He staggered out a very shaken man - and I knew he would be back."....Tell them I want that if we are to play this game they must make certain they keep me amused with new and inventive ways. Soon as they bore me I will bring the game to an end.”
1161
Chapter Ninety Four
Solomon and Ordinx came to me. “Robert, you spoke and acted as if you were a god, enjoying their attacks as if they were but children, not even children, babies. Do you really have the power?”
“Of course not! Their attack has helped us develop more gifts, but not anything like I suggested. War is not only played with guns, it is a game of the mind. If I can convince them that they have no chance at all of winning, then I have won, despite their strength.”
“It could also cause them to act out of desperation.”
“Then they lose. As long as I keep them off balance, they cannot plan and act logically. If they act illogically then I win. I am not good at logic, but if they try to act without logic then they are facing the master of the illogical.” Alki just shook his head while all the rest laughed.
Keith asked, “What do we do now. Is it safe for all of us to return to our lives?”
“Not yet Keith. I made the mistake of admitting we all have to stay together for me to protect you. They will pick up on that very fast. They are used to playing war games and I am not, so I suppose it was inevitable I would make a mistake. I wonder if they will see it as a weakness in me?”
As I sat thinking, the girls tidied up. I was not surprised to see the wall replace itself. Within the hour there was no sign of the games we had played, even the burns in the carpet repaired.
Alki sat by me. “What twists is your mind taking now?”
“I made a mistake and I have to turn it into a strength. How can I?”
“Use it perhaps to lure them out?”
I nodded. “Have you got a house or building out in the country with no neighbours close by? It must be expendable, not something you love.”
“All things are expendable. I have such a house which I no longer use. It is in Jordan.”
“No good. An attack on a house in that area could start a war.”
“I have a ranch in America. The nearest neighbour is about two kilometres away.”
“That might do. What would it cost to make sure the nearest neighbour is not closer than three or four kilometres?”
Alki admitted, “The land is poor there, not much good for ranching. Not even any oil! I only bought it as a hideaway for us.” He laughed. “About half a million would probably take care of that. I would have to get rid of the ranch hands.”
“I’ll get you the money. Could you do it please.”
“Stop worrying about the money.” He glanced at me amused, “Where would you find the money?”
I grinned back. “The least of our problems. Cherine and I could bring you a million by morning if you wanted. The casinos.”
“I wish your boast were true, that you could really travel to the future. Then we could make some real money.”
“I can Alki. Any of us can. If you can jump to the alternate world then you can. Jump there, return here at the time of your choosing, return there and come back to your own time. A bit cumbersome but still possible.”
“I thought you were bluffing. In the same way you could travel into the past?”
1162
“Any changes you made there would branch off into a new probability world. It would not be this one. If I had gone back and collected Annabelle before she died and brought her here, they would never have found her body. That would have changed the past and perhaps Keith would not have bought the farm and he would not have been there to meet me. Who knows what would have happened then?”
“Okay, no messing with the past. The future is good enough.”
“Just remember, if you go to the future, come back and use the information, it could end up changing the future. Say I saw a company folding two weeks from now. I came back and invested money in that company, the future would have changed.”
“It sounds too tricky for me. I better leave this sort of thing to you.” He went off to make his calls. I found myself surrounded by my little beauties.
“Robert, we are hungry. Can’t we order, nothing was cooked, we were all too busy with the Chief.”
“I don’t think they deliver breakfast. How about we all go out to Kefalari. We could jump to the house of Claire and walk from there.”
“It will not be dangerous?”
“I think they will not be acting against us right now. They will first want to analyse what has just happened. This will be my treat.”
I sat buttering my toast (I brought my own honey as they do not serve it) and I was feeling full of energy; this war I think has brought me back to life. Cherine took a sip of my cappuccino, an excuse really to suck up the foam. I turned her face to me, her upper lip covered in foam.
“Mmm, makes me feel like licking it off you.”
