Part 6 and 7

”Um, hello?” shouted Sam into the darkness of the room. “Anybody home? Hellooooo?” ‘Damn, Ben’s “excellent” plan had better work’ he thought to himself as he stumbled around in the dimness of what seemed to be a kitchen. Suddenly, without warning, Oceania was before him, surprisingly tall for a fairy, but that wasn’t his greatest concern now.

“What are you doing here? How dare you trespass in my house!” hollered a furious Oceania, her purple eyes quickly becoming two fiery pits of rage.

“Um, I was just, eh, lost in the woods and I, erm, wanted to know if you had a… phone or something, um yeah…” Sam stuttered, realizing how frightening this fairy actually was.

“What?” she screeched, almost bursting Sam’s eardrums, “I’m an evil flower fairy! Why the hell would I need a telephone?”

“I don’t know… to phone your evil little friends?” Sam mumbled, almost inaudibly.

“What was that?” demanded the fairy, with her hands on her hips in an accusatory fashion.

“Um, nothing. Ok, I guess I’ll go now.” Smiled Sam nervously. “Um, it was nice talking to you.” Slowly he edged towards the doorway but the door slammed shut, blocking his much-needed exit. Sam looked over towards Oceania, fear radiating from his eyes as she cackled wildly.

“You are going nowhere boy.” She started to move closer towards him. “I think it’s just about time that you visited your little friend, don’t you?”

“Um, friend?” Sam asked, feigning innocence about any knowledge of Daniel.

“Yes, the blonde boy. Don’t you worry Sammy, I have great ideas for you boys. You’ll make great toys for my teenies!” Oceania clapped her hands with glee before pouncing forward to grab Sam by the neck of his t-shirt and dragging him towards the ‘restraint room’ upstairs.

Ben sped hastily down the long upstairs corridor wondering which room could possibly lead to Daniel. All of the doors looked the same – this was going to be a lengthy task. He began to open random doors in the hope of discovering Daniel, “Damn, I hope Sam’s doing all right.” He said out loud to no one but himself, opening door after door.

After reaching the tenth door and still with no avail, young Benjamin was beginning to get slightly pissed off. He wasn’t too sure how long Sam could hold Oceania for and time was precious. However, quietly in the distance, Ben thought that he could hear a noise… a sort of whimpering sound… kind of like a lost puppy… “Daniel!” he shouted, sprinting towards the noise. Ben burst through the door in true manly-man style to find a sorry sight before him.

Daniel sat desolately, dejectedly in the dark room, his form almost invisible in the shadows. “Please Ben, don’t look at me. I don’t want you to see me like this.” Sniffled Daniel, cowered into the corner in an attempt to conceal as much of himself as possible.

“Why Danny? What’s wrong? What did that bitch do to you?” asked Ben, moving forwards into the room, concerned about his beloved Daniel.

“No Ben! Please, just stay away! You don’t want to see what she’s done to me… its terrible Benny… I feel so used… fuck, I was so scared Ben…” Daniel started sobbing again.

Ben ran over to console his weeping friend, pulling him into a comforting embrace, and it was then that he witnessed the full extent of the ‘damage’. “Oh my god Daniel,” Ben gasped in disbelief, “your hair… it’s…”

“I know…”

“It’s… it’s… clean! It’s shiny and bouncy and grease-free…” Ben tentatively touched Daniel’s hair, not believing it to be real.

“I know, I know.” Daniel blubbered into Ben’s shoulder, dampening his shirt a little. “I hate it Benny, it feels strange… I just-“

“I love it.” Ben cut Daniel off, placing a finger tenderly over Daniel’s full, pouting lips in an attempt to silence him, and running his fingers through Daniel’s hair with his free hand.

Daniel wore a surprised expression on his face. “Really?” he questioned, looking up to penetrate the brown warmth of Ben’s eyes with his own startling blue eyes.

“Really.” Ben confirmed, smiling sweetly while looking down upon his cherished Daniel, once again cradling him in his muscly drummer arms.

Unfortunately this moment of tranquillity was quashed by a sudden thud coming from the stairwell. “Shit! It’s Oceania! Please Ben, don’t let her come near me.” Daniel clung onto Ben even tighter, obviously scared of the powers of the fairy.

