What Happened That Night Ch. 03

It felt strange to sit there. This was my grandfather's seat, and then after him it was my father's seat. Even after my grandpa passed, even after my dad went to prison, I never sat there, it was not my place. I think everyone could sense how uncomfortable I was, but no one said anything until I put my food and glass down.

This moment feels surreal, like some warped Normal Rockwell painting, but I guess this is my family. I also notice that between Ashley and Azrael I have found my missing food. She can be that way, we will just see if I stop and get her any more omelets, even though I know good and damn well that I will still pick them up for her. Someone has to take care of the girl.

I hear clinking on a glass and notice Dr. Koshka, who's on my left, as Azrael's on my right, with Ashley sitting next to her and her friend sitting next to the good Dr. is trying to get everyone attention.

"Christopher, this is wonderful, thank you so much for the food, both yesterday and today."

Everyone raises their glasses and I am speechless. I don't get a lot of thank you's, much less from beautiful women. I am sitting there, wondering what to say when Ashley once again saves me.

"You're still a dick man."

Everyone laughs and the tension is somewhat broken.

"I'm glad everyone is enjoying the fruits of my hard work" I say, as I look down at my small plate.

Everyone goes back to eating with gusto and soon the plates are cleared. I grab Azrael as she's walking away.

"You want to tell me what the fuck is going on?" I ask her, a bit more aggressively then I intended to, but this shit is a lot to take in, and she seems to be the only one with the answers I need. She looks at me for a moment and leans down a bit to kiss my forehead, damn her, being taller than I am.

"Not really Master, but if I must it will have to wait. It's my turn to clean."

She says it like she just found out she won the lottery. For the life of me, I cannot picture Azrael cleaning anything, but hell, two days ago I could not picture a succubus at all. I watch her prewash dishes and then put them in the dishwasher. Behind me Dr. Koshka is wiping down the table, and upstairs I could hear Ashley and Ivy puttering about. Not knowing what to do with myself, I sat there, leaning against the kitchen doorjamb, watching these women take care of my home.

I also begin to wonder is it even my home anymore. The way it is cleaned, how everything is running, it doesn't feel like mine, it feels like I'm the one just visiting. I start looking around on the walls, seeing really for the first time the pictures and bric-a-brac I kept saying I would put up for years. There were the pictures on the far wall of my grandfather and grandmother holding hands looking in each other's eyes. It was taken in their home in Waterford Ireland, where he accidently spilled a drink on the man who was courting her at the time. He said they saw each other and the rest was history. I was always jealous of that picture, even more so after I was married myself. Then, there above the entertainment stand, is the picture of my father in uniform, wearing all his medals, standing behind my very pregnant mother. She had one of those mysterious smiles, her braids pulled together by a leather thong. Around the house were pictures of my family, each one reminding me of happier times and things I wanted with a family of my own.

Going up the stairs is one of Ashley and me, she was fourteen and sitting on the first bike she ever worked on. It was a little Honda Rebel she turned into a bobber and I told her it was for a big client. She worked for weeks doing it by herself ,and I think it took me another week to correct her mistakes, but damn, she was proud of it. Next one was just of Ashley and me in front of the shop, with her wearing a shirt that had the Black Jack customs logo on it. Yes, this house is mine, with my memories all over the place it's just different now. I suppose with Azrael here everything is different.

Ashley and her friend come down the stairs arm in arm. Ivy looks a little unsure when she see's me, but Ashley kisses her on her neck and behind her ear and the Asian girl let's out a giggle; she seems like the type that would giggle a lot.

"Yo Chris, I have to take Ivy back to her place, be back later ok. Ohh you have a meeting with Matt tomorrow."

I was confused for a minute who the fuck is Matt ... then I remembered Matthew Sears is the lawyer I use for my business. Why would he need to see me? Everything is fine, and thanks to grandpa I don't owe anyone shit.

"Hey, did he say what about?"

Ashley looks at me in exasperation, trying to get out the door.

"It's about those papers you had in your saddle bag. I gave them to him while you were in the hospital."

