TITLE: “An Ancient Secret”
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Twenty-three years prior to Rick waking up with a strange woman riding him, another man, an archeologist, discovered a long-buried secret (literally long-buried). The secret was of a nature that not only shocked the man but horrified him. He hid what he’d found from his colleagues, giving up what would have been world renown and prestige in his field in order to keep the secret from seeing the light of day.
He thought of himself as a basically good man and, while the secret promised unbelievable power to its wielder, to this man it represented an evil greater than any other he could imagine. For over a decade he kept the secret.
This did not keep him from studying it. He learned all he could about it, even learning how to use it. Yet he never did use it, save one time, in a most innocuous way, and only to test that it truly was as powerful as it seemed.
His test harmed no one yet still he felt guilt. He never used again, not until the love of his life, his best friend, his wife of nearly thirty years, was carelessly gun-downed one night by those who were supposed to protect her.
That night changed him. In the early morning hours the door to his and his wife’s home was busted in by armored, black-garbed officers from the local police force. They were acting on a, completely false, tip from an anonymous source that there were drugs being manufactured in the house. His wife, who always had difficulty sleeping through the night, was in the living-room, quietly watching the television, their little dog in her lap. When the door shattered and the officers stormed in, the dog launched himself at the intruders who threatened his family. The surprised officers fired their automatic weapons at the dark missile, completing missing the dog, but hitting the woman in the brain, killing her instantly.
As he came out of his bedroom, the man was ordered to his knees and handcuffed. They then led him through his living room and, when he saw what had been done to his wife and began struggling and screaming, beat him near to death.
It took a long time for him to be released from jail, even longer for his name to be cleared. Not so long after that for the officers to be cleared of all wrong-doing by a local judge.
And a bit more time passed before he finally made himself face a choice. He had no desire to continue living. He could end his own life, or he could go after those who had taken away the only thing he truly cared about. Not everyone gets that option, but the man had a secret power. He chose to use it.
Over the next year and a half everyone involved with the case: officers, not-so-anonymous tipster, prosecutor, and the judge who threw out the case against the officers, died in odd ways.
Most were apparent suicides. Two were apparent traffic accidents. The oddest case was the three officers who apparently shot each other in the head simultaneously.
Suspicion fell on the man—but he had alibis for every event. There was no evidence against him other than that he had possible reason to see each person dead, and so the man was never arrested in connection with any of the deaths.
His revenge satisfied, he put aside his power for a time. But in using the secret as he had, he’d developed something akin to an addiction and he was not able to resist its call for long.
The man’s name was John. His first truly innocent victim was Jennifer.
Rick could not help but admire her limber body as Jennifer rolled into a sitting position.
“My sisters and I mean no harm to you, Richard,” she began, “it’s important that you believe that. All four of us...”
A shadow filled her face as she broke off for a moment. She took a deep breath and continued, “Three of us now. All of us were… kidnapped… one at a time, by a man named John. John had something that none of us truly understand. For lack of a better—stronger—word, John had charisma. A charisma unlike anything I’ve ever felt. When he asked me to do something, I found myself unable to do anything but what he asked. I found myself WANTING to do what he asked—whatever he asked. I did things for him I would never have done for anyone before meeting him.
“He never had to use force with us. At first he asked, later he ordered, and we would do it. Each of us came to love him more than our own lives. Some quicker than others, but all of us would have given our lives for him.
“John...”
Her voice broke at this point and a sob racked her body. Rick didn’t move as she put her head in her hands and struggled to regain her control.
“John... died... thirty-four days ago. It was a heart attack; he was dead before the ambulance got here.”
She paused and again visibly steeled herself as she continued, “Our youngest sister, Shelley, killed herself the next day. She was sixteen and had been with us for only a few months, but she loved John as much as any of us. Irene tried to kill herself a couple days later but Mindy and I stopped her in time.”
As she paused for breath, Rick cautiously put in, “Jennifer, I’m not entirely sure I’m following you. You’re saying this man kidnapped you—kidnapped all of you. And yet you all loved him?”
Jennifer smiled slightly, “Not ‘kidnapped’ like we... I mean, like at gun-point. John just convinced us to come with him. It’s like… he had the charisma of a cult-leader or something. He had some secret that made us do what he wanted. I know it’s hard to believe, but I know I wouldn’t have chosen to be with a man like John before I met him. But he had some power that I can’t explain.
“Anyway, I can’t really explain it, but we loved him because he made us love him. He even admitted as much himself. But, however it happened, we did love him. More than I’ve loved anyone in my life.”
Tears leaked silently down her face.
“More than I love life itself,” she continued. “I would have killed myself too after he died, except I first asked myself what John would want. I know he loved me too—he loved all of us—and he wouldn’t have wanted me to die.
“And,” she gave a slightly hysterical laugh, “here comes the fun part. When I asked myself what he would want, I kept coming back to one answer: he’d want me to find a new... man. A new ‘owner’. And so I found you. And we kidnapped you.”
