the highway when my car broke down outside of South Dakato. You told me that if a man truly loved you, he would drive to the ends of the earth for you. I told you we'd start in the states and make our way around, but my car had other plans," Caid said with a soft smile on his lips. "I wanted to take you to Mount Rushmore and it wanted to keep us on I-90. I was so angry that I kicked the tire and the hubcap fell off. I told you that I sprained my toe, you hugged me, we kissed, and then you spent the rest of the night in my arms. The next day when we finally got in touch with Triple A and I was able to go to a hospital, we found out that my toe was really broken."

"Stop it. Caid died. I was at his funeral," Brigitte said upset that he would purposefully open an old wound.

Caid followed her out of the kitchen with Gina awkwardly trailing behind them, she didn't want to eavesdrop, but her curiosity was getting the best of her.

"If I wasn't Caid, why would I have broken your heart on your birthday by telling you that I never loved you and that it was all a joke?"

"Stop it. STOP IT!" Brigitte shouted shoving at his chest. She was breathing rapidly on the verge of hyperventilation. "It was a mistake being with him after giving him my heart for him to crush it to pieces. I hate you just as much as I hate him. I don't know how you found out about all of this, but you're one sick...son of a bitch to bring this up right now. Go to hell!"

"I've been there, Brigitte, from the very day that I walked away from you. The truth is, I planned to propose to you, to ask you to marry me, but my parents wouldn't have it. They threatened to make your life miserable if I didn't stay away from you so I did, Brigitte. I said all of those horrible things so that you wouldn't try to follow me and then when I was driving away, I had an accident that day and yes, you're right, I did die. But so did Adriano and when I awoke, I was inside of his body. You have to believe me, Brigitte."

"No, let go of me. Get away from me! You're sick," she spat wrenching herself from his grasp.

"Our baby would have been named Raphaelle, after your mother, if we never had a miscarriage." Caid knew that it was a low blow, but it was the only way that she would know who he really was. They had never told anyone about their baby, not that they ever had anyone to tell. It had been a very painful experience for the both of them. "After that, we found out that Corey's cancer was incurable and he died several months afterwards."

Brigitte's eyes clouded with moisture, "Caid?"

"Yeah," he replied nodding his head while she shook her own in disbelief.

"No..." her voice trailed off making her absentmindedly touch her throat as her steps reversed away from him. She looked about the room as if noticing her surroundings for the first time. Her eyes landed upon Gina questioning her with her gaze as if to ask if she too had been informed.

Gina nodded her head unable to maintain eye contact with her friend. She hated the look of distrust upon Brigitte's face as she heaved for air then rushed out of the front door. "Brigitte wait!" she called as they chased after her.

The woman was a runner; her feet were taking her quickly off of their property and across the street, but Caid was faster even with his slight limp. He literally caught her in his arms, pressing her fleeting body against him and soothing her with familiar pet names that he hadn't uttered in a while. Brigitte was trembling from head to toe and from the glazed look in her eyes he knew that she was going into shock.

"Brigitte, don't do this," he begged gripping her face in the palm of his free hand to make their eyes meet. "Don't shut me out. You don't know how long I've waited to have you back in my life. Don't take your love away from me. I can't live in a world where we don't exist together."

Brigitte squeezed her eyes shut, she had a raging head ache, she was afraid, and she didn't know how to react to the truth that Caid was really Adriano. That he had lied to her in order to protect her which had cost him his life. That he was now back and they were picking up where they had left off. This couldn't be real.

"How?" she asked shakily. "How were you able to do this?"

"Caid, Brigitte, look out! There's a car!" Gina warned watching in horror as a speeding pickup truck came careening around the corner. "Oh my gosh," she breathed helplessly then observed with her mouth hanging open as both of her companions turned their heads in the direction of the quickly advancing vehicle. Brigitte lifted her arm, not in an act of protection, but holding her arm out to signal to the driver to stop. It seemed as if nothing would happen until the palm of her hand began to glow, manipulating time itself as it slowed the velocity of the automobile until it was traveling in slow motion then eventually completely stopped directly in front of them. She pulled her arm back as if to rest it at her side only to push the air sending the truck flying back in time reversing the reckless driving and making it disappear from sight.

