Family is the weakest form of love.
Seriously. Why should any one of us feel any sort of bond because someone happens to have some negligible genetic similarities? I mean, I love Jordan, and my Dad—but that’s because we’ve had ties forged in experience—especially in the fires of the death of my mother. Even Antonio shares that pain. It’s shared life that matters, not shared genetics. If I see someone drowning, or otherwise suffering, I’m not any more motivated to help them because they happen to be a cousin, or some sort of long-lost sister, or even a son I never knew. It’s absurd!
Of course, gravity is the weakest force in the universe; but look around, which do you see and notice the most?
Since I’ve always felt blood was thinner than water, I’ve always felt apart from the rest of humanity. Even seemingly universal things, like the obsession with heritage, was lost on me—sure, I decided to go to Italy to investigate my past, but it wasn’t really important to me, it was simple curiosity. ‘Your mom’ jokes (or the more egregious ‘you insulted my mother!’ rage), remain incomprehensible. When people tossed insults at my sister, I knew she could take care of herself, so I had no urge to jump to her defense.
But when I figured out this “Demetrius” guy had taken Jordan and made her his, anger burned in me like a white hot sun. She was mine. And when Heather mentioned that killing him was probably the best way to neutralize the brand, I might have relished that idea a bit too much. Given how many women I’d already added to my ‘herd’ I know how hypocritical that was. That’s why I tried to swallow my unreasonable rage and at least investigate the situation before I put a bullet between the bastard’s eyes. Still, the anger was hard to ignore; guess I was human after all.
Zeroes
Chapter 5: Heather Hears a Who
Phoenix: Tuesday Midnight
The clock was telling me it was 1:11 when my phone rang. Caller ID said it was Brandy Ravenscroft. I answered, sleepy and curious.
Before I could even say hello, she blurted out: “Hi, Eric. Did I wake you?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes. Finally, I ventured. “Brandy, why did you call?”
“Oh! Right.” She giggled. “I just wanted to let you know I haven’t had a smoke in two days! I haven’t even felt the urges.”
I racked my brain trying to remember what I’d told her. “Congratulations, bimbo.” She giggled again, and moaned.
“Thank you!” She sighed, sounding content. “You’re always so nice to me.”
“Is that all you wanted to say?”
She sounded nervous. “Um, yeah?”
“Okay. Good night.”
“Wait!”
“Yes? Was there anything else?”
“Ummmmmmm.” She was almost hyperventilating. “I guess not.”
“Okay. I’m going to go back to sleep. Sweet dreams, Brandy.”
“Um, yeah. You too?”
That was weird
Phoenix: Wednesday Dawn
The sun was barely peeking through my balcony doors when the phone rang again. It was Jordan. I figured she wouldn’t call this early unless it was urgent.
“You slept with Brandy?!” That was urgent?
“Um, yeah? Is that a problem?”
“You used to babysit her! She was almost our SISTER!”
“Step-sister. Besides, Dad and Cindy broke up fifteen years ago.”
“Whatever. You know what I mean.”
“No, not really.”
“Argh! You’re so clueless!” I could almost hear her eyes rolling in their sockets. “You better hope Sheldon doesn’t find out.”
“Oh, come on, Jordan. Yeah, he put Jay in the emergency room, but that was back in high school.”
“The precinct put him on probation last month for excessive violence.” Her voice caught. “Just be careful, campione.”
“Fine, sis.”
“This isn’t over, Eric.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Phoenix: Wednesday Morning
There were two manila folders sitting on the table in the nook, Heather perusing them. I went to get some coffee. “What’s that?”
“Some files.” Heather shrugged. “They were delivered this morning.”
I caught the label of one of the folders out of the corner of my eye as I was sitting down. “Is that a file on Erin? Geez, do you have a file on everyone? Or is just people in my life?”
She snorted. “No, we only have files on numina, except for the family trees, which include the changelings.”
“Changelings?”
“People with half the genes needed for power.”
“Wait a minute. Erin’s a numen?” I started laughing. “Oh man, that’s classic.”
