[Fiction] Shadow of the Cross

[daremaster 1]

Looks good.... I'll keep reading!

[collegeboy]

Originally Posted by foow

Thanks! I just wish more people would post here... kinda feel like I'm writing for an audience that isn't there...

Just wanted to make sure you knew you had an audience who was enjoying this.

I'm definitely interested in seeing where you go with the story. Such an intriguing first few chapters!

[Siren]

I really love this story; it's all very "real" and believable, and I like the fact that it's happening gradually. It's nice to see such a well-written story

[foow]

Chapter 4: The Veil

Two weeks of sleepless nights and gym-filled days finally caught up to me, and after coming home freezing-cold and still soaked, I collapsed into my bed and fell asleep immediately. It was still dark out when I woke up, making me think that I'd only slept a few hours, only to check my phone and see a slew of missed messages. It was nearly nine at night. I'd slept for 20 hours.

“You probably deserve that,” I said to my reflection as I flexed in front of it, checking out the bulging muscles that threatened to break right out of my skin. I'd missed a test, an assignment and a hockey practice, and had likely scared the hell out of my friends. “Next time you fall in love with a boy, be smart about it, okay?”

My phone rang. It was Simon, the captain of the hockey team. “You faggot,” he snarled as soon as I answered. “You know there was a practice today, right?”

I rolled my eyes and silently cursed at him, and then myself. “Yeah yeah, I wasn't feeling so well.”

“What, did your boyfriend give you AIDS? You don't miss practice! You know that!”

“Like hell I know!” I said angrily. “I was sick, okay? Would you prefer I have shown up and gotten everyone sick for Thursday's game?”

He sighed loudly. “Whatever. You should know better. You're lucky half the damn team is injured or you bet you'd be benched tomorrow.”

“Tomorr... right.” A whole day. I'd slept for a whole freaking day.

“Good. And you better play the best game of your life, or the rest of us are going to gang-rape you in the shower.” He laughed in his typical, asshole-like way. “Then again, I bet you'd enjoy that.”

My phone beeped in my ear. I checked the screen and saw that Josh was calling. “I'll be there, and I'll be skating circles around you,” I said. “Don't forget your bra.” I hung up and connected to Josh's call. “Hello?”

“Jord!” He sounded surprised.

“Hey buddy, what's up?”

“Uh, n-nothing. Where were you? I tried texting and calling you a bunch of times.”

“Yeah, sorry, I wasn't feel so well so I slept through everything today. Didn't mean to worry you.”

“Just glad to hear that you're okay.” He paused. “So, uh, do you want to hang out tomorrow?”

“Thursday?”

“That's what tomorrow is.”

“Right.” I vowed right then to never sleep for more than 10 hours ever again. “I have a hockey game in the afternoon, but after that should be good.”

“Great. Can we meet at the church? We can hang out around there.”

“Sure, I guess. You don't want to grab dinner or something?”

Another pause. “No. There's something important I need to talk to you about.”

The breath was involuntarily sucked out of my lungs. “Sure,” I croaked. “Can't wait.”

“Me neither. Bye.” He hung up. I tossed my phone on the bed and clasped my hands behind my head. He needed to talk to me about something important. I could only imagine what it was.

**

The player in black had to have a good five inches and 50 pounds on me, and he crushed me into the boards with every fibre in his body. I heard almost every part of my back crack as my body was crunched against the glass by this near-titan, and I was certain my helmet was about to pop right off of me.

A split-second later, the check was over and the guy was gone, chasing after the puck that I had now lost. I stumbled back and took a moment to regain my senses, then picked my stick back up and skated out from behind my net. It had hurt, but I could deal with the pain later. There was another thirty seconds left in the game and we were down by a goal. That was the only thing on my mind.

One of their players got the puck at our blue line and fired one hell of a slapshot at the net, where I happened to be standing. It bounced off my unpadded thigh and away from the net. My leg screamed in pain, but the accompanying sudden rush of adrenaline numbed it and gave me a new burst of energy. I got the puck from the left corner and shot out of my team's end, leaving the other players scrambling to get after me.

My daily gym visits had done more than just improve my physique: I was powering down the ice faster than I could remember, with each stride of my skates pushing me harder and further than ever before. I edged past one of the other team's defenseman as he skated for me, leaving just the giant who'd crushed me between me and his goalie.

He was big, but I was fast. As I skated over his blue line, he stopped and lunged at me, his huge right shoulder aimed at my small-by-comparison head. I poked the puck between his legs and darted to his left, spinning 90-degrees on one skate like a ballerina and gliding right past him, giving me a clear path to the net. I took a few more strides, then wound up and released a bullet of a shot, feeling every muscle in my body go into it. I had aimed at the top-right corner, a few inches above the goalie's glove, where a perfect opening was almost begging to be used. It would have to keep begging.

I didn't see the puck until it bounced off the goalie's stomach and fell a few feet in front of, but definitely not in, the net. Knowing I had a few seconds, or tenths of a second, left, I lunged forward, as both the goalie and the giant defenseman did the same. The former dove for the puck, while the latter dove for me, crashing into me again for the second time in half a minute. As my body felt like it was being lifted off the ice, I managed to whack at the puck and carry it with me as I was pushed right over the diving goalie, leaving me with an empty net and two awkward arms on my stick. I hit the puck again, and didn't miss. It crossed the line with two seconds left on the clock.

