“Let’s play a game.” Ilyana said, eyes dancing.
“We’re in public.”
“Not that kind of game. Just a ‘who would you rather’?”
“Oh. Well, that I’m ok with. We setting any specific rules or anything?”
“Let’s stick with people we know. That makes it more interesting, don’t you think?”
“It’s practically truth or dare at this point.” Mandy said. “Why not head over to Trish’s place and involve her? You know as well as I do that she’s alone, and she’d find this fun.”
“Deal. We’ll add an order for her onto ours, then head over there instead of eating here. Sound good?”
“Sounds great.”
Mandy and Ilyana waited in line at Burger King until it was their turn in line, placed an order, and waited on their food. It came out in a timely manner and they left, each driving their own car, and made the short trip over to Trish’s place. For her part, Trish was delighted to see them, and greeted them both with hugs.
“I’ve missed you girls!” she said. “How’ve you been?”
“Busy. But my schedule’s changed, so I have more time off now.” Mandy said, taking a seat at the dining room table.
“Bored.” Ilyana said. “Mandy’s been busy, I didn’t want to bother you because New Mommy stuff, and yeah, that’s been about it.” she said, setting the bag of fast food on the dining room table. “Brought you lunch, by the way.”
“Great.” she said with a smile, as Ilyana dug into the bag and doles out everyone’s food. Predictably, Mandy went promptly for the fries.
“There’s another reason we wanted to stop by.” Mandy said.
“Oh?”
She nodded. “Ilyana wants to play a game of ‘Who Would You Rather?’, but sticking only to people we know. I told her you might want to play, so we came over.”
“Well, you’re not wrong.” Trish replied. “Ilyana, since you suggested it, you start.”
“Timur or Sergei?” she posited.
“Timur.” Mandy said.
“Timur.” Trish replied.
“Why do you both like my brother?”
“He’s sexy. Besides, it’s not like you complain when you’re with him.”
“Fair. But still, I pick Sergei.”
“Fair is fair.” Trish replied. “Alright – Michael or Lucas?”
“Lucas.” Mandy said.
“Michael.” Ilyana responded.
“I think I’d go Lucas to – if he were straight.” Trish said with a smile. “Your turn Mandy.”
“Jett, or Vince?”
“Vince.” they all three replied, and then laughed.
“Okay okay…I’ve got one.” Trish said. “Let’s swing tot he other gender for a minute. Jacqueline, or Petra?”
“Oh wow. Umm.” Ilyana thought. “Petra.” she said after a minute. “I’m honestly curious as to how flexible she is.”
“Quite.” Trish said with a grin. “I’ve seen her strip. So have several others. So my pick is Petra as well.”
“Between brunette and redhead females, I do like redheads.” Mandy admitted. “Charles or Brandon?” she then asked.
“Brandon, obviously.” Trish said. “Though I will admit that Charles has a certain…quality to him.” she grinned.
“How about this one?” Ilyana started, eye glittering with mischievity. “Vince or Claude?”
“Well that’s a hard fucking choice.” Trish said. “They’ve both got something going for them.”
“Well obviously Vince has something going for him. You would know, you’ve had sex with him.” Ilyana said. “Lucky.”
Mandy raised a hand. “He’ll never admit it, but technically I have to. Though Jett joined in too, kind of.”
“That’s kind of hot.” Trish said. “Still, have you see Claude’s butt in jeans?”
“I know!” Ilyana said. “And he’s got muscles. Like, not big ones, but subtle ones. Sexy as hell to watch him move.”
Trish nodded in agreement. “How the hell much attention do you guys pay to my Dad?”
“Enough.” they both said. “Though none of us have answered the question.”
“Well, it sounds like we’ve got firsthand knowledge of Vince – Ilyana, I know he’s said all you have to do is ask, so why don’t you?”
“It seems desperate?” she said.
“But you want him.”
“Yes.” she admitted.
“Well fix it then, for fuck’s sake. He’s great – I would know.” Trish said with a grin.
“To be honest, I think we’re all at least a little interested in Claude.”
“Too bad we don’t have any pics.” Trish sighed.
“Um…actually…” Mandy started.
“You have pics?!”
“Her Dad sent her one by accident one day. Mandy’s kept it, I think.”
“I have.”
“Well come on then! Share.” Trish said, making grabby hands for the phone. Mandy scrolled through her phone until she found where she had buried the pic, and pulled it up before handing it over to Trish.
