Part XX - 2: Empathic History

Seeing Eric standing with Candice in the crowd brought back all sorts of a bitter-sweet feelings to add to the nervousness I already felt. He looked a little taller, and his features had started to fill out, but the biggest difference in him from the last time I saw him was the smile which radiated through the crowd like a warm beam of sunlight.

I had hung back a little, letting Suzi and Joey go ahead in hopes it would help break whatever ice there might be, and despite the feelings of tenderness and... uhm... the slight sexual attraction to him, I was finding it very hard for me to simply walk up to him and say hi.

But then I clearly heard him say, "Where's Tim?" and my heart started to race in hope he felt... different about my existence. I didn't even know I was walking towards him until I was practically standing in front of him, but then after an awkward moment, my eyes watered up and I gave him a hug.

"God, you've grown," I moaned before letting him go.

"Uhm, yeah, I guess," Eric said a bit shakily as he turned red and avoided looking in my eyes.

My heart sank as he maneuvered away from me, and even though I only stood there a few moments before turning to say hi to Candice, Joey and Suzi both made sure I was okay before we moved on.

Eric was very warm and chatted openly with Suzi and Joey, but he seemed so... not cold towards me. Just... reserved, like I was a stranger who he was unsure of.

So I hung back to stay in the rear while we walked down to get our luggage, prompting several queries from Joey and Suzi making sure I was okay to the point where I got tired of it and had Joey initiate the share link so they could monitor my...

Well, not my thoughts exactly. I guess you could say they could monitor my emotions telepathically, but that's kind of misleading. I guess I'm splitting hairs about this, but empathy and telepathy are two completely separate things, and while you can read the thoughts generating an emotion and read the physical sensations resulting from that emotion, telepaths can not truly share an emotion like empaths do.

Oh, and in case you were wondering what took us so long to reform the share link, before I had left, we had made a bet to see how long it would take them to ask me. I guess you could say I lost the bet, but then I had hoped I would lose when I had made the bet in the first place.

While we were catching our bags as they spun around, I sensed Suzi trying to scan Eric's mind and quickly stopped her. She immediately demanded why I had done that, but then she saw Candice's glances of concern and understood.

Candice looked good, by the way. You could say she grew up a lot in the past year, and I don't mean just physically either. I sensed a greater amount of maturity from her, and it took me a while work out that she seemed to be carrying a considerable amount of responsibility on her shoulders. And it didn't seem to be concerning Eric either.

I was glad to see she had gained a lot of confidence in herself since the day of my parents' wedding. Back then she was afraid of displeasing her father and was very careful to get his approval on anything she did. But now she was comfortable about her own decision making abilities, although she had doubts I would see things her way about what she had done to Eric.

In fact, she was worried about what I would demand of her. She knew from last time I was much more powerful than she or her father was, and despite the long relationship between her father and mine, she didn't doubt I wouldn't hesitate to overpower them if needed if I thought they had done some harm to Eric.

So I tried to give her some relief while we were walking out of the terminal to the waiting limo by thinking to her, "I have to admit you've made Eric very happy. No matter what happens Candice, I'm grateful for that. And remember it will be his decision, not mine. I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Thanks," she thought back with weak grin. "He means a lot to me."

I looked over at Eric as he opened the limo door and announced he wanted Suzi and Candice to sit next to him, then thought to myself, "Looks like the feeling is mutual."

I spent the ride to the Cord Estate quietly observing Eric's responses looking for anything unusual or out of place. Apart from the slight southern accent, nothing seemed amiss, or at least as long as he wasn't looking at me or something.

It was really bothering me how he seemed to deny who I was. Every time he glanced at me, I could see it in his eyes. "You're not Tim, so don't even try to convince me like you convinced the others." He seemed to accept the fact that he couldn't convince the others, but it didn't matter to him that they were fooled. It was like it was is own personal war or something. I kept going around in circles trying to feel him out about it.

"Hello in there," Candice said to me, interrupting my deep thought.

"Huh? Yeah?"

"Weren't you listening?" Candice said somewhat suspiciously.

