Mixed Blessings

When I came to, I was on the wooden floor, naked and completely confused as to where I was. When the memory of my lovemaking with Vanessa returned, I propped myself up on my elbows and stared at the bed. Where was she? Alarmed, I managed to push myself to my feet, groaning when my head spun for a few moments. I heard a mirrored groan and went to the far side of the bed to find the ebony woman crumpled in a heap on the floor. I scooped her into my arms and put her gently on the bed, staring down at her beautiful face with concern.

"Vanessa?" I queried softly, stroking her dark cheek with the back of my hand as she began to come around. Her eyes flickered a few times, finally opening to land on my face.

"Alex?" I nodded. "What happened? Am I... are we ... dead?"

I laughed gently at her question and shook my head.

"I've never felt more alive in my life." I told her honestly. And it was truth. My body did feel as if something had happened to stimulate the cells and my dick rested on my leg, limp, twitching slightly when I spared too much time staring at Vanessa's body. I knew that it wouldn't take much for her to stimulate it into action. I felt normal, finally, in that aspect of my life.

"I am starting to think that our bodies aren't compatible or something." My frown gave away how I felt about that thought. It was silly though -- she was not mine and after this night, I'd never feel the pleasure of holding her against me again. At the thought of thrusting myself inside of her once more, I felt myself grow slightly hard.

Sighing, I pulled the covers up and cradled her next to me, holding her like I had wanted to so many months earlier, but never had the chance thinking the woman dead.

"I love you, Alex." Her words caused me pain. She loved me. So what? She belonged to Tomas. My silence seemed to spur her onward. "Tomas never cared for Alera. No matter how much my baby girl tried, he would never hold her as if he loved her. Never touch her. The bastard wouldn't even look at her unless I forced him to do so." I winced at her words, feeling sorry for the little girl. It made me wrap my arms tighter around Vanessa, wanting to bring her comfort through the touch. I know she could feel my hardness, but I did not care. I was done having sex with her and she knew it. How could we possibly make love again without the pain?

"Vanessa --" I began, hoping to put into words of why we couldn't be together, despite the pain it caused my heart. But I was interrupted by a tiny figure standing at the foot of the bed.

"Mama? Daddy? Bad thing happen now." The moment the words tumbled from Alera's mouth, the southern wall to the bedroom was peeled away, leaving us exposed to the sudden night air. Vanessa screamed and wrapped the sheet around her as I dodged into my jeans lying nearby. I put my body in front of the ex-Curser's and our daughter protectively, holding my arms out to ward the intruders away. There were many of them; floating torches above their heads were not needed to tell me that they were all Cursers -- the red glow of their eyes gave it away. A curvaceous figure stepped in front of the glaring attackers and I grimaced when I recognized it to be the Asian woman who had the penchant for gold.

"Well, well, if it isn't 'Limp Dick'." She smirked and I realized half of her face was scarred, marring any beauty she might have once held. Not good. Nothing was as important to a Curser as their looks, well, except maybe getting revenge on an enemy. When her eyes locked on mine, her face twisted into an even uglier grimace and I knew I would probably not survive the confrontation. I glanced over my shoulder at Vanessa, still wrapped in the sheet, Alera cradled in her arms with her head pushed into her mother's shoulder. I knew the woman was attempting to protect Alera, but she knew the consequences of having the wee one fall into the hands of Cursers. It would be better to end the child's life. But would she be able to do that? Would I? And how -- if it were near impossible to kill a Level 5 - would we even attempt to harm her?

"I was told this was the place where the Level 5 was to be found." She tapped her temple as she studied each of us in turn. "But unless the little one is the Level 5, I'd say I just found a sad set of humans trying to live their dull, meaningless lives." The expression on her face as she stared at mother and child was not a positive one and I knew she was going to attempt to curse them.

"Wait!" I called out before she could do anything. "I know where the Level 5 is. Let this woman and her child go and I'll take you there."

The gold-lover snorted at me, which was quite unattractive, and pointed to Vanessa's bundle.

"Take the child. Kill the man and woman." She snapped her fingers and my heart constricted. How could I fight them? How could I keep them from hurting Vanessa and Alera? I knew they couldn't harm Alera, but if they tried to take her, one of us would have to do something drastic. There was just too much at stake.

"I'd say we need some light shed on the subject." A new voice appeared from behind the group of Cursers and I sighed in partial relief when I recognized Leo and other Blessers surrounding them. "May the light shine on us all." I had to cover my eyes as the blinding flash he summoned was intense, but I knew why he had done such a blessing and quickly pushed Vanessa and Alera through the door opposite of the intruders, throwing the trapdoor open as soon as I reached it. I followed the duo downward, ignoring the screams and explosions that marked a Blesser and Curser fight. I knew it would not be pretty and definitely not a place for Vanessa and me to be in the middle of, with a child especially.

