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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Notes: This story assumes that Kyle was ‘on the outside’ for approximately ten months before he was incarcerated.
I also want my readers to know that this story was outlined just after DH aired the first time. I had put in the part about faith *before* I saw the movie "Contact".
Thoughts are indicated by / / Flashbacks are indicated by // // Flashbacks are told from the point of view of the storyteller(me), Leah, and Kyle. I know that’s unusual, but it works for this story.
The song "Shooting Star" was written and performed by Harry Chapin on his "Taxi" album. Parts of the song are interjected throughout the story.
DISCLAIMER: The characters and events in this story are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. "The Pretender" is a protected trademark of MTM Television and NBC, and the characters of that series are used here with no mean intent or desire for remuneration. It is a fan tribute to excellent television, for which the author is grateful. The characters of Leah, Kyleah, Hannah and Rachel (and characters named for tP listers) are mine. The locations of Dillonsford, Kentucky and Angels, Massachusetts are my creations also.
Rating: NC-17 (male/female sexual situations, violence, language)
Copyright: 1997
Shooting Star
Part One of Four
JasmineSky
"For he was the sun, shining bright and with a light,
She was the moon, shining back his light as they loved.
He was a shooting star, she was softer and more slowly.
She could not make things possible but she could make them holy."
September 15,1997
Jarod was enjoying the scenery of Kentucky as he drove aimlessly along the country road. He was still enjoying the high of a successful sting. It had been easy proving that the scoundrel claiming to be the rich old lady’s nephew and sole heir was a fraud. Jarod chuckled as he recalled the look on the punk’s face when he knew he’d been found out.
A road sign, small and almost obscured by the shrubbery, suddenly caught Jarod’s full attention and he screeched to a halt. It read "Dillonsford Population 1,243 Refuge for All".
Jarod had not chosen his next project, so he turned toward the town that claimed to offer refuge. According to the sign, it was only thirty miles away. As it turned out, that thirty miles was fifteen miles up a winding mountain road and fifteen back down the other side. Jarod pulled into an overlook just before he reached the town. The town was in a valley, sprawled in all directions. There was a main street lined with buildings and other shopping areas and homes spoking out from the hub. He’d passed a few homes and small shops on the down side of the mountain. He noticed one large spread away from the rest of the tableau. It had a huge main house, several other buildings and barns. What appeared to be horses frisked in the surrounding fields. He drove on into Dillonsford and parked his silver Camaro in one of the pull-in parking spaces on the main street.
He began to walk down the sidewalk, getting the feel of the old-fashioned town. There was an Ice Cream Shoppe, a tailor shop, several grocers and clothing shops, a car repair outlet, a cafe, and numerous quaint boutiques and antique shops.
A scream caught his attention. He saw a small boy wandering toward the road, his mother a block behind him. A car was speeding toward the spot the boy was about to dart into. Jarod began to sprint toward the toddler, but knew he would be too late.
A flash of blue whizzed into view, and a young girl swooped the boy up like a football and carried him out of the way just in the nick of time.
Two women and Jarod ran up to the children.
"Joey!" the distraught mother cried as the girl handed her the crying boy.
"I turned my back just a moment and he got away from me! How can I ever thank you?"
"Knowing he’s all right is thanks enough." the girl replied.
Mother and child went on their way.
"Kylie! You could have been hit!" the other lady said to the young hero.
"I knew I could do it mother. Don’t worry so." the child replied confidently.
"It’s a mother’s job to worry about her children." Jarod commented, and both of them turned toward him. It was then that Jarod noticed that the girl looked somehow familiar. The piercing gray eyes, the facial structure...where had he seen them before?
Finally he recalled the DSA when he first met Kyle. This girl looked like Kyle did when he was young!
"That’s a very brave thing you did, young lady." he told her. "I’m Jarod."
The girl was looking at him strangely.
"My name is Kyleah. Kyleah O’Connerly. This is my Mom, Leah."
"That a very beautiful and unusual name."
"My mom’s name is Leah and my dad’s name is Kyle. She just put them together to get my name. You can call me Kylie."
"Is your father here?"
"He’s away."
Kyleah opened a locket that was hanging around her neck. She held the picture up to Jarod.
"My father, Kyle."
Jarod stared in shock and couldn’t help but blurt out, "My brother, Kyle!"
"You’re my uncle!" Kylie exclaimed.
Jarod looked at her and her mother and was at a loss as to what to say. Did they know what had happened?
"He’s not dead." Kylie stated.
"What?"
"My father did not die in that van." she continued, then started to walk down the street.
Jarod stood staring after her.
Leah took his arm. "Let’s go somewhere we can talk. Kylie is a Pretender. She’s also psychic. I’ve learned to trust what she says."
Still speechless, Jarod let her lead the way.
"So...you are Kyle’s brother?" Leah broke the silence.
"Yes."
"He never mentioned a brother. But he did mention a friend named Jarod."
"We didn’t know we were brothers until recently."
"Because the Centre didn’t let you remember."
Jarod was shocked once more.
"Oh, I know all about that place. What it did to my Kyle and to other kids. How it exploits young geniuses. That’s why I never told Kyle about his daughter. He was already in prison when she was born, and I found out that the Centre had personnel visiting him there. I could never let the Centre know about Kyleah! I moved back here to my hometown to protect her."
"You say she’s a Pretender?"
"A pretty damned good one, I suspect. I worry about her, though. She’s so serious all the time. She’s always looking for some problem or crime to solve."
"Here’s my car. Will you come to the farm with us?"
"Of course."
Jarod’s mind was racing with questions, but he decided to wait until the drive was over before he began questioning Leah further.
The three of them rode in companionable silence the fifteen minutes it took to reach Dillonsford Thoroughbred Breeding Farm---the huge spread he’d seen from the overlook.
