Q & A

Cyrus woke up with a thundering headache. Reaching up, he touched his head. Opening his eyes, there was very poor illumination along the top edge of the wall in the rectangular room in which he found himself. He could see he was naked and he had no idea how long he might have been unconscious. He wondered where everybody else was. The whole room held a faint aroma of leather and oddly enough, there were no doors.

“It seems as if he’s awake now,” said a female voice that seemed to echo throughout the room.

Suddenly the room was filled with blinding light as the roof vanished. A couple of seconds elapsed, Cyrus’s eyes adjusted to the light, the brightness doing nothing good for the throbbing in his head.

A gigantic face loomed high above the upper edge of the wall and peered down into the room, it was the drop dead gorgeous redhead he had seen earlier in the club, the one that came in with Hildegarde. Above the edge of the wall her face and shoulders were visible, her long red hair tied back and she was immense.

“My name is Vanessa,” she said, her voice warm and friendly. Mirth danced in her light green eyes. “For the sake of the astonished look on your face, let me explain the situation. We are seeking information about the contract recently accepted by Jack Dalton, namely we want to know who tendered the contract.”

Cyrus was dumbfounded. For the moment, he just stared up, unable to reconcile what he saw and the impossibility of the situation. He started to laugh, a nervous response to an irrational situation. “This can’t be real,” he babbled.

Another face appeared over the room, a different blonde that the one in the club, this one had blue streaks in her hair. Then another face, this one the blonde from the club, and then yet another, a brunette with hair so dark it looked blue-black.

Cyrus pushed himself as tightly into a corner as he possibly could.

“I’m waiting,” Vanessa, a stern look now on her face.

Reaching in, Vanessa pushed Cyrus out of the corner he had been trying to cower in. Collecting him by the feet, she raised him up and out of the room. As he cleared the edge of the wall, he could see now more clearly the expanse of space outside of the box. It looked like a kitchen sprawling out and away from his inverted vision, and the room he had just been in was nothing more than a box on the kitchen table. At the end of the table sat the woman named Hildegarde, watching impassively. Cyrus screamed. Also at the table, a striking woman with white hair and piercing frost blue eyes, despite the hair color, she didn’t look old, and another woman standing off by the wall, looking exactly like a twin of the blonde with blue streaks in her hair. A brunette with big dark eyes leaned against the counter, twirling a strand of hair in her fingers.

Vanessa lowered him down to the table and released him. He pushed back and away, but there was nowhere to crawl, no avenue to escape, everywhere he looked there was one of the giant women. “Please,” he pleaded, “Whatever you want,” he whined, curling up.

“The name of the person who offered up the contract,” said Vanessa leaning in close enough for him to feel the warmth of her breath.

 “A third party set it all up, Edwards, Thomas Edwards, some kind of lawyer or something,” squealed Cyrus.

“I know that name,” said Hilde, attention caught by the name, she stood up. “Until I’ve had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Edwards, we shall adjourn. I don’t anticipate much difficulty with him so we will re-convene within the next day or two,” advised Hilde.

“What of this little morsel?” Emilie, the blonde woman from earlier in the nightclub asked.

 “Anyone in need of pet?” asked Vanessa with a grin.

“We will save this one until there has been a determination,” Hilde said, her authority brooking no room for argument.

“There was another name, Lucien Delacroix, or something. The lawyer mentioned it. Can’t you let me go?” beseeched Cyrus, looking from face to face of the women surrounding him.

Hilde frowned, she so detested the sniveling. Waving her hand over top of him, he slipped to the table top, asleep. Removing a case from her purse, she picked him up, set him in the case and returned it to her purse.

“Speaking of pets, I hear you have a new one,” said Angelica, walking over to her twin as the other women began to leave Vanessa’s apartment.

“Clare and I have sort of been sharing him,” answered Angela with a sheepish grin and a touch of color in her cheeks.

“Look at the blush! I’m going to have to meet this little fellow,” Angelica teased playfully as Angela’s face darkened further.

“You should come over,” prompted Clare, a hint of crimson in her own face.

“I definitely think so,” said Angelica.

Clarice

Outside the room, he heard the sound of a female voice, familiar, but at the same time not. “Yes! I’ll put them away, god,” protested the speaker. Footfalls outside the door grew fainter.

Drifting in and out of sleep, he didn’t know how much time had elapsed before he was awoken again, this time by the sound of the bedroom door creaking open.

“You in here Clare?” called the female voice he’d heard earlier, opening the door further. He remained rooted where he reclined on the bed.

His first impression of the young woman who entered the room was she must be in her middle teens, though her body was definitely that of a full grown woman, substantial breasts, flare of hip. She had her long dark hair piled high on her head, a couple of bold red streaks hung on either side of her head, framing her youthful face. The family resemblance was too pronounced to ignore, this girl was obviously Clare’s sister.

