“The Catalyst” Series
Chapter 16: A Hot Time in the City of the Blues
Cate opened her eyes, taking in the familiar scent of her
brother’s hair, a unique combination of his shampoo and his male essence, and
just a little sweat and other miscellaneous leftover fluids. You almost
couldn’t separate Alex’s smell from the scent of excited pussy. She smiled as
the thought brought up memories of the previous night.
She found her hands wrapped around her brother, idly
clutching his chest and stomach. She had awakened in her favorite spot, spooned
against her brother, feeling his heat and his abundant energy warming and
comforting her. She hugged him a little tighter, but didn’t do anything else to
disturb him, happy to let him sleep. He needed it to help settle his mind. He
clearly had a lot to evaluate, and he needed a clear mind to make the best
decisions. Her role was to advise him, and part of that advice was to ensure he
was in the best frame of mind to make the proper choices.
The previous night had been interesting. She was afraid she
was going to be prevented from fooling around with either her brother or any of
the women that continually flocked to him on this trip. The day they spent
together the day before yesterday was a nice reprieve, but yesterday was even
more special. It demonstrated that even if she continued to hide her
relationship with her brother, she could still enjoy a bit of fun along the
way. And so far no one had objected to her sleeping with Alex on a regular
basis. She realized that Alex continued to warn his many lovers about her habit
of sleeping with him, and she was comfortable with that, as no one had become
upset to find her cuddling her brother. Her mysterious ability to soak up
Alex’s energy had an even more amazing ability to give her free access to her brother.
She valued both, almost as much as she valued her brother.
Thinking that in the quiet stillness of the early morning,
as she listened to the many breaths and the occasional snore, that Gail could
sometimes let loose an odd snort, she considered what her abilities had brought
her. Given the fact she could feel Alex’s emotions for others, and other’s love
for her brother, she could appreciate how strongly he felt for each of his
girls. Not only that, but since she internalized those feelings, she felt the
same love for each of these women that he did. Which was quite frankly, a hell of a lot. It certainly
helped her in remembering who was who. Being able to associate a particular
smell, a certain look, a particular nuance with each person made remembering
their names much easier.
The fact that one person could love so many people would
never have occurred to her before. When she’d heard such ideas before, she’d
considered them a poor excuse for some player to fool around on the side, but
in Alex’s case it seemed to be much more than that. There was something about
the physical process of activating and boosting his followers that tied him
emotionally to each of them. Not only the Seers, who they all recognized he
performed a virtual brain surgery on, but it seemed to extend to each of the Watchers
as well. It was odd, and she’d never admit it to him, but she could understand
why he stepped in front of the bullet meant for her. Only it wasn’t just her.
She could understand his risking himself for his closest confidant, his most
frequent lover, and his devoted sister, but he also did it to protect his other
sisters, two women he hadn’t established a mental connection with, who he
hadn’t even made love to. He’d fooled around briefly with one, but that was the
extent of his physical involvement with them, and until recently they hadn’t
even been that close to them.
No, Alex was like that with everyone around him. He’d gladly
sacrifice his own life for any of his many women, no matter how remote or how
little he’d interacted with them, and by association, Cate knew that she too
would do the same thing. She also knew the only thing that would stand in her
way was her overriding interest in her brother. She’d sacrifice anyone else if
there was any risk at all to her brother. She knew she was tied intricately not
only to his women, but she was bonded to him and their lives were permanently
intertwined. That worried her as well, but she wasn’t willing to deal with that
particular hurdle quite yet.
She’d thought it funny that Alex had initially asked two
girls out at the same time, and then had spent weeks trying desperately to
choose between the two, only finally acknowledging he loved both when they
forced his hand, insisting they wanted him to take their own virginities when
he lost his, together and united. It had been a big hurdle for him, even though
he was doing the same thing every day with each of his other women. Alex was a
strange paradox. How could a single man love so many different people so
personally and so intensely? He insisted on sitting down and getting to know
each girl personally, knowing her innermost secrets. And they each responded to
him naturally, admitting their deepest secrets, hiding almost nothing from him.
It was fascinating watching him relating to someone, and watching the deep
relationships naturally develop.
She felt Alex shift under her, and recognized that he was
waking up. Since they were entwined with each other, his early morning
movements also caused Gail to begin to awaken as well. Gail normally was an
early morning person, so she normally woke up before or at the same time as her
brother. But she’d finally let herself go the previous night, and she’d relaxed
the rigid professional stance she’d been working to maintain, which had been
exhausting her during the past week.
As Alex slowly awakened, Cate idly played with his chest
muscles under her fingers. He liked these little intimate caresses as he woke
up. She’d have tried playing with his cock, hell, she really wanted to, but she
was aware just how strenuously he’d been using it lately, and she realized he
really needed a break. Besides, she was sure he’d likely be called upon to make
love a couple more times this morning, so it was really unfair of her to abuse
him for her own desires.
Alex’s head lifted, signaling he’d come fully awake, and he
looked around then reached up and covered her hand with his own as he reached
around and grasped her hip.
“I take it you’re awake?” he asked.
“Um hum,” she replied as she kissed his ear. She could feel
his smile as he accepted this small act of love from her.
