Raven Ch. 15

"She seems to have passed peacefully," Dr Feain told Raven. "I understand from Ms Masters you were close?"

"Yes, I spent a lot of time with Jan, especially when I returned to Titchester. Thanks for coming."

"No problem, I'll draw up the death certificate and have the undertakers take the body."

Showing the Doctor out, Raven returned to her rooms. Jan's death weighed on her. She would miss Jan, even if her mind had started to wander at the end.

Hazel Masters looked up as Raven walked in. The older woman had been crying but was composed now.

"You did well," said Raven, pouring fresh coffee.

"Thanks," replied Hazel. "It wasn't easy--"

"No, but it's done. Best not talk about it," interrupted Raven, holding up her hand.

"Of course." Hazel lapsed into silence, worry etched on her face.

"It will be fine. Just think, you can now retire to your dream cottage."

"Yes, that will be wonderful." Hazel's face lit up. She was pleased Raven mentioned it. "I'll stay on for a while. There will be trouble from certain parties."

Raven moved to sit beside her, brushing the hair from Hazel's forehead and kissing the scar in the hairline Hazel habitually kept covered. "I appreciate that. I'm thinking of training up Tilly for your role. She's a good organiser, loyal, very loyal now."

"She'll be a good choice. You have broken her in. If you make promises to her, then do keep them. The previous management rarely made them and never kept them." Hazel's eyes betrayed her bitterness.

"I understand the value of keeping promises. I'll have your example to think about if I forget to do so."

Hazel sipped her coffee and smiled.

****

"Mary is resting peacefully. Broken ribs are the main injuries, along with a concussion and a hairline fracture to the fibula. There are indications of sexual activity, although you say she had consensual sex earlier in the day?"

"She did. Is she talking?" Raven asked.

"I've sedated her, so not at the moment. You can see her, but don't stay too long. I've asked the other gentleman to stay in the waiting area down the corridor."

Raven glanced at Kax, who nodded and made his to the waiting area. "I'll look in on her briefly," she said to the Doctor and stepped into the private room, making her way to Mary's side.

Raven was impassive as she surveyed the bruising and swelling on Mary's face. Automatically she took Mary's hand and squeezed it, then kissed her lightly on the forehead.

Her emotions were a mix, some regret, but mostly an overriding sense of destiny, that everything was hers to command and control. Raven celebrated her boldness and the power she took from her actions, actions that were regrettable but necessary and, in Mary's case, to correct a long overdue score. Circumstance had dictated the timing. The symmetry of the timing pleased her.

Rousing herself, Raven left to find Kax. There was work to be done.

Raven heard the voices before she entered the waiting room. Max intense, Kax calm. She pushed open the door, and all eyes turned on her, voices quietening.

"How's Mary?" Kax asked.

"Resting and comfortable, she'll be fine."

"I want to see her," rumbled Max, his face dark with anger.

"You can, she will like that. I would appreciate a chat alone with you first, though," replied Raven.

"You sure, Lady?" Kax asked.

"I'm sure."

"I'm sorry," said Raven when Kax had left.

"Why did you do it then?"

"I'm not sorry for that. I'm sorry for hurting you, I know you care for her, and you know one of the reasons why I did it."

"That was years ago!"

"I don't care if it was fucking decades ago!" Fury seeped into Raven's voice. "It was owed, and I collected. It's done. You have a problem with me, then say so now, and we can settle it here!"

His own anger worked his face. "I have a problem that Mary is hurt, I don't have a problem with you. I like working for you. So, I get it. Mary will too. Not right away, but she will get it. She'll have to," he added.

"Good. As we are speaking openly, Mary has lost her edge. Everyone knows it. She needs to find herself again. In the meantime, she is no longer in charge. I am. I will also be taking ownership and running of the Club. Jan Brody passed away last night. I need people I can count on, and that means you, Max."

"You can count on me. One condition. No more shit with Mary. We look out for her. You look out for her."

"Agreed. I have no further quarrel with Mary. Clean slate."

Max visibly relaxed. "Okay, I'll stay with her for a bit, then I'll head back to the Depot."

"That's a great idea, she is sedated for the moment, but she will welcome a friendly face when she comes round."

Kax looked at her as Raven came back into the corridor.

"Bold move," said Kax. "He was fucking furious earlier."

"I'm in a bold mood. Appreciate you backing me, Mr Kax."

