"Please no," I shivered.
"Suit yourself." Her tail brushed along my inner thigh as she walked away, back out into the hallway.
* * *
"That sounded intense." Rose chimed in.
"You heard that?" I asked.
"Sure."
"I haven't heard from you in a while."
"We've been talking, you just haven't been listening," said Julia.
"What?" I checked my headset and found it tangled in my wig, hanging next to my ear but not actually in. "How about now?"
"That's better, I'm sneaking around outside," Julia said. "Find the painting?"
"No," I said, "I've looked through everything in here, checked the closet too. Maybe it's not here?"
"Oh wait," said Julia. "Found it. Out in the garage."
"Anyone in there?" Rose asked.
"Just a couple of rag dolls having sex."
Rose, still a six-foot Doberman, went in and kicked the rag dolls out. Then motioned that it was okay to enter.
I got there just in time to see a shadow emerge from the... well... the shadows.
"It's over here," said the shadow, Julia, as she pointed to the back of a black SUV. My aunt's painting was visible through the back window.
"So it's an electronic lock, can you open it?" Rose asked.
"Key pads, I was talking about keypads..." I felt embarrassed.
"Oh for fuck's sake," Rose grumbled. "Stay," The dog motioned, like she was ordering a dog, and left the room.
A few minutes later she returned and opened the car door with a clicker. "I got it from the valet stand."
I popped the hook end off my staff, fished the fake painting out of its hollow tube, and unrolled it.
"Um..." Shadow-Julia raised a finger, "Is it supposed to look like that?"
I sighed. The painting had been so tightly wrapped to fit in the tube the paint had started to flake off.
"Glad you didn't try that with the real one, Chuck." Rose patted me on the back. "Great plan."
"I probably would have made the same mistake," said Julia.
"So what do we do now?" I asked. "I mean we have the real one right here..."
"I could sneak it out," Julia offered. "Just don't roll it up so tight."
"Should we still switch them?"
"Just dump that one," Rose pointed to the forgery. "Better they think it's stolen than swapped."
Without thinking, I went to throw it in the garbage, but Rose stopped me, saying, "Maybe not dump it in the first place they'll look, Chuck."
I grimaced and started rolling the painting back up into my staff.
"I can't go back that way." Julia shrugged. "It just leads back to the garden."
"You could go out the garage door," Rose said. "But I don't have the clicker for that. Can't get it either... But hey look... there's a keypad." She pointed to one on the wall. "Would our mastermind of a leader like to give that a try?"
I walked up to it. My trick, and it wasn't much of one really, was that most keypads don't change their combinations very often, so if you look at the keys, sometimes you can tell which buttons have been pressed a lot.
In this case the "1", "2", and "8" had little smudges on them. I tried the combination 1,2,8 first, then all eight others, but they didn't do anything, so it must be a four digit code, with one repeat.
A repeating number, while tricky at first, actually cuts down the total number of possible combinations a bit. I tried 1,1,2,8. The pad flashed red again.
"Oh great, can you do anything?" The dog mocked me.
The next combination was 1,1,8,2. The light flashed green and the garage door began to roll open.
"Woof, woof."I raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah yeah," Rose looked at my sheep and asked it, "What are you looking at?"
"I'll let you know when I'm out," said shadow-Julia, and she slipped under the door with the painting, in a much looser roll.
I went back to the main room, and saw a woman, dressed like a snake charmer, dancing for a sailor.
She was an east Indian belly dancer, with a metal beaded top and an exposed belly. And as she got moving, a rhythmic melody began to play.
As she danced, she ran her hands over the sailor's shoulders, and they sank into his body. She ran her feet over his legs, and they joined into one. She ran her fingers through his hair, and it disappeared into scales.
Soon the sailor was just a snake swirling around the dancer's feet. He tried to slither up her body, but she lost interest and stepped away.
The sight of him— left as a serpent. I felt the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. "Julia, I think it's time to leave. How are we doing?"
"Almost got it." Her mic cut to static for a second. "Hold on."
Her mic cut to static again.
"Julia? Julia?"
"Hey," a tired man's voice said over the bluetooth, "Come meet us in the garage, and maybe we just call the cops."
