William Redman Carter: Chapter 24

Posted: January 16, 2006 - 09:46:18 am



The household was in total chaos. Natalie and Just Jan had been released from

the hospital after a visit to their rooms by Kelly. The four bodyguards, Ling,

Kelly, Lucy, and Just Jan were at the house with Ken, Lisa, and Tim. William was

nowhere to be found and no one had a clue as to his location.

Allowing herself to act like a mother, Kelly paced around the living room with

an expression of worry on her face. Although Kelly was worried, Ling was not. In

fact, she was furious. Growling at everyone she saw, she would occasionally stop

her prowling to announce to anyone who would listen, "I'm going to kill him."

The bodyguards were doing their best to stay out of Ling's way while dealing

with a minor crisis of their own. Natalie was coming to grips with how she had

been healed. Coming out of a coma to find a woman between her legs had been

traumatic, but nowhere as traumatic as the orgasm Kelly had triggered. Nicole

kept trying to explain to Natalie that it didn't represent a desire on her part,

but the young woman was firmly convinced that she had turned into a lesbian.

Colt and Rock stayed out of the conversation on general principles, fully aware

that anything they said would be misinterpreted.

Just Jan was uncomfortable being in the house. She felt that she was ruining the

furniture just by sitting on it. She kept looking at the front door wanting to

run away. The only thing that kept her in her seat was that Lucy was holding her

hand. Lucy was searching for some way to let the bag lady know how much she

appreciated the old woman's help.

Lisa was attempting to play hostess, but she had run out of guestrooms in which

to put people. After offering coffee to everyone and finding no takers, she

retreated to the kitchen. It was the one room in which she felt comfortable

chasing out anyone who visited, even if that person was Ling. Ken was trying to

keep Tim from stirring up more trouble. Tim was sure that something neat was

going on, he just had to find out what it was.

For the second time in less than ten days, the ringing of the doorbell rang

surprised Ken. After looking at the bodyguards, he went over to answer it.

Opening the door, he found Cole frowning and stroking his medallion. Without

saying a word, the green robed Druid strode into the room and came to a halt

with his feet shoulder wide and his hands one his hips. All eyes were drawn to

the powerful appearance he presented.

Spotting Natalie, he turned to face her and said, "Your orgasm was not the

result of a woman touching you. It was a result of the Goddess letting you know

that you had been fully healed. Get over it. Go make love to your man and

remember what it means to be a woman."

Turning to face Just Jan, he said, "Stand up and face me."

Unable to stop herself, Just Jan rose and said, "Yes, sir."

"For two decades you have been homeless. Now you have a home. Stay with Lucy as

a companion and friend. You have a great need for her. She has a greater need

for you."

"Yes, sir."

"Go with her to the pond, wash, and then return a new woman. She will take you

to get new clothes. Your old life is over."

Wide eyed, Just Jan staggered back as if punched. She looked to Lucy, but Lucy

was staring at the Druid as he stepped in front of her. Looking down at her, he

said, "Lucy, you have accepted responsibility for this woman. It is time for you

to act responsibly."

Lucy nodded, stood up from the couch, and took Just Jan by the hand. Following

his instructions, she led the bag lady out the back door pausing only long

enough to pick up two towels. Just Jan allowed herself to be led by the younger

woman. It seemed that with each step, the past dropped from her and her spirit

grew lighter.

The Druid watched the pair leave the house before turning to face Ling. His

presence seemed to get even larger. Shaking his head, he said, "Relax. Trust his

prescience. He knows far more than any of us."

Ling nodded feeling the power of the man. She knew that power, having felt

exactly the same thing when John Carter or Ed Biggers would make a pronouncement

from the Gods and Goddesses they served. It would be a stretch of the

imagination to say that she actually relaxed, but she did stop her pacing and

take a seat.

Walking past a stunned Ken, Cole went to the kitchen. Sticking his head through

the door, he said, "Lisa?"

She looked at him wondering what words he would want to share with her. Awed by

what she had heard from the living room, she asked, "What?"

"Could I please get a cup of coffee from you? I really need one," he answered as

his hand dropped away from the medallion he had been holding.

