Hannah's taxi left her at the top of Stone's driveway, and she felt naked as she walked down the brick path to his door. He had told her to wear something slutty, and she found she couldn't disobey him. She had chosen a one piece zip-up sleeveless black dress, which she was wearing without a bra. The hemline ended at her upper thighs, with a few merciful inches of scalloped lace at the bottom.
Her pink high heels accentuated the muscles of her calves and thighs, and made her tilt her pelvis. She felt like she was on a date with a new beau; it had been twenty five years since she started seeing Jordan at New Gilead. Her thoughts were still clouded. Should she call someone? Was there something she needed to remember?
The door opened before she rang the bell. She was greeted by a tall, slender, gorgeous black woman standing before her, practically nude; she wore only a diamond studded collar, thong panties and a pair of high heels. "Good evening, Mrs. Jubal."
"I've met you before, haven't I? Aren't you... November? November Bearshak?"
The tall woman shook her head and looked past Hannah. "Sonny calls me Peppermint, and that's my name now. Please follow me."
Hannah marveled at the entryway. Every inch spoke of luxury and decadence. The floor was marble, covered with animal skin rugs. The columns were Ionian white, dividing the rooms. She walked past scores of beautiful nude or nearly nude men and women, through glass doors into a torchlit garden.
Stone was standing in a grove of small trees. He was wearing a toga, laurels around his head, and a long black cape. He plucked an apple from the tree as Peppermint announced: "Sonny, your guest has arrived."
He took a large bite of the apple and leered at Hannah. "That's how I like to see you. Here, take a bite of this apple." Juice dripped from where he'd bitten it.
She shook her head. "No thank you."
Stone cackled. "So polite. Take a bite." He grabbed her neck and shoved the apple into her mouth. She gnawed a piece off, and he withdrew his hand. She sniffled as she wiped her mouth, already beginning to cry.
He cupped her chin. "No beauty is so transcendent as a woman's tears." He put his thumb in her mouth, and she immediately sucked it, opening her eyes wide to him and bobbing her head up and down. Stone grinned. "I like that. But you should be kneeling."
She knelt before him in the lush grass, and he walked a circle around her, as if he was deciding something important. "Peppermint, tell me. How many women do you think Hannah here has kissed? How many has she gone to bed with?"
Peppermint looked at Hannah's hair shining in the torchlight. "One? Maybe two?"
Stone smirked. "Tell her, Hannah. How many?"
"Ten," she mumbled.
"Ten?"
"Yes."
"Kissed or gone to bed with?"
"I've kissed fifteen girls, and gone to bed with ten."
Stone kissed the tip of his fingers. "Exquisite. You see, Hannah, as you've probably guessed by now, I am psychic. Right now I'm in your mind, walking through the hallways of your childhood home, watching everything you've ever done. Your guilt and shame and fear is what give me strength. They give me power over you. I am everything you've ever wanted to forget. I am the hole in your life and I am the trap inside."Tears ran down Hannah's face.
"Now, let's see. What's going to make you hurt? Why don't you tell us more about Jordan? What is it that you've been saying that he's been doing all those nights away, and what do you suspect he's been really doing? Tell us a story, and show us your tits while you're at it."
Hannah slowly reached back and unzipped the top of her dress, lowering the bustier and revealing her pale, firm breasts. "For years now, Jordan spends half his nights in the city, and he eats dinner there. We've just gotten used to it. I thought that maybe he was out with friends, socializing, or catching up on work around the office." A crowd was gathering. The other men and women had been summoned to listen and watch her performance. She dropped her dress on the ground, and knelt in her thong panties.
"Go on. What was he really doing? And you know what the answer is. Just as well as I do. Play with your tits, get them nice and perky for us."
"When those young people went missing, the ones we always talk about in the news, he was gone that night. And when he came back, he was really jittery and shaky. I think that he was involved." Her tits started to ache and redden as she pinched them. She saw at least forty people watching her now. Some of the men were stroking their erections, and some of the women had begun to kiss each other. She felt nauseous, but she couldn't stop.
"Peppermint!" Stone bellowed. "Stand her up and start licking her. I want her nice and juicy for when I fuck her. Now Hannah, this will be the last time you'll be referred to by your name. I am going to call you... Honeysuckle. Now everyone, say hello to Honeysuckle."
