Satyr Play 02 Pt. 01

Tish fanned her flushed face with her hands as she stared wide-eyed at Dayshia. "He got me so hot!" she mouthed to her friend with a grin. The dark beauty smiled as she was also feeling tingly for some reason and rubbed her thighs together.

Sandy, experiencing tingles of her own, picked up his keys and turned to unlock his door as Dayshia moved to help Henry straighten up to get him through the door. Tish didn't trust herself to touch him again.

Henry felt Dayshia's soft body pressing against his, and his lust flared once more. He turned in her arms and found her mouth with his. Her tongue thrust into his mouth as her hands slipped down to squeeze his ass. She moaned softly when she felt something large and hard pressing against her intimate parts as he sensually sucked on her tongue.

"DAYSHIA!"

Her mind snapped back to reality, and she moved her hands to his chest to push back. She felt his gentle resistance, but finally, he leaned back from her and swayed on his feet. She looked down and saw he was showing against his pants, and her eyes widened.

"Henry, you need to drink some water, then go to bed," Sandy said softly as she bit her lip.

He nodded and tried to clear his mind, which felt like a forest fire was raging within it.

Sandy ducked in to give him a peck on the cheek only to find her hands in his hair as he gripped handfuls of hers. Their mouths were locked together, and the sensation from a massive build-up of sexual tension made their skin prickle.

Dayshia looked at Tish as they felt it, too. "I'm not touching that!" she insisted angrily.

Tish realized it wasn't safe either. "GOOD NIGHT, HENRY!" she yelled.

The noise startled the two kissing, and they pulled back.

"Go inside and go to bed!" Tish commanded, and he nodded absentmindedly as he stumbled inside and closed the door behind him. They heard the lock snap into place.

Sandy was breathing hard as she looked at her friends. Her hair flowed behind her back like a serpent preparing to strike. In a daze, she moved to hug them, but they both jerked back a step.

"Uh uh! I am not touching you when you are all charged up! I've learned my lesson!" Dayshia said, shaking a finger at Sandy. "Good night! We'll be taking the stairs. Come on, Tish."

"Night, Sandy!" Tish said as she ducked into the stairwell to follow her friend, leaving the dazed blonde to make her way to the elevator.

As they climbed down the stairs, the two women were deep in thought regarding their first meeting with Henry. Once they stepped outside the building, they looked upward and took a deep breath to clear their minds.

Tish smiled at Dayshia as she recognized they were still in sync. She decided not to bring up that fact to the woman. "Quite a kisser, isn't he!"

Dayshia looked over in surprise, then smiled. "Yes, he is. He's also packing some serious meat."

Surprised laughter burst from Tish as she stared at her friend in shock.

"What? He is! Don't tell me you didn't feel that!" Dayshia purred hungrily. "He's got an anaconda down there!"

Tish was still laughing at the exaggeration as he hadn't felt that big, but she also recalled how good Henry's body had felt against hers, including the firm ridge pressing against her tender bits. Her laughter petered out as she took a deep breath and sighed in frustration with a frown. "Fuck, I'm horny."

It was Dayshia's turn to laugh, but it didn't last long, as she had to agree. She was hungering for some action, too. "Shit."

"Wanna hit a club?" Tish asked quietly.

With a final, frustrated look back at the building, Dayshia shook her head. "We have work tomorrow."

Tish scowled as they set course for the Path Station to go home.

"Shit."

Chapter 2

"Good morning, losers!"

This greeting met with good-natured curses from the crew sitting in the control room of the nuclear power plant in Brokdorf, Germany.

"Pay up! Papa needs new shoes!" Edmund teased his coworkers. "Come on! Hoffenheim won last night like I said they would, so pay up."

There were some light grumblings and assertions that Borussia Dortmund had just had an off night, but they reached into their wallets to give the man his reward for betting on the winning football team.

After paying, the floor supervisor pointed Edmund to the two men on the far side of the room. They appeared oblivious to the others as they leaned over a bank of meters and controls. "Stop your gloating and go give Heller and Karl a hand. They've been looking at those readings all night."

Edmund grinned at his boss and headed to collect from the two men. As he got closer, he saw they were concentrating on the screens. They looked concerned and tired.

"Good morning, losers!" Edmund said quietly so as not to startle them.

Karl turned to look at Edmund with relief. "Ah, so good you are here. I need you to physically inspect one of our cooling pools."

