Controlling Fear (Swordsman18 & Babette)

Misty Layne
Brunette
Blue Eyes
Slender
Age 24
Substitute Teacher/Dreamer

Misty Layne is an elementary teacher by day. When the sun goes down she welcomes the night. She has been researching mind control and telepathy for several years now. She has no intentions of staying in the small town of Briarwood and becoming as dead as the town. Her students admire her and know well of her dreams as she shares them with those most interested. On weekends you can find her reading in the old park on the outskirts of town. Some of her students will visit her from time to time.

She experiments on those who have shown the most interest and has had a few failures, but for the most part, her suggestions have been small, yet very successful. Mind control is her ultimate goal, using telepathy. On this particular day, she suggested her favorite student to go to the corner market look around, buy a small item of his choice and bring it back to her. He brought back a small candy bar, unopened and handed it to her. This was the beginning, and she was sure in time, she could manipulate anyone she chose.

Her background is nothing spectacular she comes from a medium size family. A Mother and Father, both retired. Her mother was a school teacher and her father worked in a factory until the company forced early retirement, and shipped the company abroad. She has two younger sisters , Krissy age fifteen and Connie age seventeen. Misty also has an older brother Robert age thirty-five, a Marine, who has been MIA for several years.

When Misty was twelve years old Robert introduced her to a study he was doing in college before he joined the service a year later. She was fascinated by the study and everything he had written for an essay in his science class. The study was called “Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes (1973). She read his essay concerning mind control, brainwashing and sleep deprivation.

Slowly thoughts crept into her mind that she could not shake off. Soon she had read every book on the subject she could find and by the time she reached twenty years old, Misty was secure in her thoughts that she would one day test her desire to be in control of everyone who appeared to feel they were better than another. She despised cocky attitudes and those who acted like total jerks. When her dad lost his job due to early retirement, he lost some of his humor and didn’t do much with the family any more. She missed the dad who always laughed and made her feel special.

That man disappeared the day he was forced into early retirement. It was time to turn things around for people like her family who once was so close, now they barely spoke. It was like an evil had entered their home.

He was a predator, a kind of thing that people speak of in whispers or in disbelief. He was a legend a myth in this little town in the middle of nowhere. Yet every now and then there would be the screams of a person in the center of the night that seemed to have been through a waking nightmare. It would scare them for awhile and then eventually they would justify it as having been a dream. There was nothing dream about it though. He was real just as the experiences that they had gone through.

At the moment, he was just walking around the street dressed as a business man, in a fine black suit, white shirt and a black tie. To many he would seem to be very cold as he walked down the street, some would see this as sadness and others as arrogance. But he was not doing this to scare, he was doing all of this to observe. To know who was a prime target to use his abilities on for he wanted to get the best targets that were not just your run of the mill children or adults. He wanted to go up against those that were under the impression that they were impenetrable with nothing able to pierce through their skin.

His lesson would be that he could, and he would. So he listened and watched as he made his way through the town, observing all of them whether they were paying attention to him or each other. Collecting all of the information on a potentially good target, for he was not the type to ever go after the same person twice since that would arouse too much suspicion.

Misty had spent the majority of the day in the old park catching up on homework assignments turned in to her by the class. She suddenly felt very tired. It was almost like a fog had appeared within her mind. She closed her folder and laid down her pen. Shaking her head trying to rid herself of this unusual fog, it would not dissipate.

She folded her arms in front of her and laid her head down. Eyes closed for what she thought was only a few minutes, to rest and remove this odd feeling. She ‘saw’ him in her mind. A conversation began to unfold between them both. Only this conversation was not spoken in words. More like impressions upon her mind, partial visual energies.

Misty saw something in her mind that snapped her awake fast. She looked up and around her. The sun was beginning to set, and she needed to leave the park. As normal she walked from her home to her favorite pavilion that was about a mile into the wooded park. She had never left the park this late. The shadows were spooky to her, even though the sun had not yet fully set, the lack of bright sun and eerie shadows appearing gave her enough reason to hurry out of the park.

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she walked out of the wooded park into the full sun. She now felt very confused. “I must have been dreaming,” she said aloud. "I could of sworn the sun was setting." Remembering her watch she looked at the time. It was only 2 o’clock in the afternoon. Misty decided to walk through town on her way home, instead of cutting through the shortcut.

