Kelli and I had finished getting ready before Jess, so we decided to wait in the common area for everyone else. We drew a lot of attention from the other guests in our cocktail dresses, mine a strapless silver piece and Kelli in a classic black halter, making us pretty much the sexiest pair in the place. I noticed, however, that Jasmine was already waiting with Matt, and the disgusted look she gave us was readable from a mile away. Still, they were a part of our group so we sat down and joined them while waiting for Jess to finish.
"Well aren't you two ladies a vision of loveliness and sophisticated sexuality," Matt said with a grin as he stood to greet us. "I think the two of you just sucked every last bit of oxygen from the room."
At his comment, Jasmine stood up with a huff and walked off in anger to go get another drink at the bar across the room, and Matt followed her with his eyes, the confused look evident on his face.
"What did I do," he asked, bewildered.
"First, Matt," I replied as I took a seat with Kelli opposite where both had been sitting, and punctuated my words by wagging my finger at him. "You commented on how sexy the two of us are in front of your girlfriend. That could truly be considered a blunder of epic proportions."
Kelli giggled at my comment, but was shaking her head at Matt as well, as she was in complete agreement.
"I would apologize, profusely, if you want to repair that issue. And do it soon or you are toast," I added to my previous observation. "Second, I don't know if you have noticed this, but Jasmine has had a kind of a hate thing going on towards us since we met you all at Paul's performance. So you brought attention to the sexiness of two women that she already was inclined to dislike from the beginning. You should be more observant."
"Hey, I was just trying to pay a compliment, but I get your point," Matt conceded. "As for why she doesn't like you, I think it has to do with the values her parent's raised her with. I know that she is not anti-gay, because we have gay and lesbian friends. She did express some concern at your somewhat open relationship, and I wonder if that might be her problem."
"That might be part of it, but there is something more that I can't put my finger on Matt," I replied to him and then pointed over to where Jasmine was still at the bar. "Either way, you need to go over there right now and fix your error."
When he hesitated for a moment, Kelli threatened to kick his ass and post the video so that everyone would see he got beat by a girl in a cocktail dress. Matt just chuckled and shook his head at the threat, but he did go to Jasmine and talk to her for the rest of the time that we waited. Kelli and I just shook our heads and chuckled to ourselves at his error, and discussed his chances of fixing the problem.
Not long after Jess finally arrived and let us know that a driver would be there soon. She was stunning in a form fitting dress that was a deep navy, and while it was not sequined it did have a sparkly shimmer that made her every curve seem to dance with captured light. The trip to the club, which was really more of a lounge that served food and drinks, took no time at all once we got underway.
We met up with some of the junior execs that Jess would be working with as she learned the ins and outs of her family's company, and the dinner and wine was top notch. There was some good music as well, and I enjoyed dancing with both Kelli and Jess. I even saved a dance or two for the guys that had come to socialize with her. They were fun to be around, and they had that seriously sexy Scottish accent that could melt hearts with just a few words. They flirted with us like crazy, but were respectful and understood when Kelli and I said that we were together. It was probably one of the best nights on the trip and all of my cares had been left behind for a while.
After a couple of hours the boys decided that they wanted to enjoy an after dinner drink and asked us all if we would join them in having a spot of brandy. We all agreed, and since the drinking age was eighteen here there was no problem with Kelli and I joining in. We both agreed to limit ourselves, though, since we had already had a fair amount of wine.
The bottle that was brought over was clearly very expensive and the flavor of the mellow liquor danced on my tongue for many minutes after each sip. It was also apparent that the brandy chosen was quite potent. After just a couple of sips I could feel a slight buzz start at the base of my neck and I began to feel extremely warm as an almost numbing sensation crawled its way into my head. I was concerned that it was making me feel this way that fast, so I put my glass down on the table and tried to get up to go wash my face in an attempt to clear my head.
