Counseling Ch. 02

"Actors didn't use to be rich legends," Joseph said often. "This whole culture where they are is new. The aristocrats used to be the people who had the gossip and the money. In the modern day, actors are the ones. I don't know if it's entirely healthy or right." Evan nodded in agreement, stroking her tits and thighs faster as she envisioned Joseph's eyes on her. Thoughts of Manson continued to come in also, as Evan knew she was not yet through with him.

Evan still called Manson a fuck-buddy. She would star in his directorial debut when he got it finished. Even so, she was no longer his love. They announced their breakup to the press and then rumors started to appear. Evan was forced to explain some things and deny others. No, she was not dating Mickey Rourke. No, Manson was not abusing her. Yes, they were still friends. No, she did not have any addictions.

Things went on for a week, the gossip growing and then dying down. Evan used the Friendship to trace the source of the rumors when the media frenzy surged and learned it was Dane. She at once tailored her statements to the press to debase Dane without revealing his identity. Evan knew who really was responsible for the disinformation. On Friday morning, two days prior to the current day, those people showed up again at Manson's home. Evan had come over for breakfast to discuss Dane with Manson and was already there when they arrived.

Dane was not with Jessica and the Feshbachs. "It was best he stay behind," Jessica said when asked. "This visit has a different purpose than our previous encounters."

Before she could go into further detail, Evan confronted Jessica with what she had discovered about Erika's brother.

"You think I told Dane to put out those rumors?" Jessica asked. "You've got it all wrong, dearie. If it was anyone's idea, it was his."

"No," Evan insisted. "I know Dane and so does my brother Ira. We both agree he would not do such a thing himself. You influenced him to do it."

Jessica stared at her and then smiled as she noticed Evan's firm expression. "Fine. So what if I did exert such influence? You now see the consequences of rejecting me. I can create a positive image for you both as easy as I did a negative. Join Scientology and I will do it. Manson, you will have the respect of the public. You, Evan, will no longer be the squeaky shell your fans now regard you. Dane will be your friend again too. What do you say?"

The crazed holy woman extended her hand and Evan's responding taekwondo blow knocked her to the floor. Her three followers rushed at Evan but Manson's bodyguards intercepted them. Jessica glared at Evan one last time before the guards escorted her off Mason's home premises. "You will live to regret this," she said. She then fled with a cackle. Her grinning followers were just behind. Evan sighed in relief as she watched them go.

After calming down in Manson's arms, Evan at once called Dane and told him about all that had happened. "You need to remember who you are!" Evan said to Dane. "You also need to remember who your sister is. You and Erika were among my best friends. You loved me during our film and afterwards. Now you're a loser making up false stories and expecting me to be something you know I can't. You won't even speak about your sister. What happened to you, Dane?"

Dane did not reply and Evan hung up the receiver. She then went upstairs to take a nap after her ordeal.

I have to call Erika, Evan decided upon awakening in the evening. She needs to save her brother before he becomes like those other people who have ruined her church. I must tell her what Dane's gotten himself into. I pray Erika's problems with me won't interfere too much with her trusting me. We need to reconnect. I want both Erika and Dane back as pals.

Manson stopped Evan halfway to the phone. "I was e-mailed by the man you told me was Erika's boyfriend, Friendship Viceroy Doug Ramsay. He said that Erika's dealing with something very serious tonight and this isn't the best time to approach her. Give it till next week."

Evan e-mailed Doug for further details and learned that Dane had expelled Jessica from his life and was reuniting with Erika. "Good," Evan told Doug. "I hope they'll both be okay." Evan stayed calm yet obsessed for the next two days, waiting for a sign. She wanted Dane and Erika to return to her as friends when the moment was right.

Thinking of them, and Manson too, caused a new wave of ecstasy to enter Evan's mind. She let it flow across her body, shoving the stake into her cunt and scratching her breasts. She increased the intensity of her movements, rolling around on the bed and crying out incoherent words. Her thoughts had reached the present and Evan wanted to bring them to today. She could feel her pleasure coming back now, held off a short while by her review of her own life story. Evan accepted its rise, stirring her nerves with her stake and fingers. Flicking back and forth in her imagination, she called up her past lovers and things they had done. She also summoned her fantasies, both those that could never come to pass and those that might. Soon the faces of Erika and Manson took up prominence. Evan did not need to close her eyes to give them shape.

Evan's hands became their hands, touching and massaging her torso. Each whispered loving words, easing her inner pain. Other devout religious celebrities Evan knew joined Manson and Erika, including the Christian Candace Cameron and the Buddhist Kate Hudson. Evan had met Candace at Friendship gatherings and considered her a fun acquaintance. Erika had introduced Evan to Kate and they had slept together on multiple occasions. Evan smiled when she recognized the new arrivals and nodded as they spoke to the two already present. It did not take many words for them to find common ground. Differences did not matter in the face of all the visions' need to help Evan. Together they extended glowing fingers and touched Evan's body. The young actress shook under their caresses and kind whispered advice.

