Weird Turn...

Not exactly sure where this is going... but you knew that!  Seems we're taking a weird turn now! 

Forty Four

Larissa watched at Tiana chugged the drink in front of her.  She shouldn’t be surprised, she thought, she had watched Keith do the same thing.

Then it struck her.  Keith had switched glasses with her.  He must have done it without knowing, but it was the only way to explain his behavior.  She looked across the table at him.  He was resting on his hand, barely able to keep his eyes open as he tried to put food into his mouth. 

She glanced at John to see if he noticed, but John was watching Tiana.  He was watching her intently.  Larissa looked at her as well.

She almost shoved away from the table.  She had looked at Tiana, not with her regular sight, but with her energetic sight.  The mask that Tiana had worn was gone.  In front of her sat a creature she had never seen before. 

John grasped her leg under the table. She looked at him and he shook his head.  She looked down at her plate and took a deep breath.

“Can I get you another drink Tiana?” John asked.

“Oh John, that would be lovely.” The thing that was Tiana said.  Almost simpered.  Not only was it a creature, but it thought it was an attractive creature.  Larissa did her best not to shudder.

“Tell me Larissa, did you get a chance to walk the grounds earlier?” Tiana asked her.

“Yes I did.”

“What did you think?”

“There are some very beautiful places here.”

“Yes there are.  I think we all should visit some of them tomorrow, maybe early in the morning.  It might be fun to experiment with a few things.”

“I’m sure that could be fun.” Larissa said. 

“Oh, thanks John.  You really do make lovely drinks” Larissa heard Tiana gulping down the drink.  She glanced up and had to consciously close her mouth. 

The thing that was Tiana wasn’t even trying anymore.  Larissa didn’t have to look with her energetic sight to see the creature that sat before her.  She was amazed at what she saw.  The creature had a human shape, only it didn’t.  Somehow it still fit in Tiana’s clothes, but it must have been painful, the way it had to shove the flesh into everything.  Larissa could see the folds under the clothing, something she was not able to see before.

It made it hard to eat. 

The color was really the worst part of the creature that was Tiana.  The skin of the creature was scaly and dark, gray and mottled.  How could someone so beautiful as Tiana really be this creature?

“Dear hearts, I find that I am a little tired.  Perhaps the three of you could clean up the kitchen? I think I will go to bed.  Larissa, see you in the room in a bit.  Don’t stay up too late.”

“Sure.” Larissa said.  She watched in horror as the creature attempted to sashay up the stairs.  She looked over at John, ready to say something, but he again shook his head.  He nodded towards Keith.

Keith was watching Tiana with complete fascination.  He actually had a bit of drool coming out of one side of his mouth.

“Keith?  Are you ok?” Larissa asked.

“What?  Yeah.  Isn’t she great?  She’s so amazing.  The way she talks and stuff.  I didn’t really like the people who came with her to the meeting.  She said they were aliens or something.  But Tiana, well, she’s amazing.”

“Did she tell you anything else Keith?” John asked.

The sound of John’s voice did something to Keith.  He sat up straighter and looked angrily at the other man.

“Listen here, John, or whatever your name is.  Tiana is mine.  Larissa is mine.  They are all mine.  You cannot have them.”

“I do not know that I want them, Keith.”

“Good.  Because they are both for me.  Tiana said so.”

“She did?”

“Yes.  She said I was to break up with Larissa for now, and that she would be with me while we were broken up.  Then later, after the ceremony or something, Tiana was going to leave and I could have Larissa.  Only Larissa would be better, because of the ceremony or something.”

“Did she tell you anything else?”

“Naw man.  I just had to give the vial of stuff to Larissa to make her true energies come out.  Then, when it takes effect, like in the morning or something, we all go out and do the ceremony.  Then I get Larissa forever.”

“Humm.  Maybe you should go to bed now Keith.”

“Yeah.  Only, man, I don’t want to sleep in the same room with you.”

“Why don’t you take Larissa’s bed?  I’m sure Tiana won’t mind.”

“But you keep your hands of Larissa, you understand?”

“Of course.  She belongs to you.  I totally understand.”

Keith stood and clumsily made his way to the stair care.  Larissa watched as he stumbled up the stairs, almost falling a couple of times.  She was going to stand, to go to him and help him, but John’s hand on her leg held her in place.  They both watched as Keith headed towards the room Tiana had entered a few minutes before.

After he was gone from view Larissa looked John in the eye.

“Did you know any of this?” She asked him.