"Yeah, I heard every word."

"So?" Joey asked, enjoying the moment of putting me on the spot.

"So what?" I asked as I frantically tried to reconstruct the conversation from the bits and pieces I had caught.

"Are you going to accept my dad's gift?" Candice asked.

"I guess... " I said, then suddenly something clicked and I immediately added, "not."

"Why not?" Candice asked surprised.

"I just don't do that kind of thing, that's all."

"Oh... Then how come Charlie told my dad you'd love it?"

"Charlie?" Joey said with amusement.

"Tim's dad," Candice clarified.

"I knew who you meant," Joey said, grinning. "I just never heard anyone call him anything but Charles before."

"It's his childhood name," I explained. "My grandmother called him that too. Well, when she wasn't calling him Master I mean."

"Like father like son, eh Timmy?" Suzi said with a grin.

I smiled and said, "Yeah, I guess so."

"I thought you and your dad got along," Candice said to me.

"We do. He was just trying to... uhm... whatever it's called when a father tries to mold his son into his own image."

"Well, I guess the orgy is off then," Candice said without regret. "Some of my sisters sure will be disappointed."

"Shit. He uses his own daughters for that kind of thing?" Joey asked.

"Not like he used to, but on special occasions he still does. It's a family thing."

I caught Eric looking at me just then, and I accidentally made eye contact which resulted in them locking on to each other which the others quickly noticed.

"Stop," Eric said firmly, struggling to break away.

"Come on Eric," I said pleadingly. "It really is me. All you have to do is... "

"NO!" he yelled before jerking himself off the seat and landing on his butt on the floor.

Despite his maneuver, I still had his eyes locked with mine, and I was starting to feel something deep down that I knew was going to have to come out.

"STOP IT, you FAKE! You SON OF A BITCH!" Eric spat.

"Timmy," Suzi said carefully while standing up and moving into our direct line of vision.

"Don't you EVER do that again!" Eric spat angrily as he got back up on the seat next to Candice.

"Well?" Suzi said, turning towards me for my explanation.

I didn't answer her immediately as I tried to sort out what I had sensed from the empathic connection, but I had never felt anything quite like what was embedded deep within Eric's emotions, and three minutes later Suzi got impatient and slapped my right thigh to get my attention.

"Well?" she repeated.

I looked over at Eric again, and was surprised when he met my eyes and literally dared me to try it again. I tried to sense as much as I could without making a full empathic connection, but when I continued to stare into his eyes without blinking, he nervously glanced away then looked at me again before closing his eyes.

I did the best at describing what I had felt to Joey and Suzi over our private link, then on Suzi's recommendation I repeated the whole thing for Candice while Eric continued to refuse to open his eyes for anyone.

When we reached the gates of the Cord Estate, Eric announced he was going to go home. That upset Suzi a lot, and Eric finally opened his eyes to say he was sorry and he would be back the next day. But then warned her he would leave again if I even looked in his direction before kissing her and Candice on the cheek and got out of the limo by where his truck was parked.

I had just got out myself when Eric's red pickup went up the drive towards the main gate, then as we walked past the lined up servants towards the main entrance, Eric's squealed his tires as he took off down the road heading for home.

"I'm sorry Suz," I said, rubbing her shoulders from behind.

"It's not your fault," she said. "Just try and not make him mad again."

"He wasn't mad, Suzi," I said softly. "He was scared."

"Of what?" she said, stopping and turning towards me.

"I guess he's afraid to find that I'm really me," I said somberly.

Suzi wrapped her arms around me for a hug, then while I was returning the favor, Joey wrapped his arms around both of us from the side.

"You two keep leaving me out of all the good stuff," Joey said with a touch of amusement.

Suzi put one arm around him, then when I backed out she threw her arms around his neck and hoisted herself up to his face and said, "Not all the good stuff," she said with a wicked smile.

"I love you," Joey said with sincerity while holding her up against him.

"Says who?" Suzi replied.

"Says me."

"And me," I said, grinning as I went and stood by Candice.

