The Kingdom

Continues from chapter thirteen

CHAPTER 14 – SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL

I woke up with a splitting migraine, lying on my back atop a hard surface. Groaning in agony, I lifted my hands to my throbbing forehead. My arms were heavy as lead and I felt as if I’d just finished running a marathon. My head ached so severely that I could barely open my eyes. Through blurred vision, I could see aged wooden rafters above me and the sound of running, splashing water could be heard.

Disoriented and confused, I began quickly retracing my steps to determine where exactly I was and how I’d gotten here. Waking up unclear of my setting and circumstances had become something of a routine as of late.

With great effort, I lifted myself into a seated position. Still in too much pain to fully open my eyes, I squinted into the dimly lit room, studying my surroundings. It only took me a few seconds to recognize that I was in the boathouse, seated on a long wooden bench against the wall. Confused as to how I got here, I swung my legs to the side and placed my feet on the dank wooden floor.

This boathouse had always been something of a secret hideout for me. A place on the quiet side of the lake where I frequently brought boyfriends, girlfriends, booze in my misguided youth. The best thing about this particular hideout was its privacy. It was basically a large wooden shed built atop of two adjacent boat docks. The dock floor was U-shaped, leaving the water exposed on the south side. So, even when the entrances were locked up, we were always able to enter and exit by swimming underneath the walls.

I was suddenly snapped out of my stroll down memory lane as my eyes made out something move on the other side of the room. Startled, I dropped my hands from my head and scurried backwards on the wooden table. A cold chill ran down my back as I made out the silhouette of a person against the light that shone through the wooden planked walls.

“Who’s there?” I asked in a shaky voice.

“Easy,” a male voice, replied, “You’re safe, now.”

“I said, who’s there?!” I shouted. Projecting my voice only caused my headache to spike.

The silhouette moved forward, prompting me to slide backwards on the wooden bench. Just then, a streak of light from a crack in the boarded up window fell across his face. The moment that the light caught his eyes, I instantly recognized him. It was the blond-haired security guard from Sycamore Market. The one who… stuck a fucking needle into my neck!

“You,” I said in a lower voice.

Silently, he raised his hand, offering what looked like a thermos to me. Steam billowed up from its lid.

“Drink this,” he replied softly. “It’ll help with your headache.”

“Who the hell are you?” I insisted, speaking in a louder voice.

“I’m the one who saved you from your predicament at the market,” he answered camly.

“Saved me?” I retorted incredulously. “You drugged me and abducted me to a fucking boathouse.”

“It was the only way I could get you out of there without raising too many red flags,” he explained, “I set off the alarm and then knocked you out in order to justify relieving you from the remainder of your shift. The shop owner believes I took you to the emergency health clinic.”

“So, you decided to take me to a floating shack in the middle of nowhere?” I asked, suspiciously.

“I wanted to bring you somewhere we could talk freely,” he replied softly. “You can leave any time you’d like. I won’t stop you. The bag by your feet contains all of your belongings.”

I glanced down at a tote bag on the floor with my clothing folded neatly inside. It wasn’t until that very moment that I realized that I was still wearing the golden catsuit and straps from the market. This also meant…

I quickly pressed my hand against my sex, not so subtly double-checking the occupancy of my pussy and anus. To my relief, the dildo and butt-plug were no longer inside of me. But that relief instantly turned to affront as I contemplated how they’d been removed. My eyes shot wide open as I directed my focus back toward the blond-haired guard.

“Did you-” I started to ask in an accusatory tone.

Seemingly guessing what I was about to ask, he interjected, “Would you rather I had left the dildo and butt-plug inside of you?”

I stared back at him with my mouth open. He wasn’t wrong, but the thought of him deciding on his own to un-penetrate me while I was unconscious was disturbing, nonetheless. As I contemplated how to reply, I suddenly noticed that the man was no longer attired in a security guard uniform. He now wore jeans, a casual grey jacket, and a New York Knicks ball cap. Despite my reservations, I couldn’t help but notice how attractive and well-built he was.

“So, are you going to tell me who you are, or not?” I asked, changing gears back to the most pressing matter.

“We spoke on the radio yesterday,” he replied, as he slowly placed the thermos on the far end of my bench. “You know me as Alpha.”

Lost for words, I merely stared back. It was him.

“I hope my intrusion didn’t mess up any plans you may have had,” he continued. “From what I could tell, your reactions to the shop owner as she was setting you up gave me the impression that you weren’t exactly a willing participant.”

I hesitated before mumbling, “I was being blackmailed.” As thankful as I was to be off that podium, I needed more convincing before I threw this guy a “thank you” party.

“How did you know I was there?” I asked. He didn’t reply, prompting me to follow up with, “Were you following me?”

“I was,” he replied bluntly. “But then again, you were on public display without a hood for 45 minutes. I’d have seen you from the street whether I was following you or not.”

“And why were you following me?” I probed him.

“You know why,” he replied flatly, his face looking solemn. “For the same reasons I told you yesterday.”

“Refresh my memory,” I countered, indignantly.

“You have something that has the power to save a lot of lives. Earning your trust is the only chance I have to gain access to it,” he explained. “It’s simple, Alison. I need that suitcase.”

Hearing the man called Alpha use my real name sent shivers down my spine. It was a subtle reminder of just how much power he held over me. If he’d wanted to, he could expose my true identity at any time. While I never got the impression that he would take this action, I’d have been naïve to not consider the possibility.

“A lot of womens’ lives depend on this operation’s success,” he added. “Success is impossible without the suitcase.”

I exhaled slowly, turning my face away from him. Nothing softened my resolve quite as adequately as the invocation of innocent lives. Every mention of them pushed me closer and closer to spilling the suitcase’s location…

But I still had more questions. Questions that Alpha would have no obligation to answer once I’d given up my leverage. Turning back to face him, I decided to begin my interrogation.

“What did you inject me with?” I asked.

“A low dosage of horse tranquilizer,” he answered. “Completely safe.”

“Where’d you get it?” I pressed inquisitively.

“Stole it from storage at the stadium,” he replied. “Secured by only a simple lever-handle lock.”

“And the guard’s uniform?” I asked him, skeptically.

“Made it,” he replied matter-of-factly. “Bought a sewing machine from The Supply Chest my first day and completed the ensemble by day two.”

“And this… suitcase-” I probed. “What’s in it?”

Alpha shook his head. “I’m afraid can’t tell you that,” he replied softly.

“Can’t or won’t?” I challenged.

“Won’t,” he replied bluntly. My eyebrows raised, prompting him to elaborate. “If those details were to end up in the wrong hands, it would effectively end the operation. Every protocol, every contingency would be shot. It would amount to certain failure.”

“And what’s the ultimate goal?” I asked. “If your mission succeeds, what’ll happen?”

Alpha took a deep sigh, clearly weighing his words carefully. “The objective… is to expose the degenerates who fund and operate this trafficking ring. It’s far bigger than just The Kingdom. We’re talking about an organization with ranks in the thousands. The goal is to pull them all from the shadows and hold them accountable so they can’t hurt anyone else.”

He suddenly turned and walked to the bench against the opposite wall. Taking a seat, he leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees. It was at this moment that I realized how exhausted he appeared. He looked as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders.

“It’s why time is of the essence. I’m the only remaining operative who hasn’t been captured,” he said softly. “Foxtrot and the others may be the toughest in the world, but a soldier can only withstand so much. Especially at the hands of the kind of people we’re dealing with. If any one of my operatives cracks, it could mean game over for everyone.”

I shuddered to think of what kinds of torture his operatives were currently facing. As horrible as Brandy, aka Foxtrot, was to me, it gave me no satisfaction to imagine her current state in Annabelle’s custody.

For several seconds, neither of us said anything. Unsure of what to say, I rubbed my still-throbbing temples. Glancing down at the steaming thermos, I finally broke the silence. “What’s in here?”

“Camomille,” he replied. I took a sip of the piping hot tea as I studied Alpha’s body language. Slouched forward, Alpha had the look of a defeated man who had officially run out of ideas. Whether his demeanor was genuine or by design, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

“Say that I did know where this suitcase was,” I said. “And I were to tell you where to find it.” Even in the darkness of the boathouse, I saw Alpha’s eyes flick up toward me, suddenly looking alert. “What’s to stop your trail from leading authorities right back to me if you get caught?” I asked.

“Simple,” Alpha quickly replied. “You’d have my word that I won’t make a move on the suitcase until you’ve had time to leave the faire grounds.”

“Leave?” I asked, perplexed by his offer. “Who says I’m leaving?”

He tilted his head in apparent confusion. “Did you not get my message last night?”

“The one about Katie?” I replied. “Yeah, I got that.”

“And… you still want to stay?” he asked in disbelief. “Despite having proof of a plot to spy on you?”

I rolled my eyes, replying, “What you sent me isn’t proof of anything.”

“Surely, you’re not that naïve,” Alpha challenged, squinting at me incredulously. “Your girl’s profile was altered hours before she being rushed off to the emergency clinic, put into a wire-tapped collar, and generously placed in your custody… And you think it’s all a coincidence?”

“It’s a hell of a lot more logical than the theory that Katie is some Academy-award caliber master spy.” I countered, defensively. “You don’t know her. It’s just not possible for her to be what you’re suggesting.”

Alpha leaned forward, suddenly looking deathly serious. “I’ve spent the last eight years investigating these people. This conglomerate’s ranks are groomed and trained by the most talented espionage agents in the world. Manipulation and subterfuge is their expertise.”

“You may be right, but Katie’s not one of them,” I replied defensively. “She just doesn’t have it in her.”

“Well, I suppose you would know,” Alpha replied bluntly. “You have known her for a day longer than I have.”

At a loss for words, I merely glared silently at Alpha. His jab may have been harsh but his point was grounded in truth. As eager as I was to believe the best in Katie, it came at the expense of suppressing the reality that we hardly knew each other. How well could anyone really know a person they had just met?

