The far right-hand section held an office, a den, an entertainment room on the ground floor, and above, a couple of guest rooms, each with its own bathroom. Every room had a color scheme, and all the furniture and even the art work matched.
I was still wandering around the guest rooms when I heard Cecil's voice come up over the amplifier again. I continued my snooping while Cecil pronounced a series of blessings, and his followers called out together in answer, and then clapped twice. It sounded like the session was breaking up. I’d learned some interesting things about Holly's household arrangements, but if my wallet was here it was well hidden, even from senses as keen as mine.
I wandered down another twisting wrought-iron staircase listening to Cecil thank everyone for his lovely birthday party, and his followers called back wishes for his safety and success in his attempt to save Los Angeles. And when everyone realized it was all over, and the World Snake really was gone, he was probably going to take the credit, too.
At the bottom of the steps, a lithe olive-skinned man with a little mustache waited, looking up at me. I’d known he was here, because I scented him, but I hadn’t seen him yet. The last time I’d seen him, he’d been manning the gate at that private beach party. You could say we were acquainted, since I’d bitten him once. I stopped a few steps up, where I could meet his eyes on a level. He wore loose, light-colored clothes like the others, but his were somehow elegant. His rose-colored shirt glowed against his skin, and his tan trousers fit his dancer's form neatly. He had on a white scarf, like the others, but his was shiny and silken. He’d managed to ditch the flower necklace too.
“I wondered if you were looking for me,” he said. “It's Oliver, if you don’t remember.”
He was one of the Thunder Mountain Boys, a dance group I’d run into a few times, literally, when I’d lost Richard and was trying to find him. I hadn’t known his name. I’d always thought of him as Honey, because he’d been insulting. He looked awfully respectful now.
“I remember a lot of things,” I told him.
“I didn’t know they meant to harm you,” he said, “at that party. And I was still manning the gate when it happened.”
“When they took me down.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you see me down?”
He nodded, barely smiling. “I helped carry you to the truck. There's Marlin, you see. He's still not right.”
Marlin was the leader of the Thunder Mountain Boys. He’d taken Richard at one point, so I’d thought he deserved the state he’d been left in. Still, I reminded him, “That had nothing to do with me.”
“All right,” he allowed. “But there is the matter of the roof you left me on.”
My turn to smile. Barely. “How did you finally get down?”
“I finally got down when I managed to attract someone's attention in the street the next morning, and they called the fire department.”
I couldn’t help smiling then. “Cold night.”
“Yup. And they billed me, for bringing out the fire department. Especially since I couldn’t give them a rational explanation for what I was doing up there. ‘Carried up by a giant wolf ‘ just wasn’t going to wash.”
“I can understand that. A lot of things I tell people don’t wash with them.”
He took off his white scarf and held it out in both hands. “I want to ask you to accept this, and let there be peace between us.”
“I thought you’re supposed to give that to Cecil.”
“Cecil isn’t here. You can consider it an apology. A flag of surrender, if you like.” Slowly, carefully, he draped it over my neck, and stepped back. I nodded.
“I thought you were one of the Thunder Mountain Boys.”
Now he smiled, as much in relief as pleasure, it seemed. “I can do both.”
“So what is it about Cecil, anyway?”
Oliver-who-used-to-be-Honey's scent changed. His eyes changed, too. “Wait till you meet him,” he said. “It's quite a trip.”
Oliver followed me out onto the lawn where a hundred or so long good byes were going on. These included everybody exchanging scarves with one person after another, and grasping hands, and kissing cheeks, and fervent protestations of love and care. I noted the more enterprising folks making one last foray at the food tables, some equipped with bags. I headed that way myself, since hummus is not filling.
“There you are!” Holly shrieked behind us. “Dear child, I am so glad you came to our little party. I so wanted you to meet Cecil, but it was not to be, this time. But come, come and meet some of my dearest friends. We’ve been longing to have a talk with you.” Holly took me by the arm in a grasp that was not friendly, and pulled me along with her. I let her. I wanted to meet some of her closest friends. And I wanted to have a really good talk.