He put his arm around her and smiled. "It's been a big twelve hours. So, what's the schedule for today?"

"First we go and see Mead, then to the Club. Weekend events have been cancelled as a mark of respect. The Council sits Tuesday evening, and we need to work on a few of its members."

12:32 pm

Penny Mead served the tea and cake. She glanced at her husband. He was getting stronger, but she still worried.

"There is milk and sugar if you need it," offered Penny.

Raven took the milk, Kax declined. Selwyn thanked his wife then abruptly decided to get it over with.

"I was shocked to hear about Mary, we both were."

"Yes, terrible news. I've had her home laptops secured in case this was a commercially motivated attack. We don't want anything she was working on falling into the wrong hands." Raven hadn't expected Penny to sit in on the conversation.

"Yes, of course." Selwyn exchanged glances with his wife. "Max will be upset," he continued.

"Yes. I've already talked to Max."

"Oh." Selwyn frowned and sipped his tea.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," snapped Penny. "Can we dispense with the polite bullshit?"

"By all means," invited Raven.

"Selwyn has told me everything."

"I've found confession is good for the soul," Selwyn added with a smile.

"Be quiet, dear. The assault on Mary is your doing, some twisted payback for what she did to you from God knows how many years ago. Well, that's your business. My business is Selwyn, and if there is any payback on him, I will make you pay." Penny glared at them both.

"There will be no payback," responded Raven, picking up a slice of cake. "Selwyn apologised to me, regretted it. Mary never apologised nor regretted it. And there were other factors. To be blunt I discovered Mary was working against my interests. I decided it would be the last time she did that. This is lovely cake."

Penny visibly relaxed. Selwyn didn't look overly surprised.

"I'll let you have the recipe," offered Penny.

Kax laughed. "Lady is a terrible cook."

"We all have our skill sets, Mr Kax." Jokes about her cooking always irritated Raven.

"Now that we have cleared that up, why are you here?" Mead asked, bucked by his wife's passionate defence of him.

"Mary will be out for a while, but then she has been out for months. If you can do three days rather than two and assume some of her responsibilities and show some leadership, that would be great."

"Okay. I will need an office."

"You can have your old office, I'll move into Mary's."

The look from Penny spoke volumes. "That's cold."

"Practical," replied Raven. "There is also the matter of the Council and Jan's will leaving the premises and grounds to me."

"Ah, so that's true then. The Council accepted Jan because of her father's legacy, and she knew where all the bodies are buried. You have neither the legacy nor the knowledge she possessed, so they will fight you, and you want me to represent you in that fight?" Anticipating her request, Selwyn leant forward with interest.

"If it comes to that, yes. Your sister sits on the Council. I want to talk to her and other council members privately one on one."

"Harriet? I can arrange a meet. Tomorrow afternoon would probably suit."

"Shall I bring a gift?"

"Harriet appreciates gifts."

"I'll bring something nice."

1:35 pm

"The Colonel is here," were Hazel's first words as Raven entered via the kitchen. She never used the front entrance. "I put him in Jan's parlour, your parlour. Tilly is with him."

"I'll see him in the office. Mr Kax, please make sure Jan's rooms are sealed and no one gets in. I'll see you there shortly."

"Roland is already there," Kax reminded her.

"I know, but he needs to get over to Mary's, access her laptops and start downloading whatever she has on Jan's competency case. I need to know how far she got and whether there is any threat to me. Finch is there with Jane."

Colonel Soames wasn't a real Colonel, even if he had been in the army. The title was a reference to his love for dishing out corporal punishment and his pomposity, so he had been dubbed 'Colonel Punishment'. The title stuck. He rather liked it. He also liked a big busty girl who didn't mind a randy fifty-five man fingering her cunt. Judging by her red face, she seemed to enjoy it.

"Raven will see you in her office," said Hazel.

Soames grunted and swatted Tilly on her bare arse. Raven. Stupid name for a tiresome girl that Brody had gone soft in the head over. The Estate should have been left to the Council and folded into its other business interests.

He was wary that the girl's husband would be around, so he was pleased to see it was just her in the office. He vaguely remembered thrashing her arse a few times in the past. She had been blonde then, prettier as well, he thought.

"Well, this is a sad day!" Soames chirped.

"Yes." It struck Raven she needed to process her feelings about Jan's death. She was having greater difficulty than she anticipated.