Alpha suddenly stood up and walked over to a stack of canoes that hung over the exposed water. Reaching inside the bottom canoe, he pulled out what looked like an aluminum soup can with no label. I cocked my eyebrow as he held it out to me.

“What’s that?” I asked, hesitantly taking the can.

Alpha sighed before saying, “Canned peaches.”

I stared at him for a moment, too shocked to say anything. “Are you out of your mind?” I asked.

“Look, I can’t make you leave, but I can at least give you the tools you need to uncover the truth for yourself,” he explained.

“So, your recommendation is that I poison Katie?!” I shot back.

“My recommendation is that you forget Katie and get the hell out of here while you can!” Alpha replied suddenly sounding forceful. “But if you won’t take that advice, my next suggestion is for you to safe-guard yourself. Add a few drops of peach juice into her coffee. If she has a reaction, it means that she’s telling the truth. If nothing happens, it means she’s lying.”

“Wow,” I replied sarcastically. “Is that how they teach it at Harvard med?”

“That’s how they teach it at the CIA,” Alpha countered. “Look, if you’re worried about hurting her, don’t be. One or two drops really shouldn’t have a serious impact.”

I blinked at Alpha, dismayed by his advice. But I was even more surprised by the fact that I was actually considering it. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Katie. But if it meant clearing up any doubts about her and give me a peace of mind to pursue our relationship, I suppose it could be worth it… My eyes flicked down at the can as I weighed the pros and cons.

“Personally though, I’d recommend you chuck the can and get out of dodge. Immediately,” Alpha reiterated. “But it’s your choice. I can’t make that for you.”

After a few seconds, I looked back up at him. Silently praying that I was making the right decision, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “The suitcase is at the Trading Post,” I said softly.

Alpha sat straight up, saying nothing but suddenly looking energized.

“I left it with a woman named Laura,” I continued. “She’s been holding it for me since yesterday morning.”

“Does anyone else know it’s there?” Alpha said in an urgent voice.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

“Did anyone else see you with it?” Alpha interrogated me. “Guests, security?”

“I- don’t know,” I replied, quickly racking my brain. “I don’t think so. It was early and the streets were still empty.

Alpha suddenly stood to his feet and stepped quickly over to me. His eyes no longer looked tired, defeated, or emotionless. They now had a spark behind them. An almost contagious excitement that compelled me to keep talking.

“And Laura,” he pressed, “is she a trading agent?”

“Uh, yeah,” I replied. “She was the one who helped me. Her cubicle’s toward the back of the center aisle on the left.

“And you’re certain that the suitcase is still there?” Alpha asked.

“To my knowledge,” I answered, “along with my other stuff.”

“And she’s expecting you to come retrieve it?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I replied, “I asked her to keep it behind her desk until I came back for it.”

Alpha nodded his head, taking everything in. I could tell that the gears were spinning as he turned and stared for several seconds at the boarded up window.

“Last question,” he said, turning back to face me. “What were you trading?”

“The suite,” I answered, prompting him to furrow his brow in apparent curiosity. “In exchange for Katie.”

Alpha’s face softened, his eyes almost looking empathetic. “If it’s any consolation, I’d love to be wrong about her.” He gave a sigh, before adding, “But I’m afraid my experiences with these people have made me too jaded.”

I looked away, not wishing to discuss Katie any longer. Alpha clearly wasn’t going to be convinced of her innocence and that was okay with me. I certainly didn’t need his blessing for anything I that decided to do.

“Thank you, Alison,” Alpha said sincerely.

“I didn’t do anything,” I replied, shaking my head. “I was just in the wrong place at the right time.”

“Nevertheless, a lot of women are going to end up owing you their lives,” he said. I looked down at the floor, unsure of how to respond. “I can hold off on intercepting the suitcase, but not for long,” he added. “It’s 14:00 right now. I can wait until 15:30 to give you time to leave.”

“Shit,” I said abruptly. “It’s 2 o’clock already?” I leaned over and began fishing through the tote bag on the floor for my cell phone.

Alpha glanced down at his wristwatch and replied, “9 minutes til to be exact.”

“Dammit,” I whispered as I double-checked the time on my home screen. Katie was probably worried sick about me. We had agreed to meet back at the suite an hour ago.

“Alright then,” Alpha said reaching out to shake my hand. “Best of luck to you.”

I nodded and accepted his hand. “Same to you,” I replied. Goodbyes were awkward enough without the high stakes dangling overhead.

Releasing my hand, Alpha turned and headed toward the door. “Give me a five minute head start and then you should be safe to leave.”

“Okay,” I answered.

Pulling the large wooden door open, Alpha turned and looked back at me. “If I can offer one more piece of advice…” he added, his eyes looking sincere. “Take a beat before you decide anything. Put your emotions aside and really think things through. Trust the little voices in your head.”

I merely replied with a small nod.

“Be careful,” he added. “Remember that there are eyes everywhere.”

And with that, the man named Alpha exited the boathouse, closing the door behind him. Oddly enough, I suddenly felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. As nerve-racking as it was to entrust Alpha with the suitcase’s location, no longer having to worry about it any longer was a huge relief.

It was almost like a “fixer” voluntarily burying a skeleton they’d discovered in my closet. Granted, this particular fixer also scared the hell out of me with conspiracy theories and warnings of being trafficked. But in the spirit of small victories, the enigmatic suitcase was now off my plate. Whatever happened to it from this point forward was officially none of my concern. And that was good.

Now alone in the boathouse, I began the laborious process of changing out of my skin-tight latex catsuit. Standing gingerly to my feet, my legs still felt shaky from all of the orgasms I’d endured at the Market. On top of that, my asshole felt sore from the expandable butt-plug inside me. I stabilized myself by resting my hand against the wooden slatted wall.

Moments later, I was stark naked and shivering in the brisk air. While the lubricant coating my body had definitely helped with the catsuit’s speedy removal, it left me feeling wet and slimy from head to toe. With my teeth jittering from the cold, I knelt down and began to remove my clothing from the tote bag on the floor.

To my pleasant surprise, in the bottom of the bag was a towel for me to dry off with. Alpha really had thought of everything… Once I was dried off, I tossed the greasy towel and catsuit into the bag and proceeded to get dressed into my street clothes. After taking one last glance around to make I hadn’t left anything, I exited the boathouse.

It was drizzling outside, which made the air feel even colder. As I walked along the wooded trail back to the faire grounds, I couldn’t help but wonder how Alpha had gotten me to the boathouse in the first place. Had he carried me? Staring down at the damp ground, I couldn’t make out any footsteps, telling me that Alpha had clearly taken a different way.

Deep in thought, I took my time with each step. My impulse was to hurry back to the suite so that Katie wouldn’t be concerned about me. But I couldn’t help replaying Alpha’s advice in my head. Take a beat before going back to Katie. Put your emotions aside and really think things through…

Rubbing my still aching forehead, I weighed my options. Should I trust my instincts about this whole Katie situation? Just go back to the suite, fetch her for lunch, and pick up happily where we left off? Or should I practice a bit of healthy skepticism and take a beat to consider my next move?

A few minutes later, I exited the woods’ edge by the Cedar Square. At this hour, the patio platform at the center of the square should have had a band playing or something. During the regular season, Marvin the Marvelous would have been in the middle of his magic show right about now. But today, the rain had obviously altered the planned programming.

As I walked by, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the last performance I’d seen here. The black woman named Tasha had been restrained to the widow device while alternating dildos pounded her ass and pussy. The crowd laughed and cheered as her owner, “old man Murphy”, antagonized her with racist taunts and invited people onstage to fondle her helpless body.

That was the first moment I’d entered Murphy’s radar. My public intervention on Tasha’s behalf was what initially put me in Murphy’s crosshairs. Not only did I publicly embarrass him, but I’d also managed to get the demonstration shut down, prematurely ending his moment in the spotlight.

While I’m sure Tasha appreciated her torments being cut short, it prompted Murphy to exact his revenge by outbidding me for Katie at the auction. A decision that would ultimately lead to me agreeing to trade away the castle suite in exchange for Katie… Who would turn out to be temporarily untradeable due to the fact that Murphy had poisoned her with peach jam… My, what tangled webs we weave.

Passing in front of the fucking machine shop known as Murphy’s Hall, I stopped in my tracks. I turned and peered into the dark window of the closed shop, suddenly feeling inspired… If I were to dig deeper into the Katie situation, then there was really no better person to talk to than Tom Murphy, himself… But almost as instantly as the idea popped into my head, I dismissed the possibility. Seeing as Murphy was currently serving time at the kennel, speaking to him wouldn’t be possible. Unless... Were there such things as visiting hours at the kennel?

With a new pep in my step, I picked up the pace toward the kennel. If they allowed me to speak to Murphy, even for just a few minutes, I could clear up this whole allergy discrepancy once and for all! Without having to experiment on Katie with drops of peach juice.

Perhaps it was mind over matter, but by the time I reached the kennel, my headache felt considerably better. Walking up to the front desk, I waited impatiently as a security guard finished a phone call. As soon as the phone’s receiver left his ear, I blurted out my request.

“I’d like to speak with a prisoner who checked in yesterday,” I said forcefully. “Tom Murphy.”

The guard stared at me with his eyebrows raised as he placed the phone down onto the receiver. “I’m… afraid that’s not possible,” he said. “Visitation is only permissible between masters and slaves.”

“I understand,” I replied, quickly scrambling together my best cover story. “Normally, I wouldn’t ask, but… it’s actually kind of an emergency,” I lied.

“Emergency?” The guard asked, cocking a skeptical eyebrow.

“Yeah,” I replied, nodding my head. “I’ve been watching his slave while he’s in here and I’m concerned about her.”

The guard’s eyes narrowed. “How so?” he asked.

