Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Author: Invid Fan
Title: The Flesh is Strong
Universe: From the Aether Comes Life, and Love
Summary: A new life has entered the world, and the heart, of young Bill.
That was the easy part.  Now...  is love and friendship enough to help them
survive this new reality?
Keywords: mf, mff, mult, cons, rom, paranormal, 1st

   **** From the Aether Comes Life, and Love: 1.If The Spirit is Willing
2.The Flesh is Strong 3.The Mind Knows 4.The Heart Believes

   ****

   The Flesh is Strong By Invid Fan (c) 2011

   Shirley had an open mind.

   She really did.

   Working at a medical research lab attached to the University of Buffalo,
she had to.  Day after day, the whole point of her job was that while they
suspected what would work, based on proven knowledge, you never actually
knew until you ran the tests, completed the trials, compared to the
control, and then gave all the information to your peers to have it torn
apart to see if there were any flaws in your methods.  She was fine with
that, and loved it.

   But she also knew naked blue girls didn't suddenly appear in boy's
bedrooms.

   Oh, she figured they popped into their dreams on a regular basis. 
Nowadays they were probably wanking off to Avatar hotties, where as the
blue skinned of her day were either from Trek, or if you were really geeky
maybe a Drow.  Shirley had hung with the Dungeons and Dragons crowd in
middle school, and there had definitely been a hunky dark elf sneaking into
her tent at night to take her like only they could...

   She mentally shook her head.  She'd have to save that fantasy for later,
maybe buy some body paint for Tom.

   Shirley glanced at her husband.  Tom was holding up well, all things
considering.  He was staying silent, trying to understand, the brow under
his neatly combed hair wrinkled in confusion.  Her giant of a mate wasn't
use to new things.  It wasn't that he wasn't smart: Shirley would never
have married an idiot.  It's just that he liked things to stay the same,
liked the reassurance of rules and customs.  If something unexpected came
up but there were rules to follow, he was fine.  Put him in the middle of
an earthquake, and Tom would get everyone out safely no problem.

   Their son had, literally, blown his mind.

   Bill sat across from his parents on the living room love seat.  He was
hastily dressed in jeans and a pull over shirt, looking very tired and
drained.  It was only 9 PM on a Saturday, so that was unusual.

   What was more unusual was the...  thing sitting next to him.

   One of Betty's nightgowns had been thrown over its nude form, the
strawberry shortcake design making the scene even more surreal.  It looked
female.  Shirley had to give it that.  The creature looked like a very
attractive girl about Bill's age, fourteen, with short black hair and thin
limbs.  It was those eyes, though...  even without the blue grey skin, or
even the...  scales?...  now covered on her chest, it was those eyes that
marked her as inhuman.  They were large, and black.  You looked at them,
and a thousand tales from myth and legend leapt to your mind.  A voice from
her most primal instincts was crying out to kill it, kill it before it
destroyed everything.  But even louder was the voice of the girl who had
loved reading of elves and fairies, of dark creatures who were not evil but
just different.

   Maybe she should make a saving throw to figure out what to do.

   "Mom?"

   Bill was looking at her, waiting.  His expression was one of
uncertainty, maybe fear...  but not fear for himself.  Shirley saw his hand
tightly gripping the creature's, as if trying to give it strength.  Her son
knew more than she did for now.  It was time to pull that knowledge out.

   "Sorry, Bill." She looked at him, and gave a weak smile.  He smiled
back. The two of them had always been close.  The two children had been
drawn to a favorite parent not by gender, but almost by appearance. 
Shirley's long straight brown hair and thoughtful blue eyes could be seen
in her son, although his hair did curl a bit, where as Betty was her
father's daughter in every way.  One more growth spurt and she could even
go for the basketball team as he had, and she was so ready.  Had her trash
talking down pat and everything.

   Tom put a hand to his forehead.

   "So, let's go over this again.  There are these invisible creatures
walking around, everywhere, and tonight this one just turned real in your
bedroom."

   "Um...  well, that's the basics, yeah..." Bill blushed.  Shirley could
see there was more, and given they had barged in on the two naked she could
see why certain details might have to wait.

   "I..." Tom shook his head.  "I honestly don't know what's going on here.
Honey," he said, turning to Shirley, "do you mind just handling this and
filling me in later?"

   That was another reason she loved him.  Her husband was honest about his
limitations, which prevented tons of fights.

   "Sure.  Why don't you take Betty and go watch TV or something." She gave
his cheek a quick kiss while her twelve year old daughter loudly protested.
The protests continued as Tom playfully picked her up and carried her out
of the room.  A door closed, and the three were left sitting together in
silence.  She looked at her son.

   "OK, Bill.  Tell me."

   ****

   He told her.  Of the creatures.  Of their mission, or seeming mission,
arousing teen males.  Of Ai, for that was this creature's name, and her
gradual coming out as an actual person and not just an emotionless ghoul.
Of his growing affection for the girl, and how...  he had seemed to
accidentally made her real.

   Shirley shook her head.

   "They seem to have left that method out of the Pinocchio story."

   Bill chuckled at that, and looked over at Ai.  She was staring at him
with such naked love and longing, that he couldn't help but lean in for a
quick kiss.  Only then did he remember his mother was sitting right there,
and his face turned red again as he turned to face her.  Shirley put a hand
to her forehead, a mirror of her husband's gesture of a few minutes before.
This...  well, was very this.

   "I can count a few hundred complications stemming from all this, Bill,
and that's just from what I understand." He nodded gloomily in reply.  Bill
had thought of most of them himself as well.  His mom sighed, and stood. 
"I need a drink.  How about you, Bill?"

   "Pepsi would be great, thanks."

   Shirley started a turn towards the kitchen, then looked at Ai.  She had
to start thinking of it as...  well, if not a person, yet, maybe...  a pet?

   "How about you, Ai?  Are you thirsty?"

   The creature looked at her, its expression confused.

   "Th...  thirst...y?"

   Shirley's eyes shot open.  She had never actually heard it speak, and
frankly had almost assumed that was just in her son's mind.  Her eyes
whipped over to her son, who was half turned to his companion and trying
explain.

   "Thirsty...  do you want something to drink?  Water?  Liquid?" He made a
motion like using a cup, and Ai's eyes widened in understanding.  She
smiled, a small shy smile that for an instant made Shirley ashamed of her
comparison of the creature to a pet.  Ai shook her head.

   "No...  drink."

   "No problem," Shirley said, recovering.  A thought occurred to her.  "Do
you eat?"

   Ai looked at Bill again.

   "Food.  Do you eat food?"

   Ai seemed to be honestly considering the question.  Bill looked up at
his Mom.

   "She's only been flesh and blood for an hour or so.  I don't think she
actually knows yet." Shirley shook her head.

   "Well, she's going to have to tell us what she needs.  We're working
blind here."

   She started off towards the kitchen, turning her head back towards them
as she got to the doorway.

   "Bill, could you come here for a moment?"

   "Sure!"

   Bill jumped up from the couch, and half ran out into the hallway
catching up with his mom.  He had just past beyond the doorway back to the
living room when Ai screamed.

   "AAAHHHHH!"

   Bill leapt back through the opening and rushed to her side.  Ai was
frantic, eyes wide in terror, her cold hands shooting out and gripping him
so tightly it hurt.  Shirley rushed back a moment later, and they heard a
door bang open and footsteps as Tom and Betty ran into the room.

   "Shh!  Shh!  What's wrong, Ai?  Tell me!" Bill was frantically trying to
calm the girl, who was looking at him as if she'd seen a ghost.

   "You...  gone!  You were...  gone!  Could not...  see you!"

   "It's OK!  I'm here now!" Bill drew her into his lap, her nightgown
riding up and reminding everyone she wore nothing under it, and he hugged
her to his chest and began rocking.  The sobbing began to quiet down.

   Tom looked at his wife.

   "What...  was that."

   It was his daughter that answered, eyes wide with understanding.

   "She was always following him, so...  he's never been out of her sight
before!"

   Shirley covered her eyes with her hand.

   "A few hundred and one complications..."

   ****

   Bill lay under his covers, thinking.  The day had been...  long. 
Perhaps the longest day of his life, if he looked back and considered the
question.  Apart from seeing cocksucking ghosts, even two days ago
everything had been normal and predictable.  Now...

   He turned on his side and faced Ai.  She was laying on top of the
covers, on her side looking back at him.  The nightgown was gone, her nude
body stretched out on the bed much as his was nude in it.  The light was
off, but her black eyes almost seemed to glow, and Bill just lost himself
in them.  Neither of them spoke, but what passed between them was more
powerful than words.  At some point his eyes closed...  and Bill slept.

   Ai's eyes stayed open, as she watched him.  As she always had watched
him.

   ****

   Julie loved church.

   Oh, she wasn't sure she believed in all of it, or even agreed with all
the rules, but the actual Sunday service was fun.  The singing, the
ceremonies, getting to dress up...  actually, it was probably dressing up
she liked the best.  Where else can you wear frilly things nowadays?

   Her mom paused to lock the door as Julie and Jenny walked down the front
steps and down the sidewalk towards the car.  Luckily it hadn't snowed, as
Julie had decided to forgo the boots and just wear a slightly older but
still nice pair of shinny black shoes.  They'd only be walking to and from
the car, and everything should be shoveled.

   The sound of another front door being slammed shut caused Julie to look
across the street.  The Darrow family was also on its way to church.  There
was Mrs.  Darrow, wearing a practical yet pretty coat nothing like what the
three Cutter women were wearing, Mr.  Darrow in a nice sports jacket
(obviously too macho to wear a winter jacket what with the temperature a
bit above freezing), Betty in a nice light purple jacket with a fringe,
and...

   There was no Bill.

   Her hand was on the car door handle as she froze.

   There was no Bill.

   Without even thinking, Julie ran down the driveway, waving her right arm
to get their attention.  Her sister and mother just stopped and stared
after her.

   "Mrs.  Darrow!  Where's Bill?"

   Shirley looked up, startled, as the charging teen reached the street and
began running through the icy slush.  A smile touched her lips.  Bill had
left some things out of his story, but she had already seen the interest
her small neighbor had taken in her son and had been able to perform some
basic calculus to fill in the blanks.  This just confirmed it, as there was
only one reason she'd be this concerned...

   Julie ran up to the family car, slipping as she tried to stop and almost
falling into Shirley.  She reached out and caught the girl, her knowing
smile growing larger.  Panting, the girl looked up at her.

   "Is something wrong with Bill?"

   "Tons," offered a frustrated Betty.  Her Dad shushed her and gently
pushed her head down and into the car.  She went quietly, having said her
peace.  Mrs.  Darrow regarded the worried girl before her.

   "He's unable to go to church today.  Maybe...  you could keep him
company?"

   "Hey!", came a cry from inside the car.  Betty had wanted to witness
those potential fireworks!

   Julie's eyes widened.  She whirled, and cupped her mouth with her hands.

   "Mom!  Bill's sick!  Can I stay and keep him company?"

   The look her little sister shot her across the street was full of
daggers, and Julie knew she and Betty would be exchanging information once
in church.  Her mom, though, just looked at Mrs.  Darrow and saw the other
woman nod.  Her mom nodded to her daughter in reply, and turned to get into
the car.  Julie whirled and bounced for joy.  Her long brown hair flew out,
then fell back perfectly into place.  Mrs.  Darrow laughed.

   "The garage door is unlocked.  Just go right in.  He was in the den a
moment ago." There was a hint of something in her voice, but Julie didn't
bother trying to figure it out.  She stepped aside as the two adults got
into their car, and began walking up to the garage as the engine started up
and they began to back up.  She went in through the side door into the
garage, then over to the door into the den.  Pausing for a moment,
imagining what a surprise it was going to be for Bill, she turned the
handle and walked in.

   ****

   "Julie!"

   Bill leapt to his feet in surprise.  Her eyes weren't on him, though. 
It was the creature still sitting on the couch.

   Ai.

   Ai was...

   "Why...?  Why is...?" Julie's eyes took in even more of the scene, and
her expression turned from surprise into puzzlement.  "Why is she wearing a
yellow sundress?"

   Bill broke out laughing, and sat back down next to Ai.  He patted the
cushion on the other side of him, and Julie quickly removed her coat and,
tossing it over the nearby recliner, went to sit.  Her leg and thigh
touched his, and despite the more urgent matter a slight blush appeared on
her cheeks.  Bill put an arm around Ai's shoulders and had her sit up, so
she and Julie were looking at each other.  Julie could see some fright
still in the creature's eyes.  Her observant eyes also saw the goosebumps
on Bill's arm where it contacted Ai's skin.

   "Ai...  do you remember Julie?" Bill glanced at his oldest friend, eyes
flicking down to her hand, and realizing she was just staring Julie slowly
brought her hand up and reached it towards the girl.  Ai looked at it for
awhile, then, slowly, raised her own hand and reached it out.  Her fingers
touched Julie...

   "Oh!" Julie's hand didn't pull back by pure reflex, for which she was
very grateful.  The cold was a shock, though.  Not as great as it might
have been, given she had just come in from outside, but still it conflicted
with what her mind was telling her, that this was a living being.  Then
again, she did look like a zombie...

