The Concealed Man
Chapter Eleven
We finally got a ride with a couple of history students who were on their way back to university, in Exeter. We puttered along in their beaten up Volkswagen. It took longer than it should have done, but we got there in the end. Amar, the driver and her roommate Tessa, bickered constantly about which route to take, were to stop for petrol, and what radio station to listen to. I was grateful that neither of them took much notice of us.
Exeter train station seemed to overwhelm Lee. The loud blasts from passing trains echoed throughout the battered semi-covered platforms, and Lee jerked in response to each one. But soon enough, we were moving once again. This time, we sat in the luxury that was economy class, reclined in our seats, though Lee instantly put his head in my lap, and was soon snoring.
The warm and sleek head that made me feel content soon started to press against my bladder. I squeaked as I gently levered myself out of the suddenly uncomfortable seat.
I returned from the toilets a few minutes later to find an argument in full swing.
“There's no one sitting there.” A stranger stood over Lee.
“No,” Lee's voice sounded assertive and quiet in the same moment.
“You arrogant little…” The stranger raised a hand. I held my breath. If he so much as touched him …
“No!” Lee bellowed. “Patrick is coming back.”
Half of the other passengers in the carriage turned to look at him, whilst the other half looked away. I stepped up to the stranger, clapped him on the back, before I edged past him to sit down. Lee held my hand and gripped it tight.
****
We stepped from the train when we reached Penzance. From there it was only a short taxi ride to the coastal village of Porthcurno. I looked around at the pretty town, and wondered why anyone would want to leave this place. To go from this to London would have been a massive culture shock to the hardiest of people, but to Lee, it must have been yet another bad experience.
The taxi driver gave us a little history of the area as we drove along. Apparently Porthcurno was famous for an outdoor theatre that had been carved right out of the granite cliffs. There was also a ten-tonne boulder called Logan's Rock , that you could move with just one hand, there were lots of hidden caves, abandoned tin mines, and numerous stone circles that lay scattered throughout the area. The whole village of Porthcurno was practically made of granite. Of course Lee had to have come from here.
I got my very first glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean as we drove to the car park near the beach. I had expected it to be grey and bleak, so I was surprised to see deeply turquoise water instead.
I was exhausted from the long journey, and wanted nothing more than to sleep for a day, but it wasn't to be. When Lee saw the big blue ocean, he was drawn down as if magnetised by the pull of whooshing surf. He walked further down the beach, with quick nimble steps. Soon he sank to his knees in the gentle waves.
"Let's stay here forever." He smiled up at me as he played in the sand like a little boy. However I was tired and feeling unreasonably ratty. I didn't know what to do next. It had seemed like a good idea at the time to come here, but now I wondered what we were doing.
“Lee, I'm bushed.”
“I don't want to leave,” he spoke to a handful of yellow gritty sand.
“I'm not asking you.”
“There are too many people here. All the different signatures are making my head hurt.”
I looked around the beach at a few holiday-makers, but they all seemed to be packing up to leave. I could see a few caves further down the shore that broke up the beach. Lee followed my gaze, and he smiled brightly.
“Of course -- why didn't I think of that?” He marched up the beach, and scrambled along the rockier outcrops that blocked part of the cave entrance. Lee perched upon a rock, looking out to sea. He resembled a statue from Easter Island. I on the other hand, splashed through the icy cold water after him, and I clambered in an undignified way up to the rocks where Lee sat.
“I feel something strange and still. It's like my mother, but it's not. There's something hard, and strong, like lots of different signatures, but all the same. They're all coming from the caves.”
“What if there's more than one person in there?”
“What?” Lee jerked his head up at that remark.
“What if there are others like you?”
“There are no others. It's just me and my mother. There can't be anyone else.”
“But what if there is? You wouldn't be alone.”
“I'm not alone now,” he whispered.
“But if there are others …”
“I'll prove that I'm the only one.” He stretched out over the rocks and began to melt into it instantly.
“Lee, wait up!” I called after him, but he disappeared like a ghost. I was left on my own.
