Chapter 10: When It Rains...

Renée was smiling like a school girl. I couldn't help but mirror the sentiment. "That's one hell of a kiss you have there, mister," she said tauntingly.

I started to lean in to kiss her again but a sound from the other room caught my attention.

I looked past Renée and noticed the woman on the floor moaning and moving. Immediately I put myself between the woman and Renée. I wouldn't let her touch any of them.

Erin and Chloe knew immediately what got my attention. Renée looked over my shoulder. "Should she be awake already?" she asked.

I shook my head. "She should sleep for a few hours. I hit her that hard."

Erin and Chloe approached but they too stayed behind me. Erin said, "She looks like she's having a nightmare..."

I had to agree. The woman wasn't really struggling against her bonds but moved as if something were agitating her.

I walked toward her. Chloe immediately held out a pair of my shorts. I didn't even think, just grabbed them and slipped them on. It wasn't a matter of what could happen, I had just thought it would be nice to have something to wear and she had apparently felt the same.

The girls followed but kept close to the bedroom door. I went to the woman and pulled her over so I could see her face. Erin had even blindfolded her. It was a good idea.

Her breathing was labored. I checked the gag but it only cut across her mouth, nothing was in it. I felt her neck and found her pulse racing.

She began to hyperventilate. I took off the gag and found the top of the zipper for her suit. I pulled it down halfway since it was in the front. Still she couldn't seem to get enough air. I gripped her head, allowing my hands to come into full contact with her skin. Immediately I got the sensation that the air was leaving the room.

I let go of the woman instinctively, caught my breath and then grabbed her again, holding my breath as if diving under water.

My lungs burned and I could feel what she was going through. What I couldn't do was stop it. I poured my ability to change her body into her and just allowed it to do whatever it could but there was technically nothing wrong with her. She believed she wasn't getting enough air and her body was responding to that belief.

I drove into her mind, seeking the source of the problem but something shoved me back out. By the time I shook off the effect and caught my breath again, she lay still.

"No! No no no no no no no no!" I ripped the blindfold off and her eyes were wide open and blank. Oddly enough, I found her mark. It was a small star next to her right eye. And it was gray.

Everyone surged forward. Erin asked, "What's wrong?"

I held my hand out to her. "Take my hand, ground me here."

She took my hand and knelt next to me. Chloe and Renée took up positions around me, laying their hands on my back.

I again dove into the woman's mind. Immediately I was swallowed up in darkness.

Looking around, I saw nothing. Lots and lots of nothing. I tried seeking the woman like I had done with Renée, but I didn't have a bond with her. I moved in every conceivable direction, but there was only the infinite nothingness of the Void. There would be no way for me to find her, no way for me to bring her back.

I looked up and felt Erin, Chloe and Renée still there. I went to them and sat up on the floor.

Chloe looked scared. Erin knew that I was unsuccessful without me saying anything. Renée leaned into my back.

Gingerly, I pulled away from the woman's body on the floor. Things had just become much more complicated.

A phone began ringing. It was mine, back in the bedroom. Chloe just got up and got it.

Caller ID showed nothing. It didn't even say "No Name, No Number."

I flipped open the phone and put it to my ear. "You're a little late, Whisper."

"The first attacker has failed, but there will be more Ral."

"How do you know this?" I got up and began pacing.

"That is what I do. Unfortunately, it has also become my liability."

"That's rich. What kind of liability could it be to know how events turn out for other people?"

"The kind that would have the same people sending attackers to me."

That got my attention. I stopped and listened intently at the phone. "You've been attacked?"

The others looked at one another nervously and then back to me.

"Yes, but not as directly as yourself. As you already know, I have many safeguards in place to conceal my true identity. And as of right now the only person I can trust is you."

"You're not just calling to advise me then, are you?"

"No, I need to meet you."

I shook my head but knew he couldn't see it. "I'm in New York, not Texas."

"There are times you can be very frustrating in not accepting what others say, Ral. I'm in New York too. I'm standing in the alley right across the street from your hotel."

"I take it you want to meet now."

"Yes, please. Time is of great importance. You have to get your girls and self out of the hotel or there will be many others there looking for you."

"Got it. I'll put them in a cab and meet you in the alley." Erin gave me a part curious, part confused look at that.

"I didn't think you would leave."

"No, I want to make sure the fight stays here and doesn't follow them." I answered Whisper as much as Erin.

"Very good. New York will suit our purposes perfectly."

"What purposes?"

"I will tell you when you meet me," and with that he hung up.

"Ral, you can't stay. Whoever sent this woman will send more. They don't even care about those they send, killing them when they fail!" Erin was starting to lose it.

"And that's why I'm going to act as live bait. I want you, Chloe and Renée out of the city before night fall, and I want whoever this is to know that I'm staying. Hopefully they're too intent on getting to me to worry about you."

Chloe looked too stunned to speak. Renée seemed shocked but didn't look it.

"Whisper says more are on the way already. Please, do as I ask. As soon as I know you're safe then I can go in a different direction and hide too. Okay?"

Erin nodded and hugged me again. "God, I hope you're right Ral. I don't want anything to happen to you but we can't do anything to defend ourselves."

I pulled her back and looked her in the eyes. "Yes you can. Take my laptop with you. It has a copy of Master PC in it. Use it if you have to. Okay?"

She nodded. We had spent a great deal of time writing up defensive skills and such in plain text to copy and paste into the command window of anyone's profile. We had tested many of them to make sure they did exactly what we intended but there were a couple we were afraid to test. I only hoped they wouldn't have to use those commands.

"Ral, maybe I can help," offered Renée.

I knew what she was thinking. With her new control over her ability to change appearance she could blend in with crowds. "I appreciate the offer Renée. But if they catch you it won't matter what your appearance is. They will still have you."

Erin and Chloe had gotten up to go start packing but stopped for this. "What do you mean?" Chloe asked both me and Renée.

"I'm sorry for not getting to tell you too. Things have been moving too fast." I stepped up to Renée and took her hand. "Show them."

She smiled at me and then at Erin and Chloe. She made some changes to herself and then went back to the Renée we had all grown accustomed to. Erin and Chloe were shocked. It was a day of shocks, but things couldn't slow down now.

"Renée, go with them. Help them pack and tell them about the meeting. I've got to call Michael."

She nodded, knowing that I would still refuse her help. She turned and stopped while looking at the woman on the floor. "Ral, if someone was able to kill this girl without even having her in sight then wouldn't that mean..."

I don't think she wanted to think of me falling to similar circumstances. "I don't think so. There had to be some kind of connection between her and whoever killed her. Her reaction was completely in her mind. There was nothing physically wrong with her."