The Fifth World

Bo: "Oh, come on," Caine says to me, there is a smirk on his face, he holds a hand out to me, I resist, "Bo, everyone else is dancing... do you really want to be the odd one out?"

I look around the large tent. It is probably the size of a large hall, it is a white colour and equipped with plastic, transparent walls to protect us from the rain - although, there is none tonight. This is just one of the tents of the festival - the one where the food, the drink and of course the dance floor are found. Almost everyone in this tent, who is not eating nor drinking, is dancing to the live band. I sigh.

"I don't want to dance and I'm not that good at it anyway."

I'm a bit of a liar. I learnt ballet when I was six years old, I continued till I turned ten. I wasn't enjoying it anymore even though I was the top in my class. My teacher encouraged me to enter competitions but I was never interested. I took up athletics instead but that didn't last long either.
I'm not exactly embarrassed of dancing... because I know that I can but I just don't want to... or maybe I am just self-conscious of being judged or something.

Caine laughs once, "Well, we'll have to work on that, won't we?" He takes my hand and I instinctively pull away from him. He laughs.

"No," I moan like a child, I begin to move from the floor but Caine takes my hand again, he then takes my other hand, I keep pulling away but he is twice as strong as me and successfully pulls me back. I watch him laugh as I struggle in his iron grasp.

"Come on, Bo," he says to me, "just watch me, look at my feet," he puts a hand at the midst of my back and then keeps a hand around mine, with an unpleasant instruction he asks me to place my hand on his shoulder. I hesitate but do so. His feet move in a square motion, one step back, together, one step to the side, together, one step forward, together, etc. I remember Callahan and Mum trying to teach me how to dance ballroom a few years ago. I hated it at the time but right now I am glad that I remember some of it. The vision is vivid in my mind. I can hear the music - the classic music that is older than my own parents. The record player sits in the corner of the living room, dust covers it as well as the few records Callahan used to own. The old instruments of trumpets, drums and whatever else is in perfect tune. Dad and Mum are hand in hand, their faces so close together. Callahan spins Mum around and her long red hair flicks here and there. It is so clear and so real that I can smell her perfume. She smiles at him, so happily. Her body returns to his and they laugh quietly, adoration in both of their eyes. I close my eyes and hear their voices, feel the warmth of their love-
I then feel myself stand on something hard. I automatically look down and notice it is Caine's toe.

I gasp, "oh gosh, I am so sorry!"
He clears his throat and presses his lips into a tight line, "it's okay," he says with gritted teeth.

I smile as I notice how his eyes show that little bit of pain his foot is feeling right now - even though he is trying so hard to conceal it.
We continue.

Cynric: "Drink?" Janine asks me as I stand beside the bar, an elbow up on the bench, my body weight leaning against all of it.

My eyes are staring directly at Caine and Bo who are dancing in the middle of the floor amongst the rest of the drunken Seabrooke population. Janine has placed a large glass of beer on the bench beside me. There is a shot glass between her fingers. I do not take a glance at her, I simply take the shot glass of pure vodka from her fingers, pour it down my throat, wince and then drink the beer she has bought for me.

She sighs and it is clear that she is not surprised with my response, "I would not worry about it, Cynric."

I tear my eyes away from Bo and Caine and look at Janine, for once, well, for the first time in a long time there is a strange expression on her face that is showing... concern as well as fear and unhappiness. "Worry about what?"

She shrugs, "it is not difficult to see the love you feel for Bo. It is natural for an Angelican to care for whoever they are a guardian for but it is unnatural for you to be in love with Bo. Do you not understand the consequences of the choice you would be making? You would be killed, Cynric. Your existence would be as illegal as hers."

I finish the rest of my beer in one gulp and slam the glass onto the bench. I look at Janine one last time, sigh, and walk away.
I am quite stupid to let my eyes betray my secret - or our secret. I have not shown anything but care for Bo. I have not shown affection nor let any kind of words of love come from my mouth when with her and in the presence of others. But then again, Janine has never actually told me how she feels about me but it is simple to figure out how she feels about me. If I choose Bo my life would end before I know it. I scoff. I am dead anyway.

Bo: "May I cut in?" I hear Cynric's voice, turn my head and see him standing beside Caine and I. I feel my eyes widen slightly and notice the smallest smile appear on Caine's face.

He nods his head and his arms around me disappear, "of course."

I feel an instinct to hold him there, not because I particularly want him there but because I don't exactly want to be alone with Cynric. But Caine has already disappeared into the crowd and Cynric is already holding a hand out for me.
I unwillingly take it and then we are dancing in perfect motion, our bodies a little closer in comparison to how Caine and I were.

"You are a talented dancer," Cynric says to me, his eyes not even on my face.

"Am I?"

I do not expect an answer and I do not get one. I feel Cynric's hand on my lower back, his other holding my right. I sigh as the silence between us is uncomfortable.

"Did you ask me to dance just to make it feel like nothing is wrong?" I ask him, a little too angrily.

His eyes connect with mine and they are sharp and hard, "I do not wish any harm upon you, Bo. If it comes your way I will not put you in its path."

"I feel the same way, Cynric. I can't be locked up anywhere. I have to be out there, I have to fight. I can protect you. I can protect Felicity and Nancy and Janine."

I notice his eyebrows furrow but he doesn't say a word. His hand moves up my back slowly and our feet move perfectly. I sigh when his hand touches the nape of my neck and traces towards my cheek. He only touches me for a second before he lowers his hand and returns it to my back. He clears his throat nervously and the moment of his warmth and love is lost.
I look down at the floor, watch our feet move from side to side, up and down,

"I miss how things used to be. It was so easy before."

He doesn't say a thing.

I look around, spot bright red hair at the bar. Janine is looking straight at us; pain in her stricken face. Our eyes connect and she takes a deep breath as a tear rolls down her cheek.
For the moment it is as if I am feeling her pain. She then turns around and I watch how she leaves the large tent.
A few minutes pass by and the band begins to play a slow song. The lead singer opens the tune with a beautiful voice accompanied by beautiful lyrics. Cynric pulls me closer. I am not sure whether they are minutes or seconds... hell, they could be hours... but they pass ever so slowly, thankfully, and I am in Cynric's arms, my head against his shoulder. Couples begin to disperse from the floor as the night gets late. Very few remain - including Cynric and I.
There is a large sound and I feel the ground beneath me shake. I pull myself from Cynric and notice how the abandoned and empty glasses tremble on the bar's bench. There are loud murmurs and some quiet squeals. I look at the walls of the tent and realise that they too are shaking - even more than earlier. There is an even louder sound, an explosion of some sort and somewhere on the other side of Seabrooke, which is probably one hundred metres from here I hear screams.
Cynric's hand takes mine and he pulls me through the tent. It is not hard for me to keep up with him as I too am curious to what is going on. Once outside we spot many people running towards the sound and many running away from it. The festival is in chaos. I see a man, see the horror on his young face.

He opens his mouth and yells loudly, "the wall of Seabrooke is being bombarded!"