As she was pulling his lounge pants off, Besseta stopped and laughed, “Baby, who else do you think helped me take care of you?” The color left Kenneth’s face. “She only left this room really, to let the dogs go outside. I told them to just use the floor,” Besseta smiled and pulled his soaked pants off.
“Wow, that’s a buddy,” Kenneth mumbled.
“Arms up,” Besseta said, then pulled his tank top off. “Yes, she is, and she was worried and cares for you and wanted to help.”
“I can undress myself,” Kenneth said as she dropped the soaked shirt with a ‘splat’.
Cutting her eyes at him, “I can feel how tired you are, babe. If you tried to stand, you would collapse.”
Crossing his arms Kenneth huffed, “That isn’t fair, you aren’t supposed to know that.”
The corners of her mouth twitched slowly, then eased into a smile. ‘But it’s fair for you to know how tired I am and when I’m hurting, somehow take my pain away?’
Kenneth gave a sigh as he heard her thoughts. “Yeah, she’s a good friend for not telling, but I just want you safe and happy, baby. The thought of you hurting killed me. After watching you when we got here, going through it twice, liked to have killed me. I found out when I laid next to you, begging in my mind to stop your pain, I could.”
“By taking it,” she almost growled.
Shrugging his shoulders, “So, you weren’t hurting, that’s all that mattered to me.”
She dove on his chest. “I love you so much,” she said, shoving him down and kissing him.
“Hope so, because now you’re stuck with me.”
Kissing him again, she lifted her head up until she could look him in the eye. “Can you hear Tiffany’s thoughts?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “It’s different from how I hear yours. Yours are like mine, but hers sounds like she’s talking to me, but she’s not. It’s her thoughts.”
Agreeing, “Yes, that’s how I hear them,” Besseta said. “Can you hear her deep thoughts?”
Shrugging his shoulders again, “I don’t know how to tell the difference.”
“What’s she thinking now?” Besseta asked, getting up.
“She’s worried,” Kenneth said, slowly sitting up with Besseta’s help. “She doesn’t understand what my ability is developing into, and I’m showing signs of more than one. If I get hurt because of this, she’s worried you will hold it against her because she’s the one who told you to turn me. Now, she’s wondering about Maliki because you’re going to punch him, and what the Strong Hands are going to do next,” he said. “And she’s afraid the water’s too hot, and if I should eat a whole bag of blood or half.”
As Kenneth spoke she slowly looked at him in shock. “All I hear from her is the water is too hot and how much we should feed you,” Besseta told him.
Kenneth reached over, grabbing her arm. “Baby-,” he said and Besseta’s body jerked. Tiffany’s voice sounded around her, but it was multiple voices like what she heard from Kenneth. “What’s wrong?” she heard Kenneth ask.
Reaching down, Besseta undid his fingers until his hand let go and Tiffany’s voices stopped. “Whoa,” she gasped and looked down at Kenneth. “Grab my arm again.” Kenneth grabbed her arm and was about to ask, but he listened in his mind and heard Tiffany’s voice echo in Besseta’s mind.
Kenneth let go, giving up trying to understand. “I’m not even going to ask.”
“Good, because I have no idea how you are doing that,” Besseta said, hearing the water turn off. As Kenneth struggled to get up, she scooped him up again in her arms, carrying him into the bathroom.
They met Tiffany as she was walking out. “I’m going to be out here if you need me,” she smiled.
Besseta stopped in front of her. “Did your mind feel sleepy a few minutes ago?”
“No,” Tiffany said, taking a step back.
“I would never be mad at you for telling me to turn Kenneth, but I’m still punching Maliki in the face for Boston,” Besseta smiled. Tiffany stumbled back and turned to Kenneth.
“She made me,” he said with a fake grin.
“I didn’t feel it,” she whispered.
“We’ll explain later,” Besseta said, walking around her. “He stinks.”
Walking into the bathroom, Besseta just used the steps to walk down into the tub, carrying Kenneth with her clothes on. “Oh, you can just get in with your clothes, but I have to be carried around naked in front of everyone,” Kenneth snapped.
“Kenneth!” Tiffany snapped from the bedroom. “I washed your butt, so shut the hell up!”
