FSE

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Ghosts of the Past

By: Karl Wolfemann and Chakat Fire

Warnings: NC-17, Het, Slash, Suicide, foot job, anal, oral, masturbation, violence, rimming, rape, homophobia, lots and lots of crossdressing

~~~===~~~

Hien moaned softly, rolling onto his side, dead leaves rustling in his head. The young Leopard blinked his eyes open, the sound of a river filling his senses as he looked down. He was on the ground... in a forest or woods of some sort, a brook or river close by trickling over smooth rocks, the sound of thunder sounded in the distance; a storm was near by.

The Leopard pushed himself up, sitting back on his legs and smoothing the leaves off the rest of himself. He was a lithe, fine featured boy, one would be sure he was a girl if they didn't know better.... He certainly liked to make sure they didn't - he wore a long white skirt and matching lacy 'sweater', a soft pink and white blouse below with arms that stopped about three fourths of the way down his finely boned forearms.

"What the hell...." He groaned, reaching up to hold his head, it hurt like a mild headache, but worse, he couldn't remember how he had gotten out here!

He remembered being angry about something... not sure what. Had he driven out here?

If he had, there wasn't a car anywhere around.

Rain started to fall around him, into the river and pattering in the leaves. He needed to get under cover.

Standing shakily at first, he looked about, starting to really worry. How had he gotten here? Where was here? Was he stranded?

Nearly spinning in circles, Hien was sure he saw a thinning of the trees in one direction, out and away from the stream. Quickly he headed that way, his heart racing. He remembered being very young and loosing his parents in a grocery store, fear gripping him, he'd be lost and alone....

As the rain began to patter down through the leaves a little harder he could see the trees thinning out even further; was there a clearing ahead?

Yes, there was. There was also a fence, as he found shortly... but he could climb it. A fence meant a house, and he might be able to pull the "lost girl in the storm" routine.

Hiking up his skirt to the point he had to tuck it into it's own waist band, he climbed over the fence a little awkwardly; the thing was old and rusted, made in a day when such things were hand made. It certainly wasn't pre-fabricated - or electrified, thankfully. On the other side he put down his skirt, the rain starting to really get going, soaking into his clothes in larger spatters. Quickly he made his way up to the house, calling out to whoever was inside. There wasn't any answer, though there was a light on upstairs. The house he found was massive, like something out of an old movie.

If he wasn't desperate, he'd be running the other way.

As creepy as it was, the woods at night in the rain weren't going to be much better!

Reaching the porch, he went to the door, knocking soundly and calling out in his most feminine, soft, but undeniably freaked voice. "Hello?!? Hello anyone! Is anyone home? Please... I'm lost!"

He hammered on the door again, lightning and thunder ripping the sky above him as the door swung open slowly.

Okay... this was officially *damned* creepy.

He'd almost rather brave the lightning...

"Hellooo?" He asked, poking his head in the doorway a fraction of an inch, his rounded ears swiveling about like little radar dishes.

Walking in, the door swung shut quietly behind him... at least this time he'd pushed it. He thought he heard music playing somewhere, a piano maybe? Harpsichord?

Okay... from weird to fucking frightening.

"*Hello!?*" He called in near panic mode as he looked around the dim foyer, only the poor light from outside illuminating the nearly ancient room. He put his hand out to feel his way along the wall... and found a light switch.

Well, at least it wasn't totally Victorian.

Flipping it up, he prayed the thing worked, sure his heart could get no further lodged in his throat than it already was.

The lights came on through the room, revealing a reasonably well-decorated room with surprisingly little dust.

Well, at least it wasn't so creepy anymore. Just looked like the set of an old movie from the 60's.

Though that was creepy in a whole different way. Hien chuckled to himself, taking deep breaths as he looked around.

After a moment he decided to try the next room; he was already trespassing and no one was answering his calls....

The next room was much like the first, well kept though slightly dusty, it seemed to be a sitting room. The effeminate feline male scratched behind his head, finally *almost* calm. If nothing else, the house was going to give him asthma and a fear of watching classic TV... but at least that seemed to be the worst thing.

The music was getting louder as he worked through the rooms, turning on lights. Maybe there was somebody upstairs in the lit room?

IT seemed most likely, and just maybe they couldn't hear him because of the music.... Still, he had about as much courage to go look as he had desire.... But then, he didn't see a phone down here, he needed to find *some* way to know where he was and contact someone... and if there *was* someone in the house.... Well he figured rightly that they might not be happy to just find him exploring their house.

Maybe he should just sit down and wait? Maybe they'd come to see what was going on... find him in the morning if nothing else?

The idea was tempting... very tempting.... But somehow he doubted he could sleep in this place listening to... to whatever that was. Who had a harpsichord anyway?!?

Sighing, he worked his way to the base of the main staircase in the foyer. "Hello?" He called up again, placing one foot on the bottom step. The step creaked, but nobody answered. Damn... who needed a place *this* freakin' huge?

He moved to the next step, calling again. Still no answer. Repeating the process slowly, eventually working up to every two steps until he was at the top, half feeling rather stupid about his approach, half feeling like running back down the steps as the music continued on from somewhere down the upstairs hall.

"Hellooo?" He called again, his ears swiveling to find which way the music was from; the hall branched off in two wings, one to the left of the staircase, the other to the right over the balcony that hung over the foyer.

Finally, he managed to find the harpsichord, just out of site on the balcony - with nobody at it, the keys moving on their own.

It was some sort of player model. Hien was slightly happy he could tell that much; the sight of the thing playing itself would have probably sent him right over the balcony at this point.

Sighing, he called out again, looking for where the light had been coming from. "Someone answer me for God's sake!"

"Can I help you, ma'am?" A soft, cultured, polite voice asked from behind him.

Despite the thought he had a moment later to take the soft voice gratefully... Hien screamed like a girl; he needed *no* practice at that.

Whirling, the leopard came face to face with a white bunny Rabbit female in a maid's outfit, seeming to be quite shocked by his outburst. "Aiye! I-uhh...." He coughed and cleared his throat sheepishly. "I'm sorry to intrude... I'm lost and it's raining... I knocked and called and called but no one's answered me till now..."

The Rabbit was lovely, really. Soft white fur, black hair trimmed just above her shoulders, the uniform accenting her body nicely. Hien had to admit, he could do with looking as good as she did.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "However, I was busy in the kitchen up until now. Would you like something to eat, ma'am?"

The Leopard swallowed again and nodded, resting a hand on his chest as he tried to calm himself. "Yes... yes." He smiled gently, using his most gentle, demure voice. "I'm sorry too... I didn't mean to trespass...."

"You were lost," the Rabbit said easily. "It is understandable. We have company so seldom here as it is; it will be a pleasure to serve you."

"We?" He asked curiously, following as she nodded and gestured he follow along on the way to the kitchen. "Where are we?" He added, looking around a little, more of a gesture than anything.

"Cannard Manor," the Rabbit answered easily. "And yes, we; myself and my Master. I'm afraid he tends to be a bit of a night owl; you likely won't see him during your stay."

"Please pass on my thanks for the hospitality and my apologies then...." Hien murmured, truly thankful. "And to you too... I don't mean to impose... Cannard Manor?" He added with a questioning tone.

"Yes," she nodded. "Forgive my manners; as I said, we get visitors seldom. My name is Alice; what would you like for dinner?" She asked politely.

"I don't want to be a bother," he flushed modestly, though his stomach grumbled. "And please, don't worry about your manners.... You're just fine," he smiled sweetly.

"I insist madame!" Alice said insistently. "Please, it's the least we can do. You're lost, there is a storm outside... please, allow us to extend our hospitality to you."

"Alright...." 'She' murmured shyly. "Thank you... I dunno, whatever you have around is fine, if you're insisting." He winked and smiled. The kitchen seemed a less dusty than the other rooms, though its 'old charms' and the storm outside did little to comfort the Leopard.... At least it was surprisingly well lit.

"Very well," Alice nodded. "The kitchen is this way; I was just preparing my dinner."

He nodded and followed. "A-Alice?" He said softly, his voice a feminine falsetto. "Do you have a phone I can use? I should call someone so they know what happened...." -If only *he* did!-

"I'm afraid not, ma'am," Alice apologized. "We haven't had a phone in years."

"Oh," Hien nodded and sighed softly. "Is it far to town? I'll definitely have to try and go to call in the morning...."

"Not far," she reassured him. "Just over the river, back through the woods a few miles."

"You have no road?" He blinked.

"Of course we do!" She giggled. "It leads over the bridge, ma'am."

The Leopard chuckled as though that were obvious. "I must not have been paying attention...."

Alice led him into the kitchen, fixing a good big sandwich for him. Hien ate quietly, Alice doing the same, the meal passing in near-silence.

"Will you want to go to bed after this, ma'am?" She asked.

The Leopard nodded softly. "I suppose so.... A couch will be fine though," he smiled softly. "Thank you for the sandwich by the way... was fantastic."

"Thank you," Alice smiled. "And no need, we have additional rooms...." She trailed off, seeming to look into space before she nodded. "Yes, Master," she said softly.

The Leopard blinked and cocked his head. "I'd hate to intrude...." He mused softly as if hesitant to break in on a private moment, looking over his shoulder at the general space she had spaced out on, not seeing anything but the shadows.

"I'm sorry," she smiled. "We have a room that you should like quite a bit, if you wish."

"It's alright... Everything... okay?" He smiled uneasily, regarding her nervously. "Well... all right. I do feel terrible about impeding on your hospitality like this...."

"It's all right," she smiled warmly. "We have plenty of space, and supplies. You can stay as long as you have to."

"All right," he consented with a smile. "Thank you. I suppose now is a good a time as ever... hopefully the storm will be passed in the morning."

"Hopefully," Alice nodded, standing to lead Hien to his room. "I hope you don't mind old fashioned décor," she smiled. "The room used to be the Master's daughter's."

"No... not at all," he lied, but a very passable lie. He couldn't honestly imagine anything more old-fashioned than what he had seen already! Still... a room was a room.

"Where is she now? Your Master's daughter I mean... she won't mind me in her room?"

"No," Alice said easily, shaking her head. "She left years ago."

"M'kay," Hien smiled and nodded. Wondering, and grateful for once it was about something besides this place, if Alice's perception of him as a woman had anything to do with it. She certainly seemed to believe he was one; he would probably have believed it himself if he hadn't known better. He was more than 'passable' as a dresser.

He couldn't help but wonder if that had gotten him *into* this mess.

"Your room, ma'am," Alice said easily, opening the door and turning on the light to reveal a room that was almost painfully feminine, decorated in pinks with lace and ruffles just about everywhere.

Although slightly over done; Hien would have never had anything like this in his own home; in someone else's... it was a sort of feminine indulgence that he *really* could get to like... at least for a night anyway.

He nearly squealed, thoughts of whatever unpleasantness had happened beyond his memory fleeing again as his attention shifted. "It's very... girly..." He giggled and smiled. "I like it..."

"Good," Alice smiled. "Sleep well, ma'am. There are clothes in the closet, in case you wish to change for the evening or tomorrow."

"Thank you," he smiled back, peeking modestly at the closet before moving to the bed. The clothes might interest him... though he wanted to wait for her to leave first, for 'modesty's sake as much as trying to protect his 'secret'. It was giving it away that had led to... whatever had happened before he was here. He was sure of that much.

Alice left quickly, closing the door and leaving Hien to explore... he did notice that there was an attached bathroom.

That was quite nice... He sighed and went in to wash his facefur, feeling very tired, too many emotions (most of them some form of fear) and too long a day taking their toll. Though curiosity got the better of him, he just had to see what was in store in the closet, opening it up to look at the wardrobe inside.

He was entirely unaware he had been locked in the room, the quiet click of the key having been long ago drowned out by the water in the bathroom.

He was surprised to find that so much of what was in there was his size... no panties, of course, that would be a stroke of luck, but dresses and other frilly things enough to keep him happy for years, it seemed.

Pity he couldn't keep some of them....

Still, he was tempted to at least try on one or two of them before bed.

Soon though, fatigue overcame the Leopard and he flopped onto the bed with a little twirl, liking how the last dress swirled about his ankles. He sighed softly and closed his eyes, sleep taking him without a fight in the span of a few soft breaths.