"Julia?" I asked in vain.
"Don't make this any worse for 'Julia' than it needs to be, okay?" The voice was more annoyed than angry.
Rose stayed silent, and I didn't dare bring her into this. But I figured if the cops showed up and found the painting, that could only help us.
"Okay," I gulped, and went to the garage.
Seeing a seven-foot werewolf covered in blood and Frankenstein's monster towering over an unmasked Julia, I almost fainted.
"Easy there," said the werewolf as a line of gore fell from his mouth. "Sit down." He pointed to a folding chair.
I did, and asked. "What now?"
Frankenstein's monster glared at me, "Anyone else?"
I shook my head. "Just call the cops and get this over with..."
"Hold on," said the Werewolf. "Gotta call Bast first." He pulled out a mobile. "Hey, boss. Found them, nothing to worry about ... Just a couple of girls ... I dunno, some doll and a shadow ... I dunno..."
"Who are you supposed to be?" The werewolf asked.
"Bo peep?" I squeaked out.
"You heard that? ... Yeah boss."
"He's coming down."
Bast arrived, looking every bit the curious cat.
"Found some art we liked, did we?" The cat-goddess asked in that melodic voice. "I would have let you see it, if only you had asked."
"I'm in a bit of a quandary," she continued, "I can't call the cops on you, you knew that... But I don't feel like killing you either..."
Julia, sighed in relief.
The cat-goddess lifted Julia's chin with a claw. "It's not that I won't. I just don't want to..."
"Boss..." the werewolf interrupted. He pulled out his glock and checked the magazine.
"Hold on, I'm thinking... Let me see the painting."
Frankenstein's monster handed the painting to Bast. She unrolled it facing it away from us and examined it.
"So tell me, art lover, what is this painting of?"
"We can't see it," Julia protested.
"I just want to know if you know what you are stealing..."
"It's of a woman reading," I started, and the cat perked up her ears. "She's sitting in a field alone, except for the book. And she looks sad."
"Why is she sad?" asked the cat.
"She's said because she's near the end of the book."
"What book is it? Does it have a sad ending?"
"It doesn't matter. It's just that when any book ends, even the happy one's, it's like the end of the world."
The cat blinked. "I can't believe I missed it." She ran her claws gently over my face. "She's you?"
"A relative of mine, we look alike."
"So. I've caught a thief, only to find that what she stole was hers in the first place."
"Boss..." The werewolf tapped his gun.
"Easy, I'm still going to kill them..." The goddess licked the back of her paw. "Don't worry it will be quick."
She held out her paw and the werewolf handed her his gun. She pointed it at me, and cocked it.
I peed myself, a little.
Then she sighed. "Unless..."
"Unless?" Julia asked.
"You might help me test my new bit of magic. See, I've only tested it in safe, controlled doses. I do have some ethics... But now I want to see what a larger dose can do."
"Don't worry," the cat-goddess continued. "I'll give you a fighting chance. Transformation Poker anyone?"
* * *
Frankenstein's monster had set up a card table in the garage. The cat-goddess, the werewolf, and I were sitting at it.
"Why do I have to play again, boss?" The gore-covered wolf asked.
"Poker is more fun with three... that and you gave me your gun," she said, pointing it at him.
"The rules are simple, before you are five gold coins. Each one represents a different piece of your humanity, lose one, you take a drink," she pointed a claw at a green canister. "And we see what happens."
"But first, a toast," she said as Frankenstein's monster put a shot glass in front of each of us. "To lady luck, and to whatever is it we are all destined to become..."
I won the first round with a pair of twos and aces, we'd each ante'd one.
"Fair is fair," the cat goddess purred. She examined the two coins "You've lost your speech, my dear wolf. And I've lost my stature."
She put two shot glasses out and pointed the gun at the werewolf until he drank. He tried to protest, but all that came out were grunts and growls.
The cat-goddess tipped her glass back and drank. She shrunk to the size of a housecat, so that she had to sit on the table. But she still somehow managed to keep control of the gun.
Bast won the second round, we'd each had to bet three.
The werewolf whimpered as he drank.
"You've lost your hands, and your feet, and your stature, but at least you still have your mind."
Physically, he was now nothing more than a regular wolf.