I took a deep breath as I quickly got into my “sorority girl” character. Sorority girl was the technique I sometimes used in order to annoy someone into submission. Imagine a ditzy blonde cheerleader who rambles on and on about every topic under the sun until the other person just folds and gives in to what she wants. That’s sorority girl.

“So, like- she’s been acting really strange ever since she left the emergency clinic,” I lied. “I guess Murphy gave her a peach or something, but she’s like really allergic to peaches and had a major reaction. Like, full on white version of Lil’ Kim. Eventually, the swelling went down and she seemed back to normal and the doctor was like, yeah, you’re free to go. But now, she’s acting totally batshit, like, dingo ate my baby crazy.”

The guard awkwardly stared back, clearly unsure of how to respond. “Um… you may want to think about taking her back to the clinic,” he suggested.

“That’s just it- I did! Twice!” I lied. “But each time, they were like, oh, she’s fine, don’t worry. Yada yada. But she is not fine. Trust me- I know fine. She’s not fine.”

“Uh,” the guard replied, trying to formulate a response. Sensing his increasing discomfort, I cut him off and continued.

“Like, sometimes, she’ll completely forget where she’s at or what she’s talking about and just start blinking like really fast, like-” I began demonstrating by blinking and bobbing my head. “And this morning,” I continued, “she literally called me mom.”

Looking completely bewildered, the guard opened his mouth to say something but couldn’t seem to find words.

“Right?!” I replied loudly. “And just before I came here, we were standing in line at the hot cider stand, just like, talking about what the next Star Wars trilogy or whatever and the girl straight-up pissed herself. Like- right there on the sidewalk in front of everyone, just… splat. I mean, luckily, it was raining, so the ground was already wet, but still! You could totally smell it!”

Seemingly, unnerved by my performance, the guard glanced around the empty room, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

“Look,” I replied, leaning my weight on the counter, exposing my cleavage. “I know rules are rules. But I’m really really really worried about Katie and I would feel a lot better if I could just talk to Murphy for a few minutes. Maybe he knows how to deal with these sorts of things. Maybe she’s allergic to something else as well! Like, I don’t know- a nut allergy or something. I had Reese’s pieces on my sunday. Who knows? Maybe she got too close and it triggered another reaction!”

Shaking his head objectionably, the guard opened his mouth to say something. Sensing he was about to deny my request, I interrupted him again. “Pleeease. I won’t be long, I swear!” I pleaded, making my voice extra whiny and shrill. “Five minutes, tops! That’s all I need. And you’ll never ever see me again! Believe me- I don’t wanna be here any longer than I have to be. Smells like a… nursing home slash ferret sanctuary in here. Am I alone on that? Tell me honestly that you don’t smell a distinct ferret smell.”

The guard stared at me, saying nothing for a moment. Finally, he exhaled a long sigh and stood to his feet.

“I’ll give you five minutes,” he said, shaking his head in obvious irritation. He reached inside the desk and pulled out a small black sign that said, WILL RETURN SHORTLY.

“Oh my god, you’re amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I replied dramatically.

The guard placed the sign on the front of the desk in front of me and abruptly held his hand up, signaling me to stop talking. “Five minutes,” he reiterated definitively.

“Five minutes, got it,” I repeated quickly.

“Follow me,” the guard said, walking toward the double doors at the back of the lobby. Following closely on his heels, I watched him unlock the door with his keycard and hold it open for me.

My heart pounded as I stepped into the hallway. Damn, I was good! I thought. Maybe I ought to have tried out sorority girl on Roger at the market...

As I followed the guard down the long hallway, I heard the occasional scream from prisoners through the glass doors on my right and left. To my surprise, they sounded to be both male and female. I shuddered to imagine what types of “corrections” they were enduring. But I quickly chased those distractions from my mind as I focused on what I was going to say to Murphy. I had five minutes to find out what I needed to know. Depending on how cooperative Murphy decided to be, all of my fears and reservations about Katie could potentially be put to rest.

We were nearly at the end of the hall when the guard turned and pressed his key card against a box on the wall, causing the glass door to slide open.

“Five minutes,” he said, “No physical contact.”

“Understood, thank you,” I replied, prompting him turn and walk back to where we came. Taking a deep breath, I entered the well-lit room. What I saw inside took me completely by surprise.

Securely strapped to a black throne-like chair in the center of the room was a stark naked Tom Murphy. Kneeling between his spread legs was a naked Tasha Porter, ring-gagged, head-harnessed, and restrained to the floor in a kneeling frogtie with her arms box-tied behind her.

My jaw dropped as I wrapped my head around Tasha’s situation. Behind her was a wide steel pipe sticking out of the floor that supported a fucking machine. But instead the horizontal arm sporting a dildo at the end, connected directly to Tasha’s head harness. The result was Tasha’s head being made to glide forward and back over Murphy’s erect cock.

Seeing as Tasha was black, the whiteness of her knuckles as she clenched her fists gave me the impression that she was not enjoying her predicament…

Tasha wasn’t the only one who appeared to be experiencing unpleasantness, though. Beneath the seat of Murphy’s throne was a vertical mechanical arm that pistoned a rubber dildo up and down into his ass. In addition, I could also see that he wore a sort of mechanical cock ring at the base of his shaft with LED lights that alternated rhythmically from red to green.

Unlike Tasha, Murphy was not gagged, but rather sported dozens of electrodes across his bald head as well as an elaborate metal helmet tangled in variously colored electrical wires. It almost reminded me of the crazy invention that Doc Brown wore on his head in Back to the Future when he was trying to read Marty’s mind.

“Miss O’Connell, welcome to my cell” Murphy said casually. “I was wondering if you’d stop by.

“Whoa,” I replied, still taking in the visual as I would a car-wreck. “Um, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Oh, not at all. Come on in,” Murphy said smiling. His demeanor was unsettling. Almost as if he was genuinely pleased to have company… “Sanura, say hi to our guest.” I recalled that Sanura was the traditional African name that Murphy had given her during her his Cedar Square presentation. According to him, it meant kitten.

As expected, Tasha remained silent, keeping her fists clenched as her head continued to glide back and forth over Murphy’s cock.

Just then, I saw Murphy’s foot press down on a black peddle beneath his foot. I jumped back in surprise as Tasha let out a blood-curdling cock-muffled shriek. My eyes narrowed as I tried to make sense of what had just happened. Upon closer inspection, I was able to make out black cord protruding from Tasha’s ass, telling me that she was obviously butt-plugged. And as to be expected at a perverted sex prison operated by sadistic bastards, the wire was undoubtedly connected to the peddle beneath Murphy’s restrained foot. A tap of the peddle clearly sent an electric shock or something to the plug.

“I said, say hi to our guest, Sanura,” Murphy repeated almost pleasantly.

With her ring-gagged mouth around his cock, Tasha grunted, “Hhgh.”

Murphy pressed down again on the peddle, causing Tasha to shriek even louder. “I believe you meant to say, hello, Miss O’Connell,” Murphy corrected her.

Tasha groaned loudly and obeyed his directive, “Hhgulg hff ulgogglf!”

“Much better,” Murphy complimented her. “I’m sorry,” he said, glancing back up at me. “We’re still working on our manners.”

I wanted so badly to break the no physical contact rule and punch him right in the nose. “How long has she been like that?” I asked.

“Hmm, I’m not sure,” he replied. “We’re coming up on the end of our hour-long session, wouldn’t you say, Sanura?”

Tasha responded with a muffled, “Ulph ell.”

Despite my complicated history with Tasha, I felt outraged for her. No woman deserved this kind of sadistic fuckery. And on top of all the sex deeds she was forced to endure, she had to put up with the race shit… Just imagining being in her position was enough to make me want to commit cold-blooded murder.

Hopefully, worshipping old cock wasn’t something she had to endure very often, though. I vaguely recalled Tasha telling me that Murphy was not into having sex with her personally. In fact, by her account, he hadn’t so much as laid a finger on her other than to rig her up to his machines.

“So, what brings you here to the kennel?” Murphy asked. “If you’ve come to gloat, I’d understand. But just know- I’m having quite a relaxing time so far.”

“Um, no,” I replied. “I came to ask some questions. About Katie.”

“Ah, yes. Miss Huff,” Murphy replied. “Ask away.”

“I’d like to know what happened yesterday,” I said. “The peach jam. The allergic reaction. The emergency response time.”

Murphy nodded slowly, seemingly considering my words. “Are you familiar with the story of the last czar of Russia?” he asked.

“What?” I replied, perplexed by the randomness of his deflection.

“The last czar of Russia,” he repeated. “The demise of the Romanov family.”

“Sure,” I replied dryly. “I saw the movie Anastasia when I was 9.”

“The true story of the Romanovs,” Murphy clarified crossly. “I figured it went without saying that I wasn’t referring to a cartoon musical with talking animals.”

“Can’t say I’m familiar,” I replied impatiently, causing Murphy to sigh in annoyance.

“Nikolai Romanov II ruled Russia at the turn of the 20th century,” Murphy explained. “He was a soft-spoken and decent man who cared deeply for his family. When his son became ill, he commissioned the aid of Russia’s most renowned doctors. But despite their expertise, the child’s condition only worsened. With the boy clinging to life by a thread, the czar’s wife called upon a witch doctor with a hypnotic eye by the name of Grigori Rasputin. Where modern medicine failed, Rasputin was able to save the child. Having gained the czar’s loyalty and trust, Rasputin was appointed as one of his chief advisors.”

Just like his Cedar Square presentation earlier in the week, Murphy really did appear to love the sound of his own voice. He took his time with each word, careful to apply dramatic flair. And adding to the spectacle of it all was Tasha’s bobbing head, mechanically sliding back and forth over the storyteller’s cock.