~~~===~~~

The shadows were deep in Hien's room, the lights out and darkness surrounding him. Even so, a careful observer could see the inky black form that slipped under the door and seemed to glide through the dark shadows, rising near the Leopard's bed, silently gathering itself into the form of a masculine Fox that almost seemed to be cut out of reality. Lightning flashed, light blasting through the window with each heavenly flare, the brief flickers dancing along the dark body of the Fox.

Long, slender tendrils of shadow extended as he reached out his hand to caress Hien's face, seeing the Leopard in the old dress... and the Fox slipped silently into bed behind him. A dark hand passed through the dress, caressing his front and finding the silk ribbon Hien kept tied around his hips and sheath. A low sound whispered through the night, almost like a chuckle, as the hand dropped lower, caressing the Leopard's balls and sheath while the other hand wrapped around his chest from behind, silent lips placing a tender kiss on his neck.

Hien whimpered softly in his sleep, moaning as his dreams were filled with memories of intimate pleasantries long gone, and fantasies that still burned.

Fairly purring with pleasure, the 'big' cat writhed, his moans growing more towards the lucid side of things, though he was still asleep. A long, black tongue seemed to slip out of the Fox's muzzle, licking his neck as he was fondled and stroked, tender fingers pressing up against his anus... and then in. While the shadowy Fox could reach through his dress, there was no denying that he could also touch things when he wanted to.

And, as he stretched Hien's body, the Leopard could definitely feel that he wanted to.

If anything could wake a sleeping Leopard, it was two fingers up his ass... and Hien had that! He gasped softly as his eyes fluttered open and he felt the fingers on, and in him, the tongue on his neck. "Who's there!?" He gasped, his voice urgent but still soft.

"Shh," the Fox murmured softly. "Enjoy." He worked his fingers in and out of Hien's ass, stretching him pleasantly, a familiar pressure against his ass from behind.

Moaning softly, the Leopard half relaxed. "You're the Master of the house?" He asked, fitting the pieces together as he rested against the solid form behind him... the man was not particularly warm however... and Hien was vaugely aware of wearing a dress... how was he being touched so intimately? Still... it felt good... and the man didn't seem to mind that he was a he. Something the young feline couldn't often say.

"Shh...." Gentle lips pressed against his neck in a tender kiss as the dress was worked up and off of the Leopard's body, the two fingers still deep in him, searching for his prostate.

They found it, the backs of the Fox's digit's sliding along the slightly rougher, denser patch, making Hien squeal softly and writhed, his sheath filling with pre-cum as it dribbled from his body.

"Ohhhh...." He murmured, pressing into the gentle touch of the other male.

The fingers pulled out of his body, stroking his sheath and balls again, then reaching up for the bow to the ribbon that tied his sheath shut.

Hien whimpered in mild protest, reaching out to lay his hand over the Fox's and stop him. He liked the more feminine feel being trapped by the ribbon afforded him... But the rush of tingling pleasure his shaft felt as the ribbon was let go made him gasp and sway his hand, too late now...

"Next time," the shade whispered to him, pressing his thick shaft up into Hien's body with a gasp of pleasure.

Hien groaned and nodded, reaching back to hold his 'lover's hips as he was spread open, gasping for pleasure as well. 'Master's', for that was all Hien knew him as, shaft was as cool as the rest of him, not particularly hot, but it was hard and *very* eager, the Leopard could tell that much. "Ooh... mhnn.... O...kay...."

The Fox started to thrust, slowly at first, letting Hien adjust to being filled up. His cock filled out quickly, slick and glistening as it slipped from his sheath to be fondled and stroked by the Fox's strong, furless fingers... as a matter of fact, as Hien was learning, it seemed his lover's entire body was furless and smooth... but soft and yielding and surprisingly pleasant to touch.

Master started thrusting faster, filling Hien's bowels with a part of him that was *definitely* not yielding.

He wondered just what Master was.... But couldn't spare time on the thought as he leaned his head back, grunting girlishly as he was filled, his own shaft throbbing as it was stroked, barbs flaring as soft fingers caressed them.

"Ooooh... so good," he whimpered, pressing into the smooth, pleasant form. "God yesss...."

"You like?" The voice whispered, a gentle tongue tasting the edge of his ear, the thick, throbbing shaft in his ass searching for his prostate again - then, when it found it, hammering the sensitive gland.

"I do!" Hein keened, reaching back to 'hug' the Master's body against his back, his cock jerking as his prostate was hammered, his young body just about melting as it felt like his orgasm would be forced from him.

"Come for me," Master whispered softly, surprisingly calm for as close to coming as his cock felt.

Hien groaned, intentionally squeezing his tailhole hard and tight around Master's cock. Triggering his own orgasm as he tried to force the other male's he leaned back into the soft form, crying out in a barely fem-ish roar of pleasure.

He still heard the soft sigh of pleasure from his lover, felt his ass being filled up by thick, warm seed, felt the knot swelling inside him as the Fox against his back filled his ass.

He moaned in absolute pleasure, riding out their orgasm, his own abating slowly, leaving Leopard seed smeared on this Lover's hand and his own shaft and tummy, his ass still hungrily milking the knotted shaft inside, drawing all that warm semen deep into his bowels. "Oooooh...."

Dark fingers pressed against his muzzle, stained off-white with glistening cum as lightning flashed and thunder rolled outside.