"Very fond of you she was, and while I understand her motives, you should know that the Estate was promised to the Council, and that has been well documented."

"Yes."

"Ah, okay, well that's good then, we don't want any unpleasantness." This was easier than he thought.

"No, we don't. Are you enjoying Tilly?"

"Yes, lovely girl, a fat arse ripe for a good paddling!"

"Well, please paddle away. Jan would have liked some activity on the premises to mark her passing."

"Excellent observation." The girl seemed very amenable. "I'll have my lawyers contact you. You may want to think about getting some legal representation."

"Yes, I'll think about it. If you would excuse me, I have things to arrange."

If she were this amenable and stupid, perhaps he would get the chance to paddle her arse. He grinned to himself. Harriet had warned him not to make an approach until they had agreed on a plan of action. Bloody lez.

"All okay?" Kax asked.

"Yeah, thinks there won't be a problem. Should keep everyone relaxed until we move."

"Sound. Some guy did wander in earlier but beat it when he saw Ro."

"Looking for Jan's journals. Everyone tiptoed around her because of them."

"Where did she keep them?"

"In the safe in the back room." She led Kax through to the back and into a walk-in closet full of dresses. "She referred to them as her babies. I wasn't allowed to see the recent journals, but sometimes, I would read out old entries from when she was a young woman. It helped her sleep."

"You okay?" Kax asked. His wife's voice had broken a little over the memory.

"Kind of. I need to sort things in my head." Raven pulled out the journal for the year she had first met Jan. Standing up, she instinctively went to Kax, needing comfort.

He didn't say anything, just squeezed her tightly. It reassured her. Finally, she broke away, wiping her eyes. "I always liked her, she got me. Like you get me."

"You going to read it?"

Raven nodded.

"Need to be alone?"

She nodded again.

"Mr Kax," she called out as he walked away. "Thanks."

"No problem. Need anything message me."

"Will do." Raven waited until the door closed and then sat on the bed. She leafed through the journal and found the entry detailing her first meeting with Jan.

"Ego crushed," she smiled wryly.

There was only one line for that day. 'Two new girls today, one with Harita, the other 'Suzy, v pretty'. No mention of their chat. Not even a 'v pretty'.

There was better news three days later. 'Haz told me that girl rang again. Odd thing she was. Wanted to see me. I told Haz no, but she kept on pestering, so I eventually said yes. I couldn't remember her name.'

Raven was starting to feel better about her decision. She went forward to the next meeting. Jan had made her beg a fat guy to fuck her. He had screwed her in the main lounge, much to everyone's amusement.

"You are a dumb piece of pussy," Jan had sneered at her afterwards.

"Yes, that's why I know I will fit in here," she had replied.

"Do you? What do you think, Hazel?"

"She'll do fine, Ms Brody," her tone was disinterested.

"No. Try again another time." Jan's tone was dismissive.

Raven remembered the fury she felt at the time. The effort to keep control, barely remembering Hazel escorting her out. Then the following week, Hazel had contacted her. Curious, she read the entries for those days.

'The girl, Michelle, absolutely debasing herself to get my approval! Such fun! But next time don't take tea and cakes with her afterwards. The look on her face as I turned her down, I really thought she was going to bury the cake slice in my chest, deliciously exciting!'

Frowning, Raven didn't recall holding any cake slice. She also thought she had done well in concealing her emotions that day, something she had learnt to do from a young age.

'I let M stew for a week, can't have the bitch thinking she has piqued my interest. I was unsure if I had read her right the first time, then she slipped from my mind.'

There then followed a rant about getting old. Raven skipped ahead. Her third visit was as a bukkake girl. Men fapping on her, she had enjoyed the experience, the degradation, hot splashes of cum on her face.

As she took tea--no cake, with Jan afterwards, she had offered to share, enjoying the old woman licking the jizz off her face. She had reached under Jan's cardigan and squeezed her breasts, more out of curiosity than anything. It was their first sexual contact, and the sheer perverseness of it had been highly erotic.

"That was nice, dear," Jan's face was flushed. "I like that you are willing to get off with an old bag just to get what you want. I think you'll do anything to get what you want."

"Probably, but I enjoyed it too."

"Hmmm, if you say so. Tell me about some of your escapades."

Raven had told her what she was up to but didn't mention Anaisha. She was fascinated to read that Jan had doubts about her honesty.

