Copyright © 2019 by Matt Shaw

Matt Shaw Publications

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The characters in this book are purely fictitious.

Any likeness to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

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OCTOPUS II

Matt Shaw

Chapter 1

8 MONTHS LATER

The bedroom door opened quietly as though Max hoped to not disturb the woman trapped within. Despite the ungodly hour though, Becca was already awake and her heart was already racing. For the last seven months she had been kept here against her will and in those unwanted months she had got used to the nightly visits.

She rolled onto her side and faced Max. Her eyes were sore and barely focusing, such was her level of both physical and emotional exhaustion. There were no tears. Those had long since dried up. For one, she’d cried all she could and was now mostly numb as to what was happening. For another, she was severely dehydrated and her body was incapable of producing tears.

Max stood there in the doorway to the spare room - her prison - just as he often did; naked and with an impressive erection standing tall and proud, ready to be forced into her. Usually he greeted her with words, sometimes of kindness, reassurance that he wasn’t going to hurt her and, other times, words filled with venom and hate. Today though he said nothing. His mouth was clamped shut yet looked stuffed with something. A mouthful of un-chewed food perhaps?

Becca knew the routine by now. She rolled onto her back and - naked - opened her legs, revealing her bruised pussy. With little feeling, she spat into her hand as best she could and then rubbed the frothy saliva between her legs, over her dry slit. He didn’t ask her to. He had never asked her to. She just knew that a little lubrication was better than letting him force his way in dry. He had never been there for her pleasure. She was only there for his. She turned her head to the side, away from him. It was one thing to lay there and let him unload in her but another thing entirely to watch him do it. He didn’t seem to mind that she looked away, just as he didn’t care that she moistened her gash first with a palmful of spit. Whether she looked at him or not didn’t seem to make a blind bit of difference as to whether he ejaculated or not and she often wondered, if she died during the night, would he really care? Somehow she doubted it. He’d probably still stick it in her. He’d probably still fuck her until he shot his heavy, salty mix deep up inside her. The warmth of his cum the only source of heat in her cold, rotting body.

She closed her eyes as Max approached. Still no words from him. No empty promise of releasing her soon. No threats that she’d better not try anything funny, not that he ever made such threats. Nothing.

The bed creaked as he climbed onto the mattress. Becca winced as a spring from the bed frame poked through the flimsy bedding and into her back. She didn’t moan. She didn’t try and move. She knew that soon enough something else would be sticking in her, taking her mind from the discomfort caused by the broken spring.

She felt the weight of his body press against her as Max positioned himself on top of her. She felt the head of his dick nudge against her pussy. She winced as she felt his cock push into her cunt, stretching her uncomfortably in the process. A short, sharp sting caused by how ill-prepared her body was, despite the attempt at self-lubrication.

Usually he’d tell her how he fucking loved her tightness. He’d moan. He’d explain how he was going to break her and how his wife, Helena, wanted to watch so desperately but was bed-ridden due to her condition. An ever present unspoken threat that, one day, he might pull Becca into Helena’s room and fuck her in there, as per his mad wife’s wishes. Unbeknownst to Becca, the only reason he hadn’t carried the suggestion through was because he knew Becca wouldn’t have survived it and, he wasn’t done with her yet. She was there until Helena was well enough to tend to Max’s needs again. Although, 8 months in, that time was coming and he couldn’t fucking wait. But, for now…

With his mouth clamped shut, Max let his sigh of pleasure out through his nostrils. A long exhale as Becca’s tight cunt clamped around his cock. His lips pressed shut, he couldn’t help but make a groan of pleasure from his throat. Becca’s own moan was of discomfort and pain.

Slowly but surely, Max started to slide in and out of her pussy as Becca just laid as still as possible in order to just let him get on with it and get it over with.

Becca didn’t know what was worse; hearing him talk as he fucked her or this new silent banging, broken only by the occasional exhale from his hairy nostrils. Unsure what was happening, she opened her eyes and turned to look at him; the first time she’d ever done so whilst he was inside her. Something was wrong. There was a look in his eyes that she hadn’t seen before, nor recognised. His mouth obviously full of something. His face flushed red and not just because of exerting himself as he fucked. He suddenly stopped moving as his eyes locked to hers.

With no warning, he opened his mouth as eight hairy legs unfolded from within. Using his face as something to grip onto, the tarantula pulled its body out of his mouth. Becca screamed as the arachnid immediately dropped from his face down onto hers before it ran off away her. Max started to slide in and out of her once more, laughing as he did so.

*

‘What did you think of my pet?’ Max asked.

The deed was done. His sticky semen was trickling out of Becca’s pussy and he was sitting on the edge of the bed, facing away from her. This was often the case; he would fuck her and then just sit there whilst trying to make awkward conversation. Maybe it was his way of trying to make the whole experience seem more normal? Maybe it was his way of torturing her more, knowing that she just wanted him to leave her in peace? Whatever his reasons, she rarely spoke back unless it looked as though he had the potential to get aggressive with her. Now, he seemed strangely calm; almost drunk-like in his demeanor even though she couldn’t smell any alcohol on him.

‘I’ll be honest, I didn’t mean to do that. I was supposed to eat it but I just couldn’t bring myself to chew down. I think it’s the way I could feel it moving on my tongue that put me off. Or the little hairs. Bad enough getting one stray pubic hair in your mouth from time to time, let alone an actual mouthful of tiny hairs. Especially the way they can irritate the throat. That’s why, the tribes who eat those things, they burn them first. Cook those hairs off. Anyway I put it in my mouth with the intention of chewing it down but, yes, I just couldn’t bring myself to actually do it.’

Max paused a moment, giving Becca a chance to say something back to him but she stayed silent. He turned to her to check that she was even still awake. She was. Her eyes were fixed to a point on the ceiling above her. Max shrugged and continued explaining.

‘You’re probably wondering why I wanted to eat it in the first place. Well, for that, you can thank my wife. You had kids? Apparently during pregnancy you can get cravings. Some people crave pickled onions, some crave fish foods even though they normally hate fish. Well my Helena got a craving for arachnids. Weird I know but it’s not what you would call a normal pregnancy.’ He paused a moment as he reflected upon the last eight months. ‘To think, I would have thought we would have been spared the impending madness but it appears we will suffer like the rest of you. You know what though? I’m okay with that. We knew the risks. We accepted what could be and were just happy to serve Him. I digress though. My wife has these cravings and, to be supportive, I had to give it a go too. See what the fuss was about because, I swear, she cannot get enough of them. They’re not for me though and to be perfectly frank, I’ll be glad when this phase is over so we don’t have to have them in the house anymore.’

Max paused a moment before he leaned down to look underneath the bed for signs of the tarantula he’d spat out. Nothing. Just a few crumbs left over from the various bits of food he’d brought Becca to eat. He shrugged.

‘He gets to live another day then,’ Max said.

Going back some months, this was when Becca would be asking when she could go home. This was the time she’d be promising how she wouldn’t say anything to anyone about where she had been or what she had gone through. But, after being ignored for weeks, she eventually stopped making the inquiries. She knew she wasn’t going home again. She knew she wouldn’t see her family, friends, pets… This was her life now just as, according to Max when he had first brought her to this room, it had been for a number of women before Max and Helena inherited the house from the previous owners. The room, he’d explained, had seen so much pain, anger and violence that it seemed silly not to keep it for times such as this. He’d said, ‘You can’t make happy memories in a place shrouded with so much decay and hate.’

Becca hadn’t asked about the previous owners and nor did Max elaborate. She figured, if he wanted to say anything about them he would have. The only thing she’d cared about was how to get out of there but as the days turned to weeks and the weeks to months, she realised the chances of that were slim to none, leaning more towards “none”.

‘Well,’ Max continued, ‘if our furry little friend shows up, just remember that it is probably more afraid of you than you are of it. But on the off chance it isn’t scared of you and comes close, you’ll be pleased to know it’s not venomous to us. Don’t misunderstand me, the bite might sting but it’s highly unlikely to kill you.’ He turned to Becca and smiled. ‘And on that note, sleep well!’

Max stood, stretched out his aching back, and walked towards the open door. Stepping from the room, he leaned back and pulled the door shut. A second later and the lock clicked across, once again trapping Becca in the room she’d grown accustomed to.

As Becca laid there, thinking about the life once led, she still found herself unable to weep. This was her life now and the past was gone, seemingly for good. For so long she had endured all of this that, with her own madness slowly sinking in, she often wondered whether her old life was real at all. Maybe her mind made it up to help deal with the horrors of the day to day? Maybe there was no one out there she could class as friend or family? Maybe there was no one missing her? No one looking her. Maybe she was as truly alone as she felt, locked in this room. A prison to her and if what Max was saying, once upon a time a prison to other people held captive by Monsters.

Chapter 2

BECCA ROSS

In the last eight months of being held captive, there weren’t many nights filled with anything remotely close to being labeled as unbroken sleep. Any time Becca’s exhausted brain did quieten long enough for her to slip into a slumber, the dreams that came were not peaceful or filled with love and happiness. There were no happy memories played back from the life she’d been snatched from. There were only nightmares from which she’d jump awake screaming her partner’s name into the darkness.

‘Kellan!’

Kellan McDiarmid had been Becca’s boyfriend for two years now and she loved him dearly but the Kellan she met in her broken dreams was not the man she had fallen in love with nor was he one she cared for. Physically he looked the same, with his pretty mocha coloured skin (not white yet not black either – almost Spanish looking in his complexion) and his short black hair and brown eyes but that was where the similarities ended. The playfulness of his character in the real world, always prodding Becca or trying to make her jump by leaping out on her, was absent and, in place of these traits was nothing but a seething hatred for her and viciousness which was more like Max’s despicable character.

Becca would lay awake after such an unpleasant nightmare and remind herself over and over that it was just a dream and that, in real life, Kellan was nothing like the man her tired brain had shown her. It didn’t matter how many times she would say it to herself though. Just as she’d think she had convinced herself of his good nature, she’d slip into another dream and see the nightmarish vision of him all over again. Maybe it was because she was seeing the man she loved in such a manner but, to her, sometimes the dreams were nastier than the visits her host force upon her during the waking hours.

*

Tonight’s dream.

Becca had been tied to a bed. The mattress was soaked in her urine. The acid of which burned the skin on her legs and made them feel irritated. Along with the piss, there were shit stains too from where she’d no longer been able to hold it in but had been refused the right to a bathroom break, despite begging for one.

Kellan had been the man holding her there, against her will. It was a nightmare brought on by what Max had told her about the spiders before leaving her alone to her thoughts and the darkness. How his wife supposedly had a craving for feasting upon them because of her pregnancy.

Whether what he said was real or not didn’t matter. His story had been clear enough to leave a lasting impression in her mind and she’d dreamed of Kellan standing at the foot of the bed, where she’d been tied, with a sack in his hands. He was wearing his uniform for the pest control company he worked for and, on his face, a wicked smile hinting towards evil intent. Without a word spoken, he tipped the sack over Becca’s naked body and emptied it of hundreds of palm-sized spiders which proceeded to run across her skin. She screamed as she felt their legs tickle her skin. Some ran. Some stayed motionless, playing possum and others explored her body.

In the dream she’d been screaming for him to get them off. This man, who usually saved her from spiders in the real world, now laughing at her as a couple nestled between her legs and – that was when she woke up.

As she lay there now, as traumatised by the dream as she was by the reality of her cruel situation, she couldn’t help but wonder whether Max’s story was simply a way of getting her to think about her boyfriend and the fact he wasn’t there to save her from the tarantula. Of course Max’s wife didn’t eat spiders due to an unusual craving. Of course it was a fabricated tale to further worry Becca, stopping her from trying anything stupid. But what bothered her was how her brain was quick to see the love of her life as a tormentor when, in actual fact, she believed him to be more of a saviour.

Even though she knew it had been a nightmare, and that it couldn’t be further from the truth, she lay there unable to fall back asleep. Or maybe not wanting to drift off for fear of seeing the man she loved attacking her again. Instead she laid there in the darkness with her heart racing fast and hard from the fright the nightmare had given her as she desperately tried to remember happier times. But after eight months being held as a prisoner, the good times were getting harder to remember and instead of thinking back and forcing a smile, she found herself stressing more that it wouldn’t be much longer before any happy memories were lost to the darkness forevermore.

Still she couldn’t cry.

*

‘I can smell her on you,’ Helena said as she struggled to hold in a cackle of a laugh.

Max was standing by the door of Helena’s makeshift bedroom; the room she’d been confined to since finding out she was pregnant. Unlike Becca though, Helena wasn’t a prisoner. She just knew that she  had to stay in this room until the pregnancy was finished, for the sake of everyone else.

The room was fairly small with enough room for a bed and a television. The television was always on but, since the third month of the pregnancy, it only ever showed static. Under the bed there was a bedpan which Max emptied daily for her. Unlike the other rooms to the house though, this one had walls lined with lead; an addition which was put in once Max and Helena realised the child, growing within her, had a gift strong enough to impact those around Helena, even before it was born into the world.

‘I washed,’ Max reassured his wife.

Helena sucked in the air through her nostrils and expelled through her nose slowly. She paused a moment and frowned before she looked her husband dead in the eye. ‘You may wish to get her a test. I do believe you have more than one expecting lady in the house.’ Helena didn’t look hurt at the prospect of Max impregnating another woman. If anything, her face was pretty much expressionless as she just sat there. ‘We agreed on a plaything for you, all the time you can’t come near me but perhaps I should have been clearer about going in protected.’

‘She was clean. I made sure of it.’

‘One thing to cum into a rubber and quite another to fill this whore with your seed.’

‘Even if she is pregnant. There’s only one child that I care about.’ Max looked at Helena’s stomach. She looked huge now, like she was ready to pop any day now even though they technically had another month left in the pregnancy.

