"Where are our clothes," he whispered urgently, "...we gotta get out of here...now!" They looked all over but couldn't find their clothing anywhere in the nearly alien place the creek had become. The drums were louder now, but the boys couldn't tell what direction it was coming from; the all-pervasive sound seemed to pulsate with the beat of their hearts. The odd thing was that the propulsive rhythms seemed to keep their bodies at a sensual peak whether they wanted it so or not, and they could barely keep their hands off each other.

They sat together fascinated, fearful and confused. "Whut are we gonna do now Brandon?"

"I...I dunno, but we'll get out of here soon, don't worry Jeb, okay?"

Brandon put a comforting arm around Jeb, but despite the brave words he was worried. They'd have a lot to explain if they were forced to leave the creek totally naked. But the question was, would they even be allowed to leave this place at all. Nothing around "Jacob's Tears" was familiar now, It seemed to have reverted to its ancient swampy state. The ambient odors of the place were much stronger now; it was the smell of animals and exotic flowers, green growing things fallen to the fertile earth; a complex mix of earthy and sweet, evidence of the constant cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

Out on "Jacob's Tears" the dark water was suddenly troubled. The boys rose to their feet and stared in awe as the surface began a violent bubbling like rapidly boiling water. From each broken bubble silvery cloud-streams emerged. These ghostly tendrils rushed from all parts of the creek towards its swirling center, where they merged to form a tall column of phosphorescent vapor about two feet wide and eight feel high.

"Oh....wow, look at that...what IS it?" Whispered Jeb. Brandon didn't answer but held his friend even tighter.

Too astonished to be frightened, they just stood there watching as the glowing column began moving, slowly at first, then it was undulating its way swiftly across the creek, rushing faster and faster from the water onto the land--heading directly toward them.

"RUN!" hollered Brandon, but it was too late, the thing was already upon them. They turned to flee, but Brandon's feet caught in a tangle of roots that wasn't there before. As he fell his hand tore out of Jeb's grasp. Brandon scrambled around on the ground in time to see two figures emerge from amidst the fading column of glittering fog...or...whatever it was...

Terrified and crying, Jeb didn't want to look at the horror behind him; he desperately tried to drag Brandon to his feet. "Get up Bran, get up, it's gonna git us...hurry!!" Brandon's heart thumped harder than the drums which still beat faintly in the background. He struggled upright and looked back over his shoulder to see how close the terror that stalked them had come...and stopped dead in his tracks. Less than six feet away stood two...children. Two naked children. Were these the awful frightening creatures they were trying so hard to get away from?

Abruptly aware that he was running all by himself, Jeb yelled back to Brandon, "Whut's the matter with you? Why you stoppin'?"

"Look over there," urged Brandon. Reluctantly, Jeb looked. He saw the two naked kids, one black and one white, and halted. He looked around "Jacob's Tears", totally confused for a moment. "Huh? Where'd the monster go?"

Brandon spoke softly as he stared at the ghost kids who just stood there gazing curiously back at them. "Um...Jeb, I think they're it. They are our monster..."

"What? Ohhh..." Jeb's voice trailed off as comprehension slowly dawned on him. He walked back to stand beside his friend, "You mean they are..."

"Yep, I think it's them," Brandon whispered.

Brandon had heard all the old stories about Jacob and Lorene. He knew they were supposed to be young, but he had assumed they were older teenagers, at least about seventeen or so...but these two were barely older than he was--no more than fourteen at most. How could anyone kill a kid that young? That thought reminded him that these were dead kids...ghosts, but they certainly didn't look dead. Aside from the remaining wisps of glowing stuff that still floated around them they seemed anything but ghostly. What does one say to a ghost? As he tried to think of something Jeb blurted out, "I know who you are...Brandon told me...what d'you want with us?"

The two focused their gaze upon Jeb and wavered slightly toward him. Jeb hurriedly backed up and slipped his hand into Brandon's for comfort. The ghost couple observed this and looked at each other then back toward the boys. When they moved slightly forward again Brandon decided that while they looked `normal' they certainly moved like he assumed ghosts would, kinda weightless, floating. He saw that the girl didn't actually touch the ground, and Jacob had no feet at all, just stumps. He had no hands either--but he did have a dick, so that part of the legend must have been wrong. In dramatic contrast to the sleek body of Jacob who was much darker than Brandon, the girl, Lorene, was blue-eyed, very pale with two small bud breasts on her chest. The deep cleft between her legs was bare, but her long hair, the same reddish-gold like Jeb's, hung down to her hips in wet strands. The couple was so close together that some of her hair fell around Jacob as if it too wanted to hold him close. Loreen's right arm stayed around his slender waist, and in her left hand, Brandon suddenly noticed that she held a short sharp-looking machete.

The pair floated closer to the boys then Lorene suddenly surged forward alone, with her machete at her side. It seemed as if she was going toward Jeb. Brandon quickly pulled Jeb into his arms and turned away shielding the blonde boy from the equally blonde girl-ghost. Brandon found himself talking fast, pleading, almost shouting, "No! Please, please don't hurt him.... heís my friend.... I know all about you...you're Lorene Gresham...and that's Jacob. My name is Brandon McKinnon...I'm Jacob's cousin...please Jacob, don't let her hurt my friend...."

