Chapter 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.