CHAPTER ONE -- Initiation
Maolisa (pronounced mail-issa) paced the outer walk of the widow's watch slowly, amused to find such a thing here in the middle of a forest in the deep south. From here, high atop the out of place mansion, she could see miles across the multicolored sea of trees in all directions, and even the hole formed in it by the lake to the east. Her expectations of dull autumn colors had not been realized and she felt less homesick as she admired the reds, oranges, and golds of fall. That fall arrived later in the south than back home was not really important, as long as it arrived. She shivered as a cool breeze caressed her body through her thin dressing gown, smiling.
Aislin (pronounced ASH-lin) looked down at the water inches from where her little toes hung over the edge of the wooden dock. Her bright white feet contrasted sharply with the dark gray aged wood planks and momentarily drew her attention away from the cold water. She wiggled her toes, smirking at how childish they looked even with nail polish, then thought that maybe the nail polish was having an effect opposite what she intended. After the brief sidetrack, her mind returned to the task at hand: admiring the beauty of the lake. She'd always been partial to small lakes surrounded by forest, and it didn't much matter to her what part of the country it was in, as long as it was isolated.
Stepping back inside the cupola and out of the wind, Maolisa made her way down the narrow spiral stairs, her bare feet enjoying the feel of the cool, varnished steps. As she stepped into the huge but nearly empty master bedroom she caught sight of herself in the full length mirror attached to the closet door. She stopped and studied her reflection, smiling faintly at the way her white lace dressing gown made her light skin seem tanned. Opening the gown she turned side to side, assessing her 28-26-28 figure and frowning only slightly at the 28B chest size and the little round bum that kept her hips from being much bigger than her waist. She liked having a small chest and hips, but resented the comments about 'little girl' that it drew. Shrugging, moderately content with what she saw, she removed the gown and tossed it onto the queen-size bed before stepping through the connecting door to the spacious bathroom.
Taking a deep breath, shivering in anticipation, Aislin dove from the dock into the frigid lake, resisting the urge to scream as the icy water seemed to make every inch of her body sprout instant goose bumps. She swam out into the lake as far as she could while remaining underwater, then paused to tread water and catch her breath before doing a simple breath stroke to return to the dock. As she put her hands on the planks and pulled herself up she noticed, not for the first time, that her fingers had the same childish look as her toes and sighed in exasperation. Climbing up onto the old wood, she surveyed her naked body and came to the conclusion that she was never going to look like a woman, other than her long hair tickling her heels. She pulled at her nipples, almost grinning at how they stood firm and hard from the small russet circles of her areolas just from getting cold. Not that it was the only way to get them to stand up, but she blushed over her entire body when she thought of the other ways. She warmed her AA-cup breasts in her hands to try to get the aching nipples to relax, but found the touch caused more tension, not less.
The master bathroom featured a bathtub raised on clawed feet mounted on a small pedestal a few inches from the floor. A shower head attached to flexible tubing hung on the wall beside it within easy reach of someone sitting or standing in the water. On the opposite wall, under a large window flanked by two brass framed mirrors, a long counter with a recessed sink was illuminated by multiple wall lights as well as overhead spots. Maolisa grinned and shook her head slightly, thinking about how little use she was going to get out of the make-up counter (as the salesman had called it). The last time she had used make-up was on graduation day at the insistence of the master of ceremonies, who was convinced all girls wore lipstick, blush, and eyeliner all the time. She looked around for the toilet and eventually found it hidden in a small sub-room closed off by doors disguised as floor to ceiling mirrors. She paused to look down at her vulva, then caress it lightly as she thought there might be hair growing there at last, but discovered it was just a shadow and she was still as smooth as a kid. It seemed even the hormone treatment wasn't going to fix that.
The dock was not attached to any building or road, it seemed to merely grow from the tree-encrusted shore, but when Aislin reached the beginning (assuming the part furthest out in the water was the end) she found the narrow trail she had followed to find it. She was halfway back to the house, lost in the sensations of the trees and bushes caressing her body, before she recalled that she had been dressed when she left the house. She shrugged and smirked at the forest around her and decided she could go back to the dock for her clothes another time. She continued up the winding path, letting the forest tease her with gentle touches and light scraping on sensitive skin. There was no possibility of just pushing straight through to the house, at least, not while naked. Her one attempt at it had gotten her some very interesting as well as some very painful pokes.
