Chapter 7: Abandonment

Naples: Monday Evening

I needed some air, so I decided to go for a walk, get away from that whole building, that whole scene. I wanted to be alone with my thoughts, sort some things out. Tears were running down my face. I was maybe a mile away when I got that tunnel vision, the little twinges that gave me warning another one was coming. I sat down on a bench, tried to act nonchalant as the women on the street all just kind of stopped for a few moments, and the men all got worried. I was worried, too; I looked around, waiting for the men in black to take me to Area 51 or something, but nobody showed up. I let out a sigh of relief.

After that, I struggled to my feet and kept walking. The sun was setting. I was sleep deprived. I was emotionally exhausted. I wanted to just try to sleep through the night, although I had no faith in succeeding. There was a key sitting on my pillow. Domingo was sitting at the table, reading one of his textbooks. "They got you your own private room tonight, 'mano." He shook his head. "Dios!" He rubbed his eyes. "At least I will be able to sleep well. You kept me up sick with worry. I hope it will do good for you, too."

Good thing I was mostly living out of my suitcases - in 4 weeks we were going to the north of Italy, so I figured why bother unpacking just to pack again in a month? And I had a mostly-packed bag from the Africa trip, so re-assembling my brief Italian life was a cinch. I checked the tag attached to the key - the room was on the first floor - probably the best way to quickly shunt me into a car to the airport.

I held my hand out to Domingo. "Dom, I'll miss you. You were a good roommate."

He stood up, grabbed my hand, and then pulled me into a hug. "I'll miss you too, hermano. You take care of yourself. May God bless you."

I thought back over the seizures. "I'm sure, if there is one, he hasn't."

Domingo got that crazy look of the devout in his eyes. "Oh, I'm sure He has," he said, nodding. "He has a plan for all of us."

I just laughed and clapped him on the back. "Oh, I'm sure," I snarked, good-naturedly. Then I picked up my bags and headed to my new room while he went back to his studying. I grinned at him. "At least you have your own room now."

He looked at me, grimly. "Any other circumstances, hermano, and I would be grateful."

"I know, dude. I know."

With that, I made my way down the stairs to room 193. I ran into Edward and Ingrid in the stairwell. They were holding hands.

"Hey, dude," Edward said. "I was just coming to look for you, clue you in on the whole housing situation."

I held up the key. "Yeah, Dom already told me."

"Wild, isn't it? I didn't even know they had rooms on the first floor. I thought that was all managerial stuff, offices and whatnot. But they've got a few rooms for when out-of-town higher ups have to stay over. I hear they're pretty lush, but compared to the closets they stuck us in, that's not saying much."

I laughed. "So, you're flying with me back tomorrow?"

"Yep, and sleeping there for 8 hours, then getting on another plane back here."

I winced. "Ouch. Sorry to have to make you do that."

"Oh, dude. Totally not your fault." Edward slapped my back. "Sorry to hear about Valerie. Ingrid told me."

I looked at Ingrid. "I know, I know, I shouldn't have said anything. The other girls will kill me."

"Me and Valerie? What?" I shook my head, trying to get those memories out of my head. "Wait. Other girls? What do they have to do with this?"

"Oops." She looked like a kid with her hand caught in the cookie jar. "You weren't supposed to know that."

I crossed my arms and tried glaring at her. "Okay. Explain, Ingrid."

She cracked, easily. You wouldn't want her having any vital secrets. The words came spilling out of her. "So, like, we know you're all hot for Valerie and so we all decided to give you a little space while Miss DeLuca tried to get you two together so you could give her a 'proper goodbye' with lots of fucking and sucking and all that stuff." She took a deep breath. "We were hoping you'd even have a seizure so you could claim her and make her one of yours."

"Um, what?" So the hare-brained scheme of Marissa's to set me up with Valerie wasn't just hers, they'd all hatched it. "So all of you were behind that train wreck?"

"I'm sorry! We really thought it would work. Miss DeLuca was absolutely devastated."

"You shouldn't worry so bad about Valerie. You have a lot of other girls who want to make you happy."

The way she phrased that made me wonder. "Do you want to make me happy, Ingrid?"

She giggled. "Well, uh, I guess? I want to see you happy."

I looked at her hand clasped with Edward's. "What about Eddie?"

"He's your friend. I'm sure he wants to see you happy, too."

"Yeah, dude." He put his arm around Ingrid. "I don't even mind sharing."

"Speaking of sharing," I said, looking at them together. "You mind if we try a little experiment?"

"Sure," they said, almost simultaneously.

"Ward, remember how you wanted to give Ingrid suggestions, control her like I could?"

Ingrid looked at Edward; he looked sheepish as she started laughing. "Really?" She was blushing, now. "I'd like that."

"Fuck yeah."

I shook my head, incredulous. "Doesn't this all strike you guys as a little strange? The mind control, the group orgasms, the seizures, the trances?"

They shrugged. Ingrid said, "Sure, it's strange. But, like, it feels normal, too. Like family, y'know? Family can be strange, but it's a comfortable strange."

Edward was nodding. "Better than freaking out about it, you know? It's cool."