****
I should have known better. I was in an unfamiliar place, unaware of the everyday hazards, but nothing could have prepared me for the swiftness in which the tide came in. I've lived in London all my life, and being a city boy, I didn't know that some parts of the coastline were only above sea level for part of the day. I realised that I was stuck on an isolated craggy section too late, marooned by the ever-moving flow of the Atlantic Ocean. The next horrible realisation was that the water below me was getting higher. The dark caves to the side were rapidly filling up. I struggled to clamber higher as the large waves drew ever nearer.
“Lee! I'm stuck!” I bellowed into the rock, as the ocean spray lashed me. The water had reached my ankles now -- my sneakers were no match for the freezing Atlantic that swept around them. It couldn't end like this, I swore to myself. I would not let myself drown.
I saw a swell of cobalt-blue water approaching. I scrabbled against the now slippery outcrop but my fingers skidded over jelly-like seaweed. The wave broke around my calves, instantly soaking my jeans. The water bit me with a freezing chill. I shouted out for help, pressed my face to the rock, and tried not to blubber like a child. I didn't want to die like this.
When I looked up, to see another white-crested wave further out in the ocean, I knew this would be it. I looked back to the rock, and almost slid off it in surprise, as two shadowy figures gazed back down at me. I looked around: the rock that was still above the water glowed with white light. One of the beings slipped through the hard surface, to reappear directly beside me. It was if the granite that I clung to were nothing to it. I didn't know what was happening, and my mouth hung open with surprise for a second, before the rapidly approaching wall of blue made me come to my senses.
“Can you get me out of here?” I shouted above the sound of the ocean.
“You are Patrick.” The words were ground out, the sound made my teeth ache, but I nodded and tried to smile in a friendly way. The two creatures looked at each other, before they spoke again.
“Our brother calls himself, Spectre Lee. He told us of your mineral signature.”
“You've seen Lee? Is he okay?” I asked hopefully, but the two creatures ignored me.
“You will leave. You will go back to your own kind,” they said in a dismissive tone.
“Lee is my own kind.” I didn't have time for this crap.
“You are human. You are a full human. Spectre Lee will stay with us. You will go.”
“What have you done to him?” I shouted, aware of the closing wave.
“We have welcomed him home. We have listened to his story of life above ground.”
The wave looked a whole lot bigger, the closer it came. I only had moments before it would blast me out into the ocean.
“I want to see him,” I stated with determination.
“Your sight is not required. You and the female are to leave. You are to leave now. Tell this to the female.”
“Female? What female?” I asked, confused. “Do you mean his mother?”
“Lydia, the one saved from the water, she is not welcome with us. She is not the one of whom we speak.”
“Then who?” An image of Jade popped into my head. I fell back against the rock. “Jade is here? Tall woman, with long black hair?”
“Yes.”
“She's dangerous, to you, me, to everyone.”
“Full humans are no danger to us. Flesh and blood cannot hurt us. We go on, we are durable,” the twins continued in a bored tone.
“I want to see Lee.” I held up a hand when they started to speak. “I'm not just flesh and blood. I'm part mineral too, all humans are. There's the calcium in my bones, enamel in my teeth …” I struggled to remember what Lee had told me. “And there's the iron in my blood. You see, there are lots of lovely minerals here. Take me with you. I have to see him. I just have to know he's okay.” I didn't mention that if I stayed here, I was a goner.
The two creatures drew nearer. They looked me up and down with a close inspection. I could hear the sound of the wave as it roared onwards, but I couldn't move my head to look. One creature put his hand against my face -- I felt the two cavities in my mouth vibrate and draw towards him in torturous pain. I tried to pull away, but the other spectre prodded my leg slowly with its finger. My shins felt as if they were on fire, burning up with a crackling feeling. The enamel in my teeth, the calcium in my bones … all that was left was the iron in my blood. They lifted me high above the billowing rock, and in a sudden rush of movement, I was propelled up the cliff-face at amazing speed as the huge wave finally hit. I smashed against the surface, but then I was melting with them, moving through the undulating realm, onwards to the cave floor beneath us.
