Chapter 28
(The Plot Thickens)
    Eliza sighed and shifted her position in the tree to get more comfortable.  For three nights, now, she'd kept watch outside of the Deacon's Liberated Light Temple.  Most of the town's people simply ignored the fact there was a "cult" temple in their midst.  On the whole, the temple members were almost invisible, except for occasional shopping trips, and no one objected to the money.  There were rumors of strange practices that involved sex with children and animals, and maybe even human sacrifice, but there was no proof. 
    A couple of years ago, an 'escapee' from the temple claimed to have been raped and abused, but she was twenty five years old with no real proof.  She claimed that her child had been removed from her and used as a child bride to one of the local priests.  An investigation followed by a warranted search of the temple turned up no real evidence, though there were many suspicious area that could have been group sex rooms.  However, group sex is not illegal!  The Deacon mounted a constitutional challenge and forced law enforcement to back off.  A well paid, local judge quickly found in the favor the temple.  The investigation cooled and died.
    The sound of juvenile laughter caused Eliza instantly become alert.  She focused in the direction of the sound and was surprised to see an apparently level section of ground, next to the compound wall move and reveal an opening.  A young man emerged and held his hand out to assist a young lady.  Both were wearing some sort of dark robe that covered them from neck to just below the knees.  Her first thought was, "Creepy!"
    She was wearing a sleeveless leather shirt, laced up the sides, with a moderate neckline and leather pants that were form fitting and terminated just above her knees.  The side laces showed enough skin to be interesting, but did avoid being obscene.  She had no idea how 'creepy' both of them would think she looked. 
    The two carefully replaced the cover, and in a low crouch, headed for the nearby treeline.  As they entered the treeline, and vanished from her sight, she dropped from her tree perch and silently followed them to the entrance point.  She could hear them, so she slowed down and carefully approached their location.
    She smiled as she saw that they had quickly removed their robes and placed them on the ground to serve as blankets.  She stared at them, they totally unaware of her and only aware of each other.  "Not bad for beginners," she thought, smiling.  "Now what do I do?"
    She did what she often did when she was unsure.  She scurried up the nearest tree and did nothing.  She waited, alert for any opportunity that might present itself. 
    There accelerating rhythm indicated that this show was about to be over.  They both gasped and fell into each others arms.  They sat up and Eliza heard the young man say, "OK, you go back, now.  I'll come in about an hour."  The young lady retrieved her gown, slipped into it and stood.  The young man, naked, hugged and kissed her and then sat as she turned and left. 
    Eliza smiled as she could see the physical signs of him getting excited again.  "You must have a good fantasy life going, guy.  And you do have some stamina.  Bet you wish she was here, now!"  Eliza smiled at her obscene thoughts.  "This is the opportunity I was looking for!  A teen age boy in rut.  Can't do better than that."
    She dropped from her tree perch, straddling his legs and pushing his upper body back to the ground.  He started to struggle, but Eliza totally confused him by pressing her body against his and passionately kissing him.  She sat up, her hips pinning his to the ground.  His eyes were big and focused on her, now, almost voluptuous breasts.  "You like," she asked in a low voice?
    He nodded, but did not speak.  Eliza smiled and slowly removed her vest, revealing her bare upper body.  The boy licked his lips and stared.  She could feel his fully erect member pressing against her leather pants.  She squirmed a little to intensify his excitement.  She leaned forward, allowing her breasts to dangle near his wide eyes.  "Do you want to touch me," she asked smiling. 
    He nodded rapidly.  She sat up, allowing him to free his arms.  As he reached for her breasts, she grasped his wrists in an iron grip.  Smiling, she said, "I'll ask you a question and when you answer, you can touch me."
    "OK," he croaked and nodded.
    "OK," she said.  "Do you know about the black helicopters?"
    He nodded.  "Yes."  She released one wrist and allowed him to touch her and fondle her nipple, which almost instantly became hard.
