Chapter 24

Saturday morning I woke up with bruises on my ass from where Beck had kicked me and my side still felt tender. I was planning on taking it easy today, but I hadn’t figured out what everyone else had planned. I was laying awake, looking at my girls when Lana stirred and raised her head to look at me with a sleepy smile.

“Hi,” I breathed, leaning down to kiss her gently. “How do you feel today?”

She shifted, waking up more and getting a sense of how her body was reacting to last night. “Sore. It feels like you drove a truck up there.” She giggled a little. “I don’t know if I can walk today. It kind of feels like my legs should be closer together. But it was SOOO good. Better than my best fantasies.”

“Oh?” I said, arching an eyebrow questioningly. “What sorts of fantasies?” I asked, deeply interested in her answer.

She shrugged in the dark. “A girl has to have SOME secrets,” she pointed out.

“Do I at least get to know how long you’ve been thinking about this?” I probed gently, wondering how long she and I had been watching each other.

“A couple of years now,” she admitted. “Ever since I figured out who my Secret Admirer was.”

“You knew?!” I whispered, surprised. I could feel my cheeks heat in embarrassment.

“Yes,” she confirmed and leaned in to kiss me. “You left footprints in the fresh snow last year. This year, I got up to watch you leave the present. I was tempted to be at the door to interrupt you before you could run away, but I thought it would just scare you away.”

I chuckled softly, not wanting to wake Beck until she was ready. I glanced at her and then at Lana. “You’re probably right. When did you two decide to do that with each other?” I asked. It was a question I’d wanted to ask last night, but it was something for our ears only.

“We talked about it after we knew last night was going to be all of our first times,” she said softly.

She didn’t seem shy about it and that made me feel good. “It was hot as Hell,” I told her softly. “I wasn’t sure if going there together was something you were comfortable with because you’re sisters, but I was so turned on at that point, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’m glad we all did it together like that.”

She grinned her dazzling smile and it was a brand new one I’d never seen before. This one was a smile of pride at doing a good job. “Good. We’ll make sure you get a chance to see that again then,” she promised. “Maybe not today though.”

We both laughed a little more loudly at that and Beck woke up and joined the conversation reluctantly. “More sleep,” she protested, trying to convince us to go back to bed.

“Nope,” I said firmly. “It’s almost 11:00. We’ve been in bed long enough. They let us sleep right through breakfast and we don’t want to miss lunch.”

She grumbled, but she shifted over and turned on the lamp making us all blink. There was usually enough light in the room from the clock and electronics to make out a little, but the light was still a shock.

We skipped a shower and just got dressed to face the day. “What’s our plan for the day?” I asked as I pulled on socks. I was recovered and feeling like doing something. Even my side felt better this morning.

“Canobie Lake Park is only half an hour away,” Lana suggested. “It’s in Salem, New Hampshire. We should check it out. I was there last year with Marlene and her folks. There’s a water park and rides and games and all kinds of things to do.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said. “Let’s see what everyone else has to say though. We might be in for a fun-filled day of household chores.”

That got some groans, but we’d been allowed to skate pretty much without lifting a finger for most of the summer.

We went upstairs and looked for Mom, but she was nowhere to be found. Her car was home, so we figured she was next door. Lilly’s bike was gone, so she was gone to tell all her friends about our antics last night, I was sure.

Next door, all three parents were enjoying some quiet time to themselves and we only interrupted to find out if they needed us for the day for anything. They all looked at each other and shook their heads.

“I was just discussing moving over here with Lilly for the peace and quiet,” Mom said with a smirk.

“Very cute,” I said with a laugh. “Lilly’s been fantasizing about being an only child and now you? Well, girls, I guess that leaves the house next door all for us. Maybe we should just renovate the upstairs into one gigantic bedroom and use the downstairs for a guestroom.”

“Well, maybe we’ll hold off on me moving out for right now,” Mom said primly.

“It’s okay, I’m sure that we’ll all want to move out at some point. Collie and Tabby have at least three years each of college and then Lana and I have two more years after that. Then Beck’s got a couple of years. Somewhere between now and then, we’ll have to find a new place to scream to our heart’s content.”

