Caleb 72 – Arnie.

I actually couldn’t believe how nervous I was as I drove to the airport on the Monday afternoon. Sarah was in the car with me, and the nerves were radiating from her as well. What happened over the next couple of hours was likely to have far reaching effects for us all. Not only would Sarah be heartbroken if things didn’t go well, but we’d have let a norm into the secret that we were not supposed to be telling anyone. We could be opening up Pandora’s Box.

Yes, since both of us were Telepaths, we could actually remove Arnie’s memories of what we told him, but that would breach a lot of the restrictions on using powers on Norms. It would also be a violation of his rights and his person. I had no doubt there would be a huge shitstorm if we were to do anything like that.

The authorities preferred to threaten and destroy someone for releasing such information rather than tamper with their minds. I didn’t know which was worse but either route would be incredibly distasteful to me and, I’m sure, Sarah as well. She had developed real feelings towards Arnie, and I knew she’d be devastated if things were to go wrong tonight. That, to me, was the most important thing. Sarah’s happiness ranked highest in the list of outcomes from this evening. I could see only one way that could be achieved.

Arnie was waiting for me in the office when I entered. He seemed surprised to see Sarah. Since I’d completed all my instructor hours, I guess he’d thought I would be doing some solo pattern flying tonight. The Cirrus was ready to go outside. I wouldn’t be able to take Sarah up with me. Danny was nowhere to be seen.

“Hi,” he said, a little nonplussed.

“Hi,” Sarah responded. Arnie looked to her and then to me.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“I think,” I said, “that we need to talk.”

He looked at Sarah.

“Sarah?” he asked, looking to her for some kind of explanation.

She sighed.

“Arnie,” she said. “My situation…” she paused for a few moments and then began again. “Our situation is complicated. More complicated than you can possibly imagine. It puts us all in a very difficult position.”

“You want to break up?” he asked, looking hurt.

“No,” she said. “That’s the last thing I want.”

“Then what?” he asked.

“I need to ask you a question,” she said after a long pause. “A question that, in truth, I shouldn’t be asking this early into a relationship. What makes it worse is that, until you answer, we can’t really explain things.

“Also, when we do explain things, you might think we’re insane, or members of some strange cult, or something like that.”

“Are you?” he asked.

Sarah laughed a little. “If only it were that straight forward,” she said.

“So why are you involved in this?” Arnie directed this at me.

“Because,” I said, “a lot of the explanations are going to be from me.”

He looked backward and forward between us.

“You’re not flying tonight?” he asked. I shook my head.

“We need to get this situation resolved,” I said.

“I don’t think dad will refund you the session,” he returned.

I shrugged. Arnie bit his lip.

“Let me go put the Cirrus to bed,” he said, “then we can talk.”

He left the office and went to secure the aircraft for the night.

“What do you think?” Sarah asked as the door closed.

“I honestly think he’s still scared you’re going to dump him,” I said. “I also think he suspects that you and I are sleeping together. Looking at his aura his thoughts on that are complicated. I don’t think he knows himself how he feels about that. There is some negativity, but I suspect that’s more about his upbringing than any particular personal feeling. Strangely I don’t sense any jealousy, which is encouraging. His aura still blooms with love when he looks at you, although currently that is tempered by fear.”

Sarah sighed and was about to say something when the door opened. Arnie walked in.

He went and put some keys into the wall safe and closed it up.

He came and took a seat opposite us. I would have preferred a different setting. It seemed to be quite a confrontational setup and we weren’t there for that. I hoped that things would become easier.

“You wanted to ask me a question?” he asked Sarah. She nodded.

“Where do you see us going?” she asked him. It was a question that I am sure many guys had been asked by many girls. It was a minefield. I am also certain it was a question that had been put to guys just before girls told them that their appreciation of the direction of the relationship was wrong, and the girls couldn’t see a future for them together. I saw Arnie’s fear spike.

He took his time to answer, picking his words carefully.

“I thought,” he said, “that we were good together. I really thought that you and I were just right. It may sound stupid, and maybe it is, but you are the first person I’ve ever even considered when planning my future. I thought that we might have a future, together.”

“Is that what you want?” she asked.

He nodded. I noticed his eyes were bright.

Sarah looked at me.

“I think you need to tell him how you feel,” I said.

Sarah looked at Arnie and he tensed, ready for the hammer to fall.

“You are right,” she said. “We are good together. Just right, in fact. It looks like you think we’re here, or rather I’m here to break up with you, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. If it were up to me, then you and I would be together for a very long time.”

Arnie looked confused.

“But it is up to you,” he said.

“No,” she said smiling sadly. “It’s not.”

“Then who?” he said starting to get a little heated. He looked at me, as if I were the one that would break up his relationship.

“It’s going to be up to you,” I said.

“But I already said…” he began.

“I know,” I interrupted him. “But before you say anything more, there is a lot that we have to explain to you. Once you have all the information, Sarah is going to ask you the same question again, but you might have a completely different answer. That’s why Sarah is so nervous. She doesn’t want to lose you, but at the same time, she doesn’t want you to enter into a situation without knowing what you are letting yourself in for.”

“So,” he said. “Explain.”

“Not here,” I said. “It’s too public a place. What we have to tell you, to show you, needs to be done in private. Also, you need to promise that whatever happens between you and Sarah, whatever you decide, you won’t reveal any of what we tell you tonight. Believe it or not, that promise is to protect you, not us.”

“And if I choose for you not to tell me?” he asked.

“Then you and I will be over,” Sarah said sadly. “The only way that we can be together is if you know and accept us for who we are.”

“Where did you want to go?” he asked.

“Back to the Nines,” I said.

He took a breath. It would have been easy to use any of my powers to get him to come with us, but once we explained everything, he might have recognised them for what they were. I didn’t want him to feel that he’d been coerced into anything.

