Friends and Enemies (Gwen Farris Book 5) (25 page)

The interior seating space darkened, so she focused on the curtained stage up front. It was all a soft blue, either thanks to fabric or paint. The air smelled like perfume, or maybe incense. Beth moved a bit, her shoulder rubbing against hers.

"This is interesting, isn't it? I wouldn't have thought of it myself."

Gwen agreed, nodding, and not saying much. What was there to say, nothing had happened yet. She was nervous, which was a bit ridiculous, given everything.

'Don't worry, I'll protect you.'

"Thanks." She was speaking to Kat, but Beth seemed to think it was addressed her way, not having another person living inside her head to compare the situation too.

"It's good to move outside of our comfortable areas from time to time. I think the show is about to start now."

It did, a curtain that Gwen had figured on being a backdrop slowly pulling to the side, to reveal...

A puppet show.

She smiled when she got it, and nearly laughed. A few moments later she did laugh, as did the rest of the audience. It was done with puppets, but it was also a very naughty, and adult show. A comedy of errors, with awkward sexual moments for all and sundry to giggle at.

Really, though Kat was a bit disappointed, it was about right for Gwen, she decided as it went on. Not so racy as to make her black out to get away from things, but spicy enough that she felt a bit awkward. Especially since Katherine kept stealing control of the body, and leaning against Beth's arm. It wasn't exactly suggestive, but it had to be annoying to the other woman.

Worse, it was making it seem like she was planning to make a move on her friend.

Then, without anyone trying to snatch them into an alley, or rape them at all, they moved back to the hotel, not speaking. Not until they got to the room.

Then Gwen grinned.

"I... don't know what to think. I guess I thought it would be different than that? More nude bodies and oils involved. It was interesting, but, I don't know, I figured on life changing, I guess. Well, I've seen
that
now! So, good. What's next? A tour of the interior coastline? I hear that's popular." She really had, and from reliable sources too, that being Doctor Professor Grainger and his wife, Honey.

Then she leaned in and kissed her friend.

That got her to want to freeze, since it was on the lips, and Beth actually did it back, smiling a bit about the whole thing. That hadn't been her plan, and naturally, Gwen was suddenly not the one running the body.

She tried to shout
no
, since she wasn't ready for that kind of thing, but it didn't happen. After a beat Kate stepped back, smiling.

"I accidently took over again. Sorry."

Beth nodded, her face fighting for a more somber expression.

"I know. Don't let it worry you. You either, Gwen. Part of being a Westmorland is being there for the others if they need you, no matter what they require. Even when things get a bit strange. This won't be a problem."

That wasn't news to Gwen, but Katherine seemed happy to hear it. Probably because she was reading into the situation what she wanted, not what was really there. Gwen hoped that was the case, at any rate.

"Does that include me? It's been so long, I don't want to make Miss Farris uneasy, but that show set me into motion, below... I... Do you think we could?"

"What exactly do you have in mind?" Beth spoke calmly, and it wasn't sexy, but there was a sweet smile to it too.

Then, before she could say anything at all, Gwen noticed that everything in the world went black. Folding in from the edges, like she'd taken a solid blow to the back of the head. The only thing lacking was the sparkles that normally came with passing out. This just faded to black, like a movie screen.

Everything was gone then, except for a single voice, which came from inside. It still had a distant quality to it, even though there was nothing else around at all.

'Thank you Gwen. Why don't you stay here, this time? Unless you want to watch? It's much better from the inside... Also better without puppets. I should have known that Detective wouldn't send us anyplace too interesting.'

She didn't particularly want
any
of it to happen, and still kind of hoped that she was right about what Bethany would be doing, which was more in line with a heart to heart chat, done with all their clothing on, but there was nothing for her to
do
after that. She was just floating, in the black inside Katherine's mind. As far as she could tell, there was no way out at all.

Gwen was trapped there, in the dark, alone. Almost, totally, but not quite. The only other thing there at all was a sense that the world was about to rip at the seams and take her to a place that wasn't too dissimilar from where she was. The only difference being that other void was going to be filled with terrors that the human mind simply couldn't survive.

Inside, not able to help herself, Gwen Farris screamed.

No one heard her.

It felt like it went on for a long, long time.

Chapter eleven

Gwen woke up with a strange taste in her mouth.

At first she figured that it would be the flavor of Beth's intimate parts, but she recognized it after a bit as just having a dire need to brush her teeth. Unless that was what women were like, the morning after. She didn't have the kind of experience to know, one way or the other. It wasn't until she tried to stand the the whole thing came into focus.

The first clue she had that things weren't correct in her world, being incredibly clever as she was, had to do with the
shackles
on her wrists and ankles. Cranking her eyes open and lifting her head, she saw the green glow and strange sigils that signaled them as being null radiatives. The ever popular way of trapping a magician into not using magical power too easily.

"Beth! What the fuck!" She screamed the words, not really caring if the other people in the hotel had a problem with it.

The idea that her best friend would have lovely-dovey time with the women in her head against her will was horrible enough, but now they were going to leave her chained down to a cheap bed in a strange room, just to round it all out. That couldn't be allowed. In short, she decided right then, some asses were about to be kicked, and hard.

"Bethany Westmorland get your ass in here,
now
!"

'That won't work, I'm sorry to say, Miss Farris.'

The voice in her head didn't sound smug,
or
contrite, so it was hard to figure out what was going on from just that.

"What, the freaking hell, is going on here? Kat, I swear if you..." She had nothing. There was not one thing that Katherine could tell her that would make sense of this situation. Gwen's mind reeled for a moment, trying to work out what was actually going on. It was a stark contrast, the light of the room, versus the total black of where she'd been.

