Melanie's Story (with table of contents)

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Rocket
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Melanie's Story Part 18 - Breakout

Post by Rocket » Tue Aug 09, 2022 5:58 pm

I could count two people further back in the lab, but didn’t know if that was everyone. Then in the distance I heard the elevator chime. Crap, that may be the guard coming back. It’s now or never.

Putting my hand on the door handle, I stood in a crouch below the glass, ready to spring. I took a couple of deep breaths. Here goes. I tried to turn the handle slowly, trying not to make a sound. It wouldn’t turn. Fuck! I was running out of time. I thought for a fleeting moment about trying to break the glass, but that would eliminate any chance I had at sneaking up on them – and the guard might catch me before I made it through the door. So, hoping the guard wouldn’t come into the outer lab and that the dim lighting would help hide me, I pulled out my cat’s claw again – thankful I had it with me – and tried to wedge it between the door and the jamb. This one was a little easier than the fire door at the stairwell. I wedged it further by pushing the curved end with the palm of my hand, until the pointed end scraped the latch. With a little finagling – wasting precious moments – I was rewarded with a click.

I worked the door open gently, trying not to make noise, hoping the guard wouldn’t hear – and hoping the guard wouldn’t hear a scuffle about to happen two rooms away. I went in, crouching at the height of the closest lab bench, hoping it would hide it from view. Lot of hoping here. I crept over to the bench, lugging the beaker stand and trying not to bang it against something. It was about 3 feet tall with a heavy base and metal loops attached at several places up and down the pole. Not exactly my first choice for a weapon, but options were limited.

As I hid behind the bench, I noticed a cabinet door was ajar, facing me and away from the others. Inspiration struck. I slowly opened the cabinet door and saw a couple of large glass carboys, each big enough to hold several gallons and probably weighing 20 pounds empty. Oh yeah, these would make a better weapon if I needed one. Question was how to get one out without waking up the neighborhood. I reached in, grasping the top of one and gently tilting it. Something was on the top of it, poking through the parafilm. I almost yanked my hand back, thinking it was going to bite me, and then realized this was Melanie’s climbing string and hook. Damn, this must have been where she came up from. Okay, maybe that’s a sign. I tilted the carboy further, slowly, and then reached in to grasp the bottom with my other hand. I gently lifted it out and onto the floor, then pulled the hook and string off and pocketed them.

Leaving the beaker stand behind in favor of my new weapon, I crept closer, carefully keeping the carboy from banging the floor or bench. Once I got closer, I peeked around to see where they were. Both of them were standing over another bench, in the midst of an argument, neither of them seeing me yet. I figured I could catch one by surprise, but not both, so I sized them up and went after the bigger one first, hoping I could take down the smaller guy in a fight one on one if I had to. I took down Melanie’s brother, didn’t I? Though I did catch him by surprise with my first blow.

Taking a couple more deep breaths, I slowly stood up, balanced my carboy, and then ran at the bigger guy, whacking him from behind with the carboy. He staggered but didn’t completely topple over, grunting and reaching behind his head. Damn. His fingers came away with a trickle of blood on them but he was stunned for a moment. The other one saw me and started reaching for something, I didn’t know what but I tried to run over to him and whack him with the carboy, holding it in both hands like a sack of potatoes. I ran at him with it up high, intending to whack him in the head, but he got his arm up. The force was enough for him to tumble backwards, crashing into another lab bench and knocking some glassware over. One flask rolled to the floor and shattered.

The first guy was back up on his feet and swirling towards me. He came at me with his arms out like a bear. I backed off, but he got ahold of one of my arms and yanked hard. I almost dropped the carboy. Instead I stuck it in front of me to try to block him and his other hand struck the smooth side of it. I wrestled my arm free and ran back at him with the carboy in front of me like a battering ram. I knocked him to the floor and put my weight on the carboy to hold it in place, while I punched anywhere I could get my arms around. My shoulder whacked the side of the bench as we went down, the pain jarring my neck, but our momentum carried me on top of him with the carboy sandwiched between us. The guy was pushing hard and swinging his arm around it to try to get blows in. He almost knocked me off I was convinced he would have taken me easily if I hadn’t caught him by surprise and stunned him with the first blow. Finally, being the non-athlete that I was and looking for any advantage I could, I kneed him in the groin. Yeah, I know, it’s playing dirty, but the girls’ lives were at stake, I could not take a chance of them getting the upper hand. As he groaned from the kneeing, I whacked the carboy against his chin, knocking him out.

Just in time, as the second guy had recovered. His hand was bloody from the glass, and he had fury in his eyes. I held my carboy ‘weapon’ in front of me. He didn’t come running at me immediately. Instead, a smirk came across his face. Shit, something’s up. He held a big shard of glass in his hand. That’s when I noticed the ladies – Melanie taped to a sheet of metal on the lab bench, Maria laying nearby, both looked unconscious. He was stepping towards them.

“One step closer and I’ll …”

“You’ll what?” He snarled. “No, you listen to ME. You’ll put that down and step aside. That’s what you’ll do. Your girls here are under my control. One flick of my wrist and I kill one. Or maybe I just remove a limb and you can watch her bleed to death.”

I stopped. What could I do? I was breathing heavy, my head was pounding, my shoulder throbbing, I had blood on my arm – unsure if it was mine or the other guy’s or both. He stopped too, though he was close enough to Maria to reach her with another step. Was he waiting to see what I would do? He had blood on his shoulder as well as his hand. Did he hit his head maybe? I glanced at the bench he’d tumbled into, yeah there was blood against the edge. Maybe he did. Would his reactions be slowed enough? Could I take a chance?

Following my eyes, he glanced back as well. Going on instinct, I hurled the carboy at him. He jumped to avoid it, but tripped as it hit the floor. He tumbled forward, throwing his arms out to stop his fall. The glass shard went flying across the bench top and struck Maria in the thigh. As his arms hit the floor, I ran forward and kicked him hard in the chin, trying to knock him out the way I’d done the first guy. His head flew up and whacked against the cabinet. He slumped to the floor.

I hunched over for a minute, catching my breath, half in shock that I’d just knocked out both of them. My head started swirling with thoughts, could we get out of here before they wake up, did the guard hear us – shit, the guard – I looked over towards the glass and didn’t see any lights on in the outer lab, so I hoped we were insulated enough here, but I may have to get past him on the way if there wasn’t another stairwell here. Melanie! Oh shit. She was still unconscious. I ran over to her. I saw her tiny chest moving. She was breathing. I looked to Maria laying just a couple feet away. Also unconscious. The glass shard had dug into her thigh and there was a trickle of blood. I looked around for a gauze, a towel, anything. Fuck it. I ripped her skirt off to expose her thighs and then tore a strip of fabric from it. I put my finger and thumb on her thigh as I eased the glass shard out. Damn, it had to be in half an inch, for her that was deep. I took the strip of fabric and wrapped it tightly over the wound, knotting it to keep it in place. Hoping that would last until I could get them out of here.

Out of here. Yeah. Geez. I looked out through the glass. The outer lab was still mostly dark. I was glad there were only a few windows and not a whole wall of them, or I’m sure the guard would have seen everything and he’d be in here pummeling me already. As it was, I didn’t have a direct line of sight to the lobby, but I could tell the door on the other side of the lab was still closed. Did I luck out and the guard didn’t hear the commotion?

I heard a faint moan. I jumped, looking around to see if the two scientists were still out. Both were breathing but neither were moving. I debated whether to tie them up, but I didn’t see anything handy. At this point best to just get done what I had to do and get out of here with the girls as fast as I could. I head the moan again and realized it was coming from the counter. I looked up and saw Melanie, eyes still closed but her head moving a little. I reached over and stroked her hair for a moment. “It’s okay, it’s okay, I’m here now.” I began to gently peel off the tape that was pinning her down to this sheet of metal. It looked like they’d taken the lid of a waterbath and taped her to it. Geez. What did they put her through?

As I peeled the tape off her legs, she winced and her eyes popped open. She saw me and her eyes went wide. I quickly held my finger to my lips. “Shhhh. I’m getting you out of here.”

She mumbled “Maria …”

“I’ve got her too. She’s injured but I think I’ve stopped the bleeding.”

“Is she …”

“Yeah. She’s unconscious, I don’t know if she even knows yet. She’s going to need both of us to help her get through it. But first we need to get out of here. I only need a minute.”

“A … minute? What …”

“Hey, do you still have that USB plug I gave you?”

“Umm …”

I looked around. “Nevermind. Got it.” I saw her tool belt tossed aside, on the other end of the benchtop. I fished out the USB plug and put the rest in my pocket. “Just rest for a minute and then we’ll get out of here.” I saw blinking diodes towards the back corner, telling me that may be the server. I suspected they had a separate server here, given both Melanie and Maria told me Level 7 was such a mystery to everyone else in the building. I darted over and found a slot in the back to insert the plug.

Then I took a quick look around, scanned the back counter and pulled open a couple drawers. Bingo. Lab notebooks, hand-written and bound, were in a top drawer in the back. These were all full. I didn’t think I could take the one they were currently using without raising more suspicions, though I debated. I flipped through the books, finding the most recent, and began to scan the pages. Yes, this one covered the time of Melanie’s “accident” up through about three weeks ago. So this one should give me more clues about what went on. I hurriedly stuffed it in my waist, having no pockets large enough for a bound book, and pulled my shirt over it to hide it.

“Okay ladies, time to run” I ran back over and gently lifted Maria and lowered her into the pocket of the lab coat. Then I turned to Melanie, who was propped up to her elbows and looking around wide-eyed. She winced for a moment when I reached for her, then realized it was me and stopped resisting. I lifted her up and said “Hey, do you know if there’s a back stairwell or something?”

She looked a little woozy but gave me a face like she was thinking hard. “Umm .. yeah … I … “

“Okay. If there’s two stairwells in the building I’m hoping I can get to the other one. I got here through the one in the lobby.”

“Uh, why not just use that one?”

“I think the guard is back at his post.”

Her shoulders slumped. “Oh.” Undaunted, I looked around, hoping the other stairwell wasn’t back by the service elevators and I just missed it. That would be way the other side of the lobby. I couldn’t take a chance fighting my way past the guard and still protect the girls.

Finally I found something. No it wasn’t a stairwell per-se. It was a friggin’ outside fire escape. With an alarm on the door. Geez. I examined the door closely to see if I could open it without triggering the alarm. Damn we were wasting time here, one of those two could be up any minute. Fuck it, there was a 10 second delay, wasn’t there? How far could I get in 10 seconds … Damn damn damn, I set the alarm and everybody goes outside, it’s a spectacle and I won’t get anywhere. Okay, calm down a second. I held my phone flashlight over the mechanism, examining it for any weakness. Okay, the alarm goes off by pushing the bar to open. But what if I don’t push it, I just get the door open without?

“Okay, I need both hands now. Are you going to be okay in my pocket?”

She groaned. “I’ll manage. Just worry about getting us out of here.”

At that, I lay her gently into the other lab coat pocket, glad these lab coats had nice roomy pockets. I pulled out a small screwdriver and nudged it into the strike, then moved it just enough to break the seal, but not all the way. Very carefully I nudged the door open. Through the door there was a metal grate and an open metal staircase to the next level. I started to close the door and then realized that could trigger the alarm too. So I fumbled for something to keep it from closing ‘all the way’ and settled on ripping a piece of cloth from the bottom of the lab coat. I wrapped it around the outside plate a few times, so that the door stopped about half an inch before closing. I let go of it and then let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Hoping both that it wouldn’t trigger the alarm and that it wouldn’t be immediately obvious that we’d exited that way.

I stepped back a moment to take in my surroundings. I could go down, but my guess was I couldn’t go all the way down, not without a bunch of noise – didn’t most of these fire escapes have either a counterbalanced last set of stairs, or a retracted ladder? Either one would be loud. So what about up? I looked up. This was an 8 story building, wasn’t it? The stairs went to the 8th floor. I couldn’t tell if they went up higher. Was there a way to get to the roof?

Holding on tight to the rickety handrail, I climbed up to the 8th floor. From there I could see a plain ladder mounted to the bricks leading up to the roof. Checking to be sure everything was secure, I took a deep breath, avoided looking down, and started climbing. I do not like heights. On a roller coaster, the few times I’ve gone, I would be the one with white knuckles holding the bar with a death grip and clenching my teeth the whole ride. So … no looking down. I just took one step at a time, making sure I had my footing before reaching for the next rung. One step. Next step. Finally I reached the lip of the roof. The bricks rose up a couple feet past the roof itself, making a small fence, aside from the cutouts for rain water to drain off. I got a tight grip on the top row of bricks, made sure to shift the labcoat so that the pockets were to the side of me, I’d feel sick if I squished my precious cargo trying to climb over the brick wall. Then I held on tight with my other hand, pushed up until I could lean my chest onto the bricks, and then swung one leg over until I had three limbs upon the bricks. I carefully rolled myself over, reaching out with my arm to touch the gravelly flat roof surface and ease myself over. It was harrowing enough for someone afraid of heights to pull this off, but worrying about landing with one of the girls under me was far worse.

At that, as soon as I was down on the roof, on my knees, I reached over and lightly patted both pockets. I took a quick peek in my right pocket, where Maria still lay. She still wasn’t moving, wasn’t awake, but she looked safe otherwise, the makeshift bandage was still in place and I could see her tiny chest moving. I looked in my left pocket and saw Melanie scrunched up, her knees to her chest. She looked up at me with concern.

I whispered, “Hey, we’re out of the lab. We’re up on the roof now. I need to look for another way down now, but for the moment we’re safe.”

She let out a breath and gave me a weary smile. I turned away and began looking for a way off the roof – hoping we had time to get out before the two scientists either woke up or were discovered by the guard.

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Re: Melanie's Story

Post by AB23 » Wed Aug 10, 2022 2:34 am

We're back!!!

Rocket
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Melanie's Story Part 19 - Escape from Level 7

Post by Rocket » Fri Aug 19, 2022 8:29 pm

Once on the roof I crouched down, unsure if anyone would be able to see me from the street below, and tried to take in my surroundings. I stopped a moment to catch my breath. Walking with my back bent, I made my way across the flat rooftop. A small brick structure rose up from the middle of the roof, I suspected it was the elevator shaft and didn’t think I was going to safely navigate that, not with two women in my pockets who could be squished if I landed the wrong way. I shuddered at the thought of losing Melanie that easily. I kept looking for other options.

Across the roof, I saw the building butted up to another building. This was the city after all. I came to the edge and looked over. The other building wasn’t as tall at this one. The drop to the other roof was maybe 10 feet. Again, the thought of landing sideways and squishing my little charges made me pause. But it was either this or take my chances in that elevator shaft. I looked around for something that could slow my descent. I saw a pipe sticking out from the edge of the roof I was on. Thinking for a minute … I noticed this lab coat I ‘borrowed’ … it was long, thick, had nice big pockets, but it also had blood stains on it. I couldn’t walk out in public without catching everyone’s attention – and probably without someone calling the cops. Last thing I needed was attention anyway. So maybe I could use the labcoat like a rope to climb down. I just had to find another way to carry the girls.

I began to take off the lab coat, glad that most of the blood was on it and not the rest of me. I gently set it down and then opened the pocket that Melanie was sitting in. I scooped her up gently, knowing she could be injured under what was left of her catsuit.

“Hey babe, have to move you to another pocket.” I cracked a smile, though it didn’t make it up to my eyes. She could see my concern. “I’m going to try and use this labcoat to climb down onto the building next door.”

She only nodded her head, trusting that I was doing everything I could to get her safely out of here. I still wore my hoodie with the big pockets, but they were full of tools. I shifted the tools to one side and then gently lay her in my pocket on the other side.

“Um, babe?”

“Yeah?”

“I hate to ask this, but are you okay doubling up with Maria? Just until we can get to the car?”

She replied “Okay.” I could tell in her voice, she wasn’t thrilled but was sucking it up in the interest of getting to safety. She probably felt helpless in the situation as well, I know I would have. Just another reminder they were both depending on me.

I opened the other labcoat pocket and gently lifted Maria’s limp body, then lowered her down to my pocket and lay her in there with Melanie. I could feel Melanie squirming around in there trying for some semblance of comfort, or maybe just to not have a knee in her stomach.

“Sorry. I’ll hurry. Hang tight in there.”

I took the collar of the lab coat and draped it over the pipe, as secure as I could, twisted it like a rope, and then grabbed hold of the labcoat right below the pipe with both hands, steadying myself as I lifted one leg, then the other, over the side. I lowered myself closer and closer to the other roof, until my feet dangled a couple feet above it, and then dropped down softly. For me, anyway. I’m sure it was a bit of a jolt for the girls. Best I could do. I reached up and tried to swing the lab coat from one side to unhook it from the pipe. Just as I got it loose, I could hear a door bang against the fire escape on the other side of the building, it was a good distance away and a floor down but it was LOUD. We were running out of time. I bundled up the lab coat and ran across the other roof. There was a structure on this roof, but with a regular door, which I hoped meant it led to a stairwell.

I ducked behind the structure and peeked out just to make sure nobody had gone up to the roof looking for us. I didn’t see anything yet. I tried the handle on the door. Amazingly, not locked. Go figure. I opened the door just enough to slip through, closing it behind me and cringing at the slight squeak it made. It was dark up here, but I could make out lights further down. Definitely a stairwell. I looked around for a place to hide the labcoat, and then started making my way down the stairs slowly, trying not to make noise. I had no idea whether this was an office building or an apartment or what. Thinking that might make a difference in how I make our escape, I whipped out my phone and looked up Google maps, navigating to the block we were on. Not much signal in here. Ah, found it. Okay, so this was an apartment building with some shops at ground level. So it’s more likely I could run into tenants or visitors if I trek through the lobby, but who’s to say I wasn’t there visiting someone? I started coming up with a story just in case, as I made my way down the steps. Fifth floor. Fourth floor. Third floor. This stairwell appeared to have a separating door on each level, so I wasn’t walking through the corridors at least.

As we hit the second floor landing, a couple of twenty-somethings were just on their way up and passed me on the way. They were too busy kissing and holding hands to pay me more than a passing glance. Fine with me. Let them go off and hump like rabbits, as long as they didn’t remember the guy with the cap, glasses, face mask and bulging pockets … It dawned on me I still had the face mask on, largely in-case anyone over there saw me or if I was caught on camera … but over here could I get away without? I wasn’t sure. Inside the building I was probably safe, I doubted anyone here could associate me with having been in the labs next door, but I wondered outside if there would be cameras. I took off the mask but held onto it just in case. I made it down to ground level and stood for a moment in the small apartment lobby, which had a separate entrance in between the shops. I walked to the door and peered through the glass, trying to gauge where the other building was in relation to here, as well as which direction my car was parked. Then it hit me. This was the building I parked at – on the far side of the block. Taking a deep breath, I stepped out and strolled down the sidewalk, my back to the lab building as I headed towards my car. No longer wearing my face mask, as I didn’t want to draw attention, I avoided turning around or looking back, out of fear that a building camera might catch me at the edge of its range. I kept going until I got to my car, whipped my keys out, plopped in and started the engine.

I gently pulled my pocket open and looked down at my two charges, squished together in the space that was large for one but tight for two.

“Hey, we made it to the car. Can you climb out?”

She looked up at me, a little uncertain, and then at her first step, “Oof.”

“It’s okay. Don’t move.” I reached down and lifted her out and over the center console, laying her onto the passenger seat. I was so glad to have tinted windows. Then I reached in my pocket and found Maria. I wrapped my fingers around her limp body and gently lifted her out and over, laying her next to Melanie in the seat.

Not bothering to make sure they were secure, or bother with my own seatbelt, I went ahead and started the car, then began looking around immediately for anyone around, then for any cars in the lane. I pulled out, with the lights still off even though it was dusk and the street lights were starting to come on. I drove to the next block before turning them on. I continued driving for a little while, until I was maybe a couple of miles away, before finding a Walgreens parking lot to pull into. I continued on to the furthest corner of the lot and backed in, with the car facing the store and the road.

Stopping the engine, I finally stopped and looked down at my two charges. Melanie had scooted her back up to the back of the seat, but seemed to be favoring her right leg. Maria was still passed out. Starting to come down from my adrenaline high, I proceeded to empty the tools from my pockets, as well as fish out the lab notebook that was pressed between my belt and stomach. I’d almost forgotten about that in the midst of everything, glad it was tucked in where it wasn’t going anywhere, even if it was a little uncomfortable to sit with the thing pressing into my ribs. I lowered the book down under the seat, feeling around to make sure my laptop was still there, letting out a relieved breath as the edge of the sleek plastic edges told me it was safely where I’d left it.

“How are you holding up?”

She turned her head back to look up at me. “Better now that we’re away from that horrible place.” She rubbed her leg. “My knee is throbbing.” She turned to look at Maria. “I’m scared for her. I should have never gotten her involved.”

“She wanted to come up there. That doesn’t make it better, but she could have just helped get you in and left it at that. She wanted to do more.” I reached over to Maria and placed two fingers on her chest. “She’s still breathing, but she’s still out cold. I need to treat her wound, it looked like a bad gash. I’m going to go in here and get some medicine and bandages. Can you watch her for a few minutes? I promise I’ll hurry.”

Melanie nodded her head. I could tell she was worried for her friend. So was I.

------------------

I returned to the car carrying my bag of supplies. Climbing back into my seat and shutting and locking the car door behind me, I opened the glove box to shine just a little bit of light to see by. Then I reached in the bag and pulled out a frozen push pop. I took Melanie’s right ankle between my finger and thumb and lifted it up gently, just enough to slide the edge of the push pop under. She winced at the movement.

“Just keep this on it for a bit, okay? This is just till we get to the house. I can make an ice pack there and we’ll take a closer look. I’m hoping it’s just sprained. Rest.” She nodded but didn’t say a word. She lay back and closed her eyes. Good.

I turned my attention to Maria. I’d removed her skirt – I think I still had it in my pocket somewhere – minus the strip I ripped off it to try to stop the bleeding. I gently lifted her up in my hand, holding her up to the tiny glovebox light. The gash was high up her thigh. I’d had to remove her skirt to be able to tie the strip of cloth around it. The light shined over her shapely body, dressed below the waist only in thin frilly panties, which did little to hide her contours … damn, snap out of it! This wasn’t the time to start fantasizing about a sexy woman in my hand, not when she had a serious wound for me to tend to and not when my girlfriend was laying less than a foot away. Even if the three of us had just shared an extremely intimate night of sex less than two days ago. Strange how it seemed like so much more time had passed.

So I turned her to examine the cloth bandage. It was soaked in red but I didn’t think it was bleeding heavily anymore. I debated whether to try to remove it here, was it safe or would I just break it open again. It seemed big – and deep. I felt like if I waited longer it would be harder to remove once the blood fully dried and caked. So I gently peeled it back, millimeters at a time, until the wound was exposed. Yes it was still seeping, but it wasn’t gushing. Damn that was big. Not for me, but in relative size. To me it would have been at least four inches long. Enough to require stitches I’m sure. No idea how we’d do stitches here. For now, I vowed to dress it as best I could and try to do more back at the house. As I held her with one hand, I fumbled through the bag for what I needed, thinking I should have gotten my supplies out first. Duh. I grabbed my water bottle first, yeah the one I’d been drinking from while I sat waiting in the car all afternoon. Better than nothing. I dribbled the water over her thigh to try to clean off the wound, getting my hand and her clothes wet in the process, but at least the water did its job. Then I carefully tried to cap it one-handed – a skill I’d mastered from years of driving and drinking (no, not THAT kind of drinking – sheesh – just water, Gatorade, stuff like that.)

Next I reached for the Neosporin, ripping the edge of the box with my teeth and uncapping the tube, glad this was the kind with a pointed tip and not something that was going to make me puncture the foil to get to it. I squeezed a line of it over the wound. Lastly, I pulled out the gauze, which yeah I’m glad I had the sense to get the smallest squares of the stuff and not a big roll. I had to tear open the paper – with my teeth again – and then I carefully wrapped it around her leg several times until it ran out. I gently lay her down flat in the seat next to Melanie, and gathered up all of my shrapnel, stuffing it back into the pharmacy bag.

Satisfied the girls were safe for the moment, I started up the car and pulled off, heading home.

----------------------------

Back at the house, I pulled into the garage, waited for the garage door to close behind us, and then gently scooped up my two damsels in distress, one in each hand. I carried them into the house and set them down on the sofa to rest while I made a couple more trips to the car, gathering up my laptop, tools, the lab notebook and the bag of pharmacy supplies. I took the now mostly melted push-pop and tossed it into the freezer while I dug around for something more substantial. I threw a handful of crushed ice into a ziploc bag, sealed it shut and wrapped a paper towel around it. I came back out and scooped up my woman and brought her into the kitchen, where I could sit at the table under a decent light and examine her. I lay her down on a small stack of kitchen towels, hoping this would be comfortable.

“Okay. Let’s check you out, okay?”

She nodded. Then without prompting, she began to shed her top, at least what was left of it. It had been cut or ripped open. Whatever they used, I could see a couple of red marks up her stomach where something scratched her hard. I put two fingers up against her back to support her as I tugged on the sleeves. I looked over her bare skin, holding one arm out and then the other, feeling along it with my finger and thumb.

“Let me know if anything hurts more when I touch it. I’m trying to be gentle. I want to make sure nothing’s broken.”

She nodded again and quietly let me examine her, inch by inch. I saw a mark on her shoulder that would probably be purple by the morning. “We’ll need to put some ice on this too, okay?” I nudged her forward and examined her back, running my finger along her skin. I didn’t see anything too menacing there. “Okay, lie back.” I placed my finger and thumb aside her stomach and worked my way up her chest, feeling her ribs. They didn’t seem to be bothering her too much. “Okay. So no broken ribs.” I smiled, hoping it would rub off on her. NO luck. I did take some Neosporin and dab it over the long red mark going up her stomach and ending just short of her breast, unsure if it had broken the skin or not but not wanting to take a chance.

Next I touched my finger to the waist of her pants. “I need to take a look at that knee.” She nodded again and reached down to unfasten the clip. Now aside from the clip, this was a stretchy fabric that at least partially molded to her body. It was form fitting. That also meant it would be hard to get off without a little pain. I figured the best route was to try to roll them down inside-out. I slid two fingers under her lower back to lift her up just a bit, as I pulled the waistband down in the front, the sides and the back, inching them off her hips. I tried not to give into my natural desires as I uncovered more of her with each little tug. She was in pain and it was doubtful she’d appreciate me giving in to my libido right now. Though as I well knew after three wild weeks together, this tiny creature had a way of getting my heart racing without even trying. I indulged myself for a fleeting moment, stopping to gaze at her bare womanhood, but stopped myself before doing anything I’d regret. There’ll be plenty of times for that later. Right now she was acting a little shellshocked, like the adrenaline was wearing off and the reality of what happened this afternoon and evening was sinking in. She didn’t need me taking advantage right now, she needed me to be there to help her through this.

I plodded on, working the fabric down her thighs and then finally, reaching her knees. I debated whether to go slowly, or just get it over with like ripping off a bandage. I knew it was going to hurt either way. Opting for the latter, I told her to take a deep breath, gave her a second to do so, and then tugged on both sides and pulled her pants down the rest of the way, down to her feet.

“Fuuuuckkk!!” It was the first words she’d said since we got home. I felt so bad. She was gritting her teeth at me.

“It’s done. Just let me check your knee. Let’s make sure nothing’s broken.”

“Fine” she hissed. I knew she wasn’t mad at me, it was the situation. The pain. Don’t take it personal, I told myself. I took her leg between my finger and thumb and worked my way down from her thigh to her ankle. At her knee I felt gingerly around to see if anything felt odd. I held her leg up and bent it slowly at the knee. She grimaced, but everything seemed to move properly. That was a relief. Sprained maybe, but not broken.

I wrapped her in the top towel from the stack and then placed my simple cold pack over and to the side of her left knee, and then a separate ice cube I butted up to her shoulder.

“Just lay here and rest for a few minutes. I need to bring Maria in here and take a look at her wound. It’s deep and it might need stitches.”

Melanie’s eyes went round at the mention of stitches. She needed to rest though. I scooted her and her mattress of hand towels over to where she was out of the spotlight. I gathered up some more towels and lay them out for Maria, and then left to go retrieve her.

I found her just where I’d left her, sprawled across the sofa, still unconscious but breathing, her little breasts moving slightly as her tiny lungs took in air. I lifted her up with both hands, trying not to put any pressure on her wound. I carried her into the kitchen and set her down on the towels, in the light where I could examine her. At least unconscious the light shouldn’t bother her – and I suppose the pain either – but it was concerning that she’d been out for so long. I had no idea if this was just an effect of the shrinking, or if they’d done something to hurt her, something I hadn’t seen with my eyes yet.

Knowing she wouldn’t be able to tell me where she felt pain, I just went to feeling around her ribs, her arms and legs, bending the joints, checking to see if anything felt out of place. I lifted up her shirt (no, not for that, I was looking for bruises; though it was hard for me not to admire her exposed flesh) and I turned her over gently to check her back as well. There were some small bruises, but nothing that looked like it was going to really hurt, aside from her one gaping wound.

Speaking of which, I began to gently unwrap the gauze square that I’d used to wrap her with. As I peeled it back, I got my first really good look at the gash. It was oozing some, but nothing like the puddle of blood she sat in on that dirty lab bench. It was stuffed with Neosporin, about how much I’d put on a scrape on my own skin, but it filled her wound like putty. It was probably helping keep her from bleeding more, but I couldn’t leave it like this. The wound needed to heal closed, not forced open like this, or she’d have trouble with it the rest of her life. As it was, even if it healed closed, she’d have a scar. There was no way I could take her to the E.R. like this, I had to treat her here. I needed at least a couple of stitches, something to hold the ends together until her body started to mend it. I got up and began fishing through the pantry to find my sewing kit. Yes, I’m a guy with a sewing kit. If you’ve ever lived by yourself for a while, you’d probably need to learn how to sew too, if only to mend loose buttons or hem a pair of pants. I was halfway decent at the basics at least. I found my needles and looked for the tiniest one I could find. It was just over an inch long. Really too long for this, but it was all I had. It was too small for about anything else, which is why I’d never used it before. It came with an assorted needles package. Same with the string, all I had, though at least the string was thinner than a suture, as I well knew from the time I cut my hand and got five stitches last year. But I digress.

Pulling out the needle and thread, next I looked around for a candle and matches and brought those to the table. I dug through the Walgreens bag and found tweezers (somehow I had the sense to grab a pair when I was in the store) and pulled out the Neosporin and the rest of my gauze, along with a bottle of isopropyl alcohol. Then thinking for a moment, I realized I needed a magnifying glass. This was delicate surgery with a blunt instrument, so to speak. I got up and ran to my office / second bedroom and found a microphone stand with a clamp, and then fished around in the closet for a magnifying glass. I fastened one to the other en-route as I carried the contraption back to the kitchen table, then played around with it until I had it positioned just right.

Next I lit the candle. I washed my hands and then doused them in isopropyl. I took some isopropyl and gently cleaned around the edges of Maria’s wound, trying hard not to touch the inside at all. Even with that, I couldn’t believe she wasn’t jumping up screaming in pain. At least one advantage to being unconscious for all this is I could work on her wound and hopefully she wouldn’t have traumatic memories from my crude surgery. She was going to be traumatized enough once she did wake up.

I picked up the needle with the tweezers and held it in the open flame of the candle. Something I learned back in Boy Scouts to sterilize the needle. Back then it was for pulling out splinters from the old wood camp tables or the scraps we dug up for the campfire, but the principle is the same. I held the needle up out of the flame for a minute to cool down, and then set it on a piece of gauze before I put out the flame. Next I took a few inches of thread and cleaned it by wiping isopropyl along it. Not ideal but it should be enough to kill or remove most of the bacteria, if there was any that liked to hang out on a spool of thread. Who knows what bacteria like to do. I then took the end of the thread and spent the next couple minutes fumbling to thread it into the tiny needle. I couldn’t have done it without the magnifying glass.

Then I steadied myself, taking a couple of deep breaths to calm my nerves, of course trying to exhale to the side and not contaminate the wound. Through the magnifying lens I could see the wound and the edges of skin on either side, already showing some inflammation. I had to do this but I was nervous I was going to stitch through muscle or something worse, trying such a microscopic mend. The needle had to go through skin but not deeper. Bracing myself, with a spotlight shining down and the magnifying glass maybe 6 inches above her leg, I nudged the tip of the needle against the inside edge of the wound. Very gently I pushed until the needle pierced the skin. I slowly slid the needle through the skin and out the other end. I heard a gasp, not from Maria, who was still unconscious, but from across the table. Melanie was sitting up and watching me, the look on her face a mix of fear and curiosity. I tried to shut it out of my head so I could focus on Maria. I brought the needle around and brought the tip to the outer edge of skin on the other side of her wound. I slowly pierced it, eliciting another gasp from the peanut gallery, and then pierced the inside skin on the opposite side, pulling it through the outer. I looped the needle around and brought it through once more on the outer side, through the inner, through the inner skin on the other side and back out the outer skin. Hoping that would be enough, as my nerves were a little wracked right now, I tugged the needle through, slid it off the thread, and then very gently pulled the threads together to close the wound, fully aware that pulling too hard I could easily rip her skin. I nudged the two sides together with my finger and thumb and then tugged once more lightly on the thread. Satisfied I’d gotten it mostly closed, I knotted the threads a couple times to secure them, and then took a scissor and cut off the loose thread. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding (seems I’ve been holding my breath a lot this evening … ) and I heard a similar tiny exhale from my audience across the table.

I went ahead and dressed the wound, applying plenty more Neosporin, though I was careful not to force any into the wound itself – out of fear that I’d force it back open, rip her stitches out, or create a permanent abscess if it all got stuck in there. I had to remember how much stronger I was compared to these tiny beings, and how much damage I could do without even trying. I fished a package of tiny bandages out of the bag – the smallest I could find, barely an inch and a half long. I cleaned off the far edges of her skin with the isopropyl-dabbed gauze and gave it a moment to dry, and then placed the sticky part of the bandage on her hip just above her thigh, and then tugged a little to help ensure the wound was held closed, and stuck the other end against the skin of her leg below the wound. Lastly, I wrapped her leg in gauze, multiple times around, and then affixed another of those skinny bandages to fasten it in place. I feared for a moment that she’d get up and go into a panic and rip her stitches out of her leg, so I felt justified in making that a lot harder to do.

I gently scooped her up, towels and all, and carried her into the bedroom, where I lay her on a pillow in the middle of the bed. Then I came back and got Melanie. I scooped her up as well, towels and ice packs and all, and began to carry her to the bed.

She looked up at me and whispered “Thank you.” I bent down and kissed her forehead as I carried her to the bedroom and lay her on another pillow next to Maria’s in the middle of the bed. I draped hand towels over each of them (I think I’d used every hand towel in the house this evening).

I whispered back “Get some sleep. We’ll talk later.” I turned out the lights and let them both rest, while I went back to the kitchen to clean up and start going through the new information I now had access to. I wasn’t going to get anyone’s hopes up unless I felt I had a chance to reverse the effects of the machine in that lab, but I was committed to figuring out how they did it - and perhaps what else has been going on in the secret lab on Level 7.

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Melanie's Story Part 20 - Discovery

Post by Rocket » Sat Aug 27, 2022 3:02 pm

As the girls slept off their ordeal, I tried to wind down myself. I made an icepack for my own shoulder and plunked it on there, balancing it with limited success as I sat down at my computer first. The lab notebook was going to be helpful, I could tell just glancing at it, but the key to solving these burning mysteries would lie in accessing their computer mainframe. That’s what that little USB clip was for, it contained a small virus meant to grant me backdoor access. It would be hard to trace, but not impossible, especially if they knew what to look for. So I had to act quickly – and perhaps download as much as I could and review it later. If my access were discovered and turned off, I had no idea how I’d reestablish a connection. I could imagine them taking over-the-top measures to block me, as well as probably stationing multiple guards around the clock. So I had to get in while I could.

As soon as the application came up, I ran a targeted search for the tracer I’d built into the clip. It took agonizing minutes – and then more agonizing minutes - and hacking through a firewall, which I had expected (duh) – but after almost an hour, I’d located the hidden IP address for the server. I used my backdoor codes to tap into the root directories and grant myself superuser access, and then began to scan the main files and the user files. Running a search for key words was slower than I hoped, despite my 1000mB connection rate.

It was well after midnight when I finally got some hits. The files I was looking for were deep in some sub-sub-subdirectories with separate password protection, but I was able to get into them now. An initial skim of the material told me this was exactly what I was looking for. File logs for the machinery, test runs, the base code used in programming, the frequencies they tested for lasers (lasers?) and crystals (crystals?) and some build notes. Nothing like a set of clean schematics, but I hoped there was enough here to get a read on what they were trying to accomplish and how on earth they created a machine that could shrink matter. It wasn’t lost on me that the shrinking was rapid – it had to be as I know I was only out of touch with Maria for minutes, not hours – and that everything the person was wearing also shrunk proportionately. In addition, at least in my experience with Melanie, outside the obvious dynamics of our highly unorthodox and sex-laden relationship, she was still the same Melanie. I had to smile at the thought, though I knew she was next door trying to sleep and recover from her ordeal. Despite our dramatic size difference, we'd made out like rabbits in heat for the last three weeks. I still wasn’t sure if she was just more horny because of her size, because of something in the shrinking process itself, or maybe, was it that my size compared to hers and I was naturally over-stimulating her? Not that any of that explained why she got me so randy. Maybe something to discuss with a couples therapist one of these days. I could just picture that, we’d end up with our own show on Discovery channel or something.

Shaking my head to try to get my thoughts back in order, I finished selecting everything that I thought could be useful – and anything that even looked like it could be – and set up to download copies onto a secure drive. I had to take precautions, for all I knew there could be other viruses hidden in what I was downloading.

Once the download process was in motion, I turned my attention to the lab notebook. I’d seen the notes about Melanie about a third of the way in, and jumped to those first, making a mental note to go back to the beginning later. As I read through the notes, it became clear to me that this was all planned, they’d identified her on that first day she worked in the outer lab, and planned an experiment during that time, working out the parameters and even what tests they would perform. I shuddered as I read some of their plans. She was literally a human guinea pig. They referred to her as subject H2. I had a suspicion that H meant human, but did the 2 mean she wasn’t the first human they shrunk? So was there at least someone else out there besides Melanie (and now Maria)?

I read further along. Like I suspected, the actual shrinking happened quickly. They lured her to a specific spot marked on the floor and then the whole process took seconds. Just the thought of such a precise conversion of kinetic energy had me itching to dig into the files I was downloading to try to figure it out – as well as where that energy went to. It had to be stored somewhere.

After that initial shrinking, I was horrified as I read the next several pages, describing experiments that they performed on her. Snipping tissue, drawing blood and urine samples, measuring her brain activity, calculating her body mass and measurements for every body part, all in neat columns with ratios calculated, then more tissue and more blood. By the descriptions, she wasn’t conscious for any of it. I started wracking my brain to think if I remembered scars on her body. At that I got up and tiptoed into the bedroom. I didn’t want to wake her, but if she was up, I had to know.

As I entered the room, she groaned and stretched her arms. The ice packs were long since turned to water. For a fleeting moment I told myself I wasn’t being a very good boyfriend for not replenishing her ice packs. Then I realized the groan wasn’t for me, it was her aching knee and shoulder. And maybe other parts that we didn’t find yet, parts that would show themselves when the bruises start to form.

In a soft voice I said “Babe, are you awake?”

“Mmm. Yeah.” Then she opened her eyes and gave me a half smile. “Thank you for letting me take a nap. I appreciate it. I do feel a little better.”

“I have some ibuprofen liquid if you need something for pain. I just need to calculate the dose.”

“Umm …” She tested her knee. “Oh yeah. Definitely.” She slowly sat up. “How are you going to figure out what dose I can take? Do you need to weigh me or something?”

I gave her a sad smile. “Actually, apparently that’s all been done already.” I held up the lab notebook that I’d been reading, holding it open to the page that had an extensive chart of her measurements.

She gasped. “They did all that??”

“Actually a lot more than that. Can I take a closer look at you? I want to see if there are any scars. Seems they took tissue and blood samples several times. I can’t even imagine how.”

She looked at me apprehensively. “Okay. Just be gentle with my knee. It really HURTS!” As I started to scoop her up, still wrapped in the hand towel, she glanced over at Maria. “She’s still asleep? Has she woken up at all yet?”

