Gesundheit

Once Simone had left the bathroom, Dustin cautiously moved around the bottom of the cabinet until he near enough to the door frame he could peer into the other room.

The women were lying atop the bed, the lamp on the night table closest the door was on as the two women looked and sounded like they were still making out.

Turning back, Dustin saw Charles out near the middle of the floor, squinting up at the large beveled mirror over the sink in the counter.

“She knew we were here,” Charles hissed, eyes wide now as he looked up at her drawing.

John walked out beside Charles to see what the shorter boy was looking at, “It’s a heart,” he said, frowning.

“She knows,” Charles repeated, voice urgent, panicked. “Why else would she draw a heart?” he asked.

John motioned Dustin over. The lanky blond loped over to join the others. “What do you think?” John asked, pointing up at the finger drawn heart on the mirror.

Dustin frowned and shook his head. “I don’t know, a warning of some type,” he replied with a shrug of his shoulders, “What I do know is this is our chance to try and get downstairs,” he said, “While they, ah, get all hot and bothered.”

The two other boys nodded.

“I think it’s a trap,” Charles said, grabbing Dustin by the arm.

Dustin frowned. “Could be. But if you’re right and she does know we’re here, then being here is not good for us, right?”

Charles nodded slowly.

“C’mon, let’s go,” John said.

Dustin walked over, Charles in tow. “I need another shoe lace,” he said.

“What for?” John asked, eyes on the women not Dustin.

“I have an idea,” he said.

“Pretty risky,” John said.

Charles nodded in agreement. “I think we should stay together, the last time we split…” he left the rest unsaid.

“You guys try and creep around the side wall and get under the bed and I’ll go for the closet,” Dustin said, removing the hair tie from over his shoulder and handing it to John. “Wait for me there.”

John gave him a speculative look before nodding and looping the hair tie over his shoulder.

“You guys go over to that side of the door and when I give the signal, we’ll all move simultaneously,” he instructed.

Lining up on either side of the door, Dustin peered out and nodded. John nodded back and together he and Charles followed the wall around until they were beside the far side night table. Meanwhile, Dustin crept in the opposite direction, vanishing into the shadowy darkness of the closet.

In the closet, Dustin found the companion lace to the single lace used in the rope. Climbing up, he began to systematically pull the lace through the eyelets. As he picked up speed, microscopic fibers released by the friction action of passing through the narrow eyelets became airborne. As Dustin breathed, he incidentally drew some of those same fibers into his respiratory tract, tickling the back of his throat and irritating his sinuses. About halfway through the process, he needed to stop to stifle a cough. He tried to swallow to calm the persistent sensation, without success. He tried to clear his throat as silently as possible, when suddenly and unexpectedly he sneezed, an explosion of noise in his mind. He began pulling the lace through the last two eyelets as fast as he could.

Simone suddenly sat upright in the bed, “Did you hear that?” she asked Elizabeth, turning her head slightly and listening intently to the silence.

Elizabeth cocked her head and frowned, shaking her head. “I don’t hear anything,” she said.

“I think we may have a little visitor here,” Simone said playfully, moving forward to the end of the bed and flopping onto her stomach, feet to the headboard, arms folded under her as she looked into the darkness of the closet.

Elizabeth hadn’t heard the sound, but positioned herself similarly beside Simone.

The blonde looked at her and smiled. “In there,” she said, eyes moving to the darkened doorway of the closet.

Dustin felt his heart pounding in his chest, his palms sweaty. He quickly rolled up the last of the short lace and moved deeper into the shadows, looking for a place to hide.

John and Charles successfully circumnavigated the room, slipping under the bed unseen, listening to the conversation above. John looked at Charles, the smaller boy eyes round with fear. Using hand gestures, John motioned for them to move toward the door, expression on his face conveying the urgent nature to move. Charles nodded quickly. Around the night table they ran, crossing under the bed and around the other night stand. John stopped to peek up at the bed. Pulling Charles after him, they snuck out into the hall and began running as fast as their little legs would carry them toward the back stairs.

Getting up off the bed, Simone knelt down in the doorway to the walk-in closet, her shadow adding to the darkness within. “Fee fi fo fum,” she said, grin on her face.

 Elizabeth came to stand behind her, eyes trying to penetrate the fuliginous veil.

Dustin could see her massive frame silhouetted in the door as he slid into the toe of one of her shoes near the end of the closet. Twisting sideways, he braced his feet on one side and his shoulders on the other in an attempt to secure himself.

Reaching up, Simone flicked on the light switch and warm light bathed the closet. “You know I felt you watching us John, Elizabeth and I, when we were in the shower,” she said coyly.

Dustin tried to breathe evenly, counting to four on inhale and then exhale, his heart racing like a hummingbird’s. He could hear the sound of footwear being moved.

Simone looked inside another shoe, tapping the heel in her hand to force anything lodged near the toe to fall before handing it to Elizabeth.

