Darkness Rising Part 3
“I am frickin’ exhausted,” Kris said, flopping onto the sofa when they arrived home later.
“You should be,” Rudy responded. “What the hell was that back there? I’ve never seen anything like that! Ingold, have you ever seen anything like that?”
“I haven’t. But there were references to something like it in a few of the books in the library at Quo. I don’t know if it was ever used in quite that way, though. From what I remember in the books, I think it had something to do with generating energy. However, what happened back there was similar to the plan I was formulating. It was just a bit more abrupt and disorderly than I was planning.”
“Yeah, we wouldn’t want to be disorderly when we’re killing aliens,” Dean said, with an edge to his voice; Ingold simply grinned at him.
“I don’t want this!” Kris said again determinedly.
“If it’s any comfort, your abilities should fade with time,” Ingold responded.
“How much time?”
“There is no way to know for certain. It may relate to how long the Dark were here. We do know that the Dark are the reason magic works; with them gone, the magic should go as well.”
“Are they gone?” Adam asked.
“We need to give it a couple of days to be certain,” Rudy answered. “But right now, I’m with Kris. I’m exhausted. Is there someplace I can sleep right now, besides the studio? I need to be awake tonight to be on watch, so I might as well sleep now.”
“I’ll show you to one of the guest bedrooms,” Adam said. “Come on, we can stop by the studio to pick up the bedding. Anyone else want a nap?”
“I don’t think so,” Ingold replied. “I will try sleeping out here tonight, and with no veil spell. If there are still Dark Ones here, I’ll be perfect bait.”
Adam groaned. “Bait. In my living room. I’m not sure I’m down with that.”
“I can sleep outside,” Ingold offered. “It seems to be pleasantly warm here.”
“No, no, it’s okay. Come on, Rudy, let’s get you settled.” Adam and Rudy headed off toward the studio.
“Is anyone hungry?” Kris asked. “I’m starving. I think I’m more hungry than I am tired.”
“I could eat,” Dean said.
“Always,” Sam added.
Kris grinned tiredly. “You guys sound like me and my brother. Come on to the kitchen, let’s see what we have. Ingold? Gil?”
“I’ll come with you,” Gil said. “Ingold needs to be alone anyway. He needs privacy to do his searching for the Dark.”
~*~
Two days and several news cycles later, there was still no sign of Dark Ones. The abandoned South Central building that collapsed into a heretofore unknown fault line was already fading from the news. In the middle of lunch on the third day, Dean’s phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and looked at Sam. “Kevin.” He walked outside to take the call.
Sam looked at the others and said, “I think it may be about time for us to go. We’ve got kind of a lot of stuff going on.”
Dean came back in and nodded to Sam. “Yeah. Monsters to kill, prophets to babysit.”
“This is it, guys,” Sam said. “Do you think it’s safe?”
“I believe so,” Ingold said. “I’ve been searching for signs and I’ve slept outside each night, just waiting for them. Neither Rudy nor I have sensed any trace of them since we left the lair.”
“Adam, Kris, thanks so much for letting us crash here,” Sam said. “Ingold, Rudy, Gil, it’s been quite an adventure. I’m glad we got to meet you.”
“Even though I may not ever wrap my head around the fact that there are aliens,” Dean added. “At least they’re not little bug-eyed grey men. Adam, thanks, man.” Dean shook Adam’s hand. “Kris, you’ve got my number if you need to talk.” He and Kris hugged, and Kris shook Sam’s hand and gave him a hug. They walked Sam and Dean to the door and watched them walk to their car.
Sam gave Dean a side-eye. “You gave Kris your phone number?”
“Shut up.”
“Well, he is kinda cute.” Sam rolled his eyes and grinned.
“Shut. Up.”
After the car doors slammed, the engine roared to life and the Impala rumbled down the street.
“He gave you his phone number?” Adam looked at Kris quizzically.
“Hush. We’ve been talking about the…the…”
“Guilt?” Adam whispered.
Kris leaned against him. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “He and Sam have done some hard things, made some hard decisions. He knows how I feel about this, because he’s felt the same way at times.”
“You know you can talk to me, right?”
“I know.” Kris smiled up at him. “And you’ve been amazing. And I know you’ll continue to be amazing. But you’ve never…”
Adam sighed. “You haven’t either. Not really. They did it. They destroyed those people’s lives long before we walked into that building.” He hugged Kris and pulled him away from the door. “Come on, we still have company in the dining room.”
Arms around each other, they walked back into the dining room to find their three guests standing, waiting for them.
“I think it is time we left as well,” Ingold announced.
“Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure?” Adam asked.
“We are as certain as it is possible to be. There are no Dark Ones left on this world. I believe there are no Dark Ones left in the Void. I’m fairly certain they are all still happily ensconced on their new world. I believe the ones that were here were very different from the rest of them. You must remember I knew them extremely well. They are conformist creatures who don’t like change. They prefer peace and quiet as much as we do; tending their herds, living their lives. These others were-I felt their minds, and they were odd; they wanted things to be new and exciting. It almost seemed that they wanted a new world to explore, and, oddly enough, spicy food.”