“Umm. About that…”

She could see I was hesitant to say something. “Out with it!”

“Okay. She could be out for a while. It seems YOU were out for a while too.”

“How long is a while?”

“Like three days.”

She shrieked. “WHAT?!”

“That’s why I want to look at you closely – as much as I’ve admired every inch of you, I really wasn’t looking for scars or cuts or other marks. Now I know what to look for.”

“Oh.”

I carried her into the bathroom and gently lifted the hand towel away, exposing her bare flesh. I could see her knee was swollen so I tried to avoid it. I turned her sideways gently and examined her legs.

“Ahh – I see a mark here on your calf, it looks like a tiny slice with a scalpel. And another on your hip. They’re small but they’re definitely there. Scars from where they took samples apparently.” I could feel her body shudder at the thought. I lifted up her feet and found tiny puncture marks on both soles. “Yep, this is where they took the blood samples from.”

She was still shaking her head over the three days. “If I hadn’t seen Maria still passed out, I would never believe it. It felt like I was out for an hour or two.”

“No, they planned all of this in advance – the whole experiment. Then they placed you in a new environment to observe you.”

“Observe me??”

“Seems the arrangement for your siblings to watch you, was all part of the experiment. It’s so clear now that I have it in writing. The story about an accident and you needing their care, it was all made up. They didn’t want you to know about the experiments and figured they could study you from afar over time. Maybe to see if there were any side effects from the shrinking, who knows.”

She was speechless. “But … but … “ I shut up and gave he a minute. “But … how on earth would they be observing me?”

“Seems they were visiting the house periodically to ‘see how you were doing’ – in reality it was a formal interview with both your brother and sister every time they came by – all part of the experiment.”

“Umm … when was the last time they came by?”

I double-checked in the book. “I don’t know. They were coming by every week or two. They were there a couple days before your escape, if I’m reading this correctly. Now if you didn’t know they were coming that frequently …” I watched her shake her head no “… then I’m guessing they purposely didn’t want to make contact with you. Maybe they thought you’d recognize them?” She shrugged her shoulders. “But you’ve been here with me for what, three weeks? So they had to have come by since you left. I’m thinking the last time they were there, your siblings didn’t realize you’d escaped yet. Remember it’s been barely a week since we were over there – so what, a week at the most since I had that run-in with your little brother?”

Her face flushed. “Shit. They could be going there right now, to find out how I got back in the lab. Dammit, I wonder if they even suspect they had something to do with it. Not that I care too much if they get in a fight, they deserve that for what they did to me, but … shit, my brother knows I had some help now, he’ll probably blab everything he can remember to save his own skin. Do you think he’ll remember what you look like?”

“Well, I’m not sure, I had a cap and dark glasses on when he came in, and it happened quick, so I’m hoping he couldn’t pick me out of a lineup. But I’m thinking maybe I need to stake out the place again.”

“Why?”

“I have a feeling you’re right, they’re going to go check on the house and try to get answers. What I want is to see them out of the lab – what car they drive, where they go. I highly suspect … that you are not the first person they shrunk. I also suspect that whoever else was shrunk, they are still keeping tabs on.”

--------------------------------

After I’d gathered up the supplies and food I needed for this stakeout, along with giving Melanie a chance to bathe and change and giving her a dose of ibuprofen (measured from the infant drops I’m glad I thought to pick up when I bought bandages), I scooped up both of my charges and brought them out to the garage with me. I let Melanie get settled in and comfortable. We still weren’t sure what to do with Maria, but we sure couldn’t take a chance of her waking up alone. We agreed we both had to be here for her when she came to. I was clueless about how to care for her in the meantime – did we need to feed her yet? How could I let her go three days without eating, drinking, going to the bathroom? Yeah, that part I hadn’t had the nerve to describe to Melanie yet, but from the notes – in graphic detail – they used a dropper to force-feed her and inserted a tiny catheter to drain her bladder. I suppose I couldn’t hide that from her forever, especially if I was going to have to do these things for Maria at some point.

Meantime, I’d been able to download almost a quarter terabyte of data onto a large external drive. I brought that with me, along with the laptop, figuring I could start going through it while we waited. Unlike the last stakeout, where we had an idea when her siblings would leave the house, so we knew we weren’t going to be sitting there all day, this was different. We were waiting for two madmen to show up and we didn’t know when, we didn’t know what car they’d be driving, but I knew in my gut that they were going to come and investigate what was going on with Melanie.

I also had a few tricks up my sleeve, so to speak. Like out of the secret agent handbook. I had my bag of gizmos at the ready, in hopes of being able to use them.

We drove off, the hour drive across town to the neighborhood where her brother and sister lived.

------------------------------

Once I had the house in my sights, I found a space across the street and a couple doors down. Far enough not to be obvious, but close enough to see if two guys with bruises on their faces showed up. Now we just had to sit and wait. It was around 4am and I was exhausted. Melanie had at least gotten a few hours’ sleep while I continued my research. At this point I was struggling to stay awake, but hesitant to guzzle another canned coffee drink out of fear I’d have to drive off and find a bathroom in the middle of the night and miss our target. Instead, I asked Melanie for a big favor.

“Hey babe, any chance you could watch the house just for an hour and I’ll try to take a quick nap?”

“Um, sure, but I can’t see much from down here.”

“I was thinking you could sit on the dashboard. It’s dark out, nobody should see you.”

She thought about it for a moment. “Okay.”

I gently lifted her up and rolled her in a hand towel before placing her onto the dashboard. I’d brought a few of them so Melanie could get comfortable and just-in-case. I grinned at her, looking like a human hot tamale, her head and shoulders sticking out the end and the rest of her rolled up inside.

She caught me grinning and said “What’s so funny?”

“Sorry. For a moment I was picturing a hot tamale. You just look so delicious wrapped up in there.”

She giggled. It was the first time I’d gotten a laugh out of her in a couple of days. It was good to hear. She needed to keep her spirits up to get through this.

“Okay, you let me know if you see anything. I just need a quick nap.”

------------------------

At some point I must have dozed off for real, I remember Melanie shouting at me. “Wake up!”

My eyes shot open and I looked around frantically for a second, catching Melanie still up on the dashboard. The sun hadn’t come out yet, but it was getting lighter. I realized I’d slept longer than I planned. I went to try to collect Melanie and place her back down in the safety of the passenger seat, when I followed her gaze down the block, where a car had pulled up at her siblings’ house, blocking the driveway. Two burly guys were getting out of the car, both looking pretty disheveled. One definitely looked like one of the ‘scientists’ I’d fought with last night, complete with a bruise on his chin so big I could see it from a distance, and a scowl to match.

“Let’s get you down here, we can’t let them see you.”

I lowered her to the passenger seat and then turned my attention back to the two men. They were standing on the porch now, one of them was pounding on the door.

Melanie whispered “What’s the plan?”

“Well … I need to figure out where they’re going, but I also have something I want to plant on their car, if I can do it without them seeing me.”

“Um, why?”

“Okay. We already know now that you weren’t the first person they shrunk.” She nodded. “So unless they’ve been hiding people in cages on Level 7 all this time, there’s at least one more victim, maybe others, that only they know the location of.”

“Others?”

“Yeah. I figure you’re test subject #2 based on their nomenclature. The whole thing with Maria happened so quick that I doubt they had time to write up any notes involving her, but here’s the thing – if they did this to Maria so quickly, with so little prep time, that tells me they’ve been using this machine for a while. Maybe on plants and animals, who knows, Maria texted me about something squawking when she was on the elevator, so she could have been bringing stuff up for experiments. But there could well be more than just three people as well. Only they know where everyone is, and they’re either holding victims themselves or they’re checking up on them like they were for you.”

Her eyes were round as saucers. She was speechless for a moment as my theory sunk in. “Shit. You’re right. Those animals. If there’s anyone else out there we have to help them.”

“Exactly. So we either tail them everywhere they go, OR …” and I pulled a device out of my bag. “We place a tracker and I monitor where they go.”

She looked at the device curiously. “How did you make something so quickly?”

“I cheated.” I gave her a quick smile, though it didn’t reach my eyes. “I scavenged an Apple watch for parts. You know those things have trackers built into them. I have it linked to the app on my phone. There’s a strong adhesive strip on the back. I was thinking under the back bumper if I can get there.”

As I put my hand on the door handle, prepared to open it, she blurted “You’re not going out there NOW, are you?”

“I have to try while they’re inside. As soon as they go in I may only have a minute.”

“Be careful!!”

I bent down and kissed her on the top of the head, and then watched as the two guys barged in the front door. It slammed shut behind them so loud I could hear it from the street 2 doors down. Hopefully it didn’t wake any neighbors. I opened the door and crept out, closing it silently behind me, and then walked with a hunch, trying to stay behind the parked cars along the street as much as I could. Their car in sight, I poked my head up one last time to make sure the front door was still shut and nobody was coming out yet. Then I darted over behind their car and reached underneath the back bumper, trying to find a smooth spot to adhere the ‘tracker’ and press it into place firmly. As soon as I did, I heard a noise and glanced up, in time to see the door swinging open and the two guys barreling out of the house in a huff. I darted for the shrubs separating their house from the neighbor’s and ducked down, trying to stay out of sight. If they caught me the gig could be up before it even started.

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Melanie's Story Part 21 - Conspiracy Theories

Post by Rocket » Sun Sep 04, 2022 4:31 pm

I heard a noise and glanced up, in time to see the door swinging open and the two guys barreling out of the house in a huff. I darted for the shrubs separating their house from the neighbor’s and ducked down, trying to stay out of sight. If they caught me the gig could be up before it even started.

Laying flat on the ground behind the bushes, I watched as they got back in their car, slammed the doors, roared the engine and sped off. I gave them a few moments to be sure they were out of sight – down the block and turning the corner – before I started to get up. I hoped the commotion didn’t draw neighbors out to see. It was still pretty early, but some people could be up already. I glanced both ways to see if anyone was nearby, and then crawled out and onto the sidewalk. I walked down the opposite direction and across the street, out of concern that the siblings would come to the door and see my face. I wasn’t sure how much her brother had been able to see or remember from our previous visit, when I had to surprise him and knock him out to rescue Melanie and escape, but seeing me a second time was just asking for trouble. I walked a little ways down the block, and then rounded a parked car and crossed the street there, before heading back up towards my car.

Coming around the back of the car, I unlocked the door and quickly jumped into the seat and shut the door behind me. Melanie was still sitting in the passenger seat, her back propped up. She looked up at me expectantly.

“How are you doing?” I asked first.

“Alright. I may need some more pain medicine soon. But how did it go?”

“I got the tracker in place. I don’t think they saw me. I didn’t want to take a chance of your brother seeing me a second time and connecting the dots, so I went a long way around to come back here.” As I spoke, I was pulling out my phone and waiting for the tracking app to load. “How’s Maria?”

She gave me a concerned look. “No change. She hasn’t budged.”

I sighed. “I’ve been worried ever since I saw in the notes that you were out for three days. We’re going to have to feed her at some point. She’ll need to get her strength up.”

She looked over to Maria and then back to me. “Umm, how do you propose we do that?”

I hesitated. “Apparently … they fed you with a dropper and umm … “ her eyebrows rose at my hesitation “… inserted a catheter. Down there.”

She got a sick look on her face.

“If I have to do that, I promise I’ll be gentle. I don’t know if THEY were.”

She looked at Maria again for a moment and then nodded. “Okay. I trust you.”

I gave her a fleeting half smile, which didn’t reach my eyes. Turning my attention to the tracking app, I tapped a few buttons and soon the tracker was detected. I overlayed it onto a Google map and watched the blinking dot as it traveled.

“Tell you what. I’m going to start heading back to the house. You need some rest, some medicine and I need to figure out how to take care of Maria for a couple days until she comes to. How about I set the phone here …” as I lay it on the seat between Melanie and Maria “… and can you watch that blinking dot? If it stops somewhere for any length of time, make note of the address so we can check it out later.”

“Okay. But tell me again why we’re tracking their movements?”

I paused to check for oncoming cars and then pulled out into the street and began heading home. “Okay. I’ve been doing some thinking about this. First off, based on the notes I’ve read so far, I’m suspecting there was AT LEAST one person before you. There could be others after you too. I haven’t gone through all those secure files yet, but I’ve downloaded a LOT so it’s going to take some time. However, these goons may be the only ones who know where these other people are – if they’re being held somewhere, placed with someone like you were, whatever. They could be in danger just like you were. And there could be more if we don’t stop these people.”

She nodded. “Yeah. Okay. I’m on board with you as long as you don’t do something foolish.”

“Any more than sneaking into a secret laboratory yesterday?”

She gave me a sheepish look. “Touché.”

As we drove I continued. “Here’s another thought. HOW were they able to pull off experiments like this, right in your building?”

Her eyebrows narrowed. “I never thought about that. They were just good at keeping it a secret?”

“No way. Think about it, Mel. You’ve got hundreds of people working there. You’ve got millions of dollars being spent, corporate types drawing up nondisclosure agreements and doling out money to people who aren’t on the payroll. This goes higher than just those scientists. Someone higher up – maybe all the way up - knows about this – and they’re either involved in covering it up, or they’re being forced to look the other way.”

She gasped at this realization. “HOLY SHIT.”

--------------------------------------------

We had a long drive home. Her siblings were on the opposite end of town, roughly an hour’s drive. About 15 minutes from home, Melanie told me the blinking dot had stopped moving for several minutes. I pulled over for a moment to jot down the address she read to me.

As I pulled out into traffic again, I said “We’ll investigate that one soon as we get home. It’s the first place they stopped, right?”

She nodded, but kept watching the dot. “It hasn’t moved in 10 minutes.”

“Okay. Good work. Keep watching, we’ll be home soon.”

--------------------------------------------

As we pulled into the driveway and then the garage, I took a look for myself as we waited for the garage door to shut behind us.

“They still haven’t moved?”

“Nope.”

“They’ve been there a while then. Assuming you’re the only one who’s ever escaped, I wonder … “

She looked up at me expecting an answer, but I really didn’t have one yet. Ideas were still forming in my head. Barely a hypothesis. I needed confirmation first. So I proceeded to gather up everything I’d brought along for what I figured would be a much longer stakeout. I filled up my backpack, slung it over my shoulder, and then gathered my phone, followed by my two charges. I carried them gently through the door and straight to the bedroom, where I lay them both down on the pillows again while I unpacked.

Pulling my phone back out, I noticed the dot still hadn’t moved. I examined the map more closely. “This is a residential street.” I zoomed in close and confirmed these were huge single houses – possibly McMansions - in an enclave north of the city. Pretty much straight north of the laboratory building and maybe 20 minutes from our house. A little closer than I was comfortable with, having glimpsed what these people were capable of. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

Before she could say a word, I ran to my computer, fired up my secure browser and went straight to the county public records. Within a few minutes I’d tracked down details on the address and the owners. Or owner. It was an LLC using the street address for the name. Very odd for that neighborhood. Not uncommon for cheaper neighborhoods frequented by real estate investors, but odd for a ritzy neighborhood like that. Why would someone buy a house in an LLC? To hide their identity maybe? Well, for that I had to go to the state websites. I started digging through state public records, looking for any filing related to this LLC. I must have been gone an hour poring over records, determined to find out who owned that house, when I heard Melanie calling me.

I stopped and turned around. She was on the corner of the bed trying to get my attention. I ran back to her.

“About time!” she snapped.

“Sorry. I thought I was on to something and I lost track of time.”

“Well. I’ll accept your apology if you’ll just take me to the bathroom. I haven’t gone since before we left.”

“Absolutely.” I scooped her up gently, trying to avoid her sore knee, and carried her to the bathroom sink. “Sorry. I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Stop!” I froze. “What is SO important that you had to drop everything for?”

“Okay. It looks like the first stop they made was to a pretty ritzy neighborhood north of town. That’s where they’ve been for over an hour. But the house is owned by an LLC. I’m trying to track down the owners. I figure it could be one of them, if that’s where one of the scientists lives, though I didn’t think they’d be making THAT kind of money. Not just on company salary. OR it could be owned by backers of their research. Which means this is even bigger than I suspected an hour ago.”

Meantime Melanie really did have to go to the bathroom, so she’d slid down into the sink bowl and was about to hike up her skirt when she stopped, just staring at me, slack-jawed. She took a moment to snap out of it and just stood there, as the reality of what I was suggesting sunk in.

“HO-LY SHIT.”

“I think you said that already.”

“I don’t think I’ve said it enough yet. Just how big is this?”

“That’s what I’m trying to get to the bottom of. And why I got so distracted. Sorry again by the way. I really didn’t mean to leave you stranded, but this is getting bigger by the hour. The more I dig the deeper it gets.”

“Well wait for me then. Give me a minute. I’ll go in there with you.”

“Okay.” I stood there, feeling a little impatience, as she did her business and I handed her a tiny piece of tissue to clean up with. As soon as she was done, she raised her arms, her signal for me to lift her up. I scooped her up and carried her gently to the office, setting her down next to my keyboard. She found a position where she could kinda see the screen, though for her I’m sure it was like sitting in the front row at the movie theatre. She tried to get comfortable as I continued my search through the state records for any reference to the filing of this LLC.

Finally another half hour later, I finally had a hit. The LLC was registered recently – just a few months ago – by another LLC. My head was spinning at all of this. The LLC’s owner was S.E. LLC. Geez this was like a frigging shell game. I dug further and located the actual filing documents. S.E. stood for Shrinking Enterprises, d/b/a S.E. LLC, a filing that also was only a few months old. So by the name alone, it was clear someone – likely beyond Advanced Future labs – had a stake in this research. Was this a group of investors? Or one deep-pocketed investor trying to hide behind a corporate shroud? Someone looking to make a fortune on the black market? I shuddered at the thought. Either way, they had to be stopped.

“We’re going to need to pay a visit to that house and have a look around. I’m getting more questions than answers. I have a feeling there are answers in that house.”

“Fine. But right now you need to get some sleep. You’ve been up ALL NIGHT. There’s nothing you can do if you wear yourself out. I appreciate everything. You’ve gone above and beyond. For both of us. But you’ve got to get some sleep now, okay?”

I paused. “Shit. Maria. Okay, I’ll get some rest, but I’ve got to take care of both of you first.”

I scooped her up and carried her back to the bathroom, where I pulled the ibuprofen dropper out of the cabinet and measured another tiny dose for her. She opened her mouth for me to drop the dose into. The right dose for her body size, I’d calculated, was so tiny I had to use the infant drops to be able to measure with any accuracy. I held the tip of the dropper over her mouth and she let the big droplet roll down her tongue and down her throat.

After that I said “Stay here for a minute.” I ran back to the bedroom to gather up Maria and carry her into the bathroom. “Okay. I need to feed her and I need to help her go to the bathroom. There’s no way she can go 3 days without either. It’s already been 15 hours. So which first?”

Melanie just looked up at me, unsure what to say.

“Broth.”

“Broth?”

“Broth. Like beef broth. I have those cubes for cooking with. I need something I can drip down her throat that will give her at least some nutrition for now. Watch her for a minute?”

I heard “Uh, okay” as I jogged into the kitchen, found the beef bullion cubes, dissolved a couple in a small cup and then came back with another dropper.

“She needs to sit up” I said as I gently scooted her up against the backsplash and tilted her head back. “I just hope I’m doing this right.” I gently tilted her head back and tried to nudge her mouth open with the tip of my finger. “I’m afraid of hurting her.”

“Why don’t you just try with the tip of the dropper?”

I hadn’t thought of that. “Okay. Here goes.” I filled the dropper with broth and positioned the tip against her lips, wiggling it a bit. To my surprise, she wrapped her lips around it like it was a straw. Or a nipple. Maybe this was an inate reflex, as she was still unconscious. I gently nudged a drop into her mouth. She swallowed. Huh. Maybe another inate reflex. So maybe this would work. I continued slowly until she took down much of what I had in the dropper. I paused and slid the dropper out of her mouth and set it aside.

“Now the hard part.”

She looked at me for a moment.

“In their notes they used a catheter. I can try to come up with something based on their notes. But you know what my big concern is.”

She arched her eyebrows.

“I’m going to have to, um, work down there. Open it up so she can pee.”

She said flatly, “You’ve seen her naked before.”

“Yeah, but she was conscious. And it’s not like we were forcing her to do anything. Not like this. I’m afraid she’ll think I took advantage of her in her sleep or something. I really worry about that. Wouldn’t you?”

She thought for a moment. “But … this is like a medical procedure. It’s not like you’re forcing her to have sex. I’ll be here as a witness.”

“Are you sure?”

She looked me in the eyes. “Yes. I trust you. You have her best interests at heart. Just like you do for me.” She came over and put her hand on my wrist.

“Okay.” I nodded. Then I looked at Maria for a moment, thinking how this was going to work. I probably needed to remove her panties. It would be tricky getting them around the huge bandage on her thigh, but she’d hopefully appreciate that I tried to save them and not just cut them off. I’d already damaged her skirt, but that was a dire situation, needing a piece of cloth to hold her wound closed before she lost too much blood. Moving on, I gently lifted her up and positioned her in my hand so that her legs dangled off the side. Then I began to nudge her panties off, carefully, a tiny bit at a time, working them around the wrapped gauze, trying not to stretch them beyond repair. Once I had them down to her knees, it was easy to slide them the rest of the way and set them aside.

What now? Yeah, this was awkward. I lay her back in my palm and spread her legs wide. “After all this I really hope you’re still willing to tell her I wasn’t taking advantage.”

“I will. You do what you need to do. It’s for her own good. She’ll understand. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Okay.” I proceeded, using my thumb and middle finger to part her labium. I spread her folds wide until I could make out the details. I was searching for her urethra. Ah, there it was, near the top, the tiny bud poking out at me. Having found it, I lowered her until she was just over the sink, and then massaged her urethra with my index finger. I wasn’t quite sure how this was supposed to work, but I understood that pressure in just the right spot would help relax the muscle that held her bladder closed. It took a couple minutes of maneuvering with my finger until I finally found a spot that worked. I moved my thumb and pressed her urethra between my thumb and index finger and massaged it until a dribble started, followed by a steady flow. It flowed over my finger, but not much I could do about that. It had to be done. I waited patiently, applying pressure, until the flow stopped. Then I let go and grabbed a tissue, using the corner to blot her dry.

Laying her back down gently on the counter, I washed my hands and then said “Watch her, I’ll be right back.” I came back a minute later with what was left of Maria’s skirt, which I’d taken off to do her stitches and bandages earlier. Melanie looked at me with curiosity. “I’d feel bad if she suddenly woke up and realized she’s naked from the waist down. Maybe with her skirt on – or what’s left of it – she won’t be AS mad at me.”

She snorted. “How could she be mad at you? Geez, you saved her life.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what she’ll be thinking.”

“You’re a good man. I suppose she’ll get used to going commando, I know I have.” She winked.

“Do you think I need to try and get her panties back on too?”

She snorted again. “You’re funny. No. You’re doing more than enough. You need to get some rest. You’ve been up all night.”

“Alright. Can you help me with this clasp in the back? I don’t want to break it.” I lifted Maria, propped up in my hands, and held her so Melanie could get to the clasp without getting up. That done, I carried them both with me back to the bed. I set them back on the pillows, but scooted them over so I’d have room to lay down myself.

I went to the other room to grab my phone and charge it, as well as set the tracker to record, in case we missed any more movement while we napped. I tried to get some sleep, but for a while my head kept racing, trying to take in the ramifications of what we may have just started to uncover.

NaOH_r2
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Re: Melanie's Story (with table of contents)

Post by NaOH_r2 » Fri Sep 09, 2022 9:46 pm

This is a great story and very well written. I only recently recently opened it and read what you have so far and am very impressed. This represents a lot of work, I know, so thank you much.

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to your continuations.

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Re: Melanie's Story (with table of contents)

Post by Rocket » Fri Sep 16, 2022 5:06 pm

Thank you for the kind words!

Apologies for the gap between posts, I've been trying to get a chapter up every week but I've just been tied up. I have a complete story arc, even plans for an epilogue, but I'm still adding much of the dialogue. Thanks!

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Melanie's Story Part 22 - Maria Wakes Up

Post by Rocket » Fri Sep 16, 2022 5:10 pm

I woke up around lunchtime, to the sound of screaming. I was disoriented for a moment, still in my drowsy stupor, before I realized what was happening. Maria must have woken up.

Spinning around in the bed, as my eyes adjusted to the mid-day light pouring in from the window, I saw Maria trying to stand up on the pillow, obviously disoriented herself but realizing the whole world looked different. I could only imagine.

“Help me here!” Melanie shouted without even looking at me. She was trying to hold Maria back down. With one hand I reached over and pinned Maria down, her arms to her sides. I really hoped I wasn’t making things worse by doing this, but it looked like Maria was fumbling with her bandages. That would be bad. Really bad.

“Okay. Everybody take a deep breath.” Maria looked at me, or rather stared daggers at me, like she wanted to jump my throat. I took my own advise for a sec, gathering my thoughts. “Okay. Maria. I know this has got to be disorienting. To say the least. But PLEASE. Do NOT try to take off that bandage. You have a deep wound, you needed stitches. PLEASE!”

She growled at me. Did she blame me for this? Or was she angry because I was holding her down? Melanie piped in, “Maria. He SAVED YOUR LIFE. They were going to KILL YOU.” At that Maria switched her gaze to Melanie. Her anger started to change to confusion.

“What the FUCK?”

“Now listen to me.” Melanie got right in front of her. It had to hurt, she was on that swollen knee. “Those bastards did this to you. They were threatening to kill BOTH OF US. I was strapped down on the table being TORTURED and QUESTIONED when you came in to try to rescue me. HE” she pointed to me as she spoke “… beat them up and rescued BOTH of us.”

“But … “

Melanie proceeded to fill her in on what happened, from the time I fought the two scientists, to the escape off the roof, even my ‘heroic’ attempt to stitch up her wound. I wouldn’t call it heroic by any means, it was something that had to be done, but it was interesting hearing her perspective on last night’s events.

I chimed in. “Maria. I’ll let you go, just promise me not to go ripping that bandage off. That’s a big gash under there. Let me take care of it. Okay?”

She nodded and I slowly released my grip on her arms, but continued to prop her up on the pillow. I said “Maria, I’m trying to find a way to fix this.” She shot me an incredulous look. “Seriously.” I told her about the notes I’d absconded from the lab and the massive block of server files I’d downloaded. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this. For both of your sakes.”

Melanie continued, telling her about the early morning stakeout, the tracer I placed on their car, and then some of the suspicions I’d shared with her this morning.
Maria gasped. I said “Yeah, that was her reaction too.”

Melanie reached out to slap me on the arm and almost tipped off the pillow they were both on. “I believe my reaction was more like ‘Holy Shit’”

“I’ll second that” added Maria.

After a moment of silence, Melanie looked up at me. “Any theories as to why I was out for 3 days and Maria was out less than 24 hours?”

Maria stopped for a moment and stared at Melanie. “You were out for THREE DAYS?”

“Yeah. Apparently it’s all in those lab notes. They experimented on me.” She shuddered.

“And … I was out for almost a day? Damn. I should have suspected something when you were telling me all these tales – I suppose it would take more than a few hours to do all that.”

“And sleep” I chimed in. They both looked up at me, expecting me to spit up answers. “O-kay. It can’t be that gash that woke you up sooner, given you” as I motioned to Melanie “were stuck with needles and scalpels. And Maria, you were totally out. Like in a coma. I stitched your wound and you didn’t even budge.”

Her eyes got as wide as saucers. “YOU stitched me up?”

Melanie quickly blurted “Who else did you think was going to do it? I told you girl, he saved your life last night.”

“Anyways, the only explanation I can come up with, is that they may have drugged you, so you’d stay out of it until they were ready. Remember, you said you didn’t wake up until you’d already left the facility. They may have planned it that way. They didn’t want you to see or remember anything.”

“But now, we know. And they know that we know.”

“They’re going to come after us, aren’t they.” Maria looked pretty worried. They both did.

“Take a deep breath, both of you. First off, we escaped. Second, I hid my identity – I had a cap, glasses, and a MASK on – and I put on a lab coat in the building and discarded it under the top of the stairwell in a DIFFERENT building. I watched for cameras. PLUS, they did just as we suspected afterwards, right? They went to your brother and sister and questioned THEM. I’m pretty sure your brother couldn’t even pick me out of a lineup.”

“Well …”

“On top of that, now we know where THEY are, and we have a way to track them. If they come this way, we’ll know.”

“Umm, unless they take a different car?”

I made a mock groan. “I was on a roll there, you know. But being serious, that’s another reason to go visit that mansion. I have a feeling we’re going to find more answers there. I noticed that car hasn’t moved since before I dozed off. Right now we know more – a LOT more - than they think we do, and I’m hoping they don’t have a clue where to look for us yet.”

“Plus” I continued, “we think there’s at LEAST one more victim – and that person could be there. I figured after they checked out where they had you stashed, they’d check on any others, but they haven’t left. So … I wonder if someone’s being kept there, and that’s why they didn’t have to go anywhere.”

Maria’s mouth dropped open. “You think there are more like us?”

“I’m almost certain there’s at least one that preceded Melanie, based on the notes. What I don’t know is if more came after. Given it’s been a while since Melanie’s incident – 3 days as their captive, a month at her siblings’ house, about 3 weeks here – we’re talking close to two months. I’d be pretty surprised if they didn’t test this on anyone else in two months’ time.”

“So why did they leave Melanie with them to begin with?”

“Based on the notes, it looks like they wanted to see how she would adapt, if there were any major side effects that would show up days or weeks later. Though there could be more to it than that even. Just based on the few clues I uncovered this morning, I suspect these scientists are working with one or maybe several deep-pocketed investors.” I could tell from Maria’s eyes that the ramifications of that last piece hadn’t sunk in yet. “Think about this. If you were going to start a high priced black market for miniature slaves, human sex toys, whatever, wouldn’t you want to make sure the victims don’t suddenly die off a few weeks after they’re sold off to wealthy buyers? They’d be demanding their money back. I’m guessing the kind of people with that kind of money, the ones who would buy miniature people for their own pleasure, are not the kind of people you trick out of their money and live to tell about it..”

At this, both Maria and Melanie were staring at me, speechless, jaws about hitting the floor. Both of them looked like they were going to start crying any minute.

It was Melanie who finally spoke. “Die?”

I looked at her for a moment, tears welling up. I had to stay calm for both of them. “Nothing has happened, has it? In the notes they were looking at days or maybe a few weeks. Not months. You’re as healthy as you were before, just smaller. Believe me, I’ve examined every part of you. Plus,” I spoke as she looked up at me, “I won’t LET anything happen.”

Melanie crawled over to me and put her arms up, her signal for me to lift her. I brought her up to my chest and she wrapped her arms around my neck. I wrapped my hand around her in a hug and just held her there for a couple minutes, letting her calm down.

Maria blurted “Oh my god. We … you … you can’t let them do this!”

I tried to remain calm as I spoke to both of them. “No, we’re not going to let them do this. They have to be stopped. They are looking to destroy people’s lives, get filthy rich by destroying people, turning regular people into tiny slaves for the wealthy. Or worse. Ultimate revenge. Or making people disappear permanently. Nobody should have this kind of power. So yeah, they have to be stopped.”

“But … what can we even do?”

“Oh, we can do plenty. Right now we have the upper hand.” They both looked at me in confusion. “Okay. First off, we have both of you.” They looked at each other, looking even more confused. “That means they DON’T have you. Two fewer test subjects.” They still looked at me oddly, like I had a screw loose. “Fine. I still think that’s an advantage. But moving on. Second, I have the lab notes on Melanie’s shrinkage, what experiments they ran and the results, plus more that I haven’t even gone through yet. Third, I’ve downloaded a copy of what appears to be most of their research files, algorithms, machine schematics and more, possibly even communications, off their own computer server. Fourth, right now they don’t know we have these things. Fifth, we know where they are – and they don’t know where we are. Sixth, we now know they have financial backers, who are paying for that house they’re in, and who set up their businesses pretty recently. This is pretty new for them too. Which means … “ and they looked up at me again, this time more expectantly than confused, “that we’ve caught on to them early enough that they’re still getting their shit together.”

“Well … how do we know they aren’t already busy shrinking people and selling them?”

“Ahh.” I put on my best Sherlock Holmes impression, trying to get them to relax a little. They were both strung as tight as a guitar string. “Well, my dear ladies, if they were already in business, they wouldn’t still be doing all their work out of Level 7, would they?”

They looked at each other for a moment, then back at me. “Shit.”

----------------------------

I brought both of them into the bathroom to freshen up. I needed to shower and get dressed myself, but I didn’t want to assume Maria was comfortable with me seeing her naked, or vice versa. I went to step out of the room and told them “shout if you need me, I’ll stay close.”

Melanie piped up, “Wait a minute, where are you going?”

“Uhh … I figured Maria would want some privacy.”

I tried to give her a look to convey that I didn’t want her saying anything about what I did – had to do – while she was out, but she started to blab anyway, telling Maria how I was SO worried she’d think I was taking advantage of her, when I fed her and dressed her wound and um, helped empty her bladder. Maria’s eyes bulged for a moment, and she reached down between her legs, and then she glanced up at me, in time to see my cheeks turning red as I fumbled in the doorway, unsure if I should run or stay.

Maria watched me for a minute, probably enjoying how uncomfortable I looked. Then she let out a breath and said “Well. Umm. You really … “ she motioned down between her legs. I nodded. “And you still didn’t try to take advantage of me?”

Melanie said “He insisted I stay here the whole time. I think he was afraid to do anything without a witness. He even kept me in the kitchen when he worked on your wound. I will say, it was kinda cute when he removed your panties, he was SO careful trying not to rip them.” She grinned.

Maria just looked at me again, like she was reassessing me. Then she snorted. “Yeah, I can see him doing that.” She paused for a minute. “Okay. I do appreciate everything you’ve done. Even if I can’t remember it all.” She grimaced at the memory – or lack of memory. “I suppose you’ve already seen, um, everything. So while I appreciate the sentiment in trying to give us privacy, you don’t need to go.” Then she looked down at her bandage. “I may need your help anyway. Do you think I can get this wet, or is it safe to take it off for a few minutes to wash up?”

I thought for a moment. “I’m not sure just yet – that was a big gash. I figure on me it would be like 4 or 5 inches long. You were basically stabbed with a piece of glass. There was a lot of blood. I’m really worried about you getting anything in it this soon, or it opening back up. It took a while to stop the bleeding. But … maybe I can wrap something over it so it doesn’t get wet? … and when I change the gauze maybe it doesn’t have to be so thick? Honestly I was worried you’d wake up and freak out and start ripping on it. I’m already worried you’re going to have a scar there. But …”

She held up a hand to stop me. “Okay, tell you what. How about I just try not to get this too wet, and you can change the gauze afterwards?”

“Sounds like a plan. But how are you going to keep that from getting too wet?”

She looked at me and then to Melanie and then back to me. And then snorted.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was just thinking,” she smirked, “since I’m now your ‘patient’ … would you be willing to give me a sponge bath?”

“Umm … you’re okay with that?”

She laughed out loud. “Okay with that? I just invited you to.”

I looked to Melanie. “Are YOU okay with that?”

She grinned. “Only if I get one too!”

“Damn, you two are supposed to be resting, not getting me all hot and bothered. Alright, let me get cleaned up, then you two choose who goes first.” At that I went ahead and took my shirt off and tossed it into the hamper. All three of us had been too tired last night and crashed in our clothes – or at least I had been, Melanie hadn’t bothered since I lay her in bed like that, and Maria, well Maria didn’t have much say in the matter. Instead of thinking about clothes, I should have been paying more attention, as the moment I turned back towards Melanie, she hurled her top at me, all rolled up in a ball. It bounced off my nose. She smirked.

I let them finish undressing and doing what they needed to do, as I jumped in for a quick shower. When I came out and started drying off, I found both of them stripped and lounging on a hand towel, waiting on me.

“That is damn sexy” I growled.

“Even with all these bruises?” Melanie replied, holding up her arms to show off several dark spots, some that were still forming, a reminder that it had still been less than a day since she first broke into the lab.

I grinned. “Absolutely. So … who’s first? I promise to be careful with the bruises.” I lowered the toilet lid and lay my bath towel on it, and grabbed a small washcloth to use.

Maria turned to Melanie and said “You can go first. I’m … a little nervous about being held and naked. I imagine you’re used to it by now.”

She snorted. “Used to it? I love it!” She sat up and looked up at me. “Okay big boy, are you ready for me?”

“I’m always ready for you” I said as I gently scooped her up in my left hand, her legs hanging over the side of my palm. I took a moment to admire her beauty. She’d been through so much in the last day, not to mention the last two months, and she was still as beautiful as the day we first met.

I got myself comfortable, sitting down on the towel, my girlfriend stretched across my palm and grinning at me. I reached over with my right hand and got a pump of soap and some water, rubbed it between my fingers to create suds, and then began to gently run my fingers over her bare skin. I started on her stomach, which must have tickled her as she tensed for a moment and let out a giggle. I moved up to her chest, soaping her tiny breasts and probably spending an inordinate amount of time massaging her glorious little mounds. I moved up to her shoulders and neck and then gently soaped her face with the tip of my finger. She closed her eyes, a sign of trust in me as I held her in my hand and cleaned her from head to toe. I washed her arm, gently working my way down from shoulder to hand, between my thumb and two fingers, and then the same with the other arm.

As she felt my fingers moving lower, she parted her legs slightly. Her eyes were closed, but a slight grin broke across her lips. I got more soap and water and then started with her legs, working from her thighs to her feet, enjoying the feel of her toned leg muscles between my fingers, being extra careful around her swollen knee, and rubbing her toes between my finger and thumb. Then I gently turned her over in my hand, her face down, her little breasts pressing into my hand and her cute little ass facing me. I soaped up my fingers again and began to massage the soap into her back and shoulders. She purred as I rubbed her.

Then I moved down to her ass. I kneaded her ass cheeks with my soapy fingers, and then ran my thumb along her crack, soaping her up, and down between her legs, where I let my thumb linger. She let out a little gasp as I stroked her there. I began to rub my thumb up and down along her pussy lips, parting them. My thumb was way to big for her, but I could give her all the stimulation she could handle just with the edge of my thumb. So I got into a rhythm with my thumb strokes and before long, she was squirming and moving her little ass in tandem with my caress. I began to rub a little harder and it didn’t take long for her to come, trembling in my hand.

I gave her a minute to come down from her high, before I took a warm wet washcloth and began to rub her down, wiping her clean and removing any trace of soap from her back, shoulders and ass. Then, wrapped in the washcloth, I flipped her over and wiped down her legs, her arms, her chest – stopping to enjoy the feel of her hard tiny nipples against the pad of my thumb – and then washing her face with the corner of the cloth. I lifted her up and kissed her on the stomach and then on the top of her head. She had a smile on her face as I rolled her onto a dry hand towel, wrapped it around her and lay her back down on the sink top.

Melanie couldn’t stop smiling. She sighed and then turned to Maria and said “Your turn!”

Maria still looked pretty nervous. She looked up at me. “Umm … go easy on me. I’m … ”

I whispered “It’s okay. I’ll go slow. If you’re not comfortable, just say so. Okay?”

She nodded. So I reached down and gently scooped her up in my hand. For a moment I just gazed at her in my hand. The first time she’d ever been naked and held. I drank in the sight of her feminine curves, her ample busom. All there in my hand. All awaiting my touch. Damn, she was hot. Ugh. I shook myself out of it and back to the present.

She was just looking at me, waiting for me to do something, probably wondering why I was just staring. “Sorry. You’re … very sexy.” She blushed.

I reached over to get soap and water and then began to rub suds over her stomach. She sucked in a breath at my touch. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I just … didn’t realize I’d be so sensitive … it feels SO different at this size.”

Softly I replied, “Okay. Do you want me to go slower?”

She gazed at me for a moment. “No. It … just takes some getting used to. But I can understand why Mel likes this so much. It’s … so stimulating.”

I grinned. “Alright. Just tell me if it’s too much.” At that I moved my fingers up her chest and began soaping and massaging her breasts. She gasped the first time I brushed her nipples. The tiny buds perked up at my touch, stiffening as I continued my caresses. It added to my enjoyment, feeling her body respond favorably to my touch. I made my way up to her neck and shoulders, then her face, where she giggled as I brushed her nose and rubbed her cheeks with my finger and thumb. I washed her arms the same way I had with Melanie, and then worked my way down to her legs, carefully avoiding the bandage that took up half her upper leg. At the end of each leg, I held her little feet and she squirmed in my hand as I tickled her little toes.

