F
U T U R E B A R R I E R
( The
4th Novel )
Secret Technology,
Unrequited Love, Absolute Vengeance
© July
2019
- Written by David
Wicker
Please do
not reprint without permission
CHAPTER 15 -
"Panther Tracks"
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This chapter is
Rated: TEEN
As I had no other clothes to speak of, I arrived in my robe.
And apparently this was acceptable while everyone else had dressed nicely for this formal type of dinner.
There were all kinds of good things already on the table. Sliced and baked ham sweetened with pineapple, five different kinds of vegetables including a 7-layer green bean roasted casserole, a green salad and fixings for it, and mashed potatoes with butter.
Finally for treats there was an assortment of glass trays with anything from chocolate covered peanuts to real fruit-shaped marzipan and yogurt raisins.
My tummy fairly rumbled at the sight. No girl had started eating yet so I tucked a napkin around my neck and waited. Apparently we were all waiting for Angel, the host, and she finally arrived.
She nodded to the others and they all bowed their head in prayer. Likewise I did the same.
After a fairly lengthy prayer blessing not only everyone here and in the hospital but relatives I was certain the girls had not seen for many a year, Angel then rose her head, placed her hands on the table and spoke quietly, "Okay. Dig in."
And did they ! All polite mannerism was gone now and it was a true free-for-all ! Grab what you can before it's gone. I learned very quickly to take my glass plate and set it on my lap as if it were on the table, other girls greedily grabbed what was on it.
I managed to get a good portion of the ham, vegetable casserole, mashed potatoes, and the whole silver tray of Marzipan while everyone else had grabbed whatever remained.
With no food left on the table, everyone then sat down to eating what they had managed to grab for their plate. And strangely unlike the explosion of rudeness that occurred earlier, everyone was now eating sedately and quietly.
Angel then took her spoon and tinged her glass soundly to get everyone's attention. Everyone stopped eating and so did I. She spoke, "Is there any outstanding business to be had this week ?"
Skunk to my immediate left immediately spoke up, "Welcoming our newest member to the ward !"
Angel tilted her head quizzically, "You mean, Cube ? I mean, Dev, is that who ?"
Skunk nodded.
Angel let a wry smile play on her lips, "Well I suppose there is the - " and then was drowned out by everyone yelling and chanting, "Initiation ! Initiation ! Initiation !"
Angel nodded her head in agreement, "Initiation it is then. The people have spoken." She then turned to face me, "Do you accept ?"
I didn't like the way everyone was leering at me at the moment, all except Mouse who remained quiet and looking worried. "Do I have a choice ?" I asked Angel.
She shook her head, "None whatsoever."
I sighed. All the other girls looked hopeful that I would. Heaven knows what would've happen if I showed disfavoritism. Angel did tell me that I didn't have a choice so I said, "Then I accept."
There was thunderous hooting and hollering now along with Skunk smacking me hard on my back in appreciation.
Angel spoke loud to be heard, "Any OTHER business ?"
Mouse then spoke - seemingly in disgust, "I don't want any part of this initiation."
With that everyone around her booed and hissed in negativity.
But Angel nodded, "Now now, be nice, girls. Mouse, you have that right. However for punishment in not partaking of our welcoming ritual, take your food with you now and retire to your room. You are confined to your quarters for the rest of the day."
"Gladly." Mouse said with a smirk and left the table.
I was more than curious now, "Is there a problem ?"
Angel replied, "No. No problem, Dev. You enjoy your meal. We'll do the initiation tomorrow afternoon."
Angel then looked up to see if anyone had anything else to add. There wasn't, so she sat back down.And with that all the girls started talking at once. Not about me, no but about absolutely everything else. Anything that was of moot interest was on their tongues. It was quite a dizzy blur.
I sat down to my meal when suddenly both my legs were grabbed by the girls other legs under the table. To my left and right. I felt the warmth of their bare legs right up against my thighs. I swallowed hard and looked to my left to see Skunk beaming a broad smile of seeming innocence to me.
As I looked I saw her hand moving slightly under the table and felt a cool wetness against my inside thigh. My eyes grew wide with shock when I realized she was writing something there.
I looked to my right to see the beaming smile of Blade. After a moment she, too, started to write something on my leg, but this time it was on the knee cap where I knew I could clearly see it once I had left the table.
I turned to look at Skunk who, while still holding my leg in place, had stopped writing and beamed me with a very toothy grin while suggestively dipping her head down for me to read what she wrote there.
I turned in the opposite direction to regard Blade who had what could only be described as a 'hungry' look about her. A few moments passed and she had finished writing what she wanted as well.
