A Wicked Beginning Read online

  “Wait…”

  “What for? I’m not going to eat that dead meal.” He gave a dismissive flick of his hand towards the table. “I prefer to be nourished when I eat.”

  “Give me a moment…” I implored.

  He tapped his foot and glanced at this wrist, where a wrist watch would be, if he had one.

  “I can’t do this under pressure, Kayden, stop it.”

  “Why not? I have to do things under pressure from you all the time.”

  “Uhhhh, Kayden, stop it.” I was starting to get annoyed with him. “Are you trying to pick a fight?”

  “As in select one?” he said, with a coy smile. “I choose 1B.”

  “As in start one,” I fumed.

  “Temper, temper. How can you create a meal if you are angry? I told you I want to be nourished, not plagued with heartburn.”

  My hands had clenched into fists. “Uhhhh, you’re impossible, Kayden. Turn around.”

  “As you wish,” he said, turning to face the lake.

  I looked at the dead, gray food sitting in front of me on paper plates. Bringing to mind the exquisitely painted soup bowls, I allowed myself to relax, brought my awareness to my heart, and savored the delicious feeling of Cam being inside of me. The paper plate shimmered and color began to appear, slowly moving in and out of focus. I took a deep breath and allowed myself to experience an even deeper sense of aroused relaxation, as strange as that sounded. Ping! Two bowls appeared. The gray meat lay in the bottom of each bowl. “Ugh,” I said, peering at the lifeless patty.

  “How’s it going?” Kayden called.

  “It’s going great. Stay turned around.”

  “As you wish,” he repeated.

  Next, I pictured the ceramic tureen and ladle. Ping! The tureen appeared in the center of the table. I looked inside. It was empty. I brought to mind the fragrant smelling soup. It suddenly filled the bowl. It didn’t smell the same as the soup before. Herbs, I thought. What kinds of herbs were used? I scrunched up my face. Probably basil…a touch of lavender…and some thyme. I pictured my grandma’s garden, out east of Walla Walla, WA. Grandma had a great garden every summer. When I was at her ranch, I would pick veggies and fruits from the garden and bring in large handfuls of the savory herbs for her to dry. I imagined the plants, abundant with green leaves of varying sizes or the long grayish purple stalks of the lavender shrubs. Ping! Large plants draped over sides of the soup bowl, their dirt covered roots resting in the center of the lentils. “Oops,” I uttered.

  “Should I go for my walk now?” Kayden called.

  “Nope, give me another minute.”

  He tapped his foot.

  “Without the tapping, please. I’m getting this, really.”

  Using my imagination, I erased the dirt laden lentils and the plant stalks. I visualized cooking the soup over grandma’s stove, adding the herbs and veggies and allowing it to simmer to perfection. Then I pictured pouring this mixture into the tureen. Ping! I waved my hand towards my nose. Perfection!

  “Almost there…” I called to Kayden.

  Now for the iced tea. That was easy. I imagined the frosty pitcher and the aromatic liquid poured over ice cubes. Ping! Ping! Iced tea in pitcher, iced tea in glasses. “Okay, Kayden.” I called brightly.

  He walked over and looked at the table. “What about these?” He said, picking up a meat patty between two fingertips.

  “Oh, sorry!” I snatched the mystery meat out of his fingers, picked mine up and flung them into the woods. Then I picked up a napkin and wiped out the bowls. “There…”

  Kayden had a very displeased look on his face.

  I looked upwards, right and left and quickly thought what to do. Then, snapping my fingers, I imagined sanitizing the bowls to a sparkly, dishwasher clean and replacing the soiled napkin with a new one.

  “Better,” he said, nodding approvingly. He pointed towards the woods. “You don’t intend anyone to ingest those things, do you? I wouldn’t want to be disturbed by the sound of a dying animal.”

  “Nope, sorry again,” I shot back, imagining the meat into vapor.

  “Where are the rolls?” Kayden asked. “I love a fresh baked roll.”

  “I’ve never baked a roll,” I said. “I don’t know how to create one.”

  “You’ve bought a roll, haven’t you? Someone has to bake them.”

  “Geez, Kayden, you want everything, don’t you?”

  He stared at me, waiting, his mouth pressed into a line.