‘Well obviously she won’t be keeping it if she is,’ Helena said with a hint of menace in her tone.

‘No dear.’

The pair went quiet.

Max broke the silence. ‘I wish I could touch you.’

‘Not long to go now.’

‘It feels like forever.’

‘We knew this would be hard just as we knew it would be worth it. Keep thinking how far we have come. All that we have worked for.’

‘I know.’

Helena shifted on the bed in an effort to get comfortable. For so long she had stayed in this room when really, all she wanted to do was get up and walk around the house or the grounds to their property. But having come this far, neither of them were prepared to risk anything untoward happening to hurt the baby growing within.

‘Your needs have been met but what about mine?’

‘There is a queue forming already even though they were told it would be morning before a decision was made.’

‘No shortage?’

Max smiled. ‘If anything more people today than last week.’

Helena smiled too as she reached down between her legs whereupon she touched herself through the gusset of her panties. ‘My pussy aches for attention.’

‘And there are plenty of suitors.’ Mid-sentence, Max’s watch started to beep as a two minute alarm went off. He silenced it before he pulled his sleeve back down overhis watch.

‘Two minutes already?’

‘It gets faster.’ He smiled as the front of his head started to throb. ‘I will see you tomorrow and, remember, I love you.’ He turned and opened the heavy door.

Helena called to him as he stepped out, ‘Get me someone who knows how to use their tongue.’

‘Yes, dear.’

Max pulled the door shut as Helena turned her attention back to the static buzzing through the television set.

On the landing on the other side of the door and unheard by Helena due to the make-up of her room, Max dropped to his knees and screamed as the throbbing in his head got worse and his vision blurred. The scream echoed through the mansion and beyond. Becca heard it. The gathering queue winding down the property’s long drive heard it.

Moments later, Max passed out in a crumpled heap upon the landing’s plush carpet.

Chapter Three

A WORTHY SACRIFICE

The sun shone through the window framing the mansion’s stairwell. As the early morning’s hours crept by, the sun’s beam stretched over the landing space until it touched upon Max’s face and rousxed him from his state of unconsciousness. As was often the way on the morning after a visit to Helena, his headache was gone now. The only trace that anything had even happened was his own hazy memory and the dried blood stuck to his skin beneath his nostrils.

Max rolled onto his back and paused there a moment in the sun’s brilliant rays. A night on the floor had left him exhausted despite the fact he’d been unconscious for a good number of hours. Had he had his way, he would have stayed there for a few more hours, basking in the sun and letting it warm up his skin and blood but that was an impossibility. With Helena so far gone, and due soon, there was never a break anymore. He needed to make sure both mother and imminent child were okay. He needed to make sure the house was ready for whatever the future brought. So much to do and so little time and yet when he first had found out she was pregnant and the ritual had been a success, he felt as though he had all the time in the world to prepare. How wrong had he been? He sat up too fast for his own good and the landing space spun. He closed his eyes a moment to let it come to a rest and then, when it had, he checked the time on his watch.

‘Shit.’

Almost nine o’clock in the morning. Not only had he not fed Becca her breakfast but he also had a queue of people who had been expecting him to go out over an hour ago to make his choices. He shrugged. Becca wouldn’t starve to death if she missed a meal and the people outside knew better than to appear disgruntled. He was, after all, doing them a favour by bringing them into this. And if they did bitch? They’d just be sent home with their tail between their legs.

Using the nearby wall to steady himself, on the off-chance any steadying was necessary, Max pulled himself up to his feet and tentatively made his way down the stairs and towards the front of the house.

Every Monday was the same. There was always a queue of willing volunteers winding their way down the mansion’s long driveway. Some people showed up just before the time they were due and others camped out overnight hoping that it would make them stand out above the rest of the potential participants. There was no logic to the way would-be suitors were picked though; it really was luck of the draw.

The front door opened and Max appeared there in the same clothes he had previously passed out in. The moment the gathered crowds saw him, like a Mexican Wave, they one by one dropped to their knees. Max loved this moment. All these people worshipping him as the one who was bringing back their rightful God. It made him feel as powerful as the God he was awakening for them, for him and his wife, for the entire world.

He stood a moment with his arms outstretched to the sides of him; Jesus Christ up on his cross. For the moment he said nothing as he bathed in the glory of the almighty. Eventually, he said, ‘You may rise.’

A Mexican-Wave in reverse, the crowd clambered up to their feet. The majority of the people had the same look of hope on their face; an expression they had every Monday.

‘It’s so good to see so many of you,’ Max said ensuring his voice carried far enough for the people in the back of the crowd. ‘Every week the numbers increase but, as you know, we can only choose one person to proceed. With that being said though, if you are not fortunate enough to be chosen today then you are more than welcome to come back next week to try your luck again. For those of you who have come before, you know how this works. If you are new - welcome and listen carefully as I explain what will happen.’ Max paused long enough to make sure he had their attention. He did. You could hear a pin drop. You could hear a woman screaming from within the house, begging for a freedom that would never be offered.

Max continued. ‘As some of you already know, my wife is expecting our Lord. Whilst we are privileged to be bringing Him back into our world, it comes at a price. I am unable to get close to my wife,  and neither is anyone else. Those who get close are not the same again and, as the months go by, His powers continue to get stronger. Unfortunately my wife has needs of her own and that is where you come in. Today, and every other Monday up to His re-birth, I will choose one of you to comfort my wife until her needs are met for that time. You will get close to our Master and his powers will be felt as your mind changes to His will. An early glimpse to His true power! Now I understand the cost is high but for a true follower, there is no such thing as too high. Even so, some of you may believe you’re not ready for this in which case you are free to leave and no one will think any less of you…’

Max waited to see if anyone had been swayed from wishing to volunteer. The same as every other week; no one took the opportunity to leave. If anything, they seemed even keener to be the chosen one. Max nodded, satisfied that they all deserved to be there.

He called out once more, ‘You need to form an orderly line and I will come to each and every one of you to see if you have the quality I have been tasked with finding. If I tap your shoulder, you will step forward and go through to the second round. If I don’t tap your shoulder, you are to leave without fuss. My decision is final and if you argue with me, you will not be asked back to any of our future events. You will be forever blacklisted. I want only the best for my wife and if you are not chosen today, it is simply because you do not possess the necessary trait for today but it doesn’t mean that will always be the case so - again - you are not to take it personally. We are all equals.’

He let his words set in a moment.

‘Right. I ask you to form an orderly queue. And, as I walk down the line, you are to open your mouth and extend your tongue for my wife has made it clear that is her primary need for this week. If you already know your tongue is not of a worthy length, to save me some time, I again give you the opportunity to step down and, again, no less will be thought of you.’

Max nodded in appreciation as a handful of would-be suitors stepped away from the gathering, ready to leave.

‘I thank you for your loyalty,’ Max said to them, ‘and I will see you next week I trust when my wife may have different needs waiting to be met.’

They nodded to Max and then headed back towards where they had parked the vehicles they’d arrived in. Max waited a moment to see if anyone else would take the chance to leave. No one did.

‘Those of you who stand before me, to reiterate, I will walk down the line and you will extend your tongue to me. If I tap your shoulder stay where you are and move down the queue, filling any spaces that may appear from those of who you are sent home. If I do not tap your shoulder, thank you very much and we look forward to hopefully seeing you next week.’ He said, ‘Without further ado, let us proceed.’

The moment Max stopped talking, the gathered people - without fuss or issues - formed the required queue. Max gave them a couple of minutes and then, as promised, navigated his way down the line. The majority of the volunteers went by without a tap to their shoulder. Only the best for Helena. Those who did leave, did so without fuss or any feelings of being unworthy. Just as Max wanted the best for his wife, they wanted the best for their Master.

Those who were fortunate enough to get “The Touch” tried to show no emotion either. They didn’t want to come across as smug; an ugly trait. They simply moved down the queue, filling the gaps left behind from those who’d already left.

Today’s “want” was easier for Max to see and judge. When his wife wanted a big dick up inside her, it was somewhat more of a challenge as each of the volunteers was forced to get erect in order to have their penis size and shape judged with nothing more than a quick look. A tongue though? Max was looking for the longest of the group but, more than that, the pinkest too. If the volunteer had bad teeth or oral hygiene in general, they were dismissed. If their tongue had patches of white, they were dismissed. If the tongue wasn’t at least as long as the last person chosen, they were dismissed. It was quick and it was easy and soon the group of over a hundred was whittled down to just a mere handful. From here the group was narrowed down to the top three. Max always took three people into the house just in case the first (and second) choice lacked the necessary skills to actually fulfil the task asked of them. If they failed to please Helena, they were removed from her presence and - so long as the effects of their Master hadn’t unsettled their brain too much - they were led through to where Becca lay, trussed up as a consolation prize. A thank you for their efforts, even though they’d not managed to completely satisfy Helena’s needs.

‘Is this your first time reaching this stage?’ Max asked.

All three men nodded. Max assigned the men a number according to how fitting they were for what Helena wanted. The guy with the longest tongue being number one, second longest number two and third - number three.

‘You will go into the room in the order assigned to you. If number one achieves the desired goal for Helena, the other two will be sent through to the consolation prize to do with as you see fit. Our way of saying thank you for being loyal. A gift. You are not to beat upon the consolation prize though and any such viciousness will be met with ten-fold straight back at you. Am I understood?’

They answered in unison, the first time they had spoken, ‘Yes.’

‘Good. If number one is not able to fulfil my wife’s needs then number two will be sent it. If number two can’t… You get the picture. Am I understood?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you have each brought your paperwork?’

‘Yes.’

Each of the men reached into their pockets and pulled out the relevant papers. Identification showing a clear picture of them and test results from a clinic to show they were clean of disease or anything that might harm Helena or their Master growing within. Max looked at the papers in turn and smiled, happy that all was in order.

‘Then,’ he said, ‘welcome to my home and, please, do come in.’

Chapter Four

The Last Eight Months

Max showed the two men through to the living room and sat them down on the large sofas. Before he took a seat adjacent to them, he offered them a stiff drink which they both graciously accepted. He helped himself to a brandy and sat with them. The third man, the one who’d been chosen to satisfy Helena, had already been taken through to her room.

Max sipped at his brandy and sighed as he felt the warmth of the liquid trickle down into his stomach. Only when he had taken a sip did his two guests join in.

‘You have a lovely home,’ Man Two said.

‘Thank you. Got a lot of history here,’ Max said.

‘I bet.’

‘This is your first time seeing it?’ Max asked.

‘It is.’

‘Never been to one of our parties then?’

‘Can’t say I have.’

Max turned to Man Three. ‘And you?’

Man Three smiled. ‘Oh, I’ve been to the parties before.’ He turned to Man Two. ‘You should have come. They were truly epic.’

Max smiled at Man Two. ‘A loyal follower from the start then?’

‘From day one,’ Man Two said proudly.

‘Well, we thank you.’

Man Two raised his glass in the air and said, ‘No. We thank you.’

Max raised his glass too and the pair took another sip.

‘Sounds like I missed out,’ Man Three said.

‘You sure fucking did,’ Man Two said with a beaming grin stretched across his face. ‘They were insane.’

‘Any plans for more?’ Man Three said hopefully.

‘Afraid not. The parties were to get us where we are today so…’ Max shrugged.

‘What’s it been like?’ Man Two expanded his question with, ‘The last eight months? How have they been?’

Max raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh. They’ve been interesting to say the least.’ He continued, ‘All the preparations we made and it is fair to say Helena and I still weren’t ready for what was to come.’

‘Like what?’ Man Three asked, genuinely interested.

Max suddenly remembered something. He set his drink to the side and leaned across to the coffee table in front of the two men. He took hold of some contracts that he’d earlier prepared.

‘That reminds me,’ he said, ‘before we go any further with discussions, I am going to need you to sign these.’

He handed a sheet to each of his guests.

‘What is it?’

‘Just your standard non-disclosure agreement stating that you won’t share the details of anything you witness here today.’

Man Two further explained, ‘It’s cool. We signed these things for the parties too. Don’t want everyone talking about it, right? Think of this place as, like, a Fight Club style establishment. And the first rule of Fight Club is?’

Man Three laughed. ‘Okay, okay. Got a pen?’

Max nodded towards two pens lying on top of the glass table. Man Two reached for both pens. He took one for himself and handed the other to his new-found friend. Max watched as they both signed. Soon as they were done, they set the papers back on the coffee table he’d originally taken them from.

‘Good. Now we can all be friends,’ said Max.

The pair laughed unaware that he was being serious. Without the papers signed, he wouldn’t give them the time of day. With the papers signed? He’d be an open book.

With the contract signed, Man Two asked, ‘So - can you tell us what’s been happening in the last 8 months? You said it was different to what was expected… In a good way, or a bad way?’

Max leaned back in his seat and made himself as comfortable as he could the whole time another man was upstairs pleasuring his wife. It wasn’t anything new to him - or her - but it still never got any easier.

‘My wife woke me up by vomiting.’ The starting to any good “Once Upon A Time”.

BEFORE

Max walked into the ensuite bathroom only to find Helena huddled up on the floor with stomach bile running down her chin. There was sick down her front and splattered around the toilet bowl with the heavy stink of stomach juice lingering in the early morning air.

‘Are you okay?’ Max asked as he rubbed his tired eyes. It wasn’t the best sound to wake to; the audible delights of a loved one emptying the contents of their gut with heavy retching.

Helena just looked at him, already irritated by such a stupid question. She wiped her chin with the back of her hand and pushed herself back along the floor until her back was resting up against the bathtub. There, she sat exhausted, feeling as though she’d lost half her body weight in the blink of an eye.

‘Eat something funny?’ Max asked.

Helena paused a moment before she rested her hands on her stomach. The look on her face changed to one of what appeared to be gratitude before she answered, ‘I think it’s happened.’

