On the Line (Alternate Places Book 3)

by P. S. Power

“Yeah, actually there is... I promised Merri that I'd help her remodel the basement, which is going to be a lot of work. If you'll help with that? I mean, it's a lot of work, since the space is huge, but she wants it to be more comfortable for you Vampires, so it benefits you twice really, even if the amount of work seems unequal now.”

  Blake looked at everyone quickly, then stared at Claire, who finally smiled and told them all to go too and have fun, chuckling under her breath a bit. It was a sweet sound, for all that it had to be fake. Vampires didn't have normal Human reactions after a while and Claire was pretty old.

  Kate found Blake to be an engaging and fun person to have sex with, and since he could feel pleasure now, she was able to let go and have fun herself, knowing he would too. Not that she wouldn't have had fun anyway, but it made things even better. She didn't get any energy from it, given that he was dead and had been for a while now, but Zack had promised to top her off when he took her back later. They used her bedroom at the house since no one had claimed it for their own or turned it into a sewing room or anything yet. A good sign. No one had even taken her furniture or anything or even removed her decorations.

  Merri fed her breakfast with everyone else. Fluffy pancakes, a bowl of oatmeal and one of the sweet rolls that she made, kind of like a jelly filled donut, only with the filling wrapped up somehow like a cinnamon roll. Kate didn't know a lot about cooking or baking, not at Merri's level, but she really didn't think that what she did with food always aligned with physics. It always tasted good, sometimes too good, if that was possible, though the Alfric woman claimed that she didn't use any magic while making it at all. Kate took a bite of the roll and squirmed a little, the taste being so perfect that it had an almost orgasmic effect on her.

  Before everyone left for work, she got a little time with the short red-head and told her how much everyone appreciated what she'd sent them.

  “Britney practically orgasmed just from a few sips of your juice, and if you know Alede, which you do, you probably realize what a huge compliment that is. They all really want to meet you, you know.”

  Dimpling up at Kate the small woman winked, a practiced move that Kate had taught her a few months before. She still scrunched up her face to do it, but you could definitely tell what she tried to do now. It looked adorable on her, so much so that Kate had to fight giving her a hug and trying to pull her off to bed right then.

  “Aye, and they'll no doubt be wanting to meet the Line Walker too!” Her look became knowing then. “I know how you Alede have come to regard him as a hero, after all. Rightly so, too.”

  Shrugging Kate clarified the situation for her friend.

  “Britney would, yes, though she doesn't know that we know Zack. I told her, but she thinks I was joking. She did ask me to tell you, personally, that she really appreciated the food and beverages. Blaine, her brother, he said something like that too, and even offered to trade their friend Don to you if you'll keep sending them stuff. That was a joke of course, because Don isn't theirs to trade, you understand... For his part, Don hasn't picked up the box of stuff yet and may not even know about it, but he still seemed interested in you the other day, just from hearing about you. So far you're the only one from here they know about.”

  The tiny woman grabbed her forcefully and gave her a hug. “Oh! You're so dear! If only we didn't have to keep you away so much, and at such a young age... Maybe you can come back and visit us again soon?” She looked scared that Kate might say no. She almost laughed, knowing that Merri meant her real age, with void time and all, not the seventeen years she'd been around on this plane. Alfric could live a long time. Longer than Alede did on average even, so anything under a hundred seemed really young to them. That the Alfric woman had left home at only thirty-eight or so didn't stop her from acting like the mother of the house, that being her actual job as far as she was concerned.

  Shaking her head, not to beg off coming back, but because she had other plans, she asked Merri if she'd like to come visit her soon, along with a couple of the others maybe? Zack, who had been standing back, almost invisible in his stillness and quiet, spoke then.

  “That sounds like a good plan. Libby mentioned wanting to visit you the other day as well. Val too, come to think of it. Let me know when you're ready for them and I'll take them through. You can also come visit here whenever you like, or the other way around. I mean, it's no harder than going from one room to another for me. I should have thought of that and brought you extra company already. So far things really do seem like they're calming down, and keeping you away was only about keeping you safe and letting you see the world, not making you unhappy. Sorry...”

