The Tears of the Stars Pt. 02

"They believe in the force that flows through all things. Maybe you can consider that God." Jackson reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. "What do you think of this?" He asked.

The Archbishop lifted the knife in his hands examining the gilded, gold handle with black onyx and silver inlays. A few impressive emeralds sunken into the metal glinted in the light. The blade was short but viscously sharp. "It's a beautiful knife." He noted. "Where is it from?"

"It was forged in a great city that was lost to history. It's somewhere on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, I think. That knife is forty thousand years old."

"There were no cities forty thousand years ago." The Archbishop said.

"May I?" Jackson asked holding out his hand. He took the knife. "People just don't understand this unless they see it." He drew the blade down his forearm slicing it open like he had for his mother. It was a severe cut deeper than before and down to the bone. Jackson barely winced.

"Jackson!" The Archbishop called out suddenly alarmed. He jumped from his seat.

"Relax." Jackson said calmly. "Look." The wound was already binding itself back together. Not a drop of blood had escaped.

"Glory be to God!" He exclaimed again. He slowly sat back down unsure what to believe anymore.

"I am eternal, Archbishop. Although so were the ones that gave me the gift. And they found a way to end their existence."

"How do you end your existence if you're eternal?" He asked.

"They went back to the source of all things." Jackson replied.

"God?"

"I don't know. Maybe. They didn't name things that way." Jackson looked at him thoughtfully. "Do you see now why I didn't want the church to know what I am? Beware of false prophets. It would be so easy for people to blindly worship me. You told me that all things come from God. But that doesn't make me a prophet or a saint."

The Archbishop took a heavy breath. "So what are you?"

Jackson shrugged. "A mutt."

The Archbishop laughed. "A mutt? How so?"

"The Ancients were unique. They gave me a piece of them to carry on their tradition of knowledge. But they also gave me their knowledge, collected over a billion years from millions of worlds. I have a little piece of all God's creations inside of me. I guess that makes me God's mutt."

The Archbishop laughed harder. "God's mutt!" He grabbed at his chest as the pain scourged his body.

Jackson held out his hand. The old man took it feeling the pain dissipate. He sighed with relief. "Thank you."

"The cold is getting to me. It's time to head back inside." Jackson said getting up from his chair.

Maureen and Dana were just getting back in from their drive. The Archbishop walked in from outside shedding his jacket. Jackson followed behind him.

"Oh, you must be frozen!" Maureen yapped seeing him shirtless. "Why on earth would you go outside without a shirt in this weather?"

"I'm alright." Jackson pulled back on his microfleece. "I get hot sometimes."

"Peter?" She asked.

******

Peter Johnston stared at the ceiling. He had this vague idea that he was in upstate New York. It felt strange like he'd been living in a dream for so long now. He sat up in the bed pondering his surroundings. It slowly started to become clear. The last eleven months of his life had been a fog, but it was clearing now, and the reality of his illness and prognosis hit him particularly hard. Poor Maureen, he thought.

He found the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror. His hands cupped some water under the faucet and splashed his face and then he wiped it with a wash cloth. He felt good. It was over. The whole ordeal was over, and he was okay. The tears ran openly down his cheeks. He took a few breaths, inhaling deeply, and then he broke into a wide smile.

"Maureen!" He shouted. "Maureen! Are you here?" He found his way down the hallway until he stood on the steps at the edge of the living room staring at the four of them talking. "Maureen!"

"Peter?" She turned with a look of utter amazement. "Are you...?"

He hopped off the steps and ran to her and scooped her into his arms and spun her around. "I'm so sorry, my love. It's all better now. There's nothing to worry about."

She still didn't believe what was happening. "Peter?! It's really you! You're back! You've come back to me!" She looked into his eyes expecting to see that lost, confused expression, but he stared back with clarity. "Oh my god! How is it possible? I thought I was losing you." She began to cry tears of joy.

"Not yet, my love. I'm still here." He leaned in and kissed her sweetly and they held each other like they would never let go.

Dana wrapped her arms around Jackson. "I love you, Jackson Travers." She whispered in his ear.

The Archbishop placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's a miracle." He uttered quietly.

