The Novice Prey & the Daring Prey (33 page)

She'd been worried that there wouldn't be enough daylight left for her to put on a proper show, but things had turned out almost perfectly. The Sun was very low over the trees, and it bathed her in a golden light as she used the washcloth to scrub herself down, starting with her arms and legs and gradually working her way to the areas more interesting to her mostly male audience. She took every opportunity to show off her balance and flexibility, and was rewarded with appreciative murmurs from the crowd. The whole time the proctor stayed close, dividing her attention between what Alexa was doing and what the audience was doing. Alexa was grateful for that. By stripping naked, she'd made herself a female, and at least theoretically the property of the first man to claim her. With the proctor there, she was safe.

She finished up by soaping up her very short hair and then groping for the end of the pull chain. She knew that the shower only had cold water, but she was totally unprepared for just how cold it was. She yelped as it hit her, but managed to keep the shower going until she was thoroughly rinsed off, shivering and blinking with her nipples poking out stiffly. The proctor handed her a towel and she quickly dried off, rubbing vigorously to get rid of the chill. Rather than wrap the towel around her once she was done, she handed it back to the proctor and walked back into the barn naked. She brushed off the soles of her feet before she entered her stall and laid down on the blankets, feeling suddenly tired. It had been a long day, and the jolt of excitement she'd gotten from exhibiting herself to a very appreciative audience was quickly fading away, leaving her feeling suddenly tired. Lying on her side, she looked up as the proctor entered her stall. She started to get up.

“No, no, just relax,” the proctor said as she crouched down so they could talk quietly and privately. “I just wanted to tell you what a unique experience that was for me.” She hesitated, and looked around quickly before she continued. “I have my 'wild week' coming up soon, and I think I'm going to take a page out of your book to kick it off.”

“'Wild week'?” Alexa asked.

“That's what some of we proctors call the time when we can shed our uniforms for a while and be females. Oh, I don't think I ever told you my name! I'm Brenda.”

“Hi, Brenda,” Alexa smiled as she settled down onto her back.

“Hi, Alexa,” Brenda smiled back. “You know I can't keep men out of this barn for very long. I can make sure they don't bother you, but I'm pretty sure that they all want another look at you.” She quickly glanced at Alexa's body. Alexa didn't mind. Not here, not in Gordburg.

“I can't say as I blame them,” Brenda sighed. “Anyway, you'll be safe as long as you stay in your stall. If you need water or anything, just call for the caretaker and he'll get you whatever you need. Same thing if you need to use the bathroom. He'll show you where it is.”

“Thanks,” Alexa said. “Say, what's it like, being a proctor?”

“It can be challenging,” Brenda answered, “but it's exhilarating to have so much power! I can be judge, jury and executioner, so to speak, and anyone who sees this plain black getup knows it!” She laughed. “But I can't abuse my office, or I'll lose it. There are proctors for the proctors, you know, and they keep a close eye on us. I love this job! I especially love it when I can put it aside and just be a female for a while. Do you know, some men are really turned on by getting a shot at a proctor?”

“I've heard that,” Alexa nodded. “I can understand why. It must be exciting for them to have such a strong authority figure at their mercy.”

Brenda almost giggled. “I guess it is,” she agreed. “And sometimes I really get off on the discipline.” She sighed, as if fondly remembering something, and then stood up.

“Oh. Do you still want to be woken up at three AM?” she asked in a conspiratorial whisper.

“Yes, please,” Alexa replied.

“I'll make sure that you are. Best of luck, Alexa.”

“Thanks.”

Brenda left the stall, shutting the low door tightly before she stooped to scribble something on it in chalk. She straightened up, gave Alexa a last smile, and left. Scant moments later, men began drifting by the stall. Some tried to act casually, others made no such pretense as they frankly stared at Alexa as she laid naked on her makeshift bed. Yes, there were other females in the barn, as Brenda had said, but she seemed to draw most of the attention. Alexa rolled onto her side, got comfortable, and closed her eyes. She didn't really feel sleepy yet, but while she did enjoy all the attention she was getting, she didn't feel like having to look back at all the men who were looking at her so hungrily. She could still feel all those eyes on her, and that was good enough for now.

