by Jim Goforth
At this stage the three of us were carrying out the various things we did, but only the Black Widow Justice had come to any prominence in the media as yet.
We had to really cut down the numbers to people we figured may be in the same boat as us, people with secrets who could be trusted to maintain ours. Raven and Jett both made it onto the short list which turned out to be a considerable bonus originally.
We didn't have anywhere big enough to house the entire group we'd selected so Raven suggested she might have just the place for us.
That place of course, smack bang in the centre of the woods, was an abandoned wilderness business retreat in the middle of Raven and Jett's old stomping grounds.
So with that decided, we all moved in, fixed the place up well since we had a handful of cluey tradeswomen among us and set about creating our 'hiding place' from the rest of the world, a place where we were all free to do as we pleased without fear of repercussions.
It sort of became a haven for troubled women; we all looked out for one another. When we were introduced to the Plebs and realised they wouldn't harm us if we didn't harm them we acknowledged what a good thing it was.
Few people ventured out in the woods beyond the lake in any case, courtesy of various reports citing bizarre presences out there and if they did they'd generally run into plebs before us. Consequently, they weren't heard of again.
We kept the Plebs safe from prying eyes and to their credit they kept us secret too. We bartered with them and I know you won't like this, we provided food for them."
"Why wouldn't we like that?"
"The nature of the food," Melissa said wryly. "Any scum unfortunate to be brought back here by Black Widow or the Twin Terrors, or anybody else who had a villain to deal with, was either swiftly disposed of and given to the Plebs, or if we were feeling particularly pissed off at what the degenerate had done, given first to the Plebs and then probably slowly disposed of."
"Ah Jesus," Lee shuddered, starting to look increasingly sicker by the second as if he were on the verge of throwing up his croissants and coffee.
"So, as you can see," Blaise added. "Reiterating what I said before, the cannibalistic nature of the Plebs was a very handy resource. They managed to destroy any sort of incriminating evidence, right down to bones. They either ground bones up to dust or used them to make things, namely tools and weapons."
"Aren't you worried you're telling us too much?" Asked Lee.
"Not particularly," said Blaise cheerfully. "We trust you. Besides you and Corey are deeply enmeshed in it all anyway."
"Why? I don't want to be involved!" Lee wailed.
"Sorry, but you are. I'm not trying to scare you, but Raven will want you as dead as any of us girls."
"Fuck this!" Lee blurted. "I'm getting stoned."
This said he began rummaging in his pockets, seeking his stash of joints.
"That sounds like a good idea," Blaise said. "Mind if I join you?"
"I don't mind at all," Lee said. "If I'm gonna die may as well have a good smoke with a sexy girl before I do."
Getting up from where she sat with Ryan, Blaise sashayed across to the chair occupied by Peter and Lee and squeezed in next to Lee.
She gave him a big kiss on the cheek and playfully slapped his thigh.
"You aren't going to die Lee," she said reassuringly. "We'll see Raven and her cronies dead before any of us."
By this time the other girls were returning from their respective shower locations, Britt, Caroline and Tasha first to emerge from the downstairs room.
Tasha looked fresh and innocent, her blonde curls falling in soft waves around her face.
Bandages covered much of her upper legs and one small plaster adorned her face, but other than a few bruises and small scrapes which didn't require covering she looked relatively intact.
She still walked with a slight limp however as she moved across to the couch occupied by Lee, Blaise and Peter and sat in the single recliner next to it.
The other three girls appeared only a heartbeat later, waltzing down the stairs.
Rachel and Jess were dressed in T-shirts and shorts provided from Corey's Mega-mart of surplus clothing while Serena elected to wear a T-shirt, but continued to keep on the denim skirt she had previously.
With her light brown hair out of its pigtails, washed and fluffy, she looked much nicer and more feminine than she had before.
"I'm going to shower now," Desiree said brusquely and stood up abruptly, stalking to the pile of clothing which she'd dumped on the floor herself after giving some to the first three into the showers.
She stooped, grabbed a towel, a shirt and a pair of shorts and then continued to the shower without a backwards glance.
Corey felt a great family of pangs in his heart, along with several knife stabs of disappointment. He hadn't actually expected her to invite him in to scrub her back or anything, but for some reason he had believed she might cast a little glance in his direction.
He got the distinct impression she was pissed off at something and hoped it wasn't him.
"Okay, who else is up for showers?" Melissa asked. "Blaise, you going?"
"Nah, you go ahead," Blaise said. "I'm gonna smoke some bud with the Leemeister."
"Alright, I'll go upstairs," Melissa decided. "Corey, you want to point me in the right direction?"
"I will," Ryan offered, surprisingly. "I'm gonna shower in the other one."
"Okay, let's go."
As those two headed off upstairs Lee moved his session out into the middle of the lounge room floor.
"Can I use the billy Corey?" he asked. "I'm sick of joints."
"Sure. In the TV cabinet as always."
As Lee helped himself to a dragon shaped marijuana smoking implement and a wooden bowl inside the aforementioned cabinet, Blaise crawled down on the floor to join him after slapping Pete on the thigh.
