THE KEEPER

Part four

By Quadhouse

Lisa still couldn't believe this was her room. It was too perfect. Because of her height, most people assumed that her room would be set up like a jock's. This room wasn't. There was a canopy bed along the wall away from the door. The carpet was soft and thick. A real comfort to tired feet. The dresser was near the walk in closet to the left of the bed. A bathroom was across from that. On top of every surface was a multitude of stuffed animals. The whole room was in shades of purple. Her favorite color.

When she went into the closet, she found all the clothes she had wanted to wear but was afraid to. Clothes people only wore to fancy balls. She had looked at everything, hoping to find something she could wear. If only for a little while. But nothing she found fit her. It was all for a much smaller woman. She put everything back and made some room for her clothes. She settled in to normal life. And to forget a few things.

Now, three weeks later, she was getting curious about Midge and Robert. She knew that Robert said he wasn't sleeping with her. But, it looked to her, that if Midge had her choice, Rober wouldn't have to worry about sleeping alone. But, she wanted to make sure before she stuck her nose in. She didn't want to hurt Robert. She owed him. A lot. But, first things first. She needed to make sure of Midge.

She heard some one in the hall outsied her room. From her position on the bed she could see out the door. She saw Midge walk by. "Hey Midge!"

"Yes," came the reply as she stopped walking.

"Come here for a minute."

Midge entered the room, turning slightly to get through the door. Lisa felt exremely flat as she watched Midge walk. She patted the bed beside her. "Have a seat."

Shrugging Midge sat. "Do you need something?"

"No," answered Lisa as she shifted away from her. "I just wanted to talk to you about a few things."

"They're real," Midge flatly said.

"Huh?"

"My tits," Midge said as she waved a hand at them. "Weren't you going to ask if they were real?"

Lisa shook her head. "No. I wasn't. They jiggle too much to be anything but real. Anyway, I haven't heard of anybody getting implants that big."

"Oh," said Midge. She thought about this for a moment. "So, what do you want?"

"I want to talk to you about Robert."

"Why? You know more about him than I do. You did grow up with him."

"Yes, I did," replied Lisa. "But you live with him. I just want to know how he's doing. If he's changed any since I last saw him. He was always a strange one."

They grinned at each other. "Yeah, he is strange," agreed Midge. "But I can't tell you how he might have changed. I didn't grow up with him."

"I know. That's why I want to talk to you. You can't tell me you're not interested," said Lisa.

"What do you mean," Midge asked nervously.

"I mean every time you look at him," Lisa said. "You practively drool. It's obvious that you love him. If you had your way, Robert wouldn't be sleeping alone at night."

"We already do," Midge muttered.

Lisa laughed. "I knew he wouldn't take long getting you into bed. He must've gotten an instant hard on when he saw you. So, what's he like?"

"We haven't don't anything," Midge said. "All he does is sleep. Why wont he do anything?" The last came out as a wail.

Lisa sighed. "I was afraid of that," she said to herself. "He still hasn't gotten rid of that. Even with is new bod." She looked at Midge. "Listen, you have to make the first move. He was very shy in school and had trouble relating to the other kids. I didn't help that he had been jumped up several classes."

"What can I do," she asked. "He never looks at me. Even when we're in bed."

"I bet he does. He just doesn't let you see it. As for what you can do. Well, I would kiss him before going to sleep. And I would make sure it was the most erotic kiss I could give. See if he can sleep after that."

"Do you think that will work?"

"I'm sure of it," Lisa answered while nodding her head. "Now, can you tell me how he got into such good shape. Robert was never one to exercise. I'm jealous."

Thirty minutes later Midge, pleading work, walked out of Lisa's room. Lisa watched her as she left. When she was out of site, Lisa nodded.

"I knew something was off about her," she said whispered. "Even though her breast move to much to be anything but real, they can't be. Because her legs and butt don't show any of the muscle development they should if they were carrying that load. That's just one of the things I noticed not adding up here. And, one way or another, I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

Just then the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. They only did that when someone was watching her. Quickly, she turned, but there was nobody there. Slowly, she smoothed the hairs down. That has been happening way too often these past weeks. That's another thing she would have to figure out.

