9. EVIL BITCH.

I decided to pack up my mostly unused tent and take everything with me. At some point, the winery will have functions down here. Probably more than one as we closed in on the New Year. I could probably find out when if I asked. I could pretend to be looking for a job. No, that is not a good idea. They might actually want to hire me. Whatever.

Then, it occurred to me that all those fancy people would go home from a function here and feel a bit off. It wouldn’t be the food. Well, it might be the food, but probably not. I looked out to where I thought the Essence Sphere came to. It was still outside the normal swimming zone for most people, wasn’t it? I didn’t know. I knew if the yacht returned, it would probably be in the sphere.

Let's find out how Carla reacts first.

I packed everything up, rode back up the track and headed to town. I had scratched off my whiskers. Now wasn’t the time to grow a beard, and I still remember Carla's reaction to the moustache I had for a year or so.

An hour later, I was sitting comfortably at a beachside cafe, eating a nice cooked breakfast. This is great. Piha could do with more of this. I even had a fancy latte. The day is going to get hot, although there will probably be a cool sea breeze later. The kids were already out on the beach as the parents sat in cafes like this one.

My phone pinged.

Carla: I’ll be on the 2 pm ferry. Passenger one from downtown. ETA 2:30ish.

I gave her a thumbs up.

I got a finger in reply. I guess she is still a bit grumpy after her visit home. That is probably not going to improve when I tell her about the anomaly.

Time to find a dive shop. I bought a watch that linked to an app on my phone. It did lots of things I would never use, but it did measure depth. How deep could I go? How much has my body changed? I declined to buy the two-plus grand waterproof phone.

There was a problem with the wetsuits. The stock was low, and they only had the summer ones with short sleeves and only covered to the thighs. I did buy two sets of flippers and a mask and snorkel for Carla.

Flotation devices. I wanted something a bit sturdier than a blow-up mattress. Maybe I should get a blow-up mattress as well. Carla hates sleeping on the ground. I just tell her I have no objections to her being on top.

Space on the bike is the main problem. An inflatable bodyboard is the answer. It has handles you can grab, and with the flippers, you can move quite quickly. I skip over the pink and yellow kids' ones to find a sturdier green one. There were small hand pumps available to inflate it. I swung back and picked up a thin, inflatable mattress, seeing as I had the pump. Fuck I am going soft.

Time to head to the ferry terminal. I removed my helmet but stayed sitting on my bike in the car park. I watched as the ferry dock and holidaymakers and tourists streamed off. Vans and busses waited for the various tours. There might have been a cruise ship dock in Auckland this morning for this amount of traffic.

There she is. She is looking good. She has a small daypack slung over her shoulder. I always appreciated she could travel light. Her face lit up when she saw me, and she bounced over.

“Fuck it is good to get away from there,” was how she greeted me.

“I won’t ask,” I said, handing her the spare helmet.

“Shit, that almost sounded like wisdom coming out of your mouth. What happened?”

I ignored that. “I have a place for the tent.”

“Fuck your tent. I found us a cabin.” She handed me her phone to show me. “It is in the bush. Private. Close to the popular beaches.”

I looked at where it was. Probably a ten-minute ride from the anomaly. I shrugged, “Let's check it out then.” It gave us a soft bed, and she was paying. Where was the downside?

She grinned at me as she put the helmet on. “I brought my favourite bikini.”

“You mean the one that is basically two pieces of string and should be illegal to wear around children and people with heart conditions?”

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“That's the one.”

I smiled. “Good.”

I rechecked the address on her phone and handed it back to her. She slid onto the bike behind me, and we were off. Carla insisted we stock up on some basic food before we left town, so we did.

The place was easy to find, and we checked in at the main house before continuing on to find a basic but clean and private cabin. The land was steep, but there was a deck that looked out over the bush, and it had a hot tub on it. This was a good find.

We dumped our meagre belongings in the cabin, and I made a cup of tea. Green for me, basic gumboot for her. Other cultures call it English Breakfast Tea. I took the tea out onto the deck, and we sat on the deck chairs to drink.

“How much trouble am I in with your family?” I asked. Not that I really cared.

“Oh, not much,” Carla replied, “I just told them you were my Sugar Daddy.”

“What!” I exclaimed.

Carla laughed. “That was good! I should have had the camera ready!”

“God, you’re an evil bitch.”

“It is the only reason we still hook up.” She paused, “So, do you want to tell me what you are really doing here on Waiheke?”

I took a deep breath, “Well, you know these Anomaly Points appear in random places…”

“Oh fuck no!”

“Oh fuck yes.”

“Shit.” Then she looked me over carefully.

“No extra limbs,” I assured her, “not even an extra penis.”

“Damn, that would have been fun. Why don’t you start at the beginning.”

So I did.

“So that fruit I saw in your waste bin, that was you practising your killer touch?”

“Yeah. I doubt it could kill back then. I wouldn’t be so sure now. You probably don’t want me to touch you again.”

“You can shut the fuck up with that line of thinking. You had that ability before I came to see you, and I vividly remember you touching me everywhere. And I do mean everywhere, inside and out. I was fine then, and I will be fine now. I trust your control, so if you don’t, then you will just have to trust me and my judgment because you are not getting off that lightly. Speaking of my judgment, I think we need to open that bottle of wine we bought.”

“Yep, that is definitely good judgment. Maybe we could also finish this conversation in the hot tub.”

“At least you haven’t lost all good sense, although some of your decisions were crazy.”

She took the cover off the hot tub while I got the wine and glasses. We both stripped naked and slipped into the hot water. She then proceeded to demonstrate her willingness to touch me by running her hands all over me. She was checking for changes, but I will not deny that it was pleasant.

We sat in silence for a while, sipping our wine. She had one hand gently stroking me, almost absently. I could tell she was processing things. I just left her to it and enjoyed the sensation. We both like silence.

Every now and then, she would pop out with some random stuff, which gave me an indication of where her mind was going.

“Blue, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Linked to water?”

“That’s my guess.”

Silence.

“The jellyfish directed both mutations?”

“It seemed to.”

She grabbed my cock harder, “You better not let that turn to jelly.”

“I will do my very best.”

Silence.

“More anomalies appearing worldwide.”

“Mmhm”

Silence.

“Maybe not so random.”

“I am not sure two is a big enough sample size.”

“But mutations can possibly be guided.”

“Possibly.”

Silence.

“Fifty percent death rate.”

“That has a big sample size behind it.”

Silence.

“You will show me this poison touch thing?”

“Tomorrow.”

Silence.

“You could show me the underwater thing now?”

“If you want.”

A smile spread over her face, “I want.” She spread her legs, “You go underwater and lick me until one of us can’t take it any more.”

“My pleasure.”

“I am pretty sure it will be mine.”

She could take a lot. Neither of us timed how long I was underwater, but we didn’t have to. I had to help her out of the tub. We turned in for the night after that. This would take a while for her to process.