The Artist - August 2007 Part XI The Conclusion

As it turned out, Nathan and I returned to the studio the next evening and indeed the piece was finished. Mind you, we still had to spend most of the night allowing the kiln to cool down before we dared remove my precious art piece from within. I'm pleased to say, it came out perfectly. It was everything I wanted it to be.

"It's beautiful," Nathan told me inside our shared space.

"I wouldn't have been able to finish it without your help," I replied. "I wish I could thank you properly..."

"How do you mean?" he replied curiously. 

"You know, giving you a huge hug and all that," I told him, shrugging our shoulders.

Next thing I knew we were face to face again, inside his mind once more. We were surrounded by fleeting images of his memories again, and this time I caught a few glimpses of our working on my sculpture.

Meanwhile, Nathan opened his arms and I quickly did the same.

"Thank you... thank you so much..." I blubbed, feeling tears of actual tears running down my cheeks. Then I pulled back and looked at him and asked, "Why? Why did you do all this, sharing your body with me and all?"

"Because, you asked for my help," he said simply.

I shook my head eyeing him carefully, "No, there's more to it than that. You've let me inside you, literally, in a way you yourself said you rarely do. So why me?"

All around us the images changed and I saw myself, much younger, eyes wide and frightful. That's when I got it. "You felt guilty about me seeing what you did to those men, all those years ago," I breathed.

He nodded. "The look in your eyes whenever we met, I never understood why you looked so troubled and standoffish. I just thought I was just reminding you of what you went through. I'd had no idea you saw..."

I reached up and stroked his face. "Don't. Neither Brian nor I would be here today if you hadn't shown up and did what you did."

"I killed..."

"People who had tortured children and were going to do much worse. Plus, you were already injured and still outnumbered. They pushed you too far and you fought back the only way left to you. Not to save yourself, but to save me, Brian and all those other children. I know that now. I also know you're a good person, which is why I trusted you enough to accept your offer to help me. And I'm never going to forget it," I told him.

"Thank you," he sighed and finally smiled. We hugged again and as we separated, I guess I had a funny expression on my face, because he asked, "What is it?"

"The door between us? You said you could close it when we were done, but... would please leave it open, just a crack? Please?" I asked hopefully.

"Is that what you want?"

I nodded.

He smiled. "Always."

I hugged him again and soon after I found myself back in my body in my hospital room. No one was there, but I didn't feel alone. I could still feel Nathan, and that made it easier for me to rest.

All of this happened about two months ago, and I can still feel his presence even when he's not around. But, tonight I can see as well as feel him. Here at my exhibition, he's been making the rounds, but was close by when it came time to unveil my piece. My jaw and hands are still healing, although I can actually talk again. As for the hands, they've responded well to the surgeries and I'm even using clay as part of my therapy to build up strength in them again. But now I know for sure I'll be able to keep making works of art and beauty once more.

As you can expect, my mom burst into tears of joy when she saw it. She hugged me, carefully of course, since I'm still healing. Still it was so worth it. She could barely speak, she was so moved, but her eyes and smile spoke louder than the entire New York Philharmonic symphony blasting the 1812 overture. 

I briefly wondered if Nathan was feeling what I was experiencing, then saw the huge smile on his face across the room. Brian and his family were with them, as well as Jack's. They're part of what Nathan calls his "extended" family, and now I am too...

"And always will be..." I hear in my head. 

"Back at you," I reply through our link, and he smiles.

 

The Artist - August 2009 Part VIII

Jack gave me a light sedative to allow my body to rest, while Brian drove me and Nathan to my studio. I have to admit, it was still taking me some getting used to being inside someone else's head/body. But, I convinced Nathan not to close me out of feeling what his body was experiencing as we drove. After all, once we were in the studio, I knew where everything was that I would need and the more familiar I was with how his body worked, the better. 

Luckily, he was a very good sport, albeit and smartass one. "And what if I need to use the facilities?" he asked me mentally, at one point. "I don't want to hear any giggling or running commentaries inside my skull."

"Put on a blindfold," I told him.

"Okay, but don't blame me if I miss the target," he shot back.

"Try leaving the seat down and sitting, it's worked for women for years," was my reply.