Max hesitated a moment. He knew what she was referring to but, on the off chance he was wrong, he didn’t want to say something and appear a fool. Seeing his hesitation, Helena nodded to him.

‘I think we did it.’

‘We did it,’ Max said, almost unsure of himself.

‘We did it,’ Helena confirmed. ‘He is coming.’

She started to laugh. Soon after she started, so did Max.

PRESENT DAY

Max explained to both of the men that neither he, nor his wife, had any idea what was so funny and yet neither could stop  laughing.

‘At first, when we both managed to stop  laughing, we thought it might be to do with the relief. Months, even years, of planning and - finally - we had achieved what we had wanted from the beginning. It was a good feeling and felt like the world had been lifted from our shoulders even though, in reality, this was just the beginning of nine months of stress. After all, just because she was pregnant, a lot could happen to put a stop to it.’

‘It’s a lot of responsibility,’ Man Two said. He was sitting on the edge of his seat, listening to Max speak, in complete awe of his seemingly selfless host. Here was a man who had more or less dedicated his life to bringing their Master back and, really, the level of thanks he’d thus far received was far from what was owed.

Max looked at him and frowned. As if this turd would know the level of responsibility. All he did was come to the parties and put himself forward to fuck. There was no responsibility there, other than to please whoever he was balls deep inside. A loyal follower or not, he was still selfish. Max bit his tongue and continued.

‘We got a doctor’s appointment to double check Helena was pregnant, after we had issues with the home tests you could purchase from the pharmacies. The doctor confirmed she was pregnant but then…’

BEFORE

There was a scream which came from the surgery corridor as Helena and Max walked towards the waiting room and building’s exit, having just seen the doctor. The smile faded from their faces as they turned around to see what the commotion was yet, they saw nothing other than a nurse standing close to the room they’d not long since left. Just as Max and Helena had looked to see what the commotion was, so had other people come to investigate too. Some screamed. Some ran into the office.

Curious to see what was happening, Max and Helena walked back down the corridor and towards the office. They too stopped in the doorway with a look of shock upon their faces.

The doctor who’d only just confirmed they were expecting was sitting at his desk, repeatedly smashing his face against the table. His face, no longer recognisable as anything but bloody pulp with lumps of ripped flesh dangling from it.

The screaming from those standing closest to Helena stopped. Then, just as promptly as it had ceased, laughter started to ripple through the spectators with the affected radius slowly starting to spread.

Helena and Max both took a step back from the laughing loons, shocked by what they were witnessing. Max’s eyes immediately drifted down to Helena’s stomach as his mind started to figure out what was happening.

‘We need to leave,’ he said before he took his wife’s hand and marched her from the building.

TODAY

‘We knew that, when He is born, there would be a madness that would sweep through the country. We weren’t sure how far it would spread beyond that but the stories detailing His return would cause the world to go insane. He would rule the madness with Helena and I by his side doing  anything required of us. We didn’t think the madness would start to come creeping out from the moment the pregnancy took a hold and yet that seemed to be what was happening.’

‘But you two weren’t affected?’ Man Two said.

Max raised his eyebrows.

‘We weren’t?’

BEFORE

Max crawled down the mansion’s hallway with tears rolling down his cheeks from his bloodshot eyes. Down the same hallway, coming from the living room, Helena was screaming to the sound of pictures smashing and furniture being up-turned.

A safe distance from her, Max’s tears suddenly stopped streaming and he was able to immediately compose himself. Exhausted by the emotions pouring from him, he rolled onto his back and took in a few deep breaths. It went quiet down the hallway too. For a moment, the house was still.

‘Honey? Did you want some supper?’ Helena called out.

‘Supper would be wonderful,’ Max replied. ‘Did you want for me to order a take-away?’

TODAY

‘It got worse as the weeks went by. At first it was random intervals of time that went by before a madness crept in. Then it was ten minutes in her company, then five… She wasn’t being changed in a similar way though. She seemed to settle with her mood. For everyone else that got near her though, it got worse and…’

From the ceiling in the corner of the room, a small bell shook from side to side, ringing into the room.

‘Speak of the devil. If you’ll excuse me a minute.’

Max got up and walked from the room leaving the two men behind. He closed the door behind him and, for a moment, the two men sat in silence.

Man Two suddenly extended his hand out. ‘I’m Darren Edmett. Nice to meet you.’

Man Three took Darren’s hand and they shook as he introduced himself, ‘Billy Smith.’

Darren laughed. ‘Billy Smith?’

‘Something funny?’

‘Fake name?’

Billy frowned. ‘Why would you say that?’

‘Billy? Smith? Two common names.’

Billy shrugged. ‘Not all parents can have a great imagination, Darren.’

Darren laughed again. ‘I’m sorry, man, I didn’t mean any offence. I was just busting your balls.’ He changed the subject, ‘What do you think is going on? You think the other guy did his job right or one of us will be needed?’

Billy shrugged, not really wanting to get into a conversation with Darren. He wasn’t there to make friends after all.

Chapter Five

HUNGRY

Max knocked on Helena’s door. From the other side, Helena was laughing.

Unsure as to whether she’d heard the knock, Max called through, ‘You done?’

Immediately Helena’s laughter ceased.

‘I rang the fucking bell, didn’t I?’

Max opened the door and froze. Man One was lying on the floor motionless. His face was half-chewed off with bits of flesh just hanging by the thinnest slithers of skin. Max wasn’t expecting a happy ending for the man but, at the same time, he wasn’t expecting to see him in this state either. He glanced from the body up to his naked wife who was perched on the edge of the bed with a smile on her crazed face and blood smeared around her mouth.

There was a slight pause as the first tinges of the headache started to take a hold of Max. His timer to get out of there had already begun.

‘What happened?’ He took a step back, not because he was fearful but because he hoped the increased distance between himself and Helena would give him a little longer to talk to her, to understand what had gone on.

‘It was a shame to waste him,’ Helena said as, with her left hand, she slowly stroked over her large baby bump and round and down to her pussy. ‘He wasn’t doing the best of jobs and,’ she shrugged, ‘baby was hungry.’

‘Hungry?’

‘Yes.’

‘Baby?’

‘Yes.’

‘Honey, you have blood around your mouth.’

‘Baby didn’t want to eat alone.’

‘No. Of course He didn’t.’ Max hesitated. ‘So are you done with the others? Should I let them go?’

Helena sighed as she slipped a finger inside herself. She moaned. ‘I’m not satisfied yet.’ She started to giggle. ‘Baby’s licking my finger. Did you want to have a feel?’

Max looked down at Helena’s hand. Her finger was knuckle deep inside her snatch. He shook his head.

‘Maybe another day.’

Helena continued, ‘Can you send the next one in? I’ll ring the bell when I move this one…’

‘You aren’t moving him. Not in your condition.’ Max continued, ‘I’ll send one of the House Staff in but don’t forget to not talk to them. They’ll only have a couple of minutes to do what is required. Understand?’

Helena nodded. ‘I pinky promise.’

Max nodded and quickly backed out of the room. He closed the door behind him and made his way down towards where the last remaining house staff mostly kept to themselves.

*

‘Of course we got rid of most of the staff. We used to have a houseful but now - you can go all day without bumping into someone unless you call upon them. And, that is what I have just had to do. They are going to be upstairs cleaning for a bit but then one of you will get to go and meet my wife and The Mother of our Master.’ Max sat back on his chair and smiled.

Billy couldn’t help himself but to ask, ‘Why did you get rid of the staff when it would have been helpful to keep them on during your wife’s pregnancy?’

Max glared at him with a hardened stare for just a moment before forcing himself to relax. The men were just curious as to how their new Master was being brought back into the world. They weren’t being rude, just inquisitive.

‘Well most changed because of my Helena’s condition so, we couldn’t keep them here. Not only were they a danger to themselves but to us too and we couldn’t put Him in harm’s way. The rest of the staff are kept in their side of the house. They’re only allowed into Helena’s vicinity for short amounts of time to save them from turning too. Sure the house can sometimes get a little messy but it is definitely easier to run a skeleton crew than worry about so many people.’

Billy, the man with all the questions, asked, ‘What happens when people get too close to your wife for too long then? I mean I get that they go crazy but how?’

Billy shrugged. ‘It is different from person to person. Some get the giggles, some get headaches and nosebleeds and pass out, others go completely la-la and hurt themselves… It’s really very hard to predict. I, myself, have a number of different reactions.’

Darren laughed. ‘Man, I hope I get a chance to meet her because I really want to see how He changes me, you know?’ He asked Billy, ‘Are you curious? Will He favour you with laughter and good feelings or will He curse you with pain?’ He continued, ‘I really hope He likes me. Still, only one way to find out…’

Max explained, ‘It’s important not to get too lost in your thoughts though and how you’re feeling. Don’t forget you’re here for a purpose and besides,’ Max turned to Billy and said, ‘I’m thinking you might like to go next? After all, you’re new to all of this and must be very excited and undoubtedly you want to know more. Especially with all of your questions.’

‘What? I was the next…’

Max cut him off, ‘Do not speak over me or question my motives. Do not dare to argue with me in my house for forget not that I am the Father of Our Lord and, as such, I demand respect.’

Immediately Darren dropped to his knees on the carpeted floor and bowed his head in subservience. ‘Please, forgive me.’

Billy shuffled on his feet, nervously, unsure whether he was supposed to drop to his knees too. He didn’t.

‘Get up,’ Max ordered Darren.

Darren immediately jumped to his feet for fear of upsetting Max further. Max looked him up and down with contempt in his eyes.

‘You’re now my third choice,’ Max said, ‘and I’ll be honest, you’re lucky you are even that.’ Max looked back to Billy. ‘As soon as the bell rings, you’re up! Excited?’ He turned back to Darren and ordered him to, ‘Sit the fuck down.’

Darren sat and, as he did so, Billy stood with an even more nervous look upon his face. It wasn’t the reaction Max was expecting.

‘You don’t look thrilled,’ Max said.

‘It’s just,’ Billy hesitated a moment to find the right words, ‘after hearing everything and knowing all the work you have done… I’m not sure I am ready for the task yet. I’m a little nervous. Just maybe need a little bit longer to pull myself together but I don’t want to keep her waiting…’

‘You’re saying you don’t want to see her?’ Max looked at him, genuinely surprised. Of all the people who had come to see Helena in her pregnant state, this was the first time someone had said they weren’t ready for such a meet and greet.

Darren couldn’t help but show an expression of hope upon his face.

‘I’m asking, may I keep my original placement of third choice? I am grateful to have the chance to meet her but I don’t want to disappoint. I want her to be satisfied. I want Him to be impressed with me. If this gentleman goes in and meets her, I will be ready if he fails and I will step up and impress. I just need a little longer to prepare myself mentally.’

Max wasn’t impressed but at the same time he didn’t want to send someone in who wasn’t up for the job. There was no point as it would just be one more person to clean up. He was even less impressed that it meant Darren got to go in next though.

Max made one more attempt to convince Billy to go in and said, ‘You realise that if Man Two can satisfy her, you will miss out on the chance and be right back to needing to queue each week?’

‘I understand that.’

Max paused a moment. ‘Well I’m not going to force you but, again, I can’t guarantee you’ll be standing in this position again.’

Billy said, ‘I understand and thank you for not thinking I am ungrateful.’

Max turned his attention back to Darren and warned him, ‘I hope you’re up to the task.’

‘I feel like I am. And,’ he added, ‘thank you.’

‘Then that is agreed upon then,’ Max said.

‘One more thing,’ Billy said, still unsure of himself. He waited for Max to look at him before he continued, ‘If he is up to the job,’ he continued, ‘will I still get…’ He hesitated, unsure of how best to word it.

‘The consolation prize?’ Max shrugged. ‘Sure.’

‘I still think you’re crazy for not just going for it,’ Darren said. Then, as if on cue, the bell rang. The room was ready. Helena was ready. ‘Oh shit. This is it then.’

‘Indeed it is.’ Max stood. ‘If you’d like to follow me.’ He led Darren over to the door and paused a moment. He turned back to Billy, ‘If you’d like to wait right here, I will be with you shortly. Then when we are sure my wife is satisfied, I shall take you through to the consolation prize. Understood?’

Billy nodded.

‘Good.’ Max smiled and left the room.

Before Darren stepped out, he cast a double thumbs-up in Billy’s direction who, in turn, couldn’t help but laugh. The last thing Billy heard of them was Max explaining, ‘Now it might hurt once you’re with her. You already know that people react differently. The important thing is to push through it. After all, we don’t wish to be wasting her time now, do we?’

Chapter Six

AGAINST THE CLOCK

Max stopped by the lead-lined bedroom door of Helena’s room. He gave Darren another once over, looking him up and down. Darren was confident about meeting Helena and even thought he could please her but, Max had his doubts.

‘Once you are in there that’s it. There is no changing your mind. There is no backing out. You are there until she is satisfied or bored. Do you understand?’

‘Yes.’

‘And remember, you treat her with respect. She is not only my wife but carrying Our Lord and Master.’

‘You don’t need to tell me that. I promise you that I am going in there to do exactly as she demands and I will not stop until I am asked.’

Max eyed him up and down one final time and then nodded. There was something about Darren which didn’t sit right with him but, at the end of the day, his wife had asked for another and it was better sending this man in over someone who admitted to not being ready to serve yet.

Max took the door handle in his hand and twisted it. With effort, he pulled the heavy door open and gestured for Darren to go inside. Darren took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Then, he stepped into the room. Max promptly closed the door behind him.

Inside the room Helena was sitting back on the bed, leaning against the head rest. She was still naked but the blood around her mouth had been washed off, giving the impression she was clean. Never mind the saliva still dripping from her cunt, left there by her previous encounter.

Helena smiled at Darren who just stood there a moment, unsure of how this was all to work. Was he to just strip off and climb on? Was he supposed to wait for an invitation?

