The Nightmare Game (35 page)

I began to think that the incredible claims about
the essence and water which Ben and Robert had made were actually gross
understatements. The fact was that, in coming here, I had accidentally stumbled
upon not only the Fountain of Youth, but the Fountain of Beauty as well. Oh,
this was getting more and more thrilling! I let out an excited, giddy laugh and
did a little happy dance on the bathroom’s porcelain floor. Grabbing the glass
once again and drinking down yet more water, this time not from thirst, but
only for good measure, I was aware of my body, of only my body and of how
gloriously, embarrassingly and obscenely good this liquid was causing it to
feel. I stretched with a sleek deliciousness, for I had never, ever, in my
entire life had a body that felt so fabulous on such a profoundly primitive
level. I was as sleek as a cat now, wasn’t I? I was lovely, marvelous, totally
graceful and sensuous. My every nerve felt joyous, alive and alert in a way
that was totally new to me. I was completely invigorated and rejuvenated. I was
new and improved. I buzzed with positive energy and my confidence level was at
an all-time high. I felt bratty, I felt cocky, I felt horny. For what more
could a girl ask, I wondered. I could think of absolutely nothing.

For more than half hour, I wallowed in these
hedonistically sublime sensations; I was drunk with delight from them. This
experience was incredible! It was fabulous! It was unreal! At one point, with
strongest conviction, I felt that whatever secret this place held definitely
needed be marketed. The world needed to know; the world needed access. The next
moment, with just as strong conviction, I changed my mind. Why should Arrosha
even bother, I asked myself. Judging by this mansion and its furnishings, she
was wealthy enough already. She did not need any marketing headaches. No, this
miracle was a perk that she reserved for her group. I now understood what Ben
had meant when he told me that she took excellent care of her people. While
still I had no intention of converting to her religion, perhaps Ben could find
a loophole that would allow me stay here without that one concession, because
beliefs aside, I had to admit that I really did like the perks that came with
this package. Actually, with the exceptions of Geoffrey and the three weird
women, the group as a whole seemed pretty nice. Maybe over time I could get
used to those women’s eccentricities, although I knew I’d never get used to
Geoffrey. He was mean and arrogant and for some reason he didn’t like me at
all, even though I’d done nothing to warrant his attitude. It didn’t bother me
too much, though, because truth be told, I couldn’t stand him either. I had to
wonder exactly how easy it would be for me to be able to avoid him on a regular
basis. Within the bigger picture, he wasn’t even worth considering. He was just
a jerk that I shouldn’t let spoil my fun. Besides, Ben and Illea were so very
good to me that they more than made up for that little shit. Maybe I would wind
up staying with the group after all, if I could. It was just a thought. I’d
have to wait awhile to see how things played out before making up my mind for
good.

Although I was at long last sated, I found room
for one more glass of the miracle water, amazed that after so many refills I
still did not have to pee yet. It was time for me to go to bed because my buzz
was wearing off and I was finally beginning to feel sleepy. Vainly admiring
myself one last time before heading back, I had finally exhausted the
marvelousness of the new me long enough to examine the tattooed body art around
my neck that looked like an imbedded necklace. Why could I still not remember
where I’d gotten such an elaborate job done? How could I possibly have had such
large, extensive work and not be able to recall the parlor that had created it?
Oh, dear, I thought, was I getting my body back in spades while losing an equal
amount of brain? My reflection, looking back at me, told me she thought it was
more than a fair trade. Rather than letting this bother me, I merely struck one
last pose, admiring how the tattoo set off my new face and figure to
perfection. It was time to go to bed. I took the wet towel off my head and
tossed it into a corner, noticing that while my hair had gotten thicker in the
interim, I was far too drowsy now to dwell upon this new miracle. My hair still
damp, I wrapped a dry towel around it in order not to get the pillow wet. I was
too sleepy to try to dry it now, figuring I’d just have to deal with bed head
in the morning.

