To Alessio he sounded crazy, but Alessio promised not to put pressure on any more gallery owners. Robert did not leave, sensing that Alessio needed to talk to him.
“You cannot protect anyone by returning to a life of crime, or else, those you love will be a target for those who hate you. Alessio, do you not have enough money to live well without crime? Before you answer, I must tell you that both Cherine and I feel badly about the money you are spending on us…”
Alessio waved away his protest. “You must never speak of that again.”
Robert gave up with a smile. “You have legal ways of making money so that is not your problem. I would say that if you wish to grow stronger then you can only do so by becoming loved. The more people admire and love you, the less chance there is that anybody will look at us as targets. As for our own enemies we might make in life, the only ones who can handle them are us, your son and Cherine and I. Alessio, Cherine and I like your wife and son, but your son is too young and untested for us to say we trust him with our secret. We know what you are hoping for this weekend and we do not mind linking your wife to us, but we’d prefer to wait for Lionisio to mature a little. The problem is, once Eloise is linked, your son is bound to grow suspicious as you will both have changed without any reason he can see. Has he noticed any changes in you?”
“They both have. I think you are wrong about Lionisio, he is older than his body, he is serious and does not make foolish mistakes. He is more like his mother in that way.”
“Let’s leave it for the weekend, we’ll talk again if we still feel it is a problem.”
“Have you ever been to Italy? Has Cherine?”
“Neither of us.”
“Then you must go, all who are artists should go to Italy, it inspires the soul. You must please apply for passports and then I will arrange for a house and car in Italy. Is it not the way to come to know a country; not by staying in a hotel?” Robert grinned at his way of turning statements into questions.
It was agreed that Alessio’s driver would collect them just after lunch on Friday and after Alessio kissed his cheeks, Mediterranean style, Robert walked out onto the street. He walked for nearly two blocks lost in his thoughts before he decided to stop a cab. As he turned towards the street a deafening shot was heard and Robert bent over and fell to the ground. Horrified, those passing by saw a thin stream of blood snake its way from his body to the edge of the pavement and then slide down into the gutter. It took more than a minute before a passerby stopped to examine Robert, but his was not the first call for an ambulance.
Cherine was slouching on the couch reading a love story when she suddenly screamed from a piercing pain in her chest.
Alessio recognised the sharp pain as he has been shot a couple of times. Even as he grunted and bent over, he wondered why the pain wasn’t as sharp as it had been the other times. His hand did not feel any sticky wetness and looking, he saw no wound. It took him only seconds to guess what had happened and he felt as if his inner world were crumbling. Cherine did not recognise the cause in the way Alessio did, but she did sense that Robert is dying. With a mental scream of protest, she left her body, racing to get to his soul before it is consumed. She arrived to find him in a daze, trying to work out what had happened. She enfolded him and tried to return him to his body. After a few failures, fearing the void, she took him with her to her body.
Alessio was quick to find out where Robert had been taken to and calling for his men they rushed to protect Cherine and escort her to the hospital. She took a while to open the door, but did so just as Alessio was about to order his men to break in.
“You are alright? Robert has been shot. We’ll take you to the hospital.”
Those of his men closest to him were mystified when she softly told him, “I know, I have him here with me. We must get to his body before it dies.”
Robert was pale and he looked tired, as if fighting to stay alive had exhausted him. He faintly blushed when Cherine took his hand, careful of the needle stuck into it, and kissed it, holding the palm to her cheek. He sensed that Alessio was devastated because he was blaming himself.
“My friend, I’m sorry, but I cannot call you father, even though you seem to care about me more than my father does. Please, you must…” He was forced to stop as Alessio was weeping. Both Robert and Cherine, having the British dislike of parading one’s emotions, felt embarrassed for him. They got over it very quickly because they could not bear his emoting for long, and Cherine pulled at him until the three of them formed a circle, each of them holding a hand of his. Robert grinned as the top man of Alessio walked out. “Alessio, did Giovanni have tears in his eyes!?”
Startled out of his own thoughts and emotions, Alessio stared at him for a moment and then laughed. “You do not know us Italians, Robert. We can weep because you touched our heart and then pull out a gun and shoot you if your existence affects our profits. We are sentimental, but not soft.”
