Cupid's Iss

Psyche entered the cabin and was greeted by silence. She wondered how bad the blow out had been between her father and sister. Melissa entered the lodge behind her and said "I'm famished. Mind if I head towards the kitchen?"

Psyche smiled at her and nodded. Swinging the bag over her shoulder which contained the fleece she climbed the stair towards her bedroom in deep thought. When was she ever going to meet Cupid? She missed him so. Aphrodite's tasks were getting to be more difficult as time passed and she wondered how hard the next would be and whether she would be lucky enough to get help again.

"Hey Psyche what's up little sis?" Kevin's deep voice startled her and made her look up at her beaming brother in law.

Smiling back at him she hugged his lean body close and felt a warm feeling nestle in her heart. Kevin was a rational man who kept her morose sister happy. Though she finally understood the perpetual cloud that hovered over Cybil's head yet she felt a bit apprehensive about talking it out with her which she knew would be happening some time soon.

Kevin saw the smile in Psyche's eyes slip a bit and knew deep in his gut that Psyche knew his wife's dark secret. His Irish instinct told him that there was trouble brewing in the lodge way before Cybil and he arrived and that things were about to go from bad to worse.

Slinging an arm around her thin shoulders he walked with her into her bedroom and as he opened the door for her to enter he asked in a cheerful voice "So where have you been? Cybil was a bit disappointed not to find you at home."

Throwing the bag on the bed, Psyche turned and looked at Kevin and said "Melissa and I stepped out to see the famous sheep and you know me I can't stay indoors for too long."

Folding his arms across his chest Kevin suddenly became very quiet and made Psyche realize that he was about to broach the one topic she would never be ready to face. Sighing she sat down on the dresser chair and stared at the covered mirror.

She already had so much to deal with in her own life and now to be dragged into the long standing feud between her father and sister, she wondered if she had the strength to keep her sanity about her.

"You do know the reason behind the schism between Cybil and Harold?" Kevin asked in a soft voice.

Folding her arms across her chest Psyche answered "Harold told me yesterday."

"Cybil had made a mistake nearly a decade ago and Harold is still not able to forgive her. Why is he so hard on her? Don't you think its time for him to try and put it behind him and start fresh with her?"

Relief flooded through her body. Her father wasn't a child molester and then guilt made her cheeks burn. She obviously seemed to love her father more than her sister and it made her wonder if she could be impartial.

Getting up from the chair she walked towards Kevin and took his hands in hers. She looked into his worried eyes and said "I will talk to Dad again. Things might not be the same between them but he shouldn't treat her like a leper."

Kevin smiled back and gave her a hug.

"I will leave you alone to freshen up and I'll let Cybil know that you are back." Kevin said as he headed out of the bedroom and as he opened the door he said over his shoulder "She had been worried about you for a very long time and will be happy to see you back to normal."

As she watched him close the door Psyche shook her head and said "Whatever normal means."

Picking up the knotted bag that contained the slightly bloodied fleece she put it next to the mirror and went into the bathroom for a quick shower.

Taking off her clothes she stepped into the porcelain tub and started the shower. Hot pulsing water needled her delicate skin making it redder than a lover's passionate bite. Leaning her head against the wet tiles she let her mind wander back to the sweet memories that kept her strength to fight against despair and hopelessness.

Behind her closed eyelids she remembered how he had gentled the dark hysteria that threatened to engulf her mind when he visited her on the fourth night. Fighting back the cursed migraine that followed her memories like sweet poison she remembered how he had held her in his arms and soothed her screams with gentle kisses and caresses. He had rocked her back and forth as she tried to fight his loving embrace with jerky ineffectual fists.

Finally when exhaustion had taken over her he spoke and told her that she hadn't lost her mind. That he was as real as she was and that he had loved her for so long. It was then she had raised her head and in the pitch darkness of the night that blinded her she saw him with her hands. It was the face of a handsome man. High forehead marked by fine eyebrows slide down to a thin nose and full sensuous lips. He had remained absolutely still as she had run her trembling fingers over his lean cheeks and then on his stubborn dimpled chin. In her mind's eye she pictured him to be a striking man but that was not enough. Her heart had still thumped in her chest like a frightened canary banging against the cage.

She had pushed against his shoulders and whispered that he had raped her, taken away her mind and left her with a tattered self respect. Emboldened by the rage that had began to replace fear she cursed him, called him all kinds of names under the sun and he let her anger pour over his heart and burn its seal deep within the love that he had felt for her. Finally when she had stopped her ranting he spoke again. His tone had been gentle as if he was talking to a skittish filly. He told her that he loved her and had loved her from the moment he had laid his eyes on her. That he had just wanted to touch her while she was sleeping but had been unable to hold back the ardor that had raged in his heart and filled all his breathing moments. Unable to hold himself back he had loved her and it was a crying shame that she had seen their lovemaking as rape. But he had insisted that it hadn't been her fault but something lacking in his love that it did not invoke a reciprocating spark in her heart.

Caressing her back he had continued to whisper that he intended to make her his eternal bride and they would live in marital bliss for ages to come.

His words jarred her mind and fear began to spread its cold fingers down her spine. Her mind told her that she was in the arms of a lunatic and she had to get away but her treacherous body lay enthralled in his arms. Her mind screamed as her senses began to reel under the magic he wove with his words and hands.

Love poured from his every thrust and spread its heat from her womb to her heart. Warming it with emotions she had previously never felt. Her body felt as if it was lying naked in the arms of a burning sun that branded her very being so much delight that she had thought she would die then and there.

But her mind had gone berserk. Against the walls of reason it had beat its head and cried foul, violation and numbing fear. It wasn't right and she was drowning in the sea of insanity. Her soul was being torn into painful tatters by her joyful heart and tortured mind. Was she a loving bride or a whore who traded her life for dark pleasure?

She had moaned both in pain and pleasure as he had taken her over the edge and with her pulsed with the receding delights that still had made them catch their breath. As he fell asleep he had whispered against her hair that he loved her and come morning she would see that everything would be fine. He would explain come morning.

But it had been too late by then. Her crazed mind demanded restitution. It judged her harshly, called her a skank, a hussy, a bitch so hot for sex that she had willingly traded away her self respect. Her fingers had slowly crept under the pillow and felt the hard cold strength of the shotgun. Pulling it out she let her sweaty finger close over the trigger and had moved away from his sleeping form.

As the gentle rays of the moon parted through the thick curtains of clouds she aimed the gun at his form that gleamed in a silvery shine. Her heart racing, she parted her legs in a naked stance and felt the impact of the gun push her back against the hard wall as it went off. Bang! The noise had rung loud through the lodge, down the mountain and scared off a deer near a stream. Bang! The gun had gone off again and it had been punctuated by a cry filled with pain and surprise.

She flipped the light on and gasped as feathers fell around her and kissed her tear drenched cheeks. Frightened hazel eyes had met teary blue eyes that held so much pain that her heart broke.

Clutching his wounded shoulder he had whispered that he had loved her and yet even this hadn't been her fault something had been lacking in his love for her.

It was then that the implications of her actions had dawned on her. She had shot a being so boundless in his love who despite her grotesque actions did not blame her and yet loved her.

She had wanted to run over to him and beg forgiveness but the blood that had poured down his shoulder had held her rooted to the floor in frozen silence. And then just like that it was too far gone.

Tears poured down her cheeks and mingled with the hot water from the shower as she remembered the grief that from then on became a permanent resident in her heart. She wanted to be with him, if not that, then at least know that he is alright.