Chapter 8: FINALLY!

"Say, Melinda, I guess I've got time. What did you want to discuss?" She looked at me, as if testing my mood.

"Let's go to your room and look at your computer," she said, not answering my question. So we both trooped upstairs. The girls had gone off like they'd planned, so the room was empty as I pulled up a spare chair and sat in front of my computer.

"What did you want me to do?" I asked her as I booted the older device.

"Well, while it boots up, I'll describe what's going on. As you know, Becky asked me to see if I could find any references on the Internet reporting anything similar to what you're experiencing. However, 'fawning women, telepathy, and visions' don't make for a very useful Google search string. You get a lot of nonsense stories about telepathy and other unrelated stuff. Yet, while I was trying to dig through the results, I found something interesting." She paused while the machine finished starting up and she told me to start my browser.

"Now don't get upset, Alex, but I want you to do a Google search on 'New Orleans Angel'." As soon as she said it, my heart dropped, because I knew just what it was about, but since she was bringing it up now, I knew it was going to be especially bad.

Typing in the search, I hit enter and watched the results. There were pages and pages detailing all kinds of information about me!

"You'd better go get the girls for me," I warned Melinda.

"Sorry, but we sent them off. You'll have to deal with it yourself. Besides, there's no hurry, none of that information is going anywhere. Luckily, most of it is old. It looks like your friends all started specifying 'not share' as an option on their various networking sites, but all the old information is still out there since the internet never really goes away."

I began looking up one site after another. A few were reactions to Mr. Rodriguez's articles in the Times Picayune newspaper. Others were rumors about where I was seen and what I'd been observed doing, but there were also photos and videos of us as I tried to figure out what was going on. There were videos of Anh prostrating herself on the sidewalk to me, there were photos of Allison being led by me out of the church, there were blogs about people flocking to Patricia's concerts in hopes of seeing me. There were pages and pages discussing what I had 'come to earth' to achieve, what lessons I was here to teach, and what I was looking for in who I picked to reward.

The pictures and videos were largely fuzzy, but, if you knew who you were looking for, you could tell who it was. I couldn't see any links associating the pages to us, here, but there were plenty of people who knew I'd just been to New Orleans, and I didn't doubt there were now plenty of people in New Orleans actively searching for me.

"Why didn't you tell me about this yesterday? Clearly this is pretty important."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't want to mess up your first date with Chalise and your first meeting with her mother," Melinda replied.

"Yeah, I can see that, still, it would have been nice to have known about this."

"Alex, this stuff has been up since you first got to New Orleans. You're not going to be able to take any of it down. I told you just so you'd be aware of it. There's nothing you can do about it, you just have to be ready to react if anyone asks you about it."

I groaned as I watched photos of the crowds that had clogged the French Quarter near our hotel after we'd left. The streets were filled with posers, all looking for a miraculous angel come to announce the apocalypse. There were also plenty of wacko blogs discussing such nonsense as well, describing how mankind was going to finally be punished for all their wicked ways. They blamed liberal policies, gays, immigrants and premarital sex. There seemed to be a direct correlation between crazy responses and conservative movements. I knew that not all conservatives were nuts, but there seemed to be plenty of crazy assed right-wing individuals spouting nonsense here! I guess anyone who didn't like how things currently were, secretly wishing God would simply do away with it all.

I figured I'd better try to do something.

'Brooke?' I mentally called.

'Alex? Duh, like I have to ask. There's no one else I know who'll talk in my head. What's up?' she replied.

'Well, there's a bit of a problem. It seems news of me when I was in New Orleans has been spreading across the Internet.'

'Really? I never even thought of searching for anything. However, I'm not surprised. You should see what's been going on here after you left. There's practically a cult mentality around here. I don't think any of it is due to your Watchers, though. The religious establishment is in a tizzy. Most church groups are denouncing it, although a few are trying to capitalize on it. There's even one guy selling bottles of holy water blessed by you for 'personal healings'.'

'Wow, that's amazing, ' I told her. 'I had no idea such things were still going on there. Should I be concerned with it?'

'Personally, I don't think so. All of this is extraneous to what you were doing. It's mostly people looking for a religious sign rather than any of your people.'

'Well, there are pictures and videos showing several of us on the Internet and YouTube, ' I pointed out.

'Well, that's a concern, I'm sure, but everyone is looking for you here. I don't think anyone will connect what's happening here with you up there. I'd just let it all pass on its own. Let the crazies have their days in the sun and just live your own life in peace.'

'Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, it's disconcerting to see my face plastered all over the Internet. I mean, a lot of people here know I was in New Orleans. If any of them make the connection... '

'And why would they?' she pointed out. 'There's no reason for them to do extensive background research on your vacation. Even if they do make the connection, it would be easy enough to deny. Just say you were standing near the angel and never actually saw much. I don't think it's a serious risk.'

'OK, that makes me feel better. Still, I think I should coordinate with the community of Watchers down there.'

'That would make sense, but I don't think Rebecca or I would be the best for that. Actually, I'd contact Patricia about it. She's more connected with the whole community. She's been getting a lot of publicity due to this whole thing, as people are flocking to her concerts every night. I think the Watchers would listen to anything she said to them, as she's a recognized follower of yours.'

'Wow, there's a lot I've been missing. I guess I should be talking with all of you more frequently. What about the papers, are they still pursuing the issue?'

'Not really. You have to remember, Albert Rodriguez's articles are opinion/community pieces. There's no news or fact checking involved, and he's not likely to risk publishing unsubstantiated pictures in a paper and put himself and his paper in danger of a potential lawsuit. He keeps talking about the excesses of the people clamoring about you, but that's pretty much what you want anyway, isn't it?'

'Man, I never thought he'd become an ally. Well, thanks for the info Brooke. It's nice to know what's going on.'

'Yeah, we figured you were busy enough trying to adjust to life since leaving. We really didn't want to burden you with anything you didn't have any real control over.'

'That makes sense. Just make sure you tell me if anything changes, OK?'

'Sure, we're always anxious to speak with you. Oh, by the way, before you go, Rebecca and I need you to show up at the Memorial Hospital in Carbondale at 4:30 on Tuesday. OK? We'll only be able to spend the afternoon, though.'

'Uh, sure, I guess. What for?'

'Rebecca and I made some arrangements to see if we can get the testing you asked for, but we'll have to do some negotiating to see if we can get them to do it. We have a plan, so when you get there just play along. We'll give you more information once you get there.'

'OK, I'll play along. I trust you enough to assume you know what you're doing, and I'm sure Becky will be pleased to get the information, if we can arrange it. I'll be there.'

'Thanks, Alex, and say hello to everyone up there for me. Tell Kitty we were all impressed by her when we spoke, and apologize to Chalise for not getting to speak with her.'

'I will, Brooke. I'm going to talk to Patricia now so I'll talk to you later.'

We said goodbye and I glanced at Melinda before I continued, realizing I'd been sitting silently while she'd been sitting here, simply watching me.

"Are you done? Man, it's fascinating watching you do your magic. What did you learn?" she asked, prompting me for information.

"Quite a bit. Brooke, the EMT down in Orleans, knows about a lot more activity down there than we were aware of, but doesn't think it'll affect me personally. She suggests we just let it all play out on its own, but she suggests I speak with Patricia about speaking to the Watchers. She's become associated in the public's mind with me and they all recognize her as one of my 'followers'."

"Wow, that's amazing. Not the telepathy so much, because you could have done the same with a cell phone, but the fact you can do it all just sitting there. Also the fact that you take charge and get things done," she said, looking at me oddly.

"Hold on, Melinda, I'm going to talk to Patricia before we go any farther," I told her. She paused and continued watching me.

'Patricia? It's Alex, ' I called.

'Well of course it is. I assume whenever a strange voice speaks in my head, that it's you. Besides, you have your own mental voice that I associate with you. What's up?'

'My sister, Melinda, in the course of some research, turned up a whole trove of information on the Internet about all of us, including photos and videos. I was concerned, but Brooke brought me up to date on what's been going on down there. She convinced me it's probably best just to let it blow over, since most of it isn't associated with any of our people. She said you were more associated with the Watcher community than she is.'

'Yeah, I've gotten a bit of a reputation for being associated with you. It's kind of a mixed blessing. The nightclub is packed every night because of it, but I get more people asking about you than I do comments about my performance. They've added several shows every night, and they're talking about extending my contract here another couple of weeks since I'm pulling in so much business and generating so much attention.

'Basically, most of the attention is from the poser community, various religious figures or people who want something to reinforce their faith in God. I see and talk with several people from the Watchers, but most of the attention is from people looking for something other than what you're responsible for. I agree with Brooke, you'd best just avoid all the mess down here. I'm sure it'll play out as long as nothing else happens. Pretty soon everyone will forget all about it.'