"The farm and the town are named for my great-grandfather. His name was Dillon O’Connerly and he came to America in 1887. He founded this town--originally called Dillon’s Fort, as a refuge for immigrants who were unwanted elsewhere. He took in anyone who was willing to work and abide by the law. Most of the founders of the town were immigrants from Ireland and Scotland, but we also had Italian and Asian settlers as well as some second-generation Americans that wanted a fresh start. Great Grandpa did quite well in the horse breeding business. ‘Regret’ and ‘War Admiral’ were two of his horses. ‘Seattle Slew’, ‘Whirlaway’ and ‘Affirmed’ were also O’Connerly bred horses. We also bred the father of ‘Secretariat’."
"Intriguing." Jarod commented.
The main house sprawled in three directions, making a squared "U" shape. Several tin buildings were visible in the distance, as were two elegant barns. He could see horses frolicking in the fields and farm hands going about their jobs.
He followed Leah and Kylie into the house.
"I’ll get you two some tea." Kylie offered and headed for the kitchen as Jarod and her mom sat on the couch.
"How does she know about the van?" Jarod could restrain his questions no longer.
"That’s where her psychic abilities come into play---abilities that come from my side of the family. The accident happened on May 17 at about two o’clock in the afternoon."
"How....?"
"Because I almost lost Kyleah then too. She fell to the floor screaming and holding her leg. Later she felt Kyle’s pain as he escaped the van with his hurt leg, then the pain of burning debris falling on him when the van exploded. Her temperature rose to 102 and she was almost in shock. As I tended to her, Kyle must have rallied and gotten to his feet and fled. When Kylie came around, she told me her Dad was injured but alive."
"Does she have visions like that often?"
"No. That was the most intense one she’s ever had. Most of her visions are of events as they are happening. Sometimes she can interpret what they are, and sometimes she can’t. I think this one affected her so greatly because it was her father involved."
"You said she gets her psychic abilities from your side of the family?"
"Yes. Both my parents had psi ability. They got together as part of a project in college. An organization called Futura selected students that scored high on psi ability tests for an experiment. They were paid large sums of money to try an experimental drug that they were told would make them immune to the common cold. My parents later found out it was a very dangerous drug meant to enhance their psi abilities. The Futura corporation---not unlike the Centre---intended to exploit the abilities of the young people. My parents became suspicious and left the program before they complete the whole round of drugs. Still, the organization tracked them anyway. Soon, they fell in love and got married. My mother was expecting my older sister Hannah when agents from Futura first came to see them. They insisted that my parents use their talents for their projects, and threatened them and their unborn child if they refused. Under duress, they agreed on the condition that their child and all future children would be left alone and that the jobs would not interfere with a normal lifestyle. Things were fine for a while. They were asked to attend several political and business negotiating sessions to gauge who was telling the truth and what each party’s true feelings were. My mom, like my sister Hannah, can read many thoughts, especially strong emotional ones. My dad had a sense of what people were feeling and could tell when someone was lying. They only had about two dozen assignments per year, until power in the organization shifted. By then, my little sister and I had been born. They were expected to do more and more jobs. They found out that some of the information they had been gathering for Futura had been used to kill people and for fraudulent purposes. They threatened to tell the authorities---and were threatened with our lives. Eventually, they learned to withhold some information and give them just enough to get by with. I guess they weren’t fooling anyone. They were sent on assignment to Argentina, where they were murdered. The story was that they got caught in the crossfire of two warring factions, but my sisters and I didn’t believe it. Hannah was twenty-four and got paranoid. She’s been more or less underground ever since. I was nineteen and in school, so I stayed put. Our Aunt Jamie took care of Rachel, who was thirteen at the time. Rachel was troubled by her psychic gifts, and the shock of our parents’ deaths proved too much for her. She committed suicide two months after they died."
Jarod could tell that even now the subject was painful for her to talk about. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I’m so sorry about your family."
"You and Kyle had a rough lot too, didn’t you?"
"Yes. But our parents---and our sister---are still alive."
"Told you." said Kylie, who had just come in with the glasses of tea.
"She told me her father had three siblings."
"Three? There’s only me and our little sister, Emily."
"I saw a vision with four of you. One was very blurred, possibly a half sibling. Older than you. He was protecting you and Kyle even when you were kids."
"But there was no one else at the Centre. There was only.....Angelo!"
"Kyle mentioned a friend named Angelo." Leah offered.
"Could it be?" Jarod wondered, amazed. That was something else he intended to pursue. For now, he wanted to get to know Kyle’s family better.
"I’ll let you two talk....I’ll be working in my computer room." Kylie told them and went off to her favorite room.
"How old is Kyleah?"
"She turned ten on September fourth. She doesn’t act ten, though! She’s always been so serious and so advanced for her age. She rarely laughs or cries. I worry about her. She says she’s content, but sometimes I wonder. It would be wonderful for her and for Kyle to be together."
"So....how did you and Kyle meet?" Jarod wanted to know.
* * * *
He was crazy -from the first
she must have known it.
Still she went on with him
and she never once said "show me".
And she took him off the street
and she dried his tears of grieving
She listened to his failures
she believed in his believing.
Leah smiled. "It was late August,1986, in Angels, Massachusetts a small upstate town. Two of my girlfriends and I were out on the town to celebrate one of them getting a promotion at work. There was a local night spot called "Anything Goes". That was the name of the music group that played there...they liked all styles of music, so they played a bit of everything. I later found out that Kyle had been released by the Centre two weeks earlier. Mr. Raines just took him outside, gave him five hundred dollars, some books on current history and survival skills and told him he never wanted to see him again. Kyle wandered all over Delaware before heading west. The name of the town--Angels--caught his attention and we ended up at the same club. I looked up from my table and saw him standing at the bar. He was so handsome I couldn’t help but stare. He looked around and stared right back."
Leah smiled with the memories.
//"Do you know him?" asked Penny.
"No, but I’m going to." Leah told her pal, never taking her eyes off Kyle. She reached into her purse and handed her two buddies a twenty dollar bill.
