The Novice Prey & The Daring Prey

Chapter Six-1

Chapter Six

Morning came in gray and cloudy, with a hint of coolness in the air. Alexa slowly roused herself, moving around carefully in her concealed little space, trying not to make any noise. She had a couple of trail mix bars for breakfast and drank a little water. She still had a decision to make, and there was no point in putting it off any longer.

She spread her purloined map out on her sleeping bag and studied it. She had some idea where she was and some idea where Jackson’s trading post was. If she was close to right with either assumption, she ought to be able to get there in under an hour. All of her reasons for remaining out of sight were still valid, but her urge to visit what passed for civilization out this way had gotten a powerful addition last night: She was incredibly, intensely curious about the screams she had heard last night. They’d come from what she thought was the direction of Jackson’s. If she went there, in addition to getting a hot shower and a fresh-cooked meal she might find out what had happened during the night. And, with any luck, she might get to see what might still be going on.

That was the one thing she was finding to be the most irritating about running around in the great outdoors: She didn’t know anything about what was going on, except in her small, immediate neighborhood. Back home she had access to all sorts of information through all sorts of electronics. Out here, she didn’t even know where she stood in the competition. She craved some sort of information, any sort of information, but the only way she could think of to get it was to visit what passed for civilization out here, and that meant running what could be a dangerous risk. All right, she would run that risk. She had to know.

First things first: If she could get a shower, she’d want clean clothes to put on afterwards. She picked out clean underwear, long khaki pants and a light tan shirt and bundled them tightly together. She figured she could get soap and towels at Jackson’s, if she could get a shower there in the first place, and she wanted to travel as lightly as possible. Besides the clean clothes, all she took with her was the map, her canteen and her folding knife. She hadn’t had to use the knife at all so far, but it was a comforting little weight in the pocket of her shorts.

She crept cautiously out of her snug little hiding place, looking and listening all the while for any sign of the hunters. Once she was convinced that she was alone, she came all the way out and carefully obscured any tracks or other marks she’d made. She surveyed her work one last time before starting out in what she was fairly certain was the general direction of Jackson’s.

She saw the roof before she saw anything else of the place. It was rusty red, and it looked like painted metal. She approached cautiously at first, but as she didn’t see or hear anything that might be threatening she finally convinced herself to just walk up to the weather-beaten two-story building and go right in through the front door. Inside, it was a lot like Smith’s. There was a heavyset, balding older man standing behind the counter, apparently reading a magazine. He looked up disinterestedly when he heard the bell over the front door ring and did an immediate but not quite comical double take when he saw her.

“Hi,” Alexa smiled as she walked up to him. “I’m…”

“I know who you are,” the man interrupted. He seemed more curious than surprised now.

“You didn’t let me finish,” Alexa frowned. “I was going to ask if I could get a shower and a hot meal here. Can I?”

“What? Oh, yeah, sure,” the man nodded. “Didn’t mean to be rude. I just wasn’t expecting one of you to show up here under her own steam.”

“S’okay,” Alexa shrugged. “Say, by the way, I heard a woman screaming last night. Would you know anything about that?”

“Yeah. She’s out back in one of the sheds right now. Not part of your group, though.”

Alexa felt a twinge of disappointment. Neither Martina nor Naomi had been taken, so far as she knew now.

“I thought this area had been cleared out just for this hunt,” she said.

“Yes, it has,” the man nodded again.

“So what’s another woman doing here, then?”

“Special case,” the man shrugged. He didn’t elaborate.

“Well, how about that shower, then?” Alexa asked.

“Sure, Miss,” he replied. “It’s upstairs, to your right. Can’t miss it.”

“How do I get upstairs?”

“Oh. Sorry. Right through that door there.” He pointed to what she would have thought was the back door to the place.

“Soap? Towels?” she persisted.

“All there. Just put the towels in the laundry basket when you’re done.” The man looked at her as if he was trying to imagine what she’d look like in the shower.

“Thanks,” Alexa favored him with a smile. “And can I get something hot to eat while I’m here?”

“Surely. What’s your pleasure?”

“What have you got?”

The man smiled warmly. “What would you say to steak and eggs? I was about to cook some up for myself.”

Alexa salivated. “Would you have any potatoes to go with that?” she asked.

“Sure would, Miss. Might even have a little steak sauce to go with it all.”

“Oh, that would be perfect!”

“Just two last questions, then.”

“What would that be?” Alexa asked.

“How do you want your eggs?”

“Sunny side up?”

“All right. And your steak?”

“Medium rare?” Alexa hoped that she didn’t sound too eager about the food.

“Done,” the man’s smile widened. “Y’all go up and take your shower now, Miss. When you come back down your breakfast should be just about ready.”

“Thanks!” Alexa couldn’t help grinning as she headed for the door. As she started up the narrow staircase on the other side, she heard something start sizzling in a pan. Her stomach began growling. She took the remaining steps two at a time.

