Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2014 11:52:05 +0000
From: H'eidi Eros <thothtarot@hotmail.co.uk>
Subject: Leela Brown and the Mutant Apocalypse (tg) part Five

Leela Brown and the Mutant Apocalypse.
A tale of survival, multidimensional romance,
transformation and the puppies of war.

By H'eidi Knight

Part Five

Welcome steadfast reader.
You find a nervous Leela at the keyboard recording her thoughts. She has
made love to the universe and consummated with the cosmic. Can there be a
climax more profound and meaningful than this?

I'm personally vexed by the idea that there might not be! (Certainly not
in the dreadful 1999 fantasy novel I've been mining/rewriting for
interludes.)

After worrying that the dramatic climax of Sarah Knight and the Fawn
Princess was a girl on envelope battle for supremacy, we might have
slightly over compensated by having Leela make love to the universe
itself in the last episode. ... what? You didn't read it? Go back now,
gentle reader. While we don't pride ourselves in being at the very
forefront of unusual erotica (sometimes erotica without any love scenes
at all ...) we do occasionally pride ourselves in writing sex that
possibly nobody has tried before. You really owe it to yourself not to
miss that one.

Now I've patted myself on the back repeatedly for last episode's climax,
let us push on with today's 9k of woes, wonders and wordy witchcraft.

As usual: Copyright (c) 2014 rests with the one known, to fans of my
unique tarot reading skills, as Heidi Eros. Sometimes the mysterious as
hell Heidi Knight or just plain Heidi Nighy to the Tax Man. (Grumble)

Donation: I don't get any kickbacks for any of this, but I still believe
it is an excellent idea. Support the Archive. Can you imagine a world
without this resource? It would be dull and tasteless ... and you'd
probably end up writing your own stories. (And that is harder than you
think, trust me! ...) So go on .. donate a little and keep this site
going. Out there is someone about to click the link and visit here for
the first time. We owe it to him/her/shler/herm to make sure these
stories are available. xx

Chairwoman Heidi: Jan 2014.
Manageress of the Bistro of Nearly Infinite Forms and Archetypes.


Wednesday
1999


I get lazy as the afternoon slides past. I was planning on walking back
to the campsite, but the warm sun and occasional ice cream have turned me
into a cat. Wanting to just curl up and expend no effort. The only cash I
have is notes left in my purse and don't fancy presenting a £5 to the bus
driver and asking for the smallest fare he probably does. If you have
journeyed with me this far you will also know I am not the most assertive
person in the universe. I couldn't, at 16 (nearly 17, I keep reminding
myself) walk into a shop and ask for change without compensating the shop
keeper for the awful rudeness and imposition. Mevagissey isn't the Monte
Carlo or Rome, but most of the shops don't sell extremely low value
things that wouldn't massively eat into my remaining cash. As the holiday
draws to a close I've been so extravagant a spender that my remaining
funds are being jealously guarded. (Not so jealously that I'm not
prepared to blow the bus fare on saving my pixie boots from the sandy
march back eastwards.)

A charity shop seems my best bet for breaking this £5 without having to
spend £3 on a collection of varnished seashells glued to a piece of
driftwood somewhere else. I find the shop that sold me my shoulder bag
the previous week. There are a couple of boxes of books outside priced at
a staggering 10p each. I consider grabbing a couple, and then apologising
profusely for only having £5 to pay for them. The idea of this makes me
feel quite guilty. I hunt through the boxes looking for at least 7 or 8
paperbacks that I want so it doesn't seem I'm just here to make change.

It is fruitless. The books in the outside boxes are just ghastly holiday
blockbuster sorts of things. Probably donated by every Cornish guest
house owner at the end of the season as they clear out bedrooms for all
the dross people can't be bothered to pack and take home with them. While
I might not have the sophistication of Sarah's taste in literature, I
can't read this stuff without  a vortex of internal embarrassment
overwhelming me. Maybe inside the shop has a better selection. There is a
rack just by the door. These are priced at a bank breakingly huge 50p a
book, but offer a much better selection. At 50p I feel happy to only need
to get a couple of books to justify troubling the lady at the register
with my money.

An author name catches my attention. Colin Wilson. I remember Sarah
listing him under things to share with me. I can't recall the title of
the book she wanted me to read, though I've pawed over her today note
multiple times. I curse myself for not having memorized the lists of
things, then remember I've got it with me. I pull it out and check the
title... 'Voyage to a Beginning' she said. This one is called THE
OUTSIDER and immediately the title appeals to me. I'm a transgender
teenager, so my current mindset is to heavily identify with the outsider
concept. I flick quickly through and catch a few sentences that really
grab me. That is 50p well spent I conclude. Now a final selection and I'm
off to the bus stop.

Oh, another Colin Wilson .. someone seems to have been clearing out their
bookcase of Wilson books. This one is a movie tie in to a film called
LIFEFORCE, originally published as The Space Vampires. Despite
considering myself a science fiction fan, I haven't seen the film, though
the ethereal woman on the cover gives me cause to wonder if I shouldn't
track it down. She has Sarah's elfin features and slightly otherworldly
appeal. I hunt through to see if any other Wilson books are in the rack,
but that seems to be it.

The bus schedule isn't as obliging as on my previous visit, but this time
I'm not worried my parents will walk past and see me cross dressed and in
a state of semi-panic. By the time the bus turns up a small group of
people have gathered. We crowd onboard and scramble for seats. I manage
to get one near the front. I've only got a few minutes of uphill chugging
and a beautiful descent to experience before I click the bell and hop
off. It is embarrassing, but I am feeling indolent.

Back at the caravan I try to turn some of the notes I've made into actual
bits of story. I'm feeling restless with energy now and wish I'd walked
the couple of miles back. I give up and plunge into The Space Vampires.

I'm disturbed by the arrival home of the family. They bluster into the
caravan sun burnt and happy looking. My mum tuts indulgently at me
surrounded by scribbles, lying down reading Science Fiction again. It is
like the first few days of the holiday, except this time I'm wearing a
skirt. I begin babbling about how amazing this book is. Like the best of
literature, I've vanished completely inside it for hours. It is only now,
jarred loose from the magic of the pages, that I begin to understand why
it's blend of excellent story, philosophy and surprising twists has
gripped me so completely.