Then I gently turned her over in my hand, her soapy chest sliding against my palm, her breasts pressing against my fingers. I began to soap up her back, giving her a two-fingered massage.

Maria blurted, “Whoa. Look at that bad boy.”

“Huh?”

“That thing is huge! I ... it was sure ample the other night, but I didn’t realize … “

Melanie chimed in “Girl, for us now everything is huge.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to get that. But … wow. I … wish I was …”

“Hey, when we’re feeling better we can both have a go at that thing.” Melanie looked up at me, a smirk on her face. “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind.”

I almost laughed. “You think I would mind two gorgeous women climbing all over me? I don’t think there’s a guy on the planet that would mind that.”

Maria said “Bring me down there now, just for a minute?”

I was already at more than half mast, the head sticking up as if it were trying to reach her. I lowered her down, holding her above my lap. She reached her arms out to grab ahold of the head of my penis, pulled it closer and planted a big wet kiss on it. As she did that, I slid my finger between her legs and brushed her there. She was a little wet there and it had nothing to do with the soap. She shuddered at my touch. I continued soaping her ass and between her legs, as she hadn’t let go of my penis yet. She was giving it soft kisses as I caressed her bottom. If we kept this up, I wasn’t going to get anything done today. So I grabbed the warm wet hand towel and began to clean her off, her shoulders and back, arms – which I had to pull away first, eliciting an ‘Aww’ – and bottom and legs. I wrapped her in the damp cloth as I turned her over, cleaning her face gently with the corner of the cloth, then her chest and abdomen.

As I looked her over again to make sure I’d gotten up all the suds, she pouted at me. I raised my eyebrows at her. I think she thought more to happen, after watching me with Melanie just a few minutes ago. Happy to oblige, I brought her clean, warm, damp body up to my lips and kissed her stomach, and then kissed her chest, brushing her semi-hard nipples against my upper lip. Then I went lower, gently parting her legs and carefully trying to avoid pulling on the leg that was bandaged. I slid my tongue between her legs, wrapping her ass and pussy in its warmth, and then began to tease her pussy lips with the tip of my tongue. They parted eagerly and I continued my ministrations along its length. Her purrs turned to groans and one of her hands moved up to start kneading her own breast as I brought her to the edge and then over it, her hips bucking against my tongue as she came hard.

I lowered her from my mouth and held her as she came down from her high. Without all the hormones raging through her, she suddenly noticed the pain in her leg and reached for it. The groan she gave was one of discomfort this time, rather than animalistic desire. I finished drying her off and lay her gently down next to Melanie, so that I could offer them both some pain medicine. I carefully measured it out from the bottle of infant drops and gave them each a dose, placing the tip of the dropper in their mouths and letting them swallow it down.

Now that we were all clean and dry, it was time to move on to lunch – my duty to feed all three of us – and then some serious business. We didn’t have much time to waste, and my oversleeping followed by the girls’ lusty interlude, had already put us further behind.

We had a conspiracy to unravel and not much time to do it.

Rocket
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Melanie's Story Part 23 - Science

Post by Rocket » Sun Sep 25, 2022 6:00 pm

Lunch was a little different now, feeding two small women instead of one. We had to find a second chair for the little table we’d set up in the middle of the kitchen table. Maria had nothing to wear besides what she’d worn into the office yesterday (was that just yesterday?) and so the two of them ended up lounging around in the smocks I’d stitched together myself three weeks ago for Melanie – they were like a thin fabric poncho, with holes for the arms and neck. Since Maria was wearing one, Melanie went for one to help make her feel more comfortable, despite the small wardrobe of ‘real’ clothes Maria had somehow brought back from her shopping trip a few days ago.

I kept it simple, making a small pot of angel hair pasta with some red sauce. It was easy to put some on a plate, cut it up into tiny pieces and dish it out into little bowls. In the last week browsing Etsy, I’d been able to track down some functional miniature plates, bowls, cups and even utensils – something I’d surprised Melanie with just a few days ago. I served up their meals and then sat down myself, with the lab notebook so that I could start reading some of the parts I’d skipped over, while we ate.

Much of the conversation focused on Melanie telling Maria what to expect, what would be different, and some of our daily routines. I was surprised Maria wasn’t freaking out – part of me wondered if I would be if I were in her shoes (or lack of shoes … Melanie went barefoot most of the time around the house.) Her freak-out lasted a few minutes when she first woke up, but since then she’d been surprisingly calm and mature about it. Did that mean she was accepting fate, or did she really have that much faith in me that I’d be able to fix this and restore her to normal? The thought made me want to redouble my efforts, not that I wasn’t trying hard already, but ...

I blinked as a tiny piece of pasta whacked me on the cheek. I looked up. Melanie was standing with her hands on her hips.

“Honey, are you paying attention?”

“Umm … “

“That’s what we thought. We were trying to discuss next steps. What do we need to do today.”

“Umm … OH. Okay. Sorry.” I said sheepishly, knowing they’d caught me lost in thought. “Okay.” I took a moment to compose myself. “Here’s the plan. Right now I want to get through the rest of this lab notebook. I can skim through for important items in probably less than an hour. Then we have a couple options. We can either start sifting through the data files I downloaded, looking for details on the science behind what they built and how it works, I need to understand that before I can figure out how to reverse it. We can look for communications, anything that gives us a better idea who we’re dealing with and who these backers might be. We also need to go visit that mansion. I’m thinking we need to see what’s going on there, are there other people coming and going, are there other cars we need to tag, what security is in place. From Google maps at least, it looks like the place has a wall around it and an iron gate at the drive. I’m sure they chose the location for privacy and security. Which makes it a LOT harder to spy on and to get inside, than your brother’s house, or even that lab on Level 7. It’s going to take planning and probably more than one trip out there.”

“So …” I continued, “you guys decide, do you want to go out there first and do some reconnaisance, or start going through the files with me? OR stay here where you’re safe and I’ll go?”

They both looked at each other, taking it all in.

Maria asked “How would we help with any of this? Right now … “ she hopped out of her seat to emphasize her point, “Look at me, I can’t do a damn thing!” Then she noticed Melanie was still sitting and hadn’t said anything yet. “What?”

Melanie started to smirk but hid it for the moment. “Girl, we’re not helpless.”

“I sure feel helpless!”

“Yeah, I felt that way too at first. But … you know what? There’s a lot we can do, even like this. Plus … “ Maria looked at her, eyebrows raised. “I have my own computer, and it’s pretty cool! When we’re done here we can check it out.”

I chimed in. “It WOULD be a big help if you both could look over the correspondence, see if you can figure out who they’ve been talking to – who else is involved, or if there’s any information about other victims – while I pore over the technical stuff.”

Maria thought for a moment and then sat back down. “Huh.” She had a thoughtful look on her face.

I looked at them both. “Tell you what. Let’s finish lunch first, let me get through the rest of this notebook, and we’ll head to the office. See how far we can get this afternoon. This evening if you two are up for it, we’ll head out and drive by that mansion, see what we can see from the outside, and I’ve got a couple other ideas. I’m guessing there’s a lot of security around that place, we can’t just sneak up and climb the walls. We’ll gather what info we can, so I can start planning this out. Then maybe we can go out.”

Maria looked up at me incredulously. “Go … out? Like THIS?”

I smirked, remembering the time (was it just a week ago?) when I’d smuggled Melanie into the movie theatre. Though I wasn’t quite sure how I could get both of them in, if that’s what they wanted to do. Or maybe we’d just do something else. I’m sure we could come up with something, as long as it took their mind off all this for a while. I just said “Yep. You both need to get out and do something that’s relaxing, not death-defying. Don’t ‘ya think?”

-------------------------------------

The girls hung out with me at the kitchen table as I cleaned the plates and then tried to finish reading through the lab notebook. I’d skipped ahead to the experiments they performed on Melanie, the three days she was under and treated like a lab mouse, but there was more – and I hoped some clues – in the remaining pages. I jumped to the beginning and began scanning the pages. After a minute I blurted “Holy shit.”

My audience perked up. When I didn’t say more, Melanie stood up, hands on her hips, and said “Out with it!”
“Okay. Much of the notes cover planning your shrinking – not just a couple days prior, but even the week before, requesting someone be assigned to that outer lab, someone with specific qualifications. Age range, looks, healthy, unmarried, living alone. It looks like they were going through the company directory identifying candidates to request. Obviously they requested you, but … Maria, you were also on the list.”

“Shit!” She jumped up and trotted over so she could see the page. Both of them came over. Seeing her name written in the book, Maria’s face went ashen. There were several names on the page, apparently others that they recognized as co-workers. All potential targets. Clearly they were targeting young healthy women. Identifying people whose disappearance wouldn’t immediately stir up husbands or relatives asking lots of questions.

They mumbled amongst themselves for a couple minutes, gesturing at names, but then Melanie looked over at me and just stared for a moment. I knew that look, like she was deep in thought. Sure enough, she soon blurted what was on her mind. “HOW were they even able to pull off something like this?”

Maria added, “How could the company even LET them?”

“I’ve suspected someone at the top – or near the top – is involved. I just wasn’t sure if it was willfully or if they were coerced.” I looked Melanie in the eyes. “I’m starting to suspect the latter.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Some of the other notes I’ve read in here – you remember I was pretty sure you weren’t the first, um, victim?” She nodded. “Well it’s definite. There are notes in here about experiments on someone else – from a time BEFORE you were shrunk. PLUS, this notebook doesn’t cover the actual shrinking – that must be in an older notebook. Remember I flipped through them to find the one you were in, I couldn’t take all of them without them knowing right away that they were taken. This book was in the middle of the stack. I’m not certain even who they’re talking about, as they only list a subject number and not a name, but it’s definitely not you.”

“Also” I continued, “given there were what, at least 5 notebooks in that drawer - and everything that happened with you during the three days and for a while after is in this one - that tells me a LOT was going on before. So not having the other notebooks, I’m hoping we can uncover some clues in all those files.” I looked at them both for emphasis as I said “Alright, so are you ready to do some research?”

---------------------------------

After I got them both settled on Melanie’s desk and brought an extra chair in for Maria, I began skimming through the files and moving what looked like a couple of large email .pst files over to a thumb drive. I plugged the thumb drive into Melanie’s computer and then spent a few minutes talking her through how to access them. I let them get started while I went back to the kitchen to make some coffee. Returning about 15 minutes later with one mug and a couple thimbles full of hot coffee, I noticed them both already at work, leaning over the keyboard and starting to take notes, so I set the little coffees down next to them and then sat down myself to dig into my own sets of files. They hardly looked up.

Taking a few bracing gulps of caffeine, I set about searching for any files I could find related to the science behind the shrinking. Obviously it was more than theory at this point, but until I could locate their notes, I could only speculate on the physics. So I kept digging for a while – probably an hour, though I lost track of time – I just know my coffee was ice cold by the time I hit possible pay dirt.

At least it seemed I wasn’t too wildly off base thinking that some sort of light diffraction was involved. It appeared their original research was focused on how to bend light to transfer an image from one physical location to another. I recalled for a moment the equation for bending light in a gravitational field. I found mention of a diffraction grating using heavy magnets encased in lead shielding with a copper collimator. I also recalled Newton’s Spectrum, describing the splitting of white light through a prism into multiple individual wavelengths of different colors. Einstein had revisited that back in the 1920’s and posited his own theorems regarding the prediction of light bending in relation to gravity – or in this case artificial gravity created through heavy magnets. It’s also known that the bending of wave paths in an inhomogenous medium, or wave refraction, relates to the spacial dependence of the wave constant. So I could at least piece together some of where they were going with this. As I dug further, the research sought to bridge light refraction to matter wave refraction, starting with some of the foundations of quantum mechanics. Schrodinger had an equation for calculating the dispersion of matter waves, similar to the way EM waves were calculated for light. So, I could follow their logic along the way. All of this was within the realm of formulas, which I could wrap my head around.

What I didn’t understand is how they made the leap from the theoretical mechanics of matter wave refraction, to real-world applications using physical matter? A leap was an understatement – this was a chasm. Had they just stumbled upon this by accident? Clearly they weren’t just a couple of brutes if they understood the mechanics behind this, but they also sure didn’t seem or act like future Nobel prize winners either. So unless there was someone else helping guide them, there had to be some serious serendipity involved.

Before I could take the next step in my research, Melanie called me over.

“I think … we’ve found something.”

Maria corrected, “I think this is more than something.”

“Yeah.”

I rolled my chair over so that I could sit facing them. “Okay. So whatcha got?”

Melanie said “A lot. Okay … where to start?” She scanned her notes, I smiled as I saw how she had adapted to the Post-It miniature sticky pads and the pencil lead wrapped in tape as her writing instrument and it had become second nature to her to use them like she would have used a pen and legal pad in her past life. The writing was too tiny for me to read without a magnifying glass though, even if she did have nice handwriting.

Maria said “Start with the contacts?”

“Oh. Yeah. So I found several emails back and forth, starting maybe 6 months ago. They bragged about a breakthrough and immediately started looking for a way to, um, monetize their discovery. All while they were supposed to be working for the company. I don’t know any of these names, but I wrote them down … “ as she glanced at her notes … “ah, tell you what, I’ll email them to you. My guess is someone on this list is involved in funding this whole operation.”

“So you think …”

Maria blurted, “It’s more than think. They were talking about moving the operation out of the company, keeping a low profile, big money, black market, hush hush.”

I thought for a moment. “Any clues how far along they are? With setting up a lab outside the company … I’m guessing at that mansion maybe?”

Melanie said “Well, like you said, if they’re still doing experiments on Level 7 then they must not be ready in a new location yet, but … “ she looked at Maria in acknowledgment, “we did find some requests for parts, some shipments coming in as recently as this week. So … hopefully that means it’s still under construction? Maybe you can figure out more if you see what they were ordering?” I nodded.

“But ...” Maria interjected, “you need to tell him the other part.” She had a grim look on her face.

“Yeah” Melanie sighed. “We think we’ve figured out … who their first victim was.”

After a moment of silence, both of them looking at each other but neither speaking, I said “Well?”

Maria finally spoke. “Becky Caulfield.”

I scrunched up my face in confusion. The way they were talking, it was a huge revelation. I didn’t recognize the name at all. I said “Who is that?”

Maria put her hands on her hips. “Daughter of Andrew Caulfield.”

It still wasn’t ringing a bell. They both glared at me as if I was supposed to know the name. Then Melanie almost shouted, “The CEO of Advanced Future Technologies!”

Suddenly the pieces came together. “SO … our suspicion were right and he’s … the one being blackmailed?”

Melanie said “Yeah. And we think she might be held in that mansion, but we’re not sure.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Here, you take a look.” She’d found several video clips. The first one she played, looked like it was heavily edited, but showed a young woman in room that almost looked like a – was that a dollhouse? - and a muffled voice telling her to say something. She looked like she’d been crying and a giant hand came from the side to yank her up by her arm. Then she looked in the camera and said “Daddy it’s me” and the clip cut off, then someone in the background spoke. It sounded like the person’s voice was altered. The voice said “If you ever want to see her alive again, you will do as we say” and then said to look for an envelope that would be on his desk in the morning and follow the instructions in the envelope. It was a chilling video, as well as a choppy one.

“Was this emailed?”

“Not from this email. I’m not sure how it was sent.”

“If I were to guess, a generic free email account or something that can’t be traced.”

“So why doesn’t he just call the police and have those scientists arrested or something?”

I sighed. “I’m guessing there are more people directly involved than just those two scientists. I’m also guessing he may not know where to look for his daughter. So he’s probably biding his time until they make a mistake and give up enough information to track her down. Though … “ I considered, “he may think they’re the only ones who can restore her, if she’s been shrunk. They may be holding that out too – leave them alone, do what they say, and you’ll get your daughter back safe and sound … cross them and she dies and you’ll never find the body.” I shuddered myself at hearing the words come out of my mouth. But after last night, I didn’t doubt they were capable of it.

Rocket
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Melanie's Story Part 24 - It's Elemental!

Post by Rocket » Mon Oct 03, 2022 12:01 am

I was giving more thought to the whole idea of how to reverse the shrinking process. I didn’t doubt that they would hold out that carrot to get the company CEO to keep looking the other way. I just doubted they actually had bothered studying how to reverse it. Nothing in the notes suggested they’d done any experiments on that yet. I suspected that once they made this discovery and realized what they had on their hands, they jumped straight to thoughts of getting rich – ethics be damned. Hence the deep pockets that appeared to be lurking in the shadows – the mansion held under a nondescript LLC, which was owned by another LLC with the moniker S.E. LLC, which after some additional digging, we’d discovered was short for Shrinking Enterprises LLC. Though the average person wouldn’t know to look far enough to find the S.E. much less what it meant.

The whole operation appeared to be in the early stages, at least. If we’d stumbled on this a few months later, it’s very possible they’d already be in business, either abducting women, or luring women off the streets, or perhaps even taking requests for specific people, shrinking them and selling them off to customers all over. At that point it would be nearly impossible to locate all the victims, much less shut down the entire operation. No, it had to be stopped now. At the moment, I felt like we still had the advantage, and we believed they hadn’t successfully built their ‘shrinking machine’ at the mansion yet.

As I continued poring over formulas and early schematics that were in the downloaded files, the girls continued perusing emails and related files that I’d copied to the thumb drive. Melanie went ahead and typed up the list of names – or at least email addresses – that they’d identified. Any that were recipients or senders in communications that looked like they could be related to funding or backers or attempts to monetize their discovery. It would take me a while to dig through that, but I appreciated her taking the time, knowing I’d need a magnifying glass to read her tiny notes, even if she did have nice handwriting.

Setting that aside for the moment, I got up and dug through the closet, finding my giant pad of dry-erase sheets. I looked around the room and chose the middle wall to turn into a giant marker board, removing the one picture from the wall first. Then I went about taping up the dry-erase sheets, fitting them edge to edge, several sheets across and then several sheets down, a giant rectangle. This would probably damage the wall, but as I hung the sheets I mused why I hadn’t ever gotten a big board to hang here anyway, or just repainted a whole wall in chalkboard paint. Maybe I ought to just do that when it’s time to take these down. If I have to repaint anyway, why not?

So with a makeshift dry-erase ‘wall’ and markers in hand, I began sketching out the formulas behind the shrinking process, to see if I could capture the process sufficiently to deduce a way to reverse the process. I doubted it would be as simple as reversing the polarity of the magnets, or adjusting the frequency of the lasers, but my rational brain was convinced there would be a way. The girls just watched me as I sketched out formulas, erased and rewrote denominators and coefficients, and calculated wavelengths and refraction angles and drew a representation of the mechanics behind the shrinking machine. There was just one piece missing that I couldn’t put my finger on.

I dug further into the files, searching … searching … turning bleary-eyed searching … until … “Aha!”

Melanie, who’d been watching me go back and forth like she was sitting in the stands at Wimbledon, blurted “What?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been dancing around and humming for almost two hours. The first words you finally say are ‘aha’?”

“OH. I didn’t realize I’d drawn an audience. So … okay.” I gathered my thoughts. “In a nutshell … I’ve figured out the mathematical functions that make this” as I waved to their short stature “happen.”

Maria piped in, “We kinda gathered that much. So you really are a genius, huh?”

“Umm … uhh … well anyway, here’s the problem I ran into. This process only works in the physical world with the right elements to bend the matter stream.”

“So you need elements … like lead or zinc?” asked Melanie

“Or like those expensive rare ones like they use in electric car batteries?” added Maria

“Well, kinda like that, but the element needed precisely in this equation doesn’t precisely match the common elements. So at first, I figured maybe they developed an isotope.”

Melanie babbled, “Like radioactive? Like plutonium?”

Maria elbowed Melanie and snickered, “Look out, soon we’ll start glowing.”

I cleared my throat. “NO. Not radioactive per-se, an isotope can just be an element that carries an additional component – an extra electron in the outer ring, for example – so its atomic weight is slightly off as well. However, I couldn’t identify one that fit this equation. Until … well, I should explain first, I suspected that these scientists – they’re smart, but I didn’t think them capable of coming up with this entirely on their own. It’s like something fell in their laps. So … apparently it did. LITERALLY.” I looked at them both, just staring at me, I didn’t know if I lost them along the way or they were just waiting for the cliffhanger, but neither was saying another word. “Okay, long story short, the missing element is from outer space.”

Both of them nearly fell over. I raced to the edge of Melanie’s desk, afraid one of them was going to topple off the side, but they managed to avoid a tumble.

“A meteorite. Do you remember this was on the news last winter, a meteorite about the size of a basketball, it lit up the sky and came down in a field a few miles outside of the city? Guess where the meteorite was taken for study?

Both of them caught on really quick. “Advanced Future Technologies.”

“Bingo. I’m guessing at least a chunk of that meteorite was taken up to Level 7. I suspect that’s where our mystery element was extracted from.”

“A meteorite?”

“Yep. Now they don’t need a huge amount of this mystery element – a tiny amount would be enough to calibrate the machine for indefinite runs, as it’s used to bend the matter stream, like a prism, so it’s not actually being used like fuel – but we don’t know how much they actually have. What we do know is that without it, they can’t set up a second machine. Which brings me to an obvious question for both of you. Where would they be storing the REST of that meteorite?”

Maria responded first. “The vault.”

Melanie looked at her. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’ve been in there myself, I’ve seen it. Several pieces were carved off to send to labs for study, but the bulk of it is still in the vault, in a lead-shielded box.”

“How do you know all that?

Maria smirked. “Girl, I was there when we cut that thing. And it took a while too. The outer shell was like melted iron. You don’t even want to know all the protective gear they made us wear.”

“So … anyway … I have some theories regarding how to reverse the process, but I could never try them out without testing first. I suspect they did testing on the shrinking process first before their first human victim, though I’m sure the thought of what they could do with this technology was spinning in their heads well before they caught and shrunk … what was her name?”

Melanie gave me an annoyed look. “Becky. So how can you figure all this stuff out and you can’t remember someone’s name?”

I sighed. “I’m better at abstract concepts. For names, sometimes I’ve gotta use that old rule of thumb, say it out loud three times in the first minute, or something like that.” I shrugged. “Anyway. Our task list is growing. Here’s what I’ve got.” Now that I had a ‘marker board’ I found a corner that wasn’t covered in formulas and diagrams yet and began writing a list. “First, the mansion. We need to observe, identify what kind of security they have, how to get in, probably tag any other vehicles they have – we need some way to know who is going in and out of there, and who else they’re dealing with. Second, we need to figure out where … Becky “ I looked to Melanie for confirmation, she nodded “is being held, if it’s in the mansion or somewhere else. Given the size of that place and how small she is, it could be any room, basement, hidden room, attic, anywhere. Third, we’ll need to start researching these other names you found, my guess is one or more of them are tied up in this. Fourth, I’m wondering about sabotaging the new equipment they’re building. The longer we can delay that, the better chance we have of stopping them before it’s up and running. And I have an idea about that, if we can hurry. Fifth, getting ahold of some of that exotic element, either some they extracted from the meteor already, or some that’s still in the vault. Unless … “ they both looked at me, eyebrows raised, “unless we can convince your CEO to work with us and give us access.”

Maria looked really skeptical. “Why would he work with you, he doesn’t even know you … and isn’t his daughter, we think, the reason he’s cooperating with them?”

“True, but if we can convince him we’re trying to solve the problem … “ and then another thought came to mind … “or if we rescued his daughter, they wouldn’t have leverage over him, right? … BUT … then they’d all know that we’re on to them, that the incident yesterday was more than just me coming in to rescue you guys. Right now we have a stealth advantage – they don’t know yet that we have access to their records, their research, and we have an idea what they’re trying to do and where they’re setting up shop. As soon as we break Becky loose, they’ll know everything or they’ll figure it out … and at that point they could be coming after us. We have to be ready, cover our tracks, make sure we have everything we need from them before that happens. So … unfortunately … we need to do some spying first, and narrow down where Becky is – if she’s in the mansion, where in the mansion – before we try to rescue her.”

Silence took over as the girls contemplated everything I just laid out on the table in front of them. After a minute of them both looking at each other, back at me, back at each other … each waiting for the other to speak first … Melanie broke the silence. “SO. What’s first?”

“Alright. The most time-sensitive is sabotaging the equipment.”

“How do you propose we do that? And why is that more time-sensitive than a rescue?”

“Okay. You said in those emails you found parts orders, right?” She nodded. “I assume there are tracking numbers?” She nodded again. “Okay then. Let’s start checking those out. See what has NOT been delivered yet, and let’s figure out where it is. What I’m hoping is that we can find the package before it’s delivered.”

“Then what?”

“Then … I’ll figure that out as soon as I know what’s in the package, but I will figure it out.”

At that I set them loose to go find those parts orders they mentioned and see if any of them, with tracking numbers, weren’t delivered yet. In the meantime, I began working on my initial plans to do surveillance on the mansion this evening.

----------------------

When I came back in from the garage where I’d found a little remote-controlled drone I’d played around with last year, the girls waved me down. They’d located the orders and tracking information for two packages that were still in transit. I asked them to call up the details. One was a small FedEx package already on the truck for delivery today. That wouldn’t do. The other was a freight delivery, it had just arrived at a depot outside of town, apparently it required a liftgate so it would be switching trucks and they’d scheduled the delivery for Monday. So that would give us time to work with. I jotted down the details and the shipping company, hoping we’d be able to locate this pallet on Sunday. I tried to gauge what it might look like from the description, though there was no way to tell if it would be in a wooden crate, or just strapped down and covered in wrap, or whatever. Either way, I had a day to devise a plan for how to track it as well as how to make it malfunction, and it had to be something that we could sneak into the warehouse, pull off quickly without fully un-crating the equipment, and then get out without being spotted.

In the meantime, I asked the girls if they wanted to change before we went out. We would be going by that mansion first, but not inside yet – just observing what we could from outside. Then we could go out and take a break and do something fun.

Maria asked “Are you going to try to change my bandage first? It might be easier to get around if this wasn’t so … BIG.” She waved her hands at her bandage to emphasize its size.

I agreed with her, I’d made the bandage huge, wrapping lots of gauze around her, out of fear she’d wake up from her ‘coma’ confused and try ripping on it. But I felt it was safe now. So I nodded and put my hand out for her, scooping her up gently. I asked Melanie if she wanted to change while I was doing the bandage, she stood up and let me scoop her in my other hand. I carried them both to the bathroom, setting Melanie down next to her ‘wardrobe’ set up along the corner of the counter, then grabbed a hand towel to set Maria down onto.

Gathering my supplies, I took a look at the bandage, examining it for any problems, any bleeding especially. I didn’t see any yet, but I’d wrapped it pretty heavily as well as coated it in a thick layer of Neosporin®, so there could be some in the layers below.

“I’ll try to remove this bandage very gently, okay?” She nodded. I very carefully began working the edge of the bandage up with my fingernail. I’d put one on up/down to hold the gauze in place and also keep the wound from flexing too much. It was the tiniest one I could find in the store, but it was still big for her. She scrunched her nose, which was kinda cute, as I successfully peeled back the part below the gauze. The part above it actually ran up to her waist on the side, so I asked, “Is it okay if I pull your gown up for a moment?”

To my surprise, she went ahead and just hiked up the gown up herself up to her stomach, exposing more skin than I needed. She caught me looking at her bare parts and said “It’s okay, it’s not like you haven’t seen me. Besides … you’re my doctor.” She winked.

“Umm .. “ I tried to focus on the bandage, gently working the upper half off her skin. She scrunched her whole face for a moment as I pulled the last of it off, I could tell she was trying not to whine and I appreciated that. Now though, I had this huge spool of gauze to unwind. I found the end, no longer held in place by the bandage, and began to unravel it. I needed her leg free all around though. I said “Hey, can you lay on your back for a minute?” She complied, laying back so that I could move her leg. I lifted it, propping her ankle on my left hand as I unraveled the gauze with my right. Over, under, back up, several times. As I got closer to the wound, I could see the ointment coating the gauze and also just a trace of blood. I hoped there was no new bleeding – and hoped she wouldn’t freak out once she saw the wound. It was more on the side than on top, at least. I kept going, until I was down to the last pass. I said “Okay, here goes. You can look away if you want to.” As I peeled the last of the gauze away, of course she couldn’t resist looking – for a moment. She shuddered and quickly looked back up at the ceiling.

I examined the wound, it wasn’t as bad as I’d feared. If she were normal sized and we went to an E.R. they’d probably have put more stitches in, but it was all I could do to get two or three in, using regular thread and the tiniest sewing needle I could find, stitching with tweezers under a magnifying glass. I’d brought all those same supplies in to the bathroom when I set up, so I examined her gash with the magnifying glass, very gently touching the skin around it. There was some inflammation but not much – I hoped dousing the area with Neosporin® and having packed a little inside the wound back at the beginning would substitute for not having antibiotics.

Pulling a cotton swab from the medicine cabinet, I gently cleaned around the edges and then applied a little more Neosporin® and got out the gauze. “I promise this will be easier to walk with.” I tried to be clinical and focus on the wound, but right out of the gate with the gauze, my knuckle inadvertently brushed her between the legs.

She spoke up. “Are you trying to get me excited? I thought you were just dressing my wound!” She laughed.

I gave her a look. “I think you’re trying to distract me.”

“Is it working?”

“Umm … “ She laughed again. “Yeah. But if I get TOO distracted, we’re not going to get anything else done today. We have limited time you know.”

She smirked. “Okay. But I’m glad I can distract you that much even at this size.”

“Oh, you sure can.” I glanced at Melanie, who cocked an eyebrow at me. “Both of you can. Just give me a couple minutes here so I can finish up”

She stopped teasing, though she was still smirking at me each time she thought my eyes were drifting away from her wound. I tried to finish up, carefully trim the gauze and then place another bandage to hold the end in place.

“Done.” I lowered her leg back down.

She pushed herself up, glanced down at her thigh and nodded approval, trying to move her leg a little to test it. She said “Thank you doctor.” She grinned. “Though you know … you are so much bigger and stronger than we are … if you like on a whim, just decided you wanted to do something to us, or play around with us, it’s not like we can fight back. So … “ She glanced at Melanie and then back at me. “why don’t you?”

I just looked at her for a minute. “True.” Now Melanie was looking right at me too, probably wondering if Maria had just blown the lid off Pandora’s box. “But then … I’d be no better than those rich customers they are hoping to sell victims to … plus … would either of you ever trust me again?” I looked at Melanie. “Hey babe, have I ever just grabbed you on a whim and forced myself on you? Anytime in the three weeks we’ve been dating?”

She looked away for just a moment and then back at me. “No. Usually I’m the instigator, I’ll admit. I don’t mind you going off script … actually it’s kinda fun … but usually I’m the one getting you started, not the other way around. So … no, I can’t think of any time you’ve just grabbed me and forced me to do anything I didn’t want to do.”

Relieved, I said “Thank you.” I turned to Maria. “So Maria, does that answer your question?”

She nodded. “You’re a good man.”

“Okay, why don’t you two get dressed. Melanie, do you think any of those outfits will fit Maria? If not, I may need to find out where these came from and get some more.” I looked at Maria. “I’m going to fix this, but it’s going to take a little time. Are you alright staying with us until I can figure out a way to reverse this?”

She nodded. “I trust you.”

“Thank you. Now get settled and figure out what you’re going to wear. And both of you, think about what you want to do afterwards. We can take a break and have some fun this evening, but first we need to do some spying and get some intel.”

Rocket
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Melanie's Story Part 25 - Aerial Surveillance

Post by Rocket » Thu Oct 06, 2022 7:07 pm

While the girls got changed, I went through my supplies, making sure I’d gathered what I needed. I had no intention of trying to break into the mansion this first time around. I needed to figure out what I couldn’t see just from Google Street View or a satellite image that could be a year old or more. How many cameras on the outside? Were there guards? Guard dogs? Any other obvious security measures, like an electric fence? What would be the safest means of entry? I also wanted to see if I could see anything going on inside through the windows, gauge how many people were there if possible, if there were other cars beyond the one we’d already tagged early this morning, and anything else we could discover.

I had a bag of tricks gathered, so to speak. Binoculars, the aforementioned drone (which conveniently came with a little camera attached) and some devices I had ready to deploy if the opportunity arose. Though it wasn’t like I was Agent 007 and I had people inventing gadgets in a secret lab. Nope, this was more like the Dick Tracy Secret Agent Starter Kit buried in the closet under a few years’ worth of dust, now with some little upgrades. I suppose we’ll see soon enough how useful it is, but I wanted to be prepared once we got out there.

Back seat packed, I went to get the girls, along with snacks and water. I still hadn’t figured out how to fashion a usable water bottle or canteen for Melanie to use on trips or in the car, so I’d have to wait until we parked somewhere to pour them drinks, lest the bottle caps spill everywhere. Once I had them settled into the passenger seat, I opened the garage door, started the car and away we went. It was still light out, but wouldn’t be for very long. I figured it would be easier to do our snooping in the shadows of dusk anyway.

-----------------------

Once we made it to the poshest neighborhood in town, the sun was starting to go down. I found the right street and began to make the turn, noting that this whole block included some huge complexes, each with privacy walls out to the sidewalk and many with trees sticking up above them, branches draping over the tops of the walls. I made note of that, as big branches would provide cover for scaling the wall if needed. I cruised slowly down the block, probably looking more like a tourist, but as long as I wasn’t stirring suspicion. There were very few cars on the street, probably owing to the large drives and iron gates on most of these properties. Parking on the street would just mean a long hike. So leaving the car on the street, it wouldn’t be a problem to find a spot, but it might look out of place. I looked for houses that didn’t have a gate or a long drive, thinking that parking near those would be safe enough. I was concerned especially in case I had to leave the girls in the car by themselves.

I drove past the mansion – not much different from the street view image aside from fewer growth around the wall – I wondered if they purposely cut back some of those trees for the very reason I was thinking. I noticed a keypad at the entrance and a camera on the wall right above it. So that probably ruled out going right in the front. Not that I’d planned to anyway. But this was about all I was going to be able to make out from here.

The road did have some slopes to it – unfortunately nothing steep enough that I could get a look over the wall. However … I took another look at my GPS and toggled over to satellite view … I wonder … I looked out and saw it, a couple blocks away there was a hill and lots of greenery, enough to hide and enough where I may be able to see over if I climbed up a tree. If I could remember how to climb a tree. Oh, I’ll figure out something. I turned that way and drove for a couple minutes, cruising along until I found the spot and parked. We weren’t far from the mansion, but we were behind it now – with just one other property in between. Granted, these were huge properties.

I reached into the back seat and grabbed the drone. I was glad this was a pretty small one – maybe a couple feet around. I’d charged it up and checked the camera before we left. The transmitter only had a range of a few hundred yards, so I hoped we were within range.

The girls had been pretty quiet up until now. I pulled out the snacks and poured a cap of water for each of them. “Can one of you take notes for me?”

Melanie looked up. “Notes?”

I fished through my supplies and pulled out a 3 x 3 Post-It® pad and a couple of pencils (or pencil leads wrapped in tape, which seemed to work pretty well for her.) “Yeah. Here’s the deal. As soon as it’s a little darker, I’m going to try to fly this drone over the property. I’ll rattle off what I see. Where cameras are, how many cars, people, whatever. I just need one of you to write stuff down.”

As I glanced outside to see the last traces of sunlight dropping below the horizon, the sky lit up in pink and purple in that direction, I added, “Oh, I almost forgot … “ I dug into my supplies again and pulled out an aerial view of the property, unfolding the letter-size sheet and laying it in front of them on the seat. “This is the layout of the property. It might be useful to mark where things are on this too, if one of you wants to do that and the other writes notes?”

They looked at each other for a moment. Then Maria said “How about I take notes, you may have to crawl on your knees to write on … that.”

Melanie shrugged and handed her one of the pencils. I reached down to position the 3 x 3 pad in her lap, like a big canvas. Then I pointed out on the aerial printout, “front gate, east wall, west wall, back wall.” She nodded and got on all fours, climbing over the paper to write in the margins. I was glad I’d left wide margins, as the full-color printout was hard to write on. At least, as I noticed, her touch was light enough that she wasn’t in danger of punching her pencil through the paper, like I would have done instantly. However, the paper did crinkle a little bit under her knees. I had to admit though, it was sexy watching her travel around the paper on hands and knees, her little tush in the air as she bent down to write. Especially given she wore a skirt – velcro fastener in the back – and nothing underneath. Maria caught me straining my neck to get a peek, she gave me a knowing smirk as I looked away.

After looking both ways to make sure nobody was nearby, I hopped out of the car with the drone in hand, set it in the grass next to the car, and turned it on. The little diodes lit up. Oof, I’d forgotten about that. I went back to my stash in the car to find some tape and started tearing off little pieces of cardboard to cover up the diodes. Last thing I needed was for someone in the mansion – or even the neighbor whose house it would fly over first – to see it, report it to the police, or worse, shoot it down. We needed stealth mode, get in and get out.

Task complete, I got back in the car and got comfortable, the controller in my hands, a little camera display above it. I pulled the antenna out as far as it would go – whacking the windshield – and then slowly maneuvered the controls to lift the drone up into the air. It was getting dark, but not pitch black yet. We needed enough light to see by, but not enough to make it easy to spot the drone from the ground. So the timing was good, but we had a limited window before it became too dark to see. There were very few street lamps. I figured the people in this neighborhood liked their privacy.

As the drone rose into the air, I took a minute to rotate it and get my bearings, looking for our target in relation to where we parked. I had it probably 60 or 70 feet in the air. Once I figured out the directions, I worked the controls to move it towards the mansion, letting it hover up high above the main building. I began rattling off what I saw, the couple of out-buildings in the back, the large multi-car garage that wrapped around a circle to the side of the main house, and geez, was that a stone turret? This place was like a little castle.

I carefully lowered the drone until it hovered maybe 10 feet above the wall. Close enough to look for cameras – which I assumed would be pointed down – and hopefully too high for someone on the ground to see it wasn’t just a bird without looking right at it. I hovered over the back wall first, noting three cameras, and Melanie crawled over to make notations on the page. Then along the side wall, which adjoined another property, I saw one more. They’d cleared much of the vegetation from around the walls, so there weren’t obvious places to climb over and avoid the cameras, as well as no heavily wooded spots along the walls to hide in once I made it over. Then I went to the front wall, the only one that bordered the street. I counted four cameras, two on either side of the iron gate … plus from the street we’d seen one on the outside of the wall above the keypad. I didn’t see anyone walking around, though they could just be sitting somewhere watching monitors … or sitting in that turret, which seemed like it would have a 360 view of the property. Then finally the last wall, which bordered the other neighbor – the one that didn’t have a security gate, go figure. So that wall might be the easiest to get to. I did identify what looked like two cameras along that wall. Surprisingly, some of these were traditional box cameras, not the domes that are more common nowadays … I wondered if the older ones came with the property and they just added more.

Above the circle I only saw the one car – the same one we’d already tagged – however there were four garage doors, so who knew what was behind those.

I flew the drone up high into the air and then back towards our position. So far I hoped, nobody had caught it. I had an idea though, but it would require a second flight.

“Okay ladies, I am going to try to place a camera on the building so we can monitor what’s going on. I just need to figure out how to get it from the drone onto the building.” I was already rooting through my supplies as I spoke, locating the little camera. It wasn’t truly little, as it needed a power supply sufficient to last a while, plus it needed to be able to transmit back to me, but the size of a baseball I thought was pretty small given the requirements. It had a flat end with heavy adhesive. The girls watched me for a minute as I looked it over and tried to figure out how this was going to work.

Melanie chimed in, “How much can that drone carry?”

I thought for a moment. “Supposedly about 3 pounds. Why? The camera is only about 4 ounces.”

“How much do you think I weigh?”

I just looked at her for a minute. “Seriously? You’re not thinking … “ She nodded. “This could be dangerous. If something happened to you … I’d never forgive myself.”

“Then just make sure nothing happens. Talk to me. Tell me what to do.”

I contemplated the situation for a minute. She had a point. “Alright. Are you sure about this?”

“Yep.”

“Okay. Here, hold on a sec.” I reached for her and gently scooped her up in my hand. I had the camera in my other hand. “Huh. I’m thinking … no more than a pound, maybe a little less.”

