United Service

by Regina Morris

  The back door opened and in walked Daniel and the boy Kekoa. Usually Sterling avoided any contact with Daniel, but he decided it was important to attempt some sort of friendship with the man. After all, the two had worked together for nearly forty years.

  “Hey, Sterling,” Daniel said as he led Kekoa into the mansion. “Kekoa is going to crash here awhile. There’s a hurricane going through Hawaii and no planes are flying there.”

  Sterling gave Daniel an inquisitive glance.

  “Your father already approved Kekoa as a guest in the house.”

  Sterling merely nodded at the two as they walked through the kitchen and into the living room. So much for opening up to Daniel. He’d have to try again later. Besides, Sterling was too preoccupied with what he needed to tell his father and aunt.

  Sterling helped himself to a cold beer while he waited. Kate had received a phone call from her mother and had returned upstairs to talk with her. He expected she’d be on the phone awhile, and he would have time to talk with his aunt and father. He nearly finished the bottle when his father came into the room. “Is Sulie here? I thought I heard her car.”

  Sterling glanced out the window and noticed Sulie leaving Jackie’s home, the apartment over the garage. “She went to check on Jackie. She’s done now though. Can you still talk?” Sterling’s nervousness grew. All day he had held his emotions at bay, but now that the time had arrived, his nerves festered in his stomach.

  “Of course I have time to talk. I can’t wait to find out more about your lovely Kate,” Raymond said sarcastically.

  The two men headed out and intercepted Sulie. She had some time now to talk as well, so the three of them headed to the privacy Gazebo. Sterling stared at his father and aunt, the woman who raised him, and wasn’t quite sure how to begin.

  “Both of you should probably sit down,” Sterling started. They took seats next to each other while Sterling remained standing in front of them.

  Raymond stared at his son, which made Sterling more nervous. “I can sense some strong mental patterns of nervousness coming from you,” Raymond said. His facial expression softened, “Are you okay?”

  “Not really,” Sterling replied. “This is harder to share than I thought it would be.”

  Raymond took a deep breath and then asked, “What exactly are your intentions with Kate? I overheard her talking to her mother in your bedroom just now. She believes you have a long–term relationship in the making, son.”

  “Kate is here? I swear. I spend the night at the hospital and nobody tells me anything.” Sulie turned towards Sterling. “Are you all right? You don’t seem well.”

  “No … Yes, I’m fine.” He shook his head, “Kate knows my intentions.” He paused, thinking how proud he was to say his next sentence. “I’m in love with her and she loves me too. I brought her here because she is now, and forever, a part of my life.”

  Raymond’s eyes widened in shock. “You were serious when you claimed her as your mate?” When his son nodded in agreement, Raymond added, “I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you.” He rubbed his jaw. “Your right hook is getting better, much better. I sensed your emotions were high. I guess I should have picked up on the clues.”

  Sterling’s expression went cold. “I apologize for hitting you. But stop reading my thoughts.”

  “The reading was unintentional, but I am sorry.”

  Sterling wanted to lash out, but his father had apologized. He licked his lips and thought about what to say to the man. The word, “Forgiven” was the first word out of Sterling’s mouth. He spoke the word in a hushed tone, but his father smiled in response to it.

  “I never thought this day would come,” Raymond said. “Kate was sharing with her mother how much she loved you. I’m so relieved both of you feel the same way about each other.”

  Sulie studied Sterling. She searched and finally saw what she was looking for medically. “You are in love! I can see it.” She hugged Sterling, but when physically in contact with him, she sensed something was wrong. “There is something you’re not telling us. What is it?”

  Sterling didn’t realize it, but something was wrong. It wasn’t what he brought them to the gazebo to discuss, but there was something else. “Kate’s not sure if she wants to live here. In fact, she has refused my marriage proposal, but said she would think about becoming my wife. Regardless, in my heart she is my mate for life.”

  Raymond’s eyes nearly popped out of his head; his aunt practically fell off the gazebo bench.

