Long Live The King

"Hailey... You cannot own a Komodo Dragon."

"But look at them! They are soooo cute!"

Dumbfounded my coworker and best bud, Will, looked at me and said, "Hailey they will EAT you. They are not cute."

In a debate over the potential of me owning a reptile the size of me, Theo, walks in.

Theo was a young college student I had met on my birthday. I had never liked my birthday due to repeated patterns of bad memories on that day, I, 100%, was okay to have to work the closing shift. It was a Sunday and it usually fell on the Labor Day weekend. You'd think that'd be a great opportunity to do something fun or go on a trip. Unfortunately, people had always treated my birthday more so as an obligation rather than a celebration of my life. So I stopped seeing it to be something to celebrate at all. Usually, it'd be a day I'd mourn.

A regular, routine day is all I wanted for my birthday this year and that's what I had. I was satisfied, truthfully. The more normal the day was, the less likely my mind would reroute to it's normal mourning routine on that day. Even when people did make an attempt to celebrate, my mind would be too far gone in my mourning that I'd hate it anyways. Not feeling like it's legitimate or deserving.

Working at Vasa, I have met many people and befriended some as well. Including Shane. This old military vet was one of the most badass men I've ever met. He had white hair fluffy hair and a muscular, yet lean build. He'd be the first person I'd run to in any emergency at the gym if it wasn't something I could take care of myself. At a first glance, you could see he was a beast. We'd goof around and give each other shit all the time. That was our Sunday routine. I had just remembered I wanted to ask him to show me some self defense moves on my birthday. I went to the back where all the squat machines are to ask him, only to find him talking to this young guy I had never seen before, including a few of our Vasa friends. Luckily, the one I was into wasn't there that day because Shane would have embarrassed me in front of him. Right after I had asked Shane to show me he said, "I sure as Hell will," and then continued to "show me" by twisting my arm to the back of my head.

As I screamed, "UNCLE!," He finally let go with a laugh.

"Isn't it your birthday, Hailey?" My friend Jesse said while entering the circle.

"Don't remind me. I don't want to talk about it."

I duly noted this guy with Shane was new and someone I hadn't seen before. And I was interested in how he simply observed us as a group, just taking in our friendship and bond; overall seemed to enjoy our presence and welcoming vibe.

Not long after that I left them to whatever conversation they were having, feeling bad to have interrupted. I had to get back to the front desk anyways. My coworker, who refused to take no for an answer, got us Taco Bell for lunch for my birthday. After some time, he came back and we sat at the tables near the front desk to eat.

Shane always came up after his workouts to the table to buy a protein shake and chitchat for a bit. In which I took advantage of by asking about his experiences in the military and of his wife, whom he was very fond of. He had said I reminded him of her when she was younger. Maybe that's how we clicked as friends. Also, we were both very playful and took everything said in good humor.

I was scarfing down on my tacos with my coworker when Shane came up for his cool down. We all got to talking again. Then the young guy he was talking to walked past us, but he nodded up at me. Almost in a flirty demeanor. This guy was a little cutie. He had soft brown eyes and dark brown curly hair. But he seemed young; too young for me. I couldn't assume he was trying to be flirty. There may be people out there like me that simply enjoy meeting other good souls and befriending them.

The young guy came back and walked past us again after a few minutes, then turned on his heels to walk backwards after seeing he caught my eye to say, "By the way, Happy Birthday," with a smile on his face. He had to be a college student. Our town is sister to the town of West Lafayette, where Purdue is located. Vasa tends to see college students frequent the gym often.

Before he left I wanted to meet the sweet guy who went out of his way to say 'Happy Birthday' to a complete stranger. So, before he left I shook his hand and introduced myself.

"My Name's Theo," he said as he smiled back at me. In that moment he felt smaller than me, almost child-like.

A hint of blush hit my cheeks as it did his and he went on his way. We let go of each other's hand, and my awkward self stumbled upon my words so I hurriedly said bye for him to continue his exit.

That was the best birthday I had in a long time. It was simple; routine. No expectations and no disappointments. No one treated me unkindly. I ended it with a cruise and my best friend. We went around town because it was a gorgeous day, and unintentionally came upon green fireworks sparkling the sky. As if even The Universe was telling me, 'Happy Birthday.'

