The next several months were quite the eye-opener for me.
I don’t expect anyone to believe this, but after everything I had beheld nearly a decade before, I was experiencing some truly crazy shit alongside the Rangers…and I’m not talking about seeing a black cat and believing that I was going to actually be followed by bad luck for the next umpteen years.
I witnessed things that shouldn’t have been humanly possible, and had I not been present to actually see said occurrences with my own eyes, I would’ve never believed them. Hell, I didn’t even trust my own orbs half the time. The reason I knew the events that happened before me were real was due to the fact that the very marrow in my bones chilled in such a way to prove them. I don’t like to repetitively curse, but it was as I said…some crazy-ass shit.
One such case I attended to with Bergh and a few of his troops was for a woman we identified as “Teagan the Terrible.” No, there’s no relation to Dinah’s old friend from her college days on this one. This female was certainly not the stuck-up priss who had turned her back on my sultry cougar. No, this was a downright bizarre incident that I still can’t logically explain.
Teagan had put out a call for help that Dinah and a few of the other Rangers who specialized in computer work researched and determined to be true. Once we had the word from Bergh, he selected a few of us and we traveled to Teagan’s home on one dark and stormy night…and no, I’m not adding that last part to try to make my story sound scary. It really was a crappy evening as far as the weather went.
So, we showed up to this woman’s apartment realizing that she was our actual target. Yup, that’s right: She had reported herself. She was hoping that if we couldn’t discover what was wrong with her, perhaps we’d take her out. She was so terrified by what she had become that she could no longer live with herself if there wasn’t some kind of help for her.
Now I know everyone’s probably wondering, “what was so terrible about Teagan?” Well, it’s not something easily explainable in words. I’ll never forget showing up to that apartment building and sneaking through the hallways like a lurker with the others since we had to keep a low profile. We took the least direct route to apartment 3R, and upon reaching it, Bergh didn’t even bother to knock. He went for the knob of the door and twisted…and surprisingly enough, it opened right up.
I remember how as I followed him in with the two other men who had accompanied us, I wasn’t the least bit of afraid of what we’d stumble across. I found that to be a little weird for a few different reasons. I guess the first would have to be because the setting was absolutely dreary and would’ve frightened even the bravest of souls, but I didn’t flinch in the least. I had seen far worse in the past, and this was seriously like the princess’s room of a palace compared to some of the horrid shit I had at one time laid eyes upon.
I think the second reason I found it so strange that I wasn’t scared was because I had been running for the last several years…but I wasn’t running anymore. I had seemingly found a normal life – what could pass for one, anyway – and wasn’t about to throw it away. I was the Marcus Veovin of old; one who wasn’t afraid of what skulked around every corner or in the shadows behind me.
So, back to Teagan. What was it about this woman that had her living in the same fear that had consumed my life for so many years? What had driven her away from her lover the same way I had run away from both Eve and Cassandra in the past? What had her afraid to be in contact with other humans? At first glance, I couldn’t have answered that question.
“There’s our pigeon,” Bergh whispered.
When we stumbled upon Teagan sitting in her living room with the TV and lights off and the curtains only opened a crack in order to let the moonlight in, nothing seemed to be setting off any warning signals in my head. Nothing about her appeared out of the ordinary, and when Bergh spoke to her for the first time, she answered in a relatively normal voice.
For nearly five minutes, the two of them had a cordial conversation. The entire time they talked, Bergh kept making subtle motions for the rest of us to remain back. To be honest, it felt like he was treating her like a small animal and didn’t want the rest of us to spook her. I could certainly understand how he felt and how he wanted to get through this without a struggle.
During those five minutes, the usually gruff man spoke to the terrified woman in a soothing voice I had never heard from him before. He was doing his best to calm her while telling her about how she had a bright future ahead of herself and would live to see a ripe, old age. I even heard him chuckle for the first time when he informed her that if she wanted to, she could start a family and watch her kids grow old just as he had watched his daughter grow up and go off to college. He told her she could have all of that and more…as long as she wanted it.