    "Stop it, Eliza," she told herself.  "This is not a feeding.  This is information gathering."  She gave him a little time to fondle her and then grasped his wrists again.  "Will they go there again?"
    He nodded.  "I didn't tell them.  They don't know what happened."  He reached for her breasts again and she allowed him to free both hands.  He massaged her breasts rather roughly, but Eliza had a high pain threshold and wanted him to get as excited as possible.  Actually, it was feeling rather good.  Pain can be interpreted by the body as pleasure, at times.
    He ran his hands up and down her body, touching her shorts.  "Want me to take them off?" 
    He nodded again.  "Yes, please."
    Eliza had to smile as his confusion and his total absorption with her as a sex object.  She stood and quickly kicked them off, lowering herself down to him in a more stimulating manner.  He gasped as the heat of her body touched his erect member. 
    "Would you like more," she whispered.
    "Oh, yes!"  His reply left no doubt that he was totally committed to having sex with her, now. 
    She leaned forward, nipping his neck.  She licked off the drop of blood, as he realized the shift in her body position had placed her body in a much more vulnerable position.  "If you agree to help me, we can do it now and then again later," she whispered. 
    "Oh, I'll do anything you want," he gasped, using his hands to push her hips down onto his body, deeply penetrating her. 
    "Ah," Eliza sighed as he became involved in his approaching climax.  While he was not interested in her satisfaction, if he actually knew satisfying her was possible, his enthusiasm and stamina took care of that issue.
    Afterward, Eliza focused and enhanced some of his memories and obscured others.  She had gotten good at this, and her subject was not resisting at all.  "Like taking candy from a baby." she thought.

    "I told you I'd find him and recruit him."  She smiled smugly at Luke.  "I did just what I said I'd do.  We've met twice, now, and he's a font of information."
    Luke sat facing her, across the table.  He refreshed her drink, rum and coke, tonight.  "That's amazing.  How'd you do that?"
    "Now, now.  A girl has to have some secrets, but really, it was mostly just patiently watching and waiting."
    Luke grunted, obviously not happy.  "So what did you learn.  Not the detail, just a quick overview."
    Eliza sipped the rum and coke.  This was a change from her normal fare, but they needed to have a serious discussion and both wanted to remain clear headed.  "What I learned is that the Liberated Light Temple is a true cult based on male dominance and female subservience.  Children are considered sex objects until about 16 years old.  They are for the adult males pleasure.  Children as young as four years old are involved is their sex parties."
    "Gad," Luke breathed.
    "When they hit 16, the females are used for incidental sexual gratification, breeding and temple maintenance, the males are either ejected from the temple or put on probation till they are eighteen, when they are either ejected or promoted as 'elders.' The young man I was talking to was 15 and expected to be ejected rather soon.  That's part of the reason he's willing to cooperate.  Ejected kids don't do very well.  They are taken to some large city and just left.  They have no real skills of survival, so they can do the one thing they've been trained to do, and that's serve others sexually.  They become child or young prostitutes."
    Luke looked sick.  "We have to take them down, Eliza.  We can't let this crap continue."  He sat for a few moments, shaking his head.  "I had no idea that there was THAT sort of thing going right here.  I mean in this country.  I thought we were better than that."
    Eliza snorted.  "We are the same scum that inhabit the entire planet.  We just justify louder and act more self-righteous."
    Luke nodded sadly.  "I hear you, and deep down, I know you're right, but I still don't want to believe it."
    "What you have to remember, Luke, is that most of the members of the Temple are victims.  The kids have been raised to it and the women are abused and dependent.  You know what PTSD and the Stockholm Syndrome are.  That whole thing is dysfunctional and evil, and we're going to have a really hard time telling them apart."
    "What about Barnyard's?  Will that continue?" Luke asked.
    "Jeff, I'm going to call him Jeff, OK?  Jeff said that no one at the temple really knows what happened at Baynard's.  He told the story to his girlfriend to impress her, and she told some of her friends, but no one believes what a woman says, so they really have no clue."