Ohh shit, the divorce papers, I had totally forgotten about them. In fact, I totally forgot about Samantha during all this, except for that brief moment this morning. Before I can say anything else she is out the door. I watch her kiss the other girl full on the lips, and then set a helmet on her head before donning her own. Ashley looks happier and that gives me a sense of pride by itself. I just feel like shit for doing anything that made her feel like she had to keep something so major from me. I watch them mount an old Victory and head off down the road.

I feel someone grab my arm and see Dr. Koshka put her small hand over my bicep. She looks up at me and kind of purses her lips. If I didn't knew better I would think she's expecting a kiss or something. At least one of my faculties works and I remember to close the door. It would not do for my neighbors to see these women in their unmentionables.

"Is there something I can do for you Dr. Koshka?"

She takes her hand off me and just looks a little sad. Jesus fucking Christ what the hell did I do now? It seems like I can never win.

"Moya lyubov, I am sure you have many questions. Why don't you come and sit, we will go through them."

That sounds like one hell of a plan, but anything she said in that accent of hers I would have probably agreed with. I got to learn what she is saying. I made my way to the couch. Azrael is sitting there, in simple jeans and one of my tee shirts, and I notice the good Dr. has gotten dressed as well in sweats and a top that had some school symbol or something like it. Now I have two out of the three women who have some clue of how my life has turned into what it has become.

"Ok Umm Dr. Koshka..."

"Chris, please let me stop you right there. Please do not call me that, to you my name is Lada."

I love the way she says it. Crap, since when did I become a Lothario? Just a few hours ago I had the absolute wildest sex in my life and here I am, sporting a boner to end all boners for the very hot doctor with the to die for accent. I take a deep breath and try to compose myself somewhat.

"Okay ladies let's start with something simple."

I then point to Azrael

"I want to know how you got here and what you are doing here."

Azrael looks at me in confusion for a full minute.

"Master, don't you already know?"

"How can I know, last time you tried to tell me about it I ended up with an overnight stay at the hospital."

This time both ladies look at each other in confusion. Lada puts her hand on my head and starts to check my eyes. I put my hands on her shoulders to push her back a little, and she turns and kisses my hand before I could move it, then goes back to sit down next to Azrael and they start talking.

"He seems ok, but we should take him back to the hospital to be sure. I would like to run a full check up." She said that to Azrael like she's the one who makes the decisions. This really has to stop. Come on now, I am supposed to be the master here supposedly, so why do I feel like the one in the least amount of control.

"Hey Doc I am right here. What's wrong and why would I need check?"

She just looks at me for a second.

"Lyubov, has no one told you? You have been in the hospital two weeks."

I'm in shock. Damn, I really should have listened when the doctors were talking to me. I look around the house again. So it seems all these women have had the time to settle in. Wait, oh shit, two weeks, what has been going on with my shop? Those papers Ashley gave the lawyer, have they been served? I walk back over to the table and collapse on a chair. I notice it is the chair at the head of the table once again. Funny, I have never once sat in this chair and now twice in one day. This time it's Azrael that asks a question.

"Master, when I kissed you, everything about our meeting should have flashed."

"Yeah well it didn't. I didn't see you at all."

Azrael looks confused and Lada is just staring at me. Obviously the brains of this outfit, she asks the most obvious question.

"So if you saw nothing of Azrael, then what did you see?"

So I told them everything I could remember. I told them how I was out of body and saw what was going on around me. I told them about the strange winged chick with the glowing armor raping some guy. I also told about the guy with the two demons running from some Knights. I even got to the end and told them about some Mediterranean chick going to see Azrael and telling me to care for people or something. I also told how Azrael had some woman in the hospital. Azrael doesn't even look non-pulsed. She just kind of shrugs her shoulders, like so what.

"My powers were weak. I knew you were there, I could feel you, but I could not interact. What it sounds like is that you were in a shift. I was trying to get enough power to touch you."

I look at Azrael waiting for her to continue. She just stares at me.

"Ok I'll bite, what's a shift?"

Azrael tosses her hands in the air.

"How is it that the monkeys have yet to enslave you all I will never understand. Humans have forgotten and buried more knowledge then most would come across."