As I struggled to rise there I noticed two things. The first is that everyone in our group was either collapsed or barely conscious, and my eyes shot to the glasses of brandy that we had all sipped from. The other thing that burrowed its way into the fuzziness in my head was the same feeling of being watched that I felt at Paul's performance, and with that feeling came a burst of hate that made me grab my head in pain. The last thing that I was aware of, after realizing we were all well and truly fucked, was the feeling of something large and heavy slamming into the side of my face, leaving me to sink into the inky blackness of unconsciousness.
The cold dampness of the air and the smells of a wooded area tickled my nostrils as my mind slowly clawed its way back to lucidity. The debilitating effect of whatever had been put in our drinks had worn off, but my head was still in a lot of pain. I remembered being struck across the face, and I figured that was where the incessant throbbing in my head was coming from. I kept my eyes closed and just listened for a minute, hoping that I could gather some sort of information about where I was and who might be here with me.
It was not very long, however, before I heard a slight sound which was followed by the sharp sting of a hefty slap to my cheek. One or two seconds passed and my head was again rocked by a full strength slap to my face, and I felt the throbbing in my head increase in intensity. The second strike had been a surprise, but I had the timing of it now.
Just as I sensed the third blow was about to make contact, my eyes shot open, and with blinding reflexes my hand grasped the wrist of my attacker before they could connect. Just as fast, my foot planted itself in the center of their chest, and I heaved with all of the strength I could muster. I saw the body of the woman in green fly over my head, and heard the grunt of her inelegant landing as I flipped up to my feet and set myself in a defensive crouch.
"Now, now," the woman admonished me in a mocking voice, causing a spark of anger to ignite in my chest. "Let's have none of that you fucking slut. You should already know that we have your friends, and your precious Kelli, so settle your shit down or we will kill her now and just be done with it."
It was actually happening, and realizing it made my heart sink like a stone. This was before the beginning of my dream, a part of events that I had never seen because it always started while I was running. The spark of anger got a little bit hotter, and I clenched my fists in preparation to fight, and that is when I felt something that I had not expected.
I could sense Kelli, just like I had in the dream world, but where she was full of terror during those nightmares, the only thing I felt from her right now was a calm irritation. This was something different, and I recalled Millicent's advice when she had asked me to pay attention to those little details in the dream, and now I knew why. I looked the woman in the face, though I could not see into the hood of her cloak, and I stood up straight to face her with strength rather than fury.
"Actually, I don't think you will do anything to her yet," I replied in a nonchalant voice, and I gave a slight yawn that I hoped would frustrate her. "If I remember, you still need me to activate some standing stones, and your Neko slaves have yet to make their appearance."
The low growl coming from the hooded woman let me know that my attitude had struck a nerve, and I decided I would do everything possible to keep her off balance.
"I don't think you really understand your situation," she countered. "We hold the cards here, not you. So do yourself and your friends a favor and just cooperate."
"Yeah, you do have most of the deck in your hand. I'll give you that," I said, and I continued to mock her a little with my voice. "But we have the only trump card in the game, which apparently you have not figured out yet. So here is what we will do. I will activate your stones, and afterwards you will tell me who you are and why you are doing this. Then we will go and talk to your... Friend or master? I'm guessing master because you don't seem that smart."
"Shut the fuck up you god damned whore," she screamed at me, and I could feel a spike of hatred in her reaction.
"No. You seemed to think that things would go your own way, but I am not going to play your game by your rules, because I don't have to. Just point me to the first marker, tell me which pattern to follow, and get the cat girls in front of me now. I want them to run with me, because we have so much to talk about."
"I will personally gut your tramp of a girlfriend if you..."
"If you lay a finger on her I will break your fucking neck in one second," I interrupted her, and the tone of my voice made her pause for just a moment. "You get me started on activating this magic thing you have going on here, and get my sisters in front of me now, or I will use all of my available senses and find where Kelli is, and I will free her after I tear you and your master apart."
