Caleb 47 - The Beach

When we got down to our beach, there were two couples already occupying it. There was an older couple, who had set up beach chairs, and a couple of young girls, probably in their late teens or early twenties. The section of beach belonging to the villa, was well signposted, but big enough to accommodate all of us so we didn't bother worrying about them being there.

Dean and Cheryl had decided to stay in the villa for some peace and quiet. Josh, Louise, the girls and I lazed on the sand, occasionally went into the sea, and generally did what you do on a beach.

We'd been down there for a couple of hours when a group of boys decided to crash the party. They came along with a ball and started pestering the two young girls, asking them to join them in a game. From what I could see, the girls had moved onto our section of beach because it was away from these or other boys, and they just wanted to be left alone.

Then the boys spied my girls and made a beeline for them.

I guessed that the boys were between eighteen and twenty years old. They weren't locals as they all showed signs of not using enough sunscreen. I didn't recognize their accents but they spoke English. It may be that they were actually English, or they were European and spoke it, I didn't know.

I had been in the water when the boys first arrived on the beach but wandered back onto the sand as they arrived. Mary and Amanda had been sunning themselves when two of the boys went and lay down either side of them in an attempt to talk to them.

Jules and Ness, had been splashing around in the shallows, also attracted a couple of the guys. I decided that Mary and Amanda were far better able to take care of themselves than the other two, so wandered over to Jules.

One of the boys was talking to Ness. She was talking to him, and seemed at ease, so I hung back.

The other boy was talking to Jules, who had made it clear that she had no interest in him. He spoke to her again. I heard her say "I have a boyfriend. Please, leave me alone."

He wasn't taking no for an answer, so I walked up and put my arm around her waist. I kissed her cheek.

"Who's your friend?" I asked amiably.

"He's just leaving," said Jules looking pointedly at him. He finally took the hint and walked off to join the friend that was talking to Ness.

"Ness," I sent, "do you want to join Jules and me?"

She looked up at me and saw the second boy heading her way. She nodded and walked away from the first boy. He started to follow her.

I decided to walk to meet her - it seemed that things were starting to escalate - and I wanted to be near enough to intervene if problems occurred. I could have taken them both out easily from where I stood but I didn't want to use my powers if it could be avoided.

I saw one of the boys reach out to take Ness by the arm.

"Guys," I shouted. Both of them, and the two boys with Mary and Amanda, looked at me.

"This is a private beach," I shouted as I walked toward them. "The public beach is that way. Please leave."

The two boys looked at each other, and then back at me.

"Who says it's a private beach?" asked one. I pointed to the signs on the post that they had passed. They were in English, Spanish and I recognized German and French. There were other languages too but I didn't immediately recognize them.

"You're here," said the boy.

"The beach belongs to our villa," I said. "The public beach starts back there, beyond the other private beach you walked across to get here."

"It's too crowded," said the other boy. "Besides, I was talking to that girl. She's here."

"She," I informed him, "has a fiancé."

I saw the other two boys, who had been talking to Mary and Amanda, get up and start in my direction. I also saw the older man get up. The woman with him, put her arm out to stop him but he said something to her and started in my direction also.

"What's your problem?" said one of the boys who had been with the twins. "There's plenty of room for all of us."

"You're bothering the ladies," I said. "Now please leave."

"And what's it to you?" he asked.

"You are on a private beach," I said. "I'm asking you to leave."

"Are you going to make us?" he asked. "There's four of us and only one of you."

"Two," came a voice from behind me. The man from the older couple, probably in his mid to late forties, had come up and was standing back a little and off to one side.

"What you getting involved for Grandad?" mocked one of the boys.

The man didn't rise to the insult; he merely stood and watched the boys impassively. I noticed that his 'wife' was packing their stuff up. The other two girls were watching what was going on.

Ness, who had been walking back toward me, passed the boys, and took her place next to me. She slipped her arm around my waist.

"You okay?" I asked, she smiled at me.

"Fine." She said.

"What's going on?" I looked across to see Dean arriving from down the path. Wearing nothing but his shorts, Dean was an impressive sight.

"I was just explaining to these gentlemen that this was a private beach," I said. Suddenly the four on one odds had become four on three, and one of those looked like someone they really didn't want to mess with.

