It's My Party

And now their sleeping linked minds were sharing a mutual dream within a dream. They had done this close to a hundred times now in the last two objective days. The novelty would probably never wear off.

"I want a body!" the sleeping mind of Peggy said with a laugh.

"Human?" Mark's mind playfully retorted.

"Are your serious?! Yes, human! And can we go back to my dorm room?"

"Sure."

A moment later Mark was there standing in the now familiar room. The imagery wasn't sharp, he wasn't expecting it to be, not inside a dream within a dream. His mind was asleep. But the presence of Peggy stood out in crystal clarity. She was wearing a skimpy bikini. No. Mark looked more closely. It was a white bra, very low cut showing lots of cleavage, and a pair of white thong panties. And then his sleepy gaze caught her eyes. Time drifted for an instant, and he was lying down with her.

"This is dangerous," he muttered in a sleepy relaxed voice. He smiled in contentment as he petted her hair.

"Hmmm?"

"Such pretty hair you have Peggy, so soft and silky…"

"I'm very happy you like it." Her mind was without sarcasm.

"Dreams within dreams, all our inhibitions are off line."

"I know Mark. That's why I brought you here. That's why I have the courage. Will you do the honors?"

Peggy turned slightly, offering her back to Mark. He accepted the offer and unclasped her bra. A moment later it was gone, though neither could remember removing it. The bra was simply gone.

Peggy smiled. "I saw you staring at my tits earlier, wondering how far down the freckles went. See? Just below the nipples, but not much on the undersides." She offered her breasts to Mark, and his fingers began to trace lazy circles on the soft sensitive skin.

"So beautiful," he mumbled.

Peggy giggled. "That tickles! What are you doing?"

"Thinking of an old game. It was called… connect the dots." Mark sighed and leaned over and kissed her, soft kisses on the freckles and the undersides of her breasts, but never quite touching the nipples. "You are so pretty."

Peggy sighed deeply. "That feels so nice." Another sigh, and then a giggle. "Oh, the glory of it. Awake I'd be too shy, but asleep, I'm all sexy desire. I can see your desire too. I can see it so clearly. Do you want to make love with me?"

Mark paused in mid kiss. The dream drifted. "I..."

"You want to wait? Yes, I guess I can see that. I can see your mind so clearly. How about if I just kiss you for a while. And you'll pet me, won't you, pet me all over?" The dream drifted. "Wow. Will this be like masturbating?"

"Hmmm? No. It'll be…" His hand dropped to caress her hips, stroking her stomach, the sides of her hips, fingers probing under her panties. "… much better than that." They kissed and stroked each other's bodies. Soon Peggy had an erect and throbbing penis in her hands.

"I can feel your desire for me. I can feel the heat of it. Is this how a boy masturbates?" Peggy began to jerk the pens up and down..

Mark sighed. "Nice… A little slower and wetter maybe."

"Oh. Okay." Peggy began coating his cock with her spit. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, of course not."

Peggy sat up and turned, her youthful firm breasts shaking a bit as she jerked Mark to a full erection. "I made it nice and wet. So can I kiss it now?"

"Oh please." Mark smiled an idiotic grin.

A soft tongue licked his glans. "I can see the others," whispered Peggy. "I can see you and Jada in my mind, Toshi and Frida too, Jada suckling you at the Christmas Party, and you suckling Jada."

"Dreams within dreams…" Mark's mind floated in its ecstasy. "Yes, this is…" The dream shifted. "My first night with Jada…" The dream shifted. "All our inhibitions are offline." Another shift, and then the dream seemed to stabilize, as least for a moment.

"Will I be like this with everyone?" Peggy mumbled with Mark's penis in her mouth.

"Hmmm? No, just with people you trust. And the core of the desire… the sexual desire I mean… Hmm that feels nice… the core has to be there before the dream starts."

"Yes…" Peggy bobbed her head to show her understanding, giving Mark delightful sensations as her lips slid lightly up and down his shaft. "I've never done this with a boy before…"

"I know. Your high school, it was so cruel."

A giggle. "My first time with a boy, and certainly never with a girl!"

"I know... Sweet Peggy…" He sighed. "It feels so nice."

The lips lifted to kiss and suckle the tip of his penis, and then Peggy left him for a moment. "A question. How fast are we moving?"