   Ai's hand slid along Julie's, and when the tips reached her wrist Julie
closed her hand on Ai's.  Ai just stared at where they were connected, and
with a start Julie realized she was probably only the second person who had
ever touched her...  and what an intimate thing touch might be to this
creature.  She brought her other hand up, enclosing Ai's blue grey hand
completely with her white ones.

   "Hello, Ai," she said, quietly.  "I'm your friend."

   Ai's gaze went from their joined hands to Bill, then back to Julie's
face.

   "Friend?"

   "Yes, Ai.  Can I be your friend?"

   Ai slowly nodded, her wide emotional eyes going between the two.

   "Friend...  like Bill...  Julie friend...  like Bill?"

   "Yes," Julie said, smiling.  "I'll be your friend just like Bill is."

   The smile Ai gave her made Julie's heart skip a beat.

   ****

   "So, what the heck happened?"

   The three had decided...  well, Bill and Julie decided...  to go down
into the basement.  Half had been finished into a sort of rec room, with a
pool table and some bean bag chairs.  The pool table was interesting, in
that there was a thin metal pole in the middle of the room that acted as a
support for the house above.  It often got in the way when making certain
shots, so you became skilled at unscrewing your cue and only using half of
it.  They weren't there for games, though, and had pulled the bean bags
into a circle and plopped into them facing each other.

   "Well," Bill answered, "what happened was I followed your advice."
Julie's eyes widened.

   "You mean, you and her..." He nodded.  "...and that made..." Bill nodded
again, laughing.

   "Kind of makes sense, though.  My first time with her makes her alive,
so if that first time instead goes to someone else..."

   "...she'd vanish because there'd then be no point in being there!"
Julie's brow furrowed in though.  "But, nobody can see them!  What other
boys can ever do this?!?  Do they ALL just DIE?"

   "Well, we don't know they DIE, actually.  We just know they vanish. 
Maybe they go to some other stage of existence, but naturally Ai wouldn't
know this yet because none of them ever come back to say what that next
stage is." Bill looked at Ai for help.  She looked in her lap, thinking. 
Bill and Julie exchanged a glance, then looked back as she hesitantly
spoke.

   "Never...  talked...  to others.  Never...  heard others.  Never... 
knew...  anyone.  Until Bill." She looked up at him, eyes once again full
of love.

   "God, that is so sad!" Julie just shook her head, eyes full of pity for
her new friend.  "To just...  exist!  What's the first thing you remember,
Ai?"

   Ai thought again, casting her mind back.  Her expression then became one
of pure joy.

   "Bill!"

   "Well," Bill said, giving her a loving look, "we'll have to make sure
you have lots of happy memories from now on."

   Julie saw that look...  and wished it was aimed at her.  Wished...

   She suddenly felt cold hands on her legs, and whipping her head around
saw Ai's face just inches from her own.  The creature had crawled towards
her, and was looking at Julie with wonder.  Julie just looked into those
black eyes, breathing forgotten.  A hand came up, and cold fingers traced
over her cheek and jaw as Ai tilted her head and looked at Julie.

   "Friend sad..."

   For a moment...  just a moment...  Julie thought, nay, wanted, Ai to
lean closer and kiss her.  It was a silly thought.  A foolish thought.  One
that vanished almost as soon as it appeared.  And, yet...

   Julie reached up a hand and touched Ai's face.  Her skin felt like icy
silk, and her hand just seemed to slide across it as if there was no
friction.  She smiled.  It came unbidden, and all thoughts of jealousy
vanished.  Ai just made her...  happy.

   Ai pulled back and sat, and Julie shaking just looked over at Bill.

   "Wow."

   "Yeah," he said, not quite sure what had happened but knowing it had
given him a nice erection.  "She has the same effect on me." Ai turned to
him.

   "Julie friend like Bill.  What do with...  Bill...  do with...  Julie."

   The two teens shot a startled glance at each other.  The implications of
that...

   ...were something to be ignored for now.  Bill shook his head.  They had
things to do.

   "OK, Julie," he said, voice turning serious.  She sat up and gave him
her full attention.  "We need to figure out a plan.  What's best for Ai,
and how do we do it, long term and short term."

   She thought.

   "Hmm...  well, her communication is getting better.  We could work with
her to see what she knows, then fill in the gaps."

   He nodded.

   "That's good.  We can also see what you can teach us, Ai." She looked
between them and slowly nodded, her expression a mirror of theirs.  "Also,"
Bill went on, "we have to solve the school problem."

   "I thought we were talking about schooling her?"

   Bill chuckled.

   "Naw.  I'm talking about what she does when WE go to school." Julie's
eyes got big, as she immediately got the problem.  "Not just school, but
everything.  I can't see just keeping her trapped in this house all day..."

   Julie giggled.

   "We could enroll her as a student and say she's your cousin from out of
town who likes to cosplay."

   Bill laughed, shaking his head.  Without even thinking he put a hand out
and touched hers.  Both of them stopped laughing the same instant,
expressions turning serious as they looked at each other.  Ai looked
between them, her eyes questioning.

   "Bill friend Julie...  like Ai?"

   "Is that OK with you, Ai?" Bill whispered.  Julie inhaled sharply,
looking at the girl.  Her hand turned under Bill's, and grasped it.

   Ai seemed to consider it, letting the thought bounce around her mind. 
Her eyes then rose and met theirs, her mouth forming a shy smile.

   "Us three...  friends."

   ****

   There was an old World Book Encyclopedia with lots of pictures, so the
teens spent the morning flipping through it with Ai.  The creature was
fascinated by not just the objects and places, but the people.  Humans were
so different!  One page had a photo of an African man with skin almost pure
black.  Ai held up her arm next to the book, looking back and forth and
comparing the colors.  Was she human?  There didn't seem to be a color
humans didn't come in!

   After about an hour, Bill stood.

   "I have to take a piss."

   "Ugh.  Enjoy!" Julie smiled up at him, then her eyes darted in surprise
to Ai.  The girl was also rising on her smooth, shapely legs, to follow
him. "Uh...  why is she going with you?"

   Bill looked back, and shook his head.

   "Oh, we haven't mentioned that part yet.  Her entire known life she's
been watching me, and she freaks out if I'm out of her sight for a moment."

   "But!" Julie protested.  The idea of a girl in there watching...  while
he pissed!  God, that was so...  naughty!  Bill laughed.

   "It's not like I'm not use to her being there, even if usually she was
able to just walk through the bathtub."

   "Well..." Julie's mind raced.  "Can I watch too?" Bill's eyes shot up,
then she chickened out before he could answer.  "Kidding!  Go!  Go!" She
shooed them away, turning back to the books before he saw her face turn
completely red.

   Well.  This was a new complication.

   Julie stretched both arms out behind her and leaned back.  This was
happening so fast.  There was so much she had to deal with!  Life as an 8th
Grader had been complicated enough before, but now!

   And what would they do about school?

   Ai couldn't follow them there.  That much was certain.  No way, no how.
This wasn't a sitcom, or a wacky anime...  although, a strange girl popping
into a teen boy's bedroom and getting between him and the female friend who
had a crush on him WAS standard anime fare.  What would the opening title
sequence be like?  Would it be all fan service and innuendo, or end up as
hot porn?

   An image flashed before Julie's mind, of Ai with her head down between
Julie's legs, while a nude Bill brought his hard dick close to her waiting
mouth...

   "Gah!" She shook her head.  This was not the time for this!  It was
Sunday, for God's sake!  More importantly, who knows when his parents would
be home!  They might not stay for the coffee hour or adult classes!  Think,
girl, think!

   They had to find a way for Ai to, happily, stay at home.  Keep her busy.
After that, they could think about long term.

   So!  How could Ai deal with being away from Bill?

   ****

   Bill flushed, and zipped up his pants.  Turning towards the sink, he
noticed Ai watching with frank curiosity.  Turning the water on, he cocked
an eye at his companion.

   "I'm guessing that while you always watched, you never really SAW much,
huh?" Her eyes traveled from his soapy hands up to his face, and Ai slowly
nodded.

   "Was often...often..." Her head cocked, as she struggled to find the
right word to fit what she was trying to say.  He saw frustration in her
eyes.  Drying his hands, he smiled at her.

   "Don't worry.  The words will come.  The more we talk, the more you'll
learn, then the more you can tell us." She nodded, still unhappy. 
Grinning, he squeezed past her and opened the bathroom door, taking her
hand and leading her back down into the basement.

   Julie was lost in thought.  She looked so cute like that, Bill thought,
face all serious and eyes focused on nothing.  The dress helped, too, a
light blue ensemble with white ruffles that came to her knees.  If her hair
had been blond, she'd have looked like Alice in Wonderland.  He considered
trying to startle her, but that was probably a bad idea.  She might fling
an encyclopedia at his head.  Making sure his footsteps made some noise
coming down, he walked up next to her.

   "Any ideas, oh smartest one in the room?" Looking up at him she smiled,
and moved over on the beanbag chair making room.  Bill only paused a moment
before accepting the invitation.  He had to put his right arm around her to
fit into the space provided, but that was fine with both of them.  She
settled her small frame against him, and Bill just marveled at the contrast
between her warmth and Ai's coldness.  Both were exhilarating, in their own
magical way.

   Looking around, Ai grabbed another beanbag and pulled it over next to
Bill.  Sitting down to his left, she also leaned into him, copying Julie.
He put his other arm around her, and now the comparison was direct.  Julie
leaned out and smiled at her new friend, as did Bill.  That was the first
time he had seen her actually take the initiative over something, and he
liked it.

   Getting back to the business at hand, Julie spoke.

   "I HAVE been thinking, while you two had fun in the bathroom." Bill had
to laugh at that, and squeezed both girls' shoulders.  "The goal, Ai, is to
get you so it's OK for Bill to go off to school while you stay home alone."

   Ai looked shocked, and scared.

   "A...  alone!?"

   "It'll be OK, Ai.  We don't like it any more than you do, but we have no
choice.  Now that you're visible, you can't follow me everywhere.  And, I
HAVE to go to school.  Once summer vacation hits that won't be as much of
an issue, but that's still months away."

   Julie reached across Bill and touched her bare leg.

   "We're all alone sometimes, Ai, but those who love us are never far
away."

   Ai's hands were clenched together, and for a moment the two teens
thought she was going to cry.  She looked up, those black eyes heavy with
emotion.

   "Promise?  Promise...  you will come back?  For me?"

   "Always," Bill said, and he leaned over for a kiss to seal the promise.
Julie blushed again, watching them.  She wondered when her first kiss with
Bill would be...  and her first kiss with Ai...

   "So!" She said, getting both herself and them on track.  "Like I said,
I've been thinking about this.  Ai, while you may UNDERSTAND that we're
leaving and will be back, your mind or body may not.  Thus, we have to find
a way to keep Bill here after he leaves."

   Bill looked at her.

   "I'm not sure I can afford to hire a bum to impersonate me at school for
the WHOLE year."

   "Nothing that elaborate!  Where's your computer?"

   "Up stairs...  but that would involve moving..." He squeezed both
shoulders again, and the two girls rubbed their sides against him in
response.  Julie let out a disappointed sigh.

   "Can't be helped.  Show us!"

   The three struggled to their feet, beanbag chairs being notorious for
holding onto their prey.  Once upright, Bill led them upstairs and into the
former playroom, now home to his mom's sewing machine and the family iMac.
Julie had Bill sit down and woke it up from its sleep.  She moved the mouse
over to the dock and found the program she wanted.

   "OK, Bill, don't move..."

   There was a click, and a photo of Bill filled most of the screen.  He
suddenly understood, and looked over at Julie with an approving grin. 
Pleased, she motioned him to get up.

   "OK, now, Ai, sit down where Bill was, and look at the screen."

   Ai did, and her eyes shot open.  It was Bill!  He was right in front of
her!  She reached out, and her fingers met the smooth glass.  She traced it
over his features, marveling at the color of his eyes, the texture of his
skin...

   "Now, Ai...  you feel OK, right?" The blue grey girl nodded, happy.  She
tilted her head a bit, and laughed as Bill now looked sideways.  Bringing
her head back up to normal, she sighed happily as her Bill was now back as
he should be as well.  Maybe she could tip her head the other way!

   "Now, Ai...  where is Bill?"

   Now, that was a silly question.  He was right there!  No...  wait...  Ai
turned to look behind her.

   Bill was gone.

   Her heart rate shot up, and she whipped back around in her chair,
getting ready to leap up in distress.

   But there was Bill!  Right on that screen!  She relaxed, and reached out
to touch the image again.

   "Are you all right, Ai?  You know Bill's not in this room anymore,
right?"

   "Yes, but..." Her hand caressed his cheek.  "I can see him."

   ****

   Shirley was not sure what would be waiting for them when the family got
home from church.  There were three possibilities, so far as she could see:

   1.  It was all a dream, and they'll walk in on Bill and Julie just
watching TV or something.

   2.  The creature Ai will have realized that it did in fact have to eat,
and they'd walk in on it feasting on the dismembered bodies of the two
teens.

   3.  The creature will turn out to have been a succubus, and under its
influence the two kids will have gone wild and Shirley would walk in to see
the three of them in a sweaty nude heap on the living room floor.

