The Deviant Underground (Time Bandit) (9 page)

“Sure. You can pick it back up again.”

Susan reached down and took the vase. “It felt just like picking it off the table.” She looked wide-eyed at the bright tulips. “Awesome.” Kathryn just smiled slightly. She couldn’t speak; her head was spinning.

Charge kissed Kathryn affectionately on her forehead. “Now,” he said, stepping back. “Teleport for us.”

“What?”

“Teleport,” Charge repeated. “It’s okay. Go ahead.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“You're a teleporter,” Susan explained. “You can move from one place to another at the blink of an eye.”

Kathryn frowned. She of course knew what the word “teleport” meant, but she had never thought to apply it to herself. In fact, she didn't know that she was teleporting when she disappeared. She had just thought she was . . . well, she didn’t know what she was doing.

After a few moments, Kathryn spoke. “I really have no control over it,” she admitted. “I’m likely to end up out in the hall, or worse, out in the street.”

Charge gripped her shoulders and looked into her eyes, “You can do it. Just like you did with the vase. Concentrate.”

Kathryn nodded. She had never purposely brought about the weird feeling in the pit of her stomach; in the past, she had always disappeared by accident. She didn’t quite know how to access it. She thought about it for a minute, and then realized that when she had teleported, it was because she had desperately wished that she were somewhere else. So she took a deep breath and wished herself across the room. The tingling began in her stomach; it was actually more like a pulling sensation, like someone was yanking her forward by her gut. The feeling got stronger and stronger. The room quivered, like she was seeing it through a wave of heat. Suddenly, Kathryn found herself by the front door. A wave of nausea passed over her, and she fell to the ground.

Charge rushed to her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Kathryn groaned. “This always happens.” He helped her to her feet.

“That was so cool!” Susan said. “We told you that you could do it”

“Yeah, well,” Kathryn gripped her stomach as the nausea passed, “don’t expect to see that particular trick too often. It makes me feel like shit.”

“That’s just because you haven’t practiced,” Charge said. “With practice, you’ll gain control, and you won’t feel sick anymore.”

Kathryn shot him a look. She didn't believe him, and she wasn't willing to try out his theory. Falling on her ass and feeling like puking were not things she wanted to repeat with any frequency. She made her way back to the couch and picked up her pack of cigarettes from the table. She took one out, lit it, and took a long drag. It had been an unbelievable past few hours, and the familiarity of the cigarette felt good.

She looked at the faces of the people she thought she knew. They were now so much more than just her boyfriend and her best friend. They were like her. They had a secret, too. She looked at Susan. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Susan smirked.

“What is your
gift
?” Kathryn somewhat mockingly used the term they had insisted upon. “Or can you also shoot lightening out of your ass?”

Both Susan and Charge laughed. “No, my gift is more mental in nature.”

“Mental?” Kathryn took another drag from her cigarette. “Show me.”

“Okay.” Susan sat back in her chair. “Close your eyes.”

Kathryn looked at Susan skeptically before complying. She didn’t hear anything or feel anything during the few seconds of silence. She then heard Charge say, “Open them.”

Kathryn opened her eyes. Charge was now sitting across the room in the chair. She was about to ask what the big deal was when she realized that Charge was also still sitting next to her. Kathryn practically fell off the couch in shock. “What the hell?”

Both Charges laughed at Kathryn’s reaction. Kathryn’s eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. They were identical down to the clothes they were wearing. “I don’t . . .” Her voice trailed off. She didn't know what to say.

The Charge across the room finally spoke. “It’s a suggestion.” Kathryn frowned. He continued, “I planted a suggestion in your head that you’re seeing Charge sitting here.”

“So, you’re still Susan,” Kathryn said cautiously.

Charge nodded his head and smiled the same disarming smile that Kathryn had grown so fond of. “Very much so.” He explained, “You just think you’re seeing Charge.”

“And hearing him,” Kathryn said in amazement. “Unbelievable.”