Suddenly the shoe he was in was being lifted off of the ground. He pushed as hard as he could with his legs to drive his shoulders and back against the opposite side of the shoe, he also used his hand to press down. The shoe tipped down, light spilling inside before it was suddenly flipped around. The first impact, caused him to slip a little, the pilfered shoe lace fell down into the heel.

“We may have a winner,” Simone said, tapping the heel of the shoe against her hand again, this time a little harder. Elizabeth knelt down beside her, eyes on the shoe.

The jarring impact caused Dustin’s feet to lose purchase and he tumbled head first down into the heel. Simone rolled the shoe onto its side and spilled the captured boy into her open hand.

“Aha!” she exclaimed, then frowned, Dustin?” she said, a surprised look on her face. “You are the little shoe bandit?” she queried, grinning down at the wide eyed toe headed boy in her hand.

He rolled to his side, trying anything to just get off the hand, but she simply closed her fingers over him and pinned him to her palm before he could succeed.

Simone turned to Elizabeth, raising her hand, “It’s Dustin,” she said, showing her the trapped little form. “Dustin, this is Elizabeth,” she introduced.

“Hello Dustin,” Elizabeth said, smiling at the frightened lad. Turning to the other girl, “I thought he was supposed to be downstairs,” she said.

Simone reached down and took the boy by one of his legs, lifting him aloft and dangling him a few inches, feet to him, in front of her face. “I must say I was not expecting to find you in the closet,” she said, shaking her head. “How on earth did you possibly manage to get up the stairs?” she asked.

Eyes wide, he kept his mouth shut, not out of some mock bravado, he just thought he might vomit.

“C’mon then,” she said, rising to her feet and turning toward the bed.

Watching the ground recede at an alarming rate, he stomach did revolt, rewarding him with a mouthful of half-digested cookie as she moved.

Climbing up onto the bed, the women each lay on their sides, Simone on the left side of the king sized bed, Elizabeth on the right, facing one another, depositing Dustin in the space between their exquisite naked bodies.

“Cat got your tongue?” Simone asked, reaching down with her left hand and touching the side of his face tenderly with the tip of her index finger.

“You said you could sense us, how?” he asked, kneeling on one knee.

“Us?” asked Simone, flicking a quick glance at Elizabeth.

Jumping up off the bed, force enough to throw Dustin from his feet, Elizabeth closed the bedroom door, while Simone quickly scooped up Dustin and climbing off the bed, put him in one of the suspended cages.

Simone smiled as she looked around the room, eyes bright, “Come out come out wherever you are little darlings,” she said, tongue tucked into the corner of her mouth, as she moved slowly back toward the walk-in closet.

Dustin climbed to his feet and grasped the bars of his cage, a hint of smile touching the corner of his mouth, silently praying he bought enough time for Charles and john to flee.

Descent

By the time Charles reached the stairs, wheezing, John had already set up the straw and was one step down. Wrapping his leg around the straw, he slid down it much like a firemen’s pole.

“What about Dustin?” Charles asked, still taking huge gulps of air.

“For now he’s on his own just like we are,” John said, positioning the straw and dropping another step.

 Charles copied, sliding down. “Do you think he’s okay?” he asked.

“Don’t know,” John replied re-positioning the straw and dropping down.

Again Charles followed suit. Arriving at the next step, “What’ll think they might do to him?” he asked.

John let out a sigh, “I don’t know Charles, fuck man. Dustin is pretty clever, he’ll figure something out. As to what and why, I don’t know!” he said, voice getting louder, frustration and anger bleeding into his voice.

Charles looked down. Step after step the pair made their down to the lower floor. On the second to last step, John made it down, but as Charles attempt to descend, suddenly the straw bent in half and broke. Charles fell approximately ten feet by his scale, landing awkwardly on his right foot.

John came over, kneeling down beside the fallen boy. “You okay?” he asked, putting his hand on Charles shoulder.

“I think so,” Charles said, getting to his feet with John’s help and putting some weight on his foot to test it. Looking at John he nodded, “It’s alright,” he assured.

John nodded. “We still got one step to go,” he said, looking over the edge at the drop.

“What are we going to do?” Charles asked.

John looked at Charles and then at the drop and frowned. “I’m going to hang over the edge, I want you to climb down me and drop from my feet if you can, that way it’ll not be as far for you,” John said.

“I don’t know,” Charles said, looking down.

“I guess we each jump then,” John said.

“Wait,” Charles said, “Okay we’ll do it your way.”

John nodded. Moving to the edge, he lowered himself over.

In theory, the idea seemed sound, until Charles tried to climb over John, dislodging his hand and the pair of them fell to the ground below, each getting the wind knocked out of them.

“Look, the cookie is still there,” Charles said, sitting up and pointing at the dish.

John got to his feet, giving himself the once over. He reached out a hand to Charles and helped him up. “Let’s grab what we can carry, and find a good place to hole up,” he suggested.

Charles nodded. Together they walked over to the cookie, breaking off manageable pieces.