Sold (Part 5 of 8)

Most of their friends who had gone on the raid to rescue Nora six months earlier were gathered in Jean’s and Dave’s apartment. Dave, Jean, and Eddie filled them in on everything they knew. Two of the men knew a bit more.

“Ron, Jacob, can you two tell the group about the only lead we have?”

They looked at one another. Ron said, “Dave asked us a few days ago to see if we could find a new listing for Nora on the current websites similar to the now defunct site Jacob had found her on last time.”

“You play with dolls, too, Ron,” Trent said.

“Only when your mother can’t fit me into her schedule.”

“You’d see her more frequently if you were willing to take part in her Manwich Mondays specials,” Lauren said. The room filled with chuckles a second time after she said it.

Trent leaped to his feet his fists balled up, ready to fight the next person to say something about his Mom.

“I’m shy,” Ron said.

“Not helping, Lauren,” Dave said stepping in front of Trent. “Trent, sit down. Please continue, Ron.”

“We struck out. If she’s being rented again, we couldn’t find a listing.”

“I thought Dave and Eddie got an email address or something.”

“Something of a dead end. We had Kurt join the list.”

“Yeah, the only thing I ever received from that list was stuff like. ‘No rentals on the fourteenth.’ or ‘The Rita K doll is not available. All existing rentals will be refunded.’ and so on,” Kurt said. “There’s never a link to the website where the rentals are. And the mailing list is hosted in the dark web. I only saw any of the emails by paying attention to my spam folder.”

“If we can’t find her, what are we going to do?”

“Dave also gave us someone else to look for,” Jacob said. Dave flipped the slideshow he’d had running on the television to a new slide. “This is the other wizard that restored Nora’s humanity: Rachel Livanté.”

Two wolf whistles sounded.

“Was that you Lauren?” Jean said.

“Is she not hot?”

“Definite WILF material.”

“We’ve met her. She comes off as a prude.”

Ignoring them, Jacob continued, “She went missing the same time Nora did.”

“And this is her listing,” Ron said. The slideshow jumped to a website.

“That seems cheap. Is she under priced?”

“Yeah, market rate for a doll of her quality should be three to five times that.”

“She must be busy.”

“Could that be because the asshole renting her wants to rub it in her face?”

“We have no idea what his or her motivations or lack thereof might be.”

“She is definitely busy,” Dave said. “Ron placed an order for her and couldn’t get a rental until the fifth.”

“That’s like eighteen days from now.”

“And a Tuesday.”

“The next available Friday or Saturday was four months from now.”

“We realize some of you might not be available on a Tuesday and Wednesday,” Jean said. “But you have a couple weeks to try and clear your schedule.”

“So we’re getting together again on the fifth?”

“Early on the sixth. Rentals last over night. The scheduled pick up time is noon on the sixth,” Dave said.

“I don’t know anything about magic,” Kurt said. “But, isn’t that woman a wizard? Why would she let herself be rented?”

“Some people would enjoy it,” Jean said.

“Some people. But, not her. Not in a million years her,” Dave said. “We have no idea. Odds are she isn’t a willing participant…”

“But we aren’t taking any chances on that being incorrect,” Eddie said. “No one she’s ever met will be anywhere near Ron’s place when the doll is delivered or picked up.”

“How are we tracking the doll back to his place?” Maurice asked. “He found the GPS tag we put on Nora the last time.”

“We are taking a chance on you guys following him,” Jean said.

“Yeah. We assume the delivery person is a wizard. We don’t want him suspecting Ron knows any wizards or knows Nora or Livanté.”

“On the fifth, I’m going to invite Kurt, Matt, and Lauren over to hang out. Maybe Phil if he can come,” Ron said. “They’ll be here when the rental is dropped off.”

“We don’t want too many people there, though. In case we fail to follow them back on the sixth. Someone else will have to do the rental,” Eddie said.

“Three weeks later,” Mark said. “Should we add a second rental? Just in case.”

