Price of Life: Chapter XI
#14 of Price of Life
Price of Life: Chapter XI
Blood and Water
Dante walked out of the shower and felt the hot vapors around him grow cold as they condensed. Taking a monogrammed towel in paw, he proceeded to draw away the moisture that clung to his fur. Through the foggy mirror of the medicine cabinet, he took a long look at himself. The last few days had taken quite a strain on him. His eyes looked weary and his white hair had begun to fall off in large clumps, as if a white willow tree were dying.
Perhaps a good night's sleep would help deal with that. Dante put on a fresh pair of boxers and exited his private bathroom. This bathroom was adjacent to his bedroom, so that he would not have to walk to end of the hall when nature called. He threw open the threshold only to find a beautifully naked wolfess with her back to him.
Selene sat on the far side of the bed, staring up at the moon through the window and whispery curtains. Old habits certainly did die hard. She liked the fact that she now owned some proper clothing, but the sensation of wearing a more "natural" attire was far more delightful. The warm summer night flowed in through the window, wrapping her body in bliss.
But warmth began to flow as she felt the black wolf encircle his arms about her tummy.
"Hey there, love dove. Feeling okay?"
Selene giggled and pushed herself back into Dante's arms. "Yeah, I was just thinking, that's all."
Dante chuckled, "Uh oh." Although he swiftly dodged a playful slap, he sympathized. "What about? Is it about Keith?"
Selene took a moment to form an answer. "Yeah."
"You're not upset with him, are you?"
"No, not really. At first, when I heard that he worked for the slave-labor division, I thought I hated him. But then he mentioned how much he loved Rachel. I thought that anyone who would sacrifice their freedom for the woman heloves can't be all bad."
"That's very mature of you to say, Selene," came Dante's complimentary response. "That's why I love you. You can't hate. If only the whole world was like you, Selene. It would be a much more peaceful place. And, on top of that, people would be bumping uglies a lot more often!"
Another playful slap swept through the air. But Dante caught it and wrestled Selene back onto the bed. Giggling filled the room as the lovers' hearts took flight.
But, in the other sections of the house, there was no chortling to be heard. A vixen stood shaking outside the guestroom, afraid to go in. Raksha was afraid of very few things. Humans happened to belong to that scarce collection of phobias. Male humans. Today, Raksha's world had been turned on its ear. A human had been led into her home, sat at the same table, shared the same food as her. It was all quite shocking. It was if she was living with an extraterrestrial, or some stranger from a distant land.
But fears needed to be faced head on. And so, with much duress, Raksha rapped on the door of the guestroom.
"Come in," chimed the voice of a man from behind the threshold.
Raksha struggled to open the door. It was not a question of strength, but a question of will. Her hand stubbornly fumbled with the knob, struggled to force the door open and reveal the secrets within. But it would look foolish to just walk away after inquiring, so with a new sense of determination, Raksha pushed the door open.
There, with his back to the door, stood Keith. He was naked from the waist up, revealing a bruised and scarred back. He humbly folded his jacket into an open suitcase. Raksha walked in timidly, her fears reborn from the unsightly collection of lacerations across the man's tender flesh. Seeing her notice his injuries, he turned to face her, revealing a much less horrific front.
"Can I help you, Ms. Raksha?" he asked expectantly, wishing to know to what he owed her curiosity.
"It's just Raksha," said the vixen, eager to relieve the tension brewing in the air. "And, I just came by to say that, I'm sorry for acting the way I did earlier. It was rude, unladylike, and most of all, hurtful. I want to extend my sincerest apologies."
The man shook his head, tossing around his luscious locks. "There is no need. You apologized earlier, and that was more than satisfactory."
The vixen offered a sharp rebuttal, "I'm sorry, but I really won't feel better until I'm sure you mean it."
Keith straightened, "Very well, then. You are forgiven. Now, will you stop acting like such a sad sack and cheer up? A smile goes a long way in my book."
The vixen gave a weak, but satisfied smile.
"There we are! I must say, you look much better whenever you smile."
The vixen considered that as a compliment. She strolled over to where he stood, trying to close the wide open space between them. As she neared the bed however, she noticed numerous affects that had been unpacked from the suitcase. There were a few collared shirts, a tie, dress shoes, a handgun, and finally, a photograph depicting a smiling woman. Instantly, Raksha knew who the vixen in the picture was.
"She must've been very good to you if you're still carrying around her photo with you."
He nodded nervously, "Rachel was the closed thing I had to family. I just don't want to forget her face. I'm afraid that, if I do, it'll haunt me for the rest of my life. I didn't deserve an angel like her and she deserved better than a fool like me. Hopefully, now that I'm in a position to do so, I can help spare others the same fate."
Raksha, unexpectedly moved closer to him. With a new brazen boldness, she corrected him. "There's something terribly wrong with what you just said. If you were willing to get down on one knee and tell her you wanted to be with her and only her for the rest of your life, how can you think even for a second that she deserved better?" She placed a gentle hand against his cheek, trying to reach out and tell him how she really felt. "You don't give yourself enough credit. If I remind you of Rachel, then let me help you remember her."
