Transformations: Latigo Key Chapter 4
By Wayne and Ann Triskelion
Comments welcome!
-----------------------
"He murdered my agents!" Hecate spat.
"Agents who were trying to kill him," Maria Marapova said.
Hecate paced back and forth in Baal's office.
Outside the office in the clinic proper and the adjoining warehouse, the inhabitants of Latigo Key were recovering from their transformations. Hecate opened the door slightly.
Cathy was standing with her 'Whoremaster' caressing his face and staring into his eyes as they spoke to one another.
I've lost her
, she thought. Undone by a simple man and a foolish doctor.
She turned to find Marapova smiling at her.
Hecate grunted and began pacing once more.
"This dry run has been a success, Hecate," Maria said.
"A success?! Baal lost complete control of his creations. One of... your kind... had to step in and deliver us."
"This was never in Baal's hands. It was in
his
hands, Hecate. Morpheus worked his will through Cathy Greene. Now we must determine what that means."
"And you! Why are you even here? Two days ago you were more than content to fuck your whores and sleep in your New York pit..."
Further stoking Hecate's fury, Marapova smiled. "I am older than you. I've been exposed to Morpheus far longer. He erased almost two decades from my mind. And yet? He still works his will through me, through Sister... even you, Hecate." She cocked her head to the side and shrugged. "No accounting for taste."
In spite of herself, Hecate laughed.
Marapova stood up and walked gracefully to her.
Hecate flinched when Maria stroked her cheek.
"We are all of us caught up in forces and circumstances beyond our control. Beyond even our understanding. But, I will tell you this, enemy mine: today is the first day in a very long time I have felt there is a reason behind this madness. That is why I left my 'New York pit' and journeyed here."
"Am I your enemy?"
"Yes. Don't feel singled out. I have no allies and few friends." She smiled. "So, you are in good company. However, I think now... today... we are working toward the same goal. We are going to save the world... in spite of ourselves, perhaps." She pointed toward the door. "And those people, those... whores... are the way in which the world will be saved."
"I pray you are correct."
Maria laughed. "I am. But that isn't the worm eating your brain, is it? You feel you've lost Cathy Greene."
She looked away. "What do I care?"
Maria grabbed her chin and turned her face toward her own. "You do. You're in love with her."
Hecate jerked her face away. "That isn't..."
"Possible? Of course it is. The Church denies love, says that your love must be reserved for the Church and Morpheus... they are wrong."
"You dare blaspheme before me?!" She gritted her teeth.
Maria put her finger against Hecate's lips. "Silence nun. Your simple parlor tricks won't work on me, and you know it. No 'di Morpheus' can fall under your spell. You know this. And I'm fairly certain I could kill you with a single blow. You know this as well. So... ignore my blasphemy but listen to the second part: she loves you."
Hecate stared into Maria's exotic brown eyes.
Maria nodded. "She does. I understand lust and love in ways you can never know. Cathy Greene is completely in love with her Whoremaster... and completely in love with you. Again... no accounting for taste."
Hecate took a step back. "Even if... I concede... she loves me? No one can love two people."
"Humans can't." Maria smiled. "But we are no longer human, are we? Neither is Cathy Greene. She is transformed and if she is like me? She loves stronger and with more passion than a cold, dry nun can ever comprehend. Those creatures out there, those beautiful, terrified creatures are better than you, better than Sister, better than your whole misguided, emotionally stunted Church... better even than me." She looked down at her feet. "You are lucky, Mother Superior Hecate. One person in all creation loves you more than you love yourself. What I would give for that... what would any of us give for that?"
***
"We gotta get out of here," Wink said as he stood with his arm around Margaret.
Willy and Jenny stood with them, Willy's arm protectively wrapped around Jenny in the same way Wink held his mother.
Protectors,
Cathy thought as she stood with them, holding Dan's massive hand in hers.
Knowledge had been whispered into her mind at the instant of her binding, the dose of finishing Ambrosia delivered by Dan when he came inside her. More than just the vision. More even than her earlier connection with Maria Marapova when she took the Perverter Ambrosia.
Morpheus had imparted... what? Knowledge, wisdom? A madman's manifesto?
Whatever it was, she understood what had happened to them and how this brave new world they had been thrust into worked.
Jenny and Margaret were both incomparably beautiful. How long had they been tall, buxom goddesses with million-dollar smiles? Their minds had been clouded so they didn't realize the changes in themselves and those around them.
While both Jenny and Margaret were supernaturally strong, they were completely incapable of killing. Not even to protect themselves.
Just having that thought triggered a powerful urge in Cathy to protect them.
Because, like Willy, Wink, and Dan, she too was a protector in addition to being a perverter. She was a White Witch like Maria Marapova.
She looked around the room.
There were Whoremasters mixed into the crowd and gathered around them were groups of whores of both sexes. The Whoremasters were scanning the edges of the crowd, watching for dangers without even realizing it, looking for whores who were alone, beckoning them to their side.
She locked eyes with a Whoremaster. What was his name? Kent? Trent? He had been a stock-boy at the market. Now he was well over seven feet tall. One look in his eyes and she knew his thoughts:
we're scared but we're safe... for now
.
Consuela and Deborah walked over to Cathy.
Cathy pulled Deborah close, and Dan instinctively pulled Consuela to him.
"They took Eduardo," Consuela sobbed.
Something had been wrong with Eduardo
, Cathy thought. When someone couldn't be transformed, they were either eliminated or made into a worker.
Cathy felt ill.
She knew Consuela would likely never see Eduardo Mendez again.
"It will be okay," Cathy whispered.
Dan pulled Consuela against his chest and consoled her as she cried.
"Cathy, you understand what's going on here, don't ya?" Wink whispered.
"Yes."
"We need to get out of here and escape."
Cathy shook her head. "Oh, Wink, I wish it were that easy."
"They disabled the boats," Willy said. "They've cut the communications."
"There's a ship and patrol boats just offshore," Dan said as he rocked Consuela gently.
Cathy raised an eyebrow.
Consuela was stroking Dan's sides, his abs.
Upset or not, she couldn't control her new instincts.
Dan caught Cathy's look. He shook his head and shrugged.
Cathy smiled. "It's natural. It's who we are now."
"Anybody else notice we're all naked... except for Cathy... and it seems like the most natural thing in the world?" Deborah asked. Deborah was pressing hard against Cathy's side. She could almost hear Deborah's heart pounding.
"Whole damned place could turn into an orgy in a second," Dan said.
Consuela was kissing Dan's chest.