My body slammed onto the hard ice. A few seconds later it was covered with my teammates, dogpiling on me and singing my praises with as many obscene words as possible. The timekeeper must have realized there was no way we'd line up for a face off again and sounded the buzzer, ending the game in a much-welcome tie. I pushed the other guys away—as much as I enjoyed having them on top of me (especially a few of them), the adrenaline had now worn off and pain throbbed throughout my body. Besides, I had places to get to.

The pain became much more evident as I undressed, and I had quite some trouble removing my shoulder pads and pants. “You okay there Jord?” Simon asked.

“Yeah,” I groaned. “I'm fine.”

He grinned. “Maybe you should miss practice more often.”

I slumped back and knocked my head against the hard concrete wall. Compared to how the rest of my body felt, it was a welcome pain. “I don't think I'll be getting out of bed tomorrow.”

“No problem. So long as you come out with us tonight. We're going to Cherry's. Dollar drinks!”

I shook my head once, the nerves in my neck telling me not to move any further. “Can't. Forgot my ID. Plus, I have plans tonight.”

“Hot date?”

Laughing, I said, “Yeah. You could say that.”

“I hope you score even better than you did on the ice!” another player piped in.

“As long as I don't have to fight off two big burly dudes, sure.” I tossed my equipment in the bag and sat back, resting. A few seconds later, the hottest guy on the team got up and walked towards the showers. I grabbed my towel and did the same.

**

Josh was waiting in the parking lot as the bus pulled up and I got out, wincing with each step I took. He looked better than ever, with the setting run's red rays illuminating his spotless face and shining off his black hair. His navy-blue shirt seemed tight on his shoulders. Had he been working out too?

“How was the game?” His voice was hoarse and sounded anxious.

“It was good.” I proceeded to tell him about my amazing last-second play, while we walked around the exterior of the large church. Josh was quiet for most of the story, saying “uh-huh” and “really?” a few times but little more. He also stayed a few feet away from me, as opposed to the wonderful-closeness he'd kept during our previous meetings.

“Sounds like you had fun,” he said unenthusiastically after I'd finished recapping the game. We'd ended back in the parking lot. “And were you able to warm up after our swim?”

“Yeah,” I said, letting my voice trail off. He seemed distant and cold. This wasn't like him at all. Something was seriously wrong. “Okay, what's going on here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Something's up here. You seem as lively as a dead squid. Is everything okay?” He seemed to flinched at my harsh tone. I backed down immediately. “I'm sorry Josh, I don't want to come across as attacking you. It's just... something's weird here. And I don't have enough brain power right now to try to figure it out.” I waited half a second for him to respond, and then kept going. “You know I care about you. If something's wrong, I want to--”

He spoke quickly. “That's what's wrong.”

Behind us, the church doors opened and a group of older adults streamed out, having just completed some worship or social event. “What do you mean?” I asked. “What's wrong?”

He sighed and looked down. In the dying sunlight, I saw a tear fall from his eye. “I need you to tell me something,” he said softly.

“Tell you what?” A million possibilities soared through my mind.

He looked up at me, his large pupils shimmering and damp. “Remember last time we were talking about people being attracted to members of the same sex?”

Oh crap. “Yes... I do...”

His eyes turned away from, and then back to, me. “I need you to tell me things could never work out with us.”

It was like the giant defenseman had driven his entire body into my stomach. “W-what?”

“There's something wrong with me, Jord. I don't know what's caused it, but I have feelings for you. I'm attracted to you.” His voice raised up and the words came out with speed and fury, not a single breath in between. “I need to get rid of these emotions, and that starts with you telling me that we won't be together. I've seen your Facebook profile, I know how you are with girls. You're straight, like the way God made us. So please, just tell me that it will never work out, and then I can move on and commit myself to liking girls again. Please, before Satan grabs any further a hold on me.”

He caught his breath in large gulps and I felt my whole body go numb. “Josh...” I said slowly. “I can't do that.”

“No, no, it's not hard. Just tell me you're not attracted to me. Then I'll be able to move on and seek help for my unwanted attractions.”

The folks from the worship service had reached their cars and were beginning to leave the parking lot, driving around us. We gave them no attention.

I shook my head, ignoring the pains in my neck. “I can't...”

His whole body seemed to freeze. “Why not?”

“Because it wouldn't be true.”

“...what?”

I looked into his deep blue eyes and felt my heart skip several beats. “I like you, Josh. And not just as a friend. I like you the way you like me. And it's nothing to be ashamed of.”

He stood there, staring at me, his mouth slightly ajar and his hands at his waist. My mind exploded in a thermonuclear blast of emotions, and, not knowing what else to do, I reached for his hand.

“No.” He pulled away from me as a look of sheer horror came across his face. “No. No no NO!”

Without another word, he turned and bolted away from me, towards neighbourhood. “Josh, wait!” I called, but he didn't even slow down. I wanted to chase after him, but it would have been no use. My body was in no shape to move quickly.

He turned down a side street, leaving me in the middle of the parking lot, calling after him as the last of the cars drove past me.

[Mr. Fun 21]

Love this story sooo much can't wait for more!

[foow]

Thanks! Any other thoughts, people?

[Aliciai<3u]

Yes from me amazing story so far you have left me on the edge of my cliff

[daremaster 1]

Love this story! As much as the rest.