Chapter 14 - Bait
Susan was jolted into wakefulness as the car thundered down the rough track, the
seatbelt digging painfully into her waist with every violent bump.
"Slow down a bit," she complained, keeping her eyes tightly shut and trying to
ignore the plugs shifting uncomfortably within her.
"Hello?" she said when no-one replied, blinking the sleep from her eyes. It took
a moment to register that the cars occupants had changed.
"Hey..." she exclaimed, whirling around to see the two black-cloaked figures
seated either side of her.
"Who are you?" she asked in confusion, the first touch of fear gripping her
heart.
"Hello?" she repeated when they gave no sign of hearing her.
"Where is everyone else? Where's Julie?" Their silence grew more and more
unnerving.
"What did you do to them?" she asked fearfully, her eyes darting between the two
silent figures sitting either side of her.
"Please... let me out," she pleaded, her head filled with images of her friends
face-down in the snow.
"Let me go!" she suddenly screamed at them, but it was like talking to statues.
"Shit," she began muttering, fumbling for her seatbelt. "Shit, shit, shit." The
protective strap came free and she lunged into the front of the 4WD, fingers
grappling for the hand-brake.
She heard the dark figure in the passenger seat turn around a moment before
something hard slammed into her chest, flinging her into the back seat of the
car again.
Gasping and clutching at her chest, Susan sank fearfully back into her seat.
"How... what... who," she managed between rubbing her sore ribs.
Something tight grabbed her around the throat, pushing her against the back of
the seat and cutting off her injured gasping.
"Be quiet," the man whispered to her over his shoulder in a dry, rasping voice.
Susan stared into the shadowy face that hid in the hood, her eyes bulging as she
futilely clawed at her throat. There was a terrible moment when she really
believed he was going to kill her, and then suddenly her neck was released and
she gasped.
He continued watching for a moment as she caught her breath before turning away,
satisfied she wasn't going to cause any more trouble.
Sobbing, Susan tightened the seatbelt around her waist and hugged her knees to
her chest, ignoring the pressure this put on the plugs buried in her loins.
What disturbed her more than anything was that her first thought when she had
believed she was going to die... was of Julie.
Trig trudged through the snow, his heavy boots pushing through the layer of
white, puffy snow to the hard ground underneath. Behind him, Julie followed, her
long black hair protruding messily from the heavy hood surrounding her head.
Simeon had relocated Nyssa to a nearby log where they were both talking quietly,
her leg resting in front of her. He looked up as Trig approached, his eyes tight
above the cloth. His eyes shifted to Julie, taking in her grim expression.
"They took the car..." Trig began, and then trailed off and stared at the
ground.
"They took Susan? Shit, we have to do something!" Samantha stood up decisively.
"Do what?" Julie shouted angrily, turning to Samantha. "We're in the middle of
nowhere, in the snow, with no transport, a totally wrecked space-ship and half a
dozen cloaked men have kidnapped my second friend in three days!"
Her tirade ended, she stared at Samantha silently for a long moment. The older
girl returned the stare for a moment, before lowering her head and turning away.
Silently she wandered off and sat down heavily in the snow, turning her back to
them.
Julie shuddered, and her lower lip began trembling. Simeon stood up slowly and
put an arm around her.
"Why me?" she said to him, her violet eyes full of tears.
Simeon silently reached out and pulled her down on the log and held her close as
she cried.
"I don't know what to do any more," Julie sobbed into his shoulder.
"I don't know who I am... or what I am... or even if... I'm going to survive to
see my friends again."
She wriggled closer to him, content to simply cry. She felt less like the
strong, dominant female she was trying to be, and more like a lonely, hopeless
eighteen-year-old girl.
Simeon turned to Nyssa and gave her a tired, pleading look. She smiled grimly
and nodded her head slightly.
At Simeon's gentle urging, Julie slid her way to the end of the log to sit with
Nyssa.
"Hey," she said gently, holding Julie to her breast. "It's okay, we'll work
something out."
"How can you say that?" Julie asked quietly.
"Trust me," she replied gently, trying to put every shred of confidence she had
into her words.
"Now... I want you to go and find me some warmer clothes; I'm freezing here. Do
you think you can do that?"
Julie raised her head and nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes with one hand.
Nyssa pointed out the relatively intact cargo area at the rear of the ship to
Julie and Trig. Once they were out of earshot, she turned to Simeon.
"You've told her absolutely nothing, haven't you?" she accused angrily.
"It's dangerous for her to know anything else," he replied flatly, staring
blankly forwards.
"Like hell it is. She's confused and lost, and she doesn't have any friends
here."
Simeon was silent.
"If you don't tell her anything," Nyssa said after a moment. "Then I'll do it
for you."
"The rest of the Council won't approve," Simeon said quietly.
"The rest of the Council can go screw themselves," Nyssa said firmly. "She needs
to know."
