Agent of S.T.A.L.K. in New Orleans

Pretend to be under her spell, Nova told herself, act like a lamb and maybe you can reverse this situation to your advantage.

Stephanie let go of her and instructed Nova to get in the Hummer. Nova obeyed. Like an automaton she clambered inside. Behind the driver and front passenger bucket seats were two separate front-facing sofa seats like in a van. Nova sat behind the driver in the unoccupied middle seat and Stephanie crawled in after her to sit at her immediate right. She dropped the purse Laroque handed her without rummaging through it onto the floorboard. In the rear, Jimbo sat on Mercer's right with the Uzi pressed into his side.

"I told you not to fret about Clive Mercer, Jimbo," said Stephanie, shutting the door. "I have him spellbound, he's as harmless as our little senorita here. Tell me your name, bitch."

Nova droned her name somnolently as the Hummer began to roll down Tchoupitoulas. She wanted to see who drove the monstrosity, but dared not move, plenty of time ahead to identify the fourth person on the enemy team. Laroque swiveled around in the front to be able to see her.

"Did you hear what Stephanie said, Miss Nova? She's going to give you to us while she plays with your boyfriend. I hope you like taking it up the ass."

Stephanie smiled wickedly at her. "You should never have accused him of having a little dick sight unseen. He's hung like a mule." She laughed, "In fact his dick's as big as his mouth."

Laroque frowned. "That's not nice, Stephanie."

"Admit it, Laroque, you talk too fucking much," replied Stephanie, unrepentant. "And from what I've heard you can't shoot worth a shit either. You hit everything in the car park except these two."

"Unkind," grumbled Laroque, gingerly touching his black eye. "I'm a faithful soldier of yours."

"That's true, sweetie," she cooed, slouching forward to give him a few playful slaps on the cheek. He winced, but didn't try to wriggle away. Mercer's punches to his face in the garage must have made his face sore and tender to the touch. Stephanie puckered up to blow a kiss to Laroque. "You are a good fuck though, you've made me come many times whenever I've let you."

"Thank you," said Laroque. "Do you think Miss Nova's asshole will be bleeding by the time I'm done with it?"

Stephanie laughed, "You talk too much but you are amusing. Nova, don't you think he's funny?"

Nova thought about how to answer before responding. Hypnotized people told the truth not unlike the way drunks did. She said slowly and robotically, "I think he's a funny man all right."

Stephanie laughed so hard it came out as a witch's cackle. "That was priceless, Nova. You're funnier than he is. What do you think, Laroque?"

He played along. "She won't feel funny a few hours from now. At least she's horny, she might enjoy me up her butt." Then he laughed.

"How do you know she's randy?" asked Stephanie.

"When I frisked her the crotch of her pants was wet. She's either very horny, spilled a drink in her lap at the Blister, or so scared she peed herself. Don't take my word, Stephanie, feel for yourself."

Nova groaned when Stephanie scooted close to her and massaged the wet area below the zipper of her pants. She unbuckled her belt and unbuttoned the fly of Nova's tight Levis in order to slide the flat of her hand down inside her panties. Nova's groan became a moan as Stephanie toyed with her clitoris and sunk two fingers deep into her wetness and wiggled them around. Mercer's daughter knew her way around a pussy like only a woman can. Nova tried not cry out with pleasure as the fingers touched and probed her sensitive flesh.

Chuckling at confirming Laroque's indictment, Stephanie breathed huskily into her ear: "Which one is it, Nova honey? Be a good girl and tell me the truth."

Squirming in the car seat, she said with a catch in her voice, "I didn't spill anything on me or pee myself."

She heard Laroque snicker at her confession and ask, "What did I tell you, Stephanie?"

"You've got a very hot pussy, Nova," purred the vampire redhead as she withdrew her sticky fingers. She pushed them into Nova's mouth, saying, "Suck your juices off my finger, whore, I wouldn't want to wipe them on my coat."

Nova followed Stephanie's instructions. It didn't revolt her, most men she fucked made her do the same thing. She thought when she'd finished licking the girl's fingers she would resume fondling her, but she didn't. Nova was not disappointed; after a couple of curiosity sessions with girlfriends years ago Nova decided she liked males a whole lot more than females. Men had fingers and tongues too, as well as something a woman's anatomy did not.

"Is my father the one who got you into such a state, Nova?"

She hesitated. What the hell did Stephanie want to hear from her anyway?