The young woman came in and closed the door behind her. She immediately began to rummage along the top of Clare’s dresser and through the drawers.

“Well hello Clarice,” she said, her imitation of the cannibal psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter perfect, just as Hilde had impersonated him. Lifting the small purse out of the drawer, she opened it, grumbled, and dropped it back into the drawer.

Jack smirked. The sister was raiding Clare’s room for loose change. Too funny. She walked over to beside the bed to the night stand. “Gross,” she said, using thumb and forefinger to remove the panties Jack had used as a makeshift bed the night before and dropped them to the floor. Turning, she plunked her ass down on the bed with enough force to bounce him up off the bed. She proceeded to rummage through the drawer.

“Hey!” yelled Jack, rising to his feet.

The girl looked over her shoulder a moment, the returned to her pillaging.

Jack walked over and kicked her on the side of her leg, hoping the force would draw her attention. She stopped and looked down in the direction of the kick.

“Holy mother fuck!” she exclaimed, jumping up off the bed. The sudden motion caused the mattress to spring back, knocking him from his feet.

“You startled me!” she exclaimed, leaning back in to get a better look at him. “You’re like smaller than my finger,” she added, holding her index finger next to him.

“I’m guessing you are Clarice,” he said.

She nodded. “And you are?” she countered.

“Jack. Jack Dalton.”

Clarice laughed. “You must’ve really messed up to wind up like this.”

“Break and enter, not unlike your little operation here, except I ran into Clare and Angela. Poof,” he said, spreading wide his arms.

“This is quite a predicament Jack Dalton,” she said, climbing onto the bed and sprawling belly first so that her face was close to him.

“It’s definitely some strange fucked up shit,” he replied, detecting a hint of cherry from her lip gloss.

“Look at all your tats, you’re like a little badass aren’t you?” she asked poking at him gently with her finger.

“Not nearly as badass as I thought this time yesterday,” he replied ruefully, feebly pushing her finger away.

“You’re lucky it was Clare and Angela who found you. Situation could’ve been a whole nastier for you,” she supplied with a whistle. The memory of Tony came fresh to his mind.

“Situation could be a whole lot better, if you catch my drift.”

“If Hilde or my mom had caught you…” she let out a low whistle.

“It’s ok, I already had the pleasure of meeting Hilde,” he replied.

“Hmm,” she started, seeming to ponder, tapping her right index finger against her cheek.

“Hmm what?”

“What might it be worth, if, say, someone could remedy this situation?” she asked. “Hypothetically speaking.”

He paused. “Come again?” he asked, daring to hope.

“Just saying someone in your position might be, shall we say, financially grateful for assistance in this particular circumstance,” she said, eyebrow raised slightly.

“The type of gratuity would depend on the nature of the assistance,” he countered.

“Full restoration,” she said with a devious smile.

“What kind of financial compensation might that be worth?” he asked.

“That depends on what the service is worth to you,” she responded.

“Ten thousand,” he answered.

“Dollars?’ she asked, eyes wide, the number eclipsing what she had been thinking.

“Today. Restore me and together we can go to my apartment and I will give you ten thousand dollars cash,” he offered.

“Yeah right,” she replied, “because everybody has ten grand stuffed in their mattress at home.”

“I do,” he said matter of fact. “It’s yours.”

“Hmm,” she mumbled, contemplating. Completed whatever mental process she had been undertaking, her face lit up. “Deal, but if you’re fucking with me, I can be a real bitch,” she cautioned.

Jack remained calm, though his inner voice was hooting and hollering at the thought of being restored. He closed his eyes and spread his arms, waiting for the magic to wash him.

“Not here dummy. My mom’s right in the other room. We’ll both be in a shitload of trouble if she catches us,” she warned.

Picking him up, she moved him toward her chest. He started to protest. She said, “If I put you in my pants pocket, chances are you’ll get crushed the moment I sit down. This is the safest place.” She tucked him in her bra next to her cell phone. Laying against the smooth flesh, he could hear the rhythm of her heartbeat, her fragrance reminded him of cotton candy. From his vantage he could also peek out enough to see where they were going. He remained hidden while she made her way to the garage.

“We’re in the clear,” she whispered clandestinely as she climbed into a bright yellow corvette stingray.

Opening the garage door, she started the car and put on an oversized pair of DG sunglasses. Her driving left something to be desired, he wasn’t sure they were going to reach his place before she killed them both. He hung onto the edge of her bra as tightly as he could.

Once they arrived outside his apartment, he said, “Better restore me now, I’ll go scope it out, make sure no one is here.”

“Uh no,” she replied, removing the sunglasses.

“Be careful then,” he cautioned.

“Please,” she said, stretching the word out.