As Besseta set him on the ledge seat in the massive tub, Kenneth shook his head. “I’ll never be able to look at her in the eye again,” he moaned as Besseta let him go. Hearing Besseta’s thoughts about the encounter as she took off her wet clothes, Kenneth wanted his mind to clear, but more voices started sounding around him.
Throwing her pants out, Besseta whipped her head around as her pants landed with a slosh. She could hear the voices in Kenneth’s mind, multiplying rapidly. Moving over, she climbed in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m here, baby.”
The voices died down instantly, and slowly faded away in Kenneth’s mind. “This ability sucks,” Kenneth moaned. “Why couldn’t I get a cool one like seeing through walls or flying.”
Besseta laughed. “Well, I’ve never met anyone that could do, either. You can move stuff with your mind,” she pointed out, laughing.
Sliding down on the ledge until his chin was touching the water, “Shit, I’m scared to use it,” he admitted. “Every time I try something, it stomps my ass. I tried to run and cratered the wall with my face. The faucet was stuck and I tried harder to turn it, and ripped it off breaking the counter. Concentrating on the static in my head and trying to listen, I knock all of us out for days.”
Grabbing his chin, Besseta gently turned his face until he was looking into her eyes. “The change is a trying time. Not many have help, and you have two who’ve been through it and are helping you, so stop feeling bad for us or any of this.”
“If I was alone, I would’ve killed myself if I ever came out of that coma,” Kenneth mumbled.
Besseta pulled his head to her and hugged him tight, hearing Kenneth’s thoughts. Not being in control of his body and mind was driving him crazy. She knew without her and Tiffany caring for him, Kenneth would’ve joined the countless others who never survived the change. The only reason he was happy was her. “I’m here, always.”
“Always,” he said, holding her.
They sat like that until the water started turning cold, then Besseta turned on the jets and water heater. Grabbing a rag, she started scrubbing him down. “Your hair is falling out,” she said.
Kenneth’s hand shot up to his head, rubbing his hair, “What?!”
Besseta smiled. “Your body hair, not the hair on your head.”
“That wasn’t funny. Every man in my family had a headful of hair,” he told her, looking down at his chest. He had never been truly hairy, but he could tell his chest wasn’t as hairy as it used to be. “You know, I was almost twenty-five before I got hair on my chest. I really wanted to go back to high school, because the shit I put up with because I was the only guy in the locker room with a bare chest and no-,” he stopped, “never mind.”
Laughing, “Hey, I like it,” Besseta said, grabbing the shampoo. “Hold your breath,” she told him, pushing him under the water.
Kenneth popped back up as she scrubbed his head. “Now I understand why you like me giving you a shower or bath,” he said, closing his eyes.
“Hey, I offered, but you just said, NOOOO,” she told him.
“See? I can be very stupid,” Kenneth moaned.
“Hold your breath,” Besseta told him, dunking him again.
When she had him scrubbed, she moved back into his lap, feeling Kenneth’s body and mind totally relaxed. His body was relaxed, but also very weak. “Yeah, I am,” Kenneth answered her thought.
�
�You can read my mind?” she said, putting her head on his.
“It’s the same as before, no stronger or weaker,” he said, hugging her. “Yes, I’ve always felt if you were tired, weak, hungry, or strong. None of that has changed,” he said, answering the questions in her mind.
Besseta reached over, turning off the jets. “Let’s get you dried off and in the bed.”
“I don’t want to go to bed,” Kenneth said, opening his eyes.
Raising her eyebrows, Besseta scooped him up. “Sorry, did you say something?”
“I want the dogs to sleep with us,” Kenneth quickly said.
“Thought that’s what you said.”
Slowly, Besseta let Kenneth put his feet down and stood him up. She could see his legs trembling as he grabbed the counter. “I’m fine, just grab a towel,” he said, answering her thoughts.
Grabbing a towel, she dried him quickly, but noticed the tremble in his legs was gone. As she grabbed another towel, Besseta could feel Kenneth’s strength ebbing back. Wrapping the towel around him, she grabbed another towel, drying herself off.
