Posted by PK on October 16, 2002 at 16:08:54:
Satoris come and go. Time passes. Amanda proceeded to wash and shave her, after a brief
walk to the nearest rest station which seemed to go by in a flash. She had hardly stumbled at
all on the way. Nice bunny, she mocked herself emptily. Was she too stunned to struggle or
did she think it would be indecorous? Karen let it all happen to her in a cold daze, she
seemed to have no will left. Being undressed like a child - or skinned like a rabbit - and
ushered gently into the shower. Sitting with her legs apart on the edge of the bath while
Amanda bared her privates, preparing her for consumption. It was unreal. The perversely
pleasant sensation of being handled added to her passivity; it was oddly soothing. Amanda's
grip was firm, strong and dauntingly gentle; there was none of the roughness or clumsiness
associated with effort. The huntress issued the occasional necessary instruction in a calm,
polite tone: 'hands up', as she removed Karen's halter; 'knees apart, please', as she prepared
her for shaving. She finished with a fond, brief kiss on Karen's denuded pubis. Nothing too
salacious.
Nice bunny, Amanda though. Poor, sweet, tasty bunny. How was Alanna doing? She
shrugged the thought away. Nothing she could do, and she owed Karen at least the courtesy
of paying attention as she killed her. "I think you're about ready," she said at last. "Had any
thoughts yet?"
Karen focussed. "About what?" she wondered. Her mind seemed to have been elsewhere.
Amanda took her hand and led her to the kitchen.
"About how you want me to finish you, that sort of thing. Last words, pithy epithets. Recipes,
even. Any preferences about how you'd like to be cooked?"
"I don't suppose there's any point asking you not to?" Karen smiled faintly, sadly.
Amanda smiled slightly, ruefully. Not quite apologetically. "Sorry, no. You're dinner. It's what I
do, you know that. Look on the bright side, at least I won't skin you alive." At Karen's look of
horror, she added, "Sorry. Shouldn't have brought that up." And I shouldn't have, she chided
herself. Karen had got herself into this mess but it was churlish to remind her of it. Rubbing
salt in.
Karen, however, just nodded. "I know," she sighed. "It was my choice." Her choice to have
Amanda hunt her and, if caught, kill her cleanly, despite Alanna's warning. "What are my -um
- options?" She sat down on the kitchen table, the wood smooth and cool under her bare
buttocks. Lots of things to choose from, she noticed, surveying the pots and pans. And the
knife rack. Knives to chop her up with. She shivered. There was a kettle boiling on the stove,
nice and homely. She didn't remember Amanda putting it on.
"Cup of tea?" Amanda offered. "Milk and sugar? Lemon? Shot of brandy?" Karen took one
with milk and a liberal shot of brandy in it. "Options. Well, any number really. Within reason. I
could roast you alive if the weather stays fine. Slit your throat and field-dress you, take the
prime cuts and have them rare, cooked on the stove..."
Prime cuts? Karen looked a question.
"Pussy on a steak from your rump," Amanda explained. "Or upper leg." She touched Karen
on the inner side of her left thigh, lightly. "Maybe a breast for dessert. Yours are nice and
firm, not too big..." She cupped one of the items on offer. "Cooking them's an art in itself.
Lucky for me I don't put weight on easily. Benefits of metabolism. That and lots of excercise
in the fresh air."
Karen could feel her warm breath. She could also feel her nipples hardening. Amanda would
eat them. Oh God. She gulped her spiked tea. "Aren't you going to fuck me first?" she asked,
voice shaking a little.
"Only if you want, I don't rape," Amanda said absently. Obviously it was a standard reply.
"Of course I could strangle you," she went on thoughtfully, "Sounds horrible, 'strangle', but it's
actually quite painless if you don't struggle and it's done right." She touched Karen's throat.
"Just press here..poof! Out you go.."
"I'd like that," Karen said, not quite flinching. She gulped, but her voice was stronger now.
Amanda raised her eyebrows. "The sex or the strangulation? One hopes the former, but..."
"Sex," Karen said. "Then kill me. Whatever's quick and painless. After that..." she shrugged.
"Do what you like with what's left of me." Her toes curled. Did it matter?
"Sounds like a plan," Amanda said lightly. It was nice that the girl was getting a grip on
herself. "You don't have to, you know. It's not to everybody's taste. If you're only trying to
delay the inevitable, we could just sit and chat for a while..."
"Oh," Karen exclaimed, suddenly getting the drift. "You think I'm straight?" She actually
started to laugh. Must be the tea. "You didn't know?"
Amanda actually looked taken aback. She smote her forehead with a palm in mock chagrin.
