her finger to her lips, and beckoned him to follow her. When they were
standing in the hall, she closed the door softly, shaking her head
slowly. She held up the note for Jason to read.
“Let Her Sleep.
That’s An Order.
-Dodds.”
Jason looked back at Flora, amazement on his face. While he rocked the
tip of the dagger out of the door, he stage-whispered to Flora, “I can’t
believe the balls on this guy! That cheeky, arrogant, supercilious son
of a-” Jason shushed as Flora held a finger to his lips.
“Seriously though,” he continued, more calmly, “do you think she’s
alright?”
“I think she’s alright. Dodds has been here before you know. For
goodness sake, I _belonged_ to him, before I met Mandy. He may be weird,
but he’d never hurt one of us, and in his own way… he’s wonderful.”
She sighed, then snickered quietly. As they walked quietly away from
Mandy’s door, she added, “Although Mandy may kill him when she sees that
scratch in her precious mahogany door.”
For some reason, this struck them as insanely funny, and they smothered
their giggles as they stumbled into Jason’s room. Jason was giddy with
fatigue poisons, and fell laughing, onto the bed.
“Ohh, god!” he said softly, “a nice, soft bed, that doesn’t move…”
“I’m hungry,” announced Flora abruptly, “let’s go have breakfast.
I’m always starved after sex.”
Jason stared at her as if she had just invited him to a Moral Majority
rally. “Are you nuts?” he asked, not moving, “I’m not going anywhere.
I just wanna sleep… so tired.” He ended with mumbling.
“Alright love,” Flora soothed, “you just lie there and rest. Flora’s
going to make everything all right. There, there, sleepy head.” She
pulled the covers over him as she spoke, tucking him in like a child,
cooing all the while. He was asleep before she turned out the lights.
-=*=-
Jason awoke in bed, once again between soft, warm sheets. To his
amazement, they were soft flannel sheets, not rubber. He lay still a
moment while his head finished waking up, listening to the tiny sounds
made by the house as it settled on it’s foundations, by the wind outside,
and by his own breathing.
He had no idea what time it was, or even what day. He glanced around
the room, looking for a clock, but found none. Only then did he realize
that his room had no window. It hadn’t occurred to him before now how
unusual it was to find a bedroom without a window. But then, he told
himself, some of Mandy’s activities are a little strange – perhaps she
had them bricked up for privacy.
Mandy! He suddenly remembered the events of the past few days and the
predicament they had been left in, especially Mandy. When he had last
seen her, she had been imprisoned in a diabolical vibrating rubber
bodysuit, and embedded beneath more layers of rubber, on a tilting
table… Mr. Dodds! Was he still about? He felt panicky for a moment.
He couldn’t remember the last several hours.
Then it came back to him. Flora’s release, then his, their discovery
of Mandy safely sleeping in her room…
Well, I’m awake now, he thought. Might as well check on Mandy. He
swung out of bed and padded carefully to the door, where he stopped
again, in wonderment. He fingered his pajamas. He hadn’t been wearing
…End of the part81. To be continued..