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Chapter 43: Forces that cannot be contained

The stars took up our whole vision and the cold dry air was crystal clear and we could even see the Milky Way stretched out before us. The stars shined in vast wonder and had our backs not been firmly planted on the ground it might have felt like we were going to fall into the void above.

We had taken a couple of blankets and a plastic bag and had gone and lay out on the ice on the lake. Our top blanket was a warm green fleece blanket that I had wrapped around the both of us. Sharing each other's warmth we watched the sky silently.

"You know when I went to Duke there were too many city lights, you couldn't even see the stars" Ian said

"I feel bad for you, they're very pretty, and I find them comforting" I said

"Oh?" Ian asked "well I can think of something prettier than the sky"

"You're kidding right; you're the most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes on. I love the red brown hair, and your blue eyes. I'm just skinny and awkward" I blushed

"No you're slender and just need a boost of self confidence" Ian said

I looked back up into the sky

"You honestly don't know how beautiful you are?" Ian asked

"I'm not beautiful" I said "honestly your hair boggles my mind, how on earth does it look red blonde and brown all at the same time, you'd never find that crayon in a crayon box" I said

"Well I guess you could say I'm a mix of Scottish and Jew, Jew on my dad's side... my grandparents, he was raised Christian and my mother was Scottish hence all the redness" Ian said

"I'm a mixture of French and Irish, Farrell is Irish but you can find a bunch of French families with the name so it is hard to tell which one we came from." I said

"That's easy... you are most definitely French" Ian said giving me a smile

"How can you tell?" I asked

"Your wavy French tresses" Ian said running his hands through my long hair

"I still don't believe you" I said "I still think you're the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen"

"well I'm going to kiss you till you believe me then" Ian said wrapping the blanket over our heads and kissed me opening my mouth with his tongue and exploring it gently then he kissed down my neck to my coat line and pulled me off the firm ice for a moment to get his hands around my back and gave me a tight hug as we kissed under the stars

We came back up breathless

"I love you" Ian said suddenly

"I love you too" I said taking my warm hand and reaching up and touching Ian's face

"I can't believe it's been nearly four weeks since thanksgiving, these past few weeks your family has been amazing, you... you've really touched me." Ian said choking up a bit "I love them, your parents... they... they're so kind" he sniffled holding back tears

"We all love you Ian, especially me" I said giving him a kiss on the cheek

"I love you too"

There was suddenly a beam of light cutting through the sky. A green laser beam cut through our vision and I sighed

"I wish he never got that damn thing" I muttered

"What the hell was that?" Ian asked

"That Ian... was my dad and his green laser pointer that was our signal to pack it up and come inside" I said getting out of the blanket and stood up off the ice

"arrgh" Ian said stretching "my back hurts... like I've been lying on a slab of ice for an hour"

"I wonder why" I said stretching myself and then I rolled up the blankets and then walked across the ice back to the house

We climbed over the snowy porch taking off our boots outside and stepping into the house barefoot. We crashed on the loveseat in the living room in a heap.

"You kids have fun?" mom asked coming in from the kitchen carrying a plate of sugar Christmas cookies.

"Yes mom" I said "what are the plans tomorrow?"

"well we were hoping you'd both like to help pick out the tree" Dad said "it being a weekend and all I thought we could make a trip out of it and we could do some Christmas shopping"

"yay" I mock cheered "more shopping"

Mom just gave me a glare and shoved the plate of cookies in front of Ian

"Take a cookie" she commanded so he did so but just held it in his hand

"It's not poisoned you know" Dad said dramatically taking a cookie and taking a huge bite out of the Christmas tree shaped confection

Ian took a bite of the cookie and it was still warm and he let out a soft moan of pleasure.

"It's good, thanks" he said

"Now to business" Dad said taking the seat across from Ian and mom took her chair at his side they sat and looked at each other for a moment

"Ian... your father... he went over us and filed the paperwork to have you removed from his care and put into state custody. THANKFULLY one of my friends spotted the paperwork and called me so I could file my own." Dad said pulling out some papers

"What are these?" Ian asked

"Adoption papers for starters and an emancipation order, that's really a backup option to stall your father"

"What did he do?" Ian asked

"Well as I just said he filed to have you put into state custody so social services could come and remove you from here?"

"NO!" Ian shouted nearly getting up from the table but was brought back down by mom's hand who had reached out and grabbed him

"We won't let that happen, hon." she said "we need you to sign these consent forms and Dan will bring them to the court on Monday"

"What do you do at the court?" Ian asked

"I'm the assistant Chief of the District courts." Dad said "I got promoted recently and thank god it happened otherwise I would not have been able to file this paperwork before your dad"

Ian sat in shock

"There's another thing that we were worried about" mom said

"We happened to be reading all these papers when we noticed your birthday?" my dad said

"Ian?" I asked "when is your birthday?"

