Caleb 03 - Going Home

She stepped back, shocked at my fury.

I pushed past her, heading back toward my truck. "I'm going back to school. If I stay here, I'll do or say something we will all regret."

Opening the front door, I came face to face with Mary - no, wait, two Marys - and an older woman, perhaps in her forties, whose resemblance to the two Marys meant she was probably their mother. They all had the same beautiful, tawny eyes.

My mother followed me into the hallway, crying.

She started to speak but stopped as the older woman in front of me beat her to it.

"Caleb, would you be so kind as to spare me a few moments? I promise you; nobody is here to harm you in any way." Her voice was low and melodious.

I looked at the woman, then at Mary, then at the other Mary.

Mary Two stepped forward. Left to right, from my perspective. It was wholly arbitrary.

"Caleb, please. I know this is a shock, and perhaps a little scary, but our ship is still waiting. If you leave, I am worried it might sail forever."

My rage abated and I stood to one side, allowing the three women to walk past me. My Mary - as far as I knew - came last and took my hand as she did, leading me back into the parlor.

I closed the door in my mother's face, shutting her out. I was still very angry with her. The man, Gerald Cross, was still on the floor, his eyes unfocused, and his hands cupped around his genitals.

"What happened?" The older woman asked.

"He attacked me, so I responded," I said flatly.

She shook her head.

"Please." She indicated the sofa. "Sit. I have some questions and some information. I promise I will give as much as I get, and there will be no further breaches of protocol." She looked at Gerald with contempt as she said that last bit.

I was still not happy, but I sat. My Mary sat to one side of me, and her twin to the other.

"Firstly, allow me to make the introductions. My name is Dianna. I am Mary's grandmother and the Matriarch of the Everson family. Mary," she said, nodding her head towards my Mary, "you know, and Amanda." She tilted her head towards the twin.

I looked back at Dianna. Grandmother? She didn't look a day over forty. I was already struggling with the concept she might be Mary's mother, but grandmother?

Dianna smiled as if she'd read my thoughts. "You are a sweet boy."

Gerald chose that moment to crawl to his knees. He looked a little groggy and was still in obvious pain.

"I suggest you go into the kitchen and get some ice," Dianna said to him with a voice that brooked no argument. "Perhaps this will teach you not to be so arrogant, or so hasty."

Climbing to his feet, he staggered from the room. He didn't even glance in my direction.

"Would you please tell me what happened?" Dianna's voice no longer held that note of authority. She spoke kindly, and so I decided to respond.

"My mother delivered me into the presence of that ass... of Gerald," I said, "he had questions about what happened at the party last night, which I answered. Then he started asking me personal questions which I declined to answer. I wished to leave. He grabbed my arm, and I brushed him off."

Mary took my hand, which probably would have been comforting... except for the fact that, simultaneously, Amanda did the exact same thing with my other hand. It gave me goosebumps. It was creepy.

Dianna smiled. "Please, go on."

"I felt a pressure in my head, like someone was trying to take control. It was very much like the feeling from last night at the party when that sleaze tried to stop me from interfering in his assault on Angela."

"Initially I tried pushing back, and I thought I was making headway, but then he redoubled his attack, and my only option was a physical response."

She nodded. "You did well to resist long enough to be able to defend yourself. He deserved what he got."

She sat back in her chair. "As I said outside," she began, "I have questions for you, and I promised you information. I will begin. I told you I am the matriarch of the Everson family. We are a family who has, for generations, had a gift. We are Empaths. We have a strong mental ability to share feelings and thoughts with others.

"We cannot compel or control with our gift, only share. We never do this without the consent of the person we wish to share with, although our non-invasive reading of emotions does enable us to work very effectively as counselors, and in other professions related to mental health."

"For instance," she went on, "I am in no way reading your actual thoughts right now, but I can feel your raw emotions even without doing so. You are angry - with some justification - more than a little confused, and a touch frightened." Then she smiled. "And having my granddaughters in such proximity has also made you somewhat aroused."

I blushed and retrieved my hands from the twins. They released them without complaint.

