Camp Paramore

by Wendy Lea Thomas

  The chime rang out from the grandfather clock that sat a few steps off to the left of the elevator. It was 11pm. I needed to shower then find Caitlyn and Jenna because we had some business to take care of.

  *****

  It was five in the morning when Jenna snuck through our door and then peeked out into the hall to make sure the coast was clear. We waited until the last security officers finished their hallway sweep. Once they cleared our floor, they moved to the one above. I figured we had maybe twenty minutes before they swept through again on their way down to the VIP floor where Dorian stayed.

  While Jenna was monitoring the hall, Caitlyn and I finished getting into our Fireman’s Bunker Gear. It was bulky and made me look extra large.

  We laced our turnout pants and fastened our thick saddle colored jackets. Firefighters wore turnout pants and jackets made of a two-layer fabric designed to repel heat and wick away any moisture that got inside. Our turnout pants and jackets featured bright yellowish-green reflective stripes that made it easier to see firefighters through the smoke.

  I tightened the self-contained breathing apparatus, which included a mask with a hose connected to a tank filled with breathable air. It would provide us oxygen for about thirty minutes.

  We slid on our black fire helmets made of heat-resistant material, and prepared to make the walk down to the other end of the hall where the terror twin’s room was located.

  “That’s it, they’re in the elevator. The doors just closed,” Jenna said, as she leaned back into our room and closed the door. “Are you sure about this?” she said in my direction. Jenna had gotten into her firefighter clothes earlier and only had to slip on her mask and helmet.

  “Yes,” I responded definitively. “I can’t believe you were able to talk the Paradise Lake Volunteer Fire Department into lending us their equipment.”

  “I had to promise I’d let them come to a party,” Jenna said.

  “We’re probably going to get kicked out of here for this,” Caitlyn added. “Avery’s not going to be happy with us.”

  “Leave him to me,” I said. “Besides, he’s already mad at me for leaving him tonight for Dorian. This will get his mind off of that. I’ll think of a way to explain it somehow.”

  I finished tightening my chinstrap as we prepared to leave the safety of our room.

  Jenna stood near the door, grabbed two duffle bags, handed one to Caitlyn, and kept one for herself.

  “Caitlyn, did you get the Candyland teardown crew to do their part?” I asked.

  “Yesssssss,” she said sarcastically. “I gave a double blowjob to Elmer and Luther both at the same time. It made their whole month. The only bad thing was that their big ass bellies kept slapping me on the forehead every time I bobbed my head. Look, I still have a red mark,” she said, as she lifted her bangs and showed off her crimson forehead. It looked like she had gotten sunburned it was so red. Jenna and I both wore blank stares. She rolled her eyes back at us.

  “Don’t worry, it’ll be in the right place,” she added. “I promised if it works then I’ll give them another blowjob tomorrow. I’ll just make sure I wear a headband or strap a pillow to my head or something.” We giggled and nodded.

  “Good idea,” Jenna said, as she and Caitlyn slung the matching duffle bags over their shoulders.

  “Ok, I’m ready, let’s go,” I said as I moved to open the door. I leaned out into the hall to make sure the coast was clear then I waved for them to follow me.

  We crept stealthily down to the end of the hall then made a right by the elevators and continued down another long hallway. When we reached the twins’ room, Caitlyn and Jenna laid their bags down, unzipped them, and pulled out a fog machine with extension cords.

  Caitlyn knelt by the door and slipped a small hose under it. Jenna ran an extension cord down the hall, plugged it in and then moved over by the fire alarm. My breathing picked up as I glanced up and down the hall to make sure no one surprised us.

  “Are we ready?” I asked through the mechanized speaker of my oxygen mask. Both girls nodded. I looked at Caitlyn and gave her the thumbs up.

  Caitlyn switched on the machine and started filling their room with fog. We stood eagerly in the hallway for several tense minutes as we waited for their room to fill with an abundant layer of fog.

  I was hot in my heavy coat and a bead of sweat trickled down my temple as we waited to go.

