Between (Alternate Places Book 2)

by Power, P. S.

  Val and Sarah grinned and asked for another week. Their Shadows told him they might have something, but they didn't want to spoil anything or get hopes up, if it didn't turn out to be what they wanted.

  They passed the rest of the night coming up with ideas for the new store, which he dubbed 'Something Wonderful, Gift Baskets' which he knew would be a little lame as a name, but beat Norris's idea to call it 'Gift Baskets' without bothering to dress it up at all.

  He mentioned the trip to Lesser Shia in the morning for Merri and asked Hilda if she'd be able to go too, but she had several training appointments spread throughout the day, being one of the gym's most popular attractions since she'd improved her English a bit and started working in a rather small shirt, almost a sports bra and tight sweat pants made of a shiny material at Sarah's suggestion. Having seen her in it, Zack understood why she'd suddenly grown in popularity there.

  Claire looked wistful and said she'd go, except that she had to work. She'd never gotten to go since all the trips had been during the day so far.

  Kaitlyn spoke up then.

  “Well, if you want to show me what to do first, I can cover your shop in the morning, since I have the day off anyway. I've never made frozen yogurt before, but I'm willing to learn. Plus, I can ask Zack if I get really stuck on something.” Shrugging as if to say it wouldn't be a bother, the girl smiled at the Vampire.

  Claire didn't fly across the room to hug her, but the leap she made almost seemed like flight, catching herself just before impact and holding the girl while bouncing up and down a bit.

  They made arrangements for that and figured out what else they needed for the new store. A sign, materials tables or display racks and some other odds and ends. Everyone that didn't live there took off then, except Courtney. Val took the opportunity to mention the problem Zack had been having lately to the room.

  “It seems linked to the feeding he's been helping us all with, I think. Probably some kind of biological feedback, since I doubt that it's mental, Zack being who he is. So, unless we want to all stop feeding, I think we need to come to some kind of arrangement or else he's going to end up doing transfers at full mast all day long, which may be upsetting to some of the patrons.” All of this came out very mater of factly, with no hint of teasing.

  Her inner self shared with him that the Alede actually all took this very seriously. Since the obvious way of dealing with this would be to simply have him stop feeding them energy, at least as often. They found it so much more convenient to just get him to give them energy once per day, or even every other day, though. Plus, they all felt better for it. Full, well fed and energetic. Instead of the half starved scramble for sex that most Alede had to endure all the time.

  They all agreed to a schedule, so that he'd have someone there for him every three or four hours, about when meals came, so he wouldn't have to disrupt the work schedule much to do it.

  He blushed and felt awkward, but he'd already discovered that taking care of it himself didn't seem to offer any relief at all. For now, he needed all the help he could get with this. Zack just hoped they could work it out so that he'd be able to keep working.

  Later, when everyone had gone to work, Kaitlyn filling in for Claire at the Frozen YoGurt, Courtney gotten back to L.A. so she wouldn't miss the first day of wrap up shooting and all that entailed, Zack sat down briefly to talk to Lisa.

  He mentioned the new store and that he'd need some funds for it.

  “It will give us a second location too, in case we need it. Since this has already come up a couple of times, it seems like a plan.” She seemed relieved when he told her that he planned to keep working there at Candles and More and that Libby had been put in as manager already.

  "We're also getting a new place. A bigger one. You already have a room there, or will as soon as we get it. You don't have to move in or anything, but it will always be there for you. In case you want to spend the night, or there's an emergency."

  The light skinned woman looked a bit happier then, and ran a hand down the leg of her bright blue slacks.

  "Really? That... sounds nice. I know that it's my fault, but I haven't really felt much like I belong yet. That might help?"

  Zack fought rolling his eyes, then decided not to.

  "Silly. You're always welcome. Even if we have to stack you in bed with Libby at night."

  It got a chuckle, which was nice to hear. It had been a few months since her girlfriend had left her, but Lisa finally seemed to be snapping back.

  The next two days he spent with Merri, on what he supposed was a late honeymoon. Really though, it was her Christmas present from him. He did everything he could to make certain that she had a good time. Traveling the Alfric lands didn't prove to be a hardship for them at all, even though they were extensive. Being about the size of the continent of Africa, Merri told him, if she'd measured it correctly when she checked a map on Troy's computer.

  “We should have a computer, if that's allowed...” She mentioned hesitantly as they walked. “It seems very useful and Troy says that there are those we could purchase that would be even higher in quality than the one he has...”

  As she most often did when suggesting some change to their lives, Merri seemed uncomfortable bringing the subject up, as if it might anger him. He just threw an arm around her and gave her a light squeeze.

  “That's a good idea. I just didn't have one before, because they cost money. Now that we can afford it, well, why not? Though I've never really used one for any length of time myself.”

  She smiled happily at his agreement.

  They went to her mother's directly, since Mariposa knew the way there more solidly than any other place, including his house or Underwood. She'd grown up there, after all, and lived in it for nearly thirty five years. The cottage stood near several other similar ones, all of them well kept and tidy. Brightly colored, in reds, greens and blues being popular. With beds of flowers and herbs outside of each. Merri went to the door and pulled a silken rope that went into the wall, causing a small bell to tinkle inside. After a few moments the door opened and a small lady, standing about three foot high, said something in Alfric, which Zack couldn't understand.

