Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 14:32:05 -0700 (PDT) From: Author James Subject: Adventures of a Real Dark Knight 33 Disclaimer: This story, though maybe not in this chapter but in subsequent chapters, will have celebrities in it. I have no knowledge of their sexuality and this is not intended to imply their sexuality. This is all from my own mind. Scary!! People actually get a glimpse into my mind!!! Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox. Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics and Warner Bros. X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. Star Trek and all related characters created by Gene Roddenberry. Copyright Paramount Studios. I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered. In this story, which has been floating around in my head most of my life, you will find many universes merging, as the above copyrights reveal. I hope you all enjoy this. I appreciate any feedback that you may want to give. This story doesn't deal so much with sex, sex, sex, but more of my feelings that I struggled with and am starting to come to terms with. Part of his background is mine. I do hope that you enjoy it!!! I have received many emails from people who have enjoyed it and some from those who do not. I would enjoy hearing from you. Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter and story you are commenting on. Thanks. jmsotc@yahoo.com I also have several online messenger services. If you want to chat with me in real time, email me and tell me the services you use and I will tell you my screen name. Chapter 33 Christmas Christian Burns settled down with his cup of tea. The rain outside along with the dark clouds that signify the rain makes for a sleepy atmosphere. As he sipped his tea, he thought back on his time in Orlando, Florida, United States of America. It was fun for him and his friends to help out the young psychologist repair the teen center. Part of him wished he could have stayed. He found himself developing feelings for the psychologist known as Eric McCoy. But Eric was with Lance Bass. And as far as him staying in the United States, it was not possible. He had much to do in England. His band mates, together they made BBMak, had much work to do. They had to work on some things for their next tour. And he always enjoyed some down time to spend with his family. When they returned to England, they had found their homes empty. His family was known to do lots of camping. So he unpacked and hoped that he would talk with them soon. As he sipped his tea, Christian noticed a book sitting on his desk. It looked rather old and worn. He placed his tea and saucer on the table and walked over to it. The words on the cover were written in an old language, one he did not even recognize. He noticed the lock on the cover to be unlatched so he opened it. As he turned the pages he came across a picture of a creature. It was a dark purple color, with fangs and three clawed fingers and toes. The name under it said "Macai". Beside the picture was what looked like a poem. Christian was drawn to it for some strange reason and he tried to sound out the words. An eerie wind began to blow and the lights dimmed. A swirl of black smoke came from the picture and then a large flash of light. The waves of light knocked Christian to the floor and when he looked up, he found the creature standing in his sitting room. "Oh my god," he whispered. "So you've come to worship me?" the creature asked. "Excellent. I've needed some servants. I'm glad I now have you." The creature smiled and showed his sharp, pointy teeth. The SUV pulled into the driveway and Lance looked over at me. His eyes sparkled a little with excitement. "That was amazing," he said to me. "What was amazing?" "That battle with the mutants. It was amazing!" "Mystique is pretty tough. They can all be pretty tough." "Is it true that girl is a mutant? What was her name...Marie?" "Yeah. Yes, she's a mutant. Hopefully, Professor Xavier will be able to help her get a real life and not a false one that Mystique and Destiny were willing to give." Lance leaned in and kissed me. "I love you, Eric. You know that, don't you?" "Yes, I do, Lance. And I love you." "Come on." Lance and I got out of the car and went inside. His family was already asleep for the next day, Christmas Day. Lance and I went into his room where he shut the door. I pulled off my shoes and he came over to me and pulled off my socks. I looked in his eyes and knew he was in a playful mood. We undressed and climbed into bed. For most of the night we made love, pleasuring each other's body with massages, kisses, and other oral stimulations. Lance fell asleep after we climaxed. I drifted off to sleep for a few moments but woke back up. For some reason, something was preventing me from completely going to sleep. I felt a compulsion to get by myself so I went to the living room. Sitting in the dark, I turned the Christmas tree lights on and I sat on the floor gazing at the beautiful lights and pretty ornaments. As I looked at the different shapes and designs and symbols, my eyes rested on one of an angel. It was pointing up. This must have been an angel giving the message of "glad tidings of great joy". I smiled at what that meant to me. I felt something brush up against my shoulder. I turned but saw nothing. Then faintly I heard a voice say, "Eric." Looking around for a second time, I saw nothing. The voice came a third time and I remembered the incident of Samuel when he was in Eli's tutelage. Samuel heard someone call his name and he believed it to be his mentor Eli. He went to Eli several times and Eli shared with him it was the voice of God. "The next time you hear it, say, 'Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth'. It did, indeed, turn out to be the voice of God. "If it worked for Samuel, perhaps it will work for me," I thought. When I heard my name again, I spoke aloud. "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." "You remember you upbringing," the voice