by Robin Roseau
"Yes." She smiled. "But they have a little app on a smartphone. And you have a location device on the back of your collar."
"Oh God," I said. "I wondered what that was."
"In the beginning, the app will tell them once every five minutes whether you are above them, below them, or on the same floor. If you are on the same floor it will tell them approximately how far away you are. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"The longer you take, the more frequently the app will give them an update. It halves every hour."
"All right."
"They can find you if you stay in one place too long. Or they can find you if they see your red collar."
"I understand."
"If they find one of your clues, they are obligated to leave it where it is. They won't cheat."
"If you're sure..."
"If you win, then you may ask the domme for a favor. You can ask anything you want. A scene, either public or private. A kiss. A hug. A date. A drive back to London at the end of the night so you don't have to take the train. Anything that is within the realm of a reasonable favor."
I smiled and nodded.
"If you do not care for the woman in question, then you may ask me instead."
"Really?" I asked. "Thank you."
"Of course."
"What if I lose?"
She smiled broadly. "As I said, you're the main entertainment."
"Oh, God."
"You are allowed to struggle all you wish. You do not have to make yourself easy to catch. But under no circumstances should you do anything that is designed or likely to hurt someone. No hitting or kicking, nothing like that."
"Oh, God."
"The team is obligated to catch you and present you to the domme. You can go passively if you want, or you can make them work for it. After that, she is free to use you in a scene of her choice."
"Oh, God." I was saying that an enormous amount.
Nina paused. "Brandy, is this so far over your limits that you can't take it?"
I thought carefully. "I don't know."
"It's going to be very public," Nina said. "And you will feel extremely vulnerable. Do you know about sub space?"
I nodded.
"By the time she's done, you'll be so far down sub space, you will barely be thinking. Does that scare you?"
"No," I whispered.
"Then I am not going to intervene. Do you have final questions?"
"Do you have advice?"
"If you run, you'll draw attention." I nodded. "If you hide the collar more than I have, my observers will catch you, and it will almost guarantee a loss. Furthermore, the domme will be disappointed you cheated, and frankly, so will you."
"I won't."
"Remember this is in fun."
And so I nodded once more. "I won't cheat, Nina."
"This is your first clue." She handed me an envelope. "You get a two minute head start once you leave this room. Then the domme frees her team to search for you. The next clue is not in this room."
"I can open it now?"
"If you have no further questions. After this, I won't help you."
"Did I make a mistake?"
"You're going to have a great deal of fun and probably a fair amount of panic and embarrassment. I'm glad you said 'yes'."
"I hope I feel that way by the time this is over." I opened the envelope and withdrew a stiff note card.
I was dirty, but now I am much cleaner.
I read it twice then looked up at Nina. "You'll want to hang onto those, but maybe not hold them for everyone to see."
"Right." and I shoved it into my shirt.
Finding Clues
I was dirty, but now I am much cleaner.
Nina told me my time began once I stepped out of the room, so I didn't let myself be rushed. She stood there, watching me, while I puzzled through it.
My first thought was that my next clue would be found near someplace people wash up -- most likely a bathroom. On the other hand, it could also be someplace where you store things that have been freshly laundered, such as a linen closet.
I turned to Nina. "You know these clues. Are they in the same order you did them?"
"Yes. I won't offer hints."
"I can think of a half dozen places that match this first one." I showed it to her and explained my thoughts. "If it's a linen closet, it could be buried in with the linens, and I'd have to take everything half apart to find it. And then it might not even be there."
"They are not hidden in that fashion. If it is in the linen closet, it might not be visible, but your fingers would find it easily."
"You said I might need to stand on a chair."
"And if you do, there will conveniently be a chair nearby to stand on, and the sort that would be safe to use and easily moved. If there isn't a wooden chair or a step stool within five steps, then you know it's reached more easily than that."
"She thought carefully about this."
"Yes. She is very thorough."
"So if it's in a linen closet, I shouldn't need to search more than a few seconds."
"Ten or fifteen, perhaps. On the other hand, if it's a bookshelf, well, it could be inside any of the books."
"Oh god," I said. Then I smiled. "And I bet the clue gives me enough information to figure it out."
"There are additional clues available if you just can't find one. If any take you more than fifteen minutes, you can stop by the desk in the front hall. You'll get a better hint. Neither Kendra nor I needed that sort of help, but we could have been lucky. Now, you need to get moving. I won't wait much longer."
"Going, going," I said. I stepped out of the room, and I heard Nina on her phone.
"She has begun."
* * * *
I checked each floor, beginning where I was. There were indeed bathrooms and linen closets. I searched the third floor quickly, counting seconds in my head. I finished this floor at ninety-five seconds and then moved quickly down the stairs. In the entrance, I found Nina talking to Kendra, so I moved to join them, my back largely to the stairs. They both grinned at me.
"Giving up so quickly?" Nina asked quietly.
