Chapter 1

"So ... what did you think of it?"

Kate tried to tune out the whispered voice. Rolling her eyes in frustration at clueless people, she wished at some point people would realize that a whispered conversation carried further than soft-spoken words. Then again, this was the university library. Clueless students were not in short supply.

"Probably the scariest movie I've ever seen. My hands were shaking so bad I couldn't hold my wine glass."

Kate fought the urge to snort in derision. The two girls looked like sorority pledges. Expertly applied make-up, designer tops, and perfect hair marked the pair as privileged with a huge case of spoiled. Being seen shopping at Wal-Mart probably constituted as the ultimate nightmare for these two.

"That's so not the reaction I expected. Why?"

"My brother would rat me out just like Dougie did. My father would kill me."

Drama queen alert, Kate thought to herself. She really tried to ignore the conversation and concentrate on the poem she had to interpret for Lit class.

"I'm glad I don't have a brother. You think your dad would go off on you?"

"I'm serious! He'd kill me. There's a reason I sleep with a light on and hate small spaces. Jeanie knows; that's why I didn't have to do that stupid closet game for points."

"Oh. Your dad's that messed up?"

Kate felt a wave of guilt at her previous thoughts. Nobody deserved to be abused, especially as a child. Her parents weren't perfect, but she'd never gotten anything more than a single swat on the butt when she was six years old. One that she now knew she'd deserved at the time.

"I pretend to be the perfect Christian daughter and he pays for my education."

"I'm sorry. I had no idea. My mom knows. She probably told daddy and he pretends to not know anything. She was more pissed about the tattoo than anything else."

Kate saw the girl shudder at her friend's statement. She suspected that the petite brunette was gay. Damn it, she needed to concentrate and stop being so nosey.

"She knows? How? She didn't catch you—"

"Oh gawd! No, I got careless and she figured it out. She thinks it's a phase I'm going through. That's why she's so worked up over the tattoo. I showed mom the movie, too. She thinks that the movie proves I shouldn't be doing such things. I pointed out that John's reaction to Amy's secret is why I don't date guys."

Kate remembered mother catching her and Cody Wilcox behind the garage in the eighth grade. Yeah, that had been the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to her. She couldn't imagine how bad it would have been if it had been Brenda or Kristy. There were some things that weren't worth thinking about too much.

"Speaking of careless ... aren't you afraid people are going to figure it out?"

"Yeah, right. It's not a rainbow triangle or a pentagram like those Wiccans show off. With all the tramp stamps, Emo-Goths, and wannabe-Suicide Girls running around, nobody will think twice about it."

The resulting giggle fit brought the conversation to an end. One of the student workers came over and told the girls to quiet down or leave. Kate breathed a sigh of satisfaction as she returned to the poem and her work. She ran into trouble right away. The conversation still rattled around in her head. Normally she couldn't be bothered to care about princess types and their drama, however, the undertones from those two struck her as odd.

At this point Kate became irritated at herself for listening so closely. Her gift for recalling anything she heard became a curse. During lectures, it saved her from trying to keep up with written notes. She had excelled at Speech and Debate in high school, which is how she received a full-ride scholarship. It also kept her from having a long term relationship. She remembered dubious excuses and inconsistent lies as easily as other people remembered their own phone number. Guys really hated being caught shoveling bullshit to their girlfriends and she hated being lied to by narcissistic pricks.

Feeling sorry for herself wasn't going to get her Lit work done. She needed to reset her mind to get rid of the auditory loop driving her to distraction at the moment. Packing everything into her backpack, she headed for the student union cafeteria. She hoped the crowd buzz would overwhelm her ears and allow her to get something done before class tomorrow.

Kate returned the wave and smile as Steve matched her pace. She liked Steve, his flamboyant personality made him fun to be around. He had a tendency to be a bit of a drama queen, but that went along with the rest of his personality and lifestyle. She found it quite amusing that he sat next to her in Life Drawing class. He definitely had talent, but more often than not, he commented on shopping for his next conquest with the guys who modeled for the class. His first words to her as he walked with her to class confirmed this.

"Did you see the notice that the next model is female?"

Her smirk and nod didn't faze him at all. "Yes. How disappointed you must be."

"Not really. I've exhausted my repertoire trying to get a date with Mark."

Kate laughed at his exaggerated pout. Truth be told, she wasn't going to miss Mark up on the pedestal either. The distraction of the other girls in class simpering over the weight lifters' physique annoyed her. She enjoyed looking just as much as the next girl, but the barely hidden smugness on his face as he posed for class turned her admiration into distaste.

"You never had a chance, Steve. All those fawning little sluts had you beat."

"Hey, now, I can do fawning slut just as good, if not better, than those air-headed poser girls."

"True, but face it, you don't have the boobs to pull it off."

His long-suffering sigh and dramatic expression made her laugh even harder. They continued to discuss their mutual dislike of several classmates that didn't take their art serious. Miss Wright, their instructor, tried to weed out the obvious voyeurs in the class. The university did the same by making the Life Drawing class a second-year course, requiring at least two prerequisite art courses to qualify. Even so, there seemed to be at least one or two people that took the class just to see a naked guy or girl pose in front of them.

