The Dream Serpent
Chapter Two
Authors: BYASed Opinions ™
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to previously created characters or actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Authors hold exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
NOTE: We are currently looking for a beta-reader. Preferably someone with a fairly quick (2 to 3 day) turn around time for approximately 5,000 words a week. Also, for those of you who are wondering about what happened four years ago in the story, we didn’t just forget. More will be explained later, we promise. Thank you to everyone who took the time to review, we really appreciate it! We hope to have updates every week or so if possible.
Apologies in advance for all grammatical errors, this is unbeta-ed. :(
Chapter Two
The clock blinked 11:42 AM when he finally managed to open his eyes. Generally he never slept in that late, but between traveling and time zone changes, it was to be expected. Obviously his was awake enough if his brain could calculate that it was 9:42 PM back at home first thing on waking up. It felt like he’d been asleep forever.
With a yawn, Jared sat up, back popping a little when he stretched. The flight hadn’t done his body any favors. He would need a massage to get rid of all the tension. Luckily in a hotel like this he could be pretty sure that they offered such service.
One glance at Jonathan showed that he was still asleep and buried under the covers as if trying to block out what little light could come through the closed curtains. Shaking his head, Jared ran a hand through his hair, attempting to bring it into order. It was never easy to get his brother to wake up.
Standing, he walked around the bed to his bag, grabbing some clean clothes before heading into the bathroom for a long, hot shower. It felt good to be clean after being stuck on an airplane. A change of clothes, teeth brushed, and he headed back into the room. Just a little after noon and Jonathan slept on, unbothered by the light and sounds of a shower. Well, he could fix that.
Heading for the window, he pulled back the curtains. It took a moment, but finally Jonathan raised the covers even more, shielding his eyes. That was proof enough for Jared to know that he was not really asleep anymore. Jared would’ve smirked a year or two go at his brother’s behavior. It seemed that lately Jonathan could spend just as much time sleeping as he did indulging other means to forget himself.
Not today though.
Jared returned to his bed and sat down for a moment, watching Jonathan pretend to sleep. Given enough time he probably would drift off again, but he had plans for them today. He wasn’t entirely sure what they would do yet, but it did not involve wallowing in the dark and in the bed all day long. They were on vacation.
Picking up the pillow from his bed, Jared tossed it at his brother’s sleeping form. Jonathan grunted and lifted one arm, but instead of shoving the pillow back, he just held it, probably to make sure it could not be tossed again.
Good thing there were two pillows on the bed. Jared tossed the second one at his younger brother now. He could hear Jonathan mumble something incoherent, but from the tone alone it was pretty easy to guess that it was a not-all-that-polite request to kindly be left alone. Well, that was not about to happen.
“Come on, Jonathan. Get your lazy ass out of bed.” It wasn’t that long of a reach to the other bed. He grabbed the blanket and tugged.
His brother seemed to have expected something like that, holding on to the blanket desperately, intent on not letting it go. Despite being curled up and having his eyes closed, Jonathan had a determined look on his face. It was amusing. Jared smirked, tugging again, harder this time. At least until his brother randomly decided to let go, which sent him falling backwards on his own bed from the force of his own pull.
“Ass…” Jared muttered, sitting back up and catching the flash of amusement on his brother’s face. That was better.
He even caught him peeking an eye open before burying his head back into the pillows again. It was a little too late for him to be pretending to be asleep now though.
“Come one, we’re going to go sightseeing today. And you’re actually going to eat a decent meal for breakfast.” Jared disappeared into the bathroom again, this time coming back with a glass of water. “Up or I’m dumping water on you.”
Jonathan did sit up at that, glaring for a moment before giving up on that effort and yawning instead. Hair ruffled and eyes closed as his mouth opened wide he suddenly looked really young. Also appeared to be a little thinner than he used to, Jared noticed. He would really make him eat today.