  “You proposed to her?” Sulie asked.

  “Yes. And she is still thinking about it. But I’m not sure she’ll ever agree to be my wife.”

  “Does she know about your past? All the women in your life? Is that why she is hesitating?” Raymond asked.

  “She rejected the proposal for another reason, Dad. She told me she never wants to be married, but if she were to be a wife to someone, that someone would be me.” Sterling took a deep breath to tell them why they were speaking in the gazebo. He realized he began to feel sick. Yes, he was beginning to feel the same way he had the other night when he worked on Alicia’s case. Nausea threatened to overcome him and he started to regret drinking the beer. He took several deep breaths to keep everything down.

  Sulie picked up on his pain. “Sterling let me touch you and ease the pain. You’re not well.”

  He shrugged her off and continued. “It’s not my skin, nor is it a headache. I’m sick to my stomach.” He put his hand to his stomach and tried to center himself. He took a seat in the gazebo directly across from them and took deep cleansing breaths while holding a hand to his stomach. “I love Kate. I know there is some paperwork to ensure she gets blood and such; I’ll make sure to sign the papers this week.”

  “Of course. We welcome her into our home and everyone will recognize her as part of the family. I’ll sign the paperwork as soon as you’re ready.”

  “Thanks, Dad. As for my past, she knows everything about me. But you two don’t. I need to tell you something, and I don’t want to discuss this matter afterwards. I don’t even want to answer any questions. I’ve moved on, I found Kate, I’m okay.” He paused to look at them. They sat at the edge of their seats awaiting the news. “I realized something recently and I now know it has affected me over the years. It’s even affected our relationship Dad, in a big way. I have to tell you both what happened on that last trip I took to Foiles Beach. I’m sure you both remember how sick I was when I came home.”

  Sulie and Raymond glanced at each other and nodded.

  “You both know I had contracted an STD, and that a prostitute had been involved.” He took a deep breath, and quietly shared, “What you don’t know, is that I didn’t pay to have sex with her. I was raped.” Sterling felt relief wash over him, as if the biggest burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He no longer wanted to throw up.

  Sterling stood up and did not make eye contact with them, or say another word. He left them alone in the gazebo.

  CHAPTER FORTY–THREE

  After a good half hour, Sterling finally asked, “Do you think you understand the rules of poker?”

  “Poker is confusing, but this sheet of paper with the rules you wrote down will help.” Kate glanced down at the hierarchy of winning hands. “So are we playing five card draw, Texas hold–em, or what?”

  “Dealer’s choice usually, but I think five card draw might be the easiest one to play tonight since you’re a beginner.”

  “Good, because I still don’t understand big blind versus little blind.” She set the piece of paper down. “What kind of stakes do you play for?”

  “Depends. If it’s for money, we toss in a dollar’s worth of pennies. Usually we play for other things. One time my father had to do the laundry for the house when we were between maids. He accidentally dyed one of my skin covers pink.” He gave Kate a pouty look. “It was my favorite one, too.”

  “Aw. I’m sorry.” She lovingly caressed his arm. “And your family plays poker every
week?”

  “Yes. Everyone does their best to be free for poker nights. We also recently added a movie night. Between the two events each week, we manage to get most everyone here a few times a month, even with our crazy schedules.”

  “Sounds nice. Your family is freakishly close, but in a good way.” she leaned in and licked his neck right at the vein. Sterling felt the pleasing sensation and waited for her fangs to pierce his skin. All those years of fearing a bite, and now he eagerly awaited them. He reveled in every bite she gave him, even in the tenderest of areas when they were alone in their bedroom.

  “Kate? I need to ask you something before we start the game.” Her eyes were black when she stared back at him. He suddenly no longer wanted to play poker, but the game was about to begin and he had one more thing to discuss with her. He looked her in the eyes, “We play poker for a reason. It allows us to practice controlling our abilities. Not all of us have abilities, but those of us who do try to be in control of them. I can’t control mine, so I play just to spend time with the family. But Raymond, Sulie, Ben, and a few others play to help them control their abilities.”