‘Hi,’ he said, awkwardly.

‘I hope you’re better than the last one.’

Helena opened her legs and bent them at the knee, exposing her moist pussy to Darren who still just stood there.

‘Lick.’

Without waiting for further invitation, or wasting more of the precious time aware that the effects of Him could take a hold any minute, Darren crossed the room and positioned himself between Helena’s legs.

‘Tongue and fingers,’ Helena instructed him the first moment she felt his lips kiss her throbbing clitoris. ‘And when you feel the tell-tale sign of sickness and your head start to ache, you make sure you don’t stop. I’ve already been let down once today when I was close to the verge of orgasm. I don’t wish to be teased again.’

Feeling the pressure, Darren pulled away a moment and said, ‘Can I just say what a privilege this is, to service you in…’

‘Less talk. More lick.’

Darren stopped talking and turned his attention back to Helena’s tidy little slit. He didn’t stop to tell her how great she tasted, he didn’t think of touching his own throbbing genitals and neither did he think of trying to fuck her. She wanted oral and that was what he was going to give her.

‘Not bad but let’s not forget the clock is ticking.’ Helena said, ‘Put your fingers inside me. Let’s get this done.’

*

Max poured himself another drink as he explained to Billy, ‘We had to make that room up. The walls are lined with lead. Not sure why, or how, but it stops His effects from seeping out into the rest of the house. Had we not done so, I most likely wouldn’t be here today. Or at least not in my current mental state. For all we know, I would have been left a dribbling idiot having to be spoon-fed by anyone who could get close enough to do so.’

‘But your wife hasn’t gone insane.’

‘She has changed, that much is for sure. But she doesn’t appear to be getting any worse thankfully. Me though, every time I get close to her the effects feel stronger. I’m guessing she is mostly immune due to being the mother. He needs her so - I don’t know - spares her, maybe? Maybe when she gives birth things will change for her?’ Max shrugged. ‘We don’t really know how all of this works. All we know is, the world will be a better place with Him in it. He needs to come back. He needs to take his rightful place at the head of the world.’

‘You don’t think it is unfair?’ Billy asked.

‘Unfair? We are blessed with bringing Him back. How is that unfair?’

‘You can’t see your wife properly. You can’t touch her when you feel like it. It just seems unfair. You have to put your life on hold for Him when, really, for all that you’re doing, you should be being rewarded already.’

Max frowned. ‘Rewards will come in time. Now He is testing us. He is seeing how far we will go to bring Him back to the masses. Well now He can see that there are no lengths we won’t go to. If I have to step away from my wife for nine months then so be it. Besides, there’s that old familiar saying; all good things come to those that wait.’ Max paused a moment and eyed Billy up and down suspiciously. He asked, ‘Are you saying it isn’t worth it?’

‘Not at all. I too would go to any lengths but…’

‘Any lengths and yet you’ve never been here before, as part of our rituals. You haven’t seen all we have gone through to get to this stage and yet you stand there and say you’d go to any length. I don’t know. It feels like we have done the hard work and then you swan along at the last minute and pretend you’ve done your fair share of pulling your weight.’ Max shook his head. ‘And even then, when the time came, you stepped down.’

‘I didn’t come to the rituals because I was unaware of them at the time. I didn’t step down for good. I took a step back for a minute and not because I didn’t want to go in and see your wife but because I didn’t want to disappoint her, you or Him. I stepped back for the right reasons and, yes, there is a part of me that now regrets it but…’ He shrugged. ‘I would live with more regret had I been a disappointment.’

Max glanced at the clock on the wall and changed the subject, ‘He should be done now. One way or the other. If you wait here a moment, I shall go and check how things are going.’

‘Certainly.’

Max stood up and left the room. Billy didn’t move from his seat. With a previously spotted camera, in the corner of the room, staring directly at him he didn’t dare move. He just hoped Max would come back with the news that Helena was satisfied and that he was free to go, after meeting the “consolation prize” of course. Anything else and Billy knew he would be out of his comfort zone.

*

Max’s heart was beating faster than usual when he opened the door to Helena’s room; worried that he was going to be facing a similar sight to the one he had seen the last time he came to check on her.

Before the door was fully opened and he could see in, he asked, ‘How’s it going?’ If anything it gave Helena a chance to say something, to give him a little warning as to what was going on in there. She said nothing.

Max peered in, around the door. To his relief Helena was lying on her side on the bed, seemingly content. Darren was on the floor. His eyes were wide open and fixed on an uninteresting point on the wall. When more light spilled into the room from the hallway, Max noted that both of his eyes were bloodshot. He also noticed two trails of blood dripping from his nostrils.

‘How was it?’ Max asked.

Helena didn’t look at him, nor did she really move anything apart from her lips when she spoke. ‘I’ve had better but I’ve also had worse.’

‘Do you need me to send the next one in?’

‘I think I’m bored with trying to climax today,’ she said dismissively. ‘The moment is gone.’

Max didn’t know what to say. He just stood there with an awkward, embarrassed expression on his face. He had been tasked with finding someone to satisfy his wife and he had failed. Today, at least. ‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ he said.

‘What do you care? You have your whore to enjoy.’

‘My whore? Whilst I have someone to satisfy my needs all the time we can’t do anything, I don’t need to remind you that it was your idea. I told you I was happy to wait and…’

‘I have a headache,’ Helena said, shutting him down. ‘Was there anything else?’

Max went to say something but stopped himself. Helena’s moods were up and down, due to the baby within her, and when she was like this - he knew she was like a ticking time bomb. If he pressed her further, or tried to change the subject, she would just snap and shout at him and with their time together strictly limited, the last thing he wanted to do was engage in an argument.

‘I’ll have someone come and collect the body. Get it out of your way…’

Helena didn’t respond.

To stop things from getting any worse, Max backed out of the room and quietly closed the door behind him. Whilst he wasn’t happy to have failed her, he didn’t stress about her mood too much given that he was used to the ups and downs now and, he knew, when he went to see her later, she would most likely be happier to see him. For now, he just needed to get one of the house-staff to clean the mess up, take her something to eat and for himself to sort the third chosen man out with his promised reward. Then, for the rest of the week, normality could resume. Until, that is, he needed to pick someone else on the following Monday.

As he headed back down the stairs, Max reminded himself that they were nearly at the finish line now. Eight months in and one more to go. And he thought, with any luck, He might even arrive early. Max smiled at the thought of the premature birth but the smile was quick to fade when he remembered he still needed to finish the nursery.

Nine months to plan for all of this and everything felt as though it was just one long race against the clock!

Chapter Seven

THE CONSOLATION PRIZE

BEFORE

Becca leaned down to where Kellan was sitting, in his chair, and kissed him on the cheek. He barely took his eyes from the television flickering before him, but then it had been a long day and - truth be told - he was just about ready to pass out in bed.

Becca asked, ‘You sure you don’t want to come?’

‘Baby, I would love to come but honestly…’ He looked for the least offensive words and just then shrugged and said, ‘I can think of nothing worse.’ He explained, ‘A night out with Melanie and Brittany? Yeah, no. You’ll probably spend the night just making weird ass noises with Melanie, like last time.’

Becca laughed as Kellan’s words pulled up an old memory. He was right; Melanie and Becca had been making stupid noises to each other. They’d had a few to drink and - out of the blue - Melania had made a weird noise, purely by accident. Becca dissolved into a fit of the giggles, a little snort escaping from the back of her throat as she did so. Thinking Becca was mocking her, Melanie retorted with another strange noise; a click of her tongue on the roof of her mouth and, from there, it snowballed.

Not wanting Kellan to miss out on a pleasant evening painting the town, Becca tried to convince him to come regardless, ‘Brittany will be there! If Mel and I end up just grunting at each other, you’ll always have Britt to talk to!’

Kellan took his eyes off the television long enough to give Becca an “are you for real” look.

‘Come on, we hardly ever go out together these days.’ Becca wasn’t lying. For them a perfect day would usually consist of lazing around on the couch watching films and random television shows all day. Or Becca would disappear into the office to smoke weed and play Skyrim all day whilst Kellan binge watched his favourite shows in the other room.

‘I’m just really tired,’ Kellan said.

Becca couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Her friends were going out with her but, that didn’t mean she didn’t want him to go too. Still, no sense forcing him if he wasn’t in the mood.

‘I can’t convince you?’

‘I’m sorry. I’m just going to crash tonight. That cool?’

‘You don’t mind me going out? We can stay in and smoke in the office. Have a few games of Uno…’

‘The way you lot shout over that game, arguing about the rules? Nah, babe, you go out and you enjoy yourself and I’ll sit here and veg in front of whatever’s on. Honestly I’m fine and I want you to have a nice night.’

‘Well okay.’ She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek again. ‘I doubt I’ll be late anyway.’

‘Whatever you want.’

Becca smiled. ‘I want you to come with me.’

Kellan laughed. ‘Whatever else you want.’

Becca put her jacket on and smiled again.  ‘I can think of something else I want and if you’re awake when I get back, maybe you can give it to me?’

Kellan laughed again. ‘Well there’s a good enough reason for me to stay up,’ he said with a cheeky grin on his face.

‘I’ll see you in a couple of hours,’ Becca said as she headed for the door.

‘And have fun!’

That was one suggestion Becca didn’t need. She didn’t often go out, preferring to usually stay in, so when she did - she really let her hair down, like the time she got thoroughly drunk and managed to get backstage to see English punk rocker, Nate Nasty.

With a final farewell, she stepped out of their ground-floor apartment and headed for the exit to where her cab was already waiting.

*

‘And that was the last time I saw her,’ Kellan said. ‘I got hold of her friends and they said they’d had a great evening. There were no arguments or anything like that. They said she went off to get a ride back. She was drunk and mumbling to them about my magic fingers and tongue and that she couldn’t wait any longer for them. But she never showed up. I tried her phone but it just rang and rang and rang. Now it doesn’t even connect so it has either been turned off or the battery has run dry.’ He continued, ‘The police opened a case but, I don’t know, it’s like they don’t give a shit. I don’t feel as though they’re being proactive in finding her and… Well… I can’t just sit here. I can’t just fucking sit back and do nothing while I know she is out there somewhere, maybe hurt.’ He paused a moment. ‘It’s the not knowing. What if she was hit by a car? Some drunk driving asshole turning a blind corner and not seeing her? What if she was just lying there for hours, alone in the dark. Cold and scared as her life slowly slipped away?’ Kellan wiped a tear from his eye before it had a chance to spill out and run down his cheek. ‘I can’t just sit here. But, at the same time, I don’t have a lot of money and…’

‘Calm down,’ the President of the local bike charter poured himself a drink as he sat at his large oak table. He downed a shot of it and then poured himself a second glass. This time, he poured a drink for Kellan too. ‘Here.’

‘I just know you guys had luck with tracking down that missing girl.’

A young ten year old girl had vanished from outside her school. The police had been pretty ineffective in finding her, much to the frustration of the parents. The motorcycle club were equally as frustrated. They knew young girls didn’t just disappear from outside  their schools. They either ran away or they were snatched, and little Cassie had had no reason to run away. She was top of her class and the apple of her parents’ eyes. They loved and doted on her and she was a happy child at school too. Happy kids don’t run. They do tend to stand out from the crowds though, especially when they were as pretty as Cassie.

The bikers took to the streets and hunted that little girl over the space of a few weeks. Although the police had made no progress, they managed to track her down. More than that, they willingly dished out the justice to the man who’d taken her too. As far as the police were concerned, Cassie had simply managed to find her way home again one night and although they asked where she’d been, she never once let on and neither did her parents who were shown the many pictures of the man who’d taken her. Each picture was a different body part, detached from the rest.

‘You give us what you can afford and get rid of any pests we may have in the garages from time to time and we will call it even. But that is not us promising we will find your girlfriend and neither is that saying we won’t do all that we can to find her.’

‘Whatever you want. Whatever you need. I just can’t sit there and not do anything.’ Kellan downed the drink the President had poured out for him. He set the glass back on the table where it was immediately filled.

‘Her friends. We will need their names and numbers. Now, did they say they were approached by anyone? Like did anyone hit on them? Did they knock into anyone, causing them to spill a drink? No matter how stupid, or insignificant the run in could have been, I need to know.’

‘They didn’t say.’

‘And - of course - the painful question. Was she happy with you? She couldn’t have just upped sticks and walked out?’

‘Without her stuff?’

‘It happens.’

‘She would have said if she wasn’t happy. She was trying to get me to go out with them all night! She wanted me with her.’ The realisation that the night would have had a different outcome had he gone with her suddenly hit home. ‘Fuck. I should have gone.’

‘No sense thinking like that. What I do need to know is, was there anyone that disliked her? Has anyone ever threatened her, no matter how slight?’

‘No. Not that I know of.’

‘That you know of?’

‘Well, I mean, I’m sure she would have said something so - no.’

‘What about you?’

‘What about me?’

‘Anyone threatened you? You upset anyone recently?’

‘What does that have to do with anything?’

The man across the desk from Kellan suddenly smiled at him. It wasn’t a friendly smile and Kellan immediately knew what he meant. If there was someone who wanted to get to Kellan, then there was a chance they could do so by getting to Becca.

Kellan continued, ‘No. As far as I am aware no one has a problem with me.’

‘Take your time…’

‘I haven’t gone out of my way to upset anyone. No one has a fucking problem with me!’ Kellan immediately regretted his outburst. He calmed himself for a moment and then apologised, ‘I’m sorry. It’s just - she doesn’t just disappear like this. It’s out of character and I’m worried sick. I didn’t mean to snap.’

‘It’s fine. Look, we will put word around. We will circulate her picture. We’ll go to where she was last seen.’

‘What about me? What do I do?’

‘Go home.’

‘Go home?’

‘There’s nothing you can do. Go home on the off chance she suddenly appears or tries to get in touch. If we hear anything, we will let you know. In the meantime, and I know it’s hard, you just need to trust us.’

