Chapter 5

The plane was up and well on it's way before Anna spoke. It was her first time on an airplane and she had watched out the window with fascination as it taxied and took flight.

Once she had decided that one area of vast blue ocean looked very much like the next area of vast blue ocean, she turned to me with a smile.

"So why am I here and not Elenita?"

She was blunt. Cute ... well, gorgeous really, but blunt.

"You don't think I might prefer you? You are very beautiful."

She regarded me briefly, "You think I am pretty, yes ... but you do not love me."

"What makes you think I love Elenita?"

"The way you are when you talk about her – same-same with her when she talk about you. You and she ... very much in love, I think."

Elenita was right, this girl was very perceptive.

"Sometimes love isn't enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes the ... situation ... means that love is not possible."

"But ... it is. You do love her."

"Okay, sometimes the situation means that love cannot be acted upon."

"O-o, talaga (yes, that is true), I can understand. At home ... before ... I am in love with Jory. We are going to getting married ... but then I come to Manila."

"Paumanhin iyo. (I am sorry for you) maybe he will wait for you."

"No," she said, a sad look in her eye, "he will not ... not with what I have become ... what I do ... but, utang ng loob ... I must help my family." She said that last part with small shrug.

Utang ng loob, or 'debt of the heart' is a nearly inviolate obligation among Filipinos and many other areas of the western Pacific and Asia especially among family centered cultures.

I put my arm around her slim shoulders, "I think he would be very foolish not to. I think you are a girl who is worth waiting for ... worth loving, no matter what you must do."

She looked at me, puzzled, "And Elenita is not?"

"That is different. It is not her situation ... it is mine."

"She is telling me what you do ... like pulis (police man) ... tapos ... not pulis."

"Sort of, but the men I look for are very bad ... very dangerous."

"I see. You want to protect her from men who might hurt her ... so you hurt her instead ... and..." her eyes studied me, "you hurt yourself also."

"The 'hurt' that I cause is one she will get over. She will meet someone else and be happy."

"Maybe yes, maybe no ... but I think you will not ... get over."

Scarey perceptive.

Or was this why Elenita had insisted I bring her ... to convince me to marry her.

"Look," I pointed out the window towards the island just coming into view, "There is Boracay."

My clumsy ruse worked and she became distracted by the scenery once again as we flew over our destination. There were no airports in Boracay so our Cebu-Pacific flight would land in Caticlan and we would take a ferry to Boracay. Despite our relatively early departure, it would be fairly late in the day before we would be settled in our hotel.

While watching the memories of Anna and Mirabel I had noticed one particular brochure had gotten most of my target's attention and had booked a room at that resort. Tomorrow I would engage in small talk with the desk clerks and maids to see if he was indeed staying there and what room or villa he was in.

It wasn't a sure thing, and if I struck out I would have to visit all the other resorts until I found someone with his face in their memory. Anna could be with me a day or a week – I found myself hoping it would take a while, but knowing what that would mean to the women he had taken, I would try and find him as fast as I could.

After landing in Caticlan we took a shuttle to the port and boarded a ferry. There wasn't much conversation during the boat ride as it seemed Anna was much better with air travel than she was with sea travel. I couldn't blame her. The ferry boats, despite being fairly large were very light, narrow craft with large outriggers to either side for stability. They tended to ride with the waves, rather than cut though them. Not too bad, generally, but the ocean was a bit rough that day.

It was nearly dinner time when we reached the resort. It had several types of accommodations available. One or two room suites in several three story buildings that lined a main drive, duplex bungalows nearer the water and larger, single occupant villas along some of the better stretches of the white sand beaches. They could have gone with taller buildings for the multiplexes, but more than three floors meant elevators – which were more suited to the high-rise hotels along the more densely populated economic zones.

The desk clerk and bellhop didn't have any memory of my target so we simply checked in. We were in a two room suite on the top floor of one of the multiplexes. From our large balcony we had a good view of the wide sky, the lush hilly landscape and the never ending ocean.

The ocean view was very different from the dense jungle and rice terraces she had grown up with and, though those had a unique beauty all their own, this new vista had the lovely young lass enthralled.

Anna wasn't quite up to eating, so we made a brief, but leisurely exploration of the shops, pool and other offerings of the upscale resort. With her stomach settled, we ordered dinner from room service and ate it in the cool breeze of the well furnished balcony. As we ate, we were treated to a spectacular sight as a fiery golden sun settled into the shimmering blue ocean.

After dinner I called the front desk for an eight o'clock wake up while she luxuriated in the shower. At home the only shower she'd had was a bamboo spout during a heavy rain, and the one in her place in Manila had been pathetic. This one was a real treat.

When she was done I took one myself. I came out of the shower to find her sitting on the bed. As I approached she reached out and guided my rising cock into her mouth. I played no mind games this time. She enjoyed sex and I knew from my previous foray into her mind that when with a 'client' she didn't find desirable, she would imagine she was with her erstwhile lover, Jory. I did peek and found she wasn't doing that this time – which was flattering.

I could feel her ardor rising as she worked on my grateful cock – despite my lack of any empathic link and it didn't take long before she lay back, pulling me on top of her and guiding my straining cock into her warm, wet softness.

Sexy, sensitive and responsive, she had me on edge as quickly as she was. She came hard – that was the when I got the first hint of trouble.

I felt her cum and couldn't help but cum myself. Then came the rush. The peptides ... It should have been impossible as I had not established a link – but there it was.

I should have stopped then – I could have stopped then – but as the intoxication overtook me I chose not to.

I 'chose' not to...