"The Everson family has, for generations, worked to protect people who have no gifts from those who do, and to mitigate damage and help victims to recover afterward. We cannot change what happened. We can only share the memory and help them come to terms with their suffering. I visited with Angela and Bob last night after you left. I must say, you did an excellent job for someone untrained. I was particularly impressed that you did not try and use your gift to change their perception of the event. That would have been a grave error."

"Will they be okay?" I asked.

"They were both badly shaken," she replied," but your interference in their attacker's plans and subsequent counseling meant that my job was so much easier. Using Bob's desire to protect Angela to force him to forgive himself was inspired. I feel that they will recover."

"Thank you. They are good people and didn't deserve that."

"Nobody deserves that," she said with some steel. "Now back to you. I know you told your story to Mary, but I would very much like to hear about when you found your powers, and what you did with them. We could sit here all night while you tell your tale, or I could share your memory of the time since you found them. That would take only a few moments."

"No!" I said flatly, my anger flaring once more.

She smiled at me again.

"I have made you angry again, and I know it's a scary proposition having someone read your thoughts. However, there are reasons why it would be much better for both of us for you to allow me to help you."

"Help me?" I asked a little more strongly than I intended. "You want to help me by mind raping me? Rummaging around inside my head and learning everything I might want to keep private?"

Mary put her hand on my arm. Her twin copied the gesture on the other side.

"Gerald is a member of your family," Dianna said. "A second or third cousin, if memory serves."

I goggled at her. "I never even knew I had cousins."

"Your family, the Stotts, is another family that has, for generations, had gifts. Their gifts were more active. They could control and compel, not just share. Where the Everson family has always worked against those who abuse their gifts, the Stott's legacy is... more complicated. Gerald is an excellent case in point. He's actively chosen to assist my family and to hunt down people like Harold. And yet..."

I understood what she left unsaid. He was overzealous, and that was putting it mildly. The words 'bad cop' sprung to mind, in fact - though he hadn't seemed to merely be playing the role. Dianna was clearly the good cop. That raised my hackles a bit. It encouraged me to remain suspicious.

"You mean I might be related to Harold from last night?" I asked her.

"No," she answered. "There are others who also have gifts such as yours, with varying degrees of power.

"So how do you keep track of them all?" I asked.

"In reality," she replied, "we cannot. We can only monitor those who are born into bloodlines we know have power. Sometimes new bloodlines appear, and sometimes bloodlines with power, fade. Your family line has remained solid, however. There are others, but yours is the most prevalent."

"So, you police these bloodlines?" I asked. "How?"

"When a new baby is born into the bloodline, their powers are sealed. An amulet is placed around their wrist which blocks them from using their gift.

The amulet is usually removed on their twenty first birthday. They then undergo assessment, training, and counseling to enable them to adapt to having their gift, without the power corrupting them. We do what we can. We're never as successful as we hope. Some abusers still manage to say all the right things and even suppress their true emotions and intentions. Others simply can't resist the temptation as the years go by."

"For some reason, your amulet failed. You came into your power before we were ready. We would have removed on your twenty first birthday. Now we are left with you having discovered and used, possibly abused your powers."

I flinched.

"We need to know, Caleb. What kind of man are we unleashing into the world? How will you use your power? Do we need to worry that you are, or will become, a danger to the people around you? What's more, I can feel that you have similar questions - I can feel your self-doubt, your guilt, your uncertainty. That is encouraging, but I still need to hear it from you."

"And what if it turns out that I am dangerous?" I demanded. "That I am going to be corrupted by whatever this is? What then? Do you seal my ability with another amulet? Put me in prison? Kill me?" I was starting to become a little afraid.

Mary's arm linked with mine and she pressed against me, comforting me. Amanda echoed the gesture on the other side. I wasn't comforted at all. Under the circumstances, it felt like they were trying to restrain me. My fear spiked, and they instantly both released me and pulled back a little.

"I promised you that we weren't here to harm you," Dianna said softly. "If it turns out that you are at risk, then we'll work with you, counsel you, and help you resist the descent. If that descent happens and you break the law, then you will be taken into custody and tried, exactly as will happen to the man you stopped last night."