As Gail leaned up, her movement started to awaken the two
newest girls. Girls who were hoping to become pregnant by her brother. By her
lover she corrected herself. But again, she didn’t feel any antagonism towards
them. She loved them almost as much as he did. No, that wasn’t accurate, she
admitted to herself. She didn’t think that anyone could love someone the
way that Alex did. He put his whole being into the other person for however
long he was with them. His ability to concentrate exclusively on a single
person was amazing. The apartment could be on fire, but he’d only have eyes for
the one he was making love to at that moment. She imagined it must have been
similar to what it was like for Mary Magdalene when she must have made love
with Jesus. She couldn’t imagine a healthy 30-year-old man refusing the sexual
favors of someone who’d actually wash and dry his dirty feet with her own hair.
She’d seen similar things in her brother’s case that had shown just how
necessary the sexual component of appreciation was to these women.
“Man, how can you people be moving so early this morning?”
Becky asked the room in general. “After that excellent loving, I hate to move
this morning for fear this wonderful feeling I’m enjoying might slip away.”
“Amen, sister,” Amanda echoed her, making everyone laugh
because it sounded so funny hearing a Chinese-American sound a typically
southern black refrain. “Hey, we Asian chicks can have some soul too, you
know,” she protested.
“You may have the feelings, but without the curves and the
big black ass it just doesn’t resonate as well. Nobody can quite carry the tune
as well as a beautiful black woman,” Becky reminded them.
“Amen to that, sister,” Gail replied, making everyone laugh
again.
“Forget it, Ms. Security Guard. While it was fun watching
you and Amanda, and as much as I enjoyed the unmentionable activities that Cate
subjected me to, I’m not about to switch teams any time soon. I enjoy playing on
Alex’s team too much.”
“Hey, I play for team Alex too,” Gail protested. “For some
people, even a confirmed lesbian like me makes exceptions. Though I may spend
most of my time in the dugout with his all girl teammates,” she replied with a
grin.
This was the first time that Gail had mentioned to the girls
that she was a lesbian, somehow the subject had simply never come up the day
before. However, instead of following it up, Becky turned her attention
elsewhere.
“Hey, where the hell is that damn cute carpet muncher?” she
asked.
“Here I am,” Cate answered, thumping Alex’s chest to
demonstrate where she was. When the two girls glanced at her, Alex lifted her
hand up in a schoolyard signal that she had the answer to the question.
“Man, I guess that was one damn good tit suck,” Becky
suggested in a low guttural voice.
“Hey, if one of you would let me do something besides laying
on top of you maybe you’d find out,” Alex argued.
“Alex, for whatever your sister may have gotten out of your
play with her titty, I’m not about to trade in what we shared last night,”
Amanda said. “Anytime you want to mash me into the mattress, feel free to. I’ve
never been big on the basic missionary position before, but I think it’s my new
favorite position.”
Cate was about to suggest some alternative positions that
also worked with Alex, but managed to catch herself in time, though she bit
down on Alex’s ear to keep from saying anything. That caused him to jump, causing
the sheet to fall off of him revealing his ‘morning wood’. That got the girls’
interest, too.
“Oh, Alex, is that for me? You shouldn’t have,” Amanda said
in an exaggerated southern accent, generating another laugh from the others.
“No, he really shouldn’t,” Cate warned them. “Alex has been
burning his poor cock at both ends, and I’m afraid it’s liable to be getting a
bit tender. If you want to play in the shower, then that’s allowable, but no
jerking him off or playing with his dick. Otherwise he’ll have trouble walking,
and that’s not good when he needs to run from antsy reporters.”
“Sorry to change the topic, but that brings up an important
point,” Gail said as she changed the topic. “I think we need to discuss what
you plan to do today. Personally, as your security officer, I vote for skipping
town. You’ve been exposed, the press is hungrily searching for you, and any
slip up is going to cause you endless trouble. Let the press stay here and
search out any little detail they can dig up, but don’t give them access to the
mother lode of trouble.”
“She’s got a good point,” Becky told him. “The best bet in
avoiding trouble is to avoid it, and you can’t do that by hanging around in a
town that is desperate to pin you to a lab table and dissect you.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Cate told her brother.
“You’ve been here for quite a few days, and you’ve instituted a lot of changes
and tried to get quite a few women pregnant. You need to get out before you
accidentally erase the good you’ve done. The women like Becky and Amanda can
rely on your stored sperm if it’s necessary. You don’t need to be here any
longer if it presents a risk to you.”
“Yeah, remember, you are the most important factor in
our future success,” Amanda reminded him. “If you get exposed, we’ll all
suffer.”
That last bit was the most convincing argument for Alex. It
was one thing to tell him about hypothetical threats to himself, but it was
another to tell him he was threatening those he loved and wanted to protect.
“All right, I’ll concede. We should probably leave. Although
I’m sure Patricia probably has a few more things for me to do, I also know
she’s got a timetable she has to keep to, so we might as well get on the road
and get used to traveling. I’m sure she’s got to get used to traveling before
her first tour stop.”
“Now you’re talking,” Gail said, encouraged by his change of
position. “Go get your shower and I’ll talk to Patricia. We’ll get some
breakfast here, and then we’ll join her so we can get out of here as soon as
possible.”
“Only we won’t be going to any of the local diners,” Cate
warned. “As you’ve already pointed out, you’ve become too familiar around here.
