Physical Education (9 page)

Chapter Twelve

Alone, Mandi stripped off her clothes, what little she’d been wearing, and snuggled beneath the thick plaid down comforter. Hand between her legs, she imagined that Reed had instead stayed with her. She teased her soft folds, not trying to achieve orgasm, just keep herself on the edge of excitement. The bed felt plush beneath her, and the soft mattress molded to her body, inviting further relaxation. She waited for Reed to return from whatever emergency errand had called him away.

The room was quiet, and she wished that she had asked him to turn on some music before he left. Outside, she heard the occasional laugh or subdued voices of passersby. A cricket wreaked havoc in one corner of the room. The more she tried not to hear it, the louder it sounded.

With the light turned down low, she felt herself start to drift off into a light sleep. If Reed didn’t return quickly, it was likely she’d be knocked out for the night and not able to do anything. The sound of the front door opening jostled her awake, and then she heard the soft padding of feet crossing the carpeting.

Was there more than one person here? Had Reed brought home a playmate for their first time together?

Just when she’d mustered enough energy to turn over and look, weight settled on the bed and a blindfold slipped over her eyes, leaving her in further darkness.

Kinky games?

“You’re coming with us,” a male voice said in her ear. Shivers of a bad sort broke out over her arms. At the school, anything goes, but a feeling of uneasiness settled over her.

A robe slipped over her shoulders.

“Where are we going?” she couldn’t help but ask. Maybe she had broken a school rule, going to the private quarters of an instructor.

“Haven’t you learned not to ask questions?” another, familiar, voice replied.

She’d heard that demanding and condescending voice before, but couldn’t place the speaker.

The gravel path beneath her bare feet turned to wet grass, and Mandi tried to place where there was grass at the school.
On the front lawn?

She heard an idling car, and then she felt a prick in her arm.

“Ow, that hurt,” she said.

“Move along. It could hurt a lot more.”

Sleepiness overtook her. Someone put a hand on her head, pushing her down into the car. She slid across cool seats and slipped into oblivion.

* * * *

When the text came through that there was an emergency, and he was needed in the Commons Area, Reed had felt more than a little peeved. Not once in his tenure at the school had he been paged, at night, for a 9-11 call, but tonight – and now – of all times, of course it would happen. He wasn’t sure who had put out the distress call because the message had come from Main Office, which meant that it could have been anybody. With Mandi nude, willing and waiting in his bed, his goal was to get back as quick as possible, and, hopefully, she’d be willing to forgive his absence.

Just the thought of time alone with the woman made his cock hard in his pants. He shifted his member to the side, giving himself a little bit more wiggle room. If thinking about her alone gave him that much of a hard-on, he couldn’t wait to see what the real thing would do.

He’d always had a good sense of direction, and he easily followed the paths toward the Commons without the use of his flashlight. The solar lights along the walkway were more than enough to make his way through the winding campus. Of course his destination
had
to be the furthest part of the school from his private room. The air outside felt crisp, and he suddenly felt a different type of chill altogether, as if something was wrong. Even more reason to get back to Mandi. And to find his sister.

Entering the Commons Area, Reed immediately took in his surroundings. Using the training that he’d had in the police force, he surveyed the area, trying to identify the problem and who could have called him.

The Commons Area was kind of a free-for-all meeting ground. Those at the school who were eligible for hook-ups, whether they were students who had been given permission to have a bit of freedom, faculty overseeing the area or, honestly, faculty wanting to get laid, they flocked to the area. Every now and then, of course, students who were not allowed full “use” of their bodies would sneak out. Tonight, with the dance going on, the area would be a popular getaway. Still, he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Over in the corner, Jules and a young male coed snuggled on a chaise lounge. Her black hair blended into the night’s skyline. If push came to shove, she’d definitely fit the label of a bisexual. Man. Woman. She didn’t seem to have a preference. Either brought her pleasure, in a different way. And as the personal trainer for the school, she knew the nuances to pushing each one to their limits.

A few clusters of students and instructors collected here and there, but nowhere did he see trouble. Again, his instincts kicked in. For some reason, he’d been paged to this area, but there didn’t seem to be an emergency. Hating to interrupt a private moment himself, he settled upon Jules and her boy-toy of the night for some answers.

The guy had Jules’ breast in the palm of his hand and her nipple within his mouth. His other hand disappeared beneath her black leather skirt. Head arched back and eyes shut, Jules took nothing in except for the physical sensations upon her body. Reed stood next to them until the young man looked up and saw in him the shadows.

As if sensing his presence, Jules opened her striking blue eyes, quickly assessing him. “Reed, baby, care to join us?” she drawled slowly. He could hear the pleasure seeping out in her voice.

His cocked jutted out, answering for him,. A reply that they both seemed to notice with interest.