  After we couldn’t wait any longer, I nodded to Jenna who reached to her right and pulled the fire alarm. The loud klaxon filled the entire Manor. The lights dimmed throughout the hallway as emergency lighting snapped on and flashed brightly, illuminating the hall.

  With my right hand, I counted down four…three…two…one and clenched my fist. I then swiped the master keycard that Jenna had borrowed from Ethan. I looked over at both girls and stole a deep breath as Jenna reached down into her bag and pulled out two wet pillowcases and tossed them into my free hand. Then she pulled out a small silver spray gun. I grabbed the door handle, burst into their room, and yelled.

  “FIRE…FIRE…Get down…both of you, get down now!”

  Caitlyn ran in after me as the twins sat up quickly in their beds and screamed in horror.

  “Stay low and don’t panic,” Caitlyn added.

  “What the fuck?” Genevieve said. Both of them were disheveled and still drunk from tonight’s Candyland after-party.

  I knew Genevieve and Jezebel would sit with Kim at the bar and have their own drinks after they were done working. I made sure Kim poured the liquor liberally. I was hoping the girls would still be quite drunk and they didn’t disappoint.

  The fog in the room had blinded them but I could see their bodies clad only in tank tops and panties. They rolled onto the floor on their hands and knees, panicking trying to find their shorts or a pair of leggings to put on.

  As Jezebel crawled nearer to where her leggings were, I kicked them off into the corner so she couldn’t find them.

  “What’s going on? Is Paramore on fire?” Genevieve asked as she crawled in circles looking for her clothes that Caitlyn had kicked out of her reach seconds earlier.

  “Just stay calm, Miss,” I shouted. The speaker on my oxygen mask disguised my voice. “Stay calm and follow our directions and we’ll get you to safety.” The shrieking from the alarm pulsated through the Manor in its shrill deafening wave.

  “We’re going to die! We’re going to die!” Jezebel kept shouting.

  “Not on my watch, ma’am!” I shouted back over the alarm. I reached down and grabbed Jezebel by the arm as Caitlyn did the same to Genevieve.

  “Here put these damp pillow cases over your head to protect you from inhaling the smoke,” I shouted.

  The girls stood visibly shaking with their arms outstretched grasping for us as Caitlyn and I slipped two very damp pillowcases over their heads.

  “Now breathe slowly,” Caitlyn commanded to each girl.

  We marched each girl around the room three times as Jenna stood nearby with a small propane flame gun and sprayed small jets of flame into the air so the girls could feel the heat on their bare arms. Thank you, Mistress Quinn, for teaching me fire-play.

  Every time Jenna squeezed the trigger and a burst of flame jumped out into the air, one of the girls would startle and scream. They both trembled and cried, begging us to save them, and how they were too young and beautiful to die. After hearing Jezebel proclaim that, Jenna got a little too close with the flame and nearly burned her.

  “Oww…please God, get me out of here!” Jezebel shrieked.

  “Just breathe slowly ma’am. We’ll find our way out,” I said through my mask.

  We jostled them out into the hallway and marched them toward the exit. At the same time that Jenna was spraying flame from her gun, she was motioning to other housegirls that it was okay. Several of them just stood in their doorways with their arms crossed shaking their heads while others giggled silently and decided to follow us as we marched the twins down the hall to the fir
e exit.

  The terror twins weren’t very popular. They insulted and picked fights with many of the girls staying in the Manor. It seemed that everyone had a negative impression of them except Avery, who somehow kept forgiving them and kept making excuses every time they would get in trouble. They only had to bat their innocent little eyes up to Avery and he would forgive them. He was too distracted lately to see who they really were.

  As we marched down the hall, Jenna kept spraying flames at their barely covered behinds and both girls would jump. I was fighting hard not to lose it as I kept walking Jezebel down the hall. By the time we walked around the corner, we had a parade of almost thirty housegirls behind us who were silently following us to see what was going to happen next.

  Caitlyn kept motioning with her free hand for the others to remain quiet, but even the ones who were whispering were drowned out by the sound of the blaring fire alarm. More and more housegirls were coming out of their rooms and following us like we were the pied pipers.

