With Friends like Cassandra...

"I need help, Kris. Would you come help me?" The voice on that end of the phone was quiet and tentative.

Kris couldn't hide her anger at the question and didn't bother trying. "Now you want help? All your friends have tried to help you for how long now? Six months? Eight?" Months of frustration burst forth in that instant that she had never had a chance to vent with anyone but their mutual friends who were also finally blown off and ghosted. "Are you still with Ted?"

There was a pause on the phone long enough to answer the question without another sound.

"Of course you are, Cassandra. All anybody ever did was try to help you see what a mistake you were making with that guy. He's a loser and a mooch. He treats you like shit and you lap it up. We only tried to help you realize you could do better, but he's got you so wrapped up in him you basically tell us all to go to hell and then nothing at all from you. So, message received, Casandra. Bye."

"Wait," she said quickly. "You might be right, okay?"

Silence again lingered for a time and Kris thought of it and the speed at which the words came forth as something like the sudden pain of pulling a band-aid free. She repeated the words more slowly sounding defeated on the other end of the phone. "You might be right. Don't rub it in, okay?"

Part of her wanted to gloat, but she was bigger than that. Now, she wouldn't mind hearing a, "All of you guys were right and I was wrong," at some point down the road, but now wasn't the time for that. "What happened?"

She sighed. "I thought he just needed someone to help him up, you know? I was happy to do that and I still love him like crazy and always will but it's just too much now. I've realized I can't do it myself anymore, but I can't just leave."

There was a new cause for concern. None of them ever saw him as anything more than a dumb, crass, lazy, leech, but there never had been any cause to think that he'd ever been physically violent with her. Some guilt resurfaced for her, realizing that maybe all bets are off now that she'd cut herself off from everyone she knew before he came into her life and that they'd all let her.

"Do you feel unsafe?" She was already thinking about which of their mutual friends she could call that would come and help. If nothing else, she had several male friends on the big and burly side that would help her if she called.

"No, no, nothing like that. You know Ted, that's not his style. There would just be so much drama at this point if I tried to just walk out and leave him alone. There will be less of that if I have someone here with me, but I'm sure it won't be bad. We'll visit and you can help me out. Then I'll tell him I'm going to work, then that'll be the end of it. He gets so busy with his games and things I'm sure he won't notice anything for hours."

That sounded about right knowing Ted to the small extent she did and 's way was probably the best all the way around. They'd be long gone by the time he started whining for his dinner. "Do you have a place to stay after we leave?"

"You don't have to worry about me there," she assured Kris, sounding a little more like the woman she remembered. "How soon can you make it?"

She took her phone from her ear to check the time. "Twenty minutes?"

"That sounds perfect, I'll see you then." A bit of that rapid fire speech returned. "Oh, come in through the back door, okay. No reason to disturb him and cause an extra fuss."

Kris nodded out of reflex because that made sense, too. "I'll see you then." Even though Cassandra took the step on her own, Kris knew that it couldn't have been easy for her. "You're doing the right thing, you know, for him and for yourself." Maybe with no one to take care of him, Ted would finally find some motivation to get his life together, and starvation, coupled with the elements were usually pretty damn good motivators. "You'll see."

"I know I am, Kris, thanks. See you in a little while."

* * *

It wasn't a long trip to Cassandra's home and she spent that fifteen minutes imagining the best and the worst scenarios and what she would do in response. In the best case, she would get in and they would get out and he would be none the wiser, ideally until she'd relocated, found a decent guy, and had a couple of kids. The worst was going to be that Kris was going to have let herself get suckered into this bullshit again after she had been thrown out of it by Cassandra herself, and finally finding peace with all of it. She saw Ted grovelling to Cassandra in her mind's eye with, "Oh, baby, oh, baby, please, I'll change, I swear."

Cassandra would melt sooner or later, Kris was sure. The only potential counter to that was to seize the moment that was now. Seeing this as a positive step, Kris knew that their other friends would rally around her and run active interference for as long as it took for Cassandra to find her footing. She hoped that it would be enough, but she was heartened by the call. That she had made it at all was a sign that some glimmer of the confident, strong woman that was was still there.