“Can I ring my dad first?” he asked.

“Sure,” I said. “Tell him where you’re going, but remember you won’t be able to tell him what we tell you, so be circumspect as to what you tell him about what you’re up to.”

He picked up his phone.

“Hey Dad,” he said. “Caleb didn’t want to fly tonight. He says he’s not feeling well. I’ve buttoned up the plane. I’m going to go spend some time with Sarah since I have my evening free. No, just at the Nines, I think. Sure okay, I’ll see you later.”

Arnie led us out of the office, locking the door behind him.

“I’ll see you at the hotel?” he asked. I could see that Sarah wanted to ride with him, but she thought better of it. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to not reveal anything before the time was right.

If Sarah was the type to bite her nails, I was certain that she’d be down to her elbows by the time we got back to the hotel. I relinquished my truck to the valets and we waited by the entrance as Arnie pulled up. He too gave up his keys and joined us. We rode the elevator in silence.

All the girls knew that we were on our way up and they moved into the second suite, leaving the main suite empty. There were some drinks and snacks laid out though. I smiled quietly to myself at the thoughtfulness of the girls for setting this up.

I closed the door to the suite and Arnie sat on one of the sofa’s. Sarah sat beside him, which I think surprised him. Tentatively she sneaked her hand into his. He gripped her hand tight and looked at me, a hint of defiance in his eyes. This was better. I was now the enemy as far as he was concerned. He was certain that Sarah wanted to be with him as much as he wanted to be with her. I was the obstacle. It was them against me. I smiled to myself when I saw his protectiveness toward her.

I grabbed a beer from the table and took a swig.

“Arnie,” I said, looking directly at him. He seemed to brace himself. “You know that I consult with the FBI?” he nodded.

“Dad told me about it,” he said. “He told me that a few weeks ago you had to fly somewhere to help out.”

“I did,” I said. “What we are about to tell you, you cannot repeat to anyone. The FBI knows about it, and they do not want the secret to get out. There is a whole department of the FBI dedicated to keeping the secret and, if they find out that you leaked it, they won’t arrest you but they will come after you. They will discredit you and they will ruin you and your family.

“This is your last chance to walk away, but if you do that, then you and Sarah will be over. You can’t be with her without knowing the secret.”

“You’re in witsec?” he asked.

I laughed. “If it were only that easy,” I said. “No, we’re not in a witness protection program. I’ll tell you everything, if you’re sure that you want to know.”

He looked at Sarah.

“What do you think?” he asked her.

“I’m scared,” she said, “that once you find out about our secret, you won’t want to be with me anymore.”

Arnie’s eyes went wide.

“You’re a werewolf, aren’t you,” he guessed. I realized much faster than Sarah that he was actually joking. I guessed that humour was as good a way as any to relieve the pressure.

“What?” Sarah said, confused at the sudden change of pace.

I laughed, and Sarah, realizing what was going on, shook her head.

“No,” she said, “I’m not a werewolf.”

“Then tell me,” he said finally looking at me. “If knowing, and keeping, your secret is what it takes for us to be together, then I’m willing to hear it.”

Sarah squeezed his hand, and they both looked at me.

“Okay then,” I said.

“You know,” I began, “that Sarah and I are half siblings. Sarah’s father, John Stott, is my father. We have different mothers, although we both grew up with actual parents. I only found out about John a few months ago, but Sarah has known all along her dad Brian is really her step-dad.

“John comes from a bloodline. A family called the Stotts. Sarah and I both bear his blood, but we inherited something else from him. Psychic powers.”

“What?” asked Arnie, looking confused. “As in real psychic powers?”

I nodded.

“There are a number of families in the world that have these powers,” I went on, “and from time-to-time new people pop up with powers, but on the whole, they run in families. Of course, the families interbred, and some people have more than once power.

“As far as I know, there are six powers. Compulsion, that can make someone do something even if they don’t want to; Empathy, that can share thoughts and emotions; Telepathy, that can read and alter a person’s thoughts; Telekinesis or TK, that can move things; Pyrokinesis or PK that can start or control heat and fire; and Cryokinesis or CK that can control ice and cold.

“There are only a few people who have all six powers, most have only one. I have four, and Sarah has two.”

Arnie stared at me, his jaw set. I could tell from his aura that he believed that I believed what I was saying. What he couldn’t figure out if I was just insane or this was real. He was actually leaning toward it being real.

He looked at Sarah. “What powers do you have?” he asked her.

“I have Compulsion,” she said, “and Telepathy. I’m not very good with them yet. Although we’re born with powers, I wore an amulet that blocked them. The amulet was only removed a few weeks ago, thanks to Caleb. That’s a long story, but it meant that I only found out about powers myself then, so I haven’t really learned how to use them properly yet.”

“Telepathy?” he said. “You can read my mind?”

“I could,” she said, “but I haven’t. It would be rude, like reading your diary. Most people, though, shout out their immediate thoughts. I can’t help but hear those surface thoughts.”

Arnie looked at me.

“How about you,” he said.

“I have Compulsion, Empathy, Telepathy and TK.” I said.

Arnie frowned at me.

“What’s Empathy again?” he said.

“It’s the ability to read memories and share emotions,” I said.

“How is that different than Telepathy?” he asked.

“Telepathy is more targeted,” I said. “Let’s say I wanted to know something about you, maybe your social security number. With Empathy, I could find it out, but I’d have to find the exact memory in your head where you read it or learned it. With Telepathy I can simply ask your mind the question – and it will tell me.”

He turned back to Sarah.

“You can make me do stuff,” he asked, “that I might not want to do?”

She nodded.

“Will you show me?” he asked. Sarah shook her head.

“No,” she said. “I won’t.”