  She smiled, took the plate of rolls that Merri held out to her. Covered with a layer of plastic wrap and a pure white dish cloth as insulation, enough of them to share she noticed, and let Zack lead her back through the rift in the living room. The clock on the wall of the living room, above the faux leather sofa said that it was nearing eight-forty, so she knew that Zack had a little time before he needed to be at the candle store. His shift wouldn't start until nine sharp. Taking her arm gently, he led her through the rift into her dorm room, nearly two thousand miles away.

  She set the plate of rolls down and turned, taking the thin man into her arms. It took an act of will on her part not to think about how much she loved him. How much she wanted him, but she did it, controlling her thoughts as well as she could, knowing that it made him incredibly uneasy when she didn't. Later, after he left, she'd let herself feel again. In the moment she just tried to enjoy the warmth and comfort of his arms.

  Stepping back a little bit, she raised her shirt, just enough for him to put his hand on her bare mid-drift. Reaching out, he loaded vast amounts of energy into her quickly, taking deep breaths rhythmically as he did it. This time she pulled away before any real pleasure could start from it, since the recent sex had left her feeling a little more sensitive than normal and she didn't want him to notice how easily she reacted. One of the curses of her physiology being that the more sex she'd had, the easier it would be for her to respond to other stimuli if it came inside a few hours. If you could call that a curse. A little inconvenient at the moment maybe.

  Normally that kind of thing was what made gang bangs so much fun.

  Just before Zack had to leave a knock came at the door. Instead of leaving before the door opened, Zack followed her, to see who it was on the on the side, for some reason. He stared intently, like he did when someone's “shadow” talked to him. His phrase for a person's subconscious mind that he'd come up with as a young child. When she got the door opened, Don stood there in his heavy dark blue snow jacket, smiling, until he saw Zack, then his face fell a bit.

  “Oh, hey... sorry. I didn't know that you had company. Blaine told me that your friend Merri had sent something for us, for each of us and that I should come get mine... I can come back later...” He forced a smile on his face, looking at Zack a bit forcefully and making a tiny shaking motion with his head.

  Zack held out his hand to the man.

  “Are you Don? Kate's told us all about you! I'm Zack. Zack Hartley. We brought back some rolls that Merri made, you should get one before they're all gone.” Zack stepped back into the room, tacitly inviting the other man in, without saying any actual words about it.

  Kate blanched a little, knowing that Don had heard enough about Hartley to make a connection. At least possibly. Zack always went on about how much regular people missed about the world, maybe Don would miss this? As her new friend stepped in he nodded, stepping over to the plate of rolls and pulling off the plastic wrap carefully, he started munching on it for a second.

  “Wow, these are awesome! So... you're that guy that Britney's all in to? The Line Walker?” He said this casually, as if it were perfectly normal. He took another bite, his eyes up though, taking in Zack's response carefully.

  Head bobbing in a nod, Zack took another roll himself and spoke between bites.

  “Yeah. It's no big th
ing, but your friend Britney sounds like she'd freak if you told her I was here, so, you know, maybe if you could keep it quiet? Oh, and, just because I can tell you're worried about it, Kate and I aren't having sex. Never have. She is a Succubus though, by nature, like your other friends are? An Alede. She'll fill you in on all that, but, you know, you can have great fun with the others until they figure out that you know everything...” He grinned, taking a few more bites. Then he turned toward Kaitlyn.

  “What? I'm a Human... He's a Human, and we should stick together. Plus he's obviously figured out a lot more than you guys have given him credit for. This way he'll know that you're not all really aliens or whatever at least. Besides, he's trustworthy. He won't tell anyone you're here, at least no one that would present a danger to you, right Don? Really though, I think that things are pretty safe altogether, as long as I don't get mobbed by fan girls.”