‘It just feels wrong. You know, sitting there and just hoping she will show up.’

‘You’re not just sitting there. You asked us to help. You’ve asked the police. I even saw shit on the news about her this morning before you called me. You’re doing everything you can to find her. So, now you need to go home and wait to see if she - or anyone else - reaches out to you. Trust me, you are no good to anyone just running around aimlessly trying to find her. The police would say the same thing.’

Kellan hesitated a moment, unsure if there was anything he hadn’t said which might help the club in their efforts to find Becca but, nothing came to mind. Eventually he quietly admitted, ‘I just want her home.’

‘And we will do all we can to help find her.’

To give Kellan a further clue that it was time to leave his office, the President stood and extended his hand. ‘We’ll start now but you bring us that money by tomorrow, okay?’

‘Sure.’

Kellan stood and took the man’s hand in his own. They shook.

‘And if we hear anything, we will let you know.’

‘If someone does have her…’ Kellan spoke carefully so as not to offend. ‘If anything happens to the person who has her, I wouldn’t say anything.’

The President smiled. He didn’t need to tell Kellan that it would be his pleasure. He pulled his hand back and showed Kellan to the door.

TODAY

Max stopped by the door to the room which had imprisoned Becca for the last eight months and counting. He turned to Billy who was still looking just as nervous as he had when he found out he may be next in line to meet Helena.

‘She has a mouth, a sweet tasting pussy and a real tight ass. You can do pretty much what you want to her but if there is the slightest sign of damage… Well, whatever you do to her will be returned to you ten-fold, do you understand me?’

‘Yes.’

‘We’re not animals.’ Max continued, ‘Now she has been here a while and she is pretty relaxed about most things. She doesn’t fight back. She normally just lies there and lets you get on with it but, again, go at a pace with which she is comfortable.’

‘What if she refuses?’

‘As I said, she is pretty well trained now.’

Billy couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Well trained? Where did you find her? Is she another volunteer who put themselves forward for the greater good?’

Max smiled. ‘Sure.’

Max put his hand on the door handle and readied himself to open it so Billy could enter.

‘You got fifteen minutes. Don’t waste it with talking, if you know what I mean. She has been warned that she isn’t to make friends with the visitors, such as yourself, so if you do try having a nice chat about the weather; you’re only missing out on one of the tightest pieces of ass you’ll ever likely experience.’ Max winked at Billy.

‘I’m not looking for a new friend,’ said Billy with a smile.

‘There is a bell in the room, close to the light switch. When you’re done, just ring it and wait for someone to come and let you out.’

Max reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver key. He slid it into the lock upon the handle and turned it to the sound of an audible click. Leaving the key in the lock, so he could lock it once more, he turned the handle with the hand already resting on it. With one final nod to Billy, he pushed the door open.

Billy stepped in.

Chapter Eight

BROKEN

Becca didn’t flinch when she heard the key turn in the lock and neither did she move from the bed, where she lay naked, as the door creaked open. Despite being trapped in the room, she knew what day it was and she knew why she was being visited. Without a word, and without looking at the mess of a man who she was being given to, she merely pushed herself up onto all fours with her undercarriage pointed in their direction. Then, just as she had done so many times before, she spat a loaded gob of saliva into her hand before she reached back and rubbed it into her vagina.

‘You don’t need to do that,’ Billy said.

Presuming he wanted something else, she repeated her routine but this time rubbed the spit over her arse. With so many people having visited her now, she always started with lubing her pussy in the hope they’d choose to just fuck that like a normal person but, it never worked out that way. They always seemed to want the other hole. Probably because it was something not on offer in their day to day life. Why pass up the opportunity of a life-time?

‘No,’ Billy said.

Becca sighed and turned to face the stranger. Still with no words, she positioned herself on the edge of the bed and waited for him to take out his erection so she could suck it. While she wasn’t a fan of being penetrated, this was the act she hated the most when it came to the men who visited her. She hated having to taste their sweaty cocks. She hated how they grabbed her head and fucked her face, giving her very little control or say as to whether she deep-throated them or not. Every time, without fail, she would end up with cum running down the back of her throat and tears streaming from her eyes  where she struggled to breath properly. Thankfully it was one of the least requested sex acts.

Billy heard the door lock behind him. He waited a couple of minutes as he heard footsteps walk away from the door as Max headed off to do whatever the sick fuck needed to get done. As he did so, he looked at the ceiling for any signs of cameras. There were none but then, why would they be needed when the door was always locked? With the coast clear, Billy crossed the room to where Becca was perched. She didn’t flinch when he neared, most likely because she knew it would do no good to do so. The times she had flinched had only made the guest rougher with her as they took offence to her apparent disgust and discomfort of being in their presence.

When he was close enough, Becca reached up to Billy’s belt and fumbled with it until he pulled away.

‘No,’ he said.

She looked at him, confused.

He confirmed, ‘Becca?’

The way the woman looked at him, Billy knew he had the right person. Before she could say anything, he quickly raised a finger to his lips. Whilst it sounded as though Max had gone off down the hallway, he didn’t want to take any chances.

He leaned down close to her and whispered to her, ‘We’ve been looking for you for a long time.’

Becca looked at the stranger with tears in her eyes. Was this it? Months after first being snatched from her life, was she finally going to be set free? Was this really happening?

‘Kellan hired us when he was concerned the police weren’t doing a good enough job,’ Billy said, keeping his voice low. ‘Look, you probably have a lot of questions but now really isn’t the time. We have about fifteen minutes before I’m going to have to ring that bell for them to come and unlock the door. Are you okay to walk when the time comes to get out of here?’

She nodded.

Billy continued, ‘Do you know how many people are in the house still? From what he was saying, they sacked a lot of the house staff.’

‘I’m sorry, I don’t know. I only ever see him or people who apparently get to come in here as some sort of consolation prize…’ The tears started to spill. ‘What is going on?’

‘Honestly - I have no fucking idea. All I know is it’s purely by chance we even found you after someone who came to this room had recognised you from the reports of your disappearance a few months ago and was bragging to one of his friends in a bar.’

‘So where is everyone else? Where’s the police? The help?’ She continued, ‘He’s insane. Please don’t just tell me it’s only you…’

‘We needed to know it was you and if we just showed up in force, we would never have got close to you. The other club members are close by and I was due to call them when I could confirm it was you. Once they had the call, they’d come but - that fucker confiscated our phones as we entered.’ Billy continued,  ‘Look, I’m going to leave soon but - trust me - when I do, I will be back. And I will have friends.’

‘No! You can’t just leave me here.’ She explained, ‘For eight months I’ve been in this room, trapped! For eight months I have been waiting for someone to come… Now you’re here, I’m not just going to let you go again!’

‘And now we know you’re here, we aren’t going. I need to get outside and I need to get my phone back. The moment I do, we will be here. All of us and we will be armed… We have been trying to get into this house for months now but the fucking place is locked down like Fort Knox but now we know you’re here… We have the means to get in here through force. We have no intention of just leaving you behind.’

Becca went to beg him to take her with him when he was ready to leave but instead gagged violently as the hard cock, fucking her mouth, shot a creamy load straight down the back of her throat. She gasped for air as Billy pulled his spent dick from her mouth as it continued to twitch.

‘Fuck me,’ Billy gasped, ‘and they call you the consolation prize.’ He laughed.

As tears streamed down her face she continued what she was saying, ‘Please don’t leave me here. Just take me with you. I don’t care if something happens on the way out. It’s my risk to take. Please just take me with you…’

‘What the hell are you talking about, woman?’

It was the same every Monday. Becca’s broken mind would imagine her visitor was there because Kellan had sought them out and asked for help. This week it was a biker gang, last week it was the armed forces, the week before that it was just someone who pitied her and wanted to help, having had a sudden change of mind. Whilst they fucked whatever orifice took their fancy, she would lay there, taking a pounding, as her mind ran through possible conversations Kellan could have had, whilst seeking help. Then she’d play through her saviour coming to the room and telling her that she was okay now. She knew it wasn’t real but sometimes her broken mind would get the better of her and even after her visitor had ejaculated, bringing her crashing back to reality, she would still think he was there to save her.

Billy didn’t wait for Becca to explain herself as a vacant look fell upon her face as she disappeared back into her own alternative reality. He pulled his trousers back up and tucked his dripping cock back into his shorts.

‘Fuck me. I shouldn’t have turned down a chance to meet Helena. If you’re the runner-up prize then, fuck, she must have been something special. Golden vagina, or something.’ Billy laughed. Becca didn’t. ‘I’ll be honest, I was so nervous downstairs, I wasn’t even sure I was going to be able to get it up for you but, damn, you’re beautiful. No wonder this guy is keeping you as his little play-thing while he can’t bang his wife. Hell - I’ll even come back next week in the hope I get through the line-up again as runner-up!’ He paused a moment. ‘So what happens now then? We still have a little time. So, we talk for a bit or you want me just to go? What do other people do?’

Becca heard nothing. Her mind was already preparing herself for the following week. Kellan walked into the police detective’s office and took a seat as offered.

‘I called you in,’ Detective Andrews said, ‘because we believe we have found her.’

Kellan asked, ‘You have?’

‘We think she has got mixed up in some kind of sex-trafficking gang…’

‘I don’t understand. If you think you’ve found her, how come you aren’t out there getting her as we speak? Why don’t you have her already?’

‘It’s not as simple as that but we’re working on it. We are assembling an elite task-force to storm the property and…’

‘And what…. When are you going to get her?’

‘Next Monday…’

Billy stood there a moment and watched as Becca talked to herself.

Becca spoke in a deeper voice and asked, ‘What do you mean next Monday?’

Becca changed her voice again, ‘We can’t just burst in there. It takes planning. We’re getting the plans to the building and…’

‘Yeah, you know what,’ Billy said, ‘I’m just going to go.’

As Becca continued playing through the “act” in her mind, Billy walked to the corner of the room and pressed the bell, signalling the rest of the household that he was done with his “gift”.

‘I don’t give a fuck about the plans to the fucking building! If Becca is there and she is still alive, you’re just wasting fucking time! Get out there and get her back!’ Becca’s voice changed again, ‘Kellan we are doing all we can and I promise you, this is the best way of getting her back unharmed. She has been kept alive all this time. There is no reason why they would suddenly kill her.’

The door opened and Billy quickly stepped out, almost relieved to see Max standing there with a beaming grin on his face.

Max asked, ‘Well? How was she? Enjoy yourself?’

Before Billy had a chance to answer his host, Max walked down the landing, towards the stairs leading to the ground floor. Billy followed.

‘She’s a good fuck but, man, she is crazy.’

Max stopped and turned to Billy. ‘Crazy?’

‘Okay so after I came she started asking me to take her with me. But the way she spoke, it was like she believed I had actually offered to. And, not that it really needs saying, I just want you to know - I said no such fucking thing.’ He continued, ‘But then she started talking other crazy shit too. Like she was playing the role of two people talking.’

‘Two people?’

‘Some guy named Kellan and a police officer, I guess. Someone saying she’d got involved with a sex trafficking gang but they knew where she was and they were going to storm the building to get her. I’m telling you, it was crazy. You sure you got  His affects contained?’

Max hesitated a moment and then smiled. ‘We have everything under control.’ He explained, ‘All this time here, she’s probably just broken. It was only a matter of time, right?’

Max continued walking down the landing. Billy followed.

Billy said, ‘Well you might want to just check in on her and make sure it’s definitely her mind that’s broken and not… You know…’

‘Thank you for the suggestion,’ Max said sarcastically. As he headed down the stairs he changed the subject, ‘So will we see you again next Monday?’

Billy smiled. ‘I plan to. And hopefully next time I won’t pussy out on meeting Helena but, I got to say, crazy or not - that bitch is fucking great at sucking dick.’

Max laughed. ‘First time I put mine in her mouth, delightful woman used teeth.’ He looked back at Billy and winked. ‘Only once, mind.’

‘Damn.’

‘Anyway,’ Max said as he continued walking onwards, towards the front door, ‘you’re more than welcome to come back but do keep in mind that just because you were chosen today, it doesn’t mean you will be picked out next time. It really is all about the competition you’re up against.’

‘I know.’ Billy continued, ‘and, again, I’m sorry I took a step back when you offered me the chance to see Helena. I just didn’t want to be a disappointment.’

Given Helena’s reaction to the second guy she had seen that day, Max was grateful for Billy’s stepping down. Darren had been confident and cock-sure going in and was still a disappointment to her. It would have been worse with someone who was a bundle of nerves before the door had even been opened and that meant her frustrated mood would have been even worse. Billy didn’t need to know this though. Max simply said, ‘Honestly, it’s not a problem. I just hope that if you’re successful next time, you’ll be able to step up to the plate.’

‘Oh I will. It was all a bit too much and too fast today though. I hadn’t properly mentally prepared myself but, after seeing her, I’m fucking ready.’

Max laughed.

‘And just to warn you that when He is born, all of this stops.’ Max reached the front door, close to the foot of the stairs he’d just descended. He turned back to Billy with a love-sick smile on his face and said, ‘I get my wife back.’

Billy smiled. He stopped himself from saying anything else as the only thing that popped to mind to say was, I hope for my sake she manages to keep Him inside for a little longer. And that was a dick thing to say given Max had already waited so long to be able to touch his wife once more.

Max opened the front door.

‘Well thank you for everything,’ Billy said as he extended his hand to Max. Max looked at it in disgust. It was one thing to let these people in to take care of his wife, or even play with his little toy, but it was quite another to shake their hands. Had they not already taken enough? His look didn’t go unnoticed and Billy pulled his hand back. He quickly said, ‘Thank you again and - who knows - maybe I’ll stand out from the crowds again next week and you’ll see me again.’ He smiled and stepped from the property.