    "Huh!  Go figure.  Their own stupidity may be their downfall," Luke observed.  "Sort of ironic justice if it works out that way."  They sat silent, sipping their drinks.  "So, do you have a plan, or do we need to do some planning?"
    "Tonight, at oh three hundred, I'm going to meet with Jeff and he's going to tell me what the plans for Baynard's will be."
    "How is he going to get that information without exposing himself to suspicion?  They may be hyper sensitive about this, now."
    "They may be, Luke, but this Jeff is, ah, used by one of the committee members.  He likes to talk about his big plans and how the sacrifices at Baynard's beg and scream for mercy.  He has repeatedly told Jeff that, if he services him well, he'll show mercy kill him quickly when it's his turn.  Needless to say, Jeff is terrified of him and his fear sexually excites this pervert."
    "Bleep, bleep, bleep-de-bleeping bleep," Luke said in a parody of censored speech. 
    "Luke, you wouldn't believe some of the stuff this kid told me.  It would make you sick."
    "I feel sick, already, Eliza.  You told me more than enough to really depress me.  The Colonel needs to hear this.” He sat back, staring at his drink, not moving.  Finally he said, “No matter what you've seen, somewhere, there seems to be worse still to see.”  He grimaced.  “Oh, Joy!” 

    Later that night, Eliza, sitting thirty feet up in a tree on three line, outside of the Compound, she waited.  Her evening with Luke had been very depressing and the last thing she felt like doing was being a sex toy for a horny teen age boy.  She'd left Luke after summarizing her meeting with Jeff, feeling really down and uncomfortable.  Right now, almost anywhere else is where she'd rather be.  She sighed as she spotted Jeff approaching the treeline.  He really could move quietly.
    He reached the treeline and stood beneath the tree she was in, looking back from where he had come.  Eliza wasn't sure if he was looking to see if he was followed or if he was hoping to spot her.  She'd told him to wait by this tree, and she'd meet him at three AM, a time he'd said he could sneak out with minimal risk.
    At three AM, exactly, she'd dropped from her concealed location and almost silently landed behind him.  She put her hand on his shoulder to attract his attention.  He grunted and wheeled to face her, assuming a crouching stance.
    She smiled and shook her head, marveling as his clumsiness.  He was only fifteen, but still, most fifteen year old boys would know more about basic self defense.  Growing up in a cult does not prepare one for life in the real world.
    He smiled and stood erect.  "I wasn't sure you'd come," he said in a low voice.  "I wasn't sure it was real.  They give us stuff, and sometimes, what we see isn't real.  I wasn't sure, but I was hoping."  He smiled, his eyes roaming over her body, appreciating tonight's outfit, which she had selected to be very sexy and provocative. 
    "I am very real," she replied.  She stepped closer towards him, so close he could feel the heat of her body.  "You aren't like a lot of them, are you?"
    He sobered.  "No.  No, I'm not.  I'm not like them at all."  He paused.  "I don't want to hurt anyone.  I don't want to be hurt."
    Eliza didn't want him getting too scared to talk.  She needed to keep the conversation light but informative.  "We don't need to think about anyone being hurt.  We could think about what happened the last time I was here."
    He smiled and shifted from foot to foot.  "Yea, that was nice." He stared at her, licking his lips.  His interest was becoming obvious to her.
    She smiled and touched him. He jumped and sharply inhaled, but did not step back.  Very deliberately and slowly she said, "If you get naked, we can have me again."  She'd chosen terms that she hoped would be exciting to him and get his attention off of being abused and on her.  The speed at which he complied indicated that she chosen wisely.
    "Now, you," he said hoarsely, staring at her.
    She smiled and made quite a production of undoing the laces on her vest, allowing him little peeks until she was ready. Then she very quickly removed it, freeing her breasts.  She was wearing a very short wrap around skirt, (good for tree climbing), that she almost made vanish.  She put her hands behind her head, faced him, legs slightly spread,  and pulled her shoulders back, proudly displaying her body.  "You know this is real, don't you?"