said. I turned around to see the being that visited me in the bedroom weeks ago. "Yes, I do. My spirituality has always been part of me, even before I heard of church or the Bible." "That is because God has marked you, Eric. God has placed a holy calling upon you." "To do what?" "Whatever need arises." "Is there such a need now? I felt compelled to come out here away from Lance, my love. Is God calling me to separate from Lance?" That thought scared me. Yet I knew that if God needed us to separate for a time, He would bring us back together. God works in ways that we cannot understand some times. But, my mind wondered why He would call us to separate? God created us to love and be loved, and all good gifts come from Him. I look at Lance as the most perfect gift I could have received, aside from forgiveness of my wrongs in life. "The need is starting to grow, Eric. But it has yet to come to pass. The calling was by God's Spirit to come away from the thoughts of this world, to come to a place of spiritual concentration and feeding, what many call the prayer closet. It is a place of separation unto God. A place of hearing His voice and instruction. It is a place to be fed spiritual food and to grow in His strength." "I remember that place," I said recalling the many times I would shut myself in my room in the evenings or mornings or whenever the compulsion would hit me. I would go and talk to God. I would meditate on life situations and feel the answers coming to my mind. God was using my mind to reason things with me. Often times I would come out feeling rejuvenation in my innermost being. It was a time of renewal of strength, spiritual strength, which feeds the outer man. Like Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone" (Matthew 4:4, The Holy Bible). "God has called you to that place again, Eric, to be filled with His power and strength. To be filled with His love." I closed my eyes and let my mind empty of the cares of this world. Lance, the teen center, the rejection of the Huntress, Poison Ivy's attempts to kidnap her son, the Penguin's attempt on my life and Lance's life, the vampire attack at the house, all the things that would preoccupy my mind slipped away. God came to the forefront of my thoughts and feelings. I thought of Him and His greatness, of His love for the human race, of His thoughts and concerns of those who claim to be His yet their hearts far from Him. I felt His sadness at the turmoil caused by dark spiritual forces, the sadness He felt of the evil that humankind does to one another in the name of righteousness or sin. Tears welled up in my eyes and I began to sob and cry with God. "I'm sorry you have to go through that, Lord," I said quietly. "If there is anything I can do to help You...I know I'm just a man, a simple man, but if there is anything I can do for You, just make it known to me." I felt a reassurance grow in me. My simple words to God of offering my help made Him feel better. I was amazed at this. The God of the universe felt better when one human being offered to help Him, even though there wasn't much I could do. "Lord, I can't do much. But what I can do I give it to you. And I ask that if there is anything You can give me to help You, I willingly give myself over to Your power to be filled for Your work." I felt a great surge through my arms and legs, through my heart and mind. It was as if my body was being charged electrically. But God's power isn't electricity. It's love, pure love. God is Love. And He was imparting His power to me. For whatever the reason, I did not know. But it didn't matter at that moment. It didn't matter that I was feeling God's power put into me. What came to the forefront was that I was in communion with God again. I was fellowshipping with Him. I was yielding my love to Him and He was yielding His love to me. Whatever He needed me for in the future, He would make it known to me. The prayer time lasted about an hour and then the presence faded. I was sitting on the floor alone. I looked up at the pretty lights of the tree and my eyes rested on the angel pointing the way to Heaven. I smiled at it, wiped my eyes, and turned off the lights. I crawled into bed and pulled Lance close to my heart. With the gaining of God's love in me, I felt a greater love for Lance. Slowly, I drifted off to sleep. I awoke early the next morning. I always had a hard time sleeping Christmas Eve. I would awake in the wee hours of the morning on Christmas morning, run downstairs to see the presents and then go to my parents' room where I declared "He came!" of course meaning Santa Claus. This morning was no different when it came to me waking up. I went downstairs and saw the pretty Christmas tree. I turned on the lights, began brewing coffee and sat on the couch staring at the trees beauty. The thought dawned on me to write a letter to Joshua. I was not able to contact him and I missed him, as well as Brian. Of course I missed Jessica, but when one of your friends hates you, it kind of spoils the drive to contact them. I went to the kitchen and got a piece of paper and pen. I sat down and composed a letter to Joshua. Dear Joshua, How are you doing? I hope all is well at the school. I miss seeing your handsome face. I hope Logan and Remy are behaving themselves and not treating you bad. If so, I will have to come back and kick their butts. Things are going okay here in Florida. I'm living with Lance and trying to get a teen center going. My nightly activities are keeping me busy as well. I've done some vampire slay-age, met the local Slayer, and even met a Robin and Nightwing down here. Maybe it's me but it seems all the weirdoes come out when I'm around. So far I've met a woman named Poison Ivy and a guy who calls himself the Penguin. They were not fun to meet. I also met Mystique again. She has a daughter and a girlfriend, it seems. I contacted Professor Xavier and Ororo came to get her. I hope all is well with her. Her name is Marie. Please keep an eye on her for me. I would appreciate