“I’m glad you told me, I was starting to worry that you had turned soft.” A nurse told them off as there was a danger of his laughter undoing some of the hard work the surgeon had done to save his life.
Four days later Robert was carefully taken back to their home. Alessio insisted on having his cook work at their home for a few weeks until Robert is fully recovered. Gifts poured in every day from Alessio and his friends (as a mark of respect and/or friendship because they’d heard some extraordinary tales about how much Alessio loves this English couple) and even Eloise came to the city to visit. The second time Eloise visited, her son Lionisio called a friend of his to ask whether he could stay overnight with him as he has tickets to a play. Cherine butted in and asked him to stay with them.
Lionisio did not go out with friends and returned as soon as the play ended. He enthused about it while he sipped at some red wine and nibbled on crackers covered with Camembert and Cheshire cheese, with tiny pearl onions to the side. Cherine teased him so as to get him talking. They disagreed on a fact and he suggested they check it up on the web. Robert chuckled.
“I’m sorry Lionisio but we don’t have any spiders big enough.” As Lionisio was about to protest and explain, Robert laughed and had to clutch over his wound. “We’re not much into computers. I’ve read a lot about them and since I enjoy science fiction, I’ve come to understand how important they’ll be to our future, but the truth is, I’m not at all attracted to cold logic, I prefer the creative side of our minds.”
“But…but, if you had a computer and surfed on the web, you’d see that it has brought about an explosion in all the arts! There are paintings that are absolutely stunning and new ideas and ways of achieving effects never seen before are changing art. You must get a computer!” By the time they sent him to sleep, he’d worn them down and they’d agreed to buy a computer. The next morning Lionisio put off his departure so as to make certain they choose the best computer, arranged for an ADSL line and made suggestions as to peripherals they should buy. He then had to stay to help install the programs they they’ll need, showed them the basics for using the programs and once Robert saw how the art program work, he sat for hours experimenting on his own while Cherine and Lionisio talked. Alessio and Eloise collected them and they went for a light but delicious supper at an Italian restaurant. As they were about to say their goodbyes, Cherine drew Alessio aside and asked him whether he would like them to visit that weekend so that she can help his wife and son open themselves to the gift of empathy. The emoting of Alessio was the perfect ending to the day for Robert and Cherine.
Cherine had been right; she could sense the pre-fit disturbance in the mind of Robert and was able to smoothen it, protecting his mind so that he does not have a fit. The morning after Lionisio went home with his parents, Robert had a fit. Cherine was just that split second too late and the spike of agony thrust its way into his mind. With a scream Robert dissolved, giving way to the mishmash from his subconscious. Cherine was out of the room as fast as she could run, but once he could not see her, she concentrated on helping his mind take over again. About halfway through his fit Robert recovered and stumbled about in a desperate search for Cherine, afraid he might have harmed her.
Alessio sat on the grass close by her. “As wonderful as the gift you gave me can be when sensing those I love, so is it terrible and frustrating when a loved one suffers and I can do nothing to help. Is there anything I can do Cherine, does he need medical treatment in Israel or America? Please, you must not think of the money, tell me and I’ll arrange it.”
“I talked to his doctor, Alessio, he told me that there is nothing physically wrong with him, that something must have happened at some time in his life that gave his subconscious the message that it must do this to him so as to protect him. His subconscious is strong Alessio, you cannot imagine how strong. It has nearly killed me once, but I am more afraid of it killing him. I cannot live without him.”
He took her hand that felt frozen like ice in his and rubbed for a while as he thought. “If it was something physical we feared, I could help, but the mind…I know nothing about it. Cherine, if you had more minds open to you and Robert and some of them lived with you, in your home, could they help you?”
She shook her head. “They will be weaker than me, they’ll die without helping Robert or me.”
Her fear and pain did not stop Cherine from keeping her word. Alessio felt the budding minds of his wife and son sensing him and they sent backwards and forwards their love, building it to an extreme. Cherine had to intervene and warn them not to overdo it. Robert gave a delighted smile and told them that Cherine is a spoilsport and envious of them. They all laughed and teased until they’d had so much love to experience that they all wanted to cry.
