Chapter One

 

"Are you sure this is safe?" I asked doubtfully.

"Course. Just watch where you step."

That wasn't terribly reassuring. But boredom lends itself to strange solutions. And I was bored, bored, bored!

It was late summer in Southern Michigan. The air was as dead as the city of Morigan, where they used to make a lot of cars and steel, but haven't for as long as I've been alive. In fact, it's not even a city anymore, but a town, and not a very big one population-wise. Size is another thing. There are tons of empty buildings, stores, and houses slowly falling apart.

Think of glorious, beautiful cities of gleaming glass and steel towers full of limousines and other expensive cars. Now think of the opposite. That's Morigan. Yes, it's a dump.

Exploring abandoned buildings and homes, especially the more interesting ones, was something we'd done since we were kids. But usually, we did it with boys along. You never know what or who you'll encounter in one of these places. Lots of crazy, homeless people and methheads use them for shelter and makeshift homes.

But not likely out this far from the middle of town. It was too long to walk to where you could beg or buy liquor at the liquor store or get some smokes. Not to mention drugs.

Still, Alex and me were girls (even if she denied it), and cute ones at that. Any male druggy who happened upon us in an abandoned building would probably think Christmas came early. Of course, you can almost always outrun them. And their balance isn't very good, either, so you can dodge around them and they'll probably fall down trying to grab you.

Yeah, that had happened before.

Or Alex could beat them up. She was short, with dark red hair tinged with black streaks. But she was also a black belt in mixed martial arts. I, unfortunately, have none of her self-defense abilities. Which was why I was more nervous than her.

Besides, bright blonde hair and decent-sized boobs had always attracted male predators. So I was nervous about being trapped and unable to run away.

This place wasn't exactly closed in, though. We were in an old factory. It was huge, with light coming in through high, broken windows. They had left tons of stuff behind that we took turns trying to guess the purpose of.

"There's an office of some kind," I said, pointing to steel stairs going up to a windowed area at the side.

We picked our way through junk, through weeds growing up from the floor, and debris left by previous explorers, and then carefully made our way up the rusting stairs to some kind of office. There were still desks and chairs and shelves there, not to mention books and files. There wasn't much light but our phones both had a flashlight option which we turned on.

"These desks look like they could still be used," she said.

"Yeah, but how would you get them out of here? You wanna carry them?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Me neither. And how much would you get for them on eBay anyway?"

"Around here? Not much."

Which was probably why they were still here.

We turned off the flashes as we left the office and went back down to the main factory area. We poked along, looking for more interesting things, just killing off a boring afternoon when it was hot as hell outside. The air in here was at least cooler. And we were out of the sun.

"Looks like someone tried to burn the place down," I said, pointing to the burn marks up one wall.

"How do you burn steel and concrete?"

"Yeah, well, that'd be why it's still here, shorty."

I yelped as she slapped my ass, leaping forward. I scowled at her and she smirked. "Told you," she said.

She had told me last week that she'd smack my butt every time I commented on her lack of height. And it wasn't like I could do much about it, despite being taller than her. But it was habit, and she'd smacked me several times since then.

"Bitch."

"You know it."

"You're just jealous."

"Of your boobs, maybe."

"And my long legs."

"I can outrun you."

I shrugged carelessly then my eyes were caught by a large, metal machine.

"That looks like a big cock," I said in amusement.

"It's some kind of boiler, I think."

"So if it boils and lets off steam..."

She smirked again. "You have a one-track mind."

"I do not."

"Slut."

"Whore!"

"Skank!"

"Dyke!"

"I am not a dyke! I'm non-binary!"

"Oh, please. You don't even know what that is."

"I do too! Kind of!"

"So how is it different from bisexual?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Ha! I knew you didn't know."

"I just don't bother to explain it to blonde airheads."

"You're just jealous of my beautiful hair."

"I'm not jealous of how long you take to dry and style it."

My hair fell well below my shoulders while hers curved in under her jaw.

"I think you're just afraid of men and their big cocks because you're such a shrimp," I said.

Then I ran, dodging her open-handed smack, laughing at her as I jumped over a low pipe and around one of the big machines.

"It's too hot to run," she said behind me.

She was right and I slowed down.

"Let's get out of this place. It's not that interesting," I said.

I rounded the machine and she was right there, giving me a look I recognized from knowing her so long.

"I said it was too hot to run," she said as I backed up.

I gasped as I hit something solid. It turned out to be a big, thick metal roof support post almost as wide as me. I jerked around and said "Yuck," because it had rust all along the side and it had likely gotten on the back of my white halter top. Not to mention my skin. Then I remembered I had just turned my back on Alex and jerked around quickly before she could smack my butt.

"What did you call me again, Brooke?" she asked sweetly.

"Nothing," I said.

"I'm sure I heard something."

I pressed my butt against the beam. I was only wearing faded old jean shorts, anyway.

