Chapter 61: Renee's Confession

Outside my apartment, two white utility vans were parked with their backs toward my front door. Vikkor or at least some of her women were probably inside with at least Chloe, Carrie and Tanya, and possibly several others.

I had two choices, rush them and take down everyone in sight, hoping to put everyone asleep before anyone could react, or just walk in and try to talk the girls out of the situation. The last couple of times I tried rushing groups with guns, shots were still fired before I could take the assailants down. If they held my girls at gunpoint, then they would be just as dead. I couldn't chance that. Slow and easy would be it.

I walked up to the door and entered as if nothing in the world were wrong. A gun was put to my head as soon as I was inside. That distinct feel of the barrel pressing to my temple had my undivided attention. I stood stock still.

"Please, Ral, do come in." Vikkor sounded happy, but I couldn't see her face to be sure.

I stepped forward enough to push the door closed, and then turned to face the room. The tall blonde holding the gun to my head stayed back at arm's length. She didn't reach out to touch me or anything else. Her job was to keep the gun to my temple at all times. If I twitched wrong, it would be over.

I looked around with only my eyes. Renée was next to Vikkor, but I didn't see a gun. Mandy, Erin, Nadia, Chloe, Carrie and Tanya were all kneeling on the floor in the living room with their hands on their heads. Two more women with handguns were standing behind them. Vikkor was holding all the Aces and I was stuck with only a pair of fives. It was time to bluff.

"Honestly, I should just have all of you shot and leave. The feds would never find me." Vikkor started. It was one hell of an opening bet.

"Actually, they've already found the girls at the facility. Those girls are bound to tell them plenty about your vans and might even remember the license plates." That wasn't a bluff.

"That might be possible, but what makes you think the agents will continue to look for me?"

"For one thing, you don't know all of their names." I was gambling that as soon as she saw those two, she scampered. As far as she knew there would be dozens of agents already looking for her.

Vikkor wasn't smiling. My ruse may have worked. "So be it. I will leave your bodies here to be found. I can leave the country if need be. It won't matter." I heard the hammer of the gun next to my head being pulled back.

"Before we leave, before you die, there is one last heartbreaking bit of information you should know."

My heart was hammering in my chest. My adrenaline pumping and Vikkor's words slowed. She looked down at Renée. "Tell him my dear."

Renée shook her head and Vikkor pulled on her hair. Renée winced but still wouldn't speak.

"That's okay. I thought you might refuse." Vikkor pulled an open laptop on the dining table to her. After a few key strokes and hitting enter, "Now, tell him."

Renée just spoke. Her eyes wide as her mouth spilled some unknown tale. "I told you the truth before Ral, but it wasn't my Mom that gave me the program, it was Vikkor. She came to the U.S. as a foreign exchange student to attend at my high school during our senior year. My family was chosen to host her while she stayed."

"Keep going," Vikkor commanded when Renée stopped.

Renée looked up but her mouth continued, "I met Vikkor in high school, like I said. Her real name is Victoria Lasarge. I was an only child and I thought it almost like having a sister. It was fun at first. We talked and studied together. She was so smart. She could read something once and remember it verbatim. I always thought she had a photographic memory. She helped me study and we became friends really quickly."

"Tell him about Homecoming," Vikkor said.

Renée's face screwed up, like she didn't understand why. "Just before Homecoming weekend she was asked to the school dance by a few guys. She would ask them if they had someone I could go with and the answer was always no. I told you I was heavy. That was true and the no dating thing was too. Well, it was true with guys, but she was my friend. She stood up for me. If a guy asked her out and didn't have a date for me too, then she would turn them down. I tried to convince her that it was okay, but she told me it wasn't."

"She and I ended up going together. I didn't think anything of it. Just a girls night out like I've done with Erin and Nadia, but she actually convinced me to dance with her. It wasn't close or intimate or anything, and even though I was somewhat bashful about it, she wasn't."

"She just told me, "Let them watch. They'll see what a marvelous dancer you are and be asking you to dance next."

"So I danced with her. No one else asked me to dance, but the night went by so fast. Before I knew it they were playing the last song of the night. I'm sure you know the kind; it's always a slow number. I just let her guide me across the floor and hold me as we moved to the music. I didn't even realize we were slow dancing together until she kissed my cheek."

"It was weird because it was my first kiss and I thought it was just a French thing. You know, just like you see on the British shows with a kiss on each cheek in greetings. But this wasn't a quick peck. Her lips lingered there and something in me just gave in. I let her kiss my lips and then the lights of the room came up and I pulled away. It was like I pulled out of a wonderful dream and all I could see was Victoria smiling at me. I could have sworn it was some kind of secretive smile, but she quickly changed her eyes and she had her usual jovial look again."

Renée stopped again. Vikkor's command had been fulfilled, but she wanted more. "Keep going. Tell him about the rest of your senior year."

Renée rolled her eyes. I didn't know what this was supposed to be about but none of us were in a position to do anything.

"I don't remember much about that weekend, but the rumors floating around the school the following week were pretty horrible. All the times I wanted guys to notice me and suddenly they did. Everyone would look at me funny and I didn't know what was going on. In the girls bathroom I overheard several of the cheerleaders talking and my name came up. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but they were talking about me. Turns out most of the school thought I was a lesbian, and Victoria was my secret lover. It was rumored that it was perfect for me because she lived right across the hall from me. I ended up going home early that day. I was so sick from what I heard that I threw up during English."

"That night Victoria asked what was wrong and I told her what I heard. She got upset too but not like I did. She got mad. The weird part was she wasn't mad about them thinking her to be my lover, but the fact that I had been there for so long asking boys out and one dance with another girl and they automatically assumed I was gay. She tried to cheer me up by talking about showing them. She got me to even joke with her about what their faces would look like if we were to stroll down the halls hand in hand. One thing I had learned from her was that in Europe, girls will walk hand in hand, especially when alone. It's a defensive thing. She pretty much had me convinced that it would be a great prank to pull."

"Well, the next day we did just that. I didn't think I could hold my laughter for so long. I wanted to scream at them and roll on the floor because everyone had these big silly 'I can't believe it' eyes. It was so much fun. That night though, it dawned on me that I didn't have any way to prove I wasn't lesbian, but for some reason it didn't bother me."

"We kept up the ruse for a couple more weeks and the shock value wore off, but it became so natural that I was reaching for her hand without realizing it."

Renée stopped; I think to catch her breath. Vikkor didn't want her to stop though. "Please Renée, do continue. I am enjoying the reminiscence and the look on Ral's face."

Renée looked at me and for a second, she saw the confusion I felt. Then her tale continued, "Victoria was using Master PC on me. She was turning me toward lesbian tendencies with her as the focus. She always had the laptop and I always thought she used it for school. By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, I had sex for my first time with her. She used the program to help me. I've never faulted her for her compassion. She helped me with my weight and set up my first filter for everyone who knew me to accept my changes. My parents were happy because they thought it was all happening naturally, with exercise and diet. She and I were the only ones who knew the truth."