"Not at all," I said. "Just a brief pause." I continued to count in my head, as carefully as I could, and at what I thought was just over two minutes, a group of four women hurried up the stairs. I watched while making sure my collar wouldn't be visible to them, and they moved to the second floor.
I got as good a look as I could. I thought I could identify them if I saw them again.
"Oh, nicely done," Kendra said. "Did you get a good look?"
"At one or two. Gotta go." I reached out and squeezed her hand then hurried up the stairs to the top. I figured I had about four minutes or so, then I would descend back to the first floor again.
I was able to take a little more time, but at the same time as I was searching, I kept my ears open. If they finished searching the third floor, they'd find me on the fourth fairly easily, and the game would be over before it barely began.
I finished my search just seconds after my four minutes, and I hurried to the top of the stairs.
"She's not here," I heard from below me.
"Shit," I thought. I got ready to run, but then I peeked carefully and saw them descending to second. I smiled and returned to the third floor, positioning myself where I could hear them as they went by.
It was a minute later before I heard four people hurrying from second to fourth. They'd searched third, after all, and I was above second, so fourth was the obvious choice. I waited for them to be well past then moved down to second, still counting.
The second floor had more open rooms, which meant it took longer to search. I wasn't done by the time I thought I was about out of time, so I moved outside a room closest to the stairs and then listened.
I was early, and it was well over another minute before I heard them descending. I was ready to dash into an open room and try to hide behind the door. They stopped on the landing.
"We're rushing about," one of them said. "We should be more methodical."
"We've searched these floors. She must have gotten past us and is in the basement."
"We're not in a rush," a third said. "We should just move carefully and keep our eyes open for someone looking furtive. It wouldn't be any fun if it were too easy, anyway."
Oh, I liked hunter number three. I agreed with her entirely. Well, not about the part about looking furtive, but the rest.
"She's not up here," said the second. "She got past us. She's downstairs somewhere. Let's go."
I heard them move off. The fourth never said anything.
Unfortunately, they had spent too long on the landing, and I thought they'd actually cheated a little by standing around like that. They were supposed to pass through those places. While it was better they didn't check this floor again, I lost time until they got their next status update.
I went back to searching, but I lost track of my time.
And that was when I found the back staircase. Bonus! I didn't have to use the main stairs. I could beat them, at least as long as they kept using the main stairs.
I descended to the main floor. They were going to get another hint, but I wasn't sure it would help them. There were a lot more people on the main floor, giving me ample places to hide, and there were multiple exits from most of the rooms. I didn't think I'd be easily cornered, as long as no one helped them.
Using the back stairs turned out to be an unexpected advantage. I came out in the kitchen.
"Dirty dishes," I thought, "or dirty linens here." It took ten minutes to search the kitchen, and I had no idea how much luck I had not to be caught while doing it.
Nothing.
But immediately next to the kitchen was the laundry. It took me twenty seconds to find my next clue. There was a load of linens, clearly freshly laundered, sitting in a shallow hamper, and the next clue was stuffed along the edge, and I found it just seconds after beginning my search.
* * * *
I'd spent enough time on the main floor. I snuck back to the back staircase and took it into the basement. Then I hovered at the stairs. I could hear if anyone came down the back, and I thought I could slip back up them if it looked like they were back in the basement. I read the clue.
They say I live.
I smiled and headed back up the stairs.
Then I had to find the way from the kitchen into the more public portions of the house. By the time I got turned around twice, I decided I'd spent too much time there. I hurried back into the kitchen and took the back stairs to second floor. I listened carefully then moved to the center staircase. I took a quick peek then moved down the stairs.
Kendra was missing, but Nina was there talking to another woman. I recognized the first woman I had danced with. I moved up to them, slipping between them so they were covering a look of my collar from most directions.
"Hello again," said the woman. By her tone, I think she was ready to be annoyed, but then she saw my collar. "Oh," she said, lowering her voice. "You have grown significantly braver."
"Thank you for your help earlier," I said. "Nina, would you like to mess with my opponents?"
"I can't help you more than I have."
"If you get a chance to tell them something for me..."
"Oh, that I can do."
"Tell them I never look furtive, but I agree. This will be far more fun if I make it a challenge."
She laughed. "You overheard a conversation. Oh, that's going to get their goats. But are you offering too large a clue?"
"They didn't see me, so I don't think so. It was at least ten minutes ago now. Well, gotta go. I hear Frodo lives."
Nina laughed again.
I slipped away and made it into the library unmolested. There were people in there, but no one paid me much attention at first. I began searching the bookshelves, not for the clue, but for any works by Tolkien. It didn't help that the books weren't arranged by author or title, and it took a while to realize they were by subject.
Still, I didn't find any Tolkien. There hadn't been any other libraries, at least not that I had seen. The clue could mean something else, or there could be a copy of the book somewhere else.
"Looking for anything in particular?"