Edmund smiled and ruffled the wad of cash in his hand until Karl rolled his eyes and reached for his wallet. After he paid Edmund and nudged Heller to do the same, he got Edmund's attention again.

"The sensors in cooling pool two are acting up. They are flickering off and on with their readings." Karl explained.

Edmund's eyebrows went up. "Any temperature change?"

"No, that's just it. Everything is stable and good, but the detectors are showing odd drop-offs of radiation like they are being shut off and on," Heller insisted.

"How many sensors? Which grid?"

"All of them in pool two," Karl said.

"Electrical?" Edmund asked, and Heller shook his head in frustration. Karl just patted the man's shoulder to calm him.

"We need a physical inspection," Karl said, looking back at Edmund.

Edmund nodded and headed downstairs to get suited up.

Once he was in his protective gear and made his way to the entrance to the cooling chamber, he tapped the mic on his helmet. "Are you reading me?"

"Loud and clear," Karl's voice came through.

"Right. Going in," Edmund said and flipped the camera on. The light mounted on the other side of his helmet also came on.

"Signal is good," Karl confirmed.

Edmund went through the heavy door and walked around pool one, looking down into the blue depths. "Any issues with pool one?"

"None. All sensors optimal."

Edmund grunted and continued to pool two. He glanced inside and caught movement. Instinctively, he threw himself back and landed on his ass.

"EDMUND! WHAT HAPPENED! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!" Karl yelled.

"Sorry! I-I thought I saw something in the pool! Scared me," Edmund said with a voice made shaky by adrenaline. "Hold on."

He climbed back to his feet and inched closer to the pool's lip. He peered into the water, caught the motion again, and ducked back.

"What was that?" Karl barked.

"You saw it too? Thank goodness because I thought I might be losing my mind." He steeled his nerves and leaned forward again. His eyes widened as he saw something swimming in the pool. "Are you seeing this?"

"What the hell is that? A manta ray?" Karl asked, wonder in his voice as he watched the graceful wings flap as it circled the cooling pool.

"Not like any I've ever seen," Edmund said quietly. "It's big! It's translucent in sections, and it might be bioluminescent as well.

"The pattern, Karl!" Heller's voice came through. "It's passing over the sensors, and they stop registering while it's there and start again when it moves on!"

"I'm going to get a better look," Edmund said quietly.

"Be careful!" Karl said.

Edmund slid his foot up to the small wall circling the pool, then transferred his weight to lean forward until he could see the entire pool. The creature in the water was peacefully swimming over the spent fuel cells, pausing now and then for whatever reason it might have before moving on. The lights moving through its body were mesmerizing, and Edmund found himself leaning closer and closer to the water.

"Edmund! Not so close!" Karl snapped, and Edmund returned to himself in time to pull back before he toppled into the pool.

"Sorry! The lights! They're beaut—"

"Watch out!" Karl said a split second before a jet of water shot from the pool to rip through the camera light mounted to his helmet.

Edmund crashed to the floor with his helmet partially twisted. In a panic, he straightened it and realized the left side of his helmet was gone! He scrambled on hands and knees toward pool one.

"EDMUND! Get on your feet and run!" Karl bellowed.

He pushed himself up and began to run when he heard an odd keening sound. He spun to look back and saw a tentacle-like limb stretching out of the water towards him. The bioluminescence was rippling up and down its length, but its surface was beginning to smoke like it was cooking. The bizarre sight froze him. Those watching the feed from his camera went silent as well.

The limb began retracting towards the pool, but the tip was heating up fast. Edmund realized the keening was the sound of it burning.

"Edmund... you... Edmund, leave now," Karl's voice said faintly in his helmet.

He turned to obey as the now flaming tip exploded, spraying hot liquids in an arc.

Edmund screamed as the left side of his face took a direct hit. He turned and ran for the exit. Stumbling through, he slammed the door before collapsing. Consciousness fled from the terrible pain coursing through his face and sinking into his body.

-=-

Two men in hazmat suits rushed to Edmund and lifted him by his arms to drag him to a decontamination suite. They stood under a spray on the way in then, once inside, they got his suit off and went to work spraying him down.

One ran a Geiger counter over him, then pointed it to the wicked-looking burns on his face. It remained relatively silent. The men looked at each other and sagged with relief.

"Thank god!" Heller said.

Arnd, one of the day-shift control center technicians, looked closer at the burns. "They're fading!"

