“Good,” Karen smirked.
Pulling his eyes from Karen, he looked to Fluff. She was in just bra and panties, stretched out on her bedroll. Her soft, downy fur seemed to beckon him. He coughed as he tore his eyes from her, wondering at his own urge to stroke her belly. He hadn’t considered that before, but now he had the image stuck in his head.
“Nay tonight, master,” Stacia murmured from behind him. “Ya and her nay be ready for tha’ yet. When she is, though, ya will both surely enjoy it.”
Alburet took a deep breath and nodded, “Okay.”
Stacia was naked as she knelt next to Fluff, her smile full of love as she gazed at her friend. “Ya will nay like this memory, Fluff. We will be here for ya tonight and beyond. Know tha’ we all be lovin’ ya, do nay doubt that’.”
Fluff gave her a trembling smile, “I trust you, Stacia.”
“Then it be time,” Stacia began to sing. Fluff’s eyes fluttered closed as she slipped into sleep. After a minute Stacia stopped singing, looking at Alburet who had knelt beside her. “Be ya ready? She be so afraid of this memory, even though she does nay actively remember it.”
“What is it of?” Alburet asked.
“Paval’s death,” Stacia told him. “She will need us all to hold her tonight. She will need all the love we can give her. This will shake her.”
With a firm nod, Karen replied, “I will care for her. Even if no one else does, I will.”
“You won’t be alone in that,” Alburet added.
“Then we can start,” Stacia said, and began to sing again. Her song pulled them into Fluff’s mind for the memory Stacia had selected for the night.
Alburet looked at the scene before them, eerily familiar, but with small differences. Julia sat at her desk, focused on the computer screen. The scene she was working on was a naked elf on the back of a unicorn, broken chains dangling from her wrists and ankles as she rode. The elf’s hair was blown back in the wind, allowing an unfettered view of her body. The details were easy to see, whip marks, red inflamed skin where an iron poker had burned her skin and teeth marks with prominent lower fangs.
“This is the art you told me about?” Alburet asked Fluff.
“Yes,” her voice reflected her uncertainty. “I remember making it, but the rest of that day is a blank to me. I sold it a week later.”
“Aye, we will be coverin’ why it be ya do nay remember,” Stacia told her.
“Okay…” her voice trembled as she agreed to the plan.
“We are here for you,” Karen told her, putting her ghostly arm around Fluff.
Julia sat back from the computer, smiling brilliantly as she studied the image she had just completed. Stretching, her clothing rode up to reveal more of her figure than it should, as it was too small for her. Her ribs were plainly visible as her shirt rose up to just under her chest. “He should praise me for this.” Her voice was the same soft tone the group had come to know, threaded with uncertainty. A door slammed elsewhere in the house, startling Julia. She looked at the clock on the wall then scurried out of the room.
They followed her to find her supposed father standing inside the doorway, his face twisted in an ugly scowl. “Why isn’t dinner ready, you useless piece of trash!?”
“Sorry, Poppa. I finished the art. I was just coming out to start dinner,” Julia told him as she knelt down to untie his shoes. “I didn’t expect you to be home an hour early.”
His hand came down hard on top of her head, his mouth twisting even further. “Fucking useless bitch. I lost my job today and now you don’t even have dinner ready.”
Julia swayed in place. The blow had hurt her more than anything that she could remember recently. “I’m sorry, Poppa,” she slurred. She shook her head, finally getting his shoes untied.
Alburet tried to step forward, only to find Stacia holding him back. “Ya can nay stop this, master. We only be here to help Fluff.”
Fluff was rubbing her ghostly head as if in remembrance of the blow, “He was really angry.”
“Now get dinner started. We’ll deal with your latest failure later,” Paval snarled at her, kicking at her with his shoeless foot.
Julia stood up, wobbling for a moment, then staggered into the kitchen. They watched as Paval threw himself into the same chair they recalled from a previous memory. As he sat there, an aura of seething anger seemed to bubble around him. He dug out some papers from his pocket to stare at them. “What the fuck was wrong with that idiot? I’m so going to crack his computer and mail his private pictures to his wife.”
“Poppa,” Julia softly intoned as she leaned against the wall where the kitchen and living room met. “I don’t feel good.”
He turned to look at her disdainfully. “Stop being a child, Julia. Finish cooking. If you do it right maybe I’ll look at your injury.”
“Yes, Poppa,” Julia stumbled back into the kitchen, her face slack.
“Concussion?” Karen asked.
“Yes,” Alburet agreed, his eyes still focused on Paval. “Fluff—” He cut off as Stacia gripped him tighter.
Fluff glanced at him, her face a twisted mess of emotion. When he failed to say anything further she went back to watching the scene before them. “I didn’t remember any of this,” her voice trembled, “but it feels familiar.”