She quickly licked it off. “I don’t trust you, you would do it too, just to embarrass me.”
“No I wouldn’t, but it does give me some lovely ideas about cream and honey and sweet little flowers, okay I don’t need the honey, the nectar is good enough.” She kicked me under the table.
“Cherine baby, if I wanted to see two of you, but only the one to be real, could you do it?”
“How real must the second one be? Must you also be able to touch it?”
“No love, I want to be able to see it in a camera. You should also be able to project it to any distance I want. Say, for instance, halfway around the world.”
Sam caught on very fast. “That would be very useful!”
“We’ve done something of this sort, but I need to be able to project everybody at the same time, or at least my girls. The projection should be able to last for days, move around and if possible to also have body heat, for infra-red cameras. Can you girls work on it?”
“What do you want to do with them Robert?”
“I want them to be killed Cherine - if they are that stupid.”
“The ranch?” Sam asked.
“You want to provoke them Roberto?”
“No Alki. I have given them my warning. If they try to blow up the girls, we get the Chief in, he sees them still alive and then I take action.”
“What is this “I” business. We are not all in this together?”
“The ‘I’ means I, Alki - and there will be no voting on this. I will project myself into the Pentagon and the bank. They will try to use their powers, which of course will not work against projections.”
“Why not just use the protector Roberto?”
1163
“We do not know what their powers are, they might have a power it cannot block. If we had two protectors I might try it, but with only one, it stays here to protect my loved ones.”
They were upset and glad when Alki said, “You have to allow us to take a risk sometimes.”
“Alki you mean well, but please think it through. The only tissue bank we know for certain is available is the one in our house. The second point. If any of you are lost to me, what do you think it will do to me? If I were to lose even one of you and could not fight for a time, would you take over for me?”
“If I had to I would, but I would prefer not to try. You are a bad leader Roberto, your powers depend on us being safe and that means that none of us can ever help. It is not good for us.”
“According to the circumstances Alki. When we fought the Sparklers you all fought beside me, sometimes even without me there.”
“Pappou? My daddy is greedy, he wants to be the only one in danger. Then if he wins we all have to say bravo!”
“If he loses what do we say to him my little Irene?”
“Boo!”
I grinned. “You would say ‘boo’ to your daddy?”
“Yes, we would be ghosts and all ghosts say boo.”
The next day I was sitting at my computer bringing my diary up to date when Candy came in. She walked over to the one side and waited, staring at me.
“What is it my precious?”
*Do I look pretty?* She twirled around for me to admire the swirl of her dress. I was about to answer, nearly falling for their trick. I took a closer look, but still could not see any difference. I put out my hand, not touching, but within millimetres of her skin. I felt the warmth of her presence.
I sat back and clapped. “Magnificent. Candy, you are beautiful.”
The girls all ran in, their faces excited. “We did it Robbie! We did it.”
“So I see.” I stared at the two Candy’s side by side. “If you don’t talk I do not think I could tell which one is the real one.”
“It was the twins Robert. They found the way to do it and showed us.”
“I always thought the two of them must be good for something, apart from their ability to play tricks on us.” They giggled and came into my arms.
“We will have to wait at least a week Roberto.” Alki had followed in. “I asked the sellers to take all their animals with them. I also gave them the few horses and cattle I have.”
“I hope they wait Alki.”
It turned out that they decided not to. I saw the bombs come onto the property, but did not think anything of it.
There are numerous strays in the suburbs of Athens, so seeing three dogs come into our yard did not seem strange. The one of them was a cute little white ball of fluff and the girls tried to coax it to approach them. It went straight to Irene while the other two ran in a panic amongst us.
The protector gave a wordless cry and wrapped itself around the two dogs, but the little one was already in the arms of Irene. I screamed. Diana was the closest to her and grabbed the puppy to throw it towards the other two dogs. Irene stretched her hands to catch it. As it left their hands, it, and the other two dogs, exploded.