“Unlike the czar, however, Rasputin was not a decent man,” Murphy continued. “Through calculated manipulation, Rasputin managed to isolate the czar from all other advisors and subordinates until he had become his sole informant. As the czar’s right hand, Rasputin fed him a steady diet of untruths and misinformation to keep him distrustful of everyone. He did the same for the czar’s wife. As their paranoia grew, their dependency on the witch doctor only magnified. Mysticism and superstition became hallmarks of the czar’s political policy. Rasputin even managed to convince Nikolai that he was God’s chosen instrument and that all skeptics were physical embodiments of evil who sought his ruin.”

I let out a sigh, glancing down at my phone to see the time. I hesitated to say anything snarky on account that I still needed Murphy to answer my questions. And Murphy seemed to notice the patience I afforded to him. Despite the fact that Murphy was the one wearing restraints, he appeared to be relishing the reality that he had a captive audience.

“In short,” Murphy continued, “-the public grew increasingly concerned by the czar’s lack of leadership. Recognizing the power behind the throne, they orchestrated Rasputin’s assassination. With the snake’s head cut off from the body, the czar became a sitting duck. He and his family were overthrown, mercilessly tortured, and executed within the week.

I stared at him silently for a moment. “I get the feeling that all of this is supposed to mean something to me,” I said dryly.

“And I get the feeling that you’re a foolish, naive little girl who is way in over her head,” he replied without missing a beat. I stared at him silently for several seconds until he added, “You’ve been deceived, mighty champion. The witch doctors have you under their spell and you’re too dimwitted to even notice.

Their spell? I thought, ignoring the insult. “And in this metaphor of yours, who are the witch doctors exactly?” I asked, placating him.

Murphy chuckled softly, shaking his head side to side. “Anyone with even an ounce of intuition would know that the answer is Annabelle and her protégé.”

“Protégé?” I probed.

“You and I know her as Katie Huff,” Murphy replied, prompting me to laugh out loud. Murphy cut me off. “Laugh all you’d like. They are two edges of the same sword.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I replied.

“Is it?” Murphy asked.

“Uh, yeah!” I answered, chuckling to myself.

“Let me guess,” Murphy continued. “Annabelle awarded you temporary custody of Miss Huff while I’m in here, didn’t she?” I didn’t reply. “And meanwhile, the girl’s wearing a red listening collar?”

I stared back silently, trying not to give away anything with my reactions.

“If you’d like to impale yourself that sword, then go right ahead and underestimate those two,” Murphy replied smugly. “But mark my words, we’ll end up neighbors in here.”

I forced myself to hold my tongue as comebacks about being “impaled” swirled through my head. “What happened with the peach jam?” I asked, bringing the conversation back to the issue I most needed to discuss.

“Peach jam,” Murphy mused quietly, chuckling to himself. “Is that what you were told? That the poor little miss had a bad reaction to my homemade jelly?”

“Stop,” I said, shaking my head. “Just cut the shit, okay? She had a severe reaction. I saw her at the clinic. Unconscious, red and puffy, pumped full of fluids from an IV drip. You don’t fake that shit.”

“Oh, you certainly don’t,” Murphy laughed. “Not without help, anyway.”

“You seriously think it was all some sort of hoax?” I asked, suppressing a smirk.

“I know it was,” Murphy replied calmly.

“So, you believe that the most logical explanation is that Katie and Annabelle hatched some elaborate scheme to frame you for a fake poisoning and then caused a fake reaction that I might oversee should I decide to go visit her in the health clinic?” I asked incredulously. “And why?! So that Annabelle could give me temporary custody of Katie so that she could listen in on our conversations?”

Murphy chuckled. “Certainly sounds more believable than Miss Huff having a severe reaction to an allergen that wasn’t listed on her profile until after she saw what I had stocked in my fridge...”

“Ugh, enough with this conspiracy theory bullshit,” I said, shaking my head in irritation. “You gave her peach jam. She had an allergic reaction. Period.”

“Sure. And Epstein killed himself,” Murphy replied smugly. “Case closed.”

“Oh god!” I said in exasperation, turning to face the wall. “This is pointless.”

“So, there’s really no part of you that questions Miss Huff’s veracity?” Murphy probed, squinting at me suspiciously. “Nothing that gives you even the slightest pause about any of this?”

I turned back to face him. “She hates Annabelle just as much as I do,” I replied defensively. “She would never work with her.”

“Hmm. She could have fooled me when I saw the two of them in Annabelle’s office the other day,” Murphy replied. “The day that Annabelle recommended that I outbid you for Miss Huff at the auction.”

I instantly felt the blood drain from my face. “What?” I asked.

“Oh, you didn’t know that part?” Murphy laughed. “Yeah, the both of them seemed confident that you’d trade me the castle suite in exchange for Miss Huff. Seems they read you like a book.”

“Bullshit,” I said back at him, feeling my voice start to shake.

“Why would I lie to you?” Murphy asked, tilting his head.

“Maybe because you’re an asshole who likes fucking with people?” I countered defiantly.

“Ah, that make sense,” Murphy said sarcastically, nodding his head. “I’d purposely destroy my chances of procuring the coveted castle suite because I want to… fuck with you? An unremarkable, ignorant, scrawny little dimwit. Brilliant plan, I must say.”

I glared at him, fuming at the rationality in his argument.

“No,” he said shaking his head. “After everything I’ve been put through here, after all the money my business has lost in sales since I was incarcerated, I’m afraid I’ve had a change of heart. I think I’d much rather pass on the suite and keep Miss Huff for myself. I’m very much looking forward to interrogating her and learning everything that’s in that pretty little head of hers.”

Murphy looked up over my shoulder, almost as if living out a fantasy in his mind. “And I’m sure Sanura here would enjoy the company.” I saw him tap the pedal with his foot, causing Tasha to let out another cock-muffled shriek.

Just then, the glass door behind me slid open and the security guard stormed in, looking furious.

“Time’s up,” he said forcefully. “You got way more than five minutes.”

“Wait, please-” I protested. “I just need another few-”

“Not a chance,” the guard said, surprising me by grabbing my arm tightly and yanking me toward the exit. “You’re done here.”

“Hey!” I objected, struggling to pull away from him. “Hey, what the hell?!”

He tightened his grip even harder and replied, “And you’re lucky I don’t toss you into the next cell for the bullshit you pulled in the lobby.”

“What?!” I replied. “What bullshit?!”

He stopped and turned toward me with fire in his eyes. “I spoke with the health clinic. Seems they have no record whatsoever of a follow-up visit from your temp. Certainly not two. You made all that shit up.”

“Oh…” I replied, blanking on a believable explanation to give him. Murphy’s cackle broke the silence, prompting the guard to turn back away and pulled me out of the room behind him.

“So long, champ!” Murphy shouted through his laughter as I was dragged into the hallway. “Enjoy the suite!”

I didn’t say anything as I was walked briskly down the long hallway. Once we reached the lobby, the guard threw away my arm forcefully and pointed toward the exit. “Next time I see you back here, I’m detaining you. Understood?” he asked.

“Eat dicks,” I spat back childishly before quickly exiting the building.

It had stopped raining but it was still as chilly as it had been that morning. Once I turned onto Centre Street, out of the view of the kennel’s glass doors, I rubbed my upper arm in the spot the guard had gripped me. Asshole. I walked carelessly through the puddles on the cobblestone streets as I recounting everything that I’d just heard. Thankfully, my headache had all but disappeared, but I now felt sick with indecision.

I hadn’t expected such an explosive Q&A session with Murphy. His resentment towards Annabelle was understandable. She had tossed him into the kennel for something that he believed he didn’t do. His animus towards Katie, on the other hand, caught me completely by surprise. And, quite frankly, it posed an entirely new set of problems. Before any of this had transpired, I had every intention of completing my trade with Murphy upon his release. The castle suite in exchange for Katie. Clean and simple. But now, Murphy was convinced that Katie helped orchestrate his demise. And as a result, he appeared highly motivated to make her pay for it…

For Katie’s sake, this absolutely terrified me. As much as I wanted to protect her from the wrath of someone like Murphy, I honestly didn’t know how I felt about his accusations against her. As with the warnings issued by Alpha, my guttural instinct was to trust Katie. That being said, I’d have been lying to say that Murphy’s claims didn’t concern me. According to Murphy, he had physically witnessed Katie colluding with Annabelle in her office. What was I supposed to do with that?! And to make matters murkier, I was still unable to answer the one question that could discount Murphy once and for all- What possible benefit was there for Murphy to lie?

My stomach felt sick. Glancing down at my phone, I groaned at the time that read 3:02. Part of my problem was undoubtedly my empty stomach! It never ceased to amaze me how easy it was to forget to eat in this place.

Having grown a bit sick of barbecue sandwiches from Sally’s, I glanced around Centre Street, searching for another food option. To my immediate relief, I saw a taco truck about 100 yards away. I quickly jumped in line and, minutes later, scarfed down a giant burrito bowl like I hadn’t eaten in a week.

As I ate, I pondered my next move. Despite Murphy’s and Alpha’s warnings, my impulse was to head straight back to the suite and let Katie know that I was okay. But deep down, I knew it was prudent for me to regroup before seeing her again. And the more I thought things through, the more I recognized how critical it was to have a plan…

Tossing my trash into the nearest can, I headed over to the Apothecary for some items. Since the layout was pretty much the same as it was during the regular season, it didn’t take me long to locate what I needed. I quickly checked out with my purchases of a small bottle of Antiseptic skin cleanser, a pack of “fast-acting” Antihistamine tablets and a box of Band-Aids.

From there, I needed someplace private. After all, according to Alpha, there still may have been people watching me… Almost instantly, I realized where I needed to go. Moments later, I found myself back at the inn number 4, knocking on the door to Eric and June’s room. Moments later, June opened the door, her eyes widening in genuine shock to see me.

“Jodie! Oh my god, you’re okay!” June said frantically.