  Don licked a bit of lemon filling from his finger and agreed. He stopped for a second and looked at Zack hard. The other man's eyes went wide and he started laughing out loud, something that shocked Kate. She looked at Zack, waiting for an explanation.

  “Oh! He... just... his shadow self suggested that we keep him quiet by bribing him with plates of baked goods on a regular basis. It was funny though, because he meant it to be and, well... he said it on purpose...” Zack actually wiped a tear from his eye.

  “Anyway... nice to meet you Don. I'm going to leave now, since I need to get to work in a few minutes. Some of the others will be coming to visit soon, probably in a few days. I'll let them know that you're in the loop and that the others aren't. We'll have you all over for a weekend soon though, alright?” He hugged Kate and shook Don's hand again.

  Then he turned and walked into the center of the room, vanishing in a silent blink.

  Moving to the bed, Don sat down on the edge, staring at Kaitlyn as he did it. He patted the bed beside him, motioning for her to sit down. When she did he put a single arm around her.

  “So... you're not an alien?” He asked.

  Chapter three

  Kate sat at the table in the dining hall watching Don, who nibbled at a French fry and kept looking at her expectantly, not saying anything, just waiting. Finally she moved in next to him and whispered into his ear.

  “OK, what?”

  He didn't say anything, just kicking her very lightly in the shin instead. He grinned at her and moved a little closer, the legs of the cheap looking silver and black wire and bent steel chair screeched on the highly polished tile.

  After a few minutes of this, Blaine and Britney walked in, being their normal selves, which meant that they cast their eyes around the room looking for people that might be available for sex. Juggling eye contact with one potential conquest or another nearly constantly.

  They settled into their normal chairs almost as one, setting their trays down, Blaine's loaded with greasy bits of stuff and Britney's nearly the same as her own. Salad, bread and a piece of overcooked beef patty, dry. After only a few minutes they focused on the people in front of them, even though neither would do them any good, energy wise. Kate could sympathize with this. Really, it didn't mean that the twins didn't like them. If anything, it meant they liked them more than if they'd been ordinary people. After all, if she or Don had been half starved and asked to sit down in a room full of food, but focus their attentions on a few people instead, that would have been hard to manage.

  She knew that one first hand, having lived it most of her life. It occurred to her that Don should be made to understand this too, if he could grasp it. He felt that his friends liked him, but didn't really understand how much work they really put in to keeping him.

  Blaine had gotten some practice weapons, which he'd wrapped up in a sheet from his bed to carry. They were made of foam wrapped wood and in bright colors so no one would think twice about them being used in the gym, which was smart of him. He also seemed excited about the prospect. The Alede had all had basic weapons in school of course, knives, sticks and irregular objects, naturally, being just part of the curriculum at most schools. She turned to Don and asked him if he had any experience with them, he shook his head.

  “Nope. The closest I've ever come to swinging a sword is playing Enigma Seven. I have been hunting, so I can use a rifle all right, but... I don't really like killing things. It's a family event each year, you understand? For a long time I had to do it. I stopped going a while ago. That did not make my father happy with me.”

  The girl that sat at the table behind them, the one that always watched Kate eating turned, and looked directly at Don, nodding in agreement with him.

  “Yeah, that can be hard, going against family tradition like that. In my family it's fishing. I can't even bear to eat fish any more... I know, it probably sounds silly, since I'm sitting here eating a cow. But I don't sit around in cow pastures killing them myself...” She turned back around as if realizing she didn't really want to call attention to herself.

  Don looked at her back for a minute and then tapped her on the shoulder.

  “Hey... Would you like to join us? I mean, if your friends are all right with it? I've noticed you staring at Kate a lot and the angle from over here would be way better for it. True, I've got some designs on her myself, but, seriously, seven days in a week, right? No need for me to get all greedy with her, it's not like we're going to get married or anything...” The girl blushed and her friends laughed, but stopped when Blaine pulled a chair over from another table and Britney scooted over, making a place between them. Blaine motioned to the girl expectantly.