I do not know how I kept calm. I saw to it that everyone returned to the house while I stood over Diana and Irene. They were still alive, but Diana had lost her hands, Irene had only stumps from above her elbows and both of them their faces were a bloody mess. I saw a burst eye of Irene’s hanging over her cheek and moaned.
1164
My healer was jumping from girl to girl, helping and showing the other healers what to do. I felt the explosion coming in my brain but was helpless to stop myself. I found myself in the office of the Chief of Police, grabbed his hand and returned. He fell to the grass and then sat up quickly, ready to attack me, when he saw my girls. The eye on her cheek was directly in front of him and he groaned.
He pulled his eyes away from her, saw Diana and looking around saw the rest, spattered with blood and gore. He shuddered.
“Roberto, they promised me they would not attack. They promised. I will not blame you, whatever you do, even if you kill me now. Can you save the girls, oh god, how can you replace the arms and her eye. I am so sorry.”
“Shut up and watch!”
Already the wounds were being closed, damage being repaired. The eye slid back into the socket and the lid closed over it.
“Dommi, you and the girls, get in there quickly. They must be in shock. Hold them, give them love.” The girls collapsed and I knew my darlings were being comforted. I wished I could go in too, but I had a job to do.
The look on his face was one of unbelieving awe. The rest had come out of the house again and stood around us. Michaeli was weeping, shamed and devastated, as he had been particularly touched by the sweetness of Diana.
“Who would have ordered this. Who in Greece would have done this if it was not you!”
“They could have used anyone. Probably men on the American base. They would have the explosives.”
“Who ordered it!”
“It would have been Frank.”
By now the arms were being re-grown. He swallowed hard as he saw this and could not tear his eyes away.
“He expects me to fly into a rage and attack him? He is waiting for me?”
“Knowing him, yes. Roberto, he is a hard and cold man. Whatever he does will have been planned two or three steps ahead.”
Alki, his hand shaking, took hold of me. “Please do not go there Roberto. They will be expecting you in his office. If you have to, just fucking collapse the whole building on them, but do not go in.”
There was no emotion in me now, just a coldness, a hardness I had never felt before. I went into the house and collected some dollars and returned. “Alki, you must take over, I am no longer a Cherinian. They have won, I am one of them now. I am going to kill every single one of those bastards.”
I got onto my knees and kissed my two babies. Dommi came into my mind to tell me not to worry, they are comforted, but I threw her out. In shock she returned to her body.
“Robert!”
“I’m sorry but none of you are allowed to come into me.” I gestured to the twins. “Open your minds and show me how to do it.” Meekly, tears running, they did. “Thank you my loves. Take care of each other. I’ll be back soon.
As I was about to jump, borrowing our destination image from Niko, my hand on the Chief, Cherine opened her eyes and looked at me. I left.
We tumbled, carried over by some inertia left over from our jump. There were people on the beach but nobody seemed to notice. I suppose if someone did, they would think their eyes were playing tricks on them.
1165
“Chief. I have no time for talking, convincing you. Are you with me or them.”
“If I am with them you will kill me?”
I took the money out of my pocket and gave him a wad. “I could not leave you there to harm my girls if you are with them. Here, there is enough to fly you back to Greece. I leave it to you and your powers to solve the immigration problem.” I turned my back on him, walking away.
“Roberto.”
I ignored him and walked on. I heard him follow me. “Roberto, I only asked so as to know what kind of man you are now. You did not seem to be the man I met before. I see you have not changed, it is just the anger in you now. I do not make war on little girls and I never break my word. I am with you, god help me.”
I turned back to look at him. “Yes, god help us all, for I am walking into a trap. I am after the wrong man. This Frank, he is not the leader. That one, he stays hidden. I have to walk into the trap so as to get to him.” I stopped. “Chief, what is your first name?”
“Perikles.”