“Not tonight,” he managed, then centered in on Jules. “I was called to this area, an emergency. Do you know what’s going on?”

She immediately seemed to become more aware of her surroundings, sitting up and brushing off the advances of her young protégé. “I haven’t heard or seen anything, Reed. Who alerted you?”

“That’s the thing. It came from the front office, not here, but the text said specifically that I needed to report immediately,” he replied. He ran his fingers through his tousled hair and once again took in the area. No one was really paying attention to their exchange. No one seemed to be in trouble, or panicked, or doing anything particularly wrong.

“Could have been a false alarm,” Jules said. “I’ve been here for a while and nothing’s happened. Plus, if you look, the regular guards that are on duty seem pretty relaxed,” she added, indicating where the guards were stationed with a nod of her head.

“Maybe it was a false alarm,” she said.

Reed surveyed the direction she had indicated, and damn if there were not two bored-looking guards standing at either end of the Commons. Just like anyone else, this place had become a job for them. It didn’t matter that half-naked sex students strutted around, getting their rocks off. It was their job to observe and protect, not to take part in the action. And from the looks of it, nothing had gotten them riled up.

“Thanks for the information,” Reed said. “Sorry to interrupt. I’ll check in with one of them before heading out. If you hear of anything, give me a call.”

He’d barely finished with his apology when Jules and her partner started up again. That’s kind of how he felt leaving Mandi alone in his bed. He didn’t want any interruptions, either.

Mandi. With the thought of her name, he instantly began to feel nervous again. Maybe getting involved with her wasn’t going to be too good of an idea. She certainly was distracting him from his daily duties and from his search for his sister. Still, he reasoned, one didn’t always get to choose who they were going to be attracted to, and for some reason, he felt like he and Mandi had something much more than attraction going on. If only he had met her at a different time and place. A time when he could be free to give his time, and himself, to her.

On the way out of the pleasure dome, he stopped to talk with one of the guards. He sounded as bored as he looked.

“I was called to this area, any idea why?” Reed asked.

Looking him over with a blatantly hostile expression, the guard rolled his dark eyes. “No idea. And, if something was happening, what could you possibly do about it?”

Reed felt his masculinity bristle. He could show him what he could possibly do about a situation, but then his cover would be blown. Instead, the best thing to do would be to forget about the call and head back to his room. To Mandi. At this point, she needed him more than anybody else. And he felt exactly the same way.

With a final assessment of the area, Reed headed back at a brisk pace. He couldn’t help but feel like he’d been sent on a wild goose chase. At the core of it, he wondered why? What would anyone benefit from getting him out of his room, and out on the grounds so late at night? Unless, somehow, they knew he was not alone.

The thought of Mandi’s safety pressed down on him. His sister had gone missing more than a month ago. Claire had disappeared just two weeks ago. Sure, there were plenty of reasons why they might have left, but he wasn’t buying into them, especially where Willow was concerned. Fear of the unknown made him pick up his pace to a jog. Part of him thought that he was reacting poorly to the situation. What were the odds? At this rate, he’d need a shower when he returned to the room.

Soon enough he was back, opening the door. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, he listened for signs of someone else.

“Mandi,” he whispered, “Are you still awake?”

Silence. Only the sound of his heart beating loudly through his chest.

He considered turning on the lights, but if she was asleep, then that might shock her. It felt like an eternity as he crossed the room to the bed.

“Mandi, honey, I’m back.”

Nothing.

He felt the bed, and it was as if his psyche already knew what he would find: It was empty.

Had she gotten tired of waiting for him? He had to hope that was the case. The sheets still felt warm from the heat of her body. She couldn’t have left too long before he’d returned. The coincidence of being sent away and her being gone was too much. He couldn’t wait until morning; he had to find her now.

Turning on the lights, he looked for clues to her whereabouts. Her dress lay neatly on the chair next to his bed, with her shoes tucked underneath it. That was it. There was no way she would leave on her own free will without her shoes.

Fury pulsed through his body as he set out in search of Mandi. Where would an abductor take her? The closest exit, of course, which would be right out the front doors. When the place locked down at night, the front receptionists all went home. From the outside, the doors locked closed. But sensors on the inside allowed people out for safety reasons.

As soon as he entered the lobby, he could see a black car on the curb outside. A man stood silhouetted in the shadows cast by a nearby street lamp. He turned toward the campus, as if he could sense the pursuit, and Reed caught the slightest image of his profile. Before he could get outside, the man had slid into the backseat and shut the door.

“Hey, you! Stop,” Reed yelled out fruitlessly.

Breathing heavily, Reed raced after the sedan, trying to memorize all the details possible. As he tried to burn the customized license plate into his memory, he glimpsed a slumped figure through the back window: Mandi. The car with Mandi inside pulled away from him, and he could tangibly sense the increasing distance.

