Book 1 of “The Catalyst” Series
Chapter 05: A Little Sinner in a Holy Place
There was only a dim glow illuminating the room when the quiet sounds of movement woke me. I rolled over, burying my face in my pillow hoping to drift back to my fleeting dream, when someone leaned over me, softly trailing kisses down my neck. As my attention was pulled away from sleep by the delicious sensations, I turned to see who it was and felt soft lips press against my own.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Shani enthused. When I cracked one eye open to glance up, I saw her face was smiling in the early morning light. “Are you going to sleep the entire day away?” she asked in a bright and chipper voice.
The events of the previous night slowly came back to me. I had spent the previous evening bemoaning how my life had suddenly become so complicated, and I again started to feel overwhelmed. Without forewarning, I now had a near stranger who wanted to dedicate her future to me, and the fact that I was now somehow responsible for her was intimidating. I was still a young man, finishing an uneventful high school experience and just preparing to enter University life. The last thing I needed was an unexpected responsibility just when I was looking forward to a carefree existence of boobs, booze and drugs.
“Good morning,” I grumbled, my voice still groggy from sleep as I attempted to project a more pleasant persona than I felt. “If someone woke me like that every morning, I probably wouldn’t be as late for school as I usually am,” I added, masking my unease with a smile as I briefly kissed her back.
“Yeah,” my sister cackled from across the room as she flicked on a bedside lamp. “I can see Mom doing that every morning.”
“Oh yuck, oh yuck,” I retorted. “Just go putting thoughts like that in my head when I wake up in such a good mood, why don’t you?” Thoughts of my mother kissing me awake, each of us under dressed in night time attire, filled me with dread.
“Yeah stud,” teased Shani, “we can both see what a good mood you’re in this morning.” I looked down and saw that I’d awoken, twisted up in my sheets, leaving my nether regions exposed. I blushed furiously and struggled for several moments trying to untangle my sheets in order to cover myself, all to no avail, so I finally just surrendered and sat up.
At this point both girls were openly laughing at me. Well, giggling actually. They were enjoying my reaction, not taking pleasure in my discomfort, I guess.
My sister and I liked to tease, but I knew I could always trust her to look out for me; especially given her renewed promise last night. I also knew that however nervous I might feel about Shani’s influence on my life, that she really only wanted the best for me.
“Does your brother usually wake up like that?” Shaniqua pressed while leering at the tangle of sheets tented at my mid-section.
“Hell yeah,” my sister replied. “Why do you think I always check that he’s up? Mom just yells upstairs. It’s my responsibility to actually make sure he gets up and stays up,” Cate pressed on, refusing to let my torment lapse. Man, I didn’t think I'd ever stop blushing. My sister was clearly teasing, as she’d never caught me in inappropriate attire and rarely came in to wake me in the morning. That was something that I took pride in, self-sufficiency. I also made sure I wore a belt every day, so my butt crack wasn’t showing.
The girls went about starting their day. Man, two girls in the morning are much worse than just one. Usually I just have to beat my sister into the bathroom when getting ready for school, but today the two girls managed to monopolize it. They didn’t even care if I was using the facilities, something my sister is normally very careful of, but apparently she was emboldened by Shani’s cavalier attitude because she didn’t let it bother her in the least.
“Hey, you mind?” I protested when Cate wandered past as I sat completely exposed on the toilet.
“Nope,” she teased as she leaned forward and peered at herself in the mirror—forcing me to glance away as the back of her sleep tee rode up and exposed a good bit of her panty-clad backside, mere inches from my face. “Though it’d be more interesting if you weren’t hiding all the good bits,” she tossed over her shoulder.
Somehow I managed to maintain my composure, though I was being horribly abused and could hardly stop blushing. Luckily, my parents soon rescued me—sort of.
“Good morning all. Any psychic grandbabies on the way yet?” teased my mother, smiling gaily as I let her into the room. I’m not sure I’ve seen her quite this happy and relaxed in a long time. It was disconcerting to consider that the very things that so terrified me made her feel so good, especially when you consider all the extremely weird circumstances surrounding recent events.
“Morning kids,” welcomed my father, trying desperately to change the topic regarding his precious children creating progeny in the next room. “Any plans for the day yet?”
“I was thinking I’d take y’all to a good ol’ fashioned Orleans’ Baptist church this morning,” Shani offered, her voice happy despite my parents’ teasing about what they assumed we’d been doing last night. “I thought you’d appreciate some authentic cultural appreciation on a nice Sunday morning.” It sounded like she was really trying to win over my parents.
“Sounds great!” My mother replied. “Is it your church?”
“Oh no,” Shani stated, surprised by the question. “Like most Jamaicans, I’m Episcopalian. The Baptist church is just a tourist thing so you can see how all the American blacks sing out loud and proud on Sunday.”
“Episcopalian?” echoed our father, digging for yet more information. “Any reason why that denomination?”
“Duh, Frank,” Mom chided him. “She just said it’s the basic church in Jamaica.”
Dad blushed but continued on anyway. “Yeah, I heard that part, but I meant why do you remain in that church? And why not just take us there instead?”
“Well, personally I’m just comfortable there, but it is fairly odd,” she explained. “It’s one of the oldest of the Protestant denominations, and although it’s one of the most conservative it’s also one of the most liberal. One faction wants to merge back with the Catholic Church—the only concession being that the Episcopalian priests can marry. Another faction wants to allow gay marriage and have both gay and women priests. And there’s a third that remains fiercely conservative, bordering on fundamentalist.” She shrugged as it were no big deal. “I’ll admit, it’s kind of a schizophrenic denomination.”
“That doesn’t really speak to why you like it,” my father reminded her.
My mother sighed loudly before turning to Shani to translate. “He’s asking you if you’re religious and what your religious beliefs are,” she explained. “Honestly Frank, if you’re going to grill someone, at least have the decency to ask them what you want to know.” We all chuckled at his expense and I felt a little better knowing I wasn’t the only one being picked on this morning. I think Mom had definitely softened as far as Shani was concerned. But then I suddenly realized; if Mom was this accepting of Shani she’d likely throw a fit when I explained that I didn’t want to remain in contact with her. I supposed I’d have to take her aside fairly soon and discuss the issue with her. Only getting time alone to discuss things was getting to be a harder feat to accomplish, what with more people around me all the time.
