Captain Miller and Brendan were on a winding two-lane highway sandwiched between beautifully
manicured hedgerows - barracades of nature separating the filthy rich from the great unwashed.
The Impala pulled into a gated driveway. The fat guard in the booth waved them through.
A panorama of excess spread out before Brendan for nearly two acres. He took an instant
disliking to the residents before he even met them. They were poseurs. He could hear the dinner
party conversations in his head.
"Your english garden is to die for, Fifi."
"Thank you, Jennifer. On our last visit to the Baroness Diana's estate I was stricken with
jealousy walking through her garden. I just had to have one for myself. Of course the walkway
was taken brick by brick from the late countess Elizabeth's estate in Tuscany. We bought the
villa just for the two-hundred year old cobbled stones. Three popes and two kings have walked
on these stones."
They were greeted by a english butler - of course. He led them to a sitting room decorated in
soft pastels. An old woman, tastefully dressed but carrying the old world air of a gypsy, was
joined on a loveseat by a strikingly beautiful teenager. Brendan knew her from somewhere but
couldn't finish the thought before he spotted the walk-in.
Another old lady, whose hair wasn't quite blue, slowly rose from a chair at Brendan's left with
a look of concern on her face.
"Robert! What did you do this young man," she said in a scolding manner.
"Nothing," Captain Miller replied in an irritated tone. "He's fine."
"Brendan, my name is Lois." How did she now his name, Brendan wondered? "This is Madame Zena
and her grandaughter, Celeste." Madame Zena? She ditched the costume but still held on to the
old title. Brendan felt a nervous tension in the air. And from the looks on their faces, the
gypsy and her grandaughter were awaiting a verdict of some sort.
"Brendan, look at me, dear." She turned Brendan until his back was to the gypsies. Out of his
peripheral vision he could see Captain Miller still had his eyes on them. "We hear that you
have a very special gift of perception." She looked over his shoulder and smiled at the
gypsies.
Brendan felt as if he was about to be asked to perform at a tea social.
"We believe there is another presence here. If there is, would you describe him or her to us?"
She looked past Brendan to smile at the gypsies again.
There was a another presence, alright - the walk-in Brendan spotted when he entered the room.
What troubled him was that the walk-in belonged to the girl, not the old woman.
"She's an Egyptian princess." Brendan just knew that for some reason."Around five-foot, black
hair, emerald eyes, copper colored complexion." Lois was giggling with her head down,
and trembling. She took a deep breath before raising her head, and with almost pleading,
teary eyes asked him one more question.
"Do you happen to know her name?"
"My name is Hemetra," Brendan heard from behind him, almost startling him.
"Hemetra," Brendan repeated.
"Ha Ha!" Lois doubled over clapping her hands rapidly before a fit of laughter.
"I have to get back to work," Captain Miller said before turning and leaving.
"Thank you Captain!" Lois called out before returning her attention to Brendan.
"Young man, let's take a walk."
They toured her garden with Lois clutching Brendan's right arm tightly as if he might fly
away if she didn't.
"I don't mean to be rude, ma'am, but I need you tell me why I'm here."
"No, I'm the rude one, Brendan. And I'm truly sorry for the trouble I've put you through."
What did she mean by "I've put you through," Brendan wondered?
"You are here because of a vision I had thirty years ago. I found myself walking the streets
of ancient Egypt, and it was just as real as we're walking now. My head was full of the know-
ledge and wisdom of the Ancients; knowledge lost to us, maybe, forever. Then the vision was
gone and so was the knowledge except for my realization that we're not as advanced techno-
logically as we think we are. We're,in fact, backwards compared to the science of that day.
I want to bring this knowledge back, Brendan. I need you and Madame Zena to help me."
"I don't mean to insult you, ma'am -"
"Lois. Call me Lois."
"You're being hustled, Lois. Was it a seance?" It's a common parlor trick - A spiritualist
with a walk-in is capable of drawing on thousands of years of knowledge provided by her
boarder. The right medium could have you believing you were the Queen of Sheba.
"Young man, I'm no rube!" He had insulted her. "I went through at least two dozen spiritualist
before finding Madame Zena. I didn't tell her my vision; she told ME. She even prophesied that
I would find you. The money grubbing heathen just didn't tell me it would take me thirty years."
"And I'm supposed to help you do...what? Dig up the lost knowledge from your past life?"
"Time travel." Brendan found himself laughing uncontrollably. He didn't see that one coming.
"Listen to me. I'm not talking about some time machine. There is a part of of us that never
dies. A part of Hemetra runs through my DNA. I can reach her; I just need your help."