Shock and fear seeped into Rick at Jennifer’s last words. Without realizing it, he pulled his legs up to his chest in a protective motion.
Jennifer watched as the man she had chosen to give herself to recoiled from her in horror. She’d expected the reaction but was unable to stop the hysterical feeling building in her chest. She wanted to run away in shame, she wanted to fall on her knees and beg forgiveness, she wanted to lunge at the man and hold him down so he couldn’t escape her.
Instead she sat perfectly still and waited to see what he would do.
Finally, his eyes wide with fear, he whispered, “You’re crazy.”
“You’re crazy,” he repeated, louder.
“You’re crazy!” he yelled.
He jumped off the bed in a single, explosive movement, adrenalin making him fail to notice the pain in his head that came from the sudden movement. Clad only in a t-shirt, he yanked open the door and flew into the hall, dizziness making him stumble and slam into the opposite wall, where he crumpled to his knees as nausea and pain overwhelmed him.
As he struggled to push himself back to his feet, Rick saw a lithe young woman step out of a room down the hall. He had time to notice she was a stunningly beautiful redhead. He had time to register, subconsciously at least, that her green eyes showed nothing like the adoration Jennifer held but, instead, a flammable mix of desperation, intense grief, and something very close to hatred seemed to bubble there.
He even had time to contemplate running the pretty thing down to continue his escape. But then time seemed to slow as the rising muzzle of a moderately large, semi-automatic handgun made him freeze in terror. As she walked slowly towards him, his hope for continued survival left him—as did his urine.
Feeling his life at its end, the black, evil muzzle aimed quite steadily at the center of his head, Rick still jumped a little at the sudden, sharp bark behind him.
“Irene! You will not harm him!” Jennifer’s command made Irene halt her advance, but the firearm never wavered from its target.
“Richard,” her voice dropped to a softer tone, “Rick—I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for what we did to you. I’m sorry for the pain you’ve felt and the fear you must feel now. You have no idea how much this hurts me too—I feel physical pain to be doing this to you.
“And I’m also sorry that we can’t let you leave just yet. Please, Richard, come back to your bed. You’re really still not in any shape to be moving around.”
Rick’s head tried to turn towards Jennifer’s voice, but his eyes seem glued to little black hole which threatened to end him.
“Irene,” Jennifer ordered, “lower the weapon. Richard isn’t going to run now. Are you Richard?”
After a hesitation, Irene obeyed. As the muzzle dropped, the tension seemed to leave Rick and he slumped limply against the wall.
Jennifer walked to him and gently helped him, really almost dragged him, to his feet. She had planned to take him to the bed but, after smelling his urine on his legs and soaking into the carpet, decided a bath would be necessary first.
Rick seemed to have lost any fight and simply leaned against the nude woman, going where she led, letting her remove his shirt and set him on the toilet seat while she drew a bath.
“You’re crazy,” he whispered again.
Jennifer looked at him with a moment of alarm, worried he would bolt again. It was obvious, however, he barely had the strength to keep himself upright on the toilet.
“You may be right,” she finally answered, “I don’t feel that I am but it’s possible none of us are any longer ‘sane’ by the word’s clinical definition. We’ve all been changed by John.”
When he didn’t respond, she turned back to the bath and tested its temperature.
Judging the bath ready, she turned to Rick and helped him towards the giant, claw-footed basin.
“Why are you doing this to me?” Rick asked.
“Here, lift your foot, be careful not to slip,” she said.
She settled him in to the water before answering his question.
“I’m doing it to survive,” she said, tears forming along with her words. “If I don’t find someone to... belong to... I will die. I will literally die, because I will kill myself. John wouldn’t want that—but I just can’t live without belonging to someone. None of us can.”
She stared at Rick, again with that look of adoration, as he leaned back in the tub, his eyes closed.
“You look like him. You look like John. That’s why we chose you.”
She affected a more chipper tone as she continued, “You know, there’s really no reason to fight us. All we want is to serve you. All we will ever want from you is to belong to you and to make you happy.”
When Rick didn’t answer, she leaned over and touched him on the shoulder, “Richard? Rick?”
He opened exhausted eyes and looked at her.
“Please, Rick, give us a chance. Please give me a chance. Will you at least give me that?”
He looked at the lovely, tear-stained face a moment more, and then closed his eyes without answering.
Jennifer sighed and began gently soaping Rick’s urine covered legs. Rick let her and gave no reaction when she moved her attention to his chest. When her hands drifted to his crotch, however, he weakly pushed them away. She obeyed his wish and left his private parts alone.
Other than that, Rick was completely cooperative as she got him out, dried him, and helped him to bed. And when she indicated that he should roll to his side he complied and made no complaint as she then spooned her warm, bare body against him.
Despite his fear, despite having just come off a long night’s sleep, it was not long at all before Rick faded off once again.