"Speak up, I can't hear you, honey. Did hugging and kissing my daddy make you cream your knickers?"

Nova willed her eyes to stay glassy and stared at the back of the car seat in front of her. She didn't want to see Stephanie or Laroque, even if they appeared blurry to her without glasses.

Laroque said, "Finger fuck her again and let me taste her."

Stephanie snapped, "Shut up and turn around and watch the road or I'll only let you watch Jimbo fuck her when we get to the boat. And forbid you to masturbate for seventy two hours."

Laroque sulked, "Why pick on me?"

"You failed your mission, to name one. You weren't supposed to shoot up the car park. Fortunately we took them alive."

"Jimbo failed to accomplish his too and you're not rippin' on him."

"Jimbo knows when to keep his gob shut and he didn't get his nose broken. Not another word, Laroque," warned Stephanie.

Thank God for small favors, thought Nova.

But Stephanie was not done tormenting her. "Nova, take off your shoes."

She untied her Reeboks and slipped them off her feet without a word. When she'd done so, Stephanie ordered her to throw them out of the car. She rolled down the window just enough to do so, the chilly December night air rushed through the crack. Her socks were next, then her frockcoat and sweater. When Stephanie saw the cross on the chain around Nova's neck she recoiled.

"Jimbo," she rasped, head turned away from Nova, "Take that crucifix off her neck and get rid of it. Then check my father to see if he's wearing one too. If he is, throw it out the window with hers."

The man shifted in the back seat to nestle a hand between her breasts to seize the cross. He broke the silver chain by quickly yanking on it and withdrew his hand. Nova heard a rustle of cloth behind her as Jimbo fumbled with the big silver crucifix she knew Mercer wore around his neck.

"I threw them away, Stephanie. The man wore one too."

"Thank you, Jimbo, good work. You'll be rewarded later."

Without a cross in her sight Stephanie returned again to stripping her female prisoner. She told Nova to lose her bra and Nova saw Laroque ogling her naked tits in the mirror of the sun visor on the passenger side. The driver had the heat on in the truck but Nova's nipples stuck out like dowel rods in the cold air blowing through her window. Stephanie cackled each time another piece of her clothing left the vehicle. After Nova sat completely naked except for her thong Stephanie allowed her to roll her window back up.

The Hummer had left the city behind and headed into what looked like bayou country. Nova smelt the stench of swamp gas. They might be on the banks of the Mississippi River or Lake Pontchartrain for all she knew. Their destination must be in some marshland out in the sticks, she saw water but neither buildings nor people.

In the rear view mirror Nova peeked at Mercer behind her. He sat stolid, unmoving, unspeaking, eyes glazed. Unlike her, Mercer wasn't faking being in a trance. He'd be no help whatsoever in their current circumstances. Nova fought to keep from shivering with fright. The ordeal Mercer and she underwent in Los Angeles seemed like a walk in the park compared to this. One of the best ways to make a woman feel powerless was to strip her naked. At least she still wore her panties.

But not for long.

Stephanie dipped her fingers into her kootch again. "Mmm, you're not as wet as you were ten minutes ago, sweetie, but you're still nice and juicy. Clean off my fingers again, you slut, you've gotten them all smelly again."

Nova wondered if she was living the last hour of her life, not being in a trance worse than being in one. She was cognizant of every new indignity and they hadn't even gotten to the boat yet, whatever that meant. The minor indignities she suffered would pale by comparison to the major ones that lay ahead. Fear of the unknown crawled up her back like a snake of ice.

"Oh, it seems like I've forgotten something, Nova," Stephanie teased. "Slip that wet thong off. No, don't throw it out the window. Laroque's behaving himself for a change. I haven't heard a peep out of him in at least five minutes. Give your soiled panties to him as a souvenir."

How disgusting, thought Nova. But she did as instructed, again without a word of complaint.

Laroque grinned hugely at her as he held the thong under his nose and hyperventilated. She wouldn't give the pervert the satisfaction of meeting his eyes.

"Look at him, sweetie. See how happy you've made him. Laroque, if I asked you to describe in ten words or less how the Mexican slut's knickers smell what would those words be?"

The sick grin stayed pasted on his face as he inhaled several more times, thinking before he spoke. "Delicious, like a seafood buffet."

Everyone inside the Hummer laughed except Mercer and Nova. She felt humiliated and the worst had yet to begin.

"Laroque, does her underwear cause you to have a . . . metabolic reaction?"