After her talk with Lisa, Midge came straight to me. "She's starting to ask questions," she said. We were standing in my workroom.

"Huh," I said. I was working on a difficult program and hadn't gotten my brain back.

"Lisa," Midge said. "She's starting to question our relationship. According to her, we should be sleeping together."

"But we are," I protested. "What do you think we do a night."

"She means sex," she said. "With this body, she expected you to be all over me."

"That's not my fault," I nearly shouted. "I don't remember telling you to pick that body. Just where did you get it from anyway?"

"From you," she said.

My mouth dropped open.

"Close your mouth. I got this body from you," she said. "After Rose died I didn't have a body. So, when you entered the house I, and the House, scanned your mind. The House was looking for the things that would make your living here easier for you. Your favorite type of furniture, foods, books, and stuff like that. I, on the other hand, was in search for a body. One you would like to have around while I taught you about the House and magic. I found the description for this body in there. There were descriptions for more bodies in there, but you thought about this on more than the others."

"I know," I said after catching my breath. "That body is a fantasy. Whenever I thought about sex, I usually thought about that one. I wish you had checked what those descriptions were for? One of those was for my ideal woman. The woman I want to marry."

"Oh I saw that one," Midge said. "But the physical description was too vague. I couldn't risk designing a body you wouldn't aprove of."

"So you picked a fantasy instead." I couldn't belive I was having this conversation.

She shrugged. "The body didn't matter to me. As long as it pleased you."

I was starting to get a headache. I sighed. "Midge. What am I going to do? With Lisa starting to get suspicious about us, the need to hide my magic from her, and the watchers waiting to pounce on any of use, I'm going to go crazy." A sudden though leapt into my mind. "You don't think they got to her, do you?"

I didn't have to say who 'they' were. "No," she answered. "I checked her out when I was showing her to her room. Nobody had put any spells or compulsions on her. I would have told you otherwise. As for what you're going to do. Right now, you're going to get ready for lunch. Then, you're going to practice your magic." She turned and left the room. I had no choice but to save my work and follow.

Lunch was a quiet affair. Lisa was lost in thought and I didn't know what to say. I knew she was getting suspicious about Midge and I. I also knew that she had noticed things about the house that just wouldn't add up. It would only be a matter of time before she discovered the truth. I needed to figure out something for that.

After lunch, Lisa said she was going for a walk. As she left, I made sure the spells and wards I had placed on her were intact. She was not going to be hurt because the watchers wanted to get at me.

"Don't worry about her, Robert. The spells you put on her are the most complex I've ever seen. I don't think there's anything that can happen to her that can break those spells before you can get to her."

"I know, Midge," I responded. "It's just that I know I don't know everything. Suppose there's something I didn't guard against. What good would those spells do her?"

"There's nothing you can do right now. Not, unless, you want to tell her about your magic." I shook my head. "Then the only thing you can do is practice and learn. The more you learn the more you can do to protect her." With that, we headed back to the basement.

Elsewhere in the city.

"Anything to report," asked Claire. She, with the four men, were back in the resturant.

"Nothing," Raymond answered. "He hasn't changed his habits in any way that we can tell. He only leaves the house once every four weeks. His friend, on the other hand, leaves every day. But she some very powerful protective spells on her. At least, I assume its more than one spell."

"It's more than one," Larry said. "I still haven't figured out how he's doing it. Nor have I found a way through those spells. They are very strange and unpredictable. Almost as if he has found some way to introduce chaos into them."

This caused silence to fall on the five.

"Can he have really found a way to control chaos," breathed Richard.

"I don't think so," Larry said slowly. "I think he has found some way to make a locked spell react to its surrounding. How, I don't know. But I'm trying to find out."

"The more I learn about this one, the more I fear him," Charles said. It was the first thing he said since sitting down. "I believe we should find some way to neutralize hime. Failing that, we should kill him. It's the only way we can be safe."

