Better Off Pt. 01

Katie opened the door and gasped. "Y-you're . . ."

The woman standing on her porch stared back at her with soft blue eyes and a comforting smile. While the expression was different, it was a face that Katie had seen a hundred times plastered over articles and news reports. Such media did little to showcase the vibrance of her red hair.

"You're the . . . the whistleblower." Katie furrowed her brow, having a hard time believing what she was seeing. "Sherri, right?"

"In the flesh. Katie Berkhoff, right?" Sherri held out her hand. Katie grabbed it in turn, but Sherri did all the work of the shake as Katie stared at her dumbfounded. "Mind if I come in for a chat?" Sherri cackled at the lack of response. "Ahh, I do love feeling like a celebrity."

Katie shook her head. "Sorry. Come on in." After Sherri passed through the door, Katie leapt ahead of her and began to clear the table. "Don't mind the . . . everything. Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, water?"

Sherri whistled as she took in her surroundings. "Nice place. Where'd you hide the bodies?"

"The . . . bodies?"

Sherri placed her purse on a nearby chair. "I'd love some green tea, if you have any." She watched as Katie stared like a deer in headlights before scavenging through the cabinets and clutter to find a suitable mug to use. Before long, an image of Victoria and Katie smiled back at Sherri with steam rising above their heads. She raised the mug to her face and took a sniff.

Katie, meanwhile, looked as anxious as ever as she took the nearby seat and began bouncing her knee. Her sock-covered heel drove a rhythmic tap tap tap on the laminate floor.

Sherri smirked. "You're wondering why I'm here."

"That is one of many questions I have, yes," Katie said with a nod.

"Sorry to say, I'm not the most altruistic person. You'd think there'd be some sort of reward for single-handedly dismantling a nefarious cult, but the state hasn't given me shit. So I got to thinking . . ." Sherri placed her mug on the counter, rotating it so that Victoria's face was visible to Katie, and tapped the rim. "Who else might be grateful enough to the person that reunited them with a lost loved one?"

Katie's knee stopped moving. She glanced towards the door, so far away down the hall. "You're here for money?"

"That depends. How much ya got?"

"I . . ."

Before Katie could stammer any longer, Sherri's facade broke and she burst out laughing. "Sorry, sorry, but the look on your face! I couldn't keep it up." She waved Katie off. "I'm not here for your money, don't worry. Though a thank you would be nice." When Katie said nothing, Sherri skipped right along. "You really don't know? Not too bright, are you?"

Katie let out a puff of air through her nose. "I guess it's right what they say. Don't meet your idols."

Sherri put up her hand to soothe Katie. "Don't mind me. My mouth gets me into as much trouble as my mind does. Always had a habit of causing problems for those around me. Fortunately for you, I seem to have caused a big deal of trouble for the right people this time. And just look at the reaction! I certainly don't mind the attention, that's for sure."

Sherri took a sip of her tea and then stared at the mug. "Not bad. Though I suppose not much of a compliment when it's from a package.

"So, to answer the question you didn't technically ask, I'm here in part because the powers that be, forthwith to be known as my lawyers, have found themselves a bit . . ." She waved her hand in thought. "Exasperated—yeah, I think that's a term they'd use—by your . . . persistence. But to put it in my own terms, you're annoying the fuck out of them, Katie. Personally I find it hilarious—never thought I'd have a fan!—but I figured I have to at least sometimes stay on their good side. So here I am, hoping to persuade you to stop calling them."

Katie crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat. "And the other part?"

"Excuse me? Oh! Right. You see . . ." Sherri took a deep breath. "Alright, truth be told? I'm just a dumb, thirsty bitch. I know how this will sound, but . . ." She rotated the mug once more and ran her thumb over the picture of Victoria's face, the porcelain still hot to the touch. The irony was not lost on her. "You see . . . I kinda have a thing for your sister."

After a moment of silence, Katie stood up and gestured down the hall. "Thank you for everything you've done, but I think you should leave."

Sherri refused to move from her seat. "Hey, let's not be hasty, now."

"The only reason I contacted you was to have a discussion about my sister. A serious discussion. It's clear that is not your intention, so let me make this clear: I already gave you my thanks, so as far as I'm concerned, I have no obligations for any further interactions with you. So to put it in my own terms, kindly fuck off."

