“So, why are you here then?” Alexa asked. Melanie actually reddened.
“There are two of us here, actually,” she said. “Myself and Eve. We're both proctors, and we were here last night, supervising, along with some other proctors.”
“Why did you stay behind?”
“How much do you know about proctors?” Melanie countered.
“Just that you act like referees, or judges, something like that,” Alexa replied. “And that sometimes you get to take off the black dress for a little while.”
“Ah,” Melanie seemed a bit relieved. “Yes, we do. Eve and I made some arrangements beforehand, and in an hour or so some men will be coming here... and we'll be taking off our black dresses for the day. Supervising something like the, um, orgy here last night can leave us a bit edgy. So we have to do something to take the edge off. You understand.”
“Oh, yes, I do understand,” Alexa nodded. “I suppose I'd best be on my way, then, before those men get here.”
“They won't be here for a while yet,” Melanie said. “Eve should be up now, and I made some coffee. Would you care to join us? I'd like to talk to you about what you're trying to do.”
“What kind of coffee?” Alexa asked. She'd never learned to like the powdered stuff. Hell, she'd never even learned to tolerate it.
“Oh, it's real coffee,” Melanie replied. “I'm afraid that the only creamer we have is powdered, though.”
“That's okay,” Alexa said. “Lead on.”
Melanie and Eve had set up camp in the building Alexa had noticed earlier, the one with bricked-up windows and a smooth, clean cement floor. Instead of sleeping bags, they'd put down a couple of thin futons. Eve looked up as Melanie entered through the lone empty doorway and stood hurriedly as she saw Alexa bringing up the rear. Alexa caught sight of a small camp stove with a battered old percolator sitting atop the one lit burner.
“Eve,” Melanie said. “This is Alexa Marx. I told you about her.”
“Yes,” Eve nodded. She was a bit taller than Melanie, a bit older, and had medium brown hair. Still, with the two of them identically clad, and with their hair drawn back in those tight buns, they could have passed for sisters at first glance. “Pleased to meet you, Ms. Marx. I was here last year. I heard about you and that contest, but I never got a chance to see you.” She held out her hand, and Alexa shook it.
“Pleased to meet you,” she said. “Even more pleased that you brought coffee. Will it be safe here for a while?”
“What? Oh!” Eve laughed. “Yes, you'll be quite safe for the time being. Long enough for a cup and a chat, anyway. Please, have a seat.” She gestured towards the futons, but Alexa chose to unsling her pack and sit on it instead. It wasn't the most comfortable perch, but it would do for now. She was fairly sure that she'd be safe, as the proctors had promised, but all the same she kept an ear out for any warning sounds.
“I'm afraid that we only brought two cups,” Melanie said as she handed one dark green, chipped enameled mug to Alexa. “Use mine for now. I can wait. How did you come to be so far east of End?”
“I could ask how you came to be here too,” Alexa said as she held the mug out for Eve to fill with wonderful, steaming hot brown liquid. “I thought you were the town proctor back there.”
“There's another one there now,” Melanie replied. “They move us around a lot. After this I go back to Gordburg for a while.”
“And you?” Alexa looked at Eve.
“I came here from Gordburg,” the woman answered. “Along with the caravan that brought all the partygoers. After this, I'm going to one of the little towns I hear you visited for a couple of days.”
“Yeah. About all those people. Where did they all go?” Alexa asked.
“Back to Gordburg, early this morning,” Eve replied. “They have outings like that every so often so that people can play in the woods and feel all primitive and daring. Most of them don't really want to sleep out here, though, so we bring them back to their hotels once they're all played out.”
“The, ah, women all go back naked?” Alexa asked, thinking about the big pile of clothing.
“Oh, no,” Melanie spoke up. “We provide plain white robes for them to wear on the way home. That way anyone who sees them will know what they've been up to but won't see what they've been up to it with.” She and Eve snickered in unison. Alexa assumed that it was some kind of inside joke and didn't ask for an explanation.
“But what are your plans, Alexa?” Melanie continued. “If you're trying to run loose without being caught this is a good area for it. Hardly anyone comes out here.”
“Really?” Alexa asked.
“Oh, yes. There's much more activity along the stage road and near the towns. If you stay out this way, it's unlikely anyone will even see you.”
