JOHN

It was around 10:15 when Riles walked into the apartment and handed me a sleeping baby while she ran for the bathroom.

“Gotta pee,” she hissed then chattered the whole time about how much fun the ladies had, how good all the children were and the high quality of the daycare center at the New York Spa.

“Did you guys have a good day?” she asked, tucking the baby into his crib and turning for a hug. “Wasn’t there a hockey game on? I hear the Pittsburgh Penguins are heading to the Stanley Cup playoffs.”

I didn’t say a word, couldn’t. I just held her tight, looking at my son in the crib behind her and wanting to fucking cry.

“Aw, come on John, give me some credit for knowing the Penguins were heading to the … John? John, what’s wrong?”

Fuck, I could see the terror in her face and it sure as hell wasn’t how I wanted to go into all this. See, I didn’t even realize it but not only did I want to cry, I fucking was crying. God sakes, just imagining the possibilities of leaving Riley and the baby behind had twisted me in fucking knots … and now it was my job to bring her into this hell with me.

I sat her down and told her everything, about the vision I had, about how many of us had experienced them, about what Bud’s ghost had told Cory and about what that psychic discovered. “She suggested we all … get our affairs in order, baby. Fuck,” I gasped and grabbed her to my chest. “I’m sorry, Riley. But I’m afraid she’s right. Some of us … or all of us … might just be … leaving.”

“Or none of you!” She exploded, pacing like a mad woman, stomping her little feet and determined as all hell to fix this. “We’re going to just have to figure out a way to stop it, that’s all. No one is leaving, John. No one!”

“Come here, sweetheart,” I caught her hand and brought her onto my lap. “Riley Biebe, I love you more than life. The last thing I want is to leave you, to have any of us leave. But this isn’t up to us. Obviously something else in running the show here and we need to … I don’t know … be prepared, that’s all. For now, I’m here and with you and all I want to do is love you. Let me love you long and hard and just hold you all fucking night.”

Taking her to bed was the most painful joy I ever experienced. Something like the first time I loved her after waiting so long for her, after finally touching something I knew was supposed to be mine … forever. And now I was forced to face the fact that forever might be as fictitious as my past is. As much fluff as a silly hockey movie. But at that moment, deep inside the woman who makes me whole and solid and as real as anything on earth, I’m alive and creating the connection that is all that matters. And as I was drifting to sleep, I remember saying a kinda prayer. Please, please, don’t take me. Please.

PULLO

I helped Valerie get into her bed then sat at her side. She glowed with all the pleasant stories she had to tell of the big city and the pretty older ladies, of how they colored and fixed their hair and sat in the steam rooms and laughed as they had their nails painted and she even showed me the delicate pink polish that was brushed onto her fingernails.

Valerie is a particular delight; mine as though I had been her father at conception. Funny, I had truly loved her mother, but the living being before me was somehow more real and animated than Lesley ever was in my mind. Valerie had become my life, my reasons for everything and somehow I felt a surge of conviction that she, and she alone would hold me to this existence. After all, she and I … we needed each other … desperately.

She yawned wide. “Sorry, daddy. I guess I’m kinda tired.”

“I know, love. But before you sleep, let me ask you … do you know how much I love you?”

She nodded. “As much as I love you.”

“That’s right, and do you know how much I need you?”

“As much as I need you.” She grinned and snuggled under the blanket before yawning again.

“And you know that if anything ever happens to me, if I ever have to leave you … it will be because I have no choice.”

Another dramatic nod. “Because you love me and need me and won’t ever go away on your own. And daddy, I’ll never go away from you either. I promise. Hey,” her eyes opened wide. “Maybe you can go to collage with me!”

“Are we going to college, Valerie?” Tears gathered in my eyes, she had been struggling so hard with her schoolwork. To hear her talk of college was a great achievement, it meant she believed she would go. I could not leave her to do so without my support. Of course, I had no intention of taking classes at her side either.

She giggled. “Well, I guess you have to work the vineyard, but I think maybe I’ll go to college close by. And daddy … I will go to college.”

“I know you will, my little love. I know you will.”

JACK

Our meeting in the left tower had been long over by the time my dear Natalie entered our apartment with our sleeping daughters in tow. I’d practiced my speech over and over, perfecting it just so, and fully intended that after our children were tightly tucked into their beds, to launch into my tale.