Simeon sighed and shook his head.
"Whatever," he said tiredly.
"Are you okay?" Nyssa frowned at him.
"Medication," he said shortly.
"You're worried she'll turn out like you," Nyssa said quietly, glancing at the
crashed ship.
Simeon sat silently for a moment, before faintly nodding his head.
"I think her father did something," she said to him. "He was a genius at
biomedicine, hence his involvement in the project..." Nyssa trailed off,
realising she had said too much.
"What project?" Simeon said suspiciously, turning to face her.
Nyssa looked away, her jaw tight. After a moment, she glanced at Samantha to
ensure she wasn't listening.
"It was long before you were around," she began slowly. "Genetically we're both
human, but with the slight differences that make us Dominant. They tried to
engineer out some of the... safeguards on our abilities. The effects were
similar to a Hybrid, such as your own... talents. They screwed up badly; the
experiment was terminated, and research was made illegal."
She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.
"Then research began into a mechanical method for releasing those abilities.
Turned out that it was impossible for a Dominant to use; the abilities come from
the "plain" side of the line, and no amount of effort could unlock them, barring
illegal genetic engineering. Maybe if they had kept working..."
"But...?" Simeon prompted, already guessing the reason why he hadn't heard any
of this.
"But... someone stole the prototype and slaughtered the research team with it."
"And no-one told me any of this because Hybrids can use it. You thought I could
be dangerous."
"It was decided that you shouldn't know until we thought you could be trusted,"
Nyssa said apologetically.
"So what project were you talking about then?" Simeon said, gritting his teeth.
He could see their logic, even if he didn't like it.
"There was a second attempt about 20 years ago. They were attacked again,
presumably by the same person. Julies' father was on the team."
"So... that necklace that she has..." Simeon trailed off, his eyes widening in
shock. "Is the effect cumulative?"
"If she has any natural skill, then the necklace will increase it immensely,"
Nyssa told him tensely.
"Should we take it from her?" Simeon frowned in concern, but Nyssa shook her
head.
"As long as she doesn't know what the necklace does," Nyssa said quietly as
Julie and Trig emerged from the ship. "...there will be no problem."
Simeon nodded, but he was still worried. It was so easy to abuse his abilities.
Kate fidgeted nervously as Moira smoothed the deep blue latex covering
everything from the bottom of her nose down. She was breathing shallowly from
the corset gripping her from ribs to hips, turning her waist into a smooth
hourglass.
Her eyes followed the way Moira's breasts shifted as she moved, hungering for
the soft nipple that hid just beneath the trademark black outfit. Absently she
drew on the dildo gag filling her mouth, disappointed that it didn't produce
anything for her.
"You look so pretty," Moira said in a motherly tone, standing back to inspect
the two girls standing in a line, identical in their latex outfits.
Kate wanted so much to scratch at her belly button; the mark had been growing
steadily more irritating today. She tugged at the short chains holding her hands
against her hips, her fingers wriggling inside the tight mittens holding them
together.
"I don't see how you..." Cassandra cut off with a painful gurgle as Moira pulled
hard on her leash.
"Shut up," Moira snapped angrily, bending down to shove the ball-gag hanging
around Cassandras throat into her mouth.
Cassandra growled unhappily, biting hard on the gag to vent her anger the only
way she could.
"The house is empty," Evan announced, entering the dining hall. "No sign of
Simeon or where they've gone."
"No matter," Moira said carelessly, tugging on Cassandras' leash.
Slowly she walked down the length of the hall, inspecting the line of orphans
that were standing at attention against the far wall. Each one of them was
collared to the wall, held in position by the chains Moira had hung from the
curtain rails above.
She paused to tighten one girls' ball-gag, the young blonde whimpering as the
rubber was pulled deeper into her mouth. She tugged at the cuffs holding her
arms behind her back, shaking her chin in an effort to dislodge some of the
drool that was slowly dripping from her mouth.
Moira smiled at this, and obligingly used one gloved hand to wipe the girls'
mouth of excess saliva. Using the same hand, she reached down to fondle the
girls' soft labia, her thumb gently circling her clit. The girl whimpered in
humiliation, her legs straining against the bar that held her knees apart.
"It's not that bad is it?" Moira asked softly. The girl nodded vigorously,
mewling around the gag.
Moira gave her a soft pat on the cheek, and then dropped the leash and hurried
off.
She returned a minute later with a long, fat vibrator attached to a leather
harness. Wetting her lips, Moira began licking and sucking on the silvery
phallus like she was giving it a blowjob, coating it with saliva. The girl
stared anxiously, her thigh muscles clenching in a futile attempt to protect her
sex.
Satisfied, Moira crouched down and began working the silent vibrator into the
girls' tight snatch, her pitiful whimpering as it slid deeper making Moira
quiver with delight.