    He nodded, smiling.  He closed the distance between them and pulled her close to him.  His eyes widened as she slid him into her body.  "I do, now," he gasped.
    As they made their way back towards the compound, Eliza wondered how "Jeff" would ever be abler to assume a place in normal society.  These young people were going to need more care than she could imagine.  She shook her head, almost wishing she'd just let him return by himself, but she had an investment is him, now, and wanted to be able to insure his safe return.  She didn't really believe that the Deacon had no perimeter guards to catch this sort of thing.
    Her thoughts must have been prophetic. "What do we have here," a harsh masculine voice said.  "Looks like one of your little bottoms and his whore.  You been out getting some sweet-meat on your own, Lad?  Don'cha know that can get you killed?" 
    Eliza stepped forward, shielding Jeff.  "If you're looking or trouble, ass hole, you just found a bucket full!"  Her very balanced crouch should have been a warning to the compound sentry, but all he could see was a mere female, and he knew what females were good for.
    "I'm gonna really enjoy this," he hissed, stepping forward, attempting to backhand Eliza in the face.
    She blocked, did an arm sweep and pin, rotated, using his own momentum, drove his face into the ground.  "You like beating up women?  Well, take your best shot."  She stood erect, releasing him.  "Let's play."
    He got to his feet a lot slower than Eliza would have expected, but then with surprising speed, drew a knife from a belt sheath and struck low and fast.  The rotating "good hand" block was simple, effective, and sent him, with a broken or sprained wrist, slamming to the ground, again.  She landed heavily on his sternum with her knee, the loud crack and his groan of pain, indicating the damage done.  She removed the knife from his limp hand and slashed his throat, ducking to one side, to avoid the arterial spurt. 
    She stood, facing Jeff, "Get back, now.  I'll take care of this."
    Wide eyed, he nodded, losing no time returning the way he came.
    Eliza, with years of practice, took out the trash and washed the dishes. "Another mystery for the Deacon to contemplate," she thought with a grin.

    Back at her apartment, she pulled the blinds to obscure the rising sun.  She took a long cool shower, hoping the water would wash away the soil that she felt besmirched her.  She'd been 'good' on their first coupling.  She'd not even nipped him.  What she was not prepared for was that he was not satisfied with once.  The second time, she lasted until almost the end.  Then his wild excitement had inflamed her and she did what vampires do.  Not viciously or deeply, but enough to make her become a more than willing participant.  Twice more finally exhausted him. 
    The finale of actually getting to kill the sentry had been a very satisfying end to the night.  Once Jeff had gone, she'd drained him before he was cool and felt absolutely energized from the double meal and sexual stimulation. 
    Eliza shook the water from her hair and stepped out of the shower.  "I was a bad bat," she thought.  "I not only molested a minor, I enjoyed it."  She grinned.  "I enjoyed tasting his blood and then...." she shuddered, "I enjoyed doing what he asked."  She shook her head.  "I am a very bad bat." 
    For some reason, the fact that she'd cut a man's throat, sucked his blood, and scattered the body parts did not come to her mind.  He headed to bed, setting the clock for ten PM.  She wanted to meet with Luke.  He needed to know what Jeff had told her.

    Walking in the cool evening air, she realized that she'd not slept well.  She knew she dreamed of the dessert, not the happiest time in her life, and that there were only half remembered impressions of horrors she'd rather not contemplate.  Arriving at his door was a relief.  She tapped an waited.
    Luke smiled, sat down the drinks he'd prepared and went to answer the door.  A quick look though the security lens, to make sure, and he opened the door, and stared hard at her.  "You look like hell," he observed.  "Come on in and have a nice cold Dark and Stormy.  I decided we'd have a little class, tonight."  He smiled and waved her to the couch.
    Eliza sat heavily and gratefully accepted the tall and frosty Dark and Stormy.  "That is so good," she said after taking a long sip.  "I needed that."
