Chapter 41

I sat in the papa-san chair staring out the window. Rachel packing that morning stunned everyone else in the house. There was a rush into my room but no one asked any questions after I told them to give Rachel whatever help she needed. The Siblings' return from helping Rachel move her stuff to the sorority house was the only break in the silence for two hours.

Melisa opened my door slowly and peeked inside. She gave me a weak smile and walked in. Closing the door behind her, she climbed into my bed and lay down on her stomach. Her gentle sobbing made me turn towards her.

"Why did you let her go?" she whispered brokenly.

"It's her choice, Melisa."

"You could have made her stay!"

"She did not want to," I said. "Rachel does not want me."

"That's bullshit!" Melisa angrily replied as she sat up facing me.

Her hair was as disarrayed as I had ever seen it. The door opened, Doris Alex entered and slowly approached the bed. As she sat down, Doris Alex gave Melisa a small smile and gently patted her leg.

"Are you okay?" Doris Alex asked Melisa softly.

"David said Rachel left because she didn't want him!" Melisa said harshly.

"Why do you think Rachel left?" Doris Alex whispered.

"David wouldn't..." Melisa started to say but shook her head and lay down.

Doris Alex stroked Melisa's back while she cried.

"I know you wanted Rachel here, baby," Doris Alex whispered. "But this isn't what she wants."

"She wants to be with David," Melisa protested. "I know it!"

"That's not the real problem, is it?" I asked her.

"David, don't!" Doris Alex said.

"What?" Melisa asked sitting up again.

"Melisa," I replied quietly, "the problem you have is not that I allowed Rachel to leave, but..."

"What are you talking about?" Melisa interjected angrily before turning nervous eyes towards Doris Alex.

"... that you are in love with her." I continued as if Melisa had not spoken.

"David!" Doris Alex hissed.

"Don't talk to him like that!" Melisa said viciously, her eyes turning icy at Doris Alex's tone.

Their eyes clashed and Doris Alex bowed her head submissively after a few seconds.

"I'm sorry, David," Doris Alex whispered.

Melisa threw herself back on the bed and started crying again. Doris Alex looked at her incredulously; Melisa's mood swings could be dizzying.

"Go get her!" Melisa pleaded with me sitting up again.

"That's not an option," I said. "Like I said, Rachel has made her choice."

"I want her here with me!" Melisa yelled.

"That's not going to happen," I told her patiently.

"Why do you have to be so cold?" she asked crying. "Rachel left!"

"It was her choice to leave, Melisa," I said.

"No one has a choice," Melisa said harshly. "I want her here. Bring her back!"

"No," I said with finality.

"But David, I love her," Melisa said brokenly.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Then go with her, Melisa," I said.

Doris Alex gasped and Melisa's green eyes opened impossibly wide. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds before turning towards me.

"Rachel made a decision, Melisa," I said. "Follow your heart, if that is what you want to do."

"Bastard!" Melisa screamed and jumped out of the bed.

She slammed the door shut behind her and stomped up to her room.

"That was cruel, David," Doris Alex said. "Rachel is her first love. Her daddy doesn't really count and you're not very loveable, especially right now."

"Melisa manipulated Rachel into this," I said staring out the window again. "It would have been better had she let it lie where I had it buried."

"Rachel grew up a lot here," Doris Alex pointed out. "She made a lot of good decisions in the last few months. The Rachel that I knew would never have been able to leave this place before she lived with you. Melisa manipulates all of us, but she gives back more than what she gets.""

"You're defending her?" I asked somewhat surprised.

"No," she said. "But why are you attacking her?"

I smiled and leaned my head back against the chair.

"How long have you been a Sibling, Doris Alex?" I asked tiredly.

"All of my life," she said. "A Brother's arms were the first ones to hold me."

"All that time, and you do not understand us, or maybe it's just me that you do not understand," I said shaking my head.

"What do you mean?"

"I wasn't attacking Melisa; I was clarifying her choices," I said. "Stay here or follow her heart."

"She can't do that!" Doris Alex said angrily.

"Why not?" I asked.

"The Brotherhood would kill them," she insisted. "Melisa is not indoctrinated; they would never trust her to keep quiet."

"They would be busy trying to survive me," I told her.

"What?!?"

"I owe Rachel that much," I said. "I owe Melisa even more."

"You don't owe Rachel your life," Doris Alex said.