When she got closer to town she felt a presence. She stopped and looked all around her. Seeing nothing, she continued. She turned abruptly to the right and almost tripped in to the stranger. ”I apologize for my carelessness, sir,” she said to him. As soon as the words came out of her mouth she somehow felt an instant connection to him.

There was something that was a little odd about this one that had run into him, she seemed to be special and aware of his significance, it was as plain as day in those eyes that were looking at him with such curiosity yet with some form of knowledge. Special ones were always nice to come by in his line of work, but this one seemed rather intriguing. Watching her activities was going to be essential lest he be burned by her. Messing with specials like herself had put some of the things like him in danger for they were volatile. Powers such as theirs also was influx and never properly defined like his were.

"It is okay." He said to her in passing as he left her sights in a brisk walk to make it seem as if he was going somewhere important. Once he turned the corner at the end of the block, he was gone. Waiting was what needed to be done now, he had to ensure he did not do anything that would attract any further attention to himself. Which is why at the moment, he was a simple crow perched at the edge of a building that was over looking the entire town and not just her.

To be aware of her movements did not mean that it had to see her, for he could sense her energy now that he had come in close contact to it. All the areas that she frequented also came along with that due to the traces of her energy that were present in them. Avoidance of such places were now on his top priority. This town was going to be next on his list of places to avoid, yet he still did not have the nutrients that he required for long travel. What he needed was one good dose of fear from someone and then he was going to be sated for the time being to be able to head out on the road again. For even that, he was going to need to keep track of this special.

She watched him walk away fast, and she thought about catching up to him, she felt something when she looked into his eyes. Not really sure what that something was, she knew though it was significant. She felt his change. She heard the ruffle of feathers and she felt his presence. “I see you too,” she said to him through her telepathy. I feel your presence and your eyes, you think you have fooled me, is that it little crow? I don’t know who or what you are, but you need not fear me.”

She closed her eyes and saw him perched on the roof. “You best be careful so high up, hawks tend to search out their prey up there, perhaps you should find a safe haven, or a thick tree to roost in for the night?” Misty continued to walk toward the direction of home. She felt his eyes on her, she turned quickly, looking up she saw him. He looked tiny and frail from that high up.

“I think you should come home with me, tiny crow, you look famished, and their isn’t much to eat in this old town. Come on, follow me home, if you dare, and you can sleep in the barn, I am sure you will find what you need in there.” She chuckled, “Misty, you are imagining too much, the crow is a crow, not some guy you bumped into today.” Her thoughts were off she felt, after the strange happening in the park. “That was scary,” she thought, “I really need to rest and I will be fine.” Still she wondered about that silly crow, “odd for a crow to be alone, I wonder where he came from?”

A special was definitely what this girl was and as a special he was going to have to treat her accordingly, which meant as he had thought before, a lot of distance, especially if she was one harboring the power of the mind. Not even he was going to be exempt to it, yet unlike normal humans who do not know how to have a still mind that gives off nothing for her to read, he has had millenia to practice such a thing.His blood red eyes watched her from this distance, seeing that she was trying to call to him, still he did not move or make a fuss. All he was at the moment was a normal crow, nothing more. So he was not going to give her the luxury of a reaction.

And if she was going to play mind games, he could play them right back. But it was better that he didn't. All he needed was energy and then he was going to be out of here. Trains left this place at all hours of the day going in all different kinds of directions, so he had his escape route already mapped out. When she walked away assuming exactly what he wanted her to, he flew up in the air to the edge of town where there a row of suburban looking houses. A woman named Leona, who he had been watching for a week was just getting out of her Nissan.

Stress of work and such had made her a little drained and frustrated in both her marriage and her general life. He perched on her storm drain of her house, watching her. Once she got immediately below him, he dropped down behind her. He took a human form and then grabbed the blonde locks pulling her back in his direction where she nearly fell back, her eyes widened as she looked up to see who was holding her, a scream was about to burst from her throat before he kissed her with force. Shock passed through her body as his energy began to surge through it, until finally, he was no longer there any longer. There was only Leona, who was passing her hand through her hair with this darkness in her eyes.

She came to the door and opened it, calling out to her husband, "Honey, I am home."

Misty took a deep breath. And continued on her way, she thought it funny the way the imagination could be misconstrued as reality. She laughed at her silliness. Stopping to admire some children playing games on a porch. She loved the sound of laughter. Especially from children. She watched with simple amusement. She waved to some of them who were in her class, then crossing the street to head the opposite direction and on to home. She totally forgot about the silly crow. Her thoughts more on her family and what she would make for dinner tonight. Finally arriving she would have kissed her Dad as normal when she came in the back door. He was always in the same place. Today, however he was standing at the front door.