“So we had something like-the Christopher Columbus of Dark Ones here? Looking for Indian spices?” Adam guessed.
Ingold looked puzzled, but Rudy and Gil grinned. “Something like that, I think,” Gil said.
Rudy cleared his throat and said, “Well, as much as I like you guys, I have a home and woman to get back to, so we should probably head out.”
“Back to the Salvation Army store?” Kris asked.
“Yes. Less damage that way,” Rudy responded.
“Okay. Let’s go.”
Darwath
“Do you really think it’s safe for them?” Gil asked as they walked back to the Keep.
“If I didn’t, we would still be there,” Ingold answered.
“I believe you. I’m not as attuned to them as you are, but I never felt a thing after the big battle,” Rudy added. “Now let’s step it up. I can’t wait to see Alde,” he finished with a grin.
Los Angeles
“Oh my god, this place is a mess!” Adam exclaimed. “I’m glad Marte’s coming to clean tomorrow, but we need to go ahead and do the dishes now. I think every dish in the house is dirty.”
“If you want to get started, I’ll be in there in a few minutes. I have to call Cale and Torres and get them back into rehearsal. We have a show in a couple of days and we’re not quite ready yet.”
Adam groaned. “I have to call Tommy and Lainey. Tommy saw everything the other day. They both saw the one I killed, and Tommy saw me kill it. I owe them explanations. And I have to take Lainey shopping for a whole new outfit.” He brightened. “Actually, that’s kind of a bright side,” he said with a grin.
Kris laughed. “I love you so much.”
“Back at ya, baby,” Adam said, kissing him lightly, then more deeply, thinking about what they had and how much they had almost lost. “Hey, you wanna make the calls and do the dishes later?”
“Absolutely.”
~*~
Later, as they lay in a puddle of cooling sweat, Kris said in a slurred voice, “We nearly died this week.”
“Yeah.”
“No, man, we nearly died this week.”
“And we saved the fucking world, baby.”
“Yeah. Saved the fuckin’ world.”
“Holy shit, Kristopher! Did you just say ‘fuck’?”
“Fuckin’ right I did.”
Adam snorted. “You’re a mess.”
“Kinda makes all that other shit seem unimportant, you know?”
Adam yawned. “What other shit?”
That was the last thing they remembered until the next morning.
~*~
They woke up the next morning to Marte’s voice echoing loudly from downstairs, exclaiming over the state of the house. Adam pulled the covers over his head and elected to stay in bed. Kris got up to make his phone calls. Cale and Torres were on board for a short rehearsal in about an hour after Kris assured them that the “electrical problem” had been fixed. Kris quickly got ready to go, pulled the covers off of Adam’s face so he could kiss him goodbye, pulled them back up, and headed out.
Adam decided he had to go ahead and pay his penance, so he called Lainey and told her he was ready to shop. He then called Tommy and talked him into coming with them so he would only have to tell the story once.
~*~
The house sparkled. Marte was awesome. Adam had already texted that shopping was done, Tommy and Lainey were satisfied (although Tommy did say something about ‘going home to smoke a fatty, so I can process all this shit’), and Adam was on his way home. Kris had everything ready; roast chicken with vegetables-no rice or potatoes, of course, for Mr. No Carbs Before Tour-wine chilling, candles lit, flowers on the table. Kris took a picture of the obviously romantic setting-candles, flowers, wine and food set out on the table along with the china and silver-and uploaded it to Twitter. Dinner at home with @adamlambert ;)
And smiled as his phone lit up with alerts.
Epilogue
L.A. Times Music Blog
On Monday night in Hollywood, Adam Lambert debuted his new tour, “Out of the Dark.” From the moment he strode onstage to the strains of “Ripped Apart” to the last slinky pelvic thrust of “This Is the Way I Love You,” the audience, and this reviewer, were mesmerized. The show is spectacular, in the truest sense of the word; a crowd-pleasing spectacle full of beautiful music, awe-inspiring vocals, astonishing set pieces, and exquisite costumes and make-up. And this is all before we address the action sequences. Yes, action sequences in a rock concert. Only Adam Lambert. The action sequences feature swords, torches, and pitched battles against dark monsters (possibly a metaphor for homophobia?), and the final triumph of love. This concert is a must see. Kudos to Adam Lambert for the best show we have seen this year.
Twitter feed from Kris’s concert
@maki147 Kris Allen: still charming, hot, and tiny
@zipitydoodah Great, great show! The crowd and Kris were on fire.
@allaboutme Lol, right before @KrisAllen start singing, somebody yelled " You are sooo hot". Kris smiled.
@DemiMcCann OMG HE IS SO HOT HOW DID I FORGET THIS
@jambajim Is it just me, or has @krisallen gotten hotter since he came out? (That is what happened, right?)
End