Witness

by Lori Darnell

  She smiled widely in return. And of course I was blushing all over. "One of these days... I know am going to burst into flames. It isn't natural that you can do that to me." She lay back, opening her arms to me.

  I couldn't say no. I didn't want to say no. I just said a silent prayer that James wouldn't wake up before morning. My body shifted over hers. I wanted to claim her as my own, once and for all. She reached, up hungry for my kiss. I obliged. The kiss was deep; I moved down the side of her mouth, running my tongue over the sensitive areas of her neck. She shivered in response. That was all the encouragement I needed. I continued my assault down the length of her body, my hands moving with me. I reached between her legs and could feel that she was very wet and very warm. I desperately wanted to know what she felt like, but felt a little shy – I had never done this before, after all. I leaned over her again, showering her with kisses. I kissed her eyes, her nose and then her lips again. She responded by grabbing my arms and spreading her legs wide.

  She wanted this too. With the last of my shredding control gone, I moved between her legs and penetrated her. Oh my ever loving goddess, was this incredible! Immediately, I felt her stiffen at the loss of her virginity, and I was instantly and impossibly frozen. I didn't want to hurt her.

  "Jill, oh my god, I can't, I don't know." I was distraught as to what to do. I didn't want to stop, but I couldn't continue. She looked up at my panic-stricken face and smiled in assurance, then shifted her hips up forcefully, burying me deep inside her. I groaned in response. My entire body quivered. Barely able to think coherently, I looked at her to be sure that she was okay. There was a momentary twitch in her eyes, and then she was smiling again. Still unsure that she wanted to keep going I nodded my head and raised my brow, the question written across my tense face. We weren't going to continue this if she didn't want to. She nodded her head and reached up to kiss me, spurring me on. I shifted my body and she arched her back in response.

  This was heaven, and I was never going to give her up. As though she had heard my thought, she caught my mouth with hers, kissing and intermittently breathy as we continued our lovemaking. The large bed began to shift with our movements. Once it knocked loudly against the wall and we both froze, waiting. Although, I considered distantly, if James walked in right now, there would be no hiding what was making the loud noise.

  Jill knew my thoughts and encouraged me to keep going. I did but much gentler, slower, which intensified the feeling. The building warmth continued to grow between us. Our breathing labored and my thoughts scattered, I concentrated on finding her release as well as mine. I could feel the response of her body in her mind. I knew she was close. And then I could feel her body tense as she reached her climax, her hands dropping to the sheets, gripping them tightly. If she could have spoken she would have been screaming by now. Her back arched sharply with each thrust. She was gasping for air. We were both lucky she was silent.

  I thrust deep within her twice more and withdrew. I had remembered rumors from others in the washroom, as I reached my own climax just outside her body. We could not afford for her to get pregnant. That would kill us both as we were still bound to this compound. Exhausted, I dropped my head to her chest and kissed the valley between her breasts.

  Trying to steady my breathing, I concentrated on the shifting of her body as she tried to do the same. Slowly our breathing became even and I could hear her heart beat returning to its normal rhythm. I stared into those seafoam eyes that had captured my soul nine years ago. She hugged me tightly and we lay on our sides facing each other. This was more than we had ever hoped to feel. How did we ever wait this long? We had marked each other. Nothing would keep us apart anymore. I relaxed at her side and she embraced me again. I could hear her silent I love you as though she had screamed it at the top of her lungs. "I love you," I said aloud, meaning it. She sighed and snuggled closer, our bodies entwined.

  Not being able to resist the words, I muttered breathlessly, "I don't know who won here, let's call it a draw." She laughed and shifted her body, edging even closer to me. Our naked bodies were slick with our efforts.

  I didn’t know what we were going to tell James. I saw the question in her eyes. Apparently, she hadn't realized it was well past sunrise and I could hear James pacing in the other room. I braced myself for the worst. I fell asleep waiting for James to walk through the door.

  Chapter 13

  Jill woke me, a few hours later. The sunlight was streaming under the bedroom door. She was fully dressed and watching me sleep. Now I was the one who didn't want to get up. I pulled her to me and kissed her. If I had the time, I would have repeated the events of earlier that morning. My body was well on the way to agreeing with me. I broke off the kiss before we got ourselves in more trouble.

  "Jill, has James come to check on us?" She smiled and shook her head no. Whew. That was one less thing I had to worry about at the moment. I found my pants on the floor but, I couldn't find my shirt. I looked at Jill, she laughed and launched herself over the back of the leather chair. Apparently her aim had been off earlier. She looked at the shirt and made a face.

  "What's wrong?" She took hold of the shirt firmly and dust went flying everywhere. We both laughed. James only cleaned where he had to, seemingly.

  After making sure we were both dressed and the room was in proper order, we walked to the door. Jill stopped a few feet in front and waited for me. I reached out to open the door, and she shoved me in front of her. I looked back and gave her a raised eyebrow.

  "Nice, feed me to the wolves." She pursed her lips and stayed behind me as we walked into James' office. He was sitting at his desk, staring at me.

