The Analyst Pt. 06

Chapter 6

Sometimes you play the game and sometimes the game plays you. Risk is its own reward as we traipse through this journey called life. We look for truth and find half-hearted deception at every turn. The least we can do is to be truthful to ourselves.

----The Analyst----

Please leave a like and a comment so I know I'm not just whispering to the dark.

The dark should always whisper back.

Hook, Line and Sinker

Toni laughed from somewhere to my right.

I lifted my head, turning to look. She stood in the open doorway. Her outfit belied that, while definitely alluring, she'd grabbed clothes from the hamper in the alcove.

Cassie stood right beside her clad in the same outfit she'd had on earlier, plus a light jacket. Her vibe said she was ready to go somewhere while the unmistakable look in her gaze said she was reconsidering that decision.

Her sister, Theo, stood slightly behind her and obviously doing her best to avoid looking at my most recent porno scene.

I glanced downward at Kylie. She was breathtaking as she lay breathing heavily, body covered in a sheen of light sweat and looking like she'd gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson.

My pussy sure feels like it did the way you were hammering away at it. I'm going to be hurting tomorrow. Kye chirped at me through our link.

Toni and Anya both chuckled out loud.

It's a good thing he's OURS then. I'll happily take the next pounding, Antonina interjected.

Between the two beauties in the doorway and the one laying limply on the bed beside me, I was more than slightly chagrined, being treated like lunchmeat. Or maybe it was more like a buffet. And that wasn't even counting Anya.

She, for one, sat satiated at the head of the ginormous bed, legs splayed lewdly and teasing her prominent clit and watching indifferently as Bella continued to slurp the last dregs of my semen from Kylie's abused labia. Well, more likely that she'd long ago found them but simply liked the taste of her friend.

The door leading in from the outside swung open and a pint-sized pixie sauntered in.

Brooke....

I wasn't quite sure how I felt about her. She was all spikes and abrasives, knowing what she wanted and going at it with both hands.

Both very.... grabby..... hands.

The corner of my mouth twitched as strolled in, acting like she owned the place. Her eyes locked on me as her stride changed.

She still wore the swimsuit.

That's actually a fun little sentence filled with misnomers. About the only word in it with any truth to it is she... Brooke...

I say "still" is a bit of a misnomer because I don't really know if I can say that the ever truly wore that..... thing....

I would also say that "wore" is not quite right either. That would imply that there was a semblance of an idea as to it a) being on her body in its designed method and location, and b) that as an "article of clothing" it was designed to provide some form of modesty and / or cover to certain regions of the body that one might deign to keep out of the public eye. To point a), it was definitively not positioned where it was "designed" to go, hanging loosely with one of the suspender strings trailing down her thigh. On point b) this more closely aligns with the last of the misnomers.

"The swimsuit" is just wrong to call this assortment of strings a "swimsuit". THE SWIMSUIT might better fit the garment or simply calling it "the string" would be more apt. It was a single string that went from one section of cloth no more than two square inches, up to her shoulders, down her back and attached back at the same said square of cloth where it proceeded up to the opposing shoulder and down her back, joining at the top of her butt crack to fulfill the theory a single string is a suitable garment. Oh, and there were 2 patches of cloth designed to cover her nipples too. These were definitely afterthoughts.

The above said assessment took less than the blink of an eye, as did her change in stride.

Seeing Bella's posterior positioned directly between Kye's legs and obviously rendering Kylie somewhat occupied, Brooke herself had made an assessment.

My cock was currently NOT occupied. That and the fact that her whisp of a memory for a swimsuit had caused a twitch in said cock.

PLEASE NOTE!!!! It did NOT breathe life into it!!!

My pal was taking a breather. Maybe a nap. A long and well deserved nap!!. Little bastard had worked harder in the last 6 hours than the last 6 weeks combined.

But, twitch he did. And so did my face as I saw the saunter... the stroll... transform into a prowl.

Brooke's neck leaned down as her countenance pushed forward. The sprite was already close to the floor and her forward gait pushed her ever so slightly closer.

Fortunately for me.... and unfortunately for her... this change in demeanor caused the last vestiges of friction to give way from where the string clung to her shoulder.

It slipped off. And then the rest of the "string swimsuit" followed suit.

Time slowed for me as the string slowly fell, twisting slowly in its path before catching around a knee. Then catching on a toe. Then it caught on the heel of the opposing foot.

Then.... oh, then....

The string pulled taut.

The look on Brooke's face was priceless as she went from "hungry pantheress stalking her prey" to 80's sitcom trip scene, her hands flinging forward to prevent the inevitable faceplant.

Into my crotch.

Which, to her credit, was exactly her goal to begin with. It just wasn't her goal to arrive so... abruptly.

Fortunately for me, my big strong pal was still playing protector and prevented his two bulbous buddies from getting squashed and the crisis was averted.

Well, the crisis of getting nutted was.

The crisis for Brooke in looking slightly comedic had only just started. And in front of a guy she more than wanted.

Belle had taken one of Brooke's hands to the ass and not necessarily went flying, but she kinda did in her effort to not hurt Kylie. Go Belles!!

The commotion and clamor from the spill and the following crash against the bed ledger stirred Kylie, causing her to open her eyes and peek up, laughing as Brooke's pointy hair looked to be impaling my midsection. It was short lived, however, and her head simply flopped back to the bed.

"I guess you can borrow him if you're THAT insistent Brooke," Kylie said mirthfully at her friend.

