Chapter 36

Grace was going out of her mind with worry. Ed should have been home after lunch but he didn't show. She called his office and spoke to the woman again, Lydia, but she said he hadn't returned to the office and his pickup was still in the parking lot. By the time dinner rolled around and passed she'd had enough of waiting. She grabbed her keys and drove over to his workplace. She walked in as Lydia was packing up to head home.

"Any word from Ed?" Grace asked.

Lydia looked up and shook her head with a worried look. Her father walked into the lobby with a frown on his face.

"Ed didn't come home yet?" he asked.

"No and I'm really worried. He had a fight with my mother this morning, you mentioned he was exhausted and he should have come home. It's almost ten and there is no sign of him."

"A fight? Maybe he's just blowing off some steam." Drakos suggested.

Grace just frowned. "I have to go look for him. I'll go to the places he sometimes goes. If you hear from him please get him to call me."

They nodded and she headed back out to her car. A cold feeling of dread was settling into the pit of her stomach. She didn't want to be alone so she thought she'd pick up Heather who'd be finishing her shift.

She kept her eyes open for the van as she drove but she didn't see it.

Heather was just walking to the bus stop as Grace pulled up. "HEATHER!" she called out.

"What a sight for sore feet!" Heather grinned as she moved to the passenger side. She groaned as she sunk into the tired seat springs. She glanced over at Grace and saw the worry in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Ed's missing."

"Missing? How does someone that big go missing?" she grinned then dropped the smile as she saw Grace's eyes well up with tears. "Hey! I'm sure he's just relaxing with his friends somewhere."

"He doesn't have any friends! Aside from the people at his work but they haven't seen him since this morning."

"He has no friends? He must hang out with someone!" Heather exclaimed.

Grace froze. There was someone. One of his Drakos customers! "Thomas? Thomason? Thompson! Rachel Thompson!" she gasped out loud.

"Who's that?" Heather asked.

"One of his Drakos Heating and Cooling customers who lives in Silverton Heights. She's the mother of one of his football teammates. He made friends with her. She bought him some gifts. Expensive gifts."

Heather's eyes widened and she smiled. Grace just frowned. "Yeah, I think so too but Ed won't talk to me about her so that seems to confirm my suspicions."

"Let's go speak to this bitch!" Heather said.

Grace nodded and started the car. She looked at Heather in dismay. "I don't know which house she's in or what she looks like."

"How many houses are there in Silverton Heights?" Heather asked. "We start from the bottom and work our way up."

Grace nodded then leaned over and hugged her friend.

She put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb. It was time to find Rachel Thompson.

Sophia stood at the front door of her home in her ceremonial robe and mask, welcoming the new initiates inside. There were only eight who'd managed to make it this far. Not a very large number but sufficient to keep the house going. Tonight's final test would confirm they were worthy of being initiated into the sorority.

She'd impressed Helen and that pleased her. It was wise to cultivate powerful allies. She'd thought Isabelle was going to be one of those but she'd proven to be weak.

Speak of the devil, Isabelle was walking up to the door from the parking lot next to the garage. Sophia had driven Ed's van into an empty spot in the garage and left his clothes on the front seat. When they were done with Ed tonight, they'd put him in the passenger seat and she'd drive him out to the edge of town and Stacey would follow to drive her back. Ed would come out of the drugs in the morning with no memory of the previous night.

As Isabelle stepped inside she pulled her mask down to cover her face. "Good evening Sister," she greeted Sophia. "My apologies again for not fulfilling my part of the plan."

"Good evening Sister. It's alright. Alternate plans were put into effect." Sophia said calmly as she indicated where the group was gathering. Isabelle was last to arrive so it was time to get started. She locked the door and shut off the outside lights. The house was supposed to be empty after all and the ceremony required darkness.

She headed down the hall to the large 'family room'. As they were preparing for demolition, there was no furniture in the room except for the many, tall candle stands. This gave the chamber a disturbing echo which added to the somber ambience. Cushions were placed on the floor for the initiates to kneel on and the sponsoring Sisters stood behind them. Candles lit the room and she took her position at the center of a group of Sisters facing the initiates.

"Good evening Pledges. Congratulations! To have made it this far you have succeeded in fulfilling nearly all the requirements necessary to be accepted into our house. Tonight is the final test. I will be blunt. Some of you won't pass. It isn't the last test because it's the easiest. This will prove if you have the will and inner strength needed to be considered a Sister of our house. You will be given a few moments to prepare yourselves. Once ready, you will be led one at a time down that hall…" Sophia gestured to the dark opening behind her to the left. "…where the challenge awaits. Should you… prove yourself worthy you will return to this room a full Sister wearing the uniform." She looked at the eight faces and saw nervousness, excitement, and on one face amusement. Sophia felt a wave of anger flash through her. That pledge was going to get a very special test. She looked over at Helen and saw that she'd noticed the insolent attitude as well. They shared a look and both nodded slightly.