“So, I figured, you shower, dress, we’ll grab some food downstairs and then see about what they have around here, keep it slow. Tomorrow we head out exploring for a bit. I got the number of someone who’s supposed to be really good at giving tours and everyone says she’s the best when it comes to aboriginal history and myth. I figured we could set up a meeting for tomorrow?”
With absolutely no enthusiasm Jonathan nodded. "Sounds good." He might as well have said 'whatever', for all the difference it made. Still, he did get up and headed towards the bathroom, running a hand through his hair, yawning openly once more. "I swear, if they don't have good coffee here..." What he would do in that case, Jared could not hear, as the door closed behind him, drowning out any words that may have followed. But judging by his brother's current temperament, he guessed that it would be something to the effect of staring solemnly into the cup and be in an even worse mood.
Falling back on the bed, Jared stared at the ceiling for a moment before rolling over onto his stomach. He reached over the side of the bed for his backpack and the journal kept inside. He let it fall open as he grabbed a pillow and settled in to read for a moment. It was open somewhere in the middle.
//I have gotten used to the weather in Australia. In fact, now that I am back in England, it feels too cold and rainy. Maybe we should accept that job offering and move to the US after the wedding.//
It was after his mother and father’s second trip to Australia. They had made three all together. The last one had been after they were married. He traced his mother’s signature at the bottom of the page, simply skimming the rest of the entry for now. He knew it all by heart, and he also knew they had taken the university position in the states. It’s where he and Jon had grown up.
Flipping back toward the beginning, he smiled bitter sweetly at the entry. He loved reading this, hearing about his mother and his father. She’d obviously bought this for her first trip there to keep her personal notes separate from her research.
//We arrived three days ago but only now do I feel like I’m finally getting used to the time difference. Tomorrow we plan on meeting our guide, who I’m curious to meet as we’ve been promised a true expert on the subject and local area. He definitely sounded like quite the character over the phone.//
Although he did not need to read it, Jared knew the many pages before this entry were filled with excitement over her trip. Elizabeth had fallen in love with the research and what she obviously thought was a land full of mystery and intrigue. Jared wasn’t sure he was that fascinated with the country, but this journal fascinated him.
Their research, their passion…he couldn’t help but be pulled into their life and past. He’d known they’d been to Australia, that his mother had loved it and his father, too, actually. He’d heard stories of their trips and learned of the mythology, history, and culture as much as they shared with him. But only now did he realize how much of it they had held back, reading through the personal journal he’d found after her death.
//Meeting Jack was quite the experience. He is a fascinating man and under that scruff exterior quite knowledgeable. Jared and him keep trying to outdo each other with their little tidbits of information. Jared was always more interested in the details than the whole, unlike me. Now it is coming to use, if mainly in the weird competition the two have going on. I think Jared is trying to impress me. It does not quite work, but it is adorable.//
There it was, the name Jack. Jared had found his name quite a few times throughout the book. It had taken him months to locate the man. He’d found him, finally, obviously retired but for the right price, he’d been willing to give them a private tour, having remembered his parents when he told Jack who he was. Maybe he could see a bit of what his parents had. It was something, right?
The bathroom door opening had him looking up as Jon stepped back into the room. It was like a billow of steam followed him out, towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was blown dry and brushed back.
“Now don’t you clean up nice,” he teased.
Jonathan ignored the jab, going through his bag and pulling on a clean pair of jeans and a shirt before sitting on the bed to tug on his shoes. “You still reading that?”
“Yeah…” Jared glanced at the journal before closing it and sliding it back into his bag.
“Don’t have it memorized yet?”
“You know as well as I do I don’t just read it for the words,” Jared called him out, then his voice softened. “It wouldn’t hurt you to just read a bit more of her life, Jon. Might make you feel better if you did.”
“Feel better?” Jon sneered, but Jared had seen the pain in his eyes whenever he looked at their mother’s handwriting. “The words don’t bring them back, Jay.”
“I know.” Quiet, that had stung a bit more than Jared cared to admit. Jon really was tenacious in refusing to move on and feel better, as if it would betray them in some way. Jared sighed, letting it go for now.
“Come on then, let’s get something to eat.”
