Valerie Ch. 06

She came to her senses with Sally's teeth sunk deep into her shoulder, the pain of the bite, the gun that killed the climax aborning. Overwhelmed, she cried out, "Red light! Red light!"

The teeth released and Sally began to withdraw. "No! Please hold me. I need you to hold me."

The warmth and love of that lover's body returned, holding her tightly yet with gentleness. Valerie cried, unable to give voice to the incredible love and trust she was feeling. Her Mistress had promised she wouldn't cum and had kept that promise, driving her to the edge and beyond while keeping it.

"Mistress, hold me please, hold me while I sleep. I can't be alone; I can't take being alone tonight."

"I don't want to be alone either. I'll never leave you, Valerie. We've found each other and we'll never be alone again."

The two fell asleep like that. The bound woman in the protective embrace of the free woman, each secure in their place in the world. They dreamt of each other, of drowning in an immense love to be reborn into a better place that could not be imagined or described. Their souls shared a contact that many would go to their deaths ignorant of. It's too bad that they never shared the dreams, for they would've known then that they shared identical ones. But other signs of their joining would be evident in the future.

*********

Miles away, another soul was not at peace. Francine, truly happy for her friend, struggled against the darkness yet again. The nightmare returned, worse than before. Like a demon, the nightmare, her terror and shattered trust, raised a specter worse than an old flame that beat her. The lovers, transformed by Francine's loneliness and despair, became the tormentors. She dreamed of Valerie and Sally, taking her and beating her with scourges, tearing huge masses of her flesh off her back. From inside the battered dream body came a glow, feeble and flickering. The tormentors pulled out her soul, her spirit, and snuffed it out in front of her eyes, the will to live draining from her.

When she woke, there was no pain, no scream, and no desire. She spent the day in bed, wondering what it would be like to be no more, to be free of the darkness. The phone's ring went unnoticed. Only one thing remained intact in her heart. Valerie. She loved Valerie and didn't want to leave without saying goodbye. Even the nightmare couldn't steal the love she had for her friend. She remembered the promise made, was it so long ago? "I promise you Val, I will call you before I take such an action." She knew she wouldn't see her again until after the weekend. By the afternoon, she had worked up enough will power to get up and about. Numbness crept over her, stealing the enjoyment from the little things in her life. Her cat purring. The smell of her garden. The taste of chocolate. Desperate to feel again, she dressed as a submissive for the first time in five years and drove to Mephisto's.

She prowled for a dominant, someone harsh and unforgiving, that she could provoke into sensations, strong, violent ones that she could feel. The experienced Doms avoided her, sensing something dangerous in her. Friday found her in the hands of a novice. He didn't even think of asking for a safe word and she reveled in the pain that resulted from his inexperience, his confusing pain for intensity. Saturday, she gave herself to a woman who reveled in drawing blood and inflicting great pain. She gave Francine a safe word, but the woman, trying desperately to keep the numbness at bay, refused to use it. Francine had begun, in her depression, to confuse sensation for living. On Sunday, she went home with a sadist, not a player and let him beat her until she had cuts covering her back and legs. Each time she went out, she needed more to hold off the despair and the nightmares. Crisis was coming, one that would change lives forever, and she was blind to the approaching hoof beats of her impending Armageddon.

Thanks to Dani for the wonderful proofreading that this story was long in need of.