    Luke nodded, taking a sip of his own.  "Yes, you really look beat and bleak.  What happened to drag you out like this?  I don't think I've ever seen you this down."
    She grimaced.  "It's been awhile, but last night just makes me wonder if you should call in a tactical nuke on them.  If I really thought that would stop the Deacon, I'd probably suggest it."
    She spent the next ten minutes giving Luke a censored version of what happened.  She wasn't sure why, but she just could not tell him of the true nature of the relationship with Jeff.  Tightening, briefly, her lips, she realized she didn't even like to consider it.  She had no objection telling him about much of what she did to the sentry.  She did omit the part about consuming his blood, though.  She was quite sure Luke wasn't ready for that, yet, if ever.
    Luke seemed genuinely amazed that she could take out an armed sentry, face to face, with no weapon when she was unarmed.  She did admit that she wasn't unarmed, just that she'd not needed to use any of her weapons.  He started to question her about what she'd done with the body, but she'd hissed and held up one hand.  "We're not going to discuss that," she stated emphatically.  "There will be no repercussions.  Take my word for that."
    He nodded slowly, clearly not approving of not knowing, but unwilling to be too insistent.  Eliza already seemed distraught enough.  Getting into an argument he'd probably lose really wouldn't help matters. 
    "So," he continued, "your source says that the 'parties' will continue."
    She nodded.  "Yes, but with armed guards, this time.  They don't know what happened, but they know something happened, and the Deacon is not one to run from a fight.  So far, the Raiders are the only ones who have even been able to make him step back."  Finishing her drink, holding her glass out for another, she thought, "The raiders and I, that is."
    "Hmph, " Luke grunted.  "That will make things a lot dicier.  When will this be?"
    "Full moon.  So far, I think they've always been on the full moon."
    They sat quietly, each lost in thought.  Luke had to refill the Dark and Stormy glasses twice for each of them.
    Eliza sighed and stood, slightly unsteady.  "I'm going to head back to my place, Luke.  I'm not good company, tonight.  Sorry.  I just can't shake out of this funk I'm in.  Maybe some fresh air and some exercise will improve my mood."
    "Are you sure you are OK to be out, now?  We've both had more to drink than is wise."  Luke looked concerned.
    Eliza shrugged.  "Anyone mess with me, tonight, their problem," she grunted.  "I'm not looking for trouble, but if trouble finds me, it'll find more than it bargained for.  I am not in the mood!"
    "I hear you, Eliza.  Just don't hurt anyone needlessly.  You have to be careful with your skills."
    Eliza stared at him making sure he wasn't making fun of her.  "I'm really not into hurting people," she replied.  "The whole purpose of this exercise is to help people, remember?  I'm not going to go on any rampage." 
    Luke nodded, not missing the hard edge to her voice.  "I really didn't think you would, but if you want some company on the way home, I'd be glad to walk with you.  But if you'd rather have some alone time, I'll understand."
    Eliza nervously shifted from one foot to the other.  "I think I'll just head home," she said.  "No big deal.  I'm just drained."
    The night air was crisp and cool.  A cold front had moved in and the fresh breeze and ozone smell of the air could easily be the harbinger of a thunder storm.  Eliza threw her head back, spread her arms and inhaled, smiling.  A thin sliver of waxing moon made her tingle.  "I feel better already," she thought.  The walk back to her apartment was refreshing and uneventful.  The man who had attempted to pick her up and taken her refusal with a smile, saying that no way could he get that lucky.  That, at least, made her feel good. 
    A young fellow, sitting on the curb smoking weed, had offered to share.  She's actually considered that offer, but didn't want to have to follow up on what was sure to follow.  He'd been too stoned to be upset at her refusal, or maybe he wasn't expecting her to say yes. 
    Back at her apartment, she pulled the curtains tight, slid into bed thinking, "Another day in the big city."  She quickly fell asleep.
~~~~~~~
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