“Hello.” she said. Ilyana came back around to look. “I’d forgotten how nice of a picture this was. I think even my brother was interested.” she said with a grin.
“If you want to see more….I do still technically have footage from the house cams.”
“You still have that?”
She nodded. “A couple, actually.”
“Do you have your laptop?” Trish asked.
“No, it’s at home. But I’ll show it to you next time.”
Trish pouted. “Well, I supposed we can all agree we’re curious about Claude.”
“Agreed.” Ilyana said.
“Well, here’s a question.” Mandy said after a moment of thought. “Who would be in your ideal orgy?”
Trish thought for a bit. “Chance, Vince, Claude and myself. Sorry Mandy, but your Dad is hot.”
Ilyana thought for a minute. “Brandon, Vince, Claude, Billy and myself.”
“Billy? Isn’t he that shifter kid that just showed up randomly?” Mandy asked.
“Yea, but he’s a good guy, sweet funny…besides, it’s fun to see him get flustered.” she grinned. “Your turn Mandy.”
Mandy thought about it a while. “Timur, Vince, Jakob…and Dad.” she said, turning bright red as she mumbled the last part.
“I forgot about the new guys.” Trish said. “But now I feel like I have to add an extra person, so for funsies I’ll add Charles.”
“It’s funny….we all picked Vince and Claude.” Ilyana remarked.
“Yea, but cane you blame any of us?” Mandy asked.
“Not at all.” Trish said.
“So here’s another question.” Mandy asked. “Who would you girls want to team up on the most?”
“Just us two, or all three of us?” Trish asked.
“All three of us.”
“Vince would practically invite us all, so while that would be enjoyable, it doesn’t initially spark me as fun, you know?” Ilyana said. “Totally, I want to team up on your Dad, Mandy.”
“I think so too.” Trish said. “Honestly, just because of initial reactions. We’d have to get him to submit.” she laughed. “Of course, if he was too resistant, we wouldn’t. Don’t want to turn it to rape.”
“Agreed.” the other two said.
“I think Claude might be the unicorn of our list.” Trish said. “He’s married, for starters, and doesn’t seem like the type to indulge. Still, it’s a nice fantasy.”
“We could always team up against Brandon.” Ilyana suggested.
“He’d be all for it, too.” Mandy said. “But he won’t do anything with me – he’d keep his word to my father.”
“Fuck it. I say for real, we all team up on Vince. We all know ‘The Man’ deserves a good time.” Trish said.
“Stress Relief Squad?” Ilyana offered.
“Yes! Exactly!” Trish grinned.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for it….I just think we’d better tell some significant others first.”
“Well of course.”
“But god knows if we didn’t want to drive that far, we could just wait for Chance to get home. He’s got enough dick to go around.” Ilyana grinned.
“While true, someone needs to keep an eye on the baby. Honestly though, I’m dying for some fun.”
“Well…why don’t we do this…” Mandy began. “We’ll throw a small get together – here, prefereably, because there are too many cameras at my place. Get someone to watch Emily – Greg maybe – and invite some guys over. Gauge responses. We all get our significant others, and one other pick.”
“Not a bad idea, Mandy. I like it.” Trish said. “But…isn’t Ilyana’s guy a little…young?”
Ilyana waved her hand dismissively. “I’ll talk to him ahead of time. I don’t want anyone getting into trouble for a minor being present.”
“Okay, problem solved.”
“Anyone have experience planning these things?” Trish asked. Ilyana shook her head.
“No, but I know someone who does, I think. At least, based on what he’s said in response to things I’ve said.”
“Well, who is it already?”
“Brandon.”
“Of course. that makes sense. Mandy, do you think you could ask him about setting one up?” Trish asked.
“I could….but I’d like at least one of you to come with me.”
“I can go.” Ilyana said.
“Okay. Brandon won’t be awake until later. I’ll call him after dark, see if he’s busy.”
“Yay, we have a plan.” Trish cheered, then laughed. “God, are we really all that sex starved?”
“Apparently.” Ilyana said. “Though I just realized something. Mandy, you’ve been abstaining for a while…that’s why you’ve been coming to me. You’ve never said why though. Are you going to be okay with this?”
“Honestly, I don’t know.”
“You’ve been abstaining?” Trish asked. “Why?” she said, switching to concerned friend, which, she was.
“You’ve never told me either.” Ilyana said, giving Mandy’s shoulder a squeeze. “Have you told anyone?”
She nodded. “Timur, Michael, Dad and Brandon know.” she said quietly. “I suppose I should tell you girls.”
