The Mystery at Faldor Hotel Ch. 21

"Do you have a bathroom?"

The thin, hawkish faced man behind the counter of the General Store smiled, making little effort to hide his appraisal of George's body as he gestured to the back of the store, saying, "Past automotive products on the right, honey. Just call out if ya need any help in there, now..."

She wasn't offended by the man's less than professional attitude, or his suggestive offer. She was becoming used to such things in Cinder Bay and, besides that, she had more important things on her mind as she tried not to run to the back of the store with the taste of coconut in her mouth.

Practically slamming the door shut behind her, she snapped the deadbolt to secure the dirty little bathroom and quickly stepped to the sink. In the mirror above it, her wide eyes stared back at her, conveying the same disbelief she felt as though her reflected image was a supportive twin. Slowly, she parted her lips. Her mouth opened wide and she watched her tongue protrude for inspection. Her heart rate sped up as it kept coming, its tip touching the end of her chin before it stopped. It had turned colour from a dark pink to a pale red and was more rounded, like the body of a snake. Like Elora Sasser's tongue.

She'd seen enough of that. At her will, it recoiled back to its cave in an instant, her jaw snapping shut as if to lock the thing behind her teeth forever. Her eyes were wider now, heart thumping in her chest as she fought the quickly rising tide of panic that threatened to blot out all reason from her mind.

But that was only the first part of her inspection.

Taking the top button of her white blouse in her fingers, she slowly, solemnly unfastened it, then three more until her bust line was clearly visible. She wore a pale blue, lace and satin demibra, one she'd had for almost a year. It was one of her favourites because she thought it was sexy and comfortable, and she liked how it made her A-cup breasts seem just a little bigger. When she put it on that morning, she'd noticed how she felt a little crowded in it, but she was too distracted by other thoughts at the time to pay it much mind. Now it was hard to be distracted from the sight of her areolas peeking above the cups of a bra that was clearly too small and, as she watched, her nipple slowly popped into sight. She gasped aloud, an expression that was as much disbelief as it was pleasure at how it felt when the super sensitive, fully erected bud scraped past the seam to freedom. Her jaw sagged and she let out a little cry, flinching at the doubled pleasure as her as her other nipple slipped out of its cup, snapping to attention like the other one had.

"Oh my gaaawd..." she moaned in a small, confused voice.

But the inspection wasn't over.

Now her whole body trembled as she cast her eyes down to her hips. She'd had these blue jeans much longer than the bra, had grown into them as they formed to her hips and thighs and, after so many wash cycles, they were now as comfortable and soft as they were snug. As with the bra, she noticed a somewhat more tight fit when she pulled them on that morning, but had attributed it to the fact that they were clean and slightly shrunken from the dryer. But instead of having loosened up a little, as they always did when worn for a few hours, they now seemed even tighter and, in the mirror, it was impossible to deny that her hips were now fuller. Her upper thighs were also a little thicker and, turning around, she was amazed to see that her bottom was indeed wider than it had been, though certainly not in a bad way. In fact, she couldn't help thinking that if this were some other girl's bottom, she'd be quite attracted to it. It was almost perfect.

This fact didn't quell the small, panicked sound that escaped her throat and she quickly turned back around. Buttoning up her blouse once again, she flinched at the feel of it against her nipples, staring at how they visibly assaulted the thin material from underneath.

"Omigod! Omigod! What's happening to me!?"

It took quite an act of will to calm herself down. Logical rationale played a large part in this as she told herself that, aside from her tongue, the changes were actually good. Hadn't she always wanted larger breasts? Didn't her hips look much better now? As for the tongue, as frightening as it was, it felt good. When she dared herself to grind it against the roof of her mouth, it felt much like her clitoris did when she touched it. Even gently biting on it with her molars felt good, seemed to make it thicker as tingles broke out on her face, especially around her mouth and forehead, and ran down the sides of her neck.

With another act of will, she forced herself to stop playing with her tongue.

She had to leave the bathroom. She'd been in there for... how long?

"Everything okay in there, sweet thing?" the attendant asked from behind the counter with a leering smile, but without much concern.