As I listened to his words and let everything sink in, I started to glance around the room and really take things in for the first time. Teagan had a typical setup with furniture, shelves, and electronics, but I suddenly started to notice through the semidarkness that there was an ungodly number of mirrors situated throughout the room…all of which were broken. Most of them looked like nothing more than frames, but I knew they had been mirrors due to just a few broken shards that remained along each of their edges.
One of the other Rangers beside me took note of what I had been studying and suddenly pulled his flashlight off his tool belt so he could click it on and look around the room.
And that’s when it happened.
Before Bergh could tell the dimwitted agent to shut the light off, Teagan let out a wail so loud, I thought it would bring the roof above us down. There was apparently something she didn’t want us to see, and when I caught a glimpse of it, my blood ran cold. I still have no rational explanation for it to this day.
In one corner of the room was a single mirror that hadn’t been busted. I hadn’t seen it in the darkness, but when the illumination from the flashlight had landed on it, I spotted it for the first time. It also allowed me to see Teagan for the first time…but not in any way I would’ve expected.
Teagan herself was a gorgeous, raven-haired woman with pale skin and a slender figure. She was probably in her late twenties, and I’m sure she could’ve easily scored a date with nine out of ten men just by simply asking. She had an aura about her that had me believing she would’ve been a kindhearted woman under normal circumstances…but I hadn’t met her at one of those times.
For whatever reason, Teagan wasn’t wearing a shirt or bra. She had been sitting at the end of her couch in nothing more than a pair of black panties, and when she suddenly stood up, her reflection could be seen in the mirror at the opposite corner of the room. What I saw still gives me chills to this day.
Although Teagan herself looked perfectly normal, the reflection was anything but. The woman in that image had her skin flaking off, and most of her muscle tissue was visible. A few of her bones could be seen as well, and one of them even looked to be broken. Her breasts sagged down past her bellybutton, and her intestines were falling out of her gut. Her jaw was broken and crooked, and one of her eyes was missing. She had a few bald spots on her head, and the black locks she did have dripped with grease. The image in the mirror looked like nothing more than a living dead girl.
“Trenton!” Bergh suddenly yelled to the man who had made the fatal mistake. “What the hell are you…” Before he could finish, the burly leader of our small company was batted out of the way as if he had been struck by a giant. I never would’ve imagined such a thing to be possible if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes.
“What the fuck?” Trenton called out, but didn’t get another word in when Teagan suddenly launched over the couch and skittered across the room almost like an insect with uncanny speed. The terrible monstrosity – who still looked perfectly normal to the naked eye – then bypassed the operative’s body armor by driving her left hand into his gut. My bewildered eyes could do nothing but glance back at that mirror as I barely managed to notice that she disemboweled him due to the fact that her fingers were all incredibly long and as sharp as knives. Without the mirror, I wouldn’t have understood what was happening.
In the second that followed, she turned her attention toward the other Ranger beside me…but I was already on the move. As she was busy gutting her second victim, I drove Bergh’s frenzied shouts out of my mind and bounded across the room with a speed that nearly matched Teagan’s. Without a second thought, I pulled the heavy-duty flashlight I carried on my utility belt off and used it to smash the mirror. I didn’t stop until I had every last shard shattered.
Bergh watched on in awe as Teagan suddenly dropped to her knees. When viewing her in person, she still looked normal to his eyes as well as mine, but the image in the mirror had been the one that showed another side of her; the side that made her “terrible.” I had gambled on that mirror being our one out…and I guess I had been right.
“What the hell?” Bergh shouted as he made his way over to the defenseless and trembling woman who sat whimpering in a w-sitting position. His eyes went from his dead troops to the helpless woman. Even though he was a professional I had never seen under pressure before, I could tell that he didn’t know how to handle the situation.
I made my way back over to where the susceptible female sat. I fell to one knee and tried to look into her glass-like eyes. I did my best to speak in a calm voice as I said, “Teagan, I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but we’re here to help you.”
“I…I killed those men!”