Mum gets a bit vexed at discovering I've not eaten the sandwiches.
Apparently I am vanishing into nothingness and need a good feed. I
protest that I ate lunch out in Mevagissey, but since that consisted of
an ice cream and a can of seven up I'm not really doing myself any
favours. Dinner is suggested, but I'm not keen on the idea of the beef
element of the stew suggestion. I make a dedicated effort to eat the
non-ham parts of the sandwich selection from hours ago, but this is,
apparently, too little, too late. Dad comments that the last time I had
anything decent sized to eat was the Chinese Restaurant the previous
week. Before we quite know what is happening everyone is back in the car
and heading toward St Austell for another meal at the Jade Palace.

It feels a little strange without Sarah, Claire, Elaine and Chris in the
restaurant, but I diplomatically don't mention that. In my mind it seems
I'm still waiting for them to turn up. Dad has to take Ryan to the
toilet, even though he knows where it is. Mum asks me if it is okay for
me to use the ladies toilets, despite the fact I've been using only
female toilets now exclusively for a whole week and it doesn't even occur
to me now that this would be an issue. Funny how that switch in my brain
has flipped over. Bless her, she doesn't want me to get into trouble. I
say it would probably get me into more trouble sneaking into the men's
toilets. I'm not letting any men sneak a look inside my briefs to prove I
qualify to pee standing up still.

Dinner is nice and I make a real effort to tuck a lot of stir fried
vegetables into myself. I am hungry once I start eating, it was just a
case of getting going. I mention to my parents that I'm now a vegetarian
and they groan. It seems too many changes stacking up one on top of
another. I point out that I was going down that route way before the
holiday, and bless him, Ryan backs me up by pointing out that I've been
skipping/reducing the meat bits of meals for a while. I could hug him,
but he is pulling faces and shooting me with those imaginary laser
pistols again. I shoot back instead to establish the sister/brother bond
with some mutually assured destruction.

We get back to the caravan as the last of the sunshine is vanishing.
Tonight I don't want to walk along to the shower block, probably a
holdover from the previous evening's humpfest. I make an excuse that I
want to finish my book and snuggle into a corner of the caravan sofa.
Frustratingly it is too noisy inside to concentrate, mum and dad
chatting, the television, Ryan. I grab a nightdress from my bag and wish
everyone a good evening, irritated that I won't get to finish the final
couple of chapters of The Space Vampires today.

As I slip into sleep I'm going over the final part of today's writing.
Leela lying on the beach in the sunshine. What happened to her? Was the
cosmic experience real on some level or was it just the hallucination as
she was exposed to the transformation serum and lack of oxygen in her
brain. I didn't explore those issues in the brief last paragraph. I want
to leave it vague, but a big part of me wants to hint that something
profound and other-worldly did happen.

The Early Hours of Thursday Morning.
August 1999

Leela stood up and, with disappointment, ran her hands down the sleekness
of the suit. Beneath it she could feel the presence of the penis the
Reality Bridge had given her. Under the influence of the selkie serum she
had become fully female again for a time, as the transformation had
sidetracked her genetic structure into a feminine proto-fish being.
Transforming back had restored the irritation between her thighs. She
felt somewhat encouraged that the change hadn't taken 100%. On some weird
level she felt sure some of her aquatic form was still with her.

"I am becoming more of a mutant with each shift." She felt the tiny
vestigial gills on the smoothness of her neck. "I dread encountering
anything else with the power to alter me."

"At least we can speak again." Sarah pointed out.

"What is this place?" Leela looked around. The beach stretched off
impressively to a headland. Behind them was the solid rock of a cliff,
with two huge vents set high up on it. Fresh water poured from them in
endless streams to crash down upon the beach.

"That leads to that insane water system you swam through. After you drank
the second potion, you were floating randomly around inside it, slowly
drowning as your gills closed over and you sank downward. Then you
stirred into life and began to crawl upward unto the light, got caught in
the current again and washed out." Sarah said, pointing to the one on the
right. "I was dragged along with you like a surfboard tethered to your
ankle."

"I remember some of that." Leela mused, gazing at the impressive height
she must have survived from the outflow. "I don't recall being spat out
of a vent 30 feet in the air though," she under-estimated the drop.

"That is quite a climb back up, if you want to check back inside." Sarah
craned her neck.

"I think I'll skip that for now." Leela replied. Her eyes traced the
shape of the headland and took in the unusual sky. "Well, Toto, I don't
think we are in Kansas anymore." she said.

"No, I've never seen a Midwestern sky with purple clouds and two suns."
Sarah said.

"I'm glad you see that as well, I thought that was just my eyes
readjusting from the fish-woman formula."

Leela walked down to the periphery of the beach and stared at the
horizon. It didn't seem to make sense. It had a jagged edge to it, like
someone had tried to join several different photographs of the ocean
together into a panoramic spread, but not quite got the join right. Each
photograph had a slightly different exposure and colour balance as well.
One 'photograph' must have seriously delayed, because it contained a sun
hanging much lower in the sky. The main sun was higher and hotter.

"Freaky!" Sarah said. "I'm slightly worried about going around the
headland for fear we might discover a half buried Statue of Liberty."

"It's a mad house! A mad house!" Leela said. She shook her head to try
and clear the vision, but reality continued to be disturbingly fractured
once her eyes had refocused. "Pick a direction" she said, gesturing up
and down the beach.

"That way" Sarah pointed to the bearing that kept the sea at their right
and the headland at their left. "If there is a half buried Statue of
Liberty, it is going to be in that direction."

"You aren't joking, are you?" Leela asked.

"I never joke about Charlton Heston classics!" Sarah said.

They walked and the twin suns appeared to descend in unison. The lower of
the two reached the ocean first and created a spectacular sunset that
affected only a jagged section of the sky. As they watched, it darkened
and the stars came out. Neither of the girls said anything, they
continued to walk and made good time to the curve of the cliff edge.
Leela occasionally walked on the beach, other times in the surf. Whatever
changes the formula made to her body, temperature regulation seemed to
have remained. Though the day was warm, the water should have felt
cooler, if not chilly. Leela's bare legs and feet found the surf pleasant
and inviting. She also couldn't escape the feeling that she could dive
into the water and swim much faster than the plodding slap of her feet on
the sand could take her.