Hien murmured and opened his lips for the fingers, purring softly as he tried to half turn and get a look at Master in the lightning flashes, but to no avail. "That was incredible...." He murmured, taking the fingers in his mouth and suckling them tenderly.

"Good," the Fox murmured softly, nuzzling his neck. "Sleep, lover...."

Hien purred and nodded, closing his eyes as he rested against the soft, gentle form behind him, drifting back to sleep with a contented rowl.

~~~===~~~

The next morning Hien awoke with a pleasant murmur, happy to see the sun was at least sort-of out and shining through his window. The place looked a lot better in daylight... at least not nearly as scary.

Looking around, he could find no sign of Master, but was doubly surprised to find himself wearing the dress he had tried on the night before and feel his ribbon tied securely around his sheath again! But he could feel the dried cum on his belly and see and smell it on the sheets, and his ass certainly felt pleasantly stretched, the kind of thing he loved to walk around feeling for a day.

It couldn't have been a dream... dreams didn't leave him feeling like that!

Perhaps the Master of the place was just skilled and sneaky... Alice *had* said he was a night owl. He had probably left on some whim in the night and was probably just asleep now....

"Ah well...." Hien sighed with a smile as he slipped out of bed, padding into the bathroom to take care of morning business before he came back out, deciding to leave the dress on; it was pretty, a lacy affair, pink with a lot of white accents. A pink ribbon around his neck would probably have looked perfect with it.

On a whim, he looked in the dresser; in the very top drawer he found a broad pink ribbon with lacy trim, a golden locket dangling from it.

Curiously, he opened the locket, rurring softly as he saw a small cameo portrait of a well-built, muscular black Fox in one half, a younger, smaller Vixen in the other... his daughter, perhaps?

He shut the locket gently, smiling fondly. That must have been Master. He wondered how long ago the picture had been taken; the daughter looking younger than Hien was by at least ten years. Still smiling, he palmed the locket and ribbon, deciding to ask before he wore it. He heard a soft clicking at the door, the lock turning before it was opened, revealing Alice on the other side.

"Ma'am? Would you like breakfast?" The Rabbit asked politely.

Hien blinked, having been unaware the door had been locked; had Master locked it? "Yeah, s-sure.... Was the door locked, Alice?" The Leopard swallowed.

"Yes, ma'am," Alice nodded. "Some years ago, there was an... accident. One of the Master's sons started sleepwalking... right off the balcony, the poor boy." She sighed softly, closing her eyes for a moment. "Since then, I've been under strict orders to lock the bedroom doors at night, ma'am."

The Leopard thought of this, nodding to the Rabbit. "I'm... sorry to hear that. I'm sorry I freaked, I... wasn't expecting to be locked in. What if there was a fire or something?" He asked curiously, running his fingers through his headfur.

"We don't have them, ma'am," Alice said simply, stepping back out of the doorway. "If one had happened, there is a trellis outside the window."

Hien nodded and swallowed, calming himself. "Okay... please, call me Hien," he smiled. "Or at least 'Miss', Ma'am is far too formal." He smiled and held up the locket. "I had wanted to ask... may I wear this? I know it is personal, I didn't mean to go rooting, but this dress just begged for a ribbon choker... and I was curious."

Alice got that distant look in her eyes again for a moment, seeming to zone out.

Hien was beginning to worry about her doing that more and more. "Uhh... A-Alice? Miss?" He said softly, trying to 'interrupt' again.

The Rabbit nodded slightly, and then smiled.

"Very well, Miss Hien. The Master told me to tell you to make yourself at home here while you are staying with us, so please, feel free to wear the locket."

"T-thank you," he said, slipping it on with a unsurpressed murmur of pleasure, sure it looked as nice as it felt.

"Your Master said...? Do you... communicate with him?" He asked skeptically, sure she was crazy.

"Of course," she said easily. "I wouldn't be much of a maid if I couldn't take orders, would I? He told me last night, while he was making his rounds and I told him about you," she smiled.

Hien smiled back softly as he nodded. "Ah... all right." Well, it made sense.... Still, she was very odd.... Maybe she had that disease where you blank out for no apparent reason... lights or something. It seemed reasonable enough.

"Breakfast, Miss?" Alice suggested with a smile.

"Yes... please," the Leopard smiled back. "I'm starving and I'm sure I'll need to energy when I make the walk to town."

"Of course, Miss," Alice nodded, turning and leading the way back towards the kitchen - but turning at the last minute and leading Hien to a large dining room.

The Leopard followed innocently along, surprised when they arrived in the posh dining room. "Wow," he murmured.

"I thought you would prefer not eating in the kitchen again this morning," Alice said easily. "Do you have any special dietary concerns, Miss?"

"A lot of protein," Hien giggled softly shaking 'her' head. "No, not really.... Just whatever I can find for a meal after I wake up," he chuckled. "You don't need to go to any trouble...."

"Miss, it *is* my job to go to trouble," Alice pointed out with an indulgent smile, turning to return to the kitchen.

"All right..." the Leopard conceded, looking about the room as he was left alone. It felt large and far too empty for just himself... he would have preferred the kitchen again in all honesty, but he was already dangerously close to being insulting every time he tried to persuade his hostess not to be so giving.

Odd... he was thinking of Alice as being his hostess more than the Fox who'd slept with him the night before. Of course, he'd actually *spoken* to Alice... he'd just had sex with Master.

God, that sounded so slutty....

He shivered and clenched his rump together with a chuckle. Maybe it was a little... but God had it felt nice.

He sighed and shook his head, circling the table a few times before finally taking a seat, folding his dainty hands together and twiddling his thumbs. He hoped it wouldn't take long.

It certainly smelled good, whatever she was making.

A few minutes later Alice brought in a silver tray with two plates and two small carafes on it, setting it down on the table for Hien. Eggs, bacon, sliced melon and toast, marmalade and jellies for him to choose from, milk and orange juice....

"Will this suffice, Miss?" Alice asked with a smile.

"More than," Hien gasped and smiled. "Thank you, Miss Alice."

"You're welcome, Miss," Alice smiled. "If you would like, I can bring you your breakfast in bed as long as you're staying with us."

"Oh... thank you. I'm sure it wont be necessary if I can get to a phone today... but thank you," he purred brightly. "That's very kind of you."

"The Master said he was fond of you," she smiled. "So I hope that, even if you find a way back home today, you'll be willing to come visit us again in the future."

"I certainly would," the Leopard smiled as he ate. "You have both been so... accommodating. I would surely visit," he beamed, nibbling away his bacon.

"Very good to hear, Miss," Alice smiled brightly. "If you'll excuse me, I should go have my own breakfast. Ring if you need anything?" She said, indicating the bell in the middle of the table.

The Leopard smiled and nodded. "All right. Thank you.... Enjoy your breakfast." He smiled letting her go, musing on his trip to come as he ate the fine breakfast he had been offered.

It wasn't raining any more... he could head out to the road and walk on down, assuming they didn't have a car. That'd make things a lot easier, if they did.

Still, he could hardly ask to borrow it.... He shrugged; a walk wouldn't kill him, and he'd like to face his fears a little in the daylight with out thunder clouds overhead... maybe he could figure out how he ended up here, in the woods outside this mansion.

Eventually he completed his breakfast, sitting back with a happy purr. He hadn't been fed that well in ages.

He went to find Alice, smiling softly as he found her in the kitchen eating a carrot and reading an old magazine. "I'm going to head out now... I'll stop back by to let you know how it went," he smiled.

"If you'd like," she offered, "I could drive you, at least out to the bridge."

"That's all right... it's not far. And I'd like the walk besides."

"All right," Alice nodded easily. "Have a safe walk, don't get lost."

"I will, and I won't" He chuckled and nodded back. "Thank you for everything."

Turning, he left for the front way he had come in, hoping in the light he might find the path more easily.

Heading out, he could smell the fresh, earthy smell of the country just after a rain, hear the birds singing... it wasn't nearly as frightening, and the path *was* easy to find.

If he came back later, he'd have to ask Alice why she kept calling him 'Miss.' He knew he *looked* like a fem, but he certainly didn't smell like one after last night.

The thought made him blush. He should have washed up more this morning.... Still, he found the idea of being thought of as a fem, despite any evidence to the contrary, quite nice.

Maybe that's why she was doing it? Since he clearly wanted to be thought of as a fem....

Heading down the path, he passed the main gate; he couldn't have jumped the fence more than a hundred feet from here in the rain and the dark.

Moving down the path he continued down towards the river the soft sound of the rushing stream, swelled by the rain filling his ears.

At least there was a road here. He could walk without getting his feet very muddy, or messing up the dress... he blushed, just then realizing he hadn't changed. Oh well, he'd do it when he got back.

Which, he realized as he rounded the bend and saw the river, would be sooner than he'd thought.

He sighed and rowled irritably, going close enough to investigate. The covered bridge that had spanned the river was sticking *out* of the rushing water, the swollen river having nearly doubled in size last night. The Leopard sighed and turned around to head back to the Manor.... There was little else to do. If he had been wearing his own clothes he might have tried to find a place to ford the river, but not in this dress... and probably not this soon after the storm; he would have to wait a while longer.

If it didn't rain any more, the next few days would leave it low enough, but for now it'd be just about suicide to try crossing it.

He turned and headed back to the Manor, tail swishing irritably. Ah well, he thought on a more upbeat note, at least he might get another few evenings with the Master and some pleasant time with the odd but kind Alice....

Maybe he could find out some more about the place, while he was at it. Might be nice to know about his benefactors.

"That was quick, Miss," Alice observed as he met her at the gate.

The Leopard smiled with little levity behind the curl of his lips. "The bridge is out... I don't suppose you know another way to the road?"

"Oh... I'm afraid not, Miss," Alice sighed. "It happens sometimes; the bridge should be repaired in a few days, it usually is."

"Someone comes to repair it?" He asked, stopping before the female rabbit. "I hate to have to ask... but may I stay here a while longer? It seems I'm trapped for another day or so..."

"You don't have to ask," Alice smiled. "And yes, the town sends somebody out, it just usually takes a while."

Hien nodded and smiled, licking his lips as he decided to ask a more burning question, since he pretty much understood the situation he faced now. "Why do you keep calling me Ma'am?" He lead off, trying not to explain why she should not.

"It seemed to fit you," Alice smiled. "You would prefer that I not?"

"No, no," he smiled happily. "I like that you do... thank you." He blushed, as she smiled indulgently.

"Very well then, Miss. Should we get back to the house? Or would you like to explore the grounds?"

"Is there much to see?" He asked with a smile, chuckling as he looked at the yard around the house. Well kept despite a slightly 'let go' feel... as though it were kept, mowed, trimmed, but if something died there was no move to replace it quickly, and if something new grew, it might escape pruning long enough to become part of the yard.

"Not too much," Alice admitted. "Mostly offering you the chance."

He chuckled and nodded. "Wouldn't mind... outside already." He murmured, gesturing she lead the way.

The rest of the morning passed in pleasant exploration and lunch found the cross dressing Leopard and the Rabbit maid in the kitchen again; she was preparing lunch for them and he was rambling off questions curiously.

"How many children did the Master have?"

"Four sons, one daughter," Alice explained with a somewhat sad smile. "All fine children... sad, really."

"What is? The boy who was sleep walking?" Hien asked softly, feeling quite awful about bringing the subject up.

"The Master didn't have much luck with his sons," Alice explained. "The first three were lost in the war, the fourth... he was the best of them, really, and such a tragic accident. Most of the servants left after that, and his daughter."

Hien tried to think of 'the war'; there had been many in recent years, something was always going on overseas. He simply nodded; a one war was as good as another for killing.

"I'm sorry to hear that.... Does she ever come back to visit? Why did you stay?"

"I couldn't very well leave Master alone entirely," she pointed out. "And no... unfortunately, she hasn't returned since."

"You are very kind," the Leopard offered with a soft smile. "I hope she comes back some day..." He said, fondling the locket about his neck. "I would think her father misses her something awful."

"Very much the case," Alice nodded. "But she was close to her brother... after he died here, she couldn't stand being in the house."

Hien nodded gently; switching the topic, he hoped to find something a little less tragic. "Does your master ever come down to eat during the day?"

"I'm afraid not," Alice said, shaking her head. "He much prefers the night time. Once in a *very* great while, but I doubt while you're here yet."

He nodded softly. "It must be kind of lonely here, for you both?"

"Somewhat, yes," the Rabbit nodded. "I'll admit, it's pleasant to have a visitor," she smiled.

The feline twink smiled softly back. "I'm glad I can bring a little light."

"So am I," Alice smiled back, finishing her lunch. "It is nice having somebody else to serve for a while."

"It's nice to be served... though I still feel like I should be doing something to thank you for all your kindness."

"You already are," Alice smiled, standing with a polite nod of her head. "I'll clean up when you're done; feel free to explore the house, or your room."

"Are you sure it's okay? I'd hate to be treading on anyone's privacy...."

"It's fine," Alice smiled. "Trust me, I know," she winked.

He chuckled and smiled. "All right.... Thank you." He finished his meal, letting her take the plate. "I suppose I'll have a look around. Thank you, Alice."

"You're welcome, Miss," the Rabbit smiled, bowing her head and taking the plate, heading off to do the dishes.