Evan watched blankly from between the two latex-covered girls, one hand gently
rubbing Kates' tight buttocks. Kate wriggled happily, pushing her breasts out
slightly in the hopes of gaining more of his attention.
The vibrator finally all the way in, Moira tugged the strap up between the
girls' buttocks and fastened the harness around her waist, pulling it tight. The
girl began sobbing as Moira turned the device on its lowest setting, letting it
slowly buzz away.
Moira gave the girl a pat on the belly, and then caught Cassandras' leash and
continued on her inspection.
Cassandra shuddered sadly as she crawled after Moira, remembering the times she
had seen that very same blonde girl talking happily with her friends. She
glanced over her shoulder, watching the girl squirming and tugging against the
collar around her throat.
"I did find something interesting, however," Evan called out.
"What?" Moira asked tersely, not pausing in her walk.
"The girl we're looking for... she's dead."
"She's dead? When did this happen?" Moira halted and turned to face Evan.
"Apparently it was a long time ago," Evan told her, "Seventeen... maybe Eighteen
years ago."
"Shit! Well, it can't have gone far."
"She had a kid though," Evan said carefully.
"Well, that would fit with our orders to search here, but..." Moira trailed off,
her eyes narrowing in anger.
"The kid was named Julie," he said.
Moira was silent for a long moment, the only sound the faint whimpering of the
tormented blonde.
"FUCK!" Moira screamed, slamming her palm against one of the wooden tables with
enough force to crack the surface. "We had her! She was right here!" She rounded
on Evan, her face twisted with anger.
"And then you came along, with your daring rescue, and now she's with Simeon!"
Moira was quivering with rage.
"There was no way I could have known she was the one," Evan replied hotly. "And
I did what I thought was right; I still don't approve of what you're doing to
these orphans!" He gestured broadly at the teenagers lined up against the wall.
"This is my operation," Moira snapped. "You're here because Shadow thinks your
expertise is useful, not because of your morals, so shut the fuck up!"
Evan stared at her coldly, painfully aware of the shotgun strapped loosely to
his back. He knew he could get her, but his current position would put the
orphans in danger.
"Very well, Mistress." He put every bit of scorn he had into the word. He turned
away shortly and walked out of the room.
There would be other times.
Nyssa sighed as she pulled on her stolen pair of pants, cutting off the cold air
from her naked skin. They were slightly loose around her waist, but she could
live with it for now.
Dressed in the warm clothing, she felt lost for a moment. Her thoughts drifted
to Becky, bringing memories of her soft skin, the warm scent of her sweat...
Nyssa shook her head violently, fighting back the emotions she felt at loosing
Becky. To distract herself, she looked up at where Julie and Samantha were
sitting in the snow. The two girls were leaning against each other, Samantha's
arm around Julies' waist.
"Are we just going to sit here all night?" Nyssa asked suddenly, straightening
up. "I don't particularly want to spend the night outside and freeze to death."
When neither Simeon nor Trig responded, she stood and glanced around to get her
bearings, before striding towards the road.
"Where are you going?" Simeon asked, frowning.
"I'm going to walk out of this forest and flag down the first car I see," she
said decisively. "Are you coming?"
"Sounds better than sitting here," he said, climbing to his feet.
"Julie, Sam," Nyssa called to the girls. "We're going."
"Going where?" Julie called back, helping Samantha to her feet.
"Out of here..." Nyssa trailed off, cocking her head and listening to the fast
approaching night.
"Is that a car?" she asked, frowning in confusion.
"I don't hear anything," Julie remarked dully, stepping up beside her.
"I'm sure... there it is again!" Nyssa made her way out to stand on the road,
ignoring the slight ache the rapid movement caused in her leg.
The sound of an engine straining reached her ears, its volume varying as the
sound was distorted by the trees.
"Isn't someone seeing... this, a bad thing?" Samantha muttered to Julie,
gesturing behind her at the crash site.
"I don't know... maybe he can tell people to forget?" Julie replied, making her
slow way through the snow to the road.
Sam nodded thoughtfully, recalling Simeon's words at the police station.
"That's possible." That he could make someone forget things was something Sam
found a little scary.
A flash of headlights signalled that the car was drawing closer. In the failing
light it was hard to make out, but as it drew closer the markings on the side of
the white 4WD became clearer.
"Err... that's the police," Julie said nervously, glancing at her companions.
"I know," Simeon replied calmly, arms crossed over his chest.
The patrol car pulled up in front of them, and the passenger door immediately
opened. A blue-uniformed figure climbed out hastily.
"Are you alright?" she asked, slogging her way through the snow. "There was a
report of a plane... YOU!" she shouted, pointing directly at Simeon.
Quick as a flash she had her handgun pointed directly at his head, her feet
shifting to get a good balance.