She woke up some time later to find the barn darkened, with only a few dim lights providing just enough illumination to see by. She heard the sounds of some vigorous fucking coming from one of the other stalls: Deep male grunts, very feminine moans and whimpers, and the rhythmic, meaty sound of flesh impacting flesh. She was more keyed up than she'd thought, and those sounds soon had her aroused herself. She found her own hand furtively drifting towards her pussy almost on its own, thought about letting it do what it wanted to do for a moment, and then made it stop with a great effort of will. There were some things she didn't feel like exhibiting yet, and there was no real chance of any privacy here in her stall. Anyone walking by would be able to easily see what she was doing, and even if they didn't happen to walk by once she really got into it they'd be able to hear her, probably even if they just happened to be walking by in the street outside of the barn. Will had encouraged her to be noisy during sex, and she'd discovered that being noisy intensified her pleasure. She could keep the screaming down to a more refined level if she had to, but she usually didn't feel like it. She rolled over onto her other side. After a while the sounds of fucking climaxed with several loud male groans, a series of feminine squeals and moans and what sounded like two bodies hitting the ground simultaneously. Alexa went back to sleep, wondering just what position they'd been using.

“Ms. Marx. Alexa. It's me, Brenda.”

Alexa at first tried to shake off the hand on her shoulder, but Brenda's voice finally cut through the soft, dark fog of her sleep. Her eyes flew open, and she sat up abruptly.

“It's time, Alexa,” Brenda said quietly. “Get yourself ready. I'll open the back door for you.”

The barn was still dimly lit, and very quiet now. Alexa quickly pulled one of her new outfits from her backpack and got dressed. She donned her backpack and slipped out of her stall as quietly as she could. Brenda was standing by an ordinary-sized door next to the big swinging double doors at the back of the barn that were closed and secured now.

“I think the coast is clear,” Brenda whispered. “Good luck!”

“Thanks!” Alexa whispered back. On impulse, she gave the proctor a quick peck on her cheek before she slipped out through the door and into the night.

It was a beautiful night. The Moon was up, and only half full so that she could see many, many more stars than she ever could back in the city. And, while the night air was still, it was also full of the sounds of frogs and insects. Alexa heard the door click shut behind her. She just stood there for a little while. With the next step she took, she'd be on her way to the most challenging part of her plan, and she wanted to savor the moment.

“So now you're sneaking away into the night? Again?”

Alexa jumped, whirling to face Mike. “You scared me!” she gasped.

“I was hoping to do that,” he said as he stepped out of the deep shadow he'd been lurking in.

“How long were you waiting there?”

“Not too long,” he replied. “I knew you'd be along tonight, sooner or later.”

“So now what?” Alexa demanded. “We're still inside the limits. You can't touch me. And we both already know I can outrun you.”

“Nothing like that,” Mike said. “I still mean to hunt you down and rope you up, but that's not why I came here tonight.”

“So why did you come here, then?”

“It occurred to me that I might not be the lucky guy who actually takes you down.” He sounded both sincere and sad. “What with all the attention you've stirred up there's got to be close to a hundred men who've painted a bullseye on you. I'll do my best, but I can't be sure.”

“So?”

“So I wanted to see you again before you went off on your adventure. It might be the last time I get to see you, and I didn't want to miss the chance.”

Alexa didn't know what to say. This was kind of romantic, and also a bit disturbing.

“You don't think you're good enough to beat out all those other men?” she asked. “For crying out loud, knock it off! You followed me this far! Do you mean to tell me that now that it's going to be harder to do that you're going to quit? Is that because you think you're not good enough, or because you're beginning to doubt that I'm worth the effort?” She stepped closer to him and pitched her voice down to a throaty purr. “Come on,” she said. “You remember that afternoon delight we shared. Don't you want to feel me naked in your arms, under your hands, under your control? Don't you want to see me so anxious to please you that I'll do anything, absolutely anything, that you want?”

