LiTTLE CHERiNE Book 03 - post076

“I have to break through that hard shell you protect yourself with. Perhaps seeing your daughter, feeling her kisses of love in the void would help melt your heart?”
“I’ll try. I don’t know how to do it Roberto.”

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1634

“We had a woman who was harder than you. She had lost her husband. As he was leaving her he had a car accident and was killed. She had a daughter, not much more than seven or eight. No money and no income. Can you imagine how hard she became?” She nodded. I ‘called’ Cherine.

“Ask your mother to come here please.”

“That was…?”

“Cherine, the girl we are named after.” I struck my forehead as I realised something that had been staring me in the face. I could not help showing my excitement. “Smaragda is special!”

Anna had the common sense to wait for clarification. Dommi was looking at me startled and that must have made her pause.

“The first time I talked to her she told me I made her fall. She repeated it later. Dommi, this means she was able to sense what I did!”

“A natural?”

“Anna, every person that joined us was able to develop a gift of their own to share with all of us. When such a person had abilities from before, their gifts afterwards tend to be rather special. I wonder what gift Smaragda will give us?”

“I’m glad she is special.”

“Anna, every single girl in my family is special. Every single Cherinian is special. The love she would bring would be enough to make her very special. Do not look for an edge all the time.” I ended off sternly. She tried to look chastened, but it was an act - she was too filled with pride.

Dommi smiled. “Robert, it is natural for a mother to feel pride.”

“I’m sorry.”

“He says sorry just like anyone else, it seems to come to him easier than to most people.”

“He is our leader, the force that drives us in the direction we must take. The Sparkler nation and the Anadir nation have both accepted him as their leader. He bears a terrible responsibility and that makes him humble. For that reason, amongst others, all Cherinians call him crazy and are proud of his craziness. Maybe when you are proud of his craziness is the day you become a true Cherinian.”

I laughed. “Dommi, you are not being fair, you are moving the goal posts. Just let that hardness crumble, let me see the softness of a heart filled with love and she will be Cherinian enough for me.”

“That will be the day she will see your craziness and love it - I did not move the goal posts, the two belong together.”

Marian walked out of the house, her little son on her hip. She set him down on the grass and took off her coat. “Phew! You got it too hot here Robert, can’t you cool it down a bit?”

1635

“Robert is doing this? I thought he was too sick!”

Marian saw the foot in her mouth and wisely kept quiet.

“I have been augmenting the energy from the girls. I like it very warm. Marian, you think you know the lady who sits here?” She nodded in agreement. “Let me introduce you again. Marian, this is the Marian of five years ago.”

Cherine piped up, “Robert is telling you mum that Anna is as you were and wants to melt her heart.”

Marian put her hand out and touched Anna. “Oh you poor woman. He is going to make your life hell.”

“Thanks Marian. That was a great help!”

“Anna, has he called you his friend yet?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“Then watch out. He never lies to his friends, at least that is what he tells us. To those who are not friends? He loves lying. Let me tell you what he did to me. I was set against him; I hated him. I could feel he was a threat, going to take my daughter away from me. I came back to where we were staying to find that Robert had died and my daughter had forced his soul to return to his body. At that time the void was not safe for us. It was only where souls went when the body died. The void had eaten his soul away, like an acid. I did not know all this, all I cared about was he was taking my daughter away and I wanted to force her to leave with me.

Cherine attacked me, tried to kill me. She put me to sleep and only allowed me to waken for a meal once a day and to go to the toilet. I was weakening, would have soon died. Robert woke from the coma he was in.

You should have seen him Anna. A skeleton, his face drawn from his suffering, his body almost totally paralysed. Do you know what was the first thing he said? He accused Cherine of killing me - demanded she wake me up and bring me to him. Dominique had to do it as my daughter would not.

He made me eat the soup they had made for him. He then whispered to me that he was afraid, Cherine had done this to him, that we are both in danger. The bastard made himself my ally so as to convince me not to try to take her away.”

“Did you forgive him?”

“Well, in a way he told the truth, Cherine had closed her heart to him and that had killed him. It was what sent his soul to the void. I saw him die a number of times because of my daughter and came to realise that he is just as much her victim as I was. Now I know better of course, it was the gift, their link. He cannot live without her link and love. Nor can my little Cherine.”

“What you are saying is that he lies, but his lies are not entirely lies.”

Marian sighed. “The way he twists the truth…I will say this for him. He never does it without good reason. Another strange fact. It always turns out that he was right to do it. Have you been warned about his craziness?”

“Yes. Dommi says the day I love his craziness is the day I become one of you.”

“Not entirely true. He used to drive us nuts! We would get so frustrated and angry you would not believe, but we trusted his strange intuition and we would see afterwards that he was right.”

“You say he used to?”

Even Anna was able to see the sorrow in her eyes. “Yes. A few things happened that made him afraid and he stopped being crazy.”

“What could make him afraid!!”

1636

“He became too powerful. Suddenly he found he could destroy the whole world with but a thought and it terrified him.”

She whispered in total disbelief, “I can’t believe that!!”

“Anna, just a few minutes ago you saw and felt some of his power!”

“But the whole world!”

“If he told the moon to crash into Earth, what would that do to us?”

“Christe kai Panagia!” Suddenly she was shaking. “I dared to threaten you! Why didn’t you kill me?”

“Robert does not kill. The night you threatened him, do you know what he did when he came home?”

“He laughed at me?”

“Laughed!? Cried is closer to it. He was terrified. He could not think of a way to handle you without leaving you in a nightmare for the rest of your life. He agonised over it, called other Cherinians in to help him. Anna, he is the closest to Cherine and her gift is empathy. How could he fight you if it meant he hurt you?”

“This is crazy!”