All we need is someone making a logical conclusion and calling one of the
network reporters about their suspicions.”
“Hey, we offered to cook you dinner and you refused last
night,” Becky argued. “There’s no reason we couldn’t fix you a decent southern
breakfast. When was the last time you had a nice plate of cheese grits, sausage
and biscuits?”
“That sounds good, but if we leave off the biscuits, we
could probably get out of here that much sooner,” Alex proposed. “Let’s try to
keep it simple, huh?”
While Alex was spending some time cleaning certain parts of
Becky and Amanda in the shower, Cate had volunteered to head to the
neighborhood grocery to pick up supplies for breakfast. Becky had explained
what they’d need, giggling constantly under the running water as she did so.
Although Cate hated going without her own shower, she figured she could rough
it for a little while, besides, she had better things to do than to listen to
her brother fool around if she couldn’t join in.
“Hello? Jennings residence,” a familiar voice answered.
“Hey, Anh, just the person I was looking for,” Cate
responded.
“Cate, how nice to hear from you. So what be the news? We
saw the reports of Alex on the news last night. How’s it down there?”
“So far, it’s not too bad, but we’ll probably be leaving
town because of it. We agreed there was too much risk in sticking around,” Cate
explained before changing the topic. “I wanted to discuss a couple of topics
with you, if you don’t mind.”
“Oh, no, I no mind,” Anh answered. Although her English had
improved tremendously over the last couple of months, when she was relaxed or
excited she’d often mess up slightly with the simpler aspects of her speech.
“What you want?”
“I was thinking about Alex and his girls, trying to figure
out where I fit into it all. I was wondering if we could discuss your theory of
otherworldly spirits guiding him.”
“Ah, you feeling neglected since his attention focused
elsewhere, eh?” Anh asked.
“No, that’s not it. At least not at the moment, it isn’t. He
took care of Gail and me the other night, and last night we got to play as
well. But this morning, before everyone else awoke, I got to thinking about how
everyone fits into the grand scheme of things. Basically how we, Alex and I
both, can love so damn many people at the same time.”
“Ah, you wondering if these be normal people, or spirits
sent to guide him?” Anh suggested.
“Exactly. All these women don’t seem to fit into a normal paradigm.
There are just too many particularities to them. I was wondering...”
“Slow down, slow down. I’m having enough trouble figuring
out your fancy English words. Luckily Allison is already at work and could tell
me what ‘paradigm’ means. You no need to over think this. While there may be
spirits guiding Alex, I mostly meant people like Kitty, Allison and maybe Ryan.
That would have explained why they just happened to live here and were so
receptive to Alex to begin with. However it no apply to Alex’s girls. There’s
simply too many of them. It would take too much power to bring them all over
from the spirit realm, even for someone as powerful as Alex. Instead I think
he’s guided in his selection, and possibly in who feels attracted to his power.
I’m not completely sure your God may not have a role in this. Something
seems to be protecting him.”
“But what about...?” Cate started to protest.
“No,” Anh responded, intuitively guessing where Cate was
headed, “you are special case. You cross over between two. You halfway between
spirit world and Alex girl. Alex seems to have worked his magic on you. I
suspect you were originally a spirit warrior sent to guard Alex, but since
then, since you’ve been so loyal, he’s made you over into one of his new
followers. I don’t really understand it, since you seem to be a strange case,
but it makes sense that way.”
“Thanks,” Cate responded. “I think. I’m not sure quite what
that all means to me, but it will give me something to think about. So, moving
onto other things, we never talked about what you thought about my revised
theory about the nature of Alex’s powers.”
“You mean the one where Alex makes holes in space and moves
things between dimensions?”
“Yeah,” Cate laughed lightly, “that one.”
“I think it interesting theory. If you remember, I first
propose other dimensions being the home of Alex’s spirit. Thus it makes sense
that he could find a way to cross between dimensions. Before, only vague ghostly
spirits could cross over into this world. But Alex found a way to bring spirits
over as fully formed human beings, only they had to be reborn to do it. Only
problem is they seem to have forgotten everything they know as result. Somehow
Alex find secret to crossing between worlds, or dimensions in your terms, in
order to cross over. He also managed to tap a major power source in doing so.
He needed that to bring so many spirit warriors over with him. However, that
much power present dangerous power which hurt as much as it help.
“Another important question you miss is not why Alex make
link to energy, but why not,” Anh continued. “Consider that all living things
already have this energy, which doesn’t seem to be native to this world. Maybe
the energy we all have leaks from another plane, and that this is the most
natural connection we have. Thus it would be the first to establish once we
gain power to jump between worlds.”
“Damn, Anh, I keep forgetting how perceptive you are. We
continually underestimate you, since you always speak in such folksy terms, but
your ideas are spot on.”
“Also remember,” Anh continued, “like all power, there are
costs associated with it. You must be aware of that. A sword cuts both ways,
and you, as Alex’s principal spirit warlord, need to be aware of that.”
“Me, Alex’s warlord?” Cate asked, sounding skeptical. “I
hardly think so. I think you’re thinking of Gail.”