"What?" Heller said as he leaned closer to see the last of the terrible burn marks dissipate. Edmund's slightly pocked skin looked as normal as it had been.

"What's going on in there?" Karl's voice boomed through the intercom.

"Edmund's burns are gone!" Heller said.

"Gone? What do you mean gone! How bad were they?" Karl asked.

Heller and Arnd looked at each other.

"The entire left side of his face looked like it would peel off. Now, it's... fine," Arnd answered.

"You two, leave the room. Now!" Karl insisted. Arnd was already moving, but Heller saw Edmund's eyes begin to flutter, and a cold shock went through his body. Instinctively, he rushed for the door.

Heller was a little embarrassed to find himself pushing Arnd out the door before slamming it closed and locking it.

"What was that about?" Arnd asked him, but Heller could only shake his head and gesture to the window looking into the room. They took their helmets off.

Karl entered from the control room and headed straight over to the window. "Did either of you touch Edmund directly, skin to skin?"

The two men shook their heads and looked at Karl with concerned expressions.

"We don't know what that thing in the pool is, but Edmund may have biological contamination. We've called the DZIF, Center for Infection Research, the US-based CDC, and a few other agencies. Anyone we could think of that might give us some answers while keeping a lid on this. We don't need a public panic on our hands." They looked through the window, Karl and Arnd right next to the glass, but Heller stepped back slightly as a shiver ran down his spine. He didn't share his observations with his colleagues.

They'd see soon enough.

-=-

"FUCK! WHAT? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LIGHTS!?!?" Edmund cried out as he stumbled around in the decontamination suite. Ripples seemed to bounce off every surface in the room, and everything was painted in reds, with hot spots of white here and there and splashes of black in the corners of the room.

"Edmund!"

He jumped as the sound leapt at him from his left and bounced around the room. He followed the ripples with his eyes, watching them bounce off surfaces and dissipate.

He recognized the voice. "Karl?" he asked and was surprised to see the sound of his voice project away from him as waves hit the wall and scattered.

"Yes, it's Karl. Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

He looked around and found the source of Karl's voice. There was a speaker mounted up on the wall. He walked closer and put out his hand. He reached the wall and felt glass under his fingers.

"What's wrong with his eyes?" another voice yelped.

"Who's that?" Edmund asked.

"...that was Arnd. Can you see us?" Karl's voice asked gently.

"See you? No, where are you?" Edmund asked, beginning to panic.

"We're on the other side of the window, right in front of you!" Arnd's voice blurted.

Edmund stood before the window, running his fingers over it. He could feel the glass, but he couldn't see through it. In a moment of inspiration, he clapped his hands together and saw the boundaries of the window, the wall before him, and the door just to the right. He walked to it unerringly and grasped the release handle to find it was locked. He made his way back to the window.

"Edmund, how do you feel?" Karl's voice asked again.

"Scared. Freaked out! Why can't I see through the glass?"

"He found the door handle quick enough," Arnd's voice muttered.

"Why am I locked in?" Edmund called out.

"We have to have a doctor confirm you are okay. Standard protocol. Do you remember the explosion?" Karl's voice asked.

He nodded and put his hands carefully on the left side of his face. When he didn't feel any damage, he smiled in relief. "It doesn't feel injured now. I feel fine."

"Your face had terrible burns, but the wounds just faded away," Arnd's voice called out.

His fingers went back to his cheek as he frowned. He wished he could see it. He held his hand out in front of this face and sighed. He saw something! Quietly humming, he could see his hand in the waves of sound. With the softer sound, he found he could make out extremely high detail, right down to the fine hairs on the back of his hand.

"What are you doing?" Karl's voice again.

He looked ahead at the window where Karl was presumably watching him. He grinned crookedly. "I can see sound." He felt a little light-headed after making that discovery. "I think I'm going to go lie down."

He turned and clapped his hands together, sending out a wave of sound. The room's layout displayed before him, so he turned towards the bed, walked straight to it and dropped himself on it. Maybe if he just slept a little, his eyes would cooperate again.

-=-

Karl, Arnd, and Heller watched Edmund walk unerringly back to the bed. Karl turned off the intercom and looked to the others.

"He can see sound?" Arnd asked incredulously.

