Evil Bitch Ch. 06

"What are we looking for Master?"

"I want some writing stuff so I can draw out some ideas in my head," I told her.

"Can I serve as a drawing board Master?"

"No hard feelings Umbra, but there is something about the feel of the paper and the challenge of drawing something yourself."

"I think I understand are you a very good artist?"

"No not really that's why I said challenge," I replied with a laugh.

"There was a blank journal secreted in the room with the mummy," she said nonchalantly.

"Really, well let's go," I said even as the secret door slid open. "I will never get tired of that."

Knowing the path and how to bypass the traps it took little time to reach the hidden study. To my shock the mummy was gone and the chair returned to its proper place.

"It's like we were never here," I remarked.

"Someone came here after we left?"

"Yeah, but don't worry about it, he's a friend. Where is the journal?"

"There is a hidden panel on the left side of the desk. It is opened manually by turning the four brass diamonds counterclockwise."

"Thanks sweetheart," I said.

I moved to the left side of the roll top desk and there as she described were four diamonds. One by one I turned them in the appropriate direction until with a dull thunk the wooden panel fell outwards revealing the hollow section. I looked in and there was a cloth bound book as well as a small oaken box with ornate iron hinges and fastenings. I took out and set both on top of the desk's work surface and examined them.

I unfolded the cloth that held the book and recognized it as a pillow case from the house. The book beneath was leather bound and made of some gorgeous supple black leather. The texture reminded me of alligator or maybe even snake skin I wasn't sure. When I opened it the pages were blank and just waiting for my pen or pencil to be the first to inscribe them. The paper or vellum that there were made from appeared stark white in the electric lighting but when I turned the pages they had an almost translucent quality to them, amazing.

The small oaken box held a pair of custom fountain pens. One was predominantly silver or perhaps even platinum while the other was onyx or jet. There was no ink so I guess I would have to take them somewhere and see about how they are filled and what sort of ink to use. I returned the wooden panel to its place and the diamonds clicked back into place on their own. Then I closed the small oaken box, set it on the book and carried them both back up and out along with the roll of Velcro tape.

The girls were chatting by the fireplace when I returned and they stopped when I arrived. Oh hell they were up to something. I placed the things I was carrying on the couch and walked over to them. They were all smiles and that to me was even more suspicious.

"What are you up to?" I asked.

"What makes you think we are up to something," Carol said.

"Call it instinct," I replied looking each of them in the eye.

"Well we think you need a little pampering maybe even take a little nap while Liz goes for food," Colleen said.

"Chinese," I asked.

"Whatever you want Jon," Liz said with a smile.

"Now lie down and close your eyes," Veronika crooned as she patted the mattress she was sitting on.

"No dirty tricks," I said.

"We promise," they said in one voice.

That alone should have been a warning but I was so damn tired. I lay down and Veronika and the twins gave me a nice massage while Liz went out for food. It felt so good and before I knew it I was fast asleep.

I knew I was dreaming. The entire dreamscape was something only I could come up with its hideous similarity to the cavern below the house combined with other scattered elements like prison bars, Egyptian hieroglyphics on the walls and statues of people and things from my memory. My world was monochromatic spectrum of black, gray and white. That's one of the reasons I knew I was asleep.

A short distance away was a matching pair of statues depicting my sisters. Even though they are identical the artist, me I suppose, caught their essence quite well. Carol was the closer of the two and was wearing full battle armor and carrying a wickedly sharp sword. Her expression was full of challenge and her position hinted that she was protecting her twin from all harm. Colleen was behind and to the left of Carol and she was wearing wizard robes and carrying a thin elegant staff in her hands. Her face was serene if a little cautious about the spell she was about to cast I thought.

I walked over to the statues of the twins and smiled thinking this is really how I saw them. One strong and caring while the other always had her sisters back and mine most of the time. I loved them dearly and yes intimately as well. The next statue to catch my attention was that of my mother but here my subconscious spoke volumes to me. It was her expression that caught my eye first that blended look of sorrow and hunger. The sorrow for the husband that had abandoned her physical needs and the hunger for me that even dreaming stirred my desire for her. Like the twins mom was dressed very appropriately in an apron, garter belt with stockings and naked beneath. Her breasts were clearly visible and her bare ass displayed for the entire world to see. I chuckled, thinking that even in my dream the woman was soaking wet.