With her sunglasses on, she walked quickly by him without answering or even so much as looking at him. Back outside on the narrow, planked walk that spanned the front of the building, she felt a little better, like she could breathe a little easier. Looking up at the sky, she took a deep breath while vaguely noting how the clouds were gathering. A slightly chilly breeze was blowing in from the water and she shivered, not so much because of this as the effect of her discoveries in the General Store's bathroom.

What in hell was going on!?

"George!"

It was Bess. It looked like she'd just come from the boutique, holding her right arm above her head, waving at her as though she were stranded and needed rescue. This made the indecently short, pink T-shirt she wore hike up far enough that George could see the nipple of her right breast. Without noticing, George pushed her tongue hard against the roof of her mouth, enjoying the exhilarating feel of tingles around her lips before stepping down from the wooden walkway to meet her cousin.

"George, I'm so sorry," Bess offered when they stood together directly across from the looming hotel. "That must have been awful for you!"

Still stricken by her discoveries in the General Store's bathroom, George at first didn't understand, her confused expression prompting an explanation from Bess.

"About what Nancy said. I wanted to talk to you this morning, but... well, what with the lack of privacy up in our suite and all..."

Nodding, George fought to pull herself together, though she was unable to keep the tremor from her voice when she replied, "Yes, uh... well, it is what it is."

"Don't give me that. You're hurt, I can tell."

George shrugged in reply. The matter of Nancy had slipped her mind. Next to what was going on in her mouth, it suddenly seemed far less than important.

"You know," Bess went on, "I never really realized how... incomplete Nancy is. As a person, I mean. It's like she only has any presence when it comes to her interests which, mainly, is solving mysteries. It's like trying to imagine our teachers as people, trying to imagine them at home watching television or out with friends instead of marking test papers until it's time to go to bed. We can't because we only ever see the teacher side of them, but we know they're people, that they live and love from within full personalities like we do. But Nancy... She doesn't. At least, she doesn't seem to."

"I know, I've been thinking about that," George agreed as a way to at least make it look as though she was interested in the conversation.

"So, you see it too. I wondered. I suppose you must have a different view of her now."

"I have a different view of a lot of things."

Bess regarded her for a moment before nodding agreement and saying, "I told her off last night. After you left."

"You did?"

"Yes. I also told her that..."

Bess trailed off, having been about to tell George that it was she who Ned had cheated on Nancy with but, unsure of how George would feel about that, despite how Nancy had hurt her, she'd changed her mind. Bess knew that she'd find out sooner or later anyway but, because of that upset between George and Nancy, she felt a closer connection with her cousin than usual and she didn't want to spoil it.

"Told her what?"

"A lot of things. I really don't want to talk about it right now, George. It's such a nice day and I'm in such a great mood; why spoil it? I'll tell you later."

"Um-"

"So, where were you headed?" Bess asked, cutting George off with this change of topic.

George only shrugged.

"Well, I was going to the Sherriff's office. Wanna come?"

"The Sherriff's office?" George asked, looking down at her cousin's slutty attire.

Bess nodded with a smile.

"Looking like that?"

"Sure. I was there yesterday, asking him to look into Susan Quinn's whereabouts, and I want to see if he's made any progress."

"You didn't look like a whore yesterday."

"Believe me, he won't care." Besides, you're looking a little whorish yourself. Is that a shelf bra you're wearing?"

"Uh... yeah."

"I don't remember you buying that. It looks good. Really good."

"So do you, Bess. You do whorish well."

As the two cousins smiled at one another, George's hormones began to subtly calm her fears over whatever was happening to her, if only a little. Her tongue seemed to swell as she arched her back a little for Bess.

"George, have you gained weight?"

" ... I think maybe a little."

"It looks good on you," Bess complimented with a tricky grin as she grabbed her cousin's crotch.

"(Ga-asp)! B-Bess!"

But Bess only continued to grin, squeezing and massaging George's sex through her tight jeans, enjoying the sight of her twitching, jerking and gasping in pleasure. It did occur to George that they were in a public setting, but that only made it all the better and she allowed Bess to go on massaging her for a moment before she forced her hand away.

"Bess!"

"You liked it."

"Well, yes, but..." she trailed off, looking around with a guilty smile to see if anybody saw.

"Wanna watch me suck some cock?"

" ... Are you serious?"