“Uh, yeah,” I replied, caught off-guard. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Katie told me about the chaos at the market! Unreal! I can’t believe that happened to you!” June explained.

“Oh, that. Yeah, that was definitely a shit show,” I replied dismissively. “Wait, you met Katie?”

“Yeah, at the spa,” June replied. “Don’t worry- I didn’t say anything about this morning. Just that Eric and I know you. She’s fuckin’ adorable by the way.”

“Yeah,” I said scratching the back of my head, awkwardly. June was certainly sweet, but she was practically the real-life version of sorority girl and I really didn’t have the time or patience for small talk. “Hey, is Eric here?” I asked changing gears.

“Nah, he’s out right now,” she replied.

“Damn,” I replied. “Do you know if he’ll be back soon?”

“I don’t. Sorry,” she answered. “Is there anything I can help with?

“Actually… would you mind if I came in for a second?” I asked.

“Of course not! Come in!” June said, swinging the door all the way open. Once I was inside, she closed the door behind me. “What’s going on?” she asked curiously.

“Um…” I replied, not quite knowing how much to share. “I actually just need to use your sink for a minute.”

“Uh, sure!” June replied, clearly perplexed but willing to oblige.

Feeling the need to offer a brief explanation, I added, “I’m just really paranoid right now and need somewhere to do something without being seen.”

“Oh, I totally get it,” June said touching me supportively on the arm. “Living with Captain Paranoia has even made me start to look compulsively over my shoulder. Knock yourself out,” she added, motioning toward the kitchenette countertop. “Actually, let me clear this off first.” She walked quickly over to the counter and began shoving all the trash and wrappers off to the side. “Eric asked me to clean this while he was gone, but to tell the truth, I’m kind of excited to see what happens if I don’t.”

“Ah, I see,” I replied, laughing courteously. Kinky people were so weird.

Once the clutter on the counter had been rearranged, June stepped back and said, “There you go!”

“Thanks,” I replied, rooting through my bag for the required items. I quickly located the can of peaches, can-opener, the bottle of Antiseptic skin cleanser and laid them all on the counter.

June remained next to me, curiously peering over my shoulder.

“So, what’re we doin’?” she asked as I removed the cap of the Antiseptic and hastily dumped the liquid down the drain.

“Um… I’m- it’s kind of an experiment,” I replied, trying to vaguely answer the question without sounding rude. I then used the can-opener to open the can of peaches. As I twisted the handle, I could feel my face growing flush with shame. I honestly couldn’t believe I was doing this… Preparing to perform an induced allergy test on Katie was the last thing I expected to ever do. In fact, only a few hours prior, I’d been utterly outraged at Alpha for even suggesting it!

“Coowel,” June mused, naively.

Trying my best to ignore June’s intrusiveness, I then took the peach can and carefully poured the juice into the small empty bottle. Once the bottle was filled to the top, I reapplied the screw-on cap.

“Alright,” I said as I placed the small bottle back into my bag.

“Nice!” June said giddily, staring back up at me from the bottle as if she expected something more. “That’s it?”

“That’s it,” I replied, giving an awkward smile. I could tell that she was confused as hell. “Um, where’s your trashcan?” I asked grabbing the can of peaches off the countertop.

“Oh- actually, I’ll take care of it,” June said, snatching it from my hands and placing it back on the countertop.

I squinted at her skeptically. “You just want to make the counter dirtier for Eric don’t you?” I asked, smiling.

June giggled. “Guilty,” June said, giving a small curtsey.

This made me laugh out loud.

“Don’t judge me!” June said through laughter. “Look- I’m a gigantic pain slut, but Eric’s a friggin’ softie! I mean, what’s a girl gotta do to get spanked around here!” I howled with laughter, making her laugh harder as well. “I’m serious- I’ve tried everything!”

This girl was too much! The two of us belly-laughed for over a minute until June had to run into the bathroom to avoid “peeing herself”. Finally settling down, I wiped the tears from my eyes and caught my breath. Still laughing, June exited the bathroom and rejoined me in the kitchenette.

“Oh gosh, I needed that,” I said, shaking my head and smiling ear to ear. As pathetic as it sounded, I really need the laugh. This day had brought yet another steaming mountain of shit and June turned out to be just the break I needed before diving back in.

After a brief pause, June asked in a sober voice, “You gonna be alright?” She’d obviously read through my “tough girl” façade.

I hesitated before flashing a weak smile and nodding. “Yeah,” I answered.

“Okay,” June replied softly, stepping in for a hug. Oh, boy- I’d forgotten that June was a hugger.

“Us girls gotta stick together,” she said squeezing me tight. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thanks, June,” I replied, patting her awkwardly on the back. “I appreciate it.”

After our long hug, I left the inn and decided to make my way back to the suite. I couldn’t put off my return any longer. With my tools now in hand, the time had come to face Katie and get to the bottom of all this shit.

It had started raining again, prompting me to pick up the pace. Tote bag in hand, I marched confidently down Centre Street, hoping that my physical demeanor would help alleviate the uncertainty in my mind. My heart pounded heavily in my chest as I quickly prepared myself for what I needed to do. Reaching the castle steps, I jogged up and reached out to swipe my room key through the box next to the handle.

But right before my card made contact, a loud bang from behind me made me jump. I spun around in time to hear the sound of another bang followed by what sounded like the shattering glass and an ear-piercing alarm bell. Glancing around, I looked frantically for where the sound was coming from. Loud screams could suddenly be heard off one of the side alleys of Centre Street.

Dropping my bag, I suddenly found myself quickly descending the steps and running toward the ruckus. It was almost as if I’d completely forgotten my circumstances entirely and had temporarily reverted back to being Operations Manager at Notts’ Faire, racing to manage a crisis.

As I got closer to the commotion, crowds of people could be seen fleeing Baker Lane onto Centre Street. As soon as I rounded the corner, I skidded to an abrupt stop, feeling my heart drop hard in my chest. The large glass window of the building known as the Trading Post had been shattered and a man wearing a security guard uniform lay bleeding in the middle of glass strewn sidewalk. A second security guard had a gun drawn and aimed down at the lying figure while a third guard was kneeling down by his head.

The sound of screams could still be heard from guests as they continued scattering from the scene. Some knocked into me as they passed by, but I pressed cautiously forward, eager to get a closer look at the scene which had transpired.

Once I’d gotten close enough to see it all up-close, my knees suddenly felt shaky and my jaw dropped open in pure horror. The bleeding security guard lying on the ground was none other than Alpha.

His eyes were open, but he wasn’t moving. The standing guard suddenly stowed his gun and began shouting into his walkie-talkie. The guard kneeling down had two fingers pressed against the side of Alpha’s neck. My hands instinctively shot up to my mouth as I saw him look up to his partner and shake his head. His point was clear. Alpha was dead…

Just then, a loud chime blared from the street speakers, followed by an announcement.

“Gentlemen and ladies, we apologize for the inconvenience, but due to hazardous conditions, all guests must return to their rooms immediately. I repeat, all guests must return to their rooms immediately. We will notify you when it is safe to leave. We thank you and offer our deepest apologies for your inconvenience.”

The announcement was ended by another loud chime. For several moments, I stood frozen in shock, staring in horror at the sight of Alpha’s lifeless body. The rain was pouring down now and a trail of bloody water weaved across the cobblestone street and into the sewer grate. I was too overwhelmed to react. Too shocked to cry. All I could do was stand there silently and watch.

Alpha was dead… This meant that all the hundreds of women he spoke of protecting were also as good as dead. The suitcase no longer seemed relevant. Alpha was the last remaining operative on his team. Without him, his mission had officially failed…

Suddenly, I heard my name, shouted from my right. Or rather, Jodie’s name was shouted from my right. Snapping out of my catatonic state, I turned my head to see Katie running toward me.

“Jodie!” she said as she collided into me in a full embrace. “Oh my god, are you okay?!” she asked loudly in a trembling voice. I opened my mouth to respond, but the guard holding the walkie-talkie interrupted, suddenly shouting over at us.

“You need to leave!” the guard said forcefully. “Now! Return to your rooms until further notice!”

“Come on,” Katie said, grabbing my hand and pulling me away. Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion. Over the many years of working at the Renn Faire, I’d experienced quite a lot of crises. But homicide definitely wasn’t one of them. This was completely new and terrifying territory for me…

As Katie led me by the hand back to the suite, the chimes and announcement blared once again over the speaker system, causing me to wince from the deafening volume. By the time the announcement finished, we’d made our way back up the castle stairs. Katie quickly unlocked the door, grabbed my tote bag off the stoop, and pulled me side.

Drenched from the rain, we both let out a collective sigh of relief as the door closed behind us. Even though the suite was warm, I couldn’t stop my teeth from jittering together.

“I’ve been so worried about you! Are you okay?” Katie asked, taking my face in her hands. Still in shock, I opened my mouth to respond, but couldn’t seem to find the words. “You’re freezing,” Katie added. “Come over here by the fire.”

Katie pulled me by the hand once more and positioned me in front of the fireplace. Kneeling down, she flicked the switch at its base, triggering the gas flames to ignite.

“I’m gonna go get some towels,” she added, squeezing my hand before disappearing.

“Okay,” I responded too late in barely a whisper. I had never had a nervous breakdown before, but if I had to guess, this was probably the closest I’d ever come to one. So much was happening at once. So much uncertainty. So much danger. My brain felt like it had officially reached its capacity and might just crash if I tried to process any more.

Moments later, Katie returned carrying a stack of towels. She quickly draped several around my shoulders and rubbed my upper arms. “There we go,” she said softly. “Go ahead and sit down,” she added, motioning over to the black leather armchair beside the fireplace.

“Thanks,” I whispered, taking her suggestion to sit down.

She knelt down in front of me and placed her hands on my needs. “I’m so sorry, Jodie,” she said. “I should have never tried to return those outfits. Especially without telling you.”

