Sun Stealer. Walking In Circles (9 page)

             
“This is for Dark beast!” I whispered in her ear.

             
“And this…” I smacked her face with my fist, “This is for ruining my life!”

              A big commotion began at the club as two guards jumped over the bar and tried to set Eve and me apart. I kept hitting her with all of my powers knowing I could never do harm to the immortal. But I didn’t mind, I was hooked by the feeling of striking back.

             
“That’s enough ladies! That’s enough!” the guards shouted.

             
“I am done! I am done!” I raised my hands and gazed into her eyes. I could see she wasn’t ready for this and I enjoyed every second of it. I left the club with a big smile on my face and waited for my partners in crime to join me.

              “Mom! You were a beast!” Leo came out and hugged me.

             
“Leo, that’s the first time you have ever called me mom!” I cried with joy.

             
“You were amazing aunty!” Adam came out with Daria in his arms. She was so thrilled her son came back into her life again.

             
“Now what?” Daria asked.

             
“Now we allow Leo to lead the way”, I smiled at my son.

             
“Almas! Almas! I recorded everything! Every move you took girl, I am telling you, if you upload this to the main network, you will get millions of supporters! I am telling you…” Diamond kept talking but I just grabbed the phone from her hand and smashed it to the floor until it broke.

             
She was shocked for a moment and then said:

             
“Okay first, you need to chill and second, that wasn’t my phone!” she made everybody laugh.

             
I took her aside and talked to her privately.

             
“Diamond, what if you’ll get all of your supporters back just as I have promised you? What would you do with it?”

             
“Girl, what are you talking about? I will be in cloud nine! I could finally reach fame as I planed to“, she answered.

             
“Diamond, I can not tell you what to do with your life but I need you to know something. I heard you sing and this is not just a talent, this is a gift. You were gifted with an angelic voice and you need to use it. Use it Diamond! Sing! This is what you are here for. Don’t be consumed with things like support or fame because you are not defined by it. You define yourself and you have everything you need inside you”, I held her face and kissed her cheek.

             
“Okay, you are starting to scare me Almas… Is this a goodbye?” she asked with sadness.

             
“Goodbye? I am afraid I am not familiar with this concept”, I winked at her.

              “And you!” I turned to Leonard who waited patiently for his turn, “How can I ever thank you?” I asked with tears in my eyes.

             
“I need to thank you my love”, he tried to be strong for the both of us and smiled, “Thank you for brightening an old, crippled man’s days with that beautiful smile of yours and these amazing, caring eyes”, he held me tight.

             
“Who are you calling old?” I whispered and tried to make him laugh.

             
“This is not a goodbye! I will forever carry you in my heart”, I kissed him.

             
“Diamond, would you mind taking Leonard back to the valley?” I asked her.

             
“Sure. Come on sugar Leonard”, she grabbed his wheelchair and started walking towards the bus station. He looked into my eyes with a smile and didn’t let go. Deep down he knew, that was the last time we would ever see each other. I waited until they disappeared in the horizon and followed Leo, Adam and Daria.

             
“Little Miss Diamond, I would like to thank you for everything!” Leonard held Diamond’s hand.

             
“You too? Man, what is going on? Everybody is thanking me and saying goodbye… is the world ending? Because I am having a cheat day if it is!” she made him laugh.

             
“No my friend. Everything is fine. I just need to make a little stop before we drive back home, do you mind?” he asked her.

             
“Not at all but then we go have a burger and a pizza, agreed?” she pointed her finger at him.

             
“Agreed!” he laughed.

             
“Mr. Leonard, it is an honor to meet you and have you in my humble office”, Dark beast greeted Leonard with a big smile.

             
“Thank you for having us!” Leonard replied.

             
“I heard you were a brave soldier in the army. That was how you were injured?” he wondered.

             
“Mr. Beast, I am an old man so I’ll just cut to the chase!” Leonard surprised Dark beast and Diamond with his response.

             
“It’s about Almas!” he said.

             
“Almas? He knows Almas?” Diamond raised her voice.

             
“Do you know Almas?” Dark beast wondered.

             
“There is something you need to know about Almas…” Leonard continued.

             
“She pole dance!” Diamond interrupted him, “Like a goddess!  I mean first you think this is belly dance and then it’s on a pole so…” she kept going with admiration, trying to imitate my moves.

             
“Miss Diamond, would you mind waiting out side?” Leonard asked her politely.

             
“Sure. And Mr. Beast just so you know, I would have supported you had my identity wasn’t stolen!” she closed the door after her.

             
“Quite a character…” Dark beast said with a smile.