  When she saw Merri, she gave a small scream of delight and took both of her hands saying something that sounded very formal, then hugging her daughter tightly.

  It took a few moments, but he convinced her Shadow to repeat what she said, so that he could understand too. Conversations being more fun that way, he found.

  Merri's mother said that she had heard that the Walker had come into their lands, but hadn't thought that he'd bring her to visit. When Merri told her that her husband, who liked to be called Zack, rather than by any of his titles when being addressed directly, had come simply to bring her for a visit, the woman, who looked no older than her daughter, cried openly.

  She invited them inside and offered to make food for them. Merri got up to help, mentioning that Zack ate a lot now, since he had become bonded with a Vampire... She struggled with the words for a second, not knowing how to translate Claire's position. Finally deciding that village leader would be as close as she could manage in her language, since they didn't have the term ambassador.

  Zack simply sat listening and trying to learn what he could of their ways, not wanting to disturb them in their reunion. He noticed that Merri's mother, who didn't have a nickname and had a name that his mouth had no hope of forming, seemed to treat him very carefully. Never speaking to him directly and avoiding eye contact when she could.

  It turned out that the whole trip went like that, with every woman they met deferring to him and acting very demure, while the men looked at him boldly enough, they largely ignored all of the women around them, including Merri.

  He met Merri's father, who turned out to be the king's younger brother, which really didn't shock Zack, though no one had ever mentioned the fact to him. He seemed likable enough and even gave his daughter a hug when he saw her. Which he assured Zack would be
fine, being that he'd claimed her as his child years before.

  As they walked home, two days later, Zack felt he understood Merri a little better, having seen where she came from. Not completely by any means, because he also felt that he'd been guided in his visit. Carefully steered to see and notice only certain things, but some of the things, like her unusual reactions to kindness from Zack for instance, made sense to him now. Where she came from, women didn't seem to count for much. It seemed like a waste to him.

  While Merri had managed to have sex with him several times while they were there, and he didn't have to feed any Alede, he still found his sex drive hard to control. He got them home on time for work, and so that he could pass energy to the Alede, who were starting to feel his absence they told him, even though it had only been a little over two days. The only one not anxious about his absence had been Kaitlyn.

  Kaitlin insisted that she be given as much as she could handle though, claiming that she'd been working on her tolerance levels mentally and wanted to see if she'd made any improvements yet. It seemed to Zack she might have been serious, as she hardly shook at all, even past the time that most of the others would have pushed him away.

  “It still feels the same,” she said when they were done. “I'm just getting a handle on the physical side of the response. You know, like a yogi would?” After that she held on to him for a few moments and sent him to Beautiful Plus to take care of everyone else, assuring him that they would all be waiting...

  Activity took place inside the location where the “Something Wonderful" would be as he walked past. A covered sign hung up outside, ready to be unveiled on opening day, or so he imagined.

  Inside he found Libby, Charli, and to his surprise, the woman that had been there at the ambush, whose name he couldn't remember, the one with the Australian accent. At least he thought it was her.

  He came in and hugged Libby for a long time, then kissed her. As they broke off, Charli came over and said hi, giving him a short hug too, because, her shadow self informed him, everyone else did it. Which wasn't exactly right, but he could kind of see the idea, from a certain perspective.

  The last woman came over, her eyes down as she approached. Begging him not to kill her, inside.

  Tilting his head, he looked at her carefully. In all she looked very much like Libby did. Rust red hair, which grew to maybe three inches long on the top, a thin build, her chest maybe a little bigger than Libby's but still pretty minimized for efficiency, and a flat nose with freckles on it. The big difference was that she wore glasses with thick lenses in them and heavy black frames. She wore a simple blue t-shirt and Jeans with cool looking pink sneakers on her feet.

  Not knowing what to say exactly, he reached out and gave her a small hug too, even though he'd only seen her twice and one of those times he'd knocked her out with repeated energy blows to the head. After a second of stiffness, she surprised him by wrapping her arms around him and hugging him back tightly.

  As she held on to him she inhaled deeply several times before finally speaking.

  “Thank you. Thank you for saving our lives in court, and saving Libby again last week. I can't tell you how sorry I am about my part in what happened, but...” She stopped speaking as he hugged her tighter for a second.

  “Don't worry about it. The past is the past. So...Are you working here too?” He asked the woman, Maryl he thought he had heard her name was.

  “Yes! After the court ruling, I had nothing and no one would hire me. Even now, with people having been told what you said, I couldn't find anyone willing to risk giving me a job. Nessa told me that you had her looking for me and Brin and then suggested I look here for work. Imagine my surprise when I knew the manager!” She smiled and reached out a hand to Libby.

  Zack realized that he still held the woman, a nearly complete stranger.

  "Um, sorry. I didn't mean to be that clingy."

  She chuckled and kissed his cheek.

  “After everything, I could use a few more hugs for a while.”