“Why not?” he asked.

“Because not only is it a violation,” I said, “but it can be incredibly disturbing to have it done to you. It might completely change the way you feel about Sarah. Also, and I said this to someone special in my life, Sarah doesn’t want to do that to you for another reason. Doing so will diminish you in her eyes. Make you something less. She doesn’t want to do that to you.”

He looked at Sarah. He seemed to realize that she was still clinging onto his hand.

“Can you hear what I’m thinking?” he shouted from his mind.

“I can,” she said. “And so can Caleb. It’s like you’re screaming out loud when you do that.”

Arnie gulped as something occurred to him. Both Sarah and I smiled.

“Yes,” I said, “I heard that. And so did Sarah.”

“It’s one of the things that attracted me to you in the first place,” she said. “Your honesty. Both with me and with yourself. You told me almost straight away that you’d been crushing on Caleb, but what I loved more was that you admitted it to yourself. You weren’t beating yourself up about it. You saw someone to whom you were attracted, and you accepted that attraction. Maybe if he hadn’t had so many fiancées, and I hadn’t come along, you and he could have gotten together.”

Arnie looked at me and I nodded.

“Yes,” I said. “I’m more interested in the person than anything else.”

“Do your fiancées all have power too?” he asked.

“To one degree or another,” I said. “Melanie, who is also our sister, has all six. The twins are both Empaths. Jules and Ness have a very small amount of Empathy – so small they can’t really use it.”

“Melanie is your sister too?” he asked, and I nodded. “I thought she was your fiancée?”

“She is,” I said.

“But…” he said.

“One of the things you will need to get your head around,” I said, “is that there are two worlds. There is the world of Power Users and the world of Norms. Norms are people who don’t have power. It’s not meant as a derogatory term, just a way to identify those without power. I’ve no doubt that some Politically Correct Woke person would find some way to take offence and try and impose a long and tedious nomenclature, but we just call you guys Norms.”

“I’m sure I can live with that,” he said.

“There are also two sets of rules,” I said. “One for Users and one for Norms.”

“Why?” he asked, not unreasonably I thought.

“First,” I said, “power users live longer than Norms.”

“How much longer?” he asked.

“Usually about three to four times as long,” I explained. “Sarah can realistically expect to live until she’s close to three hundred years old, barring accident.”

“Three hundred?” he asked.

“She ages slower too,” I said.

“So when I’m seventy,” he said, “how old will she be?”

“She’ll be seventy as well,” I said. “But I’m guessing she’ll look somewhere around mid twenties.”

“What?” he asked. “She’s going to be stuck with an old man when she’ll look about twenty five?”

“She knows that,” I said, “and she still wants to be with you.”

He looked at Sarah. “Why?” he asked.

“For the same reason you want to be with me, I hope,” she replied. Arnie nodded slightly, seemingly accepting her reason.

“Next,” I continued. “We don’t get sick. We can still get injured, or killed by accident, but we don’t seem to be able to catch any diseases. That includes things like STD’s and HIV.”

Arnie just grunted at that. I saw a flare of suspicion in his aura. I guessed he could see where this was going.

“Also,” I went on, “our genome is pure. There are no defective recessive genes in our DNA, which means that we can interbreed, even with direct siblings, without there being any risk of genetic abnormalities.”

“Which is how your sister can also be your fiancée?” he clarified, and I nodded.

“There’s more, isn’t there?” he asked.

I nodded. “What I’ve told you so far, is the big secret,” I said. “The existence of these powers, which everyone wants to keep top secret. The rest isn’t so much about powers, but more about power users.

“You know, I have five fiancées. What you might not know is that it’s not me and five girls, it’s the six of us, all together. We each love each other, and are all together. The attitudes towards love, and sex, among power users is very different than it is in Norm society.

“Empaths, for instance, have a need. It can cause them physical and mental harm if they don’t share, which means exactly what you think it does. They have to find new people to have sex with on a fairly regular basis or they suffer the consequences.”

“You’re an Empath?” he remembered.

“I am,” I said. “As are the twins, and Melanie.”

“So you let them go off to have sex with other men?” he asked. “And you have sex with other women?”

“I don’t let them do anything,” I rebutted. “I don’t own them. They have a need, and they go out to meet it, just as I do. And gender is immaterial. It’s more about making the connection than it is about the actual sex act, although that is a part of it.”

“But Sarah isn’t an Empath,” he said. “Is she?”

“No,” said Sarah. “I’m not. I’m a Telepath. While the need to share is not as pronounced in us, it is still there. I’ve been protected somewhat by the amulet up to now. That, and moving to a new city and meeting loads of new people has meant that my need to share hasn’t been problematic so far. Also, my being a virgin helps a little. But there will come a time when I will have to share.”

“I,” I took over the narrative, “like Sarah, was brought up as a Norm. I had all the Norm values, and mores and morals, drummed into me, just as I’m sure your dad has done for you. It made me the man I was when I discovered my powers.

“When I discovered that I, and my two fiancées, would have to have sex outside of our relationship, it really screwed with my head. You see, I’d been brought up to equate love and sex. How could I love my fiancées and then go out and have sex with someone else? Equally, how could they, who were supposed to love me, go and have sex with a virtual stranger?

“It caused me no end of trauma and pain. Eventually though, I figured it out. I found that it’s not about love and sex. Sex can be used to demonstrate love, sure, but it can also be just a recreational activity, no more important than sharing a meal or watching television together. Without love, sex is a fun activity you can share with anyone, without detriment to your relationship with your partner. That is, you can IF you realize that that relationship is based not on sex, but on love, and trust.

“If you trust your partner to go out with her friends, and have a good night out, and then come home and give you all the love that they have, what does it matter what they got up to while they were out, or with who? As long as they come home to you, and love you, then your love won’t be affected.