"Hailey, please. Go online and look up Komodo Dragons and you'll see that they can eat a whole deer."

"Even if it can, mine won't."

With a wide smiled laugh, Will said, "Oh yes it will. Check the speed on them while you're at it."

Theo walked in during our debate and research of Komodo Dragons on the computer so I was preoccupied when Theo came in. Usually, he'd come in with a big smile and say hi to me, acknowledging that we were actually friends. It was February and at the beginning of the year I had started to see him come in with a girl. Even with her, he'd glow at me, which I thought was a bit disrespectful if that was his girl. It was very evident on his face that he was a bit fond of me. I was hoping she was a secure woman and didn't think much of it. Mostly, I had hoped she'd notice the tunnel vision I had on her and how I was acknowledging her presence over his out of respect if they were, in fact, together. She didn't seem bothered, thankfully. Most girls don't act like that; they act mean and jealous if they catch things such as that without getting the facts. So I was happy for Theo to have found a good one, if she was his. From then on, I had treated him like any other member though. On this day, he had given up talking to me as if we were actually friends and just scanned in to be on his way. I felt bad. This guy who was unwarrantedly sweet to me on my birthday was being brushed off by me and didn't deserve that. I wanted him to know I cared about him as my friend, and I did see him as one too.

After a while, I decided to go on the gym floor and say hi. As I got to the middle of the floor, one of the regulars was at a bench press taking a break and he gave me a jiggle of his hips, jamming to his music. I gave him a little dance back to mirror his joy and I caught Theo see me. So I gave him eyes to let him know I wanted to talk to him. I didn't realize how intelligent and ballsy he may be because he walked right up next to me. Either to walk past me or to see if I'd stop him, in which I did.

"Hey! It's about time you come back. Where've you been?" I beamed.

Seemingly a bit relieved, he awkwardly blurts out, "I thought you quit."

"No, of course not. I close Sundays and Tuesdays."

We were tying up the conversations and he swerved to my side to try and go about his way, but I tugged back on his energy because I simply wasn't done talking. I just wanted to give my friend some shit for not being consistent in the gym. Simply, I wanted him to know I still see him and appreciate his presence when he would be there. Maybe he had difficulty making friends. Maybe I could be a friend to him, if that was the case.

But it wasn't.

To him, it might have been more.

And I understood in that next moment.

As he swerved to walk around me, I had turned to look back to finish my sentence. I was distracted with what I was trying to say. But in the middle of a second, I caught everything.

Theo looked hard to his left. Almost as if to try and muster up courage. I caught the corner of his eyes as they suddenly darkened.

The next thing I knew, I was staring directly into his chest as I could feel him looking down at me.

The moment caught me off guard. Theo's this small college student. Suddenly, he appeared before me as a man. Not only that, a man who had just snuck into my bubble; my atmosphere. He had taken full advantage of me being distracted to walk right up to me. Usually, I would not allow someone to get so close to me. I didn't ever realize he was taller than me. And bigger, in energy. But it backfired.

Me being an empath I felt everything he did in that moment. And it was, in fact, a moment. An unwarranted one.

He inhaled me. But I was still in work mode, and I was still talking to finish my sentence while also trying to process what was going on. I was working; I had to play it off.

Anybody of intellect, or of any knowledge of how energy worked, would know that something just happened by witnessing the interaction. Unfortunately, we were in the middle of the gym. And working at the gym, I was well known by my peers. I had to play it cool.

But I felt everything. My pupils dilated. And in that moment all I could think was, "oh shit."

It wasn't something I wanted to happen. I had only had that experience with one other man and it was this moment at a ten fold. The only reason it was comparable was because these experiences, of a pure chemical reaction, were quite rare. I've met many people. Only two people have ever made my body react in such a way. Theo, surprisingly, was one of them.

The connection was different than that of the other in multiple ways. Chemical reactions are hard to explain as I had experienced them, but I will try. One thing I recall with Theo is that the chemical reaction was clean. I can't figure out why that word out of all of them comes to mind, but when it happened, that's the sensation I got; clean, and straight to the point; it was there. My breath caught itself in my throat while I was mid-sentence, in hopes nobody could hear my subtle gasp. The hairs all over my body stood on end. But mostly, I could feel the chemistry below. Being someone who is extremely empathic, I wondered if it was just his experience I was experiencing because the moment I felt the chemistry, he suddenly jolted and was trying hard to get away from me at that point. We had to complete niceties though and play it off.