I sighed and gave this total disregard though. There really wasn't anything I could do, complain or comment about it, so I finally finished my meal. When everyone had finished, the plates were put aside and one of the other girls brought forth a cake of a design and ingredients I did not recognize. I looked to Angel inquiringly.
Angel explained, "This is a Tres Leche cake, Dev. I think you will find it to be the most delicious cake you have ever eaten."
She stood suddenly and with her knife cut out a generous piece for me and one for her. Then she sat back down, and like before it was a free-for-all as all the other girls dived into the cake with forks, spoons, and sometimes even their their bare fingers.
Once the cake was gone it was silent again. Everyone quietly finished their cake and talked in softer tones now. Both girls had finally released my legs and they were feeling a little numb as they had them pinned so tightly. I touched my finger to the inside of my leg to feel the wetness. Then brought it nonchalantly to my nose.
There was no doubt about it. It was a marks-a-lot, I could tell from the strong alcohol smell. Then I tried touching the writing Blade did. But it didn't smell like a marker, no more like a fruity scent and it looked like wax on my finger. So she must've written on me with her lipstick.
Once dessert was finished, and I had to admit, it was nothing short of excellent, we could each return to our rooms and essentially be done for the day.
I went back to my own room and looked to see what Blade wrote as that was in the front where I could see it. It said, "8."
Sitting on the toilet seat I hiked my leg up over my head to turn my head to read "10" on the back of my calf.
So apparently both girls wanted me to visit them. I decided to take a nice cleansing shower, I never could get enough of those, and going outside my room went down the hall to see where these two girls were.
There were three rooms altogether in that one hallway. 8, 9, and 10.
I tried the handle for number 9 and it was strangely unlocked. I could hear someone inside, giggling at some joke, and that was good enough for me. I didn't want to get involved with these girls, whatever they had in mind, and returned back to my room to read an old paper-book I found in the bottom of the return laundry chute.
It wasn't a great read and round about 10pm I decided to turn off all the lights and get some sleep to be ready for the 'initiation' ritual tomorrow.
Fast asleep I never heard someone in the shadows creep inside my room. Whoever it was they moved with the stealth of a ninja. The figure was quietly working their way towards me, like a stalking panther, and they were just about to my bed when suddenly my door moved again and someone else was entering !
The first figure darted under the bed while the new one walked, and not quite so quietly, over to my bed. The bed sagged slightly as the new figure crept up to regard me asleep.
Just then though the first figure crept out quietly from under my bed to hold a knife poised over the second figure who was completely unaware of them.
The first figure not waiting for a signal, dashed the knife straight through the second's back causing a screech of fear and pain to come out of the second.
I awoke terrified to see two shadowy figures on my bed, one of which had apparently stabbed the first ! There was a bunch of hub-bub outside the door as Angel entered, holding some type of ID card up against the wall which caused all the lights in my room to turn on simultaneously and my bathroom door made a clicking sound.
Apparently the magnetic card was something that could be used to unlock all the doors and turn on all the lights of any domicile, quite possibly for security and safety reasons.
"You b***h !" the first figure said, now seen to be Skunk, clawing at her back to get the knife out where she bled.
"I'm so sorry ! I thought - I didn't think ! What are you doing here, anyways ?" the second figure said, now seen to be Blade.
"Pull it out !" Skunk demanded still reaching her hand behind her, to pull out the knife.
Blade shook her head, "I'm sorry, if I do, it will be a lot worse."
Angel regarded the pair with stern eyes, then me, "Dev ! Do you know anything about this ?"
. . .
Tyr had apparently had a long nap and still no sign of Dempsey. Her door remained unlocked. And she was thinking. If she waited for Dempsey to return, while he might indeed release her mother and her, that would still leave the problem of me - whom they were NOT going to release.
She grumbled but finally got up and told herself that she was going to personally rescue me herself. She stepped out of the room noticing a little nozzle below the window. Examining it she could see that someone could pipe in a new gas to the room which was likely air-tight.
She confirmed this by walking past two other padded room cels where nozzles were attached and looking inside saw the patients were slumped in a corner asleep.
She put her nose near the nozzles which were hissing showing they were turned on and scented the unforgettable smell of that damned tangerine gas. The one they used on her.
She reached for the controls to turn one of them off but stopped herself, "I'm not here to save everyone. Just my Mom, Dev, and his folks." She left the nozzles to continue to spray Tangerine gas in the two rooms where the patients slept under its influence.
With that she crept over to the elevator and saw there were only 4-floors she could go to. But didn't she hear talk earlier of there being a floor five and six ?
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