In the third room, she viewed a sad-looking fellow sitting on a sanitary bed. He wore plain bleached scrubs and crisp white socks. He sat there, watching his hands. She pressed against the glass from her spot way up high. Staring at him, as he stared at his hands, she ran her fingers through her short red hair. Lately, it seemed all he did was look at his own fingers in a miserable way.
“Hello Lucas.” her voice rang out, and the blond, skinny man jumped to his feet. She opened a tiny box in the wall and set his plate into it. She pressed a lever and a little dumbwaiter lowered down. The box was so small the sandwich, coke, carrot sticks and chips filled it completely. It was not an escape route; nothing was an escape route. He had been in here for ten years. He took his captivity better than most would have.
A small opening appeared and held his lunch. He walked over and took it quickly. He didn’t want his fingers anywhere near the door when it shut. As soon as the plate and soda had moved, the door snapped shut, its razor-lined edge clicking sharply together. “Thank you for this tasty lunch,” he said not even bothering to lift his blue eyes, but she heard him through the microphones just the same.
She smiled. “No problem.” He did seem depressed. Maybe she should get some Mountain Dew. Would he like that more than a Coke?
“Are we doing experiments today?” he asked as he nibbled at the edges of a single chip.
“Oh, yes. Ikali and Tessa will play find the rabbit, as always. Who do you think will win today?”
His hands trembled, and he fumbled and nearly dropped the chip. “Is it a wager?”
She laughed. “You want to wager today?” A wager could cheer him up! “Oh, oh yes we shall. But not about the bunny.” They had already wagered about the bunny too many times. It had gotten boring. He cringed and ate faster, though his anxious stomach would barely allow food past his throat.
Ikali pressed his fur against her and yowled. “Into the box,” she said, and the two cats raced to their doors. With a quick flick of a switch, the doors slid open and each cat stepped into its own glass box. The glass, vented with slots across the sides and top, held the servals. They sat, ears twitching as they stared into the maze. The rabbit didn’t have a Chance. They both closed their eyes, allowing their huge ears and tiny noses to hunt while they waited for the doors to open.
Jaspierre already knew they would wait as long as she asked them to. She also had learned the longer she made them wait, the faster they found the rabbit once released. But today, she tested something else. The game was always find the rabbit. Hunt the rabbit. Eat the rabbit. But today, there would be another animal in the game. Mice— ten entertaining, tasty mice. Would they forgo the tiny bites of squeaking food to eat a whole rabbit? Would they even remember the game was to get the rabbit?
When she pressed another button, a tiny little box opened on both sides of the maze, and five small grey and brown mice began peeping out each side. Another small yellow button and four tiny platforms lowered from the ceiling. Each was different. Pelletized food, water, cheese, and a fresh can of cat-food.
“Are you gonna guess today, Lucas?” she bubbled. “Lucas? Lucas! Who will get the rabbit? Ikali or Tessa?”
He stood. “I’m sorry Jasp. I think Tessa will win today.” He then curled into his bed, under his blanket, quivering. His empty plate sat on the floor with the empty coke can set upon it. He was unable to watch. He had no windows to the maze. The best he could manage was to climb the pairs of metal rings up the wall and stare into Jaspierre’s observatory. He wasn’t up for it, though. He curled under his blanket and hoped for the best. Hoped this wouldn’t turn into a wager.
She glanced at the clock. Hmm. Already 2:15. She threw several levers and the machine purred while the room sprang to life. All the platforms and walls shifted positions creating a new maze the cats had never been in. At the same moment, the doors opened for the big cats, but neither moved yet. She moved away from the screens, buttons, and levers, and perched on the railing. Watching through the long glass was always more pleasant than staring at screens. Her legs crossed, and her heels tapped at the glass as she sat there, munching her chips and staring at the cats.
The tiny brown and grey mice ran. They were hungry. Some would go for food, some for water. The bunny hopped along. Ikali stepped out of his box and leapt from platform to platform. Tessa sat motionless, eyes shut, ears twitching.
