House of Dolls 5

by Harmon Cooper

  Roman nodded. “That’s the last thing we want.”

  Nadine had to chuckle. “There are a lot of last things we want. This is yet another one of the ways it could all go wrong.”

  “But there is always this place,” Abby reminded them. “If the worst happens, I can keep both of you here.”

  “It isn’t so bad,” Roman said, waving his hand to the right, a building starting to form. He wiped it away as if his palm were an eraser and the space before him was a chalkboard.

  “Like I’ve told you before, others seem to enjoy it.”

  “We will make it through this,” Nadine said.

  “But we’ll still need the paperwork.”

  “I can handle that,” she told Roman. “I have another spot.”

  “You’re just hiding things all over Centralia, aren’t you?”

  Nadine approached Roman, allowing him to slowly wrap his hand around her waist. She then proceeded to pinch him, Roman pretending like she’d hurt him.

  “You two are ridiculously adorable,” Abby told them. “I might need some of this paperwork as well, if things get really bad.”

  “We can leave some for you,” Nadine told her. “It will be at one of the stations.”

  “You may have to change your appearance a bit to make it match, but you seem to like to dress up.”

  Abby smiled. “You know me so well.” The dreamwalker began lifting into the air. “I suppose we should adjourn this meeting. I hope to see you both soon.”

  Nadine blinked her eyes open, the dream that had just played out a bit foggy.

  It took her a moment to adjust to the light, her old bedroom much brighter than the hotel room. It was probably due to the large windows, the light wallpaper with a flower pattern along its outer edges.

  Since her bedroom was now an office, she had slept on a futon on the floor, and her lower back tightened just a bit as she sat up. She groaned, placing her hand on her spine for a moment, massaging it as she yawned.

  Nadine stepped out into the kitchen to see that her father had laid out breakfast for her, bread and a mixed berry jam he had made himself. She looked from the bread and jam to the weapon on the dining room table.

  Nadine sat and slowly prepared a piece of bread with jam on it, spreading it to each of the edges, making sure it was evenly coated.

  She took her first bite, the flavor of the fruit unlike the processed stuff she had grown used to in Centralia.

  It brought back memories, made her feel like she was eleven years old, helping her father pick the fruit from the trees in their backyard, getting sour raspberries from the forest in the special places he had discovered over the years.

  Nadine ate another piece and then prepared a cup of tea.

  She went to the back door and stepped outside, enjoying the sunshine.

  Nadine sipped her tea as she watched the light breeze blow up some of the fallen leaves. A squirrel twisted around a knot on a tree trunk while a bird with white feathers landed on a limb in the distance, pecking at the branch.

  She inhaled deeply, enjoying the smell of the woods and the soil, a sweet scent in the air wafting from a few flowers hanging from a trellis her father had made years ago.

  Nadine wished she could stay here forever, that she could live here without worrying about the impending war and the technological disruption to come.

  For the rest of her life, however long that was, she would be on the run.

  And she knew no matter how far away she made it, there would always be someone looking for her.

  But at least she could spare that same fate for her father.

  Nadine finished her cup of tea and returned to the kitchen, where she picked up the wrist guard and strapped it on her arm. Once it was on, the dial set to lethal, she made her way to her father’s bedroom.

  She knocked lightly.

  He didn’t respond, and after waiting a minute, she knocked again.

  She slowly opened the door and stepped into the room.

  Nadine found her father sitting on his bed, his back against the backboard, a pillow under his knees.

  His arms were tense, his eyes closed, his breaths short.

  Nadine fired two shots, the first into his chest, the second between his eyes.

  She looked away immediately, lowering her weapon, ashamed at what she had just done.

  But it was what they had discussed.

  Had she not done it, someone else would have, and as her father had said last night while they prepared a meal together, he was too much of a chickenshit to do it himself.

  He had tried since her mother died, which was why he had the wrist guard in the first place.

  But Nadine’s father never could bring himself to do it.

  It was over a single glass of wine after dinner that he had asked Nadine to handle it for him.

  They discussed how they would do it, and the signal of two knocks followed by a pause and then two more knocks had been agreed upon.

  And as horrible as Nadine should have felt, a small part of her was experiencing a deep sense of relief.

  She had relieved her father of his burden of being alive, prevented her country from hurting him, and had allowed him to save his dignity by not forcing him to do it himself. She’d also honored his wish of dying in the same bed her mother had died in.

  Nadine had thought about this very moment before going to bed the previous night, wondering how she would react, if she would find herself crying or not able to do it in the end.

  But Nadine was a trained killer.

  And once she reminded herself of this, recalling the countless times she had taken people’s lives, she knew it would come naturally to her when the time came.

  No matter how morbid or how painful, she would persevere.

  Nadine never looked back to her father as she left the room, returning to the kitchen, where she set the wrist guard back on the table.

  She thought about collecting something from the home, a piece to remember it by, but there really was nothing small enough for her to conceal or keep track of for the time being.

  So she took the jam.