“Oh, I’m pretty religious,” Shani replied, “but I’m not real strict or anything. I try to be a good person, but I’m not going to reject someone because they don’t agree with me.” She flashed him a crooked smile and added, “Clearly I don’t object to premarital sex and birth control.” Her smile vanished and she paled the second she realized what she’d just said.
“Oh, no,” she gasped briefly as she waved her hands. “Wait! That’s not what I meant. What I meant was—”
“We know exactly what you meant, dear,” my mother patiently and calmly told her, patting her on the arm. “Don’t be afraid of your beliefs, especially moderate beliefs. It seems nowadays that the only beliefs that are allowed are extremist views, either on the left or the right. Part of life is getting by and being at peace, you can’t very well be at peace if you’re trying to fight the entire world.”
“So why the Baptist church instead of your own?” my father asked once again.
Shani shrugged once more. “It’s what I’ve found most visitors expect. Actually most of the city is Catholic so most churches in the French Quarter are as well, but the Baptists are much more fun. It’s pretty equivalent to watching a funeral march in the street. Everyone dresses up, there is lots of loud singing and dancing, just no jazz band leading the way. The Catholic churches in the area provide their own bands and even do the occasional funeral march, but being Catholic, they’re pretty reserved in their services,” she explained with a smile.
“So who’s coming with us?” my father asked the room in general.
“Coming with us?” I asked stupidly, however everyone else seemed to be prepared.
“Natalie told me she was interested in going wherever we chose to go,” Mom stated, not specifying whether she meant to church or any activities in general.
“Patricia said that she and Henry would like to spend more time with us,” Shani contributed.
“Yeah, I can see Henry wanting to spend more time with Alex,” Cate scoffed. I could tell that Cate took an instant disliking to Henry because he didn’t like me much. She was always pretty protective of her older brother. I’m not sure what I’d ever done to deserve it, but she was always quick to help me out in any way that she could.
“Be nice Cate,” Mom scolded her. “This isn’t easy for him either.”
“After all, it’s Sunday,” Dad echoed, even though I knew he wasn’t shy about speaking ill of people he didn’t like, he just didn’t think you should speak ill of people just before walking into church.
“OK, let’s start calling everyone and get this party organized. I assume we need to dress up for this?” Mom asked.
“Oh yes, very,” Shani insisted. “In fact, you’re likely to see the biggest collection of hats you’ve seen in some time. I know big hats aren’t much in fashion in most churches, but for black American women it’s all the rage.”
“Oh good, it’s been ages since I’ve known anyone to get fancied up for church,” Mom stated. Cate and Shani already had their phones out and were busy making calls.
“Before everyone starts calling, let me see if I can contact Patricia. I figure that’ll be more likely to convince Henry than anything else I can say. What’s the address and name of that church?” I asked the girls. Shani, who was in the process of calling her, held up and told me the name.
“That’s a great idea Alex,” Cate told me excitedly. “It’s about time you started experimenting with these new abilities. There are just so many things we could be checking.”
“Now Cate, let’s not get carried away,” I told her firmly. “Just let me figure things out on my own. I’m a bit nervous about experimenting with something I don’t understand,” I told her. She frowned, but she’d get over it. I hated to constrain her curiosity since she’d been so helpful so far, but there’s a time and a place for everything. Right now it was time for me to try speaking with Patricia.
Thinking carefully I thought, ‘Patricia?’ but couldn’t tell if it was effective or not. Thinking about what Cate had said about the emotional content of telepathic messages, I figured a weak willed question wouldn’t have much of an effect so I forcefully thought the name and address, then added the thought, ‘wear a hat’. Once again, I was left without a clear indication that the message had gotten through.
When I looked up I saw that everyone was looking at me.
“Did you get through?” Cate asked.
“It’s hard to tell,” I tried to explain. “I usually don’t get clear messages or distinct answers; it’s mostly just vague impressions.”
“Except when he gets mad,” Shani quipped. We all looked at her so she continued. “When he gets annoyed, his words resound in your head like the voice of God in a small temple. It kind of echoes around in there.”
“See, I told you,” Cate insisted. “Er, sorry, I meant that my theory was correct.” Having been ‘scolded’ by our mother and cautioned by me she tried not to gloat, but she couldn’t let the opportunity to inform me that her theory was correct pass untaken.
“Well, I remembered what you said, Cate, so I tried to be a little more forceful when sending the message.” I had thought I’d done the right thing but both Shani and Cate paled, leaving me confused.
“Oh no,” Shani told me. “We wanted to invite her to church, not scare the bejeebes out of her.”
“She’s right, Alex. You speaking like that might be like shouting, and in her current frame of mind that might not be a good thing. She’s been walking on eggshells around you already,” Cate advised me. “Maybe we should call her?”
“No, that’s not a good idea,” I told her. “The idea was to impress Henry. Calling her to clarify a message he probably doesn’t know about isn’t going to send much of a message. If she takes him to a church and we show up, right on schedule, that’s the type of message I’m trying to send him.”
“Yeah, unless you scare the poor girl in the process,” Cate countered.
“I don’t think I was that harsh,” I argued. “I just tried to think it in a way that it’d be clearer.”
“Clearer?” Shani asked. “Alex, when a loud voice echoes in your head, insisting you do something, that’s likely to have more of an effect than you expect.”
“I don’t think I was that pushy,” I insisted. “Besides, she’s heard me speak to her mentally before. She’ll know what I meant by it.” The women shook their heads but didn’t try to argue with me about it.
“The service starts fairly early so we’ll have to have a fast breakfast,” Shani warned.
“That should be OK; we’ll see Natalie when we go downstairs for a quick breakfast. I don’t know if she’ll be off yet but we can at least keep her abreast of what our plans are,” Cate informed us.
I had thought it was awkward getting dressed with two women in the room with me, now I had to pick out my formal clothes and get dressed while the room was filled with people. Dad only had to slip on a tie, since he already had on his jacket. Mom and Cate wanted to find their prettiest dresses and, of course, had to consult with everyone else on which one it might be. In the meantime, I was trying to find a nice quiet place to slip my pants off, but of course by now Dad had returned and was grinning at me watching my discomfort.
“Face it son, if you keep collecting females like you have the last two days, you’d best get comfortable doing a lot more than just getting changed in front of other people.” He seemed greatly amused by my predicament but he had a point. I swallowed my pride and undressed right there in front of everyone. Heck, the worst they’d see is me in my underwear, and at least Mom had taught me to wear clean ones every morning. Something about buses, I think she said.
We eventually got everything straightened out and got organized fairly quickly, but that wasn’t the end of the show. The women had to fix their hair and do their makeup together. Dad signaled me and we left with a short word about starting breakfast without them. We wandered downstairs, commenting on the difficulties of dealing with women. Actually that was something I was familiar with, having several sisters, but Dad proceeded to tell me that I hadn’t seen anything yet.
“Just wait,” he remarked with a grin, “living with several women is one thing. Having one attached to you is another, but having several who feel they have a say in your behavior is something else again.” His grin grew wider when I stated I didn’t have it that bad yet. I hoped he was wrong.
When we got to the dining room Natalie met us and led us to a table, acting like the professional hostess she was.
“Has anyone spoken to you about our plans?” my father asked her.
“Oh yes,” she responded. “I got someone to take over the rest of my shift so I can join you. I’ve got a nice throw I can toss over this that should be OK,” she assured us, indicating her uniform. “Shani called down and asked me to send her something she could wear to church, since she didn’t have anything appropriate,” she continued, giving me a knowing look.
We told her that the other ladies would be down shortly as they were busy preparing for the service.
“That’s OK,” she assured us, “I can have you to myself until they come down.” Strange, but she was only looking at me when she told us both this. I need to have a word with her about appropriate business behavior when dealing with psychic teenagers, I thought with a grin. My father shared my humor with me, instantly recognizing just what I was smiling about.
“You do have a way with the ladies around here,” he told me after we’d ordered what had become our new tradition, café au laits. We were well into a couple of omelets with toast before the girls showed up. They simply looked at us, did a little, “tsk, tsk,” type of thing, and then told us to hurry as there wasn’t much time to get to the church. I guess they were rather liberal in their use of ‘not much time’ as we weren’t so hurried that we couldn’t walk the full way there—although I suspect the girls decided there certainly wasn’t time for breakfast simply because they were worried about popping out of their outfits during the service. Still, the walk was nice. I still garnered looks, but Cate mentioned that she recognized a few from before, which my father seconded, so I began to think we were dealing with a smaller number of people than we first thought.
We’d left early so we managed to get there in time to find decent seats. Entering, I saw Patricia and Henry waiting for us. Actually it was her jumping up and running towards me that alerted me to where they were. She was dressed in an elegant black dress with delicate black lace around the edges. I figured she carried it on her concert tour as it was very egalitarian and could be used for just about any occasion and still look appropriate. However, the extravagant hat she was trying to hold steady as she ran, was anything but. It was red and black with a wide brim curled up on one side with a large feather and some sort of fruit on top. Watching her run in it was quite interesting, as it was primarily interested in blowing away. She kept clutching at it as she rushed to meet me. She finally had to slow down and walk at a hurried pace, with Henry rushing to keep up.
She ran into my arms and immediately started apologizing. “I’m sorry, I got this from the first hat shop I could find,” she insisted, seemingly afraid I was going to punish her over her hat choice. “I’m not really a hat person, but when you insisted I bring one I rang up everyone I could find until I discovered someone who could see me on short notice.”
Shani nudged me in the side and looked at me smugly, letting me know my message had been anything but subtle. Cate merely looked meekly at me, afraid to point out she’d been right after all, but I got the message. I’d have to watch my abilities in the future.
“Sorry for yelling, Patricia,” I told her, assuming my message was the equivalent of a new computer user typing in all caps. “I’m still getting used to this stuff.” She sniffed a little.
“That’s OK. I was just worried you were upset with me and that wearing a hat was important to you.”
I just had to sigh in resignation. I’d better watch what I said telepathically and, more importantly, how I said it. I guess sometimes it’s less important that the message get through than the risk of sending the wrong message. As Patricia released me and stepped back Henry stepped up to shake my hand in greeting, even as I glanced at how much attention we were attracting by this display in the middle of the center aisle.
“Wow, I wasn’t sure what to expect when Patty insisted we find a hat shop first thing in the morning. She bolted up from a dead sleep and insisted we find a hat immediately. I almost thought she was going to head out to the first one without even putting on any clothes,” he said, laughing a little. I was beginning to revise my initial estimate of the value of his support in helping Patricia adapt to her new abilities. “I thought we were on a fool’s errand but here you are. You really didn’t call her or arrange this last night, did you?”
I didn’t even bother responding. If he didn’t believe it after I arranged a show like that, it just showed there wasn’t much sense in trying to convince skeptics. I doubted he’d accept what we were saying or that he’d be much help even if he did. I suspect he was too used to taking from Patricia to ever think of giving anything in return. Instead I took Shani’s arm in mine and offered Patricia the other. She accepted and we set off, allowing everyone else to follow as.
It was a beautiful church, not quite as ornate as the typical Catholic edifices but built with the quality of an earlier century. Shani had been right about the hats. It seemed the rows were filled with a visual cacophony of beautiful hats. I suppose if you’re going to invest in a fancy hat, then you’d wear it whenever the opportunity presented itself, and I didn’t think there were many times you could get away with wearing one. My parents and I hadn’t wanted to sit in the front, but Patricia hadn’t given us the option of sitting farther back. Still, I didn’t notice a lot of other white people in the congregation. But by now, that was just another thing to attract people’s attention.