For a moment there was silence, followed by, "Okay, that makes sense. In fact it makes a lot of sense. Oh my God, I finally get it. These bad boys are hard to aim to begin with. Hell, who came up with the idea that guys had to relieve themselves standing up in the first place?"

Thank God I got him thinking about something else, otherwise I think that train of thought would have turned into a running monologue with me as the only member of the audience. 

Finally, we reached the studio and Brian let us out. "Can I take it from here?" I asked Nathan.

He/we nodded. 

I'd had the good sense to remember we'd need the keys to the studio, before we left my hospital room. Reaching into the right pocket, I found myself feeling envious of how roomy men's pants pockets felt. Because fashion declared women had to look curvy and sexy in pants, our pockets were so tight, we were lucky to fit a single playing card into one. I quietly swore to myself to try getting some pants from the men's department next time I went clothes shopping. 

"Make sure you get a shirt and tie while your at it. And a hat, you'd look really cute in an outfit like that. You could make it your 'artist' look," commented Nathan somewhere in the background. 

"Hey, don't I get some privacy in here?" I shot back

"Sorry," Nathan apologized and then explained, "While it is big and roomy in here, kind of like Dr. Who's TARDIS, I could arrange an area for you to have privacy. But when you're also controlling my body, I kind of have to be around. This body has reflexes and abilities you might not be able to react to without some help."  

That made me curious. "How do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, shortly after I was 'altered' I thought about wanting to get a bird's eye view of a situation and next thing I knew, my arms were flattening and turning into giant wings and..."

I cut him off. "OKAY got it. I definitely want you around!" 

Without further ado, I inserted the key into the door of the studio and opened it. Immediately, a rush of familiar smells greeted us. A wave of emotions swept over me as we entered. Everything was exactly the way I'd left it.

I felt tears filling my eyes. Until Nathan had made his strange proposal, I'd had no idea when or if I'd ever be back here.  For a deep dark part of me had wondered if I'd never be able to bring myself to return, for fear my damaged hands would never be able to create beautiful things as they had before. But here I was, with a set of hands that could mold even the most stubborn of clay. And while they weren't necessarily mine, they were exactly what I needed right now.

I looked down at them and felt a tear of joy falling from my face. It landed on one of those wonderful hands, and I screamed. The drop wasn't a tear, it was BLOOD!

"Sorry, my bad, I should've warned you," came Nathan's hurried thoughts. Inside his mind I felt a strong pair of arms hugging me reassuringly. "I didn't realize you'd get so worked up coming back here, otherwise I would've warned you whenever I cry my tears come out that way."

"You cry blood?" 

"Yeah, that kind of came with the Sangui-Sapio. A lot of people find it kind of disconcerting, so I try not to make a habit of crying in front of others," he explained. 

Looking around I found that I was no longer seeing through his eyes. Instead, we were surrounded by whiteness with the occasional fleeting image passing by. Even more importantly, I had my own body. So did Nathan and he was holding me close. I looked at my hands and saw they were normal. Immediately, I tried my mouth and found it was working too. 

"Where are we? Are we still inside you?" I asked, pulling back slightly.

Nathan nodded. "We're inside my mind. And yes, those images that you see are glimpses into my memories. I was hoping not to have to bring you here, but considering the circumstances, I thought this might the best place for us to talk face to face. I really should've prepared you better for dealing with my 'unique' physiognomy. I'm sorry."

"No worries," I replied without looking at him. Instead, I was studying some of the images flashing in and out of existence. I caught glimpses of celebrities from long ago, as well as a few from modern day. And places, so many places. Some were familiar while others were like something out of a prehistoric documentary or a science fiction movie. I was also picking up more than a few emotions attached to these glimpses, and more than a few were very tender and strong. 

Finally I pulled my attention back to Nathan. Those were his memories and I had no right to intrude upon them, not after he had been doing so much for me. Luckily, he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to be glad. "You don't get to share a lot of these with anyone else, do you?" I asked after a moment.

He shook his head. "Not really. You're one of the very few who I've ever let in this deep."

"Can you see inside me, in this place?"

"Only if I really wanted to, but that would be intrusive and unfair to you. So I choose not to," he replied.

I began to feel like and insect compared to him. "You have so much power..." I began.