As they went to bed that night, their eyes still bright with their excitement and joy, Robert told Cherine he is happy they are growing in numbers. “Now we are five my love and soon we will be fifty and then one day we will be like the other Robert and Cherine and we’ll be fifty million.” He had stopped undressing as he talked and stood without moving, lost in his thoughts. “I’ve often wondered why it is we do not have some of their gifts. Could it be that I am to blame? Has my illness blocked us from growing? Cherine my love, we must grow in gifts also, work with the others to open us to teleportation, telepathy, learning to communicate and control our healers.” He saw the solemn look that had replaced the joy he’d seen before talking, so he grinned. “I checked and there is no Dominique in our reality, but there is a Nicko. Strange that we did not go to the same school. What if there is a Wendy, would you want her to become our wife?” He had managed to share his memories of his visions and he knew she was already half in love with the other girls, but at the same time she hated the idea of sharing him with anyone.
“I have been stupid! Can we look for Wendy and the others? I want them all!”
Robert was about to qualify her declaration, but he also needed that night to be of joy so he agreed and loved her until his weakness left him without strength and he fell asleep. Cherine holding him tightly to her as she made her dreams, lay awake for a long time.
As they entered their home, the chauffeur carrying their bags, Robert whispered to Cherine, “I think being in the country did me some good. Let’s have a coffee and then we can sit outside under the trees for a while. If you can keep yourself busy afterwards, I have something playing around in my mind that I want to paint.”
Robert did not argue when Cherine insisted on over-dressing him so that he does not catch a cold. With his emoting warming her heart she felt she hardly needed a cardigan. Arm in arm they walked out and Robert sat where he could look up at the sky through branches, their stark lines of winter creating patterns for him.
Without warning, a shaft of fire slashed its way through his mind and Robert fled, trying to hide within himself. Cherine tried to use her gifts to help him, but this time there was no stopping the rage that exploded in him. He physically smashed his fists into her while whatever it was that acted as his mind lashed out, trying to destroy her mind. Under attack from two fronts, Cherine lost control and smashed through his rage and tore apart whatever was acting as his mind. She had grown far more powerful than she realised and her attack was panicky, trying to prevent his body damaging her, it tore at his brain, ordering his nerves to freeze every muscle in his body. Within a second Robert's body died, destroyed beyond the healing abilities of the medical profession.
Alessio arrived at the hospital and though his mind was devastated by all he’d felt, he was still able to sense his wife and son as they drove to him. Because he could feel them, he was determined not to allow the staff to treat Robert and Cherine as dead. He fought and bribed to keep them in hospital beds instead of their bodies being moved to the morgue.
Not once had Eric ever wished he’d had a son instead of a daughter, as so many men do. Even when they teased him at the pub he took it as being part of a ritual among men and smiled with contentment and love at the thought and image of his little girl. He loved it when others, especially their women, teased him about her being a real little daddy’s girl.
Because Eric spent so much time with his daughter, it did not take long for him to become suspicious and Cherine was still young enough to answer him honestly. Finding out that his daughter was a mutant terrified but also excited him. Methodically he concentrated on teaching her to hide her abilities from all and gave her dire warnings of what could happen to her if others find out.
Marian did not start with dreams as grandiose as his and she was content with their life. When Cherine was close to five years old, Marian discovered she was pregnant again. They were both delighted and they listened to the experts and involved Cherine from the beginning and did all they could to ensure she loves her sibling and was eager to have him or her become a part of their lives.
Before Marian and Eric married, he used to take her out on Saturday nights to places where they could dance. He rather fancied himself as being comparable in style to Patrick Swayze in his film Dirty Dancing and he’d tease Marian that she was not as good a dancer as Jennifer Grey and pretend to moan about his not having Jennifer to partner with. When they discovered that the baby was to be a son, Marian decided to name him Patrick. Eric grouched a bit, as he claimed everyone would think their son is an Irishman when he grows up, but he was flattered that Marian still recalled those days.
Cherine did welcome Patrick into her life and fretted every time he cried. She loved holding him and Eric would tease her, claiming she is behaving like a little mother. Cherine considered his teasing flattering and was happy. As the months went by and then the first two years, the love Cherine felt for her brother began to wane as he began to exhibit a stubborn personality that fought her on every little detail and once she realised that her father concentrated more on him than her, she grew to hate him.
