Monsters
By
Karen Singer
Chapter 26 – Guests – Part 1 of 2
“Do you think she’s alive?”
“Yes!”
“Are you sure?”
“Mom, I have to believe
that. I have to!”
“Are you being realistic about
this, or is it really just wishful thinking?”
“Mom, I love her. You know that. I have to believe she’s still
alive. But more than that, I really do
believe they haven’t killed her…yet. I
don’t know how much longer they’d keep her alive though. I’m convinced that Beastman wanted to take
his revenge out on her. He wanted her
alive so he could punish her. And my
take on it is that he would consider a quick death to be too easy for her. I think he’ll want to do something to her
that will last a long time.”
“Are you sure?”
“Mom, like I said, I have to
believe that. Right now, I’m so worried
about her, and the fact that I can’t find her is driving me nuts!”
“Don’t let that allow you get
sloppy,” Janis warned her daughter. “I
don’t want to lose you like you’ve lost Brandy.”
Carol shook her head. “Don’t worry.
In fact, if anything, I seem to be more focused. Although I’m also killing more than I need
to. But I don’t really care. I just want to find Brandy, and I’ll stop at
nothing to do it! If I have to kill
everyone in the entire city to find her, I will! No problem!”
“I’m sure you mean that,” Janis
replied. “Just…for my sake, stay extra
careful. The more of a threat you become
to them, the more they’re going to try and strike back. Not to mention all those bodies piling up are
going to attract an awful lot of attention from the police.”
“I don’t care about the
police. They’ll never see me. So far, nobody that’s seen me has remained
alive. And as for Beastman trying to
strike back at me…” Her mouth turned
into a wicked smile. “That’s exactly
what I’m hoping for. Let them try!”
--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---
There was still no sign of the
motorcycles out front, which to him meant that neither Brandy nor Carol were in
their room next door. It wasn’t like
Brandy to stay out of touch so long.
He wasn’t exactly worried about
Brandy. It was more like he was worried
about himself. With no constant
direction from her like he usually got, he wasn’t sure what to do or where he
stood. He was stuck in an unknowing
state. Would she be back soon? He had no way of knowing. He didn’t know what to do. If he screwed up in any way at all, she’d
come close to killing him. He knew that
from long experience. So he wasn’t
worried about her, he was worried about himself.
Where was Brandy?
--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---
Her body automatically strained
again to move. But as always, it was
impossible. All the unconscious effort
did was to pull her awake. Her eyes
opened to see the same white door in the same dull room. The room where nothing changed. The room where time didn’t exist.
She could feel her breasts being
pulled harder again. She could feel that
the pain had increased since they had put the empty bucket back on her. She could feel the burning pain in her
vaginal lips as well. What she couldn’t
feel anymore, was her hands. She
couldn’t feel them, and she couldn’t see them.
Maybe they no longer existed. She
wished her whole body didn’t exist anymore.
She wished she didn’t exist anymore.
Unfortunately, she still did. She
existed in a timeless place called hell.
Her stomach growled. She was hungry. All she had eaten since they had caught her
was whatever mush that woman had shoved down her throat. As bad as it was, she was more than willing
to put up with it again to get something in her stomach. Either that, or she was more interested in
getting nothing at all in her stomach for a much longer period so she could
die. That would be the better option.
With nothing to see or do other
than to dwell on too much pain and discomfort in her entire body, she closed
her eyes and tried to go back to sleep.
She tried, but all she could think about was the pain in her breasts.
---
§§§§§§§§§§ ---
“Um…Mom…what are they supposed to
be?”
“Why dear, you can’t figure it
out?” Janis replied, sounding slightly hurt.
Carol studied the two black men in
the fenced in horse paddock. They were
both squatting down as they tried to precariously “walk” around. Their arms were held strangely with their
hands up under their armpits. They both
seemed to be intently studying the ground in front of them as their heads
occasionally jerked slightly forward and back.
