Chapter 25

The week seemed to fly by. Ken woke Monday morning, feeling good after sleeping in. He, Jane and Sandy had made love until pretty late. They got up and went down stairs where Ari and Bill had fallen asleep after she'd seduced him. Bill woke up in the study to find himself surrounded by naked woman with Ken offering him some coffee. His brain had screamed RUN, but no one, not even Sandy, seemed fazed by the fact that he was naked and that he and an equally naked young girl draped over his body.

When they were leaving that day, Sandy and Bill promised to return, and Sandy extracted a promise from them to tell her about this whole slave thing.

Jane was still asleep when Ken dragged himself downstairs. Despite all the activity, he hadn't slept well, half remembered dreams invaded his rest. During the day, he contacted Joan and found out the title work was finished and he could go in and sign it. Then Ellen and Kim called him to finalize the lottery transfer. He also set up the scholarship for Ari and asked if they knew a lawyer that they'd trust to handle other matters. They said they'd work on it.

Ari got home somewhat late from classes, she'd spent some time at the library doing research for something or other. Ari was into biology big time - something Ken knew nothing about at all. She also had quit her jobs; they didn't care since they had a high turnover anyway.

When he retired to the study, he discovered a hardbound book on the table. Unsurprisingly, it was a Heinlein book - Time Enough for Love. Even more surprisingly, he liked it. It wasn't hardcore sci-fi, but it was still excellent and the girls left him alone to read. That night, sleep was even more elusive and he woke drenched in sweat. He slipped out of the room and into one of the other bathrooms to take a shower. He didn't go back to sleep that night.

The rest of the week was more of the same. They were busy transitioning their lives from old to new. Jane and Ken moved the last of the things that they wanted from their old places before Jane gave up her apartment. Ken still had no idea what to do about his house, but he felt it wasn't a good idea to sell it.

Ari and Jane went to the mall with a credit card for clothing for Ari. She also explained to Ken that, if it was OK, she wanted a cell phone for her sister. From the few phone calls and one hasty meeting they'd had, it was clear that her mom was going off the deep end. Ari wasn't allowed to see her sister at all. The school had been notified and Ari had been told she wasn't allowed on school grounds.

Ken OK'd the phone without a second thought. They told him they got something very small - read expensive - and had had Jane slip it to the girl. Ari was happy to be back in contact with her sister, but grew more upset from what she was hearing.

The days took on an easy rhythm - evenings and afternoons would usually find two or more of them making love somewhere. Genie came by after work on Tuesday and Wednesday and they all played together. Ken began searching for a place to get bondage furniture after they decided to make one of the rooms into a dungeon. It had been an odd room anyway, located in the family wing of the mansion.

The nights, however, were less tranquil. Ken's nightmares had returned full force and he got very little rest. He knew that the women were aware there was a problem, but he was still unwilling to discuss what was going on. Thursday evening, everything seemed to be going well. Lea appeared and shared dinner with them - not that she seemed to eat much, but just having her there made everyone feel incredibly good. She said nothing about Ken's problems, although he knew she was completely aware of what the problem was. That night was a bad one, and the following night, Friday night was worse.

Ken was getting irritable from the lack of sleep. The energy he stored could be used to sustain him, but not forever. Going without sleep was bad, but the emotional drain was more telling. The women were being affected as well, becoming slightly irritable. It all came to a head Saturday morning.

Ken, waking for the third time Friday night, left the room and went to the study. He got himself a small glass of wine. This time, he knew that he was blocking the women. They needed sleep and his inability to deal with something that should have been over with a long time ago was affecting all of them. He cursed himself for his weakness.

He came aware when dim light began to filter into the room. Arianwen and Jane were kneeling at his feet. Both were clothed.

"Ken," said Jane in a serious voice, "this can't go on. You have to tell us what's wrong."

Ari actually had tears in her eyes and it tore Ken's heart to know how much pain he was causing her. But if he told them, if they knew about what he'd done, how would they feel? He didn't think he could bear it to see fear in their eyes when they looked at him. Lea appeared behind them and for once, Her presence did not give him peace.

"Kenneth, it is past time for you to handle this. You must trust your Circle, trust your loved ones. You cannot run from this and you cannot forget it." It wasn't - quite - a command. She would let things ride if he chose not to speak. But he knew She'd be very disappointed.

Ken sighed and leaned his head in his hands. It was pounding and he felt awful.

After a long time he began speaking...

The incident happened about 15 years ago, he began. Although, I guess you could say that what ended up happening was caused by something that I was into long before that. My dad, when I was a kid, loved to watch marshal arts movies. I loved to watch them too, even when I was three or four. When I was six, I began taking Aikido. I really loved it and had a talent for it. By the time I was twelve, I'd won a lot of tournaments and had expanded into other arts, Kenpo being one of them. I was great at Aikido, but Kenpo was something else. It came so naturally that it felt as easy as breathing. I learned everything I could, spend almost everyday in the studio of one art or another. I learned the staff, sword and other weapons. I had a real talent with edged weapons.

