by Lola Swain
“Yes,” James said and leaned back against the wall, “I did.”
“Why the hell didn’t you mention it? This changes everything.”
“Because I knew it would come to you eventually.”
“But what if it didn’t?”
“I knew that it would,” James said and rubbed his eyes.
“But what if it didn’t?”
“It would! Look Sophia, this is your journey. I will assist you, we will all assist you, but you have the weight of it to bear and work out.”
“But this changes everything,” I said and shook my head.
“Uh huh.”
“And we cannot appear to them and just torture them until they are convinced to confess?”
“We cannot appear to them,” James said. “Torture is entirely possible. Confession will have to be worked out.”
“And we cannot leave the grounds?”
“No.”
“Even if I steal a car and drive them to the police station?”
“You may certainly steal whatever you wish, but you cannot go beyond the Battleroy’s surveyed grounds.”
“Do you know where the property line is?”
“Yes.”
“Would you care to give me a fucking clue?”
“No,” James said and smiled. “Everything you need, however, is right in this room. You know, Galileo said that all truths are easy to understand once you discover them. I’m paraphrasing.”
“Terrific.”
“Don’t be sour. You can figure it out.”
“Well, if I can’t kill them, can’t tie them up, can’t make them confess, I may as well give in to the fact that I can’t do a fucking thing. That Brandt and Nellie are getting rewarded for murdering me with a free vacation.”
“As you wish.”
“No, it is not what I wish. I wish that I could rip them to shreds after making them write down their confessions and never have to see them again.”
“Well, half of that you can do,” he said and smiled.
“I wish you would tell me what to do.”
“All of that, I cannot do.”
“Great,” I said and stood from the floor.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to talk to Adelaide. She’s been here the longest and may help me.”
I walked to the library’s hidden door and pushed the brass button that drives the door to retreat into its pocket.
“Sophia?”
“What?”
“You’re not going to leave me with a hard cock, are you?”
“Your cock is always hard,” I said and sighed. “I would think you’d be used to it by now.”
“Come on, that’s not very helpful.”
“Now you know how I feel,” I said and walked into the entrance to the side stairs that led to the basement.
I trudged my way through the snow toward the rose garden. I opened the iron gate and a screeching croak let go from its hinges. I turned to see if there was anyone else around on the cold, foggy January morning.
“No one here but us dead people,” I said as I walked into the garden.
I hopped up on the stone altar across from Adelaide and stared at her. She looked like an ice princess wearing a coat of snow and was tinged blue from the cold just the same as she would if she was made of flesh.
“Adelaide?” I said and cleared my throat. “Adelaide, are you there?”
Adelaide’s eyes shifted and a cracking sound came from her as if someone was freeing ice cubes from a metal cube tray.
“Well, where else would I be?” Adelaide said.
“Yeah, of course,” I said and knocked an icicle off the edge of the altar. “Sorry.”
“The Governor’s Ball, perhaps?” Adelaide said and chuckled.
“Force of habit, I need to—”
“Perhaps burlesque in the middle of the Champs-Élysées?” she said.
“Okay, I get it…you’re here. I want to ask you something, but I’m wondering if I should come back?”
“What’s on your mind, Sophia?”
“This is hard all of a sudden,” I said as I flicked a thin sheet of ice off the top of the altar.
“Spit it out, I’m tired,” Adelaide said.
“Um, so did you hear that Brandt and Nellie are coming back?”
“Oh yes,” she said. “Jonas paid me a visit after the party and told me. How fortuitous, Sophia. You must be very pleased.”
“I am, was, pleased. But now I have a dilemma,” I said and stared at Adelaide for a bit.
“And what is the dilemma?”
“The predicament I have is that if I kill them, they’ll become, well, residents.”
“Yes.”
“And I don’t want that.”
“No, I would not imagine you would.”
“See, that’s what James said,” I said and smiled.
“Good, we’re in agreement. Now, if you don’t mind—”
“No, but the real dilemma now is that I need a new plan.”
“No, your real dilemma is figuring out that plan on your own.”
“Yeah, James said that too,” I said.
“Good, again…agreement.”
“But isn’t there the tiniest of hints that you can give me? This is so important. To me, yes, but also to Bobby Allen. I’ve read he’s not doing so hot.”
“Okay, one hint: everything you need is in the library,” Adelaide said. “Due diligence, Sophia.”
“Incredible…James said that too.”
“Then it seems we are in—”
“Yeah, I know, agreement,” I said and looked up at the sky, glutted with shiny stars.
“Read the ancient texts, Sophia. On the shelves and those kept in the curio box. Especially those kept in the curio box.”
“Okay,” I said and jumped off the altar.
“Good, do those things and come back to me with any questions.”
“So you will help me?”
“No, not really, but I get bored,” Adelaide said. “What can I say? I’m a people person.”
“Yes, it would appear,” I said and walked toward the gate.
“Chin up, sad sack,” Adelaide said.