Maureen ran over in an excited fracas. "How did you do it?! I didn't think you could. And not like this!" She cried excitedly. "How can he just be better? Just like that? It's not possible!"

Peter joined her. "I remember everything now. Your eyes..." He recounted. "They were like nothing I've ever..." He stopped himself as he watched the young man stare back at him quietly. "It doesn't matter, does it? I should just be grateful. How can I repay you?"

Jackson had waited for the words, but his heart sank. "I was going to ask for money. I had Dr. Monroe choose you because you were wealthy. I thought you'd be willing to pay for a cure... but... I... I can't." He said solemnly. "Mr. Johnston, I'd be a lucky man to find a woman that loves me as much as your wife loves you. Look how happy she is right now. That's payment enough." Dana squeezed him tighter. He liked how it felt when she was proud of him.

"You must take something!" Maureen bemoaned.

"I'm healthy, right?" Peter asked.

"Perfectly." Jackson replied. "I left you in better shape than anyone your age should be."

"Then you must take some payment." He insisted.

Jackson struggled. "Maybe you should give it to charity."

"A charity didn't save my life. And it didn't save Maureen from heartache." He said. "Please. We could never have children. Let us pay you something and I'll give an equal amount to charity."

"Dana? I don't know what to do." Jackson said conflicted. "What's the right thing to do?"

"Is this what you want?" Dana asked looking at Maureen. "This could be your miracle, Maureen. All those prayers..."

Maureen was still smiling through her tears. "Yes! Please let us help you!"

Dana pulled Jackson aside to talk in private. The Archbishop leaned against the back of the couch still in stunned silence trying to understand everything. He wasn't sure if his faith was reinvigorated or shaken today. Or maybe it was like Jackson had said, just different now. He watched the couple paw at each other and kiss repeatedly, like things would change back at any moment, and they had to enjoy it while it lasted.

Jackson came back over. "Here's the truth of what's about to happen." Jackson said. "I can't expect you to understand... but being able to help you is a gift. I don't take it for granted. I'm not asking for anything in return. Not after meeting you both. But I can see that you want to do something." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "This is an account number. I was going to have you wire money to this account. When I leave today, you will never remember meeting me. Or any of what happened here. So if you're insistent on making a contribution you'd have to do it in the next hour or two."

"Of course, we'll remember you!" Maureen exclaimed. "How could we forget?"

Jackson's eyes exploded from blue to green. "You won't remember. Trust me."

Maureen took a step backward and grabbed Peter's arm as if she wasn't sure what she was seeing. But Peter had seen those eyes already. "How much?" He asked realizing that he was something different. "I don't know how to put a number on it."

"I don't want you to tell me. I don't want to know. It doesn't matter." Jackson said. His eyes were blue again as if nothing had happened. He purposely stayed out of their heads.

"What would you use it for?" Peter asked curiously.

"I'm going to change everything." Jackson said cryptically, but his voice was calm and thoughtful and Peter sensed it would change for the better.

Peter Johnston looked at him thoughtfully. His wife hung on his arm dotingly. He owed this boy his life, literally. "I want a scotch. Maureen, do they have any scotch here?" He walked over to the kitchen and opened the cabinets. He found a small bottle of Four Roses Whiskey. He unscrewed the cap and sniffed it, recoiling. "That'll put hair on your chest." He poured himself a glass and drank. "Maureen, I need my laptop."

"I didn't bring it." She replied.

"I never go anywhere without it! You know that!" He huffed.

Maureen looked over at Dana and Jackson. "Well, he's definitely cured. That's my Peter." The smile stretched across her face. She glanced back at him. "Just call Norman."

The Archbishop sat down on the couch discussing the healing with Jackson and Dana. He wanted to know how it worked. He needed to talk about it. But Jackson couldn't really explain it in a way that made sense to the man. So they ended up discussing the Books again. Dana would nod at the Archbishop occasionally as if she were acknowledging how unbelievable she thought the whole thing was too. Maureen came over in the middle of the conversation after discussing some details with her husband.

"He's almost finished." She said sweetly. "His accountant didn't believe it was him on the phone. You know the board was getting ready to purge him from the company. He'll be on a war path when he gets back and he'll forget this ever happened." She realized that they'd both be forgetting soon. She hadn't meant it like that. "Do you have to make us forget?"