   Oddly enough, that last one would cause more long term problems than
number two.

   Thus, it was with a slightly shaking hand that Shirley opened the door
leading from the garage into the den...

   "...you probably know just what I'm thinking , you probably don't feel
like I do ,you probably think I'm crazy.  It's probably true..."

   The Lisa Loeb song filled the air, and the three were greeted to the
sight of Julie dancing in the middle of the room.  She was twirling, and
obviously showing off dance moves learned in her weekly classes.

   "I think this is possibility number 12," Shirley thought, walking
farther into the den and looking around.  Bill and the creature were
sitting on the couch, watching the display.  Bill's expression was one
of... well, Shirley had seen it often enough on her husband's face, and it
was obvious Bill was in fact fully heterosexual despite Tom's occasional
questions on that subject.  They had been kind, understanding questions,
but still...

   It was Ai, though, that drew Shirley's eyes.  The creature's expression
was that of open amazement and delight.  She was leaning forward, hands on
her knees, taking both the music and Julie's rhythmic movements.  Noticing
the newcomers, Ai looked at them and excitedly pointed at Julie.

   "Music!"

   "Yes, Ai...  music." Shirley sighed, looking past the creature at her
son.  This was like dealing with a two year old, albeit one where you
didn't know how soon they'd develop into something dangerous.  With a two
year old, you had a year or two's warning.

   "Everything OK, Bill?"

   Her son stood up and stepped around Ai to come to his mom.  Julie
stopped her dance, and went over to the stereo to turn the music down but
not off.  The chorus was all about "I probably love you", and she wanted
Bill to have that through floating through his head.  Shirley's eyes
flicked to the girl.  Another thing she suddenly had to take into
consideration.  Her and Gretchen had joked about this since the week both
kids were born, but if it was happening...  well, that would be dealt with
in time.

   "Everything's good," Bill told her.  He gave a slight smirk to his
sister, as she'd obviously been hoping there'd be a fight, but only for a
moment.  He liked the brat and rarely did much to piss Betty off.  He
turned his attention back to mom.  "We took Ai on a tour through that
Encyclopedia we have, seeing what she knows, and Julie figured out how
she'll be able to safely stay home while we're at school."

   "Really?" Shirley looked over at Julie, who blushed.  She was impressed!
It might not work, whatever it was, but she liked the effort.  That was all
she asked from others, especially her kids, that they think and try. 
"Well, if Julie wants to stay for lunch, we can talk it over."

   ****

   Julie went home after lunch, although it was obvious she wanted to stay
and spend more time with Bill.  Shirley pulled her aside briefly before she
left, and told her to go slow.  With all the new things going on, best to
ease into romance.  Julie nodded...  and wisely refrained from mentioning
everything already said and implied between the three.  She left happy,
though, knowing that while the parents might be ignorant of that reality,
they would be understanding whatever the outcome.  Julie wondered who'd be
her maid of honor....

   The rest of the day was spent quietly.  Betty, trying to understand all
this, pulled out some board games and talked Bill into playing them with
her and Ai.  The creature was quick to pick up the rules, showing her
stilted speech in no way reflected her mind.  Once Ai actually beat Betty
at SORRY, the battle was on, and the twelve year old began to forget Ai
wasn't just another kid.  After awhile, you began to get used to her
appearance...

   After dinner the family sat down to watch a Sabres game on TV, and Tom
did his part getting to know Ai by telling her the rules of Hockey.  He was
not a touchy feely type of person, but he was open and honest, and willing
to give anyone a chance.  With Bill helping translate some things into
Ai-speak, Tom soon found Ai responding by asking intelligent questions on
this or that point, and getting into the spirit of the game.  The earlier
board games might have done the hard part of introducing the idea of
competition, but whatever the case by the second period he found himself
totally at ease with the girl (even if the revelation that she wasn't
wearing anything under that sun dress was a bit of a shock: he'd have to
talk to his wife about that).  When she raised one of her blue grey hands
up for a high five after a Gerbe hat trick, he officially considered her
one of the family.

   Shirley watched this with...  interest.

   ****

   That evening, Ai and Bill once again went to bed together, her on and he
in.  For a moment, Bill thought it strange that despite being excited at
various times during that day, especially when Julie was there, he felt no
urge to do anything sexual once there was opportunity to do so.  His face
was inches from a beautiful creature whose body was probably his if he
asked.  And, yet...

   He drifted off to sleep.

   ****

   "Bill...  have to?"

   There were tears in Ai's eyes, and Bill raised a hand to her face to
wipe them away as they stood in the front hallway.  Both parents had
already gone, and Betty was waiting impatiently.  Ai also seemed a
little... listless, and her color was more grey than blue.  But, Bill
figured, both were probably due to the coming seven or so hours.  He tried
to comfort her.

   "It'll be OK, Ai.  Don't worry.  We'll be home soon." They had prepped
the house the best they could.  Photos of Bill were in most places, so she
could travel a bit.  He had shown her how to play music on the computer, so
while she couldn't read Ai could look at the album art and pick songs to
listen to.  And, she could look through books and magazines.

   Depending on what worked and what didn't, they'd plan for tomorrow.

   "Love you..." Ai leaned in for a kiss, and Betty blushed and half looked
away as her brother took his time with the goodbye kiss.  You weren't
supposed to see your brother do those things!  Especially not with aliens!
Once it was over, she opened the front door and went outside.  Bill, with a
final goodbye, followed, closing the door behind him.

   Ai was alone.

   ****

   The two walked down the driveway, where Julie and Jenny were already
waiting.  Julie's younger sister had not been let into the secret yet, so
the topic that needed the most airing had to be kept under wraps.

   "Have a good Sunday, Bill?" Julie asked.  She moved over to his side,
something that didn't go unnoticed by her sister.

   "You just SAW him yesterday!  Are you two going steady or something?!?
God!"

   "Jealous?"

   "Ew!" The look of disgust on her face didn't fool anyone, including
herself, and muttering she moved to stand next to Betty.  Bill shot his
sister a warning glance, and the pre-teen sighed.  She wasn't good at
keeping secrets from her best friends...  and neither was Jenny, which was
the problem they all had to deal with.

   The bus interrupted all further conversation, and soon the four were
seated.  Bill was in his usual seat, four from the front on the right.  He
didn't know why he picked that one: it was now just ingrained habit.  He
saw Julie think about sitting with him, but after a pause she went to her
usual spot.  The bus started off down the road, and Bill got ready to
discover if he still had the ability.  After everything that had happened,
he wasn't sure which would surprise him most: if he could still see the
ghostly figures following boys, or if he couldn't.

   The bus stopped at the intersection with West Ledge, and Bobby and his
sister got on...  along with Bobby's invisible companion.  Well, that
settled that.  If anything, the companion, a teen girl with black curly
hair and large breasts, seemed more real.  Bobby came down the aisle and
plopped down next to Bill.

   "Can I use your head as a pillow?"

   "No!  Use your own head!"

   Instead, Bobby let his head fall forward, resting on the large padded
seat back in front of them.  He left it there as the bus continued on.

   "Wake me when we get to school..."

   Bobby was his best friend, and probably oldest friend if you didn't
count Julie, which until that weekend he hadn't.  They had met at around
age three: he knew this, because Bobby had been at his fourth birthday
party which was the first he had a memory of.  Their meeting stuck in his
mind as well: back then, Bill and his family had gone to a church just
around the corner from home (which later closed, then changed
denominations).  You COULD walk to it, but the two lane country road had no
sidewalk, deep ditches, and little shoulder so his parents drove.  He had
been in the playroom with the other kids when he just started playing with
this one boy his age.  They really hit it off, and when their moms came in
to collect them both women realized a pair had formed.  Bill had no idea
what had been said, but he ended up walking home with Bobby, his parents,
and two year old sister Sally across the field that now held the sledding
hills.  From stranger to life long best friend in one hour.  Who says
miracles don't happen at church?

   Finally tiring of his head banging on the cushion, Bobby sat back in the
seat yawning.

   "Watched the end of the game last night, AND the post game!"

   "I hit the hay when the game ended.  Did you see that last penalty?"

   "They should have tossed him out!  That was a cheap shot!"

   Their hockey credentials established, Bobby turned his head and gave his
friend an amused look.

   "So...  Sally saw you and Julie together Saturday."

   "Oh...  she just wanted to talk."

   "About...  what?" There was a slight note of bitterness in his voice. 
Julie had decided to test her newfound interest in boys out on Bobby in 7th
grade, and he had happily obliged.  They had been an item for about two
months, then she broke it off.  They tried it again over the summer, but
that had ended not long after Bill's accident.  Bill had never pressed for
details, although he was always happy when he got his friend back after
these failed romances.  That WAS the good thing about young love: it never
lasted long, and things could get back to normal.

   "Oh, just something silly." He hoped Bobby didn't press it.  Bill wasn't
sure how well he could lie to his best friend, and he hadn't really come up
with something ahead of time.

   It was then that he noticed Bobby's companion.  The translucent girl
was...  looking at him.  Not at Bobby...  at HIM!

   That...

   That wasn't supposed to happen.

   He tried not to stare.  The creature was half inside the seat, and its
large black eyes were fully on him.  Bill cast his eyes out the window,
focusing on the snowbanks and shoveled driveways.  Maybe if he ignored it,
it would ignore him.

   ****

   School was freaky.

   In every room, in every hall, the creatures looked at him.  It was as
if...  they knew!  And...  what?  Wanted his help?  Well, he could only
lose his virginity once.  Plus, there was no way he was sleeping with some
of these creatures, particularly the few male ones.  Despite some early
play with Bobby, he had no interest going there!  Luckily, Bill had long
experience ignoring these things, and after a couple periods he was able to
block it out.  This staring didn't affect the creature's main function,
either.  The invisible blow and hand jobs went on...

   The freakiest thing, though, came just before last period.  He was
quickly going to his locker, trying to get his social studies book.  That
sucker was too thick to carry for too long, and he had never liked using a
backpack.  When he rounded the corner...  he saw a girl slip something
through the vents into his locker.

   He knew her.  Well, knew of her.  She was the class loner.  Freak. 
Goth. Whatever.  Her name was...  wait, he knew it...  Cindi.  With an 'i'.
Not a name that forces you to the outskirts of society, but kids choose who
to blacklist via many criteria.  Bill had never really interacted with her,
as they weren't in any of the same classes.  He only knew of her, and most
of that he had always ignored and forgotten.  It wasn't his place to judge,
or defend for that matter.  She was thin, had long black hair that might be
dyed, and usually wore either black or dark clothing.  Other than that...

   She was nowhere in sight when he got to his locker.  Bill quickly spun
the lock, and saw the note.  It was a folded square of lined paper, and
running out of time he scooped it up, exchanged books, and headed to class.


   He cut it close, and that in addition to a pop quiz kept his mind off
more important matters.  It wasn't until he was on the bus waiting for
Bobby to show up that he had a chance to open it.  Unfolding the paper, he
saw one line, written in neat, feminine cursive:

   "Why are they watching you?"

   ****

   The four got off the bus in front of Julie and Jenny's house, another
day done.  The sun was bright, and doing a good job melting what snow and
ice was left on the road and driveways.  The fact the sun could do that
even as the temperature stayed below freezing always impressed Bill.

   "I'll be over at Jenny's," Betty told Bill as the two girls headed up
the driveway.  He waved acknowledgement, and headed home.  Julie, unbidden
but very welcome, was at his side.

   "I hope Ai is OK," she said, as the two walked across the street faster.
They headed into the garage, the preferred entryway to the house.  The
front sidewalk was almost never used, for whatever reason.  Bill grabbed
the key from its hiding spot under the mat, unlocked the door, and...

   Ai was sitting silently in the recliner, holding a photo of Bill.  She
looked up when she heard the door open, slowly rose to her feet.

   She looked horrible.

   Her face was grey, and her eyes as well were dull with a grayish tinge.
They widened when she saw Bill, and dropping the photo to the floor she
made one, hesitant, staggering step forward.

   "B-bill?"

   "Ai!!"

   Bill shed his winter coat in an instant, and was at Ai's side before it
even hit the ground.  He took her in his arms, and immediately felt she was
cool, not cold, to the touch.  Not good!

   "What's wrong Ai?!?  Tell me!  I'm here!" One hand was caressing her
face, causing her eyes to close as she rubbed against it like a cat.  His
other hand held her sundress clad body against his, and he felt her arms
shakingly going around him.  Julie was quickly next to them as Ai opened
her eyes and looked up at him.

   "Love me...  please..."

   "I do love you!" Bill said, not understanding this at all, but as he
suddenly felt her fingers ripping at his belt buckle his mind suddenly
grasped what she needed.  He quickly started undoing his shirt buttons, and
Julie nervously stepped back.

   "Um, Bill...  what...?"

   "She needs me, Julie...  now..." His shirt was off, and Ai had figured
out the belt and she pulled both jeans and boxers to the floor.