“No, that wasn’t you.” Even as I spoke the words, both Teagan and Bergh gave me looks as if to ask who could’ve possibly committed the murders if she hadn’t. I kept my cool as I went on, “There’s something inside of you…another part of you that has no right to be there. I don’t understand it any better than you do, but we know people who can help you. We can take you to them and find you the help you need…if you’ll just trust us.”
I could tell that Teagan was actually listening to me and trying to determine whether or not she could trust me. I also beheld Bergh out of my peripherals…and it wasn’t difficult to see that he wasn’t the least bit happy with me. I think he didn’t like the fact that I was making the dark-haired woman such promises after she had shredded his other two men to pieces.
“It won’t be easy,” I went on, “But we’ll do what we can to help you, Teagan. We’ll find some people who will study what’s happening to you and do our best to combat it…together.”
For the longest time, the trembling woman just sat there running her hands up and down her opposite arms. When she finally met my solemn spheres, she informed me, “Your eyes…I…I can tell just by looking into them that I can trust you. You have a kind soul.”
I wanted to believe that what the woman said was true, but I knew I wasn’t without my flaws. I simply smiled at her and then noticed a folded-up blanket sitting on her couch. I grabbed it and shook it open so I could place it over her. I then started to lead her toward the door as I glanced back at my “boss” and told him, “I’ll get Teagan out of here if you want to handle the cleanup.”
*
Bergh hadn’t been crazy about how I handled things with Teagan, but at the same time, he knew I had been able to get through to her. I think he also knew that if he had taken control of the situation the way he had wanted to, he more than likely would’ve failed in getting through to her. Dinah didn’t hear the end of it for quite some time.
Of course, I knew Bergh was probably only pissed due to the men he had lost, and having to explain to their families how they had died probably wouldn’t be easy. Since I hadn’t been with the Rangers for long, I somewhat wondered if he would be forced to stretch the truth and make up something about them being stabbed by an average criminal we had been dealing with. Most people weren’t going to buy into the fact that two adult males had been ripped apart within seconds by a woman who was a hundred pounds soaking wet.
When Dinah heard the story about Teagan the Terrible, I think she started second-guessing herself for ever introducing me to the Rangers. She knew I was obviously a capable man who knew how to handle himself, but after hearing about the deaths of Trenton and Jordyn, she probably felt that things were hitting a little too close to home. I honestly think she wanted me to take a less active role in going out on “missions.”
Every time Dinah tried to talk me out of leaving her apartment, she didn’t come right out with how she actually felt. She would sugarcoat her words and try to work around them by saying, “Maybe we should tell Bergh that you’re a little under the weather today or that you didn’t get enough sleep last night.” Her concern was certainly touching, but quite unnecessary.
Things continued this way for another few months. As time progressed, the episode with Teagan faded into memory, and none of the other jobs I went on seemed to present any true danger. No other Rangers lost their lives, and Dinah was finally starting to feel more comfortable with the situation again. I was actually pretty damn happy too because Bergh was paying me quite handsomely for my services. Even though I had put some money away before, the stipends I received from him for my services were incredible. Dinah always reminded me that he paid me so well since I was constantly putting my life on the line, but I didn’t see things in such a way since I thought most of the jobs were fairly straightforward. As long as one kept a level head and didn’t rush into things, most of what we dealt with seemed bearable…the keyword there being “most” of it.
I saw a few other crazy things while traveling alongside the Rangers, and there were a handful of times that when I returned home to my buxom babe, I had to stretch the truth a bit and tell her some white lies so she didn’t become overwrought with worry. I could usually take her mind off things by trying to talk her into letting me pay some of her bills. Of course, she was too kindhearted to let me do so, but I would sneak her some payments regardless and avoid further debate on my “job.”
I had been staying with Dinah for over a year when she was sitting at her kitchen table one day with her laptop on. Some new information had come down the line, and from where I sat on the couch, I heard her mumble, “Holy hell.”
