Jenny's Summer Ch. 01

Author's note: This story takes place following Holly's Winter and Cecee's Spring, but before Vicky's Fall and Oksana's New Year. However, this story was written immediately after Holly's Winter and before any of the others in the series. It should stand as its own complete story. I appreciate comments, feedback and constructive criticism.

I

Why is it that some libraries have become places of mystery and dark corners again? I know long ago that not many people read, or not many people read regularly, so libraries remained little used aside from the odd, bespectacled and bookish person. Of course some were more popular than others, but it seems to me that many old horror stories would have something to do with a musty old library, bereft of recent human activity, full of dusty and cobwebbed shelves and ancient tomes that hadn't been looked at in over a hundred years. They were more mausoleums for books than the living, breathing, child-friendly neighbourhood places that we sometimes find today.

And perhaps that is why I sometimes find libraries comforting, especially this one with its limited lighting and almost absolute silence. Being around people too long makes me uncomfortable and being away from them too long makes me feel lonely, but when I find an old and little-used library I find an inner peace. The authors become platonic friends. Their writings become an alternate world that temporarily frees me from my disturbing sexual appetite.

I wilfully admit that I am weird and sometimes I even creep people out. I want to be around people; hell, I want to be near people, but I've found that it always leads to emotional disarray, pain and sometimes violence.

I am a bisexual woman. I am not a normal bisexual, though. While I can find temporary satisfaction in the loving embrace of either a man or a woman, I cannot find permanent satisfaction there. When I've made love to a man I then desire a woman and when I've made love to a woman I then desire a man. I can fall in love, but I cannot stay faithful to any one partner.

The first minister I had ever talked with concerning my orientation had informed me that I had a problem with sharing: I needed to share my love more than was practical in our society. The second minister told me I was evil, an abomination, and he cast me out of his church, freeing his congregation of my 'depraved desires'. Needless to say, it took me a few guilt-ridden years to come to the realization that the second minister didn't know what he was talking about. Though, I think deep down I still may believe some of the things that he said to me.

There are those who cannot accept what I am and desire to take possession of me as if I were some animate sex-doll, there to fulfill their sexual needs but none of my own, unless they happened to coincide. This includes men and women. I have rarely met anyone willing to accept me and my needs, although my friends here, at the North Pole, have been true friends in every sense of the word. But, not everyone I've met in my life was and so I hid myself away in Santa Clause's library for hours and hours, every day.

Holly and Douglas, Cecee and Yuri and some of the elves honoured my unspoken request to be allowed to sit and read in solitude. They did not exactly understand why, but they did understand that when I was not left alone, I was troubled as if some demon were gnawing at my soul.

Unfortunately, not everyone understood my need for seclusion. Vicky and I had been lovers a couple of times, until it became perfectly clear that she only really desired men. I didn't mind as it had happened to me before and she was a very honest and open person. True, Vicky was very beautiful and I mean retouched-photo, men's magazine, very beautiful. I turned heads when I moved the right way or said the right thing. Vicky turned heads away from me just by being in the same room. We had both agreed to be 'just friends' and then we quickly became good friends and I love her dearly like a sister, now. In her mind, she sees me finding the right person, man or woman, and then settling down happily as Holly and Cecee both did. It just cannot happen that way. She doesn't truly understand how my hunger works.

Neither does Sergei. He entered the quiet library unnoticed by me, as I was lost in my research. He came up behind me and put his arms around my shoulders. "What are you reading there, Jennifer?"

I closed the book on the table in front of me, showing him the cover. Leaning back in the chair, I foolishly implied that I wanted to turn his gentle touch into a warm and affectionate hug. "It is an atlas of faerie explorations of the world," I explained.

"Deep reading. A beautiful woman such as you was made for better things, my Jennifer." His hands slipped down my shirt to my boobs and he gently squeezed them together. I understood immediately that he wanted 'better things' right now and, aside from us, the library was empty...