“Dad? are you okay,” she asked him, concerned. He looked different and he stood different. He wasn’t all sagged down in posture. “Dad, what are you doing?” She looked in the direction he was looking and saw nothing but the mailbox and the neighbors house down the street. He had an envelope in his hand and handed it to Misty. It looked like one of those government letters again. She set her jaw, looked at her Dad, and opened it up. “Dad, go get Mom and the girls.”

Misty read the letter again, took a deep breath and waited for everyone to arrive. Her hands shook and her eyes filled with tears. “Don’t any one move,” she looked up, and walked towards her family. She wiped the tears, and calmly stated, “Robert is coming home. He is alive, though he has amnesia, he is alive and will be home Friday.” Everyone looked at each other. They all hugged, and tears were everywhere. “It is going to be rough living with someone we barely know anymore, but, we must all stick close and do whatever it is we can to help him remember us.”

Misty gave everyone a hug, especially her Dad. “It’s going to be alright Dad, your son is coming home.” She finally kissed him on the cheek, handed him the letter and saw a glimmer of light back in his eyes.

Later that night, Leona was on top of her husband, kissing along his skin making her way from the chest to his cock, her dark eyes looked up into Patrick's eyes as if she was quite enjoying it. A dark side of her was quite enjoying it, but it was not her that was doing the actions of her body though she was lead to the idea that she was. Her lips kissed along the top edge of his cock. Her tongue came out to lick along the top of it as her head raised in anticipation to the moment of her taking his length into her mouth. Her tongue made small circles along the crown of his member before she lowered her mouth onto it.

Patrick closed his eyes, just as he had been predicted to do when she had reached this point. But what he was not going to expect was the feel of jagged metal that was tracing along his stomach. His eyes shot open to see that she had a knife, a nice long one, just above his stomach. Leona's mouth opened and she raised her head off of him. "Patrick, I must ask dear. Am I the only one that you have shared this bed with?" Her expression was completely cold and calm, looking quite merciless.

He took a gulp as he looked at her seeing that knife and the fact that she had her head so close to his member. "Baby...you know that I would never." She moved the knife down a little letting him feel how utterly sharp it was and that she was not just going to back down from this. "That was not the question I asked, darling." Her voice was cold even with that mention of affectionate terms. Patrick had a feeling that she would do it if he did not say something.

"Shirley, that cute girl down the block, she seduced me." His voice was shaking and he was stammering. An evil smile came to her lips as if she had received some kind of great gift that was to be used for pure deviance. "She is barely out of high school so it is not like I actually believe you. Now there is one other person, who is it?" Leona seemed to be well informed though the real one actually did not have all the information that this one had for it could sense his fear and thrived in it. "Karen." Maniacal laughter filled the room as she got the information that she wanted.

"Good boy, now get your ass up and out of my house before I actually do cut you." She pulled the knife away and got off of him. All of that energy was quite nice for the entity that had full control of her at the moment. Illusions were one thing but when it was a real life thing that people were afraid of it was twice as strong. Leona called her lawyer to tell him that she was going to be in his office tomorrow with evidence that her husband had been unfaithful. Patrick had already flew the house by the time that she got into the bedroom where she picked up the tape recorder that had been hidden under a handkerchief on her dresser.

"Now, I shall be going." All of the darkness left her and moved to be on her roof, outside in the cool air. He stood there for a moment wondering if he should leave town just yet or if he had time for one more surge of power.

Misty woke up in the late night. She sense something was wrong, though she had no clue what had happened down the next street over. She felt something. Sitting in the dark, she listened. She closed her eyes and tried hard to concentrate on what ever sensation had pulled her out of a deep sleep. Hearing nothing she got up to get a glass of cool water, the only noise she heard was the old grandfather clock down stairs and her Dad snoring. “Poor Mom,” she thought.

She opened the door quietly across the hall checking in on her sisters. Both were sound asleep. Walking down the stairs in the dark like she had many times before this time was different. She again sensed something and stood perfectly still. Looking around the room at the bottom of the stairs she saw nothing out of place. Her eyes looked outside briefly through the curtain that was slightly open.

