		“The Catalyst” Series Book 6
		“Building a Legacy”
		Crumbly Writer All rights reserved © 2013


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11: A Negotiated Peace

Alex and his sisters entered the hotel dining room the next morning with more than a little trepidation, knowing Winona would undoubtedly be waiting for him. They’d discussed her and how he hoped to handle the situation—the girls having their own opinions. They’d already decided that despite how strongly Cate felt about the matter, they’d give Winona a fair chance to either hang or redeem herself in their eyes. However, as they all knew, that was only part of the problem. Not only was Winona upset to be confronted by one overprotective sister, she’d likely chafe at two more. Plus, all three were more than aware of her desire to sleep with Alex.

As expected, she was sitting nursing a cup of tea, awaiting them. Waving broadly upon seeing him, it took her a few seconds to register the two other women were with him. Nevertheless, she was gracious upon meeting them, knowing of his propensity to draw strange women to him, but she was curious and somewhat disappointed none the less.

“Alex! So glad to see you again,” she said, getting up and kissing him hello in an apparent attempt to establish a prior claim on him. “Who are these two beauties?” she asked, glancing at the girls with a measuring look.

“These are my other two sisters, Becky and Melinda,” Alex explained, introducing them with a flourish.

“Oh, I was wondering what happened to Cate,” Winona responded, eyeing the two warily.

“She surprised me, as she often does,” Alex replied with a shrug. “She flew out yesterday with Kitty and Chalise without much warning, only explaining herself when she had to account for Becky and Melinda being here.”

“Yes, I can see how that would be a surprise,” Winona answered, looking relieved that not only was her nemesis gone but these two were clearly labeled as non-competitors for Alex’s attention. “How nice to meet you. What brings you to California? Did you come to visit Alex?” she asked, clearly trying to determine just how long they’d be competing for his time.

“Yes, we’re here to visit, but there’s a bit more to it than that,” Becky said, quickly taking charge of the situation by smiling at Winona’s obvious attempts to calculate her own position. “Mel and I are here to take over for Cate while she takes care of some business at home. She didn’t want to leave Alex on his own, and she also wanted to give us some equal time with him since she’s been monopolizing all his attention for so long,” she explained, drawing a clear parallel to Winona’s position without directly addressing it. “We’re going to be spending the next several weeks with him, doing just what Cate did; taking care of him, watching out for him, keeping track of his schedule, advising him and generally keeping him on the right track.”

“Oh, I see,” Winona responded, looking anything but pleased to be facing two doppelgangers of her mortal enemy. “You do realize Alex has plenty of women here who could do that for him quite capably?”

“Oh, we understand they’d like to take that role, but we also know there’s more to it than meets the eye,” Becky continued, even as Melinda protectively grasped Alex’s arm, molding herself to his side. “I’ve got an extensive background in genetics and was responsible for much of what was revealed in Las Vegas, so I’m well equipped to take over that role from Cate. Melinda will handle the bookkeeping and scheduling, since she’s going to be playing a bigger role in the whole organization in the future.”

“Well, knowing genetics may give you an edge in one small aspect of Alex’s life, but there’s clearly a lot more the other women in his life can help him with,” Winona countered, trying to stare both girls down.

“That may be, but I already have his schedule down and I know all his security precautions, as well as how he likes to operate. So I think I’m prepared to handle anything which might come up, whereas a new girl would have to be trained, both on his existing schedule as well as having to get used to how he operates.” Despite Melinda’s patient and deliberate explanation, the look in her eyes and her overall demeanor conveyed a ‘don’t fuck with me bitch’ attitude, even though she said it oh so sweetly.

“How about some breakfast then, girls?” Alex asked, hoping to distract them before one of them took a swing at the others.

“Sounds good, why don’t I…,” Winona started to ask before she realized she’d been about to leave Alex alone with his sisters, just when she needed to establish herself beside him. “Why don’t we all get something,” she corrected herself.

“Good idea,” Melinda replied, guiding Alex forward and around Winona. Winona didn’t seem to appreciate that and quickly hustled to catch up and claim his other free arm.

“You do realize I’m going to need that arm if I hope to eat anything?” Alex asked with a smile, seeing the two girls each staking out their position.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Winona assured him. “I can always feed you, whenever you get hungry.”

“That might be, but I’d really rather feed myself as long as I’m still able,” he replied, though he waited for her to release his arm rather than shake her loose.

“The croissants are very good here,” she said, demonstrating she’d been here longer than the others.

“I’m sure they are, but if you don’t mind, we’re more concerned with ensuring Alex has a balanced breakfast to keep his energy at an optimal level throughout the day,” Melinda replied, trumping her familiarity card. Alex could see this getting out of hand quite quickly.