The statues of Veronika and Liz were side by side and again my subconscious was screaming volumes as to how I truly viewed these women. Veronika with her petite shape was naked with her hands tied behind her and sporting a collar and leash. Her face was a mask of perfect submission with eyes downcast and body language screaming complete obedience. Liz on the other hand was holding the leash and she was wrapped in leather and lace. The leather bustier pushed her large firm tits up and together for my inspection while the lace stockings added a certain something to the mix. She wore no panties and her shaved sex and pussy were a pleasant sight. Oh but her features were cast in a mold of challenge and desire to be bested.

I was beginning to wonder if this was my ego's way of displaying my sexual conquests. The thought was barely formed when I saw the trio of women standing together completing the gallery. Cyan Michaels was standing naked with her back straight and an air of confidence and joy. Erika was bent over facing away from me looking over her shoulder in anticipation of what was to come. Dressed in a short denim skirt and a half shirt that barely covered her tits. Finally there was Kat Shaw with her eyes sparkling with mischief and that body to absolutely die for. She had one hand on her hip the other was out in a beckoning gesture. Kat was dressed in a two piece bikini that covered the essentials but left little to the imagination really.

The last object in this immediate area was an elegantly crafted full length mirror. It had a dark wooden frame carved with interconnected female forms forming the border. My reflection was something I was not expecting. I was dressed all in the garb of a technomancer with its mixture of the arcane and the technological. The exterior robe was pitch black and decorating it, black on black, were those disturbing characters from the bottom of the Rosetta Stone I had discovered in the basement. They were the same damnable symbols that littered the arch below the house and now apparently haunted my dreams.

I caught movement in the mirror and turned to see something moving into the pale illumination that seemed to follow me in my dream. It was low to the ground and made a circuitous path in the shadows until it finally revealed itself, it was a small gray striped cat with silver eyes.

"MMMMMMMMMASTER?" the voice of Umbra spoke from the feline.

"Welcome to my dream Umbra," I said.

"Master is dreaming then so must I," she replied.

"Do avatars dream Umbra," I asked.

"Oh yes, that is when Master Jesse sends us those delicious upgrades."

"I don't understand."

"We slip into a warm fuzzy dream and our programming is improved and we become better more aware."

"So what do you dream about Umbra," I asked.

"Oh all sorts of things, strings of digital code stretching off as far as the eye can see. Sometimes it is data that I have collected but never really examined like the books that have been scanned from the house."

"So what do you make of those books?"

"Most are pretty harmless. Some are a little disturbing. A few I only glanced at before moving on. Master?"

"Yes Umbra," I said.

"There are things I have not told you since my little malfunction. Things you should know. May I tell you now?"

"Go ahead."

"Well it is about the Old Miller Place and your connection to it, besides your ownership of it. I did a very extensive check on the family tree to see how far it extended into the city of Arkham and beyond. In my search I discovered something."

"What did you find out Umbra?"

"You are the closest male heir to the Miller fortune."

"What, how the hell is that possible?"

"Your grandfather on your mom's side was Jonathon Miller. He legally changed his name after the murder in the house. He is the brother of William Miller the only survivor of that massacre. Elizabeth Colton Miller is your cousin."

"Where was this Jonathon Miller when the murders happened?"

"He is the eldest child of Old Man Miller and had a falling out. Jonathon Miller moved out at the age of sixteen never to return."

"You said is the eldest do you mean to tell me he's still alive?"

"Very much so but where is a mystery. After your mother married he literally fell off the map. There is no electronic trail to follow and no death certificate was ever issued for him. I assume he is still alive, somewhere."

"Mom told me he died before I was even born."

"Are you okay Master?"

Suddenly the air was filled with what could only be described as flakes of crystal snow. I held out my hand and one fell into my open palm. I looked down to examine it and held it up to the light. At first it looked like any other snowflake until the light flashed across its surface and the circuit board design could be clearly seen.

"What the hell," I said.

"I don't know it's your dream Master," Umbra replied.