The whistle that Sherri let out only served to further antagonize Katie. "Touchy touchy, I see." She held her hands up in defense when Katie took a step forward. "Look, I told you I have a mouth on me. I don't apologize for that. But I'll try to avoid stepping on any more mines. Just give me five minutes to explain my intentions, and then I'll gladly answer any questions you may have about anything. Or you can still kick me out, if you are so inclined."

There was no hint of mischief in Sherri's eyes that Katie could detect, and her smug grin from before had flitted away. She wasn't sure if she could believe anything Sherri might want to say first, but the allure of what information she might have was too appealing. Someone with answers that went far beyond anything the articles would ever reveal. First-hand experience of what Victoria went through. If dealing with someone unsavory for minutes out of her day was the cost, Katie was willing to pay it. She took a step back, but chose to remain standing.

Sherri tried to give off a reassuring smile. She glanced once more at the mug in front of her, speaking more to the image of Victoria than to Katie when she began. "I always envied college students. That life was never for me. Too much structure. But it was always nice to imagine that each and every one of them knew exactly what they wanted, even though I'm sure half or more were about as clueless about their future as me.

"Sometimes, I liked wandering the nearby campus in my free time, watching them scurry about, presumably making something of themselves. Just watching, and admittedly . . . hoping to get laid."

Her eyes flicked up to Katie's, watching for any sign that what she said had pushed the line too far. Confident that she was still in the clear, she continued, her eyes back on the mug. "She approached me first. Your sister. Normally I'm the one to make the first move. Caught me off guard, honestly. She had this confidence to her that was just . . . formidable. Almost right away, she made me feel like I belonged there . . . And god, the way she made me feel in bed, I-"

Katie shifted where she stood, so Sherri cut herself off. "I'll spare you the details, but I wasn't lying when I said I fell for her. She's the one that brought me to the cult, but of course I didn't know of her intentions at the time. I thought she was just as into me. And that's . . . why I'm here, hoping to trade answers with you, because they're keeping me just as in the dark about some things as they are you. So my question to you is . . . Is she okay? Did I save her?"

Katie thought about how she should respond. Dr. Navathe said that Victoria was going to get better. She trusted that info. But at the same time, her sister still wasn't there. And even though Sherri was a creep, she had information, and was likely the only person that would share it with Katie.

She sat back down with a sigh. "Progress has been made." She wished she could believe it herself. Victoria was different for sure, but it felt more like they were running perpendicular of their goal, not towards it. "But if we're going to be exchanging information, I want you to go first. You can start by telling me what they did to her."

"I guess some things run in the family," Sherri said. Before Katie could grill her on what she meant by that, Sherri continued on. "Fair enough. I'll play it your way. Though I wish I could be of more help with that. I'm just the gal that ran away. My exposure to their little science experiment was minimal."

Sherri took a sip of her tea, her slurping the only sound to fill the room for a long moment as she stared off into nothing. And then an odd, pleasant smile formed on her face, as if she was thinking of a fond old friend. "You know, I still sometimes have the urge to go back. When I think about how they made me feel, I'm almost a bit disappointed that I brought the whole thing down. What they do, their method . . . It's powerful, Katie. I don't think I'd have lasted a second session." Sherri rubbed her thumb over the rim of her mug. "Almost a pity . . ."

"If it's too hard for you, I understand. It's just . . . I need something."

Sherri downed the rest of her tea in one go, slamming her mug on the table with a thunk. She sat up straight, staring right into Katie's eyes. "I can't speak to the mechanics of it, but I can tell you what I saw, and more importantly, what I felt."

Katie leaned forward, putting all her focus on Sherri. Finally she was going to figure out something new, something that wasn't repeated by every news outlet. With any luck, it would hold the key to helping Victoria.

She nodded.

"I didn't remember some of it until days later. It started with bliss. I'm not sure what it was they used. Some sort of drug, to be sure, but not one I've ever experienced before. I woke up feeling so wonderful. I didn't know where I was or who the people next to me were. I could tell I was strapped down to a chair, but it didn't matter to me. It was a fact I was aware of, but held no more importance than other mundane facts. Grass is green, sugar is sweet, and I was strapped to a chair.