The boys took another look around and sidled away, heading across the neighbouring beach and onto the public section. They didn't stop but continued further down until they were lost from sight.

"Apologies," said the man. "We were trying to get away from idiots like that. We thought the villa was empty."

"You're fine," said Dean. "Feel free to use the beach as long as we're here."

The woman looked at him and smiled. "Thank you," she said. She had packed up all their stuff and had joined her husband.

I turned to the man.

"Thanks for the backup," I said. "You didn't have to do that."

He shrugged. "Arseholes like that make me ashamed to be British," he said. "They could do with a stint in the forces. Make useful men out of them."

"Military?" asked Dean.

"1^st Para," said the man displaying a tattoo on his arm.

Dean held out his hand. "I had the pleasure of some of your guys in the desert." They started chatting about military matters. The wife rolled her eyes. I grinned at her.

"That's him gone for the rest of the day," she said to me. "I don't know how he does it. Everywhere we go he meets someone who he's either been deployed with, or knows someone who knows someone who was."

"They obviously went through a lot out there," I said.

She shuddered. "Reggie still has flashbacks some nights," she said. "He still wakes up screaming sometimes."

"I'm Caleb," I said holding out my hand.

"Donna," she said shaking it. "I thought you said that that girl was your girlfriend," she said pointing to Jules, "But then..."

"Are you easily shocked?" I asked her with a grin. She shook her head.

"This is Jules, and Ness," I introduced her to the pair, "and over there are Mary and Amanda. My Fiancées."

"Fiancées?" she asked, "Both of them?"

"All four," I said with a grin. She looked from Jules to Ness and then across to the twins, who were leaning up on their elbows watching us.

"You're pulling my leg," she said. I grinned at her.

She looked relieved but then looked again at me. I could see the uncertainty in her eyes.

The two girls who had been sunning themselves on the beach had also started to pack their things away.

"Girls," I shouted to them. They looked across.

"No need to leave if you don't want to."

They looked at each other and then at me. I caught a flash of thought from one of them wondering what my ulterior motive was for asking them to stay, and from the other hoping that I actually had an ulterior motive. In the end they put their towels back down, and began to sun themselves again. I did note that the one who had hoped I had a motive had undone her top and was sitting there nonchalantly reading, whilst showing off her breasts in my direction, hoping I might take notice. Her friend, seeing what she was doing, grinned at her before turning to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

I looked across at the twins, and needless to say - Amanda was on the case. She was in the process of getting to her feet - before wandering over to the two other girls. I shook my head ruefully.

"Looks like Amanda is setting you up again," said Jules. I nodded.

"Seems so," I said.

Cheryl came down to see what had happened to Dean, who was standing, still talking to Reggie. Strangely, as I looked across at them, they both turned to look at me. I wondered what that was all about.

Cheryl came across to me. "I sent Dean down to see what you were doing about lunch," she said. "But he's talking to an old soldier and there's no talking to him once he starts down that road."

"I saw a portable barbecue in the villa" I said. "Why don't we bring it down and have lunch here? I'm sure our guests," I indicated the four extra people, "are probably hungry."

Cheryl thought that was a great idea, and Josh, Ness, and I went to the villa to collect food, drinks and the portable barbecue. I asked Amanda to invite the girls to the cookout and Cheryl was going to invite Reggie and Donna.

By the time we got back to the beach with everything we needed, Reggie and Donna had moved their chairs over. The twins and Ness had gone and grabbed some more chairs, and everyone was seated. The two girls were English and came from a place called Salford which was apparently near Manchester. They had strange accents.

Emma, which she pronounced 'Emmor,' was apparently a nurse working at the hospital there. Her friend, Claire, was a beauty therapist, whatever that meant. They both apparently had boyfriends back in the UK, but had come on a 'girls' holiday,'

I had got the barbecue going and was starting to grill some burgers. Josh had brought down a folding table and set it up and Ness was mixing salad and slicing bread rolls to put the burgers on. We had ketchup. She sliced up some onions and I put them on some aluminium foil to broil on the side of the grill.

A few minutes later we were all enjoying burgers and salad and sipping either soda or cold beers.