Ikali paused as he saw a tiny brown mouse. Three platforms below him, it ran across the ground. Ikali descended, pouncing and crunching. When he lifted his paws the crushed carcass lay still. He was clearly disappointed; playing with his food was the best part. He swallowed it and leapt back up to a higher platform, and sat watching.
Tessa charged out of her box. She leapt from platform to platform, moving higher and lower. Then she landed smack on the rabbit, and it let out its shrieking, squealing cries. She let go and it ran. Her tail twitched as it went around a wall. She leapt straight up and landed on the other side of the wall, directly on the bunny. It screamed again. She lifted her paw to let it go, and Ikali jumped on top of her. Tessa rolled underneath him, kicking repeatedly, smacking him with her paws and baring her teeth. He jumped straight up and landed on the running rabbit. It shrieked as he bit into it and carried it off.
Tessa followed and they both ran, racing around, up and down platforms, jumping and hissing. Ikali leapt into a small corner, intending to eat the screaming bunny in his mouth, only to find two mice in the same corner. He paused, undecided, as Tessa leapt next to him. They both stared at the mice, nibbling on crumbs. Ikali dropped the rabbit and swiped up both mice, one with each paw. He crunched one’s head and let the other sneak off, smacking it back with his paw. Tessa snatched the bunny and ran off, hiding behind a wall panel. She crunched into the rabbit enthusiastically, dismantling it so it would stop shrieking, lest she attract Ikali’s attention again.
Jaspierre stood up, grinning. Tessa had won. She dropped her heels off her feet and walked to Lucas’s glass window. “Well, you won. Tessa caught the rabbit.” His blond hair poked out of the white blanket. “Shame it wasn’t a wager.”
He did not want to wager. It wasn’t a game he could win. He couldn’t think of anything to say. “Aren’t you pleased?” her insistent voice pestered him.
“Yes, yes. She is a smart serval. I’m glad she won.” His flat voice tried to sound enthusiastic.
“I have a date,” she said. Her dating anyone made his stomach turn. “So, what should we wager? How many times he looks at my breasts? If he pays for my dinner? If he invites me home for the night?”
Please invite her home. Invite her to move in and never come back. He paused as he had an idea. “I will wager he won’t come home with you.”
Jaspierre hissed, smashing her Coke can with her hands. “Nobody can come here!”
“Does that mean you forfeit?” His mind spun. Could he win one?
She burst out laughing. “Oh, I see. So if I decline to bring him here, then you will win? And if I bring him here, then I win?” She rolled the idea around in her head, amused. “Deal.”
His voice trembled.“But I have to see him to believe it happened.”
She paused again, considering. “You know if you see him, he’ll end up in the room next to you.”
He nodded and it was a bet. They both knew the stakes. The wager was always the same.
She spun around and walked back to the massive control bay. When she pressed a button, a whistle rattled. Both cats leapt to their feet and raced to the box. She opened the doors and they came tearing out, up the stairs and off to nap. They hated the next part. She turned and looked at her white maze; bloody footprints, and a half-eaten rabbit carcass. Disgusting.
She placed headphones over her ears. They stopped all noise except for the soft music. She pulled a large lever and told the remaining mice to hold on. Or not. They’d float away with the rest of the mess. Dozens of nozzles sprayed; the noise was incredible, not that she could hear it. Lucas covered his ears
tightly and closed his eyes, trying to block out the deafening racket. Ten minutes later, the maze sparkled, glistening wet and shiny, and sterile.
She took off the headphones and placed them back on the hook. 4:30. A half hour left before she had to leave. Popping her heels back on, she told Lucas goodnight and hustled up the staircase flipping off the lights. She walked through the library, clicking the ear and sliding the fireplace back. Up the marble steps to her bedroom. The closet was magnificent, almost as large as the bedroom. Past all the wigs and shoes were her dresses. She dug through them, finding the one she wanted. It was a vibrant teal color, hugging her breasts and curving around her ass, without making her stomach look too much like a round pumpkin. She picked out sparkling silver shoes and massive, dangling silver earrings. She looked in the mirror. Why had she worn such short hair today? She looked for a silver headband to pull the hair back out of her face. Screw it. Like he’d even notice. She went to the wig wall and looked at all the shorter, red options. Jaspierre switched her short, red, straight hair out for a longer, curlier hair. It looked like she had spent hours curling and prepping her hair to get such a dramatic wave. Fabulous. She glanced at the clock: ten minutes left. She made up her face with skin smoothing products and dark, vibrant lipstick. Next, she added a light silver color to her eyes, and stood up. “Juniper.” Satisfied, she grabbed a simple silver purse.