“No.  I had no idea the Scortoos had come for you.” John replied.

“The what?”

“The Scortoos.  A specific race of Aliens.”

“So Aliens are real.”

“Yes, of course.  Aliens are very real.  They have been visiting the planet since its inception.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No.  You saw what she turned into when she drank whatever was in that vial.  I bet her plan was to get you to drink it all tonight and then take you out and take over your body.”

“What?”

“It’s obvious she’s, or it, has already done it once.  That is not really Tiana.  Though there may have been a Tiana at one time, she is no longer.”

Larissa held up her hand to get him to stop.  She could hardly process what had happened, what she had seen.  She took a deep breath, trying to stabilize herself. 

“I don’t know what to think” She admitted.

“Well, at least you can take comfort in one thing.”

“What?”

“Keith is not one of them.” He smiled at her.

She smiled back at him.  Then the smile faded from her face.

“What are we going to do?”

“We are going to do what you originally planned to do, Larissa.  What we talked about this afternoon.  We are going to get some flashlights and head outside and see if we can’t do what you wanted to do earlier.  Then we will see what we need to do next.”

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“That’s why we do it tonight.  Let’s find out if it will work before we decide what to do next.”

“Only one problem.  All of my clothes are in the room that Tiana and Keith are in.”

“But mine aren’t.  We’ll get you dressed warmly.  Don’t you worry about that.”

Forty Five

It wasn’t as cold outside as she feared it would be.  She had put on more layers than she needed, but it was almost warm outside.  She looked up at the sky and saw nothing.  It was disorienting.  She was used to seeing stars, planets, the moon.  But there was only darkness above.

“The clouds have rolled in.” John said.

“Everything is so dark.” She replied. 

“That’s good for us, Larissa.  It is less likely that we will be discovered. Where do you want to start?” John pulled out the map and shone the light onto it. 

“Here.  The Dolman.  There are more offerings with stronger connections here than anywhere else.  Let’s start big and farther away, just in case.”

“Right.  That makes no sense, but let’s do it.”

“Why doesn’t that make sense?”

“If it works, starting somewhere big will draw the most attention.”

“True.  But I can do the most good before I am found out.”

“Right.  Well, let’s get to it then.”

Traveling by flashlight in the middle of the night was a lot more difficult than Larissa imagined.  In fact her imagination was getting to her, which wasn’t helping her walk any quicker.  She frequently halted, flashing her light around in the darkness.  The trees lit up around her, but she saw nothing.  Then she would hurry forward and practically trip over some uneven ground, sending her flying into John’s back.  By the fourth time this happened, John stopped and looked at her.

“Larissa, you have got to calm down.”

“I can’t seem to, John.  Everywhere I look I think I see something coming out of the forest.  I keep thinking I hear things.”

“This is a forest Larissa.  There are animals here.  I am sure you are hearing them.  But remember that they are generally more afraid of you then you are of them.  Why aren’t you using your energetic sight to see what is going on?  Why are you only relying on your physical body?”

He had a point, and one that she had not thought of.  Larissa took another deep breath and closed her eyes.  They stood while she calmed herself.  She grounded into the Earth, feeling the energy of everything around her.  Then she opened her eyes and looked around.

Everything looked different.  In the dark, even though her eyes could not see anything, she could see the energy of the forest that surrounded her.  She could feel the way it vibrated.  She sent her attention out and felt the plants.  Then she felt birds.  They were different.  She felt how they were denser than the plants she had been feeling.  She moved her attention out and up and caught the trees.  They were different still. 

Surprised she sent her energy out to the man in front of her.  His energy was familiar, she had reconnected him after all, but she now saw it differently.  Compared to the trees, the plants and the birds, his energy was larger and less focused.  She could see where he was connected to beings outside of his body where as the rest were not.  Their connections stopped with the Earth.

“Wow” She breathed.

“Yeah, I know.” John said.  “Come on, now that you can actually see what’s happening, let’s get moving to this Dolman.”

They continued on the path. 

John was the one to stop short when they reached the Cottonwood Stone Circle. Larissa almost ran into him as she was looking off to one side, caught up in an energy trail.

“What is it?” She whispered.

“What is this place?” John asked.

“What do you…” Larissa’s voice trailed off as she finally looked at the standing circle with her energetic sight.  She had been there earlier in the day, but it had felt different at that time.  At night the circle seemed to glow with unearthly energy. 

They approached the circle slowly, almost expecting something or someone to pop out from behind the stones and come after them.  They were incredibly tense.