When they finally kissed, I said to Candice, "You and Eric ever kiss like that?"

She looked at me, then looked back at Suzi and Joey with a slight smirk.

"Why, didn't you two?"

"Heh. Touche'," I said, noticing for the first time the foyer we were in was... dignified, and not gaudy. "Nice place you have here."

"Mmmm, I suppose. Different from your Daddy's place, huh?"

"Yeah. I mean, the servants lining up and stuff, that's the same. But we don't have any plants or benches in the main hall like this. Er... Or vending machines... "

She showed us around a little while explaining the estate was more than just their home, but it was also the family business. What that business was, I hadn't a clue, but there were offices and conference rooms with people in suites walking around in that front building I had mistaken for her home.

We passed through a security point before crossing a enclosed bridge to the main house. I was surprised when we had to pass through another security checkpoint before actually entering the building, but then we were greeted by another line up where the women and girls were topless. Oh, and the guys were too.

The eldest of the bunch couldn't have been older than twenty five, and as Candice started introducing them one by one, I suddenly realized they were all her half siblings.

I shared this with Joey and Suzi as I struggled to also try and remember their names as I shook or kissed their hands, but quickly gave up by the time we reached the six year old girl who wrapped her arms around my neck when I bent over to kiss her hand.

"Mandy, let Tim go," Candice said patiently.

"Uh uh," Mandy said, hugging me hard.

I stood up and moved her over so I could carry her more comfortably as Joey said, "Hey Tim... You get yourself a new girlfriend?" "Sorry about this," Candice said, giving Mandy the evil eye. "I should have warned you she's a bit clingy."

"It's okay. My brother's the same way," I said, giving the little girl a friendly smile and looking her in the eyes.

When the little girl puckered her lips, I had to chuckle, and say, "And she wants to kiss on her first date. Does this mean MMMPHMNNPF!"

"MANDY! NO!" Candice yelled while commanding her to let go.

"Shit," I exclaimed when the six year old removed her tongue from my mouth and dropped down to her feet and ran off.

"You're picking them kind of young, aren't you Timmy?" Suzi teased as I wiped my mouth.

"She picked me, remember?" I said, watching the little girl excitedly talking with her other young siblings while some the older ones started to wander away.

"I'm really sorry," Candice said again. "She's hard to predict sometimes. I'll have to punish her for... "

"Oh, don't do that," I said, then grinned and added, "I mean, for a six year old, she really knows how to kiss."

"That's what daddy says too," Candice sighed. "Well, seeing my daddy isn't back yet, I guess I can show y'all to your rooms so you can relax a while."

As we followed Candice down a hall to our right, two of Candice's sisters about her age joined her and were talking to her a few moments before I realized most of her other older siblings were right behind us.

I was then distracted by the sudden feeling of disappointment from the two girls who where with Candice, and watched them glance back at us unhappily.

Candice motioned for me to join them, so I quickened my pace and said, "Yeah?"

"This is Kerry and Allison. They were supposed to be your... gift."

"Yeah, I kind of worked that out," I said, feeling a bit put-on-the-spot. "I'm sorry, you're very pretty and all, but I'm ahh... Trying to uhm... Well, cut down on that kind of stuff."

"Ohhhh... " they both whined.

"But Daddy said," Kerry complained to Candice.

"Can't you make him want too?" Allison asked Candice.

"No she can't," I answered for her. "And neither can your daddy, or my daddy for that matter," I said abruptly.

"He is powerful," Kerry said with awe. "I can tell. It's in his voice."

"And that one," Allison said pointing at Joey, "He's your man slave?"

"I'm _her_ man slave, not his," Joey corrected.

There was a rumble of discussion from the group following us, then the guys slowly started making themselves more visible to Suzi, most of them trying to impress her with the size of the lumps in their shorts.

"Now y'all stop that," Candice said without much force. "If they want you, they'll send for you. Now go back to what you're all supposed to be doing. Shew! Shew!"

"You too," Candice said to her two closest siblings. "I'll be done in a little while then we can talk about it, okay?"