Misty saw a shadow of something, she wasn’t sure what it was, though her mind told her it didn’t belong. She watched the shadow, it didn’t move, it was too far away to make out anything clearly. She sat down on the step just staring at it, wondering why she noticed it in the first place and wondered what it belonged too. She sighed heavily.

Finally she got up continued down the last few steps, walked into the kitchen and got herself some water. Once she finished drinking it, she set the glass in the sink. “It has been too strange a day,” she whispered to herself. “I really need to get some sleep. My mind is playing tricks on me.”

Being watched was not something that normal humans could do, so he turned looking in her direction his eyes glowing red as he saw her and then he seemed to just vanish. When he had a charge he had very limited teleportation capabilities but they were useful when you did not want people to believe what it was that they were seeing. Now, he was on the sidewalk in front of his former victim's house but he turned and walked away changing his appearance to look like that of a cop in a dark blue uniform. This form was meant to give him a lot of mobility in this town as well as a kind of respect.

But neither of those he was going to need for very long as he headed in the direction of the train station, with her around seemingly everywhere he was going to have to leave, he did not have that much of a choice in the matter anymore. Her power was constant and was more than likely used against him if she considered him a threat which in truth he was but not to her. In about ten minutes he made it to the station buying a ticket for New York. The train was set to arrive in about 15 minutes so he went to the bathroom changing into a suit in order to not be dressed as a cop on a train. Which was going to raise a lot of questions that he did not feel like answering.

Taking a night train was going to have its advantages, there were going to be people there that were bound to have dreams even nightmares that he could gain a bit of strength off of to make it to the next city in his travels. New York was a ripe place for people with fears since it was one of those metropolitan areas where people were crammed into a very small place. This was going to provide him with safety as well as the safety of a great many others.

Misty finally drifted to sleep when she crawled back under the covers. No more thought was given concerning the shadow she thought she had seen. Her mind drifted to days when she was younger and her brother and her used to go on special outings together whether it be horseback riding or some museum.

She woke up early and made everyone breakfast. Sitting down with them she told them she had some ideas on how to help Robert remember again, but it would take a lot of patience on every one’s part. That pushing him to remember would do more harm than good. “Mom, Dad, girls, you all know how close Robert and I were growing up. Not so much you girls because you were just little ones back then, but you need to know this stuff, too. We were very close, and because of this even though he may not remember any of us straight off, with memories we all can work with him.”

She reached over and placed her hand on her Dads. “I know this is going to be hard on you and Mom, Dad. More so for you, than us. He is your son. Just take it easy okay? I am sure in time something will give and he will love us all again the way he did before the war took him away.”

Misty handed the girls their lunches. “Try to have a good day girls. I shall see you sometime before this afternoon. I am writing excuses for your teachers please give it to them. I will pick you both up before 1 pm. Be out in the front, both of you at precisely quarter till the hour. We have some shopping to do and preparations before tomorrow. I hope you two will not mind taking some time away from your last class and missing Friday.” She smiled at her sisters, knowing they both loved it when she got them out of class early.”

She called the principal and told him she needed the next two days off for a family emergency. She knew all the classes would be covered and there would be no problem in her taking a three and a half day weekend. Substitute teachers were in plenty at the school where she worked.

Several months of patrolling the streets undetected from the presence of others, he was quite happy with himself, he had not found a single special in this entire grand city, but there was a severe loss of intimacy in this entire town. He had gotten feed with the fear of close to a hundred people but none of them ever really effect each other, all that simply happened was that their own lives were effected. All of the little changes that he could enact back when he was at home in the small town seemed to have mattered but here nothing really mattered, people just moved on with their lives gaining a new phobia or going to therapy.

It was getting kind of boring for him, something that he had never really had to deal with before. But he was not going to go back just yet. He was not going to go back just to face down a special that could kill him for all intents and purposes. It was better to be alive and bored than dead and interested. So he went down to a bar on the upper east side of the big city to have a drink in both the fears of the people there and to just enjoy himself as there was not a whole lot that did not entertain him about mortals.

When he got to the bar he looked like a stock broker in a clean suit. Noe one recognized him and no one particularly cared. It was just the typical bar scene in New York. There were a series of regulars that were sitting by the counter just wallowing in their problems, and in turn feeding him with energy to empower himself. All of this life was so much easier than it had once been for him when he had been back at home. It was ease at which it was all happening that made him doubt the fact that he was actually going to stay here as it did not seem that in this large city that he mattered anymore.