"Please don't make me out to be something more than human," he cut in. "I have all the faults and desires of anyone else. I just had a good upbringing and made a lot of mistakes over the decades, that I've learned from. And I prefer not repeating any that might cause someone distress or harm."

I smiled at him. "I was going to say, and yet you do your best to just be a good man."

"It takes a bit of effort some days," he admitted. Then he asked, "Do you still want to move ahead with the plan? I mean, I'll understand if all this has been too much for you to take in."

I shook my head. "No, I want to finish what we've set out to do. I've seen a bit into you. Now let me share some of myself with you. I want you to experience what my work means to my and why it makes me feel the way it does."

He smiled back at me. "I'd like that, thank you."

A moment later, I was seeing through his eyes once more. Brian was holding out a handkerchief, with a worried look on his face.

"Are you, all right?" he asked anxiously. 

"We're fine," I answered, in my own voice, which surprised the heck out of both me and Brian. I mentally thanked Nathan, who responded in kind saying, "I thought this might be easier for Brian so he'd know who he was talking to."

"Good," Brian coughed, obviously adjusting to this new development. "You both had be worried for a second there."

So only a few seconds had passed while Nathan and I were alone together. Again I marveled at his odd existence. But now wasn't the time to think about it. He had allowed me to share his body and I wanted to share my gifts in return.

Glancing over to a far corner of the room, we spotted a tall figure covered in plastic. I smiled, it was time to get to work.

TO BE CONTINUED...

The Artist - August 2009 Part VII

I think my heart skipped a beat at that moment. Which is a good thing, because it probably kept me from trying to yell "WHAT?" with my mouth still wired shut.

Thinking back, I must've screamed it mentally because Nathan's hands were on my shoulders keeping me down ever so gently. Still I could feel the tension in his arms. Brian and Jack were also crowding around me now, both of them talking at once. Jack was scolding Nathan, while Brian was offering a platitude of reassurances that nothing was going to happen unless I gave the okay. 

Meanwhile my mind was in a whirl. I had just gotten used to the idea of what Nathan was and that he was supposedly one of the good guys. Which a part of me desperately wanted to believe. I mean, he had rescued me and Brian all those years ago at a cost to himself. Plus, he'd created that link between me and him that allowed me to use his voice to communicate. Still... the idea of him pulling a Christopher Lee on me was not exactly high on my list of things I wanted to try anytime soon.

While Brian and Jack tried talking over each other, Nathan decided to talk to me 'privately' through our mental link.

"Sorry, I didn't know everyone was going to fly off the handle this badly," he said gently inside my head. "Now, as I was trying to explain, when I bite someone I can see into their minds. However, there is a second type of bite I can use where I put some of myself into the other person. When I do this, the bond that's created is much stronger than what we have now. I can, if I so choose, control a person quite a bit. Mind you, I'm very reluctant to do that. I don't like the idea of taking someone's free will away, unless it's a major intervention so to speak. However, what very few know is that there's a bit of two-way street effect."

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"I can feel that other person in me at the same time. But since I created the bond, that means I'm the one who is in control. Unfortunately, I can't take it back. Once made the bond seems to be permanent, until the person moves on from this life. However, I can 'shut the door' so the connection is turned off and neither me nor the other person can sense or hear the other," he explained.

"I think I see what you're saying," I told him. "You're offering to open the door so I can step inside you and have the use of your body so to speak..."

"Up to a point," he corrected.

I nodded ever so slightly. "And when the piece is done..."

"I'll close the door and you'll be back in your own body, and you won't feel or sense me anymore," he finished.

I thought about it for a few moments.  I really wanted to finish the piece, it was for my mom after all. She'd sacrificed so much for me over the years and had been my biggest supporter when it came to my art. And... I trusted Nathan. I know, it sounds weird after being terrified by him for all these years, but now that I knew the truth, I wanted to take the chance. If it meant getting to finish my work in days instead of months or even years... I had to grab it. Especially if there was a chance that even after I recovered from my injuries, I might not have he dexterity and ability to handle the clay as I used to.  This might be my last chance to create the best piece I was ever going to make.

Still, there was one final issue I wanted to clarify with him first. "Um... this bite, is it going to hurt?"

