Chapter 12

Late the next day, I emerged with Jess and Amanda. We were alone except for the dogs and I wanted it that way. I took them for a tour of the grounds. The property was beautiful but I happened to know that evil lurked here.

The pack was waiting and I indicated that Bobby and Joy come over first. Jess liked Joy and she was surprised and then delighted that the girl participated in sex games. It was a second later that they saw that Bobby was the same.

Amanda was completely over her sedation but she acted moody. But finding that you were sold, experimented on, and one of the few survivors might make anybody think oddly.

Missy and Dina came next. Again Jess saw them as sexual partners. Missy was even more so because of her slight stature and pretty oriental features.

Kim and Tatum came last. Here the two girls looked on the young women as something nice to fondle. There was a long sort of talk going on between all four and I was afraid there may be some kind of bonding going on.

When they cut back I looked and found that the four were measuring each other up. Tatum had enlisted Kim's aid to hold onto her position.

After the group settled down I said, "Miss Knox wants some preliminary tests done. We better get at it."

The two newcomers had learned a lot from Bobby and Joy because the children could not protect their thoughts as well as the rest of us could. They now had a glimpse of who was behind all this. There was some hesitancy from Amanda at first, but she went with the flow.

The two had been tested twice before so I had to provide some accurate figures. Variations could be attributed to many factors.

We fetched a meal so that the pack could integrate the two new members before the staff and students got at them. During this time I spoke in my mind and I saw that everybody but Kim was 'hearing' me with their minds. I hoped that this would change in the next week. The effect took a while to manifest itself.

"Amanda and Jess have learned something about what we are doing but more importantly the danger we face."

Amanda said, "Danger! Hell! That woman's a murderer. She killed my friends. She's killed lots of people and is going to kill more."

Bobby said, "My brother's not dead."

Amanda just looked at the boy and said, "Face it, kid. That woman killed your brother. If they survived they would be here with us."

Bobby looked from one to the other of us. We had not lied to him but we had sheltered him from the worst of the truth.

I said, "I'm sorry, Bobby. This may be true but I know some people survive and aren't changed. They're sent to other places to live." This was a euphemism for sold into slavery someplace. I could not be as selective as Sam or Tiffany but tried to be and said, "And what did this accomplish? Amanda, you're upset and with good reason, but think before you express your ideas."

"Why should I?"

"Are you challenging me? We can settle this now and I won't be as nice this time." I made the image of us digging a hole and throwing a body into it. I was almost angry enough to do something like that.

Amanda looked around and saw she had no support. Even the dogs were showing their teeth at her. I looked into her mind. She didn't want to get me angry but she had to have a way of working off her own anger first.

I was angry but had no way to express it without hurting the weakest. "Eat your meal. We have some laps to do." There were groans but I think one sigh.

We did work hard. Tiffany and I had enough in our heads to provide both money and some guidance. The rest would have to have discipline and strength. Most had street smarts but some were just too young to understand.

I was not sure of Amanda or Jess. They either came with us or they stayed but I was damned sure that neither would get any extra Abicore. Leaving them may be best but if any government or large company that got hold of them, they would follow us until we died or they got the secret from somewhere else.

Tiffany phoned the house to give reports on Sam and on the people watching them. Knox had wanted to just kill them but somebody suggested following the men and see where they led. She would not be able to pass the code word this way so I simply phoned her.

She was still worried about Knox but she planned on making the series of transactions that night. She didn't use the name Colins but she obliquely said that he had a suitable bank account. She told me about Sam but I got her to tell me about herself and the baby she now carried. This topic seemed to relax her and I was happy that she had found love even if it was snatched from her.

A second medical report had come back about Amanda and Jess. They had lots of problems but no bad diseases. Kim was due to find her mind expanded any day. The pack made sure she got the fluids she would need.

It was kinky but I saw Bobbie humping away at Kim. She seemed to love the boy but I figured she loved the rest of the pack too. Kim got the go-ahead to take Jess to bed.

