Fated Destiny Ch. 04

The drive back to Sergi's was without incident and without Gretta getting up close and personal with Tom. She spent the time making annotations to the maps they had brought with them. The sun was just setting when Tom pulled onto the driveway. Tom parked his car off to one side.

"Go see Herr Doctor and let him know we are back," said Gretta as she climbed out of his car. "Please show him the maps. I'll be down in a few minutes."

Tom went inside and found Sergi alone in the library.

"Ah, Thomas, how was your trip?" asked Sergi.

"Uneventful," admitted Tom. "Although, Detective O'Malley, the female officer, followed us there."

Sergi frowned. "Unfortunate...I hope she does not get into any trouble."

"The house was deserted," stated Tom, trying to alleviate Sergi's fears. "Gretta will be down in a few minutes. I brought in the maps."

Sergi chuckled and asked, "Did she strip down to nothing?"

"How did you know?" asked Tom, a bit startled by the question.

"It's part of her technique," said Sergi with a smile. "Gretta's not inhibited. When she starts taking off her clothes, she brings out the voyeur in all of us. She was watching the house to see if anyone was watching her."

"...and because no one came out, the place must be deserted," deduced Tom.

"Maybe," corrected Sergi. A person trained in cover and concealment would not reveal his position, even for so tempting a sight as our Gretta. It could also mean that they were not there at the time. Let us look at your maps."

Tom and Sergi went over the maps. Gretta had marked the entrances into the house, the location of the well, and even the tombstones they had found in the small copse of trees. They had just finished when Gretta came in. She tossed a manila envelope on a side table and handed a second envelope to Sergi. He opened it and pulled out a set of Photographs of the farm house.

"These are excellent, Gretta," said Sergi, looking through the pictures. "I'll give them to Hannah to scan into the computer."

All three of them looked up when Anya entered the library. She was wearing blue jeans and an old faded plaid shirt with her wait-length hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"How did it go?" she asked Tom.

"Good," answered Tom. "We have maps and photos of the place."

Anya looked at a couple of the photos and said, "I don't know why a vampire would want a place like this. I think it is too exposed from the road. Tom, how about you and I taking in a movie tonight? My treat."

"Uh..."

"I was going to ask you out," said Gretta with a little pout in her voice.

"Uh, it's been a rough and hectic day for me," stated tom, backing away from both of them. "I think I'll just turn in early tonight."

"We are done here. Thomas," said Sergi. "Go on ahead. I need to talk to Anya and Gretta."

Tom turned and heard Gretta say, "The envelope on the table is for you."

Tom grabbed the envelope and headed out the door. He stopped in the hallway, though, when he heard Sergi say, "In regards to Thomas..." Tom turned halfway back to listen.

"...I will not have the two of you fighting over him," said Sergi sternly. "He's bright and intelligent and painfully shy around women. Thomas is where we all were once, just starting to realize that the things that go bump in the night are real."

"So you want the two of us to leave him alone?" asked Anya.

"In regards to certain aspects of his life, yes," said Sergi. "You are all adults. What I do not want is for him to be more scared of you than Covington. That means no more embarrassing him, no more trying to get him into bed, no more seductions, and, most importantly, no more fighting over him."

"I'm sure the two of us can work something out," stated Gretta.

"Gretta..." warned Sergi sternly.

Tom backed away and went up to his room. He shook his head in wonder and puzzlement. He had two gorgeous women pursuing him who would not take no for an answer. Tom had been chased before, but where indifference and lack of attention had sent the others away, it did not seem to be working here.

"I guess Hannah was right," thought Tom. "I am going to have to learn to live with having a big dick. Sergi is also right...I should be scared a whole lot more of Covington than Gretta or Anya."

Tom reached over and snagged the envelope Gretta had given him. Opening it up, he pulled out the contents and then began to laugh. In side was a note from Gretta which stated, "Nice photos, don't you think?" along with about twenty nude photographs of Gretta he had taken of her outside the abandoned farmhouse.

The next morning after Tom woke up, he realized that it was Tuesday and he would have to return to work the next day. He dressed and made his bed before heading downstairs. Tom was slightly surprised to find only Sergi and Hannah in the kitchen.

"Everyone else is out looking at Covington's properties," explained Sergi.

"What would you like for breakfast?" asked Hannah.

"Anything that's not too much trouble," said Tom.

"Scrambled eggs and bacon?"

"Sounds good to me," replied Tom. "Sergi, thanks for your hospitality, but I'm going to have to go home today. I have to be back at work tomorrow. I'd still like to help out if I can."

"You have a part to play in all of this, Thomas," said Sergi. "You will not be left out. Please remember, the restrictions that apply to Covington do not apply to her human minions. You have already met one of them when you went to retrieve your car. I am positive she has others."

"I promise, no heroics," said Tom with a smile.

"Please stop by Thursday night for dinner," invited Sergi. "We should have completed the reconnaissance by then and we can discuss options for the weekend. Is six o'clock too early?"

"For Hannah's cooking?" asked Tom as Hannah put a plate of eggs and bacon in front of him. Tom could smell the onions and cheese she had added to the eggs. "I'll come anytime you say."