"Maybe your tiny ears just imagined they heard something. Since you're such a tiny person," I said.

She grabbed at me and I fended her off.

"Hey, it's too hot!" I complained.

She surprised me by jerking her hands up and taking mine with them. Then she pushed my hands back against the metal above my head.

"Gonna kiss me?" I taunted.

"You want me to! Admit it!"

"Ha! In your dreams, dyke!"

And then she did something that caught me by surprise. She abandoned my left hand, and suddenly wrapped something around my right wrist.

I gasped and jerked my head up and around to see she'd wrapped some kind of thin cable, like an electrical cord around my wrist a couple of times.

"What are you - doing?!" I gasped.

She swung my hand over and then wrapped the cable around my left wrist too!

"Alex!"

She giggled and pulled the cable tighter as she wrapped it around and around, then tied it off.

"So," she said, standing back.

I gulped, suddenly feeling a strange flutter in my belly and tightness in my chest.

"You were telling me how gorgeous and sexy I am, weren't you?" she said.

"You have a great imagination," I said.

The truth was since Alex had decided she was 'non-binary' she'd flirted with me a number of times. I'd never really been sure how much was real and how much was teasing, though I suspected it was mostly teasing. I had treated it that way, at least.

But that added a dark, sexual undertone to my standing here with my hands tied up above my head that was filling me with uncertainty and also... I have to admit, a certain level of anticipation and excitement.

"Turn around so I can slap your butt."

"Yeah, no."

"No?"

She slid her hands down along my ribs, down along my sides, then suddenly jerked hard to twist me around to face the beam. I tried to twist back, of course, before she could smack my butt! But she startled me again. Instead of smacking me fast her fingers instead darted to the ties holding the halter on. One was behind my neck and the other between my shoulder blades!

"Ahh! Alex!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing!?"

She yanked the top right off me, leaving me naked to the waist! Well, naked to well below the waist because I was wearing jean shorts that were kind of low-riding.

My bare breasts were now pressed against the warm metal and pieces of rust were starting to stick to them. I was sweating some, after all.

She jerked me around again and I felt my face flush even though she'd seen me naked on many occasions since we'd met a half dozen years earlier. I wasn't embarrassed, though, so much as feeling a fluttery sense of uncertainty, anxiety, and anticipation. I was also nervous as I looked around. The place seemed to be empty but aside from the machine we were in a wide-open area.

"If some perverted methhead comes along - ."

"Then he'll get to fuck your brains out with their big cock," she taunted.

She reached out and ran her hands over my breasts, and I felt another jolt of dark excitement and anticipation. I still didn't know if she was just teasing, but my nipples were already hard!

"Such pretty pink nipples," she said, closing her fingers and thumb on both of them.

Then she twisted them sharply and I yelped as they stung, kicking out at her to send her dancing back.

"Bitch!"

"Is that nice?" she asked with a grin.

"Untie me!"

"Say pretty please."

I closed the fingers on both hands, except for my middle fingers.

"Looks like someone wants a red ass."

"Yeah, I bet you want my ass, dyke!" I taunted.

She tried to move in and I kicked out at her but she just grabbed my ankle and lifted it up and back... and back more. And as she moved in against me she let it drop and undid my belt. I gasped and tried to shove her away and kick out but she laughed and jerked my shorts down, taking my thong with them!

"There," she said. "Now you can't resist."

My pants were around my ankles, which meant I could no longer kick out at her. I looked around even more nervously. But being naked outside, that is, out of a locked bedroom or somewhere, was making my pulse race. My nipples, though they still burned a bit, were also throbbing as she looked me over with exaggerated lust.

"I bet I could sell a pretty blonde sex toy like you for a lot of money," she said.

I wasn't sure what to say to that, and she moved in and roughly turned me to face the beam.

My breathing was definitely becoming ragged by then, and my heart was beating fast and loud!

"Are you ready to obey me?"

"Eat me!"

"Okay. If that's what you want."

I felt my face flush again because this was definitely not the kind of a situation to make that sort of offhand insult!

Crack!

She slapped my bare bottom sharply.

"Ow! Alex!"

"Call me Ms. Alex."

"I will not, you miserable little shrimp!"

Crack!

"Ow! Bitch!"

"Push your ass out more."

"Kiss my ass."

This was again the wrong sort of thing to say but it was kind of a habit.

And this time she actually bent over and kissed my left buttock.

"You weirdo!" I said, laughing.

"That's Ms. Alex to you, you blonde slut."

"In your dreams!"

She gripped my hips and pulled them back from the beam. And there wasn't a lot I could do about it with my shorts and thong around my ankles! She moved to stand on my left, then pushed her right leg in front of my hips. She also let her left hand press in against my lower abdomen to help hold me in place.

Crack!

"Bad girl!" she said in a stern voice.