  “They can control them?”

  “To a certain degree, yes. They will each explain their gifts when they sit down and play. But before they get here, I want to ask if you’d be willing to practice controlling yours.”

  Kate held out her hand in protest. “I don’t have any control over mine. If I’m awake, I have no feeling.”

  “But with practice, you might. Most of the players can use their abilities to cheat. So we play on our honor and they do their best to block their abilities. That’s why we chose poker to play each week. The game is an exercise for us, and a way for us to spend time together.”

  “Yeah, right,” Kate sneered. “Me sitting like a dead body at this table will not be cheating.”

  “But being unreadable can give you an edge over other players. For example, I can’t bluff in front of Ben because he’d see my aura and know.”

  Kate began to shake her head, “You think I can learn to control my ability?”

  “We’ll never know unless you try. We’ll have to see how it goes.” When she agreed, he added, “Kate, I think it’s important that my family know what your ability is.” As she started to protest he explained. “If for any reason I’m not home, and you need your pins put in, Sulie can help you. But she can’t help you if she doesn’t understand the side effects from your ability.”

  “I don’t allow people to see me being so vulnerable. … I look and feel dead,” she said in a scared tone.

  “I’ll be here with you and I won’t let you sit here helplessly. Do you trust me and my family enough to let us help you control your ability?”

  “Of course I trust you, Sterling.” She gazed into his eyes, “Your family too. I would like to control my abilities.” She shrugged her shoulders. “So what do I need to do?”

  “Unpin yourself. And for right now, listen to them as they explain their gifts and then we’ll show them your ability. I’ll play your poker hand with you so we can see how everything goes tonight.”

  “Ok. I’ll try. When are they coming to play?”

  “Right now. I asked them to wait in the kitchen so I can explain everything to you.”

  “Is that why you haven’t touched me a lot today?” She held up her pinned hands. “Why I’ve been pinned?”

  “The longer we’ve been in contact the longer it takes for your barrier to come back up.” When she gave him a hurt look, he added, “It was hell for me too. Especially with you wearing such a tiny top and mini shorts,” he said, pointing out her outfit.

  Grinning she said, “You’re such a bad boy.” She bit her lip. “I’ll do it. But stay close.”

  He unpinned her and told her to spit out her gum.

  “I’ll go get them.” He left and then returned before Kate’s extremities went numb.

  The other vampires all took their seats at the table, Ben, Sulie, Raymond, Alex, Daniel and Mason. “Kate, this is Daniel.” He introduced the tall bearded vampire to her. Kate nodded to the man and then gave Sterling a look that told him she knew exactly who Daniel was – the man Sterling had murdered all those years ago.

  “This gentleman is Mason.”

  Kate focused on Mason. His age was more elderly than the rest of the team. He had a thick head of salt–and–pepper hair, a firm jaw, and hazel eyes. It was a face she was familiar with. She whispered back to Sterling, “He resembles the President.”

  “I’m the President’s decoy out in public,” Mason said.

  “Amazing. They always say somewhere out there in the world you have a twin. I’ve just never seen it before.” Kate stared at Mason while everyone took their seats. Each one had either a bottle of beer or a goblet of wine. As Alex gave her stepson, Sterling, a beer, Sulie handed a goblet of wine to Kate. Sterling saw that Kate’s hands were already balled into fists and she could not take the goblet as it was offered to her, so he took the wine and set the glass down on the table.

  “Ok. I want to know. What is your ability, Kate? Because you give off no vital signs. You appear dead to me, and I’m a doctor.” Sulie said sipping her wine.

  Sterling interrupted before Kate could even talk because he knew she was nervous about sharing her ability with the others. “What if each of you shares your ability and how playing poker has helped you first.”

  They went around the table, starting on Kate’s left side, so Sulie went first. “I can medically diagnose someone by looking at them. Sometimes I have to touch the person to be sure of the diagnosis. I can do this with both humans and vampires, just not with you, Kate. Can I touch your hand?”

