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.Even hard-to-handle Lisa is a welcome addition.Besides being a math genius, she has a sharp wit.Fortunately, I’m the only one who notices the major crush she has on Matt.But how can I blame Lisa? I’m in the same boat.He’s so damn handsome, and talented, and charismatic.Other than his stubbornness, he’s practically perfect.But if he knows about the effect he has on us poor lovesick girls, he’s a master at playing dumb.He just goes about his business, writing music, playing his nightly gigs, taking care of Teri.One afternoon, on the spur of the moment, I swing by their place and catch them making love.I’m amazed at how jealous I feel.He’s a big help to Teri when she hits the track.He times each 400-meter and 200-meter interval she runs, and records her progress in a daily diary.When she finishes working out, he always gives her a long massage, carefully kneading out any cramps, so she can recover faster and train even harder the next day.Yet he cannot give her the edge that I can.Should I give her my blood or not?I debate the matter furiously.The NCAA championships, a prelude to the Olympic trials, arrive soon.They’re in Chicago, and we all travel to watch Teri run the metric mile, the 1500-meter race.Shanti’s in between surgeries and feeling sore, but the night before we leave for Chicago I rub an extra dose of blood on her incisions, and she awakens without pain and decides to accompany us.Giving Shanti a few drops of my blood is an act of mercy.It aids her recovery and frees her of the majority of her suffering.Simply by gazing at her as she lies in bed, I make sure she remains asleep while I administer my blood.But to substantially improve Teri’s mile time, I’ll have to put my blood directly inside her veins.I can do this without her knowledge by hypnotizing her, as long as Matt is not around.However, I struggle over the morality of the act.Teri wouldn’t want to win by cheating.I’ve heard her harsh words against those who use steroids to improve their times.Yet I feel too much like her mom to let her go down in miserable defeat.I decide to do nothing until after the NCAA finals.If she does badly there, I tell myself, she doesn’t deserve to make the team.Of course, I lie to myself better than most people.Teri fails to win the race.Indeed, she’s lucky to finish third against the best college students in the country.Since she’s just a freshman, her coach is happy with her performance, and we all congratulate her as we gather around and admire her medal.But I can see the look of disappointment in her eyes.Later, that night, she comes to my hotel room to talk.She comes alone.She says Matt is asleep.“You should be sleeping after such a hard race,” I say.She plops down on my bed and sighs.“I suck.”“You ran your best time under enormous pressure.How can you say you suck?”She rubs her weary legs.“Because even the winner of today’s race, Nell Sharp, isn’t going to make the Olympic team.At the trials there’s going to be half a dozen women who can beat her.Along with yours truly.”“You don’t know that for sure.”“The clock doesn’t lie.I ran as hard as I could and didn’t break 4:25.It’ll probably take 4:12 to win the Olympics.”“That fast?”“Yeah.It’s going to take a world record.”Teri wants the gold medal.I see that now.Making the team isn’t good enough for her.Unfortunately, right now making the team’s a pretty stiff proposition.I cross the room and sit beside her on the bed.At moments like this, I feel so close to her it’s difficult not to hug her.Running a hand through her lovely blond hair—which looks and feels so much like my own—I stare deep into her blue eyes.“How much do you want it?” I ask.“What?”“You know.”“The gold medal? I’d give anything to win.”“But you wouldn’t cheat?”“Are you talking about steroids?”“Something else.Something secret.”She shakes her head.“Don’t even tell me.I don’t want to know.A medal would mean nothing to me if I knew I’d cheated to get it.”I admire her integrity.But it’s ironic—as she swears she’ll never cheat, it makes me more determined than ever that she win.Adding power to my gaze, I speak in a soothing tone.“You’re exhausted.Let’s talk in the morning.Right now, you need to rest.” Her eyes suddenly grow heavy—she struggles to keep them open.“Just close your eyes and lie down.Sleep.”Teri is asleep before her head hits the mattress.Using my nails, I open the vein on my left wrist and do likewise with her wrist.Pressing the veins together, I let my blood pump into her.I give her thirty seconds’ worth, no more, before I return her vein to her wrist.I close the incision with a few drops of my blood carefully spread over the wound.The operation doesn’t leave a scar.I let her sleep an hour before carrying her back to her room.I’m reluctant to wake her.I can feel my blood strengthening her system and know it’s best she sleep through the change.Outside her door, I listen and hear Matt snoring softly.I’m able to slip inside—using her key—and deposit Teri on the bed without waking either of them.I kiss her good night.I almost kiss Matt, but I figure I’ve played with fate enough for one night.The Olympic trials for track and field are two weeks later, in Eugene, Oregon.The school year ends for Teri, and once more, as an oddball family of five, we fly to the west coast to see if our budding star can compete at the next level.On the IIC front, all remains calm, and my source in the FBI who has flown off to Switzerland has yet to uncover any new leads on Claudious Ember
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