House of Dolls 5

by Harmon Cooper

  The table was small, not able to fit more than three people, and it had partially been built into the wall.

  While Celia had offered to cook something, it had been just as easy to order food from the kitchen below, the woman who ran the place bringing up a pot of hearty soup, four bowls, and a loaf of bread.

  The soup was quite savory, with a layer of oil on top of the hot liquid, chunks of carrots and potatoes giving it texture, and a dollop of sour cream adding flavor.

  “How are you going to do that?” Roman asked.

  He quickly glanced from Nadine to Celia, who was preparing a pot of tea. As usual, Coma stood near the door, giving her a decent view of the room in case someone showed up unannounced.

  “Unfortunately, I’m going to have to ask around a bit. That could bring some suspicion on us.”

  “I don’t have to go out,” Roman said.

  “That may be suspicious as well. You should go out at least once, but it’s probably best if you stay here. I’m almost out of charge on my wrist guard too,” Nadine said with a nod at the weapon, which was now resting on the nightstand. “I wish it was one of the government-issued ones.”

  “The government-issued ones use different packs than the civilian models?”

  “Ours are stronger. Stronger than yours too.” Nadine said, eating another spoonful of soup. “I can’t get in contact with Lisa and Eli until we get across the border, but you already knew that.”

  “That’s right.”

  “It means we may have to stay an extra day in Centralia as we move to their location. Teleportation might be difficult at that point, especially if we are known fugitives. Even the private services will report us.”

  “I always wondered if that was true.”

  “It is. There’s usually a reward involved. People will do anything for a monetary reward.”

  “I’m going to need to dye my hair,” Roman said.

  “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Maybe we can do that tomorrow as well. What color?”

  “Red would be nice,” Celia said from the kitchenette.

  “Probably not red. Remember, I’m trying to not bring attention to myself.”

  “Black,” Nadine said. “Unless you had another color in mind.”

  “Black will do. I have to make sure the eyebrows match as well,” he told her, even though his eyebrows were darker than his hair.

  “Naturally.”

  “If we do have to stay in Centralia longer than a day, we have to be ready for anything,” Roman said, stating the obvious. “My preference would be to reach the border, meet with Eli and Lisa, and go immediately.”

  “Agreed. The fight is far from over, but at least we can get out of it.”

  “If you can make contact with the rebel group, what do you plan to tell them?” Roman asked, eating more of his soup.

  “I want to find out exactly when the shipment of devices will reach them. Knowing how the rebel groups operate, they’re going to be ready for a fight as soon as it arrives, so we’ll need to get there ahead of them.”

  “Or, use their chaos as our cover to make it across the border.”

  “Or that.”

  “It’s weird that your government both fights the rebels and supplies them with weapons.”

  Nadine shrugged. “I feel like most governments in our world like to play both sides.”

  “And speaking of the device. Centralian troops are going to be wondering why a bunch of the guys are wearing necklaces with red jewels on them.”

  “I’m sure word will get out quickly that the necklaces are giving them their power, not some tiara. But at least we have the element of surprise in that regard.”

  Roman couldn’t help but shake his head. “This really is going to be a race to the finish, isn’t it?”

  “It really is,” Nadine told him.

  After supper, Roman decided to take a shower.

  The floor in the bathroom was made of wood, which was the exact same color as the walls.

  Roman looked at himself in the mirror longer than he normally would, imagining what he would look like with black hair.

  He also turned to the side, checking out the scabbed wound across the top of his back to make sure it wasn’t infected.

  “Eli can take care of this,” he said as he stepped into the shower.

  It took a moment for the water to get warm, and then it quickly went from warm to piping hot. Roman had to stand at the far end of the shower and step in and out of the water, unable to adjust it to the right temperature.

  Eventually, he got used to the heat, his thoughts drifting to his last few moments with Miranda earlier that day.

  He never much liked her, but he also hadn’t wanted to see her killed, especially after she had saved him.

  In fact, Roman was tired of seeing people close to him die.

  That was one thing he wasn’t going to miss when all this was over.

  “Do you mind if I join you?”

  Roman was startled to hear Nadine’s voice.

  He moved the shower curtain aside to see the tall woman standing there, unbuttoning the front of her blouse. Once that was off, she removed her necklace, followed by her bra and panties, the scar on her side visible now.

  “Sure,” Roman told her as she made her way to the shower.

  It had been a while since the two had been intimate, so Roman didn’t go with his gut, which was telling him to reach forward and pull her into his arms to kiss her.

  He let Nadine move to him first, the Eastern Province spy commenting on how hot the water was.

  “I know,” Roman said as he switched places with her, the front of his body grazing against her leg.

  She threw her head back, completely taking the heat, adjusting to it in an almost unnatural way.

  Roman couldn’t help himself.

  He brought his hands forward to her waist and from there up to her breasts, Nadine not reacting at all to his advances.

  She simply kept her head back, her neck exposed, letting the water run down her hair as Roman touched her.