“No, as I say, Gail simply a Seer with police training. She
not warrior born. That role is yours. You need to always be by Alex’s side, to
protect him and guide him in his choice. Always trust his judgment, because he
is divinely inspired, whether by spirits, God or the fates we cannot know, but
you can’t argue with results. He make mostly the right decisions. But remember
to advise him, and help him when he takes the wrong step.”
“Wow, that’s a lot to think about, Anh. I’ll have to
consider it. Anyway, I’m here at the grocery store, and I don’t think this is
the type of conversation I should be having in public, so I’ll hang up and talk
later. Say hi to Mom and Dad for me. I really meant to say hello to them, but I
didn’t quite get a chance. But right now I’ve got to get back and feed that
damn hungry bear of a brother of mine before he bites someone else’s tit.” They
both laughed, and Cate said goodbye and hung up before entering the grocery
store.
When Cate got back she found everyone watching the
television. Something Alex rarely did, usually being preoccupied with either
his own thoughts or worrying about his girls.
“What’s up?” she asked as she set the groceries down. She
idly noticed that whatever it was, they hadn’t had a chance to dress, as the
girls were only partially dressed while Alex was naked and still wet.
“It’s the news,” Amanda explained, as she tried brushing her
hair while staring raptly at the television. “Albert Rodriguez was on the
morning news program and they started grilling him, since he’s the only one
who’s ever met Alex. He kept trying to change the topic, but they apparently
got him confused, because he blurted out Alex’s name.”
“Holy shit!” Cate swore. “He doesn’t know your full name,
does he?”
“No, he only knows me as Alex, but that’s enough to cause me
trouble,” Alex responded. “Think it’s too late to legally change my name?”
“Hell, no,” Cate replied. “It’s nice meeting you Philippa,”
she answered with a laugh. However she didn’t get much of a response.
“They got him talking about who the Angel of New Orleans was
and what his relationship with Alexandria was, in trying to get away from
telling who Alex was he told the story about Alex assuming his name from
Alexandria. That led to the obvious conclusions, and they’re already referring
to Alex as ‘the sub-manager Angel Alex of New Orleans’.
Cate couldn’t resist and smirked a little. When her brother
shot her a dirty look she had to shrug. “Hey, it was a clever response. I can
see the humor in it. But I can also see the trouble this is going to cause
you.”
“We’ll definitely have to leave the city now,” Gail
announced. “All it will take is someone casually mentioning your name, and
everyone will be on you like a ton of bricks.”
“Agreed,” Alex said, finally getting up and turning the TV
off in frustration. “Let’s get breakfast started so we can hurry up and finish.
I’ll go get dressed. I’ve already talked with Patricia, though it was before
this latest news was released. She said she’s ready to go, she’s just waiting
for her band mates to show up.”
Everyone immediately jumped to their tasks, with Alex
stalking off to the bedroom while the two girls headed into the kitchen to
start breakfast. Gail stood by the door looking distracted, so Cate assumed she
was speaking to another Seer, though she had no idea who. Cate followed her
brother into the bedroom where she found him struggling with a pair of pants.
“Calm down, Alex. You’ll never get anywhere if you let your
frustration get the better of you,” she said, as she pulled his pants off his
legs and folded them over her arm. “Just take a couple of minutes to relax.
Think some relaxing thoughts. You’ll remember, I taught you what to do a while
back when we were concerned about the stress hurting your health even more than
your energy is.”
“Gee, thanks,” he replied. “That’s all I need to
relax.”
“Forget about it. All that matters is what’s here and now. Embarrassment
or difficulties don’t matter. Focus on what does: your girls, your family and
those who depend on you. They need you focused and at the top of your game. You
can’t lose that, Alex.”
Alex took a few calming breaths and she could see him visibly
collect himself. “Thanks. You always know just what to say to me.” Cate
straightened out his jeans and handed them to him. He started to put them on,
more slowly now, while Cate fetched a decent shirt for him to wear. Damn, she
thought, where’s our other Alex now that we need him? Alex’s girls had gotten
him to dress better, but sometimes he didn’t have enough sense to match the
simplest thing together. However she finally got him decent, at which point she
gave him a hug and he simply stood for a while, quietly rocking Cate back and
forth, consoling the consoler. Just like Alex always did.
When they returned to the living room breakfast was almost
ready, and Becky and Amanda took turns running to the bedroom to finish
dressing. The girls made random chatter about various things, but Gail and Alex
remained silent, obsessed with their own thoughts.
Cate was tempted to tend to her brother, but instead she
nudged Amanda, since this was really Becky’s breakfast treat, and she pointed
her towards Alex with a nod of her head. She got the point, and walked over,
giving Alex a brief backrub. He seemed to appreciate it, lying down on the
couch to allow her to continue. Amanda seemed to relish being able to assist
Alex in any way she could, and Cate had to console herself with helping them
both instead of doing it herself.
The breakfast was indeed delicious, but everyone was a bit
too preoccupied to really enjoy it as much as it deserved.
They made a slow trip across town. It seemed the French
Quarter was even more packed than normal, with quite a few more cars, trucks
and buses. Patricia informed Alex that the streets were busy and that he’d likely have trouble parking, so he decided to park at a parking lot several blocks away so he could get the measure of the crowds around town. Although they were cautious, and Gail wasn’t fond of the idea, Alex figured he’d be safe enough since no one knew any more about him than his first name. He didn’'t think anyone would notice him as long as he was careful. Patricia had said she wasn’t ready, since she was doing some last minute packing and was waiting for her people to arrive. Despite her saying she was ready to go at any time the last few days, it turned out it still took a while to get organized.