~~~===~~~

Hien sighed happily as he flopped onto the soft bed he had spent the night in previously, dressed in a new dress, just as frilly as the last but both subtly and quite obviously different than the other.

After a long day exploring Cannard Manor with Alice, the rabbit maid, the Leopard had finally retired for some sleep, hopeful tomorrow would be the day the bridge was fixed, or the day he would remember how he had come to be on the Manor's wooded property last night before the storm... anything really. Having retired, he had taken a shower and while enjoying the squeaky clean feeling of fresh skin and fur, he had perused his host's daughter's room in which he resided for the moment, taking them up on their offer to look at anything he liked. He had actually rummaged through the dresser and closet, the dresser and closet both still open, some of their contents adorning Hein' body, carrying one other, the girl's journal which he opened as he lay back, sprawling comfortably while he focused on reading the private little memoir.

The first thing he was struck by was the precise nature of the handwriting, like whoever had written it was trained back when you were still rapped on the knuckles for a mistake. It made it easier to read, that much was certain.

He started to read, looking into the life of a younger woman, years ago....

Melora smiled to herself, flopped out on the grass in front of the Manor, the freshly manicured lawn sparkling green and smelling of spring... which made the black furred vixen sneeze, but she loved it anyway. Today was Saturday and she didn't have to go to school. She didn't much like going to school, as usual. After all, it wasn't like she'd have to use it any time soon. A day off was welcome.

The vixen sighed happily; for a few hours, for a day, she got to relax, Father was away on business and she could let her hair down, figuratively and literally.

"Do you need anything, Ma'am?" Alice asked from above her. The young Rabbit was the newest maid at the mansion, an attractive white Rabbit not much older than Melora was.

"Not really," the ebony fox giggled, laying back on the grass to look up at Alice, catching a peek of her thighs under her maid's uniform. "Maybe a drink... I'll get it myself though, you want one?" Although pampered, Melora liked to do little things for herself sometimes; she had control of little else thus far in life and being waited on hand and foot *all* the time made her feel more helpless than privileged. "Join me? I'm sure the others have the house well in hand.... We haven't talked since you got here, I barely know your name; Alice, right?" She beamed, vulpine eyes shining.

"Ma'am, please," Alice blushed. "At least let me get your drink first?"

"Well okay... But only if you agree to come sit with me after?" She grinned back. "Pllleeeease?"

"All right," Alice giggled. "I'll be right back, ma'am!"

Melora giggled and nodded, putting her hands behind her head, her long skirt fanned out upon the grass as the rabbit maid headed off.

"She's cute," she thought to herself. She had tried for a long time to like boys like a girl should, and she did... but girls did something to her too, something that seemed almost as natural. At least Alice did. She was so sweet and cute and caring; Melora wanted to get to know her more and spend as much time around her as she could. "I'll have to put this in my diary later," she added mentally.

Alice was back a few minutes later with a glass of juice, kneeling to give it to the vixen, then laying down next to her.

Melora giggled and smiled. "Thank you... so, how do you like it here?" She asked, turning over on her side to talk with the befriended maid.

"It's very nice, ma'am," Alice smiled. "It's a very large house, for the number of people who live in it," she admitted.

"Daddy says it used to be a lot fuller," Mora smiled softly, almost apologetically. "I had two brothers before I was even born.... They died in the war though. And Momma died having me... so I guess if it weren't for you and all the other servants, this place would be pretty lonely." She smiled, her black muzzle splitting in another grin. "But you are here, so it's okay. I feel better when you're all around," she admitted.

"That's good to hear, ma'am," Alice smiled.

"Call me Melora, or Mel... or Miss, anything but Ma'am," she giggled at the rabbit.

"Okay, Mel," Alice giggled. "Uhm... Mel? Can I ask you a... question?"

The Vulpine smiled brightly, nodding just as easily. "Anything!"

"Uhm... why do you wear the...uhm... dress?" Alice asked shyly, ducking her head.

Melora had the courtesy to blink, blushing slightly as though it were obvious and she were being asked why there was grass on the ground. "'Cause I'm supposed to.... Why do you wear yours?" There was a nervous edge behind the reply that Alice could tell was key to something more problematic than "Just because".

"Well... I'm a girl," Alice pointed out.

Melora was well aware of the servants' knowledge, but she usually liked to fool herself into thinking they did not.

Her ears folding back, the fox 'vixen' sighed softly. "Bet you think I'm the most screwy fur in the world, huh? A guy wearing girl's clothes his whole life... trying to be one. They'd probably put me in therapy or some kinda nut house if anyone outside really knew...."