Hannah laughed and playfully swatted him on the arm. "Smart boy...complimenting the cook."

Tom finished off his breakfast and thanked Hannah. She hugged him and told him to be careful. Sergi walked with Tom out to his car.

"Heed Hannah's advice," said Sergi. "Be careful. Try not to jump at every little sound, though."

Tom left him and drove back to his apartment. He kept a watchful eye out for anything unusual. Only once did he spot something in an alleyway that did not look quite human, but he was past it before he managed to get a second look. Remembering Hannah's advice, he did not drive around the block to get another glance.

At the apartment, Tom grimaced as he entered it. He had been working such long hours at work and had been away for several days that the place was a mess. He remembered the embarrassment he felt when Anya came up to the apartment. After checking the locks on the windows and door, Tom began cleaning. Grabbing a load of clothes, he headed down to the laundry room, located in the building's basement, but he stopped in the hallway leading to the elevators.

"Oh, come on!" thought Tom mentally shaking himself. "Covington is not going to be waiting for me in the laundry room," and he proceeded down to it.

Apart from meeting Gus, the building's maintenance man, twice on his trips to the laundry room, Tom did not see anyone else. He quickly finished his chores and began doing vampire research on the Internet. It took him hours to shift through the millions of hits he received back on his first search. Tom almost called Sergi to see if he could help, but decided to do this on his own. Disregarding the numerous fiction novels, the Goth cultists, and the good old-fashioned crackpots, tom tried to stay with reputable sources. It just took him forever to find them. Even still, the sources could only speculate on vampires and their way of life. Gritty-eyed and tired, Tom turned off his computer and went to bed.

The next day seemed perfectly normal to Tom. He went into work, finished off the last few problems he had been working on, and went home. It was a little after six in the evening as Tom was fixing spaghetti for dinner when there was a knock on his door. Looking through the peephole, Tom was surprised to see Detective Smith standing in the hallway. Tom opened the door and Smith barged in.

"Have you seen O'Malley?" asked Smith belligerently, looking around the apartment as if trying to spot her there.

"Not since Monday afternoon when she followed us out to the country," stated Tom, concerned by Smith's obvious agitation.

"Us? Who's us?" asked Smith.

Gretta and I went on a hike," answered Tom. "Detective O'Malley drove past us twice in a blue car."

"Damn it! Where was this?"

"Off 25 on Middletown Road," replied Tom.

"I haven't heard from her, which is unusual, and I can't seem to reach her," said Smith in disgust. "I'll fry her ass if she took vacation to play private detective. This Gretta...she's at Maleski's place?" Tom shook his head affirmatively. "Good. You'd better be telling me the truth."

Tom did not get a chance to answer because Smith turned and left the apartment, banging the door loudly behind him. Tom stood there open-mouthed for a second before running over to the telephone to call Dr. Maleski. Tom grimaced when no one picked up the phone and the answering machine told him to leave a message.

"Dr. Maleski, this is Tom. Detective Smith is on his way over there. He thinks Detective O'Malley is missing. She's the one that followed Gretta and I to the old farmhouse. Call me when you get this."

Tom paced around his apartment for almost fifteen minutes before he had a thought.

"O'Malley might have fallen into the well," he thought. "If I leave now, I'll have about an hour of daylight to look around."

Tom grabbed his car keys and was soon driving towards the abandoned house. He hoped some of Sergi's people would be there. As he pulled onto the dirt road where he had parked before, Tom spotted a blue car parked further down. He looked around, but did not see anyone. He ran over to the blue car, but no one was inside it. Tom decided to forego subterfuge and ran down the road to the farmhouse.

"O'Malley!" he called out. "Detective O'Malley!"

Tom raced around to the back of the house and called out again. He heard a faint noise coming from the well and cautiously approached it.

"Detective?" he asked, trying to peer down into the dark hole.

"Yyyyyyes...I'm...I'm...freezing."

"Hold on," said Tom as he laid down on his stomach and crawled forward to look down into the well.

The well was dark and gloomy, but he could just make out a woman with reddish hair at the bottom in water that came up to her waist. Her arms were clasped tightly around her and he could hear her teeth chattering. The distance from the top to where she stood was too great for him to reach down and pull her out.

"Hold on," said Tom. "I need a rope or ladder."

Tom suddenly heard someone running towards him. He turned up on his side to see who it was and caught the toe of a boot full into his stomach. Tom's breath whooshed out and he flipped over onto his back. Tom did not have a chance to catch his breath as his attacker brought the heel of his boot down on Tom's stomach again. Another kick to his side flipped Tom over onto his stomach again. His attacker landed both of his knees on Tom's back.

"Easy, Reynolds...The mistress doesn't want this one hurt."

"Only making him easier to handle, Renfield," said the attacker on top of Tom, pulling Tom's arms back to snap a pair of handcuffs onto his wrists.

"Don't call me Renfield," snapped the other man. "Only the mistress can call me Renfield. The name is Harry...Harry Blair."