“Okay,” he said. “She can’t catch any diseases, but what about pregnancy?”

“One of the uses of my powers,” I said, “is the ability to heal. I can make it so that Sarah won’t have children until she is ready for them.”

“So if I want to be with Sarah,” he said, “then I just have to accept that, at some point, and apparently fairly regularly, she is going to go off and be unfaithful?”

I grimaced. His choice of words was indicative of his thoughts.

“Not unfaithful,” I said. “Being unfaithful and having sex with someone else are not the same thing.”

“Isn’t it?” he asked.

“Absolutely not,” I said. “Being unfaithful is about breaking a promise, a pact, a vow. Sarah cannot make that promise to you, no more than she could promise to stop breathing unless you were present.”

“And I’m supposed to just sit at home, knowing that someone else is making love to my girlfriend?” he asked.

“That was the problem I had,” I said. “The thought of someone else being intimate with my girls tore me up inside. It took me a while to look at it from a perspective that I could live with. It was easier for me I guess because I have the same need to share, so I knew the drive, the need, and when the girls went out to share, I could either go with and join in, or I could go find my own sharing partner.

“I have a friend, the man who taught me how to heal, whose wife is a norm. For many years he refused to share, even though his wife begged him to go and do so. She could see how much he was hurting himself by not sharing. He was a fifty year old Power user, who looked like a sixty year old man. He must have lost decades from his life by not sharing because he thought it would upset his wife if he did.

“His wife described it as being like knowing that he needed life saving surgery. She wouldn’t like the fact he needed the surgery, but wanted him to have it, in order to save his life. Since then, she has actually gotten involved with his sharing, and they are more in love now than ever. I’d be happy to introduce you to them if you like.”

“His wife gets involved too?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “She figured it would be less difficult to be there, and see what was happening, than to be sitting at home and imagining what was happening.”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m not sure I could… The thought of some other guy…”

“It wouldn’t necessarily have to be another guy,” I said. “If that would be your stumbling block. My girls restricted themselves to girls only at first. We even played together at the start until I figured things out.”

He sighed. “Why does that make me feel such an asshole?” he moaned. “Why is it I’m okay with the thought of Sarah with another girl and yet another guy makes my guts twist up?”

“Lots of reasons,” I said. “But don’t beat yourself up about it. You can’t help how you feel about any kind of situation. But it will get easier. Once you realize that no matter what happens, Sarah is going to come home to you and you will always be her number one, then you’ll feel less threatened by her going out to share. It took me months, nearly a year, but now I feel secure, and loved, and happy when my girls go out, if they have a good time. If they’re happy, then I’m happy.”

Arnie looked at Sarah. “You weren’t kidding,” he said.

“There is one more thing,” I said. “And then I’m going to go and leave you and Sarah to discuss your possible future together.

Arnie sighed, “Go on,” he said a note of resignation in his voice.

“Empaths,” I said, “have an effect on those around them. If you spend enough time in their presence, then your inhibitions will drop, and you will be more and more amenable to having sex with them. I can only assume it’s some kind of evolutionary trick to assist them to meet their need to share.

“It’s not something that we do deliberately, and we can’t not do it. It’s not irresistible though. Anyone can decide to ignore it and choose not to get involved, but spend enough time in the company of an Empath and the likelihood is that you will end up having sex with them.

“There are four Empaths in our household. So, if you spend a lot of time with us, I can almost guarantee that you will have sex with each of them…us.”

“You’re an Empath,” he said. I nodded.

“And you’re okay with that?” he asked Sarah. She smiled at him a little wanly.

“If you’d asked me that three months ago,” she said, “I’d have told you that no way would I be okay with my boyfriend having sex with anyone but me, nor would I want to have sex with anyone but him.

“My world has been turned upside down,” she said. “Getting powers, and living with Caleb and the girls, has changed who I am, I think for the better. I think I now know what is important in a relationship. I promise you that I am still a virgin and that I am saving myself for the man I’ve chosen as my partner. I know that man is a good man and he too was saving himself for the right girl. I think he thought that I was that girl, and I’m hoping against hope that he hasn’t changed his mind.”

“Can I ask you both a question?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said.

“Have you ever used your power on me?” he asked.

“Other than hearing your thoughts when you shout them out,” she began, but then stopped.

“Actually that’s not quite true,” she amended. “The first time we were ‘together,’ I deliberately listened in to see what you liked and how to make it better for you.”

She looked down, a little ashamed. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” he said. “You gave me an amazing time. It actually made me wonder if you were as inexperienced as you told me. You were so good at it. I guess I know why now. I’m sorry I left you so wound up though.”

Sarah pulled her face, wincing a little. She was, apparently, in the mood for truths.

“Amanda kind of helped me out,” she said. “She saw how wound up I was and kind of took charge.”

“Wow,” he said, his face flushing a little. I noticed a tightening in the front of his pants.

“What about you?” he asked me.

“Sarah and I have…” I began.

“No,” he interrupted. “Have you ever used your power on me?”

“Couple of times,” I said. “When we crashed, I used my TK to nudge the nose of the plane away from a couple of tree trunks and to stop the plane from falling. Also, I had to lift us both down from the plane, there was no way we could have climbed down.”

“But I remember…” he said but then stopped.

“And the other time?” he asked.

“I used my Empathy to calm you down when we were on the ground,” I said.

“Was that when you held me?” he asked, totally unabashed in front of his girlfriend.

“Yes,” I said.

“I felt something,” he said. “I felt so safe at that moment.”

“So,” I said. “That’s everything. Or at least the main points you need to know. You’ll learn more as you go along, if you stick around. I’m going to go next door and leave you and Sarah to talk. Just remember, no matter what I’ve told you tonight, that the important thing is your relationship with Sarah and how you feel about her.