An old John Lennon song swelled in Evan's thoughts when the phantoms fondled her.You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one... She smiled at the music, identifying it, and rubbed herself harder and faster. Evan's inner hearth burned strong now, fueled by her hopes.

Another glowing figure took shape as the mass of phantoms stroked Evan — Doug Ramsay, the highest-ranking member of the Friendship she knew. He reached out and patted her shoulder, assuring Evan everything would be okay. Evan blinked, recalling Doug was never someone to whom she had really been attracted. Then he and all the other phantoms standing around Evan flashed and flowed together into her form.

Evan screamed, feeling the mutual onslaught of ecstasy. This is ridiculous! Evan's id complained. None of these people have mystical powers! They're not really here, you're imagining this! It's a dream sequence even worse than those in your musical "Across the Universe"! Nodding, Evan informed her id that she knew all this and did not care. It was a wondrous hallucination and she would thrill to it.

Shaking and crying out on the bed, Evan kicked her legs up and down into the mattress. The stake slipped from her fingers and tumbled away. Evan's juices flowed free and she no longer needed the masturbatory aid. The towel she placed beneath her pussy to prevent sheet stains absorbed her fluids. Her fingers collected them too, stirring a simmering boil. Evan pinched her clit with force and squeezed her throbbing nipples. She also flicked the scar on her belly, a sensitive area that Nikki Reed had pierced too hard.

It took but a few seconds of this to make her explode. Evan's made-up lovers dissolved one by one into mist as she climaxed, each smiling and kissing her lips before they disappeared. Evan beamed at all of them, thanking them all for the help they gave her and telling Erika that Evan would soon be back in her life.

Another phantom appeared when Evan's body calmed. It held the face and form of Dane Christensen. "I'm sorry, Evan," he said. "I should not have brought Jessica to you. I ought not to have tried to make you something you did not want to become. You must be strong ... no, wait, you are strong. You don't need my help or anyone else's to be so. Forgive me, Evan. Forgive me. Please."

"I forgive you, Dane," Evan said, sitting up on the bed with a grin. Her hands dropped from her intimate spots and she sighed as the final phantom vanished. Damn, Evan thought. Why did he have to be just a fantasy?

Never mind, she said to herself, looking down at her naked form. She brought her right hand's fingers to her lips and licked off their coating of sex sap. Evan smiled at the taste. Flushed with receding passion, she stood up and looked at herself in the room's full-length mirror. A long black wig sat on the stand next to the glass and Evan picked it up and slipped it on, hiding her pale blonde flood of hair.

She looked over her body and smiled, pinching her nipples and stroking her loins until they became too sensitive and thoughts of further pleasure had passed. I have a party to attend at Manson's tonight, Evan thought. He's holding a get-together for Saint Andrew's Feast and he wants me to be there. Manson admires Christian saints even though he's a Satanist. Other celebrities will be at the party too. It's a costume event and I'm going as the "Dork Tower" comic character Gilly the Perky Goth. There will be dancing and music, alcohol but no drugs. Manson assured me that his security would keep all problems off the premises. It will be fun and maybe after it is over Erika will be ready to talk to me. I would send her an invitation, but Manson told me he heard things are still unclear on Erika's end. Some of her friends will show up tonight, however she can't. I hope it will be different next week.

Evan sighed, thinking of all that she had been through and what might still be lurking ahead. I fear the unexpected most, she realized. I did not predict that Dane might come back into my life as he did. Nor did I foresee that loving Manson would change me so much.

The unexpected has been of benefit also, though, Evan reflected. I felt that quite often when I filmed "Upside" and when I met Mischa and my other lovers. I think I need a reminder of how surprise can be good. I will seduce a stranger at the party tonight, a person I don't know. Manson doesn't mind people using his mansion's many guest rooms for trysts and dalliances. I wonder who I will find.

Shrugging off such thoughts for now, she turned from the mirror and walked to her closet. A frilly black gown with a plunging neckline hung there waiting for her. Evan had no engagements today but the party and she wanted to get ready to go.

"Out tonight," she hummed, donning the dress. "I want to go out tonight!"

***

"Clint Eastwood?" the airport tourist asked, looking back and forth at the two people standing before him. "Jodie Foster?"

"No," Jodi Lee Nichols replied. "Sorry. We're just lookalikes."

"Damn it!" the tourist fumed. "Five days in Hollywood and I didn't see one celebrity. Not one!" Gesturing wildly with his hands, he walked past the pair of Friendship spies and into the main terminal of Los Angeles International Airport.

Quite a disturbed man, Asher Stravjan said to his companion in sign language.Perhaps we should have lied to him.

"I thought so too," Jodi Lee answered, signing back to emphasize her words. She'd adopted this habit around Asher even though he was merely mute and not deaf.

They were former Special Forces soldiers, members of a team that had once fought terrorism for the United Nations and now worked for Doug Ramsay. Jodi Lee was a waitress at the nightclub Inside Out while Asher was a bartender and janitor.