"You saw his eyes. They're just dark red orbs. No iris. No pupil. Just red. He shouldn't be able to see anything, yet we saw him navigate the room without any trouble. He can see, somehow." He turned his head towards Heller, who hadn't said a thing since leaving Edmund in the room. "You're very quiet."

Heller jumped slightly. "Hmmm! Oh, I-I'm at a loss for words. I've never seen anything like it. I... don't know what to think."

"Think what you like, but keep your mouth shut. That order comes from the top," Karl said with a frown. "Can you watch him until I can find someone to relieve you?" Heller nodded. Karl glanced back in the window and headed back to the control room with Arnd at his heels.

Heller walked back to the window and watched Edmund sleeping. He felt a little better knowing the man couldn't see through the glass.

When he'd first seen the red eyes, he'd almost lost his shit. Old tales his grandpa used to tell him about a race of beings that hunted his people on moonless nights. Then Edmund admitted to seeing sound.

Fuck.

Something very big was happening. Heller felt it in his bones. Edmund was Human through and through, or had been. Now, he was something else. Heller had to get word to the Hidden Race Council the moment he got free from work. There were protocols for emergency contact.

He just never imagined that he'd have to invoke them in his lifetime.

Chapter 3

Henry had his office blinds closed, and his head was resting on his desk when Marisa found him the next morning.

"You okay, Henry?" she asked softly.

"Please... stop yelling," he whimpered.

"That bad, huh? Did you take anything for it?" she whispered.

"I... uh... didn't have anything at home. I haven't gotten around to stocking the bathroom medicine cabinet," he sighed.

"Oh, Henry. I'll get you something," she whispered as she slipped away. Moments later, she returned with a large bottle of water and three pills. He eyed them. "Take these and drink all of the water."

He did as he was told, then smiled fondly at Marisa. "I'd say you were an angel if I didn't already know you're a Succub—"

BEEEEEEEEEP!

The shrill alarm tone screeched loudly from the ceiling intercom speaker.

Henry's eyes closed slowly as the noise bounced off every pain receptor in his body. He raised his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry," he whimpered, and the tone ended.

"That's the first time I've heard you slip," Marisa said softly with a sympathetic wince.

He nodded, then settled his head back onto his desk.

"I'll give you an hour then you have to be in the executive meeting."

"Thank you," he breathed, then let his mind slide away from the pain.

-=-

Queen Mab was breathtakingly beautiful, but it was a beauty that Henry had difficulty appreciating. Some were drawn like a moth to a flame, but Henry had witnessed the madness lurking just below that thin veneer and wanted nothing to do with her. Unfortunately, he needed her to give him a new human disguise. He was in Ireland as her guest and had been for over a week, waiting for her team of mages to gather and prepare. It'd been days since the last arrival was introduced to him, and he sat through yet another interview so they could understand their patient.

Between all these interviews, he'd had to be available to entertain Mab's whims. Activities ranged from tea parties, formal wear ballroom dances to a drunken orgy to rival the mad parties of Dionysus himself, according to Mab. He managed to avoid having sex with any of the participants at the orgy thrown in his honor. The Queen was not pleased. In her rage, she may or may not have murdered the two female servants wearing glamors to appear as Fauns.

Their faces flashed in his mind, causing him to cry out in despair.

"Henry! Wake up!"

He returned to the present, feeling Marisa's soft hand resting on his shoulder, gently nudging him to wakefulness. He reached up to place his hand over hers. It always made him feel better to touch her hand.

"Dreaming again? The same?" she asked gently.

He pushed himself up to rest back against his chair and closed his eyes. "No... it was earlier on the trip this time."

Marisa ran her fingers through his thick, soft hair and enjoyed the sensation. Henry smiled and relaxed as she touched him. When she reluctantly pulled her fingers free, he made a little involuntary sound of disappointment. She grinned at him.

"It's time to go downstairs to the executive meeting. You don't want to be late for your first one. You know how Mother gets when she's made to wait," Marisa said with a smile.

Henry blushed as the first thought that came to his mind was Camila pouncing on him for a feeding the first time they'd been alone after he'd returned from Ireland. He squirmed at the memory.

He stood, disconnected his laptop from its docking station, and smiled at Marisa as she walked back to her desk.

He took the elevator all the way to the basement as VRL had completed the renovations on the old server room. They had a brand new executive boardroom where the old servers once suffered in the depths of the building. He couldn't help but think of the space as a dungeon for torturing servers. It made his skin crawl to think of their old setup.