“So I could take the camera, place it and you can fly me back.”

“Uh .. yeah.” My brain started running through the numbers. She was right of course. “Let me just think how to make this work. I can NOT let anything happen to you.”

I carried her out to the drone, along with two cameras and some twine. I flipped over the drone and lay her down onto the bottom. “Okay. I need to strap you to the bottom, otherwise you’d be reaching over the propellers. This is safer even if it feels weird. Are you okay with me strapping you in?”

“Yeah. I … guess.”

I held the twine and then realized “Oh crap. Hold on just a sec.” I opened the passenger door of the car and pulled out a mitten from the glove box. “Okay. Here. This will be more comfortable.” I re-positioned her just right, then lay the glove gently over her, making sure her head and arms were free, and wound the rest of her to the bottom of the drone with twine. “How’s that, not too tight?”

“It’s fine. Better. I think I can manage.”

“Okay. I’m going to turn this over real slowly. I’ll set it down real gently. Okay?”

“Ready.”

I gently turned the drone over, flipping her 180 degrees, and then set it down carefully in between two decorative bushes, so that she wouldn’t be pinned underneath. It wasn’t heavy, but I didn’t want to take any chance of squishing her. I grabbed the first camera and held it out in front of her.

“Here’s the first camera. I’m going to peel off the backing, so all you need to do is set it against the stone and press a little and it should stay in place. I’ll maneuver you into position as carefully as I can. I’m thinking we put one at the top of that turret, then if there’s time, I’ll give you the second one and we can put it on one of those out buildings in the back. Sound good?”

“Got it.”

“Oh!” I just realized. “One more thing. I can’t hear you, there’s no speaker, but I have the camera positioned so I’ll see your hands. You can give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Or ... you'll probably give me the finger if I can’t manage a smooth flight.” She snorted. “I wish I’d thought to repair your headset and bring it along, but we’re going a little off script here. Be careful, okay? Let’s get you back here safe and sound.”

“Okay. Ready.”

I removed the strip from the adhesive backer and handed her the first camera, in position so all she’d have to do is press it against a flat surface. Then I grabbed the controller and started it up. I watched it hover a few feet off the ground in front of me. I looked at her again, mouthed “Love you” and sent the drone off into the air. I went slower this time, owing to the precious cargo, but also because the lens was partially blocked by her arms and the camera she was holding. Plus, I worried a fast flight would make her sick or make her drop the camera or both. I only brought it up about 20 feet, hoping she’d still be out of sight given how dark it was. I got the directions figured out and gently flew her across the neighboring yard, then up a little higher when we got to the back wall. I could see the turret clearly, but couldn’t tell if someone was out there watching or not. For Melanie’s sake I hoped not. I went higher, about 40 feet, and brought her directly over the turret, then slowly down, just a little at a time, until I could see the stone front of the turret right in front of her. Just a foot. A few inches. There. I steadied my hand, trying not to make any movements, as she pressed it into place, pushed with her tiny arms, and then gave me the thumbs up sign. Then just as I was pulling away, I saw her arms waving frantically. I shot up into the air, faster than I wanted to, and rushed her back to me.

As the drone came back in sight, I slowed down, gently lowering it until I could catch the sides myself, flip it off and set it gently between the two bushes again. I bent down to look at Melanie. She was still safe and snug in the mitten but she was flailing her arms and her cheeks were flush.

“What happened? Are you all right?”

“I’m a little queazy, just give me a minute." I waited, unsure what to do as she caught her breath. "I heard someone up there. Some gruff voice said ‘Do you hear that?’ and I was afraid they were going to catch me. I think you pulled up just in time, it sounded like somebody was about to stick their head out and look up.”

“Okay. I’m glad you’re safe. I can’t let anything happen to you.”

“I need to take the other camera”

“Uh … are you sure that’s wise? I just rushed you back here.”

“Yeah, but if they find that camera we need a second one somewhere.”

“If they find that camera, we’re screwed. They’ll know someone is on to them.”

“I’m hoping they won’t find it. They’d have to climb up to the top to get to it. It’s at the very edge.” She exhaled. “I’ll be fine. Just give me the other camera and let’s get this done.”

“Okay. But please please please be careful!”

“I will, you just get me over there.”

So I removed the strip from the adhesive and then handed her the second camera. She held it tightly as I hoisted her up in the air. This time, to the roof of the little building in the far back of the property, which I hoped would have a little bit of tree cover and not be in direct sight of the turret. They’d cut back anything close to the walls, but there were still a few trees inside the property. I carefully flew the drone across to the back wall, then behind the tree, and carefully lowered it down to the out building, positioning it so she could adhere the camera next to the ridge vent in the front of the building, near the peak of the roof. I waited for the thumbs-up signal and then carefully flew her back to me, slower this time. Once the drone hovered down in front of me, I caught it on the sides, switched off the power, and gently turned it over. There was my Melanie, still snug against the bottom of the drone, but with a grin on her face like she’d just been on the thrill ride a the amusement park. I snipped the twine and gently unwrapped her, plucked her up in my hand and then opened the passenger side door and set her back down next to Maria, flinging the mitten back into the glove box. I went back out to gather up my drone and supplies, loaded them into the back seat, and then climbed into the driver’s seat and just crashed for a few minutes.

------------------------

Afterwards, the girls were determined to go to a movie. I told them there was no way I could get away with what Melanie had done to stow away into the theatre, not with two of them along. But they weren’t taking no for an answer, and between the two of them, they came up with a plan for them both to hide inside my shirt, one on my left side and one on my right, under my arms. I just would have to be careful to walk straight and not bump into anything. I thought they were crazy but they both just stared me down until I caved. Women!

I made it into the theatre, complied with their request for popcorn and a soda (and a few of those little condiment cups) and found our single seat way in the back row, by ourselves. It was a movie that had been out for weeks, plus the big reclining seats with the big arm rests, so I felt safe bringing them in and hoped by the time the lights dimmed, nobody would see them lounging on the armrest.

Soon as I settled in and set down the concessions, I untucked my shirt gently on one side, reached inside for Melanie, carefully slid her out and set her down on the armrest. Then I did the same with Maria on the other side. As they got settled, I doled out some popcorn puffs into condiment cups and then poured little sodas into two more cups. I surprised them with a coffee stir, which I used my pocketknife to cut into smaller pieces, thinking they could use it like a big straw.

Maria accepted hers and said “Hey, that’s a good idea.” She smiled.

I handed the other one to Melanie. She looked up at me and the first words out of her mouth were, “Dumb question, but how do we go to the bathroom around here? I’ve gotta pee.”

“I … “ I tried to think quickly. “I don’t know if I can take you in the bathroom with me. But … “ I saw the extra condiment cups stacked on the other armrest and grabbed one, holding it up, “how about you use one of these? I can put it in the next seat over, that way we won’t see anything. There’s nobody else up here.”

She gave me a funny look, looked at the cup, back to me, and then said “Oh hell. Fine. Give me a napkin too.”

I handed her the cup and napkin and watched her slide down the other side of the armrest, walk across the next set and over the next armrest, then get herself settled. A couple minutes later she climbed back over, the cup and napkin left behind, and got herself settled in next to Maria. I snickered to myself, though part of me wondered what the poor person assigned to cleaning the theatre after the show would think …

After the movie started playing, the girls got to talking. I pretended not to listen, keeping my eyes on the movie whenever they turned back towards me, but I could make out some of their discussion during the quiet parts.

“ … you know he was trying to sneak a peek at your ass while you were working on that map.”

“… think so?”

“... Oh I KNOW so. I caught him trying to look. He turned his head away soon as he knew I caught him.”

“… I think it’s kinda cute. He did promise he’d never force anything on us .. and to be honest, he never has … though … I suppose I wouldn’t be too offended if he’d tried to flick up my skirt. What does it mean if he didn’t?”

“ … My opinion? He cares about you. A lot. It’s plain as day. He’s probably afraid you’ll be pissed at him if he tries something like that.”

“ … well … he is hard to stay mad at.” She giggled. “I wouldn’t be upset if he did something like that once in a while. It’s not like he’s forcing stuff on me. It’s just playing around. But .. don’t tell him I said that, he’ll start doing it all the time.”

They both started laughing – and then they both looked back at me, too fast for me to turn my head in time. Caught.

Melanie grinned at me. “You weren’t eavesdropping on our girl talk, were you?”

“Uh … “

She burst out laughing. Then she nudged Maria. “Come over here with me.” She lay down on the armrest, stomach down, legs in the air, and propped her head up with her arms. She turned back to me and said “It’s alright if you want to flick my skirt up. I won’t be mad.”

“Umm … are you sure?”

She snorted. “I’m actually flattered you like to check out my ass.”

I reached over and lifted her skirt. “It is a really sexy ass.”

Maria gave a fake grumble. “Should I be upset that he didn’t think my ass was sexy too? I put a lot of work into that ass!”

Melanie snickered. “Oh, I’m sure he wants to check out your ass too, he’s just being a gentleman. He doesn’t know you like I do.”

Maria turned towards me and said, “you’re welcome to come check out my ass too, you know.” She giggled. Then as I began to reach for her, she flipped up her skirt on her own, showing off her toned little ass. Instead of lifting the cloth I was reaching for, my fingers brushed her bottom.

Seeing as she didn’t swat me away, I brushed them again. I said “You do have a very nice ass too.”

“Well, are you going to just ogle my ass or do I get a massage out of this?” She smirked.

“I … “ At that, Melanie looked back too and smirked, then flipped her own skirt up. Apparently they were both expecting a massage. So I began to rub Melanie’s bottom with my left hand and Maria’s with my right.

I got a “Mmm … that’s more like it.” from Melanie.

Maria lifted the back of her shirt to give me access to her lower back, and then turned and said “Would you be a dear and undo that clasp for me?” She meant the velcro of course. I tugged on it and her skirt slid to either side, leaving her bare from the middle of her back on down. I took that as a cue and began running my fingers from her back down her ass and back, giving her a gentle massage. She gave me a contented purr as she went back to watching the movie.

Melanie, seeing what Maria had done, reached back and unfastened her own skirt, letting it drop to her sides, and tugged her shirt up almost to her shoulders, giving me the signal that she wanted more of a massage as well.

So for the next hour and a half, I kept my hands busy gently rubbing their backs and bottoms. Any time I stopped for a moment, I’d get a throat clearing or an “Ahem” or a look back. When did they get so demanding, I wondered. I was only able to half-watch the movie, but the girls were content and relaxed and I suppose that was enough for now. They’d both had a big day as well. And tomorrow we’d be right back at it.

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Melanie's Story Part 26 - The Loading Dock Mishap

Post by Rocket » Sat Oct 08, 2022 11:58 pm

After the movie, my hands were tired from spending an hour and a half giving both girls massages as they relaxed and watched the show. Maria was so relaxed she started to get up and realized her skirt didn’t come with her. We got a laugh as she had to pick it up and wrap it back around her waist. Melanie tried to fasten hers before she rolled over, but ended up asking me to hold one end while she fixed it. Once we made it home, I left them both to wash up and change at the sink while I made a quick (and very simple) dinner. I zapped two hot-dogs in the microwave. By the time they were done – and donning those pullover gowns I’d made way back for Melanie when she had nothing else to wear (seems they were pretty comfortable for lounging around the house – or sleeping in I suppose), I’d cut long skinny pieces from a hot dog and wrapped in thin slices of bun (hot dogs are easy to work with) and some pieces of chips on the side. And yes, I was eating about 1 and 7/8th hot dogs. I was hungry! I came back to the bathroom, scooped them up and carried them both to the kitchen to eat.

As we ate, we talked about the next day. I still needed to link to the two cameras and set them up to record, before I could go to bed. In the morning, I needed some time to plan out some possibilities assuming we could get access to this big piece of equipment prior to delivery. Not knowing exactly what it looked like or how it was strapped or crated, I needed to be flexible.

Post-dinner, I brought them back to the bathroom one last time to do whatever it is women do, while I cleaned up the dishes (which were minimal – did I mention hot dogs and chips are ridiculously easy to fix?) Then I brought them to the bedroom.

“I wasn’t sure how you wanted to do this Maria … Melanie and I usually share a bed but she has her own pillow. Do you want to share, or have your own pillow? Or would you rather be alone and I can set up something on the sofa?” I probably sounded like I was babbling. Though from the looks on their faces, neither of them had given it any thought.

Maria looked back and forth between us and then snorted. “He’s cute when he gets flustered.” She looked at me and said “I’m fine here, if you don’t mind sharing your bed with two women for a little while? Besides, didn’t we all just sleep together last week?” She paused for a moment. “Whoa … it feels like it was a month ago. That was really just last week?

I said “Three nights ago. Yeah, it feels like it should be longer, I know what you mean.”

“But anyway. Don’t worry about me. Besides …” she looked at Melanie and then back to me “I’d feel safer with someone right now. With either of you I suppose.”

Melanie chimed in, “You can have your own pillow if you want, there’s plenty of room on this bed.”

“I won’t interrupt your routine or anything?”

Now Melanie snorted. “Our routine most nights … since we got together … has involved sex and then we sleep naked. To be honest, I’ve gotten used to not wearing clothes to bed.” She laughed. “But I’m exhausted and I’m sure you are too. We can go back to wild passionate sex after we get through this.” She looked at me with sultry eyes. “Right?”

I just looked at her for a moment, then glanced at Maria before speaking. “So … both of us or all three of us?”

Melanie gave me a dirty look, but it only lasted a second before she put her hands on her hips and broke out in a grin. “Honey, are you sure you could even handle both of us?”

Maria laughed.

“For a second there I thought you were going to hurl a pillow at me. Even if it is ten times your size.” Now Melanie laughed. “I was about ready to duck.” Now both of them were just rolling over laughing. “Okay now. Let’s get some sleep.”

They both settled in on the same pillow and waited for me to tuck them in with a towel. As I tucked them in, I heard Maria say softly to Melanie, “I might be open to a threesome … like this … once I’m healed up.”

I grinned. Damn, these girls were getting me horny again just as they were supposed to be going to sleep. I fought the urge to flirt back, and instead whispered “Good night” as I slid off the bed – and then turned out the light and tiptoed away. I needed to check on those cameras.

So I headed back to the office, quietly closing the office door behind me. I turned on the light and fired up the computer, then the program I’d set up to pull in the camera feed. I had to re-purpose the old Dish antenna on the roof, running the cable line from the dish directly into the back of the computer and then modifying the input. The antenna was already turned in the general direction of the mansion, but if it needed adjusting I’d have to climb back up there in the morning. I worked through my subroutines until I detected the signal. Weak, but I was able to pull in a feed. I set it up to display on one of my monitors and then programmed the cameras only to transmit motion or sound, to preserve battery. I hoped we’d have what we needed and be in and out of there in a matter of days, but recording and transmitting was going to suck up battery quickly. Plus I didn’t want to waste time browsing through two days of blank tape. For now, I could see the area was dark right around both cameras, there were some lights around the building but none as high as the turret or as far back as the out building near the back wall of the property. There wasn’t much to see at the moment, but I knew they were working. I tweaked the settings as best I could. Not perfect, but best we were going to get. We had to make this work or all our efforts this evening would be for naught.

That done, I padded my way back to bed. Given the cute little faint snores coming from the pillow, I suspected both of them were asleep already. Though as tired as I was, it was hard to take my eyes off the two tiny women sharing a pillow in the middle of my bed. I just watched them for a little while, their chests moving ever so slightly, so tough yet so fragile. Two beautiful women that fate has placed in my care. I reached over and stroked Melanie’s hair with my finger for a minute, brushing some loose strands from her face as she slept. At some point I finally dozed off.

--------------------------

The next morning, as we ate breakfast, I mapped out where the equipment was parked, looking at the satellite image of the truck depot and figuring out how best to get in and get out. While still mulling over what I could do once I got access to the thing. I was starting to think that planting something that would feed data back – like a microphone – might make more sense than trying to disable it, given we hoped to break into the mansion in a matter of days … plus sabotage done hastily may tip them off to something going on before we were ready. I had a strategy developing in my head but to make it all come together, I needed several key pieces in place BEFORE these criminals figured out someone was on to them.

I asked the girls if they both wanted to come along - noting that I’d have to do some sneaking in and that they may be hanging out in the car for a while if it took me a while. They both argued that they’d rather be along with me, that for all I knew, I’d need their help. Plus they’d be bored around the house. Melanie reminded me that I’d yet to build those catwalks I was sketching for her, so at the moment they were both still dependent on me to hoist them up to the kitchen table, the bathroom sink, the bed, etc … and Maria was in no shape to try climbing what to them were heights of 20 or 30 feet. So no, until I make it easier for them to get around the house, they were sticking with me.

Relenting, I gathered some snacks and a water bottle for them and began loading up the car while they got ready, donning more appropriate outfits for a trip – even though they remained barefoot, the catsuit having been the one outfit with feet ‘built in’ for Melanie to use when she broke into Level 7. Most of what I’d packed for last night’s visit to the mansion, was still piled in the back seat, so there wasn’t much else to gather – just what I needed for this trip. I wanted to get over there early Sunday morning, hoping for minimal activity. I was sure the place would be busy by Sunday afternoon, with long haul haulers hitting the road to make their destinations on Monday and workers loading smaller trucks so they’d be ready to roll out Monday morning.

Scooping up my two charges, I carried them to the car and set them in the passenger seat, then we hit the road. It was almost an hour’s drive to this depot, off the highway and well outside the city. I pulled out the snacks already, concerned they’d get bored on this drive – especially given they couldn’t even see the scenery along the way. They went straight into girl talk much of the way though, pretty much ignoring me until I told them we were almost there. I drove along the road just outside the facility, gauging whether I could safely drive in. There were plenty of trailers lined up in the lot, so I figured I could park between rows and stay out of sight.

The daunting part of this was figuring out where this equipment was. From the description, I expected it would be on a pallet … and I was certain it was here somewhere based on the tracking information. Maybe 100 yards away from where I parked, I could see a long dock with a line of crates and pallets. There had to be dozens of them, all destined for different recipients. Could I even get over there safely to see?

It struck me then – I still had the drone in the back seat. All I could think to do was look at each label and see if I could find one with their LLC name or the mansion address on it, and that was going to take a while. The drone did have a decent camera though. Maybe it would work. I looked around again to make sure nobody was around – I didn’t see anyone or anything moving, but I was sure that would change by afternoon. This was our only shot. SO I pulled the drone out of the back seat, set it down next to the car, started it up and then flew it high up, over to the dock and then slowly back down, just in-case there were cameras anywhere around. I dropped the drone down to over over the first pallet and then searched for the bill of lading, glad that large shipments like these often had large addresses and pouches full of paperwork. I found the first one easily, but no luck. Not a big surprise. I came up with a flight pattern to try to cover them all without skipping any. On to the next one, then the next, then the next … down to the end of the first block. Then on to the second block. And then the third. A half hour had gone by and the girls were getting stir crazy, wondering what I was doing. Finally a stroke of luck, in the fourth block of pallets I hit pay dirt. I had to remember, fourth block, third back from the door. Bolted down with lag bolts. Some strapping but only to attach padding on the edges, so there were some gaps.

I flew the drone back and then tried to think through how this would work. This little microphone could fit anywhere along the outside, but it had to go somewhere where it wouldn’t be obvious – and ideally somewhere well out of eyesight. The microphone itself was about the size of a tic tac candy, but the battery pack attached to it included 3 watch batteries, as I needed enough signal to transmit. I had it on the same frequency as the cameras, so it could piggyback onto that signal once it was close enough.

How to get it there … I mulled on it for a minute. Just as I was thinking about it, Melanie had climbed up on the passenger door handle and popped her head up to the open window. She chirped “Need any help?”

My first response was “No, no, it’s fine … “ but then I started thinking for a minute. “Actually … you can say no if you aren’t comfortable with it, but … do you want to take another drone ride?”

A grin crept across her face. “I thought you’d never ask!”

Now I recalled her reaction last night when I went to unstrap her from the bottom of the drone. She’d acted like it was a thrill ride at the amusement park. Deep down she was a little daredevil. Who knew?

She added, “Just tell me what you need me to do.”

I said, “Okay. I have this tiny microphone.” I held it up for her to see. It was much smaller and lighter than the cameras. “We need to place it on that equipment, but it needs to be someplace hidden. SO like under one of the feet, or under something that they won’t see. Here’s the tricky part. The equipment has shrink wrap around the outside. Not the whole outside, but much of it. SO … I could land the drone atop it, but you’d need to climb out, enter the gap in the wrapping, fasten the microphone securely, then climb back up to the drone so I can bring you back.”

She looked a little daunted for just a moment but shook it off and gave me a fleeting smile. “Okay, got it.”

I gave her a serious look. “Now if anything goes wrong … I’ll try to position the drone so I can see with the camera, but if it looks like you’re in trouble … ”

She waved me off. “I’ll be fine. What could go wrong?”

I took the mitten out of the glove box – the one we’d used yesterday – and began fastening it to the underside of the drone. This time though, I wasn’t going to tie her down – I was using it like a hammock for her to lay in, so she’d be able to climb out and climb back in. Doing it that was a little trickier and I wasted more time with it than I’d planned, looping twine through the stitching on the sides a few times, but finally I had it ready to go.

“Ready?” I said as I reached for her. She let me scoop her up and carry her over to the drone. I searched for something to prop it up on and settled on a box and an old tire in the trunk, so that the middle would sit off the ground. She walked over to the drone and climbed up in the ‘hammock’ and got settled. I reached under and handed her the microphone, which she tucked in next to her in the hammock.

Once she gave me the tiny thumbs-up, I slowly lifted off, raising the drone up into the air and then over to the warehouse dock. It took me a minute in the air, counting off the sections and rows, making sure I was landing on the right pallet. Then I lowered it gently, a couple feet, a few inches … and realized I couldn’t lay it flat, or the weight of the drone would be on her and she wouldn’t be able to climb out. I really needed to get some legs for that thing, I thought to myself as I bonked my palm to my forehead like the people in the old V8 juice commercials. That wasn’t going to help now though, was it? I sighed and focused on hovering just a couple inches above the top of the equipment, giving her room to crawl out. She figured out my predicament and I saw her start moving, backing out of the hammock and then retrieving the microphone and battery pack, which she slung over her shoulder.

Now she was standing atop the equipment, looking for a gap in the plastic wrap that she could slip through. She found one near the top and started working her way to it, on all fours to keep from slipping. At least the wrap was flexible enough that if she had to grab fistfulls of it to climb up or down with, she could and the resulting tiny wrinkles wouldn’t be noticeable to someone looking at it from outside. She found the gap and put both hands on the plastic wrap, weaving her legs through it and then starting her descent. From the camera I could barely make her out, and then in another minute she’d disappeared inside.

Anxious to make sure she was okay, while not having a way to communicate with her, I moved the drone and set it atop an adjacent pallet, the camera turned so that I could see the side. I peered into the display, looking closely for any movement. Finally after a tense couple minutes, I saw something. She was inside, behind the plastic, and near the base where the equipment was bolted to the pallet. Through the distorted image, I saw her look at the camera and wave, as if she was saying ‘bye,’ before she all but disappeared behind the fog of layers of plastic wrap.

All I could do now was wait.

--------------------------------
--------------------------------

Melanie took a moment to catch her breath and look around. It was a little claustrophobic in here, she thought, with the dim lighting filtering through the plastic, leaving lots of shadows. It was stuffy too, and dusty despite the wrapping that seemed to go on for miles. She sneezed after jumping into some of that dust at the end of her climb down, glad there was nobody around to hear her and come investigate.

She stood on a splintery wood platform, with a massive piece of equipment hovering above her. She had no idea what it did, just remembering some talk about lasers. There were four steel legs, each attached to the wood with a bolt nearly as wide as her foot. Then above that, maybe even with her chest, there was a cabinet with two hinged doors. The handles were held together with a plastic pull strap. In the back of that cabinet seemed like it would be a good place to hide the microphone, if only she could get inside. Above that were pipes and thick plastic tubes coming out of the cabinet and attaching to something with switches and knobs, some parts with lenses like photographers use, and some other boxes that didn’t have any clear function. Her honey probably knew what they did, he had a propensity for anything scientific, but he wasn’t here for her to ask. For this mission she was on her own.

She took a careful step, avoiding a splinter the size of her arm sticking out from the gap between the boards. She had to step lightly, things like that could do some serious damage to someone her size. She peered into the dark space between the boards, judging the distance to the concrete to be about the height of her thigh. She mused for a moment, that it might have been easier if he’d set her down on the ground and she’d just climbed up between the slats. But that was neither here nor there, she was here now, microphone slung over her shoulder like an overnight bag, and she had to figure out how to get into that cabinet. She’d already decided that was the best place. Stuffed in the corner, it would be out of sight and it wouldn’t easily come unlodged.

Stepping back for a moment, she studied the doors. Would they pull open just enough for her to squeeze in? She felt around the bottom of the door. The gap between the doors was enough for her tiny hand to fit in between. She reached in, her little fingers finding the other side of the door, and she tugged. Ugh, nothing. She tried both hands. A little movement but there had to be some sort of catch there, she had to get it past that.

Letting go for a moment, she thought and looked around. She needed a wedge. Then she wondered if that huge wood splinter would do. If she could figure out how to break it off. She took the microphone down off her shoulder and found a safe place to lay it down on the wood while she tried to solve her problem. Yes the splinter was the size of her arm – and probably the length of her leg – but would it be enough to nudge the cabinet door over the catch? She looked around it, gauging where best to stand, which direction to pull, and hoping she had the might to do it. Sitting with her legs hanging over the edge of the wood, she reached into the gap between the boards to get a solid grip on the splinter with both hands, and then heaved. She heard a snap as the piece broke off, sending her tumbling onto her back. She’d managed to hold on, but wished she had gloves. The wood was rough on her hands.

Slowly getting back up, holding her prize, she made her way back to the seam between the cabinet doors. She worked the tip of her wedge into the space between the cabinet door and the base, expecting that was where the catch was that she couldn’t get past. She just needed to raise the door a hair as she pulled on it, and hoped this would do it. Then working both hands into the gap between the doors, and pressing her side against the base, she heaved with all her might. This time she felt the door slip over the catch. It wasn’t enough to make it through, but if she could do the same to the other door, she felt she could get through the gap. Whoever fastened the pull-tie on the door handles up there, at least there was a little slack for her to work with. So she worked her wedge free, placed it under the other door, got her hands in the gap and heaved. The door swung out over an inch, the wedge falling free. She almost tumbled herself, but managed to get her feet under her before falling between the wood slats. That would be a nasty fall – not to mention dangerous due to the aforementioned splinters. She let go and caught her breath for a moment, then took a look at the gap, judging it wide enough to climb in.

Going to get the microphone, she brought that over first and lifted it up into the gap. Then she put both hands on the base and lifted herself through. She scraped her shoulder on the edge of one of the doors and cursed, but she made it up, turning herself into a sitting position on the base and then lifting her legs through. It was dark inside, the only wan light coming from the crack in the doors. She slowly stood up, her eyes taking time to adjust so she could see. The cabinet held something that looked like a big transformer, and there were cables running from it through holes in the sides of the cabinet. The rest she wasn’t sure, but she didn’t need to understand it, she just needed to get the microphone stashed someplace safe, where it would stay put and not be seen. She half-saw and half-felt her way around the side of the transformer, taking small steps and testing the surface with her bare foot to make sure she wasn’t stepping in a hole – or on something sharp – while running her hands along the equipment. She got to the back and realized it was so dark, she wasn’t sure where would be best to put the microphone. Bending down on all fours, she felt her way around, looking for a safe place she could wrap the microphone so she could get out of there.

She felt some sort of cable along the floor, bracketed down. Thinking this would work, she lifted the microphone off her shoulder and tried to slip it under the cable. She had to tug with both hands to lift the cable, but it moved enough that she could nudge the microphone with her foot, letting go of the cable when it felt like it was in a good spot and wouldn’t move.

As she carefully stood up, that’s when something just didn’t feel right. Just as she took a first step, she suddenly felt a jolt that knocked her down, then her stomach flipped as the whole cabinet – the whole pallet – rose up and started moving. Pressing her ear to the metal, she could hear the sound of an engine whirring. Shit, how the hell was she supposed to get out of here – and where was the drone that was supposed to fly her back?

---------------------------

From a distance, all I could do is sit and wait. It was excrutiating, watching for any sign that she was safe and on her way back to the pickup point. I had the drone camera running, as it sat on an adjacent pallet, but sight was very limited. I had binoculars as well, which I’d packed last night, but they weren’t much good when there were several other pallets between hers and the edge of the dock, blocking my direct line of sight. It was killing me just waiting, unable to see anything around. I decided to raise up the drone, hover it just over the pallets, to see if there was a better view at a different angle. I turned it around, looking at the pallet from different angles. Then suddenly I caught movement. I turned the camera just in time to see two workers there, one of them boarding a forklift. Shit. I had to get out of sight for a minute, let them pass and hope Melanie was ready for pickup by the time they left. I flew the drone up in the air, hovering near the overhang at the edge of the building, in hopes it would blend in with the eaves.

Next thing I knew, they were driving the forklift directly at OUR pallet. Of all the more than a hundred pallets on this dock, this is the ONE they were going to get? Sure enough, they drove right at it and hoisted it off the ground. Shit, shit, shit! I thought I was going to lose it. I was in panic mode. I tried to take some deep breaths and calm myself for a moment. It was just two guys, right? Could I take them out like I did those scientists? I thought about grabbing the crowbar in the trunk, though the ones they use for spare tires are pretty wimpy, I needed something bigger.

Before I could think of anything – and having taken my eyes off the camera for just a few moments – they were out of my sight. I spun the drone around frantically – bumping the eaves and almost sending the drone spiraling – before I saw them – they were already loading it onto a truck! They backed the forklift off the truck and shut the door, like they were in a hurry. I thought the tracking said Monday, not Sunday! Sure enough, they parked the forklift and walked back to the truck to get in. I flew the drone back as fast as I could, threw everything in the back seat, ran to the front seat and started the car like a madman.

Maria looked up, a worried look on her face as she said “Um, where’s Melanie?”

All I could say was “She’s on that truck!” as I pulled out, watching the truck start to move, knowing Melanie’s life was at stake if I lost sight of that truck.

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Melanie's Story Part 27 - The Great Truck Chase

Post by Rocket » Sun Oct 23, 2022 9:48 pm

Hi all, thanks for your patience, sorry this is a week late! Note some parts of this episode are written in Melanie's point of view. Thanks!

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As the truck turned out of the lot and onto the main road, I pulled out from the rows of trailers I was hiding between and turned onto the road behind them, trying to keep a distance but determined not to lose sight of that truck. I was sick to my stomach already for letting this happen. I had no way to communicate with Melanie and couldn’t imagine what she may be thinking. Was she panicking too? Did she even realize she was on a truck? Duh, of course she’d have figured that out by now. But what were we supposed to do? Wait for the truck to stop and then I’d rush on board and try to free her? Was she able to hold on and not fall? I had a sinking feeling for a moment, an image of her falling out the bottom of the pallet and getting flattened. No, she was smarter than that, she’d have held on somehow. But I was going to keep worrying my head off until I had her back and safe.

This was supposed to be a local delivery, requiring a liftgate, that was the whole reason the pallet was taken off a long-haul truck and parked at this dock over the weekend. So unless there were other stops, the truck could be moving until it got to the mansion. Once there I had no idea what we would do. We weren’t ready to break in yet – and once the pallet was inside, would they unpack it right away? We had to get her off that truck before they made the delivery. I just had no idea how.

I was also looking so intently at the truck, so worried I’d lose track of it. Maria must have noticed that, as she said “Don’t we already know where they’re going?”

That tripped my line of thinking for a moment. Which was probably good as I was stuck in a loop in my head. I thought for a second. “Yeah. You’re right. I just … I’m not sure how we get her out of there once they make the delivery.”

“Oh.”

“But … you’re right, if we lose them, we do know where they’re going. I’d almost forgotten. I’m just worried sick, you know?”

“I am too, but going frantic isn’t going to solve the problem. I thought you were supposed to be some kind of genius. Stop and think for a minute.”

Damn she was good. I kept driving, but I started thinking.

She chimed in, “By the way, was this whole trip to sabotage the thing they’re building? What was Melanie supposed to be planting on it?”

“Ooh … actually it was a microphone.”

“Umm … a microphone?”

“Yeah. My thought was we could hear what’s going on, get some intel while they’re working, figure out how far along they are, maybe some clues on their plans, who else is there … intel.”

So she stated the obvious. “So if she has a microphone, can’t she speak to us?”

Shit. “Ahh … okay. I’m not sure if we can get a signal yet, but when she’s closer to the mansion we will. I set the frequency to piggyback on the camera signal. But … soon as we get to a stoplight … “

It was a couple minutes before we hit a stoplight, as we got closer to the city. It did seem like the truck was heading straight to the northern suburbs though. We were still close behind them – just a couple cars in between us. For now. Even though the rational part of me knew we could catch up with them because we knew were they were making the delivery, the emotional part of me didn’t want to let that truck out of my sight just in case I was wrong.

At the stoplight I quickly reached down to the floorboards and pulled up my laptop. I opened it up, logged in and set it on the passenger seat next to Maria.

“Can I talk you through what to do while I’m driving?”

She gave me a dubious look. “Sure.” She got up gently onto her knees so she could get up on the edge of the laptop and reach the keys. I felt bad, she was supposed to be recuperating and shouldn’t be putting much weight on that leg while it was healing. As I drove, trying not to take my eyes off the truck for more than a moment or two, I tried talking her through the steps to securely link the laptop to my desktop at the house and call up the program that was receiving the feed from the cameras. The microphone would tie into those cameras as soon as it was close enough … though that might not be until it was at least in the neighborhood. I hadn’t gone through this scenario with Melanie … not even with myself. I never thought we’d be in this situation.

Over the next 30 minutes of driving, trailing the delivery truck but trying not to get too close, Maria watched the screen intently, listening for any signal while watching the feed from the two cameras we placed last night. I could tell she was frustrated, not knowing how Melanie was doing and not hearing anything either. I was just as frustrated – with myself for putting her in a position for this to happen. It was just too risky.

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Melanie wished she’d had a flashlight or something, even a match. Inside the cabinet was pitch black. She’d felt her way over to the other side where she’d climbed in via the gap in the cabinet doors, but even that was engulfed in darkness. She suspected from the sounds and vibrations that the machine was on a truck. Knowing this was meant to be the final leg of the journey, she made her way slowly to the back of the cabinet, where she’d placed the microphone. This was as good a hiding place as any. If this machine was on its way to the mansion, then she may as well hunker down for the trip. They already knew it was headed there, and if she tried to escape now, there’s no way they’d find her, not with 50 miles in between and no way for her to call for help.

Calling for help. “Shit” she mumbled to herself. It dawned on her just then. The microphone. “He’ll be able to hear me, won’t he?” She knelt down next to the microphone and began whispering, “Can you hear me?” It was a long shot – but she didn’t have anything else to do for the next however long it would take to reach the mansion. Either way, regardless, it looked like she was headed there – and probably headed inside. Wherever they were going to assemble this second machine, that’s where she was headed. The whole idea was to try to figure out where it was and how far along they were, wasn’t it? Well, now she was going to infiltrate the mansion. Whether she was ready or not.

She kept trying every couple minutes, unsure if he heard her or not … or how long the range of the microphone was … or if anyone was even listening. Well surely he’d have figured THAT out by now, wouldn’t he? Thinking about infiltrating the mansion itself .. she wished she had the cat suit, but those goons had ruined it – they actually CUT the top off of her. The memory of that made her shudder. What the fuck was she getting herself into?

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Finally I recognized the neighborhood where the mansion was. So the truck had no other stops, just this one. Meaning I may not have an opportunity to rescue Melanie before the pallet was delivered.

“Fuck!!”

Maria just looked at me for a minute. I glanced over and saw the camera feeds, I could see a couple of people walking out to the big drive where the multiple garages were. They must have realized the truck was arriving. It meant we were close.

“Sorry.” I looked at Maria with sad eyes. “I’m just frustrated. If that pallet goes through the gates, then she’s inside the compound. I don’t know how to rescue her. I haven’t made a plan that far yet. I figured I’d have a day or two to scope out the facility, the security and stuff and come up with a game plan. How to get in and how to get out.”

Maria was shushing me out of my rambling. There was sound.

“Can you hear me?”

It was Melanie’s voice. Static-y, but enough to make out. My heart wrenched, I had no way to respond.

“Honk if you can hear me.”

Without hesitating, I laid on the car horn. Before realizing we were trying not to be noticed in this neighborhood, not just by the delivery men who we’d been tailing the whole way from the warehouse. Geez.

“I hope that’s you. It looks like I’m going in. I’m here now, I may as well make the most of it. I’ll report back when I can.”

Maria and I looked at each other for a long moment. I fought back a curse. Deep down I knew she was going to do this regardless of what I said, if I could even reach her. She wouldn’t pass up this opportunity to see the mansion from the inside. I was worried sick though. I had no idea how we were going to get her back out of there.

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As the truck stopped, Melanie braced herself, knowing the pallet would be moving soon. Sure enough, she heard the truck moving again, just for a minute, then stopping again. The rumbling stopped. They must have turned off the engine. Then a few minutes later, she heard the rolling door echoing through the back, and then a very faint sliver of light from where the cabinet doors gapped.

Before long, the sound of a pneumatic lift and the clanking of a pallet jack before the cabinet began to rise up, in small jolts. Soon she felt everything roll and turn and jostle as she suspected the pallet was being wheeled onto the lift and lowered to the ground. She could hear voices, not as clear as she’d like, but definitely more than one voice.

A few minutes later she heard the truck starting up, the grumble sounding a little different now that she was outside. The grumbles grew distant as the truck pulled off. Now she was here. This was it. Butterflies in her stomach. She had no idea what to expect. Suddenly she gasped as the memories of her – thankfully brief – last encounter with the goons, came flooding back. Then, they were trying to question her, find out how she got out of the house they placed her in – and how she got back to Level 7. Now what would they do, knowing she had at least two accomplices? Would they kill her on sight? Would they torture her? Rape her repeatedly? She recalled how helpless she felt once they caught her in the lab – how helpless she felt when her siblings were abusing her – and her head began spinning. She was on the verge of hyperventilating. What did she just get herself into?

Her panic attack was interrupted by the sound of ripping plastic. They were unwrapping the machine. There was nothing she could do now but hide.

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Melanie's Story Part 28 - The Mansion

Post by Rocket » Mon Nov 07, 2022 4:47 pm

It had been at least an hour since the delivery truck pulled off. I sat there in the car, Maria in the passenger seat watching the laptop intently. She’d hardly taken her eyes off the screen for more than a moment or two, afraid she was going to miss something important. I was at a loss at the moment myself. Melanie’s last words repeated themselves in my head. “It looks like I’m going in … I’ll report back when I can.” What were we supposed to do, sit here and wait for her to report back? Obviously. Even if I were to try and break in – and in broad daylight I wouldn’t get far – I wouldn’t know where to look.

We’d watched the activity on the drive through the camera we placed atop the turret. It wasn’t a direct view, I wish we’d been able to place it on the side rather than facing the front of the property, but we were lucky at the time to even get the camera there to begin with – and lucky it hadn’t been found yet. We had watched the truck pull off and three people standing around the pallet, when one of them pulled out a tool and began cutting away the plastic wrapping. All I could do was hope Melanie’s hiding spot was sufficient, if they’d caught her then and there, what could I do?

After the plastic was off, I held my breath as they walked around the equipment, inspecting it. I waited agonizing minutes as they took their time looking, pointing, opening the cabinet doors, lifting panels. Wherever she was hiding, she’d found a good spot, as they eventually moved on and motioned for someone to come move the machine. One of the security guards came out from one of the garages with a pallet jack, collected the pallet and pulled it through a side double door into the mansion. At that point we lost sight of it on the cameras.

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By the rumble of the equipment surrounding her, Melanie could sense that the machine was rolling over uneven ground, and then over a bump, and then over a hard floor. Definitely not concrete, she could feel regular bumps as the wheels rolled over what she suspected was tile. They had to be inside the mansion now.

