Aunt Phoebe's Masturbatorium

Note from the Author: I apologize to all my readers for the long delay in getting Ch. 10 online. Life has a nasty habit of intervening when you are busy making other plans it seems. Chapter 11 will mark the final chapter of this story and I hope to have it online by the end of the summer. Happy reading!

*

The first person to see us as we made our way across the lawn was Felicia. She came running over to me all excited.

"Where have you been? They're all looking for you!" she asked concerned.

"Why? What's going on?" I asked.

"It's a surprise. Come on!"

Taking me by the hand she led us to a large gathering of people that had assembled near my aunt's table. As we made our way through the crowd, I was greeted with a round of applause. I noticed that a long table had been set up with fruits and pastries, and in the middle of it sat a three-tiered chocolate cake. The bottom layer must have been roughly three feet in diameter. And on top of it was a plastic replica of the Antoinette award. It stood only about three inches tall and seemed dwarfed by the huge piece of cake.

"What's all this for?" I asked Charlotte, who happened to be closest at hand.

"She wants to know what it's for!" she shouted to the crowd.

Everyone broke out laughing.

"It's for you, my dear niece!" my aunt proclaimed, as the women in front stepped aside to let her through. She pointed to the cake. "I baked it myself just for you!"

My aunt then threw her arms around me and gave me a big hug and a kiss.

"Congratulations on your victory. Antoinette would be very proud of you!"

She kissed me a few more times and then told me to cut the cake.

Craig and Barney were all smiles. I think more because of the chocolate cake than anything else. Ashley and her sister remained by my side, just as excited as I was.

"This is so nice of you auntie," I said to her as she handed me the knife. "And chocolate too. It's my favorite."

"That's why I made it for you. Go ahead and start cutting. Small slices now. We have a lot of people here."

I heard Lenore bark some orders to Justine to make sure the coffee was being served. She then turned to me. "Your aunt is the most kindest soul I know," she said, holding on to my aunt's hand. "Where she finds the time to bake cakes I'll never know. But I must admit, Phoebe, it certainly looks like a professional job."

"Nothing is too good for my niece," she said, smiling down on me.

As I cut the first piece of cake, the crowd starting clapping and cheering. The members of my team then surrounded me and people began taking pictures of us. I insisted that Craig be included in some of the shots, as it was really his victory more than mine. Of course, some of the hardcore Sisters might not see it that way, but I loved him and wanted him to share in the glory. I felt it was only right.

After all the pictures had been taken, the crowd continued to mull around the table and converse. I had just taken the first bite of my cake when suddenly I caught a glimpse of a large group of women crossing the lawn toward us. As they approached, the mood of our partygoers grew increasingly somber. When they got within 50 feet of us I knew who it was and my heart sank.

"What the fuck does she want?" Charlotte grumbled.

I put my plate down and stood tall as the Sisters around me seemed to part from me like the breaking of a wave, leaving me alone in the center of a maelstrom that I knew was coming. My aunt, Lenore, and my team, however, remained by my side, as did Craig. Barney and the twins were too involved in their conversation to know what was going on until the storm was almost upon us. But they, too, stood next to me, anticipating something unpleasant.

"You're rather late but there's still plenty of food," said my aunt, politely addressing the ringleader. Come and join the party."

"No thanks, mother," my cousin replied emphatically, coming to halt several feet in front of me. "We're not hungry."

"That's too bad. The cake is quite good." She then spoke to the women standing behind her daughter. "How about you Greta? Yin? Cake? Anya? Selena? Would you care for a slice? I'd offer some to you Marge, but I know you don't like sweets."

There was a hint of sarcasm in my aunt's voice as she said this and Marge Davis returned the slight with one of her own.

"No, I don't," the sinister woman replied. "Especially when it's the artificial kind."

My aunt deflected the insult with a laugh. Not one of the other women she had addressed had had the courtesy to answer her.

"If anything, you're the one who's artificial," Charlotte said to Marge in a disparaging tone.

Marge gazed at Charlotte with contempt. "I'm artificial? Well, so are you! A fortune teller who has all the insight of a gnat!"