I unlocked the bathroom doors and filled the glass
once again, just in case I woke up thirsty. I turned off the bathroom light and
I opened the door to my bedroom, noticing that my night vision was better than
perfect as well. I smiled once again at the realization of yet one more gift in
a night full of gifts while I put the glass on my nightstand and crawled back
into bed. As I pulled the covers over me, I remembered that earlier, before I’d
become so ill, there had been something very important and troubling on my
mind, something that I need to know, something that I needed to do. What was
it? Try as I might, I could not recall, even though it had seemed very
disturbing and very important at the time. I remembered thinking that it was
something vital and crucial, a matter of life and death, it seemed. Funny, but
it was completely gone now. When the memory would not come back, I dismissed it
as being probably nothing more than an ominous feeling that stemmed from my
being so sick earlier, a fear of dying from the purge, no doubt. I couldn’t let
it bother me much, because I was feeling too light and elated, too filled with
the wonderfully wholesome and solid sleepiness of a child to want to deal with
it. Whatever it was, I figured it would come back to me when it was ready. And
if it didn’t, I wouldn’t let it worry me.

“After all,” I thought as I lay my head down upon
the soft, caressing pillow, just before I happily slipped back into cozy sleep.
“I guess the old saying’s right. If I can’t remember it, it couldn’t have been
that important in the first place”.

“Ashley,” a soft voice awakened me. “It’s time to
get up.”

“Wha?”

“It’s time to get up,” said Ben.

“What – what time is it?” I ask, almost too groggy
to respond.

“It’s afternoon. It’s past 3:30.”

“Can’t be,” I mumbled, burying my head in the
pillow, needing him to leave so that I could get back to sleep.

“Yes, it is. Here’s the watch I take with me to
the city. See?” He held an antique pocket watch in front of my eyes. One look
at the time brought me to my senses.

“Oh, crap,” I said, forcing myself to sit up,
grabbing the top sheet for cover because I’d gone to bed naked. The towel I’d
wrapped around my head came loose when I sat, landing sloppily onto the pillow.
My hair, disheveled, fell into my face.

“Is everybody else up?” I asked.

“Yep. For hours.”

“Why’d you let me sleep so long?” I mumbled,
blinking up at him as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Without success, I
attempted to comb the hair out of my face with my fingers.

“Because I knew you’d need it. We’ve all been
through the purge ourselves, princess. Sleeping in afterward is
de rigueur
, just a part of the program. Even so, I
have to say that you’ve set a new record, one that I’m sure will remain not
only unmatched, but possibly even unchallenged, for many years, nay, decades to
come.”

“I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“I thought as much. Well, at least you can take
comfort in the fact that the purge is something that you will never have to endure
again.”

“I should hope not. I don’t think I could go
through anything like that a second time.”

“Was it that bad?”

“It was brutal. I can’t remember ever being that
sick. It went on for hours and hours. For a while there, I thought I was going
to die.”

“I am so sorry, Ashley. After you passed out last
night, I was afraid that might be the case. I wish I could have prepared you
better, but I had no way of knowing. It’s never been that bad for any of the
rest of us, so we had no idea that the essence purge was even capable of being
that rough.”

“You mean that I’m the very first to have that
honor?”

“Yes, sad to say. It seems that everything about
the essence hit you particularly hard last night. Even though most of us have
fallen asleep after our first essence experience, we’ve managed to wake up
enough to make it to bed under our own steam.”

“I didn’t?”

“Hon, you were passed out cold. You would have
slept through an explosion.”

“How’d I get up here, then.”

“I carried you. You couldn’t wake up.”

“Oh, I thought that was a dream. Thanks, Ben.”

“No problem. It was just unexpected because
nobody’s ever gone out cold from first essence the way you did. I feel horrible
about not doing a better job of warning you, but my first clue that you might
have an unusually hard purge was when you passed out. By then it was too late.
I feel awful about not watching you more closely to make sure you didn’t take
in too much essence.”

“Don’t feel so guilty, Ben. You didn’t know.
Besides, it’s all over now and I’m still here.”

“I think Illea must have been on the right track
last night before we took you up to bed.”

“How’s that?”

“She thinks that you reacted so strongly because
you’re the only one that’s taken essence without being touched by Arrosha
first. I really can’t think of any other reason for your having had such a bad
time of it last night.”

“Ben, is being touched by Arrosha that important?”

“Apparently, yes. It’s a powerful experience to be
touched by a living Goddess. I don’t know why she chose not to treat you so
differently, but if I’d known that the essence and the purge were going to hit
you that hard, the least I could have done was to prepare you better for it. I
feel like I can’t apologize enough.”

“Stop, Ben. You’re making me feel bad now.”