"I want to swim," she said to Sarah. "It is an itch inside my mind."

"You just nearly drowned." Sarah replied. "What if going into the ocean
triggers some change in you and you zonk out again?"

"I don't think it will .." Leela said.

"If it does, I am so insubstantial I can't save you. You will sink and
drown."

"What if I just try it in the shallow surf, dip my head under ... if I
start to 'fish out' I will crawl back onto land and annoy the Born Again
Christians." Leela promised.

"It is your D.N.A. ...I'm not telling you what to do." Sarah said, with a
worried expression on her glowing blue face.

Leela inched forward into the surf. The further she got in, the more she
had to admit to herself she yearned for it. It was a soul deep feeling of
rightness to return to the water. She got out far enough to sit down and
still keep her shoulders (and gills) clear. She took a deep breath and
dipped her head under.

The first thing she noticed was no reflex to shut her eyes. She had kept
them open the whole time and the salt water didn't sting or blur. Perfect
20/20 underwater vision, she thought as she glanced around and grinned to
herself. An incoming wave lifted her a little and she felt her bum lift
clear of the sand and legs to unfold backward. She floated in three foot
of water, facedown, arms and legs stretched out like a starfish. It
occurred to her that this had to be a bit disturbing to look at. Like a
dead body in a swimming pool from a cheap murder mystery. In deference to
Sarah's nerves she lifted her head out and stared directly into her
partner's intense face.

"Holding my breath!" she gasped, letting the air go. "I feel fine, no
changes and no out of body experiences with sexual overtones."

"Good," her ghost said.

She took another big lungful of air and dipped her head under again. Her
legs flipped backward a little and she surged forward in the water.

"Hang on, just try and water ski behind me ..." she called backward,
letting the coiled energy in her muscles go. The ocean embraced her and
she dove forward like a porpoise. She heard a squeak of surprise from
Sarah as the 10 yard rule heaved her into Leela's wake.

Leela found each downstroke of her body caused her knees and  shoulders
to dip uncomfortably close to the sand. She angled slightly out into
deeper water and picked up speed. The air began to burn slightly in her
chest, but something made her resist lifting her head out and replacing
the breath with a fresh one. Instead she sipped a little at the ocean
water, not swallowing, but just swirling it around her mouth ... a
feeling of relief washed through her. Reflex pushed the mouthful through
the tiny gill openings. She let the air in her lungs go and drew another
mouthful of water.

"What the ..." she heard Sarah cry, and boosted her speed to escape the
scolding. Of course it was useless. Sarah was just hauled along even
faster. She had reached speedboat velocity now. A sleek grey missile
darting through the water. She dove downward to about 10 feet below the
surface, then let the velocity of her passage take her back up. She broke
the surface in a perfect arc, looking around for a few seconds before
smashing back down into the sea.

A village lay in the cove just to her left. She porpoised again, taking
another bearing and a third time just for the sheer joy of it. On
re-entry to the water she twisted her body and corkscrewed downwards in a
spiral of bubbles. At the bottom of the spiral she allowed herself to
slow and look upward. The ocean surface shimmered in the setting
sunshine. A perfect plane of rippling glass more than 30 feet above her.
The only thing that broke that view, both enchantingly and judgementally,
was Sarah staring back at her. She risked a grin of sheer joy, then
kicked back toward the surface. 20 feet to go, 10 feet, 5 feet, she
breached the surface like a rocket. Falling back into the water to be
caressed by ten billion bubbles that clung to her like aquatic static.

"Fun time over!" Sarah shouted through the wash of water noise. "Lets
check out that creepy little village."

Leela glanced at her, then nodded in affirmation. Completely beneath the
water surface she picked up speed and headed into the harbour. The
bottoms of boats and the rocky harbour floor were crystal clear in the
slanting rays of the sun. Leela poured on the speed as the water depth
become lower and lower. She heard Sarah shout something else, but it
didn't sound like English. At the last moment, before the harbour wall,
she jacked her body upwards and changed her forward velocity into lift.
Arms squeezed tightly into her sides she launched clear of the water in
an arc. Forward rolling and spreading her arms and legs at the last
moment she smacked feet down.

Water exploded from her mouth and lungs. She whooped a huge breath of air
in and let out a strangled hoot of joy. This was cut short as oxygen
deprivation made spots dance in her eyes. She fell forward onto her hands
and knees in sucking more lungfuls air. She felt her insides switch back
to processing air in a smooth effortless shift.

"Now that was sensible and not in the less bit inconspicuous." Sarah
said, looking around at the small crowd of people watching Leela.

Cornwall 1999

The thing I love about summer mornings is the time the sun rises. It
sneaks above the horizon so early. The day has begun and it feels like
you should be out and moving around hours and hours before any sensible
getting up time realistically comes around. That you can just lie around
in bed, reading and goofing about is a lovely selfish feeling that
imparts just the right amount of delicious guilt into anyone with the
Protestant Work Ethic anywhere in their genetic makeup.

As soon as my eyes will focus I finish the last chapter of The Space
Vampires. It fills me with a desire to write, so I tug out my note book
and begin filling it with words. I am careful not to read back over my
writing from yesterday for fear that comparison with Colin Wilson's tight
intelligent prose will make me depressed and I will stop.

I hear the sound of the family moving inside the caravan. I doubt I can
swing another alone day, especially after my skipping the sandwiches
yesterday.

I get a sudden attack of guilt. I've woken up and NOT read today's note
from Sarah. Instead I've got all wrapped up in science fiction and my own
writing. I reach into my bag and search among the envelopes for Thursday.
I can already feel her playfully, ouch .. not so playfully, poking me in
the ribs in the far future as she reads my admission of guilt and
neglect. I am forced to drag her off to bed and make to love for an
insanely long time with lots of teasing and laughter.