   Julie's eyes doubled in size.  Stepping out of his pants, Bill was
naked, apart from his sox's, and just three feet away from her.  His skin
was white, maybe a few shades darker then hers.  There was a slight bulge
around the tummy, but it was below that where her eyes were drawn.  His
dick.  Cock.  Penis.  It stuck out like a tree branch, pointing up towards
Ai's...  well, where her belly button would be if she had one.  It was
growing, even as Julie watched, and her eyes got even wider as the
creature's now grayish hand reached down to caress it, running her fingers
from the mushroom like tip all the way down to the patch of brown hair at
the base.

   She forced her eyes up.  Ai had already tossed off her dress, leaving
the two nude.  Julie could see the scales that ran from between her legs up
to just below her breasts were also no longer dark blue, but were faded
like the rest of her.  Even as Julie's mind screamed out that they
shouldn't be doing this, the only thing she could think of was how sick
their friend was, and how they had to help her!

   "Lie..." Ai whispered, and her hands gently pushed Bill down onto the
couch.  He scooted down so his head was up on the arm rest, and a moment
later Ai was straddling his legs.  She got down on all fours and crawled
forward over him, and Julie's attention was on the fact her perfect breasts
never changed shape.  Bill groaned as the scales of her stomach and lower
body rubbed against the tip of his cock, then let out a louder groan as
once Ai was far enough forward, she pushed back and sat up, impaling
herself on him.

   Julie couldn't move.  They were...  the two...  oh, God!  She could feel
he own body responding to what was before her, face red with embarrassment
yet her own breasts and...  pussy, yes, pussy...  aching with need.  She
couldn't help it.  It wasn't just boy's cocks that had a mind of their own.

   Ai began rising up and down on Bill's hard manhood, and not able to
control herself (and not sure she wanted to), Julie stepped forward and
dropped to her knees next to Bill's head.  He turned to her, eyes half
glazed from the pleasure he was feeling.  His right hand was reaching up to
cup one of Ai's breasts, but his left...  his left, he reached out to
Julie. Their eyes locked, as his fingers touched her face.  It felt like
fire on her skin, and with no thought other than that she loved him, Julie
brought her face down to his.

   They kissed.

   It was sweeter than kissing Bobby, and it made her throb between her
legs in a way Akeem never had.  Both their mouths opened at the same time,
and her small pink tongue meant his larger one as they didn't so much duel
as dance.  Her hand suddenly felt something hot, yet cold and wet, and
breaking the kiss she realized she was feeling where her two friends were
joined.  Bill realized it too, and that must have finally set him off as he
let off a groan and stiffened.

   If Julie hadn't been looking at that exact spot, she probably wouldn't
have believed it.  She...  she could SEE him come in her!  Pulses of dark
blue shot through Ai's body under the skin, racing up from Bill's dick and
spreading throughout her.  With each pulse her skin got darker.  Three
pulses...  four...  five...  with the sixth, Ai collapsed, falling onto
Bill's chest.  Julie's hand pulled itself out of the way, but she found
herself now caressing Ai's ice cold, smooth skin.  She ran her hand along
her back, marveling at the hard blue ridge running up her spine...

   Ai raised herself up, and looked down into Bill's eyes.  She had tears
in hers, and she lowered her face until their noses touched.

   "Thank you...  Love." She kissed him, and Julie felt her own heart ache
just from watching.  Ai broke the kiss, and turned to look into Julie's
eyes.  Her hand arched out and cupped the back of Julie's head.

   "Thank you...  Love." She drew Julie's face in...  and kissed her.

   Ai's lips tasted like ice-cream.

   ****

   Teens, as a rule, are smart.  Not all the time, naturally, especially
when hormones come into play, but given time they usually see how whatever
was going on at that particular point could go bad for them and make some
attempt to either correct or hide the evidence.  Thus, it was only a few
minutes after finishing that Bill, and Julie, realized the living room,
with its door to the outside and large windows, was not the place to be
just then.  Slipping on his underwear and gathering the rest of the shed
clothing, Bill led the trio up to his room.  Shutting the door and tossing
the clothing on the floor with yesterday's laundry, the three sat on the
bed in a circle, legs crossed and knees touching.

   "So," Julie said, her face still red from embarrassment (as well as
because she was the only one fully clothed, and part of her wanted to
change that).

   "So," agreed Bill, embarrassed as well.  He looked between the two women
in his life.  "I think we now know how Ai eats."

   Julie broke into laughter at that.  Ai, who was just nodding in
agreement, gave her a quizzical stare.  Julie put both hands up in apology.

   "Sorry, sorry!  I can't help it, Ai.  It IS funny!" Ai looked over at
Bill, who was also grinning.

   "It is funny, Ai.  Poor me, I HAVE to have sex with a beautiful girl or
she gets sick!" As always, Ai's eyes shone with love at the complement. 
Julie had another fit of laughter, then got control of herself.

   "What gets me is, I'd been assuming you two were doing it all the time!
When was the last time?"

   Bill gave an unbelieving laugh.

   "Just that once, Saturday night, if you can believe it.  Oh, both of you
have gotten me excited a number of times since then, but whenever we were
alone the...  well, the subject never came up." He looked at Ai.  "Why
didn't you say something?"

   She lowered her eyes, suddenly looking so sad that Julie had to reach
over and take her hand.

   "Didn't know!  Never...  never been alive before!"

   Bill put a hand to his forehead at that, a gesture that mirrored his
mother.

   "Of course!  How would you know?  They don't give us instruction books
when you become alive."

   "Unless that's what the spanking is supposed to be," Julie commented,
grinning.  Seeing Ai about to question her on that subject, she quickly
went on.  "So, probably one 'feeding' a day for our friend here.  Think you
can handle it, stud?" She couldn't keep some of the jealousy out of her
voice, and Bill looked at her a little defensively.

   "I didn't want my first times to be like this, you know.  OK, I've had
fantasies of just suddenly having sex with just about all the cute girls in
school, even all at once, but realistically...  I wanted one girlfriend who
loved me, and we'd do all the usual dating things."

   There was silence for a moment, finally broken by Julie.

   "Did you ever think of me?" Julie knew the answer, and that whatever he
said would probably either be a lie or hurt her, but she asked anyway.  It
was probably just something about being female.

   The part of the male genetic code that had evolved to deal with women
alerted Bill to the danger now presented.  He looked at his friend, his
short, beautiful friend...  and decided that between the three of them
there should be total honesty.

   "Not in awhile," he said, softly.  She looked over at him, heart in her
eyes.  "You were one of the first girls I...  'noticed', when such things
started to matter, as I saw you every day at the bus stop, and I always
thought you were pretty.  But, we never talked, and I...  didn't really
KNOW you anymore.  So, I tended to focus on other girls who I found sexy,
and probably saw without a coat more often." He gave a rueful chuckle. 
"I've come to really find the beauty in the back of a girl's neck, as
that's the exposed part of female anatomy I'm most likely to see most of
the time."

   Julie lowered her eyes, blushing.

   "Would..." she whispered, "would you like to see me?"

   Bill's eyes widened.  He could see her breathing increase in speed,
which in turn focused his gaze on her moving breasts.  They were small,
round, and perfect under that tight sweater.  His eyes came up at the same
time hers did, and all thoughts of Ai were forgotten.  This was different.
Not necessarily better, or more important...  but of a different
importance. She moved her hands to the bottom of her sweater.

   "Nobody has seen me before," she said, eyes holding his.  Grabbing both
the sweater and the shirt underneath, she slowly pulled it up, exposing her
trim belly.  Pausing for a second just under her chest, Julie bit her
bottom lip and whipped them off.

   Her bra was pink, and lacy, and despite all he had seen of Ai, Bill's
breathing stopped.  Julie's hands immediately went to the clasp on her bra,
while she still had the courage, and in seconds it was off and on the
floor.

   Her breasts were firm half circles, almost pure white, or so it seemed
in that light, and while maybe baseball sized, they looked perfect on her
frame.  The tips were hard and dark brown, and surrounded by a brown circle
about the size of a nickel.  They drew his gaze like twin beacons, but with
great effort he raised his eyes to hers.  He could see fear in them. 
Fear...  and desire.

   Words failed him.  Julie was...  what she was offering him...  what she
had told him, sitting on that log...

   Shaking, Bill slid over on the bed until his bare leg was touching her
jeans.  He raised his right hand to the back of her neck, feeling her soft,
hot skin, and leaned in.  Their lips met, and at the same time his left
hand gently touched her right breast with his finger tips.  She moaned, and
his tongue accepted the invitation of that open mouth and entered.  Julie's
own hands reached over and caressed him, exploring his smooth skin, playing
with his nipples as he played with hers.  As the kissing became more
intense, she reached a hand down and cupped his now hard manhood through
his underwear.  Bill broke the kiss, and they looked into each other's
eyes, noses touching.

   "Please," she said, panting, voice so soft he could barely hear it,
"make love to me." Her hands went to her waist, and as she undid the belt
and buttons her legs straightened, within moments shoving both jeans and
panties off, her shoes and socks coming off of their own accord in the
process.  Before Bill could even comprehend, let alone use whatever blood
was left in his brain to make a choice, Julie put her hands on his head and
arm and laid down on the bed, pulling his body over her.  His left knee
came down between her legs, and Bill found himself on all fours above her
looking down at her face.  "Love me," she whispered again, hands reaching
to push his boxers down.  He helped her, then...

   He couldn't look at Ai.  He knew that.  What thoughts he had that
weren't consumed with desire for Julie focused on the reality that she was
doing this to become even with the creature, and that if he asked for
permission, or even looked to see what Ai was doing...  he'd lose her. 
Lose her in every way that really counted, even if they still remained
friends and even fucked.

   This was Julie's time.

   Bill moved so he was completely between her legs, then moved his body up
farther over her.  Julie was so short, there would be no kissing her from
this position.  Her legs spread, and he felt his dick against her, could
feel the hot wetness against the tip.  Her arms were gripping her legs,
holding them open as far as possible, and their eyes met.

   "I love you, Julie."

   He entered her.

   She was tight, but there was no barrier.  Dance and gymnastics had
probably seen to that.  Her eyes were closed, and she grimaced as she got
used to the intrusion.  Bill was half way in, but after withdrawing a bit
his second thrust buried him up to the hilt.  Her head rose up against his
chest, legs wrapped around his waist, and hands grabbed at his arms.  He
was in her.  Bill...  was inside Julie.

   It was heaven.

   He thrust.  He wasn't going to last.  He knew that.  It mattered not a
whit what he had done not fifteen minutes ago with Ai, nor how much she had
drained him.  This was Julie.  It was Julie's pussy that was clamping down
on him, which felt so hot and wet, her legs that were caressing his ass,
her mouth that was kissing his chest.  He suddenly heard her make an
incredible sound, as if she was holding in a huge scream, and Bill felt her
clamp down on his cock like a vice.

   He came.

   Orgasm, when you are not literally having the life sucked out of you, is
incredible.  Oh, the life sucking kind is as well, but this was pure
pleasure, each pulse having no other purpose than to show love.  He reached
down and literally lifted Julie up so their bodies were pressed together as
he shot into her.  Her legs and arms were squeezing him with all their
strength, and they just held that position for what seemed like forever. 
Finally, sitting up but still holding her, Bill released his grip and let
her fall away from him a bit.  Still gripping with her legs, Julie looked
up at him.  They were both covered in sweat.

   "God..." she said, running her hands over his chest.

   "Yes," he agreed.  Arms hurting, he lowered her to the bed, then despite
her protests withdrew out of her and rolled to lie down at her side.  That
was when he saw Ai.

   Ai was looking at them with an expression...  of wonder.  She had left
the bed, to give the couple room, and was standing nude at the side looking
down at them.  Her head was moving back and forth, as if she couldn't
believe what she had seen.

   "That...  that was LOVE!" Ai paused a second, as if digesting her own
words, then repeated them excitedly.  "That was love!  I saw love!" Bill
felt Julie's sweaty hand clasp his between them, and he just nodded at his
bluish friend.

   "Yes, that was love, Ai."

   Ai looked down between Julie's legs, and suddenly seemed to blush.  Bill
hadn't known that was possible.  Ai's eyes then turned up to Julie's face,
and her voice became hesitant.

   "Julie...  friend...  may I...  drink?"

   Julie rose up on her elbows, confused.

   "What?  What do you..." Then she felt it.  She could feel the wetness
between her legs.  Her eyes shot open.  Ai wanted to...!

   Once again, Julie spread her legs.  Ai moved to the end of the bed, then
crawled on.  Julie moved away from her until her head was on a pillow,
giving Ai more room, and Bill sat up and looked on in astonishment and
anticipation.  This...  this was oh so wrong, and oh so hot.  Ai grasped
Julie's legs, both girls flinching at the contrast in temperatures, and
lowered her head down to Julie's sex.

   Julie's left hand shot out and gripped Bill, as her face contorted in
pleasure.  He could hear the sucking sound, almost drowned out by Julie's
whimpering.  He petted her hair, as if to reassure the girl.

   "It's...  I can feel it being sucked out!  It's as if she's drinking
from my womb!"

   Bill shook his head in wonder, watching as familiar blue pulses flowed
from Ai's mouth down through her body.

   "This...  may be the most enjoyable birth control ever."

   ****

   Shirley entered the house a little before 5 PM, and found the three
teens sitting in the den watching a movie.