“I’ll grab the juice, you grab some fresh fruit and Alex can pick out his own breakfast,” Becky said, trying to get control over the bickering. Melinda merely nodded, accepting her sister’s nonverbal advice, surrendering her position by Alex’s side to chase down the items for Alex. After all, they were here for more than just their own entertainment and they had to keep that in mind, whatever mind games one of his girls might try to pull.

Winona didn’t immediately close in on Alex, although she did move closer as they each picked out their own breakfasts, even as she kept her eyes on his sisters.

“They aren’t going to be like Cate, are they?” she asked, trying to make it sound as non-catlike as she could.

“What, nonprotective or nonargumentative?” Alex asked, knowing exactly what she was asking.

“I certainly don’t object to you spending time with your sisters, but you’re well aware Cate didn’t like me, so if they’re here to undermine my position, then we’re going to have a very difficult time of it,” she warned him.

“Look, I know this can be difficult, but there’s absolutely no reason we can’t all get along,” Alex replied, trying to play the role of peacekeeper, a role he wasn’t particularly good at, since he’d never been involved in any form of high school politicking.

“I’m just saying, I don’t object to your sisters, but if they try to pull what Cate did, then I’m not promising anything,” she assured him.

Nothing more was said as they got the rest of their breakfast. They returned to the table where Alex’s juice and grapefruit was already waiting for him. His sisters returned a minute later, Melinda sitting at Alex’s other side while Becky sat directly across from them.

“Look, pardon me if this sounds a little rude, but we know you and Cate didn’t exactly hit it off,” Becky said, trying to steer the conversation away from a direct confrontation. “We’re not Cate, and we’re not going to assume she was correct in her evaluations. We’re not going to make any judgments about you until we see how you handle yourself. As long as you don’t pose any potential harm to Alex, I’m sure we can get along fine.”

Winona looked up, surprised by this direct approach to the problem.

“But, that said, you don’t want to get on the wrong side of us. For everything Cate did, she chose to do things her own way, but we’re not her and we have our own agenda. Quite frankly, we’re only partly here to assist Alex, although we will do that as well. Basically we’re here to spend time with him before anything … unfortunate might happen. But we’re also looking for the same thing you are. We want to spend time with him before it’s too late, and part of that involves some intimate contact,” Becky explained in a no-nonsense tone of voice, making their intentions plain without having to spell it out for anyone nearby to overhear.

Winona, though, was clearly shocked by this revelation, because as far as she was concerned, Cate was simply a bitch. She’d never considered her a rival.

“You and … Alex…?” she tried to ask.

“Exactly. We plan on spending as much time with him as we can, and like Cate, that extends to taking care of him at night as well,” Becky answered. Melinda wisely chose to take a backseat in this latest round of verbal sparring, deciding jumping on the bandwagon wouldn’t be a good idea.

“Did he and Cate…?” Winona asked, only now making the obvious connections.

“What he and my sister did or didn’t do isn’t any of our interest or purview, all I’m telling you is what Mel and I are planning. Now, we don’t object to who he sleeps around with. Clearly that would make no sense, whatsoever, but just bear in mind wherever Alex goes, we’re going to be there, including during the night. If he wants to spend time with you, we won’t object or stand in his way. But just be advised that, once you’re done, we’ll be there to ensure he hasn’t overextended himself and to cuddle up beside you.”

“You … she…,” Winona struggled to respond, still having trouble figuring this all out.

“As I said, we have no qualms about letting Alex take the lead. If he wants to spend time alone with you, he can. If he wants us there with him, we’ll be there. In anything that happens, Alex’s choices are paramount and his interests are our interests. But we want you to be aware while we’re not as opinionated as Cate was, we’re not going to meekly step aside for you either. If we can be friends is entirely up to you. So think about what I’ve said and decide whether you can deal with it or not, because we’re not going anywhere for several weeks.”

“You certainly don’t beat around the bush,” Winona conceded, finally finding her voice again. “That was the thing with Cate, I always had the opinion she wasn’t forthcoming, always hiding exactly what she thought, so I never quite trusted her.” She was silent for a while after that, eating her Spanish omelet as she debated her stance with herself. But finally she responded.

“I never expected to have a normal relationship with Alex. After all, with all the women he draws to him, that’s simply not an option; but I never anticipated anything quite like this. Still, if you can be this forthright and not judge me like Cate seemed to, then I’m willing to play along. Just as long as you realize I don’t plan on being frozen out of Alex’s life either. He’s tied our lives together fairly intimately for the rest of this tour. That was his own choice and I’m not about to second-guess his decision. If we can get along, then fine. But if either of you try to get between us…,” she warned, not bothering to explain how she might retaliate.