“It’s okay,” I replied dismissively.

“It’s not okay. I single-handedly caused this entire mess,” Katie argued, shaking her head.

“You were just trying to do the right thing. It’s who you are,” I replied disingenuously, secretly hoping that the compliment might prompt her to come clean with any other sins that she may or may not be responsible for.

“I didn’t want anything to blow back on you,” she continued. “I’m not sure if you know, but this is a probationary collar,” she said, pointing at the red collar around her neck. “This means that it has a listening device. If anyone overheard our conversation from last night about you accidentally taking the outfits from the market… I just wanted to be able to say that it’s been returned and no harm was done.”

“I don’t blame you,” I replied, adding, “It’s really nice to have someone looking out for me.” I was really doing my best to pull a subtle guilt trip. If Katie was guilty of what Alpha and Murphy claimed she was, there’s no way she wasn’t squirming inside with shame.

“So, what happened?” Katie asked. “How long were you there before… you know, you passed out?”

“Um… I don’t really remember much,” I lied. I hesitated, not knowing where or how to begin. The sight of Katie’s listening collar was more distracting now than it had ever been.

 “I was strapped to the podium thing for about 45 minutes or so. Then, blank,” I said, hoping that she wouldn’t press for more details.

“I’m so, so sorry, Jodie,” Katie said, her eyes curling up at me sympathetically. “That should have been me. Not you.”

“It’s over now,” I said with a forced smile.

“I’ve been so worried,” Katie ranted on. “When you didn’t return to the suite, I feared the worse. I went back to the market but they said you’d been taken to the emergency clinic. They wouldn’t tell me why or what happened, other than that you’d lost consciousness. But when I went to the clinic, the front desk refused to tell me anything. They wouldn’t even confirm that you’d been admitted.”

“Well, I ended up getting a clean bill of health,” I lied, hoping to wrap up the discussion. “All good.”

“What did the doctor say?” Katie pressed. “What was the reason you passed out?”

“Dehydration,” I lied, saying the first thing that popped into my head. Almost instantly, however, I realized the 5-hour plot hole this explanation made in my story. Obviously, something as minimal as dehydration didn’t need a long emergency visit…

“And you know how they are about keeping patients under observation,” I added jokingly. “But apparently, I slept for a really long time as well.”

Katie suddenly began shaking her head sternly and pursing her lips together. “Those jerks at the market shouldn’t be allowed to get away with what they did,” she ranted angrily. “Seriously, there has to be some sort of recourse we can get. It should easily earn them a few days in the kennel. Probably longer.”

“I’m just glad it’s over,” I concluded, trying to convey a sense of finality to the conversation

Katie remained kneeling in front of me, not saying anything for a few seconds. “What can I do?” she asked softly.

Staring into Katie’s concerned eyes, I couldn’t help but feel guilty about how quiet and dismissive I was being towards her. If she truly was an innocent in all of this, she deserved a hell of a lot more reassurance than I was giving her. But I was emotionally wrecked over everything I’d experienced today. Between my episode at the market, Murphy’s accusations and plans, and now Alpha’s death, it seriously felt like bees were swarming around in my head.

I smiled and shook my head. “Nothing,” I replied, taking her hands in mine. “It’s just… it’s been a really hard day.”

Katie nodded before bending over and softly kissing my hand. It was at this moment that I remembered cuts around the edges of her wrists. The ones that came about from the zip-ties that Roger had restrained her with at the market.

Lifting her hands up, I winced as I took a closer look at the bright red cuts. Thanks to the precipitation outside, the cuts still looked fresh, and hadn’t formed scabs yet. “Ouch,” I said softly. “That looks painful.”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Katie said dismissively. “Tis but a flesh wound,” she added jokingly in a terrible British accent.

“Actually,” I said, standing to my feet with the towels still wrapped around me, “I picked something to help with that on my way back.” As I walked over to where Katie had placed the tote bag, my heart began to race.

“Aw,” Katie replied. “That was sweet of you.”

I ignored her, suddenly feeling overcome with shame and second thoughts. Sitting at the top of the bag, I quickly located the anti-histamine tablets and stowed them in my pocket. Next item to be pulled from the bag was the small bottle of antiseptic skin care that I’d replaced with peach juice.

In a full 180 decision, I was officially about to perform an induced allergy test on Katie without her knowledge or consent. As I walked back over to her, I began to unscrew the bottle’s cap. This was easier said than done, given the fact that my hands were now trembling.

Sitting back down on the chair in front of Katie, I placed the cap on the end table beside me and pulled one of the towels off of my shoulders.

“Thanks for thinking of me,” Katie said smiling. “You really are the best.”

I said nothing as I carefully dipped the corner of the towel into the bottle. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I couldn’t believe I was doing this. I officially felt like the world’s shittiest person. What had happened to me? I was effectively poisoning this girl while she thanked and complimented me for doing it…

“This may sting a little,” I lied in a shaky whisper.

Holding Katie’s left wrist, I lifted the towel with my other hand and inched the peach-juice soaked corner of the towel towards her exposed cut. I held my breath as I made contact, dabbing the wound lightly from left to right.

Katie remained silent as I finished and moved on to her other wrist. Dipping the towel back into the liquid, I repeated the process of lightly dabbing the fresh cut on her adjacent wrist. The only thing that made me feel slightly better about all of this was the reality that each cut couldn’t have been longer than an inch wide. I silently prayed that this would only cause the tiniest of reactions.

“All done,” I said, avoiding eye contact with her. Tossing the towel back over my shoulder, I quickly grabbed the bottle and lid off of the end table beside me and screwed it tight. “Once that dries, I’ve got some Band-Aids.”

Just then, Katie craned her head upward and surprised me with a kiss on my lips. I had honestly never felt more conflicted in my entire life. Not wanting to hurt Katie’s feelings, I returned her kiss. Not passionately, but enough to show my appreciation. Damn, I was a piece of shit, I thought to myself. Seriously, I thought to myself. This must be what an actual piece of shit feels like.

After a few more seconds, I broke off the kiss and stood up. “I’ll be right back,” I whispered, putting the bottle into my pocket. “Gotta use the bathroom.”

“Okay,” Katie replied obliviously with a smile.

I needed space. I needed time by myself. I had no idea how long it would take for Katie to have her allergic reaction, but I didn’t trust my abilities to communicate casually until that happened. Even a stranger could have deduced that I wasn’t behaving normally. Fortunately, Katie didn’t show any signs of suspicion. But, then again, that could have just been because she was so nice…

Closing the bathroom door behind me, I leaned my back against the door and slid to the floor. Please don’t let Katie’s reaction be severe, I prayed silently. Please don’t let her be lying. Between the two possibilities, I was honestly not sure which outcome I preferred. If she was hurt, I could always rush her back to the clinic. But if she didn’t react at all... that meant she was one of the bad guys. And then what?

As I sat on the floor, I pulled out my phone and googled how long this sort of test was supposed to take. After only a few seconds of research, I learned that its medical name was an “intradermal allergen test” and they could take anywhere up to fifteen minutes. I sighed and let the back of my head thud into the door. Clearly, I had some time to kill.

I spent the next ten minutes looking at various pictures of allergic reactions and researching the appropriate medical action. I could hear Katie futzing around in the kitchen, but every so often, there would be a period of silence, prompting me to press my ear against the door out of concern. To my relief, it was never long before I heard her humming to herself, opening and closing a cabinet door, or starting the drying machine.

Roughly thirteen minutes into my hiatus, I decided I couldn’t wait any longer and stood to my feet. The suspense of learning the truth about Katie was literally killing me. It felt similar what I imagined cancer patients must feel as they sit in the doctor’s lobby awaiting their test results.

To maintain appearances, I flushed and then proceeded to run the water in the sink as if I were washing my hands. Then, I took a deep breath and exited the bathroom. My heart raced as I reentered the great room, unsure of how the next couple seconds would play out.

“Hey you,” Katie said smiling from behind the kitchen counter. She held out a mug and asked. “How ‘bout some coffee?”

I forced a smile and approached her. “Thanks,” I replied softly. As I approached her, I tried to look at Katie’s wrists, but they were hidden beneath the sleeves of the robe that she was now wearing. Taking the mug from her, I pretended to take a sip.

“Why don’t you take your clothes off so I can toss them into the dryer with mine,” Katie suggested. “I grabbed you another robe from the closet.”

“Um… sure. Good idea,” I replied, trying to respond how I normally would. Placing the mug onto the countertop, I began to remove my jacket and my waterlogged boots. It felt awkward undressing in front of Katie. Just the night prior, the two of us had made passionate love, but over the course of fifteen hours, quite a lot had changed.

Eager to fill the silence, I asked, “So, how was the spa?”

Katie finished taking a gulp from her mug of coffee before replying, “It was amazing. I mean, I cried for probably the first hour and a half, but once I got settled down, it was really nice. Got my nails done.” Katie suddenly held out her hands over the island counter showing off her freshly painted burgundy nails.

This was my moment to look at her wrists. To see her allergic reaction or lack thereof. Heart pounding, I stepped forward and took her hands in mine.

“Very pretty,” I mused. After a few seconds, I turned her hands over palms up to reveal her wrists. What I saw next caused all the blood to instantly drain from my face. Nothing. There was no swelling, no irritation, no discoloration, no sign of anything abnormal. Absolutely nothing…

I dropped Katie’s hands and lifted my gaze to her. Clearly sensing a problem, the smile on her face vanished and was immediately replaced by an expression of concern.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. I continued staring at her, feeling my breathing grow faster. “Jodie?” she probed.

“Why have you been lying to me?” I asked in a low voice.

Katie’s eyes grew twice her normal size and mouth dropped. “What?” she asked

“Your allergy,” I clarified. “Why’d you lie about it?”

“Why did I lie about what?” Katie asked, looking completely bewildered. “Jodie, what are you talking about?”