Thursday Note

My own sweet Leela,
Today's theme is fear.
When I was young I used to naively think that love was the absence of
fear. Now I have reached the grand age of 17, I've concluded that love is
the process by which we remove fear from all the corners it has crept
into our lives. The first fear being that we are unlovable and unlovely.
In the four days we had I like to think we began the process of tackling
the fear. I loved watching you gaining confidence and stepping into the
world you'd found difficult before.
Now I'd love to think you could dress in that swimsuit and tights you
wore while you 'hid' in the forest, but now walk boldly through the
campsite.

Only two full days now.
Miss you xx
Share with you:
Masturbation has never been more fun.
Holding hands
Listening to other people's music as we walk past.
Shopping for clothes
Making salad
Watching sunsets
Sharing scones
Laughter

Her list of things in today's note is a gentle reminder of our 4 days
together. It makes me miss her even more. Without knowing how long it is
until I'm summoned by Ryan or mum to join in the family day out, I get
scribbling on my novel.

As Leela was able to lift her head up and take her first normal breathes,
she saw the curious crowd around her. With a sinking feeling in her chest
she recognised the clothes worn by them to be similar to the dark woollen
suits she had seen in the City. These seemed slightly more archaic though
... old fashioned and dour. The last time she had been freezing to death
and naked, desperate for help. This time that fear and panic was gone.
She felt powerful and confident. A sleek grey skinned ocean goddess. She
flicked back her golden locks and stood tall. If she was grabbed by
anyone they would feel the kick of muscles that could drive her through
the water as fast as a speedboat. She suspected her upper body to be
equally strong. Feeling a little like a super heroine, she walked over to
the nearest harbour front shop and glanced into the window. The small
crowd continued to stare.

"I saw the whole thing," she heard someone whisper. "She came into the
harbour as fast as a dolphin chasing an ocean liner's bow wave. Leaped up
onto the dockside."

"Who is she?" another voice whispered back.

"Is she one of the Big House staff?" a third voice questioned.

"I would like a meal, can anyone recommend a decent place to eat?" she
asked loudly, but vaguely to the harbourside.

"I find the Old Quay to be a excellent hostelry." an old man answered,
finding it difficult to take his attention from the skintight grey
bodysuit. Leela turned and thanked him directly. She found that playing
the part of someone confident and powerful made feel confident. With a
swagger in her hips, she sashayed along the harbour to the inn.

Had there been a piano player tinkling the ivories as she entered he
would have stopped playing. She crossed the saloon area and walked up to
the bar with every eye in the place watching her. Ghostly Sarah followed,
unseen and uncommenting, the later quality made Leela a little
uncomfortable.

"I've been told this is the place to eat, I would have a plate of today's
special." she overworked her diction a little and came off sounding
slightly like the lady of the manor.

"Are you one of the Master's new guests?" the Inn Keeper asked her with a
note of deference in his voice.

"Do I look like one of his guests?" she asked, hoping that arrogance and
vagueness would secure her a meal. She turned and walked to a free table,
indicating that that was obviously a rhetorical question. A few seconds
later a bowl of excellent soup and a hunk of fresh farmhouse bread
appeared at her table. The skittish waitress nearly spilling it in her
nervousness. Leela almost blew her performance by thanking the girl. She
bit back the reflex and tasted the soup. It was superb quality, rich and
warm. She finished the bowl in minutes and used the bread to gather the
final traces of it.

"We've taken the trouble of preparing you a complimentary room." the Inn
Keeper said. "Number 13, at the top of the stairs."

"Oh, you can't!" Sarah said. Leela couldn't be seen addressing empty air,
so she held her reply in.

"That is very acceptable." she inclined her head in thanks. She stood up
and walked to the bottom of the stairs.

"Shall I have the rest of your meal sent up to your room, Miss?" The Inn
Keeper asked.

"That would be, excellent." she acknowledged.

The room was wonderful. The view was harbourside, looking out onto the
broad quay and the boats moored along it. A small crowd of people still
stood in front of the tavern and gossiped. When one of them glanced up
and spotted her in the window she pointed a shaky finger and crossed
herself.

"I've made quite a stir." she said.

"Has the salt water got into your brain?" Sarah said.

"No, I am like a superhero." Leela replied. She crossed to a heavy oak
dresser and reached out a single hand. It must have massed more than
three times her own body weight, but she lifted it in a smooth motion.

"Holy Mother of the Baby Cheeses!" Sarah swore.

"Undersea muscles, I am like Aqua-Woman .. " Leela held the dresser for a
few seconds more to show off, then lowered it casually. "They can bill me
for the meal and room later, but if I don't pay what could they possibly
do to me?"

There was a polite knock on the door and the nervous waitress entered
with a large tray filled with main course items.

"Yer ladyship didn't specify wot she warnted, so cook 'as put a platter
of a bit of everything." she curtseyed and placed the tray down on the
dresser.

"Thank you," Leela couldn't resist it this time. The girl blushed and
curtseyed again.

"Does yer ladyship want me for anything else?" the girl pulled
suggestively at the opening of her blouse, freeing the collar and
exposing the smooth white skin of her bosom.

"Not right now." Leela said. Hell, she thought, is sex also complimentary
here? The girl hastily buttoned up her blouse and scurried out of the
room.

"That wasn't weird at all." Sarah said.

"I agree, that is the sort of room service you expect at this kind of
hotel." Leela laughed nervously, but Sarah just frowned.

"I think we need to get out of here." Sarah said, crossing to the window.
"You could leap from the window and easily hit the water with your
freakish leg muscles. Swim out to sea and return tomorrow morning." Sarah
watched the sunset and the darkening sky.

"There is no harm in resting tonight ..." Leela picked up a roast potato
from the tray and munched it absent mindedly. "I might as well have a
sleep, I am very tired."

"Not a good idea!" Sarah said.

"Why not?"

"This just feels like one of those terrible cliche type towns were you
don't want to find yourself after darkness falls." Sarah said. Leela is
climbing into the bed and pulling the cover over herself.

"Oh you worry too much, I've got super strength and can breath
underwater." she yawned and rolled over. "We can talk about this in the
morning."