Outside, she held her breath, trying not to panic, as the cabinet doors were opened. She was laying as flat as she could across the back of whatever it was – she suspected some kind of generator – that was inside that cabinet. All it would take was for someone to shine a light inside and catch a bit of skin or cloth, or perhaps a foot not sufficiently hidden, for her to be captured. Luckily it was only a cursory scan, maybe a check for damage or to confirm the equipment was what they’d ordered. Later on, if they actually started working with the machine, she wouldn’t be so lucky. She had to get to a safer place before that happened.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a tremor as the machine rolled over another threshold and into what seemed like an enclosed room. She had the sensation of walls tight all around her. Like an echo chamber. Then she felt a rattle and a sinking feeling like she was on a roller coaster going down a hill. It didn’t take long to figure out they were on an elevator. So did they have a basement laboratory?

A soft thud told her they’d hit bottom. It wasn’t a long trip, did they go down one floor, or more than one? She couldn’t tell. Not from her hiding spot. But she couldn’t dare move now, she’d be caught in a heartbeat. She kept still and quiet as the elevator doors opened with a clang and the machine rolled over another threshold and onto a gravely surface. That was odd. Wasn’t this the basement of the mansion? Wouldn’t it have been fixed up as living space at some point? Or maybe they did go one level deeper underground. Like a sub-basement. That might make sense, if they were trying to hide all this from the world. Though it would make it harder to escape too. She sighed. No, best to keep her wits about her and her senses perked for any clues. Any information she could get. At some point, if she were to escape, it was on her now.

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Maria and I watched the laptop screen intently, with the volume cranked high. Neither of us wanted to take a chance of missing if Melanie tried to reach us again over the microphone. Wherever she’d stashed it on the machine, she may have been hiding in the same spot. Either way, they hadn’t seen her when they took their walk around the machine outside.

As we watched, the machine, on a pallet jack, was hauled through a side door into the main building. We lost sight of it on the camera as it got close, but we’d seen the trajectory and we could hear the bumps as it rolled over a threshold and into the building. At that point all we could do was wait, listen and hope for clues.

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The machine finally stopped moving. Melanie could feel the pallet drop to the ground, followed by the clanking of the pallet jack as it was backed out and away. She tried to listen closely as it rattled along, being pulled by someone … about 15 seconds later she heard the metal wheels bang against a threshold and then roll onto a hard surface. If that was the elevator, they were taking it back up – and 15 seconds meant it had to be close, maybe 20 steps for a ‘normal’ person? She got a little introspective for a moment. Was she still normal? Her boyfriend had treated her like she was. So did Maria. Though the list kinda stopped there, didn’t it? She sighed.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she listened closely to see if the coast was clear. She heard the elevator doors close. Then a moment of silence. But only a moment. She heard footsteps, coming closer. Then a voice called, from further away.

“Bob, c’mon. We can work on that this afternoon. I’m hungry.”

The hairs on the back of her neck shot up at the mention of Bob. She gasped, trying to clasp her mouth with her hands before any sound got out. Was she fast enough? Did they hear her? That was one of the two scientists that caught her on Level 7. Memories of the traumatic event flooded her like a tidal wave and she almost slipped down. Now that would really seal the deal and she had no idea if anyone could rescue her in time. She fought back the urge to puke and steeled herself. She had to get through this and find a way out.

Bob grumbled. “Fine. We can get the grunts to take this thing off while we eat. The sooner we’re operational here, the sooner we can be done with Advanced Future and that pesky Caulfield.”

“Have you decided what you’re doing with the other machine?”

“Sabotage. After we remove the element it would be unusable anyway, but … “ Bob stopped to snicker for a moment, “just imagine the look on their faces when they try to fire that thing up and it completely melts down. Destroys all the evidence, maybe most of the lab, and they’ll think it was just their own people fucking around. Plus whoever they send in to monkey around with the equipment won’t live to say what they did wrong anyway. It’ll be glorious.”

“Any thoughts on our loose ends?”

“Oh, not to worry. They’ll be taken care of. Both of them and their accomplice. All in due time.”

Melanie tried not to panic. There wasn’t anyone else they could possibly be talking about. Did they know more than we thought they knew? Were they tracking us somehow? Were the others in danger right now and she’d have nowhere to go even if she escaped?

“And what about our little slave girls?”

“What about them?”

“Well … I wouldn’t mind keeping them for myself.”

Melanie shuddered. They had no intention of letting Becky go free, did they. Was she here? Who else were they talking about?

“You know, they’re the reason Caulfield plays along. He’s scared shitless that we’re going to harm them. And he seems to think we’re going to restore them both and let them walk free.” He cackled. Seriously, he actually cackled. “So … it would be convenient if he were … near the lab when they start playing with the equipment.”

“Isn’t his office one floor above the lab?”

“True. I can easily take that into account. What’s a small explosion when you can have a big explosion?”

Melanie gasped again, her hands so tight against her mouth that she was probably cutting off the circulation, out of fear of making a sound, any sound. These people were animals. Sick animals. They deserved to go to prison for the rest of their lives. Or worse.

“Nice.”

“So you seriously think they’ll let you keep them both?”

“I sure hope so. It’s more fun keeping them together. Besides, it took me weeks to break in the young one.”

“Frankly, I don’t mind you taking them. Though you should seriously think about keeping them separated. The worst thing you can do is give them hope. If they never see each other it’ll break them faster.” Then he grimaced. “Though you know … that bitch actually tried to bite me on my dick? She actually drew blood. I almost smashed her then and there, but at the time we still needed her pretty face on camera.”

“The mother? Yeah, she took some work too. Feisty, that one. I’ve finally got them both trained like a pair of hounds. They jump for me.” He snickered. “Well, as much as they can with all the bruises, but threatening to snap a leg between my fingers just kinda drains the fight out of them, you know?”

“Well if they’re maimed, they’re not worth as much. You might need to just put them down if they don’t heal. Otherwise it’s a lot of trouble. You can always get another one. Single women on the street that nobody’s going to miss? Dime a dozen.”

“You have a point there. Be disappointing if I have to put down the mother, but oh you should have seen the look on the daughter’s face when I was about to snap that leg. Ever since, they both hop to attention, they beg me for scraps, they do anything I want them to do. And I mean … anything.”

“Alright … but don’t get too attached to them. They’re basically livestock. In a few days we won’t need them anymore. But it’s the boss’s call, not mine.”

Melanie was in tears at this point, trying desperately not to make a sound and on the verge of falling apart. She struggled to maintain a hold on herself. Her life was at stake if they found out she was here. Her head was spinning. Not only Becky, who they knew about, but her mother – Mr. Caulfield’s wife – as well? How on earth did they manage that? No wonder he was so afraid to cross them. He was letting them do whatever they wanted on Level 7, giving them whatever resources they asked for, and staying out of their way, out of fear that they’d kill his wife or daughter. With both of them here, they probably figured they could kill one if he steps out of line and still have the other as insurance. Sick bastards. And here, they not only had no plans to free them, they might just kill them both anyway – and kill him just so he doesn’t ask any questions.

She snapped out of her latest malaise when she heard them speak again.

“Let’s go get some lunch then.”

“Alright, I’ll just check on my slave girls, I’ll be up in a minute.”

“Don’t you need to feed them?”

“Nah, the feeder’s full, it should last them a few days.”

“Fine, meet you upstairs.”

At that she heard footsteps and then the sound of motors as the elevator came down, the doors clanking open and then shut again. She listened for footsteps after that – this Bob may have gone upstairs but the other one was still here. Did that mean Mr. Caulfield’s family was down here somewhere? She couldn’t hear much – though it sounded as if the floor were gravely and not cement or tile. Did they dig this out? Or was it a hidden underground chamber? A bunker maybe? This was probably one reason they chose this place, not just for the security of gates and high walls. And a turret for cripes sake. The steps got fainter as she strained to hear. She could still hear them, so he hadn’t gone TOO far. But she struggled to make out the words.

“… please!” That was a woman’s voice, faint despite being shouted.

“Excuse me?” he boomed so loudly they could probably hear him upstairs.

“Please, master. Let her rest. She’s still bleeding from last time.”

He scowled. “Then I expect a better show next time I return. She should be grateful that I let her live another day. Her sole purpose in life is to serve me. I expect this cage to be clean the next time I visit.”

“Yes master.”

The footsteps came closer, almost stomping, but only lingered near the machine for a moment before heading past – towards the elevator.

After the elevator doors closed, Melanie finally breathed. And cried. But she wasn’t the only one crying down in this hidden cavern. In the distance, in between her own whimpers of grief, she could hear the faint sound of crying from somewhere else down here. How was she ever going to get out of here?

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Melanie's Story Part 29 - Exploring New Territory

Post by Rocket » Sun Nov 13, 2022 10:10 pm

Maria continued to stare at the laptop screen, just watching and listening for any sign that Melanie was still okay. We’d been sitting for two hours. Knowing there wasn’t much we could do until we knew where she was and that if I had to try to break into the Mansion to rescue her, I had no chance at all until it was dark enough to hide my approach. Not that I had the clothes for stalking … I needed a dark outfit, not a bright tee shirt that would scream ‘intruder’ the minute I got close. But I was still mulling over my options. I was going in regardless, but I was hesitant to go all the way back to the house to change or grab supplies … and Maria would protest vehmently if I even suggested it.

She did agree to let me run to the convenience store we’d passed a half mile back. She stayed in the car, where I’d plugged in the laptop to the car adapter to recharge the battery, while I ran in to use the restroom and grab something to eat. I tore off a piece of my turkey sandwich for her to munch on.

Knowing Melanie was in the mansion, I’d focused the back camera – the one atop the outbuilding in back – on the back doors of the mansion, in-case she tried to go out that way, though I knew it wasn’t likely. She certainly wouldn’t be pushing a door open by herself. If she got out it would be through a crack somewhere, a small window if she could lever it open a few inches, something like that. No way for us to monitor those areas with the camera – and the one on the turret was more to pick up activity around the drive and front gate, I couldn’t angle it down enough to pick up doors or windows. Also, neither would give us any sound clues unless we heard people shouting that they were looking for a tiny trespasser. Or escapee. I frowned at that thought, it would mean they’d found her.

Speaking of cameras got me thinking. The drone! Though it had already gotten use this morning and quite a bit yesterday. I dug around through the jumble of supplies in the back floorboards looking for a charging cable. Last thing we needed was the drone losing power and crashing in the yard. So that settled, I went back to having lunch, offering Maria another capful of water to wash down her snippet of sandwich. She gave me a funny look as she waved off the water.

“So … how do I … where do I …”

It took me a moment (duh) to figure out what she meant. “OH. Umm … okay … I don’t suppose you want me to bring you in to the convenience store, I can just look away while you do … what you need to do?” It may have worked out well that I hadn’t left the parking lot yet.

“What about Melanie?”

“I’ll set this to record if any sound comes through – soon as we come back the car we’ll know if she tried to reach us. It’s not like we can reply, right? I mean, right now we’re just waiting for her to give us a clue. I can’t try to sneak in until it’s dark, or they’ll catch me before I make it over the wall.”

“Well … alright. Go ahead.”

So I set up the laptop to record any sound coming through, then threw on a hoodie so that I could ‘hide’ Maria as I carried her into the shop. She stood up and let me pick her up. I mused for a moment, that this was the first time I’d ever held Maria without Melanie nearby. Not that I was looking to mess around with Maria behind Melanie’s back, mind you. But Maria was a ravishing beauty in her own right. So under other circumstances I might have felt a tug of temptation.

A throat clearing snapped me back to the here and now. I’d absentmindedly been holding her for a minute and stroking her arm with my thumb. “Ooh. SORRY. I just … “

She giggled. “It’s fine. Am I that distracting? But I need you to focus for a minute. I really do need to go.”

“Okay. I’ll hide you in here, just stay still for a minute. Melanie’s done this several times and it’s worked fine.” I proceeded to slip her into the inside pocket of the hoodie. I felt her feet touch the bottom of the pocket, and then gave her a moment to get herself settled, before opening the car door and stepping out, heading back into the convenience store. And glad they weren’t busy for a Sunday afternoon.

In the restroom, I grabbed a paper towel first and laid it down, then gently lay Maria upon it. I said “Wait there for a minute. This sink is filthy.” I proceeded to grab more paper towels and try to clean the sink for her. She gave me an amused look.

“You don’t need to go through all that trouble, but I do appreciate it.” She smiled.

As I finished, I offered my hand. She stood up and let me bring her over to the edge of the sink. “Okay. Do you need anything?” I turned to face the wall. “I’ll try to give you some privacy, just tell me if you need something.”

She snorted. “Seriously? Do you do that for Melanie?”

“I used to, yeah.” I turned back to look at her. “Until she told me she doesn’t mind me there. In fact … she kinda implied I was welcome to watch.” Her eyebrows shot up. “Though I always give her privacy if she asks for it. I’m just not comfortable doing something she doesn’t want me to do.”

She smiled. “Alright. Then you and I have the same deal. It’s not like you haven’t seen me naked. More than once. I’ll tell you if I’m not comfortable. Besides … I want you to hold my clothes so I don’t get them wet. It’s not like I brought extras.” At that she removed her skirt – pulling on the velcro at the waist – and held it out for me. I picked it up between my finger and thumb and lay it on the paper towel as neatly as I could. Then she removed her top and held it out for me. I wasn’t clear why she needed her top off, but who was I to question?

She saw me gazing at her and smirked. “What, do you like what you see?”

I sighed. “You KNOW I do. You look incredible.”

She grinned ear to ear. “I appreciate that. It’s not like I’m going to get any dates right now … not like this.” She laughed.

“Well, under any other circumstance I figure you’d be out of my league. Melanie too.”

She frowned at me. “You really think that? Really? Trust me here, you’ve got more going for you that most guys I meet. You’re sweet, you’re funny, you’re probably the smartest guy I know, and you’re NOT bad looking either.”

“You’re very kind to say that.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. You’re pretty good in bed too. I can certainly vouch for that.” She smirked. “Now I’m not trying to steal you away, but she did say she’s open to sharing you, and I’m amenable to that.”

I wasn’t quite sure what to say. In the ensuing silence, I’d hardly noticed she’d finished her business while we were talking.

“Umm …” Yeah I’m sure I sounded flustered. “We should probably get back to figuring out how to rescue Melanie.”

She sighed. “I know. But I REALLY need this distraction. Work with me here. Just a few minutes. Like you said, there’s nothing we can do. The more I sit there staring at the screen, the more I just get my nerves frayed. Five minutes. Trust me, I need this. Maybe you do too.” She winked.

“Uh … “

“Alright then. First off, can you turn on the warm water so I can freshen up here?”

I proceeded to turn on the water gently, testing it with my finger to make sure it wasn’t too hot or cold. When I nodded that it was ready, she strode under the faucet and began to rinse herself down.

“A little soap, pretty please?” I took a pump of soap in my hand and held it out for her. She scooped it up and lathered herself up, especially her chest and between her legs, then quickly rinsed off. As she stepped away from the water, I turned it off.

“Okay now.” She looked up at me. “Do you remember a couple days ago when you dried me off and then, um, ravished me?”

I blinked. “Ravished you? I … I thought I was being gentle!”

“You are so funny. Don’t be panicked. I liked it. A lot. So .. here I am. Dry me please?” She looked up at me with the sexiest puppy-dog eyes. There was no way I could resist and she knew it. So I did gently pick her up. For a few moments I just held her in my hand, marveling at her beautiful curves and voluptuous breasts.

“I need to be gentle, these paper towels may be rough.” She lay back as I gently blotted her dry, her arms and her chest and then her legs. She parted her legs for me to dry her there too. I brushed the side of her breast with my thumb and she stretched her arms wide, a contented smile on her face. I tried stroking her breast and teasing her tiny nipple, she closed her eyes and purred for me. Yep, this is exactly what she wanted me to do and she just sucked me in with her charms, didn’t she? Ah well, who was I to complain? I had a gorgeous woman in my hand asking me to ravish her. A lot of guys would kill for this. I lifted her up higher and kissed her stomach, then brushed my lip across her nipples, which I could feel were getting harder by the moment. I worked my way down her abdomen with my lips and then dipped my tongue between her legs, wrapping it around her ass and pussy. I stroked and teased her labia with the tip of my tongue, working it in just a tiny bit as her folds separated for me. With my other hand I lifted her legs up and folded them to her chest, so that I could wrap my lips around her entire ass. I continued with my tongue over all of her down there, feeling her contours and finding her more sensitive spots with the tip of my tongue, and soon she began bucking her hips in response to my ministrations. Within moments she was groaning, making enough noise that I cranked up the water faucet to mask the sound. We’d been in here at least 10 minutes, I wouldn’t be shocked if there were people standing outside the restroom waiting on us. At that thought I stepped up my caresses of her nether regions, while rubbing her breasts with my thumb, setting her off into the throes of orgasm.

Just in time too, as the inevitable knock on the door came. I slipped her ass out of my mouth in time to blurt, “Out in a minute, sorry!”

Maria gasped, suddenly snapping back to reality quickly. I bent down to kiss her a couple more times, as she was still coming down from her high, before grabbing her top and handing it to her. She worked it back on, pulling it over her breasts, her nipples still hard enough to show through the fabric. Then I grabbed her skirt and tried to put it on her myself, eliciting a snort from her as I fumbled with it one-handed while she dangled in my other hand. She adjusted it once I had the velcro fastened. Then I kissed her one more time and slid her back into the inner pocket of my hoodie, tossed the paper towels and left the restroom, making a beeline back to the car.

Back in the car, I slid her out of my pocket and lay her back in the passenger seat.

“Sorry that was so rushed at the end.”

She grinned. “That’s okay. It’s the first time I ever had sex in a public restroom. Though Melanie may not believe it. She thinks I get around more than I do. Just between you and me?” She winked.

“Alright. You really are damn sexy. We probably shouldn’t have done that, but someone just flat-out seduced me.” I smirked.

Then I checked the laptop, still nothing had come through. “This is odd. We haven’t gotten any sound – NOTHING in over an hour. This was working for a bit from inside the mansion. So either something happened to it, or it’s somewhere that’s shielded. Dammit. I need some idea what I’m doing if I’m going to try to break in there tonight.” Then I thought for a moment. “Oh crap.” My fingers started flying on the keyboard as I went to pull up some of the last sounds we had recorded. I maxed the volume and replayed the sound. “Crap. Why wasn’t I thinking of this before?”

Maria looked up at me, concern on her face. “What?”

“That last sound. Let me play this again. Listen.” I replayed the last few moments. “Right there. The wheels are on tile and then they roll over a threshold, onto something smooth, and then there’s a chime and the sound of doors closing. What does that remind you of?”

Maria scrunched her cute little nose for a moment. Then her eyes got big. “Shit. An elevator?”

“Yep. I think that’s an elevator. That may be why we’re not getting a signal. She could be underground.”

As the implications sunk in, I continued. “So … that gives me an idea where to go … but that doesn’t exactly make it easier. If there’s an elevator going down, there’d have to be steps too, wouldn’t there? There’s no way they’ve have built something under that mansion with only an elevator to get to it, right? That place is at least a hundred years old I would think. There must be another way down – or back up.”

So I spent the next hour combing over the video footage from Saturday, to see if maybe there was a Bilco door or something coming directly from the basement to outside.

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Meanwhile …

After the other scientist had left up the elevator, leaving the chamber in silence, Melanie finally let out the tears she’d been holding onto. For a few minutes she cried, before pulling herself together. She had to focus on getting out of here. But what about the others, should she try to rescue them too? Were they even well enough to keep up with her if she escaped, or would they be injured and hold her up long enough to be captured? First off she had to get out of this machine and to a safer hiding spot. She’d heard them saying they could send someone else down to remove the machine off the pallet while they had lunch – so she might not have much time.

As she climbed out of her hiding space in the back of the cabinet and began to work her way to the doors, she remembered the microphone. Should she take it with her? It was her only way to communicate back to the others, assuming they were listening. Of course they would be listening, they were probably going nuts right now wanting to know if she was safe and figuring out how to get her out of here. She wished she could communicate two-ways and coordinate efforts somehow. But for now this was all she had. So she climbed back behind the generator and heaved with both arms to pull up the cable she’d slipped the microphone under, so she could slide it out with her foot. She picked it up, slung it over her shoulder, and while heading back around to the cabinet doors, she tried speaking.

“Hey guys, it looks like I’m in some kind of sub-basement or bunker down here. I’m still looking for a way out. I think Mr. Caulfield’s wife and daughter are both down here somewhere too. Stay close and I’ll be back in touch soon.” HOPEFULLY they got all that.

She kicked one cabinet door open with her feet, then climbed down onto the pallet. She walked over to where she could grasp the door again to swing it shut. Best not to give them clues that someone else was here, she learned that lesson back on Level 7! Standing on the pallet – and trying to avoid big splinters – she surveyed her surroundings in the dim light. She could see the elevator to her right – and yeah, this floor did look like it was dug out, there was gravel – or was that sand? - rather than tile. It definitely wasn’t the size of the mansion – though it probably sat underneath it – maybe under the original basement – but it appeared to be one long wide tunnel. She looked up. Was that corrugated metal? Geez, maybe this was a bomb shelter. But there had to be another way out … there had to be. It definitely wasn’t over here on this end though. There were a couple tables, some boxes and parts strewn about, a metal supply cabinet in the corner, but nothing to suggest a stairwell or even a ladder.

Pressing on, she climbed down off the pallet and started walking in the direction she’d heard the two women earlier. Along the way she looked closely at the walls for possible hiding places, while listening for any sign of the elevator coming back down. If the elevator started moving, she had to hide quickly. Further down the tunnel was another workbench full of supplies, with boxes and wooden crates stacked nearby. She made note that there was a push-button telephone on the table. Did people still use those? Did it even work? If so, she might be able to reach the others that way, though she couldn’t tell from her vantage point. Damn, sometimes it sucks being this small!

The tunnel branched off into a couple of alcoves. Down one of them, she could hear whimpering. Was this where the two women were being kept? She wasn’t sure if she had time to say anything to them, not yet, first she had to come up with a game plan to get out. For all she knew, they might turn her in just to be spared some kind of torture themselves. Best to wait until she had a way to escape, then come get them if she thought there’d be a way.

Turning down the other alcove, what she saw was a little more promising. A ladder. Not a stair, that would have been easier to work with, but a ladder at least meant some way out. The rungs were wide and flat also, probably enough to sit and rest along the way. No chance of navigating that quickly, it would probably take an hour – or two if she dared try to rescue the others. She looked up at the top. At least it didn’t look very secure up there, she was afraid at first that there’d be some steel door or something. Instead, a rotted piece of plywood – with a … was that a gap even? Either way it looked promising. She could probably wedge that open wider, but she’d need to bring something up with her – a piece of metal maybe - to do that.

So the shopping list was growing … rope for climbing, maybe some hooks if she got lucky, a piece of metal – maybe a tiny screwdriver, a tweezer, a piece of hacksaw blade? Whatever she could find that would work. For now though …

As she started to think, she heard the elevator humming. She hurriedly searched for a hiding place, settling on behind the wooden crates she saw earlier, near the table with the telephone. She ran as fast as her tiny legs would take her, diving between the crate and the wall just as the elevator doors swung open.

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Melanie's Story Part 30 - The Long Afternoon

Post by Rocket » Mon Nov 21, 2022 5:53 pm

Melanie dove behind a wooden crate just as the elevator doors swung open. She froze in place but listened closely, hesitant to make a sound but anxious to know what was happening. The lights brightened, making her glad she was in the shadows. She heard voices – that meant more than one person down here. Great. It just meant a greater chance of someone catching her … though it did mean she had a better chance of getting some intel, if they would just speak clearly enough for her to hear …

“Did they ever say where they want this thing?”

“Not really. I say just take it down and set it wherever. I’m sure they’ll call us back down if they need it moved.”

“Couple of wusses, they couldn’t do this themselves” one of them grumbled.

“Yeah, though I thought we were security, not damn movers! And don’t let them hear you say that. They get this thing finished and they’ll start using it on people. I’m telling ya, I don’t want to end up like those two dames in the cage over there.”

More grumbling. “You really think they’d do that?”

“Those two? They may not be in charge, but they think they are. Sometimes I think it’s a miracle their heads fit through the door.”

“Speakin’ of those chicks – ya ever gone and looked in their cage? What’s it like?”

“Nah, I stay away from that stuff. Too much trouble.”

“C’mon, ya never went over and looked at them? Well I think if we’ve gotta do this crap we at least deserve to go have a look. There’s fuckin’ two naked girls sittin’ over there waitin’ for us to go have a look. What’s the harm?”

“Fine, but let’s get this done first. Hand me a socket wrench, will ya?”

She heard some footsteps and then some digging around, followed by a metal door clanging. “Here.” This was followed by a couple minutes of metal tapping against metal, and then a scraping and some heaving as she assumed they were trying to maneuver the equipment off of the wooden pallet and onto the ground. There was some huffing and groaning and the sound of something dragging over the rough ground.

“Think this is fine here?”

“Yeah, leave it here. I guess stick that pallet over in the corner, I don’t know if they need it again or not. Easier than dragging it back upstairs.”

“Alright then.” She heard some slapping of hands – or dusting? “I should have brought some towels down. I got grease on my hands.”

“Then don’t be touching the girls, they’ll know.”

“You think? They’re probably filthy themselves. Probably wouldn’t even notice.”

She heard footsteps coming closer to her location, then just past it, turning down that alcove. Where the Caulfields were held in a cage. A few moments later she heard them speaking again.

“Well would you looky there. Stand up here so we can see ya.” She heard tapping against the metal of the cage. “Now! You do what I ask, woman! Or I stick my hand in there and make you!”

She heard whimpering.

“Ah, that’s better. Yeah. More like it. Stick your chest out. Let me see that rack. Yeah! You too, stick your chest out. Come closer so I can see it all. Yeah that’s more like it.”

Melanie thought to herself, yeah they sound like slobbering idiots. She almost hoped they’d get caught down here with their pants down, though a bigger part of her just wanted them to go away.

“Hey, you should tell them to bend over. Give us a good look.”

“Yeah. Oh yeah. Okay girlies, turn around and bend over. Yeah yeah. Bend over. Yeah. You, spread your legs more. Yeah. That’s it. Mmmm. Yeah. Oh yeah. How’s that.”

“Yeah, that’s the ticket. Hey, can you get them to do anything else?”

“Ooh. Damn. Yeah. Okay, you. Yeah you. Yeah I’m talking to you. Stand up. No, not you. Just that one. Yeah. Okay … uh … yeah, yeah. Okay. Now listen up. Now grope your tit with your hand. Yeah, just like that. Yeah. And … yeah, keep doing that, yeah, but put one hand on her ass. Yeah the other one. Don’t look at me like that, just DO IT.”

A little voice piped up, “But … but that’s … my step mother.”

“Mmm, even better!” he growled. “Now do it! Hand on her ass, NOW! Yeah, do it! Good. Now squeeze it. Yeah.” Then he barked, “Shit, Harold! What the FUCK are you doing?”

“Uh, uh, uh, fuck man, this is hot!”

“Dammit man, they could come down here any minute! What the fuck do you think you’re doing? You want them to come down here and you’ve got your damn pecker stickin’ out? Put that thing away. You think I wanna see it? Shit man, let’s just get going before they come down here.”

“Damn, sorry man, but you gotta admit that’s hot, that’s like goin’ to the strip club for free.”

“Shit. Fine, but clean yourself up, dammit. We can’t be caught over here, ya know?”

Heavy sigh. “Fine. Fine. Let’s get going.”

She heard heavy footsteps and some foot dragging, some kicked pebbles flying against the crates near her, but they didn’t come any closer. A few moments later she heard the elevator and then things went silent. The lights dimmed a moment later. They must be on a sensor or something. Apparently – luckily? - she was too small to set it off, they sure didn’t come on when she was exploring.

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I’d been digging through yesterday’s drone footage, looking for signs of an outside entrance. Nothing that screamed ‘basement’ that I could find. I could identify the doors – four of them around the house – but none that clearly went down, they all looked like they probably went to the main level. Maria could see a hint of frustration on my face.

“You’ve been at that for almost an hour. Do you want to take a break?”

I started to scowl but recovered quickly. It wasn’t her I was frustrated with. “Sorry. I just can’t find a way directly into the basement. At least nothing that’s obvious.”

“Hmm, too bad you don’t have blueprints or something.”

I was about to speak but halted at her words. “What?”

“I said it’s too bad you don’t have blueprints or something. Why? What’s wrong?”

“Ooh, Maria, you’re a genius! Nothing’s wrong, you just gave me a great idea!”

She looked at me funny. “I did?”

On impulse I reached down and scooped her up and planted a kiss on her head. “You did!” Then I paused for a moment, seeing the look of surprise on her face. “Oh, sorry. I should have asked first. I’m so sorry.” I went to set her back down.

She giggled. “It’s okay! It’s fine! Don’t worry!”

“You’re sure? I should have asked first. I just got excited.”

“Yeah, it’s fine! This from the guy I just had sex with in a public restroom an hour ago?” She threw her head back in laughter. “But ok, now you’ve gotta tell me, why are you so excited?”

“Blueprints!”

“Umm … “ she scrunched her cute little nose. “Like where are you going to get those? I doubt they keep that kinda stuff sitting around.”

“Yeah, but … this place is old … maybe even historic register. So if they did any digging, expanded the basement, even renovated, they’d have to submit plans. So … “

“So how do we get those?”

“Hmm … well that, my dear, we can search online. Even the old stuff they used to have in microfiche they are in the process of scanning in. So no guarantee, but let’s give it a try.”

I jumped back onto the laptop and began navigating … first back to the recorder of deeds office to identify the parcel number for the mansion property. I’d written it down before, but it was back at the house. A few minutes later, that in hand, I tracked down the county zoning board’s website and began running a search using that parcel number. The system was agonizingly slow … and our limited internet out here wasn’t helping. I had a 5G adapter on the laptop, but still, it was much slower than the cable wi-fi at home. So we waited. And waited. The car was still running all this time, given we had multiple items plugged in and charging … I wished I’d stopped off for gas when we ran to the convenience store. We were down to a quarter tank so I’d need to go fill up sometime soon.

Pulling out, I headed to the nearest gas station, parked, shut off the car and proceeded to fill up. We quite possibly may need the car to run all afternoon/evening and still be able to get away quickly in the middle of the night, if I could figure out a rescue and make it work. I stuck my head in the window to ask Maria if she needed anything else to eat, she was fine so I just filled up and hopped back into the car. I saw a fast food restaurant a couple doors down and pulled in there, hoping to nab a better wi-fi or at least a faster data connection. As luck would have it, I was able to get a decent wi-fi there, parked right near the back of the building, and then went back to my search.

There were several hits coming up, hopefully with the faster connection it wouldn’t take forever to pull up the filings. The most recent filing was just a variance for the masonry wall that surrounded most of the property. That didn’t really help. I went back further, found another filing about 10 years ago and pulled that up, it dealt with the elevators and involved some internal renovations to remove one of two staircases in the mansion to make way for the shaft, going up 5 levels. What? Did I read that right? I had a double-take for a moment. The mansion appeared to be 3 stories tall, aside from that presumptuous turret, which I really doubted the elevator would go up to given it was tall, narrow and jutted up from a far corner of the building. So how were they getting 5 levels? I chalked it up as an odd mystery, downloaded a copy of the documents for future reference, and kept digging.

Finally half an hour later, I came across a more promising record. This was a major project that apparently required a surveyor and multiple contractors, as well as a formal hearing before the zoning board. But this was from the 1950’s. I was lucky they even had this scanned into the database yet, a few years older and I’d have to go to the county offices and dig through the microfiche files to find it. But what was it? A major addition? The garages? No, I’d come across the garages already and those were built on open ground. This was something else. I kept reading through pages and pages of notes, until …

“Holy crap.”

Maria perked up and looked at me. “Huh? What?”

“Well this explains why we’re not getting a signal.”

“You said it may be underground – like a basement?”

“Not just a basement. I’d have never thought of this. But being as it was in the 50’s, I suppose it makes more sense now.”

“What? Out with it!”

“There’s a friggin’ fallout shelter under the mansion. Like deep. Like … if I’m reading this right … at least 25 feet underground and lined in concrete all the way around.”

“So … how is Melanie supposed to escape from THAT?” She gave me a worried look.

“Well, we think they built that elevator deep enough … that explains the 5 levels … it must go down to that level and they built a connector, or maybe built it to come down adjacent to the shelter. But that was barely 10 years ago. So … there had to be a way in and out of it before that.” I scanned the pages looking for a clue. “Bingo! There’s an access hatch and a tube that comes up to the surface. Now … there’s no way that comes up in the middle of the house, so it’s got to be somewhere on the grounds.”

“Umm, what would we be looking for?”

“Most likely, some metal or concrete tube – gotta be big enough for someone to walk down, maybe big enough to fit boxes of supplies at least – and it would have to be coming up at least a foot, maybe two feet above ground.”

“Why’s that?”

“Otherwise every time it rains the water would be running into it. Though … shit … that also means the cover might be watertight. Especially if it was for a fallout shelter, it might be sealed like a vault. So nothing Melanie could get open, I’m hoping I can even get it open myself. So I’ve got to get in there to try and open it tonight. We’ll have to look around the perimeter and see if we can find it. I’m almost picturing a lid like a submarine hatch, but who knows? Also … if it wasn’t real obvious before, then it might be hidden by a tree or bushes or something.”

So for the next hour we took turns scanning the back and sides of the property with the two cameras. We couldn’t capture everything but we hoped to at least narrow it down.

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After the two guards left and she heard the elevator doors close, Melanie climbed back out of her hiding spot. She wasn’t sure if she’d have all afternoon, or just a few minutes, so she figured she should make good use of the time she had. A part of her wanted to try out that telephone, but she’d be entirely out in the open if someone came back soon. They talked about having lunch, so they may well come back and work afterwards. She was getting hungry herself, she wasn’t expecting to be trapped here … geez, she only expected she’d be hiding that microphone and then be back in the car and on the way home within the hour. So much for that. If she’d known, she would have had a bigger breakfast ... and packed a snack … or packed anything for that matter. Yep, this was totally unplanned.. And probably more dangerous than going to Level 7. This time she had no supplies, she wasn’t sure if her boyfriend knew where she was, and did she even have a means of communication? She looked longingly again at that telephone atop the table. But … not now, it was took risky. Later, once they’d wrapped up for the night. She assumed they would go back to the lab on Monday, they still had something going on there … they had records there, the server there, whatever that element was it sounded like they didn’t have any of it here yet … but it also sounded like they thought they were close, maybe days away from building a new machine here, after which they’d sabotage the old one. Though she was sure they’d kidnap someone to test this one on first. At least she knew this one wasn’t functional yet.

She pulled herself up onto one of the crates first, to take a peek inside. She needed some kind of rope, string, twine, something … and some sort of metal she could use as a wedge, a tweezer wold be perfect but she’d take whatever she could find. Some food would be nice, but she guessed the only place with some food or water at the moment might be the cage around the corner in the alcove … and she wasn’t ready to reveal herself to the two women there, not until she was ready to include them in the rescue. Otherwise she’d risk them coughing up about her presence. Or would they? She had no idea. At some point she’d have to eat. Should she take a chance? She was really torn about whether to go and speak to them or not.

The elevator started humming, meaning the car was going up to get someone. She quickly climbed down off her perch and back behind the crates. Talking to the women in the cage would have to wait.

A few moments later, the elevator doors opened and the two scientists entered the main chamber. Even if she didn’t have a direct line of sight, she could hear their footsteps and knew in her gut it was them, coming to work on this terrible machine. She was stuck now, she couldn’t take any chance of leaving her hiding spot, or making noise, lest they find her – quickly, given the dearth of places to run – and either throw her in that cage with the others, or torture her to death, or just kill her outright. She had no doubt they were capable. Food would also have to wait.

She heard grumbling, and then tinkering and clanging. At least they were staying over near that big machine and not coming near her. Yet.

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Melanie's Story Part 31 - Waiting for Dark

Post by Rocket » Sun Nov 27, 2022 6:47 pm

Melanie stayed hidden behind the crates for what seemed like hours – maybe it was. Her tiny legs were cramping from trying not to move, trying not to make a sound, while her chest hurt from trying so hard not to sneeze from all the dust. Maybe the crates were new, but this place hadn’t been cleaned in years, maybe decades. She could hear clanging, tinkering, grumbling, but not much else. They weren’t speaking much, but they were plugging away at whatever they were building. In her gut she knew exactly what they were building. A machine that they would use to destroy the lives of innocent people. To shrink helpless victims. To make a fortune selling them off like items – like pets - or what did that Bob say, like livestock? - to billionaires. People whose lives would be reduced to serving as someone’s entertainment, or to fulfill deviant fantasies, or to be tortured just for someone’s cruel fun. Her mind spun. She even thought of these rich bastards kidnapping and shrinking not just victims, but their rivals – their political or business rivals – and not just making them disappear, but then torturing them endlessly for amusement. Yes, she could see evil people paying fortunes for that.

She shuddered at the thought of anyone having that kind of power. Yet here they were, plugging away, expecting they’d have this thing completed any day. Which meant they were days away from having that kind of power. Unless they could be stopped. Though she despaired, knowing that stopping them wouldn’t be an easy task, but they couldn’t give up. They may be the only ones with any chance of stopping it.

A couple times they had come close to her hiding spot, but they were simply rooting through the boxes looking for an item or two and then they’d trudge back to where they were. She was thankful they didn’t have to move boxes to find something in the back – around her hiding spot. Even so, she stood still as a statue and clung to the edge of the crate, trying her best to stay out of sight. Down here was worse then just being in the mansion. Up there, she suspected at least there would be plenty of hiding places. Down here, if they caught her, there were few places to hide and no easy way out. There was nothing anyone could do. There would be no rescue. Not in time to save her. All that awaited her was torture and probably death. That fear was a strong motivator and kept her alert despite her growing hunger and thirst. She just had to hold out until they left for the evening.

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An hour of poring over the drone footage from Saturday evening, and we hadn’t clearly identified anything that looked like an access tube that would lead to an underground fallout shelter. We’d spotted a few bushes here and there that looked out of place, but nothing big enough to hide what I expected was either a metal or concrete tube, sticking up at least a foot off the ground, and wide enough for people to climb down a ladder – and bring supplies. Given this may have been the primary access – it wasn’t clear if there was a second access point before the elevator shaft was dug out – it had to be more than 2 feet wide, maybe 3, right?

Then it hit me.

“Hey Maria, what do you make of this?” as I tapped my finger on an image of a gazebo sitting about 10 feet from the side of the mansion, the side opposite the drive and garages.

“Umm, it’s a gazebo.” she said flatly.

“No kidding. But … it’s raised up, right? There’s lattice work around the sides and steps up.”

“So … you’re thinking our missing tube is under there?”

“I’m wondering, yeah. What I don’t know is how we would get to it. Did they just build the gazebo on top of it and seal it off? If it’s sealed off, that’s a big problem” I grumbled. “There’s NO way Melanie could get through to the top … and I couldn’t get down from above without going underneath.”

“But …” Maria put her tiny finger up in a ‘hold on a minute’ gesture, then moved both her palms over the track pad to enlarge the image. “I can’t tell for certain, but look at this line here.” She pointed to a line that appeared to go across the boards rather than parallel to them.

“Okay?” I wasn’t sure yet what she was getting at.

“Any chance that’s a trap door?”

I took another look. “Shit. You could be right. Let’s … I wonder if this is in range of the back camera? Do you think?”

She looked at me. “One way to find out.” After a few hours of this, she’d proven quite adept with this laptop keyboard, even if she did have to use the palms of her hands to move the mouse and she had to kneel and stretch to punch some of the keys. She pulled up the feed from the back camera and enlarged it to full screen, then worked to rotate the camera until it picked up the gazebo. The image was at an angle, so the roof – such as it was – wasn’t blocking the view at all. She closed in on the platform and zoomed in. “Bingo. See that? There are two lines, making a square. That’s a trap door, or at least a cover. I don’t see a handle though … so I’m thinking maybe it just pulls up and you could just lift it and set it aside. What do you think?”

I marveled at her ingenuity for a moment. “Damn. You may be right! Why didn’t I think of that?”

She gave me a sideways look. “Because you’re exhausted. You’ve got bags under your eyes. You’ve been running around while we’ve been resting. And I really appreciate it, I know Melanie does too, but you can’t wear yourself down either. We NEED you.”

I just looked at her for a moment, and then relented and sighed. “Okay. I guess I still have to wait until dusk to try to get in there. There’s probably a couple hours of daylight left.”

“So how about you try and take a nap. I’ll work on how you’re getting in … and back out after you rescue our girl.”

