The Empath Cycle: 2001 It Takes One - Book 2

"We were in the shower as mammy... hum... Sylvie told us to when we felt something was very wrong with her, almost like when you first called us to help her. We didn't even think. We ran out of the house and were racing here. Then, just before we arrived, we felt your anger and saw John storm his way out. We knew he was the cause of it. Since he became Uncle Jack's assistant and heir apparent, he's been throwing his weight around when none of the elders are within earshot."

"Trust me when I tell you he met a wall here and his name is mud to us. When we are sure Sylvie has settled, we are out of here and..."

"Nooooo! You can't do that." The two women cried their anguish in a single voice, tears streaming unabashedly on their faces. "This is her home. She belongs here. We need her here. Please, don't go."

Jade and Karlie hugged the girls to reassure them. They looked at each other, nonplussed. 'What the hell is going on here?' They both wondered.

"That's okay girls. We were mostly pissed at John when we said that. I'm sure we can arrange something as long as nobody else throws his weight around. We don't want to cause problems in your family."

They may have gone a little overboard when they filled the fireplace with so much wood because by then they were all sweating at the heat in the living room. Ryanna and Julia promptly discarded their blankets, but they could feel the discomfort of their friends. Looking at each other for one of their silent exchange, they turned to the women holding them and began unbuttoning their shirts.

It was the partners' turn to look at each other. They were not averse to playing with other couples, but they had been faithful to Sylvie and Jade's mother since they had become a 'family' and they didn't know where this was going.

"Hum, girls, what do you think you are doing?" Jade inquired gently. She didn't want to offend them if, after all, this was not what it looked like.

"We are just making you more comfortable. Your clothes are almost soaked through with sweat. It seems you don't have much experience with fireplaces and you put too much wood in it."

"Yes, we are only trying to help."

Both had such innocent looks that it made Karlie and Jade immediately suspicious because they were masters, or rather mistresses, at that particular game.

"Not that we wouldn't play with you girls." Karlie said. "But we are in a committed relationship with Sylvie and Patricia."

"Also, I didn't know you played for our team. In fact, I've never seen you with anybody else or ever show any PDA for each other." Jade pursued.

"We understand and we wouldn't want to come between you four." Ryanna said. "That still doesn't mean you have to sweat so much. And since you both said you liked to look at our bodies, we thought it only fair we do some ogling of our own."

"As for our being lesbians, we suppose we inherited more than talent from our mammies, but we never had girlfriends because we were afraid to lose control in the midst of passion and hurt our lovers. All the major talents have support staff. Mammy Catherine had mammy Martine as a support therapist and girlfriend for just that reason and she could help her control herself when they played with others. We are not advanced enough to have our own support staff yet."

"And since we are cousins, we never thought to play together. Maybe we would have, but we would have needed a place shielded as strongly as this house unless we were in a very isolated place."

"Thank you for the idea though, but we should probably ask one of the senior therapists first. Just to make sure it's safe."

"Do you girls always complete each other's thoughts like that?" Jade asked

"Only when we are on the compound where we can relax among our family and friends."

"At the university or elsewhere, we are careful and it's not easy."

"Since we've been so close from birth, we're almost like twins even if we're only cousins."

By the time they had finished explaining this, they had Karlie and Jade undressed and laughing.

"All right. We don't mind being naked around you. In fact, there is a house rule at my mother's condo where we have to be in the buff unless we expect company and we two have been practicing naturists for years, so we will probably institute the same rule here when we're sure nobody will barge in unannounced."

The near-twins looked at each other again and their eyes misted.

They had such sad faces that the girlfriends misunderstood it and hugged them again. "Don't be sad. We want to see your beautiful bodies. And if you want to play with us, we'll ask my mom and Sylvie if it's okay. Thinking about it, they will probably want to join us when they see how beautiful you are."

The words got quite an unexpected result. Both girls started bawling and the women felt a wave of anguish wash over them, setting them to cry themselves.