  "Good of you both to finally join me. I had hoped to give you both some more training, but you seemed to be… preoccupied." He stared me down with a disapproving glare. "Maybe, we need to have a brief talk instead." This can't be good. Jill and I gave each other a glance. She giggled, I blushed. We were so obvious. Jill gave my hand a squeeze and she sat down on the couch. We both knew the talk was going to be between James and myself. One of the many times I was jealous of her inability to speak. She shot me a sly smile. Yes, definitely jealous.

  “Marcus, you have to know how dangerous it is for both of you. Especially right now. I understand your young and you think you have all the time in the world right now, but…”

  Anger flitted through my mind as I interrupted his lecture. “Actually, no we don’t. You and I both know that. James, I am not going to apologize for making love to Jill, beyond the location.”

  “Do you have any idea what they will do to Jill if the Church priests find out?” James remarked, as though it were little more than an academic interest.

  “Well, we will just have to be sure no one gets the opportunity to check, unless you are planning to say something?” I stared at James, expectant.

  “I am greatly offended. You know I love you both as if you were my own children. I would never do that. You have to be extra careful now. No one must suspect. You only had a little while longer.” He was glancing at Jill, the parental disapproval was evident. She smiled in return and ducked her head into her arm. Well, it seemed that James knew who had instigated everything, at least. I mistakenly let out a chuckle at Jill’s reaction. James shot his glare back to me.

  “This is not funny. You will need to be on guard. Now compose yourselves. We have to be in class in less than an hour. Jill, be very careful in the washroom, be quick and come back here immediately. Don’t stop for anyone. Here, take these headphones and radio. Pretend you’re listening to it on the way and back. I want no questions today.” James handed her the props and she dutifully bopped her head to the music. I couldn’t help smiling. James, disgruntled, pushed us out the door. We walked together to the main compound. To keep distance, Jill and I walked on either side of James. Personally, I thought this was going to bring more attention, as Jill and I always walked next to each other.

  We entered the washroom and James took my hand. “Play
along.” We walked hand in hand to the cupboard. We showered and laughed at intervals. On our way out of the washroom James let me go. “Go to my office, I will be there shortly. I have an audience with the Church Council this morning. Jill should be waiting. No funny business. I will be there in ten minutes.” With a wag of his finger in warning James walked toward the main hall.

  I all but ran back to his office, suddenly worried that Jill wouldn’t be there, but she was. Jill met me at the door and smiled. I reached down and hugged her, leaning into her neck to give her a brief kiss. “I was so worried that you wouldn’t be here. James has me paranoid now.” But we both knew that James was right. We had to be very careful.

  James arrived precisely ten minutes later. Jill and I were still embraced, but nothing else, at the edge of his couch. I looked up.

  “Marcus, I told you no funny business.”

  “I was just giving her a hug… that is all.” I couldn’t fool him one bit. The lie was spread across my face. Jill looked up at me and giggled. She was such a little instigator. She wound herself tighter to me.

  “Jill, that goes for you too. Don’t make me separate you guys.” His tone was more playful now that he was back with us. What would we ever do without him? That question had been plaguing me for months. Each time I pushed the thought away as soon as I could. I didn’t want to think about that awful possibility.

  “Marcus, you and Jill need to get to class. You will be tested on the remaining bodies. Each one will have a secret the Priest in charge is looking for. Give it to him quickly. I don’t want him to have a reason to hold you there.” He seemed to have no doubt that we would succeed.

  We reached the classroom before the other students. James took his place at the back of the room. He motioned to the Priest to come toward him. The Priest was in a foul mood.

  “What do you want, James?”

  “I was wondering if the students have been assigned yet.”

  “No, we don’t know if there will be any survivors beyond today. But you probably know of at least one, right?” He shot a glare in my direction. I didn’t look up from the table.

  “It is probable that all of the students will make it,” James replied evenly.

  “I don’t know. We have never lost so many students on the first day. It is usually today that thins out the most. We may walk away with nothing.”

  “Well, I had a request in to be placed in field work a while back - you know, for something different. I have been in charge of the witness training program for so long. I was thinking of taking the succeeding students as my staff.”

  The priest looked over at us suspiciously, understanding at once what James was getting at. But he was apparently too pleased with this news to let it out of his grasp. If James left, there would be a spot open. If the priest went along with what James wanted, which he knew was myself and Jill working directly with him in the field, then James could be persuaded to recommend him for the position – a position the priest had been vying for a long time. James was the senior most instructor there. A wide smile betrayed his thoughts.

  “That would be a most… interesting venture. Let us hope we have the survivors you want,” the priest replied carefully.

  “Let us hope,” James said, equally cautious.

  All five students were now surrounding the three remaining bodies. Jill and I sat next to each other, just as we had done the previous day. I was trying to separate the feelings of what I was about to do from the feelings I had from sitting so close to Jill but unable to touch her. The conflict was irrational. How could I have these thoughts sitting in front of all of this horror? I pushed the thought aside as the Priest pushed one of the other students forward to proceed.