Max simply shut the door.

Chapter Nine

SPREADING

The moment the front door was shut, Max headed down the long hallway to where his office was situated. He pushed the door open and sat on the leather office chair, nestled up next to his computer work-station. His computer was already on. The tower unit humming and the screen illuminating the otherwise dark, windowless room.

On the monitor there were a number of images captured from various cameras around the house. Whilst some cameras were in plain sight, others were hidden - lulling those who’d spied the visible ones into thinking they’d found a blind spot in the mansion. A quiet place to discuss treachery or just secrets in general, even if the latter did amount to nothing more than trivial gossip.

Max flicked through the various screens until he came to Becca’s room. He maximised the image and increased the volume from where it had been previously muted. Becca was lying on her side, a similar position adopted by Helena. She was gently rocking from side to side and - with the volume up - Max could hear her weeping. Nothing crazy about that, he thought. If anything, it was the most normal thing he had seen her do for some time.

He sat back in his chair for a moment and just watched her. When it was obvious she had no intention of doing anything different right now, he leaned towards the control board and started to rewind the footage back to when Billy had gone in there with her. After all - if nothing had happened, he wouldn’t have come out saying the crap he was spouting.

The footage paused momentarily with the bedroom door open and Billy half-in the room. Max pressed play and the frozen footage flickered to motion.

On-screen the door closed behind Billy. He stood there a moment, looking at Becca who just lay there with her back to him. Slowly she moved until she was on all fours. Max watched as she did her usual trick of spitting some wetness into her snatch. He snorted through his nose at how stupid she looked doing it; something he’d not given much consideration to before.

‘You don’t need to do that,’ said Billy’s voice through the computer’s speaker set-up. He watched, as did Max, whilst Becca sat into her hand and rubbed it into her rear. ‘No,’ Billy said.

‘Fucking idiot,’ Max muttered, surprised that anyone would turn down such an invitation. He watched on as Billy walked over to Becca who’d now turned around on the bed so that she was facing him. When he was close enough, she reached forward and started to fumble with his belt until she managed to get it undone. He reached into his shorts and pulled out his already stiff cock. With his other hand, he grabbed the back of Becca’s head and pulled her forward until she engulfed his erection with her lips. Billy’s sigh came through the speakers, as did the wet sloppy squelches as he guided Becca’s head up and down the length of his thick shaft.

Not in the mood for a porno, Max pressed fast forward on the control. He couldn’t help but laugh as he watched the blow-job play out in fast forward. Something funny about the way her head was bobbing up and down and the way Billy was standing there, fidgeting on his feet and occasionally throwing his head back. In reality, there was nothing wrong with what they were doing but in fast forward? It definitely looked over the top and, somehow, almost camp in the way Billy moved.

Max quickly stopped the tape the moment he saw the twitch in Billy’s legs. The tell-tale sign of an orgasm. The footage slowed to normal time as Becca pulled away from his cock, coughing on a throat full of ejaculate.

‘Fuck me,’ Billy gasped, ‘and they call you the consolation prize.’ He laughed.

As tears streamed down Becca’s face she continued what she was saying, ‘Please don’t leave me here. Just take me with you. I don’t care if something happens on the way out. It’s my risk to take. Please just take me with you…’

‘Okay so she wants to leave. Nothing crazy about that. Annoying, sure. But crazy? Quite the opposite,’ Max muttered to himself.

‘What the hell are you talking about, woman?’

Max couldn’t help but laugh at Billy’s reaction. Had he been in his shoes, he probably would have said the same too.

Max watched as Billy pulled his trousers back up and tucked his dripping cock back into his shorts.

‘Fuck me. I shouldn’t have turned down a chance to meet Helena. If you’re the runner-up prize then, fuck, she must have been something special. Golden vagina, or something.’ Billy laughed, but Max didn’t. He actually found Billy’s words disrespectful. ‘I’ll be honest, I was so nervous downstairs, I wasn’t even sure I was going to be able to get it up for you but, damn, you’re beautiful. No wonder this guy is keeping you as his little play-thing while he can’t bang his wife. Hell - I’ll even come back next week in the hope I get through the line-up again as runner-up!’

Max muttered, ‘Yeah well that won’t be happening now, prick.’

‘So what happens now then? We still have a little time. So, we talk for a bit or you want me just to go? What do other people do?’

‘I called you in,’ Becca said, ‘because we believe we have found her.’

Becca’s voice changed and she asked, ‘You have?’

‘We think she has got mixed up in some kind of sex-trafficking gang…’

Max watched as Becca’s character seemed to change from one person to the next without her needing to give it much thought.

‘Okay,’ he said, ‘that’s a little crazier.’

‘I don’t understand. If you think you’ve found her, how come you aren’t out there getting her as we speak? Why don’t you have her already?’

‘It’s not as simple as that but we’re working on it. We are assembling an elite task-force to storm the property and…’

‘And what…. When are you going to get her?’

‘Next Monday…’

Max stopped the playback and rewound it to before Billy entered the room. He stopped at a moment where Becca was pacing the room back and forth. <Play>

‘You give us what you can afford and get rid of any pests we may have in the garages from time to time and we will call it even. But that is not us promising we will find your girlfriend and neither is that saying we won’t do all that we can to find her.’

Her voice changed and she paced back in the other direction.

‘Whatever you want. Whatever you need. I just can’t sit there and not do anything.’

She turned and paced back the other way.

Her voice switched back to the original voice used, ‘Her friends. We will need their names and numbers. Now, did they say they were approached by anyone? Like did anyone hit on them? Did they knock into anyone, causing them to spill a drink? No matter how stupid, or insignificant the run in could have been, I need to know.’

Back to the other voice as she, again, paced back the other way.

‘They didn’t say.’

Max stopped the screen and went back to the previous week, rewinding to the moment before the “visitor” entered Becca’s prison. Again, she was pacing back and forth just as she had been in the previous clip he had watched. And, again, she was having a conversation with herself but none of the voices were her usual one.

‘She’s not dead but you’re going to need to sit down.’

‘Why? Where is she?’

‘Please, just sit down. I need you to listen to me carefully.’

‘Where is she? Do you even know?’

‘Please sit down.’

‘Stop telling me to sit down when…’

Max stopped the video playback. He rewound further still to the week prior. When he hit play, it was more of the same. Becca was pacing the room before her visitor came in. More stories of how they had found her and how they were coming to get her. Max stopped the video and sat back in his chair, unsure of what to say right now as so many emotions swirled in his mind. So many questions.

Had he not given enough up for Him?

Was he not allowed anything for himself?

Is it even anything to do with Him?

Is His madness spreading through the lead-lined walls? Or is this all down to her own personal demons?

And if it was to do with Him? The ultimate question: Was it really worth it? All he had done for Him and this is how he is thanked? Now He is even taking the mind of his plaything? All these years of being a loyal subject and for what exactly? To be pushed to one side and treated the same as the others? Surely he deserved a little more respect than that?

The computer’s power-saving settings kicked in and the screen went dark, showing Max’s reflection in the screen. Max looked at himself. A loyal subject? A man dedicated to the cause? Or maybe just an idiot? All it was doing was costing him. When were the rewards coming?!

A little voice whispered in the forefront of his mind, ‘They’re not coming. You have lost everything. You will gain nothing. Only madness is coming now.’

Max screamed, ‘It wasn’t supposed to be like this! We were meant to be protected at least! He wasn’t supposed to take everything!’

Chapter Ten

YEARS WASTED. MONEY WASTED.

LIVES WASTED.

BEFORE

Max was pacing the living room with a skip of excitement in his step. As he spoke, he waved his arms around enthusiastically whilst Helena just sat there, watching him with her big eyes, wide with an equal amount of excitement as she positively salivated over what he was saying.

‘Imagine it, we’ll be gods among men. People will bow down before us and worship us as well as The Old Great One. He will be their Master but we will be the ones who made it happen. He will lead those who survive his rebirth and create a new world and we will sit by his side as Mother and Father.’

‘I like the sound of that.’

‘And why wouldn’t you? We can take whatever we want. We can do whatever we want.’ Max repeated himself, ‘Gods amongst men.’ He paused a moment, ‘And it all starts with a baby.’

‘A baby?’

‘Can’t have a rebirth without a birth,’ Max said with a wink.

*

After more deaths than he could count, Max turned and addressed the gathered crowd of followers they’d amassed over the weeks, months and years, ‘Some of you may regard these young women before us as just that - sacrifices to appease our God but… Who were these women exactly? They were nobody to us. Their loss is not of importance to us. We will not mourn them. We will not think of them again. Tomorrow some of you may not even recall their faces or the sounds they made when they were being penetrated. Their blood is not important. Their blood is not dear to our hearts and - when you consider that - they were not sacrifices. A sacrifice is to give up something of value. There was no value here. There were only slags, easily bought with a few crisp notes.’ Max turned to Helena and ripped open her robe so that she was standing there before him, exposed. With his sudden movement, she couldn’t help but flinch. Then, though, she smiled. ‘A sacrifice must be dear to us. And that whore in the bathtub now… She was unworthy to carry our God into this life…’ As the crowd continued to watch, Max cupped Helena’s pussy and started to rub it. With the feeling of having her clitoris stimulated, getting her pussy moist for more, making her legs feel as though they wanted to buckle - she leaned into her loving husband and steadied herself with hands on his shoulders. She sighed as he explained, ‘You, my love, are the vessel we have been searching for…’ He pushed a finger inside her. ‘You are the one who is fit to carry Cthulhu… It has always been you, if you are willing…’

The guard walked back into the room with another bucket. In the bucket, another small octopus fished straight from the Larsen’s large aquarium. He stopped in the doorway and set the bucket down as Max leaned down to Helena and kissed her passionately; his tongue exploring her wet mouth as another finger entered her soaked slit.

Max pulled away from kissing his wife and addressed the rest of the room as he continued to slowly finger-fuck Helena. ‘We have the most perfect vessel standing here before us - only seen now as we understand more of what is required for the Ritual and - standing amongst us - the perfect sacrifices…’ He looked to them all. ‘Each of you came with a loved one, or a friend. The question is - who among you is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice?’ A third finger slipped into his wife with ease as - one by one - people started to step forward. As another person came forward the chanting started once again and Helena’s pussy got wetter still.

Cthulhu, Cthulhu, Cthulhu, Cthulhu…

*

Max walked into the ensuite bathroom only to find Helena huddled up on the floor with stomach bile running down her chin. There was sick down her front and splattered around the toilet bowl with the heavy stink of stomach juice lingering in the early morning air.

‘Are you okay?’ Max asked as he rubbed his tired eyes. It wasn’t the best sound to wake to; the audible delights of a loved one emptying the contents of their gut with a heavy retching.

*

Max was standing with his back to the wall on the landing outside Helena’s new room. The door was open with one of the house servants standing there, ready to close it. Helena was in the room sitting on the bed, weeping.

‘I don’t want to do this,’ she said tearfully.

‘I’m sorry,’ Max responded quietly as he struggled to hold back his own tears. ‘I don’t want to do it either but if we’re to come out the other end of this, together, we must.’ He added, ‘To bring Him back, it takes the ultimate sacrifice.’

‘Sir…’ The house servant swayed on his feet as his nose started to drip a dark red from his left nostril.

‘There might be another way? It might be a passing phase…’

‘And I’ll be coming to you daily to check in on you and if things happen to change then we can reassess the situation but…’ Max felt a wet trickle run down over his top lip and reacted by wiping his face with the back of his hand. He looked down and noticed the blood smear. With sorrow in his eyes, he looked at the house servant and quietly instructed him to, ‘Close it.’

As the man pushed the door shut, Helena screamed with the sound of her fear only cut short when the door was fully shut.

The house servant turned from the door and looked to Max. His eyes were bloodshot, his nose running with blood and there was a froth of saliva at the corners of his mouth, bubbling away. He said, ‘I’m not feeling so good.’

Max didn’t go to his aid, he simply turned his back on him and staggered down the landing towards the stairs with his own head pounding hard with the most unpleasant of headaches.

As he reached the top step, the servant dropped to his knees before falling face first onto the floor. One final breath escaped his mouth, along with a bubble of spit.

*

Max was laughing hysterically as he stood in the garden before the giant bonfire. Helena stood at the upstairs window, slightly behind him as he called out to anyone who’d hear, asking, ‘Do we have marshmallows to go with this?’

The flames, helped with petrol, licked away the flesh of the servants who’d fallen foul of His effects after only a short time close to Helena.

It wasn’t a funny situation despite Max’s good humour. The humour was there simply because Helena was; with only a sheet of glass separating the two of them.

The effects were so strong and they were only a couple of months in…

*

‘What are you doing?’ Max asked Helena. The horror was apparent in his voice despite his best intentions to keep it hidden from her. She looked at him with the spider’s legs dangling from her mouth. Two of them were still twitching although Max didn’t know whether this was because of nerve spasms or because it was still alive.

Helena sucked the legs in and crunched the arachnid up before swallowing.

‘I’m hungry.’

Before Max could say anything else, she scuttled across the floor back towards her bed which she clambered up on with minimal effort.

‘If you’re hungry, I can get one of the staff to prepare you something.’

‘Do we have any tarantulas? Spiders are nice but they’re not very filling.’

‘What?’

‘I want a tarantula. Get me one,’ she said abruptly. She suddenly shook her head from side to side and corrected herself, ‘Please would you get me one?’ And she even tried, ‘If you loved me, you’d get me one…’

TODAY

And now this: The effects were spreading past the lead-lined walls contaminating another part of the house, changing Becca in the process. Max knew it wouldn’t be long before her mind was gone completely and she’d be like the rest of them; a corpse crumpled up on the floor.