Becky and Amanda set out on their own, essentially to scout
out the route ahead of them. They reported seeing various news trucks farther
down the street, but apparently Albert hadnt revealed Patricia’s connection to
Alex. He figured it was only a matter of time until that occurred, though.
Having decided it was safe, despite the excited crowds on
the nearby streets, Cate and Alex set off, Gail once again trailing behind at a
short but discreet distance. They heard a couple college kids walking past
comment about how they were “dying to see this religious freak with all the
girls”, so they were even more on guard as they proceeded. When they reached
Bourbon Street, the street that housed both Patricia’s club and the
congregation of news vans, they thought they were almost home. They headed down
Bourbon, heading for the club, keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble,
when trouble found them. They heard a commotion and noticed an increase in the
amount of people heading in their direction. However, soon the crowd got too
thick to walk through, so they moved onto a connecting street and watched to
see what was happening.
Recognizing the face of a Watcher he’d seen earlier, Alex
called out and got her attention. She hurried over, looking nervously around as
she did so.
“So what the hell is going on?” Alex asked.
“It’s a mess, and this is probably the last place you should
be right now,” she explained. “It seems the religious protestors decided the news
teams down here have been ignoring them, which is true enough, but they decided
they’d get more attention if they moved their demonstration to them, so we now
have a moving mass of protestors, tourists and onlookers.”
“Ah, so you’re one of the people assigned to watch over the
church groups?”
“Yes, sir, that I am. It’s hard to listen to what some of
what they say about you, but luckily they haven’t accosted anyone, so it’s easy
enough to watch from a distance,” she said.
“Well, thanks for letting us know. I didn’t mean to
interfere,” Alex told her. She looked at him oddly.
“We’re doing it for you,” she replied. “You aren’t
interfering in the slightest. Just try not to mix in with them too much. They
seem to be looking for someone to direct their anger at. Right now it’s the
news crews that are ignoring them, but that could change pretty quickly.”
She hurried off, and Alex conveyed the information to Gail.
‘We should really get out of here,’ Gail warned him.
‘That’s what we’re trying to do,’ Alex reminded her. ‘As soon as we
get to Patricia’s we’ll be fine. It’ll be a little while until she’s ready to
go. When she is we’ll either have Cate bring the car around or I’ll just head
out with Patricia.’
‘No, I mean we should go back to the apartment and wait
until this settles down.’
‘And if it doesn’t?’ Alex asked. ‘What then? No,
we’re close. We only have to go a short ways further, then we can skip town and
leave this nonsense behind.’
Cate hadn’t said anything, watching him as he talked to
Gail, but she looked nervous. She took the time honored male position of
walking on his side facing the street, trying to shelter him from anyone they
might encounter, but her slight size wouldn’t be much of an impediment.
Just then someone carrying a placard that read ‘Damn
heathens taking Christ from Christians’. It didn’t make Alex or the others feel
any better about things.
‘Becky, Amanda, you should really leave. This isn’t safe
for you. You need to protect yourselves and your potential children,’ Alex
warned them.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me?’ Becky responded. ‘You’re
warning us, when everyone is angry at you, with you standing in the middle of
them. If you stay here, then we’ll stay here as well,’ she insisted. Alex
thought about insisting on their protecting themselves, but thought better of
it. She had a point, after all.
Alex and Cate continued to watch. They noticed several Watchers
passing them by, but each studiously avoiding either looking at or approaching
them. It was funny, really. For as hard as they tried not to look at him, they
kept stealing glances at him. If you knew what to look for it was an obvious
signal to anyone watching, but they didn’t think anyone else would be familiar
with such behavior.
“Are you sure we should remain here?” Cate asked, finally
expressing her doubts. “The protests have been largely peaceful lately, but
there’s no guarantee they’ll continue to be.”
“Well, I’m not sure what our options are,” Alex replied. “Either
we wait to see if we can reach Patricia, or we put off leaving town, which
might just be worse.”
“That’s a good point,” Cate conceded, “but if anything
happens, I’m not sure how much help I’m going to be. Just promise me that if I
step in to protect you that you won’t stick around to make sure I’m OK.” Alex
had a hard time agreeing to that, but after his sister prodded him, he relented
and assured her he’d protect himself first. He didn’t want her to get into an
even worse position by trying to fight him as well as anyone bothering him.
‘Patricia, we’re having problems reaching you. How are
you doing?’ Alex asked her.
‘I can see how you would, there’s a mass of people out
front, and they seem pretty frustrated. I’m still carrying out some last minute
supplies, so I’m spending most of my time either inside or out back, but make
sure you give them their space. I’m still waiting for two girls, and I’m
currently giving some last minute instructions to a couple of the Watchers who
will be taking over some of my tasks for the community after I leave.’
Alex told her to hurry up, letting her know they’d cool
their heels since there wasn’t a rush. He quickly let Gail and the others know
what Patricia had said.
They watched the crowd streaming past. Mostly it consisted
of curious strangers rushing to get out of the way, but there were the
occasional protestors complaining about how “Frauds are defrauding Believers”. There
really weren’t that many protestors, but the people following them and walking
past seemed to swell their numbers, while the demonstrators complained about
various things.