As Leela drifts into sleep, Sarah finds the room sliding into a misty
outline of itself.  She sits in the weird limbo waiting for Leela to
awaken and re-establish the mental link between them. Hours seem to past,
it is hard to track time in the nowhere state. Suddenly she is aware that
someone else is in the room with Leela. A vague form that seems to be a
cluster of shadows.

"Wake up!!!" Sarah yells. Leela stirs at the shout, but doesn't awaken.
The shape moves toward the bed. "WAKE UP!" Sarah leans down toward
Leela's slumbering form. Her eyes flicker open. The room swims into focus
and Leela's eyes take in the darkness. The shapes, the hands reaching out
to take hold of her.

"Ooooooh" she says as lips kiss her clavicle and move deliciously up her
jugular vein. She seems to be resting in a warm vat of lust. Her skin
glowing with desire. There is a weight on top of her, pinning her down.
She knows her muscles could fling this weight across the room, but it
feels so good. Crushing her with passion. Her fingers grasp a double
handful of the mattress and tear great chunks of it free.

"She is a feisty one, master." a woman's voice near her left ear says.

"And strong." a rich velvet masculine voice purrs.

She wants to say "You'd better believe, buster! I could smash you both to
pieces." but instead she hears her voice whisper "My master, what do you
wish?"

"Oh fuck!" she hears Sarah say from a long way away.

"Are you mine, child?" the velvet asks.

"Body and soul, yours my lord!" she hears her voice sycophantically say.

"Excellent, I will take your body, and then your soul."

She wants to say "That's not good!" but she hears a long groan of lust
coming from deep down in her chest.

"Undress me ..." the velvet orders. Her hands eagerly grasp at his
clothing. In the darkness of the room opens her eyes wide and discovers
another of her abilities is perfect night vision. She sees the shape of
the Master, kneeling across her. The forms of three of his servants,
women dressed in beautiful flowing gowns. They perch around the bed
gazing at her with hungry expressions.

"She sees us, Master!" One of them reacts as Leela's eyes lock with hers.

"In this darkness, impossible!" The Master replies, suddenly distracted,
as Leela's eager undressing of him is ripping his clothes into shreds.
"My silk shirt!" he complains as she rends the fabric. He backhand slaps
her across the face for her carelessness, but Leela barely feels it.

Excellent, she thinks. Superstrength, waterbreathing, night vision and
bloody tough. Now if I can just stop my conscious mind being a total gimp
to this vampire, I'll be home free.

"I am sorry, Master!" she hears her voice sob.

"As you should be." he climbs off her, leaving her body crying out for
his weight across her again. 'Oh, fucking get over yourself!' she tells
it. Inside her mind she is running around trying to find ways of breaking
this vamperic thrall. It is like molten lead across her willpower.

"Now watch while my brides undress me!" the servants move like dribbling
mercury to lustily and reverentially remove the rest of his attire. There
is a lot of kissing and stroking from them which he is obviously enjoys
massively. By the time they remove his silk underwear his pale white
penis is standing to attention. This they do not touch, though if
hovering and adoring something were an Olympic sport they would have
Gold, Silver and Bronze.

He moves back to the bed and slides his weight across her.

"Take me master!" she begs. Inside this begging shell is Leela's mind,
suddenly delighting in the temporary, she hopes temporary, fact that the
Reality Bridge replaced her female opening with a set of 16 year boy
bits.

"In my own time, slave!" he promises. He is obviously enjoying the
sensation of her slick bodysuit. It is a bit kinky looking, she has to
admit. The Master is apparently a bit of fetish fan and likes his lovers
in skintight bondage things. He rubs himself over her and grasps her
buttocks, thighs and breasts through the material. His own breath is now
coming in little frantic gasps. She hopes he will finish himself off this
way, but suddenly he stops.

"Disrobe!" he commands. Here comes the disappointment, she thinks,
pulling at the neck of the suit to draw it down her body. His eyes
lingering on her perfect breasts, then following the fabric's descent
down over her flat stomach and over her hips.

"A boy!" he exclaims. "Why didn't you tell me?" he rages.

"Master, I am under a hypnotic thrall, I don't tend to volunteer
information in those circumstances." she says. She feels a little return
of her will power while he is angry and distracted. The sentence may have
started with the word 'Master' but it ended in a slightly sarcastic and
disrespectful tone. This alerts him and he suddenly regards her with his
full gaze. She feels her willpower vanish again.

'Shit' she thinks.

"Put it back on, I would have you as a neuter, rather than a boy." he
says.

'I'm a pretty hot fucking boy, you arsehole, you don't know what your
missing!' she laughs inside her head. She feels her hands pulling back
the bodysuit over her.

"You will take me and finish me in your mouth!" the Master orders. He
looks into her eyes and sees the set of her jaw. His erection begins to
wilt a little. "or possibly I do not desire oral satisfaction from you."

She thinks 'He can sense how pissed off you are' and probably worries
that when he cums and his control slips for a moment those jaw muscles
might be doing something more than worshipping his undead perky. Against
the thrall Leela feels a predatory smile spread across her face. His
erection wilts a little more at that row of teeth.

"I can crack an abalone shell with these teeth... master." she says with
honeyed sarcasm.

"I thought you didn't volunteer information." he growled. She widens her
smile. Around the room the brides hiss in alarm. This is the first time
anyone has spoken back to the master.

"I thought you might want to know that .. master."

"Roll over!" he commands. With savage disappointment at how fast her
muscles twitch to obey his order, she flips over onto her stomach. He
gathers a rough handful of her golden hair and she feels his weight
settle onto her buttocks. She feels the judder of his motions, obviously
wanking himself over her. That's it, she thinks, worship my perfect
behind. You can't have me, so you need to desperately fantasize how
amazing it would have been..

There is a grunt of restrained pleasure from the master as he unloads.
Leela is delighted to register she doesn't even feel anything hit the
back of her suit.

"Roll back." he orders. She twists her body around away, fancying that
the command didn't feel so powerful this time. He moves up her body and
fastens his mouth over her neck.

