The Chardon Chronicles: Season One -- The Harvest Festival (32 page)

He knelt at John’s side. The business man
stood over them. He was sipping on another glass of wine. “She
fucked him up but good. He slapped her. Bad idea!” John’s fingers
looked like a jenga tower that collapsed in a pile.

The guard felt for a pulse. “He’s alive. How
long has he been out?”

“Just a minute or two. She kicked the back of
his head.”

The guard looked at the other girls. They
were sitting on the couches, still not sure what happened. He stood
up. He spoke to the room, “Dustin fell down the stairs and broke
his arm. He landed on John. Got it?” The girls nodded.

He walked back out into the hall. The two
business men stopped him. One said, “These girls are wrecked,
right? I mean, how will they obey after that?”

The guard stifled his sense of disgust at the
two vultures, and nodded slightly. “Yes, most likely, but we can’t
make that call.”

He trotted back up the stairs. Demetria was
strolling around the interior of the hall drinking in every detail.
An entourage followed her around the building. She stopped and
turned to face her admirers.

“I am very bored.” She announced curtly. “Is
there something to do?”

“There will be a reception in the garden.”
Reichstaff said. His voice quivered. It was the first time in years
that his gathering had brought one of the gods over. Their mere
presence electrified and almost hypnotized some people. She tweaked
his nose. He gasped.

“Boring…”

Yuri, Saul, Judge Ralph and the Sheriff were
at the back of the group. Yuri glided through the crowd like he was
a snake moving through tall grass. The other three watched with a
sense of shock. Yuri was not in awe of Demetria. He wasn’t sure
what the spectacle was all about. His parents had been part of the
Brotherhood in Russia, then Israel. That’s the only reason he was
initiated into the organization. He ignored the religious
ceremonies, the different cults, and the mythology that was
attached to the group. He found it annoying.

Yuri told her, “We have an operation in
progress. A young girl would be a perfect cover. It could be an
interesting thing to do.”

She paused a moment and regarded Yuri. He was
slender, with a tubular, small body, slightly shorter than her and
about the same weight. He wore thick, gold rimmed glasses and his
clothes were shabby compared to the rest of the crowd who wore
their wealth on every square inch of cloth, leather, and jewelry
that covered their bodies. But he looked at her like she was just a
normal human. She smiled broadly and put an arm around him. Her new
body was a half a head taller than Yuri. Stephanie had been avid in
several outdoors sports, and the body was fit and toned.

She walked with him to the front of the hall
and the entourage followed them a few paces behind, “I feel
completely ridiculous in this outfit.” It was an elaborately
brocaded white gown that shimmered in the soft light of the
building. A master seamstress had labored long hours every day over
the course of three months to make it. “Undress me,” she said to
Yuri.

“Here?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Of course!” she said. She turned slowly and
pulled her hair aside. He fumbled with a zipper for a moment and
pulled it down to the center of her back. “Well?” she asked. He
peeled the gown forward. She pulled her arms free and the gown
slipped down her back. The material was a bit stiff and had a
plastic corset inside. Yuri took a good look at her back. The skin
was white and flawless except for a small birthmark on her left
shoulder. The round globes of her young breasts were visible from
behind, curving away from the graceful arc of her chest. She leaned
forward on the altar and waggled her ass in his face. “Keep going!”
she said and smiled.

He pulled the gown over her hips. Demetria’s
body had a heart shaped, firm ass. The gown fell to the floor.
Demetria wiggled her ass slowly in front of Yuri’s face. The rest
of the congregation watched silently. Yuri regarded her firm legs,
they were in white sheer stockings up to her thighs. Her ass was
bare, and her pudenda was ripe and firm.

She turned around and tousled his hair, then
kicked the dress away. She sat down on the stone altar. The feeling
of the cold stone on her ass was a novelty as was every
sensation.

“Everyone needs to start fucking.” She
announced and grabbed Yuri’s belt.

Reichstaff snapped out of his reverie now
that he had something to do. The rest of the congregation started
to kiss and grope each other. He motioned to the burly guard.
“Strip the girls and bring them up!”

The guard pulled him aside, “One of them
left... In haste.”

“Left?” He was surprised. “The new one?”

“Yes. She apparently knew martial arts. John
is unconscious.”

Reichstaff grimaced slightly and sighed. “Oh
well. Such a waste of our time. Can you take care of it?”

“Of course. We’ll have an ambulance come
after everyone leaves.”

“Ambulance? Oh no. You’ll need to get them
outside away from the hall.”

The guard nodded. “Alright, when it’s dark,
I’ll get them out and make it look like a car accident.”

“Good.” Reichstaff said. “Bring the girls up
now. All they’re good for...”

The guard trotted down the stairs. The
purpose the girls would serve suddenly changed. Instead of being
groomed and weeded out one by one down to a select group, they were
tossed as a bunch onto a different path. They’d be pimped out, sold
off, or traded for favors. But first, they’d be initiated into
their new life by being shared among the men in the hall.

The two business men were still waiting
outside the door when the guard got down the stairs. “Well?” one of
them said impatiently. He was a man in his late fifties, his
forehead was bony where the years had deflated his youthful skin to
a tight shiny covering on his skull. His hands were large and bony,
and the nails were weirdly shiny and manicured.

The guard stepped into the room. “Girls, in
honor of the goddess Demetria, you must remove your clothing. You
will be presented to her as you were when your earthly mother first
gazed upon you. You will be reborn tonight, too.” He said, reciting
a script he’d said several times. All of it a lie. He left the
room, and stifled a sigh and hardened his eyes.