"Gonna join?" she asked Pete.
"Why the hell not? Can't feel much worse than I do now anyway."
Probably not wishing to feel left out Tasha also joined the cosy trio on the floor while Jess also looked interested. The remainder of the girls just looked tired.
"Can we go to sleep now?" Serena asked. "It's mid-morning already."
It was hardly mid-morning, Corey told himself, but his wall clock indicated that it was approaching eight and it was getting near to hitting the hay time.
"Alright I'll show you to your room," he said, reluctantly standing. "All those that want to sleep, come with me."
Serena was up in a flash, covertly snatching a block of chocolate from the pile Ryan left on the floor, while Britt, Caroline and Rachel all followed, all ready for slumber.
Along with his bedroom, the bedroom formerly occupied by his parents and another spare bedroom for a sibling which never eventuated, Corey's house boasted two other guestrooms, each containing three double beds.
Finding sleeping spots for each of the people here was going to be a breeze Corey decided; he wouldn't even need to break out the spare mattresses.
CHAPTER 24
Corey gave the door through which Desiree vanished on her way to the shower a long lingering look as he mounted the stairs.
He wondered if she was already naked, her gorgeous body in the wondrous heat of the shower spray, droplets sluicing off her breasts, and tried in vain to dislodge the thoughts from his brain.
Since this abode was so well sound proofed the running water of the shower could never be heard rattling through the pipes, either from this bathroom or two above.
Whatever the case, if she wasn't already nude and in the shower Corey was willing to bet she was in the process of stripping off her grubby garments and preparing to jump in.
Even with all the disturbing tales Corey had been told this morning he simply couldn't shake his obsessive desire for Desiree. He didn't think he really wanted to either, despite the fact that she and her friends were very bad news indeed.
He trailed up the steps with his party
of newly showered women in tow.
"I just love this house," Caroline marveled as they reached the second floor and turned right, aiming for the guest bedrooms located opposite each other at the end of the hall.
"Yeah, it's not bad is it?" Corey agreed. "Its home."
"It's a very nice home. So you are pretty wealthy then?"
"Yeah I guess so."
"Need a wife?" Rachel asked with a giggle.
"Or two?" Caroline added.
"Not just yet," Corey grinned, a blush colouring his cheeks.
"Let us know when you're ready."
"Will do," Corey said as they reached the guest rooms, though if he ever entertained thoughts of marrying one of these wild beauties it wouldn't be any of the four currently in his company.
The door to the first guest room opened onto a large spacious room occupied by three double beds, a couple of dressers and night stands and a television set visible from all beds.
A couple of bamboo lounge chairs and a glass topped coffee table identical to the one downstairs also resided in this room.
Corey gestured at the closed door directly opposite this one on the other side of the hallway.
"The room in there is exactly the same as this one so if you all want a bed feel free to make yourself at home. There's extra blankets, sheets and that sort of thing in the dressers, there's a linen closet in the other room if you need more pillows."
"Oh this room will be fine," Caroline said, clapping her hands daintily. "Rach and I can share can't we?"
"Yeah, I don't feel like being alone in the other room," Rachel said. "We'll all stay in here."
"I daresay Melissa, Blaise, Desiree, Tasha and Jess will be in that room or spread out in the other spare room," Corey suggested though the thought of Desiree sleeping anywhere inside his house, but with him pained him considerably.
"I daresay Blaise will bunk with any one of you guys if she gets her way," Caroline laughed. "So while we're on the topic do you want to stay here with us?"
"I have my own room," Corey replied, his face growing redder than an overripe tomato. "But thanks for the offer."
Had it been Desiree forthcoming with that particular offer Corey would have been naked and spread out in bed so fast he would have qualified for the Guinness Book of Records.
"Well you know where we are if you change your mind," Rachel said with a wink.
Serena merely grunted with disapproval and lumbered over to the bed furthest from the door, sitting on the edge of it.
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind," Corey said though he didn't really plan to.
Rachel and Caroline were both rather attractive young ladies, but Corey yearned desperately for Desiree even with the knowledge of the capacity for violence she had.
Barring Desiree, Melissa and Blaise, and then possibly Jess would be high up on Corey's wish list.
"Sleep tight," Corey said by way of taking his leave of their presence. "Make yourselves at home. If you want any more food just help yourself to whatever in the kitchen."
"Will do. Thanks," Caroline beamed and stripped off her T-shirt revealing a lacy jade green bra.
That was Corey's cue to leave.
"See you later," he said, backing out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
As he trailed back down the hallway he wondered to himself if the two forward girls had been serious in their offer and had a few reservations about the veracity of it. None of them had shown any prior interest in him and as for Serena, she just downright didn't like him.
He couldn't picture her tolerating any sort of funny business in the room.
As he passed one of the formerly occupied bathrooms he observed that it no longer was.
The door stood wide open, clouds of heated steam drifting out.
Corey supposed it was probably the bathroom Ryan opted for since he was one of the only people Corey knew who could completely shower in under five minutes, hot water blasting with enough intense power to knock an elephant down.