“Perikli, go home, I’ll call the girls to collect you. Help protect them for me. There is no point in you coming with me, they would only kill you.”
“I cannot let you go on alone.”
“I operate better alone. It is when I have to worry about others that I do not look after myself. Go watch my family for me. Cherine will pick you up.” Even as I spoke she appeared.
“Where do you think you are going without me. We are a team, you cannot leave me out of this Robert.” Even as she spoke two more forms appeared. I was not expecting this. They were Solomon and Ordinx.
“Robert, listen to Solomon please.”
“I have come to offer you our help. Give us a chance to explain.”
“Solomon, you know I always listen. You have a plan?”
“Of sorts. Robert, if they see me with you they will see me as a Terran. I am not, nor is this body. Within me I carry close to fifty Sparklers. You know we have in the past gone down to material worlds and taken the energy forms, souls, out of those living there. When you meet with your enemies, allow us to take their souls with us. Their powers cannot affect us.”
“I will agree on one condition. That Cherine, Perikli and Ordinx return home to watch over our family.”
“Please Robert.”
“Cherine, listen closely and try to understand. I have to find the real leader of this group. Like a spider he sits hiding behind the others. This Frank I am going to, he is just one of his pawns. I have to let Frank capture me in the hope that he takes me to the leader. If they kill me, you can bring me back. If you come with, who saves us then my love?”
“God you must think I am stupid. We were all dead, including you, and you still brought us back to life.”
“Okay, no bull-shitting then. If I have you with me I become cautious. I lose the game then. Help me by having the courage to let me go. You know that you cannot lose me. Please?”
Ordinx put his arms around her as she wept. I went to her and took her chin in my hand. Looking straight into her eyes I spoke to her.
“You know the truth, just as the girls do. Out of all my loves, including my daughters, you are my one big love. You are everything to me, my breath, my life. When I, your Robert who is a coward, decide I have to be brave, it is with the image of you, your cheeky look, your sweet smile that I find the courage. Take my love home with you and share it with our girls.”
1166
I held her up in my arms a moment, our lips joined in a kiss as we breathed in each others breath. When I set her down, she turned to Ordinx and took the hand of Perikli. Staring at me they vanished.
“Solomon, after my demonstration to Perikli, why would they send three dogs with bombs in them? They knew it would not kill us. They did so because they wanted to provoke me into acting irrationally. They want me to come after them. They feel they cannot get to me in my home. You must wonder why then I am playing along.” He did not answer, just looking at me sideways out of the corners of his eyes.
“Partly because I am irrational. They hurt my girls. Solomon, you do not know how the feeling of the small soft furry ball of that puppy affects the feelings. The memory of it and it being killed will live on for a long time in my little Irene. They not only went after my girls, but killed three innocent animals.
I do not know why, but I have developed this strong feeling that Frank is not the leader or even one of the leaders. I have this intuitive feeling that the leader or leaders are keeping themselves hidden. They are far more powerful than those we are allowed to see. A lot older too.
Killing off their hired help will only be an irritation. I have to meet one of them. Even if they kill me at least I can return with that additional power. The knowledge of who to go after.”
“If they are a lot older than you, it means they have had time to develop their powers. They have succeeded in surviving in a world which is hostile to them. They may not be so easy to overcome.”
“You did not need to tell me that Solomon. I am already terrified as it is.”
“And yet you wish to continue?”
“Hiding my head in the sand will not make them go away. I see you are smiling, you remember our days in the desert. Solomon, having you with, I could not ask, but since you offered, I am very grateful. I think though that your help will not be in the manner you thought. You are my ticket to meeting the leader. They may know about you and will be curious to meet you. Alone they might have thought of me as not worth bothering with. They may decide to kill me anyway and then take you to meet their boss. If so, please try to fix in your memory whatever you can. The room, the location of the house, anything that will help me to find them.”
“What is your plan now. Will you attack this Frank in his office?”