Amanda was not going to participate. She was always angry but I guess the thoughts she picked up of all that sex was too much for her. It was too much for me too and I lost myself in the group.

Later that day I started speaking more against Knox but only where it was safe to do so. I told Amanda and Jess but I was actually talking to Kim too. Like a self-help group, I had the individuals talk about who disappeared with them and who was not seen again. Most of us knew about the dogs that died during the testing though most of this was hearsay because they had not been present. The rest of the school knew though.

Tiffany gave me a quick phone call and dropped the prearranged code words and got off the line. She didn't sound happy, only extremely worried. Part of this problem was that she was now followed and Knox put a tail on the tail.

We had a lot of money by now and I suppose I should have been happy but I wasn't. Sam was dying and Knox was still killing people.

Kim had a low level headache for five days. She complained to me and wanted to go to Kelly but I forbade it. Her submissive streak lasted long enough for her to take me aside one morning and say, "I'm hearing voices in my head. What's happening?"

"Sam and Tiffany had sex with me. Over enough time I started hearing voices. I had no major headache. We figure that all the surplus drug that Knox gives the gang is excreted through sexual or other fluids. I got enough to read minds and the same is happening to you."

"What?"

"You're a smart girl. Think!"

In a moment I said, "I didn't put any of the drug in your food or drink."

"How did you know that?"

"Think!"

It took her longer and I don't think it was just that she had a normal IQ. Kim was always cautious.

"Am I going to get a tumour?"

"I have no idea. Not all people get brain lesions."

She stared at me for a few minutes and I lowered my shield to her. "You planned this, didn't you?"

"You wouldn't believe me about Knox. This was the only way you might face it. I was worried you would see her with a bloody knife in her hand and you would think she could do no wrong."

Kim thought, "That can't be so."

"Accept it, Kim. I love you and I know that you hide the facts when they don't suit you."

"I do not."

"You do and did you notice that you heard what I thought?"

This time she took her time and said, "I guess I did."

"Think to me. It's safer."

"But Miss Knox is not bad."

"Do you believe that I love you?"

"Sure."

"Do I love you more than you think Knox loves you?"

"That's not fair. She is always busy making money for us."

"Answer the question."

I had to drag the answer out of her then I said, "I love you more. Do you think I would lie to you about this? Think carefully."

"You could be mistaken."

"You have one hardhead. Sam and Tiffany said that Knox is a monster. Sam is on his deathbed. Do you want his final words to make you finally see?"

"She's not that bad. She helps us."

"She kills people with her drugs and she kills the survivors that are insane. The ones that are not insane are sold. Can you guess what kind of people buy other people?"

Kim cried for a while and I sent the pack to her one at a time. She could put together the truth from the information she got from each person.

There was another truth. I went to the house and found Kelly.

She looked up when I entered her office. "Hi, Piper. How are you?"

"You medical people with your continual work."

It took a moment to see that I was pulling her leg then she asked, "What can I do for you?"

"I'm worried about Amanda."

"What's wrong with her?"

"Sam was angry for no reason and I see the same symptoms in Amanda." I was scanning Kelly and she was not holding this information back.

"I'll have a look."

The pack was called away for a medical and Amanda was the only one not to return. Kelly told me, "Amanda had to go to get a MRI."

"Do you have any suspicions?"

"Not really. All I saw was that she was irritable."

I walked through the house near to Knox' door. She was home and angry so I assumed she did not find the money missing yet. By the time I got to the door leading outside, one of the security people stopped me.

"Hi, Piper. Miss Knox wants to talk to you."

"Thanks Rachel."

The woman was happy I remembered her name and actually I didn't cheat. My memory was a lot better and I could focus on a problem a lot better. It just occurred to me that Knox might have seen me on one of her surveillance cameras.