Both Charges laughed again. The real one at her side placed his hand warmly on hers.

“See,” he said. “We're both like you.”

Kathryn nodded, now beginning to understand the magnitude of what had transpired that evening. She looked across the room; Susan was back, her familiar blue eyes sparkling. Suddenly, Kathryn didn't feel so alone.

She finally spoke, “So what now?”

“Now?” Susan grinned from ear to ear. “The fun begins.”

Chapter Nine

The sex that night was unbelievable. Normally emotionally cautious and reserved, Kathryn finally felt free to let go and be who she really was—passionate, giving, enthusiastic, open. Charge responded in kind, matching each of her probing kisses, caressing her lovingly, and seeking to make every move and every touch pleasurable. Kathryn felt herself inching closer and closer to orgasm when that familiar tingling sensation began in her midsection and flowed warmly down to her toes and up to her head.

Her eyes snapped open in realization. “YOU are doing that!”

Charge’s face was inches from hers; he smiled slowly as he kissed her lightly on her neck. “It’s about time you figured that one out,” he whispered.

Kathryn groaned with pleasure. “You're an asshole for not telling me,” she gasped.

He laughed his deep, sensual laugh. “I almost did, once,” he admitted, “but you weren’t ready to hear the truth.” He ran his soft hand down her body, and the unique electric warmth emanated from it.

“Mm . . . Charge,” she whispered. “The perfect nickname. Let me see you do it.” She could barely get the words out as her body involuntarily responded to Charge’s electrifying touch.

“Okay.” Charge kissed her lips softly. “Watch.” He held one of his hands a few inches from her chest. In an instant, a network of static electricity appeared, flashing as it danced between his hand and her body. Kathryn felt its erotic warmth. It sent sparks of pleasure traveling from her head to her toes. She arched her back, and her eyes rolled back in her head. It felt so good that she was unable to speak; all she could do was sigh.

When they were both done, they lay in each other’s arms, gasping from all of the expended energy. Kathryn’s heart beat furiously in her chest, and she struggled to calm her breathing and to bring her heart rate down. Something was happening to her. Instead of her body relaxing after such an incredibly erotic experience, her body tensed up. Her blood pumped, and beads of perspiration formed on her forehead. The pounding in her head drowned out the other sounds in the room—Charge’s slow and easy breathing and the pulsating murmur of the ceiling fan. Kathryn rolled over and put her back to Charge. She wanted to get up but didn’t have the energy to. She was afraid that if she did rise to her feet that she would pass out. The pounding in her ears and her chest grew louder and louder, and she feared she was about to have a heart attack. Just as she was about to tell Charge that perhaps she needed to go to the emergency room, she did explode . . . into tears.

Huge, thundering sobs gripped her body. Tears flowed freely, soaking the pillow she was resting on. Charge sat up in alarm.

“Are you okay?” He tried to turn her over to face him, but she refused to move.

Kathryn couldn’t answer. She just kept crying. As her audible wails grew in volume, she grew more and more embarrassed about her behavior but was powerless to stop it.

Charge placed his hand on her quivering shoulder. “Baby, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

She forced herself to speak between sobs. “I. Don’t. Know.” Each word was punctuated with a gasp that ripped through her body. Actually, Kathryn did know what was wrong. Her entire adult life, she had made a conscious effort not to get close to anyone. She lived with the constant fear that someone would discover what she was. She felt hated and labeled by society, and she felt ostracized. Most of all, she felt alone. In the course of one day, however, all of that had changed, and she didn't know how to deal with it. She wanted to tell Charge how he and Susan had given her a gift of something that she had never had before. She wanted to tell him that she loved him and felt unbelievably lucky to have found him. She wanted to tell him that for the first time, she was beginning to think that perhaps there wasn’t anything wrong with her, and that maybe, just maybe, she did have a gift. But she was overwhelmed by thoughts and emotions and could say nothing.