"I'm good with it, too," said Toni from the doorway. "But not right now. We need him to run the girls to campus. Theo forgot her research in the dorms and they've gotta get there before curfew."

Brooke drew her hands in, putting one hand solidly on my leg.

The other hand trailed down the inside of my thigh, grasping my... well, I wouldn't say tumescent... cock but squeezing and trying to bring blood into the head. As she did, her neck craned back and her eyes met mine. Brooke's devilish tongue... no, devilish pierced tongue flicked out. The small ball advanced toward my urethra while she used the rest of her tongue to tease my frenulum.

Her lips pursed, kissing the tip with ample suction before lifting her head away, making a loud popping noise.

"I'm coming too," she said resolutely.

Brooke's eyes had never left mine.

Uuuhhhhhh.....??? I sent towards Toni, still a little leery of the little hellion after our encounter in the dining room.

A wad of clothes smacked Brooke in the face, breaking her gaze and diverting mine over to the closet.

While I'd been dealing with Kye then Belle, then Belle ambushing Kye, then Brooke trying to ambush me then Brooke tackling me, then Brooke seeking some sort of conquest of my cock...

Yes, yes, yes.... I know it is not some great and awesome territory but I swear to God that if you'd seen the look on her face, you'd come away with the same perspective.

With Anya and Antonina, the mesh just... fell into place. It was as though it was always there and I was just finding it. With Kylie It was a push of protection, a gathering of strength to support the woman. This had been met with an agreement and finally a bond, forged through the ether.

Brooke had none of this and yet when I'd briefly touched her mind earlier, she'd instinctively reached back, grasping at what I'd done and leveraging it back. She'd seen the mesh in some small part as we played with it in the group dynamic. She wanted more. Brooke wanted in.

I, on the other hand, was still a little taken aback mentally at the changes that'd occurred and so suddenly. I was not 100% on rolling wreckingball I saw from our brief mental touch.

It will be fine, you'll see Toni whispered back to me through our connection.

She'd taken the time from my first noticing of her to make her way across the room to the large walk-in closet. Toni had grabbed a shirt, a skirt and underwear, wadded them up and chucked them at her friend.

It was a timely toss, too, right when I needed an out. You might think she knew this was coming.

Anya chimed in before I could even complete that thought.

She did.

I glanced at the older woman as Brooke sputtered.

"What the hell!!" She called out to Toni.

"If you're going, you're at least going to put some clothes on!" Toni retorted.

Brooke gave the taller blond a derisive look then untangled the clothes. No bra in sight, she put the shirt on. It was a petite button down. She, however, skipped all of the buttons and simply tied the corners of her shirt under her small bust, leaving as much cleavage and midriff bare as possible.

Of course, her mons was still visible currently since she'd basically come into the house naked. She held up the skirt. It was a pleated, plaid mini skirt. The tiny thong panties fell from one of the folds as the skirt unfurled.

"I will wear your shirt and skirt, but I am not wearing your underwear." Brooke stated somewhat forcefully as she stepped into the skirt and zipped it up.

Toni shook her head, smiling knowingly while I looked at her questioningly.

It's my room. Mama thought I should have it since this all started because of me. Toni directed at me. I've got clothes for you too, in here.

I stood, my broad frame dwarfed Brooke as I stood up. She took that as a challenge, pressing her body close to mine. I looked down at her short stature, grinning as I simply picked her up by the elbows and lifted her out of my way, setting her on the bed unceremoniously as I moved away.

I walked into the closet, sparing a glance back at the room doorway. Cassie was still following me with her eyes while her younger sister kept glancing down the hall and fidgeting like she needed to run away. Far, far, away.

Inside the closet, I saw a large room with dressers on each of the three sides and clothing bars around those. At the far end was a floor to ceiling mirror with multiple lights. Taken aback at the small bit of opulence, I stepped in and realized that while Toni had a section of the closet filled with her stuff. It was less than a quarter of the closet to be fair. Another quarter was filled with men's clothes.

I looked at her again, checking to see if my initial impression was right.

"Yes, they're all your size. But more my taste. I want my man to dress like the man I know him to be" Her accented voice hit me with a wave of drive, of desire.

I reached out, opening the drawers and finding... my clothes. Well, they were and they weren't.

There were socks and boxers. My preferred brands and styles.

The drawer below, t-shirts. Below that, jeans and shorts. The rack beside was filled with slacks, polos, long sleeve button downs.

All brand new. Waiting for me to get here.

There, next to the dressers... my dressers... Toni held out clothes for me to put on. She watched as I put them on; boxers first, socks, then jeans, then a graphic tshirt. There was a small bench to make the dressing process easier in the spacious closet. Each was a surprisingly good fit. Well, maybe not so surprisingly.

I looked up as she handed me a pair of boots. Again, brand new and fresh from the box. They were a rugged work shoe with steel toes and an eight-inch ankle. I put them on and found them supremely comfortable.

Everything was lightweight enough to be comfortable in the early spring air and also much heavier than I would normally wear just playing the taxi-lite role.

Then she handed me a jacket. I had to look at it, the weight feeling slightly heavier than expected. It was a leather motorcycle jacket, soft but durable.

She smiled at me, soft but almost forlorn.

"Don't ask. Just take it and wear it." She told me.

I slid my arms into the jacket. While it looked bulky, it fit like a glove while being comfortable enough for daily wear. This was more than a little surprising considering the difficulty I had finding shirts to fit my shoulders. Finding what looked like almost a custom jacket that fit must have taken more than a little searching.