Laroque stared at Stephanie, but she'd not given him permission to speak. He nodded his head vigorously.

"Why not show Miss Nova that reaction," suggested Stephanie, "In the flesh. I wouldn't want her to think you were lying just to make her feel better about herself."

In two seconds Laroque bared his penis and gripped it at the base. He had a long and thick member, almost the size of Mercer's.

Stephanie clucked her tongue. "Thank you, Laroque, you can put it away now. Nova, have you ever fucked my father?"

"No."

"Never? I'm surprised. I saw you kissing him and grinding your yearning little body against him. Have you ever touched his dick?"

Laroque laughed although it failed to cover her embarrassment.

"Don't keep me waiting for an answer, Nova. I want you to share it with all of us. Have you ever touched my father's private parts?"

Be strong, girl, Nova told herself, eyes straight ahead and don't let them see your lips tremble once. "Yes."

"I thought so. You appear to be a sweet piece of ass," Stephanie chuckled. "All the hot-blooded Latin girls I've ever met love to fuck."

Her comments called for no answer on her part and Nova kept her mouth closed and her face expressionless.

"So you've touched my dear daddy's prick. Was it in his pants or had you taken it out to hold in your hand?"

No hesitation and, to Nova's surprise, no shame. Truth be told, the memory of it made her pussy begin to drip once more. "In my hand."

"Is he bigger than Laroque?"

"Easily, but most men are," lied Nova, straight-faced.

Everyone inside the truck laughed uproariously with the exception of Mercer, Nova and Laroque, who'd misplaced his sense of humor.

"Honey, I could get to like you even though you're nothing but a cheap slut, you're beginning to grow on me." Stephanie appeared to be pleased and in good spirits. "So we all know you've touched my father's dick when you took it out of his pants. Did you suck on it?"

"Yes."

"Did you spit or swallow?"

"Swallow, of course."

Chortling issued again from all inside the Hummer not under the influence of hypnosis, and Nova.

"Let me ask you this: circumcised or uncircumcised?"

Nova felt like she played a round of Deal or No Deal. To keep Stephanie laughing she answered, "He's uncut."

"So you've stroked him and sucked him off, but you've never had his uncircumcised willie in your pussy?"

"No."

"Your bum?"

"No."

"But you would if you could?"

"Of course."

Stephanie smiled benevolently at Nova and unexpectedly slapped her face much harder than she had Laroque's. Her ears rung from the force of it. The sudden blow almost made her break character, but she tried to keep her eyes vacant and her face blank. She prepared for another slap to follow up, but it never came.

In a heavy Cajun accent the driver advised the occupants of the truck to hold on as he steered the big vehicle from the highway onto rugged terrain. Off the road the Hummer bumped along a seldom traveled path, ambulating in four wheel drive, leaving any semblance of civilization behind. For miles the rough trail zigzagged through the dark trees surrounding them, their limbs spectral broken fingers clawing at the night sky. Fifteen or twenty minutes later in the distance she saw an absolute relic, a paddle wheel riverboat moored close to the shoreline in the sheltered cove of a shimmering ebony body of water.

As the truck bounced closer Nova realized she'd viewed an optical illusion, the Hummer's headlights revealed the vessel only appeared to be afloat. The steamboat was beached, apparently for some great length of time too, probably decades. Gnarled cypress roots grew in crooked confusion all around it; Spanish moss clung to the structures on its deck; the black iron of the twin smokestacks almost completely orange with rust. The wooden hull was rotted, its last coat of paint peeling away, the name 'Shiloh Bay' barely visible on the deckhouse. Nova thought the boat must be a century old or more.

The Hummer drifted to a stop next to a muddy Firebird parked just clear of the underbrush. Laroque and the driver exited before anyone else. Stephanie motioned Nova out of the truck and Nova immediately wrapped her arms around herself in a vain effort to ward off the cold night air. After Jimbo got out cradling the Uzi, Stephanie leaned into the Hummer to order Mercer outside. Her three henchmen went around to the rear, returning with a number of kerosene lanterns and several flashlights.

As they lit the lanterns Nova got a good look at the driver for the first time, the thief in the photographs Andy Delaflote had taken: Geoff Guillory! She'd known about his involvement, but what the fuck was he doing here in the thick of things?

A pear-shaped man in a tweed suit in his late fifties, Gilly's head resembled an owl's, his tiny beady eyes set into a broad face with porkchop sideburns masking his jowls, thick and lustrous silver hair brushed straight back. He admired Nova's nakedness as much as Laroque and Jimbo, but made no rude comments.

