21 Instances

3. Andy is our security leader-2

she smiles and makes eye contact I’m stupefied if I had to tell her my name now I wouldn’t know it Oppie jumps to his feet and says the big woman’s name is Nepreska she sets the tray down on a wood table that rises up out of the floor as she reaches down good tech Oppie starts making a speech about ideal beauty but I can’t hear much of it there’s a roaring sound in my ears because Nadja has walked right up to me she’s standing one meter away smiling and making eye contact somehow I get my hand up and she lightly touches it with hers she breaks eye contact to look down at my body oh my god she stands closer her perfume smells like flowers but I don’t know what kind of flowers and my associative centers start flashing me mental pictures of flowers roses daisies carnations and more flowers I’ve seen before but I don’t know their names I try to say something but no words come out and I see a big cat it’s Oppie’s cat but it’s like 6 meters tall it hisses at me and jumps except it’s not me it’s after but poor old Mr. Johnson the cat lands on him and tears his head off but there’s no blood flowers are coming out of his neck where his head used to be they smell awful my eyes open I’m lying on the floor Oppie is kneeling on one side of me and Nepreska is kneeling on the other waving a piece of plastic under my nose and that’s what stinks it smells like cleaning fluid or something she smiles down at me which is terrifying her teeth are huge she looks like a monster I see Andy standing behind her she yells at him for giving me vodka oh that’s what it was I hear a laugh that sounds like music I look straight up Nadja’s face is right above mine and I realize that my head is in her lap and the top of my head is pressing against her belly actually her lower belly I look down and left and see her naked thigh there her lap is warm almost hot oh my god Oppie and Andy lift me to my feet before I can pass out again and Nadja stands up too and as she does her skirt rides up on her waist and I get a look at a pair of tight white panties with a little fringe of blonde hair oh my god I close my eyes and let them put me back on the couch Nepreska sits on one side of me and begins to spoon some liquid into my mouth it’s the same stuff Andy had me drink this morning but fresher and warmer it’s perfect mainly because Nadja’s sitting on my other side and she’s got a tray of some little tomatoes and slices of cucumber and whenever Mom pulls the spoon out Nadja pops one of the tomatoes into my mouth and giggles meanwhile Oppie and Andy are pouring more vodka and drinking it while they chow down on the tray full of goodies that Nepreska brought they’re jabbering away in Russian and every few minutes Nepreska holds off putting soup in my mouth and belts down a whole glass of the vodka herself I could care because while she’s doing that Nadja puts two tomatoes in my mouth and giggles and looks into my eyes she’s got a glass of the stuff too I never knew people could drink like this I figure this is the dinner and that’s fine with me but after a few more minutes we all stand up and Oppie leads me off to another part of the house we go through a long corridor lined with statues at least I think they’re statues but they start animating as we go past them some of them smile at us some of them wave their arms and a dog statue opens its mouth and says: “Hello there, humans. I am Cyril the faithful and obedient dog. I love you!”

“Uh, Oppie,” I say. “Did that dog just talk?”

“Hmm, oh yes,” Oppie says. He was looking at his handheld but now he glances up. “Yes, they’re animatrons. Nepreska fabricates them.”

“Do not leave human! I wish to love and honor you!”

Oppie opens a door and waves me inside. It’s a huge bathroom with a pool in the middle of it, set at the level of the floor and filled with water that’s swirling around and there’s some kind of red light underneath the pool so the water looks pink and frothy Oppie leads me around it and there are some doors that lead to toilets I don’t know how he knew I needed to go but I sure do and when I’m through Oppie is over standing by a row of copper sinks I look at my face in the mirror it’s major awful I have food stains on my chin and neck I wash my hands and face while Oppie brushes my jacket with a damp washrag.

“There you are, as good as new,” Oppie says. He holds the jacket so I can put my arms in it. “Now we are ready for dinner.”

“More food?”

“Yes indeed, we shall no doubt have a splendid repast.”

He opens the door that leads back to the corridor. The animated dog jumps through the doorway and knocks him down and stands on his chest.

“Greetings, human master! I wish to love, honor and obey you!”

“I loathe dogs,” Oppie says as he tries to push the mutt off him but it’s heavy. I tug on its tail to help him.

“Do not reject me, master! I wish to be your loyal dog!” The dog begins to cry and big teardrops drip from its eyes onto Oppie’s face.

We get it off him but it follows us out of the bathroom still crying. “Please kind human! Do not abandon me! I wish to be your faithful pet.”

“No,” Oppie says. “Bad dog! Leave us alone!”

“Alone?” the dog says. It stops walking and squats on its haunches. “I, alone?” The dog sticks its paw into a little leather bag that hangs from its collar and pulls out a small pistol. “You leave me no choice, cruel master.” The dog has some sort of fingers on the paw enough to hold the gun to its head and pull the trigger there’s a loud bang and the dog goes down Oppie’s mouth is hanging open and he isn’t moving I sort of shove him down the hallway but he keeps looking back at the dog which has now rolled over on its back with all 4 legs sticking up in the air.