"If you do not prove worthy, you will be led from the house and our House's interaction with you will be at an end. You will be one of the shunned until the time you leave our college." She cast her eyes over the group once more and saw the smirking one hadn't lost the look.

"I will make one offer at this time only. You may choose to leave now, giving up any chance of being a Sister but sparing yourself the humiliation of the Shunning. Look inside and make your choice now."

She waited to the count of ten but none of the initiates moved from their spot. Good.

"Prepare yourselves," she said and turned with a sweep of her robe and walked down the darkened hall, Helen at her heels, followed by Isabelle and Stacey. When they got to the door at the end there was a single candle in a tall stand casting feeble light in the space. Sophia turned and looked at Isabelle, identified by the small but unique symbol painted on the left temple of the otherwise blank mask.

"Isabelle, you will take on the role of guide. Stacey is now the inner chamber guide." Sophia instructed.

"But-" Isabelle began in shock.

"The word of the Judge is final." Helen snapped and Isabelle went quiet.

"Wait at the end of the hall for the signal then send the first pledge." Sophia said with a satisfied smile hidden by her mask. Isabelle hesitated then moved back to the other end of the hall. The three remaining women stepped into the room and closed the door behind them. They pushed through the black curtain they'd hung just inside the door and walked into another large, mostly empty room. Their heels clicked on the ceramic tiles and echoed eerily. Arranged in the center of the room was a padded saw horse with shackles attached, a small table with several small horse whips, and a full length mirror angled just enough so the occupant of the saw horse would be able to see the surprise behind them.

Against the back wall there was another black curtain hanging down from a suspended rod. It stood five feet out from the wall and was hiding something behind it. Sophia looked at Helen and they nodded. Each stepped forward and pulled one side of the curtain to open them. Chained to an x-cross bolted to the wall was their main event.

The huge man was wearing the black leather mask with the flaps closed so he was blind, partially deaf, and could only breathe through a small slit under his nose and through small holes over his mouth. Leather straps crossed his broad chest and his hands were disabled by the hard leather mitts. His body was coated in sweat and his skin was flushed. Most disturbing was the massive erection rising and twitching between his powerful legs. It seemed to be bobbing with his heartbeat, which was probably accurate as he'd been given a dose of Viagra as well as another drug to make him manageable. He was basically a zombie with a raging hard-on for the next few hours, maybe until morning. Sophia wasn't exactly sure when the drugs would wear off. But she was pretty sure there would be no lasting effects of her little drug cocktail.

"Is he supposed to be wheezing like that?" Stacey asked with a worried tone.

Sophia looked at her crossly but realized with the mask it was a wasted effort. "Pop open the mouthpiece on his mask," she snapped and Stacey rushed forward to do it. Sophia liked how quickly she jumped to her command.

Stacey reached up and yanked at the leather flap. The snaps released and Ed's mouth was exposed to the air. He took in some deep gulps of air and seemed to relax a little. He wasn't moving around a lot as the drug Sophia had given him from her father's stash made him very compliant. Just as the little blue pills made him very hard.

"His heart is still beating pretty hard. Is that safe?" Stacey whined.

"Listen, who's studying chemistry and pharmacology in college and who's taking social sciences, whatever the fuck that is?" Sophia growled and Stacey shut up. She took one more nervous look at Ed and stepped back as Helen and Sophia closed the curtains.

"It's time. Turn off the room lights and bring in the first pledge." Sophia commanded. Stacey rushed off to the door and flipped the light switch. The room was lit with the dozen or so candles. Ed's breathing could barely be heard from behind the curtain. He was breathing a little hard. Sophia shook her head. She had more important things to think about.

Grace pulled into the first driveway in Silverton Heights and went up the lane to a nice sized ranch style home. What she could see in the dark looked like it was well maintained. She and Heather got out and walked up to the door.

Grace rang the doorbell. A minute later there was a pop sound of the intercom coming on.

"Hello?"

"Uh hello! I'm looking for Rachel Thompson." Grace said.

"I'm sorry, no one by that name lives here," was the reply.

Grace was feeling a little desperate. "You wouldn't happen to know an Ed Walters or where he might be?"