  Nadine left her childhood home, the jam and her father’s wrist guard in her bag as she made her way to the bakery she had visited the previous day. She bought more of the apple pastries, the woman bagging them up for her, a smile on her face as she handed the bag over.

  “I hope to see you again soon,” she said.

  Nadine tried to smile at the woman, and when she couldn’t, she simply looked away.

  “Thanks,” she told the baker as she reached the door.

  Chapter Twenty-One: Shower Tryst

  Roman was startled by a knock at the door.

  Coma slipped out of bed, her arm morphing into a blade. She was topless, only a pair of panties on, and Roman instinctively motioned for her to wait a moment as he took the life from Celia with a wave of his hand.

  It’s me.

  “Miranda?” Roman whispered.

  He nodded for Coma to make herself presentable, the doll’s arm morphing back into its normal shape before she slipped into her dress.

  Roman went to the door and, after smoothing his hands over his sleep shorts—which he realized was stupid—he opened the door.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “You said she would be gone,” Miranda told him as she pressed inside, her lavender scent reaching Roman’s nostrils.

  He didn’t remember her wearing this perfume in the Western Province, but she certainly liked to use it when she was coming to see him for illicit reasons.

  “But she should be back any minute…”

  “Put your dolls to sleep,” Miranda said, nodding her chin at Coma.

  His combat doll took a seat in the chair, Roman begrudgingly taking her power away.

  “Happy?”

  “You, me, bathroom.”

  “Why the bathroom?”

  “Are you really this dimwitted?” Miranda placed her hand behind his neck and br
ought him in for a strong kiss. She pulled back, wincing. “Ugh, your morning breath.”

  “I can take care of that,” Roman said as he turned to the restroom. “And why here?”

  “So if Nadine comes, you can figure out a way to get her out of the room and I can sneak out.”

  “Did you really have to come?” Roman asked as Miranda shut the bathroom door behind her and pointed at the toothbrush. “Brush, and yes. It’s been too long.”

  “It’s just been a few days…”

  But Roman found himself obediently doing what the telepath had ordered him to do, brushing his teeth and from that point, hopping into the shower and cleaning off. He pissed as well while he was in there, Miranda sitting on the toilet and talking to him as he bathed.

  “I have something else to tell you,” she said once Roman shifted the shower curtain to the side.

  “Yeah?”

  “It can wait. But not much longer. I’m sorry, Roman.”

  The telepath was nude now, seated on the toilet seat and touching herself.

  Roman stepped forward, his erection starting to grow.

  “You would like that, wouldn’t you?”

  “You’re completely in charge now,” he said, realizing his voice wasn’t quite his own, that Miranda was manipulating him.

  Roman obediently got on his knees and brought his face forward, burying it in her sex. Miranda placed a hand on the back of his head and pushed him in just a little further, eventually wrapping her legs around his shoulders, Roman struggling to breathe.

  After she finally let him take a deep breath, the blue-haired telepath shoved him backward, Roman moving his knees out from beneath him so he ended up in a seated position.

  Miranda crawled down from the toilet and took him in her mouth, mentally speaking to him while she gave Roman a blow job.

  I don’t normally do this for guys.

  Ease up a little on the teeth…

  She bit down playfully on the head of his penis.

  I was just joking with you, Roman thought to her.

  I figured as much. Does it feel good?

  You’re mostly in control of my senses at the moment. Care to give me a little bit of my own consciousness back?

  I suppose, but I’m going to use it later. And don’t go in my mouth. Not yet. I’m not done with you.

  Got it, Roman thought to her as some of the feeling returned to his groin area. He placed a hand on the back of her head, Miranda responding to his touch and letting him take over.

  She was much more resilient than he would have expected her to be, her head moving faster and faster, up and down, Roman not knowing how hard he should take it.

  However you’d like, she thought to him.

  It took a lot of control at that point for Roman not to start thrusting his hips forward, really trying to see what she could handle. Instead, he focused on the arch of her back, the way her ass was jutting up in the air, close to the toilet bowl seat.

  He kept alternating between looking at her gracious curves and her face. Her eyes bulged a little as she started to gag, the telepath recovering and using her hand for a moment.

  Roman felt Miranda take control again as she righted herself, the telepath slowly moving her sex down onto his member, easing his penis in.

  All he could do was watch as this point as Miranda took over completely, Roman’s hand came up to her throat and squeezed as she threw her body into his, the back of his head occasionally tapping against the wall.

  His thumb grazed against her chin and eventually pressed into her mouth, Miranda sucking it as she continued to drive her hips forward.

  She spat his thumb out and made a face like she was orgasming, Roman could barely hear it now, almost as if he were experiencing the entire thing with earplugs in.

  Miranda changed their tempo to something less primal, Roman lying down completely as she repositioned herself with her back to him.

  Everything came back to him all of a sudden, the sounds in the room, the smells, her wetness— all of it as Miranda gasped, moved off Roman and turned to him, a finger on her lips.

  Nadine is back.

  The telepath didn’t seem scared about this; no, she seemed excited, even more turned on than she had been before.