Dean approached me as I was eating. Cheryl was still talking to Reggie and Donna. The twins were talking to Emma and Claire.

"Reggie was in the desert," he said simply, "pretty much the same time I was, but we never met out there."

I nodded, waiting for him to get to his point.

"He was out on a patrol and they got ambushed," he said. "They lost half of their guys. Caleb, he has PTSD. He gets flashbacks and it's ruining his, and his wife's, life. Do you think you could help him?"

"I don't know," I said. "I'm not a counsellor. I could end up doing more damage than he already lives with."

"He's seen counsellors, psychiatrists, and psychologists," Dean said. "All they do is medicate him - and he walks around like a zombie. He's usually fine during the day, unless something triggers him, but it's the dreams that are ruining his life. He dreads going to sleep. They have had to start sleeping in separate rooms. He attacked his wife in her sleep."

"What did you say to him?" I asked.

"I said that you were a hypnotherapist," he said. "That you might be able to help. C'mon Caleb - he stood up for you, a total stranger. He's a decent man, a vet, with enough trouble of his own, and yet he had your six."

"I'm not averse to helping him," I said to Dean. "I'm just concerned that I might make things worse."

"Things can't get worse for him," he said. I appreciated the sentiment, but I knew that was not true.

"Let me speak to Dianna first," I said. "I can't go in there blind. But if she says to stay out, I'm going to take her advice."

Dean nodded. "Okay," he said. "That's fair."

I walked back up to the house, and grabbed my phone. I called Dianna. I'd forgotten the time difference - I guess I woke her up.

"Hey, Caleb, is something the matter?" she asked, sounding sleepy. I suddenly remembered the time difference.

"Oh god," I said. "I am so sorry - I forgot, what time is it there?"

"Four in the morning," she said. "Did you call me to ask that?"

I chuckled. "No," I said. and then explained why I had called.

"PTSD," she said, "can be a minefield, if you will excuse the very poor taste pun. The condition is based on triggers which become hardwired in the brain to memories. Those memories are then replayed to the sufferer, but can appear to be the current reality. They are often forced to live the same events either as waking hallucinations or dreams. If not, that then they get the emotional responses, anxieties, and arousal, and I don't mean sexual arousal I mean emotional - so anger or rage. This can then lead to depression, and a whole host of other mental illnesses, depending on the individual.

"Traditional treatments with medication, cognitive therapy, psychotherapy do work, but they take time. We, however, have the advantage.

"What you had, after absorbing Harold's memories, was a form of PTSD - a very mild form, true, but a form all the same. The treatment is to sever the triggers from the memories. If you look in his mind, you will see the memories that are causing him problems. Do not attempt to erase them. He needs them, otherwise there will be a whole host of other dissonances that will emerge. What you will find is that those memories have triggers; sounds, smells, other memories. You need to sever those links. Isolate the memories from the triggers. Do that, and the PTSD goes away. What is a link to other memories verses what is a trigger is sometimes difficult to judge. In some they are glaringly obvious. Usually, the worse the PTSD the more obvious the triggers.

"Proceed gently. You should be able to give this poor man, and his wife, their lives back. If you get in there and struggle, call me, I can talk you through it. I think once you are in there though, you'll see things clearly enough."

"Okay," I said. "Thanks. Sorry I woke you."

"No problem," she said. "Enjoy the rest of your vacation. Give the girls my love."

"I will."

I walked back to the beach only to find the boys had returned, and were facing up to Dean and Reggie again. Only now there looked to be about ten of them. I sighed.

Mary and Amanda had walked over to where Dean and Reggie were standing facing the gang. The gang were looking nervous. I could feel the twins' power oozing over them, robbing them of their confidence and bravado.

I, bored of playing around, injected a large dose of fear as I walked up to them and put my face within an inch of the apparent leaders'.

"FUCK OFF," I yelled into his face, "NOW!!!"

I swelled the fear and pushed hard. They ran, at least one of them pissing themselves.

"Fuck me," said Reggie. "You wouldn't be related to my old RSM would you?"

"RSM?" I asked.

"Regimental Sergeant Major," said Dean. "It's their equivalent of our Drill Instructor."