"Okay, Candice," Kerry said. "Come on Allison."

"I love you... " Allison said desperately to me while Kerry pulled her away.

"Shit, Candice. Now I understand why you were unhappy last year," I said once they were gone. "But they don't seem to be the typical slaves."

"Not any more they don't. I got daddy to let me free them, but then he made me responsible for them. It's been really hard to get them to think for themselves... and half the time they still think like... like that. But I'm getting there. Kerry almost actually argued with me. I'm kind of excited about what that means."

"I wouldn't be," Suzi remarked.

That started a rather complicated discussion between Joey, Suzi and Candice, and after we reached our guestrooms, Suzi and Candice ended up sitting on the bed in Suzi's and Joey's room chatting like they were old friends.

I suppose you could say Suzi has a fairly unique perspective of telepathy, enslavement, and the problems which go with them. She's been the Mistress and the slave, and has had to make a lot of moral decisions concerning the uses of my abilities before Joey ever shared them with her. That and the fact that Suzi could make a discussion of a root canal a fun and humorous thing resulted in Suzi's and Candice's hour and a half long talk on their bed while Joey and I unpacked, showered, explored the guest wing a little, and finally just laid down on the bed and listen to them talk about cute guy butts.

"Joey's butt's like that," Suzi said at some point. "Joey, stand up and show her."

Without comment Joey got up and walked over to their edge of the bed and turned around. Suzi was just about to pat his butt when Joey pulled his shorts and jockey's down with a single motion then waited patiently without looking back at their astonished faces.

While Suzi started turning red, Candice licked her lips nervously, then patted Joey's butt cautiously and said, "I see what you mean. Really firm Jell-O."

"You know, it's too bad Eric isn't here right now," I said to Joey as he returned to the bed beside me. "I know he'd have a thing or two to say about guy's butts."

Candice stopped in mid-sentence when I said that, then after a moment of silence, she turned towards Joey and I and opened her mouth to say something but lost her nerve before uttering a single sound.

"I take it he doesn't find male butts all that exciting any more," I said carefully.

Candice nodded her head and avoided making eye contact with any of us.

"Does he even remember being gay?" Suzi asked point blank.

Candice couldn't help but look Suzi in the eye from apparently hitting it on the nose, then unhappily shook her head before glancing at me to see if I was going to get mad.

"So he doesn't remember a lot of what he and I... " I started.

"He remembers being very close to you and doing things with you that wasn't... " Candice trailed off.

"What about James?" I said a bit too calmly.

"I know what y'all are thinkin', but Eric was so unhappy when he got here because all his... boyfriends had ended up leaving him in one form or another. We went out a few times, but he was miserable and wouldn't talk about it with me, so I took a chance and made him forget it all to see if it helped, and then couldn't bring myself to undo it afterwards from all the good it did him."

"GOOD IT DID HIM!" Suzi exploded. "You make him forget who he was and two of the most important people in his life, and you call that good?!?"

"Yes I do," Candice said sternly. "Eric means as much to me now as he ever did to any of you, probably more, but what I did wasn't because I wanted him for myself. You saw how cheerful and happy he was today? Well that's nothing compared to what he's like when he isn't worried about... "

"Worried about what?" I said with complete calmness. "Why is he so afraid of me being me when he doesn't even remember what he... I mean what I meant to him at one time?"

"I don't know," Candice said while standing up. "But I do know Eric's happy right now, and if you really care about him even a fraction as much as I do, that should be all that matters. I have to go and get my brothers and sisters ready for dinner which will be in forty minutes. I'll send someone to show you to the dinning hall in a half hour."

And with that Candice left the room without glancing back.

"EwH!" Suzi exclaimed as she stood up and started pacing back and forth. "How dare she make it sound like she did him a favor by making him forget! I was actually starting to like her too!"

I watched her pace back and forth a few times as she continued to fume and mutter under her breath, then finally sighed and said, "Suz, maybe she's right."

"What?!?" Suzi exclaimed just before she tripped on her own feet and fell flat on her face onto the carpeted floor.