We ran as quickly as we could, Alera in my arms so that Vanessa could hold onto the sheet covering her body.

"Ohh!" Vanessa's cry spurred me to her side immediately and I saw what had given her pause. Tomas was standing in her path, barring the way. He had two Cursers with him.

I could smell the fresh night air behind them, indicating we were close to the exit. So close, yet so far.

"Tomas? Why?" Vanessa's voice was full of dismay and hurt.

"They've offered to make me one of them, Nessa. I'm sorry, but I have to do this for the good of the world. That child is a menace."

I heard myself growl at his words, wanting to flay his skin from his body for them. Did the fool not realize that they were lying to him? Manipulating his jealousy?

"Give me the child." The Curser on the left held out a hand, snapping his fingers to indicate his boredom and I sighed softly, turning my body so that Alera was hidden slightly. "I will not be telling you again, human. Do you want your woman to suffer?"

He turned his gaze on Vanessa and held out a hand, weaving symbols into the air. I could almost taste the magic from the action and felt helpless when he sent a bolt of something black and oily her way with a curse of "Your skin is burning, twisting into nothingness". But it did nothing but dissolve the sheet surrounding her body, leaving her naked. The action angered me. How dare he toy with her at a time such as this?

"Hmm, she cannot be cursed?" The Curser turned to his two companions with a puzzled look and I realized that what had happened to me must have happened to Vanessa. I looked over at her and she shrugged.

"Since our first meeting, Alex, I could never curse but no curses or blesses touched me."

"Same for me." I nodded and felt our connection strengthened with the knowledge that we were alike. No longer alone in the world. I reached out and clasped her hand within mine, pushing Alera against my chest lovingly. At my touch, the child turned to stare at me with her glowing golden eyes. I heard two sets of gasps and understood now that there would be no doubt in the Cursers mind that the girl was a Level 5.

"No!" I had a moment of clarity. The second the Asian Curser saw Alera, loving gold as she did, there'd be no way to safekeep the girl even if they kept either of us alive. The Curser's greed would literally destroy the world. I turned to Vanessa, heart full of pain and released my hand from Vanessa's to touch the child's cheek. As far as I knew, there was no way known to physically kill a Level 5. Their bodies were indestructible, so I would have to destroy her mind so that she could not be used. That meant I would have to kill Vanessa and make certain Alera saw it. I felt the warmth of a tear frolic its way down my cheek and sighed at the task ahead of me.

"I will have the child." The Curser, a skinny male with long, flowing black hair, stepped forward, stunner in hand once he realized his curses wouldn't hurt. But I knew the stunner would. It was going to be over and very soon. I thought about blessing the man. It would surely not work, but if it twisted into a curse, that'd be good. As I opened my mouth, I felt Alera reach out for her mother, who took her daughter's hand. We were all three connected, which made me feel better knowing we'd go down together.

"Your hand holds the gun steady." I blessed him, hoping against hope that instead of doing nothing, the words would work in my favor and curse him. But something odd happened instead. His hand twisted into a slightly different position, but was aimed at my heart now, instead of Vanessa's.

"You bless me to aid me?" The Curser's expression was that of intrigue and surprise. "That is very foolish, Blesser." He peered over his gun at me, confusion flooding his face. "How is it that you bless me without the glow of eyes? This is a trick?" He turned on Tomas and slammed the butt of the gun into the redhead's face, causing a thick stream of blood to begin to pour from Tomas' broken nose. It was at that point I wondered if I had truly blessed the man's gun. I decided to try something.

"Tomas' nose is now healed by the pleasant forces of air. It is crooked, but healed with no pain." I was not going to be too kind if it did work. But by the gasp coming from Tomas, the flow of his blood now stopped, it had worked! I could even see the slight curve of the ridge where it had healed crookedly. I blinked in surprise and glanced down at the girl in my arms. She was still clasping her mother's hand. I did not waste any time further and turned to Vanessa.

"Curse him!"

"What?" She looked at me with confusion and I struggled not to look at her gorgeous body, shining in the dim light of the torch globe hovering over the Curser heads.

"Oh!" She turned to the Cursers and stated, "You both see nothing but cruel, thick darkness to match your hearts."

The moment she cursed them, they let out a cry of surprise. Obviously they were not expecting a Curser to turn against their own, but soon they would realize that Vanessa and I were no longer simply just "Curser" or "Blesser", but something way more than what we had been born to be. I hugged the child in my arms tighter, knowing she was the reason behind it. Somehow, Alera had been the catalyst fueling our old powers.

"The tunnel will open above you both, letting the dawn's glorious light inside so that we can breathe again." I blessed the surrounding, and laughed lightly when four feet of dirt fell upon the blinded Cursers. Tomas had edged forward, wedging himself between both parties, and so he was spared from being crushed. Lucky for him, I didn't want to linger, but I made him remove his shirt, giving it to his once-woman. She put it on swiftly and together, we climbed up and out of the now collapsed tunnel system.