  Kate hesitated for a moment before agreeing. But since she couldn’t move her hands, Sulie needed to reach down and touch her.

  “Nope. Nothing. That is amazing.” She took a sip of her wine and continued, “When we play poker I can cheat by seeing euphoria when you have a good hand, stress if you’re bluffing, and such. So for me, it’s good practice so I can block out seeing people medically. Since I’m a doctor, I like to help people and tell them what’s wrong with them; my ability is a big problem when I walk through a crowd. How do you not tell someone that they are borderline diabetic? Or have pre–cancerous cells in their body? I was going crazy trying to save everyone, and it wasn’t helping to keep the secret that vampires exist from humans. Blocking helps me get through my day so I can function as normally as possible.”

  “That does sound like a good reason to learn to block your amazing gift. I’m sure your ability helps you treat your patients,” Kate said.

  “Oh, it does. I’ve been the President’s private physician for years. I’m talking many Presidents too. We’ve had medical issues with several of them.”

  Daniel was next in the line–up. “I can witness and manipulate other people’s dreams.”

  “How?” she asked.

  “I have to be reasonably close to them as they sleep to enter their dreams. I can be much farther away to detect if someone is asleep. I can enter their dreams and manipulate them.” He looked around the room at the team. “That’s why my bedroom is downstairs here at the house, farthest away from anyone else’s room, and my bedroom walls are lined with thin sheets of lead.” As Kate nodded her understanding, he continued. “Overall, my ability doesn’t affect me on a day–to–day basis, and it doesn’t help me to cheat in poker.” He yielded the floor to Alex by glancing her way.

  Sterling’s stepmother chimed in. “I got cheated. I have no abilities. I just like playing with the family.” She patted Raymond’s arm to let him know she was done.

  “I can read mental patterns from humans and vampires, without having to be in direct contact with them. Sometimes, if emotions are strong enough, I can read thoughts. If I touch a vampire, I can compel them and even wipe their memories.”

  Kate eyes widened as she darted a glance over to Sterling, who only smiled in response. Kate had spent most of her time in the mansion
in his room, but Sterling could guess what was on her mind most of the time – especially since he was focused on the same thing usually.

  “Kate. Your mind is unreadable to me,” Raymond explained. “It’s like you have no mental capacities at all, like you’re brain–dead. Obviously poker has helped me control my ability not to read people randomly. My ability was a problem whenever I walked through a crowd and had dozens of voices in my head. Now I can tune them out.”

  Raymond held out his hand to Kate. “May I touch your hand?”

  Quickly looking over her shoulder to Sterling, he nodded that it was okay. He noticed she was tentative as she glanced down at Raymond’s hand. Sterling guessed she wouldn’t be able to move her hand on her own, so he placed her balled up fist into his father’s hand.

  After a moment Raymond said, “Nothing. I sense nothing at all.” Sterling helped her move her hand back and the rest of the people around the table took notice.

  The President’s doppelganger went next. “I have no abilities. I play to spend time with everyone, that is if I can get out of the White House without the press following me.”

  “Girl, you look dead to me. You have no aura.” Ben waived his hands across her body where an aura would be. “Nothing there. Poker helps me block myself from seeing auras. An aura can tell me if a person is happy, like if they have a good poker hand. It can also tell me if they are bluffing because the aura will change if they lie. Whenever I’m in a large group of people, like when I walk down a busy street, the auras are too much color. I am on overload with colors just coming at me and the sensory overload can be distracting.”

  “Jeeze, you all have the best abilities.” Kate’s hands were dead numb, same with her legs. She lifted her arms as best as she could. Her fists flailed about. “I have a barrier covering my entire body. The barrier is like a shield that, I guess, blocks you from reading me.”

  “The first time I saw you, Kate, I thought you were human because you didn’t register as a predator,” Sterling explained. “Many of us thought you were either human or a half–breed.”