Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (43 page)

               
“I’m off to school,” Jackson says.  “You two behave yourselves.”

               
“Yes, daddy.” Kayla giggles.  “I promise to keep my clothes on.”

               
“Damn straight.”

               
Damien rolls his eyes.  “I was voting for the clothes coming off.”

               
Kayla looks at him.  “I bet you were.”

               
Jackson groans.  “I’m leaving now, bye.”  He grabs his backpack and
heads out the door.

               
“All right,” Damien exclaims, rubbing his hands together.  “We’re alone
now, you know what that means?”

               
“You’re going to try and seduce me?” Kayla replies, playfully sounding
exasperated.

               
With a shocked expression, Damien says, “No, I’m going to teach you how to
control your mind.  Seducing is
later
.”

               
“Got it.”

               
“Come on, let’s go sit in the living room.” Damien grabs her hand and leads her
down the hallway.  When they walk into the living room, Damien points to
the couch.  “We really don’t have to sit on the floor; the couch will do
just fine.”

               
With a nod, Kayla walks over and sits down.  “Now what?”

               
“Go to Shima.  I’ll meet you there.”

               
Kayla closes her eyes and enters Shima.  She quickly turns around looking
for William but doesn’t see him.  When Damien appears, Kayla shrugs her shoulders.
“He isn’t here.”

               
“Oh,” Damien replies sharply.  “I wish that he was.”

               
“You can’t hurt him in here, right?”

               
A smirk spreads over Damien’s face.  “Who says?”

               
“Really?”

               
“It wouldn’t cause him bodily harm, but oh yeah, it would hurt.”

               
She nods her head. “Good to know.  Don’t get into a fist fight in here.”

               
“You feel any sensation that you act out in here,” Damien states, looking at
her.

               
Kayla gulps. “So if we did anything, would that count?”

               
“Yes.” Damien chuckles.  “It would.”

               
“But you can’t get pregnant like this, right?”

               
He shakes his head. “No, but if someone with a stronger mental ability comes
along, they can walk right in on you, like an open door.”

               
“Ooh, awkward.”

               
“Just a little, unless you have exhibitionist impulses, then I guess it’s all
right.  I won’t have sex anywhere I know I’m likely to get caught.”

               
Walking up to him, Kayla starts to fiddle with his shirt button.  “So
you’re saying, if I wanted to right now, you wouldn’t do it?”

               
Damien laughs. “I don’t know.  I’m pretty powerful mentally.  We
could probably get away with it.”

               
“Good to know,” Kayla teases as she releases his shirt.

               
“Why don’t we just concentrate on your blocking capabilities?  That sounds
like a better idea.”

               
Kayla nods. “All right, how do I do this?”

               
“First, you have to be able to sense someone else’s energy.  I want you to
close your eyes.”  Kayla gives him a look and then shuts her eyes. 
“Okay,” Damien starts.  “Can you sense where I am?”

               
“Yeah, you’re right where I last saw you.”

               
“I’m going to move and you tell me where I am.  Okay, in five seconds,
tell me where I am.”

               
She counts to five in her head and then concentrates to try and pinpoint Damien’s
location.  “I have no idea.”

               
“Then we really need to work on this,” Damien responds from behind her. 
“We can sense each other, it’s like feeling me with only your energy.  It
will feel like a presence is standing near you.  Try to feel me with your
mind, not your other senses.”

               
“Okay, I’ll count to five again.”  She takes a deep breath and counts,
“One…two…three…four…five…”  She tries to feel Damien’s presence, but
detects nothing. She shakes her head.  “I just can’t do it.”

               
Damien huffs. “Let’s try it this way.”  Kayla feels him put his hand on
her face.  “I am going to release a little bit of my energy and then walk
away from you.  See if you can follow it.”  His energy is like a
touch of a feather on her nerves; Kayla takes a quick breath in.  “Now,
follow me,” Damien whispers as he lets go.

               
It’s
then that Kayla finally gets it.  She can
feel him, almost like a press on her aura.  She points her finger to her
right.  “There.”

               
“Good, now do it again,” Damien replies.  “Count to five.”

               
She can feel his energy move over her like a wind.  After five seconds she
points somewhat to the left.  “You’re there.”

               
“Count to five,” he murmurs.  Spinning, Kayla follows Damien around
her.  When he stops, she points directly at him.  “Good job.”

               
Kayla opens her eyes and smiles.  “I can sense you!”

               
“Yup, you did splendidly.  Now the more difficult part will be blocking me
out.”

               
“How do I do that?”

               
Damien replies, “I’m going to block you out.  I want you to feel the
pressure of that, okay?”

               
“What if William comes?” she spits out.  “I don’t want to be here alone.”

               
“I’ll only block you out for a few seconds.  I swear nothing will happen
to you.”

               
With a smirk, Kayla says, “What if it’s not William?  What if it’s a cuter
boy with more to offer?”

               
Damien looks shocked.  “Who could possibly be cuter than me?”

               
Kayla laughs. “Not that he may have more to offer, but it’s the cuteness
factor.”

               
“Ummm, yeah,” Damien retorts, putting his hand on his chest.  “I know I
can give you anything in this world.”

               
“Not everything I want costs money.  That is not why I’m interested in
you.”

               
Damien steps close to her. “Not even a little bit?  We did just buy you a
car.”