“Been thinking about it a lot?” Mom asked dryly.

“Not a lot, but since I got accepted to the program, it’s been on my mind that we’re all headed to college sooner rather than later. Hopefully Beck and Lana are both able to get into good schools around here and won’t have to move away for college. That would mean we’d be separated until Dr. Saddler’s study is complete. I’m not looking forward to us being separated for that long.” I frowned and looked at my girls, knowing I was putting a slight downer on the day. “That’s a worry for another day though. For right now, if you want us to leave you alone, we’re going up to New Hampshire for the day to Canobie Lake Park. We might not have our phones with us full time since there’s a water park and phone manufacturers frown on water, but leave a message if you need us and we’ll check in as soon as we get the word.”

They told us to have fun and we went to get our swimsuits and make sure we had money for lunch, rides, games and gas for the car. We rode rides, played games, ate lunch, got soaked at the water park and generally had a good time. It was outside and it was with my girls. I was in heaven. We reluctantly got back in the car late in the day and headed back to Winchester.

We were in plenty of time for dinner, but I suggested we do something different. I called Donald and asked him to meet us for dinner somewhere. I’d realized that he had no idea about Harvard and I felt bad about that.

We met at an Olive Garden near where he was living and he was waiting outside for us when we got there. He greeted us warmly and we went inside, being seated almost right away and ordered soon after.

We had our drinks and were waiting for our meals when I decided that the best way to tell him was to show him. I dug my Harvard ID out of my wallet and slid it across the table to him, face down.

He picked it up and looked at it in shock, his head coming up to look at me. “That happened this week. I’m sorry it took me this long to tell you.” I explained about Dr. Saddler and the study, how I’d be taking college courses during school hours to keep me from getting bored in high-school and what the grant would cover.

He was flabbergasted at the news. “So you’re officially enrolled at Harvard and still taking high school classes and participating in a study of advanced intelligence. It’s been a hell of a summer for you.”

“Dr. Spencer is staying on with the program to monitor my mental and emotional well being through the full five years of the study. She’s aware of everything that’s gone on this summer and she’s warned me that I need to relax and establish a normal routine. She says even the high points have been manic to the point of causing stress.”

“That’s why we’re out today,” Beck supplied. “We were up to Canobie Lake Park for the afternoon to just relax and have fun. This week we’re shopping for school and Collie’s moving in with us and then we’ll be able to settle everything for the school year.”

“Collie’s moving in?” he asked, surprised. “When did that happen?”

“We decided last night,” I said. “Her other options for the school year were the tiny apartment she’s been in for the summer with a party-girl roommate or the dorms. The best thing she could say about the dorm was that it was a little cheaper. We’re going to help both girls with their tuition and books so that they don’t have to work during the year. I don’t want them to start falling behind because they have to take shifts that should be devoted to study time.”

He nodded. “You’ve already done more good than Miranda would have with it,” he said quietly.

“On that subject, I have the beginnings of an idea on how to help you, but I need to talk to a couple of people about it and see what I can arrange.”

“Really?” he asked, perking up considerably.

I nodded. “I won’t say more until I’m more confident that what I’m looking into will bear fruit, but once I am, I’ll give you more details. For now, I just wanted you to know that I haven’t forgotten about your dilemma.”

Our server returned with our food and talk was submerged in eating for a time. We chatted idly while we talked and at the end of the meal I took the bill, looking at it and slipping $100 into the folder to cover the meals and the tip.

Donald looked at me with an arched eyebrow and clearly wanted to argue the point, but I shook my head and that ended that.

“Have you been able to get Miranda’s collection gathered up?” I asked as we finished our drinks and got up to leave.

“It’s all ready to be inspected whenever you’re ready,” he assured me.

“Collection?” Lana asked, not sure she liked the sound of that.

“Her sex toys and bondage equipment,” I explained. “We’re going to go through it and figure out what we want and what we can use. The rest of it will go with Donald to his new Mistress.”

