Todd Manning: Enigma, Ch. 6

Chapter 6

Todd and Blair arrived back at Dragonheart and Todd was immediately snagged by his granddaughter and Sam. They quickly took him into their playroom and insisted on a story.  Todd looked over at Blair for support.  He was wiped out and although he loved the kids dearly, this was one time when Sir Dragon just wanted to retire to his cave.

Blair watched him struggle to find the words to tell the kids he was tired and knew any moment he was going to give in, even though he was exhausted.  “Hope darling, I know you and Sam want the story you missed out on last night, but the great wizard Larry placed a spell on Sir Dragon.  If Sir Dragon tries to tell a story at this time he’ll lose his voice and not be able to tell you any more stories.  Do you want Sir Dragon to lose his voice?”

Hope looked at her dragon and took his hand in hers.  “It’s okay Dragon, don’t talk, just sit and Hope will tell you a story.”

Todd looked down at his beautiful granddaughter and collapsed into a chair pulling her into his arms hugging her as he tried to keep tears from falling.  At that moment, she reminded him so much of Starr at that age.

“Why is Dragon crying? Is Dragon hurt?”

“No Hope, Dragon is just happy you understand he can’t tell a story right now.  You go ahead and tell him a story.  He’ll be alright. Sam why don’t you come with me and we’ll get some snacks."  Blair and Sam left.

Hope nestled deeper into her grandfather’s arms.  “I’m glad Dragon is not hurt.  I missed you Dragon.”

“I missed you too, Hope.  Now tell me your story.”

“Once upon a time, Sir Dragon went away.  Hope looked for her Dragon, but he was gone.  Mommy told Hope a bad giant hurt Dragon and Dragon had to hide from giant to get better.  Hope and Mommy called to Sir Dragon but he didn’t answer and he didn’t come back.  Hope felt bad for her lost Dragon.
Hope began asking Sir God to help her Dragon and then Mommy told Hope Sir Dragon was all better and coming home.  Hope got lots of flowers for her Dragon and big pizza bits so Sir Dragon would know he was home.  Dragon came back and hurt the nasty ole giant who hurt him and then he ate lots of Pizza bits and Hope and Dragon lived happily ever after.  The end."  Hope looked at her dragon.  “You like my story, Dragon?”

“I love your story, Princess Shorty."  Todd once again was struck with fear that all this would vanish away. He kissed his granddaughter and told her to find her grandmother.  When Hope left the playroom he gave into his fear and allowed the tears to fall but as soon as he heard them returning, he wiped his eyes and pretended to be dozing.  They came into the room with snacks and Todd tried to put on a cheerful face for the children.

Blair could see the effort he was putting into being cheerful for the kids’ sake and decided to call the session to a close, by grabbing Hope up for her nap and getting Sam started on his homework.  She watched as Todd got up.  She waited for him to head for their bedroom but instead, he headed down to his office and shut the door.  Blair decided then and there, enough was enough.  She put Hope down for her nap and headed to confront Todd in his office.  He hadn’t locked the door so Blair walked in on him.  “You are not going to do it again.  You’ve shut me out for two weeks hiding in this office.  I‘ve given you all the space I’m going to.  It’s time you told me all about the dream."

Todd’s mouth went dry.  He had known this moment would come eventually.  Now for the first time since he woke up from his coma, Blair wanted to know the details of the dream.  Todd got his thoughts together, planning to only tell her the gist of the dream.  To go into detail about Carlo’s capture and his role in it would be fruitless.  She would never understand something that didn’t happen in this reality.

“Have a seat.  For me, it starts with Christian’s attempt on my life.  In the dream, I received a flesh wound in the side and a couple of days later, you gave me my ring and watch.  Not too long after that, Jake and I planned a raid on Carlo’s hideaway, and the night of the raid you stood on the Landing above the foyer and told me to come home safely.  Pete was in charge of the raid and we succeeded in capturing both Carlo and Ivan.  The following morning, after making a call to John letting the police know where Hesser and Kipling were, I came home, but I couldn’t even look at you.  I was ashamed of what I had done, and so I left you.”

“What do you mean, you left?”

“Just that, I disappeared.  I changed my name and went to live in Savannah where I had lived before.  I was an investigative reporter named Thomas Lord in the dream, and I was in the middle of a story that just got me two bullets in the back right after Gregor took you away from me.”

“I don’t understand how did this Gregor get me if you left me and went away?”

“I called for help in my dream and you came and found me.  I was drowning in my guilt over what I had done to Carlo and you found me and once again, you saved me, Blair.  Like you always did.”