  Eventually she moved closer to him, and Roman took her in his arms and kissed her, their kisses long, passionate, meaningful.

  “I’ve missed you,” he said, his honesty evident in the tone of his voice.

  Roman loved being with women, and he didn’t know how the dynamics of this would work in the future if they made it out alive, but he had a special place in his heart for the woman he now held in his arms.

  They had been through so much together.

  And odd as it was, she was a perfect match for him.

  “We’re going to get through this,” she assured him, her eyes narrowing on Roman’s face. “Then we are both done.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  “I can’t either. It’s been a rough day for me.”

  “I know.”

  “But I had to do it,” she said. “If I didn’t kill him, they would have.”

  “Your father?” Roman asked, vaguely recalling her mentioning something about this when they had met in Abby’s dream space.

  He still found it hard to keep their dream discussions together, mostly because he had been actively trying to forget them.

  “Yes. We discussed it; it was the right thing to do.”

  “Do you feel…” Roman shook his head, realizing how stupid the question sounded.

  “No, I don’t feel bad about it. My mother recently died. He was no longer happy to be alive. And there’s no telling what they would have done to him. I can’t emphasize that enough. Our governments are different, but both can be incredibly cruel.”

  “And both are actively trying to kill us,” Roman reminded her.

  “I’ll admit, I didn’t see that coming.”

  “I was wondering how long it would be until they turned their sights on me,” he admitted. “For all I know, if I had completed the mission they’d set out for me, they would have just strung me along with the next mission. It would always be that classi
c scenario, a carrot on the end of a stick.”

  “Likely,” Nadine said, kissing Roman again.

  She slowly lowered her hand to his member.

  Roman glided his hands down her back, cupping her ass.

  “We’re almost to the light at the end of the tunnel,” she said, steam billowing off her body now.

  “I know,” Roman said softly.

  “Maybe it’s best that our countries are trying to kill us now. While it provides additional complications, it also tells me we are on the right path here.”

  “You think?”

  She nodded. “They’re scared. Your country is trying to pin what you did at their direction on you, and my country is secretly planning to utilize the rebels on the border. There was going to be a war anyway, but it seemed like my country wanted it to be a preemptive strike, and your country made their move before the border war could start. But like I keep saying…” Nadine began to slowly jerk Roman off. “It’s a distraction. And that’s what we’ll need to get away.”

  Roman moved his hand down further, pressing his fingers beneath Nadine’s buttocks to reach the lips of her vagina.

  “We just have to stay alive,” he said, a bit breathless now.

  “We will.”

  Paris lay in Margo’s lap, looking up at her as the woman sat with her back to the wall, a portion of her consciousness shifted into its surface so she could see what was happening below.

  “Centralian troops are here,” Margo finally said. “There are a lot of them down there, and considering the station is closed for the night, something tells me they’re trying to move in secret.”

  “What do you think it is?”

  “I don’t know,” Margo said, her consciousness shifting back into her borrowed body. She ran her hand through Paris’s hair.

  “You think it’s because of Roman?”

  “That’s what my gut is telling me. He was in the East, and they’re all going to the East.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “This station only goes to the Eastern Province. If you want to connect somewhere else, you have to walk a few blocks. That’s how I know. It does stop at the border…”

  “Should we stay here?”

  Margo slowly got to her feet, pacing back and forth for a moment.

  “That is the question,” she finally said. “And I really don’t know the answer to it.”

  “Perhaps we could see if we can get some information from the soldiers. Maybe one of the boys.”

  “I like your style of thinking,” Margo told her doll, “but I don’t believe any of the ones below would have the clearance to get that kind of information. They’re all grunts. I’m going to have to go with my gut,” Margo finally said.

  “You mean Catherine’s gut?” Paris asked playfully. She was standing now as well, a mischievous look in her eyes.

  “Exactly. Let’s do this. Once the train starts up, we’ll lower onto it.”

  “We get to go on a train ride?”

  “For now, yes. If we can get some information that tells us otherwise, we’ll make our way back here. But let’s start by lowering ourselves onto the train. I have an idea of what we can do after that.”

  “Sounds like fun,” Paris said, clapping her hands together. “Sorry, I’ll be quiet.”

  “You’re so cute.” Margo brought the doll in and kissed her. “My favorite creation,” she said once she’d pulled away.

  The two waited in the rafters above the Eastern Mane for the soldiers to load onto the train.

  It took about thirty minutes, but once final checks were being made, Margo slowly extended their section of the rafter until it was directly above one of the cabins. She lowered herself and Paris down onto the top of the train, both of them getting on their bellies almost immediately.

  Margo was aware of what was happening all around her, and she was prepared to do something if they were spotted.

  Luckily for whoever may have spotted them, Margo was never seen, and the train started to pick up speed after a few more minutes of finalizing its departure.

  By this point, Margo had pressed her consciousness into the roof of their cabin to observe the soldiers seated below.