Sighing, I disengaged his hands from my breasts and sat forward in the chair. "I've already discussed this with you, Sergei. Our relationship is over. I would like it to continue, but man alone cannot satisfy my needs. I'm not complete when I have only one partner of one gender." I turned in my chair and looked at his face to gauge his emotional reaction. Some people have turned violent when I've ended a relationship. I've tried to learn to end everything before emotions run too deep, but I haven't always been successful.

His hand came up and I cringed, but he only adjusted some of my strawberry blonde curls off my forehead. "I would never hurt you, Jenny. I accept your need to end what we have. It is sad, but I do accept it. However, I know you have not taken up with anyone else in the last couple of days and I thought you might be a little lonely and possibly missing..."

"Sergei Gregorovich, I do indeed miss your touch and you are very skilled at giving me pleasure. But if we continue then you or I may fall in love. If you fall in love, how will you feel when I eventually slip into a woman's bed because I am unsatisfied with just your touch? If I fall in love with you, and I could, how will I feel when my body's weird desires draw me to another woman because you alone cannot satisfy me? Our relationship is over, Sergei," I said with finality, although once again I deeply wished that I was a heterosexual like most other people, or even a lesbian. Life would be so much less complicated.

He lifted my chin in his hand. "Jenny, I will no longer make you feel uncomfortable. It has been my pleasure to spend time with you, to make love to you. I hope you find what you need, but you must know by now that you will not find it here. You must go out in to the world and be around other people. Only then do you have a chance to find what your heart desires." He bent over, gently kissed me on the lips and then left me.

As he left, I opened the tome again, thoughtfully running my fingers along the leather binding. It was a very old book and a faerie, a very unusual faerie, had written it. There were geographic gaps in the knowledge and I found that curious. Why hadn't any faeries explored these regions? I looked in the direction of the remote, dust and cobweb covered shelf I had found this book on. There were other books, some in impossible languages. I had looked briefly through all of them. A couple had made my skin crawl as I opened them and my meagre attempts to examine the scratchings which served as words and letters had given me a bad headache. There seemed to be no exploration of these 'here be dragons' regions found around the world in this particular book. Why hadn't the faeries explored these areas? Or perhaps it was a faerie secret not meant for the eyes of man?

I grinned. The elves and faeries here trusted me. One of them would give me the answer to this mystery! All I had to do was find Breeleigh. And depending on what time it was, she might be in her usual haunt right at this moment.

I closed the book, rose to my feet and headed for the stables, in search of the ancient elf woman.

II

I encountered Vicky in the shed where Santa usually parked his sleigh. The gleaming, red sleigh sat waiting for its next excursion with its master. Truthfully, I have never regretted taking Santa Clause up on his first offer to come with him to the North Pole. Now there was a new Santa, Holly's husband Doug O'Hallihan. He was a good man. If I were to decide to go, then he would take me back to my last home. Although, I doubted if my roommate still considered me a roommate, considering that I had been gone without a word for almost six months now.

Vicky was sitting in the sleigh and was deep in thought, which was so atypical. Or at least it seemed so unlike her. Despite her impossibly firm, D-cup breasts, porcelain complexion, full lips, dark eyes and long, wavy, raven hair, she actually had a working brain. I was pretty enough that most men assumed I was a bit slow and the Georgian accent didn't change their mind. Most people looked at Vicky and assumed she was stripper-dumb. Every time I saw her I felt the same near-insatiable lust. And not for the first time I wondered what my life would be like to be that beautiful.

Vicky looked at me in surprise. "Hi, Jenny. I've been meaning to talk to you." She patted the seat beside her and I accepted her invitation.

"It's good to see you, too. I guess I've sort of kept myself hidden away, lately. What did you want?" Vicky's dark eyes reflected my image back at me and I found it difficult to avert my stare. Vicky was used to being stared at from long before I met her.

"I just wanted to say I think I am beginning to understand your dilemma." My heart hammered away in my chest. Could she have become bisexual-scratch that-could she have suddenly found out she was bisexual? "Lately I've been getting a little tired of the boys. All the single ones seem to want a ride on the Vicky express. They take turns and I think they've even worked out a rotation or schedule."

"Not very romantic."