"I assumed," she said in self-reproach. "What an ass of me. And I, of all people, should know
better. I saw you with Ed..." She shook her head. So much for the infallible Blake instincts. Of
course, Karen's fear and confusion would have masked any other signals, and she, Amanda,
had been distracted by Ed and Alanna. Here at the cabin, she had automatically
compensated for the bias of her own arousal, as she was used to doing, guarding against
projecting her own desires onto her victim. "Sorry. You and Ed..." she shook her head. Not a
romantic liaison, of course.
"Don't mention it," Karen said, and giggled again. She was going a little crazy, she realised. It
didn't matter, of course, she'd be dead soon. First, of course, she'd get to fuck the crazy,
deadly, beautiful Amazon. And Amanda WAS beautiful. She looked at her again, really
looked. Her own personal killer. The face she saw was incomprehensible. Some passion she
didn't understand lit those coolly burning green eyes, but the rather wide mouth -some would
call it generous - didn't snarl or spit. No horns or tail. Her heart was beating too quickly, she
felt dizzy and slightly sick. "Help me," she heard herself say. She saw Amanda move in,
closed her eyes. Powerful arms picked her up and carried her away.
Alanna could hardly believe it. There was the Dreaded Demon Ed, a yard and a half of
English yew through his midriff. Or whatever tree it was, forestry wasn't her strong point.
Fuck me pink and call me Charlie, she thought. I killed the bastard. The fight had been brief
and bloody. The last chase through the trees, Ed panting, winded and furious, had been a
nightmare. Judging when to turn and use his momentum to impale him on the improvised
spear had been impossible. It shouldn't have worked, so many things could have gone
wrong. She had known that at close quarters she'd have no chance against Ed with or without
the knife. Her whole strategy had been inspired, or insane. Sajida would have been proud of
her. Bloody mad Yorkshirewoman, she told her former ally. Oh, and thanks. Just one
problem...
People don't die easily. She had been off balance from the thrust, she was no expert. The
fatal strike had been lucky, but her luck had its limits. She'd fallen and, fatally wounded, Ed
had struck back.
The pain she could handle, and the damage wasn't terminal, but she was wounded. She
might be able to make it back to the lodge, but hunt time was still on and if Amanda found
her trail now she was finished. She couldn't take Amanda on her best day, luck or not, unless
the huntress got struck by lightning. Injured, she couldn't even run. What to do?
Amanda laid Karen down on the bed. This was going better than she'd expected, but she told
herself not to expect too much. Alanna's situation flicked across her mind again and she
wrapped it up and put it aside. Label 'later for that'. She inhaled Karen's scent. Clean and
sweet, spiced with desire and a dark undertone of fear. She let the synaesthesia flood her. In
that act, she had her balance back, though she didn't think about it. She kissed Karen's
ankle, tasted the skin, felt the pulse beneath, heard Karen inhale just a little more sharply
than usual. It would be a different kind of challenge, to make this one's submission perfect. A
work of art, with an audience of two.
Alanna had an inspiration. Lightning? Or something else...she had to move, and hope she
had time.
Later...
"Goodnight, sweet princess," Amanda murmured. She kissed Karen lightly on the mouth and
then she killed her. The girl didn't even try to struggle. "And flights of angels sing thee to thy
rest." For a breath, she tarried. Then she got up. Miles to go...promises to keep. The
memories burned in her, the breath....
She dressed automatically, then arranged Karen's body neatly on the bed. Sentimental sod,
she told herself. Cover her nicely. Cook her later.
Alanna edged around the tree again, shifting her field of view. The tree against her back was
on a slight rise in the centre of the field, so she should be able to see Amanda whichever way
she came before she got too close, provided only that she move periodically to ensure the
huntress didn't sneak up behind her. The problem was that the pain in her injured leg, merely
a dull throbbing agony when she stayed still, flared up whenever she moved. She wanted to
lie down, but that would be fatal. She'd never be able to get up again. She dreaded seeing
Amanda only a little more than she hoped for it; part of her wanted to get the confrontation
over with one way or the other. Not the first time she'd thought that, but this time...
This time she was here. Alanna's stomach lurched. The huntress was coming like a Doom,
walking in an unhurried manner, from the direction she herself had come. She'd found the
trail. Raising the bow she'd taken from Ed, Alanna nocked an arrow, wishing she'd taken
archery lessons. The last bow she'd used had come with toy arrows with suction cups on the
tips. She couldn't draw this one even halfway, it would take a man's upper body strength to
pull the full weight. Bloody Amanda probably could, though. The woman must have seen her
and the weapon by now, but she just came on, unstoppable as a juggernaut. Alanna loosed
the arrow.
Missed the bugger, she thought. Old joke. The arrow had made the distance, but not the
target. Had she missed or had Amanda moved? Breathing a little too quickly, she nocked
another arrow. The huntress came on. And on. "That's far enough," she rasped. The huntress
came on. She drew again. And on.....and then Amanda stopped.