“Oliver, darling, so good of you to come, mm, mm,” she grabbed him with her other hand and kissed him on both cheeks. “So sweet. See you soon.” She patted his cheek and dragged me off with her. I was given a short tour of the house along the way, so I learned that the comfy little room we ended up in was called “the nook.” Big fat leather furniture was grouped around a fake fireplace and a mantel lined with leather-covered books no human hand had touched in years. Framed photographs covered the walls. The same short, plump, smiling man stood next to one movie star after another, his arm draped around them. Some of the pictures were signed, with lots of exclamation marks. The sun, just beginning to set, shone fiercely through the three windows that looked out onto the ocean, silhouetting the three guys that stood there holding drinks. They turned as Holly drew me inside.
It was no surprise who her special friends were, after all. The round guy wiped his balding head with the end of his whitish scarf and gave Holly a big smile. The suit guy detached himself from the other two and made his way to a sideboard, where he poured a drink for Holly. He offered me one silently, raising a glass. I smiled, because of course I would be so comfortable taking a drink with these people, especially after the last time. I shook my head.
“Darling,” Holly cried, “this is Stuart.” She took the little round guy's arm, and then she touched the sleeve of the remaining guy, and looked up at him. “And this is Benjamin.”
Benjamin was the guy with the orange robe over his regular clothes. He nodded, looking at me with interest from serene gray eyes. He had a square jaw, a big build, and weathered skin. His scent was pleasant, untinged by cosmetics or chemicals. I nodded back at him.
Sally and Elaine came in behind us. Sally grabbed a drink from the suit guy, whom Holly called Phil, and Sally and Elaine called Jeeves, like it was some kind of joke. Sally plopped down with Elaine on the big couch, as Holly took for herself the big chair next to the fireplace. She gestured to me to sit on the couch. I went to stand by the mantel, across from Benjamin. Honey—I mean Oliver—had come to lounge in the doorway. He accepted a drink from Phil as well. Out on the horizon, the fog began piling up. Soon the sun was was going to sink right into it.
“I am so glad you came today,” Holly trilled at me. “Won’t you sit down?” She leaned over and patted the couch. I pretended I hadn’t heard. “I can see that we got off on the wrong foot with you,” she confided to me. “But really, we do want to help you.”
I lounged on the arm of the couch. She winced, and so did suit guy. “Oh, good,” I said. “You’re going to give me back my wallet.”
“Of course!” Holly said. “Of course, that was all just a terrible mistake.”
For which my wounds had still not fully healed.
“We just want to have this little talk first.”
I was willing to tolerate talking, for the time being. Later, there might need to be some biting, perhaps chewing, perhaps deep bone bruises and puncture wounds. It remained to be seen how they would tolerate that. I felt my eyes begin to gleam. I was looking forward to this conversation.
Stuart the round guy sat forward in his chair. He used both hands, so I would know how important what he was saying to me was. “We have learned through the guidance of Cecil, our Teacher, that certain kinds of meditation can create within you a kind of self-control that is so powerful that no external force can influence you.”
“Is that right?”
Oliver, leaning in the doorway, smiled.
Stuart gestured some more. “We would like to offer you a chance to study with us, and with our Teacher, so that all that we know of this power can be yours.”
“Oh, wow,” was all I could think to say.
Benjamin looked at me sharply. “A demon on the loose, with power over a person, is a danger to everyone. That's what we think.”
“Oh, no,” I said. “Is it?”
Stuart nodded. “You have no idea the power something like that can wield.”
“I don’t?”
“They can trick your mind,” Benjamin said. His eyes weighed me gently. “They can make you believe things that aren’t true.”
“Have you ever raised a demon?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “I’ve only seen—”
“Darlings, let's not frighten her,” Holly interposed. She focused on me. “We think that as soon as Cecil gets back, you should embark on a series of personal tutorials, with Cecil and with us. We are,” she said, “the Inner Circle of Cecil's students.”
“I should study with you?”
Stuart, Holly, and Benjamin nodded.
“But, why?”
“Darling, don’t fool yourself. A powerful demon is in possession of you.”
“Oh, my gosh,” I said. “How do you know?”
Elaine bent over her glass, hiding her smile.