It has sucked so far, she thinks, now the sucking continues. She feels
his teeth chewing at the blood vessel in her neck. For one desperate
moment she hopes skin as tough as a shark's arsehole is another quality
Dr Cruz's serum has given her, then he breaks through. Her blood splashes
into his mouth and he draws hard at her. His whole body spasms like he
has just taken a mouthful of fresh cesspool. In an instant his thrall
lifts off her.

"Get the screaming fuck off me!" she says. Her hand grabs his hair and
peels him away. She flings him across the room to smash the dressing
table into match wood. She stands up as the three brides close in. They
are fast, inhumanly fast. Their hands grasp at her arms and lock on with
steely force. Leela swings two of them together in a bone mashing
collision. Unconscious, they let go. She turns to the remaining bride.

"Had your fun, bitch?" she asks, lashing out a punch that would fracture
the side of a ship. The Bride side steps it with ease. Damn vampire
speed, she thinks. "Stalemate, you can't grab me, because the minute your
hand touches me I'll snap off every undead finger."

She hears the Master groan as he recovers.

"Such power, such potency....." he slurred drunkenly.

"Fortunately, my ancestors spawned in another ocean than yours did. My
blood cells are quite different." Leela laughed and kicked him in the
head. The force of the kick drove him into and partly through the wall.
His bride squeaked in alarm and rushed to attend him. Leela used her
distraction to land a bone crushing downward blow to the base of her
neck. She folded like a poorly thought through business enterprise.

Leela walked to the window and stepped up onto the ledge.

"I can't say it has been fun," she said to the two brides rapidly
recovering from their head trauma, "Don't bother trying to follow me."

She dove from the window ledge and landed with a slap of bare feet on the
quayside. A chilling shriek rose from the room above her. She glanced
around and assessed her options. The tide was out and now the inner
harbour was dry. All about the dock stood shadowy figures that had to be,
from their glowing red eyes and sartorial elegance, members of the
Master's household. At the howl of anger, they all focused on Leela.

"Holy Fukushima Prefecture!" Sarah cursed. Leela began to run toward the
ocean. She could smell it vividly in her beautifully flaring nostrils.
She mentally added 'Ocean Sense' to her growing list of powers. She could
feel it, almost taste it ... she just needed to dodge a harbour full of
blood sucking bastards to get to it.

"One for the Master!" the closest one howled, grabbing at her.

"One for the dame!" she answered, punching it square in the face. Unlike
the brides these didn't appear to be nimble on their feet. Her fist
connected squarely and it's head literally came apart like a rotten piece
of fruit hurled at a politician. She picked up speed and ran. All around
her vampires were slithering out of shops and restaurants, hissing and
howling like a bad punk record.

The glint of moonlight on water was just ahead of her. Three shadowy
figures closed on her, with a spring of her leg muscles she vaulted them.
She was up on the harbour wall now.

"Imperious Rex!" she cried.

The air began to fill with bats, thousands of bats. They dived madly at
her hair and exposed neckline. She lunged forward in a long low dive. The
water seemed to rise to meet her. Shallow, maybe only a couple of feet,
but blessed relief. Her gills opened and she kicked forward like an orca.
Powerful leg muscles churning the shallows into foam and confusion. The
deep ocean called her and she answered it in a groan like whale song.

Above her the bats swirled in impotent fury. They chased the spume kicked
up from her passage. Tearing the night sky with chittering and squeaking.
Leela could sense a meaning behind those squeaks. Orders and counter
orders from the hierarchy of elder blood suckers in the cloud. As the
water grew deeper, their calls began to fade. Desperate pleas for anyone
to track her, the master demands it. Behind it all was the pervasive call
of the master himself, ordering her to return, promising her riches and a
place in his household. Leela dove deep, feeling the pressure from those
tiny pockets of air she still held inside her body. Her inner ears and
parts of her digestive system  cramped. She felt her hands touch the
sandy mud and knew she had reached bottom for now. Her body adjusted to
the depth and she began to slow her frantic oxygen exchange down.

"I don't suppose you can talk to me right now." Sarah said.

Leela hung motionless in the darkness. She wasn't inclined to answer.

"BREAKFAST," oh no. I am out of time. Ryan is screaming so loud I suspect
most of South Cornwall will hear. I kick out of the sleeping bag and
gather some clothes. I can already smell the bacon cooking, it still
tickles my taste buds, but I don't want it. I need a shower, but grab
some toast first.

"Launceston today, there is a castle. Bound to be bookshops, other
stuff." Mum says as I dodge around her.

"Need to shower." I reply.

"I hope you aren't saving all your really long sentences for that book of
yours." Mum laughs.

"I am writing that one down and using it!" I promise, grabbing a fresh
towel and some clothes.

The shower block is busy this morning. Mums and daughters laughing and
chatting. Towels piled atop heads like pastel turbans. I slip through
this gender exclusive club not feeling remotely out of place or fake,
which does give me pause for thought. I find a free cubicle and slide the
door shut. Hot water, I've really become a junkie for it. I stand like
the opening sequence of Carrie for almost the entire length of my 50p,
then quickly scrub soap and shampoo, chasing those beeps that warn of
cold water coming.

I enjoy the day. The family are in fine form and Launceston is lovely. It
has an amazing bookshop which yields another couple Colin Wilson books to
my growing library .. The Strength to Dream and The Mind Parasites. On
the drive back to St Austell I loose myself in the second book. It's
cover promises a tale inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's universe of cosmic
horror. Just the sort of thing you want to read as the Cornish sun
hammers through the car window and the cosmos seems have narrowed down a
welcoming and nice place to be.

Leela sensed the dawn slowly manifesting itself. The cloud of vampires
fled from the growing warmth in the sky. She and Sarah sat like
underwater statues as the tide changed and the flow of the ocean moved
back toward the harbour.

"Okay, what do we do now?" Sarah asked. Mute from water flowing through
her vocal chords, Leela said nothing. Instead she kicked off the sandy
bottom and swept toward the surface. Her body naturally equalised the
pressure smoothly now. There was none of the discomfort of the previous
night as she broke the surface. Without creating a ripple, Sarah rose
with her.

  Leela spat out a mouthful of water and breathed in."I can't believe
neither of us saw all the clues in that village .." she said.