“Thank you for talking to me,” I said as I opened the iron gate. “I’m going to go back to the library now and start, I suppose.”
“Good idea, dear. From my estimation, you only have a couple of weeks before the ill-fated day arrives.”
“You know, I have another question,” I said after I closed the gate.
“Yes?” Adelaide said.
“If we’re supposed to be these supernatural beings, why can’t we do supernatural things? I mean, we can’t walk through walls, we bounce off of people like pinballs if they run into us, there are a million rules and regulations that we have to follow so we’re not discovered. On top of all of that, which is tiresome enough, we are still cursed with human emotions.”
“And?”
“And, it stinks.”
“Pardon the irony, but whoever said you were promised a rose garden?”
“It’s just—”
“No, it’s just that you need to grow up. The grass is not always greener over here, Sophia. And, as in life, you have the ability to change your attitude and change your course.”
“So, now I’m a child? I mean really, Adelaide, that’s a bit over the top.”
“You didn’t hear anything else I said? Just go do your work, Sophia.”
“But—”
“Goodnight, Sophia.”
“Goodnight, Adelaide.”
“Can I see another’s woe and not be in sorrow too? Can I see another’s grief and not seek for kind relief?”
William Blake
I awoke the next day with a start after a loud bang echoed off the walls of the library.
“What?” I said and looked to my right at the bare spot where James usually slept.
“Wake up, sleepy head,” James said from the far end of the library.
“It’s Sunday and you have the entire day and night to do your research.”
“Lovely,” I said and got up from the floor.
“Now, I’ve arranged everything you need right here. You have all of the texts, a full pot of coffee and I stole some pads and pens from Conway’s office.”
“Thank you,” I said and yawned as I walked toward the conference table.
“See, I’m helpful, no?” James said and gave me a hug.
“Yes, very,” I said.
“Good, now get to it,” he said and spanked my bottom. “I’m going out hunting with Patrick and Perry today.”
“Hunting?”
“Well, we call it hunting. It’s really just an excuse to explore the grounds with a fifty-year-old scotch we pilfered from the cellar.”
“Okie doke,” I said and ran my hand down James’ chest.
“But first,” James said and grabbed me around my waist and spun me around. “I need to hunt something else.”
James pushed the papers aside and grabbed my wrists as he slammed me down over the conference table. I heard him fumbling with his belt as I bent deeply and poked my ass out toward him.
“I cannot resist you,” James said.
“That’s a good thing,” I said and spread my legs wide.
“The best thing,” he said and rubbed the shaft of his cock between my legs. “And you’re always ready for me aren’t you, Sophia?”
“Always,” I said.
“I will never ask, I will always take it,” James said as he plunged his cock into my pussy. “Do you understand me?”
“Yes,” I said and gasped.
James raked his fingernails up and down my back as he thrust himself in and out of me. He wound my long hair around his wrist and snapped my neck back. He stared into my eyes as he fucked me and I broke out into a billion goose bumps as he pulled my hair.
“I didn’t hear you,” James said. “You need to answer me clearly, Sophia. Do you understand me or do you need a spanking?”
“Yes!”
James released my hair and my head fell forward. I rested my cheek on the cool, smooth conference table and my face slid back and forth across the table as James fucked me.
“You didn’t say which, so I’m going to assume you need a spanking,” he said and pulled out of me.
James placed his hand on my upper back and pressed me into the table until my breasts were compressed against the wood and he dealt the first blows. His palm slammed against my ass as he struck me several times and my legs trembled as I felt the stings from the sharp cracks zing up my spine to the back of my neck.
“Do you like this?” James said as he spanked me.
“Yes!”
James paused for a moment and caressed my stinging flesh.
“It’s so red, Sophia,” James said. “Your fucking ass is so red and my cock is so fucking hard.”
“Fuck me, then.”
James shoved his knee between my legs and pushed my legs apart. He pressed the head of his cock into me and grabbed my hair again, pulling my neck back as he pushed into my pussy to the base of his cock.
“Fuck,” he said.
He thrust in and out of me until my legs could barely hold my weight and the table held the top half of my body as James dug his fingertips into my hips.
“Don’t stop,” I said. “I’m close!”
James’ balls slapped against my pussy as he hammered me from behind. I got dizzy as the room spun when I came.
“Yes,” he said as the muscles in my pussy gripped his cock tight.
James picked my body up off the table and he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. He emptied everything of himself into me and panted in my ear as he held me tight.
After a moment, he lowered the top half of my body back on the table and bit the back of my neck as he slowly pulled out of me. I crawled up onto the table and rested on my side as I took deep breaths. He stood beside the table staring at me and smiled as he wiped the sweat off my forehead.
“You should be very proud, Sophia,” James said. “Cosmopolitan says that many women are unable to have orgasms just from the fucking alone.”
“Don’t you mean that you should be very proud?”
“Well, yes, I suppose you’re right,” he said and winked. “Very kind of you to acknowledge that. Thank you.”