“You’re not allergic to peaches.” I said forcefully. “Tell me why you lied.”

Katie’s mouth hung open, clearly lost for words.

“Why?!” I yelled, making her flinch.

“I- I didn’t make it up,” Katie stammered. “I am allergic to peaches. I swear.”

“Bullshit,” I replied, stepping around the counter towards her.

“Jodie, I- I don’t understand,” she said looking frazzled. “You saw me in the clinic. You were there when the doctor came. How- how could make something like that up?”

“Let’s pretend you are actually allergic to peaches,” I placated her loudly. “How allergic are you, exactly?”

Katie looked distraught. “Jodie, where is this coming from?!” she asked.

“Is it only you eat them?” I pressed forward condescendingly. “Or is it one of those severe allergies that restricts the entire plane from eating peaches?

“It’s extremely severe,” Katie contended. “Even the smell could send me into anaphylactic shock.”

I stuffed my hand into my pocket and pulled out the bottle filled with peach juice. Slamming it on the counter, I countered, “Then why the hell aren’t you horizontal right now?!” Katie blinked in confusion, staring at the bottle. “This is peach juice, Katie!”

With a horrified expression, Katie looked back up at me. Grabbing her wrists, she reacted aggressively for the first time. “You… you poisoned me?!” She asked.

“Clearly not!” I shouted back. “Because, look at you! Healthy as a horse! Not even a hint of a reaction!”

“That- that could have killed me!” Katie responded, her face turning rapidly from hurt to outraged.

“Yeah, well, I guess it’s a good thing you’re not allergic to peaches, huh?!!” I screamed at her. I was fuming. My heart was pounding out of my chest and my ears felt as if they were on fire.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Katie whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

“Oh, save the theatrics!” I said spinning and storming away from her. “I see through it all now! I know everything!”

“What- what does that mean?!” Katie challenged.

“Everything! I know that your profile listed no allergies at the time of the auction! I know that it was altered to include peaches only after you were taken into Murphy’s custody! I know that you and Annabelle met with Murphy in her office before the auction and advised Murphy to outbid me!” I spoke quickly, listing off the items one after the other. Spinning back to face her, I concluded, “And I know that the three of you accurately predicted that I would do whatever it took to get you back!”

Katie shook her head from side to side, tears rolling down her cheek. “That’s not how it happened,” she pleaded in a broken voice.

“I don’t believe you!!!” I shrieked, using my hands as props. “You said it yourself! If you were so allergic, then the juice in this bottle should’ve killed you!!” Katie was breathing heavily now. “So, why are you still standing?!!”

Katie opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

“Why?!!” I screamed again, making her flinch.

“Maybe- it wasn’t really pea-” she suggested quietly before I interrupted her.

“Oh come off it!!” I countered. “I got it straight out of a can of peaches!! It’s been over fifteen minutes and nothing’s changed! How do you explain that?!!”

Katie blinked, shaking her head. “I-I,” she stammered in almost a whisper.

“Of course you can’t explain it!” I shot back. “Because you’ve been lying to me from the get go!!” Katie’s face was now red and covered in streak marks from her tears. As angry and hurt as I was, seeing her cry only caused my eyes to well up with tears as well. “Annabelle needed someone to spy on me and you were her in!!”

“No,” Katie whispered, still shaking her head.

“Every word, every syllable I uttered in front of you was transmitted directly to Annabelle’s laptop!” I yelled.

“Jodie-” Katie tried to interject.

“And you were ordered to keep me talking! Is that how worked?!” I asked.

“I swear to you- I didn’t plan any of this,” Katie said softly.

“So, Annabelle was the brains and you just went along with it?!” I asked, persistently.

Katie buried her face in her hands and began to sob.

“Is that what you’re saying, Katie?!” I pressed her. “Does that sound about right, Annabelle?!” I directed towards her collar, leaning towards her.

Katie wailed into her hands and sat onto the stool next to the kitchen island. I looked away, desperate to chase away my empathetic tendencies. I couldn’t afford to be suckered any more than I already had. No matter what feelings I may have had for her, this girl was my enemy. Someone not to be trusted under any circumstances.

“I promise you,” Katie said breathily between sobs, “What you’re saying isn’t true. I would never do those things.”

I shook my head and replied. “I wish I could believe that.” Katie continued to ball and I continued to embrace my inner heart of stone.

“I trusted you,” I added, hearing my voice crack. Katie lifted her face from her hands to look at me but said nothing. For a moment, we both just stared at the other, each searching for words left unsaid. Eventually, I broke the silence.

“I’d like for you to leave,” I said softly.

Katie’s eyebrows raised.

“This is over, Katie,” I reiterated, shaking my head. “It’s time we all stopped pretending and went back where we belong.”

Still crying, Katie tilted her head, clearly unsure of what I meant.

“Once you’re back in the custody of the kennel, I’ll be leaving the Kingdom,” I said, looking down at the floor. Even as I said it, I had difficulty believing it. It was almost as if I was listening to someone else say the words.

Katie’s buried her face once more into her hands and resumed sobbing. I bit my lower lip to prevent myself from joining her. I couldn’t believe this was happening. After the connection I felt with her, after our history of having each other’s backs and bailing each other out of trouble, and now after the intimate night we’d shared together… I just… never imagined it would all end like this…

After another minute of crying, Katie mopped her face with her hands and stood to her feet. Quietly, she walked over to the laundry machine, dropped her robe to the floor, and began dressing herself back into her damp clothing and shoes.

Stepping back over to me, she said, “I wish you the very best, Jodie.” Her voice was horse and sounded barely louder than a whisper. “I really do.”

I forced myself to look away as a tear rolled down my cheek. Once it became clear to Katie that I was not responding, she walked past me toward the front door. Every fiber of my being wanted to call after her. To stop her. To sit her down and talk things through from the beginning. To find a hole in my accusations and fill it with misplaced trust. But I knew I couldn’t allow myself to do it. I recognized how irresponsible it would be to choose heart over head. This break was simply unfixable.

The moment I heard the door click shut, I felt my heart of stone shatter into a million pieces. I couldn’t ever recall such a devastating goodbye. No breakup from my past had ever felt quite as horrible. Collapsing onto the stool next to the one Katie had occupied, I began to cry. Not as hysterically as she had, but still plenty distraught.

I continued crying for some time thereafter until I was finally able to reel in my emotions and pull myself together. Standing up, I walked over to the sink and blew my nose loudly into a paper towel. Time to blow this joint.

Just then, I felt my phone buzz. Pulling it out, I saw a new notification at the top of my screen. It read:

Message from The Kennel:

PROBATIONARY STATUS FOR KATIE HUFF HAS BEEN REVOKED. REMANDED TO KENNEL AT 5:01PM.

Not wanting to risk restarting the waterworks, I quickly moved to turn the screen off. But just before my finger touched the power button, my eye caught two more notifications beneath the Kennel’s that I’d obviously missed from earlier. Both were from Eric. Tapping on the top notification, it expanded to read:

Message from Eric Chei:

Finished the sweep and the suite’s clean as a whistle. No bugs discovered. Oh- a woman came by and dropped off…

Swipe down to read more

…a delivery for you. I left everything in the entry hall closet.

P.S. I ran out of time to swim. Just know that I WILL be taking a rain-check ;)

Delivery? I wondered. My eyes glanced down the entry hall toward the closet. I’d honestly forgotten the closet was even there. But more importantly, why was I getting deliveries and who was it from? Stowing my phone in my pocket, I walked over and pulled the door open.

What I saw next nearly caused my jaw to drop to the floor and my skin to turn ice-cold. Propped against the side of the closet were my bags of purchased clothing as well as the infamous, hard-shelled suitcase. The one that Alpha had lost his life trying to apprehend from the Trading Post.

Feeling my anxiety rapidly returning to me, I slammed the closet door shut, staring wide-eyed straight ahead.

“Holy fuck!” I said out loud. Taking a deep breath, I slowly reopened the door and studied the large suitcase for several seconds. You have GOT to be kidding me, I thought.

On top of the suitcase was a manila envelope with a pink post-it note. I picked up the envelope and began reading the neat cursive handwriting:

Jodie- inside is the deed to the suite as well as custody papers for Miss Huff. All that’s needed to complete the exchange is to sign and notarize the documents. This can be done in person at the Trading Post or at any of the locations listed under the “Trading” tab in the Kingdom app. And to reiterate our conversation, if you’re trading the suite, you’ll need a new residence in order to assume custody of Miss Huff. Cheers,

-Laura Asher

I reread the note, and then proceeded to pull out the deed and custody documents from the envelope. My mind was distracted as I skimmed through the documents. I still couldn’t get over how the suitcase had somehow landed back in my possession. I’d never been a big believer in fate, but this damn suitcase was really starting to give me second thoughts…

Staring at the suitcase for nearly a minute, I could do little more than shake my head in disbelief. What the hell was I supposed to do with it? I wondered. I was literally about to walk out the door!

Glancing back down at my phone, out of sheer curiosity, I tapped on the second of Eric’s notifications, which expanded to read:

Message from Eric Chei:

So… We need to talk. Are you free???

As I read his message, a light bulb suddenly went off in my mind. I tapped the reply button beneath his message, which opened a chat window in the Kingdom app. Stuffing the documents and envelope under my arm, I typed back, “I’m available now. Can you meet at the suite?” In mere seconds, a reply appeared on my screen that read, “Be there in 3!”

Stowing my phone in my pocket I closed the closet door again and walked back into the kitchen. Tossing the documents on the kitchen island, I stepped into the bathroom to straighten myself up. I groaned as I saw my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were red and puffy, my cheeks were tear-streaked, and my hair was still matted from the rain. Quickly splashing water on my face, I quickly attempted to make myself look not so disheveled and chaotic.