I was always able to separate that life from things like school. The few times I'd gotten into scrapes in school, I never had to do much - usually I just kept from getting hurt and walked, or ran, away. There was this once in my senior year when there was a problem I couldn't avoid. This football player decided he wanted my girlfriend. She and I had been together for two years and we had every intention of getting married after college. He got nasty with her, and it was just me, her and a bunch of his buddies.

We tried to walk, but it didn't happen. They grabbed me, which I would have dealt with, but then he put his hands on her and tried to kiss her. I don't remember what I did to the guys holding me, but he seemed pretty surprised when I pulled him off her. He took a swing at me, but never managed to connect and I ended up dropping him. Two other guys decided to get into things, and I put them down too. The rest figured that when five to one odds didn't work, they had other places to be and left.

Nothing was really said about it, but I know that the main instigator - Jed, didn't forget about the incident. From being big man on campus in the spring, his name was mud by mid winter. Things went down hill for him and he got expelled. I didn't think much of it and Susan and I went on with our lives.

Things were going well for Susan and I. We decided to go to the same college and were both accepted. We got engaged, but decided that the wedding could wait until after we graduated.

Ken stopped his narrative for a moment and just sat. Neither Jane nor Arianwen moved. They knelt, waiting. With a sigh he continued.

It was spring and Susan and I were out for the night. Classes were going well, we were doing fine with each other and looking forward to getting a small apartment together. Her mother had always been against us moving in together. Perhaps it had something to do with Susan's father leaving them soon after she as born. Her mother loved her a lot and was very, very protective of her.

Susan loved trains, loved to ride on them, loved to people watch. It never effected me the same way, but if it made her happy, I was all for it. I was young and confident. By this time, I knew I could have been making money on the tournament circuit if I'd wanted to. I'd competed and won several high level tournaments, but frankly, while I enjoyed the competition, I never really liked the spot light.

Anyway, we were heading back to the car, and Susan was running in front of me, wanting me to catch her, when I realized that we were in danger. I was too late though. Before I could yell out, she'd been dragged into the alley, and I had no choice but to follow.

There were four of them and two already had Susan and were cutting her clothes off. When I came around the corner, the other two were waiting for me.

I suppose that I could have handled things differently, but from what I know now, it wouldn't have made a difference. Both guys had knives. One of them almost got me right off the bat, but I managed to get out of the way. Then things got serious. They knew what they were doing. I could tell that they were street brawlers - guys that love to fight just to do it.

I was distracted by Susan's scream and realized that things were really bad.

Again he paused, his eyes open, but seeing nothing in the room.

Everything seemed to speed up. I got the knife from one of them, but the third one had left Susan and was coming for me. He tried to stab me in the back, but I twisted and he only cut my side. He was the first on I... the first one I killed. I was out of time, they were no longer playing cat and mouse.

The other two attacked me, but now I was armed as well. I was always very good with edged weapons, but I still took another cut before I could kill the second guy.

The final one I was fighting started screaming for help. Seeing two of his pals down, the last guy left Susan and joined his friend. He wasn't as good as the other ones had been, so I concentrated on the greater threat. I was almost killed when the fourth guy, after backing out with a slash on his arm called my name.

Kenny, he said, I know you, you fuck! You're gonna pay this time!

I didn't know who it was, but rather than heading for me, the guy ran for Susan. I got sloppy and took another cut, which focused me real quick. Then, taking a chance, I threw the knife my opponent. It was a good knife, well made and well balanced and it lodged in his throat. I only found that out later though because I was racing toward Susan.

He stopped again, tears in his eyes. Neither Ari nor Jane's faces were dry either.

I was too late. The bastard killed her when he saw me was coming for him. Then he went for me. I finally recognized him. It was Jed.

Oddly enough I was in complete control now. No anger, no fear, just focus. I beat him. Badly. But I didn't kill him - I just ensured that he'd never walk again. I might have done more, but once he was down I ran to Susan. The police arrived at the scene at about that time as well.

There was no way I could save her - her throat had been cut and she was already dead. Of course, the police were no help and I ended up in a cell - after a quick trip to the hospital - because one of them grabbed me and punched me in the mouth. He thought that I'd killed Susan. I broke his arm in three places before they could stop me.

The next month was horrible. It didn't take long for the police to figure out what had happened. Every one of those guys had warrants out for their arrest because they were known murderers and had skipped parole. Jed had a record of minor offenses, but he wasn't talking, other than to a lawyer to try and sue me.

Susan's mother went ballistic on me. In fact, during the trial she blamed me for her daughter's death and went completely off the deep end.

In the end I was absolved of any guilt and Jed was put away for life for murder. I was offered a reward for the three that I'd taken care of, but I refused it. The papers plagued me, the TV people plagued me. Susan's mother continued to call and harass me, going deeper and deeper into insanity. She had plenty of things to say to the papers and they ate it up.

She killed herself a month or so after the trial and tried to set me up for it. She should have had better timing since I was already here in California trying to hide from everyone. The case was an obvious suicide anyway.

I gave up the arts after that. I just couldn't bring myself to continue. I changed my life a lot, finished college and got a job. I know now that I sort of just stopped living. I just existed from day to day.