"Don't drink, not yet." Bast turned to me, expanding to her original size. "I think it's time you joined the animal kingdom."
Frankenstein's monster held me as Bast pulled out a brush and went to work on my face.
"With just a little effort..." She said as she pulled a black brush over my white face, "Little Bo Peep, is now her sheep, and so she always knows where to find them."
Frankenstein's monster pulled over a standing mirror, and just for a second I saw my face had been done up in rough but passable sheep makeup, before I blinked and saw a full sized sheep standing in front of me.
"And now for your stature," Bast poured a glass and pointed the gun at me.
I drank and shrunk, not as much as Bast had, but when I sat back down, my feet no longer touched the floor.
"Delightful!" she exclaimed, and raked her claws through my wool.
She won the next round with a full house, winning two of my coins.
"Hands and feet," she raised an eyebrow as I drank.
"Hey, this isn't fair," I said as my hooves could no longer hold the cards.
The wolf sat on the floor, trying to lick his balls.
"I know," she winked at me. "Now what have you got?" She looked over to my cards laid bare on the table. "Oh, a pair of twos..."
"I fold," I said.
"Well you still have to ante," She said, plucking up one of my two remaining coins. "I'll just take your speech."
She grabbed my throat with her claws and tipped a glass into my mouth.
"Bahh!" I protested.
Bast smiled. "It's just your mind now."
"Bahh!" I said.
"That's not fair!" Julia exclaimed.
"You'll be next," said the cat.
"Hey, ahh guys..." Rose said over the Bluetooth. At least the werewolf hadn't found that. He'd taken my purse but apparently the phone inside was still close enough to work. Rose's voice was faint, maybe the headset had gotten caught in the wig again, and that's why they hadn't seen it.
"Hey, I've been listening, I'm right outside. I just need the door code..."
"Bah!!" I answered.
Bast dealt the next hand. "Oh my, you've got a pair of jacks, what do you suppose I have?"
"Bah! Bah!"
"No, that's not it," said the cat-goddess.
Rose's voice came over the Bluetooth again. "Hey Charlotte, what I've never told you, or Rachel or anyone is what kind of dog I actually am. I'm not a Doberman, or a pit bull or any of that. I'm a freaking sheep dog. And I've always known that sheep and sheep dogs can talk to each other."
"Care to guess again?" The cat asked.
"One one eight two." I said speaking to Rose, and everyone looked at me funny.
"That's not it either!" protested Bast.
"Bah!" I yelled as the garage door rolled up.
"What what?" asked the cat.
"Plan freaking B. Set everything on fire and run," said Rose. She threw a lit jug of gasoline against the back wall of the garage.
Then she shot Frankenstein's Monster with a taser, and punched the crap out of the cat-goddess before grabbing me. Julia grabbed the painting and hopped into Rose's waiting beater mustang, which sped off with a giant sheep dog at the wheel.
* * *
Julia had taken me to the master bedroom, and my head was pounding when Emily got back.
"Are you okay Charlie?" She asked.
"Just really hungover, but I'm back in the real world if that's what you mean?"
She laid a hand on my forehead. "Julia filled me in on a lot of it. Was it really as amazing as all that?"
"Well sort of, but then it all fades like a dream." I sipped a glass of water she was holding for me. "I remember remembering it being amazingly real, but now I just remember everything as it really was."
I smiled when I thought of that sailor turned snake, now just a man rolling around on the floor. "Now I just remember a bunch of dorks making fools of themselves in costumes."
"I wish I got to try it before it all burnt down."
"Probably for the best. Should we worry about them coming after us?"
"Rose is doing security for us full time now." Emily rolled her eyes. "Though, I think she just wanted a job where she could dress up in a dog suit all the time."
"Is she here now?"
"I just ran into her in the hall. Had to stop and play fetch. Well, you get some rest, and I'll keep her from barking too much."
The next morning I awoke to the feeling of my chastity lock clicking into place.
"Emily?" I asked.
"Oh sorry, Darling, it's not like that. I was just trying to decide if you're sexier with it on or with it off," she said, as I realized the sheets were pulled back and I was lying there completely naked, with her sitting over me.
I tried to cover up at first but then stretched my arms out to give her a good look.