The bathroom was right where the man had said it would be. It was also larger and more modern than she’d expected. Now that she was upstairs, though, she couldn’t help poking around a little to see what the rest of the place was like. There was a long hallway that seemed to run the length of the building, with three doors spaced along it. The door at the far end was shut, but the other two were open, so she peeked in through each one. What she saw looked like rooms from some slightly run-down, rustic bed-and-breakfast. The furniture looked old, but still useful, and there were rugs on the bare wooden floors. Both of the beds she saw were big four-posters, solid and sturdy. And in the corner of one of the rooms was a small cage, about the size one might use to transport a large dog in a car. She didn’t think it was there for any dog, though.

The sight of the cage was enough to quell any lingering curiosity she might have. She hurried back to the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She would have locked it, if it had had a lock. As she began to undress, she suddenly wondered if there was some sort of surveillance camera in here. She looked around, but didn’t see anything suspicious. She hesitated for a moment longer before reminding herself that the rest of the place was decidedly low-tech, and the chance of spy cameras was therefore remote. In the end, she decided ‘to Hell with it’. She let her dirty clothes fall where they would on the tiled floor and reached in to turn on the shower. She had hot water almost immediately, and spent the next minute adjusting the temperature. When she stepped under the spray it felt even better than foreplay. She stood under it, head bowed, and slowly turned so that the wonderful, wonderful sensations reached every part of her body that they could. Even the water trickling down her legs felt incredibly good. She would have gladly stayed in the shower until her skin got all pruny and wrinkled, but then her stomach growled again and reminded her that food would be waiting for her downstairs. She took the bar of soap from its holder and began to lather up.

She wouldn’t have believed that she could miss something so simple and basic so badly. She stood back under the spray and let it sluice all the soapsuds off of her, then took the small bottle of shampoo from its holder. She worked it into her hair, and then stood with her back to the showerhead to rinse it all out. It didn’t take long. She’d originally gone with her short haircut to give her a distinct ‘look’ for a modeling gig. It had been for an ad for some expensive and complicated training equipment. She’d liked how it looked, and how easy it was to maintain, so she’d kept it. It also turned out to be very practical for running around out in the woods. She remembered how Lynette had been kept down by one of the men who’d captured her simply standing on her long, tawny locks, and snickered. Martina always kept her hair long. She put it in a loose braid when playing volleyball or participating in any other sports. It was easy to picture her pinned to the ground by a heavy, booted foot on that braid. Naomi was another matter entirely. She always wore her dark, curly hair short.

Alexa ran a palm along her legs. They felt just as smooth as they had right after she’d applied the depilatory cream they’d provided her back in Gordburg. It had come in an unlabeled bottle, but whatever it was, it was very effective stuff. She’d have to see if she could buy some to take home with her later.

The towels weren’t as fluffy as the ones back in Gordburg had been, and none of them matched, but she was feeling so invigorated now that it really didn’t matter. She dried herself thoroughly, including her hair, and put on the fresh clothes that she’d brought. Now she felt even better, and the prospect of a nice, hearty breakfast was just the cherry on top of it all. She bundled up her dirty clothes, put all the towels she’d used in the basket near the door and went back downstairs.

“Good timing, Miss,” the man smiled at her when she came back in through the door. “Coffee’s ready now, and breakfast in just a minute. Hope you don’t mind a little onion in your fried potatoes.” He held out a mug full of steaming coffee to her. Alexa accepted it eagerly.

“Onions go great with fried potatoes,” she replied. She took a tentative sip of the coffee. It was very hot, and very strong, and very good. She’d have accepted swill that had been on the burner for hours, so this was a pleasant surprise.

“Need a table?” the man asked.

“No, the counter’s fine,” Alexa answered. She’d already spotted some stools, so she picked one and drew it up to the counter. “Are you Jackson?”

The man laughed. “No, ma’am,” he said. “Jackson retired a couple years ago. I’m Jones. Albert Jones.”

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Jones,” Alexa said after another sip of coffee. She held out her free hand and he shook it. She wanted to ask him why they hadn’t changed the name of the place, but there were so many other questions she wanted to ask that she put that one on the far back burner.

“I saw some rooms upstairs,” she said. “It reminded me of a bed-and-breakfast.”

“Well, that’s kinda what this place is, Miss,” Albert replied as he began loading up two plates with food. Alexa momentarily lost her train of thought as she watched. It looked delicious, it smelled delicious, and she wanted hers right now. She managed to keep herself from snatching her plate out of his hands, and even managed to wait those agonizing few seconds while he laid out paper napkins, knives, forks and spoons for the two of them.

“We get some couples who come out this way,” he continued as Alexa tucked into her breakfast. “Lots of times they camp out, but every so often they get the urge to stay indoors and sleep in a bed. So, here we are.”

The steak was perfect. Alexa spoke around the hot, tasty morsel of it in her mouth. “Do you get many visitors like that?”

“You’d be surprised,” he chuckled. “Ain’t getting any ‘til your little contest is over, though.”