The problem assaulted us as to where we could go. We obviously couldn't remain in the human sanctuary any longer. There was only one place I could think of going, hoping no one would remember it. Together we ran as swiftly as we could, until we located a hovercar. Tucked in the back with Vanessa, Alera sat quietly, only letting go of a whimper from time to time to show her fear and discomfort. I climbed into the front of the car and began to shift it into drive, heading to my old warehouse home. I hoped that it was still livable. After the Cursers had taken the door off of the hinges, that would have allowed vermin and anything else to get inside, so I knew it was risky, but I had no idea where else we could go.

When we parked nearby, I hid the car upon all exiting, covering it with an old, torn tarp that I had found lying nearby. I grasped Vanessa's hand tightly and pulled her, Alera in her arms, to the warehouse. The door had been thrust a few feet away, but as far as I could tell, the place was abandoned. I had us enter cautiously, and told the fallen door, "You will get on your hinges, and be a wonderful door for us now." But nothing happened. The fallen door just lay there, as if blatantly ignoring my words. I walked to where Vanessa was standing with Alera, clasped her hand within mine, and blessed the door again. Instantly it flew to the opening and popped back in place -- hinges sealing as if it were a newly created doorway.

Nodding in satisfaction, I released Vanessa's hand and looked to the pallet. Old clothes were piled there and so I pushed them away, making room for the woman and child.

"So we can bless and curse if we are touching?" Vanessa's voice was soft and she rocked Alera in her arms as she sat on the pallet. I motioned with my head to the girl in her embrace.

"I think she has to connect us. Somehow Alera's the key to the whole blessing and cursing thing." I shook my head in wonder and looked up in alarm when the door to the warehouse began to slide open. I quickly grasped Vanessa's hand within my own and stared in guarded surprise when Lara and Luna entered within.

"Alex." Lara greeted and then eyed my hand clasped tightly within the dark-skinned woman. "We've come for the little girl. We followed you." Her words were soft and I knew I would be in trouble if I had to fight them both. I did not want to harm either.

"That's not happening. You have to know that I won't let you take her. I won't let you enslave her mind." My words came out a little harsher than I meant for them. For some reason I was not surprised when Leo stepped into the warehouse behind them.

"Yes, Alex. You will let us take her. You have no choice." His voice was firm, but I could tell none of them wanted to hurt us. Still, I left my hand within Vanessa's.

"You don't understand, Leo." I tried to explain, keeping my voice even. "She's my daughter. I can't let you take her. So take your sisters and leave us." I could tell all of us were growing frustrated at the stalemate.

"Let's destroy them together, Alex." Vanessa's voice was harsh but I understood why. She was looking out for her daughter, which I completely understood. But she did not have a history with the three siblings before us like I did.

"I can't agree to that. They are my friends." I said the last part loud enough for the threesome to hear me.

"Yes, and as friends we do not want to harm you. GIVE HER NOW!" When Leo's voice rose, in an attempt to bully me into acquiesce, I was about to get snippy back but had no chance. "OUCH!" A brown blur zipped through the door, landing behind Leo. I saw tiny white teeth as they bit into his hindquarters and I had to force myself not to laugh.

"Dog!" I exclaimed jovially, happy to see my old pal. "Don't hurt him!" I cried to Leo as he lifted his hand to bless the dog into obedience or pain. "Come here, fellow." I patted my leg and the mutt trotted proudly to me, leaping onto me in excitement. For once, he kept his yap shut as was his way around strangers. With a swift pat on his head, I turned back to the problem at hand.

"Leo, please. I don't want to fight you and your sisters." I looked at my daughter's golden-green eyes, full of trust and curiosity. She was unaware of what was happening, of how her life was in the balance, but the little one knew it was a tense situation. But when she saw Dog, the girl squealed, reaching for the mutt's neck. Vanessa cringed at first, untrusting of the beast, but I whispered, "He's all right." She nodded and let Alera wrap her arms around him. Dog whimpered in surprise for a moment and then remained still while being squeezed.

"Alex is amazed as we are at how beautiful the cage is surrounding him. The bars are made from the most incredible, sound-resistant material." I had been distracted just enough to not see Leo was making symbols in the air, preparing his blessing. Too late for me to do anything to counter, I watched helplessly as white metal bars fell around me, severing my connection to Vanessa and nearly taking my hand off in the process.

"No!" I cradled my injured hand to my chest as I called out, but unfortunately, the bars were made of some odd material that did not allow sound to pass through. I saw Leo speaking to Vanessa, his hand creating symbols and I felt my heart begin to crumble. He was going to hurt Vanessa! He was going to take my daughter!

And without our joined touch, there was nothing either of us could do about it.....

To be continued...