“That’s fine,” Melinda offered, speaking up for herself and accepting Winona’s compromise. “As Becky explained, we have no intention of reining in Alex’s judgments. We’re just telling you how we plan to be involved in Alex’s life so you’re aware of it beforehand. But I think I speak for both of us when I say we hope we can all get along.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got that,” Winona said somewhat dismissively, already done with the topic. “What I’m really interested in is, do you think Cate and he had the same relationship?” As shocked as she’d been at hearing it said explicitly, she couldn’t help indulging in her feminine tendency to gossip, especially about a known and sworn enemy.

“Again, if they did or didn’t, she never said anything to us. We’re just telling you our own plans. For anything more, you’ll have to either ask her … or Alex,” Becky responded, flashing Alex a smile, happy to once again dump this whole thing in his lap, where she felt it rightly belonged. She’d said her piece and hopefully everyone could live with it. How they all got along had as much to do with how Alex responded to each of them as any of their own actions.

“Hey, I know nothing and I’ll admit to even less,” Alex argued. “If you ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies. I’ve never gossiped about any of my girls, and I’m not about to start now. If you want to know what I did or didn’t do with anyone, then ask them yourself.”

“Cate always had a strong ‘yuck’ response to the idea of Alex’s sexuality, despite being faced with it every day,” Melinda added, speaking truthfully, even if not completely honestly.

That seemed to settle the question, for the moment at least, but Winona continued to give Alex curious looks throughout the rest of their breakfast. Gini merely snorted; glad the whole awkward discussion was done with.

“So what do you think?” Melinda whispered to Gini as everyone headed out, the two hanging back. “Do you think she’s the real deal or has she simply figured what to say to get everyone to kowtow to her?”

Gini glanced at Winona before responding. “Frankly, I really don’t know. All I can tell is what I can see, but even that doesn’t help much. She’s definitely pregnant. That much shows up around the second week. The baby’s aura looks much like its mom’s, but over time it’ll begin taking on its own attributes. But so far, there’s no sign it’ll have any of Alex’s attributes. We’ve all been watching her—even the newer girls—to see if we can detect a brighter aura, but so far it looks like any other fetus.”

“I guess we were hoping for too much,” Melinda relented. “Still, I’m nervous she might be milking this for all she can.”

“Well, in that regard, there’s good news and bad,” Gini replied. “She doesn’t seem to be lying about the pregnancy, but it also seems she’s holding several things back. Just what those might be, I have no clue. This vision of ours is useful, but it doesn’t reveal all. It’s just another tool.”

“Well, that’s more than we knew starting out,” Melinda replied, watching as Alex tried to prevent Winona from wrapping herself around him as they walked down the hallway. “Again, it’s not that I distrust her, but she acts a little weird; a little pensive, a bit distrustful. It’s like she’s afraid if she leaves Alex alone, he’ll realize what she’s up to.”

“You know, if this is a new religion, then we’re where every new believer is. We simply have to take some things on faith. What I do know is once Alex learned she was pregnant, it was like a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders. He thinks he’s done enough that we’ll survive if anything happens to him. But you and I both know what’s involved here. We need more than just a single Alex if we’re going to survive as a people. We absolutely need an heir, but we need more than one or two. We need enough to survive potential disasters and to cover the globe, not just the continental United States.

“You and Becky need to keep the pressure up and ensure he keeps boosting new people and getting as many as possible pregnant. But you’ve got to be careful that he doesn’t stress himself out. The fear he might fail us was undoubtedly taking an additional toll on his health, which is questionable enough as it is. The problem is, he’s his own worst enemy. He’d like nothing else but to dedicate himself to a single woman, though he’d settle for two. Since he’s forced to do much more than that, he wants to dedicate significant time to each one to ensure there’s a ‘personal connection’. Your job is going to be to keep him active and not letting him settle for just you and Becky—and possibly Winona—like he’d like to.”

“Yeah, we’ve pretty much figured that much out,” Melinda assured her, “but it’s not going to be easy. He’s got his own ideals and can be pretty insistent when pushed.”

“We’ve noticed,” Gini laughed. “You know, it’s funny, for all the millions of guys who’d jump at a chance like this, who’d move from girl to girl, never looking back, simply assuming this was all his due, somehow we ended up with the one guy who insists on being ‘honorable’ about it.”

“I don’t think it was so accidental,” Melinda ventured as Alex and Winona grabbed a different elevator, meaning she and Gini could continue talking uninterrupted. Alex glanced back with a pleading expression, but Gini waved them on, trying to hide her grin at his discomfort. It would do him well to tell someone no for a change. “I don’t know if that’s why these spirits selected my brother, or whether he simply grew into the role thrust upon him, but I think he’s the one man for the job. I don’t think this would work with just anyone in that role. For as difficult as he makes it on the rest of us, I’m glad to do my part, even if we’re assigned to play the bad guys in this. I suspect Kitty and Chalise took the same attitude, that this is bigger than any one of us and we’re all taking one for the team.”