“We’ll be next door if you need anything.”

Sarah stood up as I did and pulled me into a hug.

“Thank you,” she said.

I smiled at her and gave her a small peck on the cheek.

“Be patient with him,” I said. “He’s had quite a shock.”

I walked across the room and through the connecting door.

The girls were all crowded around the door as I came through.

“Were you listening?” I asked.

“Of course,” said Amanda. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“You didn’t pull your punches,” said Ness.

“He needed to know,” I replied. “I guess it’s up to him what he chooses to do.”

“I hope he sticks around,” said Jules. “Sarah will be devastated if he leaves now.”

“I get the impression that he will,” I said. “It’s strange, but he just seemed to accept everything we told him. Normally when we tell people about powers, they want demonstrations but, other than asking if we could hear him, he just accepted what we said. He seems to have a similar hangup about sex as I did though. The thought of some other guy with Sarah eats him up.

“He seemed to like the idea of me and her though,” grinned Amanda. “I could see the bulge form here.”

“You were watching too?” I asked.

“We might have peeked a bit,” said Mary defensively. “By the way,” she said, “you have a letter from the FBI.”

She went over to the table, picked up an envelope, brought it over, and handed it to me.

Even though I was expecting it, I was disappointed to read the letter.

Dear Mr. Stott,

Thank you for your application as a Special Agent with the FBI.

At this time, you do not meet the minimum requirements for the position applied for. You may reapply once you meet the minimum requirements with regard to age, education, and/or experience.

If you have any questions regarding this application you can email me at…

There were contact details and the letter was signed by Mavis Benchley, Senior HR officer.

I immediately opened up my laptop, and typed an email.

Dear Ms. Benchley,

Many thanks for your letter regarding my application to join the FBI as a Special Agent.

Please note that with regard to the minimum age requirement for new agents, I am asserting an exemption according to Regulation 443, Section iii, Appendix b.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kind Regards.

I sent that off and noticed that I’d had another email since I’d last looked at my computer. It was from the realtor.

Mr. Stott,

You will, I hope, be pleased to know that we have a date for closing of the sale on the house address…

The email listed the house we were buying on Bob’s street.

It also gave us a date of a week from today’s date.

I grinned at the girls.

“I’m thinking,” I said, “that if I can pick up the keys at closing next Monday, I can get Marcia in to do the jobs that need doing, and we can move in over the following weekend. We can also use that week to get the furniture, and all the other stuff, ordered and delivered. What do you think?”

“Sounds like a great idea,” said Jules. “I can’t wait. Living in a luxury hotel is great and all, but there’s no place like home.”

Cognizant of the time, I sent Marcia a text message, rather than calling her, to let her know and ask if she’d be able to start the work on the house next Monday.

She replied almost immediately to say that the timing would be perfect. She’d be finished with the site clearance by Friday and would have availability the following week to start working on the new house.

“It looks like things are starting to go right for a change,” I said to the girls. Just then, the door to the other suite opened and Sarah came through, tears streaming down her face.

“Oh no,” said Melanie, immediately going to her sister and enfolding her in a hug.

“What happened?” I asked.

“He said,” she said through sobs, “that he needed some time to think. Then he left.”

“That was it?” asked Jules, “Just time to think?”

“His mind was in so much turmoil,” she said. “I couldn’t make head or tails of what he was thinking.”

“I’m not surprised,” I said. “We dumped a whole lot onto him. Give him some time to get his head around everything. Don’t give up on him just yet.”

“You think?” she asked.

“I do,” I said. “I know how he feels about you. But it’s a lot for him to come to terms with all in one go. Sadly, there’s no really good way to break this kind of news, so we just had to bite the bullet. If I had to bet, my money would be on him coming back.”

Sarah sank onto a chair. Melanie followed her down pulling her into a hug again. Sarah laid her head on the older girl’s shoulder, allowing Melanie to stroke her hair as she looked at me through wet eyes.

“I think we might have scared him off,” she said in a tired sad voice.

“He’s not the kind of guy who scares easily,” Ness said. “Give him time.”

We settled down for the evening. None of us was really feeling like eating much, although we snacked on the bits that Mary had ordered for our ‘meeting.’

I’d gone to bed about ten as usual and was surprised when my phone rang at about half-past midnight. It was Danny.

“Hi Caleb,” he opened. “Is Arnie with you?”

“No,” I said. “He left hours ago. He hasn’t come home?”

“No,” he replied. “Did anything happen tonight?”

“He and Sarah had a long chat,” I said, “about their future. He left here saying he needed to think things through. I think that was about six thirty.”

“He didn’t come home,” he said. “I’ve tried his phone, but it’s switched off. Are you sure he’s not with you? He didn’t sneak back while you weren’t looking and into Sarah’s room?”

Sarah, who was awake, was staring up at me wondering what was going on.

“Why would you think that?” I asked.

“We had a lo-jack put on his car after the last time it got stolen. According to that, it’s still at the hotel.”

I jumped out of bed.

“Let me go check,” I said. “I’ll call you back.”

I ended the call and threw on some clothes.

“What’s going on?” asked Sarah.

“Arnie didn’t go home,” I said, “and according to Danny, his car is still in the Hotel garage.”

“So where is he?” she asked.

“That’s what I’m going to find out,” I said.

Within seconds all the girls were up and getting dressed.

“We’re coming too,” they said.

I knew that there was no point in arguing.

“Ness with Mary,” I said. “Jules with Amanda. Melanie, with your powers, you’ll be fine on your own. Sarah you’re with me.”

That put at least one power user in each group and ensured that the girls would be safe. The area around the Nines was not exactly the safest in Portland, especially at night.

“I have powers too,” said Sarah.

“Yes,” I said, “but you’re not in the connection so we can’t keep in constant touch with you. You’re staying with me.”