"I have enough insight to see you clearly enough," Charlotte replied hotly. "You have been poisoning my niece's mind with your evil filth! You miscreant! You Mephistopheles!"

"Stay out of this aunt Charlotte!" Angelique quickly rejoined, hoping to deflect the situation. "I'm not interested in anything you have to say."

"You should be," Charlotte said, turning to face her niece. "You should be listening to all those who love you—those who will tell you the truth." She let her eyes fall upon the small group of women radicals standing directly behind Angelique. "If you think they love you, you are a fool."

Angelique's response was one of outright disdain. "And what are you saying--that you love me aunt Charlotte? I don't think so. You've never been a part of my life. Never. No, thanks. I'll take my chances with the fools."

"In that you would be making a very big mistake, Angelique," my aunt Phoebe said grimly. "They only follow you because they think you're somehow going to change things. But they are just as deluded as you are."

"You're wrong, mother. They are my people."

"You're people?" Lenore suddenly broke in. "Your people are all of the Sisterhood, not just some little clique. If you really cared about our Order, you would be trying to work with us, not divide us."

Angelique did not readily reply to the Sisterhood leader. Instead she casually sauntered over to where Lenore was standing and slowly circled around her, as if she were trying to estimate her worth solely by her physical aspect. Lenore took this as a direct affront, which it was—an attempt to humiliate by virtue of salacious obsequy.

"This," my cousin finally said pointing to Lenore, "is your leader. But she won't be for long. While all of you lounge around here acting carefree and eating cake, a new movement is beginning—a radical movement. It is coming, and those who are not with us are going to be swept away!"

The crowd stood silent for a moment and then a few people started laughing.

"Swept away by who? You?" Felicia said to my cousin. "You are just a little girl with big ambitions and nothing else. It is we who will sweep you away!"

"I'd like to see you try it you Italian bimbo!" Great Hofsteddar bellowed.

"You Nazi pig!" Felecia fired back.

"Enough!" Lenore roared. "This is ridiculous. Angelique, say what you have to say and get out."

My cousin took this as her cue to address the entire crowd. She moved away from Lenore in the direction of her supporters, waiting to speak until she had everyone's attention.

"There are many of us who are not happy with the way Lenore has run the Sisterhood. She lives in the past and is out of touch with reality. I offer you a chance to break free from the repression of her leadership. I offer all of you a chance to come with me. To join me and these other women in creating a new Order that will be far greater than anything she has promised you. We are not going to cater to men like you do, Lenore. We are not going to wait decades to make our vision a reality. And we are certainly not going to wait for you to lead us to a better future. I promise change now. And if any of you have any brains at all, you will come and join us."

And with that coldly dramatic speech, my cousin turned her back on everyone and started to walk away. My aunt was horrified. She turned to me with a questioning look, but I was too startled to speak. In fact, not one of the Sisters could summon anything to say for some time. Oddly enough, it was Barney Cole who broke the silence.

"Hey, Angelique!" he said. "Why do you got to go and act like that? These people are your friends and you're treating them with disrespect. It ain't right."

My cousin turned suddenly and glared at hulking black man—the man who had so recently forsaken his best friend to come to her aid.

"That's okay, Barney," my aunt said, finally finding her voice. "My daughter has become an uncivilized and hate-filled brute. I hardly recognize her anymore."

She then took several steps forward to stand face to face with Angelique. "I think you should apologize to Lenore."

"For what? For telling the truth?" my cousin said with a sneer. "She knows her days are numbered. You all know it." She turned to Lenore. "You chose my cousin over me. An outsider. A person who two months ago didn't even know the Sisterhood existed. Yet you made her your successor. How could you do that you stupid old woman?"

"How dare you speak to our Sister like that?" my aunt said, raising her voice above the sudden chatter. "What she did was in the best interests of the Sisterhood."

"No, mother. What she did was in

her

best interests."

My aunt swung around to face Lenore. "I apologize for my daughter. She is behaving disgracefully."

Lenore seemed unaffected by Angelique's insulting behavior. "Let her talk, Phoebe. It's time it all came out in the open. Let's see the beast for what it truly is."