The first thing Zalena heard were crows. Not a typical part of the forest of her mind, but they were cawing like crazy. It was hard to miss.

Zalena in her hood with her alien, luminescent green eyes stood before Theo now in the realm of her mind.

"Theo... Theo what are you doing here?" She whispered.

"Huh?"

As Theo looked around he realized that they were not in Vasa anymore. This green forest suddenly had a dark blue hue to the atmosphere.

Zalena's eyes widened, "Theo you have to get out of here. You have to--"

Before she could finish, the vibration of her mind was at all time high. The realm of her mind quaked and she knew what that meant. He was coming. His presence was deafening. Leaving all of her senses stunned and in shock. Zalena tried hard to gain balance and control of her mind, but it was too late. The hairs all over her body stood on end, her heart raced like a tribal drum, her knees went weak. She inhaled the atmosphere and her pupils dilated twice as big as Hailey's did with Theo: He was here.

In the real world, I was annoyed. He had made it crystal clear there was nothing between the two of us by allowing a third party to come between. I was simply living my life. Doing my best to move on. Even though he was all I thought about, still. I had to respect that he didn't want me. Didn't come and get me. Wasn't going to. And that he made it clear, he was still exploring. The woman that came and got him, just like I tried, was beautiful and seemed to be right up his alley. I couldn't compare. I'm very different; very weird and nerdy. She was tan, beautiful and above all else: blonde. Being a woman's woman, I had to respect the connection that they may have or were creating. As horribly hurt as it made me, the person I am and choose to be; I had no choice. So I had to leave him alone.

I would never go after another woman's man. I've always highly respected other people's connections and that still stands. If anything, I'd be the one to keep their man in check if I ever saw them acting out; to remind them of their woman in a subtle and respectful way. Women deal with enough. And in my eyes, we have to be there for each other when and if the opportunity arises. That's the least we could do. There's plenty of fish in the sea, we do not need one that's already hooked.

So when this man, the one that my mind annoyingly is constantly whispering, "my man", walked through the doors not fifteen minutes after the moment happened between Theo and I, yes I was annoyed. I had to have an internal talk with myself, "He is not your man, Hai."

Then the crows made sense. Someone saw. Someone he knew.

I could be wrong though; it could have been a coincidence. But then again, when it comes to this man, there are a lot of coincidences. He's very smart and cunning. It makes me wonder if he intended everything to seem like a coincidence.

As Zalena continued to try and keep her sanity and balance as the forest around her shook amongst the blue hue, The King's camouflaged self, slowly but surely appeared from the forest. Oddly, as if he had been there the whole time. Even though he had only just arrived.

Or did he?

He didn't make his presence known often, but when he did, he meant business. If Zalena saw herself as a beast, The King was a monster. The reason alone for him affecting her like he did was his energy; his existence. She couldn't bear to be in his vicinity without wanting to run. Even being the soul that she was, he reminded her of morality. Of weakness. She was annoyed of his existence. For someone to exist in the universe to effect her so strongly. Quite frankly, he interrupted her path; her mission. To suddenly know another soul, that to be without him in this world, may make Zalena set this world on fire; life becoming unbearable. In short: The King scared the shit out of her in the best way possible. She had never experienced anything quite like how The King had made her feel. There wasn't another to exist that forced her into femininity like The King.

He was strong and big. Zalena was known to cast shadows on others with her energy, but he casts shadows on her world. His big brown and blue camo combat boots carefully, yet confidently continued towards them, as to not crush any of the forest brush beneath his feet as much as possible. He wore armor with links of amo wrapped around from his shoulder to hip while carrying his blue gun. As massive as it was, he held it like a feather in one hand. As big as his muscles were, to him it probably did feel lightweight.

Not far behind, his brothers surfaced from the forest along with his beast of a friend. The King's hunter eyes bore into Zalena's cheek as she turned hard away from him not to see; his eyes alone could be her undoing. Yet they were extremely enticing.

"Who is that?" Theo asked.