It is amazing how many parents do not monitor the interactions of their children and when one of them screams or cries or runs to mummy or daddy to complain about the other, the parents automatically blame the older child. This can lead to constant bickering and dislike of the siblings for each other, but in Cherine’s case, she also blamed her father and stopped showing him the love he’d grown accustomed to. He retaliated by showering even more attention on Patrick.
Cherine realised that she could use her gift by sending bad feelings to Patrick. She could make him sad or afraid and even give him nightmares. She particularly enjoyed doing so during his daytime naps as she could hear him moan and cry. She then discovered that if she hit him with an emotion when he was in the middle of some kind of physical activity, he would often have an accident and hurt himself. Her feelings of empathy never took over as he did not hurt himself seriously and he continued to do all he could to anger her.
Cherine waited until her mother left the house, went to her bedroom and a couple of minutes later she quietly returned to spy on Patrick. As she had known would happen, he was immersed in his game and did not see her. She concentrated and sent him the feelings she’d shared from someone in pain and terrified of death. Stunned, she shook from the shock of having her sending blocked. Fiercely she tried again and this time Patrick became aware. His mind had blocked her the first time without him realising it, but she sent so fiercely this time that despite the block he felt her. He looked at her with hate and fury as he sent back to her the sending. It smashed past her defences and she pulled back, whimpering.
Patrick had now discovered a new weapon, a way of hurting Cherine and he revelled in it. Abandoning his toys he came to his feet and went to the passage between the bedrooms were she huddled. Seeing her, he attacked again. Now Cherine found herself fighting for her life, he was emoting such hate of her, such glee at each evidence of pain from her that she had no margins for empathy limiting her, from holding her back in her attacks. As her psychic blows changed in nature and became more vicious, so did his. She came to the realisation that she could not win this way, she had to hit once, so hard that he would never be able to hit back at her. She ignored the pain and concentrated on the feelings of someone who’d died in the neighbourhood and sending it backwards and forwards within her she amassed so much psychic energy that when she thrust it at Patrick in one vicious blow, it actually took the form of a bright flow of energy that burnt his body. Even as he lay dying, his block succeeded in deflecting some of it back at Cherine.
By the time Marian returned, Patrick’s charred little body lay in a circle of burnt carpet and Cherine was blackened and burnt over half of her body. When she was considered to be capable of answering questions, she told the police woman that she seemed to remember lightning hitting her and her brother. She did not try to make up any other stories and the police had no knowledge of extra sensory powers, so they closed the case as being death by accident.
Eric knew better. He tried warning Marian, but she attacked him physically, hysterically weeping, unwilling to listen to any such monstrous accusations against her only surviving child. He packed and left them.
That Cherine was now disfigured was not the reason she seemed to withdraw every year deeper into herself. She was exempted from all sports, spent periods between classes on her own and rebuffed any attempts at friendliness. Marian would be the one described as clinging to Cherine, not the other way around. If Cherine could have been left on her own for a week at a time, she would have been happy.
Eric had stopped visiting as Cherine remained cold and would not talk. He had forgotten that she could sense him and every time he saw her he would recall his son and within his heart he’d blame her anew. Marian met another man and they moved north, to a small town where Cherine grew up as an adolescent and teenager without the whispers she’d endured at her previous neighbourhood. Cherine did not see her father again and the only times she heard from him was at Christmas and on her birthday, when he’d send her some cash.
Cherine was thirteen when she woke up from a strange dream. She’d sensed herself, but as a separate entity, not a part of herself. That Cherine had a man she loved and shared her gifts with. What terrified her was the fact that the man, called Robert, felt the same as Patrick had; he had enormous powers!
She worried at the memories of her dream and she soon convinced herself that the other Cherine did not realise what a threat Robert is to her. Every night she would will herself to dream of them again so as to find a way to warn the other Cherine of her danger. She was nearly fourteen years old when she dreamt of them again - nearly a month after she’d given up trying. She woke up shaking and crying from the emoting of love she’d shared from the other Cherine, the orgasm of that Cherine being the first time she’d felt anything like it in her own body. As she wept for the love she would never have, so did her conviction grow that Robert is a far worse threat than Patrick had ever been. She realised that no Cherine can protect herself from a Robert. The idea of that vulnerability being hers also had her raging.
