Grace

Hobbling down the hall, Theo tried to discern a strategy for catching Grace’s attention. He knew she would help Sophie see reason. The sound of footsteps pounded up the stairs, he could hear humming. He froze as Hannah swept passed, down the hall and into her room. Heart pounding, he let out a pent up breath, grateful he had eluded her notice. The rest of his journey was without incident as he arrived at Grace’s door. Dropping to his belly, he crawled underneath.

Grace’s room was dark, given the hour he wasn’t surprised, but he knew the layout and crossing the room wasn’t difficult. Climbing up the cord belonging to her digital clock radio, he managed to get on top of her night table.

“Grace!” he hollered, but she failed to respond, his voice obviously not loud enough to pull her from her slumber. Frowning, he turned to look at the clock. A smile touch his lips as he shook his head. Moving to the side of the radio, he gripped the radio button with both hands and lifted it into the on position. Instantly the rectangular box jumped to life, the hard rocking sound of Injustice blaring from the tiny speaker.

Grace flopped over on her bed, blindly reaching for the clock, moving so quickly, Theo needed to jump out of the way as she shut the radio off.

“W-what?” voiced Grace, groggy. “What time is it?” she asked, trying to focus on the electric green numbers.

“Grace!” he yelled, waving his arms as he moved in front of the numbers so she could better see him.

“Theo?” she asked.

Moving forward, she propped herself up on an elbow and turned on the bedside lamp. “What are you doing here?” she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“I need your help,” he said, tone beseeching.

“What do you mean?” she asked, looking down at him, dark hair disheveled.

“It’s Sophie, I think she’s, well I think she’s not quite herself and I’m worried,” he said.

Grace frowned. “Not quite herself, I don’t know what you mean?” she commented, perplexed.

“She’s becoming more aggressive, doing things, you know, like sexual things,” He said softly, looking away.

Grace yawned, “You brought that on yourself,” she said with a little chuckle. Reaching over him, she clicked on the lamp on the night stand.

“I know, I encouraged it at first, I thought it would be fun, but not like this, she was so aggressive, she, I don’t know, like I didn’t matter, all that mattered was her,” he said, describing her most recent use of him in graphic detail.

Grace arched an eyebrow, “Truly?” she asked.

He nodded, “That’s why I need you to help. I need you to get me to my parents, I know my dad has been looking for me, Sophie said so,” he requested.

Reaching down, Grace closed her delicate hand around his torso and upper thighs. Bringing him close, she smelled him, inhaling Sophie’s scent clinging to him.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

She smiled and with the tip of her tongue traced the side of his unshaven face, savoring the taste of his sweat mingled with Sophie’s dried secretion.

“Grace?” he said, alarm growing in his voice.

“You know how lucky you are?” she asked, swinging her legs over the side of her bed and sitting upright.

“Grace, I don’t understand,” he protested.

“You don’t, she is a very special person,” she said, standing up and walking across the room. Opening her door, she strolled down the hall toward Sophie’s room.

“What are you doing?!” he demanded, voice getting panicked.

Grace rapped softly on the door but there was no answer. Checking the handle, finding it unlocked, she crept quietly into Sophie’s room, looking at her slumbering roommate lying naked atop the rumpled bed, the faint odor of sex lingering faintly in the air.

“Sophie?” Grace called.

“Grace!” Theo said, “Please! For crying out loud, what are you doing?” he asked, starting to thrash as best he could restrained in her head.

Sophie began to rouse, a dreamy expression on her pretty face. “Grace,” she said, half smiling.

Grace smiled back and extended the hand holding Theo.

Sophie frowned, trying to focus in the weak light at the object being presented to her.

“He came to my room, trying to get me to help him take him to his parents,” she said.

A frown replaced the smile on her face, deepening as Sophie looked at Theo. “So, one girl is not enough for you? You want to go out and get another one? The age old male fantasy, a threesome with two women?” she said, nodding.

“No,” he protested, “That’s not why I went to see Grace, you’re changing Sophie.”

She smiled, “I’m awakening Theo, thanks to you. I was missing out and now my eyes are being opened,” she explained.

He shook his head, “The things you’re doing to me,” he pleaded.

“With you, we’re on this journey together, and if you want to try a threesome, Grace is beautiful,” she said, looking toward the dark haired woman. “What do you think?”

Grace smiled shyly, “I think I would like that very much,” she volunteered.