"You two take a cab home. I’m going to be busy." she said as she took off toward the handsome stranger. Her pals gaped at each other. Leah had never acted like this before!
She went right up to him and asked him to dance. He glanced around at the other couples dancing to the country beat.
"Let me finish my beer." he said and continued to watch the dancing couples intently.
After a while, he took her hand and led her to the dance floor. He was light on his feet and danced as well as anyone on the floor. Leah later found out he had just learned how by watching the others.
After a few more country dances, the band decided to play some rock tunes. He seemed a taken aback by the sudden change and said he needed another drink.
"Me too! My name is Leah. Leah O’Connerly."
"Kyle."
"Glad to meet you Kyle."
He nodded and drank his second beer while watching the new dance style.
"Want to dance some more?" he finally asked.
"Yes."
Again, he was as good as anyone on the floor.
The band finally decided to go in for some slow dancing.
The lights dimmed.
"Finally!" Leah said softly.
Kyle looked a bit confused when she wrapped her arms around him, but glancing around, saw that all the others were doing likewise. He kept an eye on a neighboring couple and placed his arms likewise around Leah.
The music and words to "I Wanna Know What Love Is" and then "Slow Dancin’" filled the room. Leah pressed her body closer to Kyle’s. His heart began to beat faster and he felt things he’d never felt before. He looked around and found his models getting closer and pressing together more so he followed suit. As the band started "Everything I do I do for You," Leah pressed her lips to his. At first he was shocked and didn’t react, but a glance around showed him that this too was expected behavior and he began to kiss her back. The kiss intensified, and he felt her heart pounding against his chest. He felt the beginning of an erection stir in his tight jeans. He pressed even closer to her as she put her tongue in his mouth. She inhaled his hot breath and he did likewise. The music stopped all too soon for them, the band announcing they would take a twenty minute break.
They went back to the bar and ordered a beer. As they drank in silence, Billy Joe Barker and some of his rowdy friends entered the club. It was obvious they had been drinking.
Billy Joe walked up to Kyle and said, "Hey, you’re new around here."
"I suppose I am." Kyle replied, cutting his eyes at the stranger.
"Sounds like city boy to me. A pretty boy at that."
"Don’t call me boy."
"I’ll call you anything I damn well please."
"Well, then, I guess I can call you an ignorant slob."
Leah wasn’t sure who threw the first punch, but suddenly fists were flying everywhere. Several bar inhabitants had come to Kyle’s aide, while Billy Joe’s friends had come to his. Leah moved to where Kyle and Billy were fighting. Kyle had him down and by the throat. Leah did the only thing she could think of at the time. She grabbed a beer bottle off the counter and whacked Kyle over the head with it. She winced as she crumpled to the floor. Billy Joe was unconscious, but he would live.
Someone helped her drag Kyle to her car and she drove him home.//
Leah told Jarod the brief version of the story.
"And Kyle stayed with you even after you knocked him out?"
Leah giggled. "Oh, I never did tell him it was *me* that whacked him!"
"How long were you two together?"
"Six months. The most wonderful...and most frightening....six months of my life."
"I know it may be personal, but could you tell me a little about what life with Kyle was like? What he was like?"
"Here, look at this photo album first. Then I’ll tell you more."
Jarod began looking at the album she’d handed him...full of photos of Kyle and Leah doing all sorts of things. He was struck by how happy his brother looked in each picture.
Leah began thinking of her first night and day with Kyle.
//Kyle came to just as Leah was pulling into her parking space in her townhouse garage. He was still pretty groggy from the alcohol and the bump on the head.
She led him inside. He kept trying to dance with her, although no music was playing. They both giggled a lot. He finally passed out on her couch, but she managed to drag him to the bed. She got off most his clothes, tucked him in, and crawled in beside him. He was still asleep when she awoke and she rose to get breakfast. Kyle awoke with a start. He lay still and tried to think of where he was and what had happened. He glanced under the covers and noted he was wearing only his briefs. Leah appeared at the door with a tray.
"Good morning, Kyle. How do you feel?"
"Leah" he said, recognizing her and remembering the club and the dancing.
He looked miserable.
"Bathroom’s over there." she told him and pointed.
He started to pull the covers with him, then thought better of it, and sprinted to the john. He got back under the covers as soon as he could.
"Here’s something that will make you feel better."
/How does she know my head is pounding and my stomach’s churning?/
"You look like you have a rotten hangover from the beers and that knock on the head didn’t help much either."
Kyle remembered the bar fight.
"Yeah. That Neanderthal last night!"
"Try this Alka-Seltzer and black coffee."
Kyle drank both potions, then slipped back into sleep.
When he awoke again he was feeling much better and quickly noticed that Leah was in the room, brushing her long auburn hair. He cleared his throat.
"Oh--back among the living, eh?"
"You’re wearing my shirt." Kyle suddenly noticed aloud.
"Yep". That and a pair of panties was all she was wearing, he noticed.
"Leah, did we, um.....did we....have sex?" he inquired.
"Not yet. You weren’t in any shape for that, although you tried."
"Oh" Kyle thought. He stared at her. She looked so beautiful and he recalled how he’d felt as they danced the previous night.
Raines’s words rang in his head. /Women are evil. They use their bodies to make you weak./ Still, after being out only two weeks, Kyle had learned from watching television and renting videos that a lot of what Raines had told him wasn’t true. And his erection was demanding that he do something about it.
"You’re still wearing my shirt." he told her, his eyes gleaming.
She came to the bed and knelt beside him. "Want it back?"
He came to his knees facing her and quickly ripped the shirt off her. He caught his breath at the sight of her naked breasts and quickly bent to kiss each one. He laid her back on the bed and continued to suck and caress her breasts. Her quickened breath and sighs turned him on even more. He finally moved to take her panties off . She arched her back and helped him slip them off. He quickly removed his underwear also.