She saw Cassandra's little powder blue house at the end of the block. Nothing looked unusual. The yard looked taken care of and always had because, while she was still trying to reason with her, she'd drive past the house and see Cassandra doing it, which disappointed and annoyed the hell out of her to the point that she'd stopped doing the drive-bys before Cassandra blew them off.

Kris swung around and parked on the street around back and her heart started to race on the walk up to the door, thoughts of the worst case sneaking their way back into her brain. Fight or flight was in play now and she hoped she wouldn't need either one, though she did double check that her phone was unlocked and the signal was good.

On the other side of the door Cassandra appeared, waving, then waving Kris forward with a warm smile. Those events conspired to put her more at ease and she found herself moving more casually up the walkway. When she was upon the door, she saw that her friend looked much the same as she saw her last, which was as disheartening now as it was then. In her prime, Cassandra was a young engineer with nowhere to go but up. She excelled at her job and she handled people almost as well as her work projects, so her future was assured. She dressed professionally and behaved that way.

Even when relaxed with her friends, she never went overboard with the drinking or partying, shunning both because she had goals and throwing too much caution to the wind could get in the way and she didn't like the notion of altering a consciousness she'd worked too hard to cultivate.

This Cassandra was something else entirely. She'd given up on herself as much as Ted had, though there was no hint that Ted ever tried to begin with. She'd quit her job because 'too much work', 'too hard', 'no fun,' and 'Ted didn't like it.' She stood with her straight blond hair and brown eyes with too much mascara and too much makeup in general. It wasn't openly clownish so much as it just made her look like a cheap whore. Her thin, white tank left nothing to the imagination, nipples visible. As Cassandra held the door open for her with one hand as she stepped through Kris looked at the rest of her and figured there was no way she was wearing panties under black shorts that tight. She looked like the poster girl for White Trash Slut Quarterly.

At least that's over now. I hope.

"Hi," Cassandra said. "Let's keep it down a little bit. He's playing his games and we don't wanna disturb him." Even quieted, her voice still carried with it a bit of airy fluff.

Wanting to stall any confrontation for as long as possible she gave the other a nod. "Yeah, you're right."

"I've got some stuff in my room that needs to be taken care of. Come with?"

Kris nodded and stepped softly behind her down the hall and to her bedroom. Coming from the end of the hall she could hear the clanging of swords and the unusual sounds that served as the effects in whatever game he was playing and she could hear it loudly enough that she wasn't too worried about being overheard.

Kris turned into the bedroom which was neater than she expected it to be. The floor was clean enough except for a few good-sized laundry baskets of clothes in front of the bed, which itself was a little mussed, and the room smelled faintly of sex and the latter made Kris a little uncomfortable. The idea of literally anyone being with Ted was uncomfortable because the mind's eye couldn't unsee the things it constructed from imagination. And there was a hissing sound from the fist-sized grey voice-assisstant. She decided to try some small talk as brain bleach. "I think your Cube-y is broken."

"Yeah, they've been weird ever since Teddy bought them. It's not bad though when you have them on like this. It's nice pink noise to sleep with. She picked up a basket and put it on the corner of the bed. "Can you get some hangers and the suitcase from the closet? I need to do this stuff so it's done before I feel right about leaving."

Kris was happy to help, as, the sooner she could help Cassandra check off whatever she felt the need to, the sooner they could be off. She put the suitcase on the bed, leaving it open as she grabbed a handful of hangers and tossed them in the other's direction before taking another of the baskets containing a mix of their clothes, not that most of what Cassandra wore these days could be considered clothing. More like just enough covering to keep her out of jail if she goes out in public.

There was nothing to be found but cheap lace bras, shorts, and leggings. There wasn't even a decent blouse to be had. And almost all the t-shirts, halter tops, and tanks had one vulgarity or other on them. "Don't worry ," Kris assured her, "Get you out of here and you can stay with me while you get yourself back on your feet."

Kris was focused on sorting and folding, so she didn't see a wince brush over Cassandra's features before the happy settled in again. "It'll be nice to be with a girlfriend again."

"No doubt. Everybody still thinks about you. We talk about you. We wondered if you were okay."