  “Roman? Are you in there?”

  “Just about to take a shower,” he called to Nadine.

  Miranda slowly lowered her hand onto his penis again. She began jerking Roman off as he spoke to Nadine through the door.

  “How long do you think it will be?”

  “Just a few more minutes. Why don’t you go down to get breakfast?”

  “I brought us pastries. We need to talk…”

  “Don’t,” Roman whispered to Miranda, tapping on his temple.

  Don’t try to check her thoughts, he mentally reminded her. She will know. She’s trained.

  I know that, you idiot. Keep talking to her.

  “How was your trip?” Roman asked aloud as Miranda slowly got back on his penis, Roman careful not to rub the wound on his back against the floor.

  “It was… eventful. I’ll stop bothering you,” said Nadine. “Don’t take too long.”

  Turn on the shower, Roman thought to Miranda.

  Fine, fine, she thought back to him as she got off his erection. She tiptoed over to the shower and flicked it on.

  Her voice appeared in the back of his head. Just once more for me, and then you can go, and then I have something I need to tell you.

  Okay, Roman thought back to her.

  Miranda crouched around him now, touching herself as she took control of Roman’s mind again. She eventually bit her lip, her face turning red as she tried to contain a squeal.

  His consciousness returned to him, and as it did Miranda started sucking him off, this time faster than before.

  She didn’t have to think anything to him.

  Roman came, Miranda swallowing all of it and then wiping her chin as she moved to the shower. She motioned for Roman to join her, which he did, still trying to catch his breath.

  The embassy is going to try to kill you and Nadine while you’re still in the East, Miranda thought to him.

  “What?” Roman asked aloud.

  That was the decision they made this morning. I don’t know when they’re coming.

  Why are you here? he thought back to her, regaining his composure a little. You’re telling me this now?

  Because I want to see you one last time. It’s selfish, I know, and I wanted to warn you. I know you have other plans…

  No, I don’t, Roman thought back to her.

  I don’t know what your other plans are, but I can sense them. And I’m not going to tell the embassy that. I wanted to give you a head start.

  But they could be here at any moment.

  I don’t think they’ll be coming this early…

  Roman shook his head, some commotion in the hallway meeting his ears.

  Miranda’s eyes went wide. “No…” she whispered.

  “Get dressed,” Roman said, tossing the shower curtain aside.

  Chapter Twenty-Two: Holes in the Walls

  The front door of the room exploded open.

  Wanting to get Miranda away from whatever was about to happen, Roman opened up a hole in the floor. The plumbing twisted away and water veins burst as the bathroom below them became visible.

  Go! he thought to Miranda as he stretched his hands toward a towel hanging from the rack, the towel quickly slithering to the floor and then to Roman, forming a pair of terrycloth shorts.

  Miranda didn’t comment on what he was wearing; she was already diving down to the room below, still naked.

  Rather than go through the door of the bathroom, especially as he knew it was a chokepoint, Roman formed a hole in the wall large enough for him to see Coma, whom he immediately gave life to.

  Nadine was just pressing herself up from a hiding place behind one of the beds when Coma ran forward, both her arms morphing into blades.

 
Roman gave power to Celia, who also formed blades.

  “We know you’re in there!” a man shouted from the hallway outside the room. “Come out willingly and we’ll make this easy!”

  “Fuck that,” Roman said as he looked at his jacket, which hung on the ends of one of the chairs. Casper popped out, the tiny doll scaling down to the floor. She ran in Coma’s direction as well, fearless as ever despite her size.

  Ice began to spread into the room, Casper and Coma both slipping.

  A fist from out of nowhere struck Roman in the face, sending him flying into the sidewall.

  Nadine, who was now putting on a wrist guard she’d had in her bag, pressed the button on the bottom of her Zero Ring.

  A man who appeared to be on the verge of striking her stumbled forward.

  Nadine sank a fist into his face, the once-invisible man falling onto her bed and then bouncing off, trying to recover.

  She was on top of him in a matter of moments, pressing her wrist guard into the back of his head even though it wasn’t properly attached yet. She fired her shot, the man’s skull now a splatter of blood, bones, and brain matter.

  “We have to fight them,” Nadine told Roman. With her hand in the air, she showed him she was deactivating her ring.

  “Yeah,” he said as he used the bed to help himself up, his jaw aching from the cheap shot. “It’s my own government,” he hissed at her, noticing the Centralian exemplar uniform Nadine’s headless assailant wore.

  Nadine turned to the front of the room, where Coma was waiting for an opening to tear into the hallway.

  Roman came around the corner and decided to make that easier for her.

  He no longer cared, especially now that the Centralian government was trying to remove him.

  He swept his hand wide and the entrance to the room ballooned in size, the walls crunching all around them. Casper and Coma ran out just before a woman with charged hands fired another shot into the room.

  Her blast went wide, tearing through the window in the outer-facing wall.

  A piercing sound met Roman’s ears, throwing off his concentration and sending him to the ground as he tried to cover his head, Nadine following suit.