“Well, I wish you luck. Unfortunately, for as much as I’d like to help, I’m afraid it’s essential for my job that he trusts me to be impartial and only concentrate on his safety."

“That's what I was just saying," Melissa concluded, “we're each taking one for the team and we're all accepting the roles we've been dealt, no matter how conflicted we might feel about it. Which is what makes everyone so nervous about Winona, she doesn't seem to be sacrificing like the rest of us. She gives the impression she's sneaking something past the rest of us, and it's that attitude which seems to upset so many people.”

“As I said, I wish you luck. All I've got to worry about is keeping him alive and preventing anyone from shooting him," Gini replied with a grin as they stepped into the next elevator. As much as she enjoyed putting him into a difficult position, she hated risking leaving him alone even for a moment. That boy had a way of finding trouble!

“Hold on, don’t sit down yet. I want you to meet the band,” Winona told Alex as they entered the auditorium, still under construction. He’d been about to head down to the few rows of seats remaining in front of the stage where he normally tried to hide out during her practice sessions where she could still see him.

“Are you sure? Isn’t it likely to upset people?” Alex asked, looking for a way out of what he knew was going to be an awkward situation. He’d gone through this before, but then Patricia had already been talking him up to the band and they’d witnessed him in action during his birthday and graduation parties when they’d performed. It wasn’t quite such an ordeal trying to convince them he was what she claimed. “What about the producer, Reggie?”

“Don’t worry about that,” she told him. “Reggie went to see his doctor, an ‘emergency consultation’. The guy was about to laugh him out of his office, but because Reggie carries so much clout both here and in LA, his doctor decided to humor him. Reggie had been having a mild pain under his ribs, but hadn’t thought much of it, assuming he’d pulled a muscle. When his urologist ran a CT Scan they detected the kidney stones. They weren’t quite big enough to cause much of a problem, but it was apparently well on its way there. The urologist gave him some calcium channel blockers and apparently that knocked them loose. But when he saw them come out, and the pain went away, he was a believer. But he was even more of a believer when his Shingles flared up, just as you’d predicted. So now you can do no wrong,” Winona told him, laughing about Reggie’s pain.

Against his better judgment, Alex let himself be dragged away. Becky and Melinda let them head off on their own, but Gini tagged along.

“Hey everyone, this is Alex, the guy I’ve been telling you about,” Winona said when they joined the musicians warming up.

“Alex, this is Taylor Moore, our acoustic guitarist, mainly playing the slower ballads,” she said, introducing a slight girl with long curly dark hair, dressed all in black. “The other guitarist is Guy Peters, who plays electric.” Guy had a few days growth on his face, so it didn’t look like he was used to performing in public. “The blonde is Mary Watson, and the brunette is Susan Simmons, our two backup singers. And the drummer is Steve Blanco.”

“This is him?” Steve asked skeptically, peering past his cymbals and pointing at Alex with his drumstick.

“He doesn’t look so special to me,” Mary said, giving him an appraising eye which said she wasn’t overly impressed.

“Hey, give him a break,” the other singer, Susan, insisted before turning to him. “Is it true you’re supposed to draw people into the concerts?”

“Whatever you’ve heard, it was clearly exaggerated,” Alex said, trying to downplay anything Winona had told them. Whatever it had been, if they expected something phenomenal from him they’d be disappointed when they finally heard the details, so the first thing Alex needed to do was to control their expectations. “What happens is a small subset of people can feel a certain psychic energy I give off,” Alex began, using terms practically guaranteed to make everyone think he was a new-age quack. “It only affects a small number of people, but when they feel it, it makes them curious. When they hear about Winona, or Patricia before her, the concert tag lines trigger their imagination as it describes what they’re feeling. As a result, they come to the concert just to find out what’s causing what they perceive but can’t explain. That’s how I draw people to me and the concert. However, when I do, it’s only a handful of people, hardly enough to affect your bottom line.”

“How can you say that?” Winona demanded, upset at him for misleading her people. “You electrify the entire audience! Everyone says you make the crowds go crazy.”

“Ah, but that’s the result of my effect on those few people. Those who can feel this psychic energy get really enthused, and their enthusiasm spreads to the other people.”

“Then what the hell am I doing here?” Winona asked, hands firmly placed on her hips in a general warning she wasn’t happy.

“Well, that’s another aspect of it. Patricia was able to feel the energy of the crowd, so she could play off of it and build their enthusiasm. However, you’ll have more trouble since you can’t perceive their energy. Instead, you’ll play to their emotions and their desire to believe what they’ve already heard. The rumors have already spread about past concerts so the fans want to believe in magic. What you’ll deliver is just what they’re expecting. By playing up to this common element, they’ll buy into it. Those receptive to it will juice the enthusiasm, and pretty soon everyone is buying it.”