“Oh, no problem. Anyway, just don’t use that as an excuse not to attend to me in more creative, orgasmic ways other than cramming your cock into me at the drop of a hat. I believe Cosmopolitan also describes foreplay as the gate to a girl’s Valhalla.”
“Duly noted,” James said and pulled up his pants.
I slid off the table and grabbed my dress and organized the papers and pens into neat piles back on the conference table. I opened the glass curio box and pulled out an old cloth covered book that sat on top and ran my fingers over the title.
“The Malleus Maleficarum?”
“Oh, that’s a good one,” James said and looked over my shoulder. “Witchcraft…very spooky.”
“It’s in Latin,” I said as I flipped through the heavy parchment pages.
“There’s a Latin dictionary on one of the shelves,” James said and walked to the secret door in the library wall.
“And that’s it?” I said and sat down at the table.
“Well, yeah,” he said and opened the pocket door. “What else?”
“Nothing,” I said and sighed as I flipped through the book.
“Okay, I’ll see you later,” James said and left.
I poured myself a big mug of coffee and flipped through the book which seemed to blame the whole of the Inquisition on women and their wily ways.
“If I were that cunning,” I said as I pulled all of the books out of the curio box, “I wouldn’t need to read these books.”
I stared at the books for hours and the most I learned was that the men who colonized the land were some pretty fucked up guys.
“Knock, knock, anyone home?” a squeaky voice said from the main entrance of the library.
I looked up as Anthony Porcco, the guy who died as a result of the baked potato mishap of 1948, walked into the library.
“Hey, Sophia,” he said as he stood beside the conference room table and peered at the books.
“Anthony, hey,” I said.
Anthony Porcco was a wreck of stereotypes.
During your first glance at the chubby, shy guy, you knew he was always picked last for the team. He always dressed himself in sweaters that rode up his torso and challenged everyone who stood in front of him with the almost impossible task of not staring at his big belly. And that day he stood in front of me, it was especially hard not to stare at him as he wore a brightly striped sweater that made him look like a roll of Life Savers. Besides the fact that he looked like he shopped in the children’s section of the department store, you always knew where Anthony was because you could hear the swoosh his corduroys made as his thighs rubbed together when he walked.
“What are you doing?” he said as he ran his fingers across the table.
“Research, I believe,” I said. “I’m looking for clues.”
“I like research,” he said and pushed his boxy glasses up his nose. “Want some help?”
“I don’t think you’re allowed to tell me anything, Anthony. I think I’m supposed to figure it out on my own.”
“It’s okay, Sophia,” he said as he heaved himself into the chair opposite me, “I don’t know anything.”
“Ah, as clueless as me, huh?” I said and pushed the books away.
“Cluelesser,” he said and smiled. “That’s not a word. I made it up.”
“Yes,” I said and giggled.
“People around here think I’m smart. I don’t know why though. Must be the glasses,” he said and tapped on the black plastic frames. “Mother always said if scientists sawed off the top of my skull, they’d win some kind of prize for discovering the first man whose skull was filled to the top with rocks.�
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“She said that?”
“Yep,” he said and frowned. “All the time.”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s true, Anthony. I’m sure there are lots of things you know. People around here don’t treat you as if you’re dumb.”
“No, no they don’t. They treat me real nice,” he said. “I don’t think you know this about me but, before, I didn’t have any friends at all. Not one. Now I have many.”
“Yes, you do,” I said and reached across the table and patted his chubby hand.
“I bet you had a lot of friends before…you know.”
“No, not really,” I said. “My best friend Katt was really the only person who would have taught me about life had I been smart enough to listen.”
Anthony looked up at me and nodded as if he understood the wasting of a life.
“I only had my mother, but she wasn’t very fond of me. I knew that all my life, even from the time I was very small,” he said and chewed on his fingernail. “You know, she abused me.”
“That’s awful, Anthony.”
“Nothing to be done about it now, though,” he said. “Didn’t you have parents to teach you things?”
“Yeah, but they taught me all the wrong things.”
“Like what?” he said. “Or maybe you don’t want to share?”
“Nah, I’ll to share with you.” I said and sat back in my chair. “My parents taught me how to look down my nose at people, to be cruelly judgmental.”
“I think it’s interesting how much the way people look and the way people are can be very different,” he said and crossed his arms over his chest and rested them on his belly.
“You got it. My mother didn’t like me unless she approved of me.”
“Did you try to think of everything you could do so she’d be happy with you?”
“Yes, exactly that,” I said and smiled. “When I loved a dress or a food or even a person, if Mother told me she hated it, I would then hate it too.”
“You had no loyalty,” Anthony said and tugged at his sweater as he tried to stretch it over his belly.
“None, whatsoever,” I said. “If I knew Mother loved the idea of something, even if I knew it was bad for me, I forged ahead and did it hoping to make her proud.”
“I did that too,” Anthony said and pulled himself closer toward the table.
“See, we’re a lot alike,” I said and smiled.