He swore to himself that whoever had taken Mandi, and his sister Willow, would pay. And, he would ensure their safe return home.

Chapter Thirteen

Opening her eyes, Amanda took in the muted darkness. Her tongue felt thick and oversized in her mouth, as if she’d spent the night sleeping with her mouth open and the heater set to high. At the thought of the room, she sat bolt upright.
Where was she?

The pressure in her head from sitting up too quickly made her feel like her eyeballs were going to explode and pop out of her head. She lay back down, slowly.

Holding still, she took stock of what she knew. She was in a bed, obviously. In a room, with no idea how she got there. The last place she’d been was Reed’s room, waiting for him. She remembered thinking that she was being brought somewhere as part of the school’s initiation, and then she was in a car. Everything she knew about the school centered on staying within the grounds. The privacy. She didn’t remember anything about extracurricular activities or field trips.

She got up again. This time, much more slowly and was rewarded with only a slight throb in the temples. It felt like she was suffering from a raging hangover, but she purposely had had nothing to drink. She may have been drugged. With the school’s “free-will” clause, who would have slipped her a roofie? Or even had a need to?

After taking stock of her immediate surroundings, she moved to a more personal nature – her body. She was wearing some type of nightgown, which was much more substantial than anything she’d worn the last few months. But no underwear. She didn’t feel like she’d been touched at all, and she had no memory of any such events. In fact, after getting in the car, she remembered very little. Just the sense of movement, and the hushed tones of men. She’d heard a sense of urgency in their voices, but she couldn’t really remember what either one of them sounded like.

Satisfied that the blinding headache would not hinder her again, Mandi felt along the side of the bed where a nightstand, and light, should be. The room was so dark, she had no idea if it was night or day outside. Nothing. The right side of the bed obviously didn’t have a table next to it. She slid her legs off the bed, feeling thick shag carpet beneath her feet. Holding onto the bed for grounding, she shimmed around to the other side, feeling around until – there, a light. Turning it on cast a dim, yellow-toned light. The room was ornately decorated. It looked like a bad version of a hotel room at Cesar’s Palace in Vegas. Dark blue walls with gold trim, and thick gold-toned curtains blanketed the windows. She pulled aside the drapes. Outside her window was a courtyard. She was a few stories up, at least three. She tried to open the window to get a better view: locked.

She’d had enough of this. Crossing the room, she grabbed onto the handle of the door. Damn it, locked, too, without any lock on her side. She pounded her fists on the wood door.

“Hey, is there anybody out there?” she called out. “This isn’t fun. Let me out of here.”

After pounding some more, she listened. Silence. If someone was out there, they were not coming.

Giving up getting out through the front door for now, Mandi decided to investigate the rest of the quarters. Of course, there was no telephone. There were, however, two doors. One opened into an empty closet – no help there, and the other into a bathroom. More bad hotel decorating here, too. Underneath the counter was a small fridge stocked with water.
Well, at least they’re considerate,
Mandi thought wryly.

Suddenly she felt thirstier than she had realized. She popped open a bottle and chugged down the cool liquid. The water hit her empty stomach, and it pooled in her gut. She’d signed up for a lot over this summer, but for some reason this didn’t feel right. She had no idea where she was, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t the school grounds.

Inside the bedroom, she heard the door open. Cautiously, she looked out the bathroom. A humongous man dressed in a black suit blocked the doorway. His straight, jet-black hair was pulled into a ponytail and hung over his shoulder. His square jaw looked unforgiving as deep-set eyes monitored her movement across the room.

“Where am I?” she asked. “You have to help me.”

She tried dunking under his arm, catching a glimpse of an outside hallway, before his arm caught the back of the nightgown and he pulled her back into the room.

“You stay here.”

“Where is here? Come on. Let me go.”

“Back inside the room, and quiet down.”

Mandi followed his orders. There was no way she was going to get past him. He moved aside, allowing in a petite woman who was carrying a breakfast tray. Eyes downcast, the woman placed the meal on the small table and turned to leave the room.

“Please talk to me,” Mandi said. “Tell me where I am.”

At the sound of Mandi’s voice, the woman hesitated but didn’t meet her eyes. And then she left.

“Eat,” the guard said, “and later you will learn more about your fate.”

The door shut with a deafening sound, and Mandi felt all her hopes closing with it. The sound of a lock engaging followed. Still, she tried the handle. Nothing.

A meal sat on the table. Eggs, wheat toast, jam, apple slices and tea. The fare looked like any continental breakfast served at any bed and breakfast establishment. Expect, this outing wouldn’t prove to be an escape from reality.