  “Alright, okay, give me another second.” I thought of my favorite bakery, Great Bakes, the one Cam and I used to shop at when we were in the mood for fresh baked whole grain scrumptiousness. Ping! “There.”

  “Butter?”

  I blew out my breath in exasperation then pictured the small dabs of butter in their tiny bowls.

  Kayden scraped a dab onto his fingernail and tasted it. “This is salted. I prefer mine unsalted.”

  “Uhhhh, Kayden, why don’t you just eat?”

  He tapped the wooden table with his elegant index finger. “You want to please me the same way I want to please you, don’t you? Honestly, I give you everything you desire. I am only asking for unsalted butter.”

  “Okay,” I exploded, conjuring up an image of what I imagined unsalted butter would taste like.

  Kayden took another taste. “Nice touch, chère. It’s organic.”

  I beamed at his compliment, all huffiness forgotten. “Do you like it? Wait…” I pictured a couple of small, colorful nasturtium blossoms resting on the soup like my grandma used to do.

  “Splendid, chère, I would never have thought of that!” He reached across the table, picked up my hand, and lovingly kissed it. Both of our rings pulsed with light. “Now, let us eat.” He reached for the ladle and scooped out soup for both of us. Then he picked up his iced tea and extended it to me in a toast. “To new skills and discoveries,” he said with a laugh.

  “To new skills and discoveries,” I repeated, smiling. Perhaps I was a better cook than I knew.

  Chapter 23 – Cam

  Mano stood in the kitchen when Cam walked in the next day. He was chopping vegetables, washing chicken breasts, and boiling potatoes. Severe lay at Mano’s feet next to the stove. She looked up at Cam and thumped her tail on the floor a few times before resting her head back on the cool tile.

  “That smells good,” Cam said, reaching into the ‘fridge for a brew. He cranked off the top, threw the bit of metal into the trash, and took a pull off of the beer. “Here’s your rent money,” he offered, laying a check on the counter.

  “Thanks, man.” Mano flipped his one long braid behind his back, reached into his spice cupboard and pulled out a few tins. “So Cam…we need to have a talk.”

  “About what?” Cam took another slug of the dark beer.

  “About you…and the dreamling…”

  “Shit. Okay, hit me with the news. What now?” He plunked down into one of the dining room chairs and leaned back. One leg was bent while the other stretched out before him in a relaxed fashion.

  “You’re extremely powerful. The elders are concerned about you.”

  “Why are they concerned about me?”

  “Because you don’t know what you are doing or why the dreamling is stalking you.”

  Cam let out a sharp guffaw. “I thought that was the purpose of that three day ordeal, Mano. I thought they were going to give me guidance. You know, offer up a clue or something.”

  Mano put the cover on the pan of vegetables and chicken, turned the burner down to simmer and came over and sat next to Cam. “True that, bro. But they’re still baffled - they sat in counsel for two nights after that. Here’s what we know.” He stood up and got himself a brew and settled back down at the kitchen table. “That star dreamling is one powerful beast. It took all the prayers of the men in the lodge and the elder to keep an energetic barrier up around the lodge so that the beast could not enter.” He swallowed a gulp of beer. “You were probably adding to the barr
ier in some way, but we’re not sure how. It took me and Lighting Rod to hold you and keep you from being flung into the fire. We used every ounce of our strength to do that. A being as powerful as that would not have a reason to stalk you, unless you were one wicked enemy or one amazing dude.”

  “Is that supposed to make me all warm and fuzzy, like, hell yeah, that’s me, and I’m all that…?”

  “Does it…?”

  Cam snorted. “What I feel good about is being able to engage intimately with Chérie and not feel agonizing pain in my leg.”

  Mano squinted over at Cam. “Are you saying that you had sex with the ka’kriyayaga?”

  “Hell, yeah…we had sex, sex, and then some more sex. Or, rather we made love…” He uttered the phrase ‘made love’ like he was a baritone R&B singer. “…from that fucking pure heart place you said I had to access.” He thumped his chest. “It all came from right here. It was mind blowing.”

  “And nothing happened? No star dreamling, no pain?”

  “No, man, not a whit… There was only pleasure like you would not believe.”

