"What are you waiting for?" Momma asked me, "Go get the last one." she told me.
I nodded but didn't move, "Has anyone contacted Michael or Arnold?" I asked.
"I spoke with my brother. The twisted at the mall by the apartments were worrying them so they moved back to the house in Fountain Hills." Megan replied. "Also the flight our parents were on was redirected to another airport so it should be a while before they can make it home."
I nodded then waited but no one brought up Arnold. Seemed like he had been completely forgotten by the girls.
"Dena?" I asked them.
"Sulking outside since we didn't let her join the last orgy." Megan told me.
Jorrimus came out of the kitchen, "Dinner is ready. Master Daryl should eat before he uses his abilities again." he told us all.
With that excuse I moved on to the dining table, I was starving and a real meal sounded like a great idea. Everyone followed me. There was not even close to enough room for everyone to sit at the table together so most of us just made a plate and found a corner to sit in and eat.
As the 'husband' of ten women I couldn't eat alone even if I wanted too.
A large amount of chicken had been pulled out then fried. Seeing everyone eat I realized that I needed to get a plan in place soon, with eleven girls, two kids, and Jorrimus we ate a lot of food and this wasn't even our full group. I had yet to ask about Heather's family, had to get Grace's family back, and a decision needed to be made about Marshal and Rosa. In truth I should think about Michael and his group as well, and I needed to contact Arnold. Then there was the last of my bonds and whatever family she might have. It was a lot to consider, especially how we were going to feed them all.
As soon as I had finished eating Megan pushed me to get the last bond.
As I had no reason not to, and felt better having eaten and slept a bit I agreed with her.
Closing my eyes I focused on my last bond then formed the space tunnel to her. As I had used the ability like this several times it felt like it was getting easier to do. I was still feeling the fear, grief, and confusion from the bond. I wasn't sure why she was feeling that way but it was time to find out.
Stepping through the space tunnel I ended up in a bedroom. On the bed was a woman I was familiar with Tracy Sorrel aka Mrs. Sorrel a college teacher I had in my last semester for Physics. She was in her late twenties but still looked in her early twenties, dark red hair and a incredible figure.
I had no idea how she was my last bond. Up to this point all of my bonds had been single women or women who seemed like they were about to break up. The last I had heard, Mrs. Sorrel she was very happily married. I was also starting to suspect that all my bonds were with women who needed help. With the exception of Megan and my non human girls the rest all could be considered to need help. Karen was devastated by Michael's cheating and not coming to reconcile, Rebecca was abandoned by Marshal when Rosa needed him, Jessica was in a foster home for whatever reasons, Calidia was separated from her friends and family, Heather had just lost her sister and had to take care of Bryan, Grace needed me to wake up, only Jamie asked for the bond, but she still needed me to heal whatever had been wrong with her.
I had no knowledge that would have suggested Mrs. Sorrel needed me at all.
There had been rumors when I was in her class that her husband abused her, until she invited the class to one of her matches. Finding out that the 'hot' teacher was a active mixed martial arts fighter was a shock to most of us, and it explained the bruises.
Looking around the room I spotted a picture of Mrs. Sorrel and her husband on their wedding day. Seeing the man in the picture I finally understood. I recognized him. I had seen him twice, once was at the college holding hands with Mrs. Sorrel between classes, and the second time had been on the television yesterday. He had been at the stadium watching the football game when the second wave hit. He was one of the people who I had seen change into a twisted at the stadium. The camera had caught his change while it was taking in the chaos in the stands. If her husband was still alive he was a twisted now. I had no idea how my subconscious had connected those dots.
"Mrs Sorrel!" I called moving to her side.
She didn't respond to me.
I left her as she was and explored the rest of her home, it was a small two bedroom apartment where the other bedroom had been converted into an office. It was all neat and tidy.
Seeing no one else, or signs that someone else was living there I went back to the bedroom. I spotted her cellphone on the bedside table, I grabbed it and put it in my pocket then tried to wake Mrs. Sorrel again but it was no use.
I decided to take her back then consult the girls on how to pull her out of her depression.
Pulling back the sheet I was grateful she was dressed, it would be awkward to bring a naked or barely dressed woman back to Momma's even if it was what they told me to do.