The blonde girl was still in her bra and
panties. All the girls had been put through months of training to
follow odd instructions without question or hesitation. They stood
up and barely glanced at each other. The business man with the bony
head went in the room and helped unzip the dresses. The girls
slipped out of their clothes, revealing a suite of different body
styles that nature’s genius labored for a billion years to produce.
Their training, and the avarice of their parents now turned them
into slaves.

The blonde girl was the queen of the group.
The business man with the bony head eyed her and asked, “How old
are you?”

“I’m fifteen.”

He smiled and sucked his teeth. “Girl, do you
know that you’re a handle I can attach to the cock of any
politician and make him do what I want?”

“No, I didn’t know that.”

“Did you know how dangerous you are?” he
smiled, and stroked her cheek. She was placid and kept eye contact
with him.

“No, I don’t know.”

He rubbed a finger over her lips. “Kiss it.”
she complied. Her lips were soft and full. He motioned to the other
girls, “You go on up.” They filed out of the room, moving awkwardly
because they fought all the natural urge to cover themselves.

“Are you a virgin?” he asked.

“Yes.” she said. She kept her eyes focused on
his.

He scoffed. “Nobody ever touched you? Not a
relative? A teacher?”

“Well, yes. But never intercourse.” Her
cheeks flushed red.

“There it is…” he murmured. “Shame.” She
continued looking at him. He put his hands on her hips and guided
her to sit down on a couch. “Lay back.” he said.

She leaned back against the cushions. Her
feet were still on the floor and her stomach was arched. He knelt
between her legs and gripped both her ankles. He rotated her legs
up in the air so she was exposed.

“I’m going to teach you something.” he said.
“Shame is the most powerful weapon. Even more potent than this.” He
tapped her pubic mound with a finger. He rolled her over. She
looked back over her shoulder. “I own you now.” he said. He rested
a hand on her back. “Do you understand?”

“I think so.”

“Think?!” he barked.

“Yes.” she nodded.

“Good. Don’t think and you can live a good
life and retire when you’re 35. Thinking’s bad. Now, get dressed,
we’re leaving.”

Keith woke up as the night air streamed
through the Healey. “What….. where am I?”

“Dad! Finally. I’m taking us to the Wells
farm!” Chloe’s voice was sharp, but she was steady and in
control.

“What happened?” he sat up in the seat. “I
don’t remember a thing. Just driving down to Hudson, then it’s
black.”

“They must have drugged you.” she said.

“What?” he was startled.

“Yeah, then they took me into a freak show.”
She spit the words.

“What happened?”

“I went into a room, this creepy dude made
one girl undress. She just stood there like a zombie. He slapped
me!”

“What?!” Keith was fully awake.

“I kicked the shit out of two guys and ran.
That was about a half hour ago.”

“Did they follow?” he opened the glove box
and took the gun out. He looked over his shoulder. The road was
dark except for the pool of red from the tail lights.

“No. I was out the door before any of those
freaks knew what happened.”

“Good! Thank god! Honey, I’m so sorry…” he
rubbed his eyes. Guilt weighed on him.

“There’s no way you could have guessed.” she
said. “Anyway, it’s alright. I’m angry beyond belief at those
people. I want to kill them all.”

“There’s something big going on.” Keith said.
“We really dove into the deep end.”

The Austin rumbled down the driveway. All the
lights were on in the house and the Flying Fox’s windows glowed.
Chloe honked the horn repeatedly and pulled to a stop in the drive.
The engine stalled. She ran around to the passenger side.

Robbie, Dana, and Johnny trotted outside.
Tracy and Morgan followed them out.

“Help!” Chloe said, “My Dad’s been
drugged.”

Robbie opened the passenger door and knelt
down by Keith. “You OK?”

“Yeah, I think so, feels like waking up after
anaesthesia.” Keith said. “Help me up.”

Robbie took Keith’s arm and helped him stand.
“Johnny, some help.” he nodded at Keith’s other side. The two men
helped him stump into the house.

Tracy hugged Chloe, who burst into tears and
sobbed.

Dana pet her arm, “What happened?”

Keith held up a hand, “It’s all my
fault.”

Chloe backed up and wiped her eyes with her
arm. “We went to this church, well, this weird temple in Hudson.
They drugged Dad, and tried to rape me or sacrifice me, or god
knows. But I got out of there. They messed with the wrong girl!”
Her eyes flashed.

Dana said, “They sure did!”

Robbie asked, “You said temple?”

Keith answered, “Yeah, this weird building, I
was following a lead…” he handed over his phone to Robbie.

Robbie flipped through the pictures, with a
thoughtful look on his face. He handed the phone to Dana and she
and Johnny looked at them.

“Keith, we’ve got a lot to talk about.”
Robbie said. “You want some coffee?”

“Hopefully without rohypnol?” Keith managed a
smile.

Robbie chuckled, “No, but cream? Actually,
everybody into the library. Lots to discuss.”

Robbie turned on all the lights in the
library. He even walked up to the second floor and plugged in the
large wall fixture that looked like the sun. It shone against the
wall and the frosted glass in the light fixture glowed yellow.

Robbie sat at the head of the table. He put
his arm squarely on its surface. Dana sat close to him on the arm
of the chair. Keith sat on one side of the table near Robbie, and
Johnny sat on the other so the sun lamp was just over his
shoulder.

Morgan took a seat at the other end of the
table. He nervously tapped the armrests. Tracy and Chloe flanked
him.

Dana surveyed the room. “All good?” They all
nodded.

Robbie spoke, “The two of you just stumbled
into our world.”

Keith looked sideways at him. “Chloe’s
mentioned a few things, but can you explain a little better?”

Robbie said, “Let’s start with this.” He
flipped his laptop open and clicked through a few files, then
played a video of their raid on the Nashville Vampires. “Johnny
recorded this through the window.”