The door was closed, but not locked. “That’s probably not a good sign,” she said, leaning in close to the door to listen for movement inside the apartment. Hearing nothing she slowly opened the door and peaked in. The place had been ransacked. Jack wasn’t surprised.

“Maid’s day off?” she asked.

“Courtesy call from the outfit,” he replied.

“If there’s no ten grand here…” she warned with a stern tone.

“Relax,” he said, guiding her through the apartment to the closet in the master bedroom. He instructed to clear out the floor and pointed to the hidden catch popping loose a floor board. Inside the hollow space was a small metal case.

“It’s locked,” he said, “I don’t have the key with me.”

She touched it and there was an audible click. Opening the case, her eyes grew round. “There must be like fifty large in here,” she exclaimed, pulling out multiple bundles of cash.

“We agreed on ten,” he said warily.

“Realistically though, I could take it all, and simply throw you back on Clare’s bed,” she said, cocking her head to the side.

He hadn’t thought about that. “True,” he acknowledged, “I didn’t think you might fuck me over.”

She paused a moment then sighed. Plucking him from her cleavage she set him on the bed. She snapped her fingers, and he felt himself expanding, the sensation was not pleasant but neither was it too painful. He stood for a moment, flexing muscles and gaining his footing before suddenly feeling awkward and naked in front of this girl

“We cool?” she asked, taking a step back, roll of cash in her hand.

He held out his right hand, “A fair bargain struck.”

Stepping forward, cautiously, she placed her hand in his mitt and shook it. Releasing it, she took a moment to give him the once over, a mischievous grin on her pretty face. “Not bad,” she commented as she backed out of the room and out of the apartment.

Sibling rivalry

Together, Clare and the twins returned to the estate. Angelica growing increasingly more curious about the diminutive Jack Dalton after the stories shared by the other two during the drive back.

Pulling onto the estate, Clare exchanged glances with the other women as she pulled to a stop next to her mother’s Guards Red Porsche 918 Spyder.

“My mother’s home,” Clare said solemnly.

Getting out of Clare’s car, the three women remained quiet as they entered the house.

At an even six feet in height, Clarissa Heller cut an imposing image, attired in a form fitting white blouse accentuating her rather large and perfectly shaped breasts. The blouse tapered at her slender waist where it was tucked into a black, snug, knee length skirt slit up the leg. She possessed a classic hourglass shape, though a tad heavier at bust than hips. Perfectly coiffed dark hair, slightly wavy framed her beautiful face. Hers was a timeless beauty, mature, but possessing all the vitality of youth. Her large green eyes, the color of polished malachite, settled on the girls as they entered the house. Ripe full lips, equipped with a disarming natural sensuality, parted into a smile.

“Hello girls,” she said, voice rich and warm. Opening her arms for a hug. She received the twins together, before hugging her daughter.

 “Mother. You’re back early,” mumbled Clare, disengaging from the embrace, panic gnawing at her as she wondered if Jack had left the safety of her room.

“Given recent developments here, I thought it prudent to return,” she advised.

“How was your trip?” Clare asked.

“Abbreviated,” replied Clarissa with a soft shrug.

“I think Hilde pretty much has everything under control at the moment,” Clare added.

“Yes, she’s been keeping me apprised of the situation as it continues to develop,” Clarissa shared with a warm smile.

“Well, as you can see everything is ok, we’re just going to go to my room.”

“All right then dear, you girls behave yourselves,” Clarissa said.

The trio retired to Clare’s room, closing the door behind for privacy. Once in the bedroom, Clare immediately scanned the bed for Jack’s tiny form. Not seeing him, she wondered if maybe her mother’s untimely arrival had startled him and he had hidden himself.

“Jack?” she called softly. Watching carefully for any sign of movement anywhere on the bed.

“Jack?” Angela called this time, getting down low to look beneath the bed in case he had accidently fallen.

Clare, a little more frantic, began to gently pull the blankets back and move the pillows, but still there was no sign of Jack.

“Does your mother know about Jack?” asked Angela.

“Hilde wouldn’t conceal it from her,” Clare answered.

“You would think if she did something or held him for determination she would have said something,” Angela added.

“Smells a little like cotton candy in here,” said Angelica sniffing at the air.

Clare suddenly stopped. “Clarice,” she said.

Marching to her sister’s room, Clare was disappointed to find it empty. Next, she looked in the garage and saw her sister’s car gone. Pulling her cell phone out, she called Clarice’s cell, “Pick up Clarice,” she ordered. No response.

Next she dialed Hilde’s number. The connection went through. “I require your assistance. I know. I believe Clarice has absconded with Jack and I would like to have him back please. I see. Thank you. Yes mother is here at the house. He will need to be disciplined. Yes. Thank you,” she said for her side of the conversation.

“She says she will investigate the situation,” Clare said, addressing the twins.