"It's fun."

"I thought you were going to see the Sherriff."

"I am."

"Oh, Bess... Alright."

But the Sherriff's office was locked. With disappointment, Bess looked around as though she might see the Sherriff lurking about, saying, "He must be out."

"Obviously."

"Where were you headed when we met?"

"Nowhere in particular," George replied. "I was just out trying to clear my mind. Somehow, I'm not so gung-ho about Nancy's little adventure anymore. If she didn't think she could use our help, we probably wouldn't be here anyway."

"Probably not," Bess sighed as they descended the short set of steps to the dirt front yard of the Sherriff's office, "but Susan Quinn is still missing, and it's not so much about helping Nancy solve a mystery as it is about helping Susan."

"I don't think Susan wants to be found."

"What? What makes you say that?"

"I was talking to Elora Sasser last night after I left the suite. She told me that Susan had made some decisions about her life, that she was making some changes, and even though she wouldn't tell me what these changes were, or where she was, I got the impression that she's not being held against her will."

Stopping at the edge of the chip seal, Bess demanded, "George, why didn't you tell us that this morning? And what made Elora suddenly open up to you like that, anyway?"

"I had sex with her."

" ... Okay, uh... Wow!" Bess laughed, quite surprised, but also impressed at her cousin.

"And I didn't say anything this morning because I wasn't exactly in the mood to talk to Nancy, especially in view of how I came across this information."

"Well, I guess I can understand that! ... So, uh... how was she?"

" ... Different. Look, she sort of... I had to use my body to get the information, and I'd really rather not talk about what... happened."

"But was it good?"

"Like you'd never believe."

"I can imagine," Bess replied.

"No you can't," George refuted.

"You know, she grabbed my boobs in the dining room yesterday."

"Really?"

"Yes, and... my bill was... well, I had to suck on a cock."

Now George stopped up, regarding Bess with a half grin as she asked, "What!? Whose cock?"

"Anyone's. It didn't specify."

"Did you?"

"Yes. The bartender's. That's how I know sucking cock is fun."

"It was your first time?"

"Yes."

"Oh my god! Bess, you're such a little slut!" George laughed.

The fear over her body's slow physical transformation had somewhat abated in the presence of her cousin, a person she'd always known and could take comfort in. In fact, she felt somehow closer to her since their arrival in Cinder Bay. Offhandedly, she wondered if this was because Bess was the first person she'd opened up to concerning her sexual orientation. Perhaps it was the fact that they'd actually had sex with one another?

Bess shrugged with a smile that didn't refute George's charge, but became more serious when she asked, "How do you know Elora was telling you the truth?"

"I suppose I don't, but her story did line up with what we've figured out about Susan and her, uh, friendship with Eloise."

"What exactly did she tell you?"

George gave Bess the information regarding Susan for which she'd traded her body the night before. When she was finished, Bess shrugged a shoulder with a thoughtful expression before saying, "Well, it does seem plausible given what we know about Susan and Eloise. Of course, if Elora was trying to steer us off track, it would have to sound plausible. Wouldn't it?"

"Yes, but..."

"Um, I hope you don't trust her just because she's beautiful and you had some great lesbian sex with her," Bess cautioned.

"No," George stated definitively. "I don't trust her. Believe me, I don't trust her one iota, and neither should any other normal human being."

"What does that mean?" Bess asked.

"Nothing, just... nothing. Look, what are we doing here?"

"Well," Bess sighed, "I really don't think we should take what Elora's information implies as gospel so, in lieu of talking to Sherriff Durant, I suppose we should go talk to Reverend Muren."

"A clever pun," George observed.

"I'm a clever girl," Bess replied with a grin over a long glance at George's poking nipples before adding, "We'll tell her what we figured out about the crystal in the hotel and then maybe the three of us can have that lingerie show after all."

George only grinned back in positive reply.

Unlike the Sherriff's office, the girls found the church open and the Reverend Muren inside with Father Stephens, both of them standing before the altar and heatedly engaged in an argument that abruptly ended upon their entry. An atmosphere of angry sentiment seemed to hang in the awkward gloom as Bess and George walked up the center aisle towards them. Stopping a few feet away, they were met with embarrassment from Reverend Muren and approval from Father Stephens.