Turning to look in the mirror, I liked what I saw.

It'd been years since I was out on a motorcycle but the gear looked like I was ready to roll. Maybe on a Harley or an Indian rather than the crotch rocket of my younger days.

Toni stepped behind me, putting one hand on my shoulder and the other on my arm as she looked around me and into the mirror. The reflection looked more like a catalog ad than a random day in the life. A day in my life.

She turned me to face her, grasping my face in her hands, kissing me gently.

"Go, I will see you soon," she told me. Determination lit her eyes as she turned my body the rest of the way and swatted my ass to get me moving out the door.

Coming out of the closet, (not THAT closet, you idiot) the girls were each staring at me.

"Woooo!!" Called Cassie as Bella wolf-whistled at me.

"Let's go already! We're going to be cutting it too close as it is!" Theo complained, grabbing her sister and pulling her toward the garage.

We ended up in my mid-sized SUV. Yes, it was smaller than the Escalade or even the older Mariner, but had more than enough room for the four of us. Brooke had already found my keys, started the car and had claimed shotgun before anyone else made it out the door.

Theo sat behind me, obviously trying to make herself as invisible to my eyes while crouching in the corner. She was acting like she thought whatever I was doing to the other girls might be contagious. I don't think she was quite ready for that yet.

At least she knew what she wanted and didn't want. Gotta give her credit for that.

Cassie sat behind Brooke initially but then moved to the middle after just a second, leaning forward and into my space even as she touched my neck with her hand.

I glanced around the car, making sure everyone was secured and ready to go before buckling my own seatbelt and putting the car in drive.

Of course, I immediately returned it to park. Simple things like directions are important for us mortals after all.

I looked at Cass in the mirror. Her eyes beamed back playfulness while I simply sat motionless, a small smile on my face and unblinking.

Her eyes slowly lost their shine, replaced by confusion.

"What? What'd I do? What's wrong?" she asked, suddenly self conscious.

"I kinda need to know where we're going."

Brooke snorted before starting to laugh at her friend.

The light returned to Cass's eyes as she simply said, "Oh... you're right. That might help a little."

She rattled off a set of numbers and a street followed by a room number.

"Do I look like i have a scar on my forehead" I asked the lithe brunette.

Confusion, returned to her countenance before she simply said, "No?? Why would you ask me that??"

I smiled slyly as I turned my head, used my finger to bring her lips to mine for a quick peck.

"I'm taking you to the front door. Not flying the car to give you window access."

Confusion deepened as she looked at me.

Theo, on the other hand finally giggled.

Cass turned to her sister, tucked tightly in the corner. The confusion deepened as her sister looked over the top of her backpack, a fit of giggles as she stopped laughing at my joke and moved to laughing at her sister's lack of comprehension.

"What? I don't get it?!?" she cried in exasperation.

"This isn't a flying car, Cass" Theo chortled as her giggles deepened.

"Right, I know that. But I still don't get it!!"

That brought further cackles from the passenger seat as Brooke broke down into laughter as well, frustrating Cassie even further.

"And you don't have red hair!!" said Brooke, causing Theo to laugh even harder.

"Riiiighhht?" Cass stated questioningly. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Brooke broke down before turning in her seat, leaning her back against the door and cocking her foot up.

I'm gonna have to get that cleaned, I thought as i looked at the dusty print from her sandal on my leather seat.

Brooke looked at me, tears of laughter rolling down her face.

"Well, I guess he CAN show you his magic wand! Again!!! Isn't that right Harry?!!?" Brooke said in an awful impression of a British accent.

Theo laughed so hard she started to snort like a pig. Which of course brought even more laughter from Brooke.

The light of understanding finally started to dawn in Cassie's eyes as she got the reference.

She lifted up slightly off the seat before plopping back down against the seat back, crossing her arms and pretending to pout.

I took that opportunity to punch the address, sans the room number, into the GPS, smiling in the rear view as Brooke and Theo started teasing Cass about pouting. Then about something else. Then something more filtered in and Cass broke from her playful pout and started to defend herself.

I, for one, slipped into the all too familiar driver mode. My eyes locked on the map. Looking at the planned route, the alternative routes, the time of day, all in an instant, I determined what I thought would be the best route to get us there, selected it, put the car in drive and started our jaunt.

The route to the highway was fairly easy to navigate. One round-a-bout, three stop signs and two lights later, we pulled onto the ramp and deftly merged into traffic.

The girls' chatter droned on in the back of my mind as I zoned out, letting my mind free to stop thinking and be in the moment. This was the best way for me to relax; let my body do something on auto-pilot while my brain went numb.

Now, numb did not mean that it had stopped. In fact, even though I wasn't paying attention to anything, I could quote back line, chapter and verse of the conversation and infrequently dropped the odd movie quote or off-hand observation that perfectly fit into their current line of discussion.

I turned the background music down as the red of tail-lights suddenly became brighter in front of me, a mile or so in the distance. Because, everyone knows that you have to have it quiet to see better at night.

I let my foot off the gas and coasted for a bit to naturally drop the speed as we approached.

"Crash ahead. Expect a 15 minute delay. You are still on the fastest route to your destination. You will now arrive at 10:05 PM" the maps app chirped in her British tone. I silently thanked God that I hadn't installed the mod that berated you as you drove. Or worse, the one that called you a "good boy" when you did what it wanted you to. They were funny, but I was still trying to make a good impression.