She then takes her fingers and draws a big ring of fire in the air, then she starts putting much much smaller rings all around the big ring, like some sort of Venn diagram.

"This is the center of the spiritual universe ... your world. That's right, everything revolves around you. Now, each one of these smaller circles is another realm. They can only interact with each other by moving through your realm. Each of these other realms are different and have different denizens among them that cannot interact at all, unless on your plane. A shift is when you are out of phase in your current realm."

I know she's saying something important, but like my teachers in school, I just start drowning her out and staring at the beautiful Lada as she's paying rapt attention to what Azrael is saying. Why is the Dr. here, I wonder. I mean, obviously she and Azrael got something going on, but what? I also remember how good her hands felt on me and how she touched me in the hospital. Why is the Dr. not freaking out? Hell, Azrael is making circles of fire and Lada is taking it in stride, like a everyday occurrence. This is odd in itself to me.

"This is why your realm is important, but after I bent her over and put my tongue in her ass she just collapsed and didn't have the strength."

I just nod to Azrael then do a double take. I swear I missed something.

"What was that? Sorry I think I zoned out some."

Azrael just shakes her head.

"Simply put master, your world is the center of the universe. No one can get anywhere without going through here first."

Wow, that kind of makes this, this plane, no, she called it realm, yeah, it makes this realm a big deal it seems. I clue in on one thing she said though.

"Wait, I saw that guy with two demon things and one was definitely pregnant and the other wanted kids. I thought you just said there was no cross breeding."

Azrael kind of rolls her eyes when I call them demons.

"So master, you were paying attention ... of sorts."

"You see, "Demons"" she says, using air quotes, "are physically incapable of breeding with any other being not their own with the exception, of those of this realm. This holds more so for my type, because we have no males."

With this Lada perks up. I'm paying so much attention to Azrael that for just a split second I had forgotten she's there. Her sweet voice with that accent quickly brings me back to my senses.

"You have no males ... I thought you did, they were called, umm, incubus or something, yes?"

Azrael smiles at Lada and caresses her cheek.

"No, we are creatures who gain power through lust, if there were males we would just become indolent, sitting in our plane, feeding off each other, never doing anything. All we would need is Dr. Phil and we would become American housewives."

I stifle a laugh, but I do wonder where she gets her view of housewives from. All this is interesting, but none of it answers the question I asked. I figure it is time to get back to the heart of the matter.

"So tell me what is it that you want."

Azrael stares at me for a second but I know that look and I quickly raise my hands.

"Use your words, no more coma kissing."

Azrael smiles at me and stands up and bows with a flourish.

"I am Azrael, daughter of the fourth and knight of the circle."

Ok, that explains nothing, what the hell is the fourth? Fourth of what, wait a minute she said knight like night, or knight like kings and queens and shit? Well, she said there are no males, so it would have to be a queen. Wait, maybe they have knights, but no monarchy or whatever. Now I really wish I would have paid attention in Sunday school. I'm about to say something when Azrael gets a look on her face that can only be construed as sly.

"As for what I want Master, is simple, and it would look something like this."

With that Azrael claps her hands together and everything around me goes dark. It only lasts for a few seconds to me, but I'm not sure how time works when I'm like this. Last time it seems I was out several weeks. I guess there is nothing I can do about it now though, except sit back.

Soon there is light and I look around. I notice I'm in the passenger seat of a car on the move. In the driver seat is ... me. Holy shit, is that me? No, that can't be me. I mean, that could be me if I was a GQ model. I look good, like really, really good. I'm wearing a black T shirt, and on closer look it is my Black Keys shirt. I have not worn it since I picked it up at that concert because it was so small, now though it fits like I was poured into it. I seem to be older now, I'm sporting a beard and mustache that is showing some grey, and instead of the belly. I can see I have abs like I never had before, and arms like I just graduated basic. My hair is somewhat shorter, but still curly and I notice I have a sleeve tattoo down my right arm.

I push a button on the console, and soon Garbage Man by the band Hole starts playing at full blast. I know it's me now; I'm probably the only person who still listens to Courtney Love by choice.