“Thanks for the information,” Alexa said. “But the supplies I've got won't last as long as I'd need them to. Sooner or later, I'll have to stock up again.” She didn't say anything about the bins, and neither did either of the proctors. Inwardly, though, she felt very hopeful. If people didn't come out this way often, it was possible that she could stay around these abandoned buildings and raid the bin for food... if there was any food left in it. She'd have to find out about that later.
“Do either of you know anything about 'Elf-Girl'?” she asked.
“No,” Eve shook her head. “She was before our time. All either of us know is what somebody told us, and you've probably heard it already.”
“Yeah, but it's kind of romantic,” Melanie put in. “Well, parts of it, anyway.”
“Romantic?” Alexa looked at her.
“Yes, how one man was so intent on having her that he practically wore himself out tracking her down, and then he caught her. I wonder if they ever got married?”
“Neither of them ever came back?” Alexa asked. She'd heard the story before, but there might be different versions of it floating around.
“Not that I heard of,” Melanie said with a shrug. “So maybe they found what they were looking for in each other. I'd like to think so.”
“I suppose that is kind of romantic,” Alexa agreed. Well, it was romantic for this place, at least.
“Are you looking for something like that?” Eve asked.
“Me?” Alexa shook her head. “No, I just came back to try to break that old record.”
“And once you've done that, then what?” Eve pressed. “Will you try to get back to town where you can be safe, or let yourself be caught, or what?”
“You know, I never really thought about that,” Alexa admitted.
“Well, you should start thinking about it,” Melanie spoke up. “You probably have a lot of men out hunting for you now, what with all the attention you kept drawing to yourself. You could get taken by any one of them, or even by a pack of them. If things get too rough for you, you could always use the bailout phrase, but I don't think you'd do that, would you?”
“I don't think I would,” Alexa replied. “It would feel too much like cheating. So would running back to safety. So I guess I'll just keep going until I maybe get caught and deal with things as I find them then.”
The two proctors looked at each other, then back at Alexa.
“This is only your second visit to Gordburg, isn't it?” Melanie asked.
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
“Well,” the proctor hesitated for a moment, “how much experience do you have with BDSM outside of Gordburg?”
“Hardly any,” Alexa admitted. In fact, the only such personal experience she had aside from her first visit to Gordburg was what she'd gotten when she'd gone to visit Will. Before that, she'd had occasional fantasies, but no actual experience.
“No gangbangs?” Eve asked.
“No,” Alexa replied. “They never really appealed to me.”
“Do you think you could handle it if you wound up in one?” Eve pressed. “Two, three, four guys all using you as a fuck toy?”
Alexa winced at 'fuck toy'. She'd seen some pretty rough examples of that recently, and the images were quite fresh in her mind. “If I have to, I have to,” she replied, even as she hoped fervently that she wouldn't have to.
“What do you think, Melanie?” Eva asked her companion. “Think we should offer her the chance to stay and watch?”
“Watch what?” Alexa asked before Melanie could respond.
“We like it rough,” Eve said. “I mean, really rough. There are some men on their way here, and for the day they'll get to do whatever they want to us. Since we're both proctors, you can imagine the paces they'll put us through.”
“Exactly what do you mean by 'rough'?” Alexa asked.
“It would be easier for you to just hide in the woods somewhere and watch, rather than have us explain it,” Melanie said. She smiled wickedly. “We don't mind if you watch.”
“Hell, no!” Eve laughed. “In fact, I'd kind of like it if you did. I've got a bit of an exhibitionist streak.”
“We both do,” Melanie added.
“Aren't you worried that you'll get hurt?” Alexa finished her coffee and passed the mug over to Melanie.
“I'm sure we will get hurt,” Eve almost smirked. “The pain can be a turn-on. But we won't be injured. I'm sure of that. The men are all long-time Gordburg visitors, and they're all fully qualified.”
“Qualified?” Alexa was feeling an urge to get up and leave.
“Oh, yes. The men who work here are all trained in handling and caring for females. They're what we call 'qualified'. Some of the guests, the visitors, get the same kind of training.”
“Just how many of these qualified men are coming for you?” Alexa asked.
“Six, wasn't it?” Eve turned to Melanie, who nodded. “Yes, six. Would you like to watch? They'll be doing all sorts of nasty things to us.”