I sighed.

"Things happened yesterday," I said. "Things that I don't think had anything to do with my gift, but are private. It's not just my privacy I would be violating by letting you share my memories."

"And you also think I will think less of you when I find out that you had sex with Josh and Louise?" Mary asked.

My jaw dropped.

"Caleb, I'm an empath, remember? As soon as I saw you three together at the party, I felt it. I felt your feelings toward them, and what's more, I felt their feelings toward you. It was obvious what you had been doing, and the feelings I was getting from all of you were beautiful."

"And yet you still..."

"Empaths share," she said simply, taking my hand. The fact that Amanda took my other hand at the same time suddenly took on an extra dimension. I blushed, knowing that all three of them would have felt my sudden arousal and probably realized the cause.

Dianna looked at me. "Will you let me help you? Will you share your memories with me? I promise that nothing I learn will be shared with others. My only concern is to reassure you, and others in both our families, that you are not going to be corrupted by your gift."

"Is there no other way?" I asked. I had no desire to let anyone into my head. My experiences thus far had not been pleasant, and I was also scared of what she might discover. What if I was a rapist-in-waiting? How could I live with myself, knowing that I was destined to become that which I so feared and despised?

Mary moved closer. This time Amanda did not copy the movement. "You are a good man, Caleb. Fear is sensible, and self-doubt can even be laudable. A man cannot sit with them forever, though. That is its own descent. Let us stand alongside you as you wrestle with them. You must, for your own sake, even if not for anyone else's."

"We could do it Gerald's way," put in Dianna, smiling gently at Mary, "though by that, I mean questioning, not control. It will be long, tedious, and uncomfortable. Both approaches will extract the same information in the end."

"And what if I just tell the lot of you to go fuck yourselves and leave? Do you plan to try and stop me?" The threat of being subject to Gerald's questioning again had rekindled my anger.

"Nobody would try to stop you," Dianna said gently. "Your mother would be devastated for you to leave on such bad terms, but I can tell you're too angry right now to care about that. Running away is not the answer, Caleb. Mary spoke truly. You will have to face these questions about yourself eventually, or, instead, become a nervous shell of a man. We're offering to help. We're not wholly selfless, but that is what we're offering: help. Help to know the truth of yourself."

I felt a huge well of emotion rise within me, and tears began to leak from my eyes. Once more, I was enveloped by two pairs of arms.

"Let me help you, Caleb, please," Dianna said again.

I sobbed, defeated. I knew she was right. If I refused to 'share' my thoughts with her, I had the option to be interrogated by Gerald again, or leave, creating a huge rift in my family. That was not the issue, though. I knew that every hour of every day I would be terrified of my own corruption. I couldn't live like that. It would drive me mad. Wordlessly, I nodded to her.

I expected her to lean forward, to fix upon me with those tawny eyes and stare into my soul. She did none of those things.

I just felt her. A gentle, warm, loving feeling seeped into my mind. It was like an embrace. Instinctively I drew away and tried to push her out. She simply stopped and waited.

I made a conscious effort to relax, and allowed the feeling to envelop my mind. There was no loss of control, no feeling of violation, nor of having my memories rummaged through. There was just a gentle warmth - almost a feeling of love - permeating my mind.

After only a few minutes, I felt her slowly and gently withdraw, I felt the loss, and momentarily missed the warmth.

I saw her considering what she had learned.

"You do spend an inordinate amount of time staring at bottoms," was her first comment.

Mary and Amanda both burst out laughing while I blushed furiously. Dianna grinned at me.

"You made some questionable decisions," she said, "but your reflections during your journey here reassure me that you are not a danger to anyone. You have a strong moral compass that was challenged massively by a situation that you were never prepared for. I think seeing Harold in action, though surely traumatic, was good for you. The abyss stared through you, even though you hadn't been staring at it first. You saw a monster. You know they're real. You know where they come from.