“So basically you’re saying it’s a bunch of bull?” Steve asked, glaring at him.

“You’ll have to see it in practice to understand it. It actually has a noticeable effect. It’s not huge, but it’s enough to ratchet up the enthusiasm. What’s more, you’ll notice people gravitating to me.”

“So some fan buys this whole song and dance and chases after you, and we’re supposed to put our careers in your hands?” Guy, the guitarist asked. Alex could tell the band was starting to turn on him.

“I think I can answer that,” a familiar voice called out behind him.

Twisting around, Alex saw Patricia approaching.

“Hey, handsome,” she said, ruffling his hair before giving him a big kiss. “A couple little birdies told me you’d be here today.”

“Wait, you’re her, aren’t you?” Mary Watson asked. “You’re Patty, the singer we’re replacing? I’ve heard great things about you.”

“Well, just don’t listen to a word this shy genius says,” she told them, spoiling the effect Alex was striving for. “Every word you’re singing, every damn note was inspired by his magical abilities. He radiates energy which makes every nerve ending in your skin come alive. Not only that, but for those who can feel it, like I can, he activates hidden talents, allowing us to actually see people’s emotions, so we can play to it, knowing just how to build excitement and enthusiasm. That’s why I was so successful, and why Winona will be too.”

“But wait, if Winona can’t feel these emotions like you can, then how is she supposed to fill your shoes?”

“Simple, she feels the emotions behind the words and she knows what Alex represents. That’s enough to help her to effectively fake it. Plus there are a few women like me who can feel it, and they’ll be guiding her through the process, telling her what to do and how to react. It’s a little complicated, and as Alex says, it’s hard to imagine unless you’ve seen it play out a few times, but believe me when I tell you it’ll work.”

“I thought you were recording in LA?” Alex asked, trying to refocus the attention suddenly directed at him again.

“You thought I’d miss this?” Patricia laughed. “The only reason I waited this long is because a couple of voices whispered you’d be busy yesterday, so I held off driving up. But I wanted to be here to prepare Winona, and a few powerful people associated with the tour insisted I make a few appearances. It seems some key people have made some investments in the show based on your influence on it.”

“Wait a minute. All the excitement about this show is based on him?” Steve asked, as if stunned a spiritual adviser was dictating the terms of his success.

“You’d better believe it,” Patricia told him, staring at him levelly. “The show’s promoters were about ready to pull the plug on Diane once I left and the show stopped generating excitement. But once a new group of sponsors met Alex they invested heavily in it, sure he’d guarantee their success. If it wasn’t for this pasty little scrawny kid, you’d still be looking for a job.”

“Who are these people supposed to be guiding Winona?” Susan asked, looking like she almost believed it.

“Well, the big ol’ battleaxe over there is one,” Patricia told them, motioning to Gini. Gini raised her hand, grinning evilly in response.

“You’d better believe it. If any of you cause him any trouble, I’ll break you in half,” she promised. A statement none of them questioned for a second.

“I was wondering what you were doing here,” Taylor said, looking like she might just like to eat Gini up. It looked like Gini missed it completely, but Alex had been around enough gays and lesbians to have developed his gaydar, and he could clearly see it. Taylor may not be actually gay, but she at least had some bisexual tendencies. And apparently she liked masculine women.

“There are also a few who will be showing up on occasion, but most notably we have someone backstage overseeing everything and whispering in Winona’s ear,” Patricia explained before turning to Alex. “I’ll introduce you to her in a little bit.”

“And you think this mumbo-jumbo is going to work?” Steve, ever the skeptic, asked.

“I not only think it’ll work, I’ve invested a lot of my own money into it,” Patricia explained. “If this show tanks, I lose a sizable amount of money.”

This was news Alex wasn’t prepared for. “You didn’t! Are you sure that’s wise? I mean, what happens if … well, if…?” he asked, unable to put his greatest fears into words before this group who didn’t know what his future looked like.

“Don’t worry, even if you aren’t here to guide their every step, Winona will still believe in you and will want to influence your many followers. And she’ll still have people here guiding her. This is bigger than you, Alex. This is about our people, and even if you aren’t here to activate them, we want to reach out and welcome them to our little family. This is our future calling, one we never knew we had. But it’s one we can’t deny and one which defines our very lives.”

“That’s it, I’m convinced,” Mary announced. “If someone like Patty believes in this particular brand of magic, then I’m willing to bet on it myself. After all, she’s gambling with her career. We’re just playing a gig. If it doesn’t pan out we don’t lose anything and still make a few bucks while waiting for something else, but if she’s right, we stand to become major players in our own right.”