"Melisa brought Rachel into this house for me; it puts the onus of her death on my shoulders if the Brotherhood decides it is necessary now that she has left," I said. "Melisa was loyal for ten years before we came together, if Rachel is what she wants then I will do what I can to make it possible."

"You're not that good, David," Doris Alex said. "No one is."

I smiled widely at the window.

"I only have to force a purge," I whispered. "Two lovebirds might be forgotten in that mess."

"They'll kill you for even saying it," Doris Alex said anxiously.

I laughed.

"Like I said, you still don't understand us," I told her turning to face her. "Rachel was allowed to move into a house full of Siblings and a Brother. Is there a dumber fucking way to keep a secret? It was not an accident."

Doris Alex shook her head in denial.

"I met Rachel before I met any of you," I said. "Whatever I... feel... for her existed before the Brotherhood. She had to be brought in or made to refute me. I've never given Rachel a chance to say yes, so she's never had the opportunity to say no. It's done now, and my commitment to her is almost at an end. Melisa choosing to stay even though she loves Rachel would cut the last string between Rachel and me. There would be nothing in my life except the Brotherhood."

"But you said if we told Rachel about the Society you would kill her," she said.

"I would have killed her, Doris Alex," I told her quietly. "The Brotherhood would have preferred it. Melisa could not have stayed with me after that; she would return to her dad and there would be no reason to keep her un-indoctrinated. Killing Rachel would not have changed your mind about anything, you would still be with me."

"How could you say that you would have killed Rachel, and tell me you will protect them if Melisa ran to her?" she asked.

"If you told Rachel about the Brotherhood, it would have imprisoned her in my life; better her dead than to have my arms be the bars of her cell," I answered. "Rachel chose freely, and so will Melisa. It is my decision to allow the girls their choices. The Brotherhood understood the risks that bringing me in represented. All brothers fight, in our family blood is shed when we do."

"You can't really be like this," Doris Alex said with tears in her eyes.

"Tell Melisa what I've said, Doris Alex," I told her. "She needs to learn to think about the consequences of her manipulations in case they fail. She would be better served to stick with manipulating her fellow Siblings and me."

"Melisa may run if I tell her that Rachel leaving was a part of the Brotherhood's plans," Doris Alex whispered but could not quite make it sound convincing. "She won't like having been manipulated."

"You are a Sibling, Doris Alex," I said in hard voice. "You, who live and breathe for us, should have known that no Sibling really acts except at the will of the Brotherhood. There is no reason for the Brotherhood to manipulate Siblings; you all do a wonderful job of doing exactly what we want. Put the dice in Melisa's hands, let her roll them."

"She won't leave you, David," she said angrily. "Whatever she feels for Rachel, it does not compare with what she needs from you."

"Is that not the Brotherhood's will?" I asked her.

"Then how is this a fair test?" she asked raising her voice.

"A Brother does not give tests, Sibling," I said. "Melisa was put to a task; the surgical removal of Rachel from my life. She did a commendable job."

"You're breaking Melisa's heart, David," she said.

"You don't understand other Siblings either, do you?" I asked.

"What?"

"So incredibly intelligent, Doris Alex, and so blind to the world around you," I said. "Melisa will cry, probably a lot. She'll even throw a tantrum or two, but a part of her will celebrate Rachel walking out of my life."

"She's not like that!" Doris Alex defended loudly.

I laughed for a few seconds and looked at her shaking my head.

"Don't let love blind you, Doris Alex," I instructed her. "We are counting on you."

"Fuck you!"

"Go, Doris Alex," I commanded. "I would hate for some other Sibling to offer a shoulder for Melisa to cry on."

Doris Alex was halfway to the door before she realized that she was moving. She grasped the door handle before turning to look at me.

"So is it over between you and Rachel?" she asked.

I shook my head; at least, Brothers admit they do not understand Siblings.

"There was no 'Rachel and me'," I told her.

She smiled widely.

"This is the first time I've heard a Brother lie to himself," she said raising an eyebrow.

"Is there a you and me?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"Is there a Melisa and me?"

"For the last ten years, David," she answered.

"Where does Rachel sleep tonight, Doris Alex?" I asked turning towards the window.

Silence met my question.

"Were you surprised Rachel left?" I asked.

"No, David," she said coolly. "I wasn't."