“What is it?” I asked as I glanced back in her direction while taking a bite out of a turkey sandwich. I figured my brown-haired friend might’ve just wanted to strike up a conversation, but when I noticed that all the color had drained from her face, I finally pushed myself up so I could join her. As I made my way toward where she sat, I repeated, “What is it?”
“Marcus…”
I appeared on Dinah’s left and glanced down at what was on her screen…and my heart nearly stopped in my chest.
All of the information Dinah usually cycled through was based on speculation and not fact, but she had just been forwarded a message from Sara that in a small town to the southeast of us, an actual fiend had been spotted. A fiend with blue skin, chartreuse eyes, and black hair with red streaks through it. A female fiend who appeared to be in her late twenties if demons could be classified as having an age.
A fiend by the name of Lilith.
My heart was about to fly out of my chest as I asked Dinah to borrow her cellphone. She knew how shaken I was by the information and quickly retrieved it while saying, “This might be nothing, Marcus. Remember how many hoaxes we’ve come by in the past…”
“What are the chances that someone would have all this information that describes Lilith to a T, Dinah?” I cut my caring friend short. “How could they…” My words incoherently trailed off as I was handed the phone and fumbled about with it. I reached into my left pocket where I kept Kaede’s card even though I had the phone number memorized. For whatever reason, I felt that having the white card in my hand would make things better.
“Marcus, calm down,” Dinah ordered since she could see that my fingers didn’t appear to be cooperating. I could hardly dial the number.
My mind was a whirl of emotions…most of which contained fear. Not only was I terrified for Lilith’s safety, but I was afraid that something horrific had befallen Kaede as well. The last time I had spoken to them, they were on the road with the rest of Kaede’s crew and traveling to a new job. They had both sounded good and seemed to be keeping busy.
As Dinah reached for the phone and the card I held, she started to dial the number for me as I started thinking about how similar my new occupation was to Kaede’s. Sure, my raven-tressed friend dealt mostly with apparitions and the like, but I’m sure she had encountered her fair share of crazies along the way. The thought of her dealing with such psychos had my heart nearly stopping again.
Since I was so lost in thought, Dinah took it upon herself to handle the call on her own. I was paying absolutely no attention to what was going on around me since I was so concerned for my two friends, so when I suddenly heard the blue-eyed beauty say, “Hello. I’m sorry to bother you, but is this Kaede Lara Storm by any chance?” She was staring at the card to make sure she said the ghost hunter’s name properly.
I came out of my self-induced stupor long enough to realize what was going on. I didn’t mean to be rude or grabby, but I took the phone out of Dinah’s grasp and placed it up to my right ear. I couldn’t get my words to work, but that was okay since someone else was already talking.
“Who is this?” I heard a familiar voice on the other end of the line ask.
“Kaede? Kaede, it is you!”
“Marcus?”
I let out a sigh of relief until I realized that my daring friend on the other end of the line wasn’t the only woman I was concerned for. “Kaede! Where’s Lilith? Is Lilith with you? Is Lilith o…”
“Marcus, slow down!” The paranormal expert sternly ordered me. “Lilith is fine! She’s right here!”
I nearly dropped to my knees in reassurance when I heard the familiar voice of the blue-skinned beauty I had shared an unforgettable few days of my life with. “Marcus? How are you, Marcus!?”
Dinah smiled at me when she noticed legitimate tears of joy streaming down my face. “Hello, Lilith,” I finally blubbered. “I’m doing better now. How are you?”
“Marcus? Are you all right? You sound like you might have been…crying!”
I cleared my throat and wiped the tears from my face. “No, I’m okay Lilith. I just wanted to hear your voice and make sure that you were okay.”
“Of course! I’m fine! I…”
“What about me?” I heard a voice in the background shout. “Doesn’t anyone give a rat’s ass about me?”
I let out a relieved chuckle as I raised my voice and said, “I was going to ask about you too, Kaede! I’m glad you’re all right!”
The fit ghost hunter must’ve taken the phone back from Lilith since her voice was once again prominent. She then asked, “Marcus, who was that woman who was originally on the other end…?”
“Hello,” Dinah spoke up from my side so she could be heard. “My name’s Dinah Addyson. It’s nice to finally meet you, Kaede.”