"December 21^st" Ian said

"A double birthday party... this is wonderful" mom clapped her hands excitedly

"Whose birthday is it also?" Ian asked

"I was born on the darkest day of the year" I said cryptically

"You mean December 21^st" Ian said "we have the same birthday, I thought we would have figured that out by now" he laughed

"Well that doesn't leave us much time to plan a party then" mom said

Ian was busy talking to my mother and I wandered upstairs to my room. I had just sat down at my desk when I saw a figure at my door. I thought it was Ian but when I turned I saw it was my dad.

"Dad?" I asked

"Dustin" he took a deep breath and I could tell he was struggling to speak

"What is it?" I asked

"I wanted to talk about what happened. I never seem to get to you alone, I think you have been avoiding me" he said

Truthfully... I had been avoiding him; this wasn't a subject I was comfortable with.

"You want to know what I did to mom" I said

He seemed to think about this for a moment.

"Basically" he answered giving a small nod.

I sighed

"Do you believe in magic?" I asked

"No" he answered

That made me smile at my memory of Jackson asking me the same question.

"Dad..." I began but I fell silent

"What Dustin" he asked

"Look" I said pointing to my desk

"What about it?" he asked

I took a single finger and with a fair amount of magic I lifted the whole thing into the air and pushed it to the ceiling. I then let it go and it stayed there, seemingly floating in the air.

"Believe in it now?" I asked and I smiled at my dad's gaping face.

"What's going on?" he asked

"I am different" I said

"Well that's always been the case... but how?" he smirked and I smiled. I knew where I had gotten my sense of humor.

"I was born like this. I discovered these people... they are different than us and they asked for my help, and as far as I can tell they mean no harm." I said

"That sounds rather mendacious" he frowned

"But it's the truth, so I am bound to secrecy hence the vagueness... I wanted to let you know."

"Why?" he asked

"If I vanished or something happened I would want you to know I was alright."

"Is that going to happen?" he asked

"No!" I nearly shouted "I have no intention of doing anything stupid."

"I don't know if I even believe this" he said still staring at my desk.

I stood and gently lowered it back to the floor

"Dad I..." I began

I was surprised when I felt my dad take two large steps forward at great speed and I felt his arms wrap around me.

"I love you Dustin" he sighed deeply "no matter what... I'm... I'm afraid for you." That scared me more than anything else. My dad... the macho ex-Marine was afraid for me.

"I love you too dad" I said

"Hey guys" I heard Ian say and my dad broke apart. Ian was standing in the doorway.

"I guess I should leave you two lovebirds alone... no hanky" he sighed and gave me a fleeting look

"Love you Dusty" he said exiting down the hall.

"Love you dusty" Ian said softly after my dad was out of hearing range.

I narrowed my eyes and Ian smiled

I lay down and Ian hopped right into my bed next to me and I wrapped my arms possessively around him and fell asleep.

I opened my eyes and realized it was still dark out and I took a moment to try and figure out what had awoken me. I looked at the alarm clock and saw it was about 3am and I leaned back against the pillow and shut my eyes.

Instantly I felt my magic flare around me and I sensed a presence nearby. I closed my eyes and focused and realized there were several magical figures nearing the house. I shot out of bed and turned to face Ian

"Sleep" I said ensuring Ian remained asleep. I threw on my clothes and a jacket and rushed down the stairs and to the back door. I stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind me.

I walked down the steps and headed for my rock next to the water when I sensed them. Four figures from my right and one from my left emerged from the trees and into my back yard.

Casey, Clayton, Colin and Aldo came up to me all of them in their Elven form and Jackson emerged alone also in his Elven form.

"Hello Raven" Jackson said approaching me the others remained silent

"What are you all doing here?" I asked

"I came to apologize to you" Aldo said bowing low

"I still haven't learned what happened when I was with you... what did my magic do?" I asked

Jackson smiled as the other elves bristled

"You performed `the call' alone" he said

"What is the call?" I asked

"It is a skill only a hand of Ada can perform. It is a summoning spell. It calls things to you." Jackson smiled

"So I called something?" I asked

"Every elf" Clayton said

"On the planet" Casey added

"Cailen helped you perform the call." Jackson said "he helped make the small changes so we didn't have every werewolf and vampire on our door"

I cringed

"Because of you we are nearing the time to open the gate" Aldo said "preparations must be made"

"And what do you need me to do exactly?" I asked

"Raven we need your power to open it" Jackson said "my power alone is not enough, we need your power as well" he said

"And why should I?" I asked "this doesn't involve me, all you guys have managed to do is lie and try to kill me."