"Okay by me, Harry," said Reynolds. "Why does she call you Renfield?"

"I don't know."

Tom, gasping heavily, was just managing to keep his nausea down. He looked up and saw that Harry was the same ferret-faced man who had stopped Tom in the garage.

"Well, what are we going to do with him?" asked Reynolds.

"The mistress wants him, but she has plans for tonight," muttered Harry, almost to himself. "Mistress will be mad if not told and mad if she misses where she has to be."

"Call her on her cell phone," suggested Reynolds.

"No cell phone," responded Harry. "Electronics are not good around her. What to do?"

"Put him with the chick," stated Reynolds. "They won't get out of there."

"Yes! Then I can wait for the mistress," said Harry happily.

"Alright, buddy," said Reynolds, getting off Tom and grabbing him by the arm.

"Mistress says no clothes in well," said Harry sternly.

"Whatever turns her on," muttered Reynolds as he pulled out a butterfly knife.

The razor-sharp knife made short work of Tom's clothes. If he had not been in such pain from the kicking, Tom would have been embarrassed by his nudity. All he could really think about was of trying to escape, but Reynolds gave him no chance.

"Lie down and put your legs over the edge of the well," ordered Reynolds. "Don't try anything or I'll just kick you into it."

Tom saw Harry reach under the broken-down rear porch and pull out a length of rope. One end was attached under the porch and Harry played it out as he walked back to the well. He tossed the remainder down into the well. Reynolds knelt behind Tom and unfastened the handcuffs.

"Go on and lower yourself down," said Reynolds, backing away with his knife in his hand.

Tom saw no way out of it, so he lowered himself down. Colleen O'Malley had back off against the wall. Tom gasped as he splashed waist deep into the icy water. The rope was immediately drawn up and Tom heard Harry and Reynolds walk away.

"Sorry, didn't mean to land both of us down here," apologized Tom. He noticed that Colleen was also naked with her arms wrapped tightly around her chest and her teeth chattering from the cold water. Tom started to check around the wall of the well.

"It'sssss...alright," stammered Colleen as she shivered. "W...Walls...t...too...slick."

"We've got to get out of here before Covington arrives," said Tom. "She'll kill us both."

"W...W...Why?"

"If I lift you up, are you strong enough to stand on my shoulders?" asked Tom.

"I...I...I...can't feel...m...my legs, b...but I'll...t...t...try," answered Colleen.

It was not until the third try that Colleen managed to stand up on Tom's shoulders with a lot of their two bodies rubbing together in the process. On the first try, Colleen's legs gave out and on the second, Tom's foot slipped on the algae-covered stones. They were both drenched as a result, but they kept trying.

"T...Too...short," muttered Colleen as she reached upward.

The gloom in the well was getting darker as Tom knew that the sun was setting, if it was not down below the horizon already.

"Lift your right foot," said Tom through gritted teeth.

Colleen did so and Tom put his hand under the bottom of her foot.

"Now, your other one."

They both wobbled as Tom held her up by his hands, but they managed to stay upright. Grunting from the effort, Tom extended his arms upward until he could lock his elbows.

"Sssstill...t...too...short," said Colleen. "A...About...a...ffffoot."

"Brace...yourself," grunted Tom.

Ever so slowly, Tom sank down into a squatting position. He felt around with his feet for the best footing he could find. Colleen did not say a word, but Tom could feel the tenseness inside her through her feet. Tom flexed his arms downward slightly and then lunged upward, snapping his arms straight out.

He felt Colleen's feet leave his hands just before he started to fall back down. Tom hit the water with a loud splash and went completely underwater. He lunged back to the surface with a gasp and looked around for Colleen.

She was above him, half-hanging over the lip of the well. Tom swallowed hard as he had a great view of her legs and ass. Colleen managed to flip a leg up and over the lip. She then rolled out of sight.

"Y...You...okay...d...down...there?" whispered Colleen.

"Yes, there is a rope under the back porch."

The rope soon snaked its way down to Tom. He shimmied his way up the rope and out of the well.

Tom stayed crouched down and looked around. The sun had set and the surrounding area was all black and gray. A sliver of the moon cast only the faintest light down to the earth.

"Over there," whispered Colleen, pointing towards a shed about two hundred feet away. "There's a faint light coming from underneath the door."

"That may be Reynolds and who knows who else," whispered Tom. "Let's head back to the cars. Take my hand so we don't get separated."

Hand in hand with Tom leading, they headed towards the trees. Skirting a small rubbish pile, Tom stopped and bent down.

"W...What are...you...d...doing?" whispered Colleen.

"It's my clothes...or what's left of them," whispered Tom.

Tom quickly searched the pockets. He found his keys and his wallet was lying next to his right shoe. He considered looking for the left shoe, but decided they had pushed their luck as it was. He stood up and grasped Colleen's hand.

"Let's get out of here," he whispered to her.

"Well, well, well...what do we have here?" came a sultry, lush voice from the darkness. "My tadpoles have managed to escape from the well."

Tom stopped and turned. Coming towards them in an effortless, sensual walk was Desiree Covington.