Sophie raised her eyebrows, a smile on her full lips, “I wasn’t sure she would be willing Theo, but you hear that, it looks like you’re in luck, you are about to live that ultimate fantasy,” she said, rising from the bed and moving close to Grace. Looking down at Theo, she cupped Grace’s right breast through her pajama top.

Grace let out a sigh.

Theo shook his head, “No,” he wailed.

Sophie’s cell phone rang, the ringtone ‘evil empire’ from Star Wars. She frowned and disengaged, “It’s Dr. Featherstone,” she said.

Grace watched Sophie, Theo just looked down at his feet.

A broad smile spilt Sophie’s face. “I’ll meet you at your place in twenty minutes,” she said. Ending the call, she put her cell back on the desk. “We’re going to have to put our play on hold.” She paused a moment, looking from Grace to Theo then back. “You should get better acquainted with him,” she suggested.

“Are you sure?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course,” she said, chuckling softly. “I have to go.”

Two birds, one Featherstone

Olivia escorted Ted up to the third floor lab area connected to the GCR project, clicking on the overhead fluorescent lights, crackling as they spilled white light over the floor.

Ted stepped in, looking around the room. “What is it you do here?” he asked.

“Well unfortunately this research project has been recently terminated, but we are trying to salvage some of its components for a new project,” she explained.

Ted seemed to examine everything. After checking her watch at least a half a dozen times, she got the impression the big man was in no particular hurry to leave.

“Excuse me, I’ve got a call to make,” she said, walking to her office and closing the door. Pulling out her cell phone, she pulled up Sophie’s contact and dialed.

“Hello,” Sophie replied on the other end of the line.

“Your missing boyfriend’s father is here, snooping around. He threatened to, his words, not mine, rip this building apart brick by brick to find out what’s happened to his son. I am going to oblige him, shrink him and dispose of him,” Olivia said.

“No,” said Sophie, “I want him,” she added, nodding, a smile crossing her lips as she visualized the big man brought low.

“What?” Olivia asked.

“Shrink him down and give him to me. I want him,” she repeated.

“It’s too dangerous, if he gets away, we’ll be exposed, I already have once crisis on my hands at the moment,” she said.

“Don’t worry, I’ll look after Ted Stillwell. What do you mean by crisis?”

“Clayton has escaped into my apartment complex earlier tonight,” Olivia revealed.

“What? How?” Sophie asked.

“He started a fire in my apartment and somehow slipped out,” Olivia said.

“You obviously searched your apartment,” Sophie said.

“It is possible he’s found a very good place to hide, but I was pretty thorough,” she stated.

Sophie paused. “Why don’t you look after Mr. Stillwell and I’ll meet you at your apartment in twenty minutes?”

“Okay, see you soon,” Olivia said, disconnecting the call. Returning her phone to her pocket, she exited the office.

“Ted,” she said, warm smile on her face, “Let me show you some of our technology.”

“Sure,” replied Ted, following Olivia into the room housing the remnants of the GCR.

“That’s pretty impressive,” he commented, as the machine started to emit a high pitched whine as it built momentum. “What’s it do?” he asked, turning around, but she had already vacated the room. The machine pulse and he felt the wave hit him, staggering him backward a step. The strange sensation emanating through his whole body.

He held his hands up, looking at them in wonder as the tingling sensation encompassed his whole body. A cramp ripped through his abdomen, doubling him over as his stomach emptied itself. Everything got blurry but seemed to be growing expanding, he vomited again.

She walked into the room and dropped to her knees near him as he vanished into his clothes. Sifting through the garments, she found him, but she was having a near impossible time trying to grab him. He was wiggling and thrashing like a fish, slipping her hand. “Hold still for Christ’s sakes!” she cracked as he somehow wriggled free again. He tried to burrow back into his shirt, but she finally managed to capture one of his legs, and quickly lift him high up off the floor. Seeing the ground getting further away, he grew still for fear of falling.

Getting to her feet, she exited the room with a fast stride and walked to Sophie’s desk where she took a strand of scotch tape and proceeded to wrap him much the way a spider would a fly trapped in her web.

“There!” she said, glowering down at his near fully encased body. “I hope it pulls out every single hair on your body when that comes off,” she remarked.

He said something, she was pretty sure it was not very flattering judging by the sullen expression on his face. Picking him up brought him over to her purse and tucked him inside.