Cassandra hung his shirts carefully on each hanger in turn, "Oh, I'm fine. It's just been difficult taking care of everything by myself, you know. It just got to be too much, so I decided to do something about it."

"Well, I'm certainly glad that you found your limit before it was too late," she said as she finished folding a batch of Ted's jeans. "Where do you want these?"

"Just put them in the second drawer." She seemed to delight in sharing the dirty secret, "The bottom one has all sorts of sex toys and lube and stuff in it that I like to use and teddy likes to watch me play with."

More brain bleach required, Kris thought as she went to the drawer while Cassandra walked behind her for another batch of clothes hangers. On the way back, a well-manicured and brightly painted finger pressed down to up the volume and fill the room with more of the pink noise. With that, any worry or apprehension on her part floated away like leaves in the wind.

"The guys I cam for love them, too."

She noticed the greater presence of the background noise, but didn't think much of it. It just helped them talk without being overheard. "Cam for? You mean you..."

Cassandra giggled. "Sure. We need a place to live and Teddy needs the things he loves to have. And regular jobs suck. I can't wear what I like to wear to them and people want things that are too hard to do most of the time. Camming makes good money. And I can be home. And nobody asks me to do stuff that I don't wanna do anyhow." She sighed, floating on that wind with the leaves. "All they want me to do is be naked and fuck myself silly how they say to. It's way easy."

Kris's mind filled with nearly incomprehensible images of once perfectly straight-laced Cassandra, naked and spread, waiting for some faceless pig like Ted to tell her what to do with her body. "That's...awful . That's just...awful. I can understand why you finally reached your limit." I'll do whatever I can to help you get things back on track and you won't have to, you know..."

"Could you turn the sound all the way up, Kris?"

Kris hit the "+" button until it beeped that it had reached maximum volume and she had done so without thinking about it.

"So I won't have to...what?" She raised her voice to go with the flow, but she somehow didn't seem to be yelling as she walked toward Kris, hips swaying as she moved, "So I won't have cam for money?" The words registered on some level, but her ears were filled with waves and waves of pink noise like a crashing tide, leaving Kris to creep slowly away from her until her back hit the wall.

Cassandra was happy that she wasn't going to have to act like that other person even on the phone anymore and act like she didn't love her Teddy more than anything "But, I told you that I like it, silly. I like all those men and more than a few girls watching me while I fuck myself; watching me while I touch myself."

"Do you see it, Kris? Do see me with my legs open? Naked. Shoving toys up my holes because they tell me to."

The noise mingled seductively with the words and it was in her brain. The sight of the long legs in front of her on that bed, spread as wide as she could, working toys into her body because some faceless, horny pigs told her to.

"I do other things, too, you know. Teddy needs to be taken care of, so I have to take care of Teddy. "But I fucking love it." Her hand unbuttoned that prissy little beige blouse like smart girls with money wore one button at a time, punctuating each reveal of just a bit more flesh with a fresh image. "Toys aren't the most fun though. It's the most fun when they rent my pussy. They pay and I get on my knees and suck their cocks like a good girl until they put all of their cum in my tummy and they feel better. I feel better, too. I cum just sucking their cocks because they taste super good, and it's naughty, and I'm being a good girl by being a naughty girl."

"Man after man with his hard dick in my holes. My mouth on wet pussies, licking like a happy puppy until they cum all over my face. Some of them are nice, some of them are mean, but it doesn't matter. I'm a good girl and do what they want because Teddy needs and I love Teddy more than the whole world."

"And sometimes I do movies. That's sooo hot, too, and not just for the fucking right then. God, every time I watch them I think of all the people watching me and using me to get off and I cum so fucking good. Being smart and stuck up is hard. Cumming is easy and fun. And Teddy loves me and I love my Teddy."

Kris gasped when the other's hand reached under her bra so forcefully that she shoulder strap dug itself into her skin and mauled her breast. Her eyes found Cassandra's through the haze of fluffy pink. "W-why'd you call me, Cassandra? I only came to help."

"And you're gonna. I didn't lie to you at all. You might have been right about my Teddy. You're not, but you might have been. I can't do it all by myself because Teddy gets lonesome, and I don't feel right leaving knowing he's not taken care of, so I have to do something about that."