Holly fixed me with her eyes. Her makeup was perfect. “Are you aware that at certain times, you turn into a wolf?”
“Huh?” I stared at her, open-mouthed. In the doorway, Oliver snickered. “A wolf? An actual wolf? Really?”
More nodding around the circle.
“We saw you.”
“It was terrifying.”
I almost smiled, but stopped myself. Not yet. “Oh, my god! How did this happen?”
“We don’t know,” Benjamin told me. He had real sympathy and concern in his voice.
“Sure we do,” Stuart told him. “Either you summoned the demon, or you were tricked by one into allowing it to possess you.” He shuffled forward in his seat. “Do you remember, at any time, holding some kind of ritual, where you called up a demon? Or any strange event, something that seemed even supernatural at the time, and after that, you sometimes had blackouts?”
“Ask her first if she's ever had any blackouts,” Elaine suggested.
“Yes, good,” said Benjamin. “Have you ever had a blackout? A period where you lost time? You found yourself in one place, and you don’t remember getting there?”
I did, in fact. It involved waking up in a cage. I was about to bring that up, when Stuart grabbed my hand. “Do you know how you called the demon?”
I looked at Stuart, and he removed his hand.
“But now is not the time for that,” Holly interrupted. “I’m sure you’ll be able to tell us all how you did it—when Cecil comes back, of course.” Her voice rose as she overrode the protests of the others. “What we need to arrange is for you to begin classes in meditation as soon as possible.”
“Advanced classes,” Benjamin suggested. “And don’t worry, you won’t be charged. The four of us have decided that your education right now is important enough, we will be covering the cost of your first set of classes.”
I looked over at him, but I couldn’t find it in myself to thank him.
Stuart said to Holly in a low tone, “I thought we were going to get her to pay in part, you know, so it will mean more to her?”
“Stuart, not now.”
“But we said—”
“Later!”
Sally put in, “We can talk to you now about the special ways you’ll need to purify your body for correct meditation. An all-vegetarian diet—”
“A vegan diet—”
“Not necessarily a vegan diet, but certain kinds of animal fats must be restricted.”
“All the time?” I asked Stuart.
“All the time,” he agreed. “And then you’ll be ready for special tuition when Cecil arrives.”
“What is it about Cecil?” I asked. “What's so special about studying meditation with him?”
“Tantric meditation,” Sally corrected. She wore a secret smile. “You’ll like it.”
“You rise,” Benjamin said.
“What?”
“When you practice Tantric meditation with Cecil, you are raised up. Literally raised up.”
“In the air?” I asked.
They all nodded. Clearly they’d all had this experience.
“So you’re saying that when you study closely with Cecil—”
“Closely,” Sally chortled.
“Oh, I get it.” And finally, I did. They were thinking about it, about studying closely with Cecil, and so their scents changed. “You have sex with him. And when you have sex, you levitate?”
More nodding. I couldn’t believe it. “How high?”
They each considered the question. “About two feet?” Benjamin said.
“Three,” Oliver said, from the doorway.
“I have no memory of how high,” Sally breathed, her eyes closed.
“I’m sure it was higher than that, when I’m with him,” Holly opined.
“And that's why you have the great big bouncy bed,” I realized. “So you don’t break anything when you land.”
More nods.
“How long does the levitation last?”
“During orgasm. It's incredible.”
“Levitation does something to your orgasm?”
“Not mine,” Sally corrected. “His. Cecil's.”
“Just his?”
“It's quite an experience,” Benjamin offered.
Sally explained earnestly, “It's not just about having sex. It's about distilling the vast power of your sexual energy and focussing it so that your will can transcend to a higher level of personal achievement. That's why you have to refrain from all other sexual activity, except while you are guided by Cecil. And then it works.”
“So, can you all levitate, now that you’ve… studied with him, how long?”
“Four years,” Holly said.
“Almost four,” Stuart asserted.
“No, darling, I’m certain—”
“Two.”
“Three.”
“Six,” said Elaine, looking at Holly. Holly looked away.
“How long before you can levitate? And how long does it last?” I imagined it for a moment. Being able to fly. A flying wolf. Ha.