“That could be a problem if whoever does the second rental gets seen by the asshole,” Jacob said.

The rest of the meeting involved maps of Ron’s neighborhood and where cars could be stationed to cover all the ways in and out, who would be in which cars, another Trent’s Mom joke, how the cars might stop and resume tailing the delivery driver if necessary, and other logistics.

*****

On the fifth, Dave, Jean, Eddie, and a few others were gathered at Dave’s and Jean’s apartment.

“I just got a text from Ron. The eagle has landed,” Dave said.

“We’re calling Livanté ‘The Eagle’?” Eddie asked.

“Code names. We forgot code names,” Jacob said.

“If our communications are compromised,” Jean said. “We have no chance with this. The guy dropped the eagle off. We should be safe.” She said ‘the eagle’ with unmasked disdain.

“Calm down, Jean,” Dave said, holding her tightly.

“Go easy on her,” Eddie said. “The tension here is very real. I hope those at Ron’s aren’t this tense.

“We’ll get your fuck doll buddy back, Jean,” Dave said.

She broke the hug a swatted his arm. “Stop that.”

*****

“She’s here,” Lauren said. “What do we do now?”

“I’m not fucking her,” Matt said.

“Does she have to sit on the sofa staring at us?” Phil said.

“What really sucks is we aren’t drinking,” Matt said. “Just one beer?”

“Maybe later,” Kurt said. “We need to be sober.”

“I’ll put her in the bedroom. Only I’m doing the doll,” Ron said. “The guy would probably know if the doll wasn’t used.”

Everyone sat in silence as Ron picked up the doll and removed it from the room. The silence continued for a few moments once he returned.

“Can I watch?” Lauren said.

The others gave her a stare like she was an alien being until Ron laughed. “Sure Lauren. Then you can lay on her face while I do you.”

The shock on Lauren’s face turned into a smile quickly. “Awesome!” They laughed and soon the others laughed.

“Thanks for breaking the tension, Love.”

“I was serious,” Ron said. “I hope you were, too.”

Lauren shrugged coyly evoking a few more laughs.

“Are you two dating? Did I miss something?” Kurt asked.

“No, she’s just a big flirt.”

“Or am I?”

“So, what do we do the rest of the evening?”

“I say strip poker,” Lauren said. “Once me or Ron are naked, Ron goes and does the deed.”

“What if we have a lucky streak?” Ron asked.

“I get to enjoy looking at some packages,” Lauren said.

*****

Half the men were playing the poker game for free since they no longer had clothes to bet with by the time Lauren, still wearing panties, disappeared into Ron’s bedroom.

Ron stood up full monty and said, “Given how late it is, I’ll be going to sleep now.”

“Five minutes from now tops,” Kurt said, still wearing underwear and a sock.

“Funny. Try not to make any stains yourselves,” Ron said pointing to the pile of clothes.

In the morning, Matt went out and grabbed breakfast before everyone else woke up. Tensions rose as noon approached. All signs that a sleepover had just taken place were completely gone when Ron answered the doorbell.

“Where is it?” Said the delivery guy.

“Right there on the sofa,” Ron said stepping back.

The delivery man picked it up, gave it a cursory check, and headed toward the door.

When the door closed, Ron forced himself not to watch through the window as the man packed the doll in his car and drove off.

Text messages arrived at various cars in the area indicating that the car was the same car from the drop off the night before. At Ron’s, the other guys waited impatiently for fifteen minutes before going out to their car, car four in the plans, and joining the chase.

Ron closed the door behind them. He turned around to see Lauren disrobe and hold up a necklace.

“What’s that?” He said, feeling foolish.

“Impatient? I borrowed this from Jean. It’s magical.”

“Nora’s necklace to turn her human? What good is that?”

“Jean has her own necklace that does the opposite. I’ll be on your bed showing off how it looks on me. Give me a minute.” She left the room.

Ron experienced the longest minute of his life. He found her face down on the bed, her knees holding her rear aloft. She was a doll.