His future was most likely to go back to that city where she still lived and then do his best to out and out avoid her, hoping that she is not going to be around or a problem for him. But there was no real way of telling that, he was just going to need to go back to see and find a way for them both to have their own turf.

After making the phone call to the school to the principal Misty went up the stairs into Robert’s room. She stripped the bed of the old linens, pillows and blankets that had been there since he disappeared many years ago. Her mother refused to take them off encase he returned one day. Truly no one had been in his room since that day they got the sad news of his being MIA.

The old curtains were dusty and needed washing too. Everything came off the walls that could be cleaned in some fashion. Misty had another thought too. What if he couldn’t walk on his own? What if they left something out, like maybe he was wheelchair bound, if this was the case, then she would add some of his things to the guest room downstairs, just to be on the safe side.

Boxing a few items and taking them down with her to do laundry she saw her mother staring out the window, still in her robe. “Mom, are you okay? Where’s Dad?” she looked around and he was not in sight, which was totally unusual, her mother still had not turned around. “Mom, what’s wrong?” she asked again, and set the laundry basket with the box down on the floor. Walking over to the window she placed her hands on her mother’s shoulders. Her mother jumped and turned, “Oh, Misty how long have you been here?” she asked. “Not long Mom, where’s Dad and why aren’t you dressed?”

Her mother pointed out the window. “He has been out there for hours, since sunrise. Your Dad hasn’t gardened in years, and he is out there prepping the soil for a garden.” Both of them watched for several minutes. “Alright Mom, go get dressed, we have work of our own to do, right? How about taking Dad some nice iced tea and sit in the lawn chair and talk to him. This place has been silent too long. Robert is coming home. Let’s show him how families stick together, shall we?”

Misty started the laundry and took the box of Robert’s baseball cards, things he had found interesting growing up, his favorite books and the big wall picture of his favorite baseball team. Once everything was in place, new linen and blanket on the bed she finished the laundry and went up to change her clothes before picking up the girls.

His future came not too long from then when he was once more in the darkness of his ever loved home haunt and it seemed that the place had yet grown ripe with certain darkness in some places as well as a bright light in the section of the city where a man seemed to be absorbed in fear that was not generated supernaturally but rather internally. He felt that such cases were not conducive to a rather productive life so it seemed that was the place that he was going to have to deal with first. Like usual all it took was a few seconds and then he was back at the rooftop looking down at the light shining off of the man's body as he slept in the bed haunted by nightmares, or rather something that felt a bit more familiar like memories.

Humans were known to make their own prisons yet he was going to be the one with the key to this poor individuals torment. He turned into a mist and flowed into the room before he solidified once more standing over the young man that seemed to have been in the military. It was very common for these men who served their country to come back scarred and this one seemed have been back for less than a week. Better that this be handled now rather than letting it scar him later. The dark figure stepped forward and pressed its hand to his forehead as he began to drain away all of those feelings that were so powerfully running through the man's mind.

Misty sat in the darkest corner of the room as she did every night watching Robert as he slept. She had taken a month off work to tend to his needs and hopefully make him as comfortable as possible. Tonight was unusually quiet. She saw him appear. Nothing this week would have surprised her after hearing some of the hell that tormented her brother. Both of the these in front of her were strangers to her. Yet she quietly watched him. Not knowing what he was doing exactly, she barely whispered telling the stranger who appeared, “please, he has had enough torment, do not to hurt him any further.” She didn’t speak a word only to him was anything said within her mind. Surely if he could walk through walls he could hear her thoughts.

Standing up quietly she walked behind him her head tilted to one side as she looked at him through the corner of her eyes. She recognized him. He was the man several weeks ago she ran into and almost fell over in the center of town. Now she knew he was no ordinary man, there he is appearing in this room as if he was always here, but she knew what she saw was real.

"Girl, I do not mean your brother harm, in fact I am taking the harm from him before it does even greater damage. I would ask that you stay away from me as I do this." He was polite and civil even though his voice had this dark quality to it that was very hard to define. Even with the interruption he was going to continue the process of taking all of the horrible energies that were attached to his memories and thoughts to leave him as a nice balanced individual that could cope with life and his problems without the issues of PTSD. And even though the special was so close it did not look like she was going to stop this or attack him so he was safe for now and most likely would be for quite a while since after this was done he was not planning on hanging out with her.