We’d grown into quite a group. There were the four of us from my family, plus Shani, Natalie and then Patricia and Henry. That meant we were now a party of eight, which required almost a full row to ourselves. My parents entered first, followed by Natalie and Cate. Shani went next, pulling me along putting Patricia beside me and leaving Henry on the far end. We watched the stragglers fill in the few open spots left as the service time neared. I’d observed the amount of overweight people wandering the streets of New Orleans before, but you can ignore it when they’re mixed in with lots of other people. Sitting here in a group of mostly local black church goers, about all you could see were wide women wearing extravagant, colorful hats. I was sure I would reinforce a lot of racial stereotypes if I ever told stories about it, but it was fun to watch it happening.
It didn’t take long for everyone to fill in and the music started playing. We each picked up a hymnal and started singing. Some of the voices there were beautiful but I was most taken by those around me. I knew that Patricia had a beautiful soulful voice, but I was astounded by Shani’s as well. Hers was almost operatic in her range and vocal depth. I looked at them both, sitting on either side of me, with a newfound respect.
While we were singing, with me merely mouthing the words since I was so intimidated by the two natural voices on either side of me, I saw Cate fussing around in her purse. I wondered why she’d be so rude, but tried not to be distracted by it. Glancing at her again, I saw her getting her little portable camera ready and wondered what she was doing when I noticed the voices around me trail off as everyone was turning in their seats, glancing at the back of the church. Looking back, I observed a woman moving towards us from the church’s entrance, about the only direction you could approach us from I guess, but she was about to reach over Henry trying to signal me.
“Please Father, if I—” It was just then that our eyes met. I saw her face clearly. She was younger than both Shani and Patricia but still older than me, although I suspected she looked younger than she actually was. She had bright red hair. Not the kind of red that’s bottle fed, that extra bright look that’s unnatural looking. Instead it was a pale more natural color, although the consistent color argued it probably was still produced from a bottle. She had pale white, milky skin to go along with the hair but lacked the characteristic freckles to go along with it. She had on a very nice, off-white dress with long gloves on both hands. That was about all I could observe before she recoiled and almost fell over onto Patricia and Henry.
Everyone moved quickly trying to assist her, and the erratic activity effectively halted much of the singing, focusing even more attention on us. It took a bit for her to recover her senses and I immediately recognized the glassy, squinting look to her eyes and knew what she was experiencing. Yep, she started glancing around the crowded church, focusing on the different people around her.
“Quick, let’s get out of here before she—” I managed to say before she refocused, turning to me.
Once again holding a gloved hand up to shield her eyes, she asked, “Wha… What happened?”
“Shhh,” I urgently whispered as I stood and tried to lead her away, backwards out of the aisle. It was hardly a graceful move but I accomplished it. When I managed to gain the clearing of the central aisle, I realized the music had completely stopped and everyone was watching us, including the minister who’d been about to start his service.
“It’s nothing, I’ll make sure she’s all right,” I hurried to tell everyone as I felt a blush overwhelming my face. Unfortunately, the girl who’d just approached me took that moment to collapse beside me. I don’t know if she was trying to humble herself, worship me or whether she simply hadn’t recovered from her shock, but she was on her knees before I could stop her.
“Do you need any help?” I heard a deep, baritone voice asking from nearby. I was trying to urge her up without making a scene, but wasn’t having much luck.
“Please Father, forgive me,” she wailed, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. “Forgive me for I have sinned.”
Shit, I thought to myself, this is getting to be too much. Just once, I’d like to have an encounter like this where it didn’t cause a scene. No, I cautioned myself, Dad always told me to be careful what I wished for, because that was usually exactly what you got and you’d usually regret it when it happened. I wasn’t sure how I’d regret anything more than a scene like this, but if it was possible, I was sure it was likely to happen.
“Please, I’m not a reverend,” I quietly insisted as I took a step in the direction of the entrance, trying to help her stand while backing up.
“I’m sorry, please, clearly you’re an angel sent from—”
I could see where this was heading, however I felt stymied because I knew if I reacted instinctively I’d end up shouting at her mentally and then I’d have to calm her afterwards. Instead I simply hissed, “Please, stand up and let’s discuss this outside.”
By now Henry had stepped aside and both Patricia and Shani rushed in, clasping the woman’s arms and assisting me in helping her to stand and guiding her towards the door. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Cate holding her camera to her eyes and thought some very unbrotherly thoughts about her. Something about a nice location for her to store her camera, but I left them unsaid as I was still trying to ease us gingerly out of the building.
A few people began to move towards us, whether to assist us or to try to protect her from us I couldn’t tell, but both Shani and Patricia began whispering to the unknown lady and she seemed to be listening enough to follow their lead. We ended up moving swiftly away, me walking backwards leading the new woman, my parents following us apologizing on our behalf, the two girls talking to the woman I was pulling behind me and Cate filming the entire event for posterity.
By the time we finally exited the sanctuary—with Natalie holding the doors open for me—I was about ready to blow a gasket. I was about to let loose with some language when I caught my mother’s eye and thought better of it. Not only would I have to deal with her, but there would also be other complications for swearing in church ranging from Cate’s teasing, my father’s lecture and disappointment from the others, so I just didn’t want to go there. Just as I was debating what I was going to do, I noticed movement at the doors and watched someone push them open.
However, just as he began to exit the sanctuary the new woman dropped to her knees again. She was physically prevented from doing anything else by Shani and Patricia, but she started wailing. She managed to keep it quiet, but it was still a wail.
“Please, don’t punish me for my sinful ways. I’ll repent. I’ll do better. I’ll….” As she began a litany of the things she’d do to atone for whatever she thought she’d done, the figure in the door stepped inside, observing what was occurring as he hurried to close the sanctuary door, dampening the sound of her cries inside the church. The girls were busy whispering to her, trying to calm her again. The man now standing in front of us was an older darker man with balding gray hair. He simply looked at the scene laid out before him and considered what he was seeing. It was clear from his attire that he was a lay leader, and not a church official himself.
