Chapter Six
Matt, Telia, Owen and Francis fell into a rhythm with their work. Francis traced out Senator Cain’s connections, then Matt, Telia, and Owen would surveil them using the reflector. They were discovering there was no conspiracy at work among the Disciples of the Beast, rather, it was spontaneous collusion toward a collective vision of annihilation.
As Thanksgiving rolled around, a light dusting of snow covered the ground. The barn was kept a comfortable temperature but they had to keep the door closed, and the building now seemed dark and cavernous.
Telia crossed over and found Samantha and Louis now dressed in winter clothes. She was surprised each time their appearance changed, “Does it get cold here?”
Samantha held her hand. “You bring the warmth and the weather. It’s cold where you are, so now it’s cold here. It is another trick to try to make it warm, like a beach, like a summer day.” Samantha’s eyes narrowed and she looked at Telia slyly. She purred, “I can tell, you didn’t drink the tea. Does my hand feel different?”
Telia nodded in agreement. “Yes, it’s even more real. Not as trippy.”
Samantha brushed Telia’s hair aside and gazed into her eyes. Telia felt her stomach flutter. Samantha said, “I suppose we need to do some grubby business to keep the boys happy for now, then are you ready for me?”
Telia was nervous. “Yes, I’m ready in two ways. Ready for you, and I’m ovulating.”
Samantha put her hand on Telia’s belly. “I felt it was time! I am very excited.”
Telia took Samantha’s hand and kissed her palm. “I am too. Let’s get to work and make it quick.”
Now, they were able to find Cain in an instant. With increasing familiarity of him and his network of associates and family members, they were able to peer into his world in its shimmering ghostly form.
They’d discovered his relationship with the Beast was very simple, power for power. A small air strike--the death, chaos and carnage fed the Beast and it responded by feeding Cain a little dose of power while he floated in his salty tub. A massive shipment of heroin delivered successfully, and another dose of power. Cain divined what the Beast wanted in his meditation sessions. The Beast spoke a dark, simple language of hate, violence, greed, and lust, and Cain translated it to be more palatable to the world. He spoke in terms of national security, and confronting danger, rather than murder and power.
Samantha had them investigating ways to interfere with the communications and start planting false messages among the Disciples of the Beast. Senator Cain was scheduled to be interviewed live on N-Cubed later in the afternoon. On this outing, Samantha intended to prompt him to say some words about love. Matt and Francis had devised a short statement that would prove their concept.
Cain floated in his tub and the immense shadow swarmed over them and flowed through the water. Samantha listened to the whispers and waited for the beast to disappear through the waters. Telia could hear Samantha’s whispers as she flowed through her and into Cain.
“It’s done, we’ll see now!” Samantha said.
They returned to the mountain stream. Telia was feeling tense, but excited. Samantha held Telia’s face in her hands and gazed into her eyes again. Samantha asked, “Are you ready for me?”
Telia nodded and whispered, “Yes.”
She saw light emanating from her own body and from Samantha’s eyes and face. The golden white light blazed from the ground, the trees, and the sky. She felt herself filling with heat and radiance. Every nerve in her body sang in a strange harmony and her mind felt like it was soaring, expanding like a cloud crackling with electricity and light.
When she returned to the barn, Telia held her hand up and saw her normal skin. She felt herself, her hair, her face her chest. She felt energy flowing through her spine and radiating through her body. She thought it might be possible to leap down from the chair to the floor, but she laughed at the absurdity of it, having a solid fleshy body.
The men were used to Telia’s overflowing sensuality, by now, and even Francis was comfortable with it and treated it as part of the job. But today she didn’t attack them. Owen just said, “Oh dear…”
Matt and Francis shifted in their seats. Matt looked at her with his head slightly cocked to the left, then to the right. Francis inspected her nervously.
Matt stood up and took her hand and led her away. “Tee, You’re soaked. Let’s head back over to the house.”
She spoke as if each syllable was made of chocolate, “Matthew Wells. Matt.” She kissed his hand. Her pupils were dilated so they were like black pools. Her skin was flushed and hot. Her scent started to work on him and he wobbled a little bit drunkenly through the tunnel to the house. “Let’s shower.” She suggested.
They went into the bathroom together. She stripped him naked and stepped out of her clothes and inspected herself in the mirror and posed. He started the shower, which was a large tiled room with shower heads that lined the floor walls and ceiling.
She said, “That feels so incredible. The hot water everywhere.”
They made love for hours. He couldn’t get enough of her. When she orgasmed, her entire body contorted. Minutes later, he’d be aroused again and they’d start a new round. Finally, when they were too sore to continue, she bit his shoulder until her teeth drew blood.
“Ouch! Telia. Teeth!” He sat back. She licked the blood off her lips, then off his wound. He said, “You’ve completely drained me of bodily fluids. I am surprised there’s any blood left.”
“Oh Matt. Matthew.” She put her head on his stomach and gazed up at him. “I’ve known you since you were a child.”
Matt said, “Yeah, we were practically just babies at school. Who would have thought we’d end up here?”
She said dreamily, “I want to eat. I want a big meal. Meat. Vegetables. Dessert. I want cake. No pie. Well, cake and pie. I want to get drunk. Coffee. And more fucking later, so much more.”
Matt said, “I’ll need to eat just to regain my strength. Aren’t you sore? I’m sore.”
She dismissed his concern. “Oh who can care about a little pain? It’s just another sensation. It’s a good pain. Maybe we can put some lotion on you or something.”