“Alright, but only if you say so. Listen, are you
up to hearing the stories I promised to tell you later today?”

“Are you kidding? I can’t wait,” I said, looking
forward to having the mysteries of my new environment finally solved.

“Great! So why don’t you get up and get dressed
and we’ll be on our way. I want to show you around the grounds a little while
it’s still daylight. It’s such a beautiful day, it would be a shame to waste it
all indoors. When we’re done with that, we can take a break and I’ll regale you
with my tales. That okay with you?”

“Sounds like a plan,” I agreed. I sounded less
enthusiastic than I felt, but I was still having trouble waking up completely.

“So, other than the purge, how did you like the
essence?” he asked. I could tell he was hoping that my experience had been a
good one.

“It was really wild. Everything you said it would
be and then some.”

“So you liked it?”

“I loved it.”

Ben smiled. Then he leaned over and brushed the
hair from my face, studying me.

“I’m so very glad. Now that your first experience
is over, may I be the first to tell you that the essence did its job very well,
far better than I ever expected. You look absolutely lovely this morning. It’s
a whole new you, as a matter of fact. Tell me, have you looked in the mirror
yet?”

I laughed, more at myself than at anything else.
“Are you kidding? After I got out of the tub last night, I couldn’t tear myself
away from it. I even gave Narcissus a good run for his money. Ben, honestly, I
have never looked this good in my entire life.”

“Wonderful! I’m so glad you’re happy with the
changes because you have every reason to be. Listen, while we’re on the subject
of improvements, I have to ask you, have any more of your memories returned?”

“I wish. That department’s about as blank as it
was before. I just don’t get it. Everything that’s happened since I woke up at
this mansion yesterday is clear as a bell but other than a few vague
generalities, the rest of my memory is pretty non-existent.”

“So nothing’s coming back to you at all?”

“Not really. I think something popped into my mind
when I woke up in the middle of the night last night. I don’t know what it was,
just that there was something really important that I had to do or take care
of. Then I got sick and forgot it completely. I wish I could remember what it
was and what was so important about it, but it’s gone now. Completely. And I
can’t remember, for the life of me, what it was so darn important.”

“Do you think it could have been a dream?”

“You know, it must have been. A nightmare
probably. It seemed so vivid but I can’t remember any of it now except that it
seemed really important at the time. Then it all evaporated. That sounds like a
dream or a nightmare, doesn’t it?”

“Sure does. If it would have been anything real, I
doubt seriously that it would have evaporated like that. I’m sorry that it your
memory hasn’t come back. So tell me, is the amnesia starting to bother you or
are you still okay with it?”

“You’d think it would be driving me absolutely
nuts, wouldn’t you, but it’s not. Do you think maybe the amnesia’s lingering
because I’m better off not remembering? Could it be possible that I’m blocking
out something really bad? Do you think that maybe I might have murdered
somebody or something like that?”

Ben laughed. “I doubt that seriously. You don’t
strike me as the killer sort.”

“Hey, who knows?” I teased him. “I might just be
an axe murderess in real life. You could very well be harboring a fugitive.”

“Alrighty, then, Lizzie Borden, before you
rediscover the black recesses of your dark, psychotic persona, would you like
to get up now and grace us with your presence?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Good. I’ll go and wait for you by the elevator
while you get ready, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll try to be quick.”

“Don’t fall back to sleep again while I’m gone.”

“I won’t, ‘dad’, I promise.”

Ben walked over to the door and turned around. He
beamed at me with pride, as if I were the little sister he had just noticed
blossoming into a young lady. “I really have to tell you again how absolutely
gorgeous you look today, sunshine,” he said in a warm, brotherly tone.

“Thanks, Ben,” I replied. “That’s always a nice
thing to hear first thing in the morning. Or afternoon. Or evening.”

He smiled again and mouthed “hurry” before leaving
the room.

I shook my head, trying to clear the many cobwebs
from my brain, reached over to the nightstand and picked up the glass of water
that I’d left there before retiring. Within moments after drinking its
contents, all grogginess left me, replaced with renewed energy and vigor. I
jumped out of bed and began to get ready for what was left of the day.