"Sure." Pleased that someone wanted a cup of coffee from the pot she had brewed,

she filled a cup and handed it to him. Smiling, she asked, "Cream or sugar?"

Taking a deep whiff of the coffee, he smiled back at her with just enough of his

smile visible over the rim of the cup for her to see. He answered, "Thank you

very much. Black is fine."

When he returned to the living room, a smiling Kelly asked, "What? You have

nothing to tell me?"

"You're a Druid. You wouldn't listen to me anyway," he answered with a laugh.

His laugh provoked a similar laugh from Kelly.

Sitting down, he looked over at Nicole and Rock. They looked as exhausted as he

felt. In a soft voice, he asked, "Shouldn't you be in bed or something?"

Surprised, Nicole looked over at Rock and answered, "I guess."

The pair left the living room to get as much sleep as possible before their

shift started. Cole sat back and took a sip of his coffee. Upon swallowing, he

hummed in contentment and said, "This is perfect."

Ling, having been briefed on the presence of the Druid, asked, "So how is the

neighbor girl?"

"Better. She's eating with a reasonable appetite. After my coffee, I'll go back

over there to work with her some more," Cole answered. His hand went to his

medallion and stroked it. It had brought him over to the house.

Curious, Kelly asked, "How long have you been working with her?"

"What day is it?"

"Wednesday."

"Ten days, I guess," answered the Druid realizing that he'd lost track of time.

He took another sip of his coffee, savoring the taste. He sighed at the thought

of trying to make up more than a month of school work and said, "We need a Druid

who can deal with this specific kind of problem. William was more correct than

he probably knew when he said there was nothing he could do to help her. She is

almost beyond my ability to help."

Nodding her understanding, Kelly said, "All gifts have limitations."

"Lisa makes a great cup of coffee. That's a gift every servant of the Gods and

Goddesses should envy. Consider just how much pleasure a cup of coffee, served

in the right circumstances, can provide," Cole said. Looking over at Ken, he

said, "You're a lucky man."

Surprised at the attention and how good it made him feel, Ken said, "You're

good. You're really good."

"What?"

"You come in here and made everyone feel better. I feel ten feet tall right

now."

Laughing, Cole shook his head and said, "It was just an honest observation."

The blond haired woman ran down the dark street looking over her shoulder. The

past two hours had been the worst of her life. She'd been heading to a local bar

to talk to a man about taking care of Lucy when the kid had appeared. Since

then, she hadn't been able to get rid of him. No matter where she went, he was

there tapping her on the shoulder and looking at her with eyes that seemed to

see deep inside her. She had tried to hit him, but she couldn't touch him.

At the corner, she stopped to catch her breath and looked around. A hand touched

her on the shoulder. She spun around to find him looking at her through narrowed

eyes. Impossible as it was to believe, he wasn't even breathing hard. She

screamed, "Why are you doing this to me?"

"You tried to harm my fiancée," he answered without anger or malice in his

voice.

The woman ran off into the dark without waiting for his answer. William watched

her go. He reached down to the length of leather hanging from his belt and tied

another knot in it. There were now a dozen knots tied along its length. He

sprinted off in a different direction from the one taken by the woman. On

reaching a corner two blocks away, he stopped and stepped into the shadows.

Missy ran, taking random turns hoping to lose him. She ran for a couple of

blocks and then turned back. Side aching from the effort of running for such a

long time, she stopped to catch her breath. She didn't understand how the kid

was doing it. She'd run from place to place and each time he was there. She

jumped when a hand touched her shoulder. Turning to face him, she shouted,

"Leave me alone!"

"You know where the police are. They are waiting for you. All you have to do is

turn yourself in," answered William staring into her cold blue eyes.

"Never! I'm not going to jail because of that bitch!"

"You can't get away," William said. He pointed in the direction of the main

entrance of the university. In a soft voice, he said, "They're waiting for you

down there."