It was Jade who first got an inkling of what was happening and managed to find a tenuous grip over the strong emotions.

"Girls. Girls! GIRLS! You are projecting! Listen to me! Listen to my voice! Get a hold of yourselves. Remember your training. We love you. We all love you. There is no need to be sad."

Gradually, the young women regained control over their talent.

"How did you know to say that? Did you talk with one of the support trainers since you got here?"

"I don't know. I realized something was happening and the rest just popped into my mind. I..."

Jade was interrupted by Sylvie and Patricia racing down the stairs, naked like them, the tears streaming down their faces belied by the wide smiles in their faces, a wave of love rolling in front of them.

Patricia had an arm around Sylvie's shoulders as she guided her up the stairs, thinking there should be an elevator in this large house. She kept reassuring her all the way to their room.

"I'm here, love, and so are Karlie and Jade. Nobody is going to hurt you. We love you so very much."

She gently undressed the both of them before pulling her lover under the covers to keep her warm. She cuddled with Sylvie, doing her best to reassure her with her very presence. She wished she had the talent those people had talked about so she could project her love directly, but plain old fashioned loving would have to do.

When she felt Sylvie relax a little she changed the light kisses she had been raining on her face to more sensuous ones on her neck, nipping on her earlobes, all the while cooing her love and devotion. Her hands that had only been tenderly holding her lover close to her took on a more active role, she ran her fingers through Sylvie's hair, giving her a soothing scalp massage.

Soon, her lover cupped her face in both hands and looked deeply into her eyes. "I love you, dear heart. I will be all right. I just panicked down there."

"I admit it got a little weird. If you want to go home, I'm sure the others won't mind."

"We were so excited to get away for a week and then they hit us with all that mumbo-jumbo. You could say they blindsided us and created more confusion than anything else, but since we got here, I do have this strange feeling that the house is happy we are here and that we belong. All of us, not just me."

"I believe you. You are more sensitive than the rest of us. But it would mean there is something to what they were saying."

"Somehow, I'm certain there is. To what extent, that's the question. And what does it have to do with me and us all, that's another. On top of all the rest"

"That makes for a lot of unanswered questions. Do you think we should ask Ryanna and Julia for some answers? They have helped you before, after all. We know we can trust them."

"Now I remember why I love you so much. There is a brain inside that beautiful head of yours."

"Why did you just cover your breasts with your hands like that? Afraid of reprisals for your macha comment?"

"Not at all, love, I just felt like fondling them."

"Since when do you fondle your own breasts when mine are readily available to your sexual gluttony? I thought nipple clamps were more your thing when we make love?"

"You're right, as usual. After all yours are so much nic... Ouch! I knew it! You are a meanie who loves to take advantage of my masochistic tendencies to satisfy her own sadistic... Hey! What was that one for?"

"To illustrate your point. Isn't it the scientific method: to reproduce a result to prove a theory?"

"Hoisted on my own petard again. I should know better than to try to have a serious discussion when I am under your thumb... hummmm... and mouth... hummmm... and hands and... mumpfffff."

The mouth assaulting her own cut her off. Banter was well and fine, but Patricia had other things on her mind and discussing psychology with the naked woman squirming against her, rubbing their breasts together while she pushed a leg against her now leaking vulva was definitely not her first priority.

As they regained their breath, drowsy in the aftermath of their love-making, Sylvie felt a gentle pull guiding her to her special dream place.

Soon, Patricia was sleeping in her arms and there were five naked women in bed with them. She knew she should be at least surprised if not worried, but she felt like she was wrapped in a warm blanket of peace and was loved by all of them.

The tall statuesque one, certainly the most beautiful woman Sylvie had ever seen outside of a magazine, spoke to her. "Welcome home, little one. I have looked all over for you while I could, but your mother took you away and the authorities refused to give me any information. It seems parental authority supersedes even the well-intentioned people who saved the both of you and many more from certain death."

"I recognize you all. You are younger versions of the women in the portrait downstairs. Why do I have a feeling that I know you, if not the others?"