   "So, was Ai OK all alone here?"

   "I think we managed to figure it all out, Mom."

   ****

   The next day started as if life was back to a routine.  Ai had told her
two friends, after the sex was done with, that before the weakness had
gotten too bad she had actually enjoyed her time alone somewhat.  Most of
it had been spent listening to music, and she was looking forward to
exploring the family collection some more.  Thus, when Betty and Bill left
the house that morning it was with few worries.

   Not that there weren't any.

   "I'm not sure how long I can keep Jenny away," his sister told Bill as
they walked down the driveway towards Julie and the friend in question. 
"She knows SOMETHING is up."

   "We'll deal," he told her.

   "Morning Bill!" Julie was nice and perky that morning, and bounding up
to him drew Bill's head down for a quick kiss on the lips.  This raised the
eyebrows of both younger sisters, and Bill just blushed.

   "Um, morning."

   ****

   School went as usual.  For study hall he was able to get to the library,
where he, Bobby, and Mark grabbed a table to talk quietly about stuff. 
Mark was new to the school that year, but had hooked up with the duo early
on.  A shared love of roleplaying and science fiction, as well as shared
classes, were the common bond.

   That, and not being popular.

   They were in the middle of a serious talk on continuity in Doctor Who,
with Bill taking the position that there should be none, when Mark looked
over Bill's shoulder and groaned.

   "The freak is giving us the evil eye."

   "What?" Bill looked at him, confused.  They weren't the lowest on the
social totem pole, but they were down there far enough that there weren't
many they could feel superior to.  Unless, that is, it was in that smug,
outcast way as portrayed in the cartoon 'Daria' that his mom had introduced
him to.  Mark looked at him as if he should have understood.

   "Cindi."

   Turning, Bill saw the girl who had slipped the note into his locker
looking at him.  Her long black hair had a streak of white in it, reminding
him of a character from the fantasy series The Belgariad, and she wore a
plain one piece black dress.  She was sitting in the far corner of the
library, near the pitifully small graphic novel selection, with no one
around her.  Bill turned back to his friends and shrugged.

   "Don't think I've ever been in the same room with her before."

   "She's...  weird," Mark said, shaking his head.  "I tried talking to her
when I first got here, as I kind of like gothy girls and she sits near me
in English.  She...  well, it's almost as if she can't look at you.  I
mean, she was always staring at a point next to me, with this expression
of...  fear.  Or a couple times she'd just be looking at my dick."

   "Maybe she wanted you," offered Bobby, grinning.  Mark shook his head.

   "Not with that expression.  After a few days of trying, I just started
ignoring her like everyone else does.  Seemed easiest."

   Conversation moved on, but Bill was thinking.  Between this and the
note, it was clear what her problem was.  It was also clear she was not
dealing with the situation well at all.

   The question was, was it his problem?

   If not for the note, he would have said no.  Wait, no...  that's not
right.  Even if she hadn't been trying to reach out to him, making contact
despite having seemingly given up on everyone else around her, he'd be
interested in anybody who could also see the creatures.  Someone who,
maybe, could see OTHER things, and help fill in the blanks in his
knowledge.

   When the period was almost over, Bill stood up.

   "There's a book I want to see if they have before I go.  I'll see you
guys later."

   As the other guys said their goodbyes and started packing their stuff
up, Bill wandered over to the shelves near the corner with Cindi.  His
friends took no heed of him, getting out the door before the bell even
rang, but the girl...  he could feel her gaze on him.  Finally, he just
turned to her.

   "I see them too."

   Her eyes shot open.

   "At least," Bill qualified, "I see some of them.  I don't know exactly
what you can see."

   He waited for a reply.  The girl shrank back in her chair, eyes full of
fear.

   "They're everywhere," she whispered, eyes darting around.  Bill nodded,
now truly feeling sorry for her.  No wonder she couldn't relate to others,
she lived in a different world than they did.  He took a folded piece of
paper out of his pocket, and put it on the table in front of her.  He had
prepared it to slip into her locker, on the off chance he found out which
one that was.

   "Call me after school."

   With that, he went to get his books, and left.

   ****

   The four exited the bus on the opposite side of the street from where
they had entered it half a day ago.  Jenny took a couple steps up to her
house, then turned to her sister.

   "You going over THERE again?" The disgust in her voice was plain, and
Bill had to chuckle as Julie got all 'big sister' on the kid.

   "Yes I am.  What's it to you?"

   "I'm gonna tell mom!"

   "I already cleared it with her and Mrs.  Darrow." The smugness in her
voice was a bit much, even to Bill, and Jenny spun and stomped off up the
driveway.  Julie shook her head and turned to the other two.  "This isn't
going to end well."

   "What is," Bill replied.  His sister cast a worried glance at the back
of her friend, then headed across the street with the others to their
house.

   Ai was in reasonably good spirits when they entered the den.  The sound
of classical music filled the room, and Ai was spinning in a circle, arms
extended.  The green sundress she wore billowed out at the bottom,
revealing her lack of under garments.  Interrupted by the sound of the door
opening, she stopped and ran to throw herself into Bill's arms.  She then
startled Julie by jumping into her arms as well.  Betty was just starting
to walk away, shaking her head, when Ai ran over and gave her a quick hug.

   "Wha...  what was that for?!?" Her coat was still on, so there was no
real contact, but she was still shaken.

   "You are home!" Ai whirled a few more times, then stopped and looked at
Bill with a shy smile and twinkling eyes.  "Am hungry," she said, in a
voice that made Bill's legs weak.

   "We're going to have to wait.  I'm expecting a phone call." He started
to take his coat off as both Julie and Betty gave him puzzled looks.

   "From who?" was Julie's question, but it was Betty, naturally, who
managed to identify the important part of that conversation.

   "Wait, you found out what Ai eats?"

   Bill and Julie blushed and exchanged glances, then looking at Ai he
figured he'd better reply quickly before she did.

   "Uh, yeah, sort of.  It's not food, it's more...  attention.  Don't
worry about it." Betty considered the answer, obviously getting that her
brother was holding something back, but after a moment shrugged and
finished taking her coat off and carried her books upstairs.  Bill let out
a breath.  He had a good sister.

   "So," Julie said, tossing her coat over a chair, "who's calling you?"
Was there a hint of jealousy in there?  Even if it ended up being one of
his male friends who was intruding on their time together?  Bill finished
hanging up his coat before answering.

   "Do you know Cindi?"

   Julie frowned at him.  That was the wrong answer.

   "I know LOTS of Cindy's.  Which one?"

   "Long black hair.  The...  outcast."

   "Oh!" she said, surprised.  "Her!  Yes, I know her." Julie's voice
turned a little disgusted.  "She's in my science and math classes.  Why is
SHE calling you?" The unspoken follow up was that it had better be a good
reason.  Briefly, Bill felt pissed that Julie was one of the ones looking
down at the poor girl.  But, then...  he had done the same, and didn't even
have the excuse of being high up socially like his companion.

   "Cindi," Bill said, moving to hold Julie in his arms and looking down at
her frowning face, "apparently can see creatures like Ai." Her eyes
widened.

   "Oh!"

   A ringing phone interrupted them, and Bill quickly moved to grab the
extension.

   "Hello?"

   There was silence, then a quiet voice came to his ear.

   "Is this...  Bill?"

   "Yes, it is, Cindi." Bill lowered his voice to sort of match hers, and
caught Julie's eye.  He motioned towards the kitchen, and understanding she
quickly ran and picked up the phone there.  "Cindi, if you don't mind, a
friend of mine who also knows about them, but can't see, is going to listen
in."

   "I don't care," she spat out.  "If they tell everyone, it won't be worse
than what they're saying already."

   Bill winced.

   "Why did you leave the note, Cindi?  You don't know me." Part of him,
the part that still had an ego this late into Middle School, was kind of
hoping there was serious crushing going on here and he could add to his
harem.  That idea was quickly, and deservedly, killed.

   "No, I've never paid attention to you...  but, now...  they're LOOKING
at you!  ALL of them!  I had to warn you!  Even if you didn't believe me, I
had to warn you!"

   "But, they're not dangerous," he said, looking at Ai standing next to
him with a puzzled look on her face.

   "THEY KILL!!!" Cindi's scream made him jerk the phone from his ear, and
even Ai jumped back, startled.  Bill quickly brought the phone back as
Cindi ranted.

   "Those fucking ghouls kill!  They killed Grandpa!  I saw them!  Saw the
thing reach into his chest, and stop his heart!  He fell down right in
front of me, and I couldn't stop them!  You can never stop them!  Another
made my Aunt miscarry!  I'm sure of it!  And I could feel that girl's hands
on my leg twisting until it broke when I was ice skating!  They are
EVIL!!!"

   There was silence.  Bill tried to gather his thoughts.  This...  oh,
god, there was so much more to this...

   "I...  I didn't know," he finally whispered into the phone.  "I only see
one kind, those with virgin boys."

   "They're everywhere," she whimpered.  "All around us.  I'm all alone
here, and there's three of them around me!  They're always with me,
waiting!"

   "Shh, it's OK," he said, moving with the cordless phone up the two steps
from the Den into the living room.  He could see Julie slowly moving
towards him, phone in hand, her expression one of dismay.  "You have me now
to talk to.  And I want to talk.  I want to be your friend." And...  he
did. It surprised him, truthfully, but...  after hearing her, he didn't
care if he lost all his other friends, if he was ostracized to the fringes
of school society, or beyond.

   This girl needed a friend.

   "I had to warn you," Cindi repeated, crying.  "Why are they looking at
you?"

   "I don't know," he replied, looking at Ai.  All thoughts of telling
Cindi about her were gone for now.  "I have suspicions, but...  I don't
know.  Look, I want to be your friend, OK?"

   "I don't have friends..."

   "You do now.  You have me..." he looked up at Julie, eyes pleading, and
saw her slowly nod.  "...  and you have Julie.  Julie Cutter."

   "I want to be your friend too, Cindi..."

   There was silence.  Bill cursed.  He had gone too far.  He shouldn't
have had Julie say anything.  Fuck!

   "I have to go..." Cindi's voice drifted over the phone lines.  Bill
closed his eyes.  The hurt in those words...

   "Call me tomorrow, Cindi.  Please."

   There was a click.  She was gone.

   ****

   Shirley drove the sedan up the driveway, and parked to the right of the
garage.  It's interesting, she thought, getting out, what silly traditions
families build up.  They had a garage...  but never put the car in it. 
Why? Well...  just because.  There was space for two cars side by side
outside the one-car garage, and neither she nor Tom wanted to appear weak
by insisting they couldn't deal with the weather, thus...

   She felt wet snow fall on her nose, and looked up into the sky.  Yup. 
She was probably going to have to dig her car out tomorrow, or at least
give it a good brushing off.  Lets hear it for her ego!

   Walking into the garage through the side door, another tradition (was
there anything wrong with the front door?  Nope), she slowly approached the
plain wooden door leading into the Den.  Today, Shirley thought, was going
to be another "interesting" day.  She just knew it.  There hadn't been an
unexpected revelation in almost twenty four hours, and as it was Tom's
poker night he wouldn't be home till late, so the timing was perfect for
some sort of emergency.  Was she ready?

   Nope.

   Time to open the door then.

   Shirley entered the Den, surprised, and yet not, to see Bill and his two
girl harem sitting on the couch waiting for her.  She closed the door, put
her briefcase down, took off her coat, and stood with arms crossed looking
at the trio.  They stood.

   "Um, Mom?  Something has come up."

   "I'm sure it has," she sighed.

   ****

   Betty came down the stairs two at a time, landing with a plop by the
front door.  Homework was done, diary was written in, music was listened
to. Time to see what Mom was getting ready for dinner!  Maybe, if she
offered to help, it would turn into a good time to ask about going to a
movie this weekend with Thomas...  and a half dozen others!  Had to be make
sure to mention that, even if they'd be pairing up once they got there.  It
was all in how you asked her parents...

   The kitchen was empty.  Hmm...  she had heard her mom come home. 
Turning her head, she saw the bedroom and bathroom doors were open so she
wasn't in there.  However, the basement door was also open...  approaching
it, she heard voices.  It was Mom, yes, and...  Julie, which means Bill and
Ai were probably there was well.

   She sighed.  Why, oh, why did this have to happen to her?  She had been
happy.  Life, for the most part, had been good.  Lots of friends, no real
problems, parents who for the most part left her alone because she had
proven their trust was justified.  Everything was something she could deal
with.  But, THIS!  What the hell was going on?!?  Blue aliens, Bill with a
girlfriend...  her world was crashing in on her.  Perhaps worst of all was
knowing she wasn't involved in any of it.  Things were being said beyond
her range of hearing.

   Well, whose fault was that?

   She looked at the basement stairwell.  If it was a private conversation,
they would have closed the door.  So...

   ****

   "...it's so much to take in at once."

   That was her Mom.  Betty took a couple more steps down, then stopped and
sat just where the side of the stairway disappeared and she could get a
look at them.  They were in beanbag chairs.  Mom had hers up against the
support pole, giving her back support, while the three teens (well...  two
teens and a 'what the fuck?') sat in front of her.  They were sharing two
beanbags between them, in a way Betty was shocked to see them doing in
front of Mom.  If she was sitting with a boy like that, Mom would freak! 
Or...  would she?  Hmm...