"I agree, Charles," said Claire. "But we need his secrets. If we had his secrets, then, not only could we find a way around them, nobody who doesn't know those secrets would be able to stand against us."

"So his life is safe from us," Charles asked.

"For now," Claire answered.

"What about his family," asked Claire.

"They're being watched," answered Larry. "By us and them." He didn't have to say who 'them' was.

"So, we can't touch them," she asked.

"No. Too much trouble," said Larry. "We have to wait until he's open."

"Then we crush him."

"Holy Mother, this man is driving me crazy," Adrienne said. She was standing in the meeting room. Beside her was Carolyn. "He doesn't go to clubs, he doesn't invite friends and family over, he doesn't go to movies, he doesn't even go shopping. The few times he has left the House, he has so many protective spells on him it isn't worth the effort to probe him."

The Holy Mother was in her chair. "What about his visitor? She has been there for several weeks."

Carolyn answered, "She has spells just as powerful as those on the guardian. But, she doesn't appear to be aware of them. My guess is that the spells were placed on her by the guardian to protect her from harmful forces. That suggests that he is, at least, aware of people who would wish him harm."

"Do you think he would go protect her if she was attacked away from the house?"

"Yes, Holy Mother," both women said. "But I think it would be more to protect his property than to protect his friend," Adrienne continued.

"Be that as it may," the older woman said. "I see only one option open to us. We must gain the girl's confidence. Then we can get more information on this man."

"How will we do that," Carolyn asks.

"Simple," came to reply. "We know when she leaves the house and where she usually goes. All we have to do is put our people in those areas and have them to become friends with her."

"That could be dangerous, Holy Mother," Carolyn said.

"I know, child. But I can't think of any other way to get what we need."

Lisa had been walking in the park all morning. She couldn't make sense of it. It seems that she couln't get Robert alone no matter what she did or when she tried. He couln't be avoiding her. He hardly leaves the house. Granted, he was working on a big project for work. But that wouldn't explain the was he was acting lately.

Then there was Midge. She never saw her do any work, but the work was done all the same. She was there whenever Lisa was with Robert. Sometimes she seemed to be in two places at the same time. And now, after their talk earlier, she couldn't get her alone. She always had work to do. Now Lisa was starting to think Midge was spying on her. She felt as if somebody was watching her when she was alone. She shook her head. All this was giving her a headache.

"Hey, Lisa."

She looked up. "Oh, hi Sharon." Sharon was not quite as tall as Lisa. She had light brown, curly hair and a lean, runner's figure. She and Lisa had met on the jogging path in the past weeks that Lisa had been there.

"All right, what's the matter? Is it a man?"

Lisa had to smile. It seemed that everything revolved around men when it came to Sharon. "Not really," she answered. "I'm just thinking about my friend."

"You mean Robert," Sharon asked. "The guy you're living with. The guy who has a maid with the giant tits." Lisa nodded. "What about him?"

"He's keeping some secrete from me and I can't figure it out," she said. "I know it was something to do with Midge, but I can't see how."

Sharon gave her a look. "Come with me," she said as she stood. After a few minutes walk, she turned to a secluded area of the park. She looked around to be sure no one had followed them. "How much do you know about Robert?"

"What do you mean," asked Lisa. She wasn't expecting this.

"Exactly what I said. You said that he is keeping something from you and that you think it involves Midge. But you can't figure it out. So, how much do you know about him?"

Lisa thought about it. She and Robert had grown up together. And, while he turned out to be a genius, they had remained in touch through the years. Even when he had skipped grades. Their friendship lasted. But, now, she was so sure. He may have changed while she was in college. And there was the problem.

She knew she was keeping a secret. And she didn't want to reveal it. So she could honestly ask him to tell all his. Maybe she should tell him. He, at least, should be able to accept her no matter what happened to her. But, there was still doubt.

"I know a lot about him," she finally said. "But I can't ask him to tell me his secrets when I'm hiding my own."