She came teetering down the stairs in the tall shoes and she strutted out the door, calling out, “Tessa and Ikali, be good.” The cats did not respond, and as she stepped outside, she could see why. Ikali lay sleeping on top of the black Lexus, looking contentedly warm. “Ikali, off the car.” He opened one eye and yawned. She shook her head and walked around to get in. Tessa was sitting in a nearby gazebo, napping in a hammock.
Her car started up with the push of a button. The metal roof rumbled underneath him and Ikali leapt off, wandering away to find a better spot to nap. Jaspierre pressed the accelerator and sped along the street, she was in no hurry. She wasn’t late, the hour drive would be a breeze, but driving fast was her favorite. She smiled, and her red curls shook around her. She turned on the radio and enjoyed the drive.
As she pulled up to a parking spot, it was a quarter to six. The Chinese restaurant did not look more appealing in the dusk. Bright neon said “open,” though it flickered because the bulb was starting to fail. The panda bear sign was in better shape and gleamed bright. There were three other cars in the cracked and uneven parking lot. Jaspierre waited in the car for her grocery bagger, amused she hadn’t asked his name. Delivery drivers hopped in and out of cars, a steady stream of food-filled bags leaving the restaurant.
Chapter 3
Lucas lay on his white prison bed, his nearly naked body still holding her sleeping form. Was this Stockholm Syndrome? he wondered to himself as he sniffed her hair. Yesterday, he worried she might forget to feed him, and he would wither and starve and die like a houseplant. Today, he was her lover. He loved her. He hated her. She was terrifying. She was stunning. He dared not move as she slept, her soft breaths moving in and out of her. Maybe now he’d escape. Or he would be upgraded to her room. He should try to strangle her. He stared at her bare soft neck. Could they do it again? Lost in confusing thoughts, he heard a thumping scraping noise. Terror rushed over him. “Do not wake her!” his mind hissed. “This is the best day I have had in years! Do not wake her!” But the noise did not care. The noise did not know.
Russell half-fell and half-climbed out of the box in the wall. It closed behind him, but since he wasn’t watching, it seemed to him it had vanished. His head was pounding. “Hello?” He turned and looked around the room. It was smooth and white. Three white walls. At the top, about a story upwards, there was a single glass window. The final wall had pairs of black metal rings dotted up it like yellow stripes on a road. He called again, “Hello? Hello? Where am I?”
“Sssh,” Lucas tried to whisper, but he knew it was too late. She stirred and fluttered awake against him. Terror washed over him. What if she woke up full of regrets? He had to convince her it wasn’t a mistake. He would make a wonderful lover. Maybe, just maybe, they wouldn’t have to wager anymore?
Russell heard. “Hello?” His voice echoed in his room, and it hurt his already aching head.
If I could kill him I would. Lucas thought to himself as she rolled over from how they were spooning and faced him. She said nothing as she stared into his eyes. She looked like she might have regrets. The thought terrified him. So he did the only thing he could think to do. He kissed her.
“Hello?” Russell’s booming voice echoed again. He climbed the metal rings to see if he could get out the top of the room through that window. His bones groaned and creaked as he complained and whined. “Where the fuck am I?” He grabbed for the next ring. “I am too fat to climb shit.” He was grunting at the effort. “Shit, shit, shit.”
She kissed him back. Jaspierre kissed him back! At least for a moment they kissed, until the shouting in the other room got too obnoxious. Lucas’s momentary relief broke with the kiss. He held her close, but she stood up. He whimpered and tried to find words to make her stay. Her naked body bent down and picked up her dress and panties. He lay on his bed, so close to tears. She slipped the panties on, and stood there, holding her dress. “Wait, don’t go,” he whimpered. “Don’t leave me down here!”