'The girl isn't truthful and is holding back. The stories are edited to what she thinks appeals to me, to present herself as a sub girl helplessly having things done to her so that I will accept her. She is trying to manipulate me, and keeps her 'black snake' hidden, but my black snake senses hers, it did when I first met her, but age makes me less sure and forgetful. I still get a thrill out of that stone-hard fury, the look that wanted to stab me for denying her.'

There was a knock at the door. Megan. "You wanted to see me, Raven?"

"Yes. The shop okay?"

Megan nodded. "Kayla is getting to grips with things. Maggie will pop in and keep an eye until I get back."

"Good. I have something for you." Raven handed Megan the documents she had drawn up. It was a day for putting affairs in order.

"What is it?" Megan looked blankly at the legal documents.

"It's a trust fund. For you. £125,000. You can access it when you are 25."

"For me? To do what?"

"Whatever you want. Travel. Stay here. Work in the flower shop. Whore," Raven added, smiling.

"Wow, I mean wow! I don't know what to say. Thanks!" Megan hugged her sister. "But what about until then? Am I no longer a sex slave?" Megan took the role very seriously, which was sweet, Raven thought.

"I would love you to stay with me as the family's sex slave. Pull up your top."

Obediently, Megan did so, her breasts flopping out, two studs through her nipples and 'Cunt Candy' scrawled across them in marker pen. Kax reapplied it every few days in front of Raven and Judy. It was charged with symbolism for Megan.

"I banned you from having your slave name tattooed on your breasts, but I get the need to be marked, branded so you will have a Raven tattooed on your breasts."

"Wow," repeated Megan, her eyes shining. "I want to stay with you and work at the flower shop, or I will become a full-time whore again, whatever you want, Raven. Do you want me now, or will that be disrespectful to Ms Brody?"

Raven did, she fondled her sister's breasts and kissed her. "Jan Brody was the devil, and you servicing my pussy with your pretty mouth in her rooms will be doing her the greatest honour." It was an effort not to add, 'in her rooms where I ordered her death'.

Settling back, Raven closed her eyes as her sister went down on her. One journal page was vivid in her mind, a sentence in Jan's neat handwriting, a word underlined.

'This Monster will devour me!!'

Sunday

2:06 pm

The meeting with the Reverend Harriet Mead, a sturdy, solidly built woman, was scheduled in the conservatory of the Rectory after morning mass. A young Sri-Lankan maid served tea.

"Congratulations on your good fortune, Raven," said Harriet, stumbling over the name. Like Soames, she had difficulty taking the girl seriously, although she had to be commended for getting the old witch to leave her the Estate. Harriet entertained herself, imagining the deviant sexual acts the girl must have performed.

That the girl was a former employee of her brother had surprised her. She suspected Selwyn had his hooks into her and would extract a price for transferring the Estate to the Council. Harriet focused on her brother. Soames had told her about the meeting with 'Raven', said the girl was amenable and not very bright. Her annoyance with Soames had been tempered by the good news he brought.

"I understand you believe the Council has a prior claim on the Estate and will likely contest the will," said Raven.

Her brother had coached her well. "Yes, my dear, we feel there is a moral obligation and a long-standing agreement. I understand you helped Hazel with a few events but running the Estate and its functions is a complex and time-consuming task."

"A task that you feel I am not up to."

"I don't wish to rude, dear, but you have no qualifications or experience. Your role in the past was to have your pretty arse spanked and have cock stuck into you. Pardon my bluntness," Harriet added to the young brunette they had brought with them.

"That's okay," the brunette smiled. Very cute, Harriet thought.

Selwyn coughed. "I think Raven is saying she will fight any attempt to void the will, and as her legal representatives, we will, of course, help her do so. I, as acting head of McCraddocks, will be giving this matter my full attention."

Her brother really wants a big payday out of this. Perhaps there was another way. "Could I speak with Raven alone?" Harriet asked, half expecting her brother to refuse.

"Of course. Megan, walk with me please, I still get a little breathless. I'll show you around the church."

Waiting until they had gone, Harriet smiled at Raven. "Look, we are getting the Estate, through the courts or other means, I don't really care. But, I promise you'll get a nice payoff if you step aside. It's sweet you are trying to be a big girl, but you are playing with the grown-ups now."

"Do you like my sister?"

"What?"

"Megan. I was thinking of offering her to you. She's a sex slave and a whore. Her slave name is Cunt Candy. She also works in a flower shop. It's a long story."