“Look,” I said, thinking I’d best get a handle on this before it got any further out of hand, “you can see a Priest later to repent. That’s not my department.” I know, it’s a terrible thing to say to a distraught woman, but under the circumstances it was all I could think of.
After I’d said that she looked up at me, or rather, she tried to, and whispered, “What… what are you here for then?”
Feeling frustrated I simply leaned into her and answered, “I’m here to talk to you, but not here and not now. Now let’s move outside so we can discuss it. Please?” She simply looked up at me, blinked a few times before nodding and stood up.
Feeling like we were finally making headway, I turned to the man watching us. He still hadn’t made any comment or tried to take any action, simply watching us with a curious expression.
“I’m sorry we’ve disturbed your service,” I told him, assuming he represented the church. I assumed the minister must be at the front of the church and this man was likely simply here to make sure we didn’t disturb the parishioners any more. “I think we’ll be leaving now,” I finished as I led everyone out into the street. I noticed my father approach the man and slip him something for his troubles. It seemed like a nice touch and I’d have to remember it in the future.
Once we were outside and away from prying eyes, I regarded everyone. Luckily for Cate, she’d already gotten rid of the damn camera.
“All right,” I started, “there’s bound to be someone coming to check on us so let’s just walk and talk.” I lead the way as I began to address the new woman, who was anxiously following, keeping close to me, Shani and Patricia never far from her.
“I’m not affiliated with the church,” I told her, assuming she’d understand I meant I wasn’t an angel and not that I simply didn’t work with that particular church. “I can’t absolve your sins, I can’t release your demons and I can’t forgive you either. I’m just a simple kid who’s gotten mixed up with a whole mess he can’t understand.” I glanced quickly at Cate, expecting some reaction to my oft repeated comment, but she had that damn camera back in her hands again. I wanted to strangle her, but I tried to keep my rage under control so I wouldn’t scare the woman.
“While I triggered the changes you just experienced, I have no control over them and don’t understand them any more than you do. I didn’t do it as either a punishment or reward,” I informed her. Shani and Patricia both began whispering to her again, so I let them say what they could and remained silent until it seemed appropriate for me to speak again. I couldn’t see what my parents or Natalie were up to.
“Shani, a quiet out of the way place?” I asked in a controlled whisper. For once I got a simple response in my head, more an indication than a message, a feeling that I should turn left at the end of the block. We moved steadily there, only to pull up short when we ran across a new methadone clinic.
“Well there used to be a coffee shop here,” Shani insisted. I decided that, based on her tone, we were all feeling frustrated at this point and that we needed to sit down and discuss this quietly. Knowing they would follow me, I quickly led us away from the various crackheads to a spot under a single tree by the curbside.
“OK, we need a quiet place to talk,” I began again. “Henry, did you bring a car with you?”
“No, we travel by van when we’re on the road, so we don’t have one. We took a cab this morning.”
“All right, we’ll have to try to find a couple of cabs to transfer all of us. See if you and my father can flag some down. The girls and I will have to take the first one, you and my parents can take the next.” With that out of the way, I again focused on the young woman who still looked traumatized.
“Look, you’re not in any trouble. This is not a divine intervention; it’s just a random occurrence with unusual results.” She clearly didn’t look convinced but I certainly couldn’t blame her. I took the route I’d taken with the others and simply tried introducing everyone as a way of demonstrating we were just normal people.
“My name is Alex, Alex Jennings. I’d introduce you around but everyone’s a bit busy at the moment. The two women helping you are Shaniqua Sharp and Patricia Moore, both have undergone what you’re experiencing, so they’ll be able to tell you what it’s like. I’ll be able to describe more, but it would be easier if we could sit down and relax as it’ll take a while to explain.”
She looked up at me, then at the two girls and the others. “He’s not an angel?” she asked Patricia.
“We think he is,” she said gently, “but he won’t admit to it.” I didn’t think that was helping, but it seemed to relax her somewhat. “Can you at least tell us who you are,” she prompted.
“Oh, of course,” the woman responded. “I’m Amber…, er, actually I’m Allison Livermore. Amber’s my professional name. I haven’t used my natural name for some time. I’m a … well I’m a professional escort, very high end but essentially just a high class hooker. I—” I thought this was getting carried away; I didn’t want to embarrass this poor girl into revealing all of her personal secrets.
“Look, there’s no need to tell us wha—”
“No, there is,” she insisted. “I’ve got to reveal everything. You undoubtedly know everything about me already, so it won’t do any good to pretend I’m anything I’m not. How can you ever forgive me if I don’t admit all the wrongs that I’ve done?”
I sighed and tried to begin again. “Look, I’m really not an angel sent from heaven,” I began just as Henry called out that he’d managed to secure a cab. Taking that as a handy break, I grabbed the woman’s arm and steered her away from the trash strewn curb and the nearby addicts watching us, hurrying her to the waiting cab. As I was helping her in I instructed Shani to tell Henry our destination, leaving its selection in her hands since she knew the area and I didn’t. As they climbed into the cab, I went around and climbed into the front seat, signaling Cate that she was to come with us as well. She finally put her camera down and hurried over, climbing into my lap to fit into the crowded cab.
As we sped off, I assumed that Shani had already given him a destination and hoped I had enough spare change to cover the fare. Turning around I was about to say something, but found the women talking amongst themselves, so I figured I’d best let them cover the basics. It didn’t take long before we pulled up at a little coffee shop where we piled out again. As I started to fumble through my pockets looking for enough money, Patricia stuffed a couple of bills into my hand so I simply handed them to the cab driver.
Walking into the shop I noticed it was slow due to the early Sunday hour and that we wouldn’t have much crowd noise to cover our conversation, so I headed for the far corner to afford us some privacy. On the way I told Cate to order us some coffee. I figured if she had her hands full she couldn’t keep the damn camera going. I assumed they wouldn’t be ready for lunch for some time yet, but thought a round of drinks would serve until we could get everyone settled.