“Yeah, good idea.” Jon ran a hand through his hair, looking a little guilty anyway although Jared suspected it had more to do with how he had just spoken with him than anything else right now. Getting up and grabbing his bag with the journal and his wallet, he ruffled his brother’s hair before hurrying for the door, smiling at the squawk of indignation. Jonathan feeling vain was at least a glimpse of the boy he used to be.
***
Aiden was out of film. He was in the process of developing several rolls now, something that usually took him all month to get through. Tomorrow they were going into town, so he’d pick some up more then. For now he’d holed himself up in the make shift dark room, everything in shades of red and black. Sometimes he was afraid that when he’d walk out they would be the only colors he would see ever again.
At one point it used to be a very large closet. Aiden was quite sure that whoever had lived there before them must have really liked clothes. There was more than enough room to walk in with several feet of elbowroom without running into any walls or the small table he had against the back. It had pans of solution and pictures in various stages of development all around him. He was using the clothing racks above to hang drying pictures. He’d hung up a sign on the door that said ‘in use’ so no one would walk in and ruin his pictures.
Currently he was staring at one of the glossies hanging up. It had been something he couldn’t resist taking a picture of, a bright cacophony of color bursting on the page. You could almost hear the fireworks. Seth had bought them for their own private party. They’d stolen a six pack of beer from their uncle, left over cake, a radio, and Seth had surprised him with fireworks knowing how much he loved anything artistic. Making that art take form in loud bursts of fire and gunpowder, well…it was the perfect allegory of their personalities mixed together.
Next to that photo, he had the same exact image only it was silenced. Shades of grey brought the same images to light, but it was like after a bomb went off. The first big boom shattering eardrums, and the next image was like quiet stillness. It was a little frightening how fast he could rob a picture of its voice like that. It was like throwing a veil over it, heavy and smothering. Why didn’t all black and white photos seem so deafening?
The knock at the door jolted him from his thoughts and very nearly had him knocking over the tray of solution when he jumped in fright, bumping into the table. It could only be his brother or his uncle.
“Aiden, do you have any idea what time it is?” And that was most definitely Seth. At least he didn’t try to open the door anymore. The first time he’d done that, Aiden had been so furious over his ruined pictures he hadn’t talked to his twin for almost a week. It had been such a beautiful photo, too.
“Of course,” he replied immediately. After a moment though, he realized he didn’t have his phone with him so he had no idea how long he’d been in the room itself. Last time he checked it was a little past noon. Checking his photos drying, he very quickly slipped out of the closet.
“Alright, I don’t, but to be fair, I did try to sleep.” Tiny lie. He’d been so excited over his pictures being ready to develop he’d been working on them nonstop it seemed. His body was lucky he let it sleep. If the clock on the wall was accurate, it was already two in the afternoon.
"Ah.... I missed lunch again didn't I?" he asked sheepishly, knowing that would be the only reason Seth would come to hassle him about being holed up so long. Well, that and if it was his shift at the front desk.
"Yeah, you did." Seth sat on his bed. They didn’t share a room anymore, but that hadn’t really changed their ‘what’s yours is mine’ philosophy. Except where his art came in.
"And,” his twin continued, leaning back on his elbows, long hair almost touching the mattress. “You don't look as if trying to sleep worked out all that well for you. If you stop eating now as well, it won't even be a competition to be the better looking twin."
“I know,” Aiden smirked, “I’d be the prettier one.” He gave his hips a teasing sway as he headed to his bathroom to wash any remnants of the photography solution off. He could hear his voice over the tap though.
"Fine by me. I am striving more for 'ruggedly handsome', myself."
“Is that what they call eating all the time and lounging about?”
“I’m fit as a Mallee bull, I’ll have you know.”
That earned a snort from Aiden as he returned from the bathroom. “I’m pretty sure your hair negates any chances of you pulling off rugged.”
His brother smirked up at him from his open sprawl on the bed. "Silky, well conditioned handsomeness then.”
“Now you sound like a shampoo advertisement.”