"Wait!" Theo exclaimed. "What time did it say we would arrive?"

"Just a little after 10 PM, but that's assuming that the accident doesn't fully block the road." I replied, relaxed as I was still used to dealing with these kinds of delays.

"Dean, curfew is at 10. They lock the doors for campus safety and we'll have to get security to let us in. They're gonna fine each of us and may not even let you onto the campus." Cass put her hand on my shoulder. "What can you do?"

We were still rolling towards the impending grid-lock, an off-ramp just this side of the full-stop. I quickly surveyed the road and the cars on either side of us, making a hasty decision to take the ramp and fight the construction traffic. Hopefully that would give us better timing than what we were currently looking at.

As we pulled off the highway and stopped at the light at the end of the ramp, GPS chimed at me again.

"Re-calculating"

Flipping the directions off and going to the straight map mode, I quickly estimated the best route to get there. Yes, this was not the best neighborhood. Yes the roads were a bit run down. Yes, this could inevitably lead to taking longer and getting stuck anyway.

I sighed as I looked at the options, getting honked at as my light turned green.

A split second later, I flipped my blinker to indicate going to the left and pulled onto the side street.

Brooke turned the directions back on and we made our way down the old roads. Pot-hole filled roads I might add.

It looked like a war zone and someone had a personal vendetta against anyone who deigned to drive them. The city, for one, had surely forgotten about this stretch with my headlights barely stretching far enough out to catch the next crater so I could dodge.

Older houses lined both sides of the road as we drove, streetlights turning from bright halogens to the dimmer sulfur colored yellow and getting further apart. The best part about this route was that the maps app didn't consider it for normal traffic, routing everyone else to better maintained roadways as well as allowing us to travel unimpeded to our destination.

When maps finally recalculated using the route I was taking, it chimed in with the "You should reach your destination by 9:45 PM" and causing a collective sigh from the back seat.

Five minutes later, we emerged from the neighborhood and back onto the main drag. Well, it should have been the main drag.

This road was under heavy construction and some government genius decided to close down two miles of road. They had put consolidated the 4-lane road down to 2 with the high concrete barricades in place to route cars down half the road, with no visibility and no room for mistakes. They'd removed all shoulder access on both sides.

Doing this on the highway would have been a bad idea, but here in the city, it was even worse.

I turned the music all the way off as I threaded my way thru the final miles, pulling onto campus exactly when GPS said I would. Hey! It was right for once!!

Winding my way around the campus, the two girls in the back returned to their conversation, focusing this time on the project, the citations, professors and how to get by in their classes.

I pulled up in front of the dorm, taking the visitor parking spot and barely coming to a stop before the two back doors popped open.

Leaving just me and Brooke. Sitting alone. In a dark car. Alone.

I will say, there was wariness without the trepidation one might think. It'd been a long day and I was ruminating over what all had transpired.

Brooke, on the other hand, continued to sit, back against the car door, grinning at me salaciously. She was utterly quiet as I turned my head and looked at her.

Without warning, she lunged across the seat, across the console, grabbing my jacket as she did. I could hear the sounds of her nails sliding across the leather as they sought purchase. Her lips sought out mine, finding them and biting down aggressively.

With the way she moved, you'd think that I was some famous pop star, the icon of her dreams. Her fevered kisses turned a bit sloppy, her hands frenzied as they pushed to under my jacket.

Roll with it came Toni's voice, encouraging as she gave permission. There was a background dissonance in the thought, as if something was there that shouldn't be there, that couldn't be there. I heard her voice, felt emotions.

My concentration locked onto that dissonance only to be shattered as Brooke's petite frame slithered across the console and onto my lap. She'd left her sandals on the floorboard and was now using the headrest for leverage.

I preferred to drive with the seat slightly leaned back, more of a relaxed posture but also giving a wider view of the road. This left ample room for her to maneuver without leaning against the steering wheel and setting off the horn.

Her hands moved in my peripheral while her eyes sought mine out, lips kissing mine. I instinctively wrapped my arms around her, one hand sliding against her back, under the shirt and feeling her bare skin, the heat of her body unaffected by the chill of spring seeping through the cracked windows.

My left hand helped secure her foot onto the seat, giving her guidance to a firm purchase to perch. Her right foot on the edge of my seat beside my thigh. Her calf extended along my side to where her knee rested directly in front of my shoulder. My fingers traced the lines of her muscles, up to her knee, following back down her thigh before finding her glutes, grabbing a firm handful and pulling her close.

One of her hands held onto the headrest, keeping herself stable. I felt as her other traced my pectorals, down my sides, coming to rest on the belt I wore. Her fingers pulled at my belt as her eyes pulled at my mind, reaching intangibly, searching without understanding how we had made the connection earlier. Time began to slow as I allowed myself to reach out, slowly at first.

The first time we had touched wasn't even a half day ago but I felt like I'd run a gamut of being encouraged, both pleasantly and somewhat forcefully, to embrace what I could now do. I still wasn't quite sure on what to call it or even IF I needed to call it something.

I could feel as she opened herself up to my mental touch, kissing me physically as she caressed my mental probe. At the same time, her fingers pulled at my belt before pulling at the button to my jeans. Her fingers found their way in, grabbing my cock while she held me with her gaze. Her fingers danced across my sensitive head, encouraging it to come back to life and pulling it free of the confines as she did.