The woman ran off in terror with no real destination in mind. She couldn't

return to her dorm since a cop was camped on her doorstep. She couldn't leave

through the main door since a police car was parked there. The other exits were

blocked by homeless men who wouldn't let her pass. She couldn't even scream for

help as that would bring the campus police and they would arrest her. All she

wanted was a chance to rest so that she could come up with a plan.

William tied another knot in the leather strip while shaking his head. He took

off towards the student center knowing that she would end up going there. He'd

have ten minutes to reach the building. He could take his time, but she'd run

almost the entire way via a circuitous route intended to lose him. She hadn't

figured out that he didn't need to follow her to know where she was going.

Ten minutes later, William stepped out of a men's room and tapped her on the

shoulder right after she had passed it. She spun and glared at him. Her anger

overcame her terror for a moment. Furious, she asked, "Why are you doing this to

me?"

"You tried to harm my fiancée."

"Bastard, leave me alone."

William shook his head and answered, "I can't do that. I have to stop you. You

had plans to hire someone else tonight. I can't allow you to do that."

"That goody-two-shoes! Bah! She deserves to die," screeched Missy unable to

believe that he had known what she was going to do. The handful of students

engaged in a late night conversation in the student center turned to look at

her.

"If you turn yourself in, the police will help you," William said pointing to

the main entrance.

With her fear so thick that she could taste it in her throat, Missy ran away. In

her mental fog all she wanted was to find some place where she could be alone

and think. William tied another knot in the leather strip. Shaking his head, he

said, "Only four more to go and then she'll turn herself over to the police."

He moved towards the football practice field. She would try to climb the fence

there to get off campus. If he wasn't such a good guy he'd let her, but he knew

she'd get hurt if she actually made the attempt to climb it. He settled down by

one of the bushes to wait for her to arrive.

Fifteen minutes later, he spotted her creeping towards the fence in an attempt

not to be seen. Her head darted from side to side as she sought a sign that the

kid was there. She reached the fence and looked up at the arrow points atop the

iron rods set into the rails. Swallowing at the thought of accidentally falling

upon them, she had just moved to climb the fence when she felt the dreaded tap

on the shoulder.

Tired of being chased around campus, she swung out to strike him. He was just

out of reach of her hand. She threw herself at him intending to scratch out his

eyes, but he wasn't there. Off- balanced, she fell to the ground. Looking up at

him, she wondered if he was some sort of ghost. Terrified, she said, "Leave me

alone."

"I can't do that," William answered. Pointing to the front gate, he said, "Turn

yourself over to the police. They'll make sure that you get the psychological

counseling you need."

"Bastard, I'm not going to jail for that bitch!"

William watched her run off into the dark. He tied another knot in the strip of

leather. He headed towards the parking lot in an easy jog knowing that was her

next destination. Upon his arrival at the parking lot, he dug into his pockets

and took out the contents. He ducked behind a car to wait for her.

Ten minutes later, Missy walked through the parking lot confident that she was

going to get rid of the kid for good. A tap on her shoulder and she turned

around to face him. Holding the gun in front of her, she aimed at his chest and

pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. She pulled the trigger several more times

with the same lack of results. Furious, she threw the gun at him in frustration.

He stepped out of the way and moved back to his position so quickly that it

almost looked like the gun had flown through him.

William held out his cupped hand and said, "It won't work without these in it."

Missy stared at the bullets and then back at the car whose window she had just

broken. There was no way he could have gotten the bullets from the gun, but it

was empty and he had bullets in his hand. Open mouthed, she asked, "How?"

"I know everything you are going to do. You can't get away," he answered as he

pocketed the bullets.

"It's not possible."

"Yet it happened."

"Get away from me," she screamed as the level of terror she felt increased

ten-fold. She stared at him as if he were some character out of a horror movie.

"Turn yourself over to the police. They'll help you," William said.

She looked around and decided that she'd steal a car. The homeless scum at the

gate wouldn't stop her if she was in a car. She started to move away, but froze

when he said, "It won't operate for you."

She looked at him terrified that he could read her mind. She wondered which one

he thought she was going to steal. She looked at a car and saw that it was

unlocked. The fact was that she didn't know how to get around the security

features of a car and she knew it.