"We're sorry," Bess toned in the sacred silence, "we didn't mean to interrupt."

"Not at all, child," Stephens replied while looking at her chest, then at George's. "How can I help you?"

"Actually, Father, we came to see Reverend Muren, but if this is a bad time, we could-"

"Of course not," he smiled, adding, "Reverend Muren and I were just debating the finer points of, er..."

"Acts," Muren finished with a cold smile to smooth over the jagged ice in her tone.

" ... Yes," Stephen's agreed as his eyes slid to the female priest before repeating, "Acts. (Ahem) I, uh, don't believe we've met..."

"My name is Bess and this is George."

"I'm Father Stephens."

"Retired," Muren specified.

"Yes, retired," the man of God confirmed with a discomforted chuckle. "Reverend Muren is taking over while I maintain an advisory role. You two are guests at the hotel?"

"Yes," Bess replied while George ran her eyes over the sexy reverend Muren, wearing the same dress of office as she had been the day before. "I met Reverend Muren yesterday. We were talking about some things and... well, I had some questions and I'd hoped to talk with her again."

"Actually, Bess, I was quite busy before Father Stephens came in, and now he and I are in the middle of-"

"Whatever it was you were busy with," Stephens politely told her, "I'm sure it shouldn't take precedence over one of your parishioners, and what we were talking about can certainly wait."

"She's not a parishioner, Father," Muren corrected, forcing a polite tone. "She's staying at the Faldor as a temporary guest and will be soon moving on as temporary guests do and as parishioners do not."

"It makes no difference, Candy." Stephens countered with a pious smile. "We're a very small town and, at any one time, at least five percent of our small population is made up of hotel guests, some of whom return on a regular basis."

Still forcing a polite tone to go with her strained smile, Muren ground, "For the last time, Father: My name is Candace, not Candy."

"Yes, of course. Why not have a word with Bess while George and I chat? I'm sure it won't take long."

Muren looked as though she wanted to crucify Stephens but, after a moment of staring daggers at him, her strained smile was directed at Bess as she invited, "Miss Marvin, won't you please follow me?"

She led the way to a pew near the back of the church, genuflecting before slipping into the row, leaving plenty of room for the sacrilegiously dressed teen. Genuflecting first as Muren did, Bess slipped in beside her before Muren tersely asked, "What can I help you with, Bess?"

"Uh... Did I do something wrong?"

"Wrong? Wrong, she asks," Muren said as though she were talking to someone else. "Bess, you, your friends and I practically had a lesbian orgy right in the boutique yesterday! For heaven's sake, I don't even know how you lured me in there, but it was wrong!"

"You had a good time," Bess protested. "We all did, and-"

"Having a good time doesn't make it right! I'm a priest, Bess! I can't even be seen in places like that, let alone allowing some barely legal girl to peel my clothes half off and play with my-! You know what I'm talking about!"

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way about it, but it's not my fault!"

Muren closed her eyes and began rubbing the side of her face for a moment before asking, "Look, what do you want?"

"I wanted to talk to you about what you've been experiencing, how you want to dress more-"

"What about it!?"

" ... I thought we could go to your suite to take a look around. We've discovered-"

"Oh, sure, Bess. That's just what I need, isn't it? To take a couple of oversexed, teenaged tourists dressed like prostitutes up to my suite. That'll really help, won't it?"

"Reverend, please. I promise we won't start anything and-"

"You've already started something! Now all I can think of is how it was when you were playing with my nipples and how you and your cousin looked while you were topless and making out! I'm always so horny now, and all I want to do is ungodly things with men and women! All I can think about is opening my legs for anyone who so much as looks at me, being the town slut and...! For God's sake, just leave me alone!"

With that, Muren stood, pushed past Bess and, without even genuflecting, quickly walked to the back of the church.

"Reverend?" Stephens called after her. "Is everything al-?"

"No, Father, nothing is alright! I'm going back to my suite!"

And with that, she left the building. Both Father Stephens and George were looking, obviously wondering what had passed between the two and, as Bess got up and again genuflected at the end of the pew they'd been sitting in, she wondered what fabrication could rationally explain Muren's exit to Father Stephens until she could tell George what was really said.