Intuitively, Charge seemed to understand. He pressed his solid body against hers and held her tight. “It’s okay,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m here now.” This only made Kathryn cry harder, and it was almost an hour before she passed out in Charge’s arms from emotional and physical exhaustion.

***

After that day, Charge and Susan made sure she practiced her gift every day. They dropped things, they threw things at her, and they made her teleport from one place in her apartment to another. Most of all, they talked about Jonathan.

“Who is this Jonathan guy anyway?” Kathryn looked at Susan over her turkey and swiss.

“He’s a friend.” Susan picked up her dill pickle spear and waved it in the air for emphasis. “A very good friend. A deviant. Like us.”

No matter how many times Susan and Charge said the word, it still made Kathryn uncomfortable. She tried to shrug it off. “What is his gift?”

“He’s telekinetic,” Charge said in between bites of roast beef and cheddar. Kathryn looked at him astounded. “You know,” Charge went on to explain, “he can move things with his mind.”

“Yes, I know what telekinetic means,” Kathryn snapped. Those words came out harsher than she had meant. “I just,” she made an effort to speak kindly, “thought that stuff only existed on tv and in movies. It seems pretty incredible.”

“More incredible than teleportation?” Charge winked at her, obviously unphased by her harsh tongue.

Kathryn's face grew hot. “Point taken.”

“Anyway,” Susan continued, “we told him about you, and he’s coming here in a few days.”

She glared at Susan. “You
told
him about me? I thought this was our secret!”

Susan didn’t respond to Kathryn’s anger. “It is our secret, but
our
includes Jonathan. He's part of our family. You can trust him.”

Kathryn put her sandwich down. She had lost her appetite. “How can I
trust
him? I don’t even
know
him!”

“Baby, it’s cool. He’s one of us. Actually, he’s the one who let us know about you.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” Susan said. “He’s known about you for a while.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Susan’s contemplated her for a moment before speaking. “It’s a long and complicated story, which we will tell you one day. For now, all you need to know is that Jonathan knows about you. He’s known for a long time, and he won’t tell anyone. He’ll be here on Wednesday to help us.”

Kathryn was overwhelmed with information. It was Saturday, which meant that in just a few days, she would be meeting this person who she knew nothing about but who apparently knew everything about her. She slowly blinked, trying to control her temper. “Help us to do what?”

“To practice, baby.” Charge finished his lunch and wiped his hands nonchalantly on a napkin. “He’s a great trainer. He helped both me and Susan to refine our gifts. You'll like him. He’s great. You'll learn to do things that you never thought you could do.”

Kathryn was unconvinced. Moreover, she was angry. She felt vulnerable. She was just becoming comfortable talking about being a . . . different . . . around Susan and Charge, and she felt slightly violated that they were bringing another person into their circle. But, looking at the open and friendly faces of her best friend and her lover, she was having a hard time staying angry. She rubbed her forehead. It was clear that things were way beyond her control at this point. She decided that there was nothing she could do except to give in, albeit reluctantly. “Okay.” She sighed again. “Whatever.” She reached for her cigarettes on the table and quickly lit one. She inhaled deeply and the smoke whirled and danced its way to the ceiling as she spoke. “But I doubt this guy is as ‘great’ as you say.”

Chapter Ten

When Jonathan first approached her, all of Kathryn's anger melted away. He looked at her warmly, as if she were a long-lost daughter. He then enveloped her in a gentle embrace as he said, “It’s so good to finally meet you, Kathryn.” His voice was as warm as his gaze—buttery, rich, and soothing. He was tall, not as tall as Charge but taller than Kathryn. His salt-and-pepper hair hinted at his age, as did the slight grooves in his forehead and the lines at the corners of his eyes. Overall, however, his face had a very youthful glow about it as though he were still full of the vigor and stamina of a much younger man. His curious, inquisitive light brown eyes scanned Kathryn’s face as if to take her in. He then flashed a very charming smile and patted her shoulder. “So very good to meet you.” Charge and Susan were right. She did like him.