“It wasn’t like this earlier.” Larissa said. “It was, well, it was more Earthly then this.  I felt the vibrations of the circle and it felt like home.  Now it doesn’t feel like home at all.”

“No.  This place is used for something far different at night, I am sure.” John replied.

“Have you ever seen anything like this?” She asked curiously.

“I have.  I have only seen it one other time.  At least a place like this at night.  There are a lot of standing stone circles, but most of them I only visited during the day.  During the day they are normal, the energy is homey, like you said.  They are peaceful places where you want to say prayers and ask for wishes to come true.  Nighttime is a different story.”

They walked the edge of the circle, neither of them wanted to enter.  Larissa got a lot closer than John did.  She reached her hand towards one of the stones, feeling the difference in the vibrations. 

“It is so different from earlier, John.  I’m just amazed. But this worries me too.”

“How?”

“There were so many wishes, as you said, so many requests with left behind in the center of the circle.  I was planning on reconnecting all of those people to themselves.  But now, with this weird energy, I am no longer certain it is possible. Do you think the Dolman will have the same energies?”

“I have no way of telling from here.  I can honestly say that I have never been in a Dolman. It may be the same, it may be different.  Perhaps if you do your work there, it will affect this circle and you can continue your work here.  I don’t know.”

“I guess we will see then.”

“Yes, I guess we will.”

They continued walking on.  Both paused at the edge of the clearing, looking back at the standing circle.  Then they turned their attention to the path in front of them, to the mission they had given themselves.

They made good time to the Dolman, the path was clear, just as it had been earlier in the day.  They approached the Dolman slowly, not sure what to expect from the sacred space.  They walked up the few steps to the structure and stood, just outside the door.

“It doesn’t look like the circle did.” Larissa said.

“No, it doesn’t.  Does it feel different from when you were here earlier?”

“Not really.  The intensity is the same.  The sadness, the desires, all of the wishes that people made in this area, they are all still present.”

She hesitated outside of the door.  Not really sure if she should go through with what she came to do.

“Do it Larissa.  You have to try.” John said.

“I know.  I’m just not sure that I can do it alone.”

“You aren’t alone.  I am right here.  I’ll stay with you.”

They entered the Dolman together.

“Crap, Larissa.  You said it was intense, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this intense.  From the door it felt like every other alter space I’ve ever been in.  But in here…”

“It’s overwhelming.  You see why I decided that something must be done?”

“Yes.  It is time and you are the right person to do it.”

“We are the right people, John.  We have to do this together.”

“Yes.”

They sat together on the ground of the Dolman and faced the altar.  Larissa looked at all the notes, the stones, the trinkets left behind.  She watched as John pulled the turquoise necklace from his pocket and laid it at the altar with everything else. 

“I don’t know what to do.” She admitted after they had been sitting for a few moments.

“I think you do.”

“Do I say something?  Or do I just do it?”

“Why don’t you just do it?  I don’t think this has to be like a ritual Larissa.  We aren’t in a movie.  We’re just two people trying to help other people.”

“Right.  Ok. So we do this now.”

Larissa closed her eyes.  She saw the energies of all the objects in front of her, it was like looking through her eyelids.  Every object had a slightly different vibration, it was connected to different people.  She saw some that had the same vibrations and she knew the same person had been back over and over to make the same requests.  Her heart went out to those people more.  To feel so lost to be requesting assistance so often and still not get what you were looking for. 

She connected herself into the Earth’s energies and brought those energies into her body, flowing them through her body until they shot out of the top of her head.  Then she connected to the Universal energies and brought those energies down, through her body and out through her connection to the Earth.  Fully connected to the Earth and the Universe, she started her work. 

At first it didn’t seem to work.  She concentrated on a piece, a single vibration, and pulled that vibration to her.  After she had a hold on that vibration, she would look for the person it belonged to, where ever they were in the world, it didn’t matter.  She found them.  Then she reconnected them with the Earth and with their higher selves, with the parts of them that were not of the Earth. 

At least that is what she tried to do.  The first time the person fought with her.  The person’s other parts also argued with her.  They didn’t think it was proper, what she was doing, that the person was there to suffer and search, to find the answers not be given them.  But Larissa pushed forward, she bullied, she cajoled, and finally she found the missing piece.

She loved. 

She filled her entire being with more love than she ever thought possible.  Until her teeth chattered with the love that flowed from her body. 