Kenneth turned to the sink, grabbing his toothbrush. As he brushed his teeth he reached up, rubbing his head, ‘Where did the gray go?’ he thought, seeing most of his gray hair gone. ‘Shit, if I don’t have to trim my nose and ear hair, I’ll take this,’ he thought with a huff, rinsing his mouth out.
Behind him, Besseta was trying not to laugh as she made sure he wasn’t going to fall. Looking at her in the mirror, “Have to say, I’m not conceited, but I’m glad that the mirror part is a myth.”
“That makes two of us,” she said, walking up and hugging him from behind. Letting him go, she grabbed her brush and started brushing her hair.
“I’m going to get some underwear and meet you in the bed,” he said, turning for the door. Taking his first step, Kenneth’s body went rigid and he started falling. He only traveled an inch falling back, before Besseta caught him.
With his body stiff as a board, Besseta lowered him down. “Baby, what’s wrong?” she cried out, hearing random thoughts in his mind.
Hearing the cry, Tiffany darted in to see Besseta over Kenneth’s rigid body. His eyes were open, but he looked like a statue. Kenneth’s eyes flicked to her. “What happ-,” Tiffany started to ask. “Uuuuuf,” she cried out as something hit her in the chest. Standing upright with her eyes still looking into Kenneth’s, she flew back, hitting the wall with a loud thump.
Hearing a reverberating thump, Besseta turned to see Tiffany slide up the wall with her arms spread out. Stopping just shy of the ceiling and pinned to the wall, Tiffany was frozen in place, looking down in Kenneth’s eyes. “Kenneth!” Besseta shouted, turning back to look down and seeing that his eyes were locked on Tiffany. “Stop it, relax!” she shouted, patting his chest.
Faster than even Besseta’s eyes could follow, Kenneth’s hand shot up grabbing her hand and Besseta’s body jerked hard. Once again, she was in a kaleidoscope tunnel with lights and sounds around her. Seeing the end coming up fast, the only thought in Besseta’s mind was, ‘Hope the damn dinosaur isn’t there.’
When she landed on the other end, her body jerked like it’d been jolted with a massive load of electricity. Suddenly, she saw people, but couldn’t turn her head. Then, she heard a baby cry and realized the sound was coming from her.
A woman dressed in a robe came over and picked her up, speaking a language Besseta had never heard before. Besseta felt love for the woman who bounced Besseta on her shoulder and she had a feeling of attachment to the woman as if she were Besseta’s mother. Slowly, the vision started picking up speed, but Besseta was still looking through someone else’s eyes. The vision would speed up and slow down, and she realized she now understood the language everyone was speaking, and then Besseta was looking into a pool of water. She saw a little girl’s face smiling at her where her own face should’ve been.
The girl looked away from the pool, seeing two boys coming and called out to them. Besseta heard herself speaking the same language as everyone else was. Then, the vision started picking up speed, only pausing for seconds.
The vision stopped and Besseta saw a man standing over several dead bodies and a dog laughing, and he spoke the same language she’d heard throughout the vision. Her eyes dropped back to the dog and Besseta felt a wrenching heartache, then turned back to the man. Just looking at him, Besseta could tell he was a vampire, but she felt panic, anger, and terror grip her body. The man came over to her, biting her neck and then his own wrist, forcing her to drink.
Fire and pain filled her as Besseta suddenly realized, she was looking through Tiffany’s eyes as Tiffany screamed. The vision sped back up, and like before it may have moved fast, but Besseta could remember everything.
Suddenly, the vision stopped and Besseta was looking at herself outside a castle. Then the vision picked up speed again, moving faster like someone had a remote control, pausing at something of interest.
The vision stopped with Besseta looking down at herself kneeling beside Kenneth from the bathroom wall and she felt Kenneth let her go. Falling back through the tunnel, Besseta was too startled to be scared and as the jolt hit her, Besseta found she was still sitting over Kenneth.
With his eyes still on Tiffany, Kenneth slowly closed them. Besseta turned and found Tiffany slowly sliding down the wall until her feet touched the floor. Tiffany slowly walked over. “I think Kenneth just watched my life,” she said in a shocked whisper.
Slowly moving back from Kenneth with a startled look, “He did, and brought me along,” Besseta told her.
Tiffany looked at Besseta. “I saw every day of my life. I saw Khanka, and he died when I was five. I don’t remember him, but I just saw him.”