Paval sat there brooding for another few minutes, until Julia came slowly out of the kitchen, having obvious trouble walking straight. She put a bottle on the table, then set a full plate next to it. Her eyes were glassy as she stumbled back to the kitchen, she returned with a plate that held raw vegetables and nuts. Paval sneered at her as he cut into the massive steak on his plate. The bluish tinged meat was glared at, but he didn’t say anything as he took the first bite.
Julia slumped in the corner of the room, sliding down to the ground, the plate barely held in her hand. She began to nibble at the food on autopilot, her face completely devoid of any emotion. She finished before Paval did, which made his head jerk up as he looked at her with a puzzled expression. She began to lick the plate clean as he took his last bite of steak.
Face twisting into an evil smile, he set his plate aside as Julia got to her feet unsteadily, “Julia, go put on your nurse outfit.”
“Yes, Poppa,” her voice was listless as she stumbled off to the kitchen to put her plate in the sink, then off towards her room.
He eyed her as she went, climbing back to his feet while downing the rest of his beer. “Maybe I’ve waited long enough.”
Alburet felt a cold shiver run down his spine at the words. As they followed Paval, Alburet felt his hands clench as he imagined killing the man.
“Easy, love,” Stacia whispered to him. “Maybe ya should step away. This does nay get any easier.”
Breathing roughly, his hands clenched into fists, Alburet looked at Fluff, who seemed lost and bewildered. He stepped to her side as they paused outside of Julia’s room. Paval went into his room further down the hall. “Fluff, I’m not sure I can stay.”
Her wide eyes were full of tears that streamed down her cheeks, “You’re going to leave?”
His anger ebbed slightly in the face of a crying friend. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to face what we’re going to see.”
“Please…” The single word was a plea as she reached out to him, her hand touching his arm gently.
He felt something inside him break at her plea, his anger temporarily gone as he gazed into her eyes. “I’ll do my best, Fluff.” He glanced at Karen on her other side, “Karen, if things go bad…”
Karen nodded to him, “I’ll take care of her.”
Fluff turned to Karen hugging her tightly, “Thank you, Karen.”
A moment later, Paval came out of his room and toward them, a camera in his hand. “Tonight is going to be fun.” A dark chuckle escaped him as he opened the door.
Julia lay on the bed, in a sexy nurse outfit. Her eyes were glazed as she tilted her head in the direction of the door. “Poppa, I don’t feel good.”
“Poppa, help me,” Julia called out, her hand limply lifting in supplication.
He licked his lips as he took in the sight of her, “Oh, yes, today is the day I help you.” He set the camera on the desk and stood up. “Today I will help you grow up.”
Alburet’s nostrils flared as he watched Paval unfasten his belt, “No!”
“Calm, Asthore,” Stacia said firmly as she grabbed him. A calming warmth spread through him, trying to combat the tide of anger.
“Poppa,” Fluff said softly, horrified as she watched him with wide eyes.
“That fucking son of a bitch,” Karen growled as she gently held Fluff, trying to reassure her friend who was sobbing as she watched the scene.
Paval reached for his ‘daughter’ with a leer on his face as his pants pooled around his bare feet. “Time to taste that forbidden fruit. At least you’ve been properly trained to be obedient, not like the fucking bitch of a mother you had.”
His hand landed squarely on Julia’s chest, roughly groping at her. “No, Poppa, don’t…” Julia pleaded weakly as her eyes seemed to spasm.
“Quiet, bitch,” he left off groping her chest to backhand her. “You will do as you’re told.” He pulled his shirt off before he leaned down over Julia whose head was turned away from the group. “Do as you’re told, or you’ll find out why your mother isn’t with us anymore.”
Alburet tore himself from Stacia’s grip, his rage overcoming even her ability to calm him. A wild lunge carried him through the image of Paval, who was reaching for Julia again. “I’ll fucking kill you, you raping bastard! Don’t you dare touch her!” His hands shot out, trying to grab a ghost, unable to find purchase.
“No!” came the scream from Fluff as she watched the scene and Alburet.
Karen held her firmly, but she didn’t say anything. She agreed with Alburet. They were all caught by surprise when Julia twisted on the bed. Her eyes were wide and devoid of all emotion as she grabbed at Paval.
“No more,” Julia growled at him, her voice deep and full of hate. She shoved Paval hard away from her, sending him flying backwards past Fluff and Karen and into the wall. “No more, Poppa,” she snarled in that same deeper voice.
Paval shook his head, blinking as he stared at his daughter with a mixture of fear and hatred. “You little fucking bitch. You’re going to try to deny me, like she always did?” His lip curled up into a snarl, “I’ll just have to take care of you like I did her.” He stepped towards the bed, “Show you what bad girls get in the end.”
Alburet had frozen, his rage forgotten at seeing the lifeless eyes of Julia as she defended herself. He turned to watch Paval step forward again. “He is about to die,” the words were a whisper as they left his mouth.