“I’m with Mary,” Taylor announced, still watching Gini with a sly smile on her lips.

“Oh, you’ll become more than that,” Patricia informed her. “You’ll play a part in something much bigger than you can imagine. As Alex said, it’s not really so big in terms of sheer numbers, but it is in terms of influence. The people drawn to Alex are going to change the world. You’ll probably not see it in the next ten or twenty years, but you’ll see the world changing, and it’ll all be because of what Alex started.”

“Are you serious? This little twerp?” Steve demanded, still not convinced.

‘Gini, is this guy going to be a problem?’ Alex asked.

‘He may, but not because he’s reacting to your energy. He just plain doesn’t like you. His temper is flaring, but so are a few other emotions as well. Usually if someone is reacting negatively to your BCM, they’d still be trying to rationalize it. This guy’s on the level,’ she told him.

“I’ll tell you what, Steve was it?” Patricia asked before Alex had a chance to address him. “You just watch him over the next couple of days and see how people respond to him. People who have never laid eyes on him before will suddenly show up, not having any idea why they’re here, and they’ll do literally anything for him. He provokes that kind of inspiration and those people will do more than merely moving mountains for him. But more than that, they’ll buy tickets and sell tickets to their friends and family, and talk about it online trying to generate interest. They’ll boost the enthusiasm of everyone and have people coming from all over! But don’t take my word for it. Just watch him and those around him. It may take some time, but you’ll see what he’s capable of by watching those approaching him.”

“I’ll do that, but right now, he doesn’t look like he could impress anyone to do anything,” Steve snorted dismissively.

“Winona, we’ll need to talk about this later,” Alex whispered to her as he made his exit, leaving her to practice with the band. Patricia was busy explaining how to make her music come alive and didn’t acknowledge his departure.

Sure enough, only an hour later two women entered the open auditorium through the intimidating construction entrance. Becky, the first to notice, elbowed Alex, who knew enough to look in the right direction.

The two women, clearly sisters though separated by a few years, stopped just inside the entrance as they waited for their eyes to adjust to the dim interior. The younger sister, clearly perturbed and frustrated, seemed to plead with her older sibling, a tall blonde woman of around 30 to 35. However, she wasn't to be assuaged. Shielding her eyes to block out the glare of the sunlight streaming in the open entrance, her sister look directly at Alex but didn’t seem able to see him. In response, Alex motioned for Melinda to head them off, wanting to give her some experience with handling these encounters. The older woman set out in Alex's direction, though she still couldn’t see him clearly. Her sister followed behind, trying to convince her of the error of her ways. Melinda met them as the older woman entered the side stage, what would be the eastern staging area if the necessary walls were in place. Her sister was still struggling with high heels amongst the haphazard construction materials. Alex and the others watched the encounter, not knowing what was being said.

Alex watched, careful to not look the women in the eyes, then looked aside when the music stopped abruptly. Glancing over, he saw the band had quit mid-song, Patricia no doubt having called the band’s attention to the women, and they were watching what transpired. Sighing in frustration, but knowing there was nothing he could do to avoid it, Alex turned back to the approaching women, who were now nearly upon him. Now that they were close enough, Alex looked the older woman squarely in the eyes. As their eyes met, the woman, who had long curly hair and carefully applied makeup, jerked back. Her legs seemed to collapse out from under her and she fell to her knees, never taking her eyes from him until his glare got to be too much for her.

‘Uh, Alex?’ Gini asked, sounding surprisingly unsure of herself.

‘Yeah?’ Alex asked, holding back responding to the women until she’d spoken.

‘Never mind, I don’t think it’s important,’ Gini informed him, shrugging the thought off, not wanting to distract him. Alex was about to ask her what she was concerned with when they were interrupted.

“What did you do to Rachel?” the younger woman demanded as she stormed up to help her older sibling. She glared in open challenge at Alex, proving she was neither a Seeker nor a Seer, despite supposedly being directly related to a Seer. Alex quickly examined both women. The two sisters were very similar, demonstrating they were close siblings, though Rachel had blonde streaks in her curly shoulder length hair, whereas the younger girl had longer dark brunette hair and a very skeptical look on her face.

“It’s a natural process,” Alex explained, standing up before them. “She’s not injured, but it’ll take her a few moments to adjust.”

“Yeah, sure it is. Just keep your distance, OK?” the unknown woman stressed as she knelt beside Rachel to assist her. However, Rachel wasn’t interested in her help.

“You’re … you’re him!” Rachel stated, rather than asking.

“I take it Melinda gave you a basic explanation of who I am?” Alex asked.

“Oh, she told us alright,” her younger sister insisted. “And we didn’t believe a word of it! It sounds like the biggest load of hokum I’ve ever heard,” she insisted, but her sister shrugged her off.