I could hear Kaede’s sarcastic chuckle on the other end of the line as she pointed out, “Marcus Veovin! Did you already find another lady?”
My face reddened even though I knew my raven-tressed friend was just taking playful jabs at me. I immediately cleared my throat and changed the subject by saying, “Kaede, Dinah here found some information on the internet pertaining to Lilith. Somebody reported her as not only being spotted south of here, but they also want a group of people known as Rangers to go after her because she’s considered a…danger. Do you know anything about that?”
There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment until Kaede finally responded, “Where are you currently, Marcus?”
Had anyone else asked me that question, I wouldn’t have answered. As it was, Kaede was one of my closest confidants, so I told her without hesitation where I could be found. I knew Dinah would be okay with that.
“Marcus,” Kaede then spoke up in a solemn voice, “There’s something you need to know.”
I was all ears. “What is it?”
“The rest of my crew…well…they’re gone.”
“Gone?” I incredulously asked. “What do you mean…‘gone?’”
There was a longer stretch of silence until Kaede said, “I can’t tell you over the phone.”
“I thought you said you were both okay?”
“We’re fine,” Kaede hastily responded so I wouldn’t lose my mind again. “We’re both okay.”
“Where are you?” I inquired, but instantly realized she wouldn’t be able to answer that over the phone either. “Scratch that. When will I see the two of you again?”
Before Kaede could answer me, Dinah snatched the phone from my hands and proved just how amazing she was by saying, “Kaede, this is Dinah again. Sorry to barge in, but I’m going to give you an address that I want you and Lilith to come to at your earliest convenience. Is that all right?”
I stared at the blue-eyed beauty in bewilderment. I couldn’t believe my ears. She was actually inviting my friends to her place! She was so concerned about my feelings and how I feared so much for their safety that she was offering to provide them refuge in her home! I couldn’t believe her benevolence.
The two women appeared to be discussing a few more matters until Dinah finally handed me the phone and said, “Tell your friends bye and to have a safe trip! You’ll be seeing them soon enough!”
I heard both Kaede and Lilith on the other end of the line energetically telling me bye as I was barely able to mouth the word. When the phone then clicked off and I made eye contact with Dinah once more, I could see her smiling from ear to ear. I couldn’t even say her entire name. “Din…”
The buxom beauty’s chest bounced as she laughed. “Oh, Marcus! You look so cute when you’re flustered!”
“You…you invited Kaede and Lilith…to stay here?”
“Of course!” The kindhearted woman responded. “Why not? They’re your friends and they might be in some kind of trouble!”
“But…” I couldn’t think of a whole lot of women who would do something as wonderful as she had just done.
“I have an empty guest room they can stay in!” she reminded me since I had been sleeping beside her on a nightly basis.
I was so thankful for the bountiful brunette’s kindness. I couldn’t think of the words to even use. “I…I…thank you, Dinah.”
The blue-eyed beauty reached up and pinched my left cheek. With a devious smile on her spectacular face, she told me, “I’m sure you’ll find a way to pay me back, right?” And with that, she gave me a conspiratorial wink before getting up to fetch a glass of water.
*
Two days later, there was a knock at Dinah’s front door. We had been sitting together on the couch when we heard it, and I couldn’t help but feel butterflies in my stomach. I felt like a kid going on his first date since I hadn’t seen either woman behind that portal in close to four years.
“Are you going to get that…or should I?”
As I sprang to my feet, I wondered if Dinah was going to razz me the entire time Kaede and Lilith stayed with us. I listened to her laugh as I bolted to the door and stopped right in front of it. I glanced downward and made sure I was presentable before pulling it open, and when I did, I laid eyes on two of the loveliest women in the world. “Oh, my…”
Lilith dropped her bags and lunged into my arms. She was wearing a long coat with a hood pulled up over her head as well as a scarf over her face. It wasn’t cold enough outside for everything she had on, but it was apparently a precaution to hide how different she looked from everyone in the big city.