“Let me think about it,” Alexa said.
“Oh, you don't have to decide right now,” Eve said. “In fact, you don't even have to tell us what you decide. I'm just saying that neither one of us would mind in the least if you hid and watched.”
“We wouldn't mind if you stayed in here and watched either,” Melanie said between gulps of hot coffee.
“What do you mean?” Alexa was puzzled. “Won't they look in here?”
The two proctors laughed. “They might,” Eve replied. “But that's not what we meant. We both like to unwind a little before the main event starts. Have you ever done girl-on-girl?”
“Sort of,” Alexa answered, thinking back to last year, when she'd used that bizarre vibrating strap-on on Martina and Naomi, and almost used it on Lynette before the bitch had bailed out, all in front of a very attentive male audience.
“You need to come here more often,” Melanie said. “Eve and I were planning on having a little lesbian fun before the men show up. We've done it before, and there's nothing like it for getting loosened up. We'd invite you to join in, but there isn't that much time left.” She began to unbutton her high-necked black dress.
“You could still watch for a little while, if you like,” Eve offered. She leaned over to kiss Melanie, who responded eagerly while continuing to undress. Alexa caught sight of the black leather collar that she knew all proctors wore under their uniforms.
“No, that's okay,” she said as she got up and hefted her pack. “I think I'll just be going now. Nice meeting both of you, and thanks for the coffee.”
Melanie waved a hand in goodbye, but neither she nor Eve were paying any attention to Alexa now. Instead, they were locked in a passionate kiss with what looked like a lot of tongue action and busily, if clumsily, undressing each other. Alexa looked back at them one last time before she left the building and headed into the shelter of the surrounding forest. She kept going for a little while before stopping, a victim of her growing curiosity. If those men were coming here expecting to find two proctors, and they found them, it wasn't likely that they'd go looking any further, was it? And it was very unlikely that either Eve or Melanie would tell them about her visit, wasn't it? And wouldn't it be a good idea if she stayed to watch just how rough 'rough' could get? On top of it all, if she didn't stay to watch and learn all she had to look forward to, was tramping through the woods all by herself all that safe? As a city girl she just wasn't used to all that solitude, anyway, hadn't Eve and Melanie practically invited her to watch?
Alexa turned back, found a spot that offered good concealment, an unobstructed line of retreat, and a perfect view of the entryway of the building that the proctors were in. She settled down and waited. For a long while, nothing happened, and she amused herself by watching some big black ants as they went about their business. From time to time, she thought that she heard moans coming from the building where Eve and Melanie were 'loosening up', but she couldn't be sure if they were real or just her imagination.
“Come on out!” The voice was deep and booming, and it came so suddenly and unexpectedly that Alexa was barely able to keep from yelping from her own surprise. She hunkered down a little further behind the bush she was using for cover and looked around to see where that voice had come from. Six men came slowly into her field of view. They were all dressed in some kind of half-assed camo and high black boots, so that they looked a little bit like guerrillas from some bad movie.
“Come on out!” the biggest man of the bunch bellowed again. He was looking towards the building, not towards Alexa. She permitted herself a very quiet sigh of relief. A moment later, Eve and Melanie emerged from the building. They were both naked, and both had let their hair down out of those painfully tight buns. Melanie's hair was so long and fine that it fell all the way to her waist and drifted along behind her like a cloud. Eve's hair was more than shoulder length, and thicker. Both women had their hands up, as if they were surrendering, which seemed oddly appropriate. They stopped just a few feet short of the men, who moved to surround them with a chilling slow deliberateness. Alexa found that her mouth felt suddenly dry. She heard what sounded like the impact of a hard palm against soft flesh, and one of the females cried out. But the backs of the men blocked most of Alexa's view, so she couldn't tell exactly what had happened. She heard one of the men speak, but couldn't make out the words. It must have been some kind of command, though, because both Eve and Melanie slowly got down onto their hands and knees, side by side on the ground. As the men moved back from them, Alexa saw that both females had their heads down, hiding their faces. As she watched, two of the men gripped the females by their hair and pulled their heads up and then back, so far back that it looked almost painful, based on the identical grimaces on the females' faces. Now Alexa could see that they hadn't just taken off their proctor uniforms, but the collars that they always wore beneath them as well. That had to mean something out here, but she could only guess at what.