Her words had the effect she was hoping for. As Mike started to reach for her, she stepped back from him. “That's what I wanted to see!” she told him in a hoarse whisper. “I won't be easy, Michael Andrew Jackson, but I'll be worth the effort. I'm going now.”

“Good luck, Alexa Marx,” he said quietly.

The night remained still, but noisy. Alexa checked a few times to see if Mike was following her, but he wasn't. She didn't know quite how she felt about that.

'End' seemed to have shut down for the night. Alexa crept through the silent, darkened town heading north. Once she was far enough into the woods that she couldn't be seen from the town, she turned east. It wasn't easy picking her way through the trees in the dark, but she went slowly and carefully until her eyes had completely adjusted. When she came to the first of the dirt tracks heading out of the town she paused and listened for a while before scurrying across the open space and into the shelter of the trees on the other side. She wasn't expecting to run into anyone at this hour, but it never hurt to take precautions.

She wanted to get to the trail that the three men and the four females had taken earlier. It had to lead to the place they called The Farm, and she had an urge to see the place. It couldn't be too far away or the females wouldn't have been made to walk there barefooted. She'd done a fair amount of outdoors barefoot hiking herself, and knew how wearing it could be. If the men had been carrying flashlights they could keep going after sunset, but the limiting factor would still be those bare little feet.

It took a while to work her way to the trail, and once she got to the edge of it Alexa sat down in cover for a brief rest as she did some thinking. There was a chance that this Farm had some kind of security around it, but she doubted that any of it would be high-tech. She hadn't seen any evidence of that level of equipment anywhere else. There were probably guards of some sort, but they'd be there more to warn people off than anything else. It was likely that they'd be plainly visible. Of course, it was also likely that they'd be keeping an eye on the trail, so she couldn't stay on it once it was daylight. Well, she could get as close as she could while it was dark. She took a swig from her water bottle and set out down the trail. It was narrow, and the Moon provided very little light to see by. About all she could make out were the darker masses of the forest to either side of her and the less-dark ribbon of the trail between them. It wasn't much, but it was just enough, as long as she walked slowly. If she didn't come upon this mysterious Farm before sunrise, she'd find herself a sheltered spot to hole up until it got dark again. While she was curious to see what the place was like, her main reason for going there was so that she'd have something to do besides wander through the woods trying not to get caught. She'd done that last year, and remembered being painfully bored for much of the time.

Time passed. Alexa wasn't sure how far she'd walked, or how much time had passed. She paused and scanned what she could see of the sky through the trees. It didn't seem to be getting any lighter, so sunrise was still some time off. She took another sip from her water bottle. It was lighter than a canteen would be, and Will had assured her that she could safely refill it from any of the small streams she might come across. All the same, she'd picked up some water purification tablets, just in case.

She walked some more and did some mental calculations. Sunrise would be somewhere between six and six-thirty. She'd left 'End' sometime after three. Since usable twilight usually lasted for about an hour either before sunrise or after sunset, she could expect things to get lighter about three hours after she'd left the barn back in End. That part was pretty simple. It was one of the things Will had taught her. What he hadn't taught her was how to tell time in the absence of the Sun overhead or any kind of timepiece. She could only guess at how long she'd been walking. She could also only guess at how fast she'd been walking. According to Will, normal walking speed on level ground was anywhere from two-and-a-half to three miles an hour, but that was in daylight. She knew she'd been traveling much slower than that, but not how much slower. There was also the matter of how long it had taken her to pick her way through the woods after laying her false trail to the north. The upshot of it all was that she had no idea what time it was, and no idea how far she'd gone along this trail, which was exactly where she'd been to begin with.

Alexa sighed. If and when she saw Will again she'd have to mention this little interlude to him and ask him if he had any lessons on how to handle it. He probably did. In the meantime, she kept walking, slowly and carefully, looking and listening. The looking wasn't helping much, and the listening was made difficult by the din of frogs and bugs. Will had told her that they made so much noise because they were looking for mates. She wished that they'd all hook up long enough to give her a little peace and quiet. She was a lot better at this outdoors stuff than she'd been last year, but she didn't think she was really cut out for it. She was a city girl at heart.