Leah’s eyes widened as she eyed his large, fully erect penis. Kyle was intent on exploring her private regions. He moved down to where he was looking directly at her pussy. His fingers explored here and there, noting which spots caused the desired reaction. He kept exploring with his hands, then was suddenly inspired to try his mouth on the same area. As his tongue lapped at her, she moaned and arched. He tried various parts and rhythms until she was nearly mad.
"Kyle. I need you. Inside me. Now!" she panted.
Raines’s words were only a faint echo now.
Kyle moved between her legs and entered her.
"Yessss" she sighed.
Kyle was still for a few moments, relishing the sensations he was feeling for the first time. She moved slightly, causing more reactions in him and he began to pump in and out of her. She matched his rhythm and they soon came, Leah first and Kyle a few seconds afterward. He lay there holding her as they recovered. As soon as he had regained his breath, he started kissing a licking her shoulder. She wasn’t opposed to repeating the actions, so they made love again and again that day. When they finally got up to eat, they talked easily.
"Stay with me a while, Kyle."
"What makes you think I don’t have somewhere to go? Someone to be with?"
"Do you?"
"No. But how did you know that?"
"I didn’t know it. I was just hoping, that’s all."
Kyle smiled at her. "I’ll stay a while. No promises though. I’m liable to take off any time."
"Fair enough."
"One more thing....do you make a habit of picking up men in bars? I saw a movie about that the other day. It can be dangerous."
"You were the first Kyle."
"If you say so."
"I will never lie to you."
"I’m not your first sex partner, though."
"No. I had a college sweetheart, but that ended years ago. There hasn’t been anyone that interested me since then....until I spotted you last night."
"How do you know I’m not a serial killer or something?"
"Are you?"
Kyle smiled. "Not yet."
Leah pretended it was a joke and said, "Just keep it that way, then!"
Kyle changed the subject. "I was staying a motel just outside of town. I’ll need to get my things."
"I’ll drive you there as soon as we finish eating."//
* * * *
Jarod finished the album and looked at Leah, who was a million miles away. She finally looked up at him.
"Your brother was quite a fellow."
"It looks like you two were very happy together."
"For the most part. But you know he was.....troubled."
"Yes. I know."
"What that Mr. Raines did to him was unconscionable! That man kept him isolated in some dungeon and abused him. He abused him mentally, physically, and sexually."
Jarod felt his blood run cold. He’d suspected the physical and emotional abuse, but not the other. He suddenly wished he had pulled that trigger in the alley.
"He told you about it?"
"After we’d been together a while. Raines was always slapping or hitting him, yet Kyle wanted so badly to please him. Raines had him do simulations of all kinds of heinous crimes, encouraging him to hate people, telling him he was better than anyone, that he was worthy of deciding their fate. He also forced Kyle to watch video after video of people being tortured and killed in horrible fashions. When Kyle was young, Raines had to tape his eyelids open to make him watch the horrible things. He also made Kyle do several autopsies. The sexual abuse began when Kyle was thirteen. Raines told him it was a game. He masturbated Kyle until he came and made Kyle do the same for him. After a while, he had them change to oral sex. Thank goodness he never took it any further. Kyle had no idea what a normal relationship was....sexual or otherwise."
Jarod found himself hating Raines more with each breath.
"Were you abused by your keeper?"
"Not like Kyle was. In fact, he was pretty good to me. He just kept me from the real world for thirty-three years!"
"So you were released only last year?"
"I wasn’t released at all. I escaped!"
"Oh! I’ll bet they aren’t happy about that!"
"You can say that again. Sydney---my keeper---and Miss Parker, an old friend and daughter of the Chairman of the Board, have been after me ever since. They come after me with teams of goons, called Sweepers, but they haven’t got me yet. They even have some new folks in there, called in by the big bosses. They haven’t been able to get me either!"
"I’ll bet its very difficult to trap a Pretender."
"What makes you think I’m one?"
"Kyle was. That’s the kind of kids the Centre kept, wasn’t it? And remember---I’m psychic!"
"Oh, yeah. Do you read minds?"
"Nope. Only Hannah can do that. I have--actually had---visions like Kyleah does. Of events as they happen. Fifteen years ago, I saw my parents as they were killed. I saw the bullets hitting them from every angle. Hannah says I screamed for three hours. I haven’t had a vision since then. I am still able to tell a lot about people, though. I knew from the beginning that Kyle was troubled, but I was too drawn to him to care. I also sensed that he needed someone and I wanted to be that someone, even if only for a little while."
"You guessed right. I suppose I was their star Pretender, doing all those sims, day in and day out! They would have never let me go."
"Why did you finally leave?"
He explained to her about finding out that the results of some of his sims had been used for illicit purposes.
"That’s terrible! But you had no way of knowing how they were going to be used!"
"I should have known, somehow. If I’m this great genius everyone says I am, I should have figured out things sooner."
"Jarod, don’t be so hard on yourself. You and Kyle didn’t exactly have a normal upbringing, so don’t expect yourself to have realized when abnormal things were going on."
"It still bothers me."
"Tell me how Kyle came to be in that van that exploded. I know he had been in prison for ten years. I wanted to go to him so badly, but I knew I couldn’t. I had Kyleah to protect. I couldn’t take any chance that the Centre would ever find out about her."
"I understand." Jarod told her. He told her everything about what all had happened from the time he found out Kyle had escaped from prison to the events in the alley in Boston.
"He must have left me to look for your parents. He never would tell me who or what he was looking for. Then he got arrested for kidnapping Harriet, and was imprisoned from then until he escaped."
"Do you really think he’s alive?"
"Yes, Jarod, I do. I believe it with all my heart."
Jarod allowed himself a small glimmer of hope.
"You have to have faith, Jarod."
"Faith...as in some all-powerful being?"
"Faith, as in God. Yes, I’m a Christian. I believe that Kyle and I were meant to be together, and that we will be."
"I’m not sure I can believe all that church stuff."
"Kyle had a hard time with it also. We’ll talk more about it later."