“No, Cynthia, this is him,” Rachael insisted. “This is the man I was looking for, and what she says is correct. I can feel he’s unlike anyone else I’ve ever met.”

“Hey, let’s just get this straight,” Alex cautioned them. “This is not a religion and I’m no mystic figure. I’m just a typical man who just happens to have had something odd happen to him, just like you have.

“I’m Alex, by the way. May I ask your names? After all, I hate to have such beautiful girls in front of me and I can’t even address either of you by name.”

“Oh come on,” Cynthia responded, looking disdainfully at him as if he was lower than some road kill she’d just discovered underfoot. “How can you try to sweet talk us when you’re trying to pull this ridiculous con on us?”

“Cynthia, please!” the older woman hissed before turning to Alex with awestruck eyes again, even though she had trouble looking directly at him.

“My name is Rachael McKinsey, and this is my sister Cynthia. Please excuse her, but she doesn’t seem to appreciate the gravity of the situation. By the way, what’s wrong with my eyes?”

“He did something to your eyes?” Cynthia asked, concerned and even more protective than before.

“Don’t worry. Your eyes are adjusting to some changes in your brain. You still see everything you did before, but now you have a whole new sense, as each new color you see reveals something about what you’re looking at. Melinda and Becky will explain the details to you. But addressing Cynthia’s issue, I much prefer her approach. I don’t think I’m all that special. I’ve got a fairly unique genetic tick, but it was hardly planned and it doesn’t make me a better person. However, Cynthia, what you don’t seem to understand is your sister has a similar genetic abnormality, one which allows her to detect and utilize an energy I give off.”

“Oh please,” Cynthia responded, staring at Alex. “The other girl told us all that shit, but it sounds like some Mayan witch doctor hocus-pocus. You won’t be able to convince me there’s any such thing.”

“It’s good you’re so skeptical,” Alex said, trying to move them out of everyone’s line of sight, though Cynthia was in no mood to follow him anywhere. “You’ll come around, assuming you keep an open mind, but I encourage you to maintain your doubt, as it’ll help keep Rachael’s enthusiasm in check. It’s important for her to maintain her equilibrium, as attracting attention to us is definitely not a good idea.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’s not,” Cynthia scoffed. “Anything that exposes your little game would definitely hurt you, I’m sure.”

“Again, I don’t expect you to easily accept it, since you don’t have the benefit of experiencing it firsthand. But I’m convinced you’ll see the response in your sister. By the way, is there anyone else in your family? This trait runs in families. I’m surprised Cynthia doesn’t share it, but it’s a tricky thing and has a bunch of little genetic switches which can shut it off. We don’t fully understand it yet, but we’re slowly figuring it out.”

“We’ve got another sister, my mother, and a couple of nieces and a nephew,” Rachael explained.

“It only works with women,” Melinda stepped in to explain, hoping to relieve Alex of the tiresome duty of explaining how everything worked time after time. “It’s tied into the female—”

“Oh, I’m sure it is,” Cynthia, still skeptical, responded. “After all, you don’t want any bothersome husbands, accountants or legal authorities to question it. Leaving it to us ‘poor defenseless women’ makes us so much easier to manipulate.”

“You know, Cynthia,” Alex responded, smiling while giving her a cautious glance, “I like your bulldog stubbornness. It speaks well for your convictions. I can tell you won’t be easily convinced, but I hope you keep an open mind, for your sister’s sake.”

“Come on, Rachael. You don’t actually believe any of this malarkey, do you?”

“Gini?” Alex asked out of the blue.

“Sorry boss, but both girls are healthy. There’s nothing I can help you identify,” Gini answered verbally.

“What do you mean?” Cynthia asked, intrigued.

“Come on. No one is completely healthy. How about their skin? Hands and feet perhaps?” Alex pressed.

“Now that I’ve checked, she’s got a minor rash on her feet,” Gini responded.

“Athlete’s foot perhaps?” Alex asked Cynthia.

“Oh, great, that’s the way to win us over, announce to the world I’ve got an embarrassing fungus on my feet. So what, are you some Sherlock Holmes wanna-be? The newest Dr. House, telling me what’s supposedly wrong with me because you notice me walking funny?”

“I don’t think this is going as well as you’d hoped,” Becky suggested, unhelpfully.

“No, it really isn’t,” Alex responded before thinking briefly. “Those are some nice earrings you’re wearing,” he said out of the blue.

“What? These?” Cynthia asked, touching them since she couldn’t honestly remember what she was wearing. “They’re a cou—”

“Shh,” Alex insisted. “Let me do my little magic trick. PATRICIA?” he called out loudly enough to be heard across the stadium. By now everyone was listening to the discussion, including the construction people who’d ceased their pounding for the moment.