Her voice adopted a tinge of sweetness. "I told the truth when I said it'd be nice to have a real girlfriend again, too." She squeezed the tender flesh just to see what sounds would come from her throat. "Teddy picked you because he always liked you. He's all about big, natural boobies, and those we got."

She couldn't resist the urge to nibble a bit so she leaned in to kiss Kris's neck and put tiny bites of the soft flesh between her teeth, her cunny starting to drip when Kris, out of reflex, exposed her neck like women did in the vampire movies when they offered themselves. "Candi, honey. My name is Candi. 'Cassandra' is for girls who like their brains more than their pussies, and I loooooooooove my pussy." She giggled at the truth. "I barely even use my brain for anything anymore."

Candi tore herself away and took a step back, "Cube-y, call the living room." The speaker popped and the voice of God made her toes curl. "Yeah, baby?"

"She's ready, honey."

That seemed to be enough to stop his gaming in the background, "What's your name, honey?"

The voice cut through the fog enough to be truly heard, but she asked simply to be certain that she actually heard it and didn't just think she did, "What?"

"I asked you what your name was. What's your name?"

"Kristen."

"No it's not," he said with a snicker. "Kristen is a name for a smart girl. Your name is Krissi."

She shook her head back and forth, the movement making the room spin and her stomach knot. "No, it isn't. My name is Kristen."

"It's Krissi."

"Kristen."

"No, it isn't." As his voice found an angry edge, so the pink cotton all around her found an edge and those blades threatened to dig into into her brain. "Your name is Krissi. Say it."

Anger. Anger helped clear the fog around her. Determination helped her hang on. She turned and headed for the door. Her hand gripped the knob before she felt Cassandra's weight behind her pinning their bodies against it. "My name is Kristen, you fucking fucker."

"Your name is Krissi." His voice was just as angry now and it sent those cotton candy spikes into her brain.

"Just say it, honey." Candi sniffed her hair, as her hands went around Kristen's waist to begin to unbutton and unzip her slacks. "All the hurting stops when you just agree to things. It's just easier to say it." She pulled the fabric over that firm, thick ass, taking her panties down with them, taking them down to just above her knees before Kristen pushed her away.

"Fuck you, too."

"Your name is Krissi. Say it!"

The exclamation points drilled into her mind and she cried out in pain, gripping her skull in both hands, trying to find something to pull out. It was already a hundred times worse than her worst college hangover and each time he spoke, it all just piled onto itself.

"Kristen!"

Say it! Say your name is Krissi! Say it! Say it! Say it!"

"Please just say it, Krissi," Candi begged. She was sad and sad was no fun. "I tried to fight it too a little bit, but not like this. It hurt too much. C'mon, Krissi. Pleeeeease?"

"Kristen!" Now even that hurt to do.

"My name is Krissi! Say it! Tell me your name is Krissi!"

She spun around, trying to get away from the angry spikes, her stomach heaving as though she would throw up any moment, forgetting that all she had to do was open the door and try to make a break for it. She took two steps and stumbled forward, her legs getting tangled together by her slacks. She fell forward, everything from the waist up hitting the bed, but that was unnoticed by the pain reverberating through her skull with the daggers that was each syllable that he uttered.

"Say your name is Krissi!"

She cried out in defiance, tears stinging her eyes.

"Say your name is Krissi!" Say it! Say it! Say your name is Krissi!"

"My name..."

"Say your name is Krissi!" Say it! Say it! Say your name is Krissi!"

She finished the sentence over his, "...is Krissi!"

The pain ebbed almost at once and she loosened her grip on her head. The spikes were still on the fringes of her perception, but it was more like a promise and a warning rather than an openly malevolent force trying to explode her brain from the inside out.

"Good girl," Todd said. "Was that so hard? Why'd you make it so hard?"

"What's your name, Krissi girl?"

"My name is Krissi." It came more easily this time.

"Krissi is a nice name," he began, speaking to her in the same sing-song tone as one would a pet "Krissi is a pretty name. It feels good when Krissi hears her name said right. Isn't Krissi a pretty name? Say your name and feel how pretty it is?"