"Yes." Jackson said. "It's for my own safety. What if everyone found out what I could do? I can't save everyone. It's a dangerous world."

"Well you made a miracle happen in my life." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "It means the world to an old lady."

******

Jackson and Dana were finally on their way back home after dropping off the Archbishop. Jackson had taken great care when he buried the commands deep in Peter and Maureen's subconscious and wiped away the memories. It shouldn't be a problem in the future. With the exception of whatever money was transferred to the account, there was nothing that would ever connect them, and the account was offshore. Dana was surprised by thorough nature of the whole thing.

"Do you think he transferred any money?" She asked. The fact that he hadn't brought it up was killing her. She loved him for turning down it down, but they were insistent, and it didn't feel wrong to her anymore.

"Probably." Jackson replied.

"Aren't you going to check? Aren't you at least curious?"

"I don't think so. Maybe it'll be a letdown. Or maybe it'll make me feel guilty." He said. "You were right. Having this gift isn't something to profit from. You can't feel them like I can. When Molly Callaway fell in my arms in the driveway... well... it does something to you... being able to feel that raw part of person's soul. And the look on Maureen's face today... when I put my hand on her afterward... it's very real emotion. I don't know how to explain it right. It just affects me."

"Jackson, you did a great thing today. Something that medical science can't do. Don't get all self-loathing."

He lifted his head and smiled at her. "I'm sorry. It gets me all jumbled up in the head. I'm okay."

"That mind control thing... you were really specific." She noted. "I've only known about that for a week, but it was strange seeing you actually do it. It works on anyone?"

"Yeah. But I've never used it on you. I know you're gonna ask me. It was the first thing Stacy asked."

"You could have just told him to give you all his money, right?"

"I guess so."

"You could make anyone do anything?" She asked really thinking about it. "Like you could walk into a sorority and make all the girls want to fuck you?"

Jackson laughed. "I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to write that down for later."

She slapped his arm playfully. "Don't you dare, mister. I was just thinking out loud." She paused. "You can read my thoughts too? Can you make me do things?"

"Why are you so interested?" He asked.

"Because it's scary." She blurted and her face reddened. "And kind of hot. I have to say that, right? You can hear me thinking it anyway?"

"Only when I'm trying to listen." He clarified. "You think it's hot?"

"Well, yes..." Dana said shyly. She wasn't generally a shy person. "You could make me do anything. I wouldn't be able to stop you. There's something scary about that... but it's also a turn on in a weird way." She saw him grinning at her. "Stop that! Why can't I have a normal boyfriend?"

He chuckled. "Relax. I'm not going to do anything to you." His power had grown stronger over the past months and he could push the thoughts forward without speaking the words out loud.

Dana furrowed her brow and shifted in her seat. She readjusted herself a few times wiggling her bottom into the leather. Jackson tried not smile as the thought popped into her head with sudden urgency. "I... I really need my ass fucked, Jackson." She blurted out. "I need it really bad... like right now. I need my ass fucked right now!"

He couldn't hold it in any longer and started laughing hysterically. "It's so easy."

"What?" She asked confused. "Wait? Are you doing this to me?" It was befuddling. It felt like they were her own thoughts. "I don't want my ass fucked?" Even saying 'ass fuck' made her excited.

"Have you ever had your ass fucked?" Jackson asked.

Dana thought about it. "No." She answered with a puzzled expression. "Damn it, Jackson! Stop making me want to stretch my butthole." She put her hand to her mouth in surprise. Never in a million years would she ever say 'stretch my butthole'.

Jackson fixed her condition in a moment. "All better?"

"You're an asshole." She stated bluntly.

"Don't be mad!" He begged. "I was just showing you how it worked."

She gave him a disapproving glance. But Jackson could see the subtle grin underneath. "Can you make it feel good? Anal sex... Could you trick me into loving it?"

"You don't even know that you hate it." He said.

"Your dick is huge. That would hurt."

"I can make it not hurt." He said coyly.

She shook her head and the grin widened on her face. "I take it back. You're a bad boy. You're a very bad boy."

