Gifts of the Future Ch. 07

Charlie and Lily both frowned for a moment and then looked at each other. Then their eyes widened and their mouths dropped open slightly. He grinned and looked at Lily as he continued. "And I believe you inherited your mother's ability to touch someone and know if they're trustworthy or not... right?"

Lily nodded and then said, "It's actually a little more than that. I can seem to sense their true nature... even if someone is basically good natured, they'll still tell little white lies. And there are some people I've touched who acted like pious church-going saints, but their souls felt evil! But a few times, I felt confused. Those people were surrounded by a blackness that felt so dark and angry I wondered how they managed to function as a person! Kristina Davidson was one of them... and I don't remember who the others were."

Rick shook his head as he said, "Well... we've just been keeping our eyes on you kids to make sure you weren't having any problems dealing with these 'gifts.' I think we need to get everyone together soon and have a big discussion and get all of this out in the open. Because I think our grandchildren are also inheriting these abilities and they seem even more enhanced in them! So, we'll be in touch about that... but right now, I need to talk to you about what happened to your Mom and Dad, Lily. I'm afraid I have some disturbing news."

Charlie and Lily leaned forward as Rick sat back to explain. "According to the accident scene, your Dad did go off the side of the road to avoid the other vehicle and... it actually accelerated before deliberately running into them, just like your Dad had said. There were no witnesses and the other vehicle left the scene before anyone else showed up. The tire marks and the damage to your parents' sedan seem to indicate the vehicle that ran into them was at least the size of a large pick-up truck or van. But, other than the bits of glass and chrome that were left by the impact, we have no way to identify the other vehicle."

Rick paused; Lily was frowning as she realized what he was telling her. "The L.A.P.D. is upset that one of our own has been killed by a mysterious deliberate hit and run, so we're putting every bit of effort we can into trying to find that phantom vehicle and driver. We've put the word out to every body shop within a 50-mile radius to notify us if any trucks, vans or larger size vehicles come in with front end damage. We'll do everything we can, Lily, to find out who killed your Mom and Dad... but we need you to try and help us with the why. Do you know of anyone or any reason why someone would want them dead?" he asked gently.

Lily started to pant from the pain in her chest as she shook her head. Tears filled her eyes and her voice cracked as she cried, "No! Mom and Dad never did anything to anyone! You know that as well as I do, Uncle Rick! You tell me why you think someone would want them dead!!! You're the cop!" She stopped as she started to sob.

Charlie stood up and pulled his wife into his arms. He held her and spoke soothingly. "Shh, my baby... you know Uncle Rick is only trying to find out if there was something you might've seen or heard at any time that he wouldn't have known about that could lead to figuring out why this happened! Try to think, baby... do you ever remember anyone being mad at either one of them for any reason? Do you ever remember any kind of confrontation with a stranger or anyone at all?"

Lily held onto her husband as she calmed down and tried to think back over the years and see if anything like that stuck out in her mind... but there was nothing. She remembered her mother telling her a few times that she deliberately avoided shopping in certain places because she knew the owner wasn't trustworthy, but she never let those people know what she thought of them. And her father was a police officer, but she didn't recall ever seeing anyone confront him when they were out together as a family... they had always been happy, helpful people!

She straightened up and wiped her eyes as she looked at her father's long-time best friend and partner on the force until they'd both been promoted to sergeants. "I'm afraid I can't help you, Uncle Rick. As far as I can remember, no one ever threatened Mom or Dad when I was around and if it ever happened to them, they never told me about it!"

Rick nodded his head sadly... he'd always known that Larry would've told him if he'd ever run into trouble with anyone... he and Larry had shared everything about their lives. Hell... they'd even shared their wives with each other at times!!!

Rick looked down for a moment as his face flushed from the memories of those wild nights of passion. His body tingled as he recalled the explosive orgasms he and Larry had experienced while fucking each other's wives from behind as they watched Dawn and Maria kissing and touching each other... He and Larry had always reminded each other what lucky bastards they were to have two such loving, sensual and adventurous wives as Dawn and Maria!

Then he choked up as the realization struck him again that he'd lost two of the best friends he'd ever had... He looked up into the sad face of the beautiful daughter they'd left behind and noticed how she was a perfect combination of her parents' handsomeness and beauty. Tears trickled from his eyes when he stood up as she came toward him around the table.

Rick took Lily in his arms and held her, both of them bursting into sobs as they once again mourned their loss. After a minute or so, they both stopped crying and released each other, and Charlie was next to them with a box of tissues as he also wiped his eyes.

Rick patted Lily's cheek and said, "I promise you, sweetie, we'll do everything we can to try to find out why this happened and who did it... but with so little to go on, we may never figure it out!" Then he held his hand out to Charlie and they shook as he smiled softly and added, "Congratulations, young man! I'm just glad you made an honest woman of her before you knocked her up!"