The energy was flowing out the man easily enough and it was only going to be a few more moments for it to finish before he was going to be able to just head out and let them live a peaceful life as he continued to do what he did best.

She did as he asked, not wanting Robert hurt any more than he has been. “What is your take? Do you come now and take his bad memories then suck the life out of him at a later date. I recognize who you are. I just don’t get the connection. Why Robert. What do you want with his memories?”

Her common sense told her he wasn’t there just to take the harmful effects of the war in Roberts mind. She did not trust the fact that he chose to arrive in the late night hours. “If you mean no harm, then why did you not be open and honest instead of coming in here like a common thief? You are neither common nor a thief, at least not to steal household possessions. You knew who I was, why did you not talk to me about this? Why all the secrecy. No normal person just walks in unannounced hiding in the night shadows as you did a month or so ago two blocks away. Of course you aren’t a person nor are you normal.”

He did not answer her questions for there was no need to, she was scared as all humans were in times like these. And he was not the kind to comfort others. It was their choice to comfort themselves after his business was done. Whether he be doing an act such as this to heal wounds or if he did an act much like he did when he was helping the other woman's marriage. All he was doing was helping with some benefit for himself on the side but the main act was to deal with the suffering and pain that people were having to go through either knowingly or unknowingly as it surely hurts them in more ways than one.

The last of the energy flowed up from her brother into his hand and he looked over to her with a nod. "I may act by darkness but that does not mean that I am of the dark. Your brother will be fine and should lead a full life without ever having to encounter me again. So I bid you adieu." In black mist he left the room once more heading out into the night to find where there was yet more fear that he was going to have to deal with.

She did not quite know how to take his lack of answers, let alone his reply. Though he seemed sincere it was like believing him would have been a fate worse than death. Misty held back her thoughts and let him do whatever he had too. If truly he could help her brother, he was here, already, nothing could be done without making matters worse. If in fact this entity or spirit was planning something evil, he would have done it by now. “Wouldn’t he?” That was her thought.

She nodded back with stress revealed all over her face. She would know by morning when he woke up whether or not this spirit of the night had helped her brother. She hoped, even prayed Robert would have no recollection as to what happened here this night. That he would recognize her and be alright again. Come sunrise everyone would either know some miracle had happened or a nightmare had just begun.

When the morning came it seemed that Robert woke very refreshed, there was no shakes and no apparent fear in his eyes, it was like he was in perfect peace. "Last night I had this beautiful dream where this angel forgave me for my transgressions in battle and took the pain away. It makes me feel so very peaceful Misty." Those were the words that she was greeted with in the morning while there was no entity in the room. The entity was simply just living in some other corner of the city feeding off of the fear of others and possibly doing further righting of wrongs that occurred that caused suffering in the hearts of others. This was his way of making what he did counted. Making a mark on the world and feeling as though that mark counted was important to him even though no one would really notice it.

He was happy in the knowledge that her brother was going to be safe in his own mind and able to better cope with things and develop into a fully integrated citizen into society. It was important that such a thing occur yet without him being for all of the soldiers in the US Army, he was a minority case to have been saved from the pain of the aftermath of war.

Misty smiled. “Sounds like a wonderful dream Robert. I hope it lasts for a very long time.” She looked into her brother’s face and for the first time since he came home the haunting appearance was gone. The glazed over look was gone and she hated to ask, but she had too. “Robert, do you know where you are? I mean, do you remember anything beyond last night? You know I am your sister, but do you.....remember me at all?”

Taking his hands into hers looking into his face and eyes, she was afraid he would say ‘not really, though I feel at peace.’ Her stomach was fluttering around like a woman with morning sickness, she was hoping beyond hope he knew for a fact that he recognized his sister. Not just someone who was there for him helping him through this transition of coming home unaware of who he really was or where he really belonged.

"Sis, you are being weird. Do you have one of those weird headaches again? Of course I remember you. You have been taking care of me since I got home and we spent all of our childhood together like best buds. I know you better than I know my unit." He spoke with clarity as he walked over to hug his sister and make her feel like she was being recognized and that he was not just saying words to say words. He was saying them to actually mean something to her. Since she was a child she had been special; and it caused her to be weird from time to time so this was not something that was abnormal.

"I am sorry, Sis. I just worry about you sometimes." He told her as he pulled her into an even tighter hug to let her know that he was there fro her.

Misty laughed and then tears fell from her eyes. They were mighty close as she asked him the question, though she blinked them back. “Robert, you know something, I am only weird because you expect it. I would hate to let you down now.”