"I'm just curious why you want to be a girl instead of a boy," Alice said honestly.

Melora almost seemed skeptical, but eager to spill 'her' heart out to someone.

"I didn't always.... But I never had a choice really. When I was born, after momma died, Daddy had the servants dress me like a girl and treat me like one, raise me like one, he did too. We sat down and talked about it a little when I was seven and more when I was ten.... He lost my brothers to the war, and even though everyone all said there'd be no more war... lookit' the news, they're ready to start another one somewhere or another all the time, he knew it wouldn't last and he didn't want his last child leaving him. So he wanted a girl, a girl that would stay home and love him and be pretty and use her head and not go out there killing and being killed. I was born a boy though, and he was very disappointed. But he decided to make me a girl! I know he did it for love, down in my heart, and I try to be the best girl I can. I like it most of the time too!" She added with a soft smile.

"It's hard too... but I still like it most of the time, I like making him happy, we're all each other has left and I never really feel that bad being a girl. I usualy feel good... except when it comes to other girls," she chuckled shyly. "I don't think Daddy wants me to date at all, I can't date other girls because then I'd be a homosexual to everyone who knows me as a girl... but I like girls," she admitted as if she were confessing to a priest. "I like boys too... but I can't date them cause someday they might find out. I *certainly* can't go parking with one!" She giggled and winked.

"So you'll never be able to have a boyfriend... or a girlfriend... whichever?" Alice asked shyly.

"I guess not," Mel admitted with a hint of sadness in her otherwise chipper facade. "I try not to think about it really... I know I really *want* one. If I could ever find one that would have me the way I am...."

"Well... what about one of us?" Alice asked, blushing beneath her pale white fur.

"The help?" Melora asked, blinking, her ears swiveling about animatedly. "Well... I suppose, you all know about me.... But most of the maids and butlers are older... you're the only one my age... the only one I really like too," she admitted, blushing just as much beneath her black fur as her lapin friend was.

Alice leaned forward, her nose twitching nervously as she puckered her lips in invitation.

Although she had never kissed anybody before, Melora had a pretty good idea what to do.

Shyly she leaned in as well, tilting her head like she had seen in the movies and kissing Alice softly on her lips, her heart racing as their soft lips met.

"Aww," Hien sighed romantically... and a fair bit dissapointedly, as he closed Melora's journal, touched by the entry's youthful tale of romance and the descriptions of how the young transvestite had felt falling for Alice. He *was*, however, disappointed there weren't more details.

The Leopard couldn't help but wonder if it was the same Alice that was a maid here now.... He could almost tell himself it was her daughter from the descriptions. It certainly couldn't be her; she looked today as he had seen her as if she fit every word Melora had written of her many years ago. Hien wasn't exactly sure how many, there hadn't been any dates in the entry, but he was sure it was well over a decade ago... maybe even two or three of them!

It couldn't be the same Alice... though she might know more about the Master's "daughter" than she let on.

Hien wasn't sure if the realization that Melora had been a boy at birth like himself was a shock or not... speaking as a full time dresser himself, and a fairly darn good impersonator of a real woman if no one looked *too* carefully or asked, it was in no way shocking. In fact, it made him feel much closer to the fox, a new appreciation for the clothes he wore from her closet.... On the other hand, well how often did one find things like this in a place like this! It was more surprising than shocking really, and Hein looked forward to reading the next entry, though sadly not tonight. Even with out the storm the place had an odd feel to it at night that he would rather pass with sleep.

Besides... maybe, if he was lucky, the Master would be down to see him again.

Setting the diary on the nightstand, he turned out the lights, sure Alice had already locked him in 'safely', he closed his eyes, laying his head on the lacy, soft pillows, asleep before he knew it.

When he awoke, a semi-familiar presence in the room... no... in the bed with him, he almost thought it was a dream, but the vulpine form touching him was anything. "Mmm... hello again..." He purred softly just above a whisper.

"Shh," the voice said softly. "Daddy's little girl...." A firm, tender hand caressed his chest lightly beneath the nightgown, sending shivers down his spine.

"Mhmm?" The Leopard murmured, pressing into the touch, his tail fluffing as shivers ran from his spine to the tip of his tail and back again.

"Mmm... let Daddy love you," the Master whispered softly, reaching down to caress Hien's sheath, not undoing the ribbon this time, rubbing his cock against the Leopard's ass gently.

Hien moaned softly, happy to play the little game. Perhaps it was a particulalr fantasy of the Fox's, one that unwillingly the Leopard had provided acess to by donning the clothes of the Master's daughter, assuming the role of her.... Well he was happy to play that game, in fact, the thrill it sent through him was intoxicating. "Mmmm.... Oh Daddy...." He purred harder, his tail wrapping around the soft, cool form behind him.

"That's right," Master whispered, fondling Hien's balls and pressing his cool, smooth shaft up into the Leopard's bowels. "Ooh... Melora," he breathed softly... and for a few brief moments, Hien could imagine himself as the black-furred 'vixen.'

Groaning, Hien pressed back, tightening his anus rhythmically around the smooth, thick shaft, throbbing despite it's unusually cool temperature for such a typically warm organ. "Ohhh... yesssss," 'she' purred.

Master started to thrust up into him, Hien's cock swelling and straining against the ribbon holding it in his sheath. The cool, vulpine shaft pressed up against his prostate, earning rowls of pleasure as skilled hands fondled and caressed his body.

"Daddy!" Hien rowled, his body shivering with pleasure, his hands reaching back desperately, the erotic, submissive feeling of being taken like this making it so wonderful, Hien was hardly aware he was calling the Master 'Daddy" anymore, the words flowing naturally from his lips as he was made love to.

He felt "Daddy's" knot press up against his anus, swollen and stretching him painfully.

"Relax, baby," 'Daddy' whispered.

Hien tried to relax, tried to breathe, moaning deeply as he focused on breathing, wanting so badly to feel the Fox's knot stretching his intestines, filling him up and trapping his seed inside. Rather than reply he gripped the soft, cool ass cheeks of the Fox, cooing and rowling, his spotted tail twitching wildly.

He nearly passed out as he felt his body stretch to accept the thick, swollen flesh, something popping inside him to let it through, blood trickling down the cool flesh inside him as "Daddy" sighed in relief, spilling his cum deep into his "daughter's" ass.

Hien whimpered, pressing back against the cool form, his trapped cock painfully aroused, the rush of pleasure every throb sent through him beyond description for the Leopard, the burning in his ass and the soothing coolness, the spreading of "Daddy's" seed in his ass making him rowl long and low, his tail still twitching madly.

"Ohhh Daddy...." He groaned, feeling just as relived and fulfilled.

"Daddy's *good* little girl," the Fox whispered to him, kissing the back of his neck. "Good *good* little girl...."

Hien shivered, his ears twitching and flicking, folding back softly as he moaned, the praise both slightly uncomfortable, and very, very pleasing to the Leopard. "Thankew, Daddy," he responded shyly, half turning to look back though he could see little more than a shadow in the dark, the flick of a dark, shadowy ear as another cool kiss touched his neck.

"Sleep, Melora," 'Daddy' whispered softly. "Go to sleep, and be ready for me tomorrow night...."

"Mmm... Okay..." The Leopard whispered, telling himself he would correct the Fox at least once tomorrow night and be called by his real name.

He closed his eyes again, just like the night before, and drifted slowly off to sleep, happy in the arms of the soft, unnaturally but comfortably cool Fox who had made himself his lover. He really almost hoped the bridge would be out the next day.

