Something Bigger Part 1

Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

         Brett entered through the dining area's double doors. Eric sat in the middle of a long table, the object of the feast in cleared from the area in front of him, save for two wine glasses. Brett sat in his chair silently. They looked at each other, Brett with his smirk and Eric with his glare.

         Finally, Brett sat back in his chair. "What took you so long?"

         Through pursed lips, Eric replied, "It wasn't time."

         "Oh excuses!" Brett stood and walked a few steps before turning back to face Eric. "You, my brother, are a coward and nothing more. You've always known how to get here. If you had really wanted to come, you would have come ages ago. But you were happy in your misery. You were safe. Your cowardice kept you trapped. And you let it."

         Eric stayed sitting, but his voice was forcibly even. "You're right. I should have come sooner." He pushed the wineglass inches further than his own toward Brett. "Come, sit, drink." He took a sip of his own glass. "You could even eat." Eric waved over the exquisite feast. "Your imaginary kitchen staff worked so very hard."

         Brett sat with narrowed eyes. He didn't touch anything in front of him.

         "What? Afraid I would try to poison you? You know that wouldn't work on me, much less you. But if it bothers you so, switch out glasses. Drink from the glass I've proven safe." Eric switched the glasses, then took a drink from the other glass. "I'm not going to complain about the extra bit of wine. god knows I need it more than you."

         So Brett took a drink, a long drink which he finished with a smirk.

         "Decided to trust me?" asked Eric.

         "Not exactly. I just find it hard to believe that you'd poison yourself just to get to me."he replied. "If took you so long to decide to come here. I don't think you have it in you to sacrifice yourself. Have you even seen your daughter yet? She should be around here somewhere. Shame, though. I don't think she'll remember you." he cupped the side of his mouth and lowered his voice mockingly. "Her memory's been going."

         Eric clenched his teeth, then drank the rest of his wine in one breath. This prompted Brett to do the same. Eric smiled. "I've been away for a long time. The time translation made it easy to slip around between your checkups. A man can find many things if he has but the time to look. You made me nearly immortal in the eyes of men You emptied my little girl of her will. You found a way to keep from aging without the side effects of either of those enchantments." He held up a finger. "And yet, you continue to trap both ordinary and promising souls. What more do you want?" he hid the pain emanating from his core. The potion would take longer to work on Brett than he.

         "There's always room for improvement, and a man does get lonely." He winked shamelessly.

         A chuckle escaped from Eric's throat. "You really are a monster." he said, as if the total realization had just hit him.

         "Now brother, dear. You shouldn't say things you can't take back." But for a moment his smirk fell, but it came back tenfold another moment later. He held his stomach and stood from his chair again. Brett nearly stumbled to the ground. "Oh brother! You did sacrifice yourself!" He wasn't angry, though. If anything, Brett exuded pride and excitement. "But really, you can't expect some simple poison to kill me. At most, it will make me uncomfortable for a few days."

         "It isn't poison, not really. The potion I put in our drinks strips away immortality, but leaves just enough behind to brake you, to make you mortal permanently. No, the poison isn't there to kill you." He pulled his sheathed knife out of his pocket and set in on the table in front of him. "That's what this is for." He slid the knife out of its covering and turned it over in his hands. "It's not the sharpest of blades, but it will do the job." Eric forced himself to stand, but felt something rise with him.