We all travelled down in the elevator together.

I approached the valet and asked him about Arnie’s car. He checked.

“It’s still in the parking garage,” he said. “He didn’t collect it yet.”

“What time did you come on shift?” I asked.

“I work six-six,” he said.

I rifled his memories of the time around when Arnie left our room. Just after six twenty, he came out of the hotel and crossed the road, heading off down SW 5^th.

I showed the memory to all the girls and we set off.

We searched all the alleys and streets, in an ever expanding radius as we moved further down the street. In the end it was Jules that found him. She’d seen what looked like a pile of rubbish in a parking garage on the corner of 3^rd and Yamhill. When she’d got closer she could see it wasn’t a pile of rubbish, but a person. A person that looked like they’d been beaten within an inch of their life. It was Arnie.

“CALEB!” I heard the mental scream. “I’ve found him and he’s in bad shape.”

“Stay there, I’m coming,” I said breaking into a run, Sarah following.

We all homed in on Jules and Amanda, easily locating them due to the connection. In less than four minutes I was leaning over him and scanning him with my Healing powers.

It looked like he’d been mugged. Fortunately, whoever had done it hadn’t used any weapons other than their fists and feet. I guessed that there must have been at least two assailants though and they’d beaten him badly.

He was unconscious, his jaw was broken, as was his left wrist. He had a concussion and a small subdural hematoma. His nose was a mess and he had two nasty black eyes along with a number of broken ribs.

All of his pockets had been torn out of his jacket and jeans. His phone and wallet were gone. I noticed a small empty box on the ground beside him. I didn’t point it out but used a thread of TK to pocket it after dusting it off.

“Call 911,” said Sarah while pulling her own phone out of her pocket.

It took less than five minutes for the Paramedics to arrive and, while we waited, I made a start on healing him. I cleared the subdural, which was the most life threatening of his injuries, and made sure that there was no residual damage to his brain from the concussion. I decided to keep him asleep for now since having him wake up at this point would be inconvenient.

I called Danny.

“We’ve found him,” I said.

“Where is he?”

“It looks like he decided to go for a walk after he left us,” I said. “We found him in a parking garage nearby. It looks like he was mugged. The EMT’s are here. They’re taking him to Legacy Good Samaritan ER.”

“I’m on my way,” Danny said and he disconnected the call.

“I’m going with him,” said Sarah.

“You are?” asked the EMT.

“I’m his girlfriend,” she said.

“We’ll be right behind you,” I said.

They loaded him into the ambulance and set off, lights and sirens blaring. The rest of the girls and I made our way back to the Nines. We got my truck, and Amanda’s car, out of valet and headed for the hospital.

We arrived at the ER and were directed into a small treatment room. Sarah was already inside, seated. There was no sign of Arnie.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“They took him off to CT scan,” she said. “As soon as we arrived they looked him over, and sent him off. He’ll be okay won’t he?” she asked.

I nodded.

“He’s got a few broken bones,” I said. “He had a head injury but I already fixed that. He’s asleep at the moment because I put him to sleep. I didn’t have time to do much more before the EMT’s arrived.”

Ten minutes later, Danny entered the room, looking around frantically.

“Where is he?” he asked as soon as he saw me.

“In CT,” I said. “Hopefully he’ll be back in a short while.”

“What the hell happened?” he asked. “He called me to tell me you weren’t flying and that he was coming over to see Sarah, next thing I know he’s in a hospital. What did you do?”

“We had a discussion,” said Sarah, “about our future together. Arnie said he had some thinking to do and left the hotel. We all thought he’d gone home. The first we knew he hadn’t was when you called Caleb.”

“After you called,” I said, “we went out looking for him. We found him in a parking garage about two blocks from the hotel.”

“Why didn’t he take his car?” he asked. “What was he doing around there?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “You’ll have to ask him when he comes back.”

Danny sank down on one of the empty chairs in the room, wanting someone to blame but not certain. Just then a small dumpy woman came into the room.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m Amanda, one of the admission clerks here. I need to take some details if that’s okay?”

The dumpy woman filled in some forms with Danny before leaving the room. About twenty minutes later the door opened and a gurney was wheeled in, complete with Arnie.

They hadn’t really done much to clean him up yet and he looked, bluntly, horrible. He was still unconscious. I scanned his body again and performed a more comprehensive assessment of his injuries. It was during that assessment that I noticed something. I smiled to myself as I put two and two together.

A doctor and nurse came in shortly after.

“Good evening,” the doctor said, looking at the crowd in the room.

Danny introduced himself and the doctor indicated that he’d like to speak with him outside.

I catalogued his injuries. His head injury had been resolved already. I realigned both his jaw and his nose, with an audible crunch, looking around to make sure that nobody had heard. I set them healing. Then I moved onto his other injuries. There was a lot of bruising and soft tissue injuries but he’d curled up in a ball largely protecting his head and core. There were shoe prints on his legs and arms where someone had stomped on him, and he had several broken ribs which, once again, I realigned and set to healing. His wrist was the final thing I treated since I was now pretty much drained. My power bar down to its last graduation.

With the dregs of my power, I blocked all the pain messages and allowed him to wake up.

His eyes opened slowly, the swelling from his broken nose reducing them to slits.

“Where am I?” he asked, or tried to. It came out as an incoherent grunt.

Sarah squeezed his good hand. “Hey,” she said.

He turned his head gingerly, clearly expecting pain and was surprised when he didn’t feel any.

“Arnie, This is Caleb.” I sent directly into his mind. “You’re in the hospital. We found you in a parking garage just around the corner from the hotel. I think you were mugged. You have a few broken bones but I’m going to fix you right up. You remember I told you I can heal with my powers?”

He looked at me, and nodded carefully.