“Please do, honey.” Trish said, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.
Mandy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “In February, I found out I was pregnant.” she began. “I worked back the timing, and it was right around the time of the rape. It could have been his, or it could have potentially been Michael’s. I didn’t want to run the risk of having Blade’s kid, so Brandon found an in the know doctor and I got an abortion.” she paused then, wiping at her eyes. The other girls hugged her.
“I’m so sorry.” Trish said.
“It’s ok. I should have told you sooner.”
“I can see why you’ve been abstaining. But…my brother can’t get you pregnant.”
“Vince wasn’t supposed to be able to get Trish pregnant.”
“Oh. Good point.”
“I’ve been scared to have sex again since. Even condoms can fail. And if Vince could have a kid, somehow…why couldn’t it happen with another vampire?” she said, ending with a sigh.
“My mother had a hand in that.” Trish said. “It was divine intervention in the Vince case.”
“Yea, but I know my mythology, and what’s to say she doesn’t play some more?”
“Good point. Honey…it’s okay. Don’t worry about this party. We don’t have to have it.”
“No…it sounds fun. Nothing says I have to participate. Or at least, participate far enough to have sex. Besides, I want you girls to have fun.”
“I’ll talk to Brandon.” Trish said after thinking a few minutes. “I’ll express my desires and concerns, and we’ll go from there. Does that sound good?” The other two nodded.
“Do you need me to call him?” Mandy asked.
“No, I’ve got his number. Just leave it all to me, ok? Gives me something to do.”
“Alright.” Mandy said, getting up to give Trish a peck on the cheek. “I’m going to head home. Thanks for earlier Ilyana.”
“Anytime.” she said, waving goodbye as Mandy left.
“Earlier?” Trish asked.
“We had sex in her room, presumably in full view of a camera, specifically so her Dad could watch it when he reviews tapes later.”
“Naughty. Your idea?” Ilyana nodded.
“Poor girl.” Trish said with a sigh. “I want to help her more. I think I’ve got an idea though.”
“Care to share?”
Trish shook her head. “Not yet. I need to think this through and maybe talk to some people.”
“Okay. Well, I’m going to take off too. I want to talk to Timur when he wakes up.”
“Alright. I’ll do my thing, you do yours. I’ll get in touch later, okay?”
“Okay. See you later.”
“Later.” Trish said, seeing Ilyana to the door.
Trish mulled things over in her head for about an hour before deciding to call out Samuel. “Samuel, can you please make an appearance?” after a moment, he appeared.
“Is there something I can help you with?”
“I hope so. I’m trying to think of a way to help Mandy. I want to ask you if there’s any way you can do something to help her. I’m sure you heard the conversation.”
“I did.” he was quiet, thinking for a minute. “She’s a ghoul, yes?” Trish nodded. “Vampire blood normally causes a miscarriage, nine out of ten times. But there’s always a risk.” he admitted. “I’m not entirely certain how to help her. Certainly, I could arrange for sterility…but would she want that?”
“Couldn’t it be reversed?”
“Yes, but there’s no guarantee she could find myself or someone like me to reverse it.”
“Still, it’s something. Alright, thank you.”
“What are you going to do next?”
“Talk to Mandy some more. Go from there.”
“I’ll be around if you need me again.”
“Thank you.” she thoughts some more, taking care of Emily’s needs as she did so, and tried to meditate on some things. Specifically, what were her own capabilities? It seemed to center around relationships, so she didn’t think she could do what she wanted, though it occurred to her that she could call a relative. After setting the baby down, she scrolled through her phone until she found Eric’s number. He answered after three rings.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Hi Eric. It’s Trish. Can we meet?”
“Of course. Do you want me to head that way?”
“Please.” she asked.
“I’ll be there in a flash.” he said. And literally, no sooner had she hung up than he appeared in her living room.
“You’ve never called me, so I assumed it was important.”
“It’s important to me.” she admitted.
“Lucas again?”
“No – my friend Mandy.”
“Ah, yes. I counseled her for a while.”
“She’s having a crisis of sorts. One of a more sexual nature.”
“That’s really not my realm of influence.”
“No…but fertility is.”
“What are you driving at?”
“She’s been abstaining from sex. Not because she wants to – but because she’s afraid of getting pregnant. Admittedly, she’s my age, and I can see how she wouldn’t be ready for something like that. And yes, it was brought up that her boyfriend is a vampire, but she countered with Vince wasn’t supposed to be able to get me pregnant. She’s legitimately scared, Eros.”