("a part of us that never dies") The Ekhalu were definitely messing with her head. Brendan
wanted no part of this but he needed Lois to give him a good reason to say no.
"How exactly can I help you, Lois."
"Madame says we were lovers once, and that strains in our past will help me get back to the
consciousness of Hemetra."
"And how are we supposed to find these strains?"
"Through sexual congress." She almost blushed when she said it.
"She's talking about fucking," Brendan thought. "There's my reason."
"No," Brendan said plainly.
"I know the idea is repugnant to you. But I need to see this through. This could be my legacy
to the world. I'll pay you one million dollars a session to endure the deed." One million
dollars a fuck? Brendan couldn't have heard that right.
"One million dollars a session?"
"Yes. That's how important this is to me." The gypsies were definitely hustling Lois. And if
she wanted to go ahead with this, fine. But Brendan wasn't joining the list of suckers.
"The money upfront before each session." Brendan felt dirty after saying it. But if he was
going to whore himself out, he might as well do it right.
"I'll wire it within the hour." Brendan was in such a daze he didn't remember walking Lois back
to the house.
A week passed. Brendan occupied himself as best he could but he felt like a stallion waiting
to be taken to the mating shed. He was given a very comfortable guest room and the food
was great; Lois had an excellent chef. But the gypsies, who always made lunch, made him
uncomfortable. Didn't Celeste go to school? Yesterday's lunch was particularly awkward.
"Celeste says we're really close, Brendan," Lois said initiating conversation as they sat
around the table eating club sandwiches. Brendan had been racking his brain trying to place
Celeste. He was sure he knew her from somewhere and deep in his subconscious he knew it was
important.
"She has an otherworldly gift just like you." Brendan knew more than he wanted to know
about that "other world." He glanced over to Hemetra who smiled back at him. She reminded
him of another mystery he felt a sense of urgency about solving. Why was Celeste hosting a
walk-in yet Madame Zena was vacant?
The Ekhalu play for keeps. Once you make a deal with them, the contract is passed on in the
DNA from generation to generation. Madame Zena's walk-in should have stayed with her until
she died before passing on.
"Brendan I'm curious. When did you first realize you had your gift?"
"I was eight." Brendan noticed Madame Zena's sudden uncomfort.
"Really? What did you see?" Brendan didn't care for Lois' cavalier attitude about the
subject.
"I saw my death. That's how I acquired my gift. I died." The color drained from Lois' face
and Madamme Zena was now squirming in her chair.
"You died?" Lois asked with a nervous chuckle.
"Yeah. I was clinically dead for fifteen minutes. I woke up; got out of bed; and scared the
shit out of an orderly." Brendan took a big bite out of his sandwich.
"Brendan, we'll not have that kind of language. There are ladies present." Brendan just
nodded his head and kept on chewing. Maybe she'll change the subject now, he thought.
"Did you cross over?" No such luck. She was just going to keep on with this line of
questioning.
"I didn't cross over. There was no light drawing me to it. I just woke up. What's Celeste's
gift, by the way?"
"She sees the alignment of planets and solar systems in manifold space," Madame Zena
interjected. Brendan wondered if the kid could have repeated what the old lady just said. The
bullshit this gypsy was slinging made him lose his appetite.
Something about that lunch kept Brendan up all night. He kept replaying it over and over in
his mind looking for the hidden explosive waiting to blow up in his face. These gypsies were
going down. Brendan was sure of that. He was determined not to go down with them. He'd seen
enough of Captain -
That's it. That's where he knew Celeste from. Celeste and Captain Miller have a similar facial
structure. They're related. Captain Miller is a gypsy! Brendan's right leg began to twitch
nervously, bouncing his knee up and down. The Captain is in on it; Lois doesn't have a chance.
They had to know Brendan would figure this out... They didn't care. Brendan's first instincts
were right. He was a dead man.
Once again Brendan spent a sleepless night trying to solve a puzzle that seemed to be missing
pieces. And now solving it was his only chance of survival. Leaving was no longer an option -
not with the Captain in on this.
There was a knock on Brendan's bedroom door. He looked over to the clock. It was four-thirty
in the morning.
"Brendan? Are you up?" What did Lois want at this hour?
"Yeah. Come in." She cracked the door slowly. "We have an alignment. It's time, dear." She was
wearing Victoria's Secret. This wasn't romance; it was business. Brendan was slightly annoyed
but followed her to her bedroom. He consoled himself with the fact that this would all be over
in a couple of hours. Once Lois realized that her time travel fantasy is utterly ridiculous,
she'd kick the gypsies - and him, out of her life for good.