“Don’t say anything to anyone about this. I also know where you went and why. I know what you got and where it is now. When things quiet down, I’ll retrieve it for you and you can do what you need to.”

A ghost of a grin flitted across his face and he shot a sidelong glance at Sarah. I was impressed that he was able to keep his mind carefully blank.

“I won’t spoil the surprise,” I assured him.

Just then the door opened and the doctor, nurse, and Danny returned to the room. The doctor immediately noticed that Arnie was awake and went over to talk to him.

“Arnie,” he said. “Can you hear me?”

Arnie nodded and grunted.

“You’re in the hospital,” he said. “Can you remember what happened?”

Arnie grunted again.

“He’s going to find it difficult to talk with a broken jaw,” I noted drily. The doctor glanced in my direction.

“You are?” he asked.

“I’m his girlfriend’s brother. We found him,” I said.

“Do you know what happened?” he asked. I shook my head.

“The first we knew there was anything wrong was when Danny called to say he hadn’t come home,” I said, “but his car was still in our parking garage. We went out looking for him and found him a couple of blocks from the hotel.”

“Well you’re right,” he said. “He does have a broken jaw, as well as a fractured wrist and several rib fractures. We were a bit concerned about being unable to rouse him and given the trauma to his face and head. We CT’d his brain but everything looks good there. I’m happy to see he’s woken up now.

“Are you in pain at all?” he asked. Arnie shook his head.

The doctor spent a few minutes asking him more questions, and asking him to move his arms and legs, and poking and prodding him in various places while asking if he could feel when he was being touched. Finally satisfied that there was no neurological damage he looked at Arnie, a sudden understanding in his eyes.

“You are his girlfriend?” he asked Sarah. She nodded.

“Tell him,” he said, “that it’s not macho to lie about pain. We can give him something for it, and you won’t think any less of him, if he admits to it.”

Sarah looked down at her boyfriend.

“Are you being macho?” she asked with a smile. He tried to smile back but only managed a grimace.

“It’s probably best if you admit to a little pain,” I sent to him. “I’m blocking it for now, but they’ll get really worried if you don’t have pain given you have a few broken bones.”

Arnie nodded to Sarah.

“You’re in pain?” she asked.

He nodded again.

“Good” said the doctor, rather inappropriately I thought, although I guessed he was saying it was good that Arnie was admitting to pain rather than it was good he was feeling it.

“I’ll write you up some pain relief. The nurse will administer it directly.”

He and the nurse left the room.

“What were you doing?” asked Danny. Arnie grunted.

“I don’t think he can talk right now,” I said. “Broken jaw, remember?”

“Right,” said Danny. “The doctor said that they will be calling for someone to come and look at it to see if it needs surgery. I need to go and get my insurance papers. I’m not sure what we’re covered for.”

“While you’re there,” said the nurse coming back, “you might want to bring him some things. He’s going to be staying in the hospital for a few days at least.”

“Such as?” he asked.

“PJ’s, underwear, a robe, slippers. Something to read, phone, charger, toiletries. Laptop or tablet. I can tell you he’s going to be bored silly while he’s waiting for his bones to heal.

“Now if you’ll all excuse me, I need to give him some pain relief and then get him cleaned up some.”

The nurse ushered us out of the room. I hung back a little, and made the nurse ignore me, as she made her preparation.

“This will be a little uncomfortable,” I told Arnie and then, using a sliver of TK, I gently guided the item he’d swallowed from his stomach, back up through his gullet, and into his mouth. He tensed a little and with a small grimace he pushed it out through gritted teeth. I took it from him and went and cleaned it, before I put it back in the box I’d retrieved at the scene.

“I’ll hold on to this while you get cleaned up,” I said to him. “I’ll give it back in a bit.”

He nodded and I left the room.

“What were you doing?” asked Sarah.

“Just making sure everything was alright,” I lied. “Now let’s go to the cafeteria while we wait. I’m starving.”

We made our way to the cafeteria, which was all but closed, and only had vending machines available. Fortunately they were the kind of vending machine that took cards. I emptied out an entire machine and part of another, stacking all the food on a table.

The girls and I sat down and I dug in.

Sarah’s eyes were round. I didn’t think she’d ever seen me in a feeding frenzy before, having used so much of my powers.

“Healing really takes it out of you,” I said. “That is why you need to develop that power bar,” I directed that at Melanie.

The girls each nibbled at something, but I ploughed through the majority of the food I’d collected. By the time I was finished there was only a couple of sandwiches and a drink left. I decided to take these back with us in case Danny needed something.

When we returned to the room, Arnie was looking a whole lot better. He’d been undressed, cleaned up, and put in a hospital gown. All the blood had been washed away and some dressings placed over his wounds. His wrist was in a splint and there was a doctor talking to him as we entered.

Danny, who had just arrived back, followed us into the room.

“Good morning,” said the doctor. “I’m Dr. Andrews, the Maxillo-Facial surgeon. I was asked to come and look at Arnie here.”

“I’m his dad,” said Danny. “What’s going to happen?”

According to the scans, Arnie had a broken nose and a broken jaw. His nose looks pretty straight so I’m not going to do anything about that. It’s not needed. His jaw, although it is broken, is not displaced. I don’t think it needs us to do anything other than immobilize it for a while, while the bone heals.

“I’m going to take him to the OR and wire it closed, just to make sure it stays in place. I expect in about four to six weeks he’ll be as good as new. After surgery, he’ll be transferred to a ward, where he’s going to spend a few days in bed, while his bones start to heal.”

He scribbled something on a chart and then moved toward the door. “Someone will come soon to prep him for surgery,” he said as he left the room.

I moved over to Arnie’s right side, before Sarah could take up position, and slid the box into his hand. He tucked his hand under the covers.