Jarod looked at the clock. He couldn’t believe that they’d been talking for five hours.
I also want my readers to know that this story was outlined just after DH aired the first time. I had put in the part about faith *before* I saw the movie "Contact".
Thoughts are indicated by / / Flashbacks are indicated by // // Flashbacks are told from the point of view of the storyteller(me), Leah, and Kyle. I know that’s unusual, but it works for this story.
The song "Shooting Star" was written and performed by Harry Chapin on his "Taxi" album. Parts of the song are interjected throughout the story.
DISCLAIMER: The characters and events in this story are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. "The Pretender" is a protected trademark of MTM Television and NBC, and the characters of that series are used here with no mean intent or desire for remuneration. It is a fan tribute to excellent television, for which the author is grateful. The characters of Leah, Kyleah, Hannah and Rachel (and characters named for tP listers) are mine. The locations of Dillonsford, Kentucky and Angels, Massachusetts are my creations also.
Rating: NC-17 (male/female sexual situations, violence, language)
Copyright: 1997
Part One of Four
JasmineSky
"For he was the sun, shining bright and with a light,
She was the moon, shining back his light as they loved.
He was a shooting star, she was softer and more slowly.
She could not make things possible but she could make them holy."
September 15,1997
Jarod was enjoying the scenery of Kentucky as he drove aimlessly along the country road. He was still enjoying the high of a successful sting. It had been easy proving that the scoundrel claiming to be the rich old lady’s nephew and sole heir was a fraud. Jarod chuckled as he recalled the look on the punk’s face when he knew he’d been found out.
A road sign, small and almost obscured by the shrubbery, suddenly caught Jarod’s full attention and he screeched to a halt. It read "Dillonsford Population 1,243 Refuge for All".
Jarod had not chosen his next project, so he turned toward the town that claimed to offer refuge. According to the sign, it was only thirty miles away. As it turned out, that thirty miles was fifteen miles up a winding mountain road and fifteen back down the other side. Jarod pulled into an overlook just before he reached the town. The town was in a valley, sprawled in all directions. There was a main street lined with buildings and other shopping areas and homes spoking out from the hub. He’d passed a few homes and small shops on the down side of the mountain. He noticed one large spread away from the rest of the tableau. It had a huge main house, several other buildings and barns. What appeared to be horses frisked in the surrounding fields. He drove on into Dillonsford and parked his silver Camaro in one of the pull-in parking spaces on the main street.
He began to walk down the sidewalk, getting the feel of the old-fashioned town. There was an Ice Cream Shoppe, a tailor shop, several grocers and clothing shops, a car repair outlet, a cafe, and numerous quaint boutiques and antique shops.
A scream caught his attention. He saw a small boy wandering toward the road, his mother a block behind him. A car was speeding toward the spot the boy was about to dart into. Jarod began to sprint toward the toddler, but knew he would be too late.
A flash of blue whizzed into view, and a young girl swooped the boy up like a football and carried him out of the way just in the nick of time.
Two women and Jarod ran up to the children.
"Joey!" the distraught mother cried as the girl handed her the crying boy.
"I turned my back just a moment and he got away from me! How can I ever thank you?"
"Knowing he’s all right is thanks enough." the girl replied.
Mother and child went on their way.
"Kylie! You could have been hit!" the other lady said to the young hero.
"I knew I could do it mother. Don’t worry so." the child replied confidently.
"It’s a mother’s job to worry about her children." Jarod commented, and both of them turned toward him. It was then that Jarod noticed that the girl looked somehow familiar. The piercing gray eyes, the facial structure...where had he seen them before?
Finally he recalled the DSA when he first met Kyle. This girl looked like Kyle did when he was young!
"That’s a very brave thing you did, young lady." he told her. "I’m Jarod."
The girl was looking at him strangely.
"My name is Kyleah. Kyleah O’Connerly. This is my Mom, Leah."
"That a very beautiful and unusual name."
"My mom’s name is Leah and my dad’s name is Kyle. She just put them together to get my name. You can call me Kylie."
"Is your father here?"
"He’s away."
Kyleah opened a locket that was hanging around her neck. She held the picture up to Jarod.
"My father, Kyle."
Jarod stared in shock and couldn’t help but blurt out, "My brother, Kyle!"
"You’re my uncle!" Kylie exclaimed.
Jarod looked at her and her mother and was at a loss as to what to say. Did they know what had happened?
"He’s not dead." Kylie stated.
"What?"
"My father did not die in that van." she continued, then started to walk down the street.
Jarod stood staring after her.
Leah took his arm. "Let’s go somewhere we can talk. Kylie is a Pretender. She’s also psychic. I’ve learned to trust what she says."
Still speechless, Jarod let her lead the way.
"So...you are Kyle’s brother?" Leah broke the silence.
"Yes."
"He never mentioned a brother. But he did mention a friend named Jarod."
"We didn’t know we were brothers until recently."
"Because the Centre didn’t let you remember."
Jarod was shocked once more.
"Oh, I know all about that place. What it did to my Kyle and to other kids. How it exploits young geniuses. That’s why I never told Kyle about his daughter. He was already in prison when she was born, and I found out that the Centre had personnel visiting him there. I could never let the Centre know about Kyleah! I moved back here to my hometown to protect her."
"You say she’s a Pretender?"
"A pretty damned good one, I suspect. I worry about her, though. She’s so serious all the time. She’s always looking for some problem or crime to solve."
"Here’s my car. Will you come to the farm with us?"
"Of course."
Jarod’s mind was racing with questions, but he decided to wait until the drive was over before he began questioning Leah further.
The three of them rode in companionable silence the fifteen minutes it took to reach Dillonsford Thoroughbred Breeding Farm---the huge spread he’d seen from the overlook.