When she approached them with love they reconnected instantly.  They could feel, immediately, the love in her and wanted nothing more than to be just like her.  She progressed quickly through the tokens that had been left behind.  After a few reconnections she found that she could do whole groups of items together.  She didn’t have to single any one vibration or person out.  They could all be connected all at once.  Excited she pushed harder and faster.  She wanted to reconnect every one, she wanted to help everyone.

Then she was finished.  At least with everyone who was represented in the Dolman. 

Larissa opened her eyes and looked at John.  Though there was no light, she could see him with her energetic eyes.  She could feel the happiness in him, the way they had connected. 

“That was amazing Larissa.  I have never felt anything like that.”

“It was exactly what I wanted, John.  That was exactly what I wanted for everyone.”

“We need to do more of it.”

“Yes.  There are many altars, many sacred spots in this place.  We need to visit them all.”

“Do we?  I mean, do we need to go to them all?  Or could we do it all from here?    We are somewhat protected here…”

“Oh.  I see what you mean.  I don’t know if we can do it from here… but I think it is worth a try.”

Larissa closed her eyes and reached out, beyond the Dolman, her energy sweeping past where they sat.  She felt the objects that were just outside the door, at a mini altar that had been set up.  She reconnected everyone associated with that small altar in almost an instant. 

Then she reached further and went faster.  She felt like an angel, flying across the land, searching for those who were lost and showing them love and connection.  She wondered what the people were feeling, with her doing this work.  Not letting her mind wonder, she stayed present with the work and swept further. 

She found that she had gone beyond the land they were staying on.  Somehow she had passed over the sea and onto the continent.  She was surprised that she had traveled so fast, that the reconnections were taking place so quickly, but she went with it.  She stayed with the work, flowing further and further from where she sat. 

Soon she felt that she had passed over the entire globe.  She had toured the Earth and made her way back to where she sat.  She had been searching for articles that people had left behind, for prayers that had been said and never answered.  For these people she sent love and connections, showing them they were not alone. 

She had no idea how much time had passed when she opened her eyes the second time.  She looked over at John and saw that he was overwhelmed with what had just happened.

“I had no idea, Larissa.  None at all.”

“No idea about what?” She asked him.

“That there was so much suffering from people being disconnected.  I thought there would be some, yes, but not to the magnitude that you just showed me.  And you only touched those that have reached out for help.  You didn’t touch everyone else.”

“I can only help those that want to be helped, I think.  Otherwise we would all be reconnected again.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“That’s the way it seems right now.  Maybe that will change.  I really don’t know.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, recovering from the energetic output they had just experienced.

“Do you suppose they saw?” Larissa finally asked.

“I don’t think anyone could have missed that, Larissa.”

“What do you think will happen next?”

“I guess it depends on who gets to you first.  Tiana and the aliens or the corporation.”

“What if neither of them do?”

“What do you mean?”

“I have an idea.  Tell me if I am crazy John.”

“I’m listening.”

Forty Six

Tiana’s eyes flung open.  Something had just happened.  She had felt a wave come over her, but she wasn’t sure what the wave was.  She took stock of her body and realized that she was not alone.  There was someone laying in bed with her.  Who was it?  She thought about coming up to bed and she couldn’t remember it.  In fact she couldn’t remember much past sitting down for dinner and John making her a drink.

The drink! 

She tried to remember if Larissa had changed at all during dinner.  She had meant to keep an eye on the girl, looking for alterations in her energy system to see if she was indeed the one they were looking for.  She had been distracted, though, by Keith.  Keith had started acting really funny.  She was sure that he had had too much to drink, the boy was always over doing things to impress her.  She had attempted to use that to her advantage to get him to drug Larissa. 

Larissa hadn’t changed though.  At least not that she could remember.  And she remembered nothing beyond the last drink that John had made her.  Had John drugged her?  He had seemed to be acting weird.  Or was that just her? 

So caught up in thoughts, she didn’t remember that she was sharing her bed with someone until that person swung an arm over her.  She jumped, startled, and looked at the arm.  It was familiar.  It was Keith’s!  She was in bed with Keith. 

How had that happened?

Tiana ran her hand over her body and realized that she was naked in the bed.  She grazed her hand over Keith only to find him in the same state.  She was horrified.  What had they done?  What had she done? 

How was she going to get out of this?