“Don’t worry Daniel, I’ll protect you.” Ben said, scrambling to get up with Daniel still glued to his chest. “Um, Danny you might have to let go so that I can actually move.”

“Oh, sorry Benny.” Daniel replied sheepishly, letting go of Ben and trying to regain the little composure that he had left.

Oceania exploded through the door trailing a terrified Sam behind her. “Oh, I see you’ve already made it up here then Ben.” She sneered.

“You’re gonna pay for torturing my Daniel, Oceania.” Ben spoke with authority and confidence, evidently the only ‘chair member that was not afraid of Oceania.

“Oh am I really?” she grinned, “And how would that be exactly?” Oceania thrust Sam towards Daniel who had once again retreated to the darkest corner of the room and moved closer towards Ben who was still standing his ground.

“Nobody, and I mean nobody washes my Daniel’s hair. God, if he won’t let me do it then there’s not a chance in hell that I am going to let you do it.” Ben moved forwards to tower over Oceania, staring at her straight in the eyes and pointing his finger straight in her face.

“But, Ben my dear,” Oceania said, still grinning slyly and pushing Ben’s finger away, “I already did do it. And I got away with it too. Now be a good boy and join your little friends in the corner over there before I have to punish you.”

“No freakin' way.” Suddenly Ben reached out and grabbed Oceania’s arm, twisting it behind her back, consequently rendering her magic useless (I don’t know how, it just did) and holding her tightly in place in front of him. “Quick Sam, get me that duct tape over there,” Ben ordered, nodding towards a roll of tape near the shuttered window, with Oceania kicking and screaming to be set free. Sam did what he was told and retrieved the duct tape for Ben. “Now use it to tape her mouth closed.” Controlled Benny, Oceania still struggling to get away. Once again Sam followed orders and once Oceania was safely gagged Ben loosened his grip a little.

“What are we going to do with her now?” asked Sam.

“Hmm, I don’t know… I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” Said Ben, puzzled.

“Um, why don’t we just tape her to the bed or something?” Daniel suggested quietly, looking towards the extravagant four-poster bed at the far side of the room.

“Great idea Danny!” enthused Ben, taking command once again. “Ok, Sam you hold her down and I’ll tape, ok?”

“Sure.” Oceania put up a bit of a fight but the two strong men managed to constrain her feeble attempts to escape. Ben worked quickly, binding Oceania’s limbs to the bedposts with expertise. “Whoa Ben, you look like you’ve done this before.” Commented Sam, amazed at the speed that Ben worked at.

“Well, um…” Ben mumbled, looking over towards Daniel who was blushing furiously. “Yeah, I’ve had a little practice.”

“Hmm, I’m sure…” said Sam, noticing the lovely beetroot color that Daniel had become.

“Right, I say that we all get the hell out of here before any teenie guards find us… you both with me?” Ben asked once the job was done and Oceania was safely tied to the bed with the aid of Daniel’s wallet chain, belt and necklaces.

“Yep.” Daniel and Sam both agreed.

Ben grabbed hold of Daniel’s hand and gazed lovingly into his azure eyes. “Come on Daniel, let’s go home.”

The boys ran all the way home, not stopping once (apart from when Daniel’s pants fell down – the lack of belt was affecting him) as they were desperate to get back to where they belonged. They had all learned a valuable lesson that day – the message that good always conquers evil no matter how wicked or flowery it is. Daniel had also learned not to go wandering in the woods without proper adult supervision or bad things would happen. The genuine outcome of this escapade however, was the confirmation of the vast reservoir of love between young Daniel and Benjamin. It only took an evil fairy and some shampoo for them to realize it.

Later on that night, after Sam had gone home, Daniel, Ben and Sweep were seated cozily on their sofa watching ‘Ricki Lake’. Today’s topic was ‘I used to be a man, now I’m all woman!’. The boys were engrossed. Despite his grand feelings of joy, there was something bothering Daniel. He had a funny feeling wriggling in the pit of his stomach. Then he realized. Daniel uncharacteristically interrupted his favorite program. “Um, Ben?”

“Yes sweets?”

“Where’s Chris?”

“Oh shit!”