I smirked at her. “Taking charge, eh?”

“Yep. Now quick nap. Leave me to this. I’ll wake you up when I need you.”

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After another excruciating hour – or two? - of standing motionless and trying not to sneeze from the dust, Melanie thought she heard them putting their tools down. Or something down. She heard the clank of metal against metal and then what sounded like the doors of that metal cabinet swinging shut.

“I think we’re almost there” said a male voice, one of the two scientists from before.

“Not yet, but next step is we need the element.”

“You think it’s time?”

“Yes. We’ve done all we can at the lab. We’ll remove the sample tomorrow, gather records and start purging the servers. What we need should fit in a couple of backpacks. I need maybe 30 minutes here to assemble what I need to trigger an explosion in the machine. I can install that tomorrow after you collect the element. Do NOT lose it.”

“Is that all of it?”

“I believe that’s all we could extract. We had the entire meteorite, didn’t we?”

“Umm, I think so?”

“Well … no matter at this point. What we were able to extract will last for decades. Once it’s here, we really don’t need to return to the lab, except maybe to delay the inevitable. I’d rather continue our work down here. We’ll need another test subject.”

“Do you have anyone in mind?”

“I have some ideas.” He laughed.

Melanie’s skin crawled at that laugh. It felt diabolical, like the evil genius in the movies. She wondered who he was talking about as their next ‘victim’ … and the memory of his earlier comments about she and Maria and their ‘accomplice’ being taken care of ‘in due time’ made her shudder again. She had no idea if they were already on to them or had an idea where to find them – and way to warn anyone. If they were truly deep underground, she wasn’t even sure the signal had gotten through from the microphone, which she still had – stashed in a corner of the crate she was hiding against.

“Fine. Mind if I check on the bitches while you’re doing that?”

“Whatever, just remember it’s not up to you if you get to keep them or not. So don’t be bruising them any more. For all I know, the boss may already have buyers in mind.”

“Damn” he grumbled. “So … suppose I’d better make the most of it just in case.” He snickered.

“Don’t spend too much time. I want to finish up here and get cleaned up. Big day tomorrow, I want to get there early and finish up. And oh, the boss may be coming tomorrow. If he’s here when we get back, maybe he’ll feel magnanimous when we show him we almost have this operational. You can ask him about your pets while he’s in a good mood.”

At that, Melanie heard footsteps – it sounded like both men were walking her way. She grasped tight against the edge of the crate, sucking in her gut, holding her breath, trying to stay invisible until they passed. To her dismay, one set of footsteps came closer and stopped close to her hiding spot, while the other continued into the other alcove. Towards the cage. She heard items shifting position in other boxes and crates near her, then the crate she was clinging to actually jolted as one of the scientists dug through it looking for something. If he lifted it she could be caught, or she could slip and then have her leg flattened underneath. She tried to stop thinking such ominous thoughts, but it was hard when she was a whisper away from being discovered and likely tortured or killed. After some long, excruciating moments, she felt the movement stop and heard parts clunking against the table top. A few minutes later, she caught a whiff of burning metal. A soldering iron? She let go a slow breath, quietly, and did her best to stay quiet while he worked – probably on whatever he was going to use to rig an explosion in the lab tomorrow.

Meantime, she heard the other one opening the cage, thanks to a squeaky hinge. She made a note to remember that if she had the opportunity to rescue them when she finally made her escape. She couldn’t see what was going on – and wouldn’t dare leave her hiding place for even a glance – but she could hear enough. After the squeak of the cage door, she heard rustling and some faint yelps and squeaks. The sound of a belt buckle and zippers, the sound of something big landing in a stuffed chair or sofa, the smack of flesh on flesh.

“Get to it, I don’t have all day” he growled.

“Yes master” came two faint voices, almost in unison, as if they’d rehearsed the line for weeks. She suspected they probably had.

The next few minutes she didn’t hear much beyond the tinkering at the desk above her. Eventually though, the inevitable. She heard some grunting and a moan.

“Keep it down over there, will ya?” Bob snarled.

“Easy for you to say. You don’t have two slaves rubbing themselves on your shaft.”

Melanie suspected it was something like that, but still cringed at the image that popped in her head.

“No, and I wish you wouldn’t do that when I’m down here. Why don’t you just take them back to your room? I’ve still got work to do.”

He snorted. “I think you need this more than I do. You’re uptight.”

“Hell yes I’m uptight. We’re on the cusp of greatness here. That is, if you can just think with your brain instead of your dick for a couple more days.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m just taking a break. We’ve been at it all afternoon. Like you said, we’re almost done. Besides, I don’t want to have to come back down here and I don’t have a cage upstairs. They’ll be done in a few minutes.” Then a pause. “Ok slaves, you heard it, double time, five minutes to finish me off or you both get another spanking.” She heard some whimpering and some flesh smacking flesh. “Mmm, better. Now finish it.” More groaning followed, gradually getting louder.

Bob slid his chair back and stomped off, grumbling to himself. The table shook. The other guy’s groans got louder and turned to grunts. In moments the grunting stopped.

“Now eat it. Both of you. All of it. This is your dinner. No getting up until I’m clean. Yeah. No, no, no. All of it. Keep going. I don’t want to see a drop left on me. Keep going. Missed here. There. Finish it. No, I don’t care if you think you’re full. Keep going. This is all you’re getting tonight unless you’ve still got those dried cheerios in the cage. Now clean each other while I get dressed. No, I didn’t tell you to stop. Clean. You’re not leaving this spot until you’re both clean. Lick each other if you have to.”

Bob came trudging back, making heavy footsteps. “Dammit, are you done now? I’m trying to get this finished today. You can’t keep it in your pants for another fucking day or two? And put that away, I’m really not in the mood to see it.”

“Aw, lighten up. I’m getting dressed now. Besides, you can watch them clean themselves off. It is kinda sexy, even with the bruises.”

He grumbled, “I told you, don’t go bruising them up, not until the boss decides what he’s doing with ‘em. He might want to sell them off for quick money. On the other hand though, he might just squash them thinking they know too much.”

“Shit. No reason to do that, they aren’t going anywhere. I’ve got ‘em trained well. They do anything I say.”

“Well then tell them to finish up and go back in their cage. And be quiet over there for a few minutes so I can concentrate. I’m almost done. I want to get dinner and go to bed. We have a big day tomorrow.”

“Fine.” He huffed. “Keep going. No, I’m not picking you up yet, your ass is still sticky. You, lick her clean. Yeah. Hurry up with it. I’m tired of waiting. You two are taking too long. Now.”

A minute later, she heard yelps, thumps, and then the cage door clanging shut. A few minutes later, the sound of tools clanging and some items being shoved into a plastic bag.

“Let’s go.”

She listened as the footsteps got further away, and then the sound of the elevator humming, the doors opening and then closing again, taking the two scientists back up into the mansion. Finally for the moment, silence, interrupted only by the faint sound of sobbing, coming from the other alcove. She waited a few more minutes, until the overhead lighting dimmed again (she was sure it was tied to motion sensors) before stepping out from behind the crate and – for the first time in hours – stretched her stiff arms and legs.

If she was going to make any attempt to escape, now was her chance.

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Melanie's Story Part 32 - Staging a Breakout

Post by Rocket » Sun Dec 04, 2022 2:53 am

It had been a few minutes since the two scientists left up the elevator. The lights had dimmed again, giving her some confidence that there was nobody else down here. Nobody of a normal size anyway. Her arms and legs were still stiff and she paced back and forth trying to loosen them up. She’d need all her strength if she was going to attempt an escape. Her stomach rumbled. Ah, and food too, though she suspected the options down here were little to none. She heard the scientist mumble about stale cheerios. Even that was a little tempting, if only to get her through this. Hopefully they were done for the day – giving her the evening and night to make her escape while the people in the mansion slept.

She wasn’t sure how many were in the mansion – the two scientists, the two guards. Beyond that, there could be other staff, but she didn’t know. No matter, the key was getting out. She still had the microphone down here, though she wasn’t sure if the signal was getting out or not, given they were underground. If it wasn’t working down here, maybe she should take it along. She wasn’t sure.

Meantime, she decided to start digging through the crates that were easiest to get to, in search of supplies. Rope for climbing – or at least string or twine. Maybe hooks if she was lucky. A piece of metal to use as a wedge. Something to carry this all on her back would be useful too. The list was getting long. She sighed and decided to get to work. First, she jumped up and caught the lip of a wooden crate that sat on the floor. It was maybe 18 inches tall. Holding on with both hands, she swung her legs like a pendulum a few times until she caught one leg on the edge. Ouch! Damn bare feet. She wished she had some shoes, but this was a completely unplanned trip.

She bit her lip and heaved, pulling herself up to the edge of the box, and then worked herself into a sitting position. Best to figure out whether this crate was worth the dive or not, before jumping in and having to climb back out. There was quite a bit of miscellaneous material in the box. She carefully stood up on the lip of the crate, thankful that the inch wide plank gave her room to walk – albeit carefully - without feeling like she was on a balance beam. She navigated the length of the box and turned the corner, looking for any items that would help in her escape. Despite the dim lighting, her eyes had adjusted enough to make out some detail.

Nothing in this crate that would likely help. She walked to the edge where the crate sat up against another, taller crate. This one was only about 6 inches higher, so she could lift herself up onto the lip without a lot of effort. She put both hands on the new crate and heaved, pushing herself up with her arms until her abdomen was above it, then she turned her body until she could work her bottom over into a sitting position atop it. She peered over the edge into the new crate. Bingo, there was some twine. Now if she could just fish it out. She looked around for any other items that would help with the task. Finding none, she thought it through and felt she may be able to reach the edge with her foot. So she held on tight to the lip and lowered her body over the side, her legs extending into the box. She swung her legs, stretching and bending her foot. After a few tries, she finally worked her foot through one of the loops. She lifted her foot, tugging at the bundle until it worked its way loose and up closer to her position. The shift caused something else in the box to move as well, causing a faint clank. Finally she pulled it up enough with her leg that she could reach with her hand, though that would mean letting go with one hand. She braced herself, holding her whole weight with the other arm, and reached for the twine. It took a couple tugs but the whole bundle came loose. It wasn’t as heavy as she feared, but still felt like lifting weights at the gym. She untangled her foot from the bundle so that she held the end loop only with her hand, and then swung it back and forth and then up, heaving it with a grunt. It came up and balanced on the edge of the crate. She carefully let go and then brought herself back up to a sitting position and caught her breath for a moment. Then she carefully stood up and walked to the edge where the twine was. She grabbed hold of the middle of the bundle with both hands and swung it to the ground, grunting from the effort. The twine didn’t make much of a sound, but then there wasn’t anything else here to make noise - and sounds would carry in this space.

“Who’s there? Is something there?” she heard. She fought her first instinct, which was to jump into the crate and hide. It would be a pain to dig out of there if she did … and she hadn’t heard the elevator, nor had the lights come back up … so by default, it had to be the two women in the cage.

“You think something’s down here with us?” a second voice shrieked.

“I … guess it would have to be a thing. An animal maybe. But I thought I heard a grunt. What kind of animal makes a grunt?”

“I just hope it can’t get up here.”

Melanie debated whether to come on out. She did have her twine now, if she had to climb up there to the cage. And she could probably use some help. Assuming they weren’t so injured they couldn’t climb. She’d risk blowing her cover. But they were going to rescue the women at some point, right? If the scientists were done for the day – and hopefully wouldn’t need to come back down here in the morning before going to the lab – then it could be well into Monday before someone realized they had escaped the cage. Even then, hopefully their first thought would be that they were running around hiding behind boxes or under cabinets, not that they’d actually escaped.

So she shouted back, “Just a minute!” and proceeded to start climbing down. First from the larger box down to the smaller one, then to the edge where she slowly lowered herself down, holding her body by her hands before bracing herself and jumping the last 6 inches to the ground, coming down in a crouch. She grabbed her ball of twine and hoisted it over her shoulder, then started walking towards the other alcove. All the while, she kept her eyes out for quick hiding spots in-case the elevators started up. She was hopeful that they had time now, that nobody would be coming back down tonight, but she couldn’t take a chance if she was wrong.

“Did you hear that? Did you hear that?”

“What was it?”

After that, their exchange turned to whispers, too faint for her to make out. She suspected they may be afraid – and after such an ordeal she could understand that.

Finally the cage came into view, and despite the dim lighting, she could make out the two figures inside. The whole corner stank of sweat, urine, vomit and something else she couldn’t make out. Until it hit her. Eewww! She tried not to gag as she saw loads of dried and semi-dried semen in several spots near the cage, some spots mixed with little bits of dried blood. Shaking her head and trying to shut out the grossness of the whole situation, she stopped at a point where she could see them pretty clearly and they could see her.

“Hi!” she shouted and held up her hand in a wave. They both stood agape at her approach. “Are you Mrs. Caulfield?”

They both stood speechless for a moment before one of them spoke. “Umm, how do you know me?” she said, her voice cracking.

“I’m Melanie. I used to work for your husband. At least until … two months ago when they … uh … did THIS to me.” She held out her arms as if to demonstrate her current state.

“I … uh … where did you COME from?”

“Oh!” She paused for a second. “Ah. Actually, I stowed away on the equipment that arrived today. Though … that wasn’t planned.”

Becky finally spoke up. “What? Why the hell would anyone WANT to come down here? Though … for that matter, where even IS here?”

“You don’t know?”

She sheepishly replied, “Um, no. I’ve been down here for what seems like forever. And my step mother suddenly showed up later. I … don’t even know what day it is.”

“Well, we can help fill in some of the blanks, but first we have to get out of here.”

She hung on the first word. “We? Are there more people down here? We’ve been alone here for … “ she sighed. “I don’t even know.”

“It’s okay. I understand. Really. I was a captive for a month before my boyfriend helped me escape. But now we have to get out. I know he’s up there probably plotting a way to sneak down here and get me, but we need to get both of you out of here too. You’re Becky, right?”

“Um, yeah. You seem to know more than we do.” She huffed.

“We saw one of those videos they were sending to your dad. We suspected they’d captured at least one other, but we didn’t know it was your mother until I … heard those two talking.”

She turned beet red at the reminder of those videos. “So … dad DOES know about me, so why hasn’t he gotten us out of here already?” She sounded hurt and distraught.

“My boyfriend suspects that they’ve been blackmailing him all this time, to get that they want … and he also thinks they’ve been stringing him along about restoring you after this is over.”

“But?”

“But … I know they have NO intention of letting you free, and they’re plotting FAR worse.”

“Umm … what do you mean far worse? What could be worse than THIS?”

Melanie tried not to huff. They were wasting precious time. “Okay, how about a whole black market of kidnapped women shrunk and sold to billionaires for fun … or torture … or deviant sex acts … and how about plotting to blow up the lab, murder your dad and a lot of other people just to cover their tracks? And I could go on.”

“Ho-ly shit.” she heard Becky whisper.

“We’re trying to put a stop to it – we may be the only ones who CAN stop it in time. But seriously, we NEED to get going. They’re at dinner now. The way it sounds I don’t think they’re coming back down here tonight, but I’d rather not take a chance, alright? They do NOT know I’m here – and if they find me they might well kill me on sight. They captured me once before, just a few daysw ago when I was trying to get answers, and they tried to … torture me for information, but I was rescued before they could get anything out of me. Did either of those two goons sport any bruises? That’s my boyfriend’s handiwork by the way.” She allowed herself a smirk at that thought, but shook it off quickly. Now she was guilty of dawdling.

Once again, both women just stood there slack-jawed. They had no response.

Melanie continued, “Anyway, first let’s get you out of there.” She looked around, there was a chair, a stool … but the table the cage sat on wasn’t close enough to either of those to climb up. So she may be looking at using her newly acquired bundle of twine. She tried to look at the cage lock. It wasn’t too complicated, but the opening was above them – higher than they could reach, given the cage bars were straight up/down and didn’t have cross bars to use as footholds. She formulated a plan in her mind. “Hold on there, I’ll be back in a minute.”

The women watched her jog off. “Is she … leaving us?”

Hearing the lament, Melanie called back, “No, I just need a couple tools. I’ll be right back!” She started looking around. She needed something to cut this twine – she wasn’t going to waste all of it on this, she needed some for the escape up that ladder. She also needed some kind of wedge, though she’d planned on finding something to use on the rotted wood at the top of the ladder anyway, so she still had to find something either way. Her eyes started darting around. She didn’t want to go digging in the crates again, that would take a while. She saw a rusty table leg and an idea formed in her mind.

Jogging back to grab the twine, she hauled it over to the middle of the floor and began unraveling it. It took agonizingly longer than it should have, given she’d have to walk back with a section and then walk the end back and fish it through another loop and walk it back again. She did this several times, untangling the twine until she could open the length. Then she walked off what she figured was maybe 4 feet, picked up the twine at that point and walked it over to the rusty table leg, where she bent it around the leg and began to rub it up and down, hoping the rough metal edge would cut through the twine. It took her several minutes, lifting up and pulling down as if she were back in the gym working her triceps on the pulley machine. Oh how she missed the gym. She refocused her efforts and was encouraged when a couple of strings snapped. By the time she finally cut through the rest of the twine, her arms were sore, but she chalked it up to being out of shape and vowed to find some way to start working out again after this was over.

Taking a moment to rest and catch her breath, she picked up the cut end of the twine and looked around for something to wrap around the end, enough that she could throw it and have it land on the table with the cage. She jogged over to where the big equipment was, and took a moment to look up at it. Not that she remembered a lot of details from when she stowed aboard, but they’d definitely added other elements to it – a bundle of cables going to a laptop computer, that they’d mounted to the side, stood out, but she was sure there were plenty of other changes. It was doubtful anything ordered online – even custom – would simply function ‘plug and play’ to create a mad scientist’s shrink ray, or whatever they were going to call it. She hoped she’d find something laying around – and wasn’t disappointed. She nabbed a fallen washer that was about the size of a dime, that she felt she could hurl like a frisbee if she had to. She knelt down to claim it and knotted one end of her twine through the hole in the center.

That done, she walked back to the alcove – the equivalent of walking a long city block – and back in view of the cage. The two women stood there, probably wondering what she’d been doing all this time.

“Hi! I’m going to throw this up there. Can one of you catch this and try to knot it to one of the cage bars?”

“Um … okay?”

Melanie hurled the washer like a frisbee. It wasn’t quite as easy as she’d envisioned. The twine was slowing it and she came up short of the table top. She walked over to grab it, pulled the twine closer so it wouldn’t drag, stepped back, and tried again. This time it did land on the table top.

“Can you reach it?” She couldn’t see up there well enough to know how close she’d gotten to the cage.

“I … I think so, just a minute.” She heard a grunt and then “Got it! Now what?”

“Tie it to one of the bars so I can climb up there.”

“What are you going to do up here? We can’t get out!”

“I have a plan. Just do this so I can get up there first.”

After a few moments where she could see the twine move slightly but from below the table couldn’t see much else, she heard “Okay, got it.”

Melanie grabbed hold of the end of the twine and tugged, then pulled hard, testing it, then lifted herself a foot off the ground, trying to make sure it would hold. “Okay, I’m coming up, but PLEASE watch that knot, if it comes loose I need you both to hold it so I don’t fall!” She got a couple of affirmative grunts and then slowly started pulling herself up, inch by inch, her little arm muscles straining. She gripped the twine tightly and used her feet to try to brace herself, occasionally wrapping a foot in the twine to take a breather. After about 3 minutes of climbing she reached the table top, reaching for purchase before sliding her belly up and then her knee and then the rest of her. She rolled onto her back for a moment and caught her breath.

As she lay there, she turned her head and saw the two women gawking. “Oh, hi.”

“Fuck, she made it.”

“Mouth, Becky”

“Sorry” she grumbled. “Like it matters” she mumbled under her breath.

Melanie rolled onto her knees and then slowly stood up. She took a moment to absorb her surroundings. The cage was rank, with a saucer of – was that kitty litter? - in one corner, a hamster bottle partially filled with water clasped to the bars on one side, and another saucer with – sure enough – some Cheerios. But not much else. Had they been sleeping flat on the ground, naked, all these weeks? She didn’t even see anything to use as a pillow. Up above, she judged the cage as probably twice her height, with the ‘door’ at the top. It looked like a simple latch – not even a lock. They probably figured the women would never be able to reach it, so they didn’t bother with something more substantial. Lucky her.

Walking up to the cage, she put her hand out. At first they weren’t sure what to do, but then Mrs. Caulfield reached through the bars and shook hands with her. “Um, hi, I’m Cindy.”

“Hi Cindy, nice to meet you. And … that means you’re Becky?” she asked as she extended her hand.

Becky looked at it for a moment and then timidly shook it. “Yeah.”

“Alright, now let’s figure out how to get you out of here.”

Cindy replied, “We … tried. The bars have no footholds.”

Becky blurted, “We didn’t try very hard though. You were afraid what would happen if they caught us running around down here.”

Cindy snapped back, “It wasn’t like you tried hard either.”

Melanie put her hands out in a hushing motion. “Ladies, please. Let’s focus. This is a rescue. Work with me here. Okay … so first, help me undo this knot.” Melanie and Cindy worked together on the knot, slowly loosening it until it came undone. Then Melanie took the washer in her hands, stepped back a few inches, and eyed the trap door on top. The cage bars were straight for probably a foot and a half, and then they curved inward. The door was at the very top, probably a little over two feet up. She steadied herself, held the washer with both hands, and heaved. It landed right on the top of the cage. She lightly tugged on the twine and the washer slipped between the bars, sliding down to the bottom. She grabbed hold of the other end before it got away. “Okay, now can you both hold onto that end and keep it steady for me?”

They looked at each other for a moment, but then both grabbed ahold of the washer and stood directly under the cage. Melanie wrapped the other end of the twine around her hand, and then placed one foot on the bars, and then the other, and began slowly climbing. “Keep that steady please!” It was slow going, pulling up with one hand and holding the bars with the other, switching hands to keep rising, as her feet had no cross bar to hold against. Finally she was at the point where the bars curved, which made it a little easier to climb. A few pulls, a few steps, and she reached the door. Examining the latch for a moment, as she balanced there carefully, she held tight with one hand while pulling hard with the other until the latch clicked. She worked the cage door open just an inch, but it took twisting onto her back and kicking with her legs to get the door to swing up and over, out of the way. She gently sat up, her legs swinging through the opening. She wouldn’t dare chance slipping at this point, that would be a nasty fall. She wondered if construction workers on skyscrapers felt like this sometimes.

Melanie looked down at the two. “Ladies. Have either of you ever climbed a rope?”

Becky looked dubiously at the twine hanging down. “Like in gym class?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“I … could try. I was never very good at that.”

“Okay. Tell you what, I’ll knot this up here, and you try to climb, I’ll try and grab you when you get closer up here. Okay?”

“Umm … okay.” Becky took a few steadying breaths, looked back at her step mother for a moment, and then blurted out, “Here goes nothing.” She grabbed ahold of the twine and tried to pull herself up. One pull and her arm quivered. No, definitely not an athlete.

“You can do this. Think about getting out of here. Freedom.” At that thought Becky tried harder, pulled herself up a half an inch at a time. “Use your feet against the twine, it’s not much but it helps a little. Keep going.” After about a minute of pulling herself slowly up, she was close to where Melanie could reach her. She said “Just a little more. There, now try and grab my wrist.” Becky reached out and Melanie grabbed her wrist and wrapped her hand around it. “Okay, wrap your hand around my wrist, and I’m going to pull you the rest of the way. Grab ahold of the metal when you can reach it. Let’s get you up here on top of the cage door, okay?” With a few heaves, Melanie laying on her stomach and leaning over, she was able to pull until Becky could grab the bars with her other hand. Melanie hoisted her up until she could fold her upper body over the cage door and then she helped pull the rest of her up.

As Becky caught her breath, Melanie said “Okay, now for climbing down, I have an idea.” She pulled up the half of the twine that was outside the bars. “Let me know when you’re ready.” Becky looked up and nodded. “Okay, first sit up.” Once Becky sat up, Melanie looped the twine around her waist and created a lasso knot. “Okay. I’m going to ease you down. Hold onto the bars to steady yourself, we’ll do this slowly.” Again she nodded. “Start slow, use your hands on the bars to keep from sliding.” Once Becky moved into position with her legs hanging over the side, Melanie began easing the rope down, just a little bit at a time. Despite some yelps and one hand slip, Becky made it down to the tabletop. Melanie talked her through loosening the rope so she could pull it back up.

Then she called down to Cindy. “Do you think you can climb?”

She gave the twine a dubious look. Melanie wondered how athletic she was, and for a moment the term ‘arm candy’ popped in her head, but that would be rude to say. She had to be in her thirties – definitely quite a bit younger than her husband – and was petite and attractive – but to keep that kind of figure she HAD to do SOME working out, right? She was probably light enough that Melanie could manage pulling her up … with some help at least. After thinking it through for a moment, she untied the knot she’d made at the top of the cage, lowered the lasso end into the cage, and tossed the washer-weighted end to Becky. She talked Cindy through looping the lasso around her waist and pulling it snug, then explained to them both how this would work. She slowly began pulling Cindy up, while Becky helped by holding onto the line from the table top to keep it from sliding back. With two people it went faster this time, and soon Cindy was up high enough to grab ahold of the flat cage door, which Melanie helped her onto. Then she gave Becky a thumbs-up and asked her to let go of the twine, which she pulled back up and looped a couple times through the cage crossbar to provide some leverage. She talked Cindy through what to do and then helped her over the edge. She lowered Cindy slowly down the side of the cage, watching to make sure she was holding the bars for support. Once she made it down to the table, Melanie tied off the twine at that point on the cage. Before climbing down though, she pulled up the other end and untied the washer, tossing it down to the ground. They might need it later, she reasoned. Plus as she thought about it, they could delay things further here after the two were discovered missing, if people thought they’d just climbed out of the cage and were running loose in the bunker. Having gotten ahold of both twine and a washer would make it more suspicious that they had help. She snapped out of her thoughts and back to the moment, bracing herself for the climb down. She held onto the twine, using her feet to steady herself against the bars, and climbed down to the table.

Once she was down, Melanie walked over to the other edge of the table and judged the distance from there to the big stuffed chair. It was kinda ratty, but it was close enough to cushion them if they took a jump – and from there it would be a much shorter climb down. They just had to take a running start. She turned back to the women and explained her plan. They both looked at her dubiously – she sensed a pattern here – but she did get them out of the cage, didn’t she? This would be much easier in comparison, at least she thought so. She told them to think of it like jumping into the vat of plastic balls at the trampoline park. Ah, the lightbulb flickered. Maybe this would work. She decided she should go last, in-case one of them chickened out. The convinced Becky to go first, make a running start and just leap into the giant cushion and roll. Becky took a couple of bracing breaths and then ran for it, plopping down onto the cushion, bouncing back up a little bit, and then to Melanie’s surprise she started giggling and jumping like she was on a trampoline. Huh. Maybe that trampoline park analogy really did hit home for them. So she called for Becky to step out of the way for a moment so Cindy could jump. After all the giggling, Cindy’s apprehension fizzled away and she gave it a try, jumping and shrieking as she fell. She didn’t take much of a running start and almost hit the arm instead of the seat, but she made it. Once they both backed off, Melanie leaped and joined them on the chair cushion. From there they easily climbed down the side and down to the ground.

The first stage of Melanie’s rescue accomplished, she set out to collect the washer to knot onto the end of her remaining length of twine, while she sent Cindy and Becky off to locate a tweezer and maybe even a rubber band. They had some more ideas where to look, having been down here so long, and soon they all met up and brought their supplies over to the ladder. The next stage wasn’t going to get any easier, but it was high time the three of them got out of here.

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Melanie's Story Part 33 - The Underground Bunker

Post by Rocket » Mon Dec 12, 2022 3:57 pm

I thought I was dreaming, but what was Maria doing in my dream? I could hear her, like she was calling me from afar but I couldn’t make out the words. In my mind I tried to focus on her voice, what was she saying? Then the words became clear. “Get up!”

With a start, I realized I had dozed off. I slowly opened my eyes to the darkness. The sun had gone down. It was … evening already? I turned my head, eliciting a loud yelp. What was that?

“Hey, watch out!” I heard from my shoulder. I quickly snapped back to the here and now. Maria had climbed up my arm and she was holding onto the collar of my shirt for dear life as she shouted in my ear to wake me up. I reached up and steadied her so she could regain her footing.

“Ooh … umm … sorry. How long was I out?”

She snorted. “A while. I’ve been trying to wake you up for like 20 minutes. You must have been tired!”

I gently lifted her up off my shoulder and held her in front of me, cupping my hand like a seat. I smiled gently as I stretched with my other arm and stifled a yawn. “Yeah. Thank you. I … any word from Melanie yet?”

She groaned. “No … but I have a plan to get you in there. Just … mmm”

I suddenly realized I was absentmindedly stroking her arm with my thumb. “Oh. Sorry!” I gave her a sheepish grin. “Sorry, I ... I should put you down now, shouldn’t I.”

She held up her hands “It’s okay.” She flashed me a grin. “I .. kinda like it. But yeah, we have a mission first. We have to rescue our girl.”

I nodded and set her back down in the passenger seat. As she got herself situated, I asked “So … what IS the plan, besides me trying to climb a wall, sneak in and climb down a hidden shaft in the middle of the yard .. .and not get spotted?” I raised my eyebrows.

She gave me a dirty look, but only for a moment. “Such little faith!”

“I’m just teasing, that would have been my plan I suppose, just running in headstrong and attempt a rescue.”

She snorted. “I think you’d plan a LITTLE better than that. Give yourself some credit. But I’ve got this all worked out. All you have to do is follow my instructions.”

“You’re the boss.” I smirked.

You better believe it!” She laughed. “Okay. Now look here.” She ran her palms over the trackpad, closing in on the top of the wall and the ground below. “THIS is the point you need to go in. But … and listen closely … THIS camera here.” She pointed her tiny finger at the image on the screen. “You need to climb up at this point, but do NOT go over right away. WATCH where the camera goes. It rotates from left to right. Wait for it to rotate to the right, then I want you to use a screwdriver … you have a screwdriver here I’m sure?” I nodded. “You should be able to jam it HERE where there’s a gear that turns the camera. Snap that gear out of place and the camera will stay stuck to the right. So YOU can go over the wall to the LEFT of it. I’m hoping they’ll just think it’s a malfunction and flag it to check in the morning. You shouldn’t need a lot of time. Now HERE,” as she slid the image to include more of the ground inside the wall, “is where you need to step. Stay under this tree as long as you can, and just take a quick look for guards before you run across to the gazebo. This will take you within like 30 or 40 feet. The guard tower is on the other side of the building, this path and the gazebo are in a blind spot once you get past this tree.”

I marveled at the work she put in to come up with this plan. “Wow, I’m impressed.” And I really was.

“Just do me a favor and don’t get caught, okay? I can’t exactly drive this car myself.”

At that, I went about digging through the back to gather supplies. Maria suggested I grab a backpack and either a towel or blanket to stuff inside, out of fear that our poor girl would get pancaked when I tried to climb back out over that wall. I found some rope as well, and a hook (who knew I had all this stuff in my trunk?) and soon I was about ready. I walked Maria through how to do text messaging from the laptop, so we’d have some way to communicate (as long as I didn’t lose my phone on this escapade … though I hadn’t so far, had I?) and we messaged back and forth just to make sure it worked.

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Melanie stood at the bottom of a built-in metal ladder, the rungs spaced about 8 inches apart. Enough that she could probably hoist herself up each rung, one at a time. However now she had two companions. How was this going to work? Becky was young, in decent shape but not an athlete. Doubtful she was going to college on an athletic scholarship. She was maybe an inch shorter than Melanie, or probably a few inches shorter if they were regular height. Melanie had been about 5’8 and very athletic, at least before the ‘accident’ – which we all knew now, was no accident. Becky had shoulder-length black hair, brown eyes and freckles. She looked like a bookworm, but still quite attractive. Cindy on the other hand. Yes, Cindy. Blonde hair, blue eyes, thin as a pencil, the first time Melanie saw her the words ‘arm candy’ came to mind. Clearly not Becky’s mother, Melanie had Cindy pegged at maybe 12-15 years older than Becky. Part of her wondered what happened to Becky’s real mother, though this wasn’t the time to ask. She suspected neither one of them could easily climb all these rungs – going up what, maybe 11 or 12 feet, into a tube-like indention in the ceiling, where the rungs ended at a rotted piece of wood. She wasn’t sure what was above that – the outside, or if it put them in the basement of the mansion, or in some other building, or if just more climbing awaited them beyond that sheet of wood.

She stepped back and contemplated the situation, not just the number of steps, but what lie at the top. The top rung of the ladder sat just a few inches below the wood – suggesting that the ladder might continue on the other side, but the rungs were flat and deep enough for them to safely sit on, maybe – to her perspective – a foot deep. Did they need a flashlight? Was there even something here they could fashion one from? Doubtful.

Once again she glanced over longingly at that phone on the table. It was tempting, but she had no idea if the phone worked, or if it even dialed outside. It could just as well ring to those security guards in the building. She sighed. Can’t take that chance.

Picking up the end of the twine with the washer attached, she looked up at the ladder rungs – she didn’t think she could possibly throw it up that high. And getting it up there to start with would be SO much easier than trying to do this in stages. So on to plan B. The rubber band. She talked the two women into each holding one end of the rubber band securely – both hands! She looked back and forth, judging the height and the angle and the arc. She may have been a biology major, but she still remembered some of her trigonometry. So she bunched the twine loosely between them and the ladder, walked back with the washer end, stepped behind the women, centered the washer on the rubber band and pulled it back like a sling shot.

“Now hold still and don’t let go of this thing, alright?” she instructed them as she crouched on the ground, eyeing her target. “Ready, set, go!” She let go and watched as the washer, pulling the end of the twine in tow, shot up so high that it clanked against the rotted wood at the top of the hole, and then skittered down, clanking on a couple of rungs before hitting the floor.

“Okay. Almost there. One more time ladies.” She walked back with the washer, stepped behind them, pulled the rubber band tight again, crouched on the ground to eye her target, and fired. This time it clanked on the wood, but right above the rung, and then fell down on the top rung and skittered over the back. “Bingo!”

“Shit, she did it” mumbled Becky.

Melanie began fishing the twine, letting the washer end fall by gravity over the other end of the tread. A couple times she had to shake it as it started to catch on something, but in a couple minutes it had nearly reached the ground. She was glad there was a long length of remaining twine – enough to loop over that top rung of the ladder and come back down.

“Alright. Here’s what I’m thinking. Do you remember how I lowered each of you down the side of the cage?” They nodded. “That’s how this is going to work, but in reverse. I’ll loop a lasso around one of you and pull from down here, to help you climb. Just .. don’t look down. We’re going up to the top rung of the ladder. Do you see that wooden board? We’re going to squeeze through that gap and come out above it.”

Cindy looked up at the ladder apprehensively. “All this time I had no idea this was here. I don’t think I ever saw someone come over here. So … this doesn’t look like a basement.”

“Nope. We’re underground, but I don’t know how far down. My guess is we may be under the basement. I know we’re still under the mansion, that’s where I got on the elevator to come down. I wonder if that may be why they chose this place to begin with. This is like a hidden bunker.”

“So … what if we get up there and there’s more climbing after that?”

“Well … I have a microphone I can reach my team with.”

They both looked at her sharply. “What?” exclaimed Becky. “So why not just call for help?”

“I’m … suspecting we’re so deep that the signal may not be getting through. Once we get up there, I should be able to get a signal out.”

“SHOULD be?” Cindy said incredulously.

Melanie tried to remain unflustered. “It worked earlier when I was hiding inside the equipment – and inside the mansion. We … have two hidden cameras outside and the microphone … piggybacks onto their signal. At least that’s how I understand it.”

They digested this for a moment. Becky finally blurted, “Damn. Okay, you’ve GOT to get us up to speed here. What the hell is going on?”

Melanie let out a breath. “Alright, but briefly, we can’t be down here if they decide to come down or we’re all screwed. So … my boyfriend has been investigating this for about a week. My best friend Maria is also involved in this. We were trying to gather evidence and figure out how to stop this before they get too far. And … figure out how to ... reverse the shrinking process.”

Focused on that last line, Cindy snorted. “Yeah right. Like anyone can do that.” Melanie just looked at her, unflinching. Cindy just looked at her for a minute. “You’re … you're serious?”

“Damn right I’m serious. My boyfriend is a friggin’ genius. If anyone can do it, he can. I KNOW he’s smarter than those two goons are.”

Cindy just shook her head. Clearly she was doubtful. Though getting away from them was enough of a motivating factor at the moment. At least she was willing to cooperate with the escape.

“Anyway,” Melanie continued, “let’s just focus on getting out of here. I’ll bring the microphone with me and I’ll climb once you two are up there. Soon as we squeeze through the gap in the wood, I’ll try to reach them and let them know where we are.”

She proceeded to create a lasso knot at the end of the twine, and then asked Becky to go first, thinking that if she had to pull Cindy the whole way she could, as Cindy was very petite. For Becky, she would have Cindy’s help – such as it was – if push came to shove. So she looped the lasso around Becky’s torso and snugged it, then grabbed the other end of the twine and gently pulled it taught. She explained that she’d pull her up, but Becky would need to hold on to the side bar, keep herself steady and grip the treads as she got to each one, she could stop and rest for a moment. Melanie encouraged her to think of it as 16 short climbs rather than one 11-12 foot climb.

Becky got into position and took a few steadying breaths, and then said “Ready.”

Melanie began to pull her up, inch by inch, while Becky took a little of the weight off by grasping the side bars. At the first step she bent her knees over and climbed up, as Melanie tried to minimize the slack in-case she slipped. A few moments and she called again, ready for the next short climb. This continued for several minutes, Melanie rounding up Cindy to help hold onto the twine just behind her in-case her grip slipped. Though she was determined not to, this would have been a lot easier on her hands with a nice pair of work gloves. Alas, not happening. So they continued. Becky made it up to the 12th step and then sat down.

She called down, “I need to rest for a minute. Oohh shit.”

“What?!” exclaimed Cindy

“I … I shouldn’t look down.”

Melanie replied, “No, I wouldn’t advise it. But you’re doing fine. You’re almost there. And we’ve got you here, okay?”

She sighed. “Alright. Let’s go.” She slowly stood up, Melanie gently pulling the slack, and then got ready to start climbing again. Melanie pulled as Becky rose slowly, inch by inch, navigating the last few steps. “This is really dusty up here. I don’t think anyone’s used these in years!”

Melanie called out, “Just try not to sneeze. You’re almost there! Can you see the gap in the wood?”

“Yeah.”

“Is it big enough for us to squeeze through? I thought so but it was hard to tell from down here.”

Becky squinted at it. “I … I think maybe so. I’m almost there, next step I can try.” She continued, Melanie pulling, and made it up to the last step. She couldn’t stand on the step, as the board stuck out just a few inches above the top rung. Melanie had suspected the ladder might continue on the other side, but it was all a best guess until one of them could see it. Becky crouched on the top step and put her hands on the partially rotted board. “Yeah, I can make it. Should I go through?”

Melanie called, “Yeah, go ahead through, it’s safer up there than waiting on the step. You can sit up there above the board and wait for us to come join you. Just be careful, we can’t pull you any higher, but … keep the lasso on, that way you’re secure if you slip.”

Becky nodded and slowly rose from her crouch, putting her hands on the edges of the board, and then pulled herself through. Huh, maybe she did have a tiny smidgen of athletic ability. Melanie watched as her legs and then feet disappeared through the gap, along with the end of the twine. After a few moments, Becky’s head appeared in the gap.

“Yuk! This is icky up here! It’s all like dark and stuff.”

“Can you see if the ladder continues?”

“Yeah, but I can’t see how far. It’s DARK in here!”

“Alright, we’re going to come join you. Can you remove the lasso and help feed it back down here?”

After a faint grunt of acknowledgment, Becky’s face disappeared for a moment, and then reappeared, with her arm holding the lasso. “Should I drop it?”

“No, try and pull some more of the rope up with you first, bunch it up, and then throw it all back down here.”

After another grunt of acknowledgment, Melanie felt a tug on the twine. She let go and watched as Becky pulled it up with her, keeping an eye on the end to make sure she didn’t take too much. As soon as the washer end came to the bottom rung, she called out “Okay, stop! Now you can throw the whole bundle.”