Fortunately for his libido, the car pulling out of the garage was on its way to make sure it would be.

~~~===~~~

Hien padded slowly back towards the mansion, looking over his shoulder for the dozenth time back down the little road from the Manor to the bridge. Out again; he was sure it was again, the wood didn't all look ages old, some of it had been brand new and wrecked all the same. He chalked it up to shoddy workmanship, but it made him no more comfortable with the eerie feeling in the back of his brain.

Shrugging, he looked up at the Manor, nodding semi-approvingly. His tailhole still ached from last night; he was sure he couldn't use it without some discomfort or pain for a few days yet, but it had been *so* worth it. Another night like that would be livable to say the least! And another day in the company of the charming Alice wouldn't be so bad either... in truth, even the continuing entries of Melora's diary seemed compelling. There was a history behind this place... a mystery of sorts that he found as intriguing as any TV movie, more so perhaps, because he was involved in it now!

So, all things considered, he wasn't at all upset to meet Alice at the door and accept a glass of juice.

"The bridge out again, Ma'am?" The Rabbit asked needlessly.

"Yeah," the Leopard nodded, sipping from the glass with a light sigh. "Are you sure they came yesterday to fix it? I think it's broken *worse* than before...."

"It can take some time, Ma'am," Alice pointed out. "You don't build a bridge in a day, after all."

"I suppose so," The Leopard chuckled. "And what did I tell you the other day about the Ma'am stuff? If I'm going to be abusing your hospitality this badly, we minus well be on first name basis, eh?" He winked.

"Very well, Hien," Alice smiled. "So, did you enjoy your sleep last night?"

"*Very much*," Hien chuckled, trying to keep from blushing, though he was sure she had *some* idea what had happened. "And it was certainly a better rest with out all the lightning and thunder."

"Very true," Alice nodded, leading him back into the house. "I don't suppose you have any better idea what led to you being in our woods the other night?"

"None at all..." Hien sighed again, following along happily, his tail swishing animatedly. "Somewhere in the back of my head I know things, know what I was doing before, the last thing I remember, who I was with... all that. But I can't remember them, I can't put names and faces and times to any of it... I just know it was. It's kind of scary really, having amnesia or something." He smiled gently, shaking his head again.

"Well, you don't need to worry about that out here," Alice smiled. "We have everything you need."

"More than!" Hien smiled brightly. "But I'd still like to find out where I am, how I got here.... Who knows, if you all would have me, I'd probably come back often as I could if I wasn't far away. For all I know you're right down the street or something," he grinned. "And I've imposed enough.... Tomorrow's the day, if the bridge is still out, maybe I can at least stick my toes in, feel like I've done *something*," he chuckled, wondering if he'd still have the drive to try fording the river someplace if his stay here continued to be so pleasant.

"Don't be in too much of a rush," Alice said, turning back with a concerned expression. "I'd hate for something to happen to you, Hien."

Hien blinked, looking just as concerned. If he was a more paranoid feline he might have thought it was some kind of threat... But it was just concern, he could see that plainly enough on her face. "I won't go getting myself hurt," he reassured her, patting her hand softly. "Okay?"

"All right," she nodded with a slight smile, turning her hand to take his. "It's been a long time since we've had anybody here... I suppose I'm worried for the one visitor we've had in such a long, long time."

He smiled and let her hold his hand, holding hers in return. "Thank you... I guess it's lonelier here than you try to let on huh? I promise I won't get myself hurt, all right? And I *will* come see you when I get out of here. I just need to find answers... I just know if I can see something outside of here it'll all come back to me," he smiled brightly.

"All right," Alice nodded. "And yes, it does... I love the Master dearly, but I was closer to his daughter before she left."

A shiver went up Hien's spine as he thought about the diary. Swallowing, he formed a question slowly, carefully. "How was she, while you knew her? Was she here long while you were?"

"The whole time, until everything went sour," Alice nodded, smiling fondly. "And she was a very, very sweet woman... loving and kind. She wanted nothing more than to make her father happy."

Mentaly the Leopard tried to shake off his fears and he smiled, nodding, the little locket on the ribbon about his neck tapping his chest. He had decided to wear the trinket again today; it went well with his outfit. "She sounds wonderful... I'd love to know more about her if you don't mind telling me... or about yourself for that matter," he smiled.

"Oh, I'm a rather dull subject," Alice giggled. "Just the maid."

"I don't think you're dull at all... you're one of the most intriguing women I've ever met, honestly," he smiled softly, his effeminate looks beaming. "You look like you've seen it all... but you're still one of the most kind people I've ever met." He chuckled and shrugged. "Well if not you or your former employer, what then?"

"I can tell you about Miss Melora," Alice smiled. "Let me put some tea on first?"

"Sounds wonderful," Hien smiled, following her into the kitchen. Alice went through the ritual of washing out the teapot and filling it with fresh water and the tea, not in bags, but carefully measured into a teaball. Then she set it on the kettle, turning the heat on just right with practiced skill.

She had been born to be a maid, or come from a place and time when such novelties as teabags weren't really available that much.... Hien didn't really know why he kept coming back to that thought. True, many things pointed to it, and he'd be a fool not to think something of the coincidence. But to face the facts that he was standing in the very same room as her, could see her, talk to her, hear her, and had touched and been touched by her, she was *certainly* not the Alice from the diary. Her daughter, her youngest sister, her second or third cousin... just a namesake, not her.

Within a few minutes, the kettle whistled, and Alice picked it up with a pot holder, pouring two cups of dark tea and setting the kettle down on a silver tray, along with the cups, a sugar bowl, and a small thing of cream.

Hien had to giggle ever so softly. "You know, I've never seen this kind of stuff but in the movies, and you use it like it was as average as microwave dinners... I must say, this is far more appealing." He smiled.

"So... Melora was her name?"

"It was," Alice nodded. "She was a lovely young woman, really. The apple of her father's eye."

Hien wasn't sure he should give away what he had read just yet... especially so soon into the journal. He'd be here another night anyway.

"So I've started to gather... were they... close? Were you and her friends?"

"We were," Alice nodded with a smile. "And yes, they were, when they could be. She was home-schooled, but when the Master was home it was almost like a holiday. They'd spend all the time they could together. She and her brother were close too. I think that's what made her leave, after he died. She blamed the Master, and couldn't stand to be here anymore."

"I thought all her brothers were killed in the war before she was born?" The leopard 'fem' blinked, his tail twitching. "I don't know that I can blame her... but... if she and her father were so close... it must have been awful." He sighed softly, imagining the heartbreak that was doubtlessly not one sided, or even two; he was sure Alice had felt a tremendous loss as well.

It reminded him of another pain, a more recent one... of being in love and having it ripped away.

"Her youngest brother died in the sleepwalking accident, remember?" Alice said softly, stirring her tea.

He blinked, nodding almost absent mindedly, blushing some. "Oh, yes, yes... I'm sorry." He smiled, a far away smile. "I just had a flash of memory... I couldn't put a face to any of it, but it was... powerful."

"Something connected to how you got here, maybe?" Alice asked.

"Maybe..." He agreed. "But... I'm not sure. It seemed recent... and..." He swallowed again and smiled bashfully. "Well..." He tried to continue uneasily. "It seemed quite painful... I'm sure it was nothing though.... If I remember anything it's hearing that amnesiacs sometimes regain their memory all at once or in 'waves', they can be painful if they happen too fast."

"I understand," Alice said, nodding softly, her long ears flopping slightly. "If there's one thing I understand, it's not wanting painful memories."

Hien nodded as well, looking across the table at her, seeing the true depth behind her eyes for just a moment, ageless yet ancient in the pain they knew. "I'm sorry...." He said softly, his voice tight. He really meant it.

"It just gets so lonely sometimes," Alice murmured softly, closing her eyes. A single tear trickled down her white fur before she got herself back under control.

Nodding, Hien sighed, sipping his tea. "I guess you and the Master don't speak much, aside from general household things?"

"Oh we do, but it's only at night," Alice explained. "During the day... well, until you showed up, it was just me."

Hien shook his head. "I can appreciate a night owl... but that's kinda harsh...." He smiled and reached across to pat her hand softly. "I don't suppose you're allowed to go out on your own in the day? If I find out I live close enough, we could trade visits or something." He smiled, wanting very badly to alleviate her loneliness.

"To an extent," Alice nodded, smiling back at him a little shyly. "Though I don't know that you'd want to try and take the place of the Master's son... we were... *very* close."

"The one who fell?" He asked softly, giving her hand a squeeze, lingering awkwardly before pulling back a little. "I don't know about replacing anyone... but it can't be bad to be friends," he smiled.

"True," she smiled back. "But ultimately, this is my life, and you have your own to live for now."

He nodded softly, sipping his tea. "Who knows... I guess we'll find out after I get across that bridge," he smiled gently.

"I suppose," she smiled, sipping her tea, the two of them settling down to enjoy each other's company.

~~~===~~~

Another day had passed, spent much as the last, if more comfortably even than before in Alice's presence, talking and exploring the house and grounds to some extent. It was a little hard, he had to admit; there was no TV, no radio, not even a news paper for some puzzle games. But good company and de-mystifing a great deal of the property was both comforting and fun for him, and the day passed, not too fast, not too slow.

At night he found himself again in the Daughter's room, lace, ruffle and girlish finery surrounding him again. He hovered by the door, ears twitching when he heard Alice lock him in for the night. Purring, he went to his nightly duties, cleaning up before bed, changing into one of the lacy nighties in the closet before flopping on the bed and pulling out the diary. Finding the next full entry, he fanned himself lightly with his free hand as he read, the night a little muggy for this time of year. He hoped the rain would not return.

He started to read, letting the words carry him back in time....

Mel smoothed the sleeves of the old jacket she... he wore, looking over his shoulder at the house and biting his lip. S/he had taken the coat, as well as the rest of his/her outfit from her brothers room, feeling quite happy with the masculine appearance, or as best the effeminate fox could look masculine. Now she waited outside near the hedges, waiting for Alice to surprise the rabbit.