“Hey!” Kaede called out as she also set her bags down. She placed her fists on her hips and directed her words at the blue-skinned beauty in my arms as she chided, “I thought we agreed that I’d get the first hug since you had the most ‘fun’ with Marcus the last time we saw him!”
Lilith let out a sigh and finally released her hold on me so her friend could embrace me. I shared a long, warm hug with Kaede that had me moving my pelvis out of the way just in case there was a “rise” out of anything.
“I’m so glad you’re both okay,” I said as I released my hold on the lithe woman. “When Dinah showed me the information regarding Lilith…”
“And is this Dinah?” Kaede suddenly cut me off.
I spun around and saw the glorious cougar standing a few feet behind me. I then offered her a hand as she climbed the two steps required to join us, and once she was beside me, I gave her a warm hug as I answered, “This is the wonderful Dinah Addyson. There aren’t too many women in the world quite like her.” I gave her a kiss on the forehead as she smiled and patted my chest.
“Why don’t you help the girls with their bags, Marcus?”
I nodded since the mature woman made a valid point. I started picking up bags as Lilith began taking off all the layers she had on to conceal her identity from fearful eyes. Kaede was also wearing an unzipped hoodie, and beneath it, I could see that she had a tight-fitting shirt on that punctuated her limber body extremely well. I had to be careful about how I reacted since I didn’t want to upset Dinah. I instantly started lugging bags toward the hallway and the room at the other end of it to take my mind off things.
“You look great, Marcus!” Kaede shouted after me as I carried the bags. “You haven’t lost a tad of your hunkiness!”
Dinah chuckled at Kaede’s comment and then told my old friends to follow me so I could show them to the bedchamber they’d be staying in. As they did so, both women told the beautiful brunette that the apartment was incredible.
I decided to wait a moment and let my friends catch up with me. I then led them the rest of the way until we reached our destination. “Well, here’s the guest room,” I pointed out the obvious while setting the bags down on the floor next to the ones I had been living out of. I glanced back at the two women who had played such important roles in my life at two different times. I couldn’t believe we were finally seeing one another again after such a lengthy absence. Overcome with joy, I pulled Lilith in for another hug since she was closest. Seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling her again was a true joy, and when I felt the love radiating from her, I knew I would have to show Dinah extra adoration for being compassionate enough to allow my old friends to stay in her home.
“Hey!” Kaede suddenly shouted since she was feeling left out. “What about me? Shunned at the doorway and shunned in the bedroom! Geesh!”
“Come here!” I exclaimed as I reached out to snag her by the hoodie. I pulled her in so we could have a group hug as Lilith giggled in glee.
Dinah suddenly appeared in the doorway and watched the reunion playing out before her. “I’d ask if I could join in,” she spoke up, “But I have a feeling this is strictly between old friends!”
“The hell it is!” I responded, and motioned for the busty brunette to step forward. When she did so, I reached for her just as I had done with Kaede and yanked her in. I was sandwiched between three beautiful women – all of whom I cared a great deal for – and knew that one of them would eventually get poked if I didn’t calm down.
After we finally relinquished our holds on one another and had a good laugh, Dinah was about to excuse herself from the room so I could have a private moment with my old companions. She voiced her opinion and said we needed some time to catch up, but I knew there would be time for that later. I think I caught her off guard when I reached for her arm and prevented her from leaving the room.
“Dinah,” I spoke the amazing woman’s name as I looked her right in those crystalline eyes of hers, “I want to thank you for being such a wonderful person and allowing Kaede and Lilith to come stay here for a while. This means more to me than you’ll ever know.”
“No problem,” the mature woman said in an elegant and – at the same time – laid-back tone of voice. “They’re your friends and they mean the world to you. I wasn’t about to risk their lives with everything going on after what was forwarded to us. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to them because I know the kind of hurt that would cause you to see them harmed.” Dinah thought about her words for a moment and then looked to both Kaede and Lilith as she mentioned, “That didn’t sound right! I didn’t mean that I’d only be upset due to what it would do to Marcus…”
“You’re fine, Dinah!” Kaede laughed as she waved the words off. “We know what you mean! Besides, you hardly know us anyway, and I don’t think we could possibly be upset with you since you’ve invited us into your home!”