"It doesn't matter which one you try to steal. It won't operate for you,"

William said knowing that she wouldn't try to steal any of them now that he had

mentioned it.

It occurred to her that he had somehow gotten the bullets out of the gun using

magic. That he would use magic to keep the car from operating for her scared her

even more. She turned and ran into the dark. Her heart was pounding so hard that

it felt like it would burst.

William tied another knot in his leather strip as a policeman walked over to

him. Pointing to the ground, William said, "The gun is there."

"I saw her break into the car and take it from the glove compartment. How did

you know?" the cop asked looking at the gun on the ground.

"It doesn't matter," William said with a sigh. "I've got to get back to the

football practice field. She's going to try to go over the fence again,"

William turned and jogged away. The cop bent down and picked up the gun using a

pencil. He slipped it into an evidence bag. He watched William disappear at the

far end of the parking lot wondering why he was ordered not to arrest her for

breaking into the car and attempting to shoot the kid.

Nestled in some bushes, William waited for Missy to arrive. This time, she ran

straight to the fence and started to climb without pausing to check it out. She

fell off when he touched her shoulder. Staring up at him from the ground, she

lost control of her bladder and crab walked away from him. Voice tight with

fear, she said, "Keep away from me."

"You can't get away. Turn yourself in," William said looking down at her with

pity.

"You're not a real person. You're a fucking ghost..."

"They are waiting for you at the gate."

She scrambled away from him, tripping and falling several times. She ran without

even looking at where she was headed. Passing campus landmarks without being

aware of them, she was lost. She missed her step and fell over a curb skinning

her knee. Tears of fear and frustration blinded her. Sobs emerged without her

being aware that she was sobbing.

William tied another knot in the leather strip and moved to the far exit. He

knew that she would show up there next. Once he arrived, he waved to Fat Fred.

The big man waved back and left the gate to return to the park and bed. William

slipped into the darkness near the gate.

It was twenty minutes before a limping Missy made her way to the gate. Seeing

that the homeless were gone, her heart skipped a beat. As she approached the

gate, she thought her ordeal was over until she felt the tap on her shoulder.

Stumbling back, she fell to the ground sobbing uncontrollably. She managed to

ask, "Why?"

"You tried to harm my fiancée," William answered. Leaning forward to ensure that

she could hear every word he uttered, he said, "You wanted her beaten, raped,

and then dead. You had it all planned out."

She stared at him in horror.

"You hired two men to beat her. You wanted her to feel your pain. You wanted her

to know what if felt like to be a human punching bag for some thug with no one

better to hit."

She couldn't breath.

"You planned to hire another man to rape her after she recovered from the

beating. You wanted her to know what it felt like when your step-father used to

come into your room at night. You wanted her to know what it was like to feel

dirty and used."

Her body started to tremble uncontrollably, but she couldn't tear her eyes from

his.

"You planned to kill her at the end of the Spring semester right before you

would leave the school for good. Although she would have been the one who died,

you wouldn't have been killing her. You'd have been killing yourself."

Hearing her plans coming from his mouth convinced her that she had died and gone

to hell. The kid standing over her wasn't human; he was a demon sent to torture

her for all eternity. That was the only explanation that made sense. From deep

within belly, she let loose with a wail that woke students and terrified all who

heard it.

Leaning against the gate adding a knot to the leather strip, William said, "Go

to the front gate and surrender to the police."

Too exhausted to walk, Missy crawled away on hands and knees. She collapsed and

looked back in the direction from which she had crawled. The gate was open and

he was nowhere to be seen. She considered trying to get through it, but knew it

was hopeless. For five minutes, she didn't move. Lying on the ground, she cried

until no more tears would come.

Standing, she staggered towards the far gate where the police car was waiting

for her. Her legs didn't seem to work right. Her hands trembled so much that she

had to tuck them under her armpits. Every sound made her jump. She expected to

feel his tap on her shoulder with every step.

She reached the police car and beat on the window. Babbling, she said, "I did

it. Arrest me. Get me out of here. I'm in hell. A demon is torturing me."