Matt shrugged. “I guess that might help. I don’t think we’ve done anything like this since we were in our twenties.”
She said, “I do remember that. Oh! That was excellent. You were so good. To be so young and full of that urge, but I like this, too, more like embers of a fire.”
He said, “Since you’ve been getting worked up by Samantha, it’s been really interesting.”
Telia brushed his cheek with her thumb and said, “I am Samantha.”
Matt was concerned, but wasn’t sure what Telia meant. “What?!” He became tense and anxious. “What happened?”
Telia soothed him, “Don’t worry. I’m still Telia. Samantha’s in here, too.” She purred, “It’s incredible.”
He worried Telia was, perhaps, permanently injured. “Samantha? Telia? What have you done?”
“Relax, I’ll leave when she wants me to go, but I just want to fuck more and taste food. I just wanted you too much to remain over there.” She brushed her hand on his chest. He found it impossible to remain anxious. He was fascinated and he studied her face looking for any sign of Samantha’s presence. She announced, “I actually smell and taste different, but otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to tell.”
“Now that you mention it, I recognize your scent Samantha. Telia, what’s it like?”
“Right now, I feel like I’m glowing.” She reported. She paused and considered the sensation. “It’s like that dopey feeling of new love, but amplified. When we were having sex, I thought I was going to turn inside out. I can feel the movement of the electricity of all my nerves, and it feels good. Can you go get my makeup brush. It’s in the bag on the sink.”
He rolled off the bed and returned with the brush. She dusted it off with her hand. “Just use this on me. I hope I can take it
.”
He ran the brush along her body. She breathed in ragged gasps, “It’s like that’s happening inside me at the same time.” She rolled onto her stomach. “Go along my spine. Down…. Keep going all the way. Oh! My! Gods!” She curled her hands into the blankets and pushed her face into the pillow. “Stop! Stop! I can’t stand it. It’s too good.”
Telia panted, “Samantha, oh, it’s too much. I need a rest.” She looked back at Matt. “Matthew do you love me?”
He said, “Telia, I love you.”
Telia narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s Samantha that’s asking.”
He patted her butt gently, then flopped down onto the bed by her. “Yes. I do. Both of you, but Telia’s my wife, and the mother of my child.”
Telia propped herself on an elbow. “We, both of us, want to get pregnant. Samantha thinks we are.”
“That’s wonderful!” His voice bubbled with enthusiasm. “I thought we were too old, but that’s exciting. Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” He asked.
“Can’t tell, yet.” Telia shrugged her shoulders.
Matt asked, “Does Samantha know how to see Tracy, how to talk to her?”
Telia nodded and smiled. “Yes, we can. I can send her good dreams, too.”
Matt asked, “Have you been watching me my whole life?”
Telia smiled ear to ear. “This is all a revelation to you, isn’t it?”
“Are we related? Are you an old ancestor?”
She looked up at the ceiling. “I think I can explain better by describing a more recent situation that’s really quite similar. There’s a family of deer that live near your home. I’ve known them since your family moved there. I’ve taken a real liking to them, so I instruct them, help them when I can. They started to understand me. I’ll introduce you next time you cross over. Telia and I will go visit them tonight when we sleep. But your family is the same, just a much longer and more intimate association.”
He ran his fingers through her hair. “I think you should dye it Samantha’s color when Samantha’s around.”
They returned to the barn. Francis was doing pull ups from a crossbeam and Owen was taking a nap.
Francis dropped to the floor and jogged over to the flat panel display. “Check this out!” He said. He cued up a video.
Cain was being interviewed on N-Cubed. He stridently urged a full scale war in the Middle East claiming it was in the interest of national security. However, in the middle of his well worn diatribe he sobbed and said, “I had an Irish Setter as a boy! I loved that dog.” He looked astonished. The reporter was embarrassed and attempted to bring Cain back to his train of thought. He snarled on camera and shouted, “Death! More Death!”
Telia laughed hysterically. “It worked! I can still be surprised after all! How did they explain that?”
Francis brought up the N-Cubed home page. The headline was, “Senator Cain Hospitalized After Suffering Stroke.”
She slapped Owen’s leg. “Wake up Owen!”
He opened one eye. “Samantha?”
“How could you tell?” She smiled.
“Long experience.” He said dryly.
Telia said, “Francis you look pregnant with a plan.”
He paced the room. “This new capability is huge. I think we need to act quickly and plant the idea that parts of the Brotherhood are moving to take over. We need to break the compartmentalization of the organization. The human traffickers are moving against the drug traffickers. The intelligence agencies are vying to topple the commander in chief, the financiers are seeking to topple the drug dealers, and so on. Add in some targeted assassinations, and voila.”
Matt put his head in his hands. “I don’t like this. It will kill a lot of people when it run its course, probably many innocent people will be caught in the carnage. The potential for this to spin out of control is enormous. Samantha, how do we know this beast isn’t influencing Seth, too, or if all this isn’t just another grubby deal?’
“I don’t think it can influence Seth, in any case, we need to act based on our own best judgement regardless of what Seth’s plans might be.” Telia said.
Matt asked Francis, “Which of these groups you mention is the least violent, and has the least potential to kill innocent people?”
Francis said, “The finance people. They’re tied into all the other groups, but they’re bean counters.”
Matt continued, “What if we target them initially? That might disrupt other operations, too. Then we begin targeted implosions of the more dangerous organizations.”