"No. And I've always been more sensual than romantic. It's odd that this is bugging me, because I should just be revelling in the attention of all these men. I sometimes feel as if something is building inside of me and it's all going to come out one day in a big hullabaloo!" She looked at me and I could see the worry in her moist, mirror-like eyes.

"I'd take a break if I were you. Go on a vacation. Get away from the guys here. Maybe when you come back you might be able to pick one man that you want to concentrate on..."

Vicky turned away and laughed. It was a light, musical laugh that made you strive to imagine ways to make her laugh again. It wasn't an infectious laugh; it was a laugh you listened to and adored. I began to think Sergei was right and I did need some sexual release very, very soon.

"Jenny, you should know me well enough to know that I'll never be able to make up my mind. Too many men, so little time." She laughed again, although this one seemed forced and ended abruptly. "Besides, all the really good ones seem to be taken," she whispered.

I nodded. Holly had Douglas. Cecee had Yuri. The only other man that really stood out was Sergei and... "What about Sergei?"

"Oh, no. I couldn't get involved with Sergei. He's yours, or your ex. I'm too fond of you to risk a relationship with him."

"We're not involved and haven't been for a few days, Victoria."

She turned to face me as her eyes lit up. Her mouth opened a little and her magical, pink tongue darted out and wet her thick, soft lips. "You wouldn't be upset?" I shook my head. "I have fantasized about him quite a bit. He's treated you so well and he has all the necessary parts." She giggled and I joined her.

"Don't count your chicks, though. He still has to be interested in you..." Vicky gave me a knowing look.

"Have you ever met a straight man who would say no to me? Or for that matter, do you know any hot, strawberry blonde, debutants who would say no to me?" She leered at me. It was an old game we played at, the idea that I was the innocent bisexual who had been seduced by this sly, heterosexual woman.

"Well, you do know that if you wanted me in your bed all you have to do is say the word. Vicky, if you ever used your powers for evil..." a bolt of pain shot through my skull. Vicky grabbed my shoulder, in sympathy. The pain began to fade. "Sorry about that. I must be spending too much time reading in that dimly lit library." The pain faded quickly. "Have you seen Breeleigh?"

Vicky hooked a thumb towards the stables. "Thank you for giving me permission to get into Sergei's pants."

I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the lips that Vicky then allowed to go on longer than platonic friends should normally kiss for. I ended the kiss by slowing drawing away. I licked my lips, savouring Vicky's flavour. Vicky didn't wear lipstick; she didn't need to. "I was just going to give you a friendly kiss and you turned that into something else. Why?"

Vicky grinned. "Consider that a warm thank you for being a very dear friend, with regards to my man troubles. I know the effect I have on you and I know you have wanted to do that since you sat down beside me."

I smiled at her and climbed down from the sleigh. "I may be leaving soon, but I'll make sure I say goodbye before I go on my trip."

"You do that. We hot chicks have to keep an eye out for each other."

Laughing, I walked into the stables. The room was of wood construction and consisted of a long hallway bound on either side by numerous stalls. Some were occupied and some were not. The two thousand year old elf woman, Breeleigh, was at the far end, grooming some reindeer. She was about half my height and everything about her was proportioned for her size. She pushed her long brown hair behind her ear, glanced at me and shivered.

There seemed to be four of us former candidates that had a strange effect on the ancient elf woman. Holly was the first to notice it and had produced the strongest effect. Likely as a result of her spending a lot of time with Holly, Breeleigh and Puckrin are still together going on for almost half a year, which is a very long relationship for two elves. Cecee had a very subtle yet sensual effect on Breeleigh. Vicky and I produce feelings of great sexual potential in the elf woman. Those are her words, not mine.

Breeleigh sighed as I approached, crunching straw and snow beneath my shoes. "There is something wrong around you child."

I quickly glanced over my shoulder, but saw no one. I looked back at Breeleigh confused. "Why was I just expecting to see someone watching me?" I shivered. "I still feel it." I looked about the stables again, but no one else was here.

Breeleigh continued to brush down the reindeer. "There is no one here but you and I, Jennifer. What's wrong?"