  By the end of the day we knew several new facts: all of the bodies had been related to each other. The little girl, Jenna, was the topic of each secret unveiled. We now knew how old she was, the general location of where to find her, who was protecting her, and what each body tried desperately to hide the most; that her father was still alive. The girl’s father was a priest to the old religions - he was a Hermetic priest that worshipped the ancient gods.

  But most importantly, we found that Jill and I were alone. The other three students were not able to survive the third subject. The sadness I felt for their loss was overshadowed by the joy that Jill was still at my side. She didn’t look well, but she smiled at my worried expression. She assured me that she was just tired, that was all.

  “Well done, Marcus and Jill! You will be the elite of the Church’s Witnesses. You have exceeded our expectations. James, this is a tribute to your teaching. I know that the superiors will not object to you leading these two out into the world. They will enjoy what the Church has to offer in return. Congratulations.” The Priest was overjoyed that James wanted to leave his post. And he was eager to slide his name at the top of the list as James’ replacement.

  “Thank you, but your teachings have proven you are ready to move on as well. I’ll put a good word in for you, shall I?” He knowingly nodded in the priest’s direction. James would do whatever he could to ensure the cooperation of the Church, so he could take us away from here.

  We walked back to his office sluggishly. We were all exhausted by the events of the day. Jill and I trailed behind James, both of us half asleep as he held the door open for us. “You two behave yourselves and get some sleep, some real sleep. I will be out here.” He motioned us to his bedroom door. We didn’t need to be told twice.

  Jill moved to the center of the bed and collapsed. I was worried that she was sick or that she had gotten too close. We both did. But I grabbed the blanket from the chair and laid down beside her. I covered us both with the blanket and she sighed as she curled closer into my arms.

  “I love you.” I looked down at her closed eyes. She smiled in return. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about our future or what would happen tomorrow. We both sunk into oblivion, too exhausted to even change our clothing.

  I felt the bed shift. I opened my eyes slowly. It was oddly bright in the room. Jill was walking to the leather chair. She sat down and looked up at me. She was still tired, but she couldn’t sleep anymore. She got up and walked out of the room into James’ office. She was probably hunting for something to read. I looked around the room. Everything was the same, but it felt different. I decided to follow Jill into the other room. James was sitting at his desk. He was wearing street clothes. I had never seen him without his red robes on. It was startling.

  “Good morning… or should I say afternoon!” James was in a good mood.

  “Why are you dressed like that?”

  “Well you guys slept through the excitement. I have resigned my post.”

  “What! Where will you go? What will you do?”

  “Calm down Marcus, no one can leave the Church, trust me, many have tried. I am going to be working with Witnesses. Actually I have been granted permission to work with you and Jill in an official capacity.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “You see, when you finish your training, which you did yesterday, you are assigned to… well the best description would be a manager. That would be me. We are given assignments from the Church. The Witnesses, that would be you and Jill, report their findings to me and I make the official reports to the Church. This is the best possible outcome I could manage. If there were not so many people begging for my current, well now former, position, they may have not granted my request.”

  “So, we get to stay with you?”

  “In a manner of speaking. Witnesses are usually paired up to work together. It is most fortunate that we already had a pair with the two of you. No one suspects how much you are involved, which is a very good thing. They would have separated you. Once you become a working team, they are less inclined to do so. The bonds, once broken, can ruin the changes for both of the Witnesses. So everything is working according to plan. Be happy - we have won!”

  Jill and I looked at each other in disbelief. Could
it be so simple as walking out of the compound together? Jill’s beamed, lighting up the room. She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward her. I almost fell over. I was still in shock. This was much easier than the woman’s voice had told me. Where was the difficulty? Where was the pain?

  “Marcus, everything in due time. I wish you would have listened to me. But I understand. We all understand.” Her voice shook me to my core. I knew it was true. But I was so happy. They were so happy. How could this have been wrong?

  “It isn’t wrong. Your choice has made this a difficult situation. But enjoy your time as long as you can. Be happy. Live in the moment. Destiny will call you when it is time. It is too late to choose a different path - not that you would have taken it. I see how much you love them. I see how much you love her. I was wrong that it would hurt you less. The pain would have been there anyway.” I could hear the smile in her voice. It felt just like talking to Jill. She knew my thoughts, my reactions and my feelings. Bu this woman, this distant this ‘god’, who wouldn’t give me her name, was still watching over me.

  “Marcus, Marcus… are you ok?” James was walking toward me. Concern washed over his features, as he looked at my startled expression.

  “She spoke to me again. She is happy for us.” They both knew I was keeping things from them. Jill would find out, but she would agree with me. James didn’t want to look further.

  “Now, we need to get going. You both have to receive your ID, passports, and official documents. I will go with you. Also, we need to get you some presentable clothes. I will show you those as well. You need to say goodbye to your robes. You’re no longer students. Only the clergy wear robes in public. The position of Witness allows more freedom. The Church provides clothing for the students who work outside the Church walls. Take four outfits, one should be a good hard traveling outfit, two should be more casual and the last should be something dressy. You will be on the road a lot. I will be traveling with you for a while, before you’re sent off on your own.