The girl halted mid-air, apparently baffled at the outburst, then she looked down at the weapon she held in her hand as if she'd forgotten it was there.... then she laughed out loud. "Don't be afraid child, I shall not harm you.... this is for the others, the cruel ones...this thing is what they hurt my Jacob with. It's only fair that I have the satisfaction of revenge."

To Brandon's ear her accent sounded British. But Jeb, eyes bright and excited, was tugging at his arm, "Whut did you say her name was?"

"Lorene..."

"No... I mean, whut's her last name?"

The girl-ghost and Brandon both answered, "Gresham."

"That can't be...that's MY last name. I'm Jebediah Gresham!"

The girl's mouth formed a pink `o' of surprise and she drew even closer to Jeb looking him over carefully. This time he wasn't scared and didn't move away. "Yes...", she mused, "I see...that's why you looked so familiar to me--that hair and face is the image of my little brother Paul. You must be one of his descendants..."

Brandon was totally shocked. He tried to make sense of it all. "So...we are related...Lorene and Jeb...me and Jacob ...and...and....."

"And it is all as it should be." The ghost-boy spoke for the first time. Jacob had approached to hover near Lorene who once again put her arm around him--just like Brandon constantly kept an arm around Jeb. While Jacob didn't physically resemble his distant cousin, his soft, gentle voice was quite like Brandon's, just slightly deeper. Everyone looked at Jacob when he spoke. His head tilted away as if he was listening to something in the distance. "The drums speak to me," he said, "they say this is right...that this is the path to our final release."

Brandon and Jeb were once again aware of the low rumbling from somewhere far beyond the trees, and the faint acid tang of smoke hung in the air. Brandon frowned, trying to understand, "Final release?"

"Yes," Jacob made a sweeping gesture with his handless right arm, "a final release from this place of sufferin', a release from an eternity bound to fire and water...I burn forever...except when Lorene holds me...I warm her, and she cools my fire."

Jacob stopped talking, closed his eyes and lowered his head. The boys were astonished to see the thin stream of moisture which rolled down his ebony cheek...Jacob's tears. Lorene held him even tighter. And for a moment their images wavered and they seemed to flow together. Then they were abruptly `solid' again.

The human boys were fascinated...and saddened, and nearly on the point of sympathetic tears themselves. "What can we do to help you?" asked Jeb.

"I don't know...but we feel...drawn to you...we've been watching you two ever since you got here," Jacob said, "and we saw everything you did.... it's a very strange thing..." gazing at the pair Jacob continued, "a boy with a boy... but I can feel that you need each other, just as much as Lorene and I have always needed one another."

The sound of rolling thunder was loud again and Jacob paused, listening carefully. Then he spoke, "This is what the drums say:

In a forbidden love, but true,
Shall be a final gift to you.
Your passion lives on in the heart; it burns forever
In flesh of your flesh
and blood of your blood.

Four into two becomes one, a sweet consummation...
Becomes the gate of ecstasy, the key to freedom,
Within the white light of eternity
that patiently waits."

"That sounds real nice....but whut does it mean? Jeb asked, mystified. They all turned to Brandon as if he was supposed to have an answer.

Brandon felt a bit weird and just a little bit pressured with all attention suddenly focused on him.

"You guys are ghosts and all....aren't you supposed to know everything?" But Jacob answered hesitantly, "I......we're...not quite sure what it means either..."

"Okay," said Brandon. He slumped to a sitting position on the ground, leaned his chin on his knees and thought hard, "I believe I understand part of it..." he began, "this creek has to be the `lake of tears' ...and... I guess we all know what the `smoke and pain' is all about." Everybody nodded, "But," Brandon continued, "I am not certain what the big `mystery' is...yet."

Everyone stayed silent and waited patiently while the brown boy closed his dark slanted eyes and thought for awhile.

"`Forbidden love' has got to be me and Jeb. I guess most everyone thinks it's strange for one boy to make love with another boy, but I dunno how that could be a gift to you...and of course, since we are your relatives, Jeb and I are the 'flesh of your flesh and blood of your blood'..."

Jeb sat down in the grass beside his friend, his cute face was screwed up in an effort to concentrate on this complicated puzzle, "Whut does 'consummation' mean?" he wanted to know. Brandon pulled the blonde boy to sit between his legs. And Jeb leaned back, once again relaxing into the tight comfortable circle of Brandon's arms.

"Um.... 'consummation' means...ah.... like...when something is completed, or ended..." and in a sudden attack of shyness, Brandon lowered his voice to whisper into Jeb's delicate pink ear, "and....I think it also means when people have sex...and they cum."

Embarrassed, Brandon could feel Lorene and Jacob's attention focused on him, and he glanced up in time to see the couple smile and nod imperceptibly at each other. But Jeb had more questions, "An' whut does 'four into two becomes one,' mean...that sounds stupid...how can four into two make one?"

The images of Jacob and Lorene wavered, grew unstable. Again they seemed to melt together for a moment, but they were quickly solid individuals again.

Lorene spoke this time. "We understand what the message means now...why we are all here...and if you let us, Jacob and I can finally go on to where we belong and find some peace.....but you will have to trust us.... and help us on the way.... it all depends upon you."

(To be continued)