*****

Nora heard the front door open and close. He had been gone longer than usual. Her owner entered the doll storage room and placed a doll on its stand. He returned a few minutes later with Rachel’s body. He left and returned once again, putting a doll stand next to Rachel. When he returned once more, he set a doll on the stand. It was Jean.

He looked at Nora, a smirk on his face. He held up the small round ball. Yesterday, it had glowed brightly. It was dark.

Nora was seething. How did this fucker capture Jean? She didn’t hear him start the gem ritual. She wanted to murder him with her eyes. So distracted, she almost didn’t notice when he brought the small ball to her forehead, it was not glowing at all.

As she was thinking the same thing, he said, “I have to thank you for powering the spell I used to stop your would-be rescuers. I have no idea what I’ll do with the male dolls.”

When the small ball touched her forehead, the room flashed with a blinding light. The man recoiled in pain and shock.

“NO. MORE.” Nora said.

He didn’t say a word before he was rendered inanimate. Blinding light played over his body. Nora didn’t need to look away as her spell completed. The light faded. Where he had fallen, a sex doll lay. Not the high quality kind like she had been, or how Rachel and Jean currently were, but better than the cheapest models stacked on the shelves at the back of the room.

She picked it up and placed among the other cheap dolls. She reached out to restore Jean. The room became dark and the last thing she felt was her forearm smacking the floor hard.

It was pitch black in the room when she awoke. Her right elbow was throbbing. Nothing had changed since she’d passed out. Her mind felt fuzzy. There was an ache that she believed meant she was starving but it wasn’t hunger. Looking up, she saw Livanté and Jean where her former owner had left them. She was reminded her arm hurt when she tried to stand up.

She pulled herself up using the rack in the corner. The newest doll was there but it didn’t register with her. She needed sustenance, not food. Something. She staggered out of the room. The unfamiliar living room was littered with male sex dolls. Dolls! She grabbed one and was about to use it when she spotted Dave. The idea that she should start with him managed to manifest in her disoriented mind.

She pulled him out of the heap and sat down on the plastic phallus. With no finesse, no foreplay, no hesitation, she humped the doll. The orgasm she had was like a man lost in a desert drinking water for the first time in days. She just sat there savoring the movement of the orgasm up and down her nervous system. As it faded, she resumed humping the doll. She reached orgasm a few moments later and a few moments after that. Dave found himself able to move as she continued to move up and down forcefully on him. She didn’t stop until he came.

She got up without a word. Her eyes locked on to the nearest doll phalus.

“I’m good, thanks,” he said. “What happened to your arm?”

“Not now,” he voice croaked. “I’m so starved I’m dying.” She righted the nearest doll and engaged it just as animalistically as she’d used Dave. As she did, she managed to form a sentence, “I think I broke my arm when I fell unconscious this afternoon.” Kurt reanimated the same way Dave had after she’d had her own orgasms.

After Kurt and Jacob, her body slumped with exhaustion. “Dave, Kurt, help me get off Jacob. If I try to roll off, I’ll probably land on my face.”

The men chuckled. “What happened and why are you… this?” Jacob said.

They picked her up and sat her on the sofa. She stopped them from trying to lay her down flat.

“I’ll need to do several more of those dolls but I’m good enough for now.”

“We should put your arm in a sling,” Kurt said.

“I have water bottles in the car,” Jacob said. “We can’t trust anything here.” He ran out of the apartment.

“I’m no expert,” she said slowly. “But, you all got bombed by my magic energy. The fucker had been collecting it and I had no idea what he was up to. But, I’m certain I need it back as soon as possible. This, as you put it, was the fastest way to do it. And once I have all the energy, the spell on you guys was canceled.”

“What about Jean?”

“By the time I finish with this lot, I’ll be able to help her at a more leisurely and pleasant pace. And on a bed. And I’m not using any bed in this fucking apartment. It’s bad enough my bare ass is on this sofa.”