After pulling my hair into a new ponytail, I exited the bathroom and passed the next minute scrolling through the “Trading Tab” in the Kingdom app on my phone.

Literally three minutes after I received Eric’s message, I heard a knock at the door. I walked quickly back into the entry hall and opened the door to reveal Eric, wearing a yellow poncho. It was still pouring but the sky had gotten dark.

“Hey,” Eric said, urgently brushing past me out of the rain. “Phew!” he added as I shut the door behind him. “It’s nasty out there!”

“Looks it,” I replied, courteously. “Want a towel or something?” I offered.

“Oh, I’m fine,” Eric replied as he pulled his poncho off over his head. “These puppies do the trick pretty well.”

“Well, come in,” I said, walking into the kitchen and taking a seat at the island.

Eric tossed his poncho on the coat-rack next to the door and quickly joined me.

Without saying anything, I picked up the suite deed off the counter and held it out to him. A confused expression spread across his face as he took the document.

“What’s this?” he asked, studying the papers.

“The deed to the suite,” I replied matter-of-factly. “It’s yours.” Eric looked up at me with a look of utter bewilderment. “I’m leaving,” I added.

“Um… what?” Eric replied.

“Tonight,” I clarified. “The Trading Post is closed, but if you follow me to the concierge, I can transfer the suite over to you when I officially checkout.

“Hold up,” Eric said, shaking his head in disbelief as he laid the paperwork back on the table. “This morning, you commissioned my help to run a surveillance sweep and look into a mysterious web-link that you found. And now you’re leaving?”

“Yep,” I said resolutely, nodding my head. “There’s… a lot you’re not aware of. Things I’d rather not get into.” I looked away, adding, “I’ve officially reached my threshold for crazy and I just need to get the hell out.”

“So… you have no interest in hearing what I found out today? About the suite?” he probed. I shook my head. “The link?” I continued shaking my head. “About any of it?”

“I don’t,” I replied calmly. “I really appreciate all your help, but I’m moving on now. I’m sorry, Eric. I’m just done. I have to be.”

After staring at me for a few seconds, seemingly speechless, Eric picked up the deed again and began skimming it over.

“You realize that by leaving, you’ll lose all of your winnings from the hunt, right?” He asked, still staring at the paperwork.

“Yep,” I answered quietly.

“And you understand that the Katie chick can’t come with you?” He added.

“I am… totally fine with that,” I answered truthfully. “Bitch is back in the kennel where she belongs.” To my surprise, speaking this way about Katie didn’t make me feel any better. As much as I was hurting, there was still a part of me that wanted to remember the sweet, kind, and trustworthy Katie that I thought I knew.

Eric gave a deep sigh as he continued staring at the paperwork in his hands. To my irritation, he didn’t seem appreciative of my gift. Instead, his reaction appeared to be one of utter bewilderment and irritation.

“So, what do you say?” I asked with a small smile. “You want unlimited pool access or not?”

Eric glanced back up at me from over the paperwork and said nothing for several seconds.

“Okay,” he blurted out suddenly, laying the paperwork down and standing abruptly to his feet. “I’m already regretting doing this, because we both know how badly I’d love unlimited pool access. But there are things you need to know.”

“Eric-” I countered, shaking my head.

“Just hear me out,” Eric interjected forcefully. “Clearly, I don’t know everything that’s going on, and quite frankly, I don’t need to know. It’s not my business. But what I found out today- I think you need to hear it.”

Frustrated by his persistence, I too stood up and stepped away from the table. “Look, I’m leaving. As in, right now,” I said. “If you want the suite, you can come with. But I’m going.”

“The link was a fake,” Eric blurted out. For a second, the two of us just stared at each other.

“What?” I asked, shaking my head.

“The link,” Eric reiterated. “The one you found with Katie’s old profile- it was a forgery. Whoever uploaded it created an unsecured domain name to make the file look like something from the Kingdom’s archives.”

Irritated that he’d successfully piqued my interest, I stood there silently and waited for him to expand. When he didn’t, I replied, “Why would-”

“I have no idea,” Eric interrupted me. “It’s been annoying the hell out of me all afternoon. What I do know is that both the phony profile and domain were created last night around midnight and that the profile in question was the domain’s sole web element.”

“Meaning…,” I asked.

“What that means,” Eric explained patiently, “Or at least what it looks like-is that someone was messing with you. Sending you down rabbit holes to trigger your paranoia.”

My mind raced to contemplate what he was saying. “No,” I replied, shaking my head. “That’s a stretch.”

“I do this for a living, Jodie. I can assure you that the profile was a forgery,” Eric replied earnestly. “Why would someone do that?”

I opened my mouth, but could offer no explanation.

“Please be honest with me,” Eric continued. “Where did you get that link?”

I looked away, unclear of how to answer.

“Did someone send it to you in a private message?” He asked.

I hesitated before giving a small nod.

“Who?” he pressed.

“It… didn’t show a name,” I replied. “The sender ID just said 01.” For a few seconds, Eric said nothing. He was clearly weighing his next words carefully.

“June said you came by the room this afternoon,” he said in a softer voice. “She told me about your little… project in the kitchen. Transferring juice into a bottle?”

“I really don’t want to talk about it,” I replied, trying to force it from my mind. I did not want to start crying again. But I could tell by Eric’s expression that he wanted me to elaborate.

“Look-” I explained angrily, suddenly feeling that all-too familiar pre-cry sensation in the back of my throat. “I wanted to see for myself if Katie was actually allergic to peaches. So I took peach juice from a can of peaches and dabbed a little into cuts she had on her hands. Spoiler alert- she wasn’t allergic! Okay?! She lied!”

I looked away from Eric trying desperately to avoid another emotional episode.

 I really did not want to start crying again dammit! I bit my bottom lip to stop myself from losing it.

Eric didn’t react for a moment, but rather stepped in closer to me. For a split second, I thought he was going to make the mistake of trying to give me a hug. But to my relief, he didn’t touch me. Instead, his next words sounded soft and sympathetic.

“I figured that’s what you were doing,” Eric said softly. “And the can that you got the juice from- was that given to you by the same person who sent you the link?”

I nodded, keeping my focus on the far wall as my eyes welled up once more with tears.

Eric sighed before responding, “I was afraid of that.” I looked back at him. His eyes looked sympathetic and heavy. “Jodie, what you tested on Katie wasn’t peach juice.” Perplexed, I turned and met his gaze. “Those were canned apricots.”

My stomach suddenly dropped as if I were on a roller coaster. “What?” I whispered as a tear rolled down my cheek. For a moment, Eric said nothing, allowing his words to sink in. “No,” I rebutted, “I saw them. They were peaches!”

“Peaches and apricots look virtually identical. Especially when they’ve been peeled and sliced,” Eric explained softly. “But they actually belong to completely different families of fruit.” Unable to speak, my jaw opened in horror. “Unless Katie was also allergic to apricots, she wouldn’t have had a reaction.”

Unable to speak, I merely shook my head in disbelief.

“I tasted it myself, Jodie,” Eric answered. “I’m sorry.”

For a moment, I was frozen, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to breathe. I felt as if the room was spinning around me and I was losing my balance.

“Oh god,” I uttered before feeling my knees buckle beneath my weight. With lightning-quick reflexes, Eric stepped forward and caught me mid-fall. No longer able to compose myself, the flood-gates opened and I started to wail.

With surprising strength for someone of his size, Eric lifted me up into the air and carried me over to the couch.

“It’s okay,” Eric whispered as he laid me down gently. “It’s okay.”

I continued to sob miserably while curling into a fetal position on my side.

“I’m sure nothing’s been broken that can’t be fixed,” he said reassuringly.

I knew deep down that he was mistaken. There was little to no chance that the kennel would return Katie back to my temporary custody after my little stunt earlier. And even if they were willing, Katie surely wouldn’t be. After how I’d treated her, how I’d falsely accused her and thrown her to the wolves… It seemed unlikely that she’d ever want to see me again. I couldn’t see how there was any way to repair the damage I’d caused…

What made everything worse was the realization that I had single-handedly caused this entire mess. This truly was a fitting end to my tale. The inevitable culmination of a week filled mistakes and arrogant underestimations.

I continued to sob uncontrollably into the couch cushions as Eric laid a throw blanket on top of me. I was inconsolable. I honestly couldn’t recall crying this hard in years. Not since Uncle Henry had passed.

“Can I get you anything?” He asked courteously as he leaned over.

“No,” I whispered between sobs.

“Okay,” he replied softly as he straightened up. “I’m gonna go, then. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything,” he added. “I mean it.” I nodded as I continued to cry. “I’ll check up on you in the morning,” Eric added before walking back toward the front door.

A few moments later, I heard Eric say, “Try to get some sleep.” And with that, the door closed, signaling that I was alone once again. I wailed for a good several hours. Each time I started to settle down, the image of Katie’s horrified and confused face popped into my head, causing the water works to reset back to the beginning. As miserable as I was, I couldn’t help but wonder how awful she felt, having to experience her pain in a place as horrible the kennel…

I despised myself. Probably even more than I despised Alpha. Even though Alpha had manipulated and deceived me, the more accurate truth was that I’d allowed myself to be played. I was the fool who walked right into his trap with open arms.

Alpha had been the real villain all along. Not Katie. Not even Annabelle. Alpha. He orchestrated this entire farce from the beginning. And just like Rasputin from Murphy’s story, Alpha had meticulously manipulated me into doubting everyone around me until he’d become my sole advisor. The one person who I’d feel comfortable confiding in and providing with the information that he so desperately needed.

And just as the czar fell immediately after Rasputin death, my own demise arrived swiftly on the heels of Alpha’s. And to cap off the story’s chilling parallels, Katie’s subsequent suffering would inexplicably bring new meaning to the haunting words of Mick Jagger when he famously sang of how “Anastasia screamed in vain...”

Continues in chapter fifteen