When we finally got seated, I got the basic conversation going again. “I’m not sure what the girls explained on the way here but what you’re seeing seems to be people’s natural energy they give off. You’ve got the ability to see it now, thanks to me I guess. We don’t know how or why I can do it but somehow I seem to be the catalyst that triggers this ability in certain susceptible people.” I wanted to get as much information as possible out before she could start interrupting or asking questions.
“I don’t share these visions and none of us has any idea of what they mean or why they’re all different for each individual, hopefully you’ll help us to figure it out. However, one additional side note is that somehow it entails the ability for us to communicate telepathically. Not well, by any stretch of the imagination, but we can send images and sometimes ideas.” Just about that time, Cate came up with several cups of coffee so I cut my discussion short.
“This is my sister Cate with the coffee, please have some and take some time to compose yourselves,” I suggested, hoping she’d finally stop asking if I could forgive her. I knew the reason she was so focused on it would eventually come out, but I didn’t need the scene that her acting distraught would produce.
The other women got her coffee for her and helped her prepare it while I took a cup myself to help steady my nerves. I thought I needed it after that little scene. Cate left the other cup and started back for more, but I caught her before she could leave. Since the girls were busy talking for the moment, I took the opportunity to speak with her.
“Cate, what the hell were you doing with that damn camera?”
“I thought it would be important to capture what happened when you do your thing so we could study it later,” she responded proudly, like it was another of her bright ideas.
“Cate,” I sighed in exasperation. “First of all, I don’t think it helps to humiliate people when they’re already too stunned to speak intelligently. Secondly, all we need is someone else making an embarrassing situation worse. Now I want, no, I demand that you cut off all these little schemes of yours. If you want to offer assistance, talk to me about it first. You’re getting a bit carried away with all of this and you’re going to have to control yourself. Understood?”
She looked down, clearly not happy with being called to task again in so short a time. She mumbled something, and when I asked her to repeat it, she collapsed against me, telling me she was sorry she’d disappointed me. I was beginning to feel a bit confused by events once more, when we both noticed the other women watching us. Cate immediately stood up and rushed off, heading for the remaining coffee. I figured I’d never manage to figure women out.
While everyone was distracted, I took in our surroundings. As I’d first observed, it was quiet at this time of day with several people scattered about but no one near us so we should be safe having our discussion. It had a nice homey feel so hopefully it would have a calming influence as well. When Allison started to speak, I tried to head her off.
“OK, I want you to calmly tell us about yourself. I understand you have a lot to tell but let’s just start at the beginning and try to avoid any excited proclamations. We’re looking to figure out who you are, not pass any kind of judgment on you for what you’ve done in your life.”
She seemed to take what I asked into consideration and composed herself before speaking. “As I said, my name is Allison Livermore. I first felt your, uh…, well anyway, I felt you on Friday night. However, I was busy with a … a client and didn’t think it would be appropriate to approach you directly, so I waited. When I got back, you were gone. Since then I’ve been searching for you. I mostly frequent the business district and the higher end hotels, but I guess you haven’t been in those areas recently. I’ve been frantically trying to find you so I’ve put all my business dealings on hold. I was preparing to go to church this morning and something told me not to. I was really anxious to go to church, but again some little voice in my head told me to pick out another one. I think it was the Holy Spirit guiding me because I picked the one where I met you, even though I have no affiliation with it and haven’t been there before.
“When I drew up to it I was amazed, since I could feel you inside. I hurried inside before something happened preventing me from connecting with you again. Luckily you were right there. I’m sorry if I made a scene, but….” Her voice dropped, signally her lack of a further response.
“And…?” I prompted her again. “Please tell us about yourself.” I was upset hearing about yet another woman wandering the streets looking for me, but I was more anxious to hear about her than just that little detail.
“I’m a professional escort using the name Amber Blossom,” she explained, going into more detail this time. “Essentially I go out and entertain wealthy and powerful men and it usually involves a fair amount of sex. Basically, I guess I got started back in school when I was trying to pay for college. I was having trouble and figured it was either hooking or working in a diner for the rest of my life. However, I found that I had a certain knack for relating to people. I’d been able to do well in college because I could get the professors to reach out to me and I applied the same tactic in dealing with my clients. Well, they were simply Johns back then. But I quickly gained a steady group of regulars who pushed me to move out on my own. It seems my ability to pick up on their emotional needs allowed me to reach them in ways that others didn’t. Essentially, they’d come to me for sex but I’d get into their heads and soon we’d be talking and I’d be helping them with their lives, their loves, their frustrations and what was holding them back in their lives. Those abilities continued getting me more and more exclusive clients until I got to where I am now, dealing with a very well-to-do clientele who have everything but still aren’t satisfied.”
Cate retuned for the end of this and sat down to listen, giving Shani her coffee as she did. When Allison finished her initial explanation of her life, Cate nervously looked at me, but she couldn’t keep a very satisfied grin off her face. When I nodded at her she started to explain herself.
“See, I told you it was all emotionally based,” Cate told me, growing in enthusiasm as she talked. “She, like the others, has some innate ability to pick up emotional clues from people. I’m guessing they are unknowingly tapping into whatever energy they’re seeing now. That must be how you pick them, they’re the ones who are already tied into that energy to begin with, so they’re better candidates for whatever you do to them.”
“I don’t understand,” Allison asked, sounding confused, “what’s the connection?”
Cate again hesitantly glanced at me, silently asking permission to speak. When I nodded she went on. “The people who Alex has been able to do this to seem to have a unique ability to relate to people emotionally, even those that don’t quite reach that level but still feel an attraction to him. Shani deals effectively with business people, Patricia is a musician who manages to tap into people’s emotions to win over her crowds, and Natalie has always been able to relate to her friends. It seems like each of you has always been able to unwittingly tap into people’s inner psyches in some way.”
Here Cate hesitated, again looking at me for permission to continue. I found this strange, as usually Cate was very strong willed and assertive. Having her suddenly looking to me for approval wasn’t typical of her, but I was more focused on dealing with Allison at the time. If we needed someone to explain things, this was the time. I again told her to continue and she did.