Slowly she pushed away the arm that draped over her and crawled out of the bed.  She pulled on clothes and turned, realizing that Larissa’s bed was empty.  Which made sense since she had apparently slept with the girl’s boyfriend.  Or ex-boyfriend since they had broken up last night at her insistence.  It didn’t matter.  Perhaps nothing had happened.  Even if it did, Tiana would make sure that Keith understood that this was going nowhere.  It couldn’t go anywhere regardless.  They weren’t the same species.

Tiana tiptoed out of the room, leaving Keith snoring in the bed.  She searched the other room, hoping to find Larissa and John curled together in a similar manner.  It would certainly make things a lot easier if they were.  But the beds were empty.  The covers untouched. 

Maybe they were still downstairs, talking or something.

Tiana headed downstairs and looked around.  They were not in the house. 

She felt panic start to rise in her throat along with bile.  She had waited a long time for someone like Larissa to come along and now she was gone.  Gone with that trouble maker John.  She should have insisted that they leave him behind, but she had been so curios about Larissa’s capabilities she had wanted to see them.  She had wanted a demonstration.

She had seen more than she had even dreamed of.  She had watched as Larissa disconnected John from the corporation and reconnected him with himself.  It had been magnificent.  A dream come true.  Tiana knew just what to do with such power.  She longed to control it herself, to take it.  She just had to make sure that they were compatible before she did so.

That is why she brought the girl here.  She knew with the potion she could see right away if they were compatible.  If they were, the Cottonwood Circle was the perfect portal to utilize for the transference.  Since no one was aware of its existence, she knew that she could get away with what she wanted quickly.  She had it all planned out.  She would pretend that the four of them were performing a ritual.  That they were going to reconnect all the people of the Earth to themselves, disconnect them from the evil corporation.  Larissa would fall for it in a heartbeat.  But instead of doing anything of that sort, Tiana would force them all to give over their abilities to her. 

Larissa’s power would be so luscious.  And John, though he had a checkered past, he was strong in his own right.  His ability to track energy through the Earth would come in handy when tracking her next prey. Keith’s abilities were humdrum.  She had taken power from many a person just like him, there were no secrets there, no thrills, but she would do it just the same. 

She had to take power soon, regardless.  Her recent victims had been weak and their powers drained away from her far too quickly.  One of the downfalls of this planet.  But she had been exiled here and was not allowed to leave. 

Tiana had to find them.  She had to take over Larissa’s power and her body as soon as possible.  She would dispose of the current body quickly and then leave this city, this state.  She also had to find a way to hide the girl from the corporation.  Once she took over, they still be after her.  Of course they would never catch her.  Even if they did, they would not understand what they found.  There would be no way to disconnect her from what she was not connected to.  Maybe she would let them capture her; maybe she would find some new toys to play with there.  It might be a fun diversion from what she had been doing.

She looked outside; the car was still parked in the drive.  That meant that they were on foot.  They had not gone far.  She walked back upstairs and into John’s room.  All of his belongings were still there, at least as far as she could tell.  If they had meant to leave for good they would have taken their stuff.  At least John would have.  He had been on his own long enough to understand the importance of having his things.

She took a deep breath.  She was ok.  She could still move forward with her plan, at least for now.  She headed back to her room and stopped at the doorway. 

Now all she had to do was deal with the boy in her bed.

Forty Seven

“I don’t know Larissa.”

“No?  Do you think it’s a bad idea?” Larissa asked.

“Of course I think it’s a bad idea.  We have no idea what Tiana really wants from you.  I think it is a horrible idea to give her any chance to do it.  We don’t need to know, but we do know that we need to get as far away from her as possible.”

“I still think we can fool her.  That we can shift things in our favor.”

John shook his head.  He didn’t like the thought of her risking herself.  She was too important.  He had thought that before, when she had reconnected him.  After what he had just experienced, riding with her as she swept her loving re-connective energy across the world, he knew he would do anything to protect her.  That she would want to risk herself in such a foolish way.  To lie to Tiana about what they had been doing, to try to see what the other woman, or alien wanted.  It was foolish.

“Larissa, what if what she really wants is to, I dunno, eat you or something?”

“Then she would have already done that, wouldn’t she?  She was alone with me John, while you and Keith were getting your things together.  She could have done whatever she wanted with me.  She didn’t.  No, she wants something more from me.  The drink, or potion, or whatever it was that I was supposed to have proves that.  I want to know what she wants.  I want to stop her for good.”

“I don’t see how this will end well, Larissa.”

“I know.  But tell me this, what else are we going to do?  We can’t get up and walk away from this place.  We don’t know anyone.  Everyone that I have ever known is somewhere else, probably being monitored by the corporation.  I am sure it’s the same for you.  We need the car, we need supplies, we need a plan and we have none of those things right now.”