"No, the only thing I could contemplate was how good everything felt, like that moment right after an amazing orgasm when you lie there and float, only it never ended." Sherri closed her eyes and bit her lip, her breathing becoming deeper.

Enraptured by her words, Katie wondered when Sherri was going to continue. She was about to nudge her when Sherri's eyes shot open and stared towards the ceiling.

"There was a screen. Some sort of projector or something, I wasn't focused on the specifics. But on it, I shit you not, they had a fucking spiral playing right in front of me. Like I was in some low-budget movie from the eighties. But here's the thing. The state I was in? That shit was fascinating.

"It demanded my attention, promising untold secrets if I kept watching. I had to look deeper into it to let the secrets unfold. How glorious I knew they were going to be, if I just. . . Looked. . . Closer.

"Or maybe that's what the voice was telling me. I have no idea when it started talking. Perhaps it had always been talking to me. Whispering in my ear, so sensual, almost as if it was coming from within my head. And maybe that was the point. Make me think it wasn't a voice at all, but rather my own thoughts. I mean, if you're going to trust anyone, it would be yourself, right?"

Sherri took a deep breath and rubbed her face with both hands. "I really don't want to undersell how powerful that shit was. Just talking about it, remembering it . . ." There was that warm smile again, Sherri's eyes fluttering closed. "It's almost like I'm back there in that chair."

She grimaced, an angry indentation presenting itself in the flesh of her thigh where she pinched. "Sorry, months later and I'm still dealing with the occasional relapse."

Katie's hand formed into a fist, and she let it fall to the table with a thud. Dr. Navathe had earned her trust. The doctor's selfless efforts to rescue Victoria, the wealth of experience she was able to apply, had seen to that.

But this new information challenged it all. What good were those efforts, that experience, when the doctor was applying them with limited knowledge of the circumstances?

"Are you okay?" Sherri asked.

Katie deflated, a knot forming in the pit of her stomach. She turned away to compose herself, the decorative wood of her seat groaning as she put her weight on it. "One day . . ."

"One day what?"

"One fucking day, and you're still dealing with this shit two months later." Katie let out a labored breath as she turned around. "How can there be any hope when my sister has been going through it for years?"

Sherri studied her face. Katie half-expected to be mocked at any second. Instead, Sherri's eyes shifted to her bag. "What if . . ." She shifted in her seat, one hand reaching up to scratch her neck, the other inching up her thigh from under the table. "What if I knew a way?"

"You have to tell me. Please."

After a moment's hesitation, Sherri reached into her purse. Katie watched as she pulled out a container and placed it between them on the table. In it appeared to be a liquid with a rich purple hue, about three cups' worth by Katie's estimation. The moment Sherri let go of it, she sat on her hands. The two stared at it together.

"What's that?"

"The drug they used on your sister. I swiped some the day I escaped. I was going to turn it in, but I . . . I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. I kept telling myself I'd do it the next day, and then the next . . . Until I realized I didn't want to. I guess I was afraid of losing the opportunity to experience it again, even though I never allowed myself to give in."

Sherri shook her head. "I want you to take it. If you give some to your sister, it should help bring her back. Or so I would imagine. Hair of the dog, or something." She brought her hand up and placed it on the edge of the table, her focus locked on the thick liquid held within the plastic.

"Is it safe?" Katie asked. The last thing she would want was to hurt her sister by using some unknown substance. But then it wasn't really up to her. All Katie had to do was show it to Dr. Navathe. The doctor would know what to do.

Sherri never responded, but Katie had made up her mind. But as she reached out to grab the container, Sherri's hand shot out to cover it.

"M-maybe . . . Maybe she doesn't need all of it. Maybe I can still k-keep some for . . . myself . . . Just a little bit."

"Sherri?" At the sound of her name, Sherri's eyes darted up to meet Katie's. Katie could see the hunger in them. She saw the ragged breaths Sherri was taking, her lip quivering. And with their eyes locked on each other, Katie heard the sound of the lid being removed.

And then Sherri scrunched her eyes shut. "Just take it!" With her shout, she shoved the container towards Katie. It slid an inch before being caught by the clutter on the table. Like a trainwreck, Katie watched the plastic topple over, and with it the liquid came flooding out.