As Paval reached out for Julia again, he stopped dead in place. His face twisted in confusion as his right hand came up to grab at his chest. A pained sigh escaped his lips, “What?”
“Momma is waiting for you,” Julia whispered in the same tone, watching him with lifeless eyes. “She has been waiting for so long.”
“You stupid…” Paval gasped before his body began to bend in like a pretzel. “Call… an… ambulance,” he panted against the pain.
Julia sat there watching him, “But I can’t use the phone, Poppa. You always said if I did you would punish me.” Her face was still devoid of emotion as she watched him have a heart attack, but her deeper voice held satisfaction.
“I did nothing,” Fluff whispered as she watched the scene unfold.
“He deserved far worse,” Alburet muttered. He moved closer to Fluff, reaching out and gently stroking her ears as they watched the end of the scene playing out.
“Julia… do… as… I… say…” Paval gasped out between tremors. “Call… the…” He gave one final shudder and stopped moving.
“Okay, Poppa. I’ll call them now,” Julia said softly as she got to her feet. She was steady on her feet now, and her voice had gone back to normal.
The scene froze, fading into grey stillness. Stacia spoke softly into the silence, “That brings us back to the other memory, of the police.”
Fluff was shaking, being held by Karen and Alburet, “I let him die.”
“He deserved it, Fluff,” Karen told her gently. “He was going to rape you.”
“He got off easy,” Alburet muttered as he looked at the fallen body. “It is hard to lose a family member, but he wasn’t family, Fluff. Family cares for you, it doesn’t abuse you every day.”
“There be another memory ya have yet to recall, Fluff. It be one tha’ changes ya perspective a great deal. We will be getting’ to tha’ next time iffin ya be willin’.”
Fluff looked at Stacia with wide frightened eyes, “I killed him…”
“No,” Alburet said firmly as he gently took her head in his hand, bringing her eyes to meet his. “He killed himself trying to do something so evil that he was struck down on the spot. You did nothing wrong, Fluff, trust me. None of us here think you did anything wrong.”
“Alburet is right,” Karen whispered into her ear, tightening her arms around her friend. “You are blameless here. He was called to account for all the wrong he had done to you.”
“Ya will sleep now, Fluff, sleep deep. Ya should know tha’ none of us here will be turnin’ from ya. Ya be our precious friend, a member of our lovin’ family.”
Gulping, Fluff looked over at her younger self who had frozen while walking from the room. “You really mean that?”
Three sets of arms engulfed her in a tight hug. “We do,” the trio told her in near-unison.
“Ya will always be with us, as long as ya wish,” Stacia added before Fluff shimmered and vanished from their arms.
A moment later the trio found themselves kneeling next to Fluff. “She be needin’ to be held tonight. Tomorrow may be rough for her. Karen, it be best iffin ya stay close to her.”
“Gladly,” Karen answered quickly, as she slid into the bedroll next to Fluff. Slipping her arms around Fluff gently, Karen pulled her dear friend to her chest and held her. “I’ll be here for you, Fluff.”
The other two got into their bedrolls as well, with Alburet next to Fluff on the other side, his arms also around the sleeping Fluff. “I hope she’ll be okay.”
“She be close to acceptin’ many things. We must be strong for her, as the next memory will be the toughest yet,” Stacia told him.
Alburet chewed on his lip as he considered his own memories. How tough would it be for him to accept them, he wondered. “Of course.”
Stacia squeezed his waist where she held him, “We will be there for ya, like ya be here for them. I will never leave ya. Fear not what ya memories bring.”
He could feel her calming him to help him sleep. “I love you, my little fire kitten. I also love our friends who are here with us.”
“Aye, master, I be knowin’ tha’,” she murmured as he drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Nineteen
Alburet woke to warm bodies against his back and his front. A soft furred arm was around his chest, while his was around Stacia. “Stacia, it’s time to wake up.”
A soft whimper from behind him, along with the tightening on his chest that heralded Fluffball stirring. “No, I promise I’ll be good,” Fluff murmured.
His heart clenched at her words, a spike of anger shooting through him as well. Stacia removed his hand as she rolled to her feet. “I be getting’ food. Comfort her.”
Alburet rolled carefully around to face Fluff. Her eyes fluttered before opening slowly. “Hey there, beautiful. How are you feeling?” He gently rubbed one of her ears, his other a
rm pulling her into a hug. “Know that we all still love and care for you.”
As she came fully awake, a momentary spike of fear, self loathing, and hatred swept through her. Alburet’s words and his rubbing her ear calmed her slightly. “I let my own father die, how can you still care for me?”
“What you did was not wrong, Fluff. It was the very least he deserved. He abused you every day. He used your talent for his own ends, and at the end he was going to rape you. If any of us had been there with you, in that moment, he wouldn’t have had the chance to die from a heart attack.” His tone carried the affection he felt for her, but the anger as he spoke of Paval was clear.
Playing For Keeps (Alpha World Book 4) Page 19