That was just weird. "Um, okay." I was really uncomfortable; I tried to segue into another topic. "So, Svengali."

Edward grinned. "Sven Golly. Weird name."

I rolled my eyes at him, then turned to Ingrid.

"Just look into my eyes," I said, "Remember how it felt to be in the trance, relaxed, focused entirely on me. When I count from 3 to 1 you'll find yourself in that trance state, focused on me, open to suggestions and commands, ready for instruction."

Her eyes just got glassy, and she murmured, " ... ready for instruction..."

So I counted from 3 to 1. At one, she stopped, stumbled for a moment, then started walking again. "Are you entranced, Ingrid?"

" ... yeah..."

"Do you like Ward?"

" ... I like Eddie, yeah..."

I looked at Edward. "You bastard, you better be thankful."

"Ingrid..."

I put my hand up. "She won't respond to you. yet" Then, turning back to her, I continued. "Ingrid, I want you to think of a word that always makes you happy. A word that you'd always like to have bring you back to this restful, relaxing place. Once you know that word, say it to me."

" ... ginger..."

"Now, Ingrid, if either Ward or myself call you Ginger, and it's obvious what we're after, you will immediately fall into this trance. If Ward says the word, you'll focus on him like you're focused on me. But my commands and suggestions will always be stronger than his." I wanted to be able to clean up any messes he might make. "Are you okay with this, Ingrid?"

A small giggle, " ... yeah..."

"Ingrid, wake up, remembering this one trance."

She woke up. It was only a few more steps to the doors of the housing complex, so we just walked there. "How was it?" I asked.

She blushed. "Good. So I'm, like, a gift for Eddie now?" She giggled, nudging him. "I guess I should wrap myself up for him."

Yeah, that made me laugh. "I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

Eddie looked at Ingrid, speculation in his eyes. "How long is it going to last?"

"I have no idea! Maybe forever."

"Holy crap!" His face was unreadable, astonishment and excitement and horror all mixed into one bounty. "That's heavy. That's a lot of shit."

"Just, y'know, be careful, okay? Don't mess her up."

"Dude," he let out a breath of air and scratched his head. "How do I do that?"

"I have no idea. I've probably messed up Missy and Shelly already, and maybe Ingrid too, now."

"Hey! I'm not messed up." She winked at Edward. "I'll see you in the room," she added, then walked off.

I sighed, and looked at Edward. "Just ... Ward, promise you'll be careful, okay? Think things through. Don't say stuff that just comes into your head."

"Um ... yeah. Wow." He shook his head in disbelief. "Well, dude, I should get up there. Don't want to keep her waiting."

"Yeah, holding these bags is killing me. I'll see you tomorrow. Have fun."

"You too!"

I just shook my head at his enthusiasm.

Naples: Monday Night

I unlocked the door to room 193, which was down at the end of a hall of doors to offices and conference rooms. Inside, I heard the shower in the bathroom running. I tried to remember enough rudimentary Italian to talk to whoever might be in here, since I figured it was middle management. "Allo? Che c'e?"

A female voice spouted Italian back at me, quicker than I could ever hope to translate. The only word I caught was valigia, which means suitcase or bag. I assumed she thought I was a porter or a bellman. "Io non sono un vicino" I shouted out, trying to let her know I wasn't a bellboy.

Then I heard giggling. "Like, I know that, Eric."

"Bobbie?! What are you doing in there?"

"Um, getting clean?"

"No, I mean, why are you in my room? This room, whatever."

"Wait there." The shower turned off. She kept shouting, as if the water was still running. "I mean, I'll be out..." (she dropped her volume) " ... in a sec to, like, explain."

I dropped my bags on the ground and sat down on the bed. This would be interesting.

She came out of the steamy bathroom in a barely-closed robe, drying her hair. It was distracting. "Sorry about that. I mean, for the shouting."

"I don't care about the shouting." I just stared, incredulously, waiting for an explanation as to why she was naked in my new room. Okay, maybe I got a little peek. She had a long scar across her belly - she didn't have a belly button.

"Well, we heard about what happened with Val, and we decided you needed to be cheered up. We thought about all coming down here, but figured that'd be a little overwhelming."

"'We'?"

"Like, the girls." She rolled her eyes. "You know, I mean, your harem?" She stuck her tongue out.

I winced at that word. "I don't have a harem."

She giggled. "You might not admit it, but you do. I mean, those girls would do anything for you." She shook her head in wonder. "And, like, so would I?"

I buried my head in my hands. "Why?"

"Um, like, the magic penis, I guess?" At my stricken look, she tried to backpedal. "No, no, I mean, no. Eric, don't feel bad. Seriously, you're a good guy. Maybe we wouldn't have thrown ourselves at you without the whole mojo thing, but do you hear us complaining?" She sighed. "I mean, like, we're conspiring to make sure you're happy. We're throwing ourselves, and other women, at you."

"So, uh, when did 'they' become 'we'?"

"Like, I don't know." She blushed. "I think it happened during the Valerie Conspiracy." She giggled. "We were talking about what to do to help you feel better, and I volunteered."