I looked at Theo, but by the time I did, The King's youngest brother was already behind him, boring the same reflective hunter eyes as the king into her, keeping Zalena in check. Although Zalena and The King were extraordinarily close for hardly being around each other, Zalena was familiar with the brother's presence, as he was hers. And he knew her well for someone that didn't know her at all. You come to understand a lot about people when they're in the same environment as you so often. You learn behaviors and other aspects of the sort. That is, if you're paying enough attention. In which, I'm guessing, he was. The brother was a lot like The King, in appearance and mental. His loyalty for him ran deep, as any brotherhood would.

The rest of The King's companions were busy setting ablaze blue flames with their guns upon her walls exterminating the vermin of young souled men attempting to inch towards her. But even Zalena knew they wouldn't get far, with or without The King present.

Theo stepped in front of Zalena as The King came closer in a natural response to protect her, simply sensing the severity of the situation even though he knew nothing of what was transpiring. Regardless, it was redundant. For Zalena wasn't 100% certain, due to The King's lack of protection to her mind and heart, but intuitively, Zalena felt very safe around in The King, physically. For he, ruled her mind.

A hint of a smile hid behind The King's eyes as he witnessed Theo step in front to protect Zalena. Making her wonder if The King was thinking the same thing she was about her safety in his presence.

"How are those Bee-Bops?" Zalena asked as The King approached.

"Bee-Bops?" He asked confused.

The other brother of The King to his right side chuckled.

The King gave Zalena a quizzical look, "You mean bops?"

"Oh, so you're familiar with them."

The King gave her a 'knock it off' look and she receded.

He looked down at her with hard eyes.

"I have it taken care of," She confirmed.

"Looks like it," as he motioned his chin towards Theo.

The King turned to Theo and with bright eyes and a smile, introduced himself.

The King could annihilate whatever and whoever he wanted to, but he chose to be a kind, sweet, gentleman always. In this instance, Zalena believed he understood Theo's lust and respected his assisted protection.

The King relaxed a bit and rallied up his troops. As The King started to retreat back to the part of the forest he appeared from, where he parked his spaceship, Zalena hollered out to him,

"Keep the seat warm for me, will ya?"

The King's footsteps slowed as he calculated what Zalena had just said. And before another second was able to tick on the clock, both Zalena and The King pulled out their weapons in unison and had them pointed directly at each other's head.

In the meantime, his massive beast of a buddy had his aimed at Theo. This friend of his did not fuck around and Theo could tell if he made one move, he was as sure as dead.

The forest was quiet, other than both of their hearts beating loud inside their chests. The severity in the situation switched up to something way bigger than all of them. Zalena with her green and black crossbow, she never missed, but neither did The King.

"Don't test me, Zalena. I'll shoot your mind into the next life."

"You've done it before. This time I'll take you with me."

"This war doesn't involve you."

"It involves all of us," Zalena said assertively. "Besides... I can't let you have all the fun."

"You're going to fuck up the mission for everyone."

"Maybe I can help."

"You can't."

"My ass... You know I'm capable."

The King's eyes softened as he lowered his weapon, "Of course you are. But

Please... Don't."

She cared for him, but she had a mission too. And all signs pointed to her getting involved in something bigger. Even before she met The King.

She sighed and lowered her weapon, "I'll consider it."

That wasn't good enough for The King. She could see his heart break before her.

"C'mon, let's go," his buddy called, focused now on getting The King to the spaceship instead of on Theo. If he waited much longer, he may never leave.

She's seen this look in his eyes before. In times where he would break his own heart assuming hers belonged to another. When really it had been his all along. But now he had a man much bigger to worry about that could take her away from him forever: God.

The only difference is, if they wind up taking a soul, they will not come back again. Taking a soul corrupts the one who took it, leaving the darkness to swallow them whole for eternity. The contract he signed with The Spirit Council was supposed to lead to war. He was, in fact, going to return to The Council per their orders, regardless. This was The King's last mission on Earth.

It was not supposed to be Zalena's.

Side Note: Based on personal experience mixed with the fantasy realm of my mind, I have to admit it freaks me out that I wrote this story today. I've always known my intuition was strong and that even though I may act accordingly to what it's telling me, I don't know until later on that I was onto something. Theo returned to Vasa tonight.