'Thanks for that information, Patricia, I appreciate the update. I figured I should have a more direct connection to the Watchers down there. I'd like it if you could talk to Peter, David and Darice and arrange something with them. You can find them at Peter's coffee shop. I think the people there are all familiar with his relationship with me, so they can get a message if you can't find him. I think you should help the community down there move forward. See if you can use your new abilities to help train some of them on how to use their own more limited abilities. I want them to learn how to trust their own intuitions, but to know what's generated by their access to this energy and what's not. Do you think you can do all of that?'

'Alex, anything you ask me to do, I'll gladly do. Yeah, I think I can arrange that. I think most of them are like you are. They have an ability, but they can't actually measure or feel it themselves, so they don't know how to apply it. I'll be glad to see if I can get them more organized in their approach and maybe start up a training program for it. It'd be nice if I could recognize the Watchers myself, but there really isn't much difference in the auras from those of normal people. It's a bit brighter but not much. I think they don't actually have more energy so much as they have the ability to deal with it. Don't worry, Alex, I won't let you down, ' she assured me.

'Thanks, Patricia, I knew I could count on you, although I never knew you were quite so tied into the whole community down there. It's nice to know some good can come from all of this attention.'

'Yeah, the only downside is that it'll take longer before I can see you again. We all miss you down here. Brooke, Rebecca and I get together fairly often, although we mostly talk about how amazing you are.'

'I'm sure there's more interesting things for three beautiful, resourceful women to talk about than poor little me, ' I protested.

'Honestly, Alex, there's nothing more fascinating than you right now. You don't think we'd all be so captivated by you if you were as simple as you keep pretending to be. Anyway, I'll take care of things. I'm glad to finally be doing something for you.'

After we finished up, I focused on Melinda again. Since I'd been in my own little mental world, I asked her how long I'd been gone. She told me I'd only taken a few moments so I was relieved, although she told me I tended to get this blank vacant look while I was doing it, making me think I should try to correct that.

I told her about all that I'd discussed and what we'd decided and she seemed fascinated. She started to go on about how she was impressed with how decisive I'd become. About how I no longer took anyone's nonsense and how I stood up, not only for myself, but for everyone I cared about. Then she started to tell me just how much that impressed her.

About that time she started to lean into me, running her hand across my chest. I was a bit taken aback, so I simply sat there, wondering what was going on.

"You'd never believe the kind of guys I have to deal with out there in college, Alex. All these self-absorbed guys with nothing to do but get high and try to score. They've got no sense of responsibility, and they don't even bother studying most of the time. You, on the other hand, are really making a difference. You're interested in all these people you didn't even know about until just a few weeks ago. You care about them and want to help. You care about what people think about those close to you, and you'd risk yourself, not in making yourself bigger than you are, but strictly for other people. I wish there were more people as noble as you are."

With that, she leaned in and kissed me. Shocked, I pulled back, but she followed me in. It was a simple kiss, just a meeting of the lips, but she put a bit into it. Enough that I could tell it wasn't just a spur of the moment thing. She took her time to caress my lips with her own, just a gentle pressure, a light grazing. It was mesmerizing in its simplicity. Against my better judgment, I responded. I kissed her back as her hands began to roam across my chest. After a few moments, once we'd established we were both involved in the kiss, she drew me up out of my chair and pulled me to sit beside her on my bed. There we proceeded to kiss a bit more intimately.

It was still largely chaste. There was a bit more tongue involved, and her hands were certainly busy, but it was much more an exploration than an aggressive sexual move. Finally I pulled back.

"Melinda, are you sure about this? I mean, you're my sister, and we've never been particularly close before."

"No, we weren't, and I'm beginning to sense what I've been missing. I've never known anyone like you before, Alex. You don't have the whole 'bad boy' attraction going for you, but you manage to exemplify everything I've always wanted in a man. I just want a chance to experience what a genuine, sexy, caring man is like. I've always heard men like you existed, but my own experiences never confirmed it. Now I find the perfect example, and he's been living with me his whole life. Now shut up and kiss me again."

So we did, we ended up flat on my back, kissing and groping. Again, it wasn't a blind sexual grope, instead it was like she was searching, trying to feel my essence through my skin, trying to measure the extent of my physique with her fingers. It had its own attraction and I was fascinated in return. Figuring it was safe for me to be a bit more aggressive, I rolled us over so I was over her. She seemed to appreciate this, as her kisses became more intense. Soon, given the increased ardor of our kissing, she took my hand and pressed it against her breast. I felt my own sister's breast through her shirt and bra, thinking just how strange all of this was.