   "How do you think we feel?" Bill replied, leaning forward.  His eyes,
Betty could tell even from here, were troubled.  "Every time I think, 'OK,
we have things pretty well worked out', this kind of thing happens." He
looked over at Ai.  "I just want us to be happy."

   "Happiness from being ignorant is rather short term," Mom replied,
understandingly.  "We're starting from a base of zero knowledge, so just
have to accept that there's a lot we don't know, and learn to not form any
firm theories.  Or, at least, be willing to change them easily as new facts
show up." She stretched her arms.  "Sorry, long day."

   "That's OK, Mrs.  Darrow," Julie said.  Betty's eyes took in her best
friend's sister.  She looked excited, and nervous, eyes always on Mom. 
Julie had always had a thing for Betty's mom.  Even as a kid, she'd go on
to the other three about how pretty Mom was, how smart, how...  how unlike
her own.  Not that Mrs.  Cutter was ugly or dumb.  Far from it!  But, it
was for certain a different kind of smart and pretty, and for whatever
reason Julie was drawn to the simple, direct, logical woman before her.

   "I have come up with a theory," Julie went on, biting her lip.  Her eyes
sought approval from Mrs.  Darrow, and smiled when she got it.  "See, we
now know there's lots of creatures like Ai, doing lots of things.  Some
good, some bad."

   "'Bad' is a loaded term," Shirley replied, and Julie's expression fell.

   "Sorry!"

   "That's OK.  This is just a first brainstorming session, but we should
still try and avoid labels like that as they'll influence how we interpret
later data."

   "Right!" Julie nodded, and felt Bill put an arm around her waist as she
leaned forward.  It felt good.  "Anyways, we have all these events in the
'real' world, that we know have scientific causes that we've studied and
proven.  And, we seem to have otherworldly creatures who are...  well,
'causing' the same things!  How can this be?"

   Good question, thought Betty.  She could see her Mom nodding for Julie
to continue.

   "Well...  what if what we have is two parallel realities.  Two reasons
for every action, equally true.  I mean, we can influence and solve
problems just using science and medicine, so it can't be the ghost thingies
that are causing heart attacks and broken legs.  When someone gets a pill
or whatever to stop their heart attack, you'd think that wouldn't affect
the ghost.  Yet, their actions can't be meaningless.  To Bill, it clearly
seemed like Ai was causing his boners."

   Julie stopped, realized what she just said, and had the presence of mind
to blush.  Bill's mom just sighed.

   "Go on."

   "Um, well, what if neither is the cause, or both?  A blood vessel being
blocked happens at the same time a creature reaches in to stop the heart.
Hormones give boys erections at the same moment blue girls start fondling
them.  So long as you have knowledge of one reality, what happens in the
other...  doesn't matter."

   Betty sat back on the stairs, eyes wide.  Man, she was way out of the
loop!  What the hell was going on in her house?  Creatures like Ai
everywhere?  She spun her head.  Nope, nothing.  Or, was there...

   "That's...  an interesting concept," her Mother said, considering it. 
"Probably wrong, but that's going to be the case with any theory.  I like
the logic behind it, though.  We'll definitely keep it in play as a
reasonable hypothesis."

   Julie smiled, pleased, and Bill's arm gave her a squeeze.

   "I just wonder if anyone got it right."

   "What?" asked Bill, a quizzical look on his face.

   "Well, I've gotten into the Occult as of late, just for the fun of it,
but found you couldn't take any of it seriously because everyone had
different contradictory ideas and systems.  Only one could be right, so
since you couldn't know which that was they all had to be treated as wrong.
Fun, though!"

   "I went through that stage," Mrs.  Darrow admitted, "and actually still
like Crowley's stuff." Julie's eyes widened at that revelation, and she
went on excitedly.

   "So!  Given what we now know to be 'real'...  was anyone right?  Is
there one system of magic or religion that in fact was based on knowledge
of this, but just got lost in the noise of other beliefs?  I mean, given
nobody can see them, most people would have to take it all on faith and so
wouldn't know it was true!"

   Mrs.  Darrow leaned forward, hand on her chin, thinking.

   "That, children, is a good question..."

   ****

   Dinner was pizza and wings, and after a quick call Julie found she could
stay.  Shirley had extended the invitation to her mother, Gretchen, and
Jenny, but to Julie's great relief the two were going out to do some
shopping.  She really didn't think either could deal with any of this, for
all Mrs.  Darrow didn't seem concerned.  She obviously didn't know her mom
as well as Julie did!

   "Now," Shirley said, putting down her half eaten slice and picking up
her drink, "I'm going to assume you two haven't done much actual
experimentation with Ai." Bill looked at her, confused.

   "Experiments?"

   "Well, like, for example...  do we know what she eats yet?"

   Ai jumped down from the kitchen counter she was sitting on, and happily
gave the answer.

   "Bills shoots his love into me!"

   There was a moment of silence, filled only by the sound of blood rushing
into the faces of Julie and Bill.  Betty looked between them in amazement.
So...  THAT'S what they'd been doing!  Oh, they were so in trouble!

   "Of course," Shirley finally said, putting her drink down untouched and
turning to Ai.  "It would be that.  How often do you have to...  eat?"

   "Ate twice yesterday...  once from Bill...  once from Julie after Bill
fed her!"

   Shirley's head slowly turned to the two teens, faces now even redder as
their eyes tried to be anywhere other than her face.  Bill finally found
the courage to glance at her, seeing...  not quite disappointment, which
was a relief, but more resignation.  Knowing what her main concern would
probably be, he spoke up.

   "I'm sorry, it...  just happened.  We didn't use anything, but...  well,
luckily Ai probably acted as birth control after the fact.  Nothing left to
go after an egg, you see." Shirley's hand went back to her forehead.

   "That...  IS reassuring, yes.  Makes everything better." She looked at
Julie.  "Your mother and I will have to talk about this."

   "No, please!  Mom won't understand!" Shirley cocked an eye at the girl.

   "I think," she said, "I know your mom's mind a little bit.  Don't worry.
So long as we keep things between our two families, all will be well." Her
glance turned to her daughter.  "Right?"

   "As if anyone would believe me anyway!  Bill being with Julie is more
outlandish than Ai!"

   ****

   It was late, as Bill, Betty, and Ai climbed the stairs towards their
bedrooms.  It was another school day tomorrow, a reality that was becoming
less real.  At the top, Betty took a couple steps to her end of the
hallway, then turned.

   "Bill?"

   "Yeah?"

   I...  well...  I want to help.  Not with feeding Ai!" She quickly
qualified herself.  "Not that!  But...  if you need anything...  I want to
be part of this."

   Bill nodded, and watched as Ai slowly walked up to Betty.  The creature
was a few inches taller than the girl, and stopped about a foot away from
her and put a hand on her cheek.  Betty shuddered from the cold.  It was
more intense then she'd expected.

   "Betty...  friend?"

   Bill was quickly at her side, shaking his head at Betty.  Ai's view of
friendship was...  not what they wanted.

   "No, Ai...  Betty is your sister."

   Both girls looked at each other, eyes wide.

   "Sister!" Ai said, smiling in wonder.  Betty returned the smile.

   "Sister."

   ****

   Betty woke up.

   She hadn't been sleeping long.  She knew that.  Sleep had been long in
coming that night, not helped by overhearing Ai asking to be fed as she and
Bill entered his room and closed the door.  Betty now knew what that meant,
and once known, it couldn't be unknown.  That, plus everything else...  her
mind was just awhirl, if anything more active once lying down as it took
advantage of the extra blood flow.

   Her eyes flickered to the glowing numbers on the clock.  11:37 PM. 
Great.  Not even midnight.  What had woken her?

   The sound of a car door slamming came faintly to her ears.  Ah.  She
must have heard Dad's car driving up, as her bedroom was above the Living
room and close to the driveway.  She smiled, snuggling deeper into her
covers.  It was good to know he had made it back safely, what with snow
starting to really come down.  They weren't supposed to get all that much
overnight, but still.  Not having him on the road alone was a good thing.

   The sound of conversation came up from below her.  From some combination
of air vents, floorboards, and general acoustics, it was sometimes possible
to hear what was going on in the room below.  She didn't think her parents
knew.  At least, some of the stuff she had heard could NOT have been
intended for her ears.  Other times, yes, she sort of suspected her mom was
"leaking" information, but not often.  Especially as they didn't know when
she was and wasn't asleep.

   "Tom, how could you!"

   THAT got her attention!  Betty was wide awake in an instant, flinging
off her quilt, revealing her flannel nightgown clad body.  She got off the
bed and, braving the cold floor, quietly tiptoed to the corner of the room
where the best sound quality was.  She laid down.

   "Look, it just happened, and I'm telling you right away, aren't I?"

   "Two days.  It only took two days!  And it's not like it should be
coming up in conversation anyways!"

   "Well it did, I'm sorry!  Will you let me finish?"

   "Go ahead..."

   "Well...  we were at Chuck's, you know, and Hiro was there.  It was
getting past nine, we all had a few in us, and during this one hand Hiro
started going on about those ghost shows on TV.  You know, where they go
into haunted houses and the like."

   "Yes...  I know those silly things."

   "Right!  I know they're silly!  Real silly!  Well, half of us were
bagging on them, half apparently were into them, when Hiro said he had
started his own ghost hunting group.  Bunch of guys and gals, get together
on weekends and go trying to find ghosts.  Talked about how he never used
to believe, until he saw some things that really changed his mind about
what was real!"

   There was a pause.

   "And?"

   "And...  I said, yeah, I know what you mean, after this last
weekend...."

   "Tom!"

   "Look, I stopped as soon as I realized what I had said!  Backpedaled,
came up with some joke or other!  No harm!  Hiro kept pressing me on it,
but after awhile he gave up!  It's OK!"

   "Oh, Tom, Tom, Tom..."

   "I'm sorry, Love.  You know I'm not good at secrets.  I didn't ASK for
this!"

   "I know, Honey...  I know.  What's done is done.  Now, tell me
exact...."

   The voices faded as they moved farther into the house.

   Betty slowly got to her feet, body shaking.  Not just from the cold
floor, but...  God!  It wasn't Dad's fault, obviously, Mom had to see that,
but!

   What would they do?

   What should SHE do?

   ****

   The bedroom door slowly opened, and Betty stuck her head in.  There was
movement on the bed, and with her night vision she easily saw a nude Ai
look at her and sit up on top of the covers next to the long lump that was
her brother.  The scales on her chest almost glittered, and those black
eyes bore into hers.

   "What is wrong, sister?"

   "Shh...  quiet.  Wake Bill."

   Ai turned and placed a hand on his covered shoulder, bending down to
whisper in his ear.  Betty listened.  She could hear some movement down
below.  Bill's room was over their parent's room, and she didn't know how
the acoustics were in either direction.  Bill's head came up, and after
blinking his eyes a few times he looked over at his sister.  Seeing the
finger in front of her lips, he nodded and sat up, waving her over.

   It was then that both remembered he slept nude, and Betty kept her eyes
on his face as he quickly bunched the sheets around him before anything
showed.

   "What is it?" he whispered.

   "Problems."

   ****

   Bill and Ai came down the stairs, dressed for the day.  Ai was in yet
another sun dress.  She looked completely out of place in this winter
weather, but they fit and she seemed to like them.  The fact Betty wasn't
using her summer outfits at the moment also made them very practical.  They
entered the kitchen, where Mom was sitting drinking some coffee and Betty
was already chowing down on cereal.  Bill looked around.

   "Dad gone already?"

   Mom looked at him...  and seemingly into him.

   "He wanted to get in early." Bill nodded, and went to the cupboard to
get a bowl.  Ai went and pulled herself up to sit next to the stove. 
Shirley looked at her, then sighed and turned her gaze back to Bill.

   "So, where are you going?"

   The bowl dropped a few inches onto the counter.  Across the table, she
heard Betty do a spit take with her orange juice.  Bill slowly turned... 
and her heart broke when she saw she was right.

   "Mom, I..."

   "Weren't you going to tell me?"

   "If we had time!  I haven't even talked to Julie yet!  We haven't
decided anything yet!  We were going to stay home, and pack and think, and
maybe wait for you!"

   Shirley turned her chair away from the table, stood, held out her arms,
and in a moment Bill was hugging her for the first time in years.  Her hand
stroked his hair.

   "Oh, Billy...  Billy...  I'm so sorry.  Your Dad..."

   "I know it was an accident, but I have to protect Ai!  I can't do
nothing!"

   "Shh...." With a sigh, Shirley gently pushed her son away.  "It's OK. 
Probably, this will come to nothing..."

   "But!"

   "...yes, but we have to be ready.  I know."

   There was a knock on the front door, then they heard it open.  Julie
suddenly was in the kitchen, winter coat on and out of breath.

   "Bill!  Get Ai...!"

   Behind her, standing in the doorway...  was her mom and Jenny.

   "Not...  good," said Betty.

   ****

   "So," Gretchen said, looking up at Ai, "this is it."