She dipped her hips down, rubbing her wet entry across the engorged head and further encouraging my body to firm up. Brooke pulled more of my cock into the open before pressing down to hide it once again.

As our bodies touched and entwined, our minds did as well, albeit with more hesitation from my end. Her eyes never left mine as she moved her body. The rhythm of her gyrations changed as she moved, back and forth then side to side, encouraging tumescence and the resulting penetration with each movement.

She kissed me again, eyes locked on mine. Whisps of her consciousness leaking her fears. She thought that if she looked away the connection would disappear. They leaked other things too.

She fed me her curiosity.

Then her desires.

Then her thoughts of her friends.

Then her fears of being left behind while her friends found what she herself wanted.

What she wanted.

Then she let me feel her drive... her compulsion to move... to chase... to have...

In the blink of an eye, Brooke broke down her own walls for me. She'd ever been the one to take a dare, to stand out in the crowd. She was not afraid of the physical pain and harbored no sense of shame about what she did. Her sense of self was... well... self-assured? I guess that's the best way to explain it.

She felt as the mental connection between us stabilized, as the reticence lessened, Brook grabbed on, looking to hold on.

First her hands, followed by her lips, then her mind, then even her legs. And of course, we can't forget that delicious gash that was caressing where my prick invaded her soft nethers, now can we?

And as those delicious little bits sank deep onto my cock a moan escaped her lips.

And... the back door opened behind me.

A bookbag was flung across the seat and Cassie clambered in, scooting to the middle of the bench seat in an effort to make room for her sister.

She pushed the bag further before looking to the front passenger seat, obviously expecting to see Brooke.

"Where's Broooo...." she got out as Theo followed her into the car. "Hey!!! You get us caught out here after curfew and I'm gonna kill you!!" Cass flung at Brooke, grabbing her hat and smacking the smaller girl's arms.

"Get OFF him!!" Theo joined in as she ascertained the situation. Looking at her face in the side view mirror, I could tell she harbored no questions about who had started this little escapade.

A small moan escaped Brooke's lips as she continued to move up and down. "I'm TRYYYYING!!!" she dragged out, biting her lip.

"Dean!!" Theo pleaded. "We have less than 5 minutes to get off the campus grounds before they close the gates!!"

Cass finally resorted to pulling Brooke off me, Brooke begrudgingly letting go and moving back to her seat.

Looking at the fiery little pixie, I sighed. Our connection still lingered in the back of my mind and Brooke was holding tight.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I buckled my seatbelt, turned the key and brought the engine to life.

I kept an unhurried pace as we made our way through the dorm parking and out toward the main entrance. That was more than fortunate as headlights began following us, only stopping as they parked next to the guardshack. The single driver's door opened and a guard made his way inside, flipping the switch to close the auxiliary gates remotely and dropping the swing arms into place right as we turned onto the surface streets.

I could hear Theo breathe a sigh of relief as she realized that we'd just barely made it out, ensuring that she got to work on the project with her sister while saving her from detention for out after curfew violations.

"What were you doing!" Theo berated Brooke from the corner of the car. "We almost didn't make it!!"

Cass then proceeded to attempt calming down her younger sister, trying to bring focus back to the project. Their project box sat behind Brooke's seat, crowding the back and sticking out the top.

We pulled up to the stoplight at the main thoroughfare, coming to a stop as we had the red. I was trying to bring myself back into driver mode as there was construction all around and I was still in a bit of unfamiliar territory.

Trying to focus on the back seat in the mirror, I caught sight of Brooke in the corner of my eye. Her eyes hadn't left me since we were so rudely interrupted. I could feel them every time I looked around for traffic as we'd exited campus.

Checking the lights again, I made to check the crosswalk. It still showed a white walking person crossing our lane, so I knew we had at least a dozen seconds. I let my attention drift to Brooke.

She'd been waiting for me to look. Her eyes held mine, daring me to look anywhere else. I did, but only in my peripheral.

Her left hand pulled on the knot of the shirt, letting it hang free. Those same delicate fingertips traipsed to her nipple, pinching and pulling to bring herself pleasure. Her right hand snuck to the bottom of the mini-skirt, pulling it up and out of the way and freeing her sodden nether lips to the evening air. Those fingers then slowly made their way up her unblemished skin, crossing her belly button and flipping the small silver hoop before tracing an invisible path to her lips.

Brooke's lips parted as her fingers reached them. A sultry motion of her lips and a light sucking sound indicated that she was getting them wet. Pulling them from her mouth, a thin line of drool clung between the two before she lowered her hand and began rubbing her engorged clitoris.

She didn't blink while she did this.

I don't think I did either.

At least not till I heard the horn behind us.

Two short beeps broke my concentration, making my eyes readjust to look at the now green turn light.

I chortled as I let my foot off the gas, rolling out into the intersection for our left-hand turn.

Brooke's foot snuck back over into my lap, across the center console, and drawing my attention back to her.

Back to her.

And back to the headlights rapidly approaching behind her.

A half-hearted screech of tires indicated that they'd begun to apply their brakes. Of course, that was a micro-second after the sound of metal shearing had started.

The world went dark.

I say that and it's really only half right.

I should probably say, "I could no longer see the road. Or the street lamps. Or the interior dashboard lights."

And I do remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday. There was no parking, no lake, but at least 2 cars in sight, maybe more. But, at some point, I'd closed my eyes.