“It seems that’s what this new ability is tied to; you’re seeing a life force that shows people’s inner souls, showing you what you’ve always been able to feel.” Cate began to blush, realizing how carried away she kept getting and how she was stealing all of Allison’s attention. “Well, that’s my theory anyway,” she said a little more humbly.
“You know, I think you may have a point,” Patricia said, thinking aloud. “After you left last night and I was able to sing without your presence and your glare getting in the way, I was able to relate to the audience like never before. It was hard to do with you sitting there, but I managed to learn how to put the new visions to use and once I could both see and feel the audience I could really tap into their energy. I had a great session.”
“Yeah, Henry certainly seemed pleased to see Alex this morning,” Shani observed. “Whatever happened last night seems to have changed his perspective of him.” Although she didn’t say anything specific, the rest of us could pick up the implied critique, though I hoped that Patricia didn’t.
“So you all work with people’s emotions like I do?” Allison asked.
“Yeah, it would appear so,” Patricia responded.
“And that’s what got Alex’s attention, what made him aware of us?” Allison continued, seeking further clarification.
“Well no, actually Alex didn’t seek anyone out,” Shani tried to explain. “Alex gives off whatever energy or life force that we see and feel. I guess we’re all thinking that anyone with the natural inclination for that energy can feel it and feels drawn to it. Those that can feel it but aren’t aware of it, like Natalie here, simply find him fascinating and watch him like hawks, but don’t take it any further. Others who are able to tap into it more directly, like us,” she said, indicating herself and the other women surrounding her, “seem drawn to seek him out and when we do, BAM!” she shouted, sounding like Emeril Lagasse, “He manages to do something to you that gives you these visions.”
“I don’t know,” I hedged, still doubtful. “It’s a nice explanation but—”
“Alex, don’t start saying how you don’t do anything,” Shani warned me. “You seem to do it unintentionally, but somehow you seem to have access to a tremendous amount of this energy. We can all see it as clear as day. It draws those like us to you like bees to honey. Somehow their ability to sense it makes them candidates for whatever you do to them.” As Shani finished she looked over to Cate to make sure she’d described her theory correctly.
Cate nodded and continued. “We now have the link we were looking for that explains who is drawn to you, Alex. Now all we have to do is figure out what it is that you’re doing to them.”
The rest of our crew came in the door then; apparently it had taken quite a while to find a second cab. Natalie got their attention, probably thinking the rest of us were too essential to the conversation to be interrupted, but we stopped talking in the resulting confusion anyway.
“So, what have you been able to relate so far?” my father asked.
“Cate’s figured out what’s been attracting everyone to Alex and what’s the common, what’s the term, the common…,” Patricia foundered in her explanation of our discussion, lost in simple terminology.
“The common denominator,” Cate told her, finally starting to relax around me again now that people wanted the information she was offering. “It seems like they all, both the watchers and those that Alex gives the visions to, have a preexisting ability to feel the emotions tied into the energy field he allows them to see,” she explained, describing her new theory to our parents.
“I knew she’d manage to come up with some initial theory pretty soon,” Dad stated confidently. “Hmm,” he said, thinking this out, falling into the role he always played when helping Cate with her science experiments at home, “it sounds reasonable, do you have any evidence to back it up?”
“Well, not any reliable evidence yet,” she cautioned. “So far it’s just anecdotal evidence based on how they describe their own histories. I’m not sure how we could test it to be certain,” she continued, getting into her theorizing role.
“Wait a minute,” Allison interrupted. “THAT’s what you’re getting from all of this? Isn’t my background of any concern to you?”
“What?” Cate responded to her. “You were using sex to help people by using your natural abilities. I don’t see that as a negative, you said you thought you were helping them.”
“What’s she talking about?” Mom asked.
“Oh,” Cate replied, waving Allison’s previous comments off like they were of little concern, “she told us that she’s been working as a high class call girl for the last several years, but she’s been doing it as a way of reaching out to the people who come to her and they keep paying her and coming back because of the emotional connection she establishes with them.”
“Are you sure that’s all that brings them back?” our father asked, arching his eyebrow. I had to admit, Allison certainly had a lot of sexual chemistry going for her. I could see a lot of guys paying for some action from her.
“Well, I can’t say I’m sure of anything yet,” Cate hedged, “after all we’ve just met and haven’t talked much yet, but that’s how she described it. She was saying how she got started in the business, preparing to ask Alex to forgive her again and it just fit in with what everyone has been telling us.”
“I think she’s right,” Natalie said from behind my father, causing both my parents to turn and regard her. “We’ve each had an unusual ability to pick up on people’s emotions.”
“Their souls,” Shani opined.
“Yeah, I guess we’ve been seeing into their souls to see where people around us are hurting,” Natalie continued.
“Can you really call them people’s souls?” Mom asked.
“Well, probably not in the typical sense of a soul, but as something that shows their character I think you can.” I wanted to establish that what Cate’s was describing was much more complex than just feeling emotions.
“I think we’re actually seeing into their souls,” Shani explained, glancing towards me with a look of awe in her voice. “Not only what they’re feeling at the moment but also whether they’re good people or not, and what they’re like. That’s why no one was afraid of Alex even though we could feel how powerful he was.”
Cate excitedly suggested we focus on some research. I groaned to myself as she stood up and pulled me to my feet as well. She hesitated when she saw my frown, but I told her to go ahead, as I was interested in what she had to say, even if I was doubtful about her approach.
She took a moment to compose herself, took a deep breath, and then very theatrically asked Shani, Patricia and Allison to watch my aura. I was about to ask what she doing when she spun around and slapped me hard across the face.
“Ow! What the—”
“Alex!” my mother cautioned, giving me a hard stare.
“She HIT me!”
“And I’m sure she had a reason. Cate?” our mother calmly asked my sister, knowing perfectly well that she’d already have a detailed explanation handy.
“Yes I did. Girls, did you notice any changes in his aura?” my sister asked the three women equipped to answer.
“Yes, the edges showed a different … uh, color for a few seconds,” Shani explained.
“What about now?” Cate asked calmly as she proceeded to stomp on my foot.