Max jumped up from the office chair and thumped the wall hard, with a clenched fist. The frustration spilled out and he lashed out for a second time, punching the wall hard enough to this time leave a dent behind. All that time spent trying to perfect the Ritual, all that money spent on lavish parties to attract the followers and keep them interested through the many, many failures they’d all endured. The lives lost in trying to get things right, not being able to see his own wife for more than a few minutes and now he wasn’t even allowed a play-thing to keep him entertained whilst his wife was locked away? Never mind the fact she’d spent so much time fucking the cum out of volunteers in order to keep it fresh, ready for the Rituals. Yet Max had never questioned his purpose, his role… He hadn’t questioned anything because he believed in what he was doing. He believed in his rewards when He was reborn. Now though… The realisation dawned on him that neither he nor Helena would be in line for anything. Worse than that, they probably wouldn’t even survive seeing Him born again.

That little voice whispered, ‘But it’s the ultimate sacrifice, right? The one you told people about. That’s what you’re doing. For the greater good. That’s what all of this was about, wasn’t it?’

Max screamed out with frustration. He knew what he’d said to the others but that was when he thought he’d at least get something for his efforts. To not get anything other than being driven away from the woman he loved, made to get other guys to fuck her because he couldn’t?

He yelled, ‘This wasn’t the fucking deal!’

Max moved back to the computer and tapped the mouse, illuminating the screen once more. Seething, with his blood at boiling point, he navigated the camera footage to Helena’s room in the hope of being calmed by the sight of her before he did something he’d potentially regret.

When her room came to view, his heart skipped a beat. She was standing directly beneath the camera, with her eyes fixed straight on it as though she was staring straight back at Max. There was a tentacle,  he couldn’t see where from due to the angle, wrapped around her neck.

Helena’s mouth was moving as the tentacle pulsed around her neck. Weird noises were coming from the back of her throat; not quite audible.

Startled, Max increased the volume.

‘No deals were agreed. No deals were agreed. No deals were agreed. No deals were agreed. No deals were agreed.’ The tentacle released Helena’s neck and slipped away, disappearing down and out of shot. Helena gasped for air and winced briefly as though something unseen caused a moment of pain.

‘Fuck you!’ Max screamed at the monitor despite being fully aware that, somehow, He could hear everything that was being said.

Helena appeared back in the camera’s line of sight. Unlike the first appearance on screen, this time she looked scared, with tears in her eyes.

‘Don’t upset Him,’ she pleaded to the camera, sensing that Max was still watching. Seeing the pain his wife was in, Max once again screamed out loud as he slammed his fist down onto the computer desk. Helena winced in pain once more before she started to move back, away from the camera. For the first time since firing the monitor back up, Max could see her entire body. Her feet were off the floor and the movements she made weren’t by choice. Two tentacles extended from between her legs and down to the ground; walking her back to the bed as though they were her own legs.

Max was visibly startled. The tentacles were not of a size he had expected them to be. Worse still, he could see blood running down the insides of Helena’s legs.

‘What the hell…’

Helena fell to the bed and the moment she did so, the tentacles slipped back upside her even though it should have been physically impossible.

The screen cut to static just as Helena screamed in pain; a scream cut off the moment the camera did.

Chapter Eleven

A CHANGE OF HEART

Max burst into Becca’s room and slammed the door shut behind him. With the ferocity in which he entered the room, Becca couldn’t help but to visibly jump. The moment she regained her senses though, she immediately rolled onto her front and pushed herself up onto all fours with her still dripping pussy aimed directly at Max.

He hesitated a moment, his eyes drawn to the sight of her snatch as a flutter of temptation pulsed from his flaccid prick as he thought of fucking her. Despite the urge, he pushed it to the back of his mind and said, ‘Turn around, Becca. It’s me. Kellan.’

‘Kellan?’

Becca turned around; hope in her eyes. She smiled as her eyes fell upon Kellan, standing in the same place Max should have been.

She asked, ‘You’re here?’

She got up from the bed, unsure as to whether her man was even standing before her or whether her eyes were playing tricks on her. She hadn’t slept for so long, not properly, it wouldn’t have been the first time her eyes had played tricks on her. Even so she reached out with both her hands and hope.

Kellan smiled as he reached out to her too. Their hands connected and, as they did so, she immediately burst into tears, temporarily pulling back to give him another look and then she threw her arms around him.

‘I didn’t think I’d see you again,’ she said.

‘I’m sorry I took so long,’ Kellan didn’t say.

‘I don’t care. You’re here now. That’s what matters.’ She carried on holding him close as she asked, ‘Can we go home now?’

‘I’m sorry,’ Max said. ‘I only meant to borrow you. You were meant to just tide me over until Helena and I were to be together again.’

Becca jumped and pushed herself away from Max. Immediately she looked to her right, and then her left, in the hope of seeing Kellan standing close-by and, somehow, they’d just switched positions. But, he wasn’t there.

She dropped to her knees and started to weep as Max continued.

‘Do you remember when I first brought you here?’ Max walked to the bed and perched himself on the edge. He looked back at the filthy mattress and smiled. ‘The times we shared together here. I know sometimes I may have come across as a bit of an animal but, it was never intentional. I was just taking my frustrations out on you and, for that, I do apologise. It’s okay though, you do not need to forgive me. If I were you, I wouldn’t.’ He looked back down to the weeping woman. ‘You didn’t answer me,’ he said before asking the question again, ‘Do you remember when I first brought you here?’

BEFORE

Becca huddled herself into the corner of the room and cowered as Max loitered in the doorway. It was the first time she’d seen his face properly, not that she wanted to. She knew the chances of being freed, once she’d seen him, narrowed significantly as he’d want to stop her from going to the police so she turned away from him.

‘Look at me,’ he told her with a harshness in his voice. When she refused to cooperate, he shouted, ‘I said look at me!’

Slowly she looked up with tears streaming down her pale face.

‘My name is Max,’ he told her.

A face and a name. Further panic set in as she realised she was dead. There was no way he would let her go now.

‘I know you probably have a lot of questions so let me try and put your mind at as much ease as I can.’ He continued, ‘My name is Max and my wife is Helena. You shall not meet her but she knows you are here. In fact, it was her suggestion. The reason being is that she is unavailable for my needs presently. Bless her heart, she didn’t want me missing out and getting frustrated. That’s the sign of a good wife right there. Anyway. You will be here to fulfil my needs as and when I see fit. This could be straight up intercourse, anal or via oral means and is very much dependent on my mood. Once my wife is available for my needs again, you will be freed which brings me to my next point. When we got here, you begged for me not to kill you. I am not going to kill you. We are not monsters in this household. If you play your role properly, you will be asked to sign some paperwork. This paperwork basically says you were a willing party to all of what is going to happen to you. You will be paid. You will be driven back to where I took you from and you will be permitted to go back to whatever life you were living.’ He paused a moment and looked Becca up and down, unsure as to whether she was even listening. He asked her to confirm, ‘Do you understand?’

Becca didn’t answer. She just sat there, whimpering and wishing someone would come and wake her from this nightmare.

‘Well if there are no further questions and everything is crystal clear, I shall leave you to get settled in your new room.’ He paused a moment on the off-chance she’d say something. When she didn’t, he nodded and walked from the room, closing the door behind him.

With the knowledge he was gone, Becca slowly looked back up to her surroundings. The window was bricked up and the only other door led to an en-suite bathroom which had no windows either. There was no way out other than the door which - unbeknownst to her at the time - was already locked.

This was it. This was her life now, for as long as Max deemed necessary.

Becca screamed.

TODAY

Max smiled as he continued talking to Becca, ‘Remember when I said that the time would come where I no longer need you? Well, today is that day. Not the day originally planned admittedly but…’ He laughed. ‘Today’s the day I’m going to finally get my wife back!’

Becca looked at him with fear in her eyes. There was no “hope” there when it came to what she thought he may or may not do; that had long since been fucked out of her and not just by him but his friends too.

Max reached behind into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He held it up for Becca to see.

He asked, ‘See this?’

She didn’t answer.

‘Know what it is?’

Silence.

He unfolded the paper and showed her. It was the contract he had asked her to sign soon after bringing her to the room that first time.

‘Recognise it?’

Nothing.

He grinned and then ripped it up into small pieces before dropping it to the floor. Even at the time, when she had signed it, Becca hadn’t expected any other outcome.

‘I can’t let you go,’ Max said. ‘With the madness setting in, I can’t trust you to hold your end of the signed agreement. I mean I have your signature on a bit of paper saying you were fine with all that happened but, it doesn’t mean you won’t try and rock the boat. Where I am at now, with all that I’ve learned, I just don’t need people knocking on my door minus an invitation to do so, you know what I mean?’ He sighed. ‘I am sorry. I truly am but, yes, there has been a change of plans.’

He reached back into his other back pocket and pulled out a syringe. Becca visibly flinched at the sight of it before she backed herself up against the bed. With nowhere else to go, she whimpered.

‘It’s okay,’ Max reassured her. ‘It will be like going to sleep. A little dream and then blackness. No more pain, no more fear, no more worrying about your partner, your friends and, didn’t you once upon a time tell me about a dog?’ Max stepped closer with the needle poised. ‘And there will be no more stressing for them either. Your body will be found. They’ll all have closure. They’ll get to say their goodbyes. It will just look like you had an overdose. A tragic waste…’

‘Please don’t do this…’

‘Ssh.’

‘I don’t want to die.’

‘I’m sorry but there’s no choices now. Not now I have seen the madness creeping in. You cannot be trusted anymore…’

‘Please…’

Max leaned down next to her. Death looming with a sympathetic smile. ‘Look on the bright side… You’ve only had the last eight months of your life wasted. I’ve wasted a lot more of my own time for all this and my end won’t be as painless or peaceful as yours.’ His smile broadened. ‘I’m almost jealous of you. You’re merely going to slip away. The only thing making your death less than perfect is that you’re going to die alone as opposed to being surrounded by those whom you love and cherish. Other than that though, it’s as close to perfect as you can get.’

Max grabbed Becca’s arm and pulled it closer to him, straightening it out in the process and twisting it so that the underside was facing him. Eight months ago Becca had the fight kicked out of her and since then she’d slowly accepted the truth; she was going to die. Eight long months to come to terms with it. Eight long months to wish for it to happen sooner, on an almost daily basis. She didn’t fight. Her body wasn’t tense. If anything, her body seemed to relax into it. Max paused a moment and frowned. He had expected a struggle at the very least but, nothing. He shrugged and pushed the needle against her skin. The sharp needle point pierced the skin when only the slightest of pressure was applied. A tiny fraction more pressure and the needle slipped through and into the vein. Max gave one final look to Becca who was staring straight down to the needle, watching her death get served to her. She noticed Max’s hesitation and looked from needle to him. He gave a genuine, sympathetic smile and proceeded to inject the fatal amount of heroin into Becca.

Becca felt the coldness in her arm immediately as the liquid entered the bloodstream and then, she let out a long sigh as the effects started to take a hold.

Max said, ‘Who knows, if you believe in it, maybe I’ll see you on the other side too.’

Becca didn’t hear him. She was already unconscious.

Max slumped down next to Becca, with his back leaning on the bed. He sighed as he said, ‘You were the easy one to take care of. From here on in, it gets trickier.’ There was a sadness in his voice. When he had started this journey with his wife, and the support of the followers, he had never thought it would end with having to kill Him before He ruined everything. He was meant to be their God and yet after all Max had done, there was no gratitude. There was no saviour. There was only misery.

Time to get that frown upside down, Max thought to himself as a strange wave of optimism washed through him. It didn’t last. The dark cloud descended back down. Get out of the room. The effects are definitely leaking into here.

Knowing he couldn’t stay there, Max stood up and looked down to Becca’s body. He’d let her die there and clear her away later. For now, he had to get away from the madness. More importantly, he had to figure out how he could save his wife and stop all this insanity. The sacrifices were only worth it with a promise of a reward at the other end. With nothing but broken minds and death waiting; it wasn’t worth shit.

Worried about his already battered mental state, Max hurried out of the room and retreated back downstairs where he knew the affects of The Great Old One were yet to spread. A little time to rest and then he’d carry on fixing this fucking mess.

Chapter Twelve

WE’RE ALL CRAZY HERE

Max walked into the house and slumped down on an old vintage armchair, positioned next to the cloak-stand in the hallway. Something for the guests to sit on when putting their shoes back on. Or, as had happened at many of the parties he’d hosted, something else for them to fuck on.

It had been one hell of a day already and yet he knew there was still much more to do, including trying to get that thing out of his wife. All day that was the one problem going over and over in his mind. Everything else was simple in comparison.

He’d driven Becca into town and dumped her body for someone to find - just another dead junky - and he’d pre-warned the remaining house staff that he wanted a meeting with them in… how long? He looked at the clock and it was coming up to six in the evening. He’d told the staff he wanted a meeting in the main room by seven. He had an hour to try and calm his racing, stressed heart. Maybe get something to eat? Better yet, an hour just to close his eyes a moment and gather his thoughts.

He rested back in the chair and closed his eyes. Just a little power nap, he thought.

‘No!’ He had dozed for less than a minute when he jumped awake with a fright. As tired as he was, now wasn’t the time for a nap no matter how tempting it was. Not when he had to fix this whole fucking mess. ‘Wait, what?’

Max was in the doctor surgery. He was lying on the floor close to the room where the doctor was repeatedly banging his head against the table. Lying next to him was his wife and some nurses who’d also blacked out suddenly. Just as Max was slowly coming round, so were they. The doctor, still in his room, was continuing to pound his unrecognisable face against the table. The monitor and keyboard, both splattered in blood.

‘What the fuck is going on?’ Max asked no-one in particular as he pulled himself up, using the beige wall to steady himself.

More people had ventured from the waiting room to investigate the commotion as Max’s head continued to pound and the corridor carried on spinning violently.

‘Get back!’

When he was able to, Max helped Helena to her feet. Her eyes were wide with fear as she asked him, ‘It’s me? I did this, didn’t I?’