As the tearing sound of metal was reaching my ears, I'd glanced over thinking those lyrics...

I never had a girl looking any better than you did, all the kids at school, they were wishing they were me that night. And now our bodies were oh so close and oh so tight, it never felt so good or felt so right...

Except that wasn't quite right either.

I'd barely had time to glance before the car went airborne, flipping. The landing hit and the pillar behind me took the brunt of the weight while still buckling the roof slightly.

Glass exploded, in and out as the airbags followed suit and expanding to their full protective sheath.

I heard another scream as our roll continued, behind me this time. Female rather than metal.

A thud later landed us on four tires. Four very deflated tires from the sound of the metal hitting a split second after the impact.

I shook my head, clearing out the cobwebs and more than a little glass from my hair and short beard.

My hand instinctively reached out for the door handle, eager to get out of the crumpled mess. The door latch released. At least it sounded like it did. And the door did let go ever so slightly before catching again.

So I braced, one hand on the steering wheel, the other on the seatback. One leg was even able to bend up enough to push on the center console, giving me enough leverage to push.

Push

A little more

A groan of metal as the bent pieces gave way.

And I fell free.

Unceremoniously, onto my back and another pile of glass.

I rolled backward as I fell out, yanking my left foot free. Onto my back, then over, then into a crouch, then up. Upright.

I breathed as I ran a mental systems check.

Head: check

Back: check

Legs: check

Feet: check

Hands: sore, but check

Heart: bumping and pumping and racing in time.... I guess that counts as a check

Adrenaline through the roof as i ascertained that I was more or less in one piece, still shaking from the experience.

I heard a cry. Theo.

Reaching out, I grabbed the doorhandle. Same as mine, the damn thing was bent. But in this case, the glass was gone and the door was bent slightly out.

One hand on the handle, one on the bent frame. I stood on one foot, bracing my other above the tire, yanking as hard as I could.

The metal gave way again. Two beautiful girls spilled out. I managed to catch one of them.

Theo

She was bawling her eyes out as she grabbed me. As she grabbed the leather coat. Glass fell away from the leather coat as she did.

I looked down, realization parting the blinds in my muddled mind.

Another sob pulled me away again. Cass was still pulling herself out of the car.

The right side of her arm was a bright blue already. Her leg under the shorts was as well.

She was in shock but looked ok for the most part.

I looked back at Theo. She was favoring her left arm, her right one doing all the work. She was covered in glass, scrapes and some debris imbedded in her dermis. Light blood trails streaked but nothing major.

A cough. A moan, still in the car. Faint.

I pushed the girls to lean against the car, popping the trunk as I hobbled around the tailgate.

"Med Kit, blankets" I said, pointing to the jumbled gear. The girls sobbed as they followed my directions, bleating nothings into the night sky.

I stumbled as i kicked something. A bumper piece. Not mine.

My foot was fine. The steel-toed boot causing a clamor as it booted the metal.

I looked up... and stopped.

The underside of the front passenger door was folded under, the pillar was crushed, the door concave. Brooke had been sitting there, her back right against the door.

The outside door handle was gone and all I could see inside the car from this angle was the sidewall curtain where it had blocked most of the glass from this side.

I limped closer to the door. Maybe my ankle wasn't all the way fine.

Reaching in, I pulled the latch on the door, releasing the mechanism. Once, no click. Second time with some outward force it gave. The concave indention was forcing the door free of its bindings, making it easier that what you'd expect to open up.

Another gurgle.

I flung the door open, the hinges breaking with the force applied. It fell. More glass coating the pavement.

Adrenaline, not good. I might really be hurt, I thought to myself, chuckling as the dropping door jarred the night solace.

Brooke lay folded in half in front of me, blood seeping from the back of her head. Her hand twitched as it rested on her outstretched leg, covering the cup holder in the center console. Her white shirt was speckled red, hanging down into the footwell and moving gently with the breeze.

The scene momentarily stopped me, serene and ghastly as it was. I was looking to understand the situation, trying to determine what to do, but was left indecisive as the seconds ticked. It was only the slight movement of Brooke's head, the soft moan of pain, her hands reaching to lift her torso up from her lap that spurred me to move, the trance suddenly broken.

"Spread a blanket out now!" I called back to Cass and Theo.

I reached in, disregarding all of what i knew about accidents and not moving the victims, gently scooping up Brooke and making sure that her head didn't move, rolling her into a cradle carry before letting her legs extend out.

The other two had found a place in the median mostly free of debris, spreading the camping blanket out. Brooke seemed light as a feather when I brought her over, setting her into the middle of the cloth.

Theo burst into another round of sobs as Cass bent down, buttoning Brooke's shirt, smoothing her skirt out. Cassie's first thought was dignity for the dying.

Yes, I said it. The dying. She could see the damage, see the pain of her friend, feel it all with unobstructed clarity. So could I.

I did the only thing I knew how to do, something that I'd just learned to do today. I looked into Brooke's eyes, reaching out with everything I had, pushing the strands of my mental fortitude into her mind.

As I did, I felt Brooke react, awareness flooding her mind even as the pain spiked. I formed the mental image of a hand, pushing it into her psyche, looking to turn her understanding of the pain down, give her some mental respite from the agony that enveloped her.

My hand touched the mental constructs I had created to represent the functions of her cerebrum. A wave of awareness burst through Brooke, her eyes going wide as her adrenaline spiked. I felt her mental grip encompass my hand as she grabbed tight, setting her mental hooks into me.