  Once we had the girls at the end of the hall, Caitlyn opened a small panel near the emergency exit that read: In case of fire, initiate slide. She twisted three knobs on the right marked ‘Release’. The first was red. The next one was yellow, and the last one was green. You could hear three pumps begin to whirl with the sound of rushing air. After the three air valves were open, she grabbed a yellow lever marked ‘Charge’ and pulled it out, twisted it ninety-degrees, and pushed it back into its slot.

  A low hum began to vibrate the panel. Finally, she grabbed a red lever marked ‘Initiate’ and looked over at me, nodded, then pulled the lever downward as I kicked the fire exit door open. A large inflatable escape slide, similar to what is on a 787 jetliner, burst outward with a large explosion and filled with air as it expanded towards the ground, providing an emergency exit slide from the fourth floor all the way down to the lawn.

  It must have been a hundred feet long as its soft form engorged with air and hardened. I moved Jezebel over in front of the door. Her hands were still outstretched holding onto my coat for dear life.

  “Put your hands on your head and hold on,” I said, and then tossed her down the slide face first. Her screams filled the night air.

  Next, Caitlyn moved to the door and tossed Genevieve onto its slippery surface.

  Their screams filled the back lawn, causing the large crowd that had formed to all turn their heads in unison. Each person stood open mouthed while both girls flailed their arms and legs wildly. They looked ridiculous.

  We stood at the top peering down as they slid down the massive slide one by one, still clad only in a tank and panties, and right in the large hot tub of Gloppy’s chocolate molasses that Elmer and Luther had carefully placed at the bottom of the slide when they moved out the props from tonight’s party. They even took care enough to keep the hot tub powered up and heated so the girls had a soft gloppy landing.

  Jezebel whisked down the slide and landed right into the vat of stickiness. Genevieve slid down after her so quickly that her feet plowed into Jezebel’s back and sent her head under the surface of the chocolate. As Jezebel sank under, her flailing arms reached out and grabbed hold of Genevieve, and in trying to pull herself up, she pulled Genevieve under with her.

  Both girls slowly popped up, trying to comprehend what the hell just happened.

  “Jesus Christ!” Jezebel cried out.

  Both girls could barely move in the tub as they struggled to right themselves and ripped off their pillowcases and wiped the goo from their eyes.

  The whole crowd looked on in horror at first, but one by one, giggles turned to laughter as the boisterous crowd clapped and cheered when they realized who had ended up in Gloppy’s hot tub.

  The girls sat in the steaming tub completely covered in the thickest, tackiest mixture of chocolaty goodness and molten sugar as they finally grasped what had happened.

  Caitlyn and I took off our fire helmets, high-fived, and the applause rose even louder. We had the crowds’ approval.

  Caitlyn and I stood in the doorway surrounded by all the other housegirls who were pointing and laughing at the terror twins below. Jenna had slipped away so she wouldn’t be noticed but Caitlyn and I got caught up in the moment and waved back at the cheering crowd.

  Avery ran out into the back lawn alarmed from the level of the noise and stood with his mouth opened at the molasses-covered twins in the tub before him.

  They were both shooting daggers as they stared up at Caitlyn and me. Both girls flipped us off as the crowd laughed harder.

  Avery was fuming. I innocently shrugged my shoulders, but he clearly wasn’t happy. Before he could call me down and berate me, his cell phone rang and he darted off.

  The cheering crowd below us was still resounding when I pulled the door shut. Then Caitlyn and I headed to our room. We weren’t halfway there, when the security team met us, with Travis leading the way.

  “It seems when you triggered the alarm, it also sounded off at the fire station in town. Avery had to run out to the front gate to stop the trucks from plowing through to get to the fire,” Travis said.

  They escorted us to our room, under orders from Avery to keep us there. We were confined to quarters.

  The next morning when Caitlyn and I woke, we showered and prepared to go to breakfast. After eating, I planned to speak with Avery to smooth things over, and then I hoped to speak with Dorian to smooth that over as well. Avery and I hadn’t had any time together all semester. It was simply a crime of opportunity and hopefully, I could make Dorian see that.