“This is the right place though. Where are the other dolls?”

“Through there. He…”

Dave cut her off. “Touch nothing. We have no idea what kinds of magical traps there might be.”

Jacob returned with a blanket he wrapped around Nora. “I’m sure you don’t care about being in the buff. For our sake, cover up.”

“Fine.” He handed her an open water bottle and she drank it half down in one go.

Kurt had been about to go look for a sling. He stopped, took off his shirt, and tied it into a loop.

“You weren’t kidding about magic traps with that other Eddie wizard?”

“No. I’ve just texted him. We wait till he gets here.”

“Bring a doll over. I think I can do another one.”

Kurt stopped her. “Lets stop you from doing more harm to that elbow.”

“Thanks.”

“Where's the guy?” Dave said.

“Did he get away? Or flee?”

“I was unconscious all afternoon,” Nora said.

*****

Eddie was amused to see how Nora was retrieving magic energy. He made no comment. He helped them disarm a couple traps. “I guess he wasn’t as paranoid as Livanté,” Eddie said.

Close to dawn, all the helpers had been revived. The inventory of dolls, including Rachel and Jean, had been moved to Dave’s apartment. Most of the helpers went home dreading the work day to come since they hadn’t expected to spend well over half a day as inert dolls when the rescue mission started.

Nora thanked everyone when they returned to the apartment and said she was going to sleep. She went to her bed and found Jean’s body already laying there. She cuddled up against it and said, “I’m sure you won’t mind if I wait till morning to restore you.” With a chaste kiss, she fell asleep.

Ron arrived as they were unloading the cars. “Guess I missed the fun part.”

“Where’s Lauren?”

“Ask Jean.”

“We really can’t at the moment.” Someone pointed out she was a doll.

“Oh, that’s also why Lauren isn’t here.”

“Lauren is wearing a certain necklace?” Dave asked.

“She put it back on around three. She was worried sick that we hadn’t heard anything and she said it kept her relaxed.”

“That’s what Jean says about using it,” Dave said.

Jacob, Eddie, Ron, and Dave sat together hunched over a laptop, searching, though they didn’t know what for. They figured they’d know it when the found it.

Eddie cursed at a spreadsheet they found. “I figured out how he managed to ambushed all of you.” He had been using a spell that told him how many people were thinking about someone else. He would cast it for Nora and Rachel each day and was tracking the numbers in the spreadsheet. There were spikes from three weeks ago and yesterday with all the days in between elevated compared to before three weeks ago. “He used the knowledge that Jean and Dave had told more people about Nora to determine when we’d attempt a rescue.”

“There’s no way we could have known?” Jacob said.

“I’m sure if Livanté had been working with us, she’d have suggested we only talk about Nora in a magically protected environment. I’m not that smart, I guess,” Eddie said.

“We don’t hold that against you,” Dave said.

“You’re lucky I fear Nora enough not to retaliate for that quip.”

“I know.”

“Fear her?” Jacob said.

“I rather go one on one with Tiger. Yeah. She broke whatever doll spell had been placed on her with no energy reserves. I’m guessing, from what little story we got from her, that seeing Jean turned into a doll caused her to react violently. And sufficiently to break the spell. Emotion can be used to power a spell. But it has a huge cost. Of course, recouping from that cost had the side effect of reviving you and your friends. It’s just a good thing she hadn’t died before she started reviving you.”

*****

Jean crawled into bed next to Dave.

“Oh, there you are,” he said. He kissed her.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” she said.

“Is Nora awake?”

“She’s having breakfast.”

“Food sounds good.”

“Sex sounds better.”

“No argument here.”

Nora poured cereal into a bowl. She felt funny. She could tell Jean and Dave were kissing. She could tell someone was masturbating a few apartments over and two or three flights up. What had she become?

She was finishing her cereal when she felt someone approaching the apartment. She held the door open as Ron stepped off the stairs.