"So tell me again that I am lying to myself when I say there was never a 'Rachel and me'," I said replied softly. "There was just me."

It was twilight outside before the doors opened again. I had sat staring out the window since Doris Alex left the room. I turned my head to watch Heather close the doors behind her. She leaned against them staring at me. Her lips were touched by a mysterious smile.

"How are you feeling?" she asked gently.

I shrugged continuing to study her.

"Ah... that incredible David stoicism," she said walking forward to lean on the bed frame.

"What do you want, Heather?" I asked harshly.

She smiled and posed for me. Her blue jeans were like second skin and the white button-down shirt struggled to contain her breasts. Heather was teasing me with bounty of her body.

"It's not what I want that's important, David," she said biting her lower lip. "It is what you, as a Brother, need that is important to me."

I stared at her silently.

"Melisa is all about her; her; and then some more for her," Heather said thoughtfully. "If you scratch the surface of any of her manipulations, it's always about her."

She traced the bed frame until she stood closer to me.

"Doris Alex is the same way," she continued. "The Society this... the Society that; everything that girl does is for all of us. I think those two are a little selfish, don't you?"

"Aren't you a little selfish also, Heather?" I asked curiously.

"Very!" she said proudly. "I'm going to enjoy all the Rank that getting you over this hump will gain me; especially the look on Doris Alex and Melisa's face when they realize you needed something and they didn't immediately give it to you."

"Hmmm," I said. "What do I need, Heather?"

She smiled and stood in front of me.

"Melisa was a fucking idiot," she said with feeling. "Rachel needed the idea of David more than she could ever want you. So what does that stupid bitch that you have for a First do; she brings Rachel here, the worst possible thing she could have done for you. It was fine as long as Rachel was kept at a distance, wasn't it? You could want her, but you didn't have to deal with it. Now, you know what she looks like naked. You've seen the pleasure on her face when she cums. You've been in the room with her desire for you and had to let her walk away."

I gritted my teeth and had to relax my jaw before speaking.

"What's your point, Heather?" I asked in an ominously soft voice.

"I don't have a point, David," she said breathlessly. "I have a need; your need to express all that frustration eating at you from inside."

"You don't want to push this, Heather," I warned.

I saw the hand go up; I could have moved but did not. Heather knew how to throw her weight around so the slap hit me with every ounce of power her body could produce. My head snapped to the right and color bled from my vision. Heather took a step back and laughed.

"You can even blame it on that if you want to," she said with the barest hint of fear in her voice. "Instead of hating that Rachel left."

My hand was closing around her throat as she spoke the last word. I pushed her backwards hard and kept going until she crashed into one of the doors. The sound of glass breaking made me smile. She snarled and I stared unbelievingly as her left hand rose.

THE BITCH SLAPPED ME AGAIN!

Red flooded my vision as I grabbed the front of her shirt. I spread my hands ripping the buttons off. My body moved automatically to block the knee heading towards my groin. I let go of her shirt with my right hand and spun her towards the bed. She hit and tried to bounce off but my knee was on her ass. Heather wrestled to keep the shirt on as I grabbed it. I took a grip on her hair and yanked back. She gasped in pain giving me the time necessary to take her left arm out of the shirt. I adjusted my weight as she struggled to turn around. Her body recognized the window of opportunity and she managed to get on her back. It made taking her other arm out of the shirt easier. She realized her mistake at the last second and tried to hold on to it. I ripped the shirt out her hands and threw it over my shoulder.

She was wearing a white tank-top underneath. I grabbed the shoulder strap and pulled. Heather grabbed my wrist but she was too late to save the strap. She dug her nails into my wrist as I grabbed the other strap. It did not forestall ripping it off. I bunched the cloth between her breasts in my fist to pull her into a sitting position. Her hand came up for another slap but froze at my growl. The hesitation was all I needed to pull the tank-top over her head.

Heather put her hands over her bra-encased breasts and lay down. I grabbed her hands and pushed them over her head. Holding her wrists in one hand, I let her fight the grip. She heaved with her hips and her eyes widened as I used her motion to place a thigh between her legs. Her thighs gripped my leg tightly trying to prevent the loss of any more ground. I pressed my leg upwards until it was against her pussy. I smiled as she instinctively rubbed against my leg for a second before remembering she was fighting me. She tried to heave again and it got my other leg between hers. Heather tried to break my grip on her wrists again by pulling them apart but got nowhere.