He sighed, and placed a hand on her head for a minute. “You care so much for your friends. It’s admirable.” he admitted.
“Please help?”
He sighed. “I can manipulate things so that she doesn’t have to worry. But someone should talk to her first.”
“I was planning on inviting her back over.”
“Call her. We will talk to her. Have Samuel visible as well.”
She nodded, and texted Mandy, asking is she could come back over for a talk. She responded with an affirmative, and said that she was on her way.
“She’ll be here shortly.”
“Good.”
Roughly fifteen minutes later, Mandy arrived. “Hey, long time no talk.” she smiled. Trish returned the smile and brought Mandy in. Mandy stopped when she saw Eric and Samuel.
“I didn’t know you had company.”
“It’s okay. Just have a seat, please.”
“Okay…” she said, setting her purse down and took a seat.
“Mandy…about what we discussed earlier…you know, the party?”
“What about it?”
“You want to participate, don’t you?”
“I’d like to…but…well…you know.”
“I do know, and I understand. So please don’t be mad at me that I said something to Eric.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s a god of fertility, and I thought he could help.”
“Oh. That….actually makes sense.”
“What is it that scares you?” Eric asked, his voice soothing as he entered counselor mode.
“I don’t want to get pregnant…”
“I understand that. But why?”
“I’m not ready.”
“Do you ever want to have kids?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“I think you do know.” he pressed gently.
“No, I don’t.”
“You do.” he said calmly. “I can see in your eyes that you do. So tell me. Do you want children?”
“No.” she said quietly.
“Why?”
“I’m not good with kids. I’m scared I’ll end up never being around, like my Dad, or mean, like my mom.” she said, tears starting to run down her face. Trish sat next to her, and put an arm around her. “A child deserves better than that.”
“Just because it happened to you, that doesn’t mean you’ll repeat those mistakes.”
“I don’t want to risk it…”
“Time may tell different. There is something I can do for you, for now, to help with that.” she said
“What’s that?”
“May I touch you?” he asked. She nodded. He reached out, and placed a hand over her abdomen, about where her uterus was. “Samuel here can see to it that you’re sterile. I can ensure no other deity can tamper with what he does.”
“What if I change my mind?”
“It can be done, but that’s a bit harder. Samuel and I will have to work together to put in a trigger.”
“A trigger?”
“Yes. When you’re well and truly ready – mentally, emotionally – you can undo what’s been done. Not at a mere whim, mind you. It’s a decision that has to be made at all levels.”
“I feel like I shouldn’t be making this decision alone.” she said quietly, looking down.
“Who do you feel should be with you?”
“I don’t know…Dad…Timur…Brandon…”
“Why those three?”
“Dad because he’s my Dad. Timur because he’s my boyfriend. Brandon because I’m his ghoul.”
“You understand that they can’t decide anything for you, yes?”
Mandy was quiet for a minute. “Yeah.”
“Do you think they’d support you?”
Another couple of minutes. “Yeah.”
“Then decide. Take your time. I’m here to support you no matter what, as your friend.”
Mandy was quiet for a long time. She thought about the fact that she missed sex. She thought about how she felt guilty about not doing things with Timur, but she could with Ilyana, about how she had sexual desires she wanted to act on, but didn’t dare, simply for fear of getting pregnant.
“Okay.” she finally said.
“Okay?” Trish asked.
Mandy nodded. “Go ahead. I don’t want to be scared anymore.”
Eric gestured for her to lay down, and he then laid a hand on her, over where her uterus was. He gestured for Samuel to come over, and when he did Samuel placed a hand on her forehead. A subtle, pulsing light spread through her, which also emitted a slightly warm, tingling feeling. After a while Samuel removed his hand, but Eric left his in place until his ‘wards’ were in place.
“There. It’s done.”
Mandy sat up, looked around at all of them, then started to cry – but it was happy tears. Trish hugged her tightly. Samuel smiled and disappeared, and after a minute, Eric did likewise, leaving the girls alone.
“Now,” Mandy said after several minutes, wiping her eyes. “How about that party?”
Trish laughed. “How about we both talk to Brandon tonight? It’ll be night soon, and then we can call, see if he’s willing to meet with us. I know he and Lucas were having some problems, but as I understand it that’s all resolved now.”
“Sounds good to me.” she said, smiling. “Mind if I stay?”
“Of course not.” Trish said. “You can stay for dinner, so long as you help. Deal?”
“Deal.” Mandy said, getting up to help Trish in the kitchen.