"Hello Alanna," she said.
"One step further and I shoot," Alanna said.
Amanda raised her hands slightly, palms out. "All right," she said. "I'm not here to fight. I just
came to see how you were. And to tell you that it's over. I brought some first aid kit, I thought
you might need it. If you'd survived, that is."
Alanna stared. For a fact, the huntress had no bow and her knife was sheathed. She wore a
brief outfit of halter, shorts and shoes, with a small satchel over her shoulder. She didn't look
threatening. Yeah, right. "What are you talking about?" she snapped. "How is it over? It's not
time yet."
"I'm letting you go," Amanda said, as if she were the one holding the pointed weapon. "Early
bath, as they say. Back to the main lodge, if you like. I've called and told them to let you
pass. Or back to the cabin with me, I can look at that leg for you. I told you, it's over."
Alanna shook her head. "Where's Karen?"
"Back at the cabin."
"Is she...?"
Amanda nodded. "Yes, she's dead."
"You killed her," Alanna said flatly. It was somewhere between a question and an accusation.
"Murdered her."
"Yes and no," Amanda said gently. "I killed her. You know that. You knew I would. Murder?
I'm not going to argue the point, we won't agree."
Bitterness was not an emotion Alanna often felt, but she felt it now. The words stung. "So this
is my fault, is it? Look what I made you do?"
Amanda made a negative gesture. "Not at all. Nobody makes me do anything. Or you. I
meant you set events in motion and you knew the consequences. I played my part and you
yours. Very well too, I might add. You killed Ed. Yes, I saw the body. I tracked you from
there, it wasn't hard. Nice trick with the improvised spear. Bit foolhardy, but it worked. You
were a bit lucky there, I think."
"Played your part? You killed a defenceless girl. She must have been terrified..." Alanna had
to blink.
"No," Amanda said. "She was brave at the end. She asked me to help you. And to thank
you."
"You're lying." Amanda said nothing, just shook her head. No, Alanna thought, probably not.
She wasn't mollified. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you now."
Amanda shrugged slightly. "I'll give you two. One: you have no further quarrel with me, I'm
not going to kill you unless I have to and Karen is past helping. Two: if you loose that arrow
one of us will die. Probably not me. You're not good with that thing, I can tell. Unless you get
a killing hit I'll reach you and you'll have used up your last chance. Karen bought you this
one, you won't get another. Fight me and you'd better be sure you'll win or I will finish this my
way. Don't push your luck."
Alanna's leg was one huge ache. She braced herself against the pain. "So I'm supposed to
drop everything and follow you back like a lamb to the slaughter?" Did she really suspect the
huntress of treachery or was that just guilt and anger?
"I told you. Your choice. Back to the lodge, to the cabin with me, or you can stay out here
until nightfall waiting for an attack that will never come. I'm going now. Promises to keep, you
know?"
Amanda turned her back and walked away. Alanna sighted the bow on her. One good shot
was all it would take. She dropped the bow. Who was she trying to kid? It was over.
"I want to see her," she said.
"Done. Follow me, follow, down to the hollow..." Amanda sang, still walking, not turning.
"I want to know what happened to her."
"The short version or the long? Down to the hollow.."
"Just tell me."
"And there we shall wallow..."
Alanna grabbed Amanda's shoulder. Amanda turned. Her eyes blazed. Alanna endured the
stress of her regard. "Tell me."
"Do you know what you're asking?" Amanda looked terrible, just for a second. She sighed
and became almost human again. "We fucked, I killed her afterwards. That's it. She didn't
suffer. Leave it alone. It's all you need to know."
Karen had been a revelation. Not that Amanda hadn't had good sex before, but the girl was
much better than she'd expected. Afterward, her next meal lying in her embrace:
"You mentioned last requests," Karen murmured.
"mm..."
"Alanna.."
"Isn't here. She...." ..may be dead by now, Amanda didn't say.
"Help her," Karen said.
"I don't know if I can..."
"Find her, tell her thanks because she tried. Don't hurt her, please."
Amanda sighed. Last wishes were a bloody nuisance. "I'll do my best," she said. Karen
closed her eyes. Amanda reached for the artery in her throat and, cradling Karen in her other
arm, holding her close, murmuring endearments, killed her. And flights of angels...
"Goodnight, sweet princess," Amanda said again. She considered how to proceed as she
dressed. Should she dress at all? Did she need any weapons? Against Alanna, probably not
necessary. But if she'd beaten Ed? In a post coital haze, Amanda had an insanely chivalrous
urge to take her chances. Go unarmed.
She went back to the bedroom and looked at Karen. She brushed a lock of hair off her
forehead. Went out to do battle, murder and sudden death. Or not, as the case may be. She
grinned. What dreams may come, indeed.