"You," she said, "You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Your body, it's what I always dreamed you would be." She bent down and whispered, "only better."
"May I... play with them?" she motioned to my chest.
I smiled and nodded.
She kneaded my breasts with her hands, flicking the tip of her tongue against my nipples.
"That does feel good," I admitted.
"Do you think you're done being the maid then?"
"I could be... but it still gives me a thrill," I said sheepishly.
"Well, maybe we can work something out? What was the best part?"
"Honestly, not knowing what my life would be like, the contracts, and um even being locked up. I felt so helpless."
She purred, snuggling into me, "You sound like you almost miss the old days..."
"Except I'd skip Ms. Fox, and it would have been nice if my 'Mr. Bennet' had worked as well then as he does now."
"Well okay, that's easy." She nibbled my ear. "You're fired."
"What?" I asked, smiling.
"You heard me." She pulled away, smirking at me. "I'm firing you. You have twenty minutes to get out. And don't come back until you have at least a month, no... two months experience working as a maid somewhere else. That's the bare minimum I require for my most junior servant."
"Honey?" I asked.
"Don't worry I'll give you a good reference. You shouldn't have any trouble finding work, at a motel or something... Oh, and I'll just be holding onto this," she said, plucking up the key to my cage.
"Are you serious?"
"You're down to nineteen minutes now."
* * *
I'd been cleaning rooms at a tribal Casino, staying at a $60 a night air bnb, and riding a second-hand bicycle a few miles to work for two weeks after that. The work wasn't fun, but it was tolerable, especially since it would be temporary. Seeing myself in the maid's uniform everyday was still a thrill, but that got overwhelmed by work, and the cage kept me from doing anything about it.
One day while I was loading my cart, my supervisor came by and said, "Hey Charlotte, congratulations, you're not the new girl anymore." She nodded toward a woman trying to figure out her uniform.
She was tall and lean with dark hair and sharp features, around five years older than me. I walked over to her, just as she finished applying dark red lipstick.
"Hey, new girl," I said, looking at her name tag. "Jennifer is it?"
"Apropos, isn't it?" She glanced at mine. "Charlotte is it?"
I nodded and we went about our work for the day. Near the end of our shift, 'Jennifer' came by.
"Hey, Charlotte, I could use your help with something..."
"What is it?"
"It's in the room by the elevator up on four."
"Those rooms are usually empty aren't they? I mean due to the noise."
She smirked and nodded to me. I followed her.
"I'm not exactly sure how to make this bed. Where do these go?" She asked, holding up four belts she'd taken off of spa robes.
"Unless," she nudged me onto the bed, "They go like this?" She tied one around my wrist, and the other end to a bedpost. She went around and tied another to my other wrist and pulled the belts tight through the bed until I was forced to lay down on it.
"That seems about right to me." I said.
"Did you miss me?" she asked as she tied my legs.
"I was wondering if I was just going to spend the next two months cleaning rooms."
"Perverts together, that was the deal right? I needed a vacation from the manor anyway."
"So... who's there?"
"Oh, 'Mistress Rachel' wanted to try her hand at running things."
"Really? How is she?"
"She's... very demanding, but fun. She really took to her new role." Emily blushed. "She even talked me into giving her control of the accounts before I left, had me sign contracts... So she really is in charge now— and Julia is the head of staff... so maybe we'll both end up working for them?"
I smirked. "That doesn't sound so bad, actually."
"So, tribal casino hunh?" Emily asked.
"Well, I had wanted to work in Vegas, you know the place where we got married?"
"Sure, why didn't you?"
"I didn't want to be that far away. You were here."
"I'm just a maid now, just like you, aren't I?" she shrugged. "We can go anywhere."
"Yes, yes you are."
"Darling..." She started squirming a bit. "You know what would make me the happiest minimum wage worker in the world?" She opened her hand to reveal a gold ring.
I smiled. "And the answer is yes."
She slid the ring onto my finger, and her whole body shivered as she gazed into my eyes. "So, gag in now?"
I nodded and she stuffed her damp stockings into my mouth.
—THE END—
(Or should we say "an end?")
(You ended up as a hotel maid...)
(...and then remarried)
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