Nathan smiled and shook his head and said aloud so the other two could hear.  "Absolutely not. You won't feel a thing, I promise."

"Then let's do it!" I replied.

Keeping a reassuring hand on my arm, Nathan proceeded to tell the other two what we'd discussed, along with my decision.

As he did so, I noticed a funny kind of wetness on the arm where his hand was resting. There was a warmth to it and the area tingled for a few seconds.

"Um... Nathan?"

"It's done," he said aloud and released my arm. As he did so, I caught a brief glimpse of a mouth with two needle-like teeth in the palm of the hand that had been touching me. As my eyes widened, I saw the mouth close while the skin around it rippled. In the blink of an eye, it was gone and I found myself staring at a normal looking hand.

"What now?" I asked mentally.

"Lie back and give it a few minutes," Nathan replied aloud, for the benefit of Jack and Brian.

I did so, but the seconds seemed to tick on forever as I kept waiting for something to happen. Some change, my vision to blur or feel warm inside... but I just felt the same as before. After 10 minutes I was getting tired of the looks on Brian and Jack's faces as they kept staring at me and then Nathan.

Finally, I closed my eyes... only.... I was still seeing them. Only instead of looking up at them, I was staring across my bed at Jack and Brian.

I opened my own eyes again and saw them still looking down at me, with grave expressions. But when I turned my eyes to Nathan I saw him waggle his eyebrows at me. "What did you think of the view?" he asked after a moment.

While I couldn't open my mouth I could pull the sides of it into a semi-smile.

Jack and Brian both gave me looks of relief. I heard one of them mutter, "Thank God," under their breath. Only, I think I heard it with both my ears and Nathan's. This was going to take a little getting used to, I could tell already.

Just then, Nathan reached down below my bed and pulled out a bag of clay. Then he brought a small table over and placed the clay on it and said, "Shall we try the hands a bit. You'll need to close your eyes, otherwise you might get multiple angles which could prove disconcerting."

He had thought of everything.

"Yes, please," I replied through our link and did as I was told.

As I closed them, I could smell the familiar scent of the clay through his nostrils. God, how I had missed that odor. It had become so common in my life, I hadn't really realized how it had become such a part of my world.

"Okay, my hands are yours, let's see you work with it," Nathan told me.

I won't lie and say that I wasn't nervous. It took me several tries to build up the courage to use his hands but once those fingers touched the clay my instincts took over. It wasn't the best quality, or at least the kind of clay I was used to. It was a bit harder than I liked, but his hands were strong and were able to manipulate it like my own never could. But I understood, he had done that on purpose. He wanted me to get used to what these hands could do. And for the next hour I worked and molded and found my touch with those hands. They belonged to him, but the skill and delicate touch were all me.

I could hear Nathan's thoughts in the back of 'our' mind as he marveled at my manipulation of the substance. He even flat out said at one point, "It's so cool and yet silky in it's own way..." I told him he hadn't seen anything yet. By the time we were finished, we were both satisfied with the experiment. So were Jack and Brian who had been watching the whole time.

I felt myself back in my own body again and opened my eyes. Obviously, Nathan had partially 'closed the door' between us, because I wasn't having double-vision so to speak. Yet I could still sense the link between us.

"So what now?" Brian asked.

That was a good question.

I looked to Nathan who looked at me and said, "You're call."

"Can we go to my studio tonight and start work?" 

He bowed, "Your wish is my command."

TO BE CONTINUED...

The Artist - August 2009 Part V

*A quick note from one of the authors: Sorry for the delay in getting this part uploaded, but both Wordpress and Blogger have been making changes to their systems lately and that threw me for a while. I'm still having trouble with Blogger, which hosts the sister-site to this blog, so this installment is only appearing here. Hope to keep things more regular in the future as this story has grown much larger life than I'd originally anticipated. But the payoff will be well worth it I think. I love exploring some of the new ways of using Nathan's abilities. So without further ado, let us continue the story..."

After a few seconds, Nathan came back with Jack. If I could have, I would've been grinning from ear to ear. Yet somehow he sensed the change in my attitude towards him. For one thing he smiled, then came over and pulled up a chair next to my bed. My mind raced with questions, especially one... but then I remembered I couldn't speak or use my hands.

