A/N: I want to thank everyone has reviewed so far. Please keep it up so I know people are enjoying the way the story is heading. Thanks in advance.
Jimmy:
Jimmy woke up to a throbbing head ache. His face felt crusted on the right side from the dried blood that had come out of a cut over his eye brow he had received during the battle in the lab. His neck hurt when he moved it side to side as it cracked the crusted blood on his neck from where she had been feeding. His mind felt disoriented almost like he was under water. He looked around confused as he attempted to identify where he was.
He was in a room made out of stone blocks. The lighting came from torches that were fastened to the walls with iron holders. There was large hole in the ceiling which allowed Jimmy to calculate where he was based on the alignment of the stars. She took my communicator watch. Great I know I'm in the South Pacific but how am I going to tell anyone; that is if I get out of these ropes.
Jimmy Struggled against the thick ropes that bound him to the chair. It was no use however. He wasn't one to give up however and he kept at it until the chair fell over backward. He gasped as giant snakes hissed and slithered around him. The closest one arched its head back ready to strike in its anger from being disturbed, but stopped suddenly when a commanding, yet familiar voice billowed out "Stop!" The snake immediately calmed down and slithered off into one of the many holes that were bored into the walls.
Jimmy turned to see the source of the voice; it was the creature that resembled Betty. Her eyes flicked occasionally from snake eyes to normal human brown eyes before finally settling on the brown eyes.
"Oh my poor baby" Betty said as she approached.
"I'm not your baby. Let me go, untie me!" he shouted in defiance. She laughed. Her laugh echoed through the chamber.
"But Jimmy", she purred, "Haven't you always wanted to be with me, to be more than friends?" Jimmy watched her silently and found himself attracted to her despite the intelligent part of his mind raging against it. She was so alluring. She was wearing a purple cloak that hung to her ankles and a snake head dress; the kind where the person's face is showing through the snakes open mouth; a snake skin armored sports bra which left her stomach exposed revealing her tight abs. Jimmy found his eyes glancing over her sensual curves and he found himself pleased with what he saw.
He shook his head violently and shouted "you're not really Betty! You're just a mythical construct conjured up from a repressed fear or possibly a manifestation of Cindy's jealousy over Betty in regards to her feelings for me. -(His cheeks flushed red)- In other words you're nothing more than a figment of Cindy's imagination.
She stood the chair back up forcing him upward. The wind felt jarred out of him from the impact of the chair settling and he let out a gasp. Betty sat on his lap wrapping her legs and arms around him. She stared into his eyes and smiled sweetly. Oh man she smells so good! She really does seem to be the real Betty. But I know this is a fake.
"Jimmy I'm not a fake unless you want to believe I am; just use your imagination. Think of it this way but what is reality? It's only a man made construct that we all adhere to because everyone shares your point of view. But reality changes as everyone's opinion shifts. I am very much real. Cindy's imagination may have created me, but your invention made me real. I don't want to hurt you.
"You don't want to hurt me? How can you say that? You've attacked me, kidnapped me, and fed on me?"
"I was new to the world and only following the functions I had always followed within Cindy's imagination. I have to come to realize that in this world I have free will. I don't have to be a monster that tries to kill you and eat you. Things have changed. I want to be with you, and for you to be with me."
She placed her hands to his cheeks. Her hands felt warm and silky and he felt guilty over his enjoyment of being his close to her. His heart almost exploded with excitement when she went in for the kiss. He did try to resist; he turned his face side to side as he tried to avoid her lips but eventually they found their mark. Her kiss was deep and more than a little pleasant and slowly the kiss became deeper and before he knew it, he was kissing her back.
The gang:
The group made their way to Eustace Stryche's mansion. They had to take the bus and then walk the rest of the way there. They hadn't realized how far the place really was having taken the hover car for granted. They had chosen to not involve their parents. But they finally made it to the giant steel gate that surrounded the Stryche family estate.
The place looked large and quite foreboding even in the day; it looked even more intimidating at night. The house sat on top of a hill across about a half of mile of open yard. Spotlights illuminated the massive yard revealing fountains and statues decorated the landscape. It must take forever to mow this lawn; if this is the front yard I can only imagine what the back yard looks like. Though I had heard it had a massive hedge maze that covered over a square mile; Cindy thought to herself.
Cindy rang the bell and waited. A video monitor came on and a maid asked in a strong British accent, "Hello, may I ask for the reason that you are calling at this hour?"
"We're here to see that little puke!" Cindy was cut off by Libby wrapping her hand around her mouth. "What she means to say is that we are here to see Eustace Stryche." Libby quickly said politely with a short laugh.
"May I ask for your names?" the maid asked.
"I'm Libby Folfax; this is Cindy Vortex, Carl Wheezer, and Sheen Estevez."; Libby added; "We're friends of Eustace."
"One moment please." The maid left the video monitor running as she walked out of view. They could see a fire place in the background with a large portrait of Eustace above it. It seemed like a metaphor to his vanity.
They heard some shouting followed up by someone running down the hallway over the speakers. Suddenly and quite out of breath Eustace appeared. He took a few moments to catch his breath and then spoke. "Can it really be? Is that You Cynthia? It is! And I see you brought your friends; how wonderful."
Cindy felt the heat flush through her face as she fought to control her anger. "Yes, it's me Eustace."
"What do I owe a visit from you at this hour?" he asked in a tone that sounded genuinely curios.
"We need to speak to you in person. Please let us in?" She replied.
"I'm a busy man and really don't have time to entertain any guests, but I'll make an exception under the circumstances of your coming here. How could I refuse to let you in? After all, I would hate to miss out on a chance to get reacquainted with someone as beautiful as you." He paused a moment to watch her face on the monitor before holding up a small box with a red button in the center of it that he pressed as he said," Come on up. I'll even get the door myself. "
Cindy felt her cheeks flush at his calling her beautiful. She couldn't tell anymore if he was being serious or using such things as a ploy to hurt Jimmy through her. She hated having to come to this place but she had to play nice and find out what happened to the keys to the mechs if they had any chance of saving Jimmy. Oh Jimmy. I hope you're alright.
To be continued….