   "HER", Julie said, forcibly.  Her mom cast a glance at her, then turned
it back to Ai nodding.  "Yes, her.  You were right, Shirley, she is
beautiful.  One of God's creatures for sure."

   Bill and Julie exchanged a glance at this, but said nothing.  This was
going well...  so far.  Ai, slightly startled by these strangers, was
standing between her two friends and trying to understand the woman before
her.  She looked so much like Julie: maybe five feet tall, trim figure. 
Her brown hair was shorter, though, and curly.  Her eyes, also...  did not
have quite the same spark.  But, then, Ai had not seen many eyes that those
of her loves could be compared to.

   Jenny was standing against the refrigerator, Betty at her side.  Her
hand was gripping her friend's arm.

   "Oh, I'm so glad you kept this from me..."

   Shirley looked around, and took charge.

   "OK, the bus will be here soon, so here's the deal.  Betty and Jenny,
you two will go to school and take these notes to the office saying Bill
and Julie won't be in today."

   "But, Mom!"

   "No buts!  Bill, Julie...  the five of us are going to sit and talk."

   Never had school seemed like such a better option.

   ****

   Truth.

   That was all Gretchen cared about.

   Oh, she knew her daughters thought she was some horrible anti-knowledge
luddite, but, no.  She loved the truth.

   And only the truth.

   Fiction was bullshit.  She had no time for it.  Never had.  Not since
that horrible day when she had discovered, at age ten, that the Nancy Drew
books she had been reading over and over were NOT tales of a real girl
detective, but...  made up!  She had been made a fool of!  All those hours
planning her future based on these tales of real life mysteries...  wasted!
Now, some children might have blamed the mother, who had told that lie to
get her daughter interested in quality literature, but even then Gretchen
knew what the real evil was.

   Fiction.

   Give her facts.  Give her reality.  Give her real people to read about,
and watch on TV.  Biographies.  Histories.  Reality TV had been a godsend,
a welcome change from only really being able to watch documentaries and the
news.  Now she had REAL people to watch for her entertainment.

   This was not to say, though, that Gretchen had any interest in
discovering what was fact or reality for herself.  Nancy Drew had seen the
end of that side of her.  No, she was more than willing to wait until
brilliant people like Shirley and Oprah told her what was real.  Then she
could just accept it and move on.

   Which was why she had no problem with accepting Ai.

   The blue girl thing was sitting on the couch between the two kids, and
obviously real.  Shirley had said she wasn't evil so that was that.  Time
to move on.

   "So what ARE we trying to figure out here?" Gretchen took another sip of
her coffee, and turned to her best friend sitting next to her.  Shirley put
her own cup down on the coffee table in front of them, an unusual use for
that piece of furniture despite its name, and sat back looking at the trio
across from them.  She gathered her thoughts.

   "Well, I think what we need is to set up a support system for Ai." Bill
leaned forward at that, nodding.  "We have to protect Ai.  Later, we'll
think more about how she's going to survive in the world beyond our houses,
but one thing at a time.  That's a project of years, or a lifetime."
Shirley's expression suddenly became contemplative.  Yes...  that's what
this was.  A lifetime commitment.  This wasn't like a pet, or even a child.
Ai...  would need her son forever.  She put that aside.  Again, that was
for later.

   "So, what to do now.  Thanks to a minor hiccup in our plans we have to
think of a strategy for hiding her.  This was always going to come up, if
for no other reason than others WILL be coming and going in this house and
we can't just lock her in a closet." Ai suddenly smiled at her.

   "Closet in bedroom is fun!  Bright clothing everywhere!"

   Shirley blinked.  Ah.  That's why the door had been open.  Well, at
least she was finding ways to entertain herself.

   "Well, glad you like my fashion sense." Ai nodded happily and leaned in
to snuggle Bill.  Julie gave her a look that only had a slight tinge of
jealousy.  "However, as fun as closets are they make bad emergency
shelters. We need options." She looked at Gretchen.  "Can she go to your
place, if need be?"

   "Of course!  You don't even have to ask!  I'd love to have her!" She
smiled at the creature.  Her kind must be mentioned in the Bible somewhere.
Was she an angel?

   "But how could she get there?" Julie asked.  "We can't send her outside
in public!"

   "For an emergency, yes," Shirley said, confident.  "We can have an
outfit ready by the front door for her that would cover most of her, at
least well enough for a thirty second run across the street.  Ai, if you
hear the phone ring you'll have to go over next to the answering machine,
and if you hear us telling you to leave the house, you're to go across the
street to Julie's house and wait.  OK?  We'll have some pictures of Bill
there for you." Ai nodded, face now serious.

   "That's not good enough, Mom!  What if we need to go someplace SAFE?"
Bill looked at his friend.  "Can't you just send the two of us somewhere...
where I can protect her?" Ai reached up a cold hand and caressed his face,
and Bill looked over at his mom.  She sighed.

   "Not unless we have to.  If we hadn't sold your grandparents house... 
but, even there, most of the farmland had already been sold off and houses
were going up all around it, so you wouldn't have had privacy there really.
Where else could you go?"

   The five were silent for a moment.  Gretchen took another long sip of
her coffee...  then sat up, eyes wide.

   "The mine!"

   Shirley sat up next to her, looking at her old friend, and blinked.  She
blinked again.  A wide grin appeared on her face, and she hopped up.

   "That's it!  The mine!" Gretchen stood as well, cup set down, and
accepted the congratulatory hug that came her way.  Bill just stared at the
two.  The mine?  What good would the flooded...  his eyes got wide.

   "Wait...  the shelter is real?!?"

   "Yup," his mom said, grinning at him, "and Gretchen has the key."

   ****

   It was legend.

   Myth, even.

   Long ago, back in the 20th century, there had been mining outside what
were now the eastern suburbs of Buffalo.  Gypsum, mostly, dug out of the
ground by extending a shaft down a hundred feet and sending out tunnels. 
They were everywhere...  well, except where houses were now built, in
theory.  Nobody would be stupid enough to put a housing development over
these now abandoned and flooded mines.  Unless they could get away with it,
of course.

   One of the mine entrances was not far from Bill's house: a large,
narrow, four story red barn like building with no front and a huge pile of
rock spilling out from it.  This, Bill had been told, sealed the shaft so
nobody could get in.

   But...  the legend...

   Back, almost lost in the mists of time, in the 1970's or 80's, a
group... built a fallout shelter in the mine.  Nobody knew where, of
course. You didn't tell the public where your private hiding hole with
limited space was located.  Even Bill knew that.  He had seen the Twilight
Zone episode, after all.  But...  knowledge of its existence was passed on.
From kid to kid, from old street resident to new home buyer.  Everyone
knew, but nobody believed.

   And it was true!

   "Where?!  How?" Bill was on his feet, excited.  Saving Ai was forgotten
for a moment.  The shelter was real!

   Laughing, Shirley motioned her son to sit, which he did with a plop. 
Both mothers also sat back down, and eyes twinkling at her son's excitement
Shirley told the tale.

   "Remember the Stanfields?  In the house at the end of the street?  Well,
when they were thinking of putting a huge plaza behind West Ledge instead
of houses, your dad and Mr.  Cutter discovered there was actually a Ledge
Lane street association left over from some previous battles.  Mr. 
Stanfield was the only remaining member, and it still had a treasury, so
your fathers joined and the three fought the good fight.  Afterwards, after
he lost his wife and was about to sell the house, Mr.  Stanfield let us in
on the secret: it was the association that built the shelter!  He was the
only one left with any knowledge of it, and as Tom and Nick were now in his
eyes in charge of the street, he passed the keys on to them."

   Bill looked at Julie.  She was as excited as he was, her body as tense
as a spring.  He wondered if much of it was learning something new about
her late father.  Bill couldn't even remember much about him, but then he'd
always been at work when Mrs.  Cutter had been babysitting the four of
them, and that had been awhile ago.

   Shirley turned to her friend.

   "When was the last time someone was down there?"

   "Hmm...  I think Nick was down there a few months before the accident,
so maybe four years?  Everything was fine, he checked the generator and all
that.  Said there was no point having an emergency shelter if you weren't
going to have it ready in case there was an actual emergency." There was a
small catch in her voice, and Shirley briefly touched her hand.

   "Nick knew his stuff." She turned to the children.  "So, Bill, why don't
you pack some emergency clothing and such for you and Ai that we can stock
the shelter with, Julie's mother and I will raid the cupboard for boxed and
canned goods, and we'll head over and see what it's like."

   Julie jumped up.

   "I'll grab my stuff!  I'll be back in a couple minutes!"

   The two mothers looked at her, expressions questioning, and the teen
suddenly realized what she was assuming.  Julie blushed.

   "Um, I mean...  they'd be lonely if they went there...  alone!  And,
Bill could use my help with Ai!  I can cook!"

   Her mother just stared at her, then burst out laughing.  She turned to
Shirley, expression triumphant.

   "I win!  Pay up!"

   With an exaggerated sigh, Shirley took a folded five dollar bill out of
her pocket and handed it over.  Gretchen chuckled evilly, gloating.  Julie
looked between them, thoroughly confused.

   "Wait, what?"

   "I won the bet!" her mom told her, grinning.

   "What bet?"

   "When you two were born, we made a wager on how long it would be before
you two hooked up."

   Bill and Julie exchanged horrified glances.

   "You WHAT?!?"

   "Another few months and that money would have been mine," Shirley told
her offspring, sadly.  She turned to Gretchen.  "I'll get you on the second
bet, though."

   "What's that," Julie said, disgusted, "the date I pop out the first
kid?"

   "Nope!  How long before your sisters hook up."

   ****

   Betty gathered her courage, and walked through the mass of eighth
graders towards the open locker.

   Her brother was counting on her.  He had put his trust in his little
sister, and there was no way she was going to disappoint him.  Not now, not
ever.

   But, damn, that Cindi scared her.

   The withdrawn, gothy girl was slow taking off her coat, performing the
usual morning locker rituals every student could do in their sleep.  And...
it's almost as if she was sleeping.  Her movements were slow, deliberate.
There was a space around her, as if she was in an invisible bubble that
kept her apart from the rest of the world.

   Betty wondered exactly which side that barrier was protecting.

   "Um, ah, hi, sorry to bother you..." Her voice sounded high and nervous
to her own ears, and only the need to keep going kept Betty from wincing.
She wished Jenny was here for support, but she had gone to the office to
drop off the notes for Bill and Julie.  Betty was on her own.

   Cindi paused, hand reaching into her locker.  That could be good or bad.
Best to continue.

   "My brother, Bill, he...  well, he's not here today, but he wanted to
say he's sory.  About the call, if he said anything to upset you."

   "Nothing others do upsets me." Her voice was cold.  Betty saw her eyes
flick up to something near the ceiling, and gulped.

   "Um, good?  Look, Bill just wants to talk to you some more.  Please."

   "I don't need his help."

   "Well, he needs yours!"

   Betty spat this out at the annoying bitch, finally tired of being nice.
It was instantly regretted when Cindi's head whipped around at her, eyes
wide.  Betty backed up a step.

   "He NEEDS you," she whispered.

   Spinning, Betty ran off to class.

   ****

   "Snow!"

   Ai was having fun.  Who would have guessed how fun frozen water could
be? Always before, she had just passed right through the stuff as if it
wasn't even there, which it really wasn't so far as her kind were
concerned. Now, however...  she could walk through snow the right way!

   Bill, walking behind her with Julie, grinned.  His blue girlfriend had
consented to wearing a long winter coat and a hat, in case they were
observed from a distance, but shoes were not for her.  She was stomping and
hopping barefoot through the snow drifts, waving her large shovel with the
joy of a four year old.  Instead of, he realized, the four DAY old she
really was...  depending on how you calculated it.

   The five of them were crossing the empty field that backed up to the
Darrow house.  About fifty yards wide, it ended in a patch of woods. 
Beyond that, in a much larger empty field, lay the mine.  All four boot
wearing humans had either a backpack or some other bag.  Bill had his old
camping backpack, full of summer outfits as it should be warm down there
once the generators got going, as well as a duffle bag of food.  Not much,
as Mom said they'd stock it properly later, but enough so that if needed
they could flee there as early as tonight.  Bill was feeling much better
about everything now.

   "We're not really sneaking to our secret hideout," Julie observed,
looking back at the clear trail behind them in the snow.  Her mother
chuckled.

   "Can't be helped!  If you're going there at night it won't matter, but
maybe we should have the kids run through this field after every snowfall,
just so new tracks won't be noticeable."

   "Good idea," Shirley agreed, stepping over a small log.  When they got
to the tree line, she looked at Ai.  "Ai, would you have any trouble
running through this area alone if you had to, to get to the shelter and
pictures of Bill?" Ai looked back where they had come from, thought, then
returned Shirley's gaze with a serious expression.

   "Would not like...  but can."

   "That's all we can ask, Ai.  Lead the way, Bill."

   Bill had done the most exploring in this area, and confidently led them
on the easiest route through the trees and brush.  It probably took thirty
minutes, all told, before the five looked out at the snowy wasteland
surrounding the mine.  They had come out behind the large barn, and maybe a
hundred yards away from it.  The woods stretched on to the left and right
of them, before curving to the east, meeting the road on the far side of
the structure.  Chances of being seen here were slim to none.  Bill turned
to the two mothers.

