Rainstorm

“Hello, Rain,” the woman said from the corner of the basement where the couch was. “Nippy evening out there tonight, isn’t it?” The darkness of the room cast the woman in shadows, adding an even creepier touch than she remembered feeling during their first encounter. “What do you want?” “We’ve already been through that, haven’t we?” “Yes, but you never told me why.” “That’s because I don’t tell people what I don’t want to tell them.” “There must be some reason you chose us.” “Shhh! Keep your voice down, Rain.” “Oh, that’s right,” Rain said, anger replacing her fear once again. “You’ll kill my husband if he finds out you want to borrow our couch and my body, right?” The woman stood up and removed her jacket, but the room was too dark for Rain to make out what she was wearing underneath. The only thing she could be sure of was the faint hint of light glinting off the pistol tucked in her waistband. She sat back down, silhouetted against the faint glow of light from the window above. “How was your day today?” “How do you think it was?” Ignoring her, the crazy woman pulled something from her jacket pocket that was draped over the arm of the couch. “You like sweets?” Who didn’t? “I’m not sure which is better: chocolate and caramel or chocolate and peanut butter.” Rain heard more than saw the woman unwrap something and stick it in her mouth. “If you’re not going to tell me who you are or how you know us, at least tell me what it is you do out there all day, and why you insist on crashing here.” “What happened to the I-talk-you-listen rule?” “It doesn’t exist. In my home, I make the rules.” “Not down in the basement, you don’t.” Still not wanting to take a chance with her husband’s life, Rain said, “Here’s an updated version of those so-called rules. You sleep down here, but don’t even think of going upstairs or touching my husband.” Just as Rain spun on her heel to leave, the woman jumped up, placed a firm hand on her shoulder, and spun her around to face her. Cold metal then touched her cheek. Rain froze, heart beating in her throat. “The only version is my version, Rain. Now take off your clothes.” “W-what?” “You heard me. Take them off.” Rain was terrified. The last thing she wanted to do was give herself to some stranger who had broken into her house, hell-bent on blackmailing her. “Please, can’t we just—” The gun pressed against her skin once again. “You’ve got three seconds before I go upstairs.” The woman activated a flashlight on her cell phone and shone it on her. Blinded by the LED light and feeling totally defeated and helpless, Rain slowly removed her robe and let it drop to the floor. Beneath it was a short, silky lavender negligée. “Sexy,” said the psycho. When Rain remained still for too long, the woman said, “Keep going.” She slipped the negligée overhead and let it fall to the floor beside the robe. She was now clad in just a skimpy pair of matching panties. She let her arms fall to her sides. “Nice flat tummy. No stretch marks. A lovely benefit of not having kids, wouldn’t you say?” Rain said nothing. “You can lose the panties now.” Rain slowly bent over and slid her panties down to her ankles. She felt horribly humiliated as she stepped out of them. The flashlight slowly roamed up and down her body. “Nice perky breasts, pubes nicely trimmed but not shaved. Wouldn’t want you looking too little girlish after all, would we?” “You’re the one who wants this, not me.” Ignoring her, the woman said, “Turn around.” She did. “Nice backside.” Rain turned back around and waited for additional instructions, trying not to shake with fear. The woman fiddled with her phone and then snapped her picture, fueling both her fear and her anger. “Hey, could we not do that anymore? The fucking picture of me kissing a total stranger in my own home who’s sick in the head is one thing. Naked body shots are another—” The woman stepped over to her. Face just an inch or two away from hers, she grabbed a fistful of her hair and hissed through bared teeth, “Last time. I make the rules. Not you.” “Oh—okay!” Rain stammered, trying not to scream out in pain. The woman released her grip on her hair, and Rain rubbed her scalp. While keeping an eye on her, the woman reached into a bag sitting on the end of the couch that Rain hadn’t noticed before and pulled something out of it. It appeared to be a dark material of some kind. While the crazy woman fiddled with that, Rain’s eyes darted around the room in search of a weapon she might surprise the woman. But she was afraid to botch it up if she could find a suitable weapon, thus getting her and Troy both killed and the world left to believe she had been whoring around on him. The woman handed her the black garment. “Put it on.” “What is it?” “Don’t ask what it is. Just put it on.” Rain fumbled clumsily with the silky black, lace-trimmed material. About a minute later, she was dressed in what she personally considered to be more on the trashy side than the classy side. The black teddy, garter, and thigh-high leggings fit perfectly, despite the style. The woman backed up and pulled one more thing from the bag. Matching black stilettos. “Complete the look with these.” Rain slipped the shoes on, amazed at how poor her balance was. She was more athletic than graceful. Even so, she was amazed at how well the damn stilts fit. This couldn’t have been guesswork on the madwoman’s part. She had to have known what size to get. But how? How? How? How? Lust poured from the woman’s eyes, even in the darkness. “Ooh, you look smoking hot, girl, smoking hot! Totally sexy as hell.” Rain snorted. “This isn’t sexy. This is slutty.” The woman began to massage her own breasts as she stared at Rain. Then she slipped her hands up under her dark shirt and continued massaging. As embarrassed and disgusted as Rain was, she couldn’t take her eyes off the bizarre scene in front of her. How had her life come to this? How had she been a happy, productive person living a normal life one moment, and then forced to watch a woman masturbate as she raped her with her eyes the next moment? The woman’s breathing became quick and ragged; her unblinking eyes remained glued to her body. She frantically fumbled with the buckle of her belt and then quickly unzipped her jeans. Rain thought she heard the psycho mutter something like, “Damn, I should have worn sweats,” or something like that. With her jeans now hanging loose, she slid her hand between her legs. Rain continued to stare back at her with a mix of disbelief and disgust. She tried to console herself with the fact that at least she was doing her own self and not making her do her dirty work for her, nor was she touching her. If this bitch made her do her or if she put her filthy hands on her, Rain wasn’t sure she could handle that, in silence or not. The woman started really breathing fast and hard, and Rain hoped she would hyperventilate and pass out, but then it slowed down, and her moans of ecstasy faded. “Oh…oh, my God,” the woman breathed. “That was divine.” “Yeah, for you maybe. Look, I’m really tired. I need to get some sleep if you want me to go on acting like nothing’s wrong.” “Oh, nothing is wrong, honey,” the woman purred, still drooling over the slutty visual she was forced to give her. Then she finally calmed down enough to catch her breath and put her serious face back on. “Not unless you open your mouth, that is.” “Can I go to bed now?” “You gonna flap those pretty pouty lips of yours?” “No. But I don’t understand why you won’t compromise a bit with me and give me some information.” “What information?” “Who are you and why are you doing this?” “I’ve already given you enough information, Rain,” said the woman as she fastened her belt buckle. “No, you haven’t. I don’t know a thing about you. Are you on the run or something?” “Now, why would I tell you that if I was?” “I don’t even know your name.” “My name doesn’t matter. It only matters that you obey my commands.” “For how long?” “Until I get sick of you.” “Oh, so I’m just something to use and amuse you till you get sick of me and decide to discard me like yesterday’s trash?” “You’ll never be trash to me, Rain, but someday I must move on, whether you stick to the rules or not.” “What determines when you move on?” The crazy woman shrugged. “Part of it is you, part of it is fate.” “Fate?” “Yes, Rain. Things do come up at times that you’re not expecting to come up.” So that was it? The best Rain could hope for was for things to unexpectedly come up and drive this woman out of her life faster, hopefully leaving her and Troy alive while she was at it? “But what can I call you? Can’t you give me just a first name?” The woman walked closer to her. Rain’s skin crawled. The nutjob leaned in toward her left ear and whispered, “Go to bed and dream one up for me.”