"I am intrigued at the use of your power to steal - no, to appropriate - Harold's memories. That is new. Normally, those with the power to compel don't have the power to share.

"And here is where I once again place my trust in you, young Caleb," she said. "I am going to tell you something that I needn't. You are extremely powerful - possibly the most powerful Stott or Everson I have ever met. That, in and of itself, worries me. All great power does. But I already believe that you can stay on the righteous path. I believe you could become a great ally to us if you wished it."

"Ally?" I asked.

"You wanted to go into law enforcement," she replied. "There is, in fact, a 'psychic crimes agency,' though it isn't called that. If a career in law enforcement still interests you after you graduate, then you should consider it an option. So very few in this world are even qualified at the threshold. We would be lucky and grateful to have you, should you pass all the tests and complete all the training."

"'We?' The Eversons?"

Dianna reached into her pocket and pulled out a badge, flipping it open. "Yes, and," she said.

I looked down at the badge. FBI.

"We are a small division, and our true nature is a closely-held secret. On paper, we're profilers and counselors. In theory, we use our extensive knowledge of human psychology and cutting-edge therapeutic techniques to catch the most elusive criminals, and assist the most traumatized witnesses.

"There are very strict rules regarding what we are asked and allowed to do, but you will learn all of that if you choose to apply and are accepted.

"Now," she said, "your mother."

Once again I felt my anger start to flare.

"I'm not sure I can talk to her right now. Despite what I have learned, I still can't believe that she led me in here to get mind fucked by that cretin."

Gerald is no cretin," Dianna replied, rebuffing me gently, but without doubt or hesitation. "He is actually a very nice guy, just impatient and a little arrogant at times. I think you both..." she paused for emphasis, "reacted badly to a situation, and it spiraled. I know your reasons. You were already tender from beating yourself up practically the whole way here. You are also still raw from absorbing Harold's knowledge. That was a mistake, and I would like to help you deal with that if you will let me.

"Your mother didn't deliver you to him. He was supposed to have a conversation with you and ask you some questions about the party, nothing more. Instead, it turned into a pissing contest, and he got wet." She grinned.

I didn't.

"So, in your world, 'actually very nice guys' skip from blitzing an exhausted kid with questions straight to mind-rape when they don't get capitulation, or should that be obeisance?" I countered. "That's the bar? Hey, maybe Harold was 'actually a very nice guy' who'd just gotten a little pushback from society and the world, and just got a little impatient and arrogant."

Dianna's face fell, but it didn't harden. She raised both her hands. "I concede the point, Caleb," she said. "No argument. He crossed a line, and he'll be punished for it - and he did get some rather instant negative feedback."

That one almost made me grin. Almost.

"Your mother didn't know that was going to happen, Caleb," Dianna said. "She's already a part of this world and has been for years. On top of that, she's been worried sick about you - even though she put on a brave face for that text exchange of yours before the party. Go talk to her, please. Let her apologize, and consider whether, perhaps, she deserves one too.

"And who knows?" she continued. "Maybe she'll be so profoundly guilt-ridden that she'll buy you that Ford GT after all."

That, finally, convinced me that Dianna was more than just a 'good cop.' I laughed, and it felt good.

Then I remembered that I still had some questions. "How much of my memory did you share?" I asked her. She probably knew I wasn't attacking her just from her powers, but I did my best to keep my tone light.

"From you waking up yesterday until we spoke on the porch," she answered immediately.

"I was wondering," I asked hesitantly, "The, uum ..."

"You're wondering if your influence on Josh was the reason that he and Louise invited you into their bed." she said. "If you had somehow used your power to create that scenario."

I nodded mutely.

"As far as I can tell, Caleb, the answer is no. You are an attractive young man. You're a nice person, and fun to be around. People are naturally drawn to you. It is natural that someone, who has lived with you since you started university, developed feelings for you.

"The dream, yes, you probably caused it. You had no idea. And yes, it probably shifted his own perception of what those good feelings toward you signified. But it was so far away from overriding his will, Caleb. People have dreams about sex they simply do not want to have in real life. Those dreams can be troubling, but they can't really change a person like that."