Amongst the other activities, a few people broke off of the
main group, passing out pamphlets. One approached Alex, asking “Have you heard
the word of God?”
Alex tried to edge away, knowing there really wasn’t any way
to respond to these types other than to agree with them. However, the man
noticed Alex moving away and approached him.
“Did you know that a man is professing to be the son of God
while trying to seduce innocent Christian women?” he asked. Alex wondered what
that had to do with the word of God, but figured the man was simply
multitasking, looking for whatever produced the greatest response.
Cate wanted to correct the aggressive missionary type, but
knew that would cause more trouble than it was worth. She hated that they’d say
such clear lies about her brother simply to sway an unconvinced public. It
seemed like cheating, though it may be required if their ideas couldn’t
convince anyone themselves.
“Look, I’m not really interested,” Alex tried to deal with
the man rationally. “I’m just waiti...”
A middle aged woman hurriedly approached the man from
behind. “Excuse me, could you tell me what this is all about? It seems like a
lot of activity over not much at all. I mean, why would an atheist want to
practice Satan worship?”
The man turned, seeing a potentially more receptive target,
and started explaining his position to her. Alex was momentarily confused, slowly
backing up, but he felt himself grabbed from behind and propelled forwards. He
glanced up and noticed that Gail was hurrying him away from the area. He looked
back, and the woman that had approached the man met his eyes, glancing away
from her companion, and winked at him. Alex didn’t recognize her, but assumed
she had something to do with his community, but he had no idea how. She clearly
wasn’t either a Watcher or a Seer, so he assumed she must be related to one of
his followers. He hated feeling dependent upon people he didn’t even know. He
felt like he should pay her back somehow, but had no idea how.
Gail marched him around the corner and they crossed over
Royal Street, but found the way on the next street blocked as well. However,
they stopped and waited again for the mob to pass, although this time Gail
stood a ways in front of Alex, ready to redirect anyone approaching him.
When the crowd finally began to ease, the main group of protestors
having passed, Alex was anxious to head across the street, but Gail shook her
head and Cate held him in place. They watched the people move around them until
Gail felt comfortable, at which point she nodded and they continued on again.
They hurried across Bourbon Street, hoping to avoid any
hangers on from the protest, and they approached Patricia’s club cautiously,
simply because Gail didn’t want to take any risks. They walked around the club,
avoiding the still heavy crowds, heading for her van parked in the back. As
they rounded the corner they saw Patricia talking to someone holding something
in front of her. They couldn’t quite tell what they were doing.
‘Patricia? Anything I should know about?’ Alex asked
as they slowly approached her.
‘Alex, now’s not a very good time,’ she warned him,
but they were near enough now to see that what the man was holding up in front
of her was a microphone, but the smaller kind, the kind that a reporter holds
to record notes or quotes to be used for a later article.
‘One of the broadcasters is acting on Rodriguez’s
original articles about a female singer being closely tied to you,’ she
told Alex. ‘Apparently they’ve been sending grunt reporters around to talk
to all the known female singers performing in the French Quarter. I haven’t
been performing in the club for a while, but this guy heard I was preparing to
leave town and cornered me. He might be a while, but it would probably be
better if he didn’t see you, just so he doesn’t associate you with me. I’ll
lead him back into the club in the other direction. You’d better head back to
your room.’
Alex, who had been holding Cate’s hand, held her back. Gail
noticed them both pause and she held back as well. Alex quietly turned and led
Cate away. Gail crossed the access road behind the bar, to demonstrate she
wasn’t associated with them, while still observing Patricia and the reporter,
who she saw as the most prominent threat, and they moved apart as Alex and Cate
walked away. Gail wanted to be sure she could head off the reporter if he tried
to follow Alex.
‘All bets are off, Gail. Patricia’s indisposed. We’re
going to have to leave town without her. We’ll meet up afterwards. There’s no
telling how long she will be held up, nor whether she’ll be watched or not.
It’ll be safer traveling independently, but it’s time we left the city now.’
The way back was easier to travel now since the crowds had
eased, but the people on the street were still excited by everything that had
been going on. As Cate and Alex recrossed Bourbon Street, a young girl,
obviously a tourist visiting the city for the day, stepped away from her
parents and stared at Alex. When her mother called her, she simply pointed at
Alex, saying “But, Mom, that man is important.”
Alex’s first impulse was to grab his sister and rush away,
but he also felt compelled to reach out to the girl and tell her and her
parents, what she was and what they needed to know, but Cate settled the issue
by pulling him away.
“You should give her a pamphlet, at least,” he argued.
“Yeah, right, a curious parent sees a man who showed an
interest in her daughter, who then runs away, and someone hands her a pamphlet
telling her about how she’s actually part of a new religious movement. What
could possibly go wrong with that?”
“But we can’t leave her alone, ignorant of what she is,”
Alex protested.
“Alex, if you weren’t here, she’d never have a clue who or
what she actually was. But if you’re gone, then hundreds will never know
either. We can’t risk it. It’s dangerous being on the street now, and she’s
pointed you out to the entire street as being the most likely Angel around.”
With that she hurried him off and then jogged away from the scene, only slowing
down once they’d gotten clear.