Blair really wanted to know what was so horrible that Todd had felt the need to leave her, but it was obvious he wasn’t going to go into it.  “I see.  So in your dream, I’m in Savannah.  What is the stuff about Jake?”

“In the dream, you weren’t the only one I called.  I placed a call to John for some help on the story I was working on and John found his way to Savannah, too.  The evening after my story was blown wide open, John informed us both of Jake’s murder.  At that time, I chose to send you home with him but you refused and stayed with me.  We flew the family down to us in Savannah to get them out of Llanview so the assassins couldn’t use them against me.  A couple of days later Carlo and Ivan’s trial started.  It was during the trial that the implants wreaked havoc and Michael had to go in to remove them.”

“So that’s how you knew about the implants?”

Todd nodded, he was glad she hadn’t dwelt on Gregor, that was the one place he really didn’t want to go with her.

Blair felt a chill go through her.  The implants and the ring had both come true.  No wonder Todd had been so insistent about Jake; he believed the assassins were out there and he was trying to warn his alter ego.  If he was right about the assassins, then maybe they should all leave town.  “Todd, maybe your dream is just that, a warning.  Maybe we should all take a vacation to see Cassie.  We can take the kids out of school and fly to some obscure place in case someone is following us then detour and make our way to Cassie’s."  Todd swayed and visibly lost color at her words.  He struggled to keep from passing out.  He grabbed the desk as everything shifted for just a moment and started to fade.

“Todd, get a grip, Blair just doesn’t understand what’s happening.  You can’t keep letting go.  We can’t help you if you pass out."  Samuel was almost shouting in Todd’s head trying to break through the fog that was overtaking them all."  Samuel stumbled and found it difficult to maintain his feet.  As the whole scene darkened, he felt a hand on his shoulder and reached up to grab it, the darkness faded and he found himself holding Blair’s hand.  “Blair, he‘s terrified of that dream.  He can’t go there, ever..”

“My God Samuel, I can’t believe I even said that to him.  You’re right, I’ve got to start thinking before opening my mouth.  Are you alright?”

“Yes we’re alright, but Todd isn’t handling this whole dream thing very well.  We can’t help him, either, it’s strictly a Todd thing.  We’re not privy to any dreams he has, any more than Todd was privy to mine when I was out.  That‘s why we can’t be of much help to you either, Blair, except for moral support.”

“Samuel, Todd says he thinks this is the dream and he’s lying in a hospital in Savannah.  If it really happened, wouldn’t you and the other alters remember portions of the dream, too?"  Even as she said it she saw a shadow cross Samuel’s face.

“I don’t know, I feel like I’ve been gone for several months cut off from Todd.  I don’t know if Tom or Pete have experienced the same thing or not.  I can get them for you but Blair what if they have a different story from mine.  Then we’ll have to consider the possibility that Todd could be right and we’re all figments of his current imagination.  Are you ready to go there because seriously, it sounds crazy.”

“You’re darn right it sounds crazy.  Maybe that’s because I am crazy."  Todd couldn’t go back out yet.  Even as he watched Samuel talking to Blair, he could feel himself losing his grip on the reality in front of him as he kept hearing something in the background.  He had heard the incessant beep before and he couldn’t make himself look for it.  The beep was getting louder and Todd panicked and took back control of his body from Samuel.  “God, stop!’ he yelled as he tried to shut off the sound and it faded away.

Blair had jumped when Todd suddenly reappeared, and from the expression of horror on his face, she knew something had really scared him.  “Shh Todd, it’s alright. I’m sorry about what I said before.  It was stupid.  I think you need to go lie down and take one of Larry’s pills.”

Todd grabbed both of her hands, “Don’t ask me to sleep right now, please, Blair!  I’m really losing it, if I go to sleep now, I’m done for.”  He was desperate and he could feel his heartbeat elevating, and see fear clouding over his eyes like a faint curtain.  He knew of only one thing to take his mind off his problem.  Pulling her down onto his lap, Todd began kissing her.  He needed to feel her lips beneath his and her body in his arms.  She felt real, she tasted real.  She had to be real, this all had to be real.