  “I'm Blaine,” He pointed at each person in turn. “Britney's my sister, and we're both single too, so, fair game. The hot brunette is Kate, as you've probably worked out and that loud mouthed and inappropriate guy is Don. He's right though. Seven whole days in a week and so many of us sitting over here waiting for you. Come sit please!”

  The girl colored, but made her way over anyway, with a bit of trepidation. She didn't look comfortable, but she did take the time to stare at Kate, who looked back, making all the right eye contact cues and wetting her lips just enough to show real interest.

  “Um, I'm Jelly... I mean, my names actually Jenifer, but everyone calls me Jelly.” She spoke directly to Kate, though she did make herself look around the table after she spoke, almost as if daring someone to laugh at her, or possibly expecting them to. Don looked at her his eyes going wide briefly.

  “Someone at college with an actual nickname? How cool is that! Please tell me that Jelly stands for something at least vaguely dirty...” He mock leered at her, causing everyone to laugh, then shook his head as if saddened by their laughter.

  “I tell you Jelly, these people will turn even the most innocent of statements into a joke.”

  Jelly explained that her name actually came from an old cartoon.

  “Yogi bear lived in Jellystone park. I'm Jenifer Stone. Someone started calling me Jellystone in the third grade and the name kind of stuck. Not a great story... I'm thinking of changing it to involve a street gang and maybe a volcano, but I haven't worked out the particulars yet.”

  Don and Jelly then sat and worked on her new back story, managing to work in a pack of rabid wolves and Vampires too. The others sat watching and listening, almost mesmerized at the raw creativity in front of them. They all knew that humans could and did things like this, but none of them would have thought of it. The best alternative story Kate could come up with involved liking peanut butter sandwiches a lot.

  For an Alede that practically made her a creative genius.

  As they were leaving, Don pulled Jelly aside and suggested that she ask Kate out, but reminded her that he had a date with her on Saturday. The girl blushed, asked if he was serious and ducked her head when she realized he actually was. It was, Kate realized, both awkward and cute at the same time. Handy too, if she got anything out of it. Getting sex wasn't all that hard if you were one of her people, but the way Don was setting it up... Well, it wouldn't be tha
t hard for him to get with Jelly too, if he kept that kind of thing up. Even if she only liked girls in the main.

  As they walked to the gym, Britney looked at Don strangely, and asked him why he was trying to hook this new girl up with Kate. Blaine had actually floated a little bit away from them, so that he could see them all, and watched with a curious look on his own face.

  “Well... Kate flat out told us she likes girls too and, you know, it's not like we've even done anything yet, so why shouldn't she meet other people, too? Even if we were dating or something. Jelly seems nice, so why shouldn't she get a shot, right?”

  Then he walked on, leaving them all to catch up. Britney stopped in her tracks and stared at him as he walked away. “Seriously?” She muttered under her breath, a soft puff of white came from her breath in the cold air. She stared at Don's back as he walked ahead, looking baffled and... hopeful. Kate watched all this, fighting to keep her face straight. It was interesting, and as Zack had predicted, kind of fun. Watching things slide around without the others really understanding what was happening yet.

  When Saturday came around, Don took her to the movie theater, where she paid for everything, since, as she told him, Zack had brought her money for it.

  “And don't feel bad about that either. It just means he likes you, I think. I mean, as a buddy, not like I do. He's... well, I think he may actually be one of the top ten or so richest people in the world. The real world, the whole thing, not just this little Human part of it and he never spends his money on anything... So for him to think about you like that, it's kind of a big thing. He even sent money for snacks!” She pulled out the note that Zack had written her, so that Don would believe her.

  She'd been a bit shocked when Zack had handed the envelope to her and told her to read it when he'd gone, since he had to hurry away after feeding her energy. It was sweet, if a bit awkward trying to explain it all to Don, but he just smiled and asked her to thank him, if he didn't see him to do it himself.