“Ooooh!” Beck cooed enthusiastically. “When can we look at it?”

I checked my phone and there was no messages from our parents, so I assumed everything was fine on that front. “We can take a look at it now if you don’t have anything planned for the evening,” I directed to Donald.

He shook his head. “I was just going to settle in with a movie or two and relax. Come on over.”

Again, I felt bad for him. He’d lost as much as I’d gained this summer and more. I vowed that I’d find him someone this week or at least find a way to reach someone who could be what he needed.

We followed him back to the apartment building and parked in one of the visitor’s spots near the doors while he returned from the resident’s lot and let us in. The building was nice and I secretly thought that once we were all established, it might be a decent building to look in for an apartment to suit our needs, but that was years away and not really an issue at the moment.

He led us into the apartment and I was impressed. It was actually a nice place. It had a large living room with a sliding glass door that led out onto the balcony that I knew had been the last place Miranda had stood on this earth. I stared at the balcony and wondered how hard she’d fought or if she’d gone to her death with a kind of gallows serenity. Donald had said she’d written out a suicide note. I wondered about that, but decided that I’d never know what happened in this room that night. I probably didn’t want to.

I felt a hand on my arm and flinched. I’d been lost in bad thoughts. Lana was looking at me sympathetically, guessing at what I’d been thinking about. All three of them were looking at me actually. I got hold of myself and took a deep breath, shaking it off. I promised myself I’d go out onto that balcony before I left here tonight. I had to. It was important, but not right now.

We got to work, looking through some of the things she had collected and the use of some of the more eclectic pieces as described by Donald. He’d cleaned and sanitized everything and showed us how to care for it all. The sex toys were of clear interest. Five girls and one penis was a recipe for me being back in the hospital for dehydration and exhaustion before the end of the month. To my utter shock, the woman had collected no less than 5 of the largest Rubbermaid totes available full of gear. One tote was filled with nothing but restraints in leather and metal and vinyl and rope. There were cuffs, collars, gags, rolls of tape, nipple clamps and complex harnesses covered in D-rings for attaching cuffs or running ropes through. There were blindfolds and hoods and even a strait-jacket. There was a pair of leather gloves that reached up to the wearer’s arm-pits and locked together to bind the arms behind the person’s back. There were straps that went over the head and hooked the nostrils to pull the head back, dental jaw spreaders, speculums and a device Donald called a ‘pear of anguish’ which stretched open the vagina or anus.

Some of it we wanted, some of it seemed out of the realm of what we might use, some of it was questionable. I made a call to Collie who was at work and asked her to text me a list of anything that Miranda had that she’d want us to hang onto for her. She was fond of the gloves, but trusted me to pick what I wanted. I did the same for Tabby and she told me that she couldn’t think of anything specific that we couldn’t replace just as easily. That left it up to us mostly.

We took a varied cross section of the restraints, leaving about half of them for Donald. The next box we opened was like Christmas for Beck. It was all whips, canes, floggers and punishment devices. We took one look at it and she closed the lid so she could sit on it. “This one can go in the backseat with me,” she declared defiantly.

We all laughed and she finally agreed to let us go through it. Donald helped us pick out an enviable selection of gear, leaving him enough that his new mistress would be pleased. We got a crash course in the use and care of each piece and Beck was bright-eyed and eager to get home to try them out. She’d become quite the little pain-slut, my Beck. I was going to have to keep a close eye on her.

When Donald put everything that we were leaving behind together, it fit into one tote with room to spare. Everything we were taking so far was crammed into one and it was filled to the top.

We still had three totes to go and they weren’t the only things that we needed to go through. The room was filled with dungeon gear. For a break, we looked at the furniture and large pieces. She had a set of stocks which would bend the subject over while their head and arms were held in the frame, a really nice looking whipping bench that looked like it probably cost a fortune and was likely custom made. A St. Andrews Cross was in the corner.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to get away with the furniture, though I really like some of the pieces,” I admitted. “We just don’t have anywhere we could set them up and I can only imagine explaining to the parents what they’re used for and which one of us,” I shot a knowing look at Beck, “wouldn’t let us leave without them.”