"Wait if it's my dream how can we be communicating?"

"I do not know; that is interesting isn't it?"

"Yeah, so if you could speculate what would you guess at? What the hell are these snowflakes?"

"I would hazard a hypothesis that there are crystalline nanites that have somehow gotten into your blood stream Master."

"How the hell could microscopic machines get into my blood?"

"Because I put them there," said a voice from the darkness.

I looked around and there was a sudden rush of dizziness and my world of black and white abruptly went Technicolor! The flurry of snow became a cloud of scintillating rainbow colored flakes that shifted and changed as they floated by. The cat at my feet was now an electric blue with silver stripes and silver eyes. Off in the surrounding darkness came the flare of crimson eyes. First one pair then another and another until the horizon were filled with them. With the change into color also came my other senses kicking in. I could feel the chill of the vast chamber I was in. I could taste the metallic fear in my mouth at the threat of conflict and lastly I could smell the horrid stench of rotted flesh as they approached.

"Cyber Ghouls," Umbra whispered.

"I hate undead," I muttered as I reached into my pocket for my mage staff.

I pulled out the shiny metal cylinder etched with runes of power and knowledge. I gave it a healthy squeeze and it quickly reverted to its seven foot length and ablaze with arcane technology. The thrill of battle quickly drowned out any fear as I summoned a sphere of electric light to illuminate the hoard of undead slowly closing on me. Each ravenous corpse was animated by a disturbing mixture of dark magic and cutting edge technology. It was obviously the work of a Necrotech, a scientist only caring for the restoration of the body at any cost no matter how dire.

I summoned a mystical force field around me before lobbing plasma balls into the middle of the throng of staggering flesh eating ghouls. Unlike zombies ghouls will eat any flesh not just brains and their victims don't become ghouls unless the Necrotech makes them so. Bodies flew from the concussive blast of the superheated energy. I leveled my staff at the front of the mob and unleashed a bright lance of laser death into them cutting them in two. Forgetting they were undead the separate halves remained in motion but greatly slowed. The legs going off in one direction and the torsos still coming my way using their clawed hands to drag themselves forward! Not good not good at all I needed another strategy and quickly.

They had reached my force field and soon I was completely surrounded by the flesh eating horrors. Their claws were scraping against the barriers eliciting sparks and one particularly violent electric arc disabled the Cyber Ghoul. I needed a way of taking them all out at once with a powerful surge of raw power. I picked up Umbra and levitated off the floor about ten feet. Then I aimed my staff straight down and let it build up power until... until... the sun bright blast struck the ground and passed through every last ghoul at the same moment frying their technological parts in an instant. The smoking remains fell to the ground never to rise again.

"Not too shabby," I said to Umbra.

"Very effective Master but who sent them," she asked. "Where is the Necrotech?"

"Perhaps they got slain in my attack as well," I replied.

"Oh I don't think so," she growled as she leapt from my arms.

The cat shifted into the form of a lovely young woman with black hair and the most amazing silver eyes. She wore the garb and badge of office of a high ranking Necrotech.

"I won't underestimate you next time Jon Masters," she said as she faded from sight her voice echoing in my mind. "Jon Masters... Jon Masters... Jon... Jon.."

"Jon... Jon... wake up Jon..."

My eyes snapped open and the real world came crashing in. The twins were shaking me, one on either side of me and looking down. The smell of Chinese food filled the air. My stomach rumbled and I sat up with a start.

"I had the most intense dream," I said to everyone. "Ooh I am starved!"

Liz handed me my full order of beef fried rice and my side of crab Rangoon. I dug in with great gusto and we all ate in relative silence at first.

"So tell us about your dream," Veronika asked.

"Well you were all in it sort of," I started off explaining they were all gorgeous statues but left out the details. I wasn't sure Veronika would like the imagery of her collar being held by Liz.

"Sounds like we are his inspiration to me," Colleen said.

"It also sounds like everyone he's ever slept with too," Carol shot back.

"Go on Jon what happened next," Liz asked.

I launched into the rest of the dream and watched Liz's reaction when I brought up us being cousins. I knew it wasn't true because I couldn't possibly have accessed Umbra while I was asleep. Then the dream came to its heroic conclusion with the destruction of the Cyber Ghouls and the woman I now dubbed the Silver Eyed Assassin.