Chapter Twelve
I looked up to see the two creatures flanking a huge dark man who looked as if he had been hewn out of solid rock. His whole form was solid and craggy -- he moved slowly, with each step, a scraping drag. Golden streaks formed veins over the rough surface of his skin. I gazed at him with wide-mouthed wonder.
“I understand that you wish to see my son?” In the gloom of the cave, his voice echoed and bounced off the rugged surfaces.
“Lee is your son?” I gasped out loud. I wanted to ask how? But the rock-man didn't look like he was in a mood for a biology lecture. Even though I had seen so many strange things recently, a talking boulder just topped it all off.
“All those from the rock are my children, even if I did not father them.” His booming voice made my head hurt. “Lee will stay with me, and I will protect him. I will not let any more harm come to him. You are not able to care for him, so you must leave.”
“I can look after him just fine,” I retorted.
“I heard the same thing before. It ended in pain and tragedy. We are a concealed family here. We do not go out into the light unless we have to. Your way of life is unnatural for us. Would you live in the dark as we do? Would you sacrifice the sun for my child?”
“Yes, I'd do anything to be with him. I'll care for him, keep him from harm.”
“Lee's mother said that she could care for others. She fooled us all.”
“Wait a second -- Lee's mum was here? She was here in this cave?” I was incredibly shocked at that.
“Lydia came here a long time ago.”
The twin spectres yanked me up, and led me to a nearby wall. One of them held up a glowing rock that bathed the immediate area in a gentle phosphorescent glow. I saw faint markings and crude drawings, but it was clear that the illustrations told a story.
“She came to us in a storm,” the rock man continued. “There was a shipwreck. Many bodies found their way to this cave, but she was the only one who survived. We did not know how to care for her fully. She was weak and broken, so we fused a part of ourselves with her. She became a little like us. She said that she loved her new home, but in truth, she was never happy here. And one day, the tempest delivered another one to us. This one was a man, called Edward. Lydia brought him back to health. She tried to teach him our ways, but he was full of anger and fear. He told her how things had changed since she walked on the land above. He enticed her with tales of wild adventures, and of bright fancy things she could own that we have no need of. He told her how so much time had passed whilst she had stayed inside the ground, how the world had moved on.” The rock-man moved closer to me, and this time I could really see that he was made of stone, complete with glittering inclusions that sparkled in the soft light. I looked back to the cave drawings. I gasped as I realised that the ship that had been wrecked had three old-fashioned masts. Lee had been right when he said that his mother was very old.
“Lydia once told me that she cared for me,” the rock-man spoke sadly. “But she grew ashamed of me once Edward came. They left together, and ran far away, but Lydia did not know how her time here had altered her. She carried a part of us within her. She passed on that heritage when she had children.”
“You loved her,” I said softly. “And she betrayed you to be with Edward. Well I'm sorry, but I'm not Lydia,” I pleaded with the rock man, but he turned away from me, and the next time he spoke, the whole cave trembled and shuddered.
“You will mistreat him, just as the others have. It is the nature of your kind to punish those who are different!” he roared. I almost toppled to the damp floor as the world shook around me, but I managed to stay standing. I had to convince him that I was different, that Lee and I belonged together.
“Doesn't Lee have a say in this?” I wasn't going to leave until I saw him. The rock-man slid up to me, and then he turned me around. Lee was right behind me. He looked as bewildered as I felt.
“Will you defend my child?” the rock-man asked me.
“Yes, and I'll show him how to defend himself.” It was something that I'd started a while ago, something that Lee definitely had to learn.
The rock-man smiled, but then turned to the twin spectres.
“Bring the other one.”
The twins disappeared for a moment. They returned with a very shocked-looking Jade between them. Jade caught sight of me and snarled.
“Patrick, I see you're still hanging about with freaks.”
“Jade, what are you doing here?”
“You weren't too hard to follow. I'm just trying to make the party go off with a bang!” she said with a chuckle, but then she snapped her mouth shut when the boulder moved closer to her.
“This one tried to hurt you. Lee said she has killed before,” his voice was sharp, clipped and hard. I could barely look at Jade when the rock-man spoke, but he turned and stared at me with dark glowing eyes.
