Posted by Moore on November 25, 2003 at 05:01:34:
The next woman to join the Master's crew was named Suzette.
Suzette was an innocent looking blonde with blue eyes. She was short. Suzette's breasts were a fine size for her frame, but she still worried they were too small.
Suzette threw daggers in a show on the Street of Dreams. She had never been in real combat. She never even had to defend herself; the men that would have normally assaulted her were deterred by the bandolier of daggers she wore over her chest. This was fortunate because Suzette never had the stomach for violence and bloodshed.
Suzette never really had a plan for anything. She just drifted along. She never had a serious boyfriend, or any real goals or ambitions. Suzette got the job as a dagger thrower while waitressing at a bar. She was clearing a table when a rat scurried in to grab a morsel of food. Suzette snatched up a knife and threw it, skewering the rat. The man who approached her offered her a job with more pay. Suzette quit being a waitress, and honed her skill as a dagger thrower.
In the show, Suzette did target throwing with her daggers. Possessing amazing dexterity, she could hit small targets even through spinning loops and earn herself a few coppers a day. She could even throw accurately when tumbling on the floor or leaping over obstacles.
It was her skill that caught the attention of the Necromancer, who was known in the town of Newsporth as the middle-aged traveling wizard Max, who mended small items with his daughter Sandra for a few coins. When he heard of Suzette' skill at hitting targets, Max realized she could easily strike vulnerable points in armor, or hit an Ogre's eye.
Earlier in the week he had watched her performance. Suzette wore a cute outfit, tight but not designed for sex appeal. Her routine was that of a competent, skillful performer, not as of a flirt or sex act. Max had approached her after her show, and asked her if she would be interested in using her talents on a moderately dangerous adventure for a great deal of profit. Suzette demurred. Pressing the issue, Max learned that Suzette didn't have a killer's instinct.
Max knew a way to take away her fear and hesitation. The only pleasure undead take is from the kill. Harvesting her would also mean he wouldn't need to give her a share of the Splilt-tooth Ogre of High-water Gorge's gold.
Max made ready to Harvest his target. That afternoon he had followed Suzette home to the one room house that belonged to her parents when they were alive. Max had a good idea of the layout, but he had not survived for so long as a Necromancer by being careless. He found a mouse that had been killed by cat. It would make an excellent expendable scout. (The Shadow would not work well in the daylight.)
Max waited a few streets away from Suzette's house. A few minutes after she got home from her performance, he walked over to her house and leaned against one of the outside walls. He took out the tiny mouse zombie. Because he had not Harvested it, he had to force his will on it to get it to obey his commands. Max stopped seeing out of his own eyes, stopped hearing with his own ears, and stopped feeling with his own skin. He saw, heard, and felt as the tiny mouse. The mouse's head bobbled - the cat had broken the mouse's neck.
Mouse Max scrambled down his human form's body. With a quick look around to make sure no one would bother his human form's body while he was gone, Mouse Max scurried under the door. He scouted the one floor, one room house.
Suzette was alone in the simple house. Suzette had taken off her costume. She was bathing in cold water. Suzette had pale skin, with traces of blue veins, especially on her breasts. She shivered in the cold water, but did not look around and see the mouse.
Mouse Max saw his chance. He scrambled up the wall, and unlatched the door. Max then ceased forcing his will on the mouse zombie. Max' senses returned to his normal human body. He pushed off the outside wall and opened the door. He took three swift strides across the room, crushing underfoot the uncontrolled, life-hating mouse zombie enroute as the door swung shut behind him
Without stopping, Max grabbed Suzette' shoulders. They were cool and soft, and his thumbs dug in to her tender skin. She looked up at him, her mouthing making a perfect O in her surprise. He couldn't toy with her; one scream would bring the Guard. Max pushed her under the water. Suzette's hair floated out like a halo. He was happy she didn't breathe in immediately. To Harvest her, he needed to have her first.
Max got on top of her. He pressed his torso against hers, and undid his pants. The water was colder then he would have preferred. Suzette had began to organize her struggles when Max entered her. The look of shock and pain thrilled him. The best part of being a Necromancer for Max was the control. As he plundered her, he wondered if she was a virgin.
Suzette tried to fight, but the shock of the rape, the weight of the man on top of her, and the confines of the tub prevented her from an effective defense. Suzette's struggles grew more frantic as her need for air increased. Max's need peaked, then released. Suzette looked like she was going to throw up. She pursed her lips tightly closed and glared at Max. She tried to get her hands up to scratch Max, but he grabbed her wrists and moved her clenched fists to the sides of her head.
Suzette shook her head back and forth, either trying to get air, or trying to wake up. Max put his head under to get a better look at her, but he was careful not to get too close - some girls bite. Suzette planted her heels and arched her hips up in an effort to get him off of her. Max appreciated the new angle of their hips, but kept his grip on her.
Shaking, struggling, Suzette sniffed in a little bit of water, then coughed out her air, then she squirmed and breathed in. A few violent convolutions later, she was still.
Max liked drowning his targets the most. They looked the best after the Harvest. Knife wounds always seemed to seep blood even after the target had been Harvested. Broken necks always left the zombie with lolling heads. By drowning or suffocating the target, the zombie could accompany the Necromancer even out on the streets in daylight after a proper Harvest.
Max Harvested Suzette. If she was hurt when she was raped; if she was terrified when she was murdered, she was even more violated when she was compelled to sit up and cough out the water that had killed her. Max dried off by the fireplace, while Suzette packed her belongings. Then they went back to Max's inn.