  There were mostly men in this cabin, and once they were away from the station, Paris and Margo moved their way backward, paying close attention to their surroundings as they did so.

  They made it to the next cabin and Margo checked again, seeing that this cabin was filled with females. She moved toward one of the bathrooms and crouched above it, waiting for someone to enter.

  Eventually, a woman with dark hair stepped into the restroom, sliding the door shut and locking it. As soon as she did, Margo opened up a hole in the ceiling and reached a pair of metal and plastic arms down to cup the woman’s mouth, preventing her from screaming.

  The last thing the female soldier would see was a strange white-haired woman crouched above her with a beautiful blond to the right, both of them with soulless eyes.

  Margo transferred her consciousness into the woman’s body, Catherine’s going limp.

  Paris was there to hold up the other body, waiting for Margo to fully transfer herself before getting the okay to push Catherine’s lifeless body off the side of the train.

  The next morning, someone would find Catherine’s dead body along the railroad track, and it would forever scar that person.

  But that was no longer Margo’s concern.

  She smoothed her hands over her chest, noticing that the woman whose body she had just taken was a little bit heavier than Catherine and definitely not as mousy, with broad shoulders and larger breasts. She briefly glanced at herself in the mirror and saw that the woman had piercing yellow eyes.

  Margo made the hole above her wider, wind whipping over it as Paris lowered herself down.

  “Now what?” Paris asked.

  “We’re going to need another uniform for you,” said Margo.

  “It’ll be too obvious if we take someone from this cabin…”

  Margo considered her options for a moment.

  They could move to the top of the train again and go all the way back to the cargo hold to deposit Paris there. But she selfishly wanted the doll to be by her side.

  She recalled seeing most of the service members with bags thrown over their shoulders, spare clothing inside.

  “I’ve got an idea.”

  Margo stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door behind her, sealing it up so no one else would be able to go in and find Paris.

  She made her way through the aisles and sat in the first empty seat.

  “That’s not where you were sitting,” another woman said to her.

  “Really? Where was I sitting?”

  The female soldier nodded two seats up.

  Margo switched to the seat and from there took down her bag, or what she assumed was her bag from the cargo hold above the aisle.

  No one said anything, which told Margo she had picked the right bag.

  She rummaged through it for a moment until she found a set of military fatigues.

  Margo returned to the restroom with these and gave the set to Paris. The doll stripped in front of her, Margo suddenly feeling horny.

  She started kissing Paris’s neck and massaging her breasts, Paris instinctively placing her hand on Margo’s trousers and pressing her finger against the front of her sex.

  Someone knocked on the door just as Paris was about to unbutton Margo’s pants.

  “Later,” Margaret told her.

  “Later,” Paris agreed. “What about shoes?”

  “Shit,” Margo said under her breath as she looked to see that Paris was still wearing a pair of high-heeled boots.

  A smile came across her face as she remembered a time when a cobbler in the West was unable to get her shoes to fit right and Margo had to fix them herself.

  “I can handle this,” she said.

  Even though it was cramped in the restroom, Paris managed to change, Margo focusing
on making her shoes look more like combat boots by collapsing the heels and fanning the material out to give Paris a few extra centimeters of height.

  To get rid of Paris’s outfit, Margo pressed a hole into the side of the train and tossed the dress out, then sealed it back up as the wind momentarily whipped into the small compartment.

  Before stepping back into the main cabin, she used her power to check if anyone was standing on the other side.

  The woman from earlier, the one who’d told her she was in the wrong seat, stood with her arms crossed over her chest, tapping her foot.

  “She won’t care,” Margo said as she opened the door, smiling at the woman as they stepped out of the bathroom, heading left.

  “Hey,” the woman started to say to her.

  Margo was ready, her power already latching on to the woman’s heart.

  But before doing anything too rash, she turned to see what the woman wanted.

  “Yes?” Margo asked her.

  “Your boot is untied,” the woman said curtly.

  “Is it?” Margo looked down to confirm what the woman had seen. “Thanks.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six: Rebel Room Service

  “I wonder when she’ll be back,” Casper said as Nadine left.

  They had already had breakfast partially prepared by Celia, the rest of the food coming from the inn’s restaurant below. The smell of baked bread still filled their room, even though they were several stories up.

  “I don’t know,” Roman told his tiniest doll.

  Casper stood on the bed, her hands on her hips as she looked up at him.

  “You’re just going to laze around all day?” she asked, showing him her tongue.

  “That’s the plan,” Roman said, yawning.

  “And why are Celia and Coma dressed like a bunch of farmer’s daughters? I said I wanted all three of us to get new clothing, not just them.”

  “Do you want to dress like us?” Celia asked, the redheaded doll tidying up. “I can sew you something if we can pick up some material.”

  “Bleh. I’ll pass.”

  “Casper, we’ll go out at some point,” Roman told her, “but only briefly. We have to keep a low profile.”