“How you feeling?” asked Danny.

“I’ve felt better,” Arnie said through gritted teeth. It appeared that he’d figured out how to speak without moving his jaw.

“What were you doing?” his dad asked.

“Sarah and I had a chat,” he told his dad. “I needed some time to think, so I went for a walk. I got jumped. After that, the first thing I remember was waking up here. They got my wallet and my phone. My keys are still with the valets at the Nines, so that’s something.”

“And did you,” asked Sarah, seemingly heedless that Danny was in the room. She needed to know.

“I did,” he said. “Although I’d pretty much figured it out when I left. I just needed to clarify things in my mind, and get something.”

“Get what?” asked Danny.

“Caleb,” said Arnie. “Do you mind?”

I moved away, leaving the space to Arnie’s right clear. Sarah moved up beside him.

“After everything you told me,” he began, “I needed to think. I needed to plan. I needed to figure out what I was going to do next. You see, I already had a life plan. I was going to be a flight instructor, then I was going to work at that, while studying to become a commercial pilot. I had everything worked out.

“That’s still my plan,” he said. I saw Sarah wilt a little but she hadn’t given up hope yet.

“But,” he continued, “then I met you. You were so different to anyone else I’d ever known and we just kind of fit together. I know you felt it too, because of what you told me tonight. What you told me tonight convinced me that I couldn’t just carry on as I was going. Having you as a girlfriend, while trying to work and study, and get where I needed to be, wasn’t possible. So I made a decision.” He let go of Sarah’s hand. Sarah’s eyes were filling up with tears now, dreading his next words.

He slid his hand under the covers, and with remarkable dexterity, managed to open the small box under the covers, one handed. His hand emerged, holding the ring, in its box out to Sarah.

“So I was hoping that you would consent to being my fiancée?” he asked.

Dannys jaw dropped. I knew that feeling well.

Sarah, too, looked like she’d been hit by lightning. Arnie had managed to completely surprise her, mainly by keeping his mind carefully blank while he made his speech. He was a fast learner.

Tentatively, Sarah reached for the box, plucking the ring from the blue felt inside. It was a nice ring. Probably about a three-quarter carat, which must have cost north of a thousand dollars. When he’d been attacked, he’d swallowed it to prevent it from being stolen.

He’d thought that he’d have to retrieve it the old-fashioned way in a day or two, but I’d been able to fetch it quicker.

“I warn you now,” he said, “it’s going to be a long engagement. We both have studies to finish, but I’m sure you can handle that.”

Sarah stared at the ring. Her bottom lip trembling as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

A nurse had entered the room a few moments before, presumably to prep Arnie for surgery, but she’d just stood back to witness what was going on. She was also a young girl, maybe in her mid twenties, but I saw a tear in the corner of her eye too. I grinned.

“Well?” I said to Sarah. “Are you going to keep the poor man waiting for an answer?”

“What?” she said. My words broke the spell and she came to the sudden realization that everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to speak.

“YES!” she squealed after a moment. She threw herself at Arnie to envelop him in a crushing hug. Fortunately, I managed to catch her before she hit.

“Remember, he’s injured,” I said as I stood her back on her feet.

“Oh, yes. Sorry,” she said with some contrition, before a grin split her face again. She grabbed his good hand, and pulled it up, kissing it. “Yes,” she said again, in case there was any doubt. “Yes, please.”

She leaned in and gently kissed his cheek. She whispered in his ear. And he laid his head gently against hers.

“I’m sorry,” said the nurse. “I need to get him ready for surgery.”

“Go home,” said Arnie to Sarah. “You have school tomorrow. I’m only going to be sleeping anyhow.”

“But,” she began.

“He’s right,” I said. “You know he’s alright. He’s only going to have his jaw wired. He’ll be fine and he needs a good nights sleep. Let’s go. You can come back tomorrow evening to see him.”

Arnie nodded.

Sarah leaned in and kissed his cheek again. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said. “I love you.”

I think that was the first time that she’d said that to him, as his face flushed.

“I love you too,” he said back, the words a little harsh, being spoken through clenched teeth, but I could see Sarah thrilling at them.

Danny was standing to one side, shaking his head, apparently stunned by the events that had just transpired.

We filed out of the room into the waiting area. I took Danny to one side to talk to him.

“Call if you need anything,” I said to him. “Don’t worry about his car, it will be perfectly safe where it is. Once he’s ready to come home we can get it moved to your place.”

“Don’t you think this is a little sudden?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Not really,” I said. “It’s not like they’re running away to get married. They already agreed to a long engagement, so why not let them just get on with it. They’ll either figure out they were really meant to be, or they’ll get sick of each other and call it off. In reality its no different than them just being boyfriend and girlfriend.”

Danny thought about that for a while.

“I guess,” he said, uncertainly, but then nodded.

“You’re right,” he said. “As long as they don’t plan a wedding yet. I won’t raise any objections. Sarah seems like a nice girl, and they obviously think a lot of each other. Just as long as…”

“She’s not going to get pregnant,” I said. “That I can promise you.”

“Can you?” he asked.

I smiled at him. “She’s on the best birth control available,” I said. “Besides, I don’t think they even got that far yet. And given his injuries, I doubt he’s going to be available for a little while yet.”

I grinned at him.

He grinned back. “There is that,” he said. “I’m going to stick around until he’s out of surgery. I’ll send you a text to let you know.”

“Thanks,” I said. “We’ll be over to see him tomorrow after school.”

I turned to catch up with my girls when he called out to me.

“Caleb,” he said.

“Yes?” I replied.

“Thank you,” he said. “If you hadn’t found him, who knows when he’d have been found. He might have died out there.”

“Probably not,” I said. “He’d have been spotted some time.”

“Even so,” he said. “Thank you.”