  Mano whistled. “You’re probably right about that, bro. That, in itself, speaks volumes of what I was just talking about.” He rapped his fingers on the polished wood of the table. Severe trotted over and wagged her tail. “Not you girl,” he said to the dog, scratching her head. She wagged her tail again. “I’m thinking, Severe, I’m thinking.” She barked and wagged happily. “Glad it makes you so happy, mutt.” He turned back to Cam. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to do what you said you did?”

  “Not really…” Cam finished off his beer. “I mean it was hard at first, but Chérie showed me a technique that works. At first it scared me because it made me feel fucking vulnerable like a little kid or something. But then I got frustrated at just getting to reconnect and not being able to have sex with Chér and mastered the method.”

  Mano laughed. “Pleasure can be a powerful motivator, just as pain can.” Then he became serious, the tattoos accenting the lines in his face. “In our mythology, we tell legends about the ka’kriyayaga coming to Earth and mating with a mortal…the mortal becomes a righteous dude.”

  “Jesus, Mano. Are you honestly sitting there thinking that your legend has anything to do with me? Does this mean I have to save the world or something? Can’t say I’m up for that…” Cam said, swiping a hand across his belly. “I’m just an ordinary guy living an ordinary life trying to sort my shit out along the way. Don’t pin any superhuman skills or righteousness on me just yet.”

  Mano gave him a sidelong glance. “How was the sex, bro?”

  Cam hooted. “Fucking awesome, like I told you…”

  “How did you feel afterwards?”

  “Like I was fucking on fire…like I could take on the Universe. We’d wrestle and roll, rest a bit, then start all over again. I’ve had sex before, believe you me, but that was beyond mere sex. That was like plugging me into the light socket of the Universe.”

  Mano lifted an eyebrow.

  “Okay, okay, I get your point.”

  “And how have you felt since then?”

  Cam became thoughtful. “Good, man, really good. Younger…stronger…”

  “That’s the ka, bro. That’s the energy of the ka.” Mano stood up, grabbed his and Cam’s beer bottle and pitched them into the recycling bin. “Want another?”

  “Nah, I’ve got to get over to see James today. He got me hooked up with the Teen Wilderness Camp as someone’s shadow…to try it out and see how I like it.”

  Mano pulled another beer out of the fridge and opened it. Leaning against the stainless steel, he said, “Hey, Cam, I’ve got an idea.”

  “What…?”

  “From what I hear, consorting with the ka’kriyayaga will give you energy, just like you’ve experienced. It wears off after a while, but then you go and…” He made a circle with the index finger and thumb of one hand and pushed the index finger of the other hand in and out of the hole. “…then you go back and dip into the sacred well.” He took a swig of beer. “I’m going to have to consult with a few of the elders on this, but I think you go get yourself ‘renewed,’ and then we track the dreamling.”

  “I’m all up for the renewal part,” Cam said with a chuckle. “But can’t say that I know anything about tracking a mystery beast… And, to tell the truth, I’m not sure I want to seek it out.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Cam,” Mano said excitedly. “You keep waiting for the beast to appear, or trying to do things so it doesn’t appear. I think we need to consciously go after it and find out what it wants. You know…take charge of the situation.”

  Cam considered, remembering James say that he needed to look it in the eye and deal with it. “Yeah, that does sound more appealing than waiting around like I’m the fucker’s victim.” His face brightened. “Hell, yeah that sounds way better. We go after it, rather than it going after me. How do we do that?”

  Mano’s chest seemed to swell. “I’ve been training for this all my life, brother. I come from a long line of Spirit Trackers.”

  “Spirit Trackers, huh?” Cam said dubiously. “I’ve known you a long time, Mano. You’ve never said anything about being a Spirit Tracker.”

  “It’s not something we talk about like the weather, Cam. It’s a sacred honor…a sacred duty. It only needs to be spoken of when it’s needed.” He walked back over to the stove to check on the chicken. “This looks about done. Want to have a bite before you head out?”

  “I would, but I’m late. I’m just going to grab a sandwich and eat it on the way. You can save me some though.”

  “You got it. Okay. So you go do your thing, and I’ll see what I can find out about tracking this beast.”

  “Good, Mano, sounds like a plan.”