That's when she noticed for the first time that they were levitating. "Why is this happening?"

"Let's return inside where Gina and I will explain everything to you," Caid promised checking to make sure that there weren't any witnesses. Their bare feet touched the hot pavement making constant contact on their way back inside.

Brigitte swallowed air, the tightness in her throat barely allowing her to get it down. Her palm was burning, yet it wasn't painful. It was more of an intense tingling sensation that was progressively making its way throughout her entire body. She looked down at her hands for the second time that day and wondered if she was merely fantasizing, that thought, however quickly disappeared from her mind as she watched them radiate with energy.

"What's happening to me?"

"You are reawakening. We both are," Caid told her.

"Reawakening? What do you mean?"

"We are the guardians of this earth, Brigitte, what one would call Collaborators."

"Collaborators?" Brigitte repeated better than a parrot. "What is all of this?"

"Sit down," Gina said then proceeded to make them all hot cups of coffee. They told her the truth about her existence and her purpose. So in a nutshell, she was some kind of supernatural being created to protect the earth from demonic and other supernatural activities. She learned that her abilities lay dormant until they were needed which would activity the regeneration of her spiritual cells, enabling her to reconnect with her former lives on earth. Each generation of rebirth increased her knowledge, strength, and capabilities which became invincible with the presence of her partner or lover or whatever Gina had called it.

In other words, no Caid, half the power. Half the power, decreased ability to save the planet. Can't save the planet, demonic infestation. Demonic infestation, perhaps the ending of existence or whatever the Almighty decided. Everything was connected in one big circular and when that circle was broken, mankind's stability was put in the balance.

"Let me get this right," Brigitte said. "Caid and I were created in pairs who lose the ability to combat evil if the other is taken away?"

"Yes," Caid and Gina answered in unison.

"And the day that Caid died unbalanced the scale of destiny which caused the death of an innocent human in order to rectify this rip in the thread of fate?"

"Yes."

"Instead of dying, his spirit attached itself to another host to keep this scale from tipping over to the side of darkness thus keeping the earth somewhat protected?"

"Yup."

"However, since his red thread of fate has been severed with the loss of his destined body, it is up to me to maintain the balance and save everyone from utter destruction?" Brigitte asked gnawing on her lip in consternation.

"Exactly."

"This is too much. I can't do this alone."

"You're not alone. This is the reason that Caid is still here. He may have lost his abilities, but he is still here to protect you."

"With what the power of love?" she said sarcastically then apologized. "How am I supposed to be a superhero if I can't even activate or control my own abilities?"

"You do not activate them, they will possess you when you need them the most," Caid explained his beautiful eyes glowing. Brigitte seemed to be entranced by them, lifting herself from her seat to go to him and gently touch his face.

"Caid, death has never been able to separate us though he has tried many times."

"I know. I promised you that I would never leave, did I not?"

Gina felt as if she was watching a supernatural soap opera. Any minute now the cheesy romantic music would begin to play and the two of them would, in high definition slow motion, start to kiss. But this little moment of discomfort taught her something else important. Only a Collaborator could willingly activate the other's ability. It seemed to come naturally that they responded to each other. Even now, sitting at the table with them, Gina was experiencing a taste of their powers. She felt it coursing throughout her, and it was a strange feeling. She had the sensation of floating, feeling light headed, and very weightless although the force of their strength was acting as gravity, keeping her gently anchored to her seat.

"You should never have left that day. If only we had known."

"It was idiotic. I apologize for everything."

Gina wanted to clear her throat to break them out of this trance, yet stopped in her tracks as she watched her brother's body disappear to be replaced with that of Caid's. She had never seen him before, nonetheless she recognized him from her brief encounter with his attractive older brother. He was a handsome man himself.