“No. They expect me to be irrational, but not suicidal. I will project myself.”
“How will they capture you then?”
“I do not know, I am certain to make a mistake somewhere along the line. I will fight to the best of my ability, if I make it too easy they will suspect a trap.”
“We are not used to this kind of thinking. I see this trip is going to be educational.” I did not laugh for he was being serious.
“Damn! We need to rent a car and I did not bring a credit card and I don’t have a driving licence.”
We used public transport and came as close as was possible to the Pentagon. I could not find this Frank guy by trying to enter the building and my only solution would be to wait for him to drive out. That way I could follow him and find out where he lives. I was now forced to call for Niko to jump. He came and we rented a small car, something that would not stick out.
We had to wait for the end of the day. Even after a large number of cars had left he did not come out. We waited until about eleven before his car pulled out. Though I could not see him, I could feel him, so we stayed a good distance behind him. He drove into the parking of a block of apartments and we waited on the street while I followed him mentally to his penthouse. His lights went on and he came to the window looking out for a short time and I knew.
“He is waiting for me. He sensed me following him.” My sense of humour got the better of me and I chuckled.
Nicko demanded, “What the hell is funny Robert.”
1167
“I just thought, I should have made myself huge, bulging with muscles and made a Rambo style entrance, with two huge guns ablazing. They would not have expected that of me.”
“Sometimes I think you are still that loony kid you were at school.”
“Sometimes I wish I were.”
Niko asked, “You’re scared?”
“Yes.”
“We can leave Robert, nobody will think the less of you for it.”
“I would only be postponing the inevitable. Niko, you better jump home now.”
“I’m staying. Robert, I’m not saying I’ll come up with you or anything like that. You may need me to drive you away from here.”
“I won’t Niko.”
“What the hell are you saying!?”
“Next time you see me will probably be back at home when I enter my new body.”
“Fuck that! Then you’re not going up there.”
I saw Solomon was watching me and his eyes were sympathetic. I though of going through the whole spiel again and could not be bothered. I sat back and closed my eyes and concentrated on what the girls had taught me. A pity I could not talk though. All I could see was a small part of his balcony so I projected there, standing by his glass door I waited.
I could see into his apartment and saw he was not in his lounge. I made my way through the glass door. As I stepped inside he appeared. He glanced at me and continued on to his bar, got himself a drink and sat facing me. I also sat down.
“I trust it was amusing enough for you? We did try to at least meet one of your requirements.”
*Killing innocent dogs is not amusing.*
“I’m sorry, I prefer to talk aloud.”
*To each his own way. You were expecting me. What do you expect me to do now?*
He gave a cold smile. “Why, are you planning to accommodate me?”
*To a certain extent, if it suits me.*
“I expect you to try to kill me.”
*That does suit me, though I will not try, I will kill you Frank.*
“Go ahead then. After that I may then decide to kill you, if it amuses me. Otherwise maybe something worse. Yes, I think the something worse part would be more amusing.”
*Now you’ve tickled my curiosity. What could be worse?*
“The knowledge that you are alive, but helpless to save the rest of your pathetic group.”
I stood up and ‘walked’ around.
*Frank, you are a cold hearted son of a bitch. You do not give a shit about being amused. If you could have done anything to me you would have done so. I on the other hand enjoy a good laugh. So why not make me laugh, let me see you try your ‘worse’ nonsense. Once your bluff has been shown for what it is worth, maybe then you’ll find out if I am bluffing or not, or maybe I just disappear and leave you to stew.*
1168
His light brown eyes stared at me coldly and I felt a ‘net’ of energy surround me. As it tightened in upon me I killed my projection. I heard him in my mind as he swore and jumped up. I projected myself so that I appeared behind him.
*Was that the worse? You planned to hold me in that net of energy? You have not been told that I am energy when I wish to be? You really will have to come up with something better than that!*
“Nobody can get out of the net!! The Master said...” he stopped aghast.