“Okay, Andy.” Heather glared at me. “Why’s that so funny? I can’t read your mind, you know.”
“That’s just the point, Kiki!” I caught my breath, calming myself down. “You can’t read my mind, I can’t control your thoughts. Because we’re numina, right?”
“Right?”
“Erin’s hearts desire is to be controlled. She can’t quite bring herself to submit, and she’s gotten obsessed with the idea of being reprogrammed.”
“Oh my!” Heather started laughing, then. “She’s why you started looking into hypnosis?” At my nod, she added, “That started making them nervous.”
“Enough about Erin,” I said. “Who’s in the other file? ‘Demetrius?’”
She nodded. “Apparently his name is Jorge. Jorge Rocco.” She handed me the file.
“He looks familiar.” I flipped through it. “Shit. He went to Horizon?” Unlike me, most of the kids in my neighborhood went to Horizon, the local public high school. Even Jordan went there. “I wonder if I knew him.” I stared at the file a little longer. “Oh, he played football. That’s probably why.” Brandy and Jordan were both Horizon cheerleaders (go Huskies). “Wait, he didn’t graduate? He dropped out, then got his GED?” A light bulb went off in my head. “Jorge Rocco? This is J-Rock!”
Heather just looked at me. “Who’s J-Rock?”
“Jock who dated Brandy for a while. Her brother beat him up after finding out that they’d slept together. Put him in the hospital. Last I heard, he walks with a cane.” I flipped through the pages. “Looks like he still does. Neurological damage. Waitaminute, we have the same doctor?”
Heather laughed. “Dr. Parry is the best in her field. You can imagine how neurological issues can be complicated with numina.” I nodded, pointing at my skull. “They pull strings to make sure everyone gets good care.”
“Big Brother is watching?”
“Sort of. But she’s supposed to be off-limits. That’s one more thing you’re going to have to answer for.”
“What?! You’ve got to be kidding me. It’s not like I took her on purpose. I haven’t taken anyone on purpose.”
“Remember, the easiest way to neutralize a brand is to kill the brander.” She sighed. “If you want to avoid that, you’ve got to prove you can be responsible.”
“I remember.” I looked down at the file in my hand. “I can’t think about anything else.”
“You might have to let go of that anger, Andy.” She got up and refilled her coffee cup. “This is a society of mind controllers. Sometimes, you’ve got to accept that there are people you want that someone else has.” Taking a sip, she added, “You’re both Hexer.”
“Hexer?”
“A numen that’s discovered their abilities, but is still limited, and also unrecognized. Halfway between a Schläfer and a Zauberer.”
“That sounds like German. What happened to the Latin?”
Heather laughed. “Did I mention Germany dominates the Society?”
“You did.” I laughed, taking another sip of my coffee. “So what does it mean that we’re both Hexer?”
“You don’t have any of the rights and protections that comes with being Zauberei. That’s why you need to prove yourself at the Tribunal.”
“So, wait. If I don’t have any of the protections, then neither does Demetrius?”
“Right. You two are still bounded by the law.”
“Why don’t they call a tribunal on him?”
“He hasn’t done anything worth noting.”
My fist clenched. “He took my sister.”
“Who has no protected status.” She sighed. “Unlike Dr. Parry.”
“Right. So, why didn’t he take Dr. Parry?”
“Did you read the file, Andy? He’s limited. Thinks the power is through hypnosis, not himself. He’s tried to coax Parry to one of his shows, but we’ve always made sure she’s been...distracted by other plans.” At my look, she added, “It’s for her protection!”
“Uh-huh.” I rolled my eyes. “I take it, since he’s still classified a Hexen, he’s been considered and rejected for the Society?”
“Yep, like you.” She shuddered. “He’s a more marginal case. You almost were invited; he never would have been. Guy’s a real misogynist, almost a misanthropist. Nothing like you.”
“Why doesn’t the Society do something about him?”
“The Society is really laissez-faire.” She shrugged. “I don’t like it, but they don’t care very much what he does as long as he stays out of their way, and they can keep track of his kids.”