Mark thought for a moment. "It definitely over two hundred. It'll be another week before Toshi comes and gets us."

"Another week together? I'm glad!"

The dream shifted. Peggy was lying on her back, her legs spread and her hand caressing Mark's head as he sniffed and kissed her womanhood. But he was not trying to arouse her, just the opposite in fact. The kisses drifted to her thighs, very tender, very affectionate, offers of love and a subtle request for them to wait.

Peggy's mind sighed within the dream. "So, perhaps our morals are not offline… not completely. Not yours anyway. I had my big meeting with your wives yesterday, and all the others, Aggie, Fatima, a number of others… Whitney was there too. I didn't know you two were dating."

"Uh… We're not, not yet anyway. Peggy?"

"Hmm?"

"It's… okay for us to wait…"

"I guess. I have you… at least to share. That's all I need." The dream shifted. Mark was holding her, petting her head. Peggy kept her dream eyes closed and smiled. "My first boyfriend!" The dream smile faded. "David was nice too. I wish we could have known each other longer." A shocking memory surfaced, impossible to stop, a young man she had known for only a few weeks asking her to come to a Christmas party. The image of him flashing, Peggy waking next to a cold body, David's throat ripped open. "I wish…"

"I'm sorry too," whispered Mark.

The memories shifted, young Peggy as a very bright primary student in Nashua New Hampshire with dreams of becoming a doctor. And then her family moved to Vermont in the summer of 2014, just as young Peggy was about to enter high school. Her parents were following a dream of their own, owning their own restaurant in a small town.

The new setting was a disaster for Peggy, and her parents were too busy with their new business to notice. Peggy thought the students snobbish and she was right. At first they shunned her and then they mocked her. Within the first month of school, someone branded Peggy with the nickname of Nerdy Girl, and the hated label stuck for the next four years.

She wasn't particularly graceful or athletic, and she avoided obesity but it was always a struggle. Going to the University was like a dream come true, new people without the old tired biases against her, students and dorm mates who shared her love for studying. Without people teasing her, Margaret started to blossom. And then she caught someone's eye, a student in her 9 AM organic chemistry class. They went to the movies twice, first in a group and then just the two of them. The second time was the evening after her last exam, and David kissed her goodnight.

The next morning was a Friday. David called Margaret unexpectedly and said that he heard a frat was having an open Christmas party and he asked her if she wanted to go. Margaret's parents weren't driving to pick her up until the next day, so after a second of thinking that it was a strange time for a frat party, she said sure. They hitched a ride with David's friend Arnold and his girlfriend Alexis. Finding the place wasn't hard. They just followed the car ahead of them. Peggy smiled and kissed Mark's cheek as she remembered getting out of the car at the parking lot. It was shortly before one o'clock. The wind was cold and the sky very cloudy and the lot was already half full.

"The memories seem so distant now," she murmured. "Even our captivity, it seems like ages ago." She drifted within the dream. "Subjective time is so strange. How long have I known you?"

Mark sighed back. "Subjective time is just as real as the clock. This will be our fifth week dreaming with each other. Some clock might say five hours, but the dreams are real. The trust is real."

"Yes, and I love the trust, and I love you." Peggy sighed. "Thank you for asking me to wait. I remember… I remember someone once said the sign of true trust is falling asleep with someone. Perhaps the sign of infinite trust is falling asleep with someone linked to your mind."

Mark was drifting away. Their synchronized REM cycle was winding down. "Yes." He pushed a thought out to her as the dream ended. "That's a really beautiful thought."

An hour later.

Time: Friday, August 8, 2019 a few minutes past noon

With no working elevators in the complex, Mark walked the length of the building and climbed the circular staircase, and then hiked back through the corridor of bedrooms, the bathroom and pantry before finally arriving at the Yellow Mall kitchen. Holly was there putting a few finishing touches on the lunch they would share. She and Mark shared an intimate kiss which evolved into several minutes of affectionate petting, their expressions of love staying just below the level of sexual arousal. Mark's hand was caressing and admiring the bulge in Holly's pregnant womb. Holly leaned over and nipped his ear with her sharp teeth. "So, did you get to have a nice time with Peggy? Another full week?"