She grinned, utterly shameless and practically dancing around her own personal Candyland. She’d found herself in punishment as much as Lana and Collie had found themselves in submission.

I spotted one thing tucked away behind the cross that I knew was coming home with us and pointed it out. “That in working order?” I asked and smiled when he nodded. “Good. I assume that she didn’t cheap out on the attachments?”

“They’re in with the toys,” he confirmed.

“What is it?” Lana asked.

“It’s called a Sybian. It’s a $1500 vibrator,” I told her. “Top of the line. If you don’t get off with that, you’re clinically dead.”

Her eyes widened and we moved it and the full tote out to the living room with some difficulty. They were both heavier than expected.

We went back to work and the next box was the toy-chest. We were about to go through it when Donald shook his head and told us to just take it. “There’ll be plenty of that wherever I end up going,” he said. “And if not, we’ll pick out new pieces together.

We had two more totes to search and I was starting to wonder what was in store for us. The next box was a collection of larger items. There were no less than six Magic Wands, an extensive violet wand kit, a vacuum cupping kit with attachments for every piece of anatomy from nipples to clits to penis pumps and vaginal suction cups. There were tubes large enough for the whole breast and both a hand pump and an electrical one. There was a machine for pumping breast milk for some reason. Donald admitted that he’d never seen it used, but lactating was a fetish, so it was possible that she’d acquired a woman who was lactating at one time. That was a sobering thought, Miranda twisting the mind of a young woman either about to give birth or with a newborn child depending on her. I shuddered and pushed that thought out of my head.

I turned my attention back to the box and we went through it. There was an expensive TENS machine and attachments for every type of electrical stimulation possible. We left behind the TENS gear, the milking machine and took the rest. I was interested in some of the cupping gear and violet wands. I knew the Magic Wands would be a hit with the girls. We pulled out the stuff we were leaving behind and Donald put it in the tote with the rest of his stuff, making a tight fit now.

“The last tote’s easy,” Donald said. “It’s just machines and attachments. Take it.” He opened the lid to show us a trio of gear boxes with a piston sticking out of one end. The rest of the tote was dominated by boxes of dildos that slid onto the pistons. “I’ve got no use for it.”

“You don’t want to hold onto one of them in case your new Mistress always wanted one?” I asked, surprised.

He shook his head. “They’re not tough to get and I’d rather you held onto them. If I change my mind, I can always call you and ask for one.”

I nodded. We now had four large totes to account for. “We can’t take all these tonight,” I admitted. “There’s no room in the car. I don’t even think we could get one in the trunk.”

“Would they fit in the back seat?” Donald asked.

“One might,” Lana said thoughtfully.

“Well one of you can ride with me and we can take most of them back tonight. One should fit in my backseat too and we might be able to get one in the trunk,” he suggested, trying to be helpful.

I nodded. “That works. We can put the Sybian in Lana’s trunk and just make sure we take the tote with the attachments.”

We dragged the first two totes down to the elevator and then hauled them outside. To our surprise, one of them would fit in Donald’s trunk, so we loaded up his back seat with the second one and went back for the tote and Sybian that were going in Lana’s car.

When we got back upstairs, I went to the balcony and slid the glass door open, going to stand at the railing. I imagined that her hands had clung to the railing as mine were doing now. I looked down, seeing the ground in the distance. It was probably my imagination, but I thought I could make out a slight discoloration in the concrete below. I stared at it, reminded of the nightmare where I hurled into the side of the mall, leaving a red impact mark like I was seeing below me, faded over time and attempts to remove it.

Donald came to stand beside me and put his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t, son,” he cautioned me. “There’s nothing you can do for her now and no help she would have taken from anyone before it was too late. Her brother was pretty clear that she left people’s lives worse for having met her. That wasn’t going to change. It was just going to end like this.”

I nodded and understood what he was telling me intellectually, but I knew that this was going to feature heavily into discussions that I had with Dr. Spencer. “I want to see her brother,” I said. “Not now, but maybe next summer. You have his contact information?”

