Chapter 1

Stranger than Fiction

"My ass is grass," said Olivia. There was a frantic quality to her voice. She rifled through every crevice of her office at the museum where she worked as a curator. "I know it was here, Stacia. I signed it out from Special Collections and brought it to my office. When I left the office, I locked it in my desk drawer."

Stacia looked worriedly at her friend and co-worker as she watched her crawling around on the floor in her tailored crème skirt suit and heels. "Liv, honey, it's going to be fine. This won't be the first time someone has misplaced a rare piece from this museum. It is unfortunate that today is your last day, though. I wonder if Patrick is going to take it out of your salary. You would end up owing the museum! Or they could take your ass to court. Oh, Liv, your ass is grass!" Stacia agreed, joining Liv on the floor in the search.

Olivia fell against the wall, legs splayed open with her head resting in her hands.

"Liv, where did you get those garters and stockings. They are hella hot. Marcus would give me the business if I wore those for him!" Stacia said.

"La Perla. Seriously, Stacia! Get your eyes off my ass and help me up. I need to find that damn book pronto," she said, stretching out her hand for assistance.

"What is the name of this lost book?" Stacia said, grasping her hand and pulling Olivia to her feet.

Olivia glanced at the large portrait hanging on the wall across from her desk. The figure in the painting was unknown to her, although she'd done research to identify the man in the portrait. When she found it in the bowels of the museum's underground storage unit, she felt drawn to those eyes. Unable to resist, she had taken it from storage and had it relocated to her office. The eyes belonged to the impeccably dressed man in a black suit circa 15th century. A red-lined cape hung around his shoulders. His gaze was arresting, so much so that she would stare at if for long stretches when she was in her office alone. She felt hot when she thought about the other things she would do under the gaze of those eyes.

"Earth to Liv. What the hell are you looking at?" Stacia said. She followed Liv's gaze to the portrait on the wall. "Oh, it's the hot Dracula looking dude. That painting makes me feel strange. I don't know why you brought it here. There is a reason they put it away."

Stacia's words broke the hold the painting had on Olivia. "Vlad Dracul's Delight," Olivia said.

"What?" said Stacia.

"The book…you asked for the name of the book. That's it, Vlad Dracul's Delight," Olivia said as she sat down in her plush office chair.

"Sounds like some trashy romance novel." Stacia had a seat too.

"I hope I don't regret telling you this, Stacia. But today is my last day. I won't have to endure your relentless teasing. I have to tell someone or…I'm going to go out of my mind," Olivia said.

"You're cheating on Byron aren't you! I knew it. You've walked around the museum all smiles lately. I know you're moving to California to marry your brilliant technogeek, but you've been engaged forever and you've never been this giddy. Spill it sister! It has to be someone at the museum. It shouldn't be hard to narrow down the contestants. Is it Robert in Acquisitions or Omar in Development?" Stacia said.

"Stacia, No! Stop calling Byron that," Olivia demanded with a chuckle. "You know I'm really going to miss you. Listen to me and don't interrupt. I think…no. I know…that painting is possessed or haunted because—"

"No shit, Sherlock!" Stacia interrupted in a forceful stage whisper. "Look at his eyes. It's like they are following you. I don't know how you stay here working late into the night with those eyes. Gives me the shakes."

"Stacia, shut up and listen. I think the painting is haunted because…How can I say this…most every night when I'm here working late…I can't believe I'm telling you this but, I'm…um…well…"

"Stop beating around the bush, Liv. Spill it."

"That first night it was up in my office something…happened. I was sitting here working on a project and I heard this voice call my name. It was crazy because I knew it was a real voice. I also knew no one was on this floor with me. I thought it might be the custodians working late. I stopped working and really listened. I looked up at the painting…and…and…I couldn't stop looking at his eyes. All of a sudden, I started having…sexual thoughts about…him…the man in the painting-".

"Like what?" Stacia said.

"Like me and him…prone...so, but that's not important…All the overhead lights went out in the office except for my desk lamp. I tried to get up to check on it but I couldn't move. I just stared at the damn painting...into his eyes." Olivia noticed Stacia's saucer like eyes and how her mouth was slack. It was a funny sight.

"In that moment Stacia, I got so….hot and bothered in a way that I've never been before. It was uncomfortable. So I…I um…um…sort of did myself…but I had help? I know it sounds crazy."

Stacia jerked her head to one side, but Olivia continued.

"I unbuttoned my blouse. I unclasped my bra. I cupped my breasts, and I swear it felt like they were being…sucked. Then I felt these unseen hands spreading my thighs. They felt like hands, warm and strong…I pulled off my underwear and my legs lifted on their own to prop up on the arms of this very chair. Then it actually felt like someone or something was going down on me, I mean epically so. I came once and then again all the while looking at those eyes. I know it was him doing it, Stacia. When I came for the third time, I saw this smirk on his lips. It went away as soon as I saw it. And then it was over. I was sure I had dreamed it all because everything was back to normal. My first thought was that I was missing Byron. He's been away for like 3 weeks. But…when I got up to leave, I noticed…I saw..."