The mental weight, the strain of the hooks, the pull as she latched on surprised me. I fell back, onto my ass, even then trying to hold onto her mentally.

Her eyes followed me, her head shaking as it turned to watch my unceremonious collapse.

Her mental grip, however, was rock solid. It held onto my probe, draining strength from me even as I worked to stand, knees trembling from the exertion.

A sound broke the air behind me, a door opening followed by a slurred curse. A shoe hit the pavement, shuffling as it worked to get a firm grip. Then a second. A groan and another slurred curse. The creak of the car as someone exited. Someone stumbled before shouting at me.

"Look what you did to my car! You're gonna pay for this!"

I turned my head, then my shoulders, then my feet. Someone was about to die.

Let me start by saying this.

Mark wasn't a bad person. At least, not all of him. Not all at once.

In fact, some people might say that he was a good person. Maybe to some, a great person. But all of them would certainly say that he was the life of the party.

Looking at him, I could see it. Hell, if you looked at him, I'd venture that even you could see it.

Average height.

Average build. Well, maybe a little pudgy. Rotund even

Goofy smile.

Relaxed attitude.

You could throw a joke his way and there was less than 50% chance that he'd get it. Not because he wasn't paying attention. More like he wasn't all there all the time.

Maybe that's how it all started.

Shaken as I was, flustered, more than a little angry you might even say. I'd heard the footstep behind me and turned, lashing out. I'd seen the man stumble and... well... I didn't care if he trusted me or not. He didn't exactly get a say in that right now.

The world melted away as sights and sounds overtook the normal conceptual mesh.

I was standing in a bathroom, staring at the mirror, the view swaying back and forth. The sight in front of me was a much younger version of the man I'd seen seconds ago. He wore a stupid grin, holding onto the sink for balance but swaying none the less. A cup was sitting in front of him, topped with the foam from a freshly poured beer. A friend called out to him, with this young man turning his face to greet. The stupid grin broke into unadulterated glee, the hand releasing his grip on the sink, grabbing the red cup and lifting it into the air. His friend toasted him back but put his cup back to his chest as the view of the outside world was suddenly blocked, the insides of the cup white as the contents were drained. Darkness slowly overtook this man's vision. The sounds died away as consciousness slipped.

Another mirror emerged from the fog. It was the same... but different... but the same. The slight pudge of what was likely a teen burgeoning into adulthood had faded, his face leaning out. He was older, but not much. The sway was still there, less pronounced. This time, it was his private bathroom rather than group one, the door was closed as I took in the unsteady panorama. His grin was on the edge of his face and a different cup was seated on the counter in front of him this time. It was some cheap plastic version, filled with ice and some brownish liquor. Staring at himself, the cup was raised to his lips. A bitter scowl as he drank, followed by another blossoming grin. Joy flowed across his face as he picked up the empty cup, heading toward the door. The door opened...

To another mirror. The mirror was in some sort of hotel, raucous laughter echoing through the background. This one showed a version of the man... maybe a couple years older. Mid-twenties I'd guess. He was dressed to the nines. And carrying a glass, actual glass this time. A ruby red liquid flowed over ice. There were 2 more glasses sitting on the counter, empty. He smiled at himself as he downed this glass in a single go, turning back to the party and looking like he was chasing another. Stepping out into the hallway, he closed his eyes.

Opening them again, he was looking into a small mirror, embedded into the wall. Gray concrete lined both sides and above. Looking down, he could see the industrial stainless steel sink, designed to be unbreakable. Water ran unceasingly as he looked back at the mirror. He was still dressed to the nines. Well, it was more like the point nines, now. His hair was disheveled. One eye was swollen, almost shut. He had blood dripping down one side of his mouth where his stupid grin still hung. "Mark," a voice behind him called out. He swung his head around seeing the bars to the cell even as his vision doubled and he lost his balance. Mark, so it seemed he was called, toppled, crashing onto the bed and blacking out.

Eyes opened as water dripped down them. Another mirror but the same face. There was pain in the vision, face wincing as the lines of a thirty-or-so-year-old cringed from a hangover. That much was obvious. The door to the small bathroom was open, a wrinkled suit hung, waiting for its owner... waiting for Mark to claim it. He looked down. A small tumbler sat on the sink ledge, brown liquid sitting languidly in its depths. A trembling hand grasped it, tipping its contents into his mouth. The trembling smoothed out, settled down as the liquor coated his throat. His eyes closed in pleasure.

They opened to his reflection a computer monitor. Spreadsheets sat blankly in front of him, his fingers numbly on the home-keys. He glanced around his cubicle before sneaking a peak over the top of the low walls. No one was close. He could get away with it. A drawer popped open and a small flask emerged, tipping its contents into his coffee cup. Motion in his peripheral caught his eye, a moment too late. A hand on his shoulder, very feminine with painted nails he thought to himself. "Mr. Ellison, please come with me." He bowed his head, he closed his eyes.

His eyes opened. A nurse held a mirror to his face. She was pretty. And disgusted. She was re-reading the doctor's instructions to him. "Stay away from all alcohol. This medication will have a serious reaction." He knew her. She knew him. She knew the chances of that happening were the same as the chances of the sun turning purple at mid-day... the same as snow at the equator... maybe even better than the chances that Pluto would be called a planet again then finding out it was now orbiting the Earth. Mark had been here before, the emergency room. This time, however, he'd brought along company. Unwilling company. Mark used one casted hand to brush his hair, thinning though it might be at not even forty. He looked rough. And he looked to the door. A very unfriendly policeman stood watch, waiting for his release so that Sergeant Donaldson his name tag read, could invite him to some less... accommodating residences. The look on the Sergeant's face indicated that he'd been looking forward to this. Maybe for some time. Mark closed his eyes, thinking of the last drink he'd had and letting a smile warm his face.