“Kill her. Protect my son, and destroy those that would hurt him.”
One of the twins pressed a long stone shard into my hands. Even as I held it, I could feel the chiselled edges cutting into my palm. I looked at Jade, and thought of how she had killed Tommy, just because he had loved me. I thought of her hands around my throat, and I choked back a sob.
“I can't,” I whimpered. I couldn't hurt her even if I tried.
“You can,” the boulder purred. She brought powerful minerals with her. I can sense the explosives that she has handled. She wants to kill us all.”
“How can I protect Lee if I do this?” I asked, as I stared at the incredibly sharp blade in my hand.
“How can you protect him if you do not?”
“I can show him that violence doesn't solve everything.” I sounded like an after-school special, but I meant every word. There had been too much violence in Lee's life.
“And how will you do that?” The rock-man sounded intrigued.
“By showing him what love can do -- what my love for him can do. I love Lee so much.” I finally said the words that had lay concealed within me for so long. I loved Lee.
"I think killing her will be better for everyone," the rock-man said. He lifted what passed for a hand, and another blade appeared. With just a small step, he had it pressed against Jade's neck. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath.
The rock-man pushed a little further. I gasped in amazement as the blade broke against her skin.
"You are one of us?" the rock-man asked with surprise altering his voice.
"I'm nothing like you," Jade whispered as she rubbed her neck. She looked at her fingers in shock.
"Yes you are. There is the faintest of traces of your true heritage within you." The rock-man looked at her sideways.
"I thought you said Lydia and Edward were the only humans to come here?" I looked from Lee to Jade in wonder, before a thought struck me. "But Jade is adopted.” I turned to Lee, who stood open-mouthed with shock.
"I'm not a freak like him! You're all sick," Jade spat.
"Edward is her father, but Lydia is not her mother," the rock man announced. "I can see all of his rage in her eyes. I can feel the weak presence of rock in her blood. How you must have suffered, child," he whispered before he reached out a hand to Lee.
“You have chosen a good one son. Look after Patrick … he'll need it.” The rock-man actually sounded sarcastic.
"You mean it? We can go?" I couldn't believe he had changed his mind.
"I haven't lost a son, I've gained a daughter." The rock-man's craggy face drew into a wide smile.
I hugged Lee, pulled him into an embrace, glad that it was all over. But from the corner of my vision, a blurred movement made me spin around. Jade jerked away from the rock-man. She made a move towards the broken weapon on the floor, then held it up menacingly.
“Show me the way out,” she barked.
“Jade, put it down,” I implored.
“I stopped listening to you when you fell for rock-boy!” she shouted. Her anger made the cave walls reverberate.
“If you leave now, you will drown. The water level is too high,” Lee warned as he stepped forward, but Jade held up the blade once more.
“I can swim, and I don't need your advice. I just want to get back to civilisation.”
“You may only have a part of us within you, but we are your family," the rock-man intoned. "You belong with us.” The boulder moved with a swiftness that was frightening. "You are home now," he soothed as she tried to back away from him, but he held her, and rocked her as she struggled. Soon I could hear her sobbing whilst the rock-man shushed and cooed. They slowly moved down together, sinking lower as they melted through the dark cave floor. I could hear Jade's weeping cries echo beneath the cavern, and then there was only silence.
****
The rock-man returned some time later. He emerged from a far wall, and slid towards us quietly. I turned to him nervously before asking what I had to know.
“Did you hurt her?”
“Violence is not the answer to all of my problems. A full human told me that once.” He smiled at me. “I carved out a new place for Jade to stay. She will spend the remainder of her days in the dark where she can do no more harm. She will be safe with her true family. You and Lee may leave when the tide goes out. You can spend the rest of your days in the light, above ground, if that is what you want.”
Lee ran up to the rock-man as he and the twins turned to leave.
“I have so many questions. I want to know more about you, about me, and what I can do.”
“You can travel between the world above ground and the world inside the ground. The rest is what you make of it.”
“Will I ever see you again?” Lee sniffled.