             
“Yes… Dark beast, I was Almas’s partner for the last thirty years. I know about your immortality and about your past, she confided in me and you can trust me with that. I was lucky enough to have her in my life and she filled my days and nights with an endless joy. But I always knew I could never fill her heart and I figured it was because of her son and I was fine with it. That was until we saw your face on a local newspaper. I saw how she looked at your face and that was when it hit me; I would have given everything to have her look at me the way she looks at you. Now, I don’t like you Dark beast, I think you are an arrogant bastard and that you are full of yourself but that is not my place to judge anybody. I am an old man, beast. Not old as you but I did my share in life. So as an old man let me tell you this, if this is not worth fighting for, I don’t know what is”.

              “How much time do you need”, I asked Leo.

             
“About another half hour…” he answered.

             
We were at the main offices of the system. It was the weekend so nobody was around except for a few security guards. Leo provided us with network guard’s uniforms that included helmets and glasses and that was how we had entered the building. We managed to enter the control room with the help of the identification cards, Adam and his gang stole from the club’s guests, who were too busy watching my show.

              “Freeze! Don’t move!” somebody shouted.

             
“Who are you?” the security guard approached us with his weapon. He was a young guy who seemed to be new at his job.

             
“Who are you?” I asked with indifference.

             
“What? I am the guard! What do you mean who am I?” he screamed.

             
“That’s Ben”, Leo answered.

             
“Liam? Man, what are you doing here?” the guard asked him.

             
“We are breaking the cycle”, I answered him.

             
“What?” he wondered.

             
“You know, destroying the system!” I answered.

             
“What? Hands up!” he shouted.

             
“Or what?” I teased him.

             
“Or I will shoot!” he answered.

             
“And then what?” I kept asking.

             
“Mom!” Leo asked me to stop.

             
“Mom? Dude this chick is your mother?” he turned to Leo.

             
“Yes and that’s his father!” I pointed with my finger.

             
“Where?” he turned around and got punched in his face.

             
The poor guard lay on the ground unconsciously.

             
“God I miss these days!” I said to Dark beast.

             
“Me too! It used to be a lot easier back then, don’t you think?” he smiled.

             
“How did you find us?” I placed my arms over his wide chest.

             
“Oh, let’s just say a little, old bird whispered to me”, he looked into my eyes.

             
“Dad!” Adam ran towards Kujo who just entered the room.

             
“I hope I am not late for the party!” he gazed at Daria.

             
“My love, I am so happy to see you here!” Daria teared.

             
“And I am happy, I am done!” Leo added with a smile, “We can all leave now!”

             
“Where are we going?” Dark beast asked.

             
“What do you mean where are we going? We are going home!” I smiled.

             
“Home?” everybody wondered.

             
“I think we have a lot of catching up to do and I can’t think of a better place to it!” I winked at them.

              So we were a united family again and we were on our way home. If you ever wondered how we beat the system, I will not keep you in suspense:

             
My dancing show together with Sag and Diamond was our distraction. While the club guests were drooling over the young ladies dancing on the bar, Leo was inside the security room taking care of the surveillance cameras of the club. He managed to enter the room since the guards were too busy helping a disabled old man who was stuck inside the men’s room. That was my sweet Leonard. Adam and his gang stole all of the ID cards of the club’s members so we could have all of their details when we steal their identities and supporters. If you think my dance was a distraction, think again. Leo managed to connect all the cameras to the main network and broadcasting. So from that moment every television station and every network in the world were watching the same show. The show of a lifetime. They were able to see their honorable leaders and celebrated people, they have admired, in their worst hour. I don’t need to specify what went on in that club. Everybody knew but nobody wished to believe it. Let’s just say we placed a mirror in front of their faces and allowed them, for once, to face the ugly truth in its nakedness. So while authorities were trying to find out what had happened, we were already inside the control room of the system, breaking the cycle. We stole their identities and as for the millions of supporters they had, let’s just say there is an old house in the valley with sweet, old residents and one gifted young singer, who managed to touch fame overnight.

             
I know what you’re thinking. It was just a distraction. But I was hoping until everything went back to where it was and you would continue to walk in the same familiar circle again, some of you would realize that there was another way to live. That you didn’t need any network or fake numbers to define you. That you could break the system and live life your way.

             
I hope it did happen. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay around and watch. I had more important things to do. I had my family back with me and the united people of Anomaly and I was leading them home, where they belonged.

             
But I can promise you this, next time we meet, we will not be as gentle. We will unleash the beast and let you face our ancient rage. Why? Because we are the wild ones, the people of Anomaly and we do not leave without a fight and now that we are one, nothing can break us.