Kate set up her sketchpad on the easel as the rest of the class filtered in. Miss Wright took control of the class as soon as the last student closed the door. She explained that their next model had several tattoos and piercings. She expected everyone to practice their detail work using perspective scales. Kate looked forward to the challenge.

Miss Wright called to the model that had been waiting behind the partition at the front of the classroom. Kate had expected to see a Goth-type to step out after the description from Miss Wright. That wasn't who confidently strode out dressed only in a simple white terrycloth robe. The model had a classic, girl-next-door face with shoulder-length sandy brown hair. If she were wearing make-up, Kate couldn't tell. The only signs of cosmetic enhancement that caught Kate's eye happened to be the dark, blood-red shade of nail polish on her fingers and toes. This struck Kate as an odd choice since the color didn't fit with the model's skin tone or hair color. Maybe it matched the clothing she wore before undressing for the class.

Miss Wright motioned for the model to disrobe and step up onto the pedestal. There were some gasps as the class got a look at the artwork hidden by the robe. Kate didn't know how to react to the tattoos and piercings. She'd seen plenty of tattoos before, but the level of artistry displayed on this girl's body rivaled that of photos seen in professional trade magazines. Kate knew enough about tattoo art to recognize tens of thousands of dollars worth of ink when she saw it. She also heard herself groan along with most of the class as she realized there was little hope of sketching those tattoos with any matching level of the talent that it took to create them.

Miss Wright had a tiny smile as she addressed the class as the model took her place up on the pedestal.

"I know what you all are feeling. I don't expect you to be as detailed as the one who did the originals. Do try, though."

Kate waited her turn to walk up and circle the model up close. She examined the model's expression as everyone made quiet comments on particular tattoos or piercings. There was a serene pride the exuded from the woman, which surprised Kate. There was no trace of smugness that had soured the time spent drawing the weight lifter. She took a closer look at the various piercings. Even the piercings were works of art. The nipple rings had small dangling charms set with faceted gemstones. The bellybutton charm looked to be a stylized Greek Zeta symbol with inset garnets or rubies. Kate noted that the color of nail polish matched the stones set in the Zeta charm.

When it was her turn to walk around the pedestal, she found it difficult to take in all the detail. Kate noted that every tattoo had an animalistic theme woven into them. Stylized paw prints with wolf or canine faces shaded into the pads were placed on the woman's shoulder blades, above her hipbones, and the cheeks of her butt. All pubic hair had been removed and in its place above her mons, a highly detailed rope knot resembling a horizontal Mobius strip had been set. The more Kate thought about that particular tattoo, the more it reminded her of something else. There were too many loops inside the basic shape to be a true Mobius strip. It suddenly popped into her head; it was a Gordian knot. There were other details interwoven into the rope that had a very organic look, almost like blood vessels from a medical illustration.

As she paused to examine the detail of the knot tattoo, she saw the small charm dangling from the clitoral hood piercing. The vertical post had a paw-shaped keeper instead of a ball and the charm hanging from the base looked like a miniature dog tag. She could see that there were initials inscribed on the polished surface. Expecting more piercings, Kate found the lack of such on the woman's inner lips a mild surprise. Kate glanced up at the woman's face just as she turned to go back to her seat. She found the woman staring at her with an odd, enigmatic small grin that reminded Kate of the famous Mona Lisa.

Kate's stomach fluttered as her breath caught in her throat. The intense piercing gaze stopped her in her tracks for a single heartbeat, and then the moment passed. She hurried back to her seat trying to make sense of the strange feeling that the woman's gaze had left with her. Kate didn't feel any attraction to the woman, she was sure. However, there was a current of something that had passed between them. Almost like a signal of recognition between two people whose souls see the truth beyond the physical realm. Kate spent the remainder of the class sketching basic proportions of the model; skipping any attempt at the detailed tattoos.

After class, Steve walked with her towards the library. He waited until they were far enough away from the other students before making a comment about the incident in class.

"So, Miss-straight-as-an-arrow, what happened back there?"

Kate shot him a look that would have scorched paint.

"That was not what you think it was."

"Really? Could have fooled me. That sure looked like a deep, meaningful 'I-want-to get-it-on' look if I ever saw one. If it had lasted longer I'm positive the cheesy bow-chica-bow-wow sound track would have kicked in."

"You are such a drama queen. I'm not into women and you know it, so stop with the innuendo crap."

Steve gave her a hurt puppy look before shrugging and grinning. "Alright, I'll quit. So what really happened then? Something went on between you and Miss Animal Planet."

Kate couldn't help herself and laughed out loud at his characterization of the model. Once she regained control of herself, she shook her head at him. "That wasn't very nice. Funny, but not nice." She paused for a moment to think before answering his question. "I honestly don't know what happened. It's not attraction I can tell you that much."

"Okay, I'll accept that ... for now. You do have to admit it looked odd. I don't think anyone else noticed. Between despair and shock, nobody was paying you any special attention. I only noticed because you were the only member of the class she deigned to look upon."

"Hmmm, I'm not sure how to feel about that. Weird."

"Oh, she is that. I strongly suspect there's more than one meaning behind all those tattoos and piercings."