"I'm glad to see you back to normal, brother."

Caid turned his head a warm smile breaking out upon his lips. "Corey."

"Corey?" Brigitte repeated with wonder in her voice. Her brown eyes were glowing ever so brightly as she stared at the man whom she loved as if he were her own flesh and blood. "The Messenger?" she asked going to him.

Messenger?

Corey turned to Gina and nodded his head, "I am a messenger," he replied to her question. "I am he who keeps the Collaborator in touch with the Almighty. Each pair has his own. We are their guardian angels, of a sort, warning them of coming danger. We, like the Collaborator, are immortal. Our existence depends upon their strength. If there is unrest, we die...at least physically."

"You were warning us of what is to come," Brigitte said standing directly in front of him. "We should have listened yet we were blinded. Forgive us." She bowed her head before him and Corey touched it gently with the palm of his hand.

"All has already been forgiven. Lift your head, for we must speak." He turned once more to face Gina, unable to keep his eyes off of her. "You have questions which need answers."

"Would you stop reading my mind?"

"Sorry, it comes with the territory."

She frowned looking at Caid for assistance except he was too busy pretending to ignore the attraction between the two of them.

"You want to know about me."

She was downright glowering now. Couldn't she have privacy in her own head? "Fine, if you're the Messenger, then why did you die in the first place? Weren't you supposed to stay with them and guide them?"

"That was the plan, but things tend to change."

"Enlighten me," she said even though she was unnerved by his never ending eye contact. Corey was starting to frazzle her.

"The...miscarriage," Brigitte fought out. "That was the first warning. Your death was the second," she said turning to Caid with those bright eyes. "Yours was the last."

"Yes," Corey replied.

"I really need an explanation because this is making no sense to me. How were these horrible events warnings?"

"Warning comes before destruction," Corey simply replied. "You have heard of the Holy Trinity, haven't you?"

"Of course," she said without hesitation.

"Our world is based upon this concept, whether it is in the realms of the Almighty or the demonic kingdom. Everything will arise according to the Order of Three, hence the reason there are two Collaborators and one Messenger and why their warning was carried out in three steps. In a sense, it allows room for modification and rectification. If you are able to rectify whatever provoked the first or the second signs, time itself will reverse and it will be erased from the Book of Errors; however, if after these three admonitions have gone unheeded or unsolved, whatever danger hidden behind them will come to pass. Each forewarning contains a message of what is to come."

"Then what did everything mean?" Gina asked still trying to understand.

"The miscarriage represented intense and sudden suffering, my death symbolized long-term bereavement, and the meaning of Caid and Adriano's combined deaths were to portray the loss of innocence. These factors will come into play if the demonic kingdom is allowed to rise on earth. No one shall be exempted from their wrath, not the young, the old, not the innocent. Every single living soul upon this earth shall be devoured. Do you understand now, Ms. Comito?"

"Perfectly," Gina told him as her heart stammered in her chest. She was afraid. She had literally been given a vision of what was to come if they didn't rectify their little problem. "I understand, however with us unable to pinpoint who or what is attacking us, we are in a hard spot."

"Which is the reason why I am here." The lights turned off, the blinds closed, and all of a sudden, as if a projector had been illuminated, a video began to play upon the white walls surrounding them.

"Oh my God! What is that?" Gina blurted out as she looked at what she could only surmise was a beast. It had five horns on the top its head, two on either side, with holes in the tips, acting as ears. His face was a mixture of a pig's snout, a heavy under bite with highly extended canines that could poke the normal eye out, and three lowly hanging jaws. Where his eyes were supposed to be was nothing except smooth skin which made Gina all the more fearful. There were pulsing boils covering his body that popped and oozed thick yellow liquid which ran down his body, staining the floor at his clawed feet. His upper body resembled that of a spotted bull that had its torso regularly sliced with a dull blade where as his lower torso was that of a goat suffering from skin disease. When he turned his back, it was completely covered with eyeballs of different colors and sizes, all constantly moving and surveying behind him.