But, Natalie was so excited, happy and glowing from her trip. Our infants were finally sleeping peacefully and I had no wish to disturb her joy. I let her talk of her day, humming and nodding in all the right places as we prepared for our bed. As we slid beneath the blankets and I cuddled her close to my heart, I fully intended to tell her then of my vision, of the meeting that afternoon and of what the Portal threatened.

But she snuggled close and her eyelids fluttered, she sighed, “Thank you for the wonderful day, Jack.” She then kissed me and proclaimed her love. Again, my resolve faltered and I could not bring myself to alter her mood. Instead, I held her close and loved her with all my heart and soul, trying to chase the demon Portal from my mind. After our act of love, I brought myself to full determination, to warn her of what might come, but again I was dissuaded. She had fallen asleep, feeling safe within my arms. How could I wake her in such a state? I could not, and decided to tell her in the morning.

ANTONY

The things I am good with are the things of men and war, the things of strategy and tactics, of muscle and attack. The things I am good at do not include the breaking of a woman’s heart … willingly.

Claudia and I are lovers in a very true sense, lovers who find power in the touch and whispers, the cries and tender releases. We are lovers bound from the soul and born to this blessed, willing enslavement of the heart. How I would explain the chance of losing each other was beyond a mere farewell before battle. There is no war, only heartache to be absorbed.

I spoke a simple, clear request and she sat quietly and watched. She watched my entire life on the television screen, episode after episode, my debauchery and my triumphs, my past. And as my life dissolved and my dead body was paraded in the streets of Rome, she turned tear filled eyes to me and held me close.

I spoke into her hair, told her all and warned her of the possibilities. My beautiful Claudia pulled from my embrace and looked into my eyes and she spoke.

“Antony, I don’t care where you came from; I don’t care what threatens us. I love you with all my heart and every inch of my being … and will never, ever let you go. Period. Never.”

HANDO

I have no stomach for this. No interest in swallowing it whole or believing I can’t change it. I’ve survived some of the worst shit a bloke can imagine and I’ll be bloody fucked if I’m goin’ down without a fight. My mate Colin, on the other hand was facing a little tougher dilemma. See, he’s married to a shiela who has no clue where he came from. Poor Carrie O’Brien’s got a few rough surprises ahead and for a while I was thinking glad I ain’t in his shoes! Yeah, but that didn’t last.

Col stuck with me as I explained the whole fucked up experience in that spooky left tower to Meredith and she understood it, hated it but actually understood it. Even said something about quantum physics and stuff like that. My Mere, she’s way too smart sometimes. But she’s kinda like me. She isn’t about to take the verdict lying down either.

“You are NOT leaving me alone with Ruthie, H. Don’t even think about it!” But I could see that fear in her blue eyes, see it and smell it. She kissed me all hot and sweet then sighed and turned to Colin. “Jesus, how are you gonna tell Carrie?”

“Well,” my mate, business partner and the driver of our winning NASCAR stock car turned a big set of fucking puppy dog eyes at my wife. “I was sorta hopin’ you and Hando would help me.”

That bloke will pay for this. It was rough but we got through it, got through explaining my and Colin’s movies, some of the others and even the explanation of how we got here. We didn’t start losing Carrie until we tried to explain that the Portal’s are trying to take some of us back. That … she just wasn’t buying.

“But,” she sniffled, ran her knuckles under her nose. “Why would they take you or Hando back? I mean, you guys didn’t have a vision or anything. You might be safe.”

“What’s safe, love?” Col sighed. “Losin’ any of us, even one of us means that the bloody Portal can take all of us if it wants. That Gemma Kane isn’t sure if there’s a rhyme or reason to it, but she seriously thinks it’s in an aggressive mood. We gotta be ready for anything.”

That’s when I think my gut really dropped. I took Mere and went across the hall to our suite at the Inn, glad we were staying there with all the possible trouble coming down … but wishing we here in our own bed in our own house. After loving my wife, I went to the other bedroom and brought Ruthie to sleep between us. If the fucking Portal was taking me, I was going to be close enough to feel the loss of Mere and my daughter.

CORY

“Holy living shit on a stick!” Daisy gasped when I finished telling her everything; everything about who my granddad was, where he came from and how a mysterious Portal was about to fuck up a few good men’s lives. She’d finally sat down, pushed her wild blonde hair back and huffed. “Damn!”

“Yeah, a lot to swallow, huh?”