Mark kissed her earlobe before releasing his hug and nodding. "Yep, over eight days. We were just waking up on our ninth morning when Toshi woke us for real."

"Ah, that's good. Peggy had a great meeting with us last night. We're all very happy to have her." Holly turned to put away some lunchmeat. "Peggy and Farideh get their sandwiches okay?"

"Yep. Toshi is still down in the library with them. They send their compliments to the chef." Down below Peggy was starting her second two-hour training session of the day, studying to be a medical technician. Farideh was similarly occupied with her janitorial training. In another couple of weeks, she expected to be able to activate the elevators at the Yellow Mall home complex, a contribution to her rescuers that Farideh was very eager to make.

"So, what was your week like?"

Mark looked up from the potato chip he was about to eat. "It was very sweet. The first part was walking around the University mostly. We saw a couple of shows in New York. I shared some of my memories of Paris and Australia with her."

"Ah. And did you also show her your memories of the Grand Canyon? Those are my favorite."

"Uh, no, not yet. We did share a lot of childhood memories though." Mark paused. "Our last two days, Peggy was showing me a lot of her high school."

Holly picked up the undercurrent in his voice. "Tough times?"

Mark sighed. "Worse. If I were Peggy's parents, I'd feel like prosecuting, even though…"

"Though what?"

"I don't know if anybody actually broke any laws, but what her fellow classmates did to her was sick, brutal, and they never let up."

"For example?"

"They set Nerdy Girl up with an elaborate fake date, just so they could laugh at her, just so her fake boyfriend could humiliate her."

"Nerdy Girl?! Is that what they used to call Peggy?" Holly took a moment to think. "Boy, that wouldn't have been tolerated in my high school. Didn't the teachers put a stop to it?"

Mark grimaced. "Maybe if it had happened in primary school, the kids would have been better supervised. But this was high school! The adults were assuming the kids knew better, and Peggy never complained, not to the teachers anyway, and without a complaint I guess the faculty just let it go." He paused and added, "She had a few friends, twins that lived nearby and were a few years her junior. But as for her high school, it was amazing. Peggy's sweetness, the song in her heart, it survived it all. I have so much admiration for her."

Holly frowned and nodded back. She and Mark carried their lunches to a pleasant eating area, a table with comfortable chairs overlooking the mini park of spruces and pines. It had rained the previous night, and the trees seemed very happy to be drinking in the warm orange sunlight. Holly gazed at the peaceful scene and took a sip of her iced tea. "So, we're right in the middle of summer now, huh?"

Mark glanced at his watch. It was showing the time had just turned to 12:13 PM. "Oh my gosh yes, almost to the second. Want a countdown? Four, three, two, one…" A second later Mark choked on the word zero as he blinked in surprise. The digital display on his watch had just gone blank at the precise midpoint between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox.

Chapter 94.

Time: Friday, August 8, 2019 12:13:17 PM GHT

Jessica whimpered in the pitch darkness. Just a few seconds ago she had slid herself closed inside the bottom closet drawer, and the instant after the drawer closed it seemed to bump and start to slide out again. Only this time the closet was in absolute darkness and the air completely still. Jessica groped for a moment along the floor until her hand found an air duct. Nothing.

Did she cause all this? The closet went dark the instant she closed herself in the drawer. The timing seemed too perfect to be a coincidence. So the closet shuts down when there's no one inside. That makes sense. So what's the big deal? Jessica paused. So why weren't the lights back on now?

Ricardo could be opening her door at any moment. Jessica fought down a rising tide of panic and tried to think. "How does the closet sense someone is in the room? What would explain the air and lights being off now? Why can't the closet see me?" The answer came to her in a flash. "Of course! Once the closet is empty and the door is closed, why keep the sensors running? I bet the sensors are turned off until the door opens again. The system isn't expecting people to enter the closet through the drawers! This is so obvious!"

But how should she proceed? How much time did she have? Every second was precious. Ricardo would murder her if he could. Jessica had seen her death warrant in his mind, signed by his fear and hatred of her. How would he kill her? Jessica shuddered and thought he might pick strangulation. It was so easy to imagine. Jessica forced to lie prone on the floor, Ricardo's knees digging into her back, his incredibly powerful hands at her throat. He'd work the bruising of her neck tissues for a long time, trying not just to kill her but to humiliate her. Jessica's eyes went wide in the darkness. Would he mount and fuck her as he choked her? What could be more humiliating than that? Yes, Ricardo's ultimate power trip. She had to escape! But how?