"Ed? I know an Ed Walters. Who are you?"

"I'm Grace, his sister. I can't find him," she blurted.

"Hold on," the voice said and the intercom popped once more.

"Did you hear that accent? So freaking beautiful!" Heather gasped.

Grace looked at her friend with a confused expression then the inner door opened. They looked up into beautiful brown eyes. The woman was very tall, slim and her gorgeous black hair poured down her back.

"Neither of you look very much like Ed," the dark skinned beauty said suspiciously.

Heather was captivated. She couldn't take her eyes off the woman.

"I'm Grace Wilson and this is my friend Heather Connors. Ed lived with my mother and me since he was six. He's technically my second cousin. Have you seen him today?" Grace asked.

"I'm afraid not. I will be seeing him next week to set up a service contract and I spoke with him a couple of days ago. Is he alright?" she asked with concern.

"He was supposed to be home just after lunch and his office doesn't know where he'd be now. He was exhausted this morning and I'm worried he had an accident. I can't reach his cell phone. Do you know where Rachel Thompson lives?" Grace asked, her lips trembling.

"Please come in. I will look it up on my tablet. I'm Mishka Shyamalan by the way." She let them inside then led the way through the house to the kitchen where the tablet sat on the table. Grace gawked at the beautiful décor but Heather could see nothing but the woman before her. "Would this Rachel know where Ed is?" she asked as she picked up her tablet and ran an address search for 'Rachel Thompson'. There was only one in this neighborhood and it was #12.

"Found her. Her house is further up the street. Number 12." Mishka smiled and Heather moaned a little when she saw her brilliant white teeth between her dark lips. Grace and Mishka looked at her and Heather blushed.

"Sorry, it's just… you're so beautiful!" Heather gushed.

Grace just stared at her friend and Mishka blushed with a sweet smile. "Thank you. That is very sweet of you to say," the woman said humbly.

"Sweet nothing. That's just the truth!" Heather exclaimed.

"Heather! You're embarrassing Mrs. Shyman!" Grace scolded.

"Shyamalan. I'm not married and it is quite nice to hear a genuine compliment now and then. I live alone and I don't get to hear them very often in the operating theatre of the hospital" She smiled once more at Heather, eyes twinkling and Heather smiled back. Grace just looked between the two of them. Then she cleared her throat.

"Thank you so much for your help! We'd better go to Rachel's to see if Ed is there." Grace reached out to touch Heather's arm and she jumped.

"Right! Sorry! It was really nice to meet you Mishka!" Heather blurted.

"It was delightful to meet you as well." Mishka said. She seemed like she was going to say something else but Grace moved for the front door and Heather fell into step behind her.

They said their goodbyes at the door and Mishka wished them luck. Heather fumbled with the door handle looking back at the woman then leapt in as Grace backed out of the drive.

"Since when do you play for the other team?" Grace asked.

"What?" Heather blinked at her.

"You were two steps from kissing the woman!" Grace exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" Heather growled.

"Think!"

Heather stopped and thought about their visit. Her mind kept going back to the woman's incredible smile. She felt butterflies in her stomach. Her eyes went wide as she looked back at Grace. "Holy crap! I went totally lesbo back there!" she laughed. Then the image of Mishka's eyes and her lips and her… damn. "Would that be bad?" she asked quietly, looking over at Grace cautiously.

"You'll have to stop giving me crap about my interest in Ed!" Grace barked.

Heather grinned and nodded.

Grace pulled into the driveway for #12. They got out and she pressed the doorbell. After a minute she pressed the doorbell again. Another minute passed and no sign of anyone. No van in the driveway either.

She looked at Heather in desperation. Lights went on at the house up the street. All they could make out was a sudden increase in light. "Let's go ask them," she said and rushed back to the car. "Maybe they know how to reach her."

Grace spun the car and raced down the driveway. She pulled out onto the road then pulled into the lane for the next house. A big SUV was coming towards them down the drive. It slowed and the driver's side window opened. Grace opened hers.

"Can I help you?" said a woman with a short pixie cut.

"Hi, I'm looking for Rachel Thompson. She's friends with my brother, Ed Walters, and I can't find him."

"Ed?" the woman blinked.

"What happened to Ed?" blurted her passenger. The woman hushed her then turned to Grace again.

"Rachel's at Angie's. We're headed over there now. Just follow us."

Grace nodded and moved forward to turn her car around. She followed the big SUV back down the hill and into another long driveway. They parked and made their introductions. Stephanie and Carolyn led them up the walkway to the front door. A short time after ringing the doorbell the door opened and a tall blonde woman was standing there smiling.