She gave him her best hug and rubbed his back. “I love you Robert, you have always been here for me as well. From the first time you took me up in the top of Mom’s apple tree to the time I fell from the hayloft hiding from you. I will never let you think I am anything but weird.”

Misty gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I will meet you downstairs. I need to start breakfast for everyone. I am so glad you are home, Robert. I have missed you so very much.”

She went downstairs and went into the kitchen and started coffee and tea for everyone. Next she went in and called the girls into their parents room she sat on their bed and quietly gave them the news. “Just don’t go banana’s over this change, he seems to be fine.”

Quietly she thanked the spirit who had been there in the night. “You must be some kind of angel.”

He was no angel but he was good at taking care of things, things that others were unable to or did not want to. She was now going to have an intact brother, not one that was going to be broken by war, he had done that for her to help her brother. At the same time it also served the purpose of allowing him distance from her and hopefully understanding. It allowed him to be able to live in his normal home without having to venture out just as New York had been quite a nice vacation for him. Being home was where the heart was, though he did not particularly have such a thing but who knows. He was an entity that was brought into existence by some unknown force with the drive to punish those who do wrong by others with their own fear.

Doing it here was much more meaningful than it would be in New York or any other big city as here it seemed to have an actual effect rather than be simply just another ripple in an ocean of others. As she was thanking him for his deed, he was sitting in front of a jail cell in the City Police Department looking at a man that they had picked up for being intoxicated in public. However, what they did not know was that the man's crime was much worse than that. The reason for him being drunk is that he had beat his girlfriend to death after she supposedly had cheated on him when she hadn't. He had just thought that she had.

So now here he was in the place that he needed to be anyway, but he was going to be let out soon for the day. The entity was not going to allow this murderer to get away with his crime. So here he was in the exact form of the man's girlfriend only being able to be seen by the murderer. The entity got up gingerly and approached the bars looking at him. "Why did you kill me? I did nothing to you to deserve this. I thought that you loved me. We were going to have a life together. And you threw it all away due to the illusion of cheating." He had an hour till he was released and he was either going to have a break down or admit his crime well before then. The entity was going to make sure of that.

Misty made a large breakfast for everyone. It was Saturday and there was no rush to do anything but sit down to a home style breakfast. She had everything ready when Robert came into the kitchen, he came up behind his sister and said he was starving. That was the Robert she remembered. He was always in the kitchen with their Mother when she used to bake a lot in her younger years.

With six mouths to feed there was always plenty. She had everything in the oven staying warm waiting for Krissy, Connie, and their parents. “Pour some coffee or tea if you like Robert. I already had a cup. I never know what Mom and Dad are drinking. If I pour coffee, they will have tea.” She gave a small laugh. I already know what the girls will be drinking. Orange Juice, it is their everyday drink at breakfast.”

When she heard her Dad’s voice in the living room, she opened the oven handing Robert the mitts, “Would you mind setting the tray on top of the stove?” she asked him. She lined up the plates and as everyone sat down at the table she gave a list of what they were having. Fried eggs, hash browns, fresh melon, toast, and blueberry waffles. Her Dad always got first choice then Robert, the girls, her Mother then her. It had been like that since the younger girls were born. It was also a big help and the only way she knew to keep everyone straight.

She was glad it was this Saturday, it was the girls day to do dishes, they switched every two weeks. Which meant she had today free and clear to take Robert out if he so chose or just stay close by encase he needed anything. After breakfast she helped the girls stack, rinse and get ready to wash the dishes. Misty reminded them if they broke anything they would lose their allowance for a month, she winked and smiled at them and left to go find something to do.

Robert was out on the back porch sitting in the old rocking chair, staring off into space. She opened the screen door quietly and stood in front of the door leading out to the back yard. “Would you like to do something today Robert?” she asked him, hoping he wasn’t starting to slip back into thinking about the war.

He looked up at her and smiled, “I am just glad to be home finally. Sitting here after being gone so long, is nice. I see Dad hasn’t lost his love for flowers. I should go see if he wants a hand. Though I already know what his answer will be.” Robert laughed, “This is what he will say, tell me if I am wrong. ‘You’re standing in my light son.’” He chuckled, “That’s what he always says when I ask if I can help him. Does he say that to you Misty?”

Misty couldn’t help but giggle, “Close enough, he doesn’t call me son.”