  Cam let himself out the front door, got in the Land Rover, and headed towards California Street in the heart of West Seattle. As he drove towards the coffee shop where he’d agreed to meet James, he realized he was feeling a bit off about the whole meeting. Lately his life had, so far, been like something out of a movie. He hooked up with Chér again – that was beyond great. This star dreamling stalks him – not so great – more like freaky. He’d done the sweat lodge, interacted a couple more times with the dreamling – that was surreal. He’d had mind blowing sex with Chérie – that was greater than great. His heart felt huge, completely in love with Chérie. He and Mano were going to try to stalk the dream fucker – well, that was just weird. And now he was going to talk with his mentor about hanging in the woods with a bunch of teenagers? He had barely registered this news when James had brought it up in his office – was it only a week ago? He couldn’t be sure of the passage of time lately. Now that he was getting some more concrete facts about the opportunity, he felt kind of let down…uninterested…it sounded boring even. He decided to give Cheerio a call to see if she could lend some perspective.

  “Hey, babe,” he said into the headset when Chér had answered the phone. “I miss you.” He smiled when she laughed into the phone. “God, you feel like you are right here next to me right now. Yeah, that was fucking awesome.” He felt his cock twitch as she recounted some of their sex play. “Okay. Alright. I’m driving here, okay? Want me to pull over? Or, I can head back over there.” He listened again and laughed. “Yeah, I got it, me too. I’m heading over to meet James right now. So how do you think I can integrate today’s meeting with James into the craziness my life has become? It just seems kind of unreal to go from fantastic out of this world love making with you to, ‘hey, James, tell me what to do with the kids in the camp?’”

  He paid attention as she explained how grounding it was to teach aerobics when her life had started taking on its own fantastical mysteries. “Yeah, I hear that. Okay. But I’m actually feeling disinterested in the whole thing. Like, what good can come out of it?” He marveled at her new wisdom when she said these kinds of experiences would allow time for his body and mind to integrate all that was happening. He real
ly loved this new Chérie. He loved being able to call her and discuss stuff. They’d never really done that before. “Okay, well, that makes sense, Chér. Yeah, that’s good, babe. Got it. Okay, I’ll call you later, okay? Yeah, I love you too.” His heart surged, and his groin throbbed with pleasure saying that phrase. Man, she was in his heart deep. Hanging up the phone, he pulled the headset off and tossed it on the passenger seat. Okay, well, here goes into my next adventure, if you can call it that, he thought.

  It was James’ idea to meet at this coffee shop. “You’ll feel more relaxed there, Cameron,” he had said, smiling. “There won’t be a therapeutic vibe.”

  As Cam strode into the coffee shop, he spotted James in a corner booth. Reaching out to shake his mentor’s hand, he said, “Hello, James.”

  “Hello, Cameron. Sit, please.” He gestured at the seat across the table.

  Cam slid into the booth.

  “I saw you parking out front so I ordered you a coffee. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “No, that’s great, James. Thank you.”

  “How’s it been going, Cameron? How’s the cat’s eye working for you? Or, are you even using it?”

  Cam brightened. “It’s going great – the cat’s eye has become my lucky talisman. I’ve used it a couple of times with good results.”

  “That’s excellent. Good to hear. I’m also curious how things are going with the star dreamling you told me about. Any progress?”

  “It’s hard to say, James. I’ve been pretty beat up by the beast…” He held up his palm as evidence. “…but my roommate and I are looking into an idea that may prove fruitful.”

  “That looks like a nasty set of blisters.”

  “That’s nothing compared to my back. But I’m coping.” Cam looked out the window at the cars traveling down the street. It felt so odd to be talking to James about this stuff. It was like talking to the postman about the alien living in your bedroom in a matter of fact, newsy kind of way.

  “You’re a strong man, Cameron. I’m certain that you’ll find a solution. But now let’s get to the reason we are here.” James reached in his briefcase and pulled out a booklet, a brochure, and a folder full of papers. “Here is some literature about the Teen Wilderness Camp. And this…” he handed Cam the folder full of papers. “…this is paperwork you will need to fill out and return to Mark Myers, the head of the program. The week you’ll be attending starts Friday. It runs Friday to Friday over in the Olympics near Hurricane Ridge.”