Angelique laughed loudly. "You're calling me a beast? Someone hasn't looked in the mirror today!"

All of Angelique's supporters began laughing along with her. And yet Lenore remained calm.

"I chose Holly to succeed me because you are not worthy of the responsibility. It is she who has been victorious today. It is she who will be victorious in the days to come. And there is nothing you or your little friends can do to change that."

"Do you really expect me to believe that she is better than I am?" my cousin retorted. "That girl? The one who is standing there with frosting all over her mouth?

My cousin then slowly approached me and let her hand brush my face. "Look at her everybody. Do you really think she will make a good leader? Her and her frosted face?"

Suddenly my cousin's hands were clutching my hair, pulling me sideways and forcing my head downward, face first, onto the table and the waiting chocolate cake. The next thing I knew I was gasping for breath as half my head was violently submerged into the sticky mass of frosting. And then, just as suddenly, my head was pulled back forcefully by a pair of powerful arms. It was Craig.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking both worried and angry.

I just shook my head and tried to catch my breath.

Angelique lay on the ground. Her face mutated into an ugly scowl. On top of her lay both Mary Kate and Ashley, frantically trying to keep her away from me.

I tried to move my legs but found that they were giving out from under me. My cousin had wrenched me backwards so hard that the muscles in both legs had been strained. Craig, seeing that I was in pain, helped me to the nearest chair. Meanwhile, Ashley and Mary Kate were still wrestling with Angelique.

"Get these twin terrors off me!" my cousin screamed.

Angelique's friends came quickly to her rescue, and soon all hell broke lose. I could barely see what was going on because my face was completely covered over with frosting. Thankfully, someone brought me a beach towel and I managed to wipe most of it from my eyes.

On the ground were several dozen women, fighting each other like a bunch of wild felines. I saw Charlotte punch Marge Davis squarely in the jaw and then she herself was tackled and brought low by Anya Rostokovitch. Yin Ping Hun, Selena Montaldo, Greta, and several other of my cousin's lackeys had all joined the fray, punching, kicking and clawing my team and any other brave souls who dared to put themselves in harm's way. Angelique's group was clearly outnumbered, but they put up a valiant fight until they saw both Barney and Craig approach them with the threat of imminent retribution.

Giving both men a wide berth, the terrified radicals watched in fear as the twin colossuses strode over them like a giant reaper, warning them to keep their distance. The women scrambled to their feet with their bruised leader in their possession, none daring to confront the men, and certainly not with their indubitable Sister now partially impaired. It took a while, but Barney and Craig's intervention had certainly helped defray the onslaught, and my aunt was grateful for it.

"Thank you gentlemen," she said to the two men. "Are you all right, Holly, my dear?"

I shook my head numbly, still reeling from the unexpected and savage assault.

With the aid of several women, Angelique wiped the grass off her clothing and managed to stand upright. I was so overcome by her attack that my legs felt shaky and I was forced to remain seated. Half my face was still covered in frosting.

"Thank you girls," Lenore said to Mary Kate and Ashley. "You may be small but you have a lot of guts."

The twins seemed quite pleased with their heroics. They both came and sat next to me to offer me comfort as they helped each other pick the grass out of their hair.

My aunt, however, was anything but pleased.

"You have made a fool of yourself in front of everyone," she said, reprimanding her daughter. "And you have humiliated me in front of all my friends. There was no reason for you to attack your cousin. Absolutely none."

Angelique said nothing. And this made my aunt even angrier.

I want you out of my house tonight," she continued. "You understand me? Tonight. Take your inheritance and all your possessions and your miserable friends and get the hell out. You love them so much, then go and live with one of them. I am sick to death of you! Sick to death, you damned little bitch of a girl!"

At this point my aunt's voice faltered, and it broke my heart to see the tears begin to well up in her eyes. Here was a woman of great strength and heart, a true bon vivant, and the epitome of a loving and caring mother, reduced to tears by the very person whom she loved most in the world. It was a cruel and unjust payment for a woman who had always put the needs of her family before her own. I wanted to get up and comfort her, but my legs were so weakened that I couldn't yet stand. I was thankful when Lenore, seeing her friend overcome by emotion, rushed to her side.

"Look what you've done!" the Sisterhood leader said angrily to my cousin. "I don't care how you've treated the rest of us, but this is your mother. She deserves your love and respect. I think you're the one that needs to look in the mirror young woman. I want you and the rest of your bitches out of here. Now! Come, Phoebe."

Lenore put her arms around my aunt and led her toward the chateau. She was now crying uncontrollably, and it made me angry to think that my cousin had been responsible for her distress. I thought that was the end of it, but my cousin, apparently wasn't finished. Unmoved by her mother's pain, she ordered her followers to depart.

"And as for you, you traitor," she said to Barney as she walked by him, "I never want to see you again."

Barney, despite his misplaced love for her, seemed to have accepted the inevitable truth that what he had witnessed of her behavior was something he could never live with. "What's wrong, Angelique? You jealous because I'm friends with Craig?"

"No, asshole. Because you're kissing up to my fucking enemies!"

"Don't talk to me like that girl," Barney said, stung by her remark.

"I'll talk to you however I please," she replied defiantly. "Who are you anyway? A guy who can shoot a big fucking load, but not big enough to beat Mr. Sweden over here."

She gave Craig a disdainful look as she said this. I thought for a moment that Barney might hit her; he seemed so on edge.

"I did my best for you girl," he said with a hint of raw anger in his voice. "Now don't you be throwin' up my failure in my face, you hear me?"

Angelique emitted a hollow laugh. "You can't serve two masters, Barney." She then gave me one last look and began to walk away.

It was sad to see Barney so mistreated by the vengeful girl who now led her group out beyond the eastern entrance of the chateau. He followed her exit out the front yard with dismay, but he did not chase after her, for which I gave him credit. Her reprehensible behavior could not have been lost upon him—a man for whom loyalty meant so much and for the abandonment of which he had almost lost a good friend.

"So much for that," he said as he fell into his chair, his eyes still fixed on the eastern horizon. "You were right, Holly. You were right about her."

I had warned him. But I didn't have the heart to tell him so. For a man possessed with such optimism and affability, it must have been quite difficult for him to believe that anyone could truly be evil—especially not the beautiful, alluring Angelique. It had to be a bitter pill for him to swallow, and I did not want to aggravate his already hurt pride with any latent recriminations.

For a few moments a great quiet fell over everyone. I watched as Craig went over to his friend to console him while the twins continued to pick debris from their clothing. A general pall seemed to have come over the crowd in the wake of the incident, shattering the once festive mood.

And then, suddenly, for the first time since we had entered the lawn, Barney turned his head to look at me, and what he saw must have amused him greatly because the look on his face changed quite abruptly from one of sadness to one of unbridled joy. Craig began to laugh, and then the twins started snickering. Soon everyone had discovered the source of Barney's amusement, and all eyes were upon me. I then realized what they were laughing at.

"I thought I had problems," the big black man said to me, laughing heartily. "But look at you!"

Everyone had been so caught up in the excitement that my frightful condition had gone unheeded. But now, with the tension finally relieved, the remnants of the dried frosting on my face suddenly provided the crowd with some much-needed comic relief. As Charlotte approached me with a small hand mirror in her hands, I got to see exactly what had amused everyone so much.

What I saw was something that looked like a dried prune—a big, brown prune with two green eyes peeking out from behind a sticky chocolate mass that covered most of my face. Despite my aching legs, I burst out laughing at my ridiculous condition. I felt Ashley's hand gently caress my face with a wet towel, trying to help me remove the remainder of frosting that stubbornly refused to be dislodged. Mary Kate aided her sister, using her hands to extract large clumps of frosting from my hair. With their help, and with the aid of my team, I was soon looking good as new. It would be a long time before I laughed like that again.

************

Most of the following week I spent in the company of Craig, who graciously took me on a splendid sightseeing tour of Paris. I needed to get away from the chateau and the Sisterhood for a while, and his offer provided me with a welcome excuse. He proved to be very knowledgeable about French history and knew the topography of the city quite well, explaining that the ancient French people—the Gauls—had learned to make their excellent wines by cultivating grapes brought to France from Italy by their Roman conquerors.