Author's note: This story (wherein all characters are 18 years old or older) started as a standard mind control fantasy featuring policemen, though it seemed to grow wilder and stranger in the telling. I pulled great inspiration from the epic show
American Gods
, all eight episodes of which I highly recommend if you can catch them. Additionally, the spirit of Gene Wilder makes a cameo, as surprising to me as it might be to you, dear reader. Rest in peace, Gene, you handsome devil.
This one takes a little bit longer to get rolling than my first two tales, though I hope you'll agree that a gradual, more patient rise makes for a more spectacular fall.
Also, for those of you keeping score at home, this story takes place in the same narrative universe as my first erotic story (though second published), "Ben's Little Aisling."
#
Anna sat in her apartment, humming along to the sound of her latest soundtrack CD as she cleaned the last of her dishes, her long black hair tied behind her in a careful bun.
Tonight she was glad it was the weekend; she arrived home feeling just a few steps above shit. Her boss had sent a negative performance review up to corporate -- the first time that had happened in the six months she had been at the firm. And the woman had strongly implied this meant disciplinary action was coming down the pipeline.
All due to a situation that had spiraled out of her control, with the idiots in accounting bearing the brunt of the blame. Well, pass the buck they did, and . . .
And, she wasn't going to think about that right now. At least it was the first week of October. Anna loved the season. She loved Halloween, but more than that, she loved the lengthening days, the macabre atmosphere as the world beyond seemed to peer out from its curtain. She loved dressing up in costumes. She loved the food, perhaps most of all, and she was a damned good cook.
She had the whole weekend to recharge, and that's exactly what she planned to do.
She had cleaned the last vestiges of food off the plate, placing it in the dish drainer next to the sink, when she heard a pounding at her door. Pausing, the insistent knocking sending a line of worry across her face, she called out, "Be right there!"
She stripped her apron off, hanging it on its hook just outside her kitchen door. The kitchen was barely larger than a closet, but it worked for her, as she lived alone.
The pounding continued. "I'm
coming,
" she said. "Jesus!" She grabbed a discarded pizza box off her couch, quickly throwing it in the direction of the garbage can. It almost made it.
Anna pulled open the door, and opened her mouth to apologize for keeping her visitor waiting. Her breath caught in her throat, however, when she saw who stood there.
"Evening, ma'am, I'm Officer Pierce, and this is my partner, Officer Juarez. Are you Anna Hernandez?"
"Yes," Anna said, weakly. She had always nursed an irrational fear of police officers, ever since she had first met one in kindergarten.
"I see. In that case, I'm placing you under arrest for vehicle theft." He held a paper warrant at eye level, though not long enough for Anna to read it.
She yelped as the police officer grabbed her roughly by the shoulder, pulling her out into the hallway as he unclipped the handcuffs from his belt. Her mouth opened in protest, but no sound came out. She saw the policeman's partner smirking, the female officer leaning against the wall idly observing the arrest.
"You have the right to remain silent, and to refuse to answer any questions. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney-"
"Is there something wrong, officers?"
The question seemed to hang in the air, demanding a response, as the handcuffs clicked around her wrists. Anna turned and saw her apartment neighbor, Tessa, standing in the open doorway to her own apartment, the one directly opposite her own.
"Nothing wrong," said Officer Pierce. "Just making a routine arrest."
"Of my friend Anna?" Tessa walked forward, her eyes meeting the handcuffed woman. "What in the world did you do, girl? Play your Beethoven too loud?"
"She's under arrest for stealing a car," Officer Juarez said clearly. Anna blinked. She wasn't certain of what was normal in this situation, but it struck her as odd at how open the police were being with Tessa.
Anna herself knew little of her neighbor. The woman lived alone, just like her, but what she did for a living was a mystery. She apparently often brought guests home to her apartment, sometimes dressed in strange costumes, but they never made much noise.
This she had heard secondhand from her other neighbors. Apart from exchanging no more than five or six pleasant greetings total over the six months since she had moved in, Anna had barely seen the woman herself.
Tessa leaned over to Anna so her face was at her level; the woman had at least ten inches on her when standing straight.
"So, did you?"
The question bored into her, forcing Anna to respond truthfully. "No," she said. "I have no idea what they're talking about."
"Well," said Tessa, turning back to Pierce and Juarez. "Why are you arresting her, again?"
The answer surprised her.
"The car she parked outside was beat up quite a bit," Pierce said. "We figured we could get a vehicular theft charge to stick for a few days, so we could meet our arrest quota for the month. She'd be out of jail once she posted bail, and we'd drop the charge before it reached court."
Tessa made a disgusted noise at the back of her throat as she listened to the unusually forthright explanation. She glanced over at Officer Juarez, who was still smirking. The officer apparently didn't see anything strange with her partner's truthfulness.
"Ok, this is what is going to happen," Tessa said. "You are going to uncuff my friend. Then, all three of you will join me inside my apartment." She turned, staring off into space, as if deciding something. Then she nodded to herself. "You'll all be staying the night, most likely."
Every word her neighbor spoke seemed to fill Anna's mind to the brim, bouncing around between her ears like discordant echoes. What she said was truth. It was bare, naked fact. Anna could think of nothing that would contradict her apartment neighbor's simple statements.
So it came as no surprise as Officer Pierce unlocked the handcuffs as quickly as he had cuffed her.
Anna nodded gratefully to Tessa, who winked in response. She was thankful for the help, though she had no idea how or why such help had come. In any case, she pushed those concerns to the back of her mind. She shuffled behind Pierce and Juarez, the three of them obediently following Tessa inside her apartment.
#
Tessa sat the two officers down at her dining table, itself a solid oval oaken slab that looked like it was cut as a single slanting piece from its tree.
Anna looked around at the rest of the apartment, and was awed by all the oddities tucked into every corner. A glass pyramid sat on a niche beside her, strange runes carved into it. Above it hung a faded wooden mask that looked vaguely Swahili, and hanging next to it was a small glass case presenting a simple golden chain necklace. And that was just in a single corner.
The rest of the place was filled with similar pieces, apparently taken from all around the globe.
"All right," Tessa said, taking a seat next to the officers. She looked up at the clock standing next to her flatscreen television on the far wall, a full grandfather clock Anna wouldn't be surprised to hear she obtained in some out-of-the-way European village.
It showed quarter to eight.
"Hmm. I think I can get you ready in about forty five minutes," Tessa muttered, almost to herself. Then she turned back to the officers and addressed them directly. "Ok, here's what I want you two to do in the meantime. Pierce, I know you have an overwhelming sexual attraction to your partner."
As she spoke these words, they became undeniable truth. Pierce nodded sheepishly, straightening his pants.
"It's tragic, because your partner doesn't share that attraction. It drives you crazy."
