The Samaritan Cometh
Part 7: Connections
By Brian Lewis a.k.a Red Vector
I come up for air, and she’s sitting on the rocky outcropping where I left my clothes.
The glare of the morning sun behind her casts her face in shadow. I blink my eyes and I
can see her face clearly, compensating for the glare. Her eyes are bloodshot and
haunted and she’s wearing the same pale pink blouse and khaki pants she had on last
night. They look like she slept in them, if she slept at all. Even her name tag was still
attached; a spot of blood obscuring the “M” in Madeline. Apparently, her nose has
been bleeding. She doesn’t speak she just stares, I hear a blackbird caw from a near
by pine tree.
“Good Morning Madeline” I say. From the look on her face it wasn’t the greeting she
was expecting. “Or should I call you Maddie? That is what your Uncle calls you isn’t it?”
“You don’t seem surprised to see me.” She says at last.
“I figure you must have read my mind with that thing you did to me last night.” I say.
“Impressive power you have there, I’m still kind of hung over from it, by the way.”
“I’m sorry for that, at first I thought you were one of them come to take me back.” She
says. “I...I almost killed you.”
“What stopped you?” I ask.
The question hangs on the air as I tread water in the pool underneath the outcropping
where she’s sitting. Wind moving through the trees and the water lapping against the
lakeshore are the only other sounds. Her expression is of someone struggling to find
the right words.
“I saw an image in your mind of this place and of someone I used to know.” She says at
last. I see a tear glistening at the corner of her eye. “We used to come here a lot when
we where kids. He and his brother were the only other people who knew about it. “
“Care to join me?” I say, changing the subject. “It’ll make you feel better. You look kind
of hung over yourself. Besides, you’ve seen my face and if you’ve peeked inside my
mind you know I wouldn’t hurt you.”
As she stands up the expression on her face said no. But, her heartbeat and the rest
of her vital signs were saying a very definite, maybe. At the very least, the question
erased that heartbreaking look of pain and regret on her face.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” She says, wiping a tear from her cheek. Kicking off her
shoes, she then starts stripping off the rest of her clothes. They soon wind up in a
heap on top my own. Eventually she’s standing there in her bra and panties; I thought
she would stop there. She doesn’t. Soon she’s standing on the cliff naked, her
unbound hair blowing in the summer morning breeze. The sun is behind her giving her
hair the appearance to be a halo of red gold flame. Her skin looks like alabaster or an
exquisite carved ivory; her breasts are as perfectly proportioned as the rest of her.
Seeing her in that aspect I’m struck by a wave of emotion and desire. And I realize the
reason why I was so attracted to her last night. It was an attraction both physical and
fueled by memory. Memories of a coltish red haired fifteen year old girl, I knew before
she was subjected to the ravages of a harsh life. A life living under the threat of those
OWI Nazi’s showing up and doing god knows what to her.
Her girlish squeal shocks me from my reverie as she jumps off the cliff to the water
below. Arms and legs flailing, she hits the water with a tremendous splash. I swim over
to where she entered the water and dive down to see if she’s ok. My eyes adjust to the
water’s distortion, and I can see she’s not moving. In a near panic, I reach her and
move to grab her waist. Suddenly, she’s awake and grabs a handful of my anatomy and
gives a not so gentle tug. With an impish grin, she lets go and swims away from me to
the surface. Needless to say, I give chase.
“Clayton used to fall for that every time.” She says to me when we surface.
“Did he now...” I say, as I lunge forward and wrap my hands around her slim waist and
pull her against my chest. She struggles briefly, but she responds in kind with a
passionate kiss and by wrapping her legs around my waist. The sensation of our
bodies intertwined in this way was intoxicating. But, some how I managed to move us
to shallower water, without drowning both of us.
“I seem to remember Thomas as the athletic one.” She says breathlessly, as we stand
in the chest deep water. Slowly she slides her hand across my chest, the skin tingling
as she does. If it’s some part of her power, or simply a response to her touch, I don’t
care. Either way, the effect is the same.
“Things change.” I say as I sweep her up in my arms.
“Yeah, I can see that.” She says smiling.
I carry her through the water, to a little strip of sand too small to be considered a
beach. For our purposes, however, it’s perfect.
“It’s been a long time. Sometimes, when I get worked up I don’t know my own strength,
I might hurt you.” I say, as I lay her down on the sand.
“I don’t think that will be a problem.” She says. Her voice is a sultry purr. Her eyes are
like, well…a placid mountain lake.
She touches my face like she did last night, but instead of a stupefying paralysis; I felt
what little control I had slip away. But this time her power had little to do with what was
happening, as I pin her arms to the ground. As I do so her back arches to meet me half
way as I enter her. After that further words between us are incoherent, unintelligible,
and ultimately unnecessary.