Blair was overwhelmed by the intensity of his kiss and she could feel his heart beating a mile a minute.  She remembered another time when Todd had kissed her so desperately, only then they were just getting to know each other and she had backed away.  He was kissing her like there was no tomorrow.  Blair finally was able to come up for air for just a moment as he looked at her before he devoured her again.  His hands had begun fondling her, and Blair was finding it hard to concentrate.  Her body began to tingle as he got a little rougher than normal and she didn’t even realize he had opened her blouse till she felt the heat of his hand on her skin.  His mouth began exploring and her breathing accelerated.  With the movements of his caresses, his breath was warm and he began licking and sucking at her breasts, then blowing on them, the alternating warmth and cold tantalizingly erotic.  Blair began to squirm as her whole body reacted to the stimulation.  She leaned back, offering herself wide open to his caresses, as he stripped her of her panties and his lips sought her sweetness.  The flick of his tongue set her on fire and she begged for release, but he was merciless and continued his delicious torture.  “Todd.  Oh yes, I’m yours, only yours.  God, Todd, Please!”  She ran her hands through his hair, over his cheek, and onto his back, pushed to the limit when he finally gave her relief.  She almost fainted from the pleasure, her body screaming for more, but completely exhausted.

She clung to him, feeling his scars.  His body had been through so much during his life; from the scars from Peter Manning’s belt to the bullet wounds from his escape from jail as a youth to the ones from the Men of Twenty-One in Ireland, they depicted a life filled with struggle; but it was the scars that didn’t show that had taken the worst toll on him.  The torture of finding out that the man he thought was his father was capable of unspeakable cruelty toward him was still reticent in his everyday thoughts.  Then to find out his true father did those things and much more to his sister added to the cross.  The tearing away of his life by another man simply for profit all left invisible but indelible scars.  Her fingers traced the bullet wounds on his back and thought back to the morning he was shot by Christian.  Her hand moved up to his forehead as she found his wound, gently running her fingers over it.  Her heart stopped briefly.  He had come so close to dying.  She leaned over and with just the slightest touch she kissed it
.
His eyes closed, he felt the softness of her lips.  His angel healing him in ways she couldn’t imagine.  A calm came over him, the feeling of wanting to crawl out of his skin vanished with that kiss.  His heartbeat had returned to normal and the only sounds he heard were the ones closest to him.  Her breathing was like a soft whisper on the wind, and there was the faintest sound of her heart in time with his.  It was so peaceful at that moment. Suddenly the phone rang.

The moment was broken and Todd wanted to curse the maker of the ringer.  Blair rolled away and stood up looking for her clothes and Todd forced himself to reach for the offending item
.
“This had better be important.”  Todd listened for a moment and then hung up and reached for his clothes. He dressed and walked around to where Blair stood, waiting.  “That was John. Interpol just called.  It seems a hit has been put out on both Jake and me, Bo is offering round-the-clock protection until after the trial.”

Blair searched his face and saw the resignation in his eyes.  He was too tired to fight.  She wrapped her arms around his neck.  "We’re together.  We’ll get through this like everything else.  Hesser’s partners are one step behind us at the moment and we’ll keep them that way.”

Todd was staring at her listening to every word.

“Although the dream is your nightmare, it’s also a warning and we can use it.  You’ve already done that by getting John involved and giving him a heads up about Jake.  Now we need to figure out what we’re going to do to protect ourselves and the children.”  Todd started to speak and Blair put her hand to his lips.  “No! I was wrong to think leaving would be the answer.  I don’t want to be chased away from our home.  We’re going to take Bo’s protection but also get some of our own and you are going to start wearing a bulletproof vest.  No complaints, that’s final.”  He had a stunned look on his face and Blair had to laugh.  She wove her fingers into his long hair and pulled him into another kiss. When she was finished, she smiled and said.  “That was a thank you for all your loving attention earlier.  I need to go see about setting up a tighter schedule for getting the boys to school and Starr needs to be alerted to the threat.  By the way, Momma called this morning while you were still asleep and said something about a talk you wanted to have.  What was that about?  You know what, you don’t have to answer that.  I’ll bet Momma was just confused about something. You still look like you’re about ready to fall asleep standing up. Please go rest.” after another quick kiss she left.

Todd gulped, sometimes Blair just blew him away.  It was that wild spirit that had attracted him all those years ago.  They had a lot in common but when it came to taking chances.  Blair took the prize.  His thoughts drifted back to Blair’s words.  He had forgotten about his plan to meet with Addie.  Todd reached for the phone.  Addie was free and agreed to come out to Dragonheart.  Todd had a little time to kill and decided to call Tea and give her a heads up.  Things were still uncomfortable between them given the lie she had kept about Dani, but he was relieved she had found someone to love.  He still hadn’t been able to spend any time with his daughter and that bothered him.  He had made headway with Jack, but because of the coma, Jack had once again pulled away from him.  Blair felt Jack was still trying to cope with the wrong he did to Gigi Morasco.  Todd had been so wrapped up in his head, he was finding it difficult to relate to anyone and the kids had felt it. His conversation with Tea finished, Todd noticed the date on the calendar and realized it was almost Halloween.  He would have to step up his game and plan something special for Halloween night.