And, with that, she wrapped her arms around the human. Keith seized up, stunned. But after a short moment, the chilling sensation of fear passed and was ousted with calming warmth. "I love you, Raksha."
"I know, Keith. I love you too."
Dante woke up to the sensation of someone nuzzling his neck. A charismatic tongue began to lap at his chin, beckoning him back to the world of the waking.
"Stop that," he said groggily, only half-bothered with Selene's adept use of primeval canine antics. He tried to move away and go back to sleep, but Selene was persistent.
"Come on, get up! I want you to teach me how to make breakfast today!" she bellowed, trying to enliven her lover with the opportunity to show off. This was a first for her. Just a few days ago, she had been a slave. To "want" anything was a taboo that few slaves ever dared to invoke. But freedom had sent a surge of power into the wolfess, and she intended to exploit it.
"All right, all right!" said the black wolf as he surrendered to the superior will of his lover. With a groan, he pulled his head off the pillow and into an upright position. His lover showered him with a few more kisses and nuzzles as he began to pull on a collared shirt and a pair of pants.
Selene pulled on one of the new dresses she had bought and a pair of heels. She felt confident putting on clothes of her very own. Most of all, she liked putting on clothing for her benefit, not for the visual satisfaction of a customer.
Hurriedly, the couple headed downstairs to commence the preparation of the morning meal. As they headed down the corridor, Raksha emerged from an adjacent room. Keith's room.
"Well, I see you decided to get cozy with our new guest," chuckled Dante, jabbing Raksha in the side with his elbow. Even Selene giggled. After all, Raksha had taken her advice about seeing Keith, so it was nice to see her plan come to fruition.
"Oh, shut up."
Keith emerged from the room as he pulled on his military jacket. "Morning, everyone." He wrapped his arms about Raksha's waist, hinting at their newfound affections for one another. Raksha pretended to struggle from his grasp, but he held firm and stroked her hair, letting her know just how meaningful last's nights discussion (among other things) had been to him.
Dante broke the romantic moment with a declaration, "Selene and I were just about to start making breakfast. Why don't you two help us set the table and we can start our morning off on the right paw? Or foot in Keith's case."
The rest of the group agreed and began to file downstairs. Each adhered to their duties. Keith and Raksha enjoyed setting the table, often pausing to share a kiss. Dante and Selene taste-tested each other's dishes to make sure they were correct. When all the preparations were finished, the quartet sat down to enjoy the fruits of their hard work.
"I'd like to propose a toast," chimed Dante, raising a glass of orange juice into the air. "To new friendships, new partnerships and the wellbeing of our new friend, Keith!"
The others raised their glasses as well, joining Dante in the benediction.
But no sooner had they done this and were about ready to sink their forks into the morning meal, did the sound of metal being forced apart screeched from far away. The group looked up from their meal, disturbed by such a strange sound.
"That sounded like the gate being run down," Dante said with alarm. He threw his napkin onto his plate and hurried to the door to investigate. The others followed behind him. However, as they stepped outside, the thundering of diesel engines firing filled the air. From around the bend, a halftrack emerged. This was followed by an officer's car, followed by another halftrack.
"Shit! It's a military convoy!" Keith shouted. He attempted to draw his magnum, but his hand lashed out at nothing. He had forgotten it upstairs. A gunner sitting at the machine gun on top of the first halftrack leveled the barrel at them. He held his fire. Apparently, whatever was going on, they weren't allowed to die...yet.
The halftracks pulled to a stop and a score of men filed out from the rear. All of them, dressed in frightening Maxim Federation uniforms, held submachine guns in their hands. All of them were focused on Dante, Keith, Selene and Raksha.
One of them shouted a warning, "Make no attempts to escape! If one of you tries to run or retaliate, you will all be executed. You are all under arrest!"
"On what charges?" bellowed Dante in a defiant tone. "This is private property! You need more than just a government warrant to bring troops onto this land! Who authorized this? I demanded to speak to your commanding officer!"
There was a small silence before a chilling voice called back. A figure had emerged from the officer's car. "That would be me."
There, stood a tall black wolf dressed in a colonel's jacket. His hair as white as fresh snow and his fur was as black as midnight in the arctic. Blue eyes stared back at the unsuspecting group with a fierce look of cold brutality. The name VIRGIL was imprinted in dark letters across his breast pocket and a German pistol hung by his hip.
He dropped what remained of a cigarette onto the ground and smothered the embers with the toe of his polished, black boots. With unimaginable calm and grace, he slowly walked across the drive towards Dante and his fellows.
As he approached, Selene looked to Dante. The look on her lover's face was that of stone, as if looking nowhere but into the eyes of the approaching foe. She suddenly realized how frightening he truly was. The man she had heard about in Keith's story or seen in Dante's photographs was nothing like the monster that stood before her now. But she bit her tongue and tried to be brave for Dante.
And after what had seemed like an eternity, the approaching colonel came to a halt mere feet from Dante. Then, with a bone-chilling murmur, the colonel issued a paralyzing greeting to Dante. "It's been a long time," said Virgil with an evil smile "little brother."