Charlie chuckled with him and replied, "Thanks, Uncle Rick! But promise me you won't tell anyone else until we get everyone together for that discussion you mentioned, OK?" he asked as he placed his left hand on the older man's shoulder. Then he paused for a moment as his eyes closed and his hand continued to grip and move over Rick's shoulder. Then he opened his eyes and said, "Hey... it's not too bad yet, but you may want to have a specialist take a look at your shoulder soon. I think you'll have some joint problems crop up if you don't take care of it!" Then he dropped his hand and smiled at him.

Rick chuckled as he touched his shoulder and rotated it a few times. "You know... I've just recently started to feel some twinges when it rains! Thanks, Dr. Richards... I'll have my doctor take a look at it as soon as possible!" Then he looked at both of the youngsters and said, "I'll keep you posted on anything we find out and we'll be in touch about that discussion! You two take care, and I'll see myself out!"

**********

Several weeks later, the entire group assembled and everyone was excited to hear that Charlie and Lily were going to have a baby. Then Rick announced why they had called for that gathering and everyone was astounded as each family revealed things they'd held back because they weren't sure anyone would believe them. When Charles and Diana's "gift" of telepathic communication with each other had been revealed so long ago, everyone had thought it was just a fluke that had been granted to them at a time when they'd needed it to save her life.

But now that all these different "gifts" were being revealed, they started to wonder if they'd all been brought together for some even greater reason... and if that reason would ever be revealed to them...

**********

The Guardians had fulfilled their first assignment when they'd made sure that the first generation of "chosen ones" had met and married their true soul mates in order to create the next generation with the enhanced "gifts" that they would need. The worst problem that had arisen was when they'd discovered that the dark forces had damaged Charles Richards' ability to procreate...

That had forced The Guardians to come up with a very "creative" suggestion in order to make sure that Charles and Diana created a son together. Megan had been an extra "bonus" The Guardians had added in order to make certain that Charles and Tom understood what true friendship, trust and loyalty were so they would pass those qualities on to their children... as well as their "gifts"...

Tom and Lynda Seldon's instinctual ability to sense each other's emotions had passed only to Didi. And her husband Jay had inherited from his parents an immune system that prevented him from contracting any illness or disease or being affected by any toxin...

The two youngest Seldon boys, Robbie and Wayne, did not possess any "gifts" other than the innate honor and goodness of their parents. And Brad had been given the ability to communicate with Megan because the dark forces had interfered... They had unfairly enhanced their natural bond to fool them into believing they were made to love each other...

Brad and Megan hadn't been able to recognize what was wrong because love was an emotion of light, not darkness, and yet they had still done their best to resist the pull for as long as they could. The Supreme Power had been surprised when he'd discovered what the dark forces had done to two of the most important of the "chosen ones"... That was why he'd given Brad an even more important "gift" to be enhanced when it was passed along to his son...

Rick Estevez had always known that he would recognize his soul mate when she appeared... but he had felt so lost and alone for so long, waiting to find her. That was why he'd succumbed to all those attractive women who'd thrown themselves at him... hoping to drown his disappointment over the fact that none of them were his soul mate...

Rick's guilt over his behavior had made him unaware that the reason he'd become a cop was because he knew instinctively how to handle any dangerous situation... which his son inherited. But Rickie's ability had been enhanced to give him a sense of when danger was about to occur. And his wife Karen had been blessed with the ability to use more of her brain capacity than most humans could handle...

Dawn, as well, never realized that she also had a "gift"... her dreams, if she could remember any of them, had given her glimpses of her future life. But the only ones she'd vividly recalled were her dreams about having hot sex with Hispanic men... which she'd never connected to the fact that her soul mate was a sexy Latino man! But Barbie had realized that her dreams sometimes revealed future events to her, and that "gift" had passed to her son, along with his father's as yet unrealized ability...

And Maria Wilson had passed her "gift" on to her daughter. Larry's only purpose had been that he was the "chosen one" that had been "chosen" especially for Maria to create their special daughter. The Supreme Power had been disappointed when Larry's life was turned upside down because the dark forces had messed with his mother's free will...

And He was surprised at what it had taken to finally get Larry back on his true path... The Guardians had come up with some very unconventional ways in which to fulfill their task of seeing that those soul mates had ended up together in order to procreate! And then He'd been astounded when those "chosen ones" had taken The Guardians' suggestions to heart and continued to share themselves with each other...

Larry and Maria had been most thankful for not being condemned for the pleasures they'd shared with Rick and Dawn. The Supreme Power knew that their intentions had been pure and what they'd shared had in no way tainted their ability to love each other or their good friends. The Supreme Power was most gratified when Larry and Maria asked to join with The Guardians to keep watch over all their friends...

Jon and Barbara North were the only exceptions... they were the only pair of "chosen ones" who were not given any "gifts." But their hearts were the purest... they knew how to love unconditionally... they were never judgmental... they were never jealous... Their sole purpose was to create a son and a daughter with those same qualities and they were both given the most important "gift" of all to be enhanced and passed to their children...

The Supreme Power was pleased that everything was still progressing as He had hoped. But He was unable to prevent the dark forces from their attempts to frighten the "chosen ones" into not following the paths they were meant for. The Guardians were doing their best to keep watch, but they were greatly outnumbered. But the dark forces would soon realize that their plan was backfiring...