When Joey rushed to help her get up, she yelled, "I'm fine, let me go!" then nearly did an instant replay when he did what she had ordered.

"Why did you do that!?!" Suzi barked furiously as got up on her own and glared up at Joey like David and Goliath.

"I uh... I just wasn't thinking and... " Joey said unhappily.

"What's been wrong with you anyway? You've been acting like a big wimp ever since that damn haircut!" she spat.

"I... " Joey said weakly and turning a little pale while I started making my way towards the door intending to leave them alone.

"Well?!? Speak! Or has all your brain cells gone to muscle?"

"Suz, I... " Joey said emotionally before turning away from her, then stifling a sob.

"What is WRONG with you?!?" Suzi demanded not as harshly as before, but not gently either as she tried to make him turn around to face her.

"NothiNG!" Joey blurted out emotionally before jerking himself away from her, then attempted to calm himself down while Suzi was too stunned to react.

"What's wrong with him? Timmy!" Suzi yelled just as I was closing the door. "Timmy, get your ass back here and tell me what's going on!"

I sighed, then opened the door and stuck my face in long enough to say, "Nothing's wrong with him Suzi. Just... Feel him out, and you'll see."

Suzi yelled my name when I closed the door again, but this time I didn't go back. I knew it wouldn't take her long to work it out now that she's aware that something was different about Joey. Besides the haircut I mean. Heh.

The Cord mansion was larger than any of my dad's, but it also housed a considerably larger number of people, most of which were second or third generation slaves to the Cord family.

The grounds of the estate crawled with security, and that bothered me a while until I realized they were there to keep unauthorized people out rather to keep the slaves in. In fact every slave I bothered to scan their mind of was perfectly happy with their lives and would never dream of leaving the security of their home. Hmmph. Big surprise, right?

The place was brightly lit and buzzing with activity no matter where I went, and the atmosphere was very cheerful to my empathic senses, but there were a few dark clouds which overcastted those sensations a lot.

The first of which was the differences between the private quarters of the slaves there verses my father's. I may have mentioned before that my father went out of his way to ensure his slaves have every comfort that he had himself, which resulted in every slave's room being large and well furnished.

I got a good look at what a family of seven lived in, and if you excluded the closet they called a bathroom, their entire living area space was no bigger than my own bathroom back in the North mansion. I have to say though the place was spotless and well organized, but I had to step over two kids playing in the entry area to look in their so called living/bed room.

Comparisons between those people and the slaves which Steven's and Penny's family had been breeding kept popping up in my mind as I wandered. Whole families of at least three generations lived within the walls of the estate, a great portion of which didn't have a social security number or even a birth certificate to record their existence to the rest of the world.

They were all happy hardworking loyal to the grave slaves.

But what really bothered me was how there was a strong class difference between the black and white slaves. I found out later that Chuck Cord's father had gotten into really big trouble with the Cabal when he attempted to undo the progress the civil rights movements of the late 50's and early 60's after the riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Junior. The Cabal's Inquisitor of the time was a black man himself, and as punishment he made Chuck's father unable to ever use his telepathic abilities again before resigning as the Inquisitor of the Cabal.

I didn't really explore the place very long before I made my way back to the guest quarters in hopes of regaining my appetite back for dinner. After changing into my dress clothes, I looked in on Joey and Suzi and was surprised to find them acting like nothing was different.

After a few moments of indecision, I knocked on the door and went in when Suzi said, "Come in, Timmy."

"I was wondering if you were going to get back before we had to go for dinner," Suzi said somewhat irritated yet not overly so.

"I checked out some of the slave quarters... You could say I have a new respect for my dad," I said as Joey closed the clasp of Suzi's necklace from behind her.

"That bad, huh?" Joey said sitting down on the bed and unbuttoning his dress coat.

"I don't care about the slaves right now," Suzi said before I could reply. "What are you going to do about Eric?"

I sighed, then said, "I don't know, Suz. We have five days to figure what should be done, and since Eric doesn't seem to be suffering any, lets just wait and see, okay?"