The fear was still there, from being locked away like she had been, kept company only by her imagined doom.

Katherine took a deep breath, and sighed.

'Eh. Well... You see, things are a bit unsettled at the moment. I suppose I should explain?'
Then, because people always did things like that when they didn't want to go into their personal failures, the pretty interior voice stopped dead, leaving with a sense like all momentum had suddenly just vanished.

"
Yeeesss
?"

Gwen didn't want to be one of
those
people. The kind that always jumped to conclusions, then turned out to be wrong, but as she glanced around the place she was in, she kind of had to. For one thing, while nice enough, it had a hospital feeling to it, rather than the rich rainbow colors the hotel room had. This was all in pale ice blue, and white. Stark and crisp. The sheets heavy under her. The bed she was chained to, and she
was
connected solidly, had a metal frame, complete with rings for the shackles to be linked through. They were all far too heavy for her to rip out, though she gave it a solid try then, just in case it was weaker than it looked.

It wasn't the case. The things were, as it turned out, quality enough work that her wrists started to ache like they were on fire before she was done.

When she was finished, feeling thwarted and a bit scared, Katherine
finally
started in on her explanation. Gwen understood, almost instantly, why there had been foot dragging involved.

The other woman had a lot of explaining to do, and none of it was exactly happy making.

'You see, I'd been trying to find a way to escape the Western Kingdom for a while now. Ever since we lost in the cave, to be precise. Nothing against you, mind, but I do sort of want to have a life of my own. So, for a while I'd been taking steps to make that dream come true.'

"Uh-huh. Okay, so, what did you do? I keep hearing past tense in your little speech. All of it, let's have it all now, thanks." It wasn't really like she could
force
the girl to squeal on herself, but she managed to sound angry enough that there was a sense of being a bit upset in return.

The glow lamps on the walls had blue glass covers over them, which made the whole place feel cold, even if there was plenty of heat. Sweat was collecting under her arms, where they touched her nearly naked body. She wore something that was a bit like a hospital gown, but made of thin and very lightweight cloth material. It was far from the long cotton things she'd been given the first time she was in the hospital in this world.

'You see, a while ago I discovered that you didn't know what I was doing all the time. When you slept I could take over, and you were clueless about it. It took some effort to test things, but it was true. I learned to take over, without you knowing it was happening. So I worked out a plan. It was hard at first, as I had to wait until no one else was around, asleep or occupied in other ways, but I worked out how to call on some of my old contacts. Friends of Erin's. That was how I set up the assassins for mother. Luckily Brenda is wealthy enough to pay for it, and willing too, since I couldn't have come up with the funds for the life of me. Not without you noticing.'

"
What
! Why the
fuck
would you do that?" Gwen rattled the chains a bit, trying to get loose, but couldn't move more than a few inches in any given direction.

'Why? I just told you, didn't I? I don't have any lucre, so I had a good reason. If father died first, all of it would go to mother. My plan was to get him to sign it all over to you, since they both feel they owe it there, and then have him killed too. That makes sense doesn't it? Then when you had all the funds, I could just seize control and use it to move outside of the reach of the Westmorlands. Only, as you no doubt saw, the Men In Black weren't nearly as good as their reputation would have it. So I needed a different plan.'

She sat for a bit, feeling a combination of fear, shock and rage. Then let it all go, using what focus she had at the moment.

"I see. It was about getting money? A lot of it, but still, they're your
parents
... Isn't that a bit cold blooded? Even for you?"

There was an audible snort then, which nearly hurt it was so sudden.

'Come along, Miss Farris. They were in my way, and had betrayed me, time and again. The instant they knew I was in here, they should have hired specialists and magicians to try and free me. Did they do that? Did they even
hint
at helping me in the slightest? No, they chose you, an alien, over their own flesh and blood child. I owe them nothing. Nothing! Surely you can see that?'

Gwen
could
see crazy working around to that end through mental gymnastics, but didn't mention that part. She could also, she had to admit, see the girl thinking that she should have her own life back. Yes, she'd fucked up, and stolen the wrong woman, but she'd had
help
in doing it. Brainwashing, to be exact. Otherwise Kate wouldn't have been able to nab someone from a different reality like that. She was strong, magically, but not exactly a magician, or well trained to use her powers. It had to have been done from outside of herself, which meant that there was a chance the girl was actually innocent of wrongdoing.

Before she could say that though, the other girl went on, as if it had been stated verbally.

'Which is all understandable to think, from your perspective. I'm not insane however, and regardless of how things between us took place originally, I was trapped and desperate. You are actually the only person that is looking at this reasonably, Miss Farris. I've heard you, thinking how I deserve a life, and shouldn't have to be trapped inside while you lived mine. Even how you were planning to
give
that to me. I know you hadn't come to that decision consciously yet, but it was there. The others however, Bethany, Heather and my parents, they would have never allow that to happen. I'd made the wrong mistake, and they had the perfect replacement for me. The daughter and friend they'd always wanted.'

That was news to Gwen, but she didn't spell it out. There was no need for it, not now.

"On the good side I know part of why everyone was acting so funny with me for the last weeks, now.
You
were off hiring hit men, and plotting against everyone. That, and trying to have sex with my best friend. I... That's
so
gross, you know that? I mean, I didn't even do anything, now I have to look her in the eyes, knowing that you-"

There was a rattle at the door, and a man came in.

Gwen tried to focus on the whole picture, taking in everything she could. He was in what looked like standard hospital scrubs from back home. A light blue tunic, and loose drawstring trousers. His face was a tiny bit oily, as was his black hair. His skin was white though, and he had blue eyes. She just waited, since the man was smiling, and didn't seem to have a weapon ready to go.