He endeared himself to Nova reprimanding Stephanie. "At least you should have let the girl keep her clothes until we got her aboard. She'll catch her death of pneumonia out in this weather."

"She'll catch her death all right, but it won't be of pneumonia," Stephanie assured him.

Wide sheets of plywood lying flat in the muck like flagstones formed a path to the boat. Jimbo and Laroque led the way holding their lanterns aloft, Gilly and Stephanie walked behind Mercer and Nova shining flashlights on the ground. Everyone mounted a short ladder leaning against the old riverboat to get on board. Stephanie instructed Mercer to carry Nova in his arms so she wouldn't cut her feet on the various tools, cans, rusted metal parts and jagged metal hawsers littering the deck. They entered the deckhouse and stopped in a long compartment smelling of oil and swamp with a huge boiler and firebox at one end; opulent furnishings dating back two or three hundred years occupied the other, antique furniture and a four poster bed.

Gilly quickly built a fire in a wood burning stove using kindling from splintered pine boards inside a crate.

"Stand close to this, Nova," he bid, "It'll be hotter than blazes in here before you know it."

"Ever the gentleman, Geoff?" noted Stephanie.

The older fellow said nothing in reply. Mercer stood with his arms loose at his sides, vacant eyes staring at nothing. The irony of their predicament wasn't lost on Nova: he was helpless because he didn't have his glasses; she empowered because she'd lost hers!

Laroque and Jimbo placed three lanterns on tables to illuminate the large area with murky light. Stephanie reclined on a plush velvet sofa. Her helpers milled around, all of them appeared uneasy and restless.

"At least I'm a gentleman," Gilly drawled, "Which is more than I can say for some."

Stephanie and he seemed on good terms, but his dry sarcasm underscored a hint of adversity or contempt between them apparent to Nova. She remained by the stove where Gilly told her to stand, trying to imitate Mercer's listlessness and laconic stance, acutely aware of Laroque and Jimbo's eyes glued to her bare breasts and shaved pubes. Tapestries masked the mildewed, rotting wood of the bulkheads and served to soften the dilapidated harshness of the place.

Before long Laroque and Jimbo wearied of just watching Nova, they wanted to touch. The former reminded Stephanie once they got to the boat she promised to let them use Nova as a plaything. She glared at him and suggested he go play cards with Jimbo in their quarters, she would turn the girl over to them after she questioned her. As they left the space wearing unhappy countenances Stephanie warned them not to disturb her for any reason, when she finished with Nova she would summon them and not a minute before.

Nova didn't know whether to be relieved or not. She doubted the redheaded vampire posed the least of the two evils. Laroque and Jimbo strode toward the giant boiler with a fourth lantern and out of Stephanie's quarters. This must be where she slept during the day, safe from discovery by the outside world; no one could ever hope to find her in the middle of this godforsaken swampland.

After Stephanie's hired muscle cleared out, Gilly remarked in his Cajun accent, "I don't care much for your assistants, Stephanie. I know they're the models Enrique introduced you to the night of his death. Is it wise to keep them around?"

She laughed. "They're good fucks and they're cute, at least they were until Mercer beat the shit out of them. What do you care? I have them under my spell and will dispose of them when the time comes. Why the long face?"

Gilly harrumphed and did not reply.

Stephanie continued, "You're about to be a very rich man, Geoff. Your scheme worked almost according to plan. A few kinks needed to be ironed out, but I've no complaints."

"Thank you," he said sarcastically from a sideboard by the big bed. He poured himself a dollop of something out of a cut glass decanter. "Plans never go off perfectly however the infamous Clive Mercer is in your power, thanks to me."

"Doubtless the Vampire Congress will be pleased."

Nova's ears perked up. Mercer never mentioned any such thing to her. She listened intently to their conversation to see what else she could learn, not that that knowledge would do her any good.

Stephanie was saying, "Your location leaves a little to be desired though, it stinks out here in this marsh."

"I've tried to accommodate you with as much security and as many creature comforts as possible during your stay and no one will find this place, at least no one in the law enforcement world." He took a sip from the stemmed glass he held. "You'll only be here another day or two."

"True, but I couldn't find my way in or out of this place if I tried."

"If worse comes to worst you can metamorphosize into a bat and fly to civilization," Gilly replied tartly,

"Fuck you for even thinking that," Stephanie said, not unpleasantly.