They all looked abashed but Aldo recovered first.

"You were given this power for a reason, Ada guides you and has brought you to us to bring us home. Our fates are intertwined" he said

"I didn't want this, so you can take this stupid power and shove it" I said turning around

I walked a few steps back towards the house

"Deep down Dustin" I heard Jackson say "you know you cannot walk away from this, you're not a coward."

I paused and looked up at my home. I grew up in this house and this is where I pictured my life. I wanted to be a normal human and maybe someday start a family of my own. I mean I know I'm gay but it's a dream right? Everything I had ever known seemed to be represented by my house. I was so afraid that by embracing my magic, by accepting this insanity as real, I would lose everything I had ever had.

I closed my eyes for a moment and I imagined Ian resting peacefully in my bed and my parents. This was my home. Then I realized that these Elves had no home, their home and families had left them long ago and they just wanted to go home. I sighed

"What must I do?" I asked without turning around

"We wait for the Eclipse" Aldo said "when the moon passes in shadow, then we will try" he said

"When is that?" I asked

"The early morning after your birthday" Colin said with a smirk

"You were listening to us?" I asked realizing he must have overheard my earlier conversation.

"We are always watching" Clayton said stepping towards me. "But you can only notice when you let your hold over your magic loosen and let it free... like when you are sleeping" he said

I closed my eyes and tried to sense the magic inside me and I felt a chill pass over me.

I opened my eyes and I watched in fascination as my skin seemed to glow. It was as if a golden haze covered me from head to toe. It was a brilliant light. The chill passed and I felt a tingle over my skin.

"Cool" Colin said

I felt the magic passing through me and out of me as if it were water passing through a sponge.

"You are the Ada Ky'rae, caller of magic" Aldo bowed in acknowledgement

"Is there risk?" I asked "opening the gate?"

"A little" Jackson said cryptically "mostly to anyone near the gate, I assume you'll be fine"

"Then I guess I will see you again in a few days" I said and I turned and left them and headed back into the house.

They all bowed and I felt a little silly as I bowed back to them and I watched them all walk back into the forest and out of sight.

I padded up the stairs back into the house and into my room

Ian was still sleeping soundly and my heart fluttered when I saw him. I was home.

I lay down next to him and wrapped my arms around him. My magic surged out of me and wrapped around Ian with my embrace. With my magic I could sense him. As if reading his whole being.

I closed my eyes and let the darkness take me.

The next day we all went out to the major stores and Ian went shopping with my dad and I went with mom. I picked up a few extra things and by the end of the trip we managed to get all of our Christmas gifts and we gathered for a late afternoon lunch and then went to get a tree

"Where are we getting the tree?" Ian asked as I snuggled up next to him in the back seat of the car crammed from all the packages.

"Harvey's Christmas Tree Farm" Dad said from the driver's seat "it's not too far from here, they let you pick out and cut down your own"

"Sounds cool, I've never cut down my own Christmas tree before" Ian said

"Then we shall give you the honors then" mom said I saw her give me a smile from the rear view mirror

"Cool"

We got to the farm and Dad paid the attendant who gave us a saw and we set off trudging through the snow through rows and rows of trees

"What about this one?" I asked pointing to a tree I thought was a decent size

"It's got a bad spot on this side" Dad said calling from the other side of the tree

"How about this pretty one?" mom asked

"Too short" Ian said

"Okay then smarty pants, you find one" mom said

I was caught up looking at the trees when I suddenly heard Ian shout through one of the rows near the back.

"Over here!" Ian called "this one" he pointed to his selection

"Now that's a tree" Dad said handing Ian the saw "go nuts"

Ian took the saw and Dad helped him by showing him where he needed to cut

I laughed to myself because Ian seemed really excited to be cutting the tree but in reality it really sucks because it's hard and the wood is near frozen.

"This is really hard" Ian said building up a sweat wiping his forehead I could tell his hands were probably beginning to ache

"I wanted to see how long you could go" Dad said chuckling "not bad for a first try" he said then taking the saw and started sawing in earnest accomplishing the task much faster.

"Showoff" Ian said as the tree began to fall

Dad then cut off one of the lowest branches and used the remaining stub to pull the tree with the saw across the soft snow back to the car. We all helped tie it down and Dad returned the saw and we headed home with all their Christmas shopping done and the tree in tow.

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Cailen