"The farm and the town are named for my great-grandfather. His name was Dillon O’Connerly and he came to America in 1887. He founded this town--originally called Dillon’s Fort, as a refuge for immigrants who were unwanted elsewhere. He took in anyone who was willing to work and abide by the law. Most of the founders of the town were immigrants from Ireland and Scotland, but we also had Italian and Asian settlers as well as some second-generation Americans that wanted a fresh start. Great Grandpa did quite well in the horse breeding business. ‘Regret’ and ‘War Admiral’ were two of his horses. ‘Seattle Slew’, ‘Whirlaway’ and ‘Affirmed’ were also O’Connerly bred horses. We also bred the father of ‘Secretariat’."
"Intriguing." Jarod commented.
The main house sprawled in three directions, making a squared "U" shape. Several tin buildings were visible in the distance, as were two elegant barns. He could see horses frolicking in the fields and farm hands going about their jobs.
He followed Leah and Kylie into the house.
"I’ll get you two some tea." Kylie offered and headed for the kitchen as Jarod and her mom sat on the couch.
"How does she know about the van?" Jarod could restrain his questions no longer.
"That’s where her psychic abilities come into play---abilities that come from my side of the family. The accident happened on May 17 at about two o’clock in the afternoon."
"How....?"
"Because I almost lost Kyleah then too. She fell to the floor screaming and holding her leg. Later she felt Kyle’s pain as he escaped the van with his hurt leg, then the pain of burning debris falling on him when the van exploded. Her temperature rose to 102 and she was almost in shock. As I tended to her, Kyle must have rallied and gotten to his feet and fled. When Kylie came around, she told me her Dad was injured but alive."
"Does she have visions like that often?"
"No. That was the most intense one she’s ever had. Most of her visions are of events as they are happening. Sometimes she can interpret what they are, and sometimes she can’t. I think this one affected her so greatly because it was her father involved."
"You said she gets her psychic abilities from your side of the family?"
"Yes. Both my parents had psi ability. They got together as part of a project in college. An organization called Futura selected students that scored high on psi ability tests for an experiment. They were paid large sums of money to try an experimental drug that they were told would make them immune to the common cold. My parents later found out it was a very dangerous drug meant to enhance their psi abilities. The Futura corporation---not unlike the Centre---intended to exploit the abilities of the young people. My parents became suspicious and left the program before they complete the whole round of drugs. Still, the organization tracked them anyway. Soon, they fell in love and got married. My mother was expecting my older sister Hannah when agents from Futura first came to see them. They insisted that my parents use their talents for their projects, and threatened them and their unborn child if they refused. Under duress, they agreed on the condition that their child and all future children would be left alone and that the jobs would not interfere with a normal lifestyle. Things were fine for a while. They were asked to attend several political and business negotiating sessions to gauge who was telling the truth and what each party’s true feelings were. My mom, like my sister Hannah, can read many thoughts, especially strong emotional ones. My dad had a sense of what people were feeling and could tell when someone was lying. They only had about two dozen assignments per year, until power in the organization shifted. By then, my little sister and I had been born. They were expected to do more and more jobs. They found out that some of the information they had been gathering for Futura had been used to kill people and for fraudulent purposes. They threatened to tell the authorities---and were threatened with our lives. Eventually, they learned to withhold some information and give them just enough to get by with. I guess they weren’t fooling anyone. They were sent on assignment to Argentina, where they were murdered. The story was that they got caught in the crossfire of two warring factions, but my sisters and I didn’t believe it. Hannah was twenty-four and got paranoid. She’s been more or less underground ever since. I was nineteen and in school, so I stayed put. Our Aunt Jamie took care of Rachel, who was thirteen at the time. Rachel was troubled by her psychic gifts, and the shock of our parents’ deaths proved too much for her. She committed suicide two months after they died."
Jarod could tell that even now the subject was painful for her to talk about. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I’m so sorry about your family."
"You and Kyle had a rough lot too, didn’t you?"
"Yes. But our parents---and our sister---are still alive."
"Told you." said Kylie, who had just come in with the glasses of tea.
"She told me her father had three siblings."
"Three? There’s only me and our little sister, Emily."
"I saw a vision with four of you. One was very blurred, possibly a half sibling. Older than you. He was protecting you and Kyle even when you were kids."
"But there was no one else at the Centre. There was only.....Angelo!"
"Kyle mentioned a friend named Angelo." Leah offered.
"Could it be?" Jarod wondered, amazed. That was something else he intended to pursue. For now, he wanted to get to know Kyle’s family better.
"I’ll let you two talk....I’ll be working in my computer room." Kylie told them and went off to her favorite room.
"How old is Kyleah?"
"She turned ten on September fourth. She doesn’t act ten, though! She’s always been so serious and so advanced for her age. She rarely laughs or cries. I worry about her. She says she’s content, but sometimes I wonder. It would be wonderful for her and for Kyle to be together."
"So....how did you and Kyle meet?" Jarod wanted to know.
He was crazy -from the first
she must have known it.
Still she went on with him
and she never once said "show me".
And she took him off the street
and she dried his tears of grieving
She listened to his failures
she believed in his believing.
Leah smiled. "It was late August,1986, in Angels, Massachusetts a small upstate town. Two of my girlfriends and I were out on the town to celebrate one of them getting a promotion at work. There was a local night spot called "Anything Goes". That was the name of the music group that played there...they liked all styles of music, so they played a bit of everything. I later found out that Kyle had been released by the Centre two weeks earlier. Mr. Raines just took him outside, gave him five hundred dollars, some books on current history and survival skills and told him he never wanted to see him again. Kyle wandered all over Delaware before heading west. The name of the town--Angels--caught his attention and we ended up at the same club. I looked up from my table and saw him standing at the bar. He was so handsome I couldn’t help but stare. He looked around and stared right back."
Leah smiled with the memories.
//"Do you know him?" asked Penny.
"No, but I’m going to." Leah told her pal, never taking her eyes off Kyle. She reached into her purse and handed her two buddies a twenty dollar bill.
"You two take a cab home. I’m going to be busy." she said as she took off toward the handsome stranger. Her pals gaped at each other. Leah had never acted like this before!
She went right up to him and asked him to dance. He glanced around at the other couples dancing to the country beat.
"Let me finish my beer." he said and continued to watch the dancing couples intently.
After a while, he took her hand and led her to the dance floor. He was light on his feet and danced as well as anyone on the floor. Leah later found out he had just learned how by watching the others.
After a few more country dances, the band decided to play some rock tunes. He seemed a taken aback by the sudden change and said he needed another drink.
"Me too! My name is Leah. Leah O’Connerly."
"Kyle."
"Glad to meet you Kyle."
He nodded and drank his second beer while watching the new dance style.
"Want to dance some more?" he finally asked.
"Yes."
Again, he was as good as anyone on the floor.
The band finally decided to go in for some slow dancing.
The lights dimmed.
"Finally!" Leah said softly.
Kyle looked a bit confused when she wrapped her arms around him, but glancing around, saw that all the others were doing likewise. He kept an eye on a neighboring couple and placed his arms likewise around Leah.
The music and words to "I Wanna Know What Love Is" and then "Slow Dancin’" filled the room. Leah pressed her body closer to Kyle’s. His heart began to beat faster and he felt things he’d never felt before. He looked around and found his models getting closer and pressing together more so he followed suit. As the band started "Everything I do I do for You," Leah pressed her lips to his. At first he was shocked and didn’t react, but a glance around showed him that this too was expected behavior and he began to kiss her back. The kiss intensified, and he felt her heart pounding against his chest. He felt the beginning of an erection stir in his tight jeans. He pressed even closer to her as she put her tongue in his mouth. She inhaled his hot breath and he did likewise. The music stopped all too soon for them, the band announcing they would take a twenty minute break.
They went back to the bar and ordered a beer. As they drank in silence, Billy Joe Barker and some of his rowdy friends entered the club. It was obvious they had been drinking.
Billy Joe walked up to Kyle and said, "Hey, you’re new around here."
"I suppose I am." Kyle replied, cutting his eyes at the stranger.
"Sounds like city boy to me. A pretty boy at that."
"Don’t call me boy."
"I’ll call you anything I damn well please."
"Well, then, I guess I can call you an ignorant slob."
Leah wasn’t sure who threw the first punch, but suddenly fists were flying everywhere. Several bar inhabitants had come to Kyle’s aide, while Billy Joe’s friends had come to his. Leah moved to where Kyle and Billy were fighting. Kyle had him down and by the throat. Leah did the only thing she could think of at the time. She grabbed a beer bottle off the counter and whacked Kyle over the head with it. She winced as she crumpled to the floor. Billy Joe was unconscious, but he would live.
Someone helped her drag Kyle to her car and she drove him home.//
Leah told Jarod the brief version of the story.
"And Kyle stayed with you even after you knocked him out?"
Leah giggled. "Oh, I never did tell him it was *me* that whacked him!"
"How long were you two together?"
"Six months. The most wonderful...and most frightening....six months of my life."
"I know it may be personal, but could you tell me a little about what life with Kyle was like? What he was like?"
"Here, look at this photo album first. Then I’ll tell you more."
Jarod began looking at the album she’d handed him...full of photos of Kyle and Leah doing all sorts of things. He was struck by how happy his brother looked in each picture.
Leah began thinking of her first night and day with Kyle.
//Kyle came to just as Leah was pulling into her parking space in her townhouse garage. He was still pretty groggy from the alcohol and the bump on the head.
She led him inside. He kept trying to dance with her, although no music was playing. They both giggled a lot. He finally passed out on her couch, but she managed to drag him to the bed. She got off most his clothes, tucked him in, and crawled in beside him. He was still asleep when she awoke and she rose to get breakfast. Kyle awoke with a start. He lay still and tried to think of where he was and what had happened. He glanced under the covers and noted he was wearing only his briefs. Leah appeared at the door with a tray.
"Good morning, Kyle. How do you feel?"
"Leah" he said, recognizing her and remembering the club and the dancing.
He looked miserable.
"Bathroom’s over there." she told him and pointed.
He started to pull the covers with him, then thought better of it, and sprinted to the john. He got back under the covers as soon as he could.
"Here’s something that will make you feel better."
/How does she know my head is pounding and my stomach’s churning?/
"You look like you have a rotten hangover from the beers and that knock on the head didn’t help much either."
Kyle remembered the bar fight.
"Yeah. That Neanderthal last night!"
"Try this Alka-Seltzer and black coffee."
Kyle drank both potions, then slipped back into sleep.
When he awoke again he was feeling much better and quickly noticed that Leah was in the room, brushing her long auburn hair. He cleared his throat.
"Oh--back among the living, eh?"
"You’re wearing my shirt." Kyle suddenly noticed aloud.
"Yep". That and a pair of panties was all she was wearing, he noticed.
"Leah, did we, um.....did we....have sex?" he inquired.
"Not yet. You weren’t in any shape for that, although you tried."
"Oh" Kyle thought. He stared at her. She looked so beautiful and he recalled how he’d felt as they danced the previous night.
Raines’s words rang in his head. /Women are evil. They use their bodies to make you weak./ Still, after being out only two weeks, Kyle had learned from watching television and renting videos that a lot of what Raines had told him wasn’t true. And his erection was demanding that he do something about it.
"You’re still wearing my shirt." he told her, his eyes gleaming.
She came to the bed and knelt beside him. "Want it back?"
He came to his knees facing her and quickly ripped the shirt off her. He caught his breath at the sight of her naked breasts and quickly bent to kiss each one. He laid her back on the bed and continued to suck and caress her breasts. Her quickened breath and sighs turned him on even more. He finally moved to take her panties off . She arched her back and helped him slip them off. He quickly removed his underwear also.