I grinned at him. Mary and Amanda had gone back to sit with the two English girls, who were looking at me a mixture of awe and amusement on their faces.

I went and sat down next to Donna, indicating to Reggie he should come join us.

He sat down and looked at me.

"Dean spoke to you?" I asked already knowing the answer.

He nodded. "He said that you were a hypnotherapist." he replied. "He said that you've helped a lot of people."

"I think I can help you," I said. He looked at me.

"At this point," he said. "I'm willing to try anything."

I stood. "Come with me," I said. He stood. Donna looked up at me.

I nodded to her, and she followed.

We went up to the villa and I indicated seats by the pool.

"Do loud noises trigger you?" I asked he nodded.

"So, if I were to, say, pick up this book," I said, "and slam it down on the table. That would be a trigger?"

He nodded again. "Even if I watched you do it," he said, "the noise would still trigger me."

"Okay," I said setting the book down. I want you to relax, sit back, and start to count down from one hundred.

As I dropped him into a 'trance' I pulled Donna into an illusion where she would see me talking to Reggie while he was under hypnosis. Since her brain was supplying the detail of the illusion, I had no idea what I'd be saying, but it would be perfectly reasonable to her.

The memories of what had happened in the desert were stark and vivid in his mind. They were so strong that they had become almost caricatures of themselves with everything exaggerated and amplified. Parts happened in slow motion heightening the impact of events, blood spatter, dismemberment, explosions, and screams. It was no wonder that this poor man suffered.

It took me the best part of an hour to track down and cut all of the triggers to these memories. They were actually fairly easy to see. Bright, almost luminescent, red threads led off in all directions to other memories, or to senses. It was the sheer volume of connections and triggers that took the time. Before I pulled back out of his mind, I checked around once more, ensuring that I had managed to clear everything. Finally satisfied, I eased out of his mind, and sat back in my chair. I checked my energy bar - about a third depleted.

I dropped the illusion around Donna and brought Reggie out of the trance.

As he was looking around, blinking, I picked the book up off the table and slammed it down, hard. The table was metal, and it clanged loudly. Both jumped at the sudden noise.

"Noisy fucker," Reggie said with a grin. "You scared the shit out of me."

Donna looked at him, her eyes wide.

He looked at her. "What?" he said. She shook her head.

When we got back to the beach, Ness had made me another plate, figuring that, if I was using powers, I would be hungry. That girl was a wonder. I accepted it and started in on the burgers she'd made for me. The two Salford girls were chatting and giggling with the twins. Jules was sitting under a beach umbrella reading.

Reggie and Donna went and sat down near Dean and Cheryl. Dean looked up at me and I nodded to him. He smiled and gave me a nod back.

"NOO!" I heard the shout from the two where the twins were talking to the girls. I looked across and Amanda waved me to come over. When I did, she stood and indicated for me to sit, and then sat on my lap.

"Where did Josh and Lou go?" I asked as Amanda settled in squirming deliberately into my groin.

"They went for a walk along the beach," said Mary.

"Emma here," said Amanda, "Doesn't believe me about your golden touch."

"Go with it," she sent to me. "I've told her that you can make any girl orgasm by just touching her with your index finger on any part of her body."

I looked at her, my eyebrows raised.

"You told them?" I asked. "I thought it was supposed to be our secret."

Amanda pretended to pout. "But they're friends," she said. "Besides, they're going home tomorrow."

I sighed.

"It's not possible," said Emma. I looked at her.

"Want to bet?" I asked.

Both girls looked at me appraisingly.

"And what would we be betting?" Emma asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know," I said. "Amanda, what do you think?"

"Well," Amanda said, "it would only be fair, that if you made them cum, they return the favour."

I looked at the two girls.

Emma was smiling slightly. "I get to choose where you touch?" she asked.

"It has to be skin," I said. It didn't, but I had to make it at least somewhat believable. "But with that stipulation, yes. I will touch you wherever you designate, and you will cum. The closer to your core I touch, the more intense your orgasm will be."

"How long for?" asked Claire. "Are we talking about just contact, or do you need more."

"One full second contact," I said.

The two girls looked at each other.

"Who's first?" I asked. Emma stretched out her hand toward me, pinkie finger extended.