******

Stacy hadn't seen her friends from school in forever. Some of them had gone off to college, but she hadn't tried to reach out to the ones that stayed behind. Jackson hadn't even spoken to his friend, Mike, since before the forever sleep. It was like they were trapped in some new life, some new existence, where the only thing that mattered were the three of them. Dana was meant to be a part of it and Stacy had grown attached to her.

In her old life, she would have tried to stay in touch. She would have made an effort and tried to plan some kind of get together. Stacy could only think of the new purpose her life had taken. She was her brother's slut. His eternal slut. It was the only thing that mattered. All the nasty, naughty, terrible thoughts consumed her. She often thought about getting fucked in the cave or when he used his power to push her up against the barn wall and devoured her. He'd pushed his finger into her ass while she came and it felt so good. But he hadn't done that since. She fantasized about angering him just so he would take her rough and hard. She couldn't bring herself to tell him what she needed. It was still too embarrassing.

Jackson had left early with Dana for a healing. She prayed that it would go well and he'd finally get what he needed financially. It was between him and Dana though, so she stayed out of it. Having the time to herself let her play with her new toys. She hadn't told Jackson or Dana about them. Her pussy had leaked copiously in the store while she picked them out. The embarrassment adding to her arousal.

She opened a drawer in her dresser and reached all the way to the back where she stashed the shoe box. Then she climbed back on the bed and removed three items. She grabbed the slender vibrator with a curved tip. Then she pulled out a thick, long dildo. It wasn't as big as Jackson's cock, but it had thick, ribbed rings down its length that rubbed her just the right way. The last item was a small butt plug. She couldn't believe the sizes available in the store and ended up choosing something modest.

Stacy rubbed her pussy with the palm of her hand feeling the leaky, sticky mess of it. She pulled her legs back until her knees nearly touched her breasts and then she took the dildo and slowly forced it into her pussy. She groaned out loud as it slid inside and she pumped it in and out feeling the thick, ribbed rings tease her opening. Stacy kept jamming it in until she felt like she needed to cum. She pushed it deep and squeezed her muscles trapping it there. It kept her on the edge. She took the vibrator and held the tip to her swollen clit and powered it on causing her to gasp and jerk at the sensitivity.

This was how she became accustomed to pleasuring herself. She didn't want the quick release. It felt better when she teased herself, so she'd pull the vibrator away when she got close, holding herself on the edge of a climax. She waited until thought she couldn't any longer. She took the plug and spit on the end and pressed it into her ass. She loved the feeling of that forbidden hole being stretched. She kept the vibrator on her clit. When she was ready, her right hand pushed the plug into her ass until it crested the thick base and popped inside. It was all she needed as her pussy exploded. She squeezed her muscles forcing the dildo to slide out until the thick rubber length of it fell on the bed. She groaned and dropped the vibrator as she slapped her pussy repeatedly and rubbed it in big, fast circles with her fingers. Her chest heaved at the intense pleasure.

"Stacy!" Dana shrieked. "You have a butt plug?!"

She looked up with surprise seeing Dana and Jackson at the top of the stairs. She hadn't heard them come home and her face burned with embarrassment. "I..." She stammered. "I... um..." She saw her brother's eyes ignite. It made her gasp wondering what he might do to her.

Jackson held up his hands and kept her legs pinned all the way back. He looked over at Dana. "You want to see how this mind control thing works?" He glanced back at Stacy. "Dana asked you a question. You'll answer all her questions honestly, and you'll do what you're told." He paused. "So, answer her."

Stacy felt like she'd die from embarrassment. "Yes." She squeaked out quietly.

"I can just ask her anything?" Dana queried. She thought about it for a minute. "Where did you get that?"

"At... the pleasure palace."

"When?"

She didn't want to answer. Her legs were still folded back and her ass was exposed with the small, red butt plug lodged inside it. "In October." She answered shyly.

"You like your ass filled?" Dana asked with a curious look.

"Yes." Stacy said but she looked away.

Dana picked up the dildo and looked it over. "You are a slut, aren't you?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Stacy took it literally. "I am." She said. "I'm a naughty slut." Her pussy leaked as she admitted these things out loud.

Dana smiled and looked at Jackson. "How do you not abuse this kind of power?" He didn't answer. "Do you want your ass fucked?" Dana asked bringing her attention back to Stacy. "Jackson and I were just talking about anal sex. Is that what you want?"