Leah’s eyes widened as she eyed his large, fully erect penis. Kyle was intent on exploring her private regions. He moved down to where he was looking directly at her pussy. His fingers explored here and there, noting which spots caused the desired reaction. He kept exploring with his hands, then was suddenly inspired to try his mouth on the same area. As his tongue lapped at her, she moaned and arched. He tried various parts and rhythms until she was nearly mad.
"Kyle. I need you. Inside me. Now!" she panted.
Raines’s words were only a faint echo now.
Kyle moved between her legs and entered her.
"Yessss" she sighed.
Kyle was still for a few moments, relishing the sensations he was feeling for the first time. She moved slightly, causing more reactions in him and he began to pump in and out of her. She matched his rhythm and they soon came, Leah first and Kyle a few seconds afterward. He lay there holding her as they recovered. As soon as he had regained his breath, he started kissing a licking her shoulder. She wasn’t opposed to repeating the actions, so they made love again and again that day. When they finally got up to eat, they talked easily.
"Stay with me a while, Kyle."
"What makes you think I don’t have somewhere to go? Someone to be with?"
"Do you?"
"No. But how did you know that?"
"I didn’t know it. I was just hoping, that’s all."
Kyle smiled at her. "I’ll stay a while. No promises though. I’m liable to take off any time."
"Fair enough."
"One more thing....do you make a habit of picking up men in bars? I saw a movie about that the other day. It can be dangerous."
"You were the first Kyle."
"If you say so."
"I will never lie to you."
"I’m not your first sex partner, though."
"No. I had a college sweetheart, but that ended years ago. There hasn’t been anyone that interested me since then....until I spotted you last night."
"How do you know I’m not a serial killer or something?"
"Are you?"
Kyle smiled. "Not yet."
Leah pretended it was a joke and said, "Just keep it that way, then!"
Kyle changed the subject. "I was staying a motel just outside of town. I’ll need to get my things."
"I’ll drive you there as soon as we finish eating."//
Jarod finished the album and looked at Leah, who was a million miles away. She finally looked up at him.
"Your brother was quite a fellow."
"It looks like you two were very happy together."
"For the most part. But you know he was.....troubled."
"Yes. I know."
"What that Mr. Raines did to him was unconscionable! That man kept him isolated in some dungeon and abused him. He abused him mentally, physically, and sexually."
Jarod felt his blood run cold. He’d suspected the physical and emotional abuse, but not the other. He suddenly wished he had pulled that trigger in the alley.
"He told you about it?"
"After we’d been together a while. Raines was always slapping or hitting him, yet Kyle wanted so badly to please him. Raines had him do simulations of all kinds of heinous crimes, encouraging him to hate people, telling him he was better than anyone, that he was worthy of deciding their fate. He also forced Kyle to watch video after video of people being tortured and killed in horrible fashions. When Kyle was young, Raines had to tape his eyelids open to make him watch the horrible things. He also made Kyle do several autopsies. The sexual abuse began when Kyle was thirteen. Raines told him it was a game. He masturbated Kyle until he came and made Kyle do the same for him. After a while, he had them change to oral sex. Thank goodness he never took it any further. Kyle had no idea what a normal relationship was....sexual or otherwise."
Jarod found himself hating Raines more with each breath.
"Were you abused by your keeper?"
"Not like Kyle was. In fact, he was pretty good to me. He just kept me from the real world for thirty-three years!"
"So you were released only last year?"
"I wasn’t released at all. I escaped!"
"Oh! I’ll bet they aren’t happy about that!"
"You can say that again. Sydney---my keeper---and Miss Parker, an old friend and daughter of the Chairman of the Board, have been after me ever since. They come after me with teams of goons, called Sweepers, but they haven’t got me yet. They even have some new folks in there, called in by the big bosses. They haven’t been able to get me either!"
"I’ll bet its very difficult to trap a Pretender."
"What makes you think I’m one?"
"Kyle was. That’s the kind of kids the Centre kept, wasn’t it? And remember---I’m psychic!"
"Oh, yeah. Do you read minds?"
"Nope. Only Hannah can do that. I have--actually had---visions like Kyleah does. Of events as they happen. Fifteen years ago, I saw my parents as they were killed. I saw the bullets hitting them from every angle. Hannah says I screamed for three hours. I haven’t had a vision since then. I am still able to tell a lot about people, though. I knew from the beginning that Kyle was troubled, but I was too drawn to him to care. I also sensed that he needed someone and I wanted to be that someone, even if only for a little while."
"You guessed right. I suppose I was their star Pretender, doing all those sims, day in and day out! They would have never let me go."
"Why did you finally leave?"
He explained to her about finding out that the results of some of his sims had been used for illicit purposes.
"That’s terrible! But you had no way of knowing how they were going to be used!"
"I should have known, somehow. If I’m this great genius everyone says I am, I should have figured out things sooner."
"Jarod, don’t be so hard on yourself. You and Kyle didn’t exactly have a normal upbringing, so don’t expect yourself to have realized when abnormal things were going on."
"It still bothers me."
"Tell me how Kyle came to be in that van that exploded. I know he had been in prison for ten years. I wanted to go to him so badly, but I knew I couldn’t. I had Kyleah to protect. I couldn’t take any chance that the Centre would ever find out about her."
"I understand." Jarod told her. He told her everything about what all had happened from the time he found out Kyle had escaped from prison to the events in the alley in Boston.
"He must have left me to look for your parents. He never would tell me who or what he was looking for. Then he got arrested for kidnapping Harriet, and was imprisoned from then until he escaped."
"Do you really think he’s alive?"
"Yes, Jarod, I do. I believe it with all my heart."
Jarod allowed himself a small glimmer of hope.
"You have to have faith, Jarod."
"Faith...as in some all-powerful being?"
"Faith, as in God. Yes, I’m a Christian. I believe that Kyle and I were meant to be together, and that we will be."
"I’m not sure I can believe all that church stuff."
"Kyle had a hard time with it also. We’ll talk more about it later."
Jarod looked at the clock. He couldn’t believe that they’d been talking for five hours.