“Ya think? Let’s see … your grandfather was some movie character come to life … who decided he wanted to go back to his movie genre in the 1950’s … so he slipped from this reality to that one … then he had your father and your parents had you. Then … you figure out all this crap from hidden letters in your folk’s attic … decipher that your grandfather’s ghost is here in Vermont … at this Inn because all the other characters come to life are here too. Right. Did I miss anything?”

“Okay, it sounds crazy.”

“No. Certifiably crazy, actually. You’ve reached a whole new level of nuts, my friend.”

“Yeah,” I grinned. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Hey, tell me something. Are you in any danger? I mean, is this … pissed off Portal … taking you back somewhere?”

“Where would it take me? I’m not a movie character and it didn’t bring me here. I think I’m out of its jurisdiction, Daisy Doll.”

“Good. Uh … Cory?”

I pulled her close. “Huh?”

“We are gonna stick around, right? I mean … I like these people and I can just imagine how scared they all are. I think we should stay and help them get through this.”

I think my heart was about to explode. I was figuring Daisy would want to head back to L.A. and I’d be staying alone. This was better than good … but fuckin’ A, I sure hope we can be of some kinda help if Gemma’s right and something really ugly happens.

MAXIMUS

What would be the reason for it? To be taken from the jaws of death on the screen, dropped into the beauty of a whole new existence, struggle through finding a place within that reality … then taken back? Why?

I know that the majority of my brothers had taken Ms. Kane’s advice to heart. I understand that they were struggling with the ramifications of it all, but far more concerned about taking care of those who might be left behind. I too am concerned for Sophia and my unborn child.

I walked the grounds for hours, following the paths and walkways I had followed so many years ago when John had asked me to come and sense this very powerful land. It is sparked with energy, both good and precarious. It had sustained the life of a shapeshifter … and the lives of what some would call the spawn of yet another shapeshifter … a man who continued to change and use his chameleon qualities to create more of us … but why? Why are we here? And why would we be taken back?

It was nearly dawn before I chose to return to the warmth of the Inn and my bed with Sophia. Every man had chosen his path through this difficulty. Mine could easily return to burn my arse, as Terry might say. But it is my choice and I will stand by it with honor and strength.

I had always made sure that everything I own is in Sophia’s name. Should I be taken, she will have all she needs to take care of herself and our child. And … should I be taken, she will be a widow in much the same way should I die in a plane wreck or auto accident. The same … as I would indeed be dead. There is nothing else for me on the other side of the Portal.

At one time I wished for it; tonight, I do not. I wish to remain with Sophia, work my fields and raise my child. But as always … the gods will decide. The gods always decide.

I have decided not to discuss this with Sophia. She may hear of it from the others, from the frightened women or from a worried brother … but she will not hear it from me. I know that if I had walked into battle believing that I would die on the field … I would have died on the field. I will not believe such … I will not leave … and I will not concern my pregnant wife over this.

RILEY

Too much. It’s all been too much. We’ve survived far too much for this to happen and I wasn’t sure even God would permit more. My personal survival from a violent marriage … coming to this world and finding John … nearly losing him in that horrible avalanche … losing our first baby … nearly losing each other through stupid misunderstanding and foolish unkindness. We’ve worked and struggled and fought far too hard to lose it all over … over what? What would be the reason for the Portal doing a thing like this?

Around four John finally fell asleep but not before he stood at the baby’s crib for hours. Me? I didn’t sleep a wink. It sounds absurd but I was terrified to close my eyes. I just watched John, watched him sleep and snore his soft bear-like grumble. I watched his chest rise and fall and his lashes lay soft against his cheek. I watched the way the slowly rising sun brightened in his hair, glinting along the waves and glowing across his exposed chest. By six I felt exhaustion wash through me but I was still unable to sleep. I couldn’t release the fear that the moment I closed my eyes, he would simply be gone. Poof.

Seven and I was pacing. I glanced out the window and watched the gardener work with the spring buds, crocuses and daffodils were flashing yellow and pink along the stone walkways and the trees were beginning to bloom with lovely white, feathery flowers.

It all felt promising, so safe and lovely. I shook my head and went to brush my teeth. I pulled a brush through my hair and looked at my reflection in the mirror. Maybe I’d crawl into bed beside John and get an hour of sleep.

I returned to the room and yawned, pulling my nightgown from the drawer. Clutching it in my hand I looked at John. Beautiful John Biebe, the absolute perfect man in every way, from his strange sense of humor to his infuriating jealousy to his smelly sock balls and tender kisses. And as I watched him he slowly … slowly … oh, so slowly dissolved into nothing.