  He excused himself quickly, telling them he'd see them later and went over to meet everyone at Beautiful Plus. He tried to be careful turning around, since he had an erection after hugging Libby and her aunt, who while older than Libby, didn't look to be anywhere near thirty yet and had a firm and warm body that had evidently had caught his attention on some level.

  Patty had stepped out for a bit, but the others all wanted to be fed, seeming eager for it in fact, almost like they were becoming addicted to him as an easy food source. Sarah went last, turning around and kissing him when he had finished. Noticing the state he was in, she reached down and gave him a squeeze.

  “Here, do me from behind, doggy style.” She took off her underwear and laid her upper body on the fainting couch, hiking up her skirt sensually, exposing just enough for him to see everything.

  He froze for a second, a wave of desire hitting him, so strongly it caused him to shake slightly. The worst thing here, he decided, wasn't the wave of desire itself, or the fact that it all came from within himself, but he couldn't manage to block it out mentally for some reason. He fumbled for his belt, quickly taking his pants down. He remembered to check for her state of arousal, but only just. She felt wet and ready to him, so he knelt behind her and entered.

  Her pubic hair tickled at him, just a tiny bit as he thrust forward, he became consumed with each motion, his focus on her, the feel of her, her scent. Finally he started pumping faster, harder than he had before, he heard rhythmic moaning, but didn't really notice it. A part of him knew that something was wrong with that. He should be paying attention to how she felt too. Normally that happened automatically for him.

  After they were done, she lay there for a minute, not covering herself or moving.

  “Wow. That... you did that energy thing while we had sex?” She asked.

  "I... Not on purpose. I didn't realize that I was doing anything like that. Oops?"

  She managed to move finally and gave him a long kiss, telling him that she'd never, ever, had sex like that before. Being an Alede, she assured him, that meant something.

  When he walked out, several women stood around watching him.

  Val and Norris did too.

  Chapter six

  That night, knowing that something had to be wrong with him, Zack went into the void, focusing all of his attention for a time on what had been happening to him. Trying to find out why his sex drive had suddenly sky rocketed. Even after having sex with Sarah, something he'd agreed with himself he wouldn't do before, it felt like he wanted, needed, to do it again, instantly.

  He had to regain control of himself he knew. Reaching deeper inside Zack searched for a way to control this, to figure it out.

  As he existed there, time passed. He allowed his attention to focus nearly to the point of dissolution, that place where to focus any more tightly in the void would mean becoming nothing but that point of focus, causing the person to cease being, leaving only what he'd focused on.

  He released that kind of control for a moment and merely observed. That moment became a day, then a year, just taking in everything, as it came, without judgment. Without concern. Finally he saw a familiar pattern that he couldn't ignore for some reason. He'd seen it before.

  Yes, the Demon attack on Underwood had looked like that. Only smaller in scale.

  He started killing the Demons, those small dark shapes that sat in front of him, hanging there as he focused on them, the small pill shaped dips in space, not truly visible, but still there to his perceptions. The Demons. He experimented, focusing the spatial disruptions to tiny points and letting them expand inside the creatures, who seemed to move very slowly compared to before. Eventually it occurred to him that in his focus, he'd slowed time, or his perception of it, at least. Giving him more time to work.

  Of the sixty four of them that tried to go in to the nexus, only seventeen of them made it. Fourteen of them died on the way out.

  Deciding to go in and see what h
ad happened there, he went to the point in non-being, the Node, that would take him into the other world where the Demons had passed through. It took less than a thought and he stood in a place he recognized, hearing gunfire and screams.

  Walking into the central corridor, he pulled within himself, wrapping what he was, his soul for lack of a better term, in the Shadow that always surrounded him, though in a different way. Hiding, in a way that prevented both Demons and Vampires from seeing him.

  The people here had rallied early and fought well. The only thing left in sight seemed to be a huge creature, that looked much like a dragon, and perhaps was, he thought, detached from everything that moved around him.

  He saw the Demon Cruxias, standing there, staring at him as he moved toward the dragon. He summoned the blade he had been given by his Merri, named by her, 'Shield of Innocence'. He noted that the Demon, seeing the blade appear, ran away.

  Interesting. He decided to keep that in mind.

  First he had to stop this dragon from destroying the people that tried to fight it. Many of them clearly held greater powers than he did, in the physical realm. If he wanted to help here then, he needed to act outside of the physical, at least in part.

  He put the sword away, in his closet where he kept it, back home. It went easily, waiting again for his call. Zack realized then how useful a present it had been. He needed to find out more about such things in the future.

  It seemed correct that he couldn't fight a dragon. He lacked the strength or power. However it's Shadow held a man. A Shape-Changer, then. One perhaps like Ang from his mall.

  It didn't take even a moment to reach toward this Shadow with his own and began to suggest that it needed to change back into a man. It tried to strike at him on the physical level, so he merely took a few steps to his left, causing the mouth of the huge beast to miss him. Zack stood calmly, waiting less than an inch from the side of its head, leaning away only a tiny bit more as it pulled back, so that no part of the ponderously slow seeming creature could touch him. He forced himself to keep his movements small, knowing that he could injure himself right now trying to make big movements. His muscle structure hadn't changed after all, just his view of the world around him and how hard he could get himself to push.