"Because I'm worth it,” Seth stated as he ran a hand through his hair in an overly exaggerated manner. Aiden smirked as he through his rack of clothes along the wall. He needed a nicer shirt to work the front desk.
Tugging a white collared shirt off the hanger, he hesitated. Aiden glanced surreptitiously at his brother, but Seth already had his eyes averted as if he suddenly found something of interest on the nightstand by the bed.
Aiden knew they were both aware of why he was not looking. He hated the tension filling the room, but that particular topic had rarely been brought up since the incident, and he knew neither of them would bring it up now.
“Uncle Pete suggested we offer to go along with Jack when he takes his overpaying spoiled customers on a tour,” Seth stated. Aiden got the feeling his brother didn’t want his mind lingering on the past. “Do you think ‘Hell no!’ might be too vague an answer?”
“I think,” Aiden stated, quickly taking his shirt off and pulling on the new one before reaching for his pants, “that you’re being too judgmental. After all, high paying clients for Jack are usually lawyers and doctors and the like. Maybe you’ll get lucky and one of ‘em will have brought their nurse.”
“Not everyone in this family has a nurse fetish.” The way Seth licked his lips though certainly seemed to indicate who in their family did have one though. “Unfortunately they’re usually rather possessive. Apparently teaching their spouses how it’s done right isn’t viewed as good customer service.”
“Yes, who knew anyone could get so mad catching someone a third of their age in bed with their young wife. You can turn around now,” Aiden stated, always more confident when he was fully dressed and covered. “Now, why it can’t ever be young, handsome doctors, I’ll never know.”
Seth turned around and sat up in one swift motion, shrugging gracefully to top it off before getting up. “Young doctors, handsome or not, don’t have the money for beautiful wives and trips to Oz.”
Spoken with all the cynical wisdom of an eighteen year old, Seth put one arm around Aiden’s shoulder in a gesture of brotherly comfort. He let his brother steer him out of the room and down the hall to the stairs. “I promise, you can have first pickings among any that do happen to find their way here.”
“How generous of you,” Aiden replied dryly as they descended to the first floor. The front desk was around the corner on the left. Their uncle was scribbling something on the ledger when they stopped in front of it.
“Hey, Uncle Pete,” Aiden continued, “Seth says I can have any doctor I want when he comes through.” It was very important news that must be shared. “I’m just giving you a heads up in case I runaway with one that promises me riches in a foreign land.”
"You do that, mate." Their uncle sounded distracted for a moment. Then he actually looked up from the book, a thoughtful look on his eyes. "You know, you really should not believe what a doctor promises you. I had one tell me that life on the countryside with lots of fresh air will be good for my health. Now I am stuck in the middle of nowhere with two brats wearing my nerves thinner every day."
Seth smirked, shoving his brother playfully. "You should stick with lawyers, at least they are open about being full of crap."
“I could settle for a lawyer. You could sleep with his wife,” Aiden replied with a grin, shoving his brother back. He ducked around the desk, tugging Seth's nametag off the wall and clipping it to his front pocket. His grin widened.
“Sorry, wearing it doesn’t automatically make you handsome and cool like me.”
“Sure it does. I will tell everyone you are Aiden.”
“Just what the world needs,” Pete cut off his nephew before Seth could say something else, “two of you.” He set his pencil down, looking at both boys now, obviously trying not to smile.
“You hear the man ‘Aiden’,” Aiden stated, gesturing in a manner that obviously stated Seth needed to move along.
"And I agree with him,” Seth stated, missing his uncle’s sarcasm on purpose. “It really is just what the world needs."
“Well, then I guess I have two workers this afternoon, hmm?” Pete arched an eyebrow at the real Seth.
"I'll just be in the kitchen, since no one needs me." The speed with which Seth disappeared toward the dining room toward the kitchen was a testament to his work ethic. Aiden smiled, changing out the nametags now that Seth had made his escape.