“Okay, so if I can’t kill him—for now—what other methods can I use to get his brand off Jordan’s mind?”
“There’s always the brute force approach. It’s... not pleasant. It’s easier if you can get her cooperation, but that’s tough when there’s a brand involved. And, um...” She looked at me. “Nevermind.”
“What?”
“You’re not going to like it, Eric.”
“Heather, spill it.”
“There’s no easy way to say this.” I glared at her, she gave me a dirty look. “Fine! Sex is the best way to replace a brand. Or even to establish one. Happy?”
I started to feel sick. “So... to save Jordan, I should have sex with her?”
“More or less. At least, it makes it easier.” She finished her coffee. “I’d do it soon, before she sees him again. She’s rather unstable.”
“What do you mean?”
“Someone,” she gave me a pointed look, “tore through the brand she has. It’s full of holes. A branded brain can’t handle not having one—and right now she has two half-brands struggling over her head.”
I winced. “That’s not good.”
“No, it’s not. But if she gets to him before you fix her, he’ll rebrand her, and it’ll be harder to clean her up.”
“I need some time to think about this.” I sucked down the rest of my coffee and stalked out of the room.
Phoenix: Wednesday Midday
Since I don’t drive, I have an entire three-car garage of extra space. I’ve turned the first two into a studio, where I can make my sculptures. The third garage houses my motorcycle. Renters park in the driveway, which is sometimes a point of contention in the Arizona summers. But since the house is entirely paid off, I can charge a more than fair price, so I’ve had no trouble keeping tenants.
My studio is a telephone-free zone. Anyone who knows me knows better than to interrupt me while I’m working. So I popped my earbuds in, foregoing my usual eclectic mix of music in favor of the Ilyskn language “tutorial” supplied by Elise and her ILYSKN compatriots.
As I started working, I ran through the situation in my head. It looked like I had two options: kill ‘Demetrius’ or fuck Jordan. Each turned my stomach, but had their certain appeals.
Killing the bastard would sate the white hot rage that was possessing me. But, despite my newfound nifty powers, I doubted I could successfully dispose of a body or dodge a police investigation. At least not solo, and the ILYSKN people weren’t going to back me, at least not until I joined them. And it would be months before they even assembled the Tribunal that would decide on my fate. Heather gave me the impression that going rogue probably wouldn’t reflect kindkly on me. So, that notion had to be discarded.
Apparently, I was going to have to fuck my sister, and I had a little more than a week to do it. On the bright side, she was as hot as a supernova, and recent events had stripped my ability to ignore it. Speaking of those recent events, she was at least a willing participant for the sex (for some varied definitions of willing, at least). I just needed to talk to Heather to figure out what, besides the sex, I had to do to make sure she was mine.
I looked up at the clock—all that thinking had apparently taken me quite a few hours; it was almost 8, the sun was just setting. Of course, I’d interspersed all that thinking with work. I took a glance at my final creation—and was happy. Later, it sold for quite a lot of money—to someone in the Society, and I don’t think it was politeness. But I digress, I pulled the earbuds from my ears and decided to emerge from my cave and see what’d been happening since my aborted attempt at breakfast.
Phoenix: Wednesday Evening
I found Heather poolside in the backyard, watching the sunset.
She looked up at me, over her coffee. “So Socrates finally returns from his cave.”
I chuckled at that long-dead in-joke. “Plato.”
Heather rolled her eyes. “You need to eat.”
“No food. Just party leftovers.”
“Look again, Andy.” At my look, she added. “When it was clear you were going to ignore me, again, I decided to go shopping.” I’d have thought she was angry if she weren’t smiling, and her eyes weren’t laughing. “Can I see what you made?”
“Sure,” I said, waving her off to the garage, walking into the kitchen. She’d bought everything, so I opened up a few hamburger patties and walked out to fire up my outdoor grill. It’d gotten some use at my birthday party, but Dad had insisted on cooking. Now, it was my turn.
Heather came back, looking breathless. “That piece is amazing, Eric! What are you going to call it?”