The conversation paused while they made a quick detour through the snack bar at the student union to get their customary after-class soda. Since the day was so mild, they chose to sit at one of the picnic tables outside. Once they set their art supplies aside, the conversation picked up again.

"What did you mean about the meaning of her tattoos and piercings?"

Steve paused as he stared into her eyes for a moment. He seemed to come to some sort of conclusion at an inner conversation before answering. "How much do you know about alternative lifestyles? I'm not talking about your garden variety gay-lesbian thing either."

The sudden change in Steve's demeanor into something much more serious than she expected caused her to take the question at a deeper level of meaning. She thought about how he'd worded the question and took it to mean something even further than just mainstream alternative lifestyle. Being an English Lit major, she had read several books that were deemed erotic, or more, for their time. The Story of O came to mind almost immediately due to the piercings. She said as much as soon as it came to mind.

"You're talking about Story of O type stuff, right?"

"Yep, exactly like that."

Kate shrugged casually. "Okay. Big deal. Everyone gets into a little bit of kink nowadays. I've even got that goofy Warcraft music video about the Internet is for porn somewhere on my computer."

Steve grinned and nodded. "Right. Ever come across stuff about people and animals?"

Kate sat back in shock. Several thoughts occurred simultaneously in her head. First, and foremost, the story of Catherine the Great and her horse came to mind. The story of the Minotaur and several other classic Roman and Greek myths popped up. Hindu and even some Japanese artwork flooded her mind's eye with images and sculptures of humans and animals intertwined in sexual positions.

"Whoa. Okay, that's just ... bizarre. You're saying our new model is into that sort of thing?"

"I wouldn't even think of saying this to anyone else, but ... yeah."

Kate nodded in agreement. Kate had been friends with Steve since last semester. He knew she didn't gossip and would never say anything beyond just the two of them if the subject matter delved into personal issues. He didn't even have to ask, she would never discuss something like this with anyone without him telling her it was okay first. Just as that thought completed itself, another came out of the depths of the recent past. Steve was also a movie buff and knew details about all sorts of Indie films only a theater nut would know.

"Have you ever seen a movie that had a cast of characters with the names Amy, John, and Dougie?"

Steve's face went through several expressions, starting with confusion at the non sequitur. The grin that formed when his mind caught up let her know he had the answer.

"Yep, good one. I forgot about that flick."

Kate waited for an explanation until she realized that he didn't understand that she wasn't aware of the details. With an exasperated sigh, she asked, "No, what's it about? I overheard a conversation and for some odd reason it popped into my head that it might be relevant."

"Oh. Yeah, it is. It's about a girl who had oral sex with her dog, she tells her boyfriend about it, and he freaks out. Total asshole hypocrite. The skeevy pothead brother overhears the confession and blurts it out at the dinner table with the parents sitting there. There's some heavy social and relationship commentary in that movie. Where did you hear this conversation?"

"In the library; two sorority princess types were discussing it."

"Hunh, that's the last thing I'd expect girls like that to be talking about. Usually it's some sappy romantic comedy that reinforces their view on life that if you're pretty enough everything will be handed to you on a silver platter."

Nodding forcefully with a sardonic smirk, Kate replied, "Which is why the conversation stuck in my head. Putting two and two together, I'm guessing one of them is active in what you're talking about. At first, she said some things that made me think she was gay and had come out to her mother. Now, I'm thinking that she wasn't talking about sex with another girl but a dog."

"Wow. They were discussing this in the library?"

"Yeah, they were whispering, so it carried half way across the room. The one said something about getting a tattoo with some sort of symbol. She said nobody else would understand what it meant."

"Did she say what the symbol was? A Greek letter, maybe? That's why I said the double meaning thing about our model. That Greek letter hanging from her bellybutton is the Zeta. It's used by some in the zoophile underground."

"How do you know about this stuff?"

"I'm a porn junkie. I'll watch anything once, if it's really out there, twice."

"Uhg, I've seen some really twisted things by accident. You go looking for it?"

"Sure, why not? It's just porn. Besides, it's not like I have a line of studs waiting outside my dorm room door."

"That's bordering on TMI, thank you very much."

"Hey, you asked."

"Yeah, okay, point. I need a break from this bizarre stuff. I'm headed for the library to work on my Lit paper, you coming?"

"Nah, I think I'm going to head back to my room. Catch you later."

Kate steadfastly refused to contemplate what Steve was going to do in his dorm room. Instead, she thought about the implications of the conversation she'd overheard and the model's tattoos. To her own surprise, she didn't feel any revulsion like she expected. Granted, it didn't excite her either. No, what she did feel was more than just a little curiosity about the fact that these women had sex with an animal and flaunted it in a way that others might recognize.

Saturday afternoon found Kate strolling through the nature park looking for inspiration on a poem she needed to write for class. The weather had been holding closer to the end of summer rather than early fall on the calendar. She stayed on the designated footpaths to avoid being hit by the enthusiastic bikers that seemed to ride hell-bent for an accident on the other trails. Her lackadaisical speed allowed her to focus on the wild flowers trying to get in one last effort before winter arrived.