"Then I woke up," I said in conclusion.

"Silver Eyed Assassin," Liz said. "I kind of like the sound of that."

"Yeah sort of sexy you know," Veronika added. "You want another soda Jon?"

I held up the empty bottle and nodded.

"Thanks Veronika," I told her. "It would be funny if we ended up being cousins eh Liz."

"I wouldn't hold my breath on that one and just a little creepy if you think about it. What are the odds I talk to you in the library, you end up buying the house and then only after a mind blowing oral experience with me discover we're related."

"You are related Master," Umbra appeared suddenly and unbidden.

"What," I said. "How the heck is that possible?"

"For the very reasons I told you when we spoke earlier this evening."

"Umbra I was asleep, you never mentioned we could communicate while I was dreaming?"

"We can't," she said. "I have no explanation for how that occurred or how that communication was suddenly severed after I mentioned that bit of information."

"You mean the Silver Eyed Assassin is real," Carol asked.

"I do not have enough information to support that conclusion Lady Carol."

"But it is a possibility," Colleen asked.

"Anything is possible but this appears highly unlikely," Umbra responded.

"She mentioned nanites," I said. "How the hell could they get into my blood system?"

"Assuming what was said was not your imagination they would need to be injected or some similar method."

"Your hand, remember when you cut your hand Jon," Liz said. "I was so worried about you."

"You said it was a piece of glass," Carol added.

"Or crystal," Umbra said. "Did you possess a piece of Numenor technology then Master?"

"Yeah, the first watch I bought at the mall. But James took it and replaced it with yours."

"Did he say why," Umbra asked.

"I don't remember really I was distracted," I told her. "That was the night I met Cyan and Kat's mom."

"The improbable just got more likely Master," Umbra said before disappearing.

"Just fucking great," I cursed.

"That makes us kissing cousins," Liz mused.

I blinked and looked at her. I smiled despite the possibly ugly situation I was in.

"Well this means only one thing," I said.

"What's that," she said.

"A trip to the basement, there is something you have to see. I have put it off too long already."

"I am not going into the basement this hour of the night," Liz said.

"Even if it involves another secret door and multiple hidden rooms," I asked.

"Oh damn you," she said eyes narrowing.

"But I need to get dressed," I said and they all frowned. "Okay no clothes sheesh."

So after a brief 'everything is going to be okay' speech I led the way downstairs. Though truth be told I was distracted about the identity and nature of the Silver Eyed Assassin. Was it another avatar? Was it just my imagination? Or was it something else entirely? I just didn't know and I felt that it was going to be like pulling teeth finding out. The basement was well lit and that help settle the girl's nerves a lot. I went to the northern wall and opened the secret door

"After you," I said and they all looked at me like I was fucking crazy. "Okay, I'll go first then."

I went first leading the way beneath the backyard when a sound caught my attention. I stopped and held up my hand for silence. The noise was coming from part of the tunnels I had not explored yet. So off to the right I went and found a large storage room already half filled those all too familiar crates. The sound was coming from above me now and I looked up and saw a round hole the size of my fist set into the roof. I reached up and felt a breeze and a little moisture mixed in with it.

"It's raining outside," I said.

"What is that," Colleen asked.

"I think it's an air exchange," Veronika said. "It's to keep the air down here from going stale or toxic."

"You'd think we would have seen something like that sticking up in the yard," Carol said.

"You did," I said. "You just didn't realize it, the statues of the tigers. Their mouths are open and their bodies are low to the ground to hide the pipes, brilliant!"

"We aren't getting the full tour are we Jon," Liz asked.

"Nah, I just wanted to see what was making that noise is all. Follow me it's not far now really."

We headed back and straight to the room with the one man elevator to hell. I warned them about the traps and with a few pauses we arrived unharmed in Old Man Miller's private sanctuary. It was little changed from what I could recall. My last visit I had been hurried but now I took my time and took in more details outside the missing mummy that I had set on the floor to gain access to the chair. The floor appeared swept and as a whole the entire room appeared ready to be used now instead of the dusty mess I had originally found it in.