I glanced at the woman next to me. She was a tall, butch woman, and she smiled down at me. Then she noticed my collar.
"Oh, my. What's the game?"
"I'm being hunted. I have clues myself." I showed her the clue.
"I don't get it."
"I think it's a reference to The Lord of the Rings. Frodo lives." She looked at me blankly. "You know. The book."
"I don't read much," she admitted.
I looked around frustrated. Then I saw the library ladder. While I couldn't reach the top shelf of books, I could see none of them was The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit. But there was a ladder right there. What could it hurt? I stepped over and climbed the ladder.
And there, sitting on the top of the entire bookcase, sitting flat on its side, was a copy of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first in The Lord of the Rings series.
"I found it," I said to the woman at the bottom of the ladder. "Would you move me five feet that way?" I gestured.
"Sure." She gripped the ladder. "Hang on. I don't want to have to catch you." Then she moved me carefully, and soon I had the book.
And that was when the library door opened, and my pursuers stepped in.
"Fuck," I whispered very quietly.
"What are you waiting for?" said the woman at the bottom. "I am tired of your sass. I told you to clean it with your tongue. Get licking!"
Inside, I laughed. She might not read much, but she was quick.
I didn't actually lick the bookshelf, but I made a good show of it. My pursuers looked around the room, even coming to a stop at the bottom of the ladder.
"Keep licking," said the butch woman.
"Seen someone skulking about?" one of the women asked.
"Skulking?" said the woman. "What does that mean?"
"Sneaking?"
She rattled the ladder. "Put more tongue into it! I am so tired of your sass. If you weren't so good in bed, I'd replace you."
Then she shifted me down a foot, giving me a new portion of the bookshelf to not lick.
"No," she continued. "But I'm not sure I'd have noticed."
"She'd be wearing a red collar."
"Never mind," said another. I recognized the voice of the one who wanted a challenge. "It says she's upstairs somewhere. Again. How is she consistently getting past us?"
"Let's go."
I almost started laughing. I was right above them. Right above them. They could have grabbed my leg at that point. But I guess that put me above them. Saved by the little app.
Ten seconds later they were gone, and I had a fresh count on their time. I grabbed the book, found the note, and climbed down from the ladder.
"Thank you!"
"You owe me."
"I guess I do."
"Kiss."
"Sure."
It was a pretty darned good kiss, and she half picked me up to do it besides. Then she set me on my feet. "What does it say?"
I showed her the note. "A girl's best friend," she read.
"Diamonds," I said.
"What?"
"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend. It's from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."
"From what?"
"A Marilyn Monroe movie. Shit. Half the people here are wearing diamonds. What could that mean?"
"There's a theater."
"Excuse me?"
"There's a theater room on second floor. Take a right from the stairs. It's down at the end. Maybe they have the movie. Want me to peek and see if they're in the hallway?"
"Sure!"
She peeked then pushed me back behind her. "They're on the stairs. Heading to third. Okay, go!"
Halfway
They did indeed have the movie. It took me a few minutes to find it. It
was a huge library of DVDs. But the next clue was in the DVD case. I grabbed it and decided I'd been there too long. I slipped out the door and headed for the back staircase.
I was literally on the staircase when I heard someone from above. "I figured out how she's getting past us! There's another set of stairs."
I dashed down to the basement, found a busy room, and read the note.
* * * *
I found the seventh clue, and there was still no hint the game was over. I had completely lost track of all sense of time, and my chest was getting stuffed with notes, but I didn't have anywhere else to put them. Then I almost got caught again.
The back staircase was wood, not carpeted, and you could hear someone walking on it. My boots made a very distinctive noise. I was descending the stairs from third to first and was almost to the kitchen when I heard people moving up from below me. If I went up, I was sure they'd hear me, so I took two more steps, being quick but quiet, and dashed into the laundry room.
I thought about trying to find my way out of the area, but so far I'd been unsuccessful.
I wasn't a big woman. And the dryer was an industrial sized dryer. I grabbed some of the linens from the basket earlier, climbed into the dryer, and pulled the door closed, most of the way, using the linens as a shield. If they got a status update now, I was in trouble, but I didn't think they'd actually look in the dryer unless they were searching intently.
They came to a stop in the hallway outside the laundry room.
"I tell you, I heard boots."
"Well, she's not here. I was sure we'd find her by now."
A minute later they were gone. But I used my time to read my next clue.
Trio near a fire.
A trio near a fire. That could mean something in the kitchen, or maybe there was a fireplace somewhere. Hell, there were fireplaces all over this place.
Or it could mean something about the furnace, but I hadn't found a furnace room.
* * * *
It took me twenty-five minutes to find the trio by the fire, and it took that long because I kept having to ditch my pursuers. In one of the sitting rooms on second floor, a domme was seated in a chair near a fire, and she had two subs seated at her feet. When I finally found her, she was using my envelope as a coaster for her drink.