“Are you hurt?” Besseta asked, reaching over and grabbing her hand.
“No, just shocked,” Tiffany said as Besseta felt her tremble. “Do you know what caused that?”
Besseta looked down at Kenneth. “The last coherent thought I heard in his mind was, ‘I wish Tiffany would show me how she controls her ability, so I don’t hurt them.’”
Letting out a huff, “Damn, he only had to ask,” Tiffany said, kneeling down.
“I’m sorry he did that, Tiffany, but I have to say, I’m glad he did,” Besseta said, shocking Tiffany. Holding her hand over Kenneth, Besseta stood up and Kenneth floated off the floor. Tiffany jumped back with a yelp. “I see now, how you control the energy you put out,” Besseta said, walking to the bedroom with Kenneth floating beside her.
As Besseta walked over, the covers folded back by themselves and Kenneth floated down gently to the bed. The covers slid back up like an invisible hand was pulling them. Tiffany followed and stood amazed when Besseta turned around.
“It took you a long time to master the more delicate uses,” Besseta said, walking over to Tiffany. “And I can also tell, I’m nowhere near as powerful with my mind as you are.”
“Yes, but I didn’t have anyone to really practice on,” Tiffany smiled, wiping tears from her eyes.
“I’m sorry he did that, I know he didn’t mean to and this is going to be eating him up with guilt, like forever,” Besseta said, hugging her.
“Make him not be,” Tiffany chuckled.
Pulling back, Besseta shook her head. “Yeah, like I can do that.”
“Tiffany,” Kenneth weakly called from the bed.
They ran over with Besseta jumping on one side of Kenneth and Tiffany the other. “It’s okay, Kenneth,” Tiffany smiled, wiping tears from her eyes. “I’m only crying because of what I relived, not what you did.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered and opened his eyes, “your husband was murdered. He didn’t kill himself. What Besseta heard from Elizabeth was right. They didn’t say that to make you mad.”
Stunned at what she heard, Tiffany jumped back so hard she hit the ceiling and fell on the floor. She jumped up and ran over to the bed, standing over Kenneth. “How do you know this?!” she yelled. “We all thought that’s w
hy she said it.”
Struggling to keep his eyes open, “It’s how you found him-,” he stopped as his eyes closed. “I can’t say, but here,” he said, reaching over and grabbing her hand. Like she’d been hit with electricity, Tiffany jerked and Besseta knew what was going on before she even heard the thoughts in Kenneth’s mind.
Tiffany was suddenly standing over her dead husband and crying. She lifted her head up and the vision froze. It was no memory. It was as if Tiffany was once again, reliving the horror. She saw the overturned glass her husband had used to drink the mercury. With the vision still frozen in her mind, certain things would come into focus and it seemed like her body was flying to them, then back.
The vision slowed to a crawl as Tiffany touched her dead husband’s face and she was hit by another jolt, traveling through the wild tube of lights and sounds. When her body jolted again, she was looking around outside her house.
She heard a voice, sounding like her husband, call out in Greek as a man she recognized from a nearby village walked toward the house. She smelled horse manure radiating off the man as he talked back in Greek. It was then, she realized she was looking through Herotho, her husband’s eyes. She could hear his thoughts and the love he felt for her, wanting her to hurry home soon.
Something about the man walking toward her didn’t seem right, and it wasn’t just the smell. When he reached the house, he stopped in front of Herotho and held out his hand. Herotho gripped the man’s forearm as the man gripped his in greeting. Pain shot through her and she struggled to let the man go. Suddenly, Tiffany felt like a sheet had been thrown over Herotho’s mind, and pain continued to radiate from the man’s touch. Herotho’s thoughts of her vanished, and he only cared for this man.
The man smiled as he talked, then sniffed the air and led Herotho inside. He pulled out a vial and poured silvery liquid in a cup, telling Herotho to sit. Herotho sat down and taking the cup, drained it.
Even as the pain shot through his body, Herotho only felt love and caring for the man who’d just poisoned him. With his last breath, Herotho told the man ‘thank you’ as the vision blurred, and Tiffany’s body jerked.
Vengeance in Blood (Book 3): Reborn Page 7