"We did see them, both of us, but we didn't process them." Sarah replied.
Her anger and frustration over Leela's actions had bled away though the
night. Now she was mentally just in a place to try and sort out the
situation without wasting time on recriminations.

"Now what are our options?" Leela asked.

"In short order ... escape, confrontation, negotiation." Sarah said.

"Escape out to sea? ..." Leela mused.

"Anywhere you escape to .. back into the city, out into the ocean .. he
or his people are going to follow us aren't they?" Sarah said. "That bite
you have isn't healing very well." she observed.

"No, it hasn't closed over ...I know what you're thinking, and yes, its
like I've been marked." Leela confessed. "Like I am a flashing dot on
some vampire GPS system."

"Confrontation then .. there are hundreds of them." Sarah noted.

"Maybe thousands, that cloud of bats was massive."

"So unless they line up one by one to fight you ..." Sarah said.

"Negotiation."

"The Master doesn't seem like the kind of person who negotiates." Sarah
pointed out.

"Yes, I sort of picked up on that vibe as well." Leela lay back in the
water and allowed herself to float staring upwards for a time. "Last
night I could almost hear his voice in that squeaking mass of bats. It
was ordering me to return ... to bring myself to him."

"Understanding bat speech isn't one of your aquatic powers, is it?" Sarah
asked.

"No, I think it came with being bitten by him."

Leela orientated on the coastline and the smudge that indicated the
position of the village. Without another word she dipped below the
surface and began to swim directly toward it.

"So we aren't escaping then?" Sarah asked. Leela shook her head and
continued to swim. "Confrontation or negotiation then?"

"Maybe a bit of both ..." Leela said, then filled her lungs with seawater
and poured on the speed.

Leela arrived on the harbourside like an ocean goddess. However
impressive yesterday's leap onto the quay was, today was a performance.
She entered the inner harbour just below the surface and going as fast as
she dared. She began to circle at speed, trying to generate a vortex of
water. It didn't quite work how she wanted it to, but it still looked
impressive. At the last moment she dipped down and under it. Rising in
the middle on a spume of fluid that broke the surface about 15 feet into
the air. For a long moment she hung at the apex of this and took in the
astonished faces of the Master's villagers watching her, then she crashed
back into the water. Hugging the harbour floor she darted in and flipped
out of the water. This landing was like a gymnast dismount. Feet tight
together, back arched slightly, arms extended to the morning sun.

I'm no vampire scared of the sunshine, she thought. I am a force of
nature ... the child of the ocean and of science. Fear me!

The crowd did step back. Some of the them actually running away, she
noted with satisfaction. She allowed the ocean water to drain from her
nose and mouth. No coughing or spluttering today, she suppressed that
with iron willpower. She drew a breath of air inside and looked at the
villagers.

"Which way to that bastard vampire's house?" she said. Someone pointed a
shaky finger toward a brooding and unmissable gothic mansion high on the
headland. "Of course," she laughed. "It was  bloody obvious, sorry to
trouble you."

There is nervous laughter all through the crowd. I bet they hate the
Master and his household as well she thinks. Instead of taking the road
that leads up toward the mansion, she turns toward the Old Quay pub and
goes for breakfast.

"You are going to the pub first?" Sarah asks.

"Never confront the Lord of Bats on an empty stomach." Leela mutters.
Some of the crowd follow her, she doesn't object.

The front door to the pub is locked. It is heavy oak, banded with
ironwork and solid. She crumbles stonework and stout doorframe driving
her hands into either side of it. With a twist, she makes look
effortless, pulls the entire door free and rests it against the wall.

"I am sorry, I can't pay for the door, or the damage to the room last
night .. or for a breakfast for that matter, but I would eat, at your
indulgence." She bowed slightly.

"You should have knocked, we were expecting you this evening. It isn't my
inn, it belongs to the Master ... so this is all on his bill." The Inn
Keeper says.

"Thank you." she says.

"Don't thank me, the Master has ordered that everyone is to give you
whatever you need and direct you to his mansion on the headland."

"He is trying a different tactic than the one that failed last night when
I mashed him and his brides into the walls of the room." Leela said.

"It appears so." The Inn Keeper replied. The Waitress appears from the
kitchen with a huge plate of breakfast items. "In your room or at a table
down here, miss?"

"My room is a little damaged." Leela points out.

"The Master has upgraded you to the Royal Suite." The Inn Keeper said.

"I bet there is a pretty gown for me to wear for the ball tonight in
there ... something with a very plunging neckline?" Leela said.

"It was delivered just 20 minutes ago."

"This dump has a Royal Suite?" Leela laughed. The Inn Keeper joined her
in laughter.

"It sounds more impressive than it is .." he said.

"No, no it doesn't ..." Leela sat down at a table and attacked the
buttered toast with the excitement of a shark discovering a chumline.

"The Master is waiting for you, whenever you are ready to walk up to the
mansion."

"Doesn't he sleep during the day?" Sarah asked. Leela repeated the
question.

"I am not supposed to volunteer information," The Inn Keeper said.

"Yeah," she grinned "He isn't a big fan of that ... I noticed last
night."

"Well, the Master and his ... lady 'companions' aren't like the lesser
vampires. Sunlight won't kill them, they don't need to rest in the
daytime, but you might find them less 'supernatural' during the daylight
hours."

"My powers aren't effected by the day and night cycles." Leela said
around a mouthful of hash browns.

"Yes, I think the whole village saw your display in the harbour." The Inn
Keeper said.

"I knew that was a bad idea!" Sarah grumbled. "No advantage in surprise
now."

"I have nothing to hide .. and very little to fear." Leela took the edge
of the solid pine table and casually tore a handful of the wood into
splinters. "One on four .. I defeated him and his fan club, and at night.
During the daytime ..."

"He has a private werewolf army of killers and ninja zombie assassins."
The Inn Keeper whispered.

"Fair enough .." Leela said.

"You didn't think it was gonna be that easy, did you?" The Inn Keeper
asked.

"You know, for a second there, yeah, I kinda did." Leela replied.

"Well I can't be seen to be supporting you in anyway .. and neither can
anyone else in the village. The reprisals if you fail would be stunningly
evil and rather fatal."