“Ow, damn it!”
“Again with the language, Alex,” my mother chided me, ignoring me as I hopped about on one foot holding the other.
“She just smashed my foot,” I weakly protested, already knowing how it was going to turn out. My parents knew that when Cate got going with a demonstration that there was a definite point to be made, even if the demonstration was shocking or made no immediate sense. My sister was good at making her points, and theatrical antics meant to shock were nothing new to her.
“Don’t whine, dear, it’s unbecoming. Cate, you were saying?”
“Girls,” my sister stated, remaining unremorseful about hurting me, “that was the color of pain and surprise.” Everybody giggled while I continued trying to nurse my injured foot.
“They register, but I think there’s more there than just random emotions,” stated Shani.
“Yeah, but at least we’re identifying some of what you’re seeing. That’s more than you had before.”
She turned to our mother and excused herself, “You may not want to see this next part, but I think it’s necessary to the process.” When my parents didn’t move she cleared her throat and announced, “Alright then, I may not want you to see this next step.”
She glared at my father but he remained steadfast. “I’m not about to miss this. First because I think it’s important and something we should be aware of, but secondly because it’s a lot of fun, and third because I suspect you’re going to really embarrass yourself.”
They were both familiar with Cate’s theatrics and performances from when she put together science projects at home, and they knew the lengths she’d go to make a point. I should have been prepared when I saw her getting into her formal presentation mode but I’d been a little slow in picking up on it.
Cate pouted a bit at my parents’ refusal to excuse themselves, but could clearly see she couldn’t influence either of them. “You’ll have to excuse me then, this is going to seem extreme but it addresses something very specific that it makes sense to identify.”
Blushing heavily, she stepped back up to me, took a deep breath and said, “All right, tell me what you see this time,” and she leaned in and suddenly kissed me, open mouthed, as she blatantly rubbed my crotch with her bare hand. I tried to jerk my head back but found Cate’s hand holding my head in place. My eyes swept over to my parents, but my mother was smiling humorously while my father was rolling his eyes.
Cate quickly finished the experiment and couldn’t look either of my parents nor I in the face, so she instead looked at those gathered around the table, shielding her eyes from our parents like the girls did with me.
“And?” she asked them.
“Same color for the surprise,” Shani answered, grinning widely, “but the lust and embarrassment might be blending, so I’m not sure which to attribute to each.”
“I’m not sure on the whole concept of these ‘colors’ yet,” Allison said, “but I’m plenty familiar with lust. I think I can distinguish which color it is. It peaks and rises at just the right stages,” she explained.
Cate turned a mischievous eye on my parents, glanced at me briefly and asked with a straight face while blushing profusely, “Mom, you wanna give it a try?”
“Cate!” I yelled, upset by the suggestion. Cate might have been embarrassed but I was horrified by the suggestion.
Our mother caught onto Cate’s teasing quickly and played along.
“I think that’d just have the same effect, honey,” she replied, seemingly enjoying herself way too much for my comfort. “You wouldn’t learn much if I were to do it.”
“Well, before we turn it over to anyone else,” Cate continued, smiling way too much for this to be good for me, “Dad, we need to do this with everyone who can observe the effects watching, would you like to give it a try?” she smiled wickedly at him.
“That’s quite all right,” my father excused himself from the participatory portion of the experiment. “Maybe Natalie would like to fill in for me?”
Natalie smiled a hundred watt smile like she’d just won the lottery and hurried to do whatever Cate might ask her to and I groaned again at what she might be planning. Cate simply nodded and Natalie leaned into my arms and gave me a great big kiss. It wasn’t as overtly sexual as Cate’s first attempt was but it was no less intense. Instead she focused on a deeply romantic, personal and intimate kiss that involved lots of tongue. She kissed me with a great deal of feeling and held me around the waist before sliding up against me and putting her arms around me, pulling me close. I had to watch everyone around us, especially my parents, but also the rest of the small restaurant as I returned the kiss.
“Hey, no thinking about other things,” Cate hissed at me. “Keep your full attention on the experiment, mister.” So I went ahead and closed my eyes and lost myself in the kiss. It didn’t take long for me to develop an erection that pushed against her, but she didn’t seem to pay it much attention, she was fully into the kiss itself, moaning as she put her all into it. My hands wrapped around her waist and I savored the experience, thinking this was nothing like kissing my previous dates had been.
“We need lust in there, simple romance won’t do,” Cate warned, so Natalie slid her hand between us and started imitating Cate as she began to rub my expanding penis through my jeans. I heard a wolf whistle in the background, but didn’t know whom it was from. I was beginning to feel very good, enjoying both the intimacy of the kiss as well as the erotic intoxication of the caress. Then suddenly she stepped back leaving me clutching after her.
“Yeah, I see lots of lust,” Allison laughed, “but the romance and love is clear as well.”
I glanced at Natalie and saw her blushing profusely. I could feel my own cheeks burning but they’d been like that for a while. I vaguely tried to cover my burgeoning erection but gave up when I figured they all knew it was there. I tried to avoid looking at Mom but the predatory looks from the others were no help either. Someone from the front of the restaurant called out, “Hey, can some of us get in on that as well?” Now I felt that blush coming into prominence.
“No thanks, we’re conducting an experiment,” Cate called out in response.
“I haven’t experimented like that since I was back in school,” a male voice called out to catcalls all around. But at least it broke the tension as everyone started to laugh about it.
“Well that was very informative,” Mom said, pulling us out of our laughter, “but I think it’s time to call a halt to the experiments before somebody puts on more of a show than anyone here really wants to see,” she cautioned.
Looking around Patricia commented, “Nope, I don’t see anyone who’s likely to object.”
“Well, it’ll be more than his father and I would like to see,” she corrected herself.
“See, didn’t I say that earlier?” Cate asked, sticking her tongue out at our mother. We all had another good laugh, feeling much better about all the recent events after a good chuckle.
"An Unknown Attraction", and the sequel, "Trying To Be Normal", are available at:
smashwords.com.
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