He must've seen something in my eyes, because he frowned and asked softly, "Is my being so close a problem?"

Forgetting myself I started to shake my head a little too vigorously, which caused me to let out a groan of pain.

Nathan reached out a hand and touched my brow and said, "Easy. Listen, I can tell you want to say something important. And I think I know a way to help, but I'm going to need you to trust me. Can you do that?"

I managed a little "Uh-huh..." noise in my throat.

"Good," he replied gently and held up a hand. A moment later, a greenish mist began emanating from his sleeve. Before I knew it, I couldn't see his hand anymore, only the mist, only now I could also detect little flashes of blue in the miasma. "If you breathe this in, it will allow us to make a mental connection between us. I won't be able to read your mind, but I'll be able to get impressions of what you want to say and I can act as your voice. Are you all right with that?"

This time I gave him several muffled but eager "Uh-huhs."

"Okay," he nodded and brought the sleeve with the mist closer to my face. "Now, just breathe normally, there's no need to inhale deeply."

For the record, I really tried to do as he instructed. But I was so eager to try to communicate with everyone I wound up doing an impression of a junkie with couple of rolled up twenties stuffed up my nose.

Nathan pulled his arm back and stared at the now empty cuff  muttering, "I'm going to need that hand back eventually."

I started to mentally apologize when suddenly I heard my thoughts come out of his mouth. "Sorry about that. I hope I didn't... Oh my God you're talking in my voice!"

Nathan gave me an embarrassed grin.  "I hope you don't mind, I just thought it would be easier to do things this way so these two would know who's saying what."

Glancing over at Brian and Jack I could see they were both staring at us in surprise.

After a moment Brian said, "I had no idea you could do that, Nathan."

"It's a little something Otto figured out some years ago on one of our expeditions to another Para-Earth," my hero explained shyly. "We already knew I could help pacify a being who inhaled my mist form, by making our intentions known that we weren't a threat. But he thought I could take it a little farther if I put a little more of myself into the mist to establish a rapport so to speak. Mind you it only works with beings whose minds are similar enough to ours in thought for me to understand what they want to say. Believe me, it doesn't always work, but I knew it would in this case."

He turned back to me then and asked, "Are you okay? Or is this too weird?"

Taking a deep breath, I shook my head slightly and thought, "No. In fact it's more than I hoped for." Admittedly seeing and hearing my thoughts coming out of his mouth, was kind of weird, but not so much that I didn't want him to break our connection. With this new method of communication available to me, I told them everything that had been troubling me. They listened patiently and gave me all the assurances they could. But when I told them about the unfinished sculpture of my grandfather back in my studio and how important it was to me, they fell silent.

I think a full minute passed before Nathan broke the silence. "Even if we brought the piece here, there's no way you could work on it. Not with your hands in their current state."

I shook my head sadly.

He took a deep breath and looked down at his own. He had two again which surprised the rest of us.

Glancing up he noticed the rest of us staring and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, felt weird just having one, so I shaved a pound or two from other areas and grew a new one." Then he turned to me and asked, "Here's a thought. With our connection, would I be able to finish the piece under your guidance?"

"Have you ever worked with clay before?"

"No, but I'm a fast learner," he replied.

I sank into my pillow a little more and thought about it. After a few moments, I shook my head ever so slightly. Whenever I worked in clay there was a connection between me and my creation. I knew how the clay should feel as I smoothed and shaped it. There was no way I could convey these concepts and techniques by simply instructing him.

Nathan must've 'heard' my thoughts because he began nodding his head. "Yeah, I didn't about that. You and the clay kind of become one when you're working with it." Then he stood up. "Let me give it some thought. I think there might be a way to help. Okay?"

I carefully nodded. And that's where we left things. He came back the next evening with the most unbelievable suggestion I'd ever heard.

TO BE CONTINUED...

FREE DOWNLOAD OF "THE VAMPYRE BLOGS - COMING HOME" NOVEL...

*Due to the current situation I'm making "The Vampyre Blogs - Coming Home", the first #YA #book in our Para-Earths series #FREE to anyone who wants a copy over at Smashwords. It costs nothing to sign up with them and you will have the following formats to choose from to download the book onto your device(s) of choice:

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The Vampyre Blogs - Coming Home

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