Pete chuckled at Seth’s disappearing back before leaning back, apparently having finished up the paperwork. He was watching Aiden, just a bit of concern in his voice. "I haven’t seen you all day, mate. Got lost in your laboratory again? I really ought to make a window there."
“Ah,” Aiden rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, shrugging. “Sorry, I didn’t realize I’d been in my room working on projects that long. I should set up a snack shop in my room so you two don’t worry.”
Dryly, his uncle shook his head. "I highly doubt that you on a sugar high will cease my worry in the least."
Aiden grinned. “You know I do my best work under the influence of chocolate covered liquorices and nougat bars.”
"If you define 'your best work' as regressing to prepubescent behavior and giggling a lot, then you are without a doubt correct there." Pete smirked as he closed the book and stretched, obviously glad to be done with it. "As long as you are not high though, could you do me a favour and prepare the two adjoined bedrooms on the first floor for tomorrow?"
“For Jack’s guests? Or did someone actually call to reserve a room here?” The inn’s usual customers were guests too inebriated to find their way home or people simply passing through the small town on their way to more exciting ventures.
“Both, actually,” Pete replied. “Jack gave ‘em our number here. They want to rent the room for the next week out for some excursion he’s taking them on. Brothers, I assume, at least they share a surname. Probably in the telly business with some nature show or another.”
“I thought Jack retired,” Aiden stated absently, already taking the checking the computer for their reservation.
Pete just shrugged. “You’ll have to ask him. Seems like a good deal for him though, you know, getting paid to spin his yarns and all that.”
“Is Jack sure a week’s gonna be long enough?” Aiden smirked, looking up from writing down the two room numbers to meet his uncle’s eye. “I can’t recall him ever finding an end to his tales.”
Sharing that smirk with his nephew, Pete winked before nodding. "Me neither. He’ll try to pack in as much as possible, no doubt. He’s even requested the two of you tag along. I take it Seth told you?"
"He did. Bet Seth could do the tour for half the price and in half the time. No official guarantee on them both surviving though, I suppose...” Aiden trailed off, shaking his head of the sudden image of Seth maniacally pushing tourists off a cliff. He never did like them.
“Yeah,” Pete smirked, almost as if able to read his thoughts. “Probably why Jack said it was a double or nothing kind of deal. Not that I've ever known you any other way.”
“Oh, are we getting paid?” Aiden asked, a sudden gleam to his eye. “There’s that new camera I want to get and there’s still the video recorder…wait, what exactly does he need our help with?” He had the sudden, uneasy thought.
"I suppose he will pay you some, plus the tips, so you might earn enough for that camera." He smiled. "I guess the usual, down to some valleys, see a kangaroo and drive down the river...oh,” Pete paused, catching on to his nephew’s hesitance. "I’m sure you don't have to help with everything."
“Seth won’t mind doing some on his own,” Aiden agreed, brushing right over the topic as if it didn’t bother him. “Besides, someone has to hang around from time to time to make sure you don’t burn the place down.”
"I’ve already grown past my pyromaniac tendencies in the recent years." Tilting his head to the side, Pete added after a small pause, "Best you lock the matches and kerosene though for when I’m alone."
“Nong,” Aiden smirked fondly, shoving his uncle out from behind the desk. He could see an edge of worry in his eyes despite the humour, undoubtedly caused by the topic they had barely avoided. “Get going. You do know you’ve left Seth alone in the kitchen for near on 30 minutes now, right?”
"Point taken," Pete got up, heading in the direction Seth had gone earlier. "Best you check up on us if I’m not back in an hour.”
Aiden smiled as he settled into the chair behind the desk, tugging out his sketch pad and pencils from the top drawer to settle in for the evening shift.
TBC
To the Reviewers:
my perversities: Thanks! Heh, hopefully you’ve had a bit of your curiosity sated on the twins, though there will be more on that first part. Sorry there weren’t any mermen stealing him away XD But we promise more of all four boys next chapter!
vicxn: I hope you enjoyed the second on just as much. :) Keep an eye out in a week or two for the next part. I promise the story will pick up soon!