She pulled out the silver knife I remembered from the dream and stalked towards me, cursing me at every step, and I put myself in the defensive stance that Sensei Rick had made me go over and over last week. I was suddenly very grateful for his instruction.
Once the woman had closed the distance with me, she reached out to try and take one of my hands, and I remembered that my blood was what activated the stones in my dream. I decided right there that I was not even going to allow whoever this was to have even the slightest bit of control of the situation, so I use my reflexes and one of the grapple techniques I had just learned to bind her wrist, after which I punched it hard enough that she lost her grip on her knife and dropped it. This woman was in over her head and had no idea how much.
"Now, now," I chided as I picked up her knife and sliced my own right hand to get the blood to flow. "I can take care of myself, thanks."
I tossed the blade at her feet and gave her a look of utter contempt, and I could feel what little control she had slipping from her in a haze of rage and hate.
"Where is the first stone I need to activate," I asked, and she whipped her hand out to indicate the direction. "Good, we're getting somewhere. Is there any special order I need to do this in, or can I just run in a big circle?"
She explained the route that I needed to take, still seething because I was jerking her around, but I did pay careful attention to what I had to do.
"Ok. I will get started, but your two pets had better be at the first stone before I get there or I promise you I will find Kelli myself and, well, it would be very bad for you."
"They will be there, bitch," she spat, and for a minute I wondered if I had pushed things too far. "But now I think I'll make you watch as we kill her by cutting her up an inch at a time."
After that parting comment she stormed off into the dark of the night where I could no longer see her.
I wondered if I had carried that a bit too far, but I knew from the original dream that their goal was to collar me and force me to be a subservient slave, bound with whoever her master was. Kelli seemed to think that since they would not be able to break the ward that gave us a measure of protection. I realized, though, that the ward would only protect us for so long. The fact that these people would go to these lengths to try and enslave me meant that they would probably cut their losses and kill us both rather than lose out on capturing me with my Neko abilities intact.
Time was against us so I needed to get to where Kelli was as soon as possible so that something could be figured out. That meant putting the first part of our captor's plans in motion, so I ran. I ran like the wind, through the chill and damp forest of my nightmare, feeling the whip of the branches on my naked body, just as I remembered them. But this time I was not terrified nor angry. I ran with purpose and I focused on the calm resolve that I felt from Kelli deep within my mind.
The run through the Scottish forest might have been pleasant if I wasn't running through the real life landscape of my nightmares. In fact, if I had been honest with myself, I was still pretty damn scared. I was surprised, however, that I was not feeling nearly the same level of terror and helplessness.
Millicent and Kelli's words came to me over and over as I ran and I had two startling realizations. I was still scared, but I had knowledge, gifts, and tools that I didn't have in my nightmare. The other difference was that whoever the woman in green was, she had so little skill that her power in the real world was insignificant at best. It wasn't much, but these two thoughts served to steel my mind against the worst of my fears.
Within some minutes I arrived at the first stone that I was to activate, and I stopped in the clearing and stared. There before me, standing to each side of the ancient monolith, were two Neko, the ones from both my dream and the history book. Of that I was certain. And just like in my dream, the two of them spoke with the same odd cadence, where one finished the thought of the other.
"Hello sister..." the one chimed in her musical lilt.
"...it is good to..." continued the other.
"...see you well," and the completed sentence was finished by the first of them to speak.
I really could not have been sure in my dream from weeks ago, but with the moonlight shining down on the clearing we were in, it was clear that these two Neko were twins. Everything about them was identical, except for their hair color. Rather than speak to them immediately, I moved forward and smeared my blood on the stone, which activated with its sickly green glow, then I stepped back and faced them both.
"Hi," I replied with a jaunty wave, injecting as much cheer into my voice as I could. "You two were once bound to McAlister, weren't you?"
"You know..."
"...of our history."
"Yes, I do know a little of your history. I have a question, though. Do you always finish each other's thoughts like that?"