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

Suzi stood there with her arms crossed and waited silently for me to answer her question without bothering to explain since she knew I had understood her meaning all too well.

I sat down next to Joey and without looking up at her I said, "I'll just find something else to do while you two go do stuff with Eric."

"Like what?" Suzi prodded gently as she sat down next to me and squeezed my hand.

"I don't know. Heh, maybe I'll help Candice out by showing some of her brothers a good time around town."

"You'll probably end up with a six year old around your neck if you try that," Candice said from the door as she opened it.

Suzi almost commented on her rudeness for not knocking, but instead only said, "Dinner?"

"Not just yet," Candice said carefully. "I'd like to speak to Tim alone for a minute before we go to the dining hall."

"I'll be right out," I replied before anyone else could.

"She's really starting to piss me off," Suzi said under her breath after Candice closed the door again after her.

I took both of her hands in mine and looked her in the eyes and said, "Don't take it personally, Suz. Candice isn't used to having to worry about other's privacy and stuff, and she's just as worried about Eric as we are. If after dinner you and Joey want to check into a hotel or something that's fine, but I have to stay here because of my dad. You can stay cool until after dinner, right?"

Suzi sighed slightly then gave me a peck on the cheek before saying, "You better go before the princess gets tired of waiting."

I looked at Joey as I got up to see if there was any hint as what happened while I was gone, but got nothing back but... patience.

Candice was leaning against the wall on the other side of the hall when I left the room, and when she gave me a weak grin out of embarrassment, I couldn't help but smile back a moment.

"You think they will get a hotel room?" Candice asked once we were walking down the hall.

"Probably not tonight, but maybe later this week, I don't know."

"I'm sorry if I... intruded," Candice said. "Eric keeps telling me I got to pay attention to that stuff."

"Candice," I said, stopping and looking her in the eyes. "You love him?"

Her surprised expression only lasted a moment before she looked down and nodded her head.

"Have you two... done it?"

"Now who's being rude?" she said with a little grin, then looked me in the eyes and said, "No we haven't."

"Do either of you want to?" I asked bluntly.

"Eric does, but he knows I don't want to yet so he hasn't tried. I've offered Kerry to him a couple of times, but he always gets upset when I do. Thank God Kerry's never seen how big he is."

"Heh. It's so big it's a little scary, isn't it? But after the first few times you're stretched enough that it doesn't hurt that much."

"I'll try and remember that," she said with a slight frown.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" I said after a moment of silence.

"Daddy is going to be upset that you refused Kerry and Allison. I thought maybe you could... fake it or something."

"I guess I could, if it's that important," I said carefully. "Just this once though."

"Thanks. Well since you already answered my other question while I was listening to your conversation earlier, I guess it's time for dinner. I'll just wait here for you to get Suzi and her pet."

"He's not my pet," Suzi said walking out with Joey glowing red right behind her. "He's my love slave."

"Oh. Sorry," Candice said while I let out a snicker.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I had to fake an orgy with two girls," Joey said bluntly.

"Oh yeah," I said with a start. "Say Suzi... Could I like borrow your love sl... "

"Go get your own," Suzi said while her arms reached above her head and wrapped themselves around the back of Joey's neck possessively.

I watched as Joey's arms crossed in front of her protectively, then looked away as they moved to exchange a little kiss. I felt a tug on my heart from the desire to hold Her protectively like that, but I quickly shook it off as we made our way to the dining hall.

Chuck Cord sat at the point of a large V shaped table with all his children lined up respectively by their assigned places awaiting our arrival. I had expected Chuck's father to be there as well, but there were only four places left, three on his left and one to his right.

"Timothy Grodmen, I welcome you and your companions to the Cord table," the Master of the house said in his deep voice.

"Thank you sir," I replied with respect. "My father has mentioned his visits to the Cord estate many times with mucho enthusiasm. I'm very happy to be here."

We took our places and waited for him to sit before sitting down ourselves, then I took a moment to gaze down the two legs of our V table at all the faces which grew younger the further down you looked.