Occasionally, they would quickly go down and plant their faces in the
ground before struggling to get back to their feet. She looked again at the way their doubled-up
arms moved. Wings! Their arms were supposed to be wings. And then it hit her. “Uh…Mom?
Chickens? You turned them into
chickens?”
“Yes! Was it that hard for you to figure out?” She shook her head. “And here I thought I had done such a good
job with them.”
Carol laughed. “No Mom.
They’re great. I don’t think I’ve
seen you do a chicken before. I know you
prefer turning them into bugs.”
“Yes. Well, now they can eat the bugs…and some
chicken feed we’ll throw on the ground for them too.”
“Will they know to try eating it
when you do?”
“Oh Carol,” Janis laughed. “I had each of them studying a marvelous
video all about chickens and their behaviors before I even started. Their minds literally picked up everything
about the way chickens behave before I told them they were going to be
chickens. And now…well for them…they’ll
stay that way for the rest of their lives.”
Carol chuckled. “Just like all the men you play with. Once you get them Mom, they can’t ever get
free.”
“That’s the idea, dear.” Janis
smiled.
“So, what are you going to do with
them?
“I thought that this time I would
try to collect as many as possible right here, and then turn the whole flock of
them loose somewhere down in Las Vegas.”
“That should be interesting!”
“Yes! Something I think I’d like to watch
personally. Besides, Mr Wu has kept me
away from the city the entire time I’ve been here. By then, I’ll be due a little fun.”
“Yeah, Mom. For sure!
A whole flock of them? That’s a
lot of work!”
“True dear. But at the same time, you know it’s also a
labor of love for me…unlike all the ones that Maria Alverez has me do where all
I can do is make them her puppets so she secretly has control of all the South
American governments.”
“Yeah, Mom. I know you don’t enjoy that as much.”
But…I do enjoy all that delicious
money.”
“Yes. I know you do, Mom. And you certainly earn it.”
“Yes. I do.”
“But if you want an entire flock of
your…chickens, then that means I’ve got to get busy. I only brought you one to play with last
night.”
“True dear,” Janis replied with a
mock sigh. “But…I know you love what you
do just as much as I do.”
“Yeah. And as much as you don’t believe in it, I
like killing people, and I’m good at it.”
“I know dear. Much to my disappointment. But…” she added with a smile. “If you went and bought yourself a beautiful
gown, then I know there’s hope for you on the horizon.”
Carol laughed. “Don’t bet on it, Mom!”
“A mother can certainly hope, can’t
she?”
“Miss Stokley!” one of the maids called
to them. Both Carol and her mother
turned. “Mr. Liu has returned to see
you.”
“Oh good!” Carol replied. “My new riding suit. It was supposed to be here last night.”
“You didn’t get back until later
dear,” Janis reminded her daughter.
“True,” Carol conceded as they
headed for the house. “But I was having
such a good time.”
They found Mr. Liu waiting for them
in the parlor again. This time he had
only one box with him, but it was a fairly large one. “Mrs. and Miss Stokley,” he greeted the two
women as they entered. “It is good to
see you again.” He turned to Carol. “Did you have a chance to try the new
helmet?”
“Yes,” Carol replied with a
smile. “I love it. I’ll take a dozen. Four in black. Four in dark grey, and four in red. And I’m keeping the one I’ve got now as
well.”
Mr. Liu smiled. “Very good.”
“Is that the new riding suit?”
Carol asked.
“Yes it is,” Mr. Liu replied as he
pulled open the box. It’s all black I’m
afraid, but if you like it, you can order any colors and designs you like, just
as you’ve done in the past.”
“Perfect!” Carol replied as she got
a look at the thick black garment.
For the next few minutes, Mr. Liu
went through all the pockets and accessories.
“And how about the gas mask?” Carol
finally asked, anxious to get on with the most important part for her.