Mark had gotten out of prison this morning. I'd watched it through his eyes as they opened on the prison mirror. I'd watched the start of his days dozens of times.. maybe hundreds. For once, I was able to follow him for more than a minute. I watched as he gathered his belongings, gathered his wits, and walked out of the jail. I watched as he crossed one street. Then another. Then another. As he stood the street corner and asked for spare change, as he sat and watched the construction crew framing the old building. I watched as he grabbed the crowbar, prying open the cashbox he'd found in the foreman's truck. His eyes grew wide as he pocketed a handful of twenties, leaving the rest and hurrying away as the foreman found his broken window. I watched as he made his way to the bar, barely a mile away from the prison. I saw as he turned the piles of twenties into stacks of empty glasses. Then I watched through his eyes as they locked on a set of keys lain carelessly on the edge of a table, how he stumbled, intentionally, catching himself on that table, pocketing the keys. The sun had gone down while he'd been inside. Lights flashed from the edge of the parking lot where the key fob triggered the doors to unlock.

I watched as he pulled out. I recognized the street. I knew those pillars. I felt the craters in the road. I wanted to look away... but I couldn't. This wasn't my vision. These weren't my eyes.

The light ahead of me turned yellow. Then it turned red. He could make it before that red SUV pulled out... His foot pressed down on the gas pedal, accelerating... racing to beat the SUV through the light. At least he thought he could. Until he knew he couldn't. His mind was slow in this recognition... he should have stopped one drink sooner. And then, pressing the brakes was an effort in futility. The nose of his stolen car dipped before plowing into the other car. That car... my car... flew upward, then rolled over. The inertia was fully transferred as the breaks took hold. His car had stopped. Well, it wasn't really his car. He'd just... borrowed it. Shakily, he opened the door. It begrudgingly gave way and allowed him exodus, the quarter panel was pushed back slightly. He watched as the man in the other car got out... got the two girls in back out... got the girl in front out... She didn't look so good. Mark caught his reflection in the broken side view mirror, stumbling and kicking broken glass in the process.

The pain from glass piercing his shoe finally broke the lock.

I breathed in as rage filled my lungs...

I'd seen images of this man over the last 10... maybe 20 years of his life. All of those images... hours and hours of life lived had poured through my mind. And somehow, I'd watched all of them before he'd finished the sentence that brought him into my line of sight.

No... Mark wasn't a bad man... at least not all of him... and not all of him all the time.

But, he was who he was. And the person he was would do this again.

Rage filled my lungs as I burst into a scream of agony. It wasn't mine. I was only borrowing it.. Shunting it from its true owner.

I don't even know if it was truly Brooke's.

I felt it, nonetheless.

I broke into a hobbled run at the man, a dozen meters away. Pieces of my car lay between us.

That didn't matter.

My ankle twisted, the high boot barely keeping it in one place, pain lancing through my leg and through my being.

That didn't matter either.

My hands reached for him, clawing at the air as I tripped and fell to the ground while I was still a dozen feet away, eager to tear him apart. My ankle finally gave way.

Strangely enough, even that didn't matter.

My mind. It took on the job that my body failed to hold the capacity for. It rushed at him in all its ethereal force.

That... yes, that... mattered.

I grappled with him in my mind, pushing him back, shaking him. His body followed suit. I screamed at him through our mental connection and he flinched, cowering in fear... maybe in pain. He fell down to his knees. My mind looked back at the scene of carnage behind me. I didn't need my eyes for this. I stole his... I borrowed his.

Theo, her innocence shattered as she was still processing.

Cassie, her heart breaking for her sister... for her friend dying.

Brooke... gurgling as blood filled her lungs, her back twisted in a way that it shouldn't go, arm shattered from the impact.

I towered over him in my mind, feeling as Brooke's mental fingers held onto me, locked like barbed hooks in my psyche. Her pain coursed over me, filling me with dread... filling me with an unending darkness as the light was fading.

I reached down, hauling the battered and terrified man to his feet. I didn't need my physical body for this. His worthless corpse, living though it may be, did it for me, unwillingly obeying my will.

I took the pain... I took the anguish... I took the dread gripping Brooke.

The mesh held them together like a rope.

Like a wire.

Finer than that... like fishing twine

I used my mind to tie this to him. I wrapped it around his core... a string around his very being. I surrounded him by everything that held sway over Brooke's precious life, encompassing his soul. Then I pushed.

He fell back from where my metaphysical mind stood, invisible, falling against the car, his eyes wide in terror. As his body fell, so did his mind, into the inky blackness that the reaper of souls held over the living. The string of pain and anguish pulled tight as he fell away, letting him bear the burden but never letting him go.

As the string of my will pulled taut, the hooks Brooke had sunk into my mind buried deeper. His life, his body bore the brunt of his own actions, letting his mind sink into that terror of nothingness.

That single line held the grim reaper at bay. That deadly scythe was stayed.

The innocent was left... not dead.

His actions tied Brooke to me, her lifeforce latched to mine.

Hook... line... and sinker....