"What, Liv, what?"

Olivia winced. "My chair was damp in the center. I smelled it and…it was it was real. It had happened. I know that's gross, but that was my only evidence."

Stacia sat there looking at her, mouth open for a full 15 seconds before she spoke. "O-livia, damn, you should write that down. Are you saying that you spend all your nights here masturbating to this painting?" Stacia said. "Can I borrow it?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "No. I was not masturbating. It…him…the man in the painting was doing it to me. I've done little experiments to test it. Sometimes, when I get that feeling, I'll turn away from the painting or I'll squeeze my legs together or cross them. Nothing works. It doesn't matter. That feeling just overtakes me and I start writhing around like Christina Ricci in "Black Snake Moan." It feels divine...or wicked and delicious. I've never had orgasms like that. I feel the release all over…like even on my scalp…my ear lobe…my arm pit…"

"Okay, Liv. I get it…well, I don't get it…like that…I wish I did, but…"

"I talked to the painting last night. I told it…him I couldn't do it anymore. I thanked him, though. This morning there was a slip of paper on my desk with a message. It said, 'Vlad Dracul's Delight.' I didn't know what it meant at first. I thought it was a note from Patrick to research. I googled it and discovered that it's a book. Wikipedia said that it is housed here at our museum. I found it in Special Collections and checked it out. Thank God it was the English version. It's a biography of Vlad Dracul. I put it in my desk and locked it inside. After I returned from running an errand, I can't find it. My desk was still locked. No one else has a key."

"What does the book have to do with your painting sexcapades?"

"Ha, Ha. Good one, Stace. I have a theory. The guy in the painting somehow took the book. He is playing games with me."

"Oliva Pope. This is just plain weird. First, the creepy painting is causing you to masturbate. Second, it...he stole a book because you plan to stop sexing yourself up in front of him. Please don't tell Patrick this story. It would be a good plot for a porno if pornos had plots, but…" Stacia said before she started laughing at Olivia.

"This is not funny. It is real. Just because it involves…sex doesn't mean you can trivialize it—"

"It involves more than sex, Liv. You say the painting is practically raping you, right…or making you rape yourself. Just tell Patrick you lost the book and call it a day. Be thankful for your total body orgasms and-"

A single knock on the door startled them both. When the door opened, Patrick walked inside.

"Olivia, From the looks of it, you haven't found the book." Patrick said.

Olivia stood, a little taken aback and a great deal, afraid. "No, Patrick, but I feel it's here somewhere…in my office," Olivia answered, glancing quickly at the painting.

"It's just as well. When you reported it missing, I had to follow protocol due to the rare quality of the manuscript. Protocol states that I notify a representative of the family that owns the museum. Whenever this particular book is in peril, the family requests notification," Patrick explained.

"You told them I lost it? What happens now?" Olivia

"They will send someone to investigate the loss. You have nothing to be afraid of, Liv. The book was rare, but it doesn't compare to all their other holdings. Be thankful it wasn't anything in our main collection. The investigator will have some questions. I recommend you tell them the truth. You misplaced it at the office. We will continue to search for it. That is the truth, correct?" Patrick said.

Patrick's two-way radio lit up and a static laden voice sounded. "Mr. Mullholland, A...um...Mr. Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III is here." There was an unsettled tinge to the receptionist's voice.

"Thanks Sharon. I'll come to collect him now." Patrick said.

"There is no need for that," a deep, silky male voice said in the background. "I'll come to you."

Olivia's body reacted to that voice. It was a familiar voice. It enveloped her like a cloak.

"I better get going," said Stacia, "Liv, don't leave before seeing me. I have something for you."

"Okay, Stacia," Olivia said.

"Patrick, who is that?"

"It is the representative from the Grant Historical Society."

"He is the one they sent to investigate?" Olivia said. She was getting nervous. It's almost 5. Today is my last day. Can they do it another day? I will come back. "

"Don't be nervous. Be thankful that you're getting it over now. You'll have to answer a few questions. I'm sure the family will simply write it off."

Suddenly Olivia felt the hairs on her arm stand on end. And then he was standing there in the threshold of her office door. When she saw him, her heart stopped. It's you, she thought. The man in the painting who had somehow coerced her into such states of ecstasy stood mere feet away, a mirror image of the man in the painting. He wore the identical suit except without the cape. She felt hot liquid pool between her legs.

It's me in the flesh. Olivia heard his answer in her mind.


Greetings Penpals!

I luv this story for obvious reasons. Bear with me as I try to get the re-edited first chapters of all my stories back up. Aren't we all down for the Count, though? :-)

Hope you enjoyed this one.

~~BP