I reached my arms under her then pulled her up off the bed and into my arms.
Once I had her I felt her shift around till she was comfortable. I felt a small change in her emotions. She was still full of grief and confusion, but now she felt secure.
The bond worked wonders. Concentrating on my bond to the others I opened a space tunnel to them then stepped through.
Everyone was waiting for my return. Some seemed worried, and given my trip to get Grace I could understand their worry.
Seeing me return safely with a woman in my arms everyone looked relieved.
"Who is it?" Megan asked.
"Tracy Sorrel." I replied.
"Isn't she married?" Heather asked me with a glare.
"She was." I replied. "I saw his picture in her house, he was one of the men who mutated on camera when they showed the chaos in the stadium after the second wave." I explained.
"You and your white knight syndrome." Momma said with a sigh.
I didn't know how to respond to that.
Room was made for me on the coach so I sat down but kept Mrs. Sorrel in my arms.
"Can't let her go?" Momma teased me.
I shook my head. "She isn't responding to anything right now, when I pulled her into my arms I could sense a change in her emotions, I was hoping you all would have an idea how to pull her out of this." I told them.
"Isn't the handsome prince supposed to kiss the sleeping beauty?" Megan teased me.
"I could try it." I replied to her only to see her roll her eyes at me.
"Just hold onto her for a while, if she could sense that much it might bring her back to reality." Grace suggested.
I nodded and shifted her on my lap. Having her in such close proximity wasn't the best idea. Our bond did not care that she was unconscious. It was uncomfortable for me but I endured it. However the bond was affecting her too, making her wiggle and moan a bit in my arms.
Momma turned on her television to catch the news as we were all curious as to what was being released about the situation. Heather had heard from Calidia when the next mana wave would come then did the math and placed the third wave late in the night of May sixth. There were two days until the next wave, but it really wasn't all that much time.
While the news wasn't avoiding the subject of the twisted and what was happening it was seriously down playing it.
Jamie got onto Momma's laptop and started to search around. Apparently stuck in a hospital bed all the time she had little else to do but use the computer. She quickly found out the truth of the situation. It wasn't nearly as contained as the news portrayed it. There had been several appearances of twisted in some of the larger cities besides Phoenix. San Diego, Los Angeles, Los Vegas, to name a few on the west coast while there were plenty of appearances on the east coast as well.
In the big cities a few of the appearances had escalated quickly as those who survived the injury from a twisted became a twisted themselves. There was also the odd behaviors of animals in the region including the San Diego Zoo.
"How much worse is the third wave?" I asked Calidia.
Calidia hesitated then looked to Jorrimus.
"It is twice as bad as both the first and second wave put together, at the least." Jorrimus told us.
It was hard to imagine what that meant and what it would do the the world as we knew it. Things had already started to change but the government was still able to make it seem like everything was under control, and for some parts of the country nothing had changed at all. Everything that was happening was just a story on the news to some.
In my arms Mrs. Sorrel began to stir around then when I looked down at her I saw her eyes open. The were the same bright blue I had been entranced by when I was in her class.
She blinked up at me for several long moments as if trying to place who I was. She wiggled a bit to look around her. She spotted the others in the room then caught sight of the television.
I tried to send reassuring and comforting thoughts towards her as she adjusted. However the television shifted to a scene in Phoenix near where the stadium was shown in the background. The army were defending a intersection from a group of those wolfs with breastplates that I had seen coming out of the gate.
"It really happened?" Mrs. Sorrel asked in a quiet hopeless voice.
"Yes." I replied not knowing what else to tell her.
Grief unlike anything I had ever felt before rolled off of her followed quickly by rage, a burning angry rage, it wasn't directed at me but I only knew that because I could hear her repeatedly saying 'I told him not to go!' through our bond. Her grief fed her anger which in turn led to even more grief. Then she wailed a loud heart piercing wail as her powerful emotions rolled off of her overwhelming me. With a sharp cracking sound I felt the bonds between me and the girls being overwhelmed then shatter.
For a moment my mind was completely empty, I couldn't feel any of the girls any more then I blacked out.