Resigned to being locked in the room for now, Mandi sat down to eat. The eggs tasted a bit odd, chalky. After a few bites, she pushed them aside and finished off the toast with strawberry jam and tea. Her brain felt cloudy and slow. She knew in the far recesses of her mind that she should be doing something else, something more, to try to get free, but instead she settled back into bed. Maybe a little nap first, and then she’d figure a way out.

* * * *

The door to her room opened, and Amanda blinked at the brightness streaking in from whatever lay beyond. She felt a sense of déjà vu, as if she had experienced the same events all too recently. She could make out the shadowed outline of a man standing in the doorway, but she couldn’t make out any features. Still, something about his stance and build looked very familiar.

He moved into the room, and her heart sped up.
Where was she, and what did he want from her?
He pulled the door shut behind him, blocking out the outside light and the most obvious route of escape.

Lying prone in bed, Amanda readied herself for whatever was going to come next. If he touched her, she’d be ready to fight. Yet until that moment came, she’d stay right where she was. Frozen on the bed like a child afraid of the dark, fearful that something lying beneath her bed would grab her bare ankles or small wrist if she swung them over in sleep.

“Rise and shine, sleepyhead,” she heard a male voice call out. “Time to come out and play.”

The last thing that Amanda wanted to do was play. What she wanted was answers. Where the hell she was, and when the hell she was getting out?

As the figure grew closer, she failed to have any luck in figuring out who it could be. She tensed her body, considering the possibility of attacking, overcoming and getting the hell out of Dodge.

“And no funny-business, either,” the voice said. “If you try anything, you’ll be extremely sorry that you did.”

Something about that threat became even more familiar: Bodily harm for doing “bad.” She knew of one instructor who reveled in such no-idle treats – Ralph.

Still, she held still, not moving and laying in wait for him to draw even further closer.

“I can hear the difference in your breathing,” he said. “I know that you’re awake, and whatever you try, it’s only going to make life harder for you here.

“It’s not just you here that you should be worried about. There may be others that you just may care not to see get punished.”

Amanda’s mind reached out for those who could also possibly be being held hostage. Sure, she had friends at the school, but no one really close except for Reed and Claire, and Claire had “jumped ship” a few weeks ago.

Or had she? One night Claire was sleeping in a nearby bunk, a little upset about a training session, but nothing life-threatening. The next day, she was gone. She hadn’t even said goodbye to anybody. Knowing the problems that she’d been having at school, Amanda wasn’t totally disturbed to learn that Claire had left to return home. But after hearing what the darkened voice had to say, coupled with her own experience, Amanda had to rethink what she knew. Was there something more to Claire’s disappearance, and what type of friend was she to not suspect something earlier?

Cautiously, Amanda opened her eyes. They felt like they had been weighed down, and her tongue felt thick in her mouth. She sat up, and a wave of dizziness came over her. With one hand, she braced herself against the headboard and, with the other, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. The food must have been drugged, she realized.

With a click, the light next to her turned on, and she shut her eyes from the sudden brightness. When she re-opened them, she took in the man who stood before her: Ralph.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “What am I doing here?”

“All in good time,” Ralph said. He sat on the edge of her bed and took on a concerned look. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit,” she replied, “And I want to know where I am.”

Shaking his head, he “tsk-tsk’ed” her in amusement. “That’s not a nice way for a lady to speak. Come on now. Are you hungry at all?”

Ralph reached out, as if to run his hand along her face, but Amanda pulled back quickly. Too quickly, and the room swam in her vision.

“I want to talk with Ms. Lucy,” she heard herself slurring. “I didn’t sign up for this…”

“Sometimes we get more than we bargained for,” Ralph said. “Haven’t learned that yet, have you? And, unfortunately for you, Ms. Lucy will not be available to speak to you today. Or anytime soon, for that matter.”

“You can’t keep me here,” Amanda said.

“See, that’s the thing,” Ralph said, taking a syringe out of his pocket, and grabbing her leg before Amanda had a chance to move. “I can keep you here for as long as I need to.”

Amanda felt a sharp prick as the needle punctured her upper thigh. He rubbed the spot, spreading the medication further. Right away, a feeling of uncaring swept over her. She knew that she should be concerned about what Tingsly was doing, or when she was going to be allowed to leave. But the need to leave, to escape, didn’t seem quite so pressing anymore. It was like a thought buried far in her mind, lurking in the far recesses, out of grasp.

“This is just a halfway house, until you’re transported to your permanent location. The question is,
how
do you want to spend your time here?” Ralph asked. “If you’re going to cause problems, I can keep you pretty much sedated, like this. Or, you can just feel good and go with the flow.

“Think about it,” he said, patting her leg as Amanda slid down the headboard and back onto the pillows. “Ultimately, the choice is yours.”