Becky threw the bundle and it unraveled, but it worked, the lasso reaching the ground near the bottom of the ladder.

Melanie turned to Cindy. “Okay, your turn. You’re light enough, I should be able to pull you up myself. What Becky did was great, just do the same thing. Whenever you need to rest, just sit or stand on a step and tell us.” Cindy nodded and Melanie worked the lasso over her head and arms and snugged it. She proceeded to pull Cindy up the ladder. As she suspected, Cindy was lighter and she was able to pull her up without help, though Cindy did stop frequently to rest, even though Melanie was doing most of the work. Once she got to the top, Becky reached down and helped pull her up through the gap in the wood.

Soon as Cindy was securely up top, Becky poked her head through again and called out. “Do you want me to throw the rope down again?”

“No, keep it up there. I can climb without it, but we need to pull it up with us once I get up there. We can’t give them a clue that we escaped that way. I want them thinking that it’s just the two of you running around down here, let them waste time digging through boxes for a while. Longer they don’t realize you really escaped, the better!”

So Melanie set to climbing. She had the microphone, but it would be nice not to have to climb with it over her shoulder. So she grabbed the twine and tied it around the microphone. They could pull it up once she made it. She continued on, grabbing one rung with both hands and pulling herself up, rolling onto the surface, then into a crouch, then a stand, grabbing the next rung and repeating. All the while trying to be careful, as this would be a LONG fall and she didn’t have the twine to support her like the others did. She continued on, stopping a couple times to catch her breath, and in about 10 minutes she’d made it to the top rung. She saw Becky’s face through the gap. Becky backed off as Melanie pulled herself through, and then slowly pulled the rest of the twine up behind her, including the microphone.

Once she caught her breath, she stood and took in her surroundings. It was dark, the air felt stale. Not damp though, which meant wherever this ended at the top, was still sealed. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the wan trickle of light coming through the gap in the board they were all standing upon … the only thing keeping them from complete and utter darkness.

Rocket
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Melanie's Story Part 34 - Escaping the Mansion

Post by Rocket » Sat Dec 17, 2022 7:14 pm

Following Maria’s instructions, I gathered my gear, swung on the backpack and looked once more at her diagrams on the screen, indicating exactly where I needed to climb over the wall and where to go once I was over. I held my rope and hook in my hand, prepared to toss those up to scale the wall. If I was just a little more athletic maybe I could take a running jump and reach the top and pull myself over, but taking a look at it … nope. Not happening. Not without a rope. That section of wall at least, was definitely taller than the 8 feet that the front wall was … and the front wall had no camera gaps and was in easy sight of that turret where the guards were standing. Though why they’d have built such a high wall around the sides, where the lot adjoined neighboring properties … maybe a previous owner was extremely into privacy. Who knows.

To even get to the wall, I’d have to cut across two other properties – over two other walls. At least those were more reasonable – low enough that I could hoist myself over. I still had to grab hold of the top ledge, which stood just above the top of my head, lift myself up, and then swing my legs until I could hook one over. I lay flat over the wall for a moment, just checking. Maria didn’t think there were any cameras, but it would be good to look and be sure … plus if there were dogs I’d have a problem. It wasn’t like I had a big juicy steak to throw at them. Did that work in real life, or just in the movies?

Seeing the coast clear – best I could tell – I slowly dropped down and then began to walk along the wall, sticking to the shadows. These were big properties – probably well over an acre each – and they all backed to one another. It was a few minutes of skulking in the shadows and watching for any sign of dogs, cameras or something else, before I got to the back wall, which abutted the next door neighbor to the mansion lot. I hoisted myself over that, then rested flat again checking for cameras, dogs, etc. before quietly dropping down in the shadows. I hunkered there, hidden from the house by a couple of trees and some bushes, looking for the markers Maria told me would indicate my preferred access point.

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Melanie stood and contemplated their situation for a minute. Or maybe a few. It was so dark in here. She wished she had something – a flashlight, a match, anything to make a spark … though starting a fire here would probably bring the two goons out – or at least the security thugs – to investigate. If the only way out of here was sealed, there was no way they were getting out of here on their own. And if help didn’t come, they could well starve trapped in this gloomy pit and nobody would ever know.

So she pulled up the microphone, along with the rest of the twine. She meant to pull it up anyway, to hide their tracks. With the microphone in hand, she hoped maybe they were close enough for a signal to get through. She had to at least take the chance.

“Hello?” she spoke tentatively, and then more forcefully, “Hey guys! It’s me! I hope you guys are hearing this. We’re in some kind of access tube, with a ladder that goes up to the surface. We were way underground and we’re trying to climb up. Hope you guys are getting this, we could use some help!”

Cindy groaned. “That’s your plan? We come up here in this dark, cold, icky place and then HOPE someone comes and rescues us?”

Melanie snapped back, “You have a better plan? Let’s hear it!”

Becky tried to mediate. “Mom, chill. She got us out of the cage, alright? I don’t know how long I could have stayed down there. And if she’s right, there’s no way they were letting us out. Would you rather be back in the cage?”

Cindy let out a long breath. “I … fine. No. But at least we had food and water. Up here … we could DIE in here and nobody will ever find us!”

Melanie took a moment before replying. “So let’s work on getting out of here, alright?”

“And how, pray tell?”

“We climb.”

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I remained in the shadows, behind the bushes, as far as I could. The target spot was in sight, and from this angle I could just make out the camera at the top. So … this was the spot.

Just then, my phone buzzed. Who would be … I was half ready to ignore it and then figured I’d better check it. I pulled the phone out and … shit, Maria?

[Hey, just heard from our girl!]

I texted back, [That’s great, she’s okay?]

[Says climbing some tube with ladder ??]

[Tube?]

[Maybe the one you’re climbing down?]

[Not there yet]

[OK but watch for her. And maybe another? She said WE]

[Shit. Is she trying to rescue someone?]

[I wonder. Just be careful]

[You 2]


I sent that last text, but hesitated for a moment. I almost ended with ‘love you’ – damn was I falling for two women at once? Shit. Get my head back on straight, there’s no time for this. I stuck my phone back in my pocket.

Then walking up to the edge where I was supposed to climb the wall, I carefully tossed the hook attached to my rope. It took a couple tries – the first miss causing a faint clank and making me cringe. If someone was walking nearby I’d be screwed. The second toss took hold a couple feet to the left of the camera. I carefully pulled myself up. It was only a few feet, but times like this I was glad not to be obese. My arms were straining already. I got my head over the top and then stretched my left arm over, gripping the other side of the wall and hoping nobody was there to see fingers suddenly appear at the top of the wall. With my right hand I carefully reached in my back pocket for the screwdriver, and then looked closely at the camera, watching it make a slow sweep to the left and then a slow sweep to the right. I waited for it to turn most of the way to the right, then I fiddled with the screwdriver to find and pop that little plastic gear underneath. I got it, thankfully without much noise, but it took me a few moments and the camera had turned partway back. I waited to make sure it had stopped moving – the little arm underneath kept rotating but the camera didn’t move with it. I gauged where I could go and likely remain outside the image it was likely sending back to the security staff.

I carefully pulled myself the rest of the way over, went flat along the top of the wall for a moment, then rotated my hook and rope to point over the other side. I was going to need it to get out – and wanted it ready in case I had to run. Or who was I kidding, I’d be running like mad to get out of there as fast as I could.

Working my legs over the other side, I grabbed the rope to steady myself and then lowered myself down gently to the ground. This spot was blocked by a big tree, so anyone in the turret wouldn’t see, which is probably why the camera was there. I could see the gazebo now. No spotlights, just the light of the moon and some light from the building windows. So it was dark enough someone looking out from inside would have a hard time making me out. I still had to move fast once I got there as I’d be out in the open. I quietly made my way under the tree and over to the spot where I’d have to run about 40 feet to the gazebo.

Taking a few bracing breaths, I ran it, then ducked under the edge of the raised platform immediately and looked and listened for any sound that would suggest someone nearby. Hearing nothing, I poked my head up so I could see the gazebo surface. Sure enough, that looked like a trap door pretty close to the center. I slowly moved forward, trying not to make noise and hoping the boards didn’t creak. At the trap door, I tried working my fingers along one side, between the planks. It was snug but the panel did move a little. I pulled out the screwdriver and used it as a wedge, lifting up one side. I worked it up and quietly slid it over. Underneath was – sure enough – a concrete cap, about 2 feet round. There was a metal cover with a hinge and a round handle that looked like something from a submarine. I supposed it probably looked that way on the inside too – whoever went in, if this truly was a fallout shelter, would need to be able to close it from the inside. But I could already see there was no way Melanie would EVER get this open.

I really, really hoped this is where she was at. We suspected based on the clues – the sound of the elevator going down more than one level below, the lack of any signal from the microphone – until just now – and then now Melanie’s message, which sounded similar to this very tube I was looking at. She could very well be right below me. I really hoped so. I took hold of the handle and tried to turn it. Wow this thing did not want to move – it probably hadn’t been opened in years, maybe decades, who knew. This gazebo wasn’t exactly new, there was peeling paint under the canopy. Did the current owners even realize this access point was under the gazebo? Maybe not. Hopefully not. Based on the records I’d dug up, it was purchased through an LLC just a few months ago. I got the best grip I could with both hands and heaved. It moved just a little. I tried once more, throwing my whole body into it. We didn’t have time to keep messing around here. I strained but the wheel started to budge. I felt like I was going to bust a hernia, but the wheel turned – probably for the first time in many years – and after a couple complete rotations I heard a click. I tried lifting the portal at the hinge. It let a small squeak. I decided to just open it quickly to get it over with and hope nobody was nearby to hear it. Not like I had much choice.

So I swung it open quickly, and then peered in to what was almost total darkness. Almost. In the distance I could see a very faint trickle of light near the base of the ladder. Odd. It had to be maybe 15 feet down. So knowing time is short, I stepped carefully onto the first rung of the ladder. It felt sturdy enough. I took one more step down, and then reached up and slid the gazebo trap door back into place, in hopes of buying a little more time if someone heard that squeak and came looking.

Once I slid the trap door into place, I held on at that second ladder rung and pulled out my phone, to get some light. I first looked around where I was – it was dingy, dusty, and a little cramped but big enough to serve its purpose, I suppose. Then I shined the flashlight down to get a better look at what was below. As I did, I heard a yelp. Was there an animal down here? Or no, that didn’t sound like an animal. Taking a chance, I called out quietly.

“Melanie?”

I heard a gasp. “Honey? Is that you?”

I turned the flashlight around to the sound of that voice and saw … is that three women? Huddled in the corner.

“Holy shit.”

“You can say that again.”

I slowly took another step down, and then another. I wasn’t sure what that ‘floor’ was but as I got closer I wasn’t sure if it was safe for me to stand on.

As if she was reading my mind, Melanie said “Umm, Honey, you might not want to stand on this board. It’s … already rotted. I’m afraid you might fall through … and we’re standing on it.”

“Ooh. Okay. Umm … just a sec, I’ll try to get as close as I can. Maria said she got a message and said ‘we’ but … who … “

“Oh. Okay. These are the Caulfields. Becky and Cindy.”

“Uh … oh wow. So … I figured there had to be another victim after you. Was … there anyone else down there?”

“Just these two. I suspect … they were doubling down to keep Andrew under control.”

“Wow. Umm … so let’s get you out of here, okay? Before they come looking. I … brought a backpack, Maria had me put something soft in there. I have to climb a couple … actually three walls to get out of here and she thought the backpack would be safer … but … “

“There’s room for three in there, I’m sure. We can manage.”

“Alright.” I got down as far as the last ladder rung above the board, afraid to step any lower. I planted both feet and held on tight with one hand, while I maneuvered the backpack off my shoulders, lay it down and worked the zipper open. I’m sure it would be comical in a different situation, but I had to make do. “Can … you ladies climb in and get comfortable? I promise I’ll try not to make it too bumpy of a trip, but the main thing is we’ve got to get you all out of here.”

Melanie started first, lifting the flap and peering inside. I still hadn’t heard a peep from either of the two. In fact as they crept closer, I first noticed that they were both naked. And filthy. It reminded me of when I first rescued Melanie, though she did at least still have some of her clothes – tattered as they were. These ladies had probably been down here for a while and who knows what they had to endure. They were clearly uncomfortable.

I tried to address them directly. “Ladies, it’s nice to meet you. I apologize this isn’t a nicer mode of transportation, but we came up with this on the fly. Please climb in, I won’t look if you don’t want me to, and I promise I’ll be careful. Once we get somewhere safe I can get you food and drink … and maybe a hot bath and some clothes?”

At that I heard a snort. Not from Melanie. I heard one of them whisper “Is he for real?”

Melanie started so sound a little impatient, I could tell she was holding back. These two didn’t know me at all, they probably just met Melanie as well. She said “Come on you two, do you want them to find out you’re gone and come looking before we escape? You can trust him. Come on.”

At that they slowly made their way to the backpack. Melanie held the flap up for them to climb in, and then she climbed in after.

I gently turned the bag upright. “Get settled in, there should be plenty of soft stuff in there. Maria made sure I used all the cushioning we could find.”

Melanie called, “We’re good here, let’s get going!”

At that confirmation I gently pulled on the zipper to close it and then gently worked it over my shoulders. Once it was secure, I climbed back up the ladder swiftly. At the top I stopped to listen for any sounds and look for any lights sweeping nearby. I stopped and pulled my phone out and texted Maria.

[Got them. Is coast clear?]

A moment’s pause. [All clear. GO]

I pocketed the phone, carefully pushed up on the panel and slid it to the side, climbed out and then slid the panel back into place. I didn’t bother with the access hatch – thinking it may squeak if I try lowering it – as the gazebo trap door panel would hide it anyway … and I suspected things were going to happen quickly now that we’d apparently found not one but two missing hostages.

That done, I retraced my steps back to the tree and then back to the wall. My rope was still in place. I tugged on it to make sure it was secure, and then pulled myself up to the top. I packed up the hook and rope, not wanting to take a chance of someone seeing it in the morning, but knowing I’d have to jump a few feet down. I looked around to make sure there wasn’t someone – or something – in the yard below, and then I worked my way over, holding on with both hands as lowered the rest of me until my feet dangled maybe 4-5 feet off the ground. I whispered back, “Ladies, brace yourselves” and then dropped down as quietly as I could, bending my knees as I came down, trying to remember how they did it in the movies. I snorted to myself. Like that was a legit source of information. Either way, I made it.

I continued along my previous path, behind the bushes, over to the property’s back wall – thankfully only 6 feet high – and hosted myself up and over that, then across the next property and up and over that wall, and then back to the car.

Pulling out the car keys, I opened the door and climbed in, quickly starting up the engine. I set the backpack down on the floorboard (Maria and the laptop were taking up most of the seat) and gently unzipped the pack to give them some light, then peeled off down the street. The faster we got away from this neighborhood the better.

As I pulled out, Maria said “You made it!”

“I did! The timing was impeccable. But … Melanie found two women in there. Oh, yes – ladies, I apologize, I just want to get out of this neighborhood and get somewhere safe. Be patient just a few minutes and I’ll help get you out of there. Think about what you want to eat.”

I heard a snort. Melanie blurted, “You just reminded me of the first meal you got me … after my first rescue … you went through the drive-thru and then handed me this huge chicken nugget.”

Now Maria laughed. “Yeah, I can just picture that!”

I drove for a couple more minutes, checked in the rear-view to make sure nobody was following us, and then pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot, finding a space way in the back. The parking lot backed to trees and there were a couple overhead spotlights on poles to provide some light. I backed the car into a corner, so I could easily see if someone came near, and then parked and shut off the headlights.

Then I turned to Maria and asked, “Any activity on the cameras yet? Any sign they might be looking for us?”

She replied, “Nope, nothing. You didn’t leave that rope out I hope?”

“No, I packed it after I climbed back up. And I replaced that trap door on the gazebo floor.”

Melanie chimed in, “We stashed our rope too.”

I looked at her – or at the bag she was poking her head up from. “Rope?”
She replied, “How do you think we got up above that rotted board?”

“Uh … hmm. I wondered what was under there.” I raised my eyebrows, suggesting my comment was a question begging a response.

“You wouldn’t believe.”

“Well … we did figure out a fallout shelter was built down there back in the 50’s. It took a while but we put our heads together and followed the clues and figured out that’s where you had to be. But I figured it was a lot deeper than the 15 feet I climbed down to find you?”

“OH yeah. We actually climbed another 12 by ourselves.”

My mouth about dropped open. Maria blurted, “You what? Spill the beans, girlfriend! I’ve got to hear this one!”

Melanie said “Well help me out of here honey!” I reached down to the bag and she lifted her arms as I reached in carefully and took hold of her. At first I just gazed and smiled at her, relieved that she was back safe with me. Then despite how dirty she’d gotten on this ordeal, I couldn’t resist bringing her up to my face and planting a kiss on her, encompassing her face with my lips.

I whispered, “I’m just glad you’re safe now.” She grinned back at me.

After I set her down, she proceeded to describe the rescue, from her climb up the table and onto the cage, helping the two women out of the cage, onto the chair and then the floor, then the climb up the ladder. She got quite animated as she described the conditions and what she saw along the way.

When she got to a pause, I said, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but do the ladies want to come out too? I imagine they don’t want to make the whole trip sitting in the bag?” All this time, not a peep from either of them.

Melanie crawled across the passenger seat to where the bag was leaning up from the floorboard, and tugged on an open corner to peer inside. “Ladies, you’re welcome to come out and join us.” then she added, “It’s safe. Nobody’s going to hurt you here. I promise.”

There was a faint stirring, some rustling inside the bag. Then it just dawned on me, they were naked. Who knows how long they’d been naked, but they didn’t know me from Adam … and who knew what sort of trauma those two goons had put them through. I remembered Melanie’s descriptions of what she went through and shuddered. I thought quickly, there weren’t exactly any clothes for them, but … maybe …

“Hey Melanie. Umm … would this work for now until we can get them something to wear?” I pulled out some tissues. It wasn’t much, but they could wrap it around themselves like a bath towel maybe.

“Ooh, yeah. Good idea. Give me those.” She scooped them up and then dropped them into the bag. “Ladies, try this for now. We can find you something to wear when we get … home … but see if this works for now.”

I heard more rustling and a grunt. After a couple minutes, with the three of us just sitting and waiting to see what happened next, finally a tiny hand appeared near the bag zipper, and then the top of a head of black hair. I sensed her stretching to see over the top of the bag, and suspected she was using one hand to hold the tissue in place. She just took a moment and looked around – at Melanie, and then at Maria and the laptop, and then … at me. Her eyes got as big as saucers and her head popped back down into the bag.

Melanie said, “Hey Becky, it’s okay. Like I said, nobody is going to hurt you here. This is my boyfriend. He’s the sweetest guy I know. He’s not going to hurt you either. Now … is it okay if he just helps you up onto the seat? You can sit here with me. Alright?”

The top of her little head appeared again. She looked at me again, then at Melanie, and then nodded.

“Okay. I’ll be very gentle, okay? I’m just going to lift you up and set you back down. That’s all. Okay?” I slowly reached my hand towards her. She flinched at first, and I stopped. I saw her take a couple of calming breaths and then nod again. I continued, gently wrapping my hand around her waist. I slowly lifted her up from the bag. I could feel her soft body through the thin tissue, though I wasn’t about to dwell on that or try to touch her, I could sense this was a tenuous situation. I lifted her over Melanie and then set her down gently against the back of the passenger seat, next to Maria. As I took my hand away, I asked softly, “How was that?”

She looked up at me for a moment. Her eyes weren’t bulging this time, she was just looking at me. Perhaps contemplating. She nodded and said “Thank you.”

I said “You’re welcome. Do you think your … “

Becky blurted, “Step mom.”

“Alright. Do you think your step mom will let me … “

At that I saw out of the corner of my eye, another tiny hand appear, this time followed by a tiny mop of blonde hair. She looked up at me, wide eyed just like her step daughter, but then turned and looked at Becky. Maybe she could sense that Becky was … if not comfortable, at least not scared to death of me like it seemed she was a minute ago. She looked back at me and then said “Okay.”

I carefully, slowly reached into the bag. I felt her flinch at my first touch, but then she didn’t resist as I wrapped my hand around her waist and slowly lifted her up. She was smaller and lighter than the others. As she rose up in my hand, my thumb and index finger around her waist and her bottom against my palm, I again resisted the urge to touch anything else or even enjoy the sensation of her in my hand. They weren’t ready for that and might never be, we were rescuing them from a bad situation and it wasn’t my place to remind them of where they’d just been. I gently set her down next to Becky. As I slid my hand away, Melanie crawled back over and sat down on the other side. All four of them sat together in the passenger seat.

For a moment, I just looked at the four of them, all lined up, all four fitting in the passenger seat with room to spare. I wondered to myself how it happened that I somehow became chauffeur to four beautiful women. I smirked. It was time for me to get them all home.

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Melanie's Story Part 35 - Heading Home

Post by Rocket » Tue Dec 20, 2022 3:04 pm

As we drove, I asked again, “Are you all hungry? Melanie, I KNOW you must be, you haven’t eaten since breakfast. It’s … kinda late though, I’m … not sure what’s all open.” As I spoke I could see ahead, the lights of the McDonald’s going off and the last workers heading to their cars. “Do you ladies want me to stop on the way, or just head home and make something?”

Becky turned to Melanie and asked, “Home?”

She replied, “Well, where we live anyway.”

Hearing them speak, I said “If it’s all right ladies, I think it’s best we go there first. I can try to get ahold of Mr. Caulfield and let him know you’re alright, but I don’t think it’s safe to just take you to him right now.”

Cindy spoke for the first time, curtly snapping, “And why is that?”

“Because,” I tried to explain calmly, “he’s been blackmailed all this time – the two of you were, I figure, meant to ensure his compliance. To keep him in line. Those goons – and their operatives – are still out there. He could well be under surveillance right now. Taking you to him right now could put all of us in danger. I have some ideas, but let’s get back to the house first. It’ll be easier to explain and finalize a plan after we get something to eat … and get you both something clean to wear.”

Becky looked up, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “And … maybe a bath?”

I said, “We can definitely arrange that. Just think about food, I’ll start cooking the moment we get back, which should be in like … 15 minutes? It’s almost 11pm on a Sunday night, so there shouldn’t be much traffic right now … “

Once the last McDonald’s employee pulled away and the lot was empty – save for us sitting in the far back corner against the backdrop of a copse of trees – I started the car and pulled out, heading for home.

--------------------------

We pulled into the garage well past 11. Clearly everyone was tired and hungry. I carefully closed up my laptop. Maria had continued to watch for any movement on the two cameras and hadn’t seen anything, though I probably asked her every five minutes anyway, so I hoped that meant nobody realized they’d escaped nor that I’d snuck onto the property. Thinking about it, I was glad I remembered to take the rope with me, even if it meant jumping several feet down. One of those guards may come over in the morning and look at the camera, wondering why it stopped moving, and having a hook and rope there would make it really obvious. I was really hoping we might get through the night- maybe even the morning – before they realized these two women had escaped. Would it have been better if it was just Melanie, who they didn’t know was even there to begin with? No, we needed to rescue these two – it wouldn’t sit right with me to leave them once we knew they were there. Still it worried me, if their escape was discovered it meant we had a lot less time to work with.

As if Melanie was reading my mind, she said, “I’m thinking even once they see the cage is empty, they won’t realize they escaped the mansion entirely.”

I glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

“We left a piece of twine on the cage … and made sure to cover our tracks after that. It’ll appear like they managed to climb out by themselves. My hope is they’ll be digging under boxes and behind cabinets for a while thinking they’re just hiding and not suspect anything more. Who knows, maybe they’ll blame those two goofs from security for leaving a piece of twine nearby.”

“I … huh. That could work.” Then I snorted.

She looked up at me again. “What’s so funny?”

“You. Both of you. You seem to think I’m a genius but I’m surrounded by two very smart women. Between the two of you … those goons messed with the wrong women, didn’t they?”

She replied, “The THREE of us. You’re supposed to be the brains of this operation.”

I snorted again. “Not just the brawn?” I flexed my tricep.

She laughed. “You know before I shrunk I could probably best you at the gym.”

“That assumes I ever made it to the gym.” I smirked. “I suppose I’m only the brawn now by default, eh?” She laughed again.

The two new women just sat there. Clearly we weren’t exactly what they expected from a rescue team. Maria chimed in, “Alright guys, let’s get inside and get some food.”

“Okay. You’re right. I can empty the car later, but … how do we want to do this. Ladies, are you okay with me carrying you inside?”

Becky said, “I … “

Melanie stepped in, “It’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Tell you what, you can only take two of us at a time anyway. Take me and Becky first, then come back and get Maria and Cindy.”

Maria and Cindy looked at each other but didn’t say anything. Cindy was uncomfortable but was resigning herself to the situation.

“Okay. Ladies?” I had the car door open and turned with one knee on the driver’s seat. Melanie stood up, and then took Becky’s hand and helped her stand up. Becky kept one hand on the tissue, trying with limited success to keep it in place. I reached for them, trying not to move too fast, and then wrapped one hand around Melanie and the other around Becky. I slowly lifted them up, and then stood up myself and took them inside, making my way straight to the kitchen. Through the thin tissue, once again I could feel Becky’s soft body against my palm and fingers, but resisted the temptation to do more. I did ask, “Oh, I should have asked, do you need the bathroom first or do you want to eat right away?”

“Actually .. yeah, let’s clean up first. I’m starving but I’m filthy too, I feel kinda icky. Are you alright with that Becky?”
I held both of them in front of me, a few inches apart. Becky looked at me for a moment, then turned to Melanie. “Uh … yeah. Okay. Can you … show me … “ then she lowered her voice to a whisper, “umm, all they ever gave us to use was … a litter box.”

She whispered back, “Definitely, it’s alright. Come on.” Then back to me she spoke, “Okay, bathroom first then.”

So I proceeded to the bathroom and gently set them both down next to the sink. “Okay. I can step out and close the door. Do you need anything?”

Melanie looked at Becky for a moment. “Uh … Becky, do you want to take a bath by yourself, or … “

She snorted. Maybe she was loosening up a little. “Like it matters. I’ve been naked for … weeks? Months? I can’t remember the last time I wore clothes. Even … this.” She motioned to the tissue she’d wrapped around herself.

“Okay. Tell you what. I’ll run some warm water in the other sink, and then I’ll step out. Oh … but Becky, what about your mom?”

She looked a little annoyed. “What about her? Oh … ok. Yeah. Bring her in here too. As … much as we’ve seen and dealt with all this time, she lost any prudishness she used to have … and I think to get a hot bath, she’d probably offer to get you off in appreciation.”

My mouth about hit the counter. I think Melanie’s did too. “I … uh, um, how about I just go get your mom.” I started to back out of the room, a little dumbfounded.

Becky laughed and looked at Melanie. “Did I really just embarrass him?”

Melanie said, “Probably. I can only guess what you two went through. I have … some of my own stories, but … “

I missed the rest as I stepped out and closed the door, heading back to the garage. Once there, Maria stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Took you long enough!”

“Sorry, they decided they wanted to wash up first before we eat. So … um … is it Cindy?” She looked up at me and nodded. “I can take you over to the bathroom, your daughter’s there now. I can run a hot bath and then leave you alone while I make dinner. Would that be okay?”

She looked a little apprehensive. “You … would leave us alone to get a bath? For real?”

Maria snorted. “He really IS a nice guy.”

She asked Maria, “Does he let YOU have a private bath?”

She laughed this time. “Sure, if that’s what we want. But to be honest? Melanie likes the company, and … I guess I do too. So we … usually invite him to stay. But he’ll leave if we ask him to.”

Cindy just looked back and forth between Maria and I for a minute, clearly not sure how to respond to that one. “I … “ and she turned to Maria, “You’re very lucky if that’s true. Every man I’ve met since um, this happened, um, expects me to do his bidding, or hurts me if I don’t comply.” She shuddered.

Maria said softly, “I can’t even imagine what you went through. Yes I was very lucky, they did this to me but … I was rescued before they really had a chance to do anything. That I can remember anyway.”

“That you can remember?” she looked shocked.

“Long story. Right now let’s just get inside.”

Maria reached out her hand to help Cindy up. They both stood there and waited for me. I moved my hands slowly, so Cindy could see what I was doing. I wrapped my thumb and index finger around her, and then scooped my palm under her so she could sit. I did the same for Maria, and then lifted them both up. As we went in, I asked Maria if she needed a bath too, or did she want to come help me with dinner. She grinned, probably recalling our encounter earlier this evening in the convenience store restroom, and said she’d love to come help me set up for dinner. So I proceeded to the kitchen first, setting Maria down on the table and giving her a quick kiss on the head. She gave me a wink back as I carried Cindy and strolled towards the bathroom.

As I held Cindy, she just looked at me, but it wasn’t a glare or a scowl this time. It was more thoughtful, like she was trying to figure me out. Finally she spoke softly, “Um … thank you.”

I looked at her, a little surprised. “For what?”

“For … helping us get out of that … away from there … “

“You don’t have to thank me. I know you’ve been through hell. Melanie has too. These people … they’re destroying lives and … they have to be stopped. I’m just glad we were able to get you somewhere safe.”

She sighed. “I know. Thank you.”

At that I’d gotten to the bathroom door. I tapped on the door. “Ladies, is it okay to open the door?”

I heard, “Honey, come on in, it’s fine.” Followed by some giggling. Holding Cindy in my left hand, I turned the knob with my right and then slowly opened the door. What I saw caught me off guard. Melanie had already stripped down and was standing at the faucet, she’d turned on the hot water faucet and it was running. What surprised me even more, was that Becky had set aside her tissue and was sitting on the rim of the sink, sticking her leg out and testing the water with her toe.

“I … OH … Oh, I’m sorry!” I turned my eyes away once I realized Becky was naked and not rushing to cover up.

Becky snorted. “You were right about him.”

Melanie said, “Honey, it’s okay. I said you could come in.”

“Umm … are you sure?“

“Honey, turn around and open your eyes. It’s fine. We’re all adults here.”

I turned and opened my eyes. “Oh.” I stumbled a bit as Becky just sat there, breasts hanging out, and looked at me with a hint of amusement as I took in the sight. I realized I was still holding Cindy, and gently set her down next to the sink.

Becky smirked. “It’s alright. Geez, you’re like the first guy that’s actually treated us like human beings in … I can’t even remember. We literally spent most of that time naked and performing tricks for … I don’t even know what to call those jerks. From what I understand,” she glanced at Melanie and back to me, “you see Melanie naked all the time and you still treat her well. And to be honest … any modesty I had at one time, that’s been trashed for weeks. It doesn’t bother me, not one bit anymore.”

“Uh … okay. I should still give you guys some privacy though.” I started to turn back towards the door.

Melanie blurted, “Not so fast. I could use a little help here.”

I looked for a moment, nodded and reached over to fiddle with the handle, testing the water. Becky stuck her foot out and brushed my finger with her toes and giggled. I smirked and then the next time she did that I caught her foot between my finger and thumb. She yelped, but a big grin spread across her face. I tickled the bottom of her foot and she fell on her back laughing and kicking. It was then that I got a first glimpse of her as she parted her legs for a moment. I stopped myself and let go of her foot, worried this was going to get out of hand pretty quickly if I didn’t.

Going back to the water, I felt it was hot but not scalding, and proceeded to close the stopper, letting the sink start to fill up. I reached over for the travel soap and placed it on the rim of the sink, within easy reach.

Melanie put on a little show of slowly walking around to the rim of the sink, swaying her hips and enjoying the look I gave her as I drank in her gorgeous curves. She squatted down and then swung her legs over the edge, testing the water with her toes as she waited for the sink to fill some more. She called over, “Cindy. Come join us!” and then looked around and asked me, “By the way, where’s Maria?”

“She was going to help me get dinner ready while you guys wash up.”

“She doesn’t want to join us?”

“Umm .. I can ask her. She wasn’t crawling around in a dirty bunker or climbing over walls though.”

She looked at me for a moment. “Speaking of which. Don’t you want to wash up?”

“Yeah, but let’s take care of you guys first. I can worry about me later.”

“No, I insist. You should NOT have to wait on us. Go get Maria. And …” she bit her lower lip, always a sign she was scheming something, “how about getting us something to drink?”

“I figured you’d be starving.”

“I’m hungry, but … hey, I got an idea. Get something to drink and some snacks. A few chips or something. That will hold us over. I feel icky anyway, I’d rather have a bath first. And go get Maria, she should join us. We girls are going to have some bonding time. Girls’ hot tub night.”

“You’re sure?”

She looked me right in the eyes. “I’m positive. Hurry and get back here.”

----------------------

So a couple minutes later, I returned with Maria, some thimble cups and some potato chips on a napkin. I set Maria down and then realized I’d left the water running. The sink was nearly full. As I turned off the water I noticed somehow Cindy had tossed her tissue aside and climbed in with the others. She just looked at me and raised her eyebrows, as if expecting me to say something. I hesitated, unsure if I should be looking, though she was very attractive.

I asked, “So, I wasn’t sure if you wanted water or … something stronger.” I placed three thimble cups around the edge of the sink, one in reach of each woman. As I did, Maria had quickly stripped down and picked up the fourth one, climbing in next to Melanie and setting her cup down as she propped her elbows on the sink rim behind her, floating her legs in the warm water.

Melanie looked up. “I know I shouldn’t … but how about some wine. Ladies, you okay with that?”

Cindy snorted. “Damn, after all I’ve been through, I deserve a drink.” The others nodded. Becky looked at her, eyebrows raised, as if waiting for something. “Okay, fine. You too.” She looked back up at me to explain. “She’s not 21 until next winter. But after this experience, I suppose that doesn’t really matter, does it.” I nodded in understanding.

I went back to the kitchen to grab the chilled zinfandel from the refrigerator. Upon my return, I took each cup and carefully poured a tiny amount, trying not to spill TOO much. I had to figure out a better way to do this and not waste so much. But that could wait. I served up all four ladies, and then pointed out the chips, offering to bring some mini pretzels as well. Melanie I knew had to be starving, she grabbed a piece of potato chip small enough to hold with one hand, and began munching on it. Cindy and Becky each raised their hand and I picked up a small piece to hand to them. They devoured those pretty quickly and asked for more.

“This is amazing. I know … it’s just potato chips, but … we’ve been living off … um, you don’t want to know. This is like heaven.”

Maria just looked up at me for a moment, and then a big smirk spread across on her face.

I asked, “What’s so funny?”

She said, “You. Most guys would kill for this, sharing a hot tub with four naked women. YOU are too busy trying to make sure we’re comfortable, instead of just enjoying yourself.”

“I … yeah. I’m … though I can’t exactly fit in the hot tub though.”

She snorted. “No, but while we’re relaxing in here, you go wash up yourself. Then you can come do my back.” She winked.

“You don’t want some privacy?”

“NO. In fact, I think you should strip for us before you get in the shower. I don’t think it’s fair we’re all naked and you’re not. Besides .. these two ladies haven’t seen you yet, and I already caught you gawking at them.” She smirked. “You can’t deny it. So … help me out here ladies. Strip.”

The others chimed in. This was four on one. Yeah I was way bigger than all four of them together, but it was still four on one. So … I kicked off my shoes, then started to pull my tee shirt off. Cindy of all people started whistling. Oh geez. I unfastened my belt and jeans and let them drop, and then my underwear. I’m sure this wasn’t much of a show, but still I was getting whistles and cat calls as I finished and then stood up. Cindy actually stuck her hand in the air and swirled it, calling for me to turn around for them. This was a little embarrassing, I didn’t think I had that much to show off. However, though I hadn’t admitted it to them, having four naked women in a hot tub was a definite turn-on, even if I wasn’t doing anything but looking. That was enough to get the juices flowing, so to speak. As I turned facing them, my groin right about even with the sink, I saw all four sets of eyes just staring at it. Maria was closest and waived for me to come a little closer, and then she pulled herself partway out of the sink, reached out and gave me a kiss right on the head of my penis. She looked up and winked at me and then said “Okay tiger, get in there and wash up.”

I almost needed a cold shower. Glad for the frosted shower doors and the towel draped over, I had a little bit of privacy as I had to go finish myself off in the shower under the running water. Better that than remain all worked up and do something I’d regret. I didn’t know these two ladies at all – I’d literally just met them within the last hour – and this could well be the effects of the trauma influencing their actions, plus now they were drinking. I had to be careful. I washed up and then dried, wrapped the towel around myself and stepped out.

Maria saw me and swam to the edge, her head and elbows up on the rim. “About time. Do my back?”

I got some soap on two fingers and began to soap up her back. As I caressed her skin, I said “You’re awfully flirtatious this evening.”

She snickered. “More than usual?”

Thinking about it for a moment, I replied, “You have a point.” She snorted.

Melanie swam over next to Maria and looked up at me with puppydog eyes. “Me too?”

I grinned. “Of course, my lady.” She snorted too. So now I had both hands going … part of me was worried the towel would drop and I’d get a bunch of cat calls again. But I did enjoy rubbing their backs, touching their soft skin, using two fingers to rub their shoulders and occasionally slipping a finger down to caress their bottoms. This was like a normal day, if not for the audience. I caught both Cindy and Becky watching me give my girls a backrub, they didn’t look aghast, rather they both almost looked like they were going to ask for one. But they didn’t to my relief. I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable touching them like this. Maybe in the future … but no, there are more important matters right now.

After a couple more minutes of this, I said, “Okay, why don’t you all finish up and get dressed, I’ll work on dinner and come get you in say .. 10 minutes? Or longer. No rush. Oh .. and ladies” as I turned to Cindy and Becky, “we should have something for you to wear. I need to get some more clothes, once Maria” I looked back at her “tells me the secret to where she found this stuff. And ... there are towels right behind you.”

As I started to walk away, I heard Becky motioning to the clothes stacked up in the corner, asking, “How did you … “

Maria said, “I .. was only shrunk a couple days ago. Before that I’d gone shopping to get clothes for Melanie.”

Cindy looked alarmed. “How … two days ago?”

Maria replied, “Melanie went back to Advanced Future Technologies. The lab on Level 7 where they did … THIS. She tried to sneak in and figure out what was going on, then she got caught, I ran up there and they tackled me and tied me up and used the machine on me. Then he came in and rescued BOTH of us.”

Cindy scowled at Melanie. “He LET you go back in there?”

Melanie scowled back at her. “I didn’t really give him a choice.” She sighed. “I needed ANSWERS. It was killing me not knowing what happened. He went out of his way to help me. Both of these guys did. He even made a two-way radio for me to wear. And when he did get up there, you should have seen him, he clobbered both of them. Where do you think they got those bruises from?” she smirked. “And we were able to access some of their records and files. How do you think we figured out where they were located, figured out they’d kidnapped Becky, and … figured out HOW this all works. I told you, he’s smarter than they are. He’s already working on how to … fix this.”

I smiled, listening to Melanie stick up for me like that. I continued on down the hall to get dressed and make dinner.

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Melanie's Story Part 36 - Debriefing

Post by Rocket » Mon Dec 26, 2022 7:31 pm

I threw on boxers and a tee shirt and then went to the kitchen to start making food. Something quick and easy. I began boiling some water and then tossed in a handful of angel hair pasta. While that simmered I dug through the cabinets looking for some pasta sauce. As I did, I came across a wicker basket. No idea where it came from, probably some gift basket someone gave me one year. But I thought of another use for it. So I pulled it out, dusted it off (away from the food obviously!) and quickly looked around for a kitchen towel to throw across the bottom and drape over the edges. As I did, I thought about having four women in the house. As tiny as they were, we were going through towels like crazy, I was going to have to run more laundry.

Heading back to the bathroom, even though the door wasn’t closed, I tapped on the door frame and asked if it was okay to come in. I was greeted with some giggling. I peeked in and saw they were all up out of the water. Maria had donned one of the gown/smocks I’d stitched together for Melanie weeks ago, I knew she liked to sleep in those. Melanie was bundled in a hand towel, wearing it like a bathrobe. The others had hand towels over their shoulders and were apparently considering whether to do the same.

Melanie saw me and said, “If only these came with a belt.” She raised her eyebrows as if to suggest I figure out this latest problem, then motioned her head to the side. Ah. Our two new ladies needed something.

“Ah. Let me think on that for a sec.” I set my basket down. “I’ll be right back.” I jogged to the office / spare bedroom and dug through the closet until I found a ball of yarn, then found scissors and proceeded to cut a few lengths, each a little longer than my hand, figuring that would be enough to wrap around. Returning to the bathroom, I presented my idea. “Will these work?”