I knew the exhilarating rush would be short lived and wanted more. One more orgasm, my befuddled mind reasoned, maybe two ... enough to let it ride for a while, then I would stop.

As though I would have any control.

My self imposed limit was quickly reached and surpassed with no resistance or the slightest second thought. We groped, stroked, rubbed and grappled for hours. Orgasm after orgasm shook us as we both became stoned on sex.

The loud ringing at eight o'clock woke me, still high as a kite. Her head was on my chest, the long, silky black hair erotically tickling my sides. I tried to reach the phone without waking her, but it proved impossible.

I groggily lifted the telephone handset then set it back down as I kicked myself for not stopping last night. I was now in no condition to work, but ... today was merely going to be simple reconnaissance – the gradual slide from my high shouldn't be too much of an impediment.

I knew I couldn't let it happen again ... as soon as I could think clearly enough to figure out exactly what 'it' was.

"Mmmm..." she purred, "I always like the giling-giling, but that was very different. I never feel that way before."

Her delicate fingers tickled at my cock but I stopped her.

"As much as I would like to continue with you," I said, gently moving her hand off my hardening member, "I have to work today. How about some coffee instead of sex?"

"Not as much fun," she giggled – I guess she was still a little high as well, "but if it is mocha, it is almost as good."

A girl after my own heart – cafe mocha was nearly as strong an addiction for me as sex. Now that the thought was in my head, I had to have some and I didn't intend to wait for room service. The previous night's dinner order had shown me how long that could take.

"That sounds perfect." I said, swinging my legs to the floor, "I'll run down to the restaurant and get it, you wait here."

She mumbled something and snuggled into the pillow.

I floated blissfully down the stairs and along the short road to the main building, returning greetings from the cheerful employees I passed along the way.

I made my way too quickly up the few stairs into the restaurant and held the rail as a short spell of vertigo dizzied my mind and slightly unsettled my stomach. I needed that coffee.

The large open air eatery was only about half full at this early hour and I told the hostess I was only there for some coffee to go. She took my order and invited me to have a seat while it was prepared and a waitress would bring it to me.

I made my way to the high tables facing the beach, noting several familiar faces I assumed I had seen either on the shuttle, in the lobby or while we had explored the resort's amenities the previous day.

While I waited, I tried to wrapped my impaired mind around what had happened with Anna. I knew I hadn't initiated a link, but it, or something very much like it, had been there.

If I hadn't done it ... there was only one other explanation that suddenly dawned on me. But it was an explanation that was so improbable as to be nearly impossible.

Anna was an empath! It would certainly explain her uncanny perceptiveness.

Nearly impossible, but not entirely. Feral telepaths – those that had the genetics but did not come from families with an active one who could guide the youngsters new to their power – were fairly rare, but not entirely uncommon either. Feral empaths were unheard of.

Perhaps, I reasoned, they were only unheard of because we didn't hear of them. A feral telepath attracted attention – if only ours – due to the confusion and stricken lives left in their wake. A feral empath wouldn't draw that sort of attention. I shuddered to think of some poor kid coming into his or her ability in a typical large city. An already confused and anxious adolescent feeling the tsunami of negative emotions from throngs of cynical and angry inhabitants. We didn't encounter these kids because they likely never survived for long – quickly driven into despair they likely killed themselves very early in their young and tortured lives.

But Anna had survived ... and thrived. She had grown up in a sparsely populated area, but it was still some sort of testament to her inner strength and tenacity, not to mention her family ... they must have been unusually positive and loving, even by this culture's standards. As her untrained ability manifested, she had felt that hope and love as the predominant emotions around her – neutralizing whatever negativity she certainly encountered from time to time.

Manila must have been very hard for this precious flower despite whatever inherent strength she possessed. There was no way I was going to send her back into that meat grinder.

Her stay with me was going to be short-lived after all. As soon as I got back to the room I was going to call Frank and have him send someone for her. She needed the support and training of other empaths before she would be able to survive for any real length of time outside of her protected environment. Whether she wound up working for the council or not, she needed that training.

I shuddered when I thought of what a typical street in Manila must have felt like. Well, that nightmare would soon be over for her. I was going to see to it.

It was then that I realized something other than Anna's plight was troubling me.

A tiny voice was trying to warn me that something about this morning wasn't right. I had missed something ... had I forgotten to lock our room? Had I left my key behind?

The key was in my pocket so I went back over the recent events and distinctly recalled having double checked the room door. What was it? It felt more important than that.

Was it one of the maids, bellboys or gardeners I had passed? They were all exceedingly cheerful but that wasn't out of place – Filipinos were renown for their cheerfulness.

My foggy brain tried to put together the pieces of the puzzle.

Then...

All those familiar faces ... one of them wasn't right ... one of them didn't fit with my recollections of our meanderings about the resort. One of them I had already known.

Him!

He was right here, seated not twenty feet away having his breakfast!

As nonchalantly as I could, I turned in my chair, as though looking for the waitress with my coffee. He was no longer at his table and, looking around, I saw him disappearing down the steps. Now that I had him, I couldn't risk losing him. I had to follow him to find out where he was staying.

I wasn't stupid enough to confront him in my inebriated state, but once I knew where he was I could bide my time and go after him as soon as I was sober.

Sliding out of my chair I followed, careful to stay far enough back that he wouldn't notice me. He wandered out of the main building, obviously in no big hurry as he walked easily up the main drive, passing the multiplexes and side streets leading to the bungalows.

There were fewer guests in this area so I ducked off the road into the light brush. Difficult, due to my flip-flops, but I managed to keep up and stay relatively silent by moving deliberately so I wouldn't trip or stumble – at least I was quieter than the birds and insects all around us.