We come back out into the living room and nobody’s there but we can hear voices coming from an open archway on the other side of the room and Andy appears at the archway and waves to us. “Come, eat! Come, eat!”

“Umm, certainly,” Oppie says. “Smkiskn, is there a dog animatron in the corridor that talks?”

“Dog? Yes, yes. It is our pet. Our special dog. Nepreska loves it.”

“Well, I am very sorry, but…”

Andy begins to laugh and Nepreska joins us she’s laughing too she has a handheld and suddenly I get it the dog was a joke and she was doing its voice Oppie looks pissed for a second but then he smiles Nepreska laughs so loud it hurts my ears and says that’s revenge for his cat scratching her the last time she was at his house Andy laughs even harder and I’m guessing the cat got him too but it stays away from him at work he and X must’ve worked it over sometime when Oppie was at a meeting Andy shoves me into yet another big room this one has a white carpet with tiny blue and silver colored lights flashing off and on inside it and the walls are white up to eye level and then light pink up to the ceiling which is also pink and curved like an egg and there’s a huge lamp thing hanging from the center with all kinds of prisms and crystals on it along with some lights that throw beams like spotlights down on a big wooden table it’s a hexagon two meters on a side with more of those aluminum couches around it Andy leads me to one side and there’s Nadja smiling up at me he pushes me down on the couch next to her and she smiles and asks me if I feel better I haven’t heard her speak before her voice is deep and her throat vibrates when she talks for some reason that’s even hotter than her boobs which I am trying not to stare at she tells me I need to learn to drink like a Russian she takes a sip from a glass in front of her and frowns at me

until Andy slaps me on the back and says she’s teasing me great he’s sitting on the next couch to my left Oppie and Nepreska are sitting on the aluminum couch on my right on the next couch over on their right is an older man who’s wearing a tuxedo at least that’s what I think it is I’ve never seen anybody actually wear one and another guy also older he’s wearing a black robe and has a raggedy hat on his head that looks like it’s made out of fur Andy introduces us the tuxedo guy is a graphic arts novelist his name is Andray the other one is Peeyot or something like that and he’s a sha-man I have no clue what that is I could look it up but I’m too paralyzed by Nadja he looks at me and holds up his hands and begins to circle his left hand with his right first slow then faster and faster Nadja whispers that he’s trying to hypnotize me wow they’re all big-time crazy no wonder Oppie wanted in Nepreska picks up a silver bell on the table and shakes it so it rings twice about a minute later a tall guy dressed all in black comes into the room from a door I didn’t even know was there until it opened he’s carrying a white dish with a bowl on it he sets it down next to Nepreska pulls a spoon out of the bowl and scoops some kind of red liquid out and into a white bowl on the table in front of her Nepreska thanks him he gives her a dirty look Nadja whispers that’s he’s an anarchist I don’t know what that is either and I still can’t talk to her all that comes out of my mouth is a little squeak this is a major overload I would run for it but she holds eye contact and puts her left hand on my right thigh oh my god time stops until the anarchist slops some soup into the bowl in front of me and the hand comes off my thigh but she’s sitting closer and her left knee is resting against my right knee oh my god Andy asks her something in Russian I look around while she’s answering but I keep my knee where it is Nepreska and Oppie are belting back the vodka and the graphic novelist has joined them the sha-man is still working on me the writer says that in the future all novels will be graphic novels we will watch them on our handhelds Nepreska rings the bell and the guy in black comes back he’s got a big dish and this one has some kind of roast meat he stops by each person at the table and uses a metal fork to throw a slab of meat on their plate and the meat is real greasy and splatters when it hits the plate Nepreska thinks that’s hilarious she laughs every time he does it I tune it out because somehow I have a glass in my right hand and Nadja is pouring red fluid into it from a bottle I’m guessing it’s wine after she fills my glass she grabs her own glass and sort of points it at me Andy nudges me he’s got a huge glass of vodka he’s pointing it at me too he says Nadja wants toast I want to ask them where the hell they think I’m going to get a piece of bread let alone toast it Nadja laughs and leans way over to tap her glass against mine oh my god her boobs almost come out she sits up grinning and Andy taps his glass against mine too and I get it I smile at him and then at her and I drink and they drink that’s a toast apparently and we have to drink it all I got that too they both hold their empty glasses upside down over their heads and what the hell I do that too I’m laughing the anarchist gets to me and throws a slab of meat on my plate it smells funny I take a little bite it’s awful Nadja says it’s goose that’s hung and does that mean they torture animals whatever they did to the poor critter they must have left it where they killed it for a long time before they cooked it I hope they cooked it I pretend to eat it Nadja smiles and whispers that I am the only person she has ever trusted and