Mel's father would never approve, in fact, he'd be quite angry, not only that she had stolen her deceased brothers' things (grounds enough for harsh punishment) but that she was acting as a he, something she was never, ever supposed to do. Still, if it impressed Alice, it was worth it. Besides, what Daddy didn't know....

Just then, the car started to pull up, and Mel's heart sank into his gut.

What Daddy didn't know was about to become what Daddy knew very well.

Panicking, the young, effeminate Fox looked between the oncoming car and the house... there was a chance, albeit slim, that if she waited, snuck around back, she'd be fine. But there, on the other side of the driveway, was the front entrance, if she could get to it with out being seen, or seen well, she could make it to her room and change before he was too far in the entryway!

Impulsive desperation took over and she bolted, ears lain back, tail a poof of fur as she ran scared across the driveway, headlights catching her, silhouetting her shadow against the garage doors.

She slammed the door behind her, heart pounding as she rushed up the stairs. She had no idea how much time she had, or if Daddy had seen her. She just knew that he'd be furious if he had.

The flight up the stairs seemed as though she bounded up three at a time and was in her room in another two frantic paces. She slammed her own room shut behind her and began ripping her brother's close from her body, tossing them into the open closet as fast as she could, fingers sweaty and fumbling, head and chest tight as she tried to regain her breath. Daddy couldn't have seen her, he almost never drove, he'd be in the back, one of the servants might have seen her, but they'd never trace it to her. As long as she didn't rip anything, she'd be fine, she had to be, she could wait until Daddy left on his next trip and then try again.

"Melora!" A voice bellowed from beneath her while she was still dressed in her dead brother's underwear and shirt. She knew that tone of voice; delaying wouldn't do anything but make things worse.

Quickly as she could she tossed on a nightgown and hoped it covered a multitude of sins. It had covered her maleness for years; maybe it could do so one more night.

"Yes... Daddy?" She squeaked, poking her head from her room and inching out of her room to look down into the foyer.

"Come down here," he said sternly, the black-furred Fox glowering up at her from the entry to the house.

Controlling a whimper, she came down the stairs slowly, trying to look confused; she needn't fake concern. "Yes Daddy...?"

"Take off that nightgown," he ordered her. God... he knew. He had to know.

"Daddy!" She stalled indignantly, looking around as if some servant, somewhere would be close enough to let her play the embarrassed daughter routine.

"Now," he said firmly, his eyes furious.

She did as she was told, eyes downcast, tail limp between her legs as she pulled off the nightgown, revealing her brother's shirt and underwear.

"Daddy... I...."

She felt her father's powerful hand slap her just a split-second before she slammed against the wall.

And Hien whimpered as memories came flooding back to him. A similar moment of humiliation, powerful fists beating him from behind. A voice screaming at him.

"You bitch! Fucking faggot!"

He held his head as he remembered, his ex... his *ex,* a boy... handsome, big, tall... and apparently too straight to even consider Hien like a girlfriend... like anything other than pure wrong after he had found out. Found out the young Leopard was really born a boy, found out he still had all his parts... found out the truth.

Hien had been so *sure* that the Leopard would understand, would still be with him. Maybe he'd want him to get an operation or something, but he'd be accepting.

Instead, he'd started to lash out, screaming and beating at the smaller Leopard with his fists, driving him out of his car, but still chasing him.

Hien had run, hard and fast, crying bitter tears for a multitude of sins. He was hurt, he'd lost what he thought was love, he was being hurt physically, mentally, emotionally... he was scared for his life.

"Dan, stop!!" He begged. "I'm sorry!" He sobbed, voice ebbing and wavering as his lower lip and jaw trembled, his chest heaved. "I-I'm so-so sor-ry!!"

Why did he have to tell him in the car?

"I'll make you sorry, you faggot!" Dan screamed at him, chasing him towards a river. For a brief moment, Hien had a terrifying flash of being drowned out here, stripped naked and left dead, male once and for all.

He ran all the harder, sobbing, tears running down his fur as he ran headlong, only feline graces keeping him from snagging on anything more than a stray sapling branch and foliage. "Please... leave me alone!"

He felt the road give way to wood, a bridge, as he hurried across it, chest bursting. He heard Dan behind him, rain pummeling the roof of the bridge. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed....

And then a sudden wave crashed into the bridge, the river it was over flash-flooding.

He gasped, nearly to the other side as water shook the bridge at it's very foundations. He ran hard as he could, stumbling over himself as he dove out the other side, the snapping of wood and the flood-like rush of water coming from behind before Dan's voice shifted from raged anger to pure terror.

He turned, seeing his lover disappear into the torrents of flood-water behind him. Then another wave hit, knocking him off his feet and sweeping him away.

Memories faded beyond wrenching pain and the little, lithe leopard put his face in his hands and cried. His next memory, hard as he tried, or didn't try, was of him waking after the first wave of the storm, alive, mostly dry, as though none of it had ever happened... but it had, how had he survived? Could Dan have too? Why did he have to remember such a thing?

Not that it mattered... whether Dan was alive or not, he hated him now. He' probably wasn't either; the Leopard had been out towards the middle, not on the shore.

Hien sniffled, wiping his eyes and rolling onto his stomach. He dried his tears some more, though one or two dripped through his fur onto the open pages of the jurnal... right by the stains of Mel's tears all that time ago when she had written the passage about her first attempt to be male.

As much as a distraction as curiosity, Hien began to read again, sniffling away his tears and hiccupping away the pained feeling in his chest.

Melora was just as upset, and in more physical pain. The beating she'd been given was thorough. Nothing had been broken, but she'd been bruised beneath her black fur.

Alice opened the door to her room quietly, her long ears the first things in.

"Are you all right?" She asked softly.

Mel nodded softly, tears long since shed, though the wobble in her voice remained. "I'm okay... D-Daddy would never hurt me th-that badly..." She sighed. "I'm so sorry Alice... I wanted to surprise you and look what I caused...."

Alice slipped in quietly, closing the door behind her, wearing nothing but a light nightgown.

Very, very light, as Mel's scorned male parts noted.

"I'm the one who should be sorry," the Rabbit said softly, stepping closer to the bed.

"Alice..." Mel began with a vulpine whimper. "I... I can't be a male... I just can't... I wish I could... right now as much as any time ever in my life, for you... because of you... but...." She swallowed.

"Shh." Alice reached out, taking Melora's hand. "I don't need you to be a man for me, Mel... I just need you to be you. And I think you need me to be me," she said softly.

The ebony furred fox whimpered again and squeezed Alice's soft hand in hers, pulling her close to hug her tightly. "I do," she yipped softly, shivering as she held her friend close. "I do, but I can't...." She swallowed.

"You don't need to do anything," Alice said softly, kissing Melora softly and climbing into bed with the pained Fox. "I'll just be here for you."

"Thank you" She whispered, hugging Alice tight heedless, for the longest of moments, of their bodies, simply enjoying the warmth, the comfort that came with holding one another. A warmth Melora was happy for.

"Thank *you*, Mistress," Alice whispered softly, kissing Melora again, on the lips, with the same hesitance and passion of their first kiss a week ago.

A week's, a month's... the passion and want for her friend built up from the very time Mel and Alice had met came pouring out as Melora kissed the Rabbit back, wrapping her arms around her slender lapine frame. Their gowns, both pale pink, pressed against each other, the silk of Melora's against the rough cotton and wool of Alice's. The Rabbit licked at Melora's lips submissively, asking permission to take the kiss any further.

Mel shyly accepted, moving hands back to caress and hold her sides just over her hips, tilting her head to let the rabbit have access to her mouth. The true female's small, strong tongue exploring Melora's mouth, two silky, soft hands working up under her nightgown.

Melora shivered, purring deeply. "This feels so...." She never finished, leaning back to kiss Alice again, trying to return the affections shown her, soft, effeminate hands sliding up under the rabbit's own nightgown, finding different curves than her own, truly feminine, born that way. It made Mel's mind spin to feel what she had been trying to imitate all these years for real.

And it made her *want* to be a him, at least for a time.

"I am yours, Master," Alice whispered softly.

"Don't call me that," Mel said softly, kissing her again, hands cupping her breasts for the first, fevered time.

"Tonight, I'm just Mel.... Please... show me how to be what I should be for you," he rumbled softly.

"Let's get these gowns off," Alice murmured. "I've never done this before either, Mel."

The ebony furred Fox smiled, shifting to his knees and pulling his nighty over his head first, and then her own. "I wanna learn with you," he murmured, reaching out to touch her softly, on her tummy, over her breasts, down her side, up her arm. He couldn't be close enough, couldn't explore her fast enough.

Black fur mingled with white, soft moans and gasps mixing as his fingers explored her tender young body. They were both of age, barely, but acting with the shy enthusiasm and curiosity of two virgins learning each other's bodies.

Alice rolled over onto her back, licking her lips nervously as she looked up at her vulpine lover.