“Are you Nicko?”
“Who is it?”
“Nicko, my name won’t mean anything to you as we haven’t met. My name is Susan and I’m a friend of Robert. I was hoping you could tell me whether he is in London at this time?”
“Hold on, I’m coming down.”
When Nicko saw her, he frowned. What could Robert be thinking of, getting involved with such a young girl. Cherine sensed his hostility as something vague and not defined in his mind. When he also had the thought that she is quite pretty, she took his feeling, reinforced it and sent it back.
Sweetly, she asked whether she could invite him for a cup of tea somewhere, with scones if they have, so that they can talk. He smiled, enchanted by her determination and insisted they go as his guest. He took her to the Mayfair Hotel which has a nice pastry list with tea or coffee in their lobby. Within the hour Nicko was besotted by Cherine (Susan) and resented it when she continued asking him about Robert.
“I really don’t know where he is. I heard from him only once after school. He told me he was having difficulty in deciding whether to sign up at the London College of Communication or the Chelsea College of Art and Design. He was uncertain as to whether his father would pay the fees and to be honest I doubt he would. He could be anywhere now.”
She looked suitably devastated and helpless and she reinforced even hints of his emoting that would serve her. “Nicko, my name is not really Susan and I am not his friend. Did he tell you that his father and mother divorced?”
“No, as far as I know, his mother died when he was about five years old.”
“She did not, they divorced and his mother went to live in Ireland. His father told him she was dead and he never let Robert see any of her letters.”
“Christe and Panagia! He’ll be devastated if he learns the truth.”
“Nicko, I am his half sister and my name is Laura. Mum died recently, but she told me to find Robert.”
“I’ll need a few days to find him - if he is in London. Laura, where are you staying?”
“I’m thinking of going to the YWCA or to the Generator Hostel.”
Nicko tried to imagine her, a child really, in such surroundings (he’d never had anything to do with such accommodation for young people so he dramatised what is probably good and clean and safe accommodation). He thought of her as being frail and sensitive and could not bear the idea of her suffering.
“I cannot offer to let you stay in my parent’s apartment, it would not be right that you stay alone with me. However, as Robert's friend and in many ways, almost brother, I do insist that you allow me to book you into this hotel as my guest.” She let him convince her and she was soon in her room, supposedly having a bath before he returned to take her out for a meal. She thought about him, liking him and liking the fact that he is wealthy even more. She was realistic enough to know that she cannot expect to snare him at her young age, it would cause too many problems. If they live close to each other, as neighbours maybe, she knew she can keep him besotted with her, despite the faint burn scars she was still self conscious about. With him in London and her living hundreds of miles away, she knew she had no chance of keeping him obsessed with her.
The two days that she spent with Nicko opened her eyes in many ways. She now knew that she has the ability to make any man fall in love with her and she started to make plans for the future, deciding she will return to London as soon as she is sixteen. Nicko had shown her that wealthy young men can be nice and naïve, easy to manipulate. She saw no reason why she should emulate her mother and have a miserable life, depending on some man earning enough to give her a halfway decent life.
With evident excitement, Nicko called on her an hour and a half earlier than they’d agreed to go out for supper. She knew as soon as she sensed him.
“Robert is working in London and stays in Chelsea! Shit, if I’d thought of it I could have done a search for him on the internet and found him immediately and without paying the detective company. Laura, he designs web sites and his name is all over the web!” He laughed. “What a surprise we have for him eh? He’s always bemoaned not having a family, he’ll be over the moon when he discovers he has a sister.”
“A half-sister.”
Nicko laughed. “That is not how Robert thinks, you’ll be a full sister to him once he gets to know and love you. Laura, you must promise to help me.”
“Huh? How?”
“Help me convince him to take a holiday from his work so that the two of you can come to Athens with me. I told my parents about you and they are eager to meet both of you - Robert is loved by my entire family you know.”