Leela crossed to the large fireplace and contemplated the two huge
crossed swords mounted above it. She reached up and took them both down.
They weren't very sharp, but they were formidable.

"Is there a church in the village?" Leela asked.

"There is a ruined Church at the southern edge of the village. It has
been burnt out, but you might find a drunken priest hiding somewhere near
by. He might be a broken man, but he is still a priest." The Innkeeper
whispered.

Leela finished eating and stood up. She crossed to the doorway, and
turned back to address in the Inn Keeper in a loud voice.

"If you refuse to help me, or even tell me where things are in the
village, I see no point in remaining here." The Innkeeper gave her a thin
smile of thanks, then turned his back on her. She marched out of the Inn
and began to randomly prowl the streets in a rough pattern that would
take her south.

An hour later she had a pair of swords blessed by a reluctant priest and
soaked in Holy Water. She made her way up ...

That was were I finished. I didn't even end the sentence. Leela was
walking to a big confrontation, boldly walking through the village in her
swimsuit.

Back in 1999 We are on the campsite enjoying the afternoon sunshine. Ryan
is playing with dad down by the beach. Mum is flaked out with a book, and
now softly enjoying the shady nap it has inspired. I've been crashed in
my little tent writing and now I get the itch to test the fear. Sarah put
the thought inside me with this morning's note. I undress and fold my
clothes neatly. Is this another female mindset thing? I've never folded
clothes in my life. Clothes are for crumbled floor storage. Now when I
take off my clothes they get carefully sorted and neatly stored. Mmmm.

My original tights didn't survive the day, but I had bought a second
pair. Still in their packet and untouched from the previous tuesday. I
take them out and look at them. I am naked and shivering, but I don't
think this is cold making me tremble. I am actually scared. This isn't
going out dressed in layers of skirts, tops and boots. This is stripping
myself down to two barely overlapped layers. I pull the tights on,
wiggling my hips to get them high and snug over my groin. My penis and
scrotum are squeezed up and barely seem to make the smallest of
disturbance to the fabric. I am not in the slightest aroused today, which
I thank the Female Divine who generates the cosmos. The swimsuit goes
over the tights, pushing down things even more. From my perspective it
looks like I have a smooth and feminine groin area.

Breasts are more of a problem. I am smooth chested and normally depend on
a bra to help my two handfuls of socks do the business. Today the socks
need to be sculpted like never before. Nothing I seem to do makes them
perfect .. I suspect there is a limit to how accurately socks can mimic
mother nature under these circumstances. I consider putting a teeshirt
over the swimsuit, but that sort of defeats the exercise. Eventually I
decide to just go with experiment number 458, modest little 'late
developer' bumps. They are quite sweet and had I modelled them on my
original meeting with Dave the thigh master, I'd probably not have had
any trouble.

Pixie boots complete the look. I scooch out of the tent, avoiding
damaging the knees of the tights, and stand tall in the afternoon
sunshine. I accesorise with my white leather shoulder bag and for a
bizarre moment wish Sarah had left me her leg warmers.

I begin to walk casually toward Secret View, a little outcropping of the
cliffside I discovered during my first week here. Inside I am a bundle of
nerves. I feel female, but my inner male seems to take this moment to
begin talking to me. 'Your dick is actually quite large.' he suggests.
'Certainly much bigger than Sarah's little one."

"You can't see any bulge in my swimsuit." I say back to him. I'm still
trying to take sneaky peaks at my reflection in caravan windows to see.
Since I've decided to be female I'm taking more care with my hair. Rather
than just the straggled mop of blonde mess that I normally brush back
into a ponytail, I've been conditioning it and letting it fall into
natural curls. It looks much more feminine and gives me confidence as
well. While I should be trying to check if I have a visible 'package' it
is much more fun to see my blonde locks flowing backward as I walk. 'No
boy should have hair like this!' I tell my male side.

Some perversity in my nature takes my feet toward the Camp Shop. I find
myself walking inside with a fantastic straw hat I've found on the rack
of holiday essentials. It definately looks great on me and is so big and
distracting that nobody is going to be looking at my little breasts. I
can't help grabbing another Alias Comic from the rack that seems to have
stopped being restocked since Sarah and Claire left. It is a different
lady on the cash register today, but she doesn't glance twice at me as I
pay.

Sunglasses, sunhat, swimsuit and pixie boots. What do I look like? It
doesn't matter. I am loving myself and removing the fear with that love.
It is all about me and right then and there I could have bumped into the
Queen herself and felt total confidence. I almost want Dave the Thigh
Master to appear, almost .. I would sweep past him like the amazing
person I feel myself to be.

Secret View feels a little empty without Sarah and Claire to share the
view with. I don't get disturbed by anyone else. After a little while I
notice how irritating tights are to wear on warm days. I am about to shed
my entire outfit and then redress without them, but the idea of having to
spend at least an hour remodelling my bust puts me off.

I read a couple of chapters of The Mind Parasites and become freshly
stunned by Colin Wilson's gift for words. I pull out my notebook and
wonder about writing a little more about Leela's assault on the Big House
and the Master. Should I do a big blockbuster style attack. I am still
obsessed with the Washowski brother's move The Matrix and feel any decent
story should end with some slow motion bullet festival. A ballet of death
where the heroine blasts her solo way through an army of the dead and
werewolves to battle the Master. I seem to have set it up for myself, but
feel I've got lost along the way. I don't write action scenes and this
just all seems predictable. I put my notebook away and walk down the hill
to the camp site.





Afterword
This section of my story features me discovering a couple of paperbacks
that became quite precious to me and have followed me around from
bookcase to bookcase whever I've lived. Like many young people who
discover Colin Wilson in their teens he became a literary hero to me. In
name checking him in this section of the story I resolved to try to email
him to ask his permission if it was alright to do so. I was upset to
discover he had passed away at the age of 82 in December last year (2013)
in his (and my) beloved St Austell, Cornwall.
I'd like to dedicate this entire work, poor as it is, to him, with
respect and admiration for all the years of inspiration/pleasure and
intrigue his writing has given me.