"Don't fall in love, it will kill you!"
☆

"Hello..."

Tamesh swallows hard as he holds his phone in his hand, pressing it to his ear. "Mum..."

The line goes quiet...."Mum...it's Tamesh."

"I know...I know who it is."

Her voice sounded sad. As if she was expecting the call. A call she didn't want to take.

Tamesh glances up at Blake, who is now pulling on his sweats and a tshirt. Blake notices the apprehensive stare Tamesh is giving him. He pulls his arm through his tee and heads towards him, still sitting on the bed. Blake rests a reassuring hand on Tamesh's leg. It gives Tamesh the strength to continue.

"Mum, something's happening to me. Something I don't understand." Again the line goes quiet. This time he just waits, anticipating the reply.

"Tamesh...Have you fallen in love?"

He is a little dumbfounded by the statement. "Mum...I" he looks up at Blake, with that same look of concern. His brown eyes were sad, but worried and he knew the answer. "Yes."

He hears a sigh over the phone. But it's not one of annoyance, it's more of a pain. "Mum..." Tamesh begins again. "I have wings, they look like a butterfly's." The wings again flutter on Tamesh's back, drawing Blake's attention to them once again as they open wide like a magical kite.

"Tamesh sweetheart I know." His mother says. The voice sounding pained once again.

"What...how...how do you know? Why the hell did you keep this from me?" Tamesh sits up on the edge of the bed a little in surprise and anger that his mother knew about his situation. She knew and never ever told him.

"Because you are just like your father... You are too much like your father."

Tamesh can feel his eyes tearing up at the mention of the man he never knew. He feels the squeeze on his leg tighten when Blake sees the breathless sobbing begin.

"Tam, don't cry. Please. This isn't your fault. I was trying to to protect you. I tried so hard, I tried to steer you away from love because ..."

She halts her words, prompting Tamesh to spur her on.

"Say it, just say it...please! You need to start telling me the truth"

"It's not for me to explain"

She continues...

"The vase, the butterfly vase. you still have it?"

Tamesh thinks of the still life he has in his studio, that vase, the one with the seemingly moving butterfly. "Yes...I have it."

"Go get it and you will find out who you are and Tamesh..."

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I'm sorry I couldn't show you the love you deserve. Believe me I was trying to protect you, but know that I love you with all my heart and so did your father."

"Mum, you're acting like you'll never see me again." Tamesh tries to muster a laugh. Why was she talking like this would be their last conversation? They now had so much to talk about.

There is brief silence down the line before she speaks again.

"Bye Tamesh."

Then the line goes dead.

"Mum? Mum, hello mum?" Tamesh looks at the phone in his hand. He redials the number but she doesn't respond.

"What's going on?" Blake questions, watching Tamesh throw his phone across the room in frustration.

"She's cut me off. She's bloody cut me off!...She...she said I need to get the vase with the butterfly!" Tamesh stands up, grabbing some random shorts from the bedroom floor, paying no mind to the destruction his wings are causing around him.

"Hey, just slow down a minute. I'll get the vase, you stay there." Blake hurriedly gets up and leaves the bedroom, heading for the art studio. He locates the vase and picks it up. It feels strangely warm and Blake nearly drops it in surprise. He hurriedly heads back up the stairs to the bedroom, where he sees Tamesh trying hard to stuff his wings in the confines of a cotton shirt, but they are resisting.

"What are you doing?" Blake looked on at the sight with amusement.

"How am I supposed to hide these? How am I meant to leave the flat?" Tamesh finally gives up on the shirt, tossing it on the bed. "Hey let me have that." He sees the vase in Blake's possession and grabs it from his hand, "Ah! It's hot" He instantly drops the vase on the wooden floor boards, not expecting the rise in temperature.

All of a sudden, a bright purplish pink mist fills the room, making the wings again flutter to clear the air. Blake holds his shirt to his mouth, the mist making him choke. "Tam...Tam come on!" He tries to reach for Tamesh through the plumes of smoke as he backs out of the door, but the artist seems unaffected. He just looks around him as a swirl of pink surrounds him.

Blake has no choice but to leave the bedroom or choke to death as he backs away onto the landing. He needs to get help. He needs to get Alfie.

Tamesh meanwhile gets lost in the smoke, his senses taken over. He falls back to sitting on the bed and looks at the strange image of a figure forming amidst the chaos. The image of a man, a man with bright pink wings, a man who looks like him.

The figure looks like it is hovering in the air before it finally utters a word...

"This is a message for my child...if you are seeing this now, then your fate has been decided. You have followed your destiny and fulfilled your purpose in life and soon your time will end.

You have given a great gift to humanity. You have love for someone who is worthy and created a child, who will be born of love. That is who we are. Our mission is to rid this planet of hate.

It was then that Tamesh realised exactly what his mother was trying to do. She was trying to save him but it seemed that his love was too powerful.

Tamesh looks on in utter shock at the news that he has moments to live.

Don't fall in love, it will kill you!