“If he’ll listen to me. Oh Nicko, if he doesn’t chase me away, I’ll owe you so much.” She was in a bit of a spin and needed time to think. “Nicko, I want to have a bath before I go to him, please don’t let him know about me yet, I want us to surprise him. That way I can at least meet him, see what he looks like should he not want to know me.”
Nicko took a taxi and they arrived by the home of Robert. Cherine looked around and saw a nearby building which had been altered, walls removed so as to create a market place with small stalls or shops. At least she would now be able to find the place again. As they waited for Robert to answer the buzzer, she quickly recapped all she’d learnt about Rose from her dreams. Luckily this Robert knew even less about his mother than she did, so he was not likely to trip her on some detail.
“Yes?”
“Anoikse tin porta vre malaka! (Open the door you idiot!).”
Robert sounded pleased as he called out “Nicko” even as the door lock buzzed. As Nicko opened the door and they entered, they heard Robert from one floor up calling to Nicko. He appeared at the turn of the stairs and momentarily stopped as he saw a young girl with Nicko. His eyes widened as he looked at her and then he rushed down and grabbing Nicko gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Damn but I’ve missed you!” He gave another squeeze, jerked his head to the side to look at Cherine and gave her a wink. “Hey Nicko, you are only supposed to turn into a cradle snatcher once you are in your fifties. She’s certainly lovely…” He pulled away to have Cherine in line of sight, “Sorry for the confusion and nonsense but I’m really excited to be seeing him again. Nicko, your parents, they are well? Do they still remember me?” Nicko allowed Robert to dominate the conversation as they went up the stairs, answering his questions while giving Cherine a conspirative smile now and then. Cherine actually relaxed because of the good emoting by both of them. She knew that she was in no danger for now and decided it made good sense to be nice until she decides how to handle Robert.
Cherine and Nicko had their first big shock when they entered his living room. Above the fireplace mantle was a large oil painting of herself as she was when she was eight years old. On instant alert, thinking he knew the truth, she turned to stare at Robert as she tried to sense deeper into his emoting.
She gave a nervous smile. “Let Nicko explain it.”
Robert swung around to stare at Nicko as he spoke. “Her name is Laura. Robert, this is going to come as a shock, but it will explain why you felt you love her. Your father lied to you, your mother did not die, she went to Ireland where she had a daughter. Laura is your half sister.”
“Jesus!” Robert collapsed onto a chair. He turned to Cherine and she sensed the immense confusion, doubt, pain, his fear of believing her and desperate hope in him as he asked, “Is she still alive?”
She had no idea so she chose the only safe answer. “I’m so…I’m sorry, she died two months ago.”
Robert's shoulders slumped with despair. “So close…just two months.” There was utter silence for half a minute, not even the sound of a car passing by, and then Robert pulled himself together and coming to his feet he went to Cherine. He took her hand in his and stared into her eyes. “I hope, I pray that you want a brother in your life. I want to get to know everything about you.” He gave her a crooked smile that still hid some pain in it, but she liked it anyway. “In return I promise to tell you all my darkest secrets.” Nicko laughed and it relaxed her. She couldn’t believe it, she’d pulled it off!
They talked for an hour, Nicko invited them out for a meal and then they returned to Robert's home. Nicko asked whether Laura wanted him to take her to the hotel and Robert insisted she stay at his home. He had a second bedroom, very small and he’d been using it as his office but he explained he’d move into there and she can have the main bedroom. She tried to protest, but he refused to listen. He sat next to her and taking her hand placed it against his cheek.
“Laura, I can already feel that my love for you will grow to be very strong. I know that I won’t be able to sleep tonight and I’ll have to call in sick tomorrow. However, you can’t sleep in my bedroom tonight, it is in a bit of a mess. I’ll have to let Nicko steal you away from me just for tonight so that I get it ready for you. I’ll be at your hotel by ten to collect you and your luggage. Will that be okay?”
“I’ll bring her. I have a car and it would be silly of you to use a taxi for nothing. I have to be there to settle the bill so it won’t be a problem for me.” Robert gave in and wrote his cell phone number.
