Crazy Seduction(erotica)

Dayshia called Beth to choose the door to link to. They’d set up the link with Henry in the morning.

Sigrid was still a no show, and Roy mentioned that he’d been unable to reach Minkah. She’d dropped off the face of the earth.

They ordered take-out, delivered to Henry’s, Mary’s, and Lorelei’s places. When it arrived, they carried all the different food upstairs to the dining room to enjoy a meal together.

After dinner, everyone went outside to admire the Christmas lights Michelle and Meixiu had strung up on the façade of the three-story mansion. The herd of lit-up reindeer scattered across the snowy lawn was a lovely touch, too.

Meixiu dragged Henry around to the back yard to the gazebo. Icicle lights were strung up around the edge of the roof. The little LED lights simulated dripping, and the effect dazzled the eye. Henry sat and said he’d like to stay there for a while.

The others went inside as Meixiu cuddled up against Henry’s side, enjoying his companionship, his warmth, and the slow trickle of energy he gave off.

Henry recalled sitting in this very spot, not that long ago, actually. He’d needed advice and called upon his new friend, Nate. His buddy had been there for him, had come all the way from the city to the mansion to spend a few days with him. And how did Henry reward him? By dragging him into the nightmare of Mab’s fucking evil plot. Getting him tortured by that monster until Henry finally could get him out.

He had no idea that Nate would find the cursed dagger on Eden. He had no idea how damaged his friend had become at the hands of Mab. He’d seen how driven Nate was to kill her with the weapon, but maybe some of that was the weapon’s influence. He’d felt its malevolent intent during the brief interval he’d held it. Nate had it for longer than he had.

Mab tricked Nate into killing Henry’s daughter. That horror rested entirely on Mab’s shoulders. Henry had been in no condition to speak with Nate when it happened, but he wished he had. Too late for that now.

Nate’s sacrifice shook Henry. Yes, a good part of it might have been driven by his guilt over the baby’s death, but Nate chose to save another life, Henry’s specifically, instead of just punishing himself through suicide. He made a heroic effort, and even when he was injured and knew he couldn’t stop their descent, he made one final effort and managed to limit the damage Henry suffered enough to allow him to cling to life.

He wished he’d had more time to get to know Nate’s other friends and his parents so he could learn more about him.

While Henry was clawing his way back to life on Eden, Marisa found Nate’s parents were amongst those taken by the ring’s curse. She had no information about his friends.

Marisa named her and Nate’s daughter Natalia in honor of her father. Henry vowed that Natalia would know how much he admired the man he called his friend.

“Henry? What is making you sad? I thought you would like the lights,” Meixiu said.

He wiped his eyes and smiled at her. “I love the lights! They’re so beautiful.”

She tilted her head to look him in the eyes, and he shrugged. “This place just reminded me of Nate. I miss him. I wish he could be here.”

“You are alive because of him. You are here and remember him. So, he is here.”

Henry looked at Meixiu in surprise as his emotions welled up. He nodded with a lump in his throat. “Thank you, Meixiu. You’re right.”

He took her face between his hands and kissed her tenderly.

After, she cuddled in against his chest again. “I like being right.”

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

“We should go in. Tomorrow’s gonna be a busy day!” he sighed after a moment.

She looked up at him with a hopeful look. “Just two more minutes of being right!”

He smiled and gave her the two, then three more for being so damn sweet!

>>>>>

What could Christmas possibly mean to someone who’d never celebrated it? Someone who grew up under the control of a caretaker who denied their charge anything that smacked of fantasy, imagination, or the fantastic. Someone raised with the rule that if it wasn’t grounded in hard science, it was a waste of time.

Henry explored the cave under the mansion, headlamp in place, inspecting it carefully to ensure there were no dangers the arriving kids might discover. He didn’t want anyone falling into any pitfalls or bear traps Walter Zhao may have hidden away in this massive cave system.

Doing this was actually just an excuse for him to burn off the excitement buzzing along his nerves. He wasn’t sure why he felt this way. He was so restless! He’d celebrated Christmas last year with his friends, and while that had been fun, he hadn’t woken up at four AM, unable to return to sleep, all abuzz with… with… he had no idea! Christmas morning wasn’t for two more days!

He’d slipped out of bed, and Aadiya and Maliha tagged along with him as they’d picked up his excitement. Tish snored softly. Likely still spent from the previous evening’s playtime.