Sharon nodded. "That's true. But what would you say if I told you that I knew what he was hiding?"

"You know," Lisa asked with a puzzled expression. "Then why did you ask me?"

"I asked you to see how much you knew. I wanted to know if I could trust you."

"Trust me? Why would you want to know that?"

Even though they were alone, Sharon looked around. Then she leaned close and whispered, "I'm part of a group of people who watch people like Robert. You see, Robert has somehow stumbled on a vast supply of magic. And my group, and other groups like it, watch for people like him so that they won't abuse the magic."

Lisa gave a nervous laugh. "You're joking, right? I mean, there's no such thing a magic. If there was, more people would know about it."

"Lisa, I'm not joking," Sharon said while looking her straight in the eye. "There is magic in the world. Most people can't do magic, but those that can usually keep it quiet. It can't do everything."

"If that's true," Lisa said, "why are you telling me?"

"Because I need your help. My group needs somebody who can watch Robert. We can't watch him because he has some very powerful spells that prevent us from putting tabs on him. We need somebody he won't suspect."

"Why won't he suspect me," asked Lisa. "If what you're saying is true, then what's to stop you from putting spells on me? Or any other group for that matter."

"He'll trust you because he has already put spells on your that prevent any kind of control of you."

Lisa jumped to her feet. "That's it. I'm leaving. You're crazy. Robert can't do magic! No one can! I'm going home." With that, she started walking away.

Sharon sighed as she watched Lisa move away.

"Was that wise," a voice asked as soon as she was out of hearing.

"Maybe," Sharon said. "I just got tired of waiting."

"You know what the plan was," the voice said. "You even agreed to it. I can't believe you decided to risk it all because you were tired of waiting."

Sharon was silent for a few minutes. "I didn't want to hurt her," she finally said. "She's a friend, and I don't like hurting friends. I just hope she can forgive me."

I knew someting was bothering Lisa when she came home. I just couldn't figure it out. She hadn't spoken a word to me or Midge. And she was avoiding us. She wouldn't stay in a room if either of us entered. But, it wasn't until Midge told me she had packed her clothes that I started to worry.

Dinner was quiet that evening. Lisa was just picking at her food. "All right," I said. "What's bothering you?"

Lisa gave me a startled look. "What makes you think that?"

"You're too quiet," I answered. "Usually you tell me about your day. Or ask me about mine. Or we just talk. You haven't said a word since you got back. You've been avoiding us, and you've packed your bags."

She glared at me. "You've been snooping in my room?" I shook my head. "Midge?"

"She hasn't either. She was just putting your laundry in your room and noticed the bags. She asked me if you were leaving."

"Oh," she said. She looked back at her plate. "I was talking to one of my friends today," she said without looking up."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She said that she and others were watching you."

"Oh," I repeated. "They've started talking to you?"

"You know," she gasped. "When were you going to tell me about this?"

"Hopefully never," I said. "I don't want to get you in trouble. Some of the people watching me aren't very nice. They could hurt you to ge to me."

"Sharon would never hurt me," Lisa hotly said.

"Are you sure? Did she name the group she belongs to? Or does she work alone?"

"I can't believe you wasn't gonna tell me," she cried.

"It was because I didn't want you to get hurt." I sighed. "If you know anything about me that they thought they could use, you would be in danger."

"What about the spell?"

"Protective spells mostly," I answered. "The rest are one locator, some stealth spells, and one magic scrambler. They were to trigger of someone attacked you with magic. Hopefully they would have held until I could have gotten to you."

"Take them off."

I blinked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," was the answer. "I want you to take them off. It's not that I don't trust you." She sighed. "Robert. I do trust you. It's just. . ."

"You can't be sure," I finished for her. "When do you want me to do it?"

"You'll do it," she asked. "Why?"

I smiled. "Because. It's your life. I just put those on you to protect you. Now that you know, you can decide it you want them or not."

"Tonight," she said. "After dinner. The sooner I get this done the better."

I nodded. We finished eating in silence.

To be continued.