"We have to hurry; we only have a fifteen minute window." A fifteen minute quickie. This was
going to be easier than Brendan thought. She led him to the four poster bed - Gone With The
Wind fantasies, Brendan thought. The plush comforter and sheet were turned down. She was fussy
and particular about which angle Brendan had to be sitting in on the bed She woudn't let him
lay down. He looked around at all the scented candles in the room; it was spooky.
Lois knelt between Brendan's legs and took her teeth out and set them beside him. She didn't
seem at all self-conscious about it. It was a definite turn off for Brendan. He was going to
have to keep his eyes closed to get through this.
Her mouth was on him in seconds. The sensations were surprisingly heavenly. Her tongue swirled
under Brendan's penis languidly as her gums kneaded him into submission. Long forceful drags
were followed by light, butterfly flickering. This lady knew how to suck dick. Brendan floated
away, becoming a tropical island as wave after wave of pleasure lapped his beach. He wanted so
bad to lay back and lose himself in the ministrations but Lois warned him that he had to stay
upright. Those fucking gypsies. He could feel her teeth playfully...teeth?! Brendan opened his
eyes to a wonder of architecture and engineering surrounding him.
The size of the structure reduced men to the size of ants. The walls were made of massive slabs,
a story tall and wide. The mortar separating them was razor thin. Specks of gold bedazzeled the
gun metal colored walls. Brendan felt teeth lightly graze his dick once more. Hemetra's head had
replaced Lois' and was slowly bobbing in his lap. The smell of her hair and skin were
intoxicating. Straw was digging into his ass. He grabbed a handful of it. He was in a nest of
some kind. He saw a line of men below. They were watching the whole thing.
Hemetra gently cupped his balls and drew in his entire length. Brendan threw his head back,
enjoying the warm bath. His eyes took in the enormous idol that was cradling them. It was at
least four stories tall - a massive, black torso of a man, topped by a golden head and beak of
a bird. It started to vibrate.
It was speaking in low, modulating tones in a language Brendan could not understand yet it
filled him with fear. Hemetra began to work on him even more enthusiastically, draining him of
each wave of fear and anxiety that washed over him with her vacuum of a mouth. The men below were
prostrate now, chanting. Brendan needed a release. His balls were aching even though the rest of
his body was convulsing in orgasm. If he didn't ejaculate soon, he was going to burst.
Suddenly, his body levitated rapidly through the tip of a pyramid. He and Hemetra were being
carried by a large bird. With each flap of its wings, Hemetra's mouth dragged on Brendan's penis,
flickering her tongue over its head when the bird glided. It flew high over the winding Nile,
the whipping wind making it hard to breathe. The pain in Brendan's balls had now spread throughout
his body. He didn't known how much more he could take. Then he felt the familiar surge of release
travel up his penis. The bird dropped him. Stream after stream of ejaculate spurted from his dick,
carried away with the wind. Brendan's body jerked through spasm after spasm as it picked up speed
in its descent. His stomach was in his throat and he could no longer breathe. He stop fighting
for breath. He no longer feared death.
The splash into the Nile felt like a basball bat to the shoulder blades. As he sank, a voice told
him to, "Inhale and end it." Brendan obeyed. The water slammed into the back of his throat like a
fist. Brendan found himself in Lois' bedroom gasping for air in the same upright position he had
started.
"We went back to the temple!" Lois exclaimed with Brendan's ejaculate dribbling down her chin. The
sight disgusted him. When Lois realized Brendan was having trouble understanding her, she put her
teeth in, which disgusted him even more.
"Did you see?! History has us worshiping dumb idols. He was ALIVE Brendan! We witnessed it. Now
do you see why this is so important?" Brendan was feeling confused and nauseous. He had to get out
of there.
"Excuse me," he said before running back to his room. He needed solitude. He needed some peace and
quiet to think and process.
He rocked back and forth on the edge of his bed. Too many questions were slamming around in his
brain. He had to focus. He no longer believed this was just a gypsy scam. He was in that temple with
Hemetra; that was no drug induced dream. His body began to shake as he relived the experience. Lois
was right. That was no dumb idol. Its' unintelligible utterings shook Brendan to his core. He wasn't
a religious man but he was convinced that the presence emanating from that statue encompassed the
universe. Lois may be right about the knowledge we lost, but some knowledge, Brendan believed,
needed to stay buried.
Brendan couldn't stop rocking. He had to find a way out of this. He couldn't go back to that temple.