Cherine did not sleep that well. She had not expected to like Robert and, what was worse, she had not used her gift on him even once and yet she could feel that he was beginning to love her. It was not supposed to happen! Planning to kill someone who loves you, she discovered, is not as easy as doing so to a stranger you’ve only met in dreams. She was afraid that living in his home could erode her determination if she grows to like him more than she does already. Just before morning she reminded herself that she had loved her father and he had loved her and yet he had betrayed her. However good Robert should turn out to be, why should she expect him to be any more constant in his love than her father had been? If he had not had the potential of growing strong in his psychic gifts, she might have chanced his love being true, but not when his powers could grow strong enough to kill her. She had to stick to her plans. Once she’d settled her doubts, she fell asleep and this time did not dream of the other Cherine and Robert.
Once Cherine had accepted and settled within herself the fact that however she grows to feel about Robert, she will kill him, she found it easy to relax and she even teased him, enjoying the way he loved the fact that his little sister got the better of him. She suspected him of cheating, of letting her get away with it sometimes, but she was able to accept the possibility in the spirit it was being offered. She wondered how different her life might have been if her little brother had not been such an obnoxious brat, without the thought leading to the conclusions it should have, because her obsession blinded her.
Nicko never stopped pressing for them to come to Athens and Robert gave in. He said he loves the idea of a holiday; eating mezedes, drinking ouzo and getting to know his sister sounded just perfect. It panicked Cherine, for there was no way she could get a passport in the name of Laura - that did pose another problem, was she supposed to be a Teller or would she have had her mother’s maiden name? She decided it was less complicated having the same surname as Robert. Still, a passport was not a possibility. If they were to leave in a couple of months, it meant she would have to kill Robert before the passport question became a problem. That left her only a few days. She regretted the end of the life she was currently living, but she would not have to stay with her mother for long and then she’d work on having this kind of life or better, forever.
“Robert, do you trust me?”
“In what way? Do you need money?”
She smiled. “No. I want you to go to Athens without me. I promise I will meet you there on the day you arrive.” He was about to ask a question so she emoted strongly to affect him. “Robert, questions won’t help, all you have is one answer, which is to the question I asked you. Do you trust me?”
“That was too convoluted for me to work out just like that. I need to have a meal, down a pint and then I’m certain I’ll…” His voice faded away as she stared back at him with eyes dark and stern, not at all amused by him. “I don’t have a choice, but you do realise that Nicko and I are going to spend the entire flight imagining all kinds of things. With the way he seems to dote on you, he’ll probably decide you are an angel and that you’ll fly there on wings white as snow.”
Little sparks seemed to dance in her eyes, “And you’ll imagine I sprouted bat wings to fly there?”
He narrowed his eyes as if calculating something. “Hmm, I like that, not only would it be attractive but it certainly would be more interesting than white dove wings - an awful cliché that has been done to death. Would you also have horns?” He added in a pathetically hopeful tone, “A tail too? Can I see it?”
She could not help herself and laughed. “You’re crazy.” Hearing herself she instantly sobered, recalling how the other Robert loved being called crazy.
Of course neither man believed she would be coming to Athens. They decided that she had reasons of her own for not wanting to come and did not wish to confide in them. Robert made certain she has a key to his home, some cash was left for her, and the shelves and fridge were stocked with food to keep her going for three months. They expected her to be there to say goodbye and when she was not, they departed with heavy hearts. Unfortunately they drank too much on the plane and they were not feeling too well when they arrived. The father of Nicko was not amused, but he thought they’d got drunk because of their joy at meeting after such a long time. He hugged Robert and pretended he did not notice when he slightly staggered.
“Patera, I apologise, but I am slightly drunk. I do not wish for Mitera Claire to see me like this.”
He smiled. “She is so happy to be seeing you again she will not notice. Come, you cannot make an old man stand around here all day!”
Nicko gave a strangled gasp as he called out, “Robert!” He turned and it looked as if his eyes were trying to pop out of his face. He swayed and Elias put out a hand to steady him.
Cherine walked over to them with a grin. “Thanks for trusting me brother.” She got the giggles at his emoting.