Out of instinct, Katie placed her arm against the table to act as a levee, preventing the sap from spilling to the floor. It was viscous enough that she was able to contain it.

"Shit! I'm so sorry, Katie!" Sherri said, covering her mouth with both hands.

"It's okay, I think. Just have to clean it up I guess . . ." Katie looked around the table, but all she could find were newspapers. "Huh . . . It's warmer than I thought . . ."

Everywhere the liquid touched left her skin flushed, and Katie could feel a tingling up and down her forearm. The sickly-sweet smell wafted up to her nose, making her feel lightheaded for a moment. "Should probably wash this off as soon as I can, I don't think . . . that I should be letting it touch me. There should be some sponges under the sink. Can you grab one? Sherri? Sherri!"

Sherri shook with a start. "Right! Sponge. Sorry. Good idea. I'm on it. You feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, just . . . Hoping we can still salvage some. For Victoria."

Katie tried her best to ignore the sensations in her arm as Sherri poked around under the sink. The tingling was growing more intense, but Katie found she was starting to enjoy it. That couldn't be a good sign. She needed to get this stuff off of her, but didn't want to risk losing it to the floor. "There should be one right there. Did you find it?"

A sponge flew over her shoulder and landed right on the table. The corner made contact with the liquid, and Katie watched the purple slowly seep into the soft porous material. "Hey, you're going to make me do it?"

Sherri spoke from behind her. "Sorry, I . . . I don't trust myself to touch it right now. I hope you understand."

Part of Katie felt like she should be annoyed, but the emotion never surfaced. It made sense that Sherri was trying to distance herself. Katie would feel bad if she relapsed because of her. She needed to sop up as much of the liquid as she could and get it back into the container, and then she could see to getting her sister back once and for all.

"It's fine," Katie said. She righted the container, and then dipped the sponge into the purple puddle. Once it soaked up all it could hold, she held it above the container and gave it a squeeze. The sap oozed around her fingers, and Katie let out a short gasp. She had to be careful to make sure that it only dripped into the target, but the liquid felt wonderful as it trailed down her skin. And when she could wring out no more, she returned the sponge to the lake of sap.

"I guess I never finished answering your question. About what it felt like when I was trapped in that room. It was all pretty overwhelming, what with the spiral and that voice. I tried to focus on it, but . . . well I couldn't exactly focus.

"I can't say I actually heard it . . . It was more like I got a sense of what it was saying. First, it was encouraging me to relax. That part was easy, I was already quite out of it. I just let myself sink into the chair I was in."

As Katie brought the full sponge to hover over the container once more, she felt Sherri's hand land on her shoulder. The hand gave a gentle squeeze, and Katie couldn't help but close her eyes and purr a bit at the sensations that radiated out from the touch, forgetting to wring out the sponge until a moment later.

"It felt so good to do what the voice said. I knew it had to be right, because of that. How could something that made you feel so good ever be wrong?"

A funny thought popped into Katie's mind, and she couldn't help but giggle. "You sound just like Dr. Navathe . . . When she's doing that . . . that thing with Victoria . . ."

"Don't worry about that, Katie," Sherri said. "Focus on cleaning up as you listen to my story."

Katie nodded her head and then squeezed the sponge. Sap flowed like spring water through her fingers once more, cascading downward to join the rest with a series of wet plops, leaving purple trails behind to stain her skin.

By now, Katie could feel the tingling between her thighs. She squeezed her legs together, letting out a moan at the unexpected pleasure that came forth. As she relished the sensations, it took her a moment to realize that Sherri had been talking to her.

"-and with every passing second, I found myself relaxing even more, like the voice was telling me to do. Eventually, I realized it was becoming difficult to think. Like my thoughts were draining right from my mind. Much like the sap drains from that sponge whenever you squeeze."

A dopey grin wormed its way onto Katie's face as her imagination followed what Sherri was saying. As she wrung the sponge out once more, she pictured the purple liquid as a representation of her own thoughts. Her worries about her sister vanished. Her anger about what had been done to Victoria washed away. All that was left was Sherri's voice and that wonderful heat between her legs.