Lilith nodded her agreement and added, “I appreciate you letting someone like me stay in your home, Miss Addyson.”
It was Dinah’s turn to wave the words off as she told the blue-skinned beauty, “Don’t think of it, Lilith! Marcus has told me so much about the two of you, so I know what kind of amazing women you both are! We’re all in the same boat anyway, so it’ll be nice to have a few more people to turn to when we’re doing our work! Oh, and make sure you call me Dinah! ‘Miss Addyson’ makes me feel like an old maid!”
After we all had another good laugh, I soured the mood by bringing up a more serious topic and asking, “Kaede, what happened to the rest of your crew? If memory serves me correctly, you had at least three other people with you when you showed up at Lilith’s place four years ago. What happened to them?”
With a solemn look on her marvelous face, Kaede informed me, “About six months ago, we were down south checking out a site in the mountains. It was a house or cabin that had been burnt to the ground many years ago, and it was believed that the property sat on some kind of mine. While the remains themselves were worth a look, it was actually the mine that interested us the most. It was believed that at one time, an extremely valuable ore rested in the tunnels, but the last of it had been stripped away many years before. Still, there was an engaging story behind the repository, so me, Lilith, and the others decided to go check it out.
“Well, as you can imagine, things did not go well. Saying that we were unprepared would be a vast understatement, and since none of us had ever been in a mine shaft before, we didn’t realize just how much danger we had placed ourselves in.” Kaede paused briefly before lowering her head and murmuring, “Watts fell to his death when the floor gave out beneath him, and after Lilith and I became separated from the others, we wandered those damn tunnels for five days straight before finally getting out.”
With a frown on her beautiful face, Lilith relived the horror as she added, “Our flashlights stopped working two days in. Luckily, my eyes have adjusted well to darkness and I was able to pick up on certain things Kaede couldn’t see.”
The fit woman nodded to confirm our friend’s words while adding, “Fortunately, there was also some lichen growing on the walls in certain areas of the repository that gave off a faint light. It wasn’t much, mind you, but I think it kept me from going absolutely insane.”
“You poor things!” Dinah called out. “That sounds positively horrifying!”
Kaede nodded one more time before glancing back at me and saying, “Needless to say, having so many people disappear didn’t go unnoticed. After Lilith and I finally made it out, we trekked back to our van and drove to the nearest village. When we arrived, I did my best to keep Lilith hidden since people are still leery of her, but she was spotted…and word broke out not only of her existence, but rumors started to spread that she was to blame for the other crew members vanishing. Due to our work being so clandestine, only their immediate family members realized they were missing…and things spiraled out of control from there when the finger was pointed at her.”
“Holy crap,” I mumbled after hearing Kaede’s sordid tale. “I’m so sorry that both of you went through all of that. Had I known…”
“You couldn’t have done anything, Marcus,” Kaede cut me off since she knew where I was going with my proclamation. “That mountain range is waaay off the beaten path, and there are multiple entrances into the mines beneath. You would’ve ended up just as lost as we were if you had even thought of coming after us.”
“It was a fluke that we even managed to find an exit,” Lilith informed me as her incredible eyes glimmered in the light. I still found it fascinating to hear her speak in such a sophisticated tone.
I shook my head and stared at the cream-colored carpet beneath my feet. “I’m so sorry you both went through that.”
“Not your fault,” Kaede exhaled as she reached for one of her bags and flung it onto the bed. She started rummaging through it for something as she informed me, “Still sucks that people are pinning the deaths of our friends on us since it was all just a horrible accident, but them’s the breaks, right?” The dark-eyed woman let out a sardonic laugh as she added, “Guess we had a taste of what it’s like to be Marcus Veovin and constantly on the run.”
“I’m not running anymore,” I informed my old friend. I noticed Dinah smiling at me as I elucidated, “I’m not going to be afraid of the past any longer.”