Melanie looked at me, I thought I saw a twinkle in her eye. She said, “Perfect. Can you tie one on me?” She walked to the end of the counter, stood up straight and held he arms up, the towel gaping open. Unable to resist, I bent down and kissed her on the stomach, before tucking the hand towel back into place, wrapping the piece of yarn around her and then tying a little shoelace knot just off to the side where she could easily reach it. She looked up and grinned at me.

I offered the other pieces of yarn to Becky and Cindy, who each took one and then tried to tie it like a belt. They both struggled for a moment. These were just cheap hand towels – not the super thick kind – but to them these probably felt like wearing a blanket. Well, as long as they were comfortable. They managed to tie their knots.

While this was going on, Maria was eyeing the basket. “So, what’s with the basket?”

“Oh!” I picked it up and held it steady at the edge of the counter. “Ladies, your chariot awaits.” She snorted.

Then looking first at the basket, then at me, she grinned and said, “A little help?” and lifted her arms, her sign that she wanted me to pick her up. So I gently scooped her up in my other hand and then lay her softly into the basket. Melanie smirked and walked to the edge and waited for her ride, which I promptly obliged, wrapping my hand around her and whisking her into the basket.

I looked at Becky and Cindy and asked if they wanted to climb in or needed help. Becky walked over, took a long look inside the basket, and then sat down on the sink edge and swung her legs into the basket and climbed in. Cindy came closer, and then decided she’d rather take the easy route. So she let me bring my hand to her and wrap it around her, lift her up and lay her down into the basket with the others.

All four of my charges in tow, I turned and made my way back to the kitchen, setting the basket down in the middle of the table. I started to walk away and stopped at the sound of someone clearing their throat. I turned around.

Melanie had her hands on her hips. “Honey, I appreciate the thought, but this isn’t going to work without a step.”

I just looked for a moment, sized up the height of the basket edge … “Umm … yeah, sorry about that. I’ll find something. Do you mind if I just lift you out for now?”

She snorted. “Since when do I ever mind? … Actually I think you need to lift all four of us.”

So I proceeded to gently lift each of them up over the edge of the basket and onto the table. Then I went to go look for two more chairs. Of course the table was a little small for four, but I jogged to the other room and grabbed two chairs. I think this is all four that I’d bought. Damn, I was going to need more in a hurry. I could never have imagined we’d grow from one to four in a matter of … three days? Wow.

As they got settled I got one plate and scooped out the pasta. Angel hair was smaller and easier for Melanie to work with, so that had become our default pasta around the house. Regular spaghetti for her was like the size of a drinking straw, and a lot of trouble to eat. I cut up a portion of the pasta into smaller pieces and then began scooping it into little bowls. I asked each of them if they wanted pasta sauce or butter, and then began serving up dinner. I had four tiny forks and four tiny knives and I was about to use all of them for one meal. So I’d be washing a lot of tiny dishes around here for a while.

I brought my own plate to the table and sat down, the four women already digging in to their servings around the little table – which worked well for one or two, but was clearly a little tight for four. Once Melanie got a few bites down, she began debriefing us on what she’d learned during her unplanned trip inside and under the mansion. Including more information on their timeline to complete the machine (days at the most), the possibility that their ‘boss’ could be visiting the mansion Monday or Tuesday, and their plans to wrap up work on Level 7, possibly tomorrow. When she described Bob’s plan to extract the element and then sabotage the current machine, the mention of an explosion drew a gasp from both Becky and Cindy. When she talked about the explosion being enough to take out part of the building, destroy the remaining evidence and that they wanted it to take out Mr. Caulfield at the same time, Becky shrieked.

Becky turned and looked right at me, her eyes turning red. “Please, you have to stop them!”

I said, “That’s the plan. And thanks to our crack intelligence operative,” I nodded at Melanie, who snorted and rolled her eyes at me, “I think we have enough information to put our plans into motion. But first, let’s fill you guys in on the rest of this.”

I proceeded to explain the connections we’d discovered between the scientist goons and the mansion and the LLC that was set up as a holding company for the mansion and the separate LLC that apparently controlled that LLC. When I told them S.E. LLC, it didn’t mean anything to them, as I suspected it wouldn’t to most people, until I told them it stood for Shrinking Enterprises LLC. Cindy almost choked on her food when I let that piece of information slip. Melanie and Maria helped fill in more of the details about what we were pretty certain was their end game – a highly lucrative black market where they could not only sell miniature women for a small fortune to billionaires to use for entertainment, torture, deviant sex acts or who knows what else – as well as the possibility that they could even use this for rich people to permanently eliminate their enemies or rivals, reducing them to toys and the outside world would never find them.

Now that we had all that out of the way and they understood what was at stake, we had to discuss next steps.

“Here’s what I’m thinking. The way you’re describing,” I nodded to Melanie, “the two goons will be in the office tomorrow, at least part of the day. Even if they realize the ladies are missing, I doubt they’re going to spend all day looking for them, they’ll figure they couldn’t have gone far and they can resume the search later. Though if they don’t go down there in the morning, all the better. We’ll keep an eye on the cameras for unusual activity.”

I saw some nods but no comments yet so I continued, “If one of you can provide a good number to reach him at, I’ll try to contact Mr. Caulfield in the morning. Here’s the rub though. He’s likely being observed. It’s possible his phone is bugged. They’ve had the two of you as hostages to ensure his compliance, but with so much at stake I can’t imagine they wouldn’t have other measures in place – such as to ensure he doesn’t hire a detective. SO, I have to be careful how I contact him, I don’t want these people getting overly suspicious AND I can’t take a chance of leading them back here. So when I meet with him … you guys need to stay here.” I could see Becky and Cindy both about to protest. “I’ll set up a web cam both so I can make sure you’re safe AND so you can speak with him, over MY phone, once he and I are in a safe place. I don’t want these people tracing a number back to us here, and I don’t want them realizing the two of you escaped yet. The longer they don’t realize that, the more time we have to enact the rest of our plan.”

It seemed like all four were listening intently to my description. I suppose they all had a very vested interest in this. Becky blurted, “But when do I get to see dad in person?”

“As soon as it’s SAFE to. We could well have this wrapped up in a matter of days, but until then we don’t know how many others are involved in this – we’ve got the two scientists-goons, the security staff there at the mansion, someone they call ‘the boss’ who could be one person or he could represent a group of investors. There may be others watching your dad, either hired help or people who are part of the organization. We’ll need to draw them out to catch them, and if we don’t do this right, they’re going to go into hiding. We don’t know how many people are aware of this technology and we don’t know how many people have the knowledge to make it work, beyond … those two … and myself.”

Cindy started glaring at me. “YOU know how to make this work? What’s to stop YOU from doing the same thing they plan to do?”

Melanie snapped back at her. “Who would you rather have this – them or us?”

I jumped in quickly, “I have absolutely no interest in doing what they’re trying to do. Nobody like that should have that kind of power. The only reason I know it is because I studied their notes and schematics, and I only got those thanks to these two brave young women here.” I nodded to Maria and Melanie. “I need to understand how it works in order to figure out how to REVERSE it. And I can tell you what, there is NOTHING in their notes to suggest they’ve even given reversal a thought.”

Cindy calmed down a bit, but said, “You figured this out in … “ she looked at Melanie “didn’t you say that was just last week?”

Maria piped up, “Friday night. Two days ago.”

Cindy looked skeptical. Melanie blurted, “I TOLD you my man is a genius.” She beamed at me.

I said to Cindy, “Tell you what, we can go in the office and I’ll walk you through the equations if that’s what you want. But right now we need to get this moving. We have limited time. So where were we … okay. Yes. I'll talk to your husband and you can speak to him over webcam through my phone, let him know you’re safe. But I can’t take a chance bringing you there to see him in person, if he’s being tailed then you both could be in danger. I know you hardly know me, but I’m hoping you’ll be able to trust me with this at least, okay?”

She nodded.

“Alright. Now I’m assuming the goons will finish their work on Level 7, take the element and set up the machine to explode when someone tries to test it. We need to let them do that, we can’t let them know we’re on to them yet.”

Both Becky and Cindy looked alarmed. Becky shrieked, “Why would you ever let them do that?”

I calmly replied, “As long as we KNOW what they’re doing – and I ask your dad not to let anyone onto Level 7 yet – I can dismantle it. Their plan, I’m sure, assumes nobody knows about the explosive. Right now we’re a step ahead of them and we have to use that to our advantage. Tomorrow evening, once they’re back at the mansion – we can confirm over the cameras – and hopefully this ‘boss’ shows up to check on them – that’s when we call in the swat team. They won’t have hostages to bargain with anymore. Now … to get the police involved, might be a little uncomfortable for you.”

Cindy squirmed in her seat. “Uncomfortable … how?”

“Umm … one of you – or both – might need to give a statement. About your kidnapping and … other things. I’m sorry. I doubt the police are going to go get a search warrant and bring a team to the mansion without any evidence of a crime. You’re … the evidence.”

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After we ate and I brought each of them back to the bathroom to freshen up, I asked Becky and Cindy about sleeping arrangements. Melanie of course, had been sleeping on a pillow on the bed for weeks, while Maria – despite the newness of her situation – was also totally comfortable with that arrangement. The other two, though, I had no idea and I wasn’t going to push them one way or the other. I offered them the option to sleep in the living room, I’d get them a hand towel ‘blanket’ and they could lay on throw pillows – two separate ones if that’s what they preferred. Or they could stay in the bedroom with us, and there were other options – such as the floor (I could take a larger towel and make a big sleeping bag) or the dresser, if they weren’t comfortable on the bed. They seemed to like the sleeping bag idea – and Becky for one seemed a little uncomfortable sharing a bed with three people she’d just met today – so I proceeded to fold up a bath towel into the form of a big sleeping bag with an extra layer to create a pillow.

I asked them both if they wanted to change, as they were still wearing their ‘bath robes’ (essentially a wash cloth wrapped around their shoulders and tied with a piece of yarn) … Melanie was still wearing her ‘bath robe’ as well, but I suspected she’d shimmy out of that at some point in the night. She was used to sleeping in the buff before Maria joined us. However, they both stuck with the bath towels. I shrugged and didn’t push. It was more important that they got some sleep. They were both getting a little more comfortable with my carrying them around, which I suppose meant they were more comfortable around me. I’d worried after their ordeals, they might be a little shell shocked and not trust anyone. That might still surface at some point. But for now, we were making progress. I scooped up Cindy, knelt down at the ‘sleeping bag,’ pulled back the ‘covers’ and gently lay her down, pulling the ‘covers’ back over her. She actually smiled at me. Then I stood up and collected Becky, carrying her over, kneeling down, laying her down and tucking her in. Becky snorted.

“What’s so funny?” I asked softly.

“You. I haven’t been tucked in since I was a kid. Now I have this cute giant man tucking me in.”

I smirked. “You really think I’m cute?”

She hesitated for a moment. “Yeah. You’re a lot nicer to look at than those … “

Now it was my turn to snort. “So that’s my competition, huh?”

She grinned. “You’re also a lot nicer. But yes, you’re a cute guy. Er, handsome guy. Is that better?”

“Better.” Then on a whim I bent down and kissed her on the top of the head.

She whispered, “Good night” and I caught her grinning as I pulled away. Huh. I was half afraid I’d get slapped.

I saw Cindy out of the corner of my eye glancing at me and I asked, “Do you want a good night kiss too?”

She might have blushed, it was hard to tell in the dim lighting, but she didn’t say no, so I took that as an invitation. I bent down and kissed her on the top of the head. Then I pulled back, looked at both of them and softly said “Good night ladies, get some rest.”

I went back to the bed, where Melanie and Maria were getting comfortable on the pillow next to mine. I draped a hand towel over each of them. I bent down to kiss Melanie good night and she grinned at me and then puckered her lips. I pressed my own lip to hers. Then she whispered, “Help me out of this.” and pushed the towel down, motioning to the yarn bow at her waist.

Taking the ends of the yarn, I pulled on them to undo the bow knot I’d made for her earlier. As the hand towel fell to her sides, uncovering a sliver of bare flesh, she first grinned at me, and then bit her lower lip. I knew her too well at this point, it meant she was anxious and anticipating my next move. I bent down and kissed that sliver of exposed flesh, brushing my lips against her little stomach. She worked her arms free, exposing much more. I pushed my upper lip against her breasts, brushing her nipples. She whispered, “I missed you so much.”

I whispered back, “I missed you too,” my breath against her skin causing her to tremble. I gently slid my hand under her and scooped her up, then rolled over onto my back, holding her above my face. I kissed her all over, slowly making my way across her entire body, her face, her shoulders and arms, her breasts and stomach, her thighs, her legs, and then I gently turned her and kissed her neck and back and bottom, before I set her slowly down onto my lips, her legs dangling past my chin. I slowly sucked on her bottom for a moment, and then slid my tongue out to caress her ass and her pussy. I explored her with the tip of my tongue, taking long stokes over her mound and then wiggling my tongue until her lips began to part for me. I stroked her there, slow but forceful strokes, while one finger from the hand that held her began to massage her breasts and tickle her hardening nipples. She began to pant and groan. One part of me worried she’d wake up the others, though they probably hadn’t fallen asleep yet … no, I could just picture Cindy and Becky laying there in their sleeping bag. I doubted they could see what was going on, though the sound coming from Melanie’s lips surely gave it away. It wasn’t long after that when I could feel Melanie shuddering as she sat upon my lips, the tremor through her body announcing her climax as surely as a beacon. I slowed my ministrations as she came down from her high, enjoying her taste upon my tongue.

Once her breathing started to return to normal, I gently turned her in my hand and kissed her several times on the chest and thighs, before laying her down on my stomach and idly caressing her back with my thumb, the rest of my hand covering her lower half like a blanket. Elsewhere in the room, I wasn’t sure, but thought I heard very faint moaning and grunting. For a fleeting moment I’d forgotten there were five of us here in this bedroom. I continued to caress Melanie’s back for several minutes with my thumb until she dozed off, then I carefully slid her off my stomach and back onto the pillow, where I tucked her in and let her sleep. As I lay her down, I saw Maria looking at me from across the pillow, a knowing grin on her face. I put my finger to my lips to shush her, though it was hard to hide my own grin.

As I lay back my mind drifted to just a few weeks ago, how my life was so quiet and mostly uneventful back then. I remembered they day I got that frantic call from Melanie, how I was just lounging in the sun with a beer and a good book. I could never have foreseen that in a matter of weeks, how quickly my life had been turned upside down. Right now there are four beautiful women in my room, and all of them are depending on me for everything – not just meals, shelter, clothes, but in a bigger sense, their own survival. They were depending on me to stop a well-funded criminal organization, sparing the lives of who knows how many future victims, stop an explosion and potential mass murder, reunite two of them with their father/husband while saving his life from said explosion, and all the while, make a scientific discovery, achieve something that had never been done before in human history, in order to restore them to normal. Just thinking of the work ahead was exhausting, and soon I drifted off to sleep.

Rocket
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Melanie's Story Part 37 - Setting the Stage

Post by Rocket » Mon Jan 02, 2023 8:56 pm

In the morning, I managed to wake up before the women did, I supposed they’d had a harrowing day as well – and Cindy and Becky probably hadn’t slept in a real bed for some time. So I quietly got moving, starting the coffee and enjoying a few minutes by myself to wash and brush and shave. I made it back to the kitchen and sat to check my phone and wait for the coffee, when I looked over and saw Cindy padding down the hallway in my direction. I met her partway, getting down on my knees so she wouldn’t have to strain her neck so much.

I said, “Good morning. I’ll have coffee ready soon if you want some.”

Her eyes got wide. “Coffee? Umm … I’d love that. But … can you help me with … umm … “

I figured out what she meant pretty quickly. I held my hand out next to her. “May I?”

She nodded and let me pick her up. I held her in my hand as I slowly got up – trying not to spook her, I always wondered what it felt like going up that quickly but my mind kinda likened it to a roller coaster, and I’m not sure I’d be into that first thing in the morning. Standing, I gazed at her in my hand. She was a little disheveled, not surprising as she just woke. She’d slept in the wash cloth that she wrapped around her shoulders like a bath robe, though the string of yarn had fallen away at some point, and she’d just used her hands to wrap herself tightly in it like a little package. It was cute, at least I thought so. I carried her to the bathroom and set her down gently next to the sink.

“Do you need anything? If not, I’ll close the door and give you some privacy, I can check back in a few minutes.”

She looked around, a little unsure. I decided to give her a quick orientation. I pointed out the travel soap, the stack of TP squares, additional hand towels, the clothes – there were a couple more pullover smocks (I was lucky I’d made several – I had no idea we’d go through them this fast!) and the regular outfits (several wrap-around skirts with velcro closures, some pull-over shirts and some blouses with little snaps … or big snaps for her, I supposed – to her the snaps were about the size of half dollars) - at least some choices for her. Maria had done well. Though I was definitely doing some laundry today. And maybe stopping to get more doll-sized clothes if Maria coughed up where she shopped at.

I waited for her to get herself situated. She nodded to me and then I stepped out, closing the door behind me. I went to wash out the cups and plates and utensils by hand – I had barely enough now with four tiny mouths to feed – and then poured myself a coffee. Once I had a few sips, I headed back to the bathroom and tapped on the door, to see if Cindy needed any help.

She called “Okay” and I slowly opened the door. Huh. She’d managed to get cleaned up and dressed. She’d picked out one of the velcro skirts and a pull-over. She looked up at me, a little grin on her face. “How do I look?”

I said, “You look great. So you found some clothes? I … know they’re not a perfect fit, and we don’t have shoes, but … “

“Oh, no, these are great! I haven’t worn clothes in … wow, a month or two? I almost forgot what it felt like. This is great.”

I smiled. It was nice to see her in a good mood, less than a day after her rescue. “Tell you what, do you want to come to the kitchen, I’ll get you some coffee? I was just about to go check on the others.”

She gave me a bigger grin. “That would be SO awesome. Thank you.”

Reaching out my hand again, I asked, “May I?”

She snorted. “You can probably stop asking at this point. I need you to take me everywhere, I suppose.”

I said, “I usually ask. Or Melanie gives me a signal. Though I’ve kinda figured out what she wants just from her body language. Usually.”

At that I scooped up Cindy and carried her to the kitchen, setting her down on the counter, where we still had a little sofa she could lounge on, and I filled a little thimble cup with coffee for her. She took it eagerly with two hands and took a small sip, then sat back and inhaled the aroma.

“I’ll be back, let me go check on the others, then I’ll start making breakfast. We have a big day ahead.”

--------------------------------

My other three charges were all stirring by the time I got back to the bedroom. I gathered them up and brought them to the bathroom, gave them time to clean up and change while I started breakfast, then returned to collect them. I surprised them by bringing the basket back, but this time with a notch cut out of one side. Don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier, it only took a minute but gave them a doorway to step into and out of the basket without climbing over a side that was nearly chest height for them. The edges were a little rough still, I’d have to fix that later. I brought them back to the kitchen and set the basket on the table. As they piled out, I doled out coffees for each of them.

Turning to Cindy, still lounging in the little sofa on the counter, I asked, “Would the lady like to join the others for breakfast?”

She snorted. “Why, I would love to.”

“Your chariot awaits.” I held out my hand. She stood up and I carried her carefully, set her down next to the others, and then refilled her coffee cup.

The others were looking at our little show, perhaps surprised that Cindy and I were getting along so well. Becky put her hands on her hips. “How long have you been up?”

“Oh, a little while.” She grinned. “And the coffee isn’t half bad.”

“Are you ladies ready for breakfast? I’ve got scrambled eggs. Anyone want cheese on theirs?” I took orders, doling out one tiny plate without cheese and then mixing cheese in the rest to melt it in the skillet before divvying up the rest.

As they ate, I asked, “So Cindy, what are some ways I can reach Andrew? I plan to contact him this morning. I just have to be careful, it’s likely he’s being tailed, and it’s possible they’ve tapped his phone or phones. I imagine even though they’ve had the two of you as hostages to ensure his compliance, they’re probably trying to make sure he’s not in contact with someone – a detective, or someone at the FBI for example – to try to find you. I’m pretty sure there’s a reason you’ve been held captive for so long without a rescue.” Becky looked at me and frowned, but didn’t interject.

“Remember, we’ve been outside of that loop. They don’t know about me and they don’t know where Melanie or Maria are. At the moment we’re a step ahead of them. But we have limited time before they discover you two actually escaped. Now … I do think it’s better we found you and got you out of there when we did, but it does mean our timeline is moved up. Sometime soon, if not today than tomorrow, they’re going to figure out you’re not just hiding somewhere in the bunker. Then they’ll all be on high alert. We need to take action before that happens. We need to catch them by surprise.”

“So here’s the deal. This morning I’ll reach out to Andrew and set up a meeting. You guys need to stay here for your own safety. Cindy, think about, is there some code or some secret that he would know. I can’t just say, call him from here and say let’s meet in the parking lot. Whoever’s tracking him would probably be onto us quickly – and might be able to trace the phone back to me, which puts all of you in danger.”

---------------------------

I was going to be gone a little while, leaving the four of them here at the house by themselves. I’d left Melanie alone a few times – usually just a quick trip to the store – and even then I’d taken precautions, making sure she didn’t need food, drink, bathroom, etc before I left and then taking her wherever she wanted to be for a little while – often her desk unless she wanted to take a nap. What was I to do with four of them? Though, if I got ahold of this guy, he’d want to – need to – talk to his wife and daughter. And without that, he’d be too suspicious of me to do what I needed him to. I figured the safest way for him to talk to them would be video chat over my phone. I couldn’t take a chance that someone would trace his phone back to here … or for that matter, that they could trace a call from his phone back to me and then put me on their radar. Either way would put the girls in danger.

So as I mapped out the plan in my head, at the same time I kept my hands busy with an accommodation that I’d been planning for a while and just put off. For almost two weeks I’d been promising Melanie I’d build her an elevator. I already had the parts. Nothing fancy, mind you, basically a little gondola made from a wire mesh pencil cup, eyehooks looped through the mesh to glide it along a piece of metal shower rod, and some simple counterweights, enough to allow Melanie to pull the cup up or down the rod without too much effort. It took me a couple hours that morning, but I set one up – probably the most important one - fastened to the bathroom wall next to the sink, giving them a way to reach the sink on their own when I’m away.

After I completed my install, I called all four of them over to show them how to use the new ‘elevator.’ Watching them try it out was a little entertaining all in itself. I watched as Melanie walked past my foot and climbed in, then slowly pulled herself up, past my knee, and then up even with the sink – and my waist. She climbed out of the ‘gondola’ and then urged the others to try it.

Once I was sure they all had the hang of using the little ‘elevator’ and could access the bathroom sink, I went back to my computer and worked on a text message to Andrew. I couldn’t chance it coming directly from my phone – if his lines were tapped, it wouldn’t be hard to Google my phone number and get a name and possibly an address. Instantly putting us on their radar and putting the girls in danger. No, I wasn’t taking a chance. I went off the laptop, using a secure routine to mask the caller ID, making it look like the text came from somewhere in his own building. At least that was my best guess. I made up a number from the same exchange as the one on their company website.

I texted cryptically. I certainly couldn’t say who I was or that I had his wife and daughter with me. But based on Cindy’s advice, I texted asking him to meet me for lunch at the place and time he and his wife met for their third date. Apparently it was a lunch date at a food truck two blocks from the office. Huh. I wonder if Cindy used to work at the lab, or maybe some business nearby. She said she was sure he’d remember it. Either way it would work well for what we needed.

Of course as expected, the instant response was [Who the hell is this?]

I texted back, [Just come meet me alone please, you’ll want to hear what I have to say] and I left if at that, hoping it was enough to pique his interest. I’d have preferred to be even more generic than that, but I needed him to come and talk to me and time was short.

I checked the clock. It was already just past 11. They’d met at 1230, if Cindy was correct, and I had no reason to believe she wasn’t. I had a stop to make on the way, so I had to get going. I apologized for the rush and asked the girls to come on to the office for a minute. I set up my laptop on the floor, tilted down a bit so that all four could get in the picture easily. I explained that I’d be meeting with Andrew, and wanted them all near the web cam between 1230 and 1. And not to worry if I didn’t call them right that minute; I WAS going to call and give them – possibly all of them - a chance to talk to him. After all, Melanie and Maria both worked there – Maria literally as recently as Friday, technically today was her first day not showing up for work. Their input would be valuable as well. I didn’t know how much Becky or Cindy knew of the company, but they were his family and needed to talk to him for that reason alone. To let him know they were alive and safe – for the moment. I heated up some nuggets and fries, cutting them up into smaller pieces and apologizing for the haphazard lunch, as I placed everything on a single small plate on the floor just out of the aim of the web cam. I poured extra thimble cups of water and coffee and then gave both Melanie and Maria a quick kiss on the top of the head before I buzzed out.

On the way I ran by a convenience store, picking up a pay-as-you-go phone and paying in cash, registering the number with the name and address of Melanie’s brother as it was the first thing that came to mind. If nothing else, on the off chance that the people tailing him traced that phone it would lead them to a dead-end. New cheap phone in hand, I saved the number on my own phone, then called it to make sure it worked and to save my number in this phone. I used Becky’s birthday as the lock pin, figuring he’d know that easily enough. Okay, now to meet Andrew and try to get him on board with this plan without him screaming and calling the cops, or worse, giving us away to the very criminals we were trying to take down.

I drove to the corner, saw the food truck, drove past it, and parked a couple blocks away. I took a couple deep breaths and got out and walked over. I went ahead and ordered a hot dog and coffee, stood nearby to eat and collect the thoughts in my head, and waited. I knew what Andrew looked like, there was a picture on the company website. I guessed around fifty. Tall and just a little heavy set, dark brown hair – same color as Becky’s, just less of it, with a hint of gray - and I could see a little of Becky in his facial features. So as I ate I watched for someone meeting his description. I didn’t have to wait too long. He came up and walked right past me, stood in line at the cart, but kept looking around nervously, as if someone was going to walk up and shove him into a black van and peel off. Having finished my hot dog, I pretended to be on my phone, using the screen as a mirror to see if anyone behind or to the side looked suspicious. Given he came from that direction behind me, I suspected any ‘tail’ he had would also be coming that way. I didn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean much, if they had a professional tailing him they probably knew how to stay hidden – and I wasn’t exactly a secret agent myself. Everything I knew is what I picked up watching action movies. So … not much.

Which made my next move tricky. I’d seen it done in the movies but those people always make it look easy. I walked past him, pretended to bump him accidentally, and then dropped the new phone in his pocket as I passed. I stepped around the corner first, gave it a minute, and then dialed the number. Peeking around the corner, I could see his eyes lit up as he realized something in his pocket was buzzing. He picked it up with a scowl on his face, glanced both ways, and then pressed the green button on the display.

“Who is this?” he growled.

“Mr. Caulfield. Listen. I have to speak with you, but there may be someone following you. Once you order, head to the park one block over to the left and find a bench, I’ll meet you there. Please.”

“And just why should I listen to you?”

“I am trying to help save your wife and daughter. And my own girlfriend also. I know what’s going on at Level 7. Please just come to the park, find a bench, I’ll meet you there.”

At that I hung up. And hoped he would cooperate. I started heading to the park myself, purposely not looking that direction. It was a small area, being that the lab was on the outskirts of downtown. Just a portion of a city block – trees, paths and benches surrounded by buildings on two sides – but hopefully it would be enough privacy. I didn’t want whoever was tailing Andrew to catch my face. That in itself wouldn’t be much for them go go on, but if they took a picture and showed it to those goons I’d rescued the girls from on Level 7, they may recognize me. And that again would put me on their radar. No, we needed to be off the radar for another day or so … and maybe a few more days in order to weed out the rest of the organization.

I found a tree and leaned against the trunk, looking like I was just hanging out browsing my phone. Out of the corner of my eye a few minutes later, I saw Andrew strolling along, half a sandwich in one hand. He came to the edge of the park, looked around for a minute and then walked over to an empty bench. I looked around myself, to see if someone was trailing him … and … was that … possibly … yeah. I saw someone stroll over and stand on the sidewalk just beyond the bushes, acting as if he was waiting for someone, but occasionally taking a peek around a line of bushes that marked an intermittent perimeter around of the park. I gauged that the park bench, luckily, was turned so that Andrew was facing into the park, rather than towards the sidewalk. If I sat there I had an idea which direction to avoid giving the tail a good view of me.

Taking a calming breath, I strolled over and sat down on the opposite end of the bench.
The moment I sat down, Andrew looked at me and growled, “What do you want?”

I said, calmly and quietly, “Look away for now, I’ll fill you in. I’m sure you know some of this already, but bear with me. The research going on at Level 7 is key to a criminal enterprise. These are bad people, as you know. My girlfriend Melanie worked on Level 7 and then … got caught up in the scheme. I helped her escape. She and I have been investigating the whole enterprise.”

He looked at me out of the corner of my eye, his face incredulous. I had to remember, he didn’t know me from Adam and had no reason to trust me. Yet. And what I was going to spring on him next, might set him off.

“Yesterday we were investigating an estate north of here, where they appear to be building a second machine. In escaping that place we found your wife and daughter.”

He growled and glared at me. “Who the fuck … “

“Please just hear me out. We rescued them last night. At the moment these criminals don’t know they’re gone, but they’ll probably figure it out soon. That’s why we don’t have much time.”

He barked at me, “Where are they?” I cringed for a moment, he was getting loud and this was going to attract attention.

“Give me a second and you can speak to them.” I pulled out my phone and started a video call. Hopefully seeing and talking to them would calm him down, I was already worried whoever was tailing him heard that and would be coming closer and get a look at me. The girls picked up pretty quickly, given they were all standing on the floor in front of the laptop and had to use their palms to push the keys or move the mouse. Though Maria had gotten pretty adept at that with all the practice she had yesterday.

I saw Melanie’s face close to the camera first, and then she stepped back and the others came into view. All four stood within the camera field. “About time!” she said.

“Sorry. I’m going to put Andrew on in a sec. Are you guys ready?”

I turned to Andrew and said, “Here, I have them on video right now. They’re anxious to speak with you. Just keep your voice down, please.” I slid the phone across the bench. He glanced at it for a moment, huffed and then picked it up.

“Who is this?” he grumbled. Geez, could the guy not see his own wife and daughter on the screen?

“Dad! It’s me, Becky!”

He gasped, but then looked at me with narrowed eyes for a second before looking back to the phone. “What the … “

Cindy chimed in, “Honey, it’s me. He’s telling the truth. Just take a breath and calm down. You’ll get your blood pressure up.”

That did it, I could see the realization in his face. Was he thinking this was a trick? “What’s going on? Are you okay? What … did they do to you? Did this guy do anything to you?”

“Honey, no. He and Melanie here came and rescued us last night. It was horrible down there, believe me you do NOT want to know. Those people are sick bastards and they want to do this to a lot more people. They have to be stopped. I’ve … only known Melanie since yesterday, but I do trust her. These people have helped us, gave us food and clothes, and I really think they can help.”

Melanie stepped in. “Hi Mr. Caulfield, I don’t know if you remember me, but I used to work on Level 3. About two months ago I was assigned to Level 7 for a week and that’s when they did … THIS to me. Then they apparently EXPERIMENTED on me … for several days … and then put me ... somewhere bad where I was abused for a MONTH, before … my boyfriend rescued me. Now .. THIS” she grabbed Maria’s hand and pulled her closer, “is my best friend Maria. She worked on Level 2 until just last week, when they subdued her and shrunk her. Which … is why she … couldn’t show up for work today. Then my boyfriend rescued BOTH of us. Now the 3 of us are trying to get to the bottom of this and put a stop to it, before they victimize anyone else.”

Andrew’s jaw about hit the seat for a moment as he listened to the whole story. “But … but … “ and he heaved a big sigh. “Bob promised he’d release them and … FIX this … once he was done with his work. I only played along because he promised nothing would happen if I cooperated … “

Becky jumped in, “DAD! Get real! A LOT happened to me .. to both of us .. I guess to ALL of us … I … can’t even talk about it. It was horrible. But you really think they were just going to let us go after all that, much less return us to normal?”

Melanie jumped back in, “They don’t even know HOW. They never worked on that. WORSE, that Bob is just a pawn in this, he’s not in charge. He’s a criminal just like the rest, but there are people more powerful than him running all this. They have to be stopped.”

I could see Andrew just shaking his head.

Melanie continued, “And, my boyfriend IS working on how to reverse this.” At that, Andrew turned and looked at me again, eyes narrowed and scrutinizing.

Becky stepped into the camera again. “Dad, listen to them. Okay? All of them. They’re really nice. And I believe them. Some of the things Melanie’s saying, I’ve heard that Bob and the other goon say too. They never planned to let us go. If not for them we’d still be in a CAGE.” She huffed. “Can you just trust someone for once?”

He looked at me again and raised his eyebrows this time. I said, “Look. We’re trying to get to the bottom of this. I’m a scientist myself. I understand what they stumbled onto. There was a meteorite.” At that his eyebrows shot up higher. “There was an extremely rare element they extracted, that’s the critical component they’re using to diffract the laser. It basically fell into their lap. I’m already working on a way to reverse this, but I will need access to what’s on Level 7 to finish this. Just not yet. Listen to me, Melanie overheard last night that they’re almost ready with their second machine. From what she gathered, RIGHT NOW they’re packing up their notes, wiping the servers and taking the element with them. They also may be setting a trap. Rigging the machine to explode if someone turns it on. So for right now – soon as you know they’ve left – please – lock down Level 7 and don’t let anyone in that lab. I have an idea what they’re doing and I can figure out how to dismantle it, but not until they’re in custody.”

His eyes got wide at that. I continued, “Now that your wife and daughter are safe – and I’m trying my best to keep them safe – I need to talk to the police. Do you have someone you trust that I can talk to? As much as these people have invested in this, I can’t imagine they don’t have someone on the payroll. I can’t take a chance meeting with just anyone and put the ladies in danger. They acquired an estate north of the city, with armed guards, cameras and 10 foot walls around the perimeter. So we’ll need like a swat team or something and we need to time it when the key people are in one place.”

This time he grumbled, but pulled out his own phone and started looking up numbers. I added, “Be careful, they might be tracing your calls. If you have to reach me, use this other phone. The pass code is Becky’s birthdate and my number is already on there.” He grunted but pulled up a name and number from his address book and showed me, so I could quickly add them to my phone. “You trust this guy?”

He grunted again. “Yeah. He’s my first wife’s brother. He’s a sergeant in the 7th precinct. You can trust him.”

I said, “Thank you. I’ve got to get going.” I took my phone back and said “Thank you guys, I’ll head back soon” and closed out the call. “Now be careful, I know you’ve got a tail, he’s hiding behind the bushes over there. That’s why I went through all this to meet with you. Try to act normal once you go.”

He nodded and got up to go. I waited a moment and then got up myself. As I did, I could see a shadow out of the corner of my eye. Shit. The guy must have seen us talking. I paused a moment and then started walking the other direction, towards the other cross street. I walked casually, as if I hadn’t seen him, but purposely walked towards where the park ended at the side of a building. As I walked, I watched my reflection in the glass. Sure enough, someone was walking in my direction, the same guy I thought I saw behind the bushes. At least the same clothes. The guy was probably good at stealth, but a wall of glass would make it hard to conceal someone. He was probably 8 or 9 paces back, trying to look casual. He had a jacket partially zipped, which was odd for as warm as it was on this a late spring day. I wondered if the guy carried a gun under there. I shouldn’t be surprised. Those guards at the mansion were armed.

As soon as I got to the edge of the park and turned onto the sidewalk, I ran. I could hear footsteps behind me on the pavement as I bolted to the end of the block and then darted left around the far corner of the building. I ducked into the first alcove I could find and clung to the wall as tight as I could. I heard the footsteps going past, to the corner, and then stop. Damn, he was suspicious. I held my breath for a moment and listened. No footsteps, but that didn’t mean much, the guy was probably good at sneaking around. I sucked in my gut and remained glued to the wall in this little inset along the side of the building. As soon as I saw a foot that looked like his, I jumped out and bolted past him, running back into the park, and towards the other cross street. The guy took off after me, remaining close behind as I ran as hard as I could, down the block and around the next corner and down an alley.

Once in the alley – what was I thinking? - I quickly looked around for someplace to go. There wasn’t time to stop and consider my options, nor to double back. I ran for a fire escape, jumping on top of a dumpster (damn, I could make a decent leap when I was running full steam, who knew) and reaching for the bottom rung of the ladder. I swung on that for a second and it began to slide down. I scrambled up it as fast as I could and flew up the stairs, my pursuer right on my tail. I could hear him on the ladder, the metal rungs clanging under his boots as he gave up any stealth. This was an apartment building, but I wasn’t sure the doors on any levels would open and I didn’t have time to stop and fiddle with one of the doors, a few seconds was all it would take for this guy to catch up to me. I continued up to the top, where there was a short ladder to the roof. Climbing that two rungs at a time, I hoisted myself up and over the bricks and onto the roof, rolling in the gravel as I got to my knees and then pushed myself back up. I ran for the far end, where there was a small structure with a door. I yanked on the door, just as I caught him jumping over the brick wall. At first it didn’t move, but then a second heave and it popped open. I ran inside and flew down the stairs, as quickly as I could, sailing down three flights and then flinging a door open. I listened as my pursuer came through the roof door into the stairwell and pushed the door again, banging it against the wall. I wanted to make sure he heard it. Then I went down to the next landing as quietly as I could, hoping he would think I exited there. I stood up against the landing wall, silently, as I heard the footsteps heading down from above. This was a gamble, I knew. If he didn’t fall for the ruse, I was giving up my lead. But I knew I couldn’t keep this up forever – and for all I knew, this guy was probably in better shape than me, and he could be armed.

The footsteps stopped at the landing just above me and I heard the squeak of the door. As it closed, I debated where to go. I quietly but quickly crept back up, thinking if he didn’t see me there he’d continue down. I went up to that landing, my back hunched so he wouldn’t see me through the small window, and continued up to the next landing up. A few moments later the door opened again, and he came back out, huffing, and looked down first, then up – and saw me. On impulse I ran at him, grabbed the handrail with both hands, and kicked him with both feet, sending him tumbling down to the next level where he momentarily stopped moving.

My heart was pounding and I was breathing heavily, but I took a chance and crept down to look at the body. He was still breathing, but looked like he was going to have a pretty nasty lump on his head soon. I found a gun under his jacket and dumped the bullets out of the chamber, then reached for his wallet and took a quick look, snapping a picture of his license before putting it back. I could look into that later. As I stepped away, I thought about his phone – doubting I could get into it, but if I took it away it would take him much longer to report back in. So I grabbed it headed back up to the roof. With all the commotion here in the stairwell, I was surprised no tenants had come looking to see what the noise was, but I didn’t want to be seen walking out the front door right after. I walked back up to the roof, calmly this time, trying to minimize the sound. I dropped the phone on the roof and then climbed over the wall to an adjoining building, visions of our escape from Level 7 coming back to me as I climbed across one more wall to a third building, which had a rooftop party deck. I calmly strolled over to the entrance on the other side and rode the building elevator down, exiting through the lobby level, and headed back to my car. All the while, I thought about the guy who was chasing me, whether he’d gotten a good enough look at me to make any connections, as well as how long it might take him to report in. Even if they couldn’t quickly trace anything back to me directly, they could go after Andrew and keep closer tabs on him – meaning I had to keep the girls away from him a little longer, for their own safety.

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Re: Melanie's Story (with table of contents)

Post by Rusco57 » Mon Jan 09, 2023 9:41 am

WOW!!
What a story!! I love the sex parts, Melonie sounds so cool but I felt Maria is missing out....
Makes me wonder if something happens to Andrew, will the other two opt to stay also?
This is really a great action story.
Great work @Rocket, I'm going to be anxiously waiting for your next chapter.

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Re: Melanie's Story (with table of contents)

Post by Rocket » Fri Jan 13, 2023 10:00 pm

Thanks, you're very kind! Have more chapters coming soon. This is approaching my longest work to-date and I've wondered about cleaning it up and publishing as a novel, though I'm not sure how big the market is and I'm not sure if maybe I should tone down some of the sex scenes (some are pretty graphic) to appeal to a wider audience.

I'm open to thoughts and advice!
Last edited by Rocket on Mon Feb 26, 2024 2:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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