"What do..."
"...you mean? We do not..."
"...understand."
I was trying to keep them talking and occupied for a bit so that I could gather all of the details about them that I could before moving on. I found it odd that they spoke the way they did, but I realized that that could just be their closeness and the fact that they were Neko. They were both naked, and their bodies were slender and lithe with petite breasts. The other noticeable thing about them was that they were dirty and unkempt, and looked like it had been weeks since they had eaten a proper meal. They were well and truly slaves.
"Umm, one of you starts to talk, but then stops, and the other one of you finishes what is being said," I replied, again just stalling for time. "Why do you do that?"
"We have..."
"...always talked..."
"...like this. It is just..."
"...the way we are."
While they were explaining this to me I scrutinized the black collars with the arcane symbols that were fastened around their necks. The collars connected to their wrists and ankles with similar black shackles and chains, and I remembered in the dream how the collar acted to both bind me physically, and force that unnatural bond upon me. It made me wonder how long the two had been in perpetual servitude. I could not see anything about the devices that would be of immediate help, but I wanted to be prepared for anything now.
"Ok. I have to head to the next stone. Will you follow, or will you already be there when I arrive?"
"We shall leave now..."
"...and meet you at..."
"...the stone. You must..."
"...hurry sister. He grows..."
"...angry and impatient."
I nodded to them as I took off in the direction of the next stone, watching as they swiftly outpaced my attempts to keep up. They probably had more knowledge of the area than I did, and they had confirmed that they both had been around for quite a number of years. They also confirmed that whoever it was that was in charge was a man, which was information that I did not have before. Now I just had to be careful and observant so that I would be prepared to get us out of a bad situation if the chance came along.
Running through the forest allowed me to think, and I kept my mind on Kelli's still steady sense of calm, and Millicent's insistence that this journey was necessary. I think it was these thoughts that were keeping the burning anger that I remembered from my dreams at bay, and that was a relief. I needed a clear head right now.
I managed to get four of the five stones activated with no sight of the woman in green. I managed to learn very little else from the twin Neko because it appeared that their default mode was silent. When I looked at the bonds that they shared I was not surprised that there was a thick, bright cord of love shared between them. What almost caused me to gasp in shock was the equally thick bond that burned between them and myself. I suppose it could have been the Neko kinship we shared, but it was so powerful that I suspected that there was much more to the mystery.
The two sisters had disappeared by the time I found myself approaching the final standing stone, and as I made my way closer I caught the scent of the woman in green. She moved from within a small stand of trees, and I caught the glint of the silver knife in her hand.
"It took you long enough, bitch," she sneered as she leaned against the last stone that I would have to activate. "Now you can activate the last stone, we will collar you, and you will finally get what is coming to you."
"You know, I am not sure what I did to you that has you so damn pissed at me. You're kinda going overboard."
"Overboard," she almost screamed at me. "You've taken everything from me!"
The attack was sudden, but unsurprising, and even with the minimal amount of training that I had received to this point I was able to avoid it. It was apparent that this woman had no fighting skills, and she had not improved from when we had fought in the dream. When she could not do anything to me, she stepped back and just held her knife out at me, trying to be threatening.
"I've had enough from you, you little whore, so now you are going to do what I say or your precious Kelli starts loosing fingers."
I was about to antagonize her some more, but I felt the first twinges of fright come through the bond from Kelli, and I realized that playing my game was probably not going to last much longer. For a moment I wondered if the ward that protected me would block the magic of the collar they wanted to place on me, and I made a split second decision to trust in the magic, to trust Kelli and Millicent, and made my next move.
"Ok. You can calm down," I replied, and I held up my hands in surrender. "I will activate your stone, but then you have to tell me who you are and why you feel you need to punish Kelli and me. After that, I will let your little kitten slaves put your collar around my neck and I will go where you want without a fight. Agreed?"