"Put your hands on your head, now!" She waved the gun slightly at him
encouragingly.
"Kathryn!" called a male voice from the car. Simeon watched, smiling underneath
the cloth as the older officer climbed out of the car and approached her.
"Who is this guy, Kathryn?" His tone was cautious, uncertain whether his partner
was overreacting or the man was an actual criminal.
"He..." she faltered, not knowing how to explain what had happened. No-one had
remembered his arrival or departure with the girl, who was standing beside him
with a surprised expression; no-one but her even recalled the girls' existence!
And of course, she had gotten in trouble for the unexplainable loss of the
clothing.
"We're old friends, aren't we?" Simeon said in a casual tone, as if she didn't
have a gun trained on his forehead.
"I..." Kathryn stammered, at a loss for words.
Her shoulders slumped in defeat and she lowered the gun.
"Some friendship," the man said warily, his gaze shifting between them.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Kathryn demanded coldly, holstering the
weapon.
"Can't that wait for later," the male officer said to her in a commanding tone.
"You need to radio back and call for the fire-brigade." He glanced over their
group.
"Are there any others?" he asked, stopping at Simeon.
"We're it," Simeon said grimly, shaking his head.
The police officer frowned, glancing over the crash site.
"That's one weird plane," he remarked to himself, narrowing his eyes.
"Simeon," Nyssa muttered quietly. "We need to follow the Sons, before they get
too much of a lead on us."
"I'll bet they go straight to Moira," he replied in an equally low tone.
"All the more reason to hurry..." Nyssa told him. "...For Susan's sake."
"I agree." Simeon straightened, and looked directly at Kathryn, who was in the
process of climbing into the 4WD for the radio.
"We need your car."
"You need what?!" she exclaimed. "Why? What for?" she demanded.
"We don't have time to argue," he interjected firmly. "We're taking it, whether
you like it or not."
"Hey, wait a second..." the older officer said in confusion. "What on earth is
going on? We need to search for survivors, not leave!"
"There are no survivors," Nyssa said, her voice tight with pain.
"That's not for you to decide," he said bluntly. "Kathryn, get on the radio
now!"
"We don't have time for this," Nyssa muttered through gritted teeth.
"Kathryn," she called loudly. "Step away from the car."
Kathryn's eyes widened as she obediently backed away from the car, her movements
sluggish as she fought Nyssa's command.
Casually Nyssa walked over and opened the back door of the 4WD.
"Kathryn, get in." The poor woman had no choice but to obediently climb into the
rear of the vehicle.
"Come on," she called impatiently, frowning at everyone else.
The 4WD was uncomfortably full with all seven people in it. Simeon and Samantha
found themselves sharing the front passenger seat, with Julie, Nyssa, and the
two confused police officers squeezing into the back.
"Are you some sort of hypnotist?" Kathryn asked resentfully once they were on
the highway.
"No," Simeon said shortly.
"Then what the hell are you?"
"Yes, what are you?" Julie asked meaningfully.
Simeon sighed. Now is as good a time as any, he thought to him self.
Susan struggled against the hands propelling her towards the familiar front of
the orphanage. She knew something was wrong when she saw the pristine snow
covering the front of the old building, missing the usual footprints and
remnants of snow fights that always followed a good snowfall.
"Behave," one of them said roughly, giving her a hard shove in the back that
sent her sprawling forwards into the soft snow.
Susan sat up quickly, coughing and shaking the snow from her face. Before she
could recover she was hauled to her feet and dragged down the front path.
"I can walk!" she protested angrily, fighting the strong hands that gripped her
jacket. She contemplated sliding out of the warm garment and trying to escape,
but before she could attempt it the heavy front door swung and she froze in
horror.
"Well, well," Moira said, a grin spreading across her face. "I wondered when I'd
see you again."
"Fuck you," Susan screamed, surprising herself slightly.
"Nice to see you, too," Moira replied conversationally.
"Cut the crap Moira," the strange man rasped.
"Yes sir," she said seriously. "Come this way." She stepped back from the
doorway, allowing them access.
Susan gave up fighting as they dragged her after Moira. Her heart pounded in her
chest as she watched the black-clad woman glide through the dimly lit corridors
that had once seemed so friendly to her.
"I was under the impression you were going to steal a ship, not a car and a
girl" Moira called over her shoulder.
"There were... difficulties," he said slowly.
"What did you do to Julie?!" Susan yelled at him, still having no idea where her
companions had gone.
"Quiet," one of her captors growled, giving her a violent shake.
She fell silent, gently sobbing.
"Have you found it yet?" the man asked Moira.
"Not yet... but I know who has it."
Moira stopped and crouched down in front of Susan, who looked back at her
through tear-filled eyes.
"And you, my dear," Moira cooed, "will bring her right to me."
--
Thanks to Red Eva for proof-reading.
--