“She’s wearing a pair of hand carved, colorfully painted giraffes. She’s also got a matching painted metallic pin on her blouse,” Patricia responded.

“Great, so she noticed what I was wearing?”

“From that distance? Tell me, can you describe the pattern on her dress, or even what kind of shoes she’s wearing? And don’t forget, your hair is covering your ears.”

“It’s a cheap parlor trick. Either the other girl told her, or you’ve got a microphone to feed her info.”

Alex sighed, realizing this was going to be difficult. “Fine,” he said as he turned his back on them. “Tell Gini, my bodyguard, a random number. Make sure no one else can hear you.”

“I’m not about to—”

“Wait a minute, Cindy. I’m interested in this,” Rachael responded. She got to her feet and approached Gini, whispering in her ear.

“1,326,” Patricia called out.

“That’s the number I picked!” Rachael said in astonishment. “How did you do that?”

“Tell her, Patricia,” Alex said, much too quietly for the sound to carry to the stage. There was no audible response, but Rachael turned in surprise, glancing at Patricia standing by the band.

“Was that you?” she asked, again too softly for the sound to carry more than a few yards.

‘It was!’ Patricia called out.

“In case you missed that, Patricia and your sister are speaking to each other without saying anything, and across quite a distance. It’s an ability your sister now shares with her.”

Cynthia, watching her sister in astonishment, seemed more convinced by her own sister’s response than she had by any argument, or any action, by Alex and the others.

“Can I do this with anyone?” Rachael asked, fascinated with speaking telepathically.

“Alas, no, only with people who share this ability of yours, and me, of course,” Alex explained.

“Rachael? What’s going on?” her sister asked. “I can tell by your expression something is happening. You’re not very good at hiding excitement, and you look positively giddy. Is this … hogwash legit?”

“I’ve been telling you all along something amazing was happening,” Rachael told her sister. “I feel like Helen Keller did when she discovered language for the first time, but instead he’s given me visions of things I never knew were there before, speech like I’ve never heard it, and a feeling of belonging I’ve never felt.”

Alex figured he’d let Rachael convince her sister, rather than arguing with her or trying to overwhelm Rachael. She’d know how to deal with her sister, knowing her better than Alex could, so he stayed in the background and let them discuss it between themselves.

‘Alex, I just thought I’d let you know that, for as much trouble as you’re having down there on the floor, you’ve convinced everyone in the band. They’re all officially gobsmacked,’ Patricia teased.

‘Well, at least someone was. I have a feeling that girl’s not very happy with me.’ Alex replied.

‘Uh, Alex, I think you should pay attention to Reggie,’ Gini interrupted. ‘He seems upset, and it looks like he’s focused on you at the moment.’

Ignoring the two sisters, Alex turned and saw she was correct. Reggie seemed upset, but when he saw Alex glancing at him, he motioned to someone hurrying towards Alex. Upon meeting Alex, who’d left the others to meet him, the intern handed Alex a smartphone. When Alex looked up in confusion, the man pointed to what was displayed on the screen. Looking again, Alex saw it was an announcement of an upcoming ‘feature’ from “Variety”, the media news source, detailing some Hollywood gossip. Thinking it was about the upcoming changes to Diane’s concert, Alex read it.

“Studio Executive Joseph Herskowitz is rumored to have sunk a very large amount of change into a new religious organization, supposedly in exchange for a ‘miracle cure’ for a muscular disorder he’s suffering from which threatens his long career with his studio. This new ‘religion’ is also rumored to have helped a number of other actors, each of whom made similar contributions.

“It’s not known whether this is a legitimate organization or not, but it’s not a recognized religion, and Mr. Herskowitz is still showing signs of motor difficulty, which has never been released before. More news to follow.”

Looking up, Alex checked to see if this messenger had any more information. This was bad news. Someone had leaked news of what Alex had done, and they’d apparently done it with the intent of making both Herskowitz and himself look bad, and there was only one person Alex could think of who’d want to do that. It looked like Dominique Peters, Dr. Ice, was trying to get even with Alex for not helping him and he’d apparently found a reporter willing to spread his unsubstantiated rumors. And if this reporter had sufficient resources, he’d undoubtedly dig up the very real connections between them. This could become problematic. Suddenly Alex’s difficulty with a problematic sister of a follower was the last thing on his mind.

Note: Reverting to single chapter per week!

When I started posting this story, I said I wasn't sure how frequently to post. Well, I've been overwhelmed (posting multiple stories on multiple sites) and am falling farther behind and am no longer able to continue writing (all my time spent doing last-minute revisions before posting).

Thus I'm going to revert to single chapter posts. My new schedule (starting next week) will be to post one chapter every Wednesday!

Sorry to disappoint, but we writers need to write if we're going to continue posting!

Check out smashwords.com or vincentberg.net for all of my eBooks.

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