“You and Patrick can return here at any time. You will always have a home with us. You will always have a family in us. We may be concealed in the shadows, but we will always be here for you.”
“Thank you so much.” Lee leant his head against the granite surface.
“I am so proud of you, my son.” And then he was gone too, and Lee and I were alone, together in the dark.
I moved into Lee's open embrace, kissing him fiercely. When I opened my eyes, he had manoeuvred us up against a huge stone slab. We melted through the solid rock, and soon I was surrounded by shiny inclusions that flowed around us. Lee pressed himself against me, and we became part of the rock.
Lee held me close, together we moved through the surface of the cave and up to the outcrop above us. The waves had settled down as night had closed in, the ocean looked beautiful, instead of deadly. The air was bracing and refreshing after the warm damp of the cave.
I looked up in amazement at the sparkling night sky overhead, and I wondered where all the stars had come from. I had never seen so many little speckles of light in the sky before. I dimly remembered what I had heard about light pollution, which all major cities experienced. Now that we were both here on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, there was no other source of illumination to interfere with the outstanding star-lit sky. Silver constellations circled high above us in the inky black. I was awe-struck with delight. This was another piece of my reward, to be able to see such magnificence above me. I touched Lee's face -- there was a magnificent man beside me too. I wanted to stay here forever.
We lay on the cool outcrop. I felt as if we owned the ebony ocean around us. There were no words from either of us now. Touches and half-seen expressions replaced our spoken language. I licked a salty trail down Lee's arm, and he traced a slender fingertip around my open lips, before he dipped into my waiting mouth. He gripped my still damp hair, and I opened wider to meet his probing tongue. Then there were no clothes, only skin, pale against the dark backdrop of the ocean.
Lee knelt over me, and my entire body erupted in goose bumps. He pressed his face against my bare knees, and then bit into my flesh, with slow hungry bites that marked me with indentations, but that didn't break the skin. He chewed my flesh lower and lower, until he reached my balls. I was petrified at what he would do next, and exhilarated at what he could do to me. I felt a soft pull as Lee sucked one globe into his mouth. He released me, and I gasped, arching up against him desperately. His tongue made long lapping motions across my dick, but he didn't suck it, he just teased me until I thought I'd go mad. I would not urge him on, or press his head down with my impatient hands. I would let him do what he wanted -- he was a free man now.
Lee's hot tongue burned me in the chill of the night air. He pressed inwards, right into my backside -- I almost leapt off the rock with the intensity of it. My legs widened without any conscious direction from me, my knees went up, and I splayed myself open. I bared myself for him and his amazing tongue. And when I thought that I couldn't take any more, when my whole body had turned to molten lava, and I felt that I would incinerate under another assault of Lee's tongue, he pushed his cock into my ass -- the first that I'd ever had inside me. It felt alien, strange, and absolutely fantastic. I looked up in utter astonishment as he moved with a fluid motion, swelling and thrusting like the waves that washed against the rocks below. Lee's face was open and guileless. He gazed down at me, smiling a toothy smile, I saw love there. I came with tears of happiness that streamed from my eyes.
Lee loved me.
****
We slept in the caves, and then left them once more at low tide. As we walked up the golden sandy beach, I knew that my quest was over.
It didn't take Lee long to find a new stone structure to sit in for a few hours everyday. He was happy to keep an eye on the small population of Porthcurno. Whenever he saw someone in need, he would go to them and whisper words of encouragement. The ones who don't run away in fright think he's magical, and there's always an offering of fruit and flowers waiting for him. Lee tried to get me to join him in his activities, but I told him that I'd make a lousy sidekick.
My career as a social worker was pretty much over, but I found that there were other ways to help, so I started volunteering at a refuge for runaways in Penzance.
When I wasn't helping out at the refuge, I wrote a series of fairytales for children, all about a spectre that is really an angel. I was very surprised when they all got published -- the extra money is great.
I may have met Lee by the side of my friend's grave, but now I could celebrate life with him. I think that Tommy would have been pleased for me. He would have been glad that I'm able to live happily ever after, with Lee, and his concealed family.
© Copyright 2007-2010 Jacqueline Applebee