"Because you do, though you may not have paid much attention to me as you played Peter Pan with the other children of the cult."

"YES! I knew it! You're Cathy. The old lady who kept us safe while we played. I did pay attention to you. I loved it when you baked cookies for us and let me help and I always listened to your stories around the campfire before we went to sleep. But why are you so young now?"

"Some would call it residual self-image, but mostly, it's how we looked when we all first fell in love and bonded together. In our mind's eye, that's the way we always saw each other and will forever."

"I remember your daughter, Joannie, saying you were all dead. Am I hallucinating?"

"That's a simple, yet complicated question. We are indeed dead. I was the first to go, killed by cancer way too young and my Martine followed me." Sylvie could see a younger woman beaming at Cathy and the glow in her eyes said it all. "Then Sarah's body simply gave way and she died of old age before her time. We told her to pace herself, but there was always another patient to help and, since she was always right..."

"Almost always." Chimed in two of the others with a grin while the last, who must be Sarah, also grinned, if a little sheepishly.

"Anyway. She convinced Ari and Jules to stay behind for a while, until Ryanna and Julia, their namesakes, were ready to fly on their own wings. They joined us two years ago and we will now be together forever."

"I'm so happy for you all, but how can you be here? Is this a dream brought about by the story your daughter told us?"

"This is indeed a dream, but similar to your special dreams where you brought your wives or when you go to our island. You see, over the long years, this house was infused with our love and happiness and that of our family. In a way, our essence lives on in it."

"Does this mean you will visit all the time?"

"No, little one. We have passed on to a different plane of existence. We were given a special permission because I wanted to see you so much and to tell you how sorry I was I couldn't help you more than I did."

"I heard what happened at the cult only earlier this fall from an outside source. I still have no memory of the first twelve years of my life. Did you have anything to do with the raid?"

"Yes I did and I'm sorry to say I may be responsible for your amnesia too. I only wanted to ease your mind and that of the other children caught in that hell hole, but I may have miscalculated."

"That's all right. I'd rather not remember any of it. But why me? Your daughter said you bequeathed this house to me. How could you if you didn't know me?"

"I know a mother's not supposed to have favorites, but then again, I was never a real mother, not like Jules." Cathy directed a look of Pure Love at the plump woman sitting in the middle of their group. "I always had an affinity for you after I heard you call out as Martine and I were driving by. You see, you have a certain amount of empathic ability yourself, but our Sarah tells me it may have been inadvertently blocked along with your memory. We have now remedied this mistake."

"Is that why Jade's sensei says I have a second aura which she has been working with me to integrate?"

"Not entirely. That part was an experiment I tried before I died because I was sad I could never find you and worried about what had happened to you. Just before the end, Jules, Ari and I melded for one last time and I projected my chi in the hope it would reach you. If you want more details, ask Gaia, our Archivist. She's the one who gave me the idea from something she had read in one of those old and rare manuscripts she collects.

"That explains a lot. The sensei said as much, but she had no idea how it could have happened to me since I didn't know any Eastern master."

Cathy snickered. "Those guys are quite full of themselves, but I imagine they never had to deal with a woman with my special circumstances." They all laughed at that.

"Is there any way I can call on you again, Cathy?"

"No, little one. I'm sorry about that. I would have loved to have gotten to know you as a grown woman, but our time here is limited. Once we are done and we must go, all we will leave behind will be the memory of us and some of our essence in this house to which we hope you will add to with that of your own loving family. There is one last gift I wish to leave you, if you agree. We could open a limited channel between you and your wives so you could all share more directly in your love."

"That's the second time you mention my wives. I'm not married. Someday, I hope to propose to Patricia, but there is nobody else."

"Marriage is a social contract, little one. Love is a more personal one. You may not realize it yet, but you are already married to your wives."

Sylvie blushed as she thought about her deep feelings for Jade and Karlie. After all, they had already talked about moving together, even if only in passing.