Nearing the garage where they’d left the car, Alex and Cate
drew up short when they saw a news crew doing interviews nearby. They realized
they wouldn’t stand out, but they were still nervous. In order to avoid the
news crew, they crossed over to the street where Peter’s coffee shop was. Since
his followers seemed to be acutely aware of the dangers of focusing attention
on him, he was hoping they’d continue to ignore him as he passed by so many of
them. They hurried by, purposely avoiding making eye contact with the people
around them. However, when they reached the end of the block, hoping to cross
back over and approach the garage from the other direction, they were brought
up short when they heard a woman shout out, “Alex!”
Turning around, Alex saw a woman rapidly approaching him. He
didn’t immediately recognize her, even though he’d gotten familiar with many of
his followers here. She was dressed nicely, which was a little strange in
itself in such a tourist area, and she was leading a younger girl behind her,
who was hurrying to keep up. The girl seemed as anxious to reach them as the
mother was, but she seemed to be out of breath, which seemed odd since she
didn’t look like she was that out of shape.
Alex resisted an impulse to bolt, thinking if she called out
there was likely something important for him to consider. The woman finally
reached him and he recognized that he’d seen her before, but was unable to
place exactly where. She was a blond with her darker color streaked through her
hair, but she wore the marks of prolonged worry etched on her face. She looked
worried and preoccupied, but she didn’t seem to have that odd mix of fleeting
vision/rapt stare that his followers typically had. Then he glanced of the
younger girl, and as he took in her somewhat odd skin tone, and her difficulty
breathing, it finally hit him. She had a yellow cast to her skin. She was the
other girl in the dialysis ward in Memphis. The woman must have been the mother
who’d been upset when he couldn’t cure her daughter as well. Apparently she’d
somehow followed him to New Orleans.
“Thank God I reached you in time,” she told him, still
struggling to catch her breath. “We got here a few days ago, and have been
hoping to track you down. I found several people who seemed familiar with you,
and there’s a general buzz about you around town, but they wouldn’t say
anything specific about you. All they’d suggest is I stay in this general area
and that I’d be likely to see you at some point.”
“How did you ever manage to follow me here?” Alex asked, his
curiosity getting the better of him. He noticed that Cate looked away as he
said this.
“Oh, it took a bit. Mary Emmerson, the mother of the girl
you cured back in Memphis, had your phone number, but she didn’t want to give
it to me, not wanting to betray your trust after what you’d done for her.
However she revealed that Cate had mentioned that you were heading down here.”
Alex glanced at Cate, and she was still looking down, so he
took it as an implied admission of guilt by his sister and turned back to the
woman before him.
“I talked to the doctors, and they connected me to Dr.
Bisla. She also mentioned that you were headed to New Orleans, but she wouldn’t
say much beyond that. Once I got here, I heard the amazing talk of you, about
how you’re the ‘Angel of New Orleans’, and after what I saw I can certainly
believe it.”
“Look, this is fascinating Mrs....?” Alex asked, getting
ready to beg off since they were still trying to get away before they attracted
any more attention. After all, Alex was pretty sure what she was going to be
asking him to do.
“The name is Susan Weston, and this is Jennifer, my
daughter,” she answered, presenting the little girl to Alex in a clear attempt
to win him over with her angelic but sickly look. The girl was cute, with long
brown hair and an endearing smile, as well as beseeching eyes that seemed to
plead with Alex to help her. “But don’t think you can slink off again,” Susan
continued. “I know you’ve got your followers, and it’s a closed society. I came
all this way, forgoing treatment for Jennifer in hopes that you could do
something for her. I’ve been spending a fortune for her treatment, and it’s not
helping her get any better. She has AB-blood, which is quite rare, so the
chances of her getting a transplant aren’t very good. You’re basically our last
hope,” she said, looking at him pleadingly.
“Look, I know that this sounds heartless, but if you’ve been
in town for a few days, I’m sure you’re also aware that the press is all over
this, and everyone is busy looking for me. Not only that, but a lot of people
are quite angry at me for what I’ve done. I don’t think it’s safe for me
to stay here any longer and...”
“No, you can’t leave us behind again,” she cried, falling to
her knees before him in her desperation. “You’re really our last hope. She can
survive for a time with the dialysis, but she’s not going to get better, and
she’ll just get sicker and sicker. Her quality of life is also terrible.” Here
she again pushed her daughter forward, trying to garner some sympathy from
Alex. Alex noted that Jennifer had tears in her eyes, looking like she was
about to break down at the prospect of not getting help from him.
“Look, what I most need from you is to Not make a
scene,” Alex told her, dropping to his knees as well. He turned and held his
arms out, and Jennifer came to him, allowing herself to be wrapped in his arms.
“The problem is there are a lot of complications. What I did
for Rachel was an experiment on my part, as it stretches what I can do to the
limit. You saw what it did to me. Plus I need to get away from town. If I
attract any undue attention I could find myself in a world of trouble.”
As Alex was explaining this to the girl’s mother, talking over
Jennifer’s shoulder as he held her, he was also doing several other things. Despite
Gail’s not being there, Alex knew there were several of his followers nearby,
so he sent out a call for any nearby Seers to help him. A couple responded, one
saying she was watching from close by, and that the others in the community
were trying to keep them separated from the more casual observers.