*Oh I know about the Master, that is why I came. Surely you did not think I came here to waste my time on you? I could have killed you from my chair at home. Sit down and shut up Frank, you are to be the bearer of an important message.*
I thought a moment. *Your master has seen a lot during his lifetime. I have one thing he has never seen. I want him to see it before he dies. That way he will know what his attack on my family has cost him. It will also prove to him that he never had a chance to succeed. I have allies Frank. Aliens with a civilisation older than our solar system. Their leader is here as my guest. Solomon, would you please introduce yourself?*
Solomon appeared, standing by me.
“Robert, one Sparkler alone could burn though his net of energy. Do you think he would be considerate and feed my Sparkler, it is hungry.”
*Be a good host Frank and feed his Sparkler. That should also prove to you that Solomon is not of Earth.*
He was badly rattled, his ultimate weapon a thing for us to joke about. Desperately he decided to try again. Solomon released the Sparklers and they not only soaked up the energy he was sending out but forced his brain to create more for them. Finally he collapsed, that part of his brain burnt out. We waited for him to resume consciousness.
*Frank, you tell your master he made a big mistake, you would have been far better off using your own powers. At least they would have been native to your own brain. I apologise for the damage, we have destroyed all the powers you had and you will as of now be of no further use to your master.*
“I will be killed.”
*How sad Frank. I find it difficult to imagine a piece of shit being killed. How do you like the idea of Walter sitting in his home, all nice and comfy because you had to do the shit work?*
I’ll be damned if he didn’t fall for it and picture Walter in his home. I fixed the picture in my mind and we returned to the car. I turned and slapped Solomon on the arm.
“You were perfect!! You nearly fried his brain!”
“We just searched for the part that gave him his powers.”
My face paled. I stared at Niko, but he did not understand. “You could have done that to me at any time - why didn’t you?” Now Niko understood and his face went white as a sheet.
“You are Robert!! How could we?”
“Then I am indeed glad I am Robert. Does anyone feel like a big plate of food, I’m starving.”
“Here or back home?”
“Niko, there is no place like home, except when your sister cooks!”
“I would fear her if I were you after that comment.”
“Ha! Your sister knows that I live in terror of her all the time - especially of her cooking!”
We got ourselves a motel room, parked the car and jumped back home.
1169
Perikli was there and I was touched to see that Irene was sitting by his side and he had his arm around her as they talked. I went to Irene and Diana and gave them each a hug. While I did so I delicately touched their minds and felt no damage, just a small sadness in Irene for the puppy.
“Where are my special twin girls? Come here and give your old man a hug. You saved me from ‘worse’.”
“What was worse?”
“Sit down and I’ll tell you.” I told all of them of what had happened.
“The net of energy he tried to entrap me with, if I had been there in actual fact would have gone through my body. It was supposed to trap my soul. They would have then kept me captive. The body I think they would have allowed to die, it is of no use to them. I am curious, how do they use the souls. There must be a purpose to such a gift or power.”
“Roberto, I am curious, how do you extrapolate and arrive at the conclusion that the energy net was for trapping your soul? Not that I’m saying you are wrong”
Alki and the others had a good laugh. “Perikli, he does that all the time. You should have met him when he first started developing his gifts. He came up with all these theories that he gave out as fact, apologising to Cherine’s mother because her daughter would die in a few years because of him and a whole lot of other nonsense. When he comes up with a new theory, then that becomes fact and all he has to say about the old theory is ‘sorry’.”
“I think I am right this time. Ask Solomon. I think his energy net was a crude imitation of a Sparkler. How would that hold a body?”
“He is right Alki. The energy type though is of a much lower level.”
“Solomon, is there a way each of us could have a Sparkler within us without the Sparkler or us being damaged? That way if the energy net is used again, we have an instant way of destroying it.”