I gave her a dirty look; she knew I hated naming any of my work until I had to. “I don’t know, Kiki.” An idea passed through my head, but it wasn’t something I could verbalize. I didn’t know it yet, but it was a word from the language, Ilyskn, which had mostly etched itself into my head. After mulling around several possible translations—some allegorical—I settled on, “Hesitation Marks.”
She frowned. “I guess I can see that.”
“Still like your hamburgers rare?”
She made a face. “Medium, please. The older I get, the less I like the pink.”
“But you always looked so wonderful in it.” She stuck her tongue out at me, and I laughed. “I’ve made a decision.”
“I thought you might have.” She cocked her head in thought. “Jordan?”
“I think I have to. But, apart from the sexing, how do I make sure I’ve got her branded?”
“Remember how I told you men almost always brand on their first time?” I nodded. “Eric, you already approach every woman like it was your first time.” She got a tender, dreamy look in her eyes. “Even when you took me, roughly, on the washing machine the other night, you were still doing it.” She walked up to me and put her hand on my arm. “Just trust your instincts.”
I couldn’t help it, tears were starting in my eyes. “How long are you here for?”
“Just until Friday.” She made a face. “Norm’s waiting.”
I smiled at her. “Well, we should make the most with the time we have left.”
She smiled back. “Does that mean I won’t need the guest room anymore?” Her eyes twinkled.
We hurried through dinner, because we knew what waited after.
We started in the pool, then eventually moved upstairs to my room. Sometimes there are experiences so intimate and so intense that to describe them would be an insult to the experience, and a waste of words. Suffice it to say, two souls that had loved each other came together again to slake a thirst that had been growing for a decade. Even though we were more or less blind to each other’s heads, we communicated on a level too deep for words. I don’t know when we wore each other out and fell asleep, but I know it was around midnight, as it was shortly after that when when the phone rang.
Phoenix: Thursday Midnight
It was Brandy. Again.
“Hello, Brandy.”
“Hi, Eric! Did I wake you?”
Heather started to stir beside me. I started stroking her skin. “Yeah, you kinda did. What’s up?”
“Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm...” she drawled. I cleared my throat, impatiently. “Oh! Sorry. Um, yeah. I went another day without cigarettes.”
“Well, congratulations. That’s three days.”
“Yeah.”
I waited a little bit. “Was there anything else?”
“I was wondering if I could see you?”
“Now?”
“That’d be great! I can come right over!”
“Wait, wait, Brandy. Now isn’t good.”
“Oh.” She sounded disappointed. “Tomorrow?”
I looked over at Heather. “Maybe. I’ll call you when I wake up, okay?”
“Um, okay.”
“Good night.”
“G’nite!”
Heather rolled over. “One of your toys?”
I winced. “I guess.”
“Oh, get over it, Andy!” Heather rolled her eyes. “This is who you are.” She licked her lips. “You should have invited her over.”
“I already have everything I want.”
“Bullshit, Eric.” She snuggled up to me, reaching down for my cock, which hardened at her touch. “They have a part of your soul. That changes everything.”
I pulled her on top of me and found out just how much she liked that idea.
Phoenix: Thursday Morning
We slept in that morning. The sun woke me up, but I just used that opportunity to hit the bathroom, and closed the curtains on the way back in. I never used to sleep in, but between the late nights and the surgery recuperation, I figured it was a good time to start. It was probably around noon that the doorbell rang. I dragged my ass out of bed, threw on a some gym shorts and a bathrobe, and staggered down the stairs. “Coming, coming,” I mumbled as the bell rang again.
I flung the door open to find a beautiful Hispanic woman in a pink jogging outfit, drenched with sweat. I couldn’t take my eyes off her heaving, wet breasts under that pink top. “Melinda?” I’m sure I’ve raved about her before: she could be a model, an actress, or an exotic dancer, but her life didn’t take her that way.