Elias had to be taken to one of the airport coffee shops for a Greek coffee and brandy while they tried to explain to him. Cherine carefully adjusted their emotions so that they accepted her presence without questioning the impossibility. Without them knowing, she had followed them to the airport, watched their plane take off, waited for it to arrive and teleported to it. From there she instantly teleported into a part of the interior of the airport, moving in small jumps to the next area she could see until she was past all the immigration controls - ahead of the two men.
Tears filled his eyes as Elias heard Laura’s story and at the end he took a hand of both Robert and Cherine and placed them together in his one hand and covered them with his other. “That is the past, now it is up to us to see that there are no further pains for either of you. You are together as brothers and sisters should be and being together will make you both stronger. Come, it is time we go or else Claire will worry.” He turned to look at Nicko with sadness in his eyes. “You better drive, their story has brought back to life my memories of your little sister.” He said to Cherine, “My daughter died when she was three years old. My heart still weeps for her.” He was touched when Cherine burst into sobs and he held her to him until she stopped. She let herself lean against him for a few extra seconds, enjoying the feelings of tenderness he was emoting, the tenderness a father feels that she had not known for so long.
Cherine found herself attracted more strongly every day to Robert's straight way of talking and his sense of humour. If he stopped so as to sketch a scene, she did not mind waiting, his ability to create works of art still managing to astonish her. Robert had been given two weeks unpaid holiday and he was enjoying himself so he phoned to ask for an extension of a week. They warned him that he has a number of orders and any delay in returning to work would lose them customers. Dispirited, but able to see their point of view, he told everyone as they sat for supper, that they will have to leave on the agreed date.
Elias asked Robert, “Do you remember meeting a friend of mine called Alki Georgiades? If you do not mind staying at home tonight, I’d like to invite him over for a drink.” He phoned, Alki agreed to visit and dinner was prepared.
Robert leant over and whispered to Cherine, “Laura love, are you going to pull the same stunt for our return trip?”
“Yes.”
“That confirms it!” He turned to Nicko with a very serious look, though Cherine could sense him bubbling with amusement. “I knew that something was wrong about the entire scenario and now I’ve had it confirmed. Nicko, Laura is not my sister, she is not even of our species! She is an alien from another solar system.” He wagged his finger at Nicko. “We should have suspected when she refused to fly here with us. She is not returning with us either, because she has her own flying saucer that will get her there much faster.”
Nicko glanced at Cherine to make certain she was not upset and Cherine grabbed the opportunity to speak first. “Robert, I chose to use you as a brother because I thought you were intelligent! How can you imagine I would use a stupid flying saucer! How unimaginative of you!” She turned to Nicko. “Actually, I have a teleportation booster built into my brain.” She barely succeeded in stopping herself from betraying that she had sensed Robert. By playing along with his joke, but turning the joke against him while using a science fiction answer, she made his heart swell with love for her. She was convinced he still thinks his love for her is a brotherly love, but she could sense the overtones that warned it is growing to something beyond that. Still, the fact that she had used the truth to lie did amuse her and she felt it was very clever of her. She was aware that she had not been brilliant in her lies, that she should have been caught out and that, at the very least, they should have quizzed her more thoroughly. The truth was, although she had used all her abilities to influence their thinking, she could not understand why they had not, but she was not about to question her luck. She suspected that she might have a mental gift she is not aware of that prevents them from thinking of whatever she does not want them to question.
When Alki arrived, Robert half recalled him from when he was much younger. He soon felt at ease with him and the conversation was relaxed and pleasant. When Alki was told that Robert is an artist, he asked him how good he is. Before he could belittle himself, all three, Cherine, Nicko and Elias, confirmed that he is talented.
“Alki, I asked you to visit because I felt it is important you steal Roberto away from the company that employ him. Nicko assures me that he has made a name for himself - have you heard of him?”
“I can’t say I have, but then I do not have much free time to learn about the internet. I could ask my designers, I’m certain they will know.” He pulled out his cell phone and dialled. “Pambo, sorry to call you at night. I need to know, is the name Robert Teller known to you?”
“The designer who works for Golden Web Threads? Yes. His ideas and designs are fresh and he could develop into a draw-card for us if you can get him to join us.”
Alki grinned. “I’ll do my best.”
Pambo chuckled. “I look forward to working with him.”