When they first talked about the party, Meixiu confirmed for him that she’d gone through the cave with a fine-tooth comb checking for traps, and there was nothing dangerous here anymore. Just in case, Henry was in his Satyr form.

Aadiya ran into view from a side corridor, her headlight beam swinging side to side as she searched for him. She crooned to him excitedly and rushed back the way she’d come. He turned to follow her as Maliha rushed up to join them. Ahead, they saw Aadiya wiggling through a gap between some boards and disappear. Henry’s brows rose. Walter boarded off the hall? He peered inside and saw debris scattered on the floor before a wall extensively veined with crystals.

He grabbed a board and pulled it loose, leaning it against the corridor wall. He moved to the next and next until he saw the rough framing bolted into the rock itself. He pulled out two vertical framing two-by-fours and stepped through the gap. Maliha was right there with him as he poked a hoof through the busted-up wood scattered all over the floor at the far end of the corridor. The veins he saw earlier crisscrossed the rock face. He ran a finger over the vein of crystal and followed it down to the floor. He stopped and brushed away the dust and fragments of shattered wood. There was a channel carved in the floor at the base of the wall. In it was the baseplate for the destroyed wooden doors.

Maliha squeaked and picked up a doorknob from the debris on the floor. After a little more poking, she lifted a second one. Double doors?

What was Walter up to here?

He looked to the twins. “I need a broom and a pry bar.”

“Broom!” Aadiya said and dashed off.

Maliha looked upset that she didn’t get to pick the broom. Henry smiled at her. “The pry bar is the metal stick in the vestibule with the bent end like this,” he said and curled his first two fingers over in demonstration.

“Pi bar,” Maliha said less certainly and rushed away.

Henry smiled to himself and went back to tidying up the floor before the wall. There were enough lumber bits to make a double set of doors, but they couldn’t have been very thick. He looked back at the wall and ran his fingers over the surface. The veins felt smooth, and he picked up the tiniest tingle in his right ring finger as it touched the crystal. There was a residue of magic in the rock?

Something itched in the back of his head, and he let Baba’s spell memories scroll by as he pressed the ring finger against the crystal. The scrolling of the memories slammed to a halt as he threw himself back from the wall, his mind filled with the sound of an explosion. He crashed through two more of the vertical studs to tumble to the floor beyond. His headlamp bounced free and stopped a few more feet away. He was lying on his back, panting in fright. The spell used on that wall wasn’t a simple one, and the most critical step was feeding magic into the crystals. The feed had to be smooth, even, and without interruption. Any change in the flow and it could go critical and release the energy in a burst. Walter had gotten it wrong. Kaboom!

Henry looked up and squinted as the twin’s headlights were shining in his face. He sat up and saw two red-orange faces looking at him in concern. “Sorry, I just picked up the mental residue of the previous explosion. Walter was trying to build a gateway to the old realm of magic.” He pushed himself to his hooves and dusted himself off.

“Croo?”

“He did it wrong, and the door exploded.” At their curious look, he mimed an explosion. “BOOOM!”

They moved closer to him, and he hugged them for their concern. Maliha handed him his headlamp, which went on, then he accepted the pry bar. He nodded at her. “Pry bar. Thank you!” She smiled at his praise.

He made short work of the rest of the frame for the wall. Then he moved to the channel on the floor and got the baseplate out. Trading the bar for the broom from Aadiya, he swept all of the debris in the hall into a neat pile. He spent extra time ensuring the channel on the floor was completely clean.

He looked to the twins again. “Can you get me a garbage bag and the dustpan?”NôvelDrama.Org content rights.

“Dustpan!” Maliha yelped, first this time.

Aadiya opened her mouth and huffed in annoyance before looking at Henry. “Garbage bag?”

“Roy left some in the vestibule. Black plastic bags for garbage and sweepings.”

“AHH!” Aadiya cried and rushed away.

Henry was pleased with their increasing comprehension. He separated his sweepings from the lumber they’d have to carry out while he waited for them to return.

He heard the patter of feet running, and they barreled around the corner with big grins on their faces. Maliha handed him the dustpan as Aadiya showed him the garbage bag in her grip. “Excellent! Thank you! Please hold the bag open.”

They made quick work of the mess on the floor. Aadiya closed the bag as Maliha picked up the tools. Henry picked up the lumber, and they made their way back to the vestibule. The bag went into the big garbage can, and Henry stacked the old lumber next to it. Roy was going to get all this stuff taken away by the artificial men.

It was still very early, so he wandered back into the cave, the ladies at his side.