"You may have something there. Is it a big thing? This opening a channel between us."

"Not at all. In fact, we did it while you were blushing so prettily as you acknowledged what your heart already knew. One last thing, we all would like to say a last goodbye to our little ones."

"Do you mean Ryanna and Julia? I could call them over. I'm sure they would be happy to see you one last time."

"No need for that, little one. They are downstairs with your wives. They rushed over when you called in your earlier distress. Please get them comfortably in this bed and take them to our island. We will wait there for you all."

As they went down the stairs, Patricia and Sylvie were becoming aware of the new channel of emotional communication between them, but they found no surprise in the information it carried, only confirmation of what they already knew.

"Wait until I tell you all that just happened. You're in for a big surprise." Sylvie told her 'wife'.

"Do you mean the four of us being already married in our hearts? Or the mundane fact that we have been visited by ghosts?" Patricia grinned.

"I thought you were asleep."

"Considering that this all happened in a 'dream', I'm not surprised I heard it all. I think Catherine wanted a one on one contact so she would have an easier time explaining everything to you without my interference, especially since their time is limited. I'm glad they let me be a part of this since it's so important to you."

"Are you okay with all this? I'm still processing it."

"We will have to think about all the ramifications long and hard, but we have many points of reference and I'm sure there are people in this place who can help us, beginning with our young friends and we know we can trust them."

"Speaking of whom, why am I picking up so much sadness?"

"I don't know. It doesn't feel like the wives."

They raced the rest of the way, using their new-found ability as best they could to project all their love to their wives and whoever was so sad.

As they arrived at the bottom of the steps, they saw their wives naked, which was not unusual, but also their friends. They would have taken a moment to admire the toned, muscular bodies, but they realized the sadness came from them. Without a thought, they rushed to embrace them, still projecting all their love.

"Why are you so sad, dears?" Patricia asked.

"You love us?" Ryanna asked, amazed.

"You can project like us!" Julia added, baffled.

"Yes, darling, we do and we can. You are in for a few surprises, girls. But before we get to that, what made you so sad?"

"We are sorry, mam... Sylvie. It was just a reaction to something Jade said."

"You see, we arrived here naked because we rushed over directly from the shower when we heard you call and we thought you were in trouble."

"Then we got all sweaty because of the fire so we thought they should peel a few layers of clothes."

"They were ogling us, so we figured we should get a chance too, you see."

"And Jade said you had a rule in your home and would probably do the same here."

"And there has always been the same rule in this house."

"Which is why Uncle Jack was so angry when we barged in because everybody knows not to do that here out of respect for the mammies and their family."

"And they said you would want to play with us."

"But we never dared to play for fear of hurting our lovers."

"And we never thought to play with each other because we are like sisters."

"We should have remembered what mammy Sarah always said and looked with our hearts."

"And we lost control and started projecting and Jade stopped us."

"Exactly like mammy Sarah used to."

"And we want to play with you, but you feel just like mammy Catherine."

"So we thought you wouldn't want to after all and if made us sad all over again."

"But we didn't lose control this time." They both said the last simultaneously, beaming with pride like kids.

Sylvie and Patricia were taken aback by the rapid-fire exchange. They looked at Karlie and Jade questioningly.

"Don't ask. We'll explain later." Jade said with a grin.

"You did well, girls." Sylvie said. She was surprised by this apparent radical change in the personality of these two previously so self-assured young women. She decided to wing it for a few minutes. After all, they had access to the best therapists ever, if only for a little while yet. "Now we have a few surprises of our own. The first one is that we will take you with us to the island where we can relax and talk about all this together. What do you say?"

The young women wanted to jump with joy, but were reluctant to be released from the arms holding them.

"We want to go to your island if you invite us."

"We will be nice. We promise."

"You are invited in this house and on the island whenever you wish, but you'll have to let go of Jade and Karlie for a minute. Here, take our hands."

The six women walked up the stairs, holding hands, three by three since that was all the stairway would accommodate.