It started as a light tap on the shoulder, a tap I pretended not to feel. Even though I was trying to sleep outside atop a warm outdoor air vent on the coldest night of the year, I didn't want to be bothered. I had found homelessness to be a world of extremes, with either police officers rousting me constantly to move along or do gooders sticking their noses into my life, trying to understand and rectify my plight. I wanted the attention of neither, but the gentleness of the tap seemed to indicate that this time it was the latter.
"Sir?" The tap on the shoulder turned to a gentle shake, and one of my eyes opened to look up at a young woman. I could tell that she was petite, even as she towered over me in my supine position. I opened one eye to have a look. She was beautiful. I grunted a response, I was chilled to the bone and just wanted to sleep.
"Sir?" She said again. "Sir, would you like some hot cider or coffee?" For the first time I noticed a second woman with her. From what I could determine, she was just as attractive as the first. Since the emergence of my new socioeconomic situation, I was used to being ignored by almost everybody, but beautiful women in particular. I slowly sat up and looked at them. They were holding a couple of hot thermos bottles.
"Coffee," I said. "Black. That would be fine." The first woman smiled and knelt down, pouring some hot coffee into a styrofoam cup. I looked up at her for a moment. She was dressed in a thick coat and heavy winter clothing, but I was able to see a pretty, cherubic face framed by perfectly straight and thick dark hair. I took the drink she offered, nodding a thank you and drinking it down slowly. The hot liquid felt good going down my throat.
"My name is Diana," she smiled at me, looking my in the eye. "This is Freya." She pointed at a slightly taller blonde woman, similarly dressed. "We are the angels of Artemis. What is your name?"
"Dan," I said, coughing as a few droplets of coffee went down the wrong way. Her question took me aback. It had been some time since somemone besides a police officer had asked me what my name was. She reached out her hand as though to shake it. I took it and she held it for a long time, moving in a bit closer. "Who -what is the angels of Artemis?" I asked.
"Dan, what are you doing out here like this?" She had ignored my question and was very close now, closer than I had been to a woman in some time. I felt a bit strange and embarrassed. I hadn't changed clothes or showered in a week and knew that I probably reeked. she didn't seem to care. Freya moved in behind me as well, squatting down with Diana.
"Long story," I shivered, not really wishing to tell it. They nodded with understanding, keeping their gaze upon mine.
"Have you any friends or family, any connections with anybody at all?" Freya leaned in to put an arm around me and pull me up a bit. I shook my head.
"Not really, no." I started to shake from the cold as the two women started to pull on me as if to help me up. "What are you doing?" I asked. Diana smiled.
"We would like for you to come with us," she said. "The kitchen of Artemis is about a mile from here. We can serve you a hot meal, get you showered and cleaned up and tell you a little bit more about our services to the community." She smiled. "Do you think you would like that?" I nodded, cooperating with them and allowing them to pull me to my feet. They each took one of my arms and led me back slowly to a white van a few yards away, which was parked near the curb with its hazard lights blinking.
"Yes, yes I would." I felt my blood draining from my head as I stood up. I was still a bit unsteady from the cold and staggered a bit. I was surprised by the strength they exhibited in steadying me and helping me into the van, which was very warm and pleasant. Diana and Freya sat on either side of me in the back seat, and two other women were in the front seats of the van. They appeared a bit larger physically, certainly not fat, and seemed to have a more detached temperment than Diana and Freya did. They stared straight ahead, not even acknowledging me. I nodded to them all nevertheless, still in disbelief at my good fortune at having been rescued from the cold. I shivered as Diana felt my forehead and Freya felt my pulse, which was racing.
"He's still shaky, let's head back," she said, smiling at me. I smiled back. I was still a young man with a healthy libido, and felt very much as though I'd hit the lottery with these two. They both snuggled against me "for warmth" during the short ride back to their facility. I slumped back into the seat, enjoying the attention, my body reacting in a predictable way that I knew they could likely see through my filthy dungarees.
I took a deep breath and leaned back in the seat, closing my eyes as the two women remained close to me. My thoughts drifted to the recent past. A messy divorce, a custody battle, job loss and foreclosure had pushed me on the path to homelessness while my practice of trying to dull the pain with drugs and alcohol had pretty much sealed the deal. It had been two years since I'd had a permanent address, even longer since I'd had a job, and I'd been so beaten down by the reality of sleeping in the streets that i hardly thought of any other reality for myself anymore. My hair had grown long and unkempt and I sported a freakish beard that covered most of my once clean shaven face. I had begun to doze swirling in my own thoughts when I was jostled awake by the van as it pulled over a speed bump and into the entrance of what looked like a garage of some sort. We came to a stop and a rolling door was pulled down and ratcheted shut by an unseen worker in the distance. Freya pulled out her smartphone, making a quick call.
"Hello?" She said, hurriedly. "Yes, he's safely inside." She looked at me for a moment and smiled as Diana opened the car door and tugged on my hand, indicating that I should exit. "We're going to process him now." I got out of the vehicle as Freya continued to speak on her phone outside my earshot. I took a deep breath and then had a good look around, idly wondering what it meant to be "processed." As suspected, the area looked like a large underground parking area, with elevators and what looked like a separate facility through a door some twenty yards away. The garage was chilly, colder than it had been inside the van, but not nearly as cold as it was outside.
The other two women exited the van, standing to face me, offering me my first good look at them. They were both tall and well built, at least 5'10" in stocking feet by my estimation. They wore what looked like olive green police or military style uniforms, marked with an odd insignia on the collar and left pocket. They each carried a sidearm and wore handcuffs, a billy club and pepper spray, with their pants stuffed into calf length riding boots. One had light blonde hair and features and was half a head taller than I was. The other was dark haired with an olive complexion, and only slightly shorter than me. Both had their hair pulled back and met my eyes with an expressionless, officious stare, their legs spread and arms behind their backs in what could best be described as a military "at ease" bearing.
"Freya, see that he's showered and suitably groomed," Diana said, tapping a text on her phone. "I need to meet with Morganna." She turned to the two taller women. "Shannon and Bianca, go ahead and help out." She turned to leave, looking at me and suddenly kissing me on the cheek. "I will see you in a little while, okay honey?" She noticed the slight thickening against my belt line, making sure to brush against it as she turned to leave. "Oh." She stopped and spoke to Freya for a moment. "Regina is over by the showers. She is going to help us out too." Diana walked off, her ass swaying as the other women yanked me back to divert my attention. They triangulated me, with each woman standing about three feet away from me in such a way that I was surrounded.
Freya smiled. "Face me, sweetheart," she said. The other two women were expressionless, but each moved about a foot closer to me as I turned to face Freya. She held out a large plastic bag that looked like a garbage sack.
"Strip," she said. Her demeanor suddenly changed from pleasant to serious, and she looked at me the same way that the two officers had regarded me all along. I suddenly stopped, looking around at them.