Asher liked to entertain the club's patrons with juggling and other tricks. He had grown up in a Poland Gypsy community and then joined his nation's armed forces, eventually entering the elite unit called GROM. This group specialized in unconventional warfare and terrorist elimination. Asher had ranked among their best scouts. He looked like an old man even though he was only in his middle thirties with his short white hair and very pale skin and eyes. Asher's appearance was the effect of a condition called albinism, which he often countered with disguise. He was an expert in psychology and languages also, despite his lack of a tongue for the past six years.

Jodi Lee was the pride of the Australian Special Forces. As one of the few women selected to serve in the Australian Special Air Service, she excelled at infiltration and sabotage as much as Asher did. Jodi Lee grew up on an Outback ranch herding cattle and spending time with Aboriginals. She also attended a private international school in Taipei when her father moved there to further their family business. Jodi Lee was already skilled at much of the training her instructors gave her when she joined the military and exhibited well the excellence the instructors demanded. Australia employed her on counter-terrorist operations, security in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and various other matters. In 2002, Jodi Lee left the army to find a calmer life. She felt the need to settle down after a mission that killed her lover and disgraced their commander.

Asher was maimed and tortured on that mission also, Jodi Lee recalled. The results of Operation Sweetheart are the reason he only speaks in sign language now. I have to watch him but otherwise it's not that hard to get what he's saying. Special Forces troops make extravagant use of gestures and body language. I'm also a very close friend to Asher, even though I'm bisexual and he's unfortunately only gay.

Jodi Lee regarded herself in a nearby mirror, nodding at her doe brown eyes and short dark copper hair. I do sort of look like Jodie Foster, she thought. I'm about fifteen years younger, though, and I have more freckles. I suppose we have about the same body shape. I know I share her sexual orientation and her views on God. I don't think we need God and only see him in the gaps, the things psychology and science cannot explain. Some consider this view ignorant, but I nonetheless hold on to it. There is far more faith to be found in a lack of evidence than there is in any established religion.

Asher tapped her on the shoulder.Viceroy Ramsay has not told Friend Manson that we will be attending his party, the Gypsy signed when Jodi Lee faced him once more.Costumes and invitations are arranged, though. Do you remember our mission?

"Yes," Jodi Lee replied. "We are to ascertain the current status and emotional state of Manson's girlfriend, Friend Evan Rachel Wood. Friend Erika Christensen has requested that we conduct this investigation while she assists her brother Dane with some recent problems in his life. Dane is not a Friend, though he knows of us and is worthy of membership under the right circumstances. Evan and Manson are both Friends, but Erika has been out of contact with Evan and does not know Manson's status as a Friend. She fears for their souls."

No one walking past Asher and Jodi Lee raised an eyebrow at the speech. Strange people and philosophies were very common in Los Angeles.

Good, Asher complimented Jodi Lee.Do you have any initial feelings about Friend Evan?

Jodi Lee took a moment to consider before she answered. "Well, I'm not sure. I've heard a lot about Marilyn Manson. He is, like many celebrities, a prophet and a pusher. Part truth, part fiction. A walking contradiction."

Agreed, Asher signed.I myself am a great fan of Marilyn Manson. I enjoy his music. The man's aura concerns me also and perhaps that is what I like the most. However, it was not him I asked you about.

"Right." Jodi Lee paused in thought again. "Well, I know Manson is into the Goth scene and the Church of Satan. I don't like either of those environments. This mission makes me apprehensive. If Evan is too deep into Goth or Satanic stuff and is hurting herself, we may have trouble extracting her."

That is not necessarily our mission.

"I know. It's just that I'm worried about Evan. I never really got to know her when she attended Inside Out. I wanted to, but she was too involved with Jamie Bell and her other friends. There was also our age difference."

I see. My advice to you is to discard all preconceptions. Growing up among my people, I saw many who assumed we were strange because they considered us different. They wanted to separate themselves from us because they thought they were not like us. They never bothered to get close and see that we were actually very much like them. I believe that the same lesson applies here. Friend Evan may be okay and we should not assume she is in trouble just because people like Friend Manson are not trustworthy on the surface.

"You're right," Jodi Lee said, reminding herself that Asher was more experienced than she was with the Friendship and its ways. "I will wait until we see Evan before I give myself any more ideas about her. She may not remember you or me, and if I approach her with the wrong suppositions it could be problematic."

I am glad you understand that. By the way, I had a text exchange with Viceroy Ramsay while you used the restroom and I retrieved our luggage. There may be some additional problems at the party tonight.

Jodi Lee frowned as Asher signed further. "A clan of devoted yet corrupt Scientologists is trying to convert Manson? Paparazzi are infiltrating the party too?"

I do not think they will be of serious concern. Manson knows the Feshbachs have targeted him and he will have security alert for their possible presence at the party. Friend Baxter Page, our old comrade, is one of the tabloid infiltrators. He should help keep the other two in line.

"Don't you think we should warn Manson about the reporters?"

No. If they are kept out of the party, it will impact several ongoing Friendship operations. Gossip has its uses. Some take advantage of it, some can learn from it. We shall allow both.

"Fine," Jodi Lee told her fellow scout. "I trust your judgment. Where do we pick up the costumes?"

It has already been arranged. Asher punctuated his gestures by waving at a nearby cab.

To Be Continued...