“Robert, you are smirking.”

“And your heart is rejoicing my love. You’ve been dying to hear someone call me crazy. Marian, think you and Alki would be able to join us for the traditional supper?”

“Traditional supper, what do you mean?”

“Whenever we have a difficult situation and the new person we want to have join us reaches a moment of decision we take a break and go for supper. Nobody noticed this moment always seems to arrive at night?”

“Marian, can I ask you? He says Smaragda would need sex. She is only ten!”

“Cherine was only eight. Robert fought it, felt that to touch a girl of that age was a monstrous act. He tried to break away so as to stop himself and went into shock and only Cherine was able to bring him back...his feelings of guilt killed him a number of times. How can I resent him?”

“No, he is not asking to make love to my daughter, he wants me to.”

“That is silly Robert. Even I could not do that yet.”

“We offered to let us girls help her through her first time.”

“And then Dominique? The next time?”

“What would you suggest Marian? Not take her to the void and make her soul safe?”

“No.” Marian turned to Anna. “You see our problem. I have three daughters and was forced to let all of them become part of his circle as my husband and I could not bring ourselves to become their lovers. Now of course we are proud that they are part of his circle. You would not believe how gentle and tender he is, Robert is the most caring lover that ever existed I think.” Her face reddened. “I have not had sex with him, Cherine let me feel one time that he made love to her - she wanted me to see how good it was for her and how wonderful a lover Robert is.”

I intervened. “Anna, this is too much too early, they will frighten you. Let us take Smaragda to the void. When she returns she will need to be loved. You cannot avoid her learning about sex, at her age it is likely that within the next year she would learn to masturbate anyway. If you want, let the girls teach her. It will not be their right to bring her to orgasm, I don’t want her first experience to fixate her on females - I assure you, when it is possible to feel the sensations in the other person’s body the orgasm is something spectacular and the girls would make an impression on her. I would prefer they only teach her how to masturbate while they hold her so that she can anchor herself to her body. Do not worry about the next time - we do not need to take her to the void again until she is old enough and probably by then she will have a boyfriend. If she finds someone who is worth bringing in as a Cherinian he will also be gentle and tender.”

1637

“Robert, you cannot imagine what a horrible choice you have given me.”

“I can. Anna, what about your husband?”

“What about him? He is good to us, provides all we need. Never forgets a birthday or anniversary. Otherwise,” she shrugged, “he has his women and friends. He used to wait for Smaragda to go to sleep before going out, but now that she is older and sleeps later, he does not.”

“Does he love the two of you?”

“Yes. I think he does, but as his possessions,” she said bitterly. “A pretty wife who can maintain his position in society when he invites his friends home. A sweet, pretty and doting daughter who provides him the role of fatherhood. He has provided that everything goes to her so I cannot say he is a bad husband or father.”

Softly I whispered, “But he leaves an emptiness in both of your hearts.”

She bent her head to hide her tears. Dommi and Marian stared at her till they recalled good manners. We had all felt a little of her hardness melt.

*Cherine, afterwards, a ring of love please?*

“Excuse me ladies. Please wait here.”

I went to the bedroom where the kids were playing. I realised I had slipped up, when designing the house I should have provided more rooms for them to play in.

“Jade and Cassie, please stay here. The rest of you, Smaragda, you too, would you please go to the garden. Wait for us there. Just a moment, Wendy, you also wait here.” Soon as they were gone I told them what I wanted.

“Will she keep our secret daddy?”

“Yes Cassie. Wendy, you bring them soon as I have finished the introduction.”

I returned to the garden.

“Anna, we have a surprise for Smaragda and you. Smaragda, we are going to show you some magic, but this magic is the most wonderful you have ever seen. There is one condition, you have to be very careful and keep this a secret. Don’t promise me you will keep it a secret, promise your mother and the girls - you would hurt them if you tell. Do you understand?”

“No. But I promise.” Her face was filled with her eagerness, but there was a certain proud cheekiness I loved. I grinned at her.

“Do you remember the imp toys?”

She clapped her hands. “You are going to let me play with them?”

“Oh but you have already played with them. I told you this was going to be real magic. Watch as Wendy brings them to us - Smaragda, please try not to scream too much.”

Wendy came out, one imp in each crook of her arm. I stood up and gestured for her to sit in my place.

“Go on Smaragda, you want to touch them?”

As her face came close, as she leaned forward to touch them, both imps grabbed her nose and pinched it. She screamed and jerk backwards. I was laughing and she looked at me, her feelings hurt.

“I told you not to scream too much. It is okay to scream a little. Take another look. Smaragda, why don’t you talk to them?”

Anna was staring, fascinated - but she had not guessed the truth yet.

1638

“What are their names?”

“Ask them Smaragda; maybe they will tell you.”

“What are your names?”

“I am Jade.” “I am Cassie.”

They both grinned at her and she screamed - this time terrified. I put my arm around her.

“Smaragda, it is only a little bit of magic, just a fun thing, nothing to be afraid of. Can you see now why we would not let anyone touch them at the coffee shop? Would you like to pick them up and hold them?” She shook her head ‘no’ vehemently. “If you are careful, very gentle, you will not hurt them. You realise that by making themselves that size they can be hurt very easily?”

Anna was now standing up, horrified, her hand to her mouth. “You did this, used your power to do this to your children!!”

“Not me Anna. They did it by themselves as a prank.”

The imps had put their arms out to Smaragda for her to lift them. Gently she picked up Cassie and then Jade. She stared at them from close now, in wonder.

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I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.

Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου

(Alexander Zenon Eustace)
^{8th October, 2019}

* posted : 8th October, 2019

If you wish to read from an earlier book, from Book 01 to Book 04, use this link button to open the LC Book Index: