Kathrine sat comfortably in second class, looking out through the train window at the snowy and mountainous landscape. When one door closes, another opens. She felt the anticipation of starting over in a new place; she felt it in her stomach. She liked to believe that her mind was superior to her feelings, holding her primitive emotions in check. Much like holding a hand over a burning flame.
The train service in the Alpine region was punctual. A few minutes later, Kathrine walked through the station hall with a big backpack and a large ski bag, looking for her name. She found it, handwritten on a piece of paper held by a young, blue-haired, Asian-looking woman who was smiling broadly.
"That's me," Kathrine said, pointing at the piece of paper.
"Hi! I'm Lin! Nice to meet you!" the woman exclaimed, following it up with an enthusiastic handshake and a hint of a bow.
Kathrine followed Lin's short-but-rapid steps out of the station and into a car, swapping between trivial subjects such as travel comfort and weather. Lin was wearing a tight pencil dress with a push-up that was doing its job, plus an oversized winter jacket whose color matched her dyed-blue bob cut. On their way out, their attention was captured by television screens flashing local news about record-high winds creating traffic nightmares.
"Crazy conditions," Lin said, fastening her seat belt. "There was an intense search and rescue operation yesterday after a school bus got trapped by a snowstorm! It has been crazy. We have had heavy rains and floods the entire winter. Very bad for tourism. And it is now at the end of March, that the snow really started to arrive. And it did as intense snowstorms! Nobody was prepared."
"A lot of avalanches lately?" Kathrine asked out of real curiosity. She wanted to know how intense the coming weeks were expected to be.
"Avalanches? No, luckily none. But there have been a lot of storms. Storms this intense are not common here, but we have had over fourteen people needing rescue this season! You have good skiing technique, right? I read Scandinavia is done with the snow for this season. Weird weather over the entire world. Here, we are starting the season. Great you are joining us. We have limitations. We can't reach anywhere with the snow scooter, you know." Lin took some air, then added, "But the group was already established here because of all the fires in summer, as you know. We moved in mid-summer."
Lin looked and sounded very energetic, and Kathrine wondered if she'd bitten off more than she could chew - if she could keep up if the entire group was the same. She knew that her quest for finding new meaning would - and should - bring her into contact with passionate people and present her with challenging tasks. She was wary, however, of getting things out of control.
"Have you been with this group for many years?" Kathrine risked asking.
"Me? I was the newest before you came. I joined them one year ago. But I had worked in different Red Cross Search and Rescue groups before that. But this group is unique, you know. You will be meeting the others soon. We all live together at the headquarters. They have been there for a couple of years. With you, we are four, now, plus Father Francisco of course."
Kathrine had also joined rescue groups as a volunteer before, but only in her home country. Still, she hadn't shied away from relocating from city to city inside of it. Many people did so following love or career opportunities, but she'd done so to go where she'd thought her help was most needed. Her mother, of all people, had first mentioned this group to her in a letter. It was supposed to be based on a non-conventional set of values. What that supposed to mean? Kathrine tried hard not to think about her mother, though. Instead, she tried to focus on her conversation with Lin.
"I've heard the group takes a lot of risks. I'm glad you're all safe and healthy, but I admit I'm a little surprised that the Red Cross is willing to remain affiliated with you."
"Yeah! Right! You know how rule number one of rescue work is to avoid endangerment and risk to one's own life? Well, that's the main difference with us, you know. Some might say we take too many risks, but we know what we're doing... we think."
She laughed at her own little joke. "We also take care of each other... a lot," she added with a wink.
Kathrine nodded.
"But yeah, maybe we are all half broken from our past or something; I do get that feeling some days." Lin laughed some more. "You are really beautiful, you know. Your face, blonde hair, blue eyes. Are all Norwegians like that? You are only 19 years old; you have the face of a girl and a body to envy." She smiled broadly without any sign that she'd known she'd said anything inappropriate.
Yeah, to an Asian, all Europeans seem beautiful and look alike, probably. Well, my mother was originally from Lithuania... Kathrine again stopped herself from thinking about her mother. No! Now's not the time or place.
"We'll be arriving at the Headquarters soon," Lin said. The last few minutes of the journey were spent in awkward silence, only briefly interrupted by Lin adding comments on places she drove by that were too irrelevant for Kathrine to pay any mind.
The sky was gray, and the winds were strong. The Headquarters were half of an old, small school that had been repurposed. It was not only the group's operation center; it seemed it was also the place where they lived, prepared food and slept.
The door was opened by a woman in her mid-thirties. There was a wrongness to her gaze. "Hello," she said, "you must be Kathrine. Welcome. I am Claire. I will show you the place."
Kathrine followed her in, and soon realized that there was nothing wrong with her gaze, only with her actual eyes; Claire was blind. Still, she moved through the Headquarters with efficiency, showing Kathrine the common sleeping room, planning room, and kitchen, where there was plenty of food read for her. She was hungry, so she accepted it without hesitation.
If Lin was dynamite, she thought, Claire was the opposite: infinite calmness.
"We are only missing Theresa and Father Francisco," Claire said. "They are on their weekly visit to the Alpine hospital and might arrive late." Kathrine was relieved to be done with introductions for the day. She was an extrovert, but meeting new people required energy - in some cases, too much. The rest of the meal was uneventful. Lin and Claire were well acquainted, and Kathrine knew she would need time to feel at home.
Kathrine excused herself, feeling tired from the trip. She went to the common sleeping room to unpack her luggage. There were two double bunk beds there.  She'd been assigned a lower bed, and, to her surprise, realized she had her own commode.
As the evening turned to night, Kathrine went to take a shower. Only two out of three showers - divided only by glass walls - were working. The water was hot and the pressure was decent. The shower stream massaged between her shoulders and up her neck. When it hit her head, she relaxed and felt like urinating, so she did, despite being a bit unsure on how acceptable it was when sharing facilities with other occupants.
She then looked at her naked body in the mirror above the lavatory on the opposite wall. Her build was strong. Her pubic hair was blonde with hints of red, and matched nicely the tattoo of a burning flame on her belly that nearly reached her belly button. She possessed a beautiful, feminine body - a woman's body. Kathrine well understood its power.
Her thoughts ran through the events in her life that had pushed her to arrive at this place, looking for something - maybe spiritual salvation. She remembered those few times as a kid when she hadn't been discovered playing around those blue construction barracks. She remembered the construction men walking in and out of that dark place. Kathrine remembered her mother talking with all the women there, because that was one of the responsibilities of a madam. She remembered in particular one of the women imprisoned there.
She remembered how that woman had always looked like a sad slave when her father had taken an inspection round. But Kathrine also remembered that woman's lusty eyes when alone with the working class - mostly immigrants - and what was done. She remembered witnessing how that woman's body had made them feel, and how that woman had not gotten cold when wearing those chains, but had made the chains hot instead. That woman had been good at her job; she had had a good teacher. Kathrine felt something creeping up her spine, her muscles tensing, and an abyss in her stomach as she remembered her mother being everybody's teacher in that place. She had taught them everything, from something as simple as foot massages to things that Kathrine would not dare put into words - not even in the privacy of her own mind.
Kathrine leaned towards the lavatory to place the shampoo bottle back in her toilet purse, and to discreetly - as if someone was watching - retrieve the small, waterproof vibrator bullet hidden there. She could be quick and efficient if needed. She turned around, putting her back towards the door, in case someone walked into the common shower room.
The bullet glided quickly between the top of her outer labia. She moved it just to the left of her clitoris. The humming sound was drowned out by the shower.
Kathrine remembered those lusty eyes, and moved the toy to the other side of her clit and slightly down. It vibrated against the base of her swelling button. Around those eyes congealed the memory of the woman, and then the man taking her. Sometimes it had been two men - more efficient, businesswise.