Laughter floated up the stairs as he began to descend down them, after tossing a fleeting glance at the closed door of the other bathroom where Melissa was.
A tantalising image of the fearless gang leader beautifully naked and bending over to soap up her long luscious legs rose unbidden into his mind.
Despite all he'd learned about Desiree, Melissa and Blaise and their propensity for extreme violent behaviour those three protagonists were the sexiest women Corey had ever encountered or for that matter ever seen.
In that case he supposed it was totally natural for him to be fantasising about them, considering two of them were currently naked in his house and the third would be at some later time.
He tried to shake the images of Melissa from his mind. As much as he'd dearly love to engage in every sexual activity under the sun with her he didn't want to be daydreaming about her.
He had little doubt she would chew him up and spit out the pieces.
Carrying on down the stairs the laughter persisted.
They seemed a right happy bunch down there now.
With the despair in his heart over Desiree's curt exit Corey didn't much feel like laughing, but having had precious little to laugh about over the course of the evening he guessed a few laughs would do him and everybody else a great deal of good.
It was Ryan first out of the shower Corey observed as he re-entered the lounge room, an area now hazy with a sweet smoky cloud. The surfer lay flat on his back on the centre lounge clad only in a red pair of shorts, his muscled upper torso on blatant display.
Everybody else was situated on the floor; Tasha lying back with her head on Lee's lap and the wooden bowl resting on her stomach.
Jess sat alongside the coffee table cross legged as she held the billy and sparked it up with a cigarette lighter.
It was Blaise and Peter who were the prime source of the laughter, obviously having been engaged in some manner of hilarity Corey had missed.
Both of them sat side by side, Peter's eyes looking even more like burnt holes in a blanket than before.
Desiree's continued absence from the room indicated she was still in the shower.
"Sounds like a party out here," Corey commented, seating himself in the single recliner.
"Yeah, we just need some booze," Jess said in a high pitched voice as she exhaled a dense fog of smoke into the air.
"There's an idea," Blaise agreed.
"No more booze," groaned Pete.
"Come on, hair of the dog that bit you."
"The dog didn't just bite me, he mauled me."
"Christ, aren't you girls tired?" Ryan said from the couch.
Corey sat back in his chair watching them.
Lee appeared much more relaxed in his usual stoned state, and almost asleep.
"You gonna shower Lee?"
"Probably," Lee mumbled vaguely.
"How 'bout you Pete?"
"Later."
"Right. I might go ahead then."
"That sounds like a plan. You look like you need it."
Corey waited a few moments longer, expectantly waiting for the door under the stairs to open and Desiree to emerge.
It didn't, and she didn't.
"Okay, well you guys know where the guest rooms are," Corey addressed Lee and the other guys. "If anybody wants to crash while I'm in the shower you can sort out who wants to sleep where."
"I think I'll probably sleep where Lee sleeps," Tasha murmured lazily, sounding very much like she'd already fallen asleep.
"And I'll sleep where Pete sleeps," laughed Blaise, slapping Pete on the thigh for not he first time.
"Hey, what about me?" Ryan sat up indignantly on the couch.
He looked at Jess with a searching expression.
She laughed with a 'that's not very likely' air and shook her head.
"Steady on soldier, don't you be getting any ideas. I don't know you."
"She don't know Pete," Ryan rebutted, pointing towards Blaise.
"Ha, th
ink that'd stop her?"
"Well you lot sort it out anyway," Corey said finally, feeling like the third wheel in the entire conversation. "I'm going to shower."
"Alright, off you go," Lee said, fingers unconsciously tangling in Tasha's blonde locks.
"Guess I will," Corey murmured, mostly to himself and leaving his chair and the drug affected group helped himself to a towel.
As he began his ascension back up the stairs he again gazed longingly at door behind which Desiree still was.
She still didn't appear so he trudged on up the stairs, acknowledging that Melissa too was still showering.
Corey's bedroom was to the left as he exited the stairs and he slowly turned that way, the towel slung over his shoulder.
It seemed strangely incongruous to be entering his bedroom, seeing it looking just how he'd left it what felt like such a long time ago.
There was his bed; king sized with a red and black quilt, more pillows than necessary as neatly made as it had been when he'd walked out yesterday morning.
Clothes were spread haphazardly about the room, along with compact discs and DVDs, his prized Ibanez guitar sitting in one corner with a giant amplifier and a tangle of electrical cords.
His television set, DVD player and stereo occupied one corner strategically placed so he could watch from the bed, remote controls for all three units located within easy reach on the nightstand near the bed.
More memories from the good night gone horribly bad were apparent in the room.
There were a pair of boots sitting in front of his giant wardrobe, the pair he'd planned to wear and elected not to, a selection of collared shirts hanging on the wardrobe door. Back on the nightstand with the remote controls was a glass with an inch or so of dark liquid sitting in it.
That was the last drink he'd been sipping as he got himself dressed ready to leave. He’d run out the door when he'd been called, leaving the drink dregs behind.
Next to the glass was a business card from the Golden Thong featuring a nifty little picture of an attractive lass shown from behind wearing, funnily enough, a golden thong bikini.