Mr. Liu reached into the neck and
pulled out some material that turned out to be an attached hood. “Just pull the neckline out and pull it over
your head,” he said as he spread that part of the suit out. “As you can see, there is only an opening for
your eyes, the rest of your face is covered.
Buried in the material over your mouth and nose is an air filtration
system that should work against most gasses we’ve tested it against. And if you’re worried about your eyes…as my
people tell me you should be…” He
reached into a new pocket located near the waist and pulled out a thin pair of
goggles. “These goggles, when used with
the suit, will do the job perfectly.”
“Can I test it?” Carol asked.
“Of course!” Liu said with some
surprise. “Do you have some kind of gas
here to try on it?”
“Yes. I managed to get a sample last night of the
gas they’ve been using so far.”
“Then by all means,” Mr. Liu
replied. “I would also be very
interested in reporting the results of your test back to our developers.”
Carol called for her maid,
Susannah, and asked her to get the small glass vial she had brought back with
her last night. While Susannah was doing
that, she pulled the new riding suit on.
It fit like it was made for her.
But over the years she’d had so many custom riding suits made for her
that she expected it to fit perfectly.
By the time she was dressed, Susannah was back with the little glass
vial.
“How did you want to do this dear?”
Janis asked. “We’re not protected.”
“I thought about just using one of
the bedrooms upstairs, but I think if I just wave this around under my nose and
try to smell it, that should be a pretty good test. Besides, I don’t want to waste this in case
it doesn’t work.” She looked to
Savannah. If I pass out, please put me
on the sofa until I wake up. Judging by
what I’ve seen this stuff do, it will probably last a while, so just let me
sleep it off.” She looked at her mother
and Mr. Liu. “You all might want to
stand way back. And if I do pass out,
make sure you hold your breath before you close this glass vial up again.”
Janis and Mr. Liu retreated to the
far side of the room. Savannah retreated
out into the hallway.
Carol pulled the built-in gas mask
out from the collar of the suit and pulled it over her head, leaving only a
narrow slit for her eyes that was exposed.
She sealed the front of the mask inside the neck of the suit. With that done, she took several deep
breaths, testing her breathing. “It’s a
little tight to breath through, but not bad,” she told them, her voice now
slightly muffled.
She pulled out the special goggles
from their pouch at her waist and pulled them over her eyes. “Not bad,” she said as she looked out through
the goggles. I could probably use these
in place of the helmet if I needed to.”
She grabbed the glass vial.
“Ready? Remember, if I start to
go down, hold your breath.”
She opened the glass vial, held it
under her nose and took a deep breath, fully expecting to get light-headed. But nothing happened. She took another big whiff from the tiny
jar. Still nothing.
“Oh dear,” Janis replied as she
grabbed for the arm of the nearest chair and started to collapse into it.
“Uh…” Mr. Liu said as he too
started lurching sideways.
Carol quickly sealed the glass jar
and ran for her mother. She helped her
to her feet and half-carried her out of the room, across the hall and directly
into the next room where Savannah helped to settle her into the nearest chair. Then Carol went back for Mr. Liu. When both of them were safely in the other
room, Carol went back and opened all the windows in the parlor to air it
out. Only then did she go back to her
mother and Mr. Liu. Both of them
appeared to be still dazed, but they were both awake.
“That’s some stuff,” Janis finally
noted, her head still spinning.
Liu didn’t say anything, but his
head nodded somewhat unsteadily.
Carol pulled off the goggles and
pulled up the mask. “I think that was a
pretty fair test,” she decided. “Sorry,
Mom. I didn’t expect just opening the
jar would let it get that far across the room so fast.”
“That’s what got your friend
Brandy?” Janis asked.
“That’s it.”
“No wonder they got her,” Janis
replied. “I barely got the faintest
whiff, and I nearly fainted. How did you
avoid that stuff in the past?”
“I held my breath.”
Janis merely nodded. “I take it…I hope…you’re taking that
new suit, and that you intend on using that little feature.”
“For sure, Mom. Absolutely!”
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