               
Her eyes narrow. “Then you can take the car back if that’s what it’s
about.  I want you for you, not a car.”

               
“If that’s the case, then I’ll get you a car for every day of the week. 
Now, let’s focus on what we’re here for.  I’m going to block you for a few
seconds.  See what that feels like, all right?”

               
Kayla nods. She feels a slight pressure and Damien disappears.  “Damien?”
There is a presence, like someone standing there, but it’s like she hits an
invisible wall.  “Okay, this is weird.”  A few seconds go by and then
Kayla draws out, “Daaamieeeen.”

               
“Right here,” she hears behind her.  Kayla spins around, and Damien puts
his hands out.  “See, easy.”

               
“Yeah, but how do I do that?  Better question, will I be able to block you
out? You can block Jackson out, so that makes you pretty
powerful.”              

               
“It’s a lot easier to block someone out for yourself than it is to block out
for other people.  I’ve practiced a lot.  Jackson hasn’t.  Now,
I want you to try.  It’s like feeling a force field build up around
you.  Somewhere between us you need to put up that field. Once you do
that, you can go about your business and no one can get in.  The field is
up until you take it down.”

               
Clicking her tongue, Kayla mutters, “Yeah, invisible force field, I feel like
I’m in a movie.”

               
“Well…really…we are aliens, so it kind of is a movie,” Damien says.  “As
in force fields are real, so are our ships.  Sci-fi all the way, baby.”

               
She rolls her eyes.  “How do I put up this wall of power?”

               
“Exactly how it sounds, feel a wall of energy build up around you, like putting
a stone wall up, piece by piece.”

               
“Because I have put together so many stone walls in my life.” Kayla giggles,
closing her eyes.

               
“Okay, lady sarcasm, just try it.”

               
Concentrating really hard to follow Damien’s directions, Kayla takes her energy
and starts to form a circle around herself. From that circle, she starts to
build a wall upward.  After a few minutes, Kyla exhales.  “I don’t
think I have it.”  When she doesn’t hear anything, she turns around. 
Damien is gone.  “Holy hell, I did it,” she whispers.  “Now
what?”  A few seconds later, she feels him.  “It’s like you’re
standing right next to me, but…not.  I wonder if you can hear me.” 
She waits for a few seconds.  “I will have sex with you if you can hear
me.”  He doesn’t reply.  With a snap, she lets the energy go.

               
“See?” Damien yells, appearing in front of her. “You did it!”

               
Kayla gives him a quizzical look. “Did you hear me?”

               
“No, no one can unless you want them to.  Why?  What did you say?”

               
Kayla bursts out laughing.  “That’s what I thought.”

               
“What in the world did you say?” Damien asks, leaning over to look at her.

               
“Nothing, I didn’t even mean it, anyway.  I just wanted to see if I was
really blocking you out.  I would have known instantly if I wasn’t.”

               
He furrows his eyebrows. “What did you say?”

               
Kayla shakes her head.  “Nothing, let’s try again.  Can you try to
force yourself in, because I have a feeling that’s what William will
try.
”

               
“Yeah, I can.  I want to know what you said, though.”

               
“I’ll tell you what I said if you can force your way in.” Kayla chuckles.

               
Damien gets a devilish smirk on his face.  “All right, but I’m pretty
powerful.”

               
“How do I block you out if you’re trying to force your way in?”

               
“You know how you feel your energy to come here?” Kayla nods.  “Take that
energy and push it out, to reinforce your walls.  You aren’t weak, so you
should probably be able to hold your own.  Let’s try it, all right?” 

               
Kayla closes her eyes and builds up the force field.  When Damien
disappears, she looks at where he was.  She feels a strong pressure
pushing against her.  Kayla pulls in her energy and shoves it out against
that pressure.  It proves to be more difficult than she thought. 
Unable to hold on much longer, she let’s go and Damien appears.  “I should
get an A for trying.”

               
“You did commendably well.  I really tried to force you.”

               
“But I still failed.  What am I supposed to do if William shows up?”

               
Damien crosses his arms.  “You won’t come here alone anymore.  There
is nothing to be afraid of.”

               
“What if I come in my sleep again?” she asks.  “You guys can’t sit up with
me all night.  He held me here against my will!”

               
“Oh, that’s easy to break out of.  Just hurt him.”

               
Confused, Kayla says, “What?”

               
“Kick him, scratch him, punch him, do something to him.  The more it hurts
the less he can concentrate.  I’ll teach you how to do that right now.”

               
“Shouldn’t Jackson?  He’s the one with the martial arts background.”

               
Shocked, Damien replies, “Who do you think he spars with most of the
time?  What better way to spar than with someone who annoys you so much.”

               
“You can fight?”

               
“Extremely well, now come here.  I’ll teach you the best ways to hurt
someone.  I will also teach you how to defend yourself, but for right now,
you’re going to learn how to inflict a lot of pain.”

               
She grins and walks over to him.  Damien grabs her shoulders and proceeds
to show her various weak points on the body and how to attack them. “So if a
boy gets all touchy feely with me, I can hurt him?” Kayla asks after she feels
confident in her new fighting skills.

               
“Yes, I prefer that you do, otherwise, I’ll have to hurt him.”

               
“What if it’s you?” she asks with a grin.

               
He shrugs. “Then it’s all up to you.  Feel free to inflict pain on me if
I’m going overboard in my affections for you.”