“Um, hi, Eric.” she was breathless. Even her voice was voluptuous, a deep sensuality that rolled off her thick lips with just the hint of an accent. “I figured, since we’re neighbors, I’d stop by and say hello? Can I come in?” She shook an empty water bottle. “At least so I can fill this up?”
“Um, sure.” I waved her in. “You remember where the kitchen is?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Thanks.” She headed toward the kitchen, kicking off her weird gorilla-shoes (they were those running “barefoot” shoes). Cutting through the living room, she turned to look at me. “I remember, you know,” she said, stopping in place. “I’ve dreamed of this.” She started peeling off her jacket. “You asking me to take off my clothes,” she said, dropping the jacket to the floor. Then she started pulling down her pants. “Ever since you did it, I’ve dreamd about it. About you hypnotizing me into stripping...” she dropped her pants, and panties, and moved to take off her shirt. “About being naked and entranced.” The shirt fell to the floor, and her hands moved to unhook her sports bra, which had its work cut out for it, with her impressive chest. As the bra fell to the floor, she said, “Entirely under your control...” and drifted off.
I stared, perplexed and fascinated, for a few moments before Heather’s voice startled me. She was on the top of the stairs, leaning against the railing, using the railing to support her naked bosom. “Who’s that?” She waited as I blinked the bewilderment out of my eyes. “I saw her at the party last night.”
I looked up at her. “Dr. Jacquart,” I said. “Melinda. She was my anaesthesiologist.”
“Damn, Eric,” Heather said. “You’re just a magnet for hot women, aren’t you?”
“Maybe,” I said, shrugging. “But they rarely paid any attention to me.”
“Bullshit! You just had no idea what to do about it.”
I waved at Melinda. “Now that this is happening, I do now.”
“Is this the source of the late night phone call?”
“No. That was Brandy. Girl I used to babysit.”
“Oh really? What are you going to do with this one?” Her eyes twinkled with mischief.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Well, yes,” she said.
“So you’re saying you want to watch.”
She nodded. ““And my bosses would probably prefer to know, too.”
I gave her a dirty look. “You play dirty pool, lady.”
She grinned a toothy smile. “You know you love it.”
I chuckled as I turned back to Melinda. “Melinda, can you hear me?”
“Yes.” Her voice had that same, eerie, distant quality I remembered from the trip. I kind of resented her, and Heather, for putting me on the spot. So I figured I’d turn it around.
“Melinda, what were you hoping would happen today?”
She giggled—an empty giggle that reminded me of horror movies. “I thought I’d strip, fall under your control, then you’d do whatever men like doing to women.”
“What do you enjoy doing with men?”
“I don’t know.”
That caught me off guard. “Why don’t you know?”
“I haven’t been with a guy since high school.” She sighed. “That’s when I realized I was a lesbian.”
“But now you like me?”
She giggled again, and a chill ran down my back. “Yeah. You and girls.”
I looked up at Heather, confused. She just winked at me. I sighed.
“Melinda, what did you think would happen when you got here?”
She shrugged. “Whatever you wanted.” She giggled again. “Probably something involving my boobs. You keep staring at them.”
“Did you want anything to happen?”
“I wanted to be yours.”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“Not right now.”
I looked up to Heather again, still conscious of an audience. “I should introduce her to Stevie.” Heather just laughed, so I glared at her, annoyed she wasn’t giving any signals. She was supposed to be evaluating me, right? She just waved me back to Melinda with a little shooing motion with her hands. I thought back over everything Melinda said, and reached up and started fondling her chest.
“Do you like your boobs?”
“Kinda.”
“What do you mean?”
“I like what I can get guys to do with them.” She made that giggle again. “But they’re also very sensitive. It’s sooo uncomfortable.”
“What kind of sensitive?”
“All kinds. Especially sexually.” She started squirming. “I have to be careful what I wear, and I’m helpless when they’re played with.”
This was promising. I thought of Richelle, dark, husky, exotic Richelle who I’d had to leave behind in Italy. “From now on, I always have permission to play with your chest, Melinda, regardless of the situation. They’ll feel a hundred times as sexy as normal when I play with them. And whenever you’re going to be around me, you’ll do your best to show them off.”