  When we opened the door to leave two large black-suited security personnel greeted us.

  “Miss Mason. Your stay is over for the weekend. You are required to leave. Miss Camden, come with us,” the shorter one said. I wouldn’t have the opportunity to speak to either of them. We were also informed that we would receive a text message by Thursday that would let us know if we would be able to return for next weekend’s party.

  Caitlyn and I turned to each other and hugged. This could be the end for both of us. It was lucky that Jenna slipped away, because by the way that Avery had looked at me last night, I was sure I was going to have a lot of explaining to do.

  ∞

  CHAPTER 21

  CASINO ROYALE

  Friday Evening, November 23rd – Weekend Eight

  I tried texting Avery and Dorian every day this week but neither one would reply. It was something my heart couldn’t handle. I wanted to make both of them happy, but I was failing miserably, and that was something I couldn’t prepare myself for.

  I didn’t know how to fix this. I was Avery’s girlfriend, but I felt like I needed to apologize to Dorian, and I’m sure my running off with Dorian as soon as I finished making love to Avery didn’t help Avery’s feelings towards me. Then there was the whole issue of Avery being mad at me for the fire alarm prank.

  When the fire alarm sounded last week, it sent security into a panic and caused widespread chaos throughout the mansion. They handled it well for the most part, but it was bad when the fire department showed up. To make things worse, even at 5am, a small contingent of photographers were still camped out by the gate.

  Soon, published reports of Dorian Macallan being injured in a fire at Paramore flooded the news sites. The scroll at the bottom of the entertainment websites read: ‘Fire at Dorian Macallan’s Millionaire Sex Club. Will filming be delayed on the Shades Trilogy?’

  Tor piled on the chaos by releasing photos of the Candyland sets and blurry images of a couple having sex in the Gingerbread Plum Tree Forest. Tor claimed that Dorian lost his woman to another man and tried to burn down the mansion in a jealous rage, then nearly lost his life in the fire.

  Avery couldn’t deny those charges without going public and that would cost him his business. That story made me close my eyes and wish that I were dead. What had I done?

  Thanksgiving was also a disaster this year. I went to my mother’s in Cleveland, but in my heart, I was still back at Paramo
re. My mom kept asking me if I was okay. I kept mumbling about being anxious to get back to my studies.

  At one point during dinner, I nearly choked on my turkey when the news flashed a report about Dorian Macallan being addicted to drugs and trying to burn down the mansion over jealousy caused by a girl cheating on him. My mom blurted out that a woman would have to be crazy to cheat on a big star like Dorian. She kept talking about seeing his movies, how hot he was, and then she gushed that she’d let him tie her up anytime. I was red faced and getting more anxious by the second.

  She kept saying she read the books and found them sexually liberating. She said she’d do anything for a little lovin’ from a man like that and that I should quit being such a prude. I didn’t have time to read the books. I was too busy studying. Then my stomach soured as I took a bite of pumpkin pie, imagining my mother with Dorian. I was going out of my mind wondering if I was going to get a text saying I could go back to see Dorian myself.

  Finally, just before midnight I got my text saying I was allowed to attend the Casino Royale theme party. I didn’t recognize the number. It certainly wasn’t Avery’s. I simply responded with two words.

  “I’m sorry.”

  I heard nothing back.

  It was Friday morning when I left my mother’s house and jumped onto I-80 towards Pennsylvania.

  I was disappointed that Avery chose to go to his parents instead of meeting my mother. I suppose I deserved that.

  I wanted to get there early so that we could find some time to talk over everything. But I was afraid that no amount of words could fix this. Avery was pulling away from me. I needed to show him that I loved him and that was my only mission for tonight.

  About fifteen minutes before I got to camp, I finally got another text saying that we would be having dinner with everyone tonight, this time it was from Avery. My heart lightened a little but sank again when I got to Paramore. A large gathering of photographers stood guard at the gate. They were sharks looking for another story.