Alex was grateful for that, but he didn’t know how much it
would help him. He thought his best chances were to act quickly while trying to
talk the distraught woman down. Without his being able to see his hands, the
nearby Seer guided him. He could see her now, and she drew close enough to
watch exactly what he was doing. Since Alex had sent out the general message,
and since the Seers who had heard had passed on the message, a ring of people
seemed to solidify around him. But Alex had no time to consider that.
As he continued to explain why he couldn’t help her, Alex
began applying the same kind of energy he’d given Rachael to Jennifer. However,
mindful of how weak what he’d done had made him before; he only focused on a
single kidney. It may not cure her, but hopefully a single kidney working well
enough to filter a sizable amount of the blood was better than nothing. He
realized the risks he was facing by doing this, but he continued nevertheless.
Cate, who was standing beside him, figured he was trying
something as he continued to hold Jennifer while explaining how he couldn’t do
anything to help her. So Cate shifted over slightly behind Susan and started to
mention arguments to her pleas for help as well. The distraught women was near
to tears, but the two pronged approach worked in that it distracted her as she
kept looking between Alex and Cate, trying to follow what they were saying,
even as she continued to plead with them. However, it was hard to argue when
they kept pelting her with information.
Alex could feel his own strength beginning to ebb as he
worked to duplicate what he’d done with Rachael. This wasn’t a simple procedure,
as he had to produce a heavy and consistent flow of energy to a specific area
of Jennifer’s kidney. It took a lot of concentration, and trying to focus his
energy burned up a lot of calories, so it wore Alex down quickly. However the
Seer observing him, who’d been joined by another, told him he was succeeding.
Alex distracted himself enough to ask them to ensure that they could help him
get away once he was done.
Realizing he was losing strength and knowing he didn’t have
much longer, Alex changed the tone of his arguments.
“Look, you’ll have to watch over your daughter for the next
few weeks. It may be she picked up a little something just by being near me.
The energy I possess is complex and works in an unusual and inconsistent
manner; so, much of it is beyond my control. If she continues to get worse, I’ll
have to stop in and see her again when I return to the area.”
Being told he was close, and feeling exhausted, Alex finally
pulled back, releasing Jennifer. A couple of women who’d been standing nearby,
closed in on Alex and helped him stand up. Alex, feeling exhausted, had to lean
heavily on them. Susan started pleading with him again, but Jennifer
interrupted her.
“Mom, I think I’m feeling better. It’s odd, but just having
Alex holding me like he did makes me feel much stronger.”
Susan turned Jennifer around, looking into her eyes, which
already looked a little less yellow. Turning, she saw that Alex was already
drawing away, aided by the two women.
“Alex, what can I do...?” she started to call out.
“The best thing you can do for him is to not speak of this,”
Cate told her. “He’s under a lot of scrutiny, and if word of this gets out
he’ll be attacked for it. The medical profession will attack him, the drug
companies will be after him, various experts will berate him for ignoring
people just like you did. Worse of all, they’re likely to attack Jennifer just
as fiercely, since she’s a link to him, and they’ll likely want to destroy any
link to him. He needs a certain freedom to accomplish what he needs to,” she
said as she drew away from her. “Most of all, don’t call him by his name.” With
that Cate turned and ran after her brother.
As they hurried away, Cate glanced around and observed that
Alex’s followers had formed a ring behind them, keeping anyone from following
them. She observed a few people pulling cell phones or cameras out, but had
noticed others moving in front of them, blocking their views. Still, she knew
they had to get away, and quickly, if they hoped to escape at all.
As they headed quickly, but with difficulty, down the
street, they passed the same reporting crew they’d observed before heading past
them. They’d apparently just been alerted that they were missing something, and
they were too preoccupied in getting there in time to record it to worry about
a couple of drunken kids. By then they were near the garage, so Cate led them
to where the car was located.
When they reached the car, Gail was already there waiting
for them. She didn’t ask what was happening. Leaving the car running, she got
out and helped the other two girls get Alex into the back seat. Once he was
made secure, she thanked the women, told them to thank the others for what
they’d done, and climbed back into the car, driving out of the lot just slow
enough to not attract any undue attention.
It took them a while to get away, and Alex alerted Patricia,
informing her of their plans and that they’d let her know where they stopped
for the night. Since Patricia wasn’t really a local, she didn’t know the
outskirts of the city well, so she didn’t really have any recommendations, and being
presently occupied she couldn’t ask. She told him that the reporter had already
left, but that she still couldn’t leave, since one of the girls still hadn’t
shown up, apparently having had a traffic accident on her way to join them.
Alex also took the time to send a farewell announcement to
each of the Seers in the city, telling them he’d been forced to leave. Alex was
jolted when he heard dozens of goodbyes and good wishes for the future ring in
his head at the same time, but luckily he didn’t have to worry about wrecking
the car while lying in the back seat.
As they drove to the freeway, Alex leaned up and glanced out
the back window at the city they were leaving behind. It might be a long time
before I ever make it back, Alex thought to himself. I’m leaving a lot of
people very important to me behind, including quite a few potential mothers of
my children. However, he couldn’t fret about that as he had to concentrate on
getting out of Dodge once again.
To Be Continued