Donald nodded, but looked deeply concerned about that impulse. “What are you planning to tell him?” he asked.

“Nothing. I plan to ask him about her. If he presses, then I’ll have to think on my feet. Fortunately I’m good at that.”

We gathered the rest of the stuff we were taking. The machines would have to stay here until we could arrange to pick them up.

We loaded Lana’s car and I rode with Donald, telling the girls that I’d see them at home since I was riding with him. We got in and buckled up before pulling out onto the street. “Becky seemed taken with a lot of the equipment,” he commented.

I nodded. “She’s developed a taste for the punishment side of things,” I told him. “I may have to keep a careful eye on how far she wants to go. Her personal limits may be farther than her physical ones.”

“That’s possible. Maybe you should take some more interest in first aid. Dungeon injuries happen and being able to treat them is important.”

I thought about that and nodded. “One of these days, I’m going to have you take me to an adult store in the city somewhere and look for books and odds and ends that we might need.”

He agreed, though he was certain that most materials would be available through online stores more accessibly than they would be locally.

I shrugged. “I’d like to do some of the reading in the near future. Better to get it done rather than wait for the mail to deliver it.”

“Understandable,” he said and we passed the rest of the trip in more mundane conversation.

When we got home, the house was empty, but clearly there were people home next door. We could hear voices through the open windows. Donald helped us carry things as far as the front door, but begged off on taking it the rest of the way, not wanting to make anyone uncomfortable about him being there.

When he left, we grunted and heaved the three totes down the stairs and got them into our room without too much more difficulty. Then we went next door to let them know we were home.

“We decided to give you three more time without us underfoot,” I told them when we were told we’d missed dinner. “We went to dinner with Donald since I had to tell him about Harvard anyway. He also had some stuff he wanted me to have so we picked that up while we were out.”

“What kind of stuff?” Mom wanted to know warily.

“Nothing you can get at stores where children are allowed entry,” I said delicately. “If you really want to know, we can have show and tell later. Some of it is ... eye-opening.”

That got some attention, but no immediate requests for more information.

“Lilly still out with friends?” I asked, changing the topic when the conversation had faltered.

“She’s at another sleep-over,” Mom said lightly. “I’m the only one you’ll keep awake with your screaming tonight.”

“After last night, I don’t think there’s going to be much screaming,” I commented dryly. “We gave our all and it hasn’t all come back yet.”

It was still early and we hadn’t had dessert at the restaurant so the three of us decided to go out, get something sweet, maybe see a movie and enjoy a Saturday night date.

There were a few movies to choose from, but I let the girls pick, finding myself in a romantic comedy that was more to my liking than I’d expected. We all laughed at the ridiculous situations between the main characters and the unlikely way they came together by the end of the movie. It was no more unbelievable than what we were doing currently so there was no eye-rolling at the turn of events that thrust them back together at the end.

I had my arms around both girls and none of us seemed to be attracting much attention as we waited for the crowd to thin before we left the theater.

We all saw a few people we knew, but no one stayed to talk and we left the movie without having to do more than wave to a few people.

After the movie, we went for some ice cream and spent the evening just being in love. I kissed my girls and we strolled back to the car, riding home uneventfully. It was a day that was unusual in it’s lack of any event making it stand out.

We crawled into bed and drifted off to sleep, professing our love.

Sunday started with a pouring rain that stopped around noon. We had sandwiches for lunch and chatted. Mom had been cautiously curious about what we’d collected from Donald and we opened the boxes without unpacking any of them. She was a little shocked at some of the contents, but made no judgment beyond cautioning us to be careful. There would be a conversation later, but for now, that was the extent of it.

Lilly arrived home mid-afternoon on her bike, which reminded me that mine had been sitting in the garage next door for weeks. I mentioned it to the girls and the three of us went over to take a look at it.

The front wheel was a dead loss, the chain was in pieces and Lana’s assessment of the gears had been correct, they were twisted as the broken chain had caught in them, chewing up the works. The most damning thing though was that the frame had a slight bow in it. After only a minute, I stood up and mimed putting a bullet in it.