“We have learnt how to alter our energy level so as not to damage the souls we capture for you. It should be possible, though I would like to see the Sparklers exchanging frequently, they would not be happy if kept out of the void for long. They also need to feed.”
“Would it help them if I create energy spots in the void, they would not be for the others, only for those who have spent time here, so that they have a quick meal available to them.”
Solomon happily nodded. “They would be leaving your bodies in a weakened state, so it would be a good idea.”
I just could not resist teasing her. “So Sam, looks as if you are about to be contaminated, love.”
“You are never going to let me forget that are you?”
“If it hurts you I will, if you see the humour in it, no.” She gave me a grimace and then her naughty grin.
Niko said, with a quick glance at Dommi. “Talking about energy spots and feeding, I thought we were starving Robert.”
“Some toast and coffee would fill my empty spot.”
“Did you cook Dominique?”
“Yes, why?”
“Nothing. Could I have some toast also please?”
“Robert! What have you been saying about my cooking?”
I thought of ducking back to our motel, but knew she would not let me get away. “Anybody got a cigarette?”
“You need one Robert?”
1170
“Yes Claudia, Dommi hates the smell of them, like garlic to a vampire. It will help keep her away from me.”
“Oh - oh!! I think you just jumped from the frying pan into the fire.”
I grabbed Dommi and kissed her. “What have you cooked for supper love, I’m starving.”
Perikli looked at us, turned to Michaeli, then got up. “I think you are all crazy. I’m going home.”
“Not yet Perikli. I think you would be dead within hours if you do.”
“I cannot stay here. I have a job to do!”
“I’ve been thinking about that. Girls. We need another version of your projection. One that is solid to the touch and that can talk. That way everyone can go back to doing their work while safely sitting here.”
Little Candy came over to me and sat on my lap. “You mean real like this?” She kissed me, her tiny lips a benediction to the pain I was hiding.
“You mean you have already done it? Where is the real Candy?”
“Right here silly! I was just asking.”
“You tricked me!” She got to giggling and I tickled her a bit and gave her a hug and kiss.
I saw his disapproving look so I said to him, “Perikli, now you see what my secret is. They are the ones that make me what I am. Aren’t I truly blessed?”
“I’ll tell you this, if you had not just returned from besting the one man I feared above all others, I would have got out of here as fast as possible. You are like a child, everything is a game and all you want is to be loved.”
“Hey guys, do you think that is a fair description of me?” As all the Cherinians took their pleasure in answering, Perikli gave up in disgust.
The truth was that I was running out of steam. Now that I was back under our ‘umbrella’ and could relax, the day’s events were starting to hit me. My girls soon sensed it and taking me by the hand led me to our bedroom, all our banter forgotten as they tried to wrap me in their love.
Slowly the shakes took over and I was held tightly by my Diana and Irene. I kept seeing the eye and my girls without arms and it was tearing at me. Dommi and Cherine were wise to me by now and knew I needed this and let me be alone with them, hoping their presence and love would heal me.
As I got over the worst of it, the two of them gently made love to me and it was as if I were the child. It was as if I needed the reassurance that despite what had happened to them, they still love me.
“Shh, my love, it was not your fault.”
“It is. I keep acting foolishly, treating these dangerous people as if it were a game. I’m foolish, I should not be the one you depend on. We should have had an adult protecting you, all of you, even me.”
“Silly, we would have all been dead then. It is the way you are that protects us. Only you could Robbie.”
I let them soothe me, but deep in my heart I wondered if I had not spoken the truth.
While I slept, the girls practised and tried hard. Finally they left me with Irene and returned to the lounge, waking the others and got them all to try. When Annabelle created the first ‘doppelganger’ the girls, all of them, shrieked with excitement, waking me up. Groggy I found myself facing Annabelle who threw herself into my arms and kissed me. This shook me and I pulled her away, looking into her eyes.
“Do you love me Robert?”
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)20th June, 2019
- posted on Steemit: 20th June, 2019