"Dad, too loud"

When I hear this I slowly look in the back seat. There, in a couple of car seats, are two children. One has Azrael's wings and eyes, but that is definitely my hair, poor girl. She could be no more than six, her small wings spread against the back seat, and she had cute little nubs for horns and a slender tail with a small barb at the end, idly waving back and forth.

In the other car seat is a little boy who suffered from my skin tone. He has the brightest, reddest hair I had ever seen, but he has my eyes. He looks about four years old, with little ears that seem almost cat like, sticking high on his head. He also has a long fluffy tail that comes out from beside him. He has a toy motorcycle that he's making engine noise with and driving on the window. I saw the boy's ears twitch my way, then he turns and looks at me. Not old me driving, but me in the passenger seat. I wave at the boy, and I swear he smiles back and then gets back to play with his motorcycle.

Older me looks in the rearview mirror and smiles at the children.

"Sorry pumpkin" and then I turn down the radio.

"You know mom said she does not like us listening to that kind of music." The little girl says in a authoritative tone only a six year old girl could muster. "Mom says that music louder than 85 debils, no devils,..."

"Decibels baby"

The little girl looks mad that I helped her out for a second then continues "music louder than 85 decibels can cause, hummm, bad ears in everyone. Since me and Jarlath are different you have to be quieter. Mommy also does not think that music is age approximate."

Older me just smiles at the girl as she finishes and nods her head authoritively.

"Baby you would say Jarlath and you not you and Jarlath. Also you mean age appropriate."

I smile to myself, watching older me interact with what is obviously my children. I named my son after my grandfather. I always told him I would, and it feels good to see I kept my promise. Older me goes back to minding the road, while I'm holding on to the handle over the passenger window for dear life. I really really hate cars.

We soon stop at a parking lot. I look out and see it is one of those big box grocery stores. Older me looks back at the children.

"Okay Leanan you need to change baby. Jarlath, you too little man."

Leanan concentrates for a moment, before her wings and tail recede and Jarlath follows suit. I notice neither child seems to go through the discomfort Azrael does. It also seems Leanan could not withdraw her horns, because I can still see the tiny nubs. Older me pulls a hat out of the glove box and places it on her head and get out of the car, then helping my kids out of their car seats. It seems that this is the normal way things are done now.

"Ok who's got the shopping list?"

Jarlath reaches into his pocket and pulls out some folded up paper and hands it to older me.

"I see your mothers have been adding to the list hmm."

Before the family could go much further, I hear an all to familiar sound. I see my corvette come roaring through the parking lot, skidding tires and turns before it almost slides its way into a space by the whatever the hell this thing is I'm driving. What the hell is it anyway, it looks like some hybrid contraption that I would not be seen dead in.

Soon Azrael and Lada come out of the car, the Doctor wearing scrubs and a tired expression on her beautiful face, until she sees the children and I. The children quickly run to the ladies and the hugs and kisses ensue.

"Az honey, I told you not to drive like that, the insurance won't survive another ticket."

She just looks at me and goes back to kissing Jarlath and Leanan. Lada comes up to older me and I notice that if anything she looks better. Her hips are somewhat wider and her breasts larger. She reaches up and grabs old me by the collar, pulling me down and I think she is checking for my tonsils ... with her tongue.

"Moy muzhmnenuzhno ,chto" She says, while hugging me.

I lean down and kiss her again.

"Vsegda rady pomoch' vam moyu zhenu"

Soon Azrael comes up and kisses me too. She wraps her arms around one of mine, while Lada has the other. Leanan goes and gets a shopping cart and we start making our way into the store. As little Jarlath grabs Lada's hand he turns and waves to me. Wait, that's odd, he can see me. The only time that has happened was when that Ishara chick could see me. I give a slight wave back and the boy smiles and takes Azrael's hand.

I feel something grabbing me from behind, and quickly turn in shock. I thought I was, what did she say, shifted and could not be touched. It is the Azrael and Lada from my time, looking at me with smiles on their faces. Lada has tears in her eyes, and Azrael just stares after the children, with a look on her face so longingly it almost makes me want to go to her. Instead I try to touch the corvette, and of course my hand glides through.