   "Which way?"

   "Follow me!" With a spring in her step, which caused her to almost fall
into a hidden hole under the snow, Gretchen led the way.  They marched
between snow drifts, which probably hid old timbers and such from the mine,
and around leafless bushes.  About twenty or thirty feet away from the
barn, she stopped.  Pointing at the ground ahead of them, she looked at
Bill.  "Dig!"

   Grinning, Bill took the shovel from Ai, who was sad to lose her toy, and
began digging down.  He wasn't sure what he was looking for, and after a
few feet Mrs.  Cutter admitted it might not even be the right spot.  She'd
never looked for the place in the snow before.  It only took a few trial
holes down to ground level, though, for Bill to strike metal.  Long
practice shoveling driveways quickly uncovered two large metal doors, set
up on a slight angle like the iron doors leading down into his house's
basement.  They were painted black, with a bit of rust here and there, and
a large padlock on the handles.

   "Let's see..." Gretchen had a key ring out, and looked through it. 
"Ah!" Stepping forward and kneeling down on the doors, she grabbed the
lock. "Gah!" Pulling away her hand, she blew into the palm, then sheepishly
put her gloves on and tried it again.  Julie just shook her head.

   "Really, Mom!  And you yell at us!"

   "And you deserve it!" There was a click, and Gretchen stood, lock in
hand.  Stepping off the doors, she motioned for Bill to open it.

   "Wait," Shirley ordered, coming up to look at the setup.  She turned to
Ai.  "Let's see if she can open them by herself." Ai looked down at the
heavy iron, expression serious.

   "Must open," she muttered, and stepped forward.

   "Bend your knees," Bill said, coming next to her.  "Grab one handle with
both hands and pull."

   Ai nodded at him, then without warning Bill leaned in and gave her a
quick kiss on the lips.

   "For luck!"

   Ai's eyes got wide, and with a happy expression she ran over to Julie,
who stood next to their parents.  Ai came to a stop inches from her, and
waited, an expectant expression on her face.  Julie's face turned a nice,
deep red, and fully aware of who exactly was just a few feet away, she
leaned closer and kissed Ai on the lips.

   "For luck."

   Gretchen regarded her daughter for a moment, then sighed.

   "You knew about this I assume, Shirley."

   "Yup."

   "You have wine at home?"

   "Nice bottle of Bare Cat Blush from a small Niagara winery."

   "Sounds appropriate."

   Ai stood before the doors, ready.  Grabbing the handle, she paused for a
moment...  and pulled.

   The iron door jerked open, startling the creature so much she almost let
go.  Bill was quickly there to grab it, and Julie ran up and helped ease it
down without just dropping it.  They opened the other one, and looked down.

   It was a deep, black, shaft.  Black iron stairs dropped down into the
darkness.  The three just stared down, as the two adults came up behind
them.  Bill looked at them.

   "Anyone bring a light?"

   Mrs.  Cutter grinned, and pushing past took six steps down.  Turning
towards the rock wall, she opened something.  Must have been a box of
switches, because in a moment the entire shaft was dimly illuminated with
light.

   "Batteries still have some power.  That's good." Looking up, she laughed
at their startled faces.  "Don't worry, I had flashlights in the bag just
in case.  Now, normally, you're to always close the door behind you when
you enter.  You can lock it, too, but don't if you're expecting one of us
to follow later." She turned, and continued the decent.

   The rusty stairs went down for four long, long flights, each probably
easily two stories or more.  The walls were rough stone, although with an
odd color.  It wasn't until Bill wondered why the shaft wasn't full of
water that he realized there had been an attempt at water proofing.  It
wasn't totally successful, given the long brown streaks, and he hoped they
wouldn't have to swim into the shelter.  At the second landing, Mrs. 
Cutter opened another wooden box and hit some switches.  The sound of a
pump floated up.  That answered that.

   At the bottom of the fourth flight, the five found themselves standing
on a flat, wet, concrete floor.  It had obviously been put in much more
recently than the stairs, as they in fact seemed to continue down into it.
Over on the floor where the next flight down should be...  was an oval
door. It looked like it was from a submarine, and maybe it was, with a
large wheel in the middle of it, padlocked as the doors above had been.  In
one corner, the floor sloped down a bit and water slowly was drawn into a
drain.  With only about a quarter inch of liquid left, they heard the pump
click off.  There was now, though, another sound faintly heard below them.

   "You can turn the pump and the lights on and off from the inside,
naturally," Gretchen told them, once again bringing out the ring of keys.
"Always remember to turn everything off when you leave." Key found, she
quickly unlocked the padlock, and stepped back.  Ai came forward, and
following Bill's directions she easily turned the wheel.  With a pull, it
opened upwards.  The iron stairs continued down.

   ****

   At the bottom, the five found themselves in a rather nice cement walled
room.  It was roughly circular, maybe thirty feet across, and contained
everything you might need before venturing into a radioactive wasteland. 
There were three radiation suits, three shower stalls, closets, some
electronics, shovels and picks, gun rack, and other fun toys.  Julie looked
around, uneasy.

   "Is...  is this it?"

   Shirley laughed, and reached over to ruffle her hair.  This reassured
Julie more than any words.

   "No, no.  This is just the...  air lock, if you will."

   "Yup," her mother agreed.  "We're just waiting here for the air to
circulate inside a bit." She walked up to a wall panel, and waved Bill
over. Julie and Ai came as well.  "This controls everything.  There's
another one inside, and that one can turn this panel off in case invaders
get this far." Gretchen moved a finger over the labeled buttons.  "Where is
it...  ah!  Generator!" She hit a large green button.  "There's a diesel
powered generator, backed up with a huge stockpile of fuel with some sort
of stabilizers in it.  If there was any way to get it out of here, and
people remembered this place, it would have been raided long ago.  There
are also solar panels for backup, but most likely those are covered with
snow.  I've turned the generator on, to recharge the batteries that have
been running the lights and fans." She hit a couple more switches.  "I've
turned off the lights above us, and turned the ones inside on.  OK, let's
take a look!"

   On one mostly flat wall sat another submarine door.  Unlocking this,
Gretchen turned the handle herself and pulled.

   Beyond...  was not what Bill had expected.

   It was a normal room.  Large, yes, but...  normal!  Nothing like the
ones in movies or cold war documentaries!

   It was a living room.  Wood paneling and a red shag carpet, couches,
chairs, bookcases...  rather a lot of chairs, he realized.  Maybe it was
closer to what a dorm common area might be like, but his knowledge of
college also came from movies.  Recessed lights in the ceiling gave off a
pleasant glow, no different than at home.  Looking farther he could see a
pool table, foosball, ping pong...  no, it was a ping pong table set up on
top of another pool table!  Smart thinking.  To the right, a doorway led to
the kitchen.  Large, again, it was obviously designed to feed dozens.  They
followed the two mothers in there.  An archway to the left showed a large
dining room paralleling the living room.  The tables were small and
round... obviously, to double as card tables!

   Shirley lifted her bag onto the center island, sighing at the completion
of their journey.  The others did the same with their food cargo.  then
just stood there, looking around in awe.  Shirley shook her head.

   "OK, enough of that.  Bill, why don't you three go take your stuff and
pick out a bedroom while we get this organized and see what else we'll
need."

   "Gotcha."

   Turning, he only took two steps before her words sunk in.

   'A' bedroom.  For all three of them.  He slowed for a fraction of a
second, then walked faster back into the living room.  Once out of sight of
the adults, he slowed and looked at Julie.  She was blushing.  Feeling his
eyes on her, she smiled, eyes twinkling.

   "Think they'll let us room together up top, too?"

   "I'm already sleeping with one girl, so what's one more?" He took her
warm hand, then Ai's cold one, and the three went deeper into the complex.

   ****

   A hallway led from the back of the main living area, with bedroom doors
on either side.  The left had side had rooms for kids, filled with bunk
beds and rocket ship wallpaper.  The right hand rooms had king sized beds
and no rocket ships.  Ai looked around one such room, frowning at the light
green walls.

   "I like the room with bunnies."

   "Me too," Julie agreed.  "Maybe later, if we're bored, we can exchange
the beds between some rooms.

   Ai nodded, then walked over to the large mattress and sat down on the
edge.  She looked up at her friends.

   "Thank you."

   "For what?"

   "Thank you for...  all this.  Bill...  Julie..." She struggled for the
words.  "You...  you do so much for me!  I am causing trouble, and you help
me so much!"

   The two teens looked at each other, and without a word sat on either
side of their friend and hugged her.  They sat like that, saying all that
needed to be said in silence, until their mothers came looking for them.

   ****

   Betty hoped she was doing the right thing.

   If not...  Bill would hate her.

   Sitting next to her, on the bus ride home, was Cindi.  The kids around
her were casting unbelieving glances their way.  Betty wasn't sure if it
was Cindi they were objecting to...  or her, for bringing her on board. 
Probably both.

   Cindi had come up to her locker just after last period, freaking her
out. Social outcasts are rather lacking in social graces, and the girl just
stood behind Betty until she noticed her in her locker mirror and jumped.
Once she was under control again, Cindi had asked why Bill and Julie hadn't
been around.  Obviously, her full attention hadn't been on that morning's
conversation.  When told they had stayed home due to something coming up
regarding...  you know what...  Cindi had thought for a second, then... 
hesitantly asked to come home with her.

   Well.  That was unexpected.

   There was no way to warn them.  And, really, no way to turn down this
chance.  Bill wanted to bring Cindi into their group.  Betty was unsure
why, having missed that meeting, but she wasn't going to turn her away.

   She hoped she was doing the right thing.

   ****

   The bus pulled away from Jenny's driveway, leaving the three girls
standing there.  Betty had been unable to talk to her friend, but luckily
they had their non-verbal communications down pretty well.  One look, and
Jenny was bolting across the street towards Betty's house while she and
Cindi slowly followed.  Cindi looked down at the sixth grader, and using
all her acting ability Betty shrugged.

   "I think she had to pee."

   ****

   Cindi walked into the Darrow living room, and looked around.  It was
crowded, now.  Two adults, four teens not counting her, over twenty
creatures...  She scanned them for orange skin.  She hated the orange ones.
They brought pain.  None.  Good...

   The humans were looking at her, waiting.  That didn't matter.  Everyone
looked at her.  The creatures, though...  they were looking at him.  All of
them, looking at Bill...

   Except that blue one.

   She...

   Cindi blinked.  The blue grey creature, in a pink sundress of all
things, turned to look at Bill, then looked back at Cindi.  This...  what
was this...  The taller of the two women, obviously Betty's mom, turned to
the creature, and...

   ...  turned TO the creature...

   "You...  you all...  you can...  SEE her?" Cindi pointed at the blue
girl.  It couldn't be!  No!  They were playing a game with her!  Bill had
been lying yesterday, nobody could...

   Bill took a step forward, putting a hand behind Ai's back and guiding
her towards Cindi.

   "Yes.  We can see her.  This is Ai.  She...  well, she's real."

   What does that...  she saw it.  She was solid.  SOLID!  She...  they...

   "I'm not crazy!!!"

   Cindy fell to her knees, yelling at the sky.

   "They're real!  I am NOT crazy!  They ARE real!!!" She fell forward,
hands covering her face, crying.

   No one else move.  It was as if movement required understanding, and
none of them understood what just happened.  No one...  except Ai

   Slowly, Ai walked forward, bare feet not making a sound on the wooden
floor.  She knelt down in front of the crying teen, and touched her face.
The cold sent a shock through her, and Cindi's head jerked up.

   There, before her, were the blackest eyes she had ever seen.  Black eyes
on a blue face that somehow were full of life and love.  Her lips were dark
blue, inviting...  She jerked her eyes back up, up into the blackness...

   "You...  you're real."

   "Yes," came the voice, soft, full of love and caring.

   "You're all real.  All of them are real!  It's not in my head!"

   Ai nodded, and ran her hand up until her finger tips were on Cindi's
forehead.

   "You can see my...  see those like I once was." Cindi nodded, entranced
by her voice.  "This is wonderful!  YOU are wonderful!"

   "It's a fucking curse!  You're everywhere, and nobody believes me!  I
don't want to see!"

   "But it is a GIFT!" Ai's face radiated happiness at what Cindi could do,
and despite herself part of Cindi listened.  "You are blessed!  This is
magical and wonderful and we should celebrate you!"

   "M-magical?"

   "Yes!  You can see the world where Ai was, and the world where Ai is! 
You have power!  You are strong!  Control the power, and do good!  Make Ai
happy!"

   Breaking her eyes away from this vision before her, Cindi looked around
her.  All six of them, adult and teen, were kneeling around her.  She felt
Bill reach out and touch her shoulder, and followed by the touch of Julie
on the other.  The faces were full of...  understanding.  She swallowed.

   "I'm not crazy."

   For the first time in her life...  it was a statement of fact, not a cry
into the darkness.

   ****

   Next story: The Mind Knows

   Edited by SciFi Nut

   Comments more then welcome.  invidfan@localnet.com
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