“I must have been flying to have bent the frame,” I commented and shrugged. “Oh well. It’s only going to be a couple of months before I won’t be able to ride for the winter anyway.”

“Well, you’ll need a new one for those months,” Beck pointed out. “I’m not walking to baseball all the time so you can keep up. Once in a while is fine, but it’s way easier by bike.”

“Yeah, but it’s a busy week,” I said. “I have initial tests with Dr. Saddler on Monday, an intake session with Dr. Spencer on Wednesday that I’m told should take most of the day, we have to move Collie next week and I have to find time for her, Tabby and Patty along the way. I also need to take a crash course on carpentry, see what tools I need for wood-working, arrange to pick up the rest of Miranda’s stuff, work on finding someone for Donald, do some chores around here, give Lilly a little attention and make sure that I keep telling both of you that I love you every fifteen minutes or so in case 20 minutes isn’t often enough.” I smiled at the last part, letting them know that no matter how much was on my plate, I still had them in mind.

Lana laughed, but she also had a look of concern on her face. “You’re doing too much,” she said firmly. “We’ll go get the stuff from Donald. You can put off the carpentry project and we’ll arrange a time when Collie’s not working and have her stuff moved. We can go shopping with your mom for a bike for you. I know there’s a hundred other things we need to do and soon. We still have school clothes to buy, computers for Tabby and Collie, payments on their tuition, we have to go shopping with them for what they need too. It’s gonna be a hectic few weeks for all of us. Don’t make it worse for yourself.”

I nodded and admitted that it seemed overwhelming. I was trying to figure out how we were going to find all the time to do everything, but then I realized that we could concentrate the trips to get a lot done in a short time if we were smart about it.

“Okay, so tomorrow after Dr. Saddler lets me go, we can try to get some of the stuff for the girls if they’re available. If not, hopefully Collie will be and we can start moving her. I don’t know how much stuff she has, but I imagine we can get most of it in one trip with two cars unless she has furniture.”

“Why not call her right now then?” Lana asked lightly.

“Because I was thinking about what Dan said the other night. Your mom’s getting to the end of her patience,” I told them. “He asked me not to let it go too much longer. I feel mostly recovered. I think tonight’s a good time to at least talk about it.”

They exchanged looks and I was amazed again at how much information seemed to pass between them in those glances. “We’ll take Lilly out somewhere after supper. Text us when the coast is clear and we’ll bring her home.”

I grimaced. “That makes it seem so secretive,” I complained. “She has to know and so do Collie and Tabby. Mom made us promise that we’d have a family meeting about it and talk it out. We need to do that and then maybe you guys could go catch a movie if anyone’s going to freak out about hearing it.”

They nodded and the three of us went looking for the rest of the family. The morning’s rain was still threatening off and on, so we were all eating indoors today, making it easier to have an open discussion as opposed to barbecuing in the back yard where the neighbors might overhear.

We sat around the table when we had everyone assembled. I was nervous, but I’d asked everyone to come to the table early for us to talk so I started. “It’s time we had that open family meeting you asked for Mom,” I started. “Everyone knows what it’s about except Lilly, so I think I should start by explaining it to her.”

Everyone nodded and I took a deep breath. “Okay, Blue. You know that I ended up in the hospital again because I had a panic attack and took off after a fight with Patty. You don’t know what caused the fight though.”

“Tabby and Collie. Patty was pissed about them,” she said, sounding like it was old news.

I shook my head. “That was the trigger, but the reason was that you were right about the looks she’s been giving me. She’s heard the same things coming from my room and had the same reactions that you have.” That revelation raised a slightly alarmed look from my mother, but I ignored it for now. “Your response was to think about moving next door to get some distance. Hers was to try to ignore it. She couldn’t though. The same feelings you had about wanting what the girls had goes a lot deeper in her. She couldn’t shake the thoughts and it was causing her a lot of stress that we didn’t know about until she exploded.”