Max didn’t know how to answer. His head was all over the place as the nurses also pulled themselves up from where they’d collapsed.

The banging from the doctor’s room had stopped now; he was sitting back in his seat with most of his face hanging in bloodied tatters and saliva dribbling from his badly dislocated jaw. Snapped off teeth imbedded in the woodwork.

With Helena up, Max looked around as he tried to make sense of what was going on. How long had he been out? The last eight months part of a fucking dream brought about by being too close to Helena? Or was this the dream and he was back in the house?

‘This isn’t real,’ Max said.

Helena started to laugh at him.

‘What’s so funny?’

She asked, ‘You sure this isn’t real?’

Max glanced down the corridor. There was a glass cabinet. A sign next to it read: In case of an emergency, break glass. An axe hung on two supports on the other side of the glass. Without a word, Max walked over and smashed the glass shield with his elbow. He pulled the axe out turned back to his wife who was still laughing at him.

‘And what are you going to do with that?’

‘I’m going to test my theory that this isn’t real,’ he said. He swung the axe up over his head and held it there a moment. Helena stopped laughing.

‘Baby?’

Max smiled and brought the axe down hard on her head, splitting her cranium open in the process. At the moment of impact, Helena’s eyes rolled to the back of her head like she was trying to see where the axe had been imbedded. With effort, Max pulled the axe back out. A splattering of brain, skull fragment and blood splashed both Max and the surrounding area as Helena’s body slumped to the floor. Once again people were screaming but this time their eyes were not on a doctor harming himself but on Max’s rampage.

Max span on the spot and swung the axe, cutting another nurse’s panicked screams off short as the sharp blade of the fire axe sliced through her neck with ease. The woman’s eyes saw the ceiling, the floor, the ceiling, the floor, the ceiling and the floor again as it toppled from what was left of her neck. It landed with a thud and watched on - eyes wide open - as the body fumbled around before also slumping to the ground.

Max turned and roared with fury as he stuck the axe straight into the spine of another potential witness as they made an attempt to run away. They fell face first onto the ground with the axe still stuck in them. They landed hard but not in the surgery.

Max pulled the knife from the back of one of his house staff and stood up straight, catching sight of himself standing in front of a large mirror in the staff’s quarters. Back home. Confused, he stepped back over another dead body; this one with their throat cut wide open. A bubble of blood popping from the wound.

He turned around and surveyed the area; more corpses here and there with a couple still twitching. Max didn’t know what had happened or how he’d made his way to the staff’s quarters with a knife but now was not a time to be thinking such things. The madness was spreading faster than he could fathom. Laughter from the corner of the room pulled him from his mixed thoughts and he turned to see one last member of staff standing there, a large grin on their face. At this point, Max knew he couldn’t release the staff member; his original plan. He tightened his bloody grip upon the knife’s handle and stepped towards the grinning man. He stopped when his next victim lifted a knife of his own. First he held it out towards Max in a threatening manner and - then - he turned it on himself and rammed it straight back into his own eyeball.

The doctor dropped to the floor with only a glimpse of the pen sticking from his eye-socket. Max took a step back, bemused as to why someone would do that to themselves. He shrugged and lowered the axe back down, resting its head on the floor - staining the carpet further in the process. He knew this wasn’t real; just a slice of madness creeping back into his mind. He looked around to the bodies he’d hacked with the axe and gently lowered himself down to his knees to wait the “trip” out.

Max was kneeling on the floor of the staff quarters. The realisation had long since hit home that there was going to be no happy ending here. Not for him and Helena to forget this ever happened and pick their life back up from where they’d abandoned it when they first set about trying to bring Him back. Max knew he was too far gone, just like Becca had been. More than that he knew there was no saving his wife, even if there was a way of saving himself.

Max muttered to himself, ‘How’d it come to this?’ He moaned, ‘We were supposed to have been rewarded. We weren’t supposed to be punished like the rest of them. We didn’t deserve this.’

BEFORE

Helena gasped as Max slid into her. Her hands clenched his buttocks and pulled him deeper inside her, despite the sting, as she wrapped her legs around him.

Max was talking breathily between sighs of pleasure, ‘And they’ll look up to us. All of those who survive the initial wave of madness. We will have all that we want. All that we dreamed of. We’ll be known throughout the world as the Mother and Father of The Great Old One. The saviour of mankind as we wipe away half of the trash and rebuild a better society, a better world, with those whom He chooses to let live… We are human and yet to all of them, we will be as much of a God as He is. You will go from just being my Goddess to their Goddess. People lining the streets to see you, bestowing gifts on you which are but fitting for a Queen. A Goddess.’

Helena pushed him off but rolled with him until she was on top. Once there she re-positioned herself in order to get a better angle. Then she started to grind down on him, riding back and forth as he grabbed her hips.

‘Imagine all those people. All of them wanting you. Worshiping you. Lusting for you. Willing to do whatever you ask of them. Helen of Troy for the modern era; a beauty I have known and lusted for, for so many years…’ He stopped talking and started to kiss her neck instead as he continued to slide in and out. Her sighs and moans became more frequent as an orgasm started to build.

‘Fuck me,’ she demanded. Enough talk, enough teasing, enough taking it slowly. She just wanted him to pound her, and Max knew exactly what she liked. He pulled back from kissing her, pinned her hands either side of her head and increased the speed and depth with which he fucked her. Her sighs and moans soon turned to screams of pleasure as he continued working her closer and closer to an orgasm.

TODAY

‘Now look at us.’

Max was standing by the door of Helena’s room with the knife still clutched in his hand.

‘If I could turn the clock back to before we did any of this, I would.’ He laughed to himself. ‘Funny, we wished for this. We got it. We got ourselves here. Now look. They say be careful what you wish for and, until now, I never really understood the meaning behind the sentence. I guess I learned the hard-way.’

Helena walked up behind him and put her arms around him as she cuddled him from behind. Max felt himself relax in her warm embrace.

‘I was thinking about your idea. Maybe we shouldn’t do it?’ Helena spoke carefully so as not to upset Max. ‘What if we just left it you and me? I don’t need other people’s love and affection. I don’t need them thinking I am a Goddess. I’m not greedy. I just need you.’

Max smiled.

‘If only this was a real conversation we’d once had,’ he said to thin air. ‘We wouldn’t be in this mess now.’ He continued, ‘And how did we even get here? These effects… This madness… Everything felt… Well I didn’t think it was this bad when I woke up this morning…’ He sighed. ‘But I guess that just means we’re getting even closer to His arrival then?’

Max knew he didn’t have much time. The hallucinations were getting more frequent and felt more real than before, not that it was ever easy to tell them apart from reality in the first place.

Max sighed. He knew she couldn’t hear him through the door. He knew he was simply talking to himself. He was just stalling as he mentally tried to prepare himself for what needed to be done.

‘Enough,’ he told himself.

He took in a deep breath and held it in order to steady his frayed nerves. Then, he opened the door and stepped in.

Chapter Thirteen

THIS IS THE END

Max was standing in front of an open casket, situated in the middle of a church. With the exception of him, and Helena lying motionless in the coffin, the space was empty of anyone else. Despite the emptiness, the sounds of a congregation united in their weeping could be heard as clearly as if the room had been full of mourners.

Max wasn’t crying though as he stood over the body of his beloved. He was just staring at her, lost in deep thoughts which would never be heard or understood by anyone else. Nothing to say, nothing to do. He simply stood, gazing down upon her as a single tear dribbled from his eye.

A few minutes went past before he finally spoke.

‘You’re probably expecting a grand speech. How I miss you. How I wish I was following you. You’re probably looking down upon me, from your place in the Heavens, wondering why there is not more emotion coming from me but, I know this isn’t real. I know this is just a cruel trick put in place by a desperate entity which knows its time has, once again, come. Although this time, it won’t be left sleeping at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. It will be destroyed. We all will be but, it’s the price that needs to be paid.’  Max started to laugh as the setting around him slowly dissolved back to him standing in Helena’s bedroom, a few feet from the bed she should have been lying upon. Once he realised he was back in the present, he frowned at her notable absence. He’d been expecting to find her lying on the bed but - nothing.

He turned and looked towards the ensuite bathroom but that too was empty.

‘Helena?’

The door was locked. She couldn’t have got out. At least not without breaking the door, which he would have noticed. He dropped to his knees and peered under the bed, even though the gap from bed-frame to floor wasn’t wide enough for her to fit under. At least, not in her current state.

‘Helena?’

He stood up and froze as something wet landed upon his shoulder. Slowly he looked up. His mouth fell agape at the sight of Helena lying with her back flat against the ceiling, held in place by four sticky tentacles protruding from between her legs; three sticking her to the ceiling and one over her mouth to prevent her screaming.

Max yelled as Helena dropped down upon him, pinning him to the floor. The closest the two of them had been for as long as he could remember and too close to avoid the ill-effects of His proximity. The headache was immediate and almost overpowering.

‘I’m sorry,’ Helena said.

Max’s eyes bled, along with his nose and gums. His insides were twisting and turning, knotting and rupturing.

‘As am I…’

The only way for them to be together. Using the last of his energy, he pushed the knife into his wife’s belly in the hope of piercing the Monster within. Helena gasped as the blade punched through her skin with surprising ease.

Max dribbled a mouthful of blood before he continued, ‘I’ll be waiting on the other side for you. Nothing will keep us apart again.’

Max struggled to breath as Helena’s full weight pressed down upon him as her own life faded as uncomfortably as his.

‘I love you,’ she said.

Despite the pain, Max smiled.

BEFORE

The vicar turned to Max, standing on his left.

‘And do you take Helena to be your loyal wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?’

Max smiled. ‘Death won’t part us but - I do.’ He looked his soon-to-be-wife straight in the eyes and told her, ‘And I love you, more than life itself.’

TODAY

Max twisted the knife in Helena’s gut, hoping to harm Him even more and beyond the point of His survival. Today, they all die. The ultimate sacrifice as promised.

As the final breath escaped his lips, Max locked eyes with his wife and smiled. She did not smile back. She was already waiting on the other side; the warm flames of Hell only a few hundred feet from where she stood, waiting for her man to join her.

As the pair laid together, Helena’s body twitched one last time as the last of the tentacles slipped from her ripped pussy. It slid from the lead-lined bedroom and around the doorway out into the hallway, dragged by the rest of His body as He made his way across the landing and to a world which He would soon destroy.

BEFORE

THE DOCTOR’S SURGERY

‘Are you okay?’ Max asked Helena after the doctor had told her that, yes, she was pregnant. When she didn’t answer immediately, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze which seemed to pull her from whatever thoughts she was having. He asked again, ‘Are you okay?’

‘Yes. Sorry. I was just thinking about the future. It’s a lot to take in.’

‘It can be daunting being parents for the first time,’ the doctor told her. Knowing he didn’t know the full scale of the situation, Helena just humoured him with a smile.

Max was positively beaming. ‘This is it, everything we have been working on.’

‘It is,’ Helena said with a smile.

‘Well it’s early days,’ the doctor continued, ‘but what we will do is book you in for a scan…’ His words faded to nothing as Helena’s mind drifted back to the scenario she’d played through in her head; a premonition on how it would come to play out. She looked at Max who was still grinning. His eyes were so full of life, not like in the last image she’d seen of the future with him lying upon her with blood coming from all orifices. She wondered if he had seen it too. But then, if he had, surely he wouldn’t have been so happy? If he was to have his mind changed due to his love for Helena being greater than his love of the cause then surely he’d already be talking about terminating the pregnancy?  He couldn’t have known how it would play out or that his faith would waiver. And Helena knew he couldn’t know either.

The doctor started to laugh between his sentences. Helena knew what was coming. She cut him off mid-sentence and stood up.

‘Well thank you for seeing us,’ she said before turning to Max, ‘Come on then. We found out what we needed to know…’

Max was surprised by the suddenness of her movement but, he also knew she was tired from a poor night’s sleep. He stood up and thanked the doctor too, whose laughter was growing more maniacal, before he walked with his wife from the room.

‘Excited?’

She smiled. ‘Of course. I’m just tired and want to get home.’

‘Whatever mother wants,’ Max said; the grin back on his face.

As they got to close to the exit, they both heard a bang from the room they had just left which was promptly followed by the sound of a nurse screaming. Max went to turn around, confused as to what the commotion was but Helena kept walking - dragging him with her out of the building.

‘Wonder what that was,’ he mused.

‘Not our business,’ Helena said, keen to keep the truth from Max a little longer. His mind may eventually falter with regards to what he wanted, but hers would not. She would be the Mother to The Old Great One. Whether he wanted to or not, he would be the father and the people of the world would soon know their own place in the food chain, serving Her Son.

Author Bio

Matt Shaw is the author of over 200 published works. As well as appearing in a number of anthologies, Matt’s work has been translated into French, German, Korean and Japanese. His work has also been adapted into graphic novels and - more recently - film.

Having successfully crowdfunded a feature film, in 2018 Matt Shaw adapted his best-selling novel MONSTER into a screenplay (with Shaun Hutson acting as script consultant) and then went on to direct it himself. The film starred Rod Glenn, Tracy Shaw (Coronation Street), Laura Ellen Wilson and Danielle Harold (Eastenders). Having broken his “film cherry”, Matt is currently producing two more feature films - one an original piece which he wrote for screen (Next Door) and a second based on another of his novellas (Love Life).

Matt tours both the UK and the US on regular book signings but - if you’re unable to get to where he is - there is also a store where you can purchase signed merchandise direct from him over on ETSY. Simply look up The Twisted World of Matt Shaw where you’ll find exclusive downloads, his infamous DeadTed bears and more…

Want to stay up to date with Matt? He can be found on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. There is also a fan club which has exclusive stories, early reads, behind the scenes information and a whole lot more - available on Patreon!