“Well, that’s good to hear!” Kaede exclaimed as she pulled out a tank top. Without missing a beat, she took her hoodie off, yanked off her t-shirt in front of all of us, and then pulled the tank top on. She was wearing a bra, but I still couldn’t help but wonder what Dinah thought of her forwardness. After making herself more comfortable, the fit babe reached forward and gave me a pat on the right shoulder like nothing awkward had happened as she finally finished, “I liked you better when you were brave anyway!”
“Thanks…?” I mumbled since I had never really thought of myself as a coward. I had really only been fearful when I thought my loved ones were in danger, so I wasn’t exactly sure if I deserved to be mocked.
Kaede suddenly pulled something else out of her bag. It looked like it could’ve been a sandwich in a crinkled white wrapper, and my suspicions were confirmed when she turned to Dinah and asked, “Do you have a microwave or something so I could warm this up?”
“Certainly,” the gracious hostess responded. She then turned her attention to her other female guest and asked, “Do you need anything to eat, Lilith?”
The blue babe’s head sunk into her shoulders a bit since she was embarrassed about answering. When she finally responded, she said, “I don’t want to take your food, but I am really hungry.”
Dinah warmly smiled at the chartreuse-eyed cutie and motioned for her to follow. I couldn’t help but notice how motherly the buxom brunette came off, and her voice was overflowing with kindness as she said, “Come on out here with me. I think we can find something you’ll like!”
Before Dinah left the room, I made eye contact with her and we both smiled at one another. I would never be able to express how much I appreciated what she was doing for my friends.
*
As I lay in bed next to Dinah that night, I watched as she donned a pair of reading glasses so she could peruse a few pages from a book while winding down. She had on a nightie that her huge bosoms were practically popping out of, and I have to say that between the spectacles and her lingerie, she looked like one sophisticated cougar.
“Dinah,” I spoke up in order to gain the busty beauty’s attention, “I’m really sorry to interrupt you, but can I talk to you for a second?”
Dinah removed her glasses and left her book open as she placed it face down on her lap so she wouldn’t lose her place. Her red lips curved into a warming smile as she asked, “What is it, Marcus?”
“I just wanted to thank you,” I sternly told her. “I want to thank you for a lot of things.”
The blue-eyed beauty’s face scrunched up like she didn’t understand. “They’re your friends and they mean the world to you, Marcus…so why wouldn’t I take them in if they’re in danger?”
“It’s not just that,” I told the marvelous woman as I leaned on my right arm and studied her amazing features in the lamplight. “I want to thank you for the way you’ve been treating Lilith all night.”
Again, Dinah looked somewhat confused.
I fished for the right words as I responded, “Dinah, I know how most people feel about fiends. Ninety-nine percent of the population probably doesn’t believe they even exist, but those who do think they’re nothing more than demonic, evil monsters who want the complete downfall of mankind. To your credit, you didn’t even flinch when you first laid eyes on her, and you welcomed her into your home with open arms. I can never thank you enough for that.”
“She’s a wonderful girl, Marcus,” Dinah pointed out what I already knew. “She’s quite beautiful and well-mannered, so I can understand why you care about her so much.”
I nodded in agreement before saying, “I want to thank you for something else also.”
“And what would that be?”
“For taking me in as well. Do you realize that you’ve been letting me stay here for over a year…and I have to practically fight you every time I try to float you some money for your troubles?”
Dinah laughed as she informed me, “Oh, you’ve found other ways to pay me back, Marcus!”
I couldn’t help but join in her merriment as I shot back, “Are you kidding? You do realize I’m not doing you because I feel like I have to, right? I’m doing you because you’re an ultra-hot fox who excites me in ways that shouldn’t even be possible! I think I’m coming out on top in more ways than one!”
Dinah pointed at me and chuckled, “I see what you did there!”
I laughed again since I hadn’t even meant the words in a dirty way. I then threw my arms around the buxom beauty and smothered her in kisses as she pretended to want none of it.
END OF PART EIGHT OF TEN