I ignored my uneasiness. "I was in the library and looking at an atlas written by a faerie explorer and I noted there were areas of the world where nothing was mapped or described. Do you know anything about that?"

Breeleigh pulled some hair from the brush and then began grooming another reindeer. "No, child. Faeries have been all over this world. We know every inch of it. You must have misread. Or perhaps the pages were missing? Was it an old book?"

"Yes, very old. It was on a shelf with a bunch of other very old and unused books. Some were a little scary, to tell you the truth." My headache returned suddenly as a dull throb. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and then the inner corners of my eyes.

The elf woman kept busy at her task. "You didn't pick up the Arab's book, did you? No one is supposed to look inside of it."

I sighed. "No, Breeleigh. I'm talking about the faerie atlas of the world, not the book with the pictures of weird tentacled monsters or scratches and symbols instead of words."

Breeleigh continued to brush down the reindeer. "Oh, good. Well, I'm sure you've just misinterpreted something in the atlas. It is very old."

"Are you okay, Breeleigh?"

She continued to groom the reindeer. "Perfectly fine. Why do you ask?" There was a few seconds of silence and then "there is something wrong around you child."

A chill ran up my spine. I began to back out of the stables. Breeleigh had not looked at me even once during our conversation. "Well, I'll see you later Breeleigh." She waved at me with her free hand, again without even a glance in my direction. I knew I had to talk to Douglas and Holly about this.

III

Vicky wasn't in the shed when I passed through it, nor was she in the foyer. I wasn't looking for her, but I was surprised at her urgency in searching out Sergei. Though, Vicky wasn't one to waste time when sex was involved.

I walked up the emerald carpeted stairs to the second floor. Voices below me made me hesitate at the railing. Amy and two male elves were walking to the door leading to the 'candidate's quarters', although there were no longer any such thing as candidates. Amy had been a candidate like Cecee, Vicky, Holly and I. Amy had eaten faerie food and had transformed into one of them. She and Zoe had both been eager to do so. I had been curious, but Holly had made suggestions that caused me to rethink the idea.

Amy and her two friends looked up at me and waved. I waved back and smiled at them.

Then the red head frowned. "There is something wrong around you." The two males nodded in agreement and then the three resumed their conversation as though everything were perfectly normal.

A chill ran up my spine again. What was it about the faeries that they all felt there was something wrong around me? Were they sensing my unease of late or was there something else forcing them to make exactly the same statement?

"Amy?" I called. She ignored me, as did the two males. This was so unlike them.

"Amy!" I called again. This time, she and the others shivered simultaneously. They looked about, but not up at me and then left through the door.

Now I had goosebumps. What the Hell was going on?

The back of my eyes started to ache. Then I was struck by vertigo and I grasped the polished, wood railing tightly. I looked up and saw the weirdest thing. The ceiling had supporting beams stretching across from my left to my right and this caused quite a few shadows from the many lights on the walls.

Yet, the shadows seemed to deepen and grow. They stretched out across the ceiling and down the walls. Other shadows darkened, becoming the deepest black I had ever seen, seeming less like a colour and more like pure emptiness. I looked at the lights on the wall nearest me and saw they were still lit and had not appeared to have dimmed. But the shadows shifted and grew down the walls all around me, even in places where there should not be shadows!

The air grew thick and I felt quite claustrophobic. It was not that the walls seemed to be drawing close, it was as if something else were filling this large space in the house.

I took a deep breath, but the air was stagnant and seemed to stick in my chest and throat. There was a faint odour that reminded me of a barbeque. I felt my hair beginning to stand on end and then I spied something which took my breath from me.

There were impressions on the stairs as if some large, invisible thing were following me to the second floor. I watched in fascination as the impressions appeared on each succeeding carpeted step. I was scared, but I knew this must be merely a product of my overwrought mind. Sergei had been correct: for my well-being I must leave the North Pole. It was so clear to me now.

As I stood, the impressions reached the top of the stairs and then paused beside me. I tentatively reached out with my hand, but could feel nothing but air. And then everything went back to normal, except I still had a mild headache right behind my eyes.