“You’re up? How are you, Nora?” He said.

“Hey, I’m good. Did she turn herself into a doll?” She replied indicating the doll over Ron’s shoulder.

“I thought this would be the fun way for Lauren to return Jean’s necklace.”

“Sure. Come in,” she said, stepping aside. “You should know. She’s a bit mad at you. She was hoping to stay a doll longer.”

“How can you tell?”

“I have no idea.”

Jean and Dave joined them in the kitchen area shortly. “Why is Lauren still a doll?”

“Nora says she’s mad at me for making her return the necklace too soon.”

“No, I don’t know how I know,” Nora said. “We’ll ask Eddie at some point. I was a bit out of it. How many dolls are there still to revive?”

“Nine, if you count Madame Livanté.”

“I haven’t decided yet. She’ll be last regardless.” Nora said. “Let me look at them.”

The group went into the spare room.

“May I ask something possibly indelicate?” Ron said.

“It’s your neck.”

“What?”

“I’m joking. You are obviously aware of whatever you are about to say is perhaps indelicate.”

“Last night, we found the passwords to the rental websites and that guy was making a ton of money. He had notes about some of the dolls that implied, though it’s unverified at the moment, that some of the dolls were voluntarily working for him.”

“Yeah, there are even payouts in his bank records,” Dave said.

“Not surprising. But is it true? He said something about that to me over a year ago but never followed through.”

“We were wondering if you’d be upset if we continued the business. With you around, you could make sure the dolls become women occasionally and can opt out.”

“Wow,” Nora said when she saw the nine dolls with unworldly detail standing in doll stands and the cheaper dolls stacked on the bed. No one saw her sneer in that direction. “I recognize those two from my first time with shithead. Both of them are volunteers. They're actually mad about being taken away from him.”

“The one on the right, Evelyn, has an appointment tonight,” Jacob said.

“You want to take her to it?” Nora said.

“Only if you’re okay with it and to the best of your ability you believe she’s okay with it.”

“She perked right up when you said that. Did you find any magical reagents?”

“In those boxes over there,” Dave said. “Eddie said you could have them.”

She rummaged through the boxes and grabbed a few things. A few moments later, she was casting a spell. The head on the doll named Evelyn softened and became human.

“Yes, yes, I want to go,” Evelyn said as soon as she could. “We only have five minutes, right?”

“You volunteered? And he kept to the terms of the deal?” Dave said.

“Mostly,” Evelyn said. “I was supposed to get a few weeks off but that was disrupted when he became fixated on this doll.” She was looking at Nora.

“He didn’t ask for my permission,” Nora said.

“But you love being a doll.”

“And I love being human. Shithead didn’t care about that part. And don’t say his name. Anyone says his name they get to spend eternity in a land fill.”

“I don’t know his name. He really didn’t want anyone to know.”

“Why do you want to go on your appointment?”

“Rexx treats me so good. I have goosebumps, mental goosebumps, just thinking about what will happen tonight.”

“You even knew who would be renting you, tonight?”

“Rexx is a regular. Every Thursday night for the last eight months.

*****

Jacob knocked. He stood on the unfamiliar porch for the second time in a day.

“Here for the doll?” The older man who answered asked.

“Yes, anything I should know?” Jacob was inspecting Evelyn for damage.

“I don’t think so. You aren’t the normal delivery guy.”

“No, he’s no longer working in this area.”

“No big deal. He probably said less to me during the six or seven rentals I saw him than you’ve already said today. Unfriendly sort.”

“I see,” Jacob said. He put the doll into the carrying sack. “Well, Evelyn seems in good shape. Have a good day.”

“Evelyn? That’s a perfect name for her. I’ll remember it.”

The next time they spoke to Evelyn she gushed about how much Rexx said her name during his next rental.

“You know, Evelyn. You could meet Rexx as a human,” Ron said. “Just coordinate it with Nora. You already told her you wanted a few weeks off.”

“Meet Rexx? No… Could I?”