“Fucking shitface!” Russell slipped. His arm slid down into the ring. He dangled there, his feet running in the air. The weight of his body hanging on one mere arm caused his bone to crack. His feet scrambled and scraped along the wall, missing the rings. “Fuck-Fuck-Fuck! Motherfuck!” His arm kept cracking at his struggles and the pain shuddered down him. He pulled with his remaining arm, lifting his body, and his feet caught the rings.
Jaspierre dropped her dress, looking pissed. She slammed her hand onto the wall, the hidden door slid open, and she stepped out. The door stayed open as she fumbled out of Lucas’s sight, and he started to get up. The door was teasingly open, tempting him. He thought about the razor-lined dumbwaiter that brought his meals. Being sliced into pieces would be an unpleasant way to go. A few days ago, he had contemplated trying to hang himself from a ring on the wall, but today he wanted to live.
He heard a loud, hissing noise and a pause, then a crashing thump. She reappeared, standing in nothing but her panties in the open doorway. He smiled at her and held back tears again. Life had improved.
“You lost, you know.” She referred to the bet, and he knew he owed her. He stood up, letting the blankets fall, socks being the only clothing still remaining. “If this is losing, I don’t want to win.” He said and ran his eyes across her. She burst out in a delicious laugh. He was so pleased, he made her laugh. His body was begging for hers again.
She picked up the dress, and turned, but paused. She dropped the dress and spun back kissing him, and pressing her breasts against his naked chest. He let out a soft cry as her skin met his. He ran his hands down her back lifting her up, hands on her ass as he carried her to his bed.
Chapter 4
Jaspierre sat straddled on top of Lucas, her heart still pounding. Vigorous was the word that came to mind. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead; his hands gripped her hips with such strength. She got off his spent body and he held her still.
“Don’t go,” he whispered with longing eyes.
She smiled at him. “The cats need fed.”
“Later,” he whimpered, running his fingertips up her side.
She stood anyways, looking around the room. The door still open, she realized.
“You are trying to escape!” She snatched her dress off the floor with a snap, fire blazing in her eyes.
Lucas leapt off the bed, grabbing her hands, trying to stall her temper. “I don’t want to escape. I want to hang out with you.” Her angry eyes still burned into him, and he blushed. “That was the best day I have had in years and you know it.” Her glare changed. “Jasp, please, I…” He couldn’t find any words. Beg
ging was not helping him, and he knew it. “I…” He collected himself. “If you need me again, you know where to find me.” He kissed her hands and went back on his bed, sliding his white, wrinkly scrubs back onto his pale skin.
Her spark of anger faded a little. She didn’t need him. Just… well… whatever it was, it was over. How did Mother remain so detached?She stared at his sad little self getting dressed, then walked out. Jaspierre felt so strange.
She walked up the spiral staircase, trying to remember where she left her high heels. She pressed a button as she left and Lucas received clean bedding and scrubs, and a granola bar. He changed the bedding and his clothes, carrying the used items to the empty box in the wall they had come from. He found her silver panties tangled in the sheet, and kept them under the mattress, smiling to himself.
Jaspierre emptied four cans of cat food, plating them neatly, two cans per plate. She set the plates on the ornate stand, and both felines came over and ate. Jaspierre picked the dress off the counter and started up to her room. Seeing her silver heels, she grabbed them and walked up the stairs. She tossed her dress into the laundry chute, and the heels went back into the closet. Her wig was removed, brushed, and then pinned to reset the curls. She slipped on a long, soft, striped maxi dress and clean panties. She paused at the mirror. Her hair was dark brown and short. Her temples were already showing hints of grey. It was a nice pixie cut, and it suited her.
“What the hell just happened?” she whispered to herself. Yesterday, she was a towering, powerful scientist, experimenting like Mother. Today, she was feeling emotions about him. She couldn’t imagine this ever happened with Mother. Also,the sex didn’t seem to hurt like the other two times. Maybe this was because she was older? Was this Lucas’s plan? To trick her into inviting a date over, and then trick her into sleeping with him? How could he have guessed his name was Russell? That bastard! She should starve him a few days to punish him.
Jaspierre (Jaspierre Trilogy Book 1) Page 2