“Yessssss...” She shuddered as I kept playing with her chest. “I love you.”
That brought me to a stop. My hands dropped. I looked up at Heather, who just smiled at me and shrugged. “What do you mean?”
“I love you.” It was even more unsettling the second time.
“Do you want to fuck me?”
“Of course.” My cock started stirring. “I love you.” That wasn’t helping.
“Um, okay. Wake up, now.”
She blinked, and immediately came to. Looking at me, she thrust her tits out, as if for inspection, pointing them at me. “Hi, Eric. What’d you do to me this time?”
I reached out and touched her chest. She whimpered, biting her lip, and sighed. “You can do that any time you want.” She looked up at Heather, but didn’t really react. Then she reached for me, opening my robe and reaching down into the shorts I’d put on. “I’m naked, she’s naked. You should be, too.” She pulled my shorts down, her hand surrounding my cock.
Heather laughed. “She has a point.”
As she dropped to her knees, Melinda said, “Who is that?”
“Heather,” I said, as her mouth started to engulf my cock. “She’s a friend, and an ex.”
Melinda nodded her affirmation. She might have only been with a man once before, but I guess all her experience with women gave her some universal oral skills. I found it difficult to stand, but I didn’t want to look any weaker in front of Heather, so I stayed on my feet. I locked eyes with Heather, who licked her lips as she watched, winking at me. I’d never had an audience before—well, not such an intimate one. I don’t know how much time passed until I exploded in her mouth. She greedily sucked and swallowed until it was all gone.
She looked up at me. “You’re spent now, aren’t you?”
Heather shouted from the railing, “He can do it!”
I glared at her, but she just nodded at me. I put some thought and exterted some willpower. I could feel some of Ilyskn murmuring through my head. Then I became like the South, rising again... so I grabbed Melinda, and carried her over to the couch in the living room, still aware of Heather’s eyes boring holes in my back.
“Melinda, are you on the Pill?”
She shook her head, so I climbed further up on her and decided to fuck her tits—after all, they were supposed to be incredibly sensitive, especially when I play with them. So, straddling her torso, I pushed my cock between her breasts. I felt for Richelle—I was pretty sure she was hoping to get the privilege of doing this for me first. Melinda couldn’t stop squirming and writhing, moaning in pleasure. Finally, I exploded, my cum flying all over her tits and her face. She looked up at me, her mouth open in shock. “Wow. That was different.”
Heather was giving a slow clap from the railing. “Bravo. Brava.”
Melinda suddenly blushed. ”Dios Mio!“ She got up and quickly gathered her clothes. “I don’t know what came over me.” That elicited a snort from above. As she started putting on her clothes, she said, “You must think horribly of me.”
“No,” I said. “Not at all. We should do that again, some time.”
She blushed again, and smiled shyly. “Um, okay.” She picked up her empty water bottle. “I still need to fill this. Is it okay?”
“Of course.” I waved her to the kitchen.
Looking down from the railing, Heather said, “You know, you don’t have to talk to them. If you do it right, you can put in commands directly.”
“I’ll give that some practice,” I said, sticking my tongue out at her.
“Good!” She grinned. “Try that Brandy chick.”
Melinda came out of the kitchen, jutting her chest towards me. I walked up to her, groped her chest, and gave her a kiss. “I’m glad you stopped by.”
“Me too,” she gasped, breathlessly. She looked up at Heather. “It was nice meeting you.”
Heather just laughed again, and Melinda scurried out the door.
Phoenix: Thursday Evening
I finally called Brandy back after Melinda left, and we decided to meet for dinner. Brandy was reluctant about Heather joining us, but when I suggested moving our meeting to the next day, she caved. Dinner was cordial, though Brandy kept giving Heather the evil eye (this amused Heather later). Since Heather was jetting out the following morning, I also arranged to meet Brandy for breakfast at an excellent diner near the airport. With a judicious application of the trigger words, I managed to convince Brandy to give Heather and me a ride to the airport.