"You brought extra guests?" she asked with a gravelly voice.

"This is Grace Wilson, Ed's sister and her friend Heather Connors. Ed's missing. Grace needs to speak with Rachel." Stephanie explained.

"Ah! Follow me! I'm Angie."

They walked into a large room at the back of the house where Grace saw a gorgeous red haired woman sitting on a couch. She looked around the room at the four woman and realized they were all lovely. She felt like a troll compared to them. The doorbell rang again.

Angie turned around and headed back to the front door.

Stephanie made the introductions while they waited for Angie to return.

A minute later she appeared in the doorway with another woman. It was Mishka who was looking nervous and flustered. Heather's eyes lit up and she grinned at the woman who relaxed and smiled shyly when she saw her.

"Everyone, this is Mishka Shyamalan. She's our neighbor from down the road. She's here to help with the hunt for Ed.

"Ed's missing?" Rachel was immediately on her feet. Grace noted her genuine concern. She was both relieved and jealous that this woman seemed to have feelings for her brother.

Grace filled everyone in on the events of the day and they all had concerned looks by the end.

"Could Ed not be out with some friends or just decide to go to a movie or out to dinner?" Mishka asked.

"Ed doesn't have any social friends…" she looked at Rachel who smiled, "other than you ladies it seems. He is extremely dependable and doesn't vary his patterns. He doesn't make spontaneous changes to his plans. He goes to work. He comes home. Sometimes he goes out but until recently it was only with me. He… has difficulty understanding some human behavior. He doesn't lie and he doesn't understand those that do."

"He's an innocent." Rachel said with a sweet smile on her lips. The other women all smiled as well.

Grace suddenly understood why all these women knew Ed. Her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped. "You're all sleeping with him?" she murmured, stunned.

Rachel had a pained look on her face. "Initially we were just infatuated with his physical… attributes. But we got to know him and he really IS an innocent and such a good man. You can't help but want to protect him."

Grace smiled. They understood. She looked at the four women and they all had the same expression. Suddenly she didn't feel so threatened. But this didn't help her find Ed. She looked to Rachel.

"Do you know where he is? Have you seen his van today?"

"He had his appointment with Zoe this morning but she flew to San Francisco this afternoon. No one's home at her place to my knowledge so Ed would have had to have left when she did." Rachel said. She walked back to the couch and opened her purse. She frowned. "I must have left my phone at home." She looked at Angie. "Do you have Zoe's new cell number?"

"She has a new cell?" Angie asked.

"That answers that. I'll go get my phone and be right back." Rachel walked out of the room with her purse.

"Well, take a seat people while we wait." Angie said. "Anyone like a drink?"

Grace took a can of pop and looked for Heather. She was seated next to Mishka talking a mile a minute while the woman just smiled at her. Grace saw the tips of Heather's ears were red so she knew her friend was nervous. She sat down to wait on the couch where Rachel was sitting and looked at the women Ed was having sex with. They seemed really nice which surprised her. She was sure they'd be using Ed like her mother did. Without concern for his feelings.

If only she could find him.

A high pitched scream echoed through the empty rooms of Zoe's home. The remaining five pledges jumped and shifted nervously on the pillows. They'd seen three of their group led into the hallway and none had returned with the garb of a Sister. Two had screamed like this one. One made no sounds at all but she hadn't returned. They looked up as they saw two of the Sisters conferring at the entrance of the hall.

Stacey was in a panic. The girls they led down to the room were being strapped down on the saw horse. Each had freaked out when the curtain opened to show the masked man and his enormous red cock. Two screamed then cried uncontrollably and one simply passed out. She'd ushered them out the side door of the house.

Sophia was in a rage as the pledges were all failures and she was taking her frustration out on Ed. He had several cuts on his chest from her whipping him. Stacey had gotten a lash herself when she tried to stop her from slashing Ed. When she was sent out for the next pledge she rushed down the hall to speak to Isabelle.

"What's going on in there?" Isabelle hissed quietly to Stacey.

"It's too frightening! When Sophia and Helen open the curtains the pledges are terrified. Sophia is losing it. Helen isn't helping and worse I think something is seriously wrong with Ed!" Stacey hissed.

"ED? Ed's in there?" Isabelle said in shock.

"Yeah, Sophia drugged him but something is wrong. I think we've got to call someone. Sophia is whipping Ed and she whipped me as well when I tried to stop her!"

Isabelle pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed a number. She hoped she'd get through.