I went upstairs and was admitted right away. Before I could greet her, she said, "I have four more subjects." Her shield was up but her anger was not sustaining it like it was before. I got a glimpse of what she intended and I had to hide my reaction.

"There must be something special about them. You're not continuing."

"They're males."

I acted shocked now. There was more but I could not get it. "That could give me some problems. What are their ages?"

"15, 14 and two are 12"

I was in trouble. I couldn't refuse because somebody else would do the testing and my secret would come out. "We're going to have to be issued birth control pills. It takes time for them to take effect. I'm going to have to meet the boys one at a time." Knox had no visible reaction to my words.

"So you can dominate them?"

"Do you want them running free on this property? The boys won't consider what I say important enough to be guided. Our contract may have to be modified to give me a way to avoid what I think will happen."

"What do you think will happen?"

"The girls here like other girls but some will want to try the boys. It may not be the boys' fault. Some of the girls may chase them. Males think that they are genetically empowered to lead because they are bigger and stronger. The testing has to be done a certain way or the results are in doubt. The boys will try to work on their own. They don't have the scientific method down yet but will think they can manage just fine."

"Are you saying that you don't want this project any more?"

"I said that males will give me problems. I want this understood ahead of time. You have had a lot on your mind recently and I don't want you to hold me responsible for matters I have no control over."

"Do you want a larger budget or a better salary?"

"Money has nothing to do with it. My budget is more than adequate."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to be the woman I met at the end of last summer. You aren't that woman anymore. I'm worried about you and I'm worried about myself."

"I have been under a lot of strain."

"I'm saying that you act with poor regard to what is in your best interests when you are stressed. The woman of last October would give you a piece of her mind for acting the way you have been."

Knox found her chair and sat down. Five minutes had to have passed before she said, "The boys aren't the usual boys you find. These ones are male prostitutes. They were freelancing so there was no pimp to deal with. The boys should be interested in each other. That will lessen one of your concerns. I'm quite sure you can overcome their resistance. They use illicit drugs. This is another avenue you may use to control them."

Yes, the way she used drugs to control the goon squad. "What about STDs?"

"They were checked more than any other subjects. They're clean."

"Is there one you would consider dominant?"

"The boys are more of what you would call sissies. You can control them but the lessons have to be repeated because they'll forget."

"I'll do what I can."

"I knew I could count on you."

I spent my time studying the profiles then ordering another set of bunks as well as an additional refrigerator. Desks and computers as well as chairs had to come. The partition in the barn would have to be moved so we could have more room but I hoped to leave before this became acute.

The pack was warned about the newest members and there were some interest in this even if the boys seemed to prefer men. I gave the rules and one was that vaginal intercourse was not going to happen until they had been on the pill at least one cycle after their last period. Hopefully we would not be here by then.

Nicholas was the second youngest. He was a few months younger than me but still larger than I was. The profile did not give much information but I had to start somewhere.

My plan had to show each boy that he was at a disadvantage. Hopefully he would capitulate and there would be no problems other than maintaining their perception of where they would be in the pack.

I set up an area for the interview in the building that housed security. The women wore a type of uniform and Knox assisted by some of them sporting some weapons taken from the armoury. The door to the office would stay open so more of the security people could be seen as they walked down the hallway. The goon squad was easy to pick out by their usual actions and their arrogance. These would be useful props if any of the boys decided to read their minds.

Nicholas had long blonde hair. He looked cute but more of a girl type cute. His clothing said male slut. He must have made some good money because his clothing was good. All of the boys were young and I wondered how they got all their experience so early in life.

I took a page from Knox and was working on some documents when the boy was escorted in. The guard, Natalie, was one of those with a good shield. She stayed beside the boy but said nothing. A peek said that she was happy to play this part. Natalie was chuckling at the boy's discomfiture. The boy was not good at reading minds yet and had a ham fisted approach that let me easily know that he was peeking. I pictured the boy's face and body and us whipping him. He pulled out of my mind quickly.