Picking up the towel from my pillow, I threw it
into a hamper in the bathroom, along with the robe and towels that I’d tossed
on the floor last night. When I went to the sink to wash up, I stopped and gasped,
my reflection taking me aback anew. I still wasn’t used to seeing such a
different face greet me from the mirror, a face which looked about twenty-five
at most, even better and healthier than it had last night. I simply could not
wrap my mind around this sudden rejuvenation. As wonderful as it was, my inner
cynic insisted that it had to be too good to be true. The improvements were too
extreme; there had to be a catch somewhere. I sucked down another glass of
water and with it all of my doubts and concerns washed away, along with the
last vestiges of thirst. What was I thinking? I felt far too magnificent right
now to be bothered with such ungrateful and inconvenient thoughts. I had a
fabulous day ahead of me and the last thing I needed was a buzz-kill. What I
needed instead was further confirmation of the new and improved me.

This in mind, I once again sought out the services
of the bathroom door’s full-length mirror. With renewed admiration, I struck a
few extra poses in front of it, noticing with great pride that my body also
looked even better than it had the last time I’d gazed upon it. I took no shame
in vanity as I touched my face and my body, astonished at the revelation that
not only did everything about me look much better, it felt better as well:
softer, younger, bouncier, more pliable. I marveled even at my hair, which had
actually grown at least three inches overnight and revealed no adverse sign
whatsoever of having been slept upon while wrapped up in a damp towel. Its
color was different, too, having returned to its original light brown, but with
a difference. It was newly enhanced with rich, shiny streaks and flecks of
various shades of blonde, gold and copper. It was healthier than ever before,
too, and thick, possessed of the kind body that I’d envied even in my youth. It
amazed me that in the course of only a few short hours, my hair, even the ends,
had been healed completely, devoid now of all of the damage that I’d inflicted
upon it about a year ago, the result of a bad home perm which I’d given myself
following a disastrous romantic involvement. Why did I always have to take
heartbreak out on my poor hair, I wondered. Wait! That was a new memory! Would
it be the first of many? Was it a signal that I would soon begin to remember my
life before I came here, or at least the important parts? In that instant, my
mood became more sober, for I had to admit that ties to my past were at last
beginning to mean a little bit more to me.

With a start, I tore away from these thoughts,
suddenly mindful that Ben was waiting for me. I finished my morning toilet and
after running a brush through my hair, I was good to go. I headed back to the
bedroom and tossed the bedspread haphazardly over the bed, figuring that it
didn’t need to be perfect since I’d already kept Ben waiting longer than I’d
intended. Rushing over to the closet, I rifled through the robes on my side,
picking one that fit my mood, a silky, one-shouldered Greek-style robe which
was made of an even lighter, more flowing fabric than that which I’d worn
yesterday. Classic but sexy, it had metallic threads of multiple gold tones
running through it that I thought would pick up the new highlights in my hair.
With all of these fabulous improvements, I was definitely in the mood to feel
sexy today, so I quickly threw it on and raced out of the room and down the
hallway to meet up with Ben.

I slowed to a walk as soon as I saw him. He was
talking with Illea, Ricky and Robert. As I approached, they all stopped their
conversation to turn their attention to me.

“Well, well, well,” said Robert. “Surely this fine
creature can’t possibly be our little waif Ashley now, can it?”

He walked up to me, graciously extending his hand.
He took my own into his as soon as it was offered and briefly led me around in
a little circle resembling an abbreviated minuet, all the while looking down
from his great height in order to inspect the new changes in me. Normally, I
would have objected to such close scrutiny, but today I did not mind. Robert’s
manner was friendly and not at all intimidating, so I was content to be
perused. The expression upon his face made it quite obvious that he liked very
much what he saw.

“You’ve flowered into quite an intoxicating
creature, my dear.” I barely had time to feel myself blush when firmly yet
gently he pulled me toward himself and wrapped his arms around me from behind.
In a playful tone, he declared, “Ben, I must claim this one for my own. She’s
become more lovely than I could ever have hoped in only one mere essence
session. Can you imagine her in another two or three?”

“Hear that, Ben?” Ricky remarked, grinning with
mischief as he stood with one arm around Illea. “He called ‘dibs’. You heard
him.”

“Ricky! How dare you!” Illea, though amused,
scolded. “And you too, Robert. Shame on the both of you. Ashley, don’t listen
to either one of these two fools. Date any guy in our group that strikes your
fancy. Date them all if that’s what you need to make up your own mind.” Then
she added, looking up at her young man lovingly, “except for my Ricky, of
course.”