Rachel returned to the house and her face showed her confusion.

"What's wrong?" Angie asked.

"I got through to Zoe. She said Ed was asleep in her bed when she left and her daughter was just arriving. She told Sophia to make sure Ed got home. I just went up there and the lights are all off." Rachel said.

"You rang the doorbell?" Stephanie asked.

"No I couldn't get past the gate but there was no sign of any lights." Rachel said.

"I have the entry code." Angie said.

Heather's phone started ringing and she glanced at it. It was Isabelle. She was about to press the ignore button but Mishka playfully touched the phone's screen and the call connected. She grinned at Heather as the blonde shook her head.

"Hey Isabelle," she said hoping the call would be quick.

"Oh thank god I reached you! Can you find Grace and get her to drive you to Silverton Heights. Ed's in trouble." Isabelle blurted into the phone.

"You have ED?!? Where are you?" Heather gasped and stood waving her arm for quiet. Grace leapt to her feet as did Rachel.

"We're at Sophia Sandoval's place. Up on the hill. Ed's been drugged and he's not doing well. Get here fast." The phone went dead.

Heather looked at the worried faces. "Ed's in trouble. He's been drugged and he's at Sophia Sandovals place." Everyone raced for the front door. They piled into Stephanie's SUV and she raced up the hill. On the way Mishka called 911, identified herself and gave the address.

They got to the gate and Angie called out the numbers as Stephanie punched them in. The gate opened and as they pulled through a police car with its lights flashing followed them in. They all piled out of the car and Angie pointed out the side door location to one of the police. She had the code for the front door lock too so she opened it and they all rushed inside. They followed the candles to the back room and found several young women in some kind of ceremonial garb.

Isabelle yanked off her mask and threw back her hood. "Thank god! He's down the hall in the last room!"

Angie grabbed her daughter's arm and looked at the police officer. "She's with us." He nodded and Isabelle yanked off her robe as the officer rushed down the hall.

Grace, Rachel and Mishka were right behind the police officer with the rest following as he pushed into the room and through the curtain. They saw a woman tied down to some kind of bondage bench and three hooded and masked people. The woman had red welts on her exposed ass.

Stacey pushed her hood off and yanked off the mask. "She's nuts!" she gasped and pointed at the masked figure with the horse whip clutched in her fist.

Grace took three strides forward as Sophia raised the whip to strike her. She got a fist in the middle of her mask before she could act. She crumpled to the floor as the mask fell into pieces.

Angie and Isabelle went to undo the shackles on the young woman crying on the saw horse. Rachel and Grace pulled the curtain open and cried out in dismay when they saw Ed's abused body. His erection looked red and swollen.

"Undo his shackles!" Mishka barked and whatever hands were closest moved to his wrists and ankles. They carefully laid him down and began working on removing the rest of his bondage gear. When the mask came off they saw his vacant stare and cried out in dismay once more.

Sophia was coming around so Mishka knelt beside her. "What drugs did you give to Ed?"

"Fuck you!" Sophia grunted angrily as she gingerly touched her broken nose.

"As a doctor I can't physically coerce you into telling me but I believe this woman would gladly remove some of your teeth." Mishka pointed at Grace who looked like she definitely would.

"You can't do that! There's a cop standing right there!" the injured woman complained.

"I'm not in the room yet. I think I'm still in the hallway so I can't see what's happening in here yet," the cop growled and Sophia realized how much danger she was really in.

"I'm taking out her front teeth." Grace growled as she moved forward.

"WAIT! WAIT! Fine!" Sophia yelled. "Two Viagra, Devil's Breath and something else. I think it may have been LSD," she said begrudgingly. The cop had to seize Grace's arms to keep her from attacking the woman on the floor.

"I need samples of these drugs to do a chemical analysis. Where are the rest of the drugs?" Mishka asked.

"On my bureau in my bedroom upstairs. Second door on the right." Sophia mumbled as she began to fathom the extent of the trouble she was in.

The paramedics arrived and Mishka immediately began filling them in as they got Ed onto the gurney. She then ran upstairs to get the drug sample then went to the ambulance. The group of women ran out of the room after the paramedics. They all piled into the SUV once more, minus Mishka. Angie sent Isabelle home. She'd talk with her later.

The drive to the hospital was excruciating as they were all worried about Ed. They got as far as the waiting room and saw Ed being wheeled into Emergency. Carolyn contacted her babysitter who had all the kids at Stephanie's place. The girl assured her that she could stay overnight if needed.

Then they waited. It was going to be a long night.