Back in the drawer? Once inside, could she try to keep the drawer closed by pressing backwards against the top? Probably. But how long would it take for Ricardo to check here? A half hour? More perhaps if he were being very thorough. Of course, if he were checking every drawer, Jessica was doomed away. Maybe she should… Should what? Should she try to flee? Was that her best chance?

No! She'd walk right into the monster! Her best chance was here. But the air wasn't flowing. And Jessica was breathing and would keep breathing even in her drawer. The CO2 buildup would kill her eventually, and if Ricardo opened the door and noticed the stale air, the game would be lost. Just returning to the drawer wasn't an option. What to do? Flee outside? Again her mind screamed no at the thought.

Jessica needed to get the air flowing again! Of course! Just open the door a crack and the sensors should pick up her presence again. Close the closet door, get back into the drawer and close it to within a centimeter, just enough to watch the closet door. The instant the handle started to move, Jessica would close herself in and hold the drawer closed until she was just about to pass out from the CO2. Then she would open the drawer and hope. It was her best chance.

She felt her way over to the door and found its handle. She turned the handle slowly, hoping this motion alone would turn on the lights and air so she wouldn't have to actually open the door, but the lights remained off. Bracing herself for a burst of bright light, Jessica slowly opened the door.

And the light never came. Incredibly the corridor outside the closet was without power too. Jessica would have to rethink her assumptions. "Two days ago when we first entered this building, all the power was off. It's happened again! What should I do?!"

The child Jessica inside Jessica's newly integrated mind screamed for aggressive action. If their fate was to be murdered while being raped, the child definitely did not want to go meekly into the night and start the ordeal by being pulled out of a drawer. Jessica's adult mind agreed, and she took a moment to return to her drawer and remove her almonds before closing the drawer. Then she slipped into the corridor as quietly as she could and closed the door behind her.

After a moment of tense listening and hearing only silence, Jessica sat down in the darkness and took off her boots, her socks too which she tucked into the boots, and she hung her boots around her neck. She would walk in bare feet, and as for the boots, well, it was a very cold calculation. Ricardo would use them as a garrote if he caught her, and Jessica hoped he would misjudge how effective the laces could be. She would much rather die quickly under the laces than slowly under his terrible fingers.

Jessica would try to work herself away from the dead end she was trapped in. Her direction was obvious. But which side of the corridor to follow? The convention for her would be to stay to the right and let Ricardo pass on the left, and Jessica decided Ricardo would think so too so she needed to reverse the logic. Or should she double reverse it and stay to the right? No. She pressed up against the wall on her left and walked as silently as she could, taking slow breaths and focusing her ears to the very limits of her abilities. Realistically she thought her odds for surviving the next hour were slim, but they weren't zero. She was going to try her absolute best.

Meanwhile, approximately 12 km south and 22 km east at the Yellow Mall home complex.

Toshi, Farideh and Peggy had spent several minutes testing their dead library consoles and elevator and Leophones, and then a bit more time inspecting the first floor rooms as they passed. By the time they reached the circular staircase, they saw Mark and Holly at the bottom of the well already returning from the spiral mall. The stairwell area was brightly lit from the transparent dome above, but Toshi could see the entrance to the Farmer's Market store below and it was leading to pitch darkness.

Holly touched Mark's arm and pointed out the three people descending the stairs. She called out and tried to add a bit of levity to reduce her tension. "So, who ordered this?"

Toshi cracked a quick smile as she and Farideh and Peggy joined up with Mark and Holly. "Yeah. We checked just about everything on the first floor, no power anywhere. How about the mall?"

"About what we expected," said Mark. "The entry store is dark, the spiral too. Thank God for Carla and her foresight." Mark was referring to a mall store Carla and Tom had raided shortly after returning from the equatorial pyramid. It was called Captain Dave's Survival Center and located about three kilometers from the Dutch Market, White Mall's terminal store. Inside the survival center were cases of flashlights with built-in mini generators, bright white diodes powered by hand cranks and ordinary Earth-type rechargeable batteries. Several of these flashlights were now positioned at every critical mall position.