The water in the tub was too hot to step in directly, so Maolisa took a moment to untie her auburn, nearly brown, hair and shake it loose, smiling at the way it seemed to float in slow motion when she shook her head. At five feet long it was only a couple of inches from dragging on the floor when not tied or braided. She preferred it loose, especially when naked, but it could be really annoying, particularly around open flames like campfires or gas stove tops. She only knew one other person whose hair could get as long, and knew it was for the same reason. Touching the water with the tip of a finger, she decided she had it cooled enough to tolerate, although still a smidgen too hot to be comfortable, and stepped in, figuring it would cool while she distracted herself before washing.
Approaching the house from the forest, Aislin noticed a set of stairs winding back and forth from the ground all the way to the top floor, with landings and doors on the two floors in between. Curiosity, one of her more interesting traits, compelled her to climb the stairs to find out where they led. The door at ground level opened into a hallway she didn't feel a need to explore, so she wiped the dirt off her bare feet, shivering at the touch, and climbed. The first floor up opened into the spacious kitchen, which surprised her as she hadn't noticed the door from the inside in the couple of days she'd been in the house. She shrugged and blamed her faulty memory, then climbed up to the next level. She knew it would be a surprise as she hadn't been to the second floor up since moving in and had no idea what was there. As the door swung wide she gasped, then made a sharp, schoolgirl squeal of pleasure at discovering a library that would be the envy of any 19th century gentleman's club.
Maolisa rested her head on the back of the tub for a moment, then used her toes to capture the chain to the plug and pulled on it, releasing the water and sighing softly as it swirled around her on its way out. Reaching up to the wall she pulled the shower head from the wall and turned on the faucet under it, making a tiny yelp as the first bit of water out was cold, then sighing again as it warmed. She rinsed the soapy suds from her body, then stood to make sure her hair was rinsed thoroughly as well, since leaving even a trace of soap in it made it clump up horribly. She looked down at her body, then at the settings on the shower head, then grinned before turning off the water, placing the head on the wall, and telling herself she needed to make time for experimenting.
Aislin stepped into the library and shivered in delight as her feet sank into the plush maroon carpet. She stood and wiggled her toes for a moment, then wandered slowly around the walls. Dark mahogany shelves stretched floor to ceiling covering most of the wall space on three sides. The fourth side was half filled with a brick fireplace flanked by inset glass fronted cabinets holding various decorative items. The bookshelves on the wall nearest Aislin were broken by large windows, but the shelves continued above and below them. The far wall shelves were interrupted only for a door, with the shelves extending across it over the top. Aislin's tummy fluttered at the sight of so many books to explore. She told herself to make time for the library, then stepped back outside and onto the staircase to continue to the last landing.
Finding a towel big enough to use for a small blanket hanging near the tub, Maolisa wrapped herself in it and wandered over to the make-up counter. She discovered her favorite comb had already been set beside the sink and started combing her hair, looking around as she did, seeing details she had missed on her first look. One thing she found was a door beside the mirrored door to the toilet. Pausing her combing, she reached for the knob, grabbing it just as it was turned and pulled from the other side. She screamed in shock and heard a mirroring scream in a similar voice.
The door at the top of the stairs had no window, and the landing didn't go far enough to the side to be able to look into the windows in the wall, so Aislin just grabbed the doorknob, turned and pulled. Seeing Maolisa standing there startled her and hearing the scream triggered her to scream as well.
Maolisa dropped her comb and towel, then started giggling. Aislin leaned against her and Maolisa wrapped her arms around her, hugging her and holding her up as the two of them laughed a lot harder and longer than the incident really called for. As they slowly caught their breath, Maolisa let go of Aislin and picked up her towel, wrapping it around herself, then retrieved her comb and resumed fixing her wet hair.
"Ash! What are you doing sneaking around outside my bathroom? And naked?" She kept her eyes on Aislin's face, knowing the girl was very sensitive about her body in spite of refusing the hormones that would fix what she claimed she didn't like.
Aislin continued to giggle, shrugging. "I went down to the dock and had to swim. It's COLD. I forgot my clothes when I came back, then I saw this staircase and wanted to see where it went." She grinned, "it went here." Aislin pushed past her sister and her mouth dropped open in awe, "Mail! This is wild! You could rent your bathroom out as an apartment!" She took the comb from Maolisa's hand and started combing for her as she continued looking around. "What are you going to do with all this space? Between us we don't have enough make-up for even one of those cabinets."