it. Well, I must let you go. I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and I hope you have a wonderful New Year. Your friend, Eric I folded up the piece of paper and Lance walked in. "Merry Christmas," he said to me kissing me on the head. "Merry Christmas. Did you sleep okay?" "When you are near, I always sleep well." I smiled up at him. "Are you hungry?" "Just for a kiss." Lance leaned in and kissed me. We kissed for almost five minutes before we broke it off. "Stay here," I told him. "I have to get you something." I ran to the bedroom and pulled out a small bag I kept in the suitcase. I brought it out to him. "Here. Open it. I want you to open this before anyone else gets up." Lance grinned at me and opened the gift bag. He pulled out a very private gift I got for him, a red thong. "Eric! I can't believe you got this!" "Why? It's okay to do stuff like that!" "I know," he replied as his face turned red. "Did I embarrass you? I'm sorry. You don't have to wear it until we get back to Orlando. I promise." Lance started laughing at me. He put the gift that was just as much for me as it was for him back in the bag. "Now did you want breakfast?" I asked. "Sure." "What would you like?" He put in his order for French toast and went to get ready while I got his breakfast. While I was cooking, Diane, Jim and Stacey awoke and came into the kitchen. "Merry Christmas, Eric!" they shouted. "Merry Christmas!" I returned. "Is everyone hungry?" "Sure are!" Jim replied. "Great. I love to cook." I made breakfast for everyone and, as they ate, I showered and dressed for the day. When I came out, Jim and Diane were sitting in each other's arms looking at the tree and Lance and Stacey were in the kitchen cleaning up. "Sit down," Diane said to me. "Jim and I would like to talk to you privately." "Okay," I answered sitting down in the chair. "Eric, do you love Lance?" "Of course I do. With all my heart." "He loves you very much. And we want him to be happy. Growing up, he has always been sort of a loner. He has had friends, of course, but he never had anyone to connect with. Then you came along and since he met you last summer, he has had nothing but good to say. He has been happy." "I've been happy since meeting him, too. He's a wonderful guy. I love him very much. I couldn't imagine life without him." "That's what we wanted to hear." Diane got up and walked over to me. She knelt down and hugged me tight. Jim followed suit and did the same. As they were sitting back down, Stacey and Lance came in the room. Stacey sat on the floor by the tree and Lance sat between my legs. I put my hands on his shoulders. "Let's get to opening gifts!" Jim said. "Stacey, you get to be Santa this year. Start passing them out." The day was filled with gifts and family. After we had opened the gifts here, we went to Lance's grandparents' house where we met up with the rest of his family. There were more gifts and Christmas dinner. Lance's grandmother made a ham and a turkey. There were sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes, a vegetable tray and lots of cakes and pies. We had our fill of food and were lounging around the house afterward chatting when Lance came up to me. "I want to go for a walk. Come with me." "Sure," I replied. We got our jackets and went outside. We walked down the street hand-in-hand looking up at the sky. The moon shone brightly and the stars twinkled down. It was a very calm night. Christmas was here, and God's Spirit was able to get into some hearts this night, even if it was for just one night. Lance led the way to a small park and we sat down on a park bench in the moonlight. "How was your Christmas?" he asked me. "Wonderful. I love your family." "They seem to like you, too. I can't see why anyone wouldn't. You are a wonderful guy. You have a lot of love to give. You are caring and understanding. You are kind and patient. You have great morals and ethics and you generally care about others. You are also awesome in bed and that's hard to find." I chuckled and blushed at all this good I was hearing about me. It's not something I was used to. And I had an even hard time believing it when I did hear it. "You are perfect for what I would want to have in a life partner." Lance reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. "What I'm saying," he said as he opened the box, "is that I want to marry you, Eric. I want us to spend the rest of our lives together." Inside the box was a gold ring. Tears welled up in my eyes. I grabbed Lance and pulled him into a tight embrace. "I love you, Lance. Yes, I will marry you. I want to marry you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too. I couldn't imagine life without you." We held and kissed each other under the Christmas moonlight that seemed to shine brighter and clearer on Christmas than at any other time of year. To Be Continued... Wow! What a chapter! It started out dark and mysterious and evil and ended with something wonderful happening! It also contained many spiritual elements, the true meaning of Christmas as well as the true meaning of a relationship with God. It's not about power and controlling others to fit a certain standard. It's about a true relationship with God. That's what Christmas is about: God making a way for every human being to have that fellowship, that relationship. And God made us to have others in our lives. God made us with intentions of us having a life partner. And He has made us each a life partner, whom He will bring to us when we are ready for that person and that person is ready for us. Wow, I didn't expect to get all sermon-y there. Hope you don't mind. Tell me what you thought of this chapter. I'd love to hear from you! More good stuff coming up as this set of chapters comes to a close. Only 17 more chapters to go. On a side note...to help you understand King James Version of the Bible, any word that ends with eth means to continue...hence "heareth" means to continue to hear. Just a little education I received from Bible College passed on to you.