“You are right.”

“Yes.  So we go back to the lodge.  We go back and see what there is to see.  We see if we can figure out what Tiana really wants and if we can’t then we will run. Agreed?”

“Agreed.  Not willingly, but agreed.”

Larissa stood and John stood with her.  They had been away from the lodge for hours and they were both exhausted from the work they had done.  They were cold too.  They could both use hot showers to warm up.  But it was a long walk back to the lodge.

They made good time getting back until they reached the Cottonwood Standing Circle.  They both hesitated outside of it. 

“The energy had shifted here.” Larissa said.

It had, John walked up to the closest stone and laid his hand on it.  It no longer felt foreign to him; it felt Earthly, like it did during the daytime. 

“The alien energies are gone.” He said.

“Do you think we cleared it or just chased them away?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“Hmm.  Maybe we will come back later in the day and see if it has all still shifted.”

“Maybe.” He replied. 

They continued on, both were ready to be done with the adventure for the night.  Just before they got to the lodge, Larissa turned to John.  She had been ahead of him and her shift in direction took him off guard.  He ran into her, and caught her in his arms so neither of them would fall. 

She looked up at him, searching his face for something, searching his energies for something.  He felt her pulling him and he let himself be pulled.  He leaned down and placed his lips on hers.

He felt as though a bomb had exploded in his head, his reaction to her was so strong.  The hair stood up on his arms, goose bumps broke out on his legs, and he saw flashes of light behind his closed eyes.  He had never experienced anything so strong before. He pulled away from her.

“What was that?” He asked her.

“I was going to ask the same thing.” She breathed. “Let’s do it again.”

She pulled his head down to her and he let her.  The explosion happened again, only this time it was not as strong.  They continued to kiss and he felt the energy shift across his body as his desire for her grew.  It was more than physical, it was though their souls were melding through their lips.  She pulled away from him, breathless.

“I can barely stand” She said.

“I know the feeling.” He replied.  They stood, holding each other, grasping for balance.

“I was going to ask you something, and now I cannot recall what it was.”

“Maybe you will remember later?  All I want is to kiss you again.”

“No.  I mean, I want to as well, but I cannot John.  I don’t want to get involved again so soon until I know…”

“I understand Larissa.  I really do.”

“Thank you.”

She pulled away from him and he immediately felt the absence of her.  He wondered what kind of idiot Keith was to push her away.  Obviously the kid was under Tiana’s spell, but Larissa was something far more special than Tiana would ever hope to be.  At least the Tiana he had known before last night. 

Taking a deep breath, John followed Larissa back to the lodge.  They entered and found everything just as they had left it.  At the top of the stairs Larissa turned to him.

“I can’t sleep in my room, John.  What am I going to do?”

“You will sleep in my room.”

“I’m not sleeping with you!”

“Not with me.  There are two beds, just as in your room.  You will just take the other bed.  I won’t try anything Larissa.  I promise.  Besides, I think I may be too tired.”

“Will you wait for me to get my stuff?  Just in case something happens?”

“I will wait outside your room for you.”

He did just that, waiting right outside the door while she grabbed a few belongings to change into.  When she came out again, she looked pale.

“What happened?” He asked her.

“They are sleeping together.  Not just in the same room, but in the same bed.  Keith is wrapped around her like, like a lover.  I had not expected to see that.”

John wrapped an arm around her.

“It’s good that you are done with him.  It’s good that he ended it with you.  He is showing you his true colors.  Influence or not, a good man would not sleep with another woman the same night and under the same roof of the one he just broke up with.”

“She’s back to normal now.  Her skin is back in place.”

“Is it?  Then whatever that potion was has worn off.”

“Must have.”

“You take a shower first Larissa. I don’t mind waiting.” John changed the subject. 

They each showered and when John got back to the room Larissa was sound asleep.  He watched her for a moment before leaving the room.  He walked down the hallway and stood at the door to her room.  He watched Keith and Tiana sleeping.  He watched the way the boy’s breathing body moved and then he watched Tiana’s.  She wasn’t asleep.  She had been waiting for them. 

He turned and walked back to the bedroom.  He wasn’t sure that he could sleep, knowing that Tiana was down the hall.  He didn’t know what she was, not really, and didn’t know what she wanted.  Until he knew both he would be on edge. He lay down on the bed.  Despite his best efforts he was sound asleep in moments.