The cop seated in the passenger's seat got out of the car and opened the back

door for her. Before he had a chance to cuff her, she climbed into the car

without complaint and curled into a fetal position on the backseat. She shivered

the entire drive to the station. After a few minutes at the station, they took

her to the hospital.

Watching her get into the car while leaning beside a tree, William shook his

head in pity. He walked over to the bench where the Chief of Police was seated

and sat down beside him. With a sigh, he said, "It's done."

"That was cruel."

"It was necessary," he answered.

"Necessary? You terrified her out of her fucking skull," retorted the Chief of

Police. The anger in his voice was unmistakable.

"There were three possible futures for her. This was the only one in which she

lived. At least now, she'll get help and recover," William said.

"This was the only one in which she lived?" asked the police chief. He looked

over at William with respectful skepticism. He'd dealt with William on several

occasions. The young man would stop by and inform him that something was going

to happen if something wasn't done about it. After the first few times that he'd

ignored the warning and seen the consequences of his inaction, he'd come to

believe the young man. He'd never been proved wrong.

"There were two other possible futures with minor variations. In one, I would

have not informed you where she was and my mother would have killed her when she

went after Lucy again. If I did tell you where to find her, then I would have

had to kill the man she hired and she would have been killed in jail," William

answered.

"How can you say that?"

"The Two-Sided One showed me," answered William. This was the first time that he

had to face someone who was so weak that their weakness made them strong and a

danger to others.

The Chief of Police didn't know how to react to that announcement. If anyone

else told him that voices told them to do something, he'd be locking the person

away for a long time. "Did he tell you to do what you did?"

"I had to choose her future. I chose the happiest future for her despite the

fact that she wanted to kill Lucy," he answered defensively. To distract

himself, he held up the leather strip and traced the knots on it.

Having noticed William tying knots in the leather strip over the course of the

evening, his curiosity got the better of him. The Chief of Police asked, "What's

with the leather cord?"

"Counting coup," answered William, although putting knots into a leather strip

wasn't normally done as part of counting coup. Seeing the puzzled look on the

other man's face, he explained, "Sometimes in battle, warriors would

intentionally touch an enemy with a hand or a stick without causing injury. They

were risking their life since it was possible that the enemy would react

violently. We call that counting coup."

"This was not a battle."

"Yes it was. It was a battle of wills and I had to break the will that wanted

Lucy dead," William answered.

"You drove her insane!" The man was angry because he had been a part of it.

Initially, he had gone along with William's scheme because he knew it would go

better for her if she surrendered herself to them willingly. It would show

proper remorse and would possibly allow her a better deal with the prosecutor.

The judge would have definitely taken it into account. It wasn't until he had

watched the events at the gate that the full impact of what William was doing

had become obvious to him. Now, he was disgusted with himself and angry at

William.

"She was already insane, but she would never have been treated for it. Now, she

will get the treatment she needs," William said. Seeing her future as clear as

if watching it play on a movie screen, he pursed his lips and said, "She'll get

treated and come out of the hospital healthy. In a couple of years, she'll get

married and have children. She'll live a long life as a model citizen and be

happy."

"How can you say that?"

"The Two-Sided One showed me," answered William as he looked across the great

lawn. It had happened while waiting in the hospital for his mother to arrive.

After he'd seen a vision of Missy's early life, he'd seen the three possible

futures for her. His anger had turned to pity. When the Two-Sided One had asked

him to choose, it had been easy to choose the compassionate route that looked

anything except compassionate.

The Chief of Police sat quietly on the bench for a moment and then asked, "How

did you manage the whole gun thing?"

"Earlier today, I waited for the owner of the car to arrive and asked him to

unload it. He gave me the bullets."

Raising an eyebrow, the Chief of Police asked, "How did you know that she would

take that gun out of that car?"

"The Two-Sided One told me," answered William.

"You don't serve the Two-Sided One."

"Not yet," William answered. The sound of impatience and frustration in his

voice was obvious to the Chief of Police. William looked up at the sky and

shouted, "When?"

The image of a fat woman flashed in his head and answered, "When it is your

time, little one."