Here I was, with one of my more distant older sisters, and she was kissing me, telling me how I was the embodiment of what she'd been looking for in a man. It was odd, but in another way it was intoxicating. We'd never been close in the past. Generally both she and Becky had their own lives and their own concerns, while I mostly took care of Cate. She and I were the ones who connected with each other. Even my parents were more distant with Melinda and Becky, since they didn't seem to need my parents as much as Cate and I did. They were always more independent and willful, insisting they could do everything on their own. I guess now Melinda was beginning to appreciate some of what she'd missed by maintaining that attitude.

I slowly worked my hand up under her blouse, which had become dislodged during our wrestling around the bed, and I wrapped my hand around her bra encased breast. So far I hadn't had much experience with bras. Most of my encounters with my women had all occurred late at night, in my own bed, after everyone had taken off their clothes. In fact they usually were careful to pick up my own clothes and hang them up for me rather than having me fumble with their own, so I was unprepared for how to deal with this most common of limitations.

"In the back," she whispered, rolling us over slightly so I'd have access to the necessary fastening. While I busied myself trying to work the little hooks, my other hand simply stole under the bra cup to grasp her naked breast. She gasped as I did, but I kept my touch light, just as light as her initial kisses had been. Given all she'd told me about how rude the men in her life had been, I didn't want to scare her by being overly aggressive, so I made sure to be gentle and caring in all of my moves.

After a bit of a struggle I finally managed to spring her bra free, giving me more freedom of movement. With the cup released, I teased her nipples, something I was more familiar with. As I played with it she started moaning, running her hand down to my ass as she pulled me to her with a greater urgency. But that was about as far as it went. She didn't go searching in my pants, or grabbing at my cock. Instead she simply reveled in my manipulation of her breast, never releasing me from my kiss except to gasp for breath occasionally.

"I can certainly see what those girls see in you," she gasped. "I'd thought, given the comments from the girls, that maybe your attraction had something to do with your size or something, but your touch is electrifying. And, what's more... ," she paused for an extended moan as I gently twisting her nipples, "what's more is that you genuinely care for me. I can feel your interest in me by how gentle you're being. How much you care whether this is good for me, rather than simply seeking your own release. Man, Kitty and Chalise have no idea what they have in store for them."

I had to kiss her again after this little monologue, because it was starting to get embarrassing. I was simply returning her own feelings, I wasn't doing any more than the situation warranted. I didn't understand how she could misinterpret a simple kiss, but I figured it was easy enough to just kiss her. She was soon too busy wrestling with my tongue to talk any more about how I was so much more than I actually was.

We continued rolling around the bed for a while. I progressed to loving her beautiful breasts with my mouth, but she was too busy moaning and calling my name to talk about me anymore. She had lovely breasts, certainly larger than either of her siblings, but they were still quite sensitive as she seemed riveted by my attention to them. We never progressed beyond this stage, which was fine by me, since I didn't want to push her beyond where we'd already progressed until we had some time to measure how we both actually felt about this. This was new ground for us both, so I wanted to give her plenty of time to decide if this was what she actually wanted or not.

Finally we eased up when we heard motion outside. I pulled away, and gently kissed her nose and she started to pull her blouse down once again.

"This was wonderful, Melinda," I told her gently, "but I want you to think about this a little before we commit ourselves to it any more. You're too important to me for me to want to mess up our relationship doing anything you may regret later. I don't want to take advantage of any vulnerability you may feel. Let's cool it for now, just enjoying our normal sibling interplay for a bit, and we'll see how we feel when you come back next weekend. OK?"

We both sat up and started to get ourselves presentable again as she responded. "Alex, that was the most beautiful thing I think I've ever experienced. That you'd take the time to make sure I was receptive and to move at my own pace means more to me than you can imagine. I don't think I'll find you any less sexy an individual in a week's time, but I'm willing to wait simply because you're worth it. This is important, and I'm willing to work at something that's important to me."

So we got ourselves presentable again and went down to see what everyone had bought. They'd picked up a lot of things for me and, while it was all quite nice, I think they were more interested in it than I was. I finally left them to talk about it while I again went to the kitchen to forage for some food. I guess you all know about growing boys and their constant desire for something to eat.

Nothing much happened for the rest of the afternoon. I told everyone what I'd arranged with Patricia, and about my plans to go to the hospital for Brooke and Rebecca on Tuesday. I suggested that Becky might want to accompany me, although while Cate's presence would be appreciated, I felt it might convey the wrong impression if it looked like a couple of teen agers were obsessing about things they didn't understand. If it was addressed by older individuals, I thought the officials of the hospital might respect our requests more.