Mel looked down, very eager and very ready, but still careful of her. "Alice... I want you so bad.... C-can we... I mean...." He blushed and smiled, running his hand down her thighs. "Are you ready too?"

"As I'll ever be," the Rabbit smiled shyly, blushing, her ears a pale pink as she ran her hands down Mel's sides. "You're, uhm... *very* much a male, just now...."

Mel blushed and chuckled softly. "All for you," he murmured, lowering himself between her legs, shaft throbbing painfully, in all his life he had barely ever even touched it for pleasure. There always seemed to be someone around, or his father's voice telling him it was dirty and wrong and not at all lady-like. Tonight, he didn't care, tonight it felt good and it ached to be inside the girl he loved.

"Be careful, please," Alice whispered, wrapping her arms around Mel's back and closing her eyes, anticipating the pain that would probably come.

Mel nodded softly, pressing forward gently, slowly, his shaft touching hot, slick folds of flesh, the entrance to her body, pressing past that eagerly, his heart beating faster and faster until the barbed head of his shaft touched the virgin barrier. He bit his lip and pressed forward slowly but as forcefully as he could, steady pressure winning out over simple flesh as his shaft almost literally popped through and they both gave a breathless gasp.

"Mel," the Rabbit whimpered softly, her body trembling around the Fox's thick, throbbing shaft.

Mel groaned and thrust forward slowly, clutching Alice tightly, his body trembling like a leaf. "Are you okay, Alice!? Mhnn... Gods... shhh... it'll feel good soon, I promise I'll make it...."

"Hurts," the virgin Rabbit whimpered softly, tiny, blunt claws raking Mel's back as he pressed himself into her entirely, her body mostly dry, but gradually moistening.

"It'll feel better soon," he promised again, pulling out, her sensitive skin clinging to him, her canal so tight he swore he'd lose it if this kept up. Groaning, he rocked forward again, repeating the motion over and over, slowly at first, caressing and kissing his new lover tenderly.

She returned the kiss desperately, moaning softly as her natural fluids started to flow, making his passage easier, and her tender flesh easier to move against.

"Make love to me, Mel," she whimpered.

As she began to moisten, her muscles relaxing, Mel found the freedom to really get into it, thrusting slowly, deeply, bracing his hands on either side of her as instinct took over.

"Oooh... Alice... I love you so much," he groaned softly, meeting her eyes shyly.

"I-I love you t-too," Alice said, her voice as tight as her hot, wet sex as she pressed against Mel. "Oh Gods, Mel!"

"Alice!" He rowled back, nearly hissing with pleasure as he thrust, short and fast, his knot pressing around her entrance as he worked them both up as best he could.

"A-all inside me," she begged, her body trembling all over, inside and out. "Please, Mel! C-can't take it... anymore!"

He groaned, pressing close, his knot stretching her virgin entrance three times what he already had before the ball of flesh popped into her pussy. Alice whimpered, biting her lip hard, blood trickling from the wound.

He yipped and groaned, nearly collapsing upon her as the heat and pressure of her pussy around the back of his knot put him over the edge, orgasming hard inside her. He filled her sex with his seed, the Rabbit moaning as her own body spasmed around his, milking his knot and shaft hungrily. She drew his cum up into her wombs, tight sex tighter than ever.

He groaned, cumming harder than he could have ever imagined, his shaft spurting cum deep within his lover's welcoming body as she milked it out of him. His eyes rolled back in his head as his balls drained themselves in her pussy, and she sealed her lips against his.

He kissed her back deeply, panting through his nose.

"I don't care what Daddy thinks Alice... even if we have to sneak, I want to be with you like this again and again. I love you," he yurred.

"I love you too, Mel," Alice murmured softly, rubbing his back. "Can I stay here tonight? Please?" She asked.

At just that point in the journal, before Hien could read Melora's response, there was a soft knock at the door.

Blushing, he tried to stash the journal under his pillow, half turning over until he realized he had a hard-on like a small tree. Flipping back over, he called over his shoulder. "H-hello?" If it was the Master, why knock now, after simply letting himself in for the last few nights....

He heard the lock click, and the door opened, Alice slipping into his room wearing a pale, pink cotton nightgown as she looked at him shyly.

He looked up, very surprised. "Alice? What are you doing here?"

"I smelled your pain," she whispered softly, stepping towards the bed. "You need me...."

He whimpered softly and slid into a kneeling position, one that hopefully hid his erection. "I-I can't explain it...." He swallowed. "I remembered my past... it wasn't plesant." Looking down, he looked up only to find her closer, nearly touching the bed. "Alice... today... you said you didn't think I was ready to take the place of the master's son. I haven't been with a girl since high school...." He swallowed, the Rabbit moving closer, up onto the bed.

"You don't need to do anything," Alice said softly, kissing Hien softly. "I'll just be here for you."

A chill went up his spine. Licking dry lips, he swallowed. "Alice...." Every word she had just said was nearly identical to what was in the journal.

"It's all right," Alice whispered, kissing him again. "You know what you're supposed to do."

"I know what I want to do," he swallowed, scooting back until he nearly fell off the bed, chest heaving as his heart raced, smooth silk sliding over his heaving chest as he brushed his hair back. "But I don't think I'm 'supposed' to do something like that to my friends... Alice...." He swallowed.

"What you want to do will work fine," she murmured, moving closer, wrapping her arms around him. "Please, Mel," she whispered softly, her eyes closed as she sealed her lips against his.

He kissed back, wrapping his arms around her in return, mind racing. She wasn't acting normal, but what was normal for her? Why was she so persistent? If she had really felt his pain... in any way, wouldn't she know how hurt he was? In all the thought, in all the rush and fear, he completely missed her slip in names.

"I know you're in pain," she murmured softly. "Let me take it away from you."

"You can't," he said softly, tears swelling in his eyes even as he held her closer, 'standing' on his knees to hug her closer and tighter, drawing her up with him so they knelt on the bed in a tight hug.

"I can give you somebody who loves you for who you are," she offered, kissing his neck, rubbing his back. "Somebody besides the Master."

Hien didn't know what to say, or feel; too much was happening for him to even think. He buried his face in her shoulder, squeezing her tight, hands squeezing and caressing her back and shoulders.

"Do what feels right," she whispered, licking his neck submissively.

Holding her close still, he pressed himself over her, lowering them both to the bed, shifting to rest atop her as he kissed her neck, so badly needing someone. He felt guilty, he felt wrong... but he felt need, he felt sadness and emptiness, and he felt Alice's desire to fulfill something, her desire to help, and he grasped at it. "Alice...."

"It's all right," she murmured, kissing him softly and pulling her nightgown up and off.

He shivered again, pressing close as he felt her body all the better, taking his own off quickly and throwing it aside, he pressed his naked, pseudo-feminine form against her real one, arms tightly around her, hands caressing the small of her back as he kissed her deeply.

She moaned into his mouth, wrapping her arms around him needily, rubbing against his swollen sheath, his makeshift cock-cage keeping him painfully trapped.

He had always loved the feel, but tonight the sensation was almost frustrating. He moaned softly back, tilting his head the other way to kiss her again, exploring her mouth as he let his hands explore some of her body, sliding up against her. "Alice...." He groaned, hands cupping her breasts.

"Let's get this off you," the Rabbit smiled, reaching down to undo the ribbon, rubbing against him as his trapped shaft emerged, barbs rubbing against the surprisingly dry lips of her sex.

He moaned softly, shaking as he grew hard, his shaft a throbbing proof of his arousal.

Murmuring deeply, he slid a hand down her tummy, lightly tracing her labia and clit, truly only moistened by her body's sweat and natural moisture.

And not too much of the latter, yet.

"Oh that's good," she moaned softly, closing her eyes.

He murmured, kissing her neck as he began to trace around the sensitive nub and down along her swelling nether lips, caressing them, fondling, spreading her slowly, kissing and licking her neck and chest all the while. "Mmm... like?"

"Yes," she cooed softly, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh, Master...."

He murmured and kissed her chest, slipping down to nuzzle her thighs apart and lick the sensitive flesh between, letting his rough, feline tongue slide it's way wet and warm over her sex slowly and firmly.

Her gasp of surprise and pleasure made it clear that she hadn't been expecting that. Alice spread her legs, pale-furred thighs trembling as she moaned in ecstasy, her sex winking around his tongue.

He moaned deeply and continued, repeating the slow lap over and over. Nosing aside her labia, he pressed his nose against her clit as he delved slowly up into her recesses. Her scent filled his senses as his hot breath washed over the hard, sensitive nub. She clutched at the sheets, her breath quickening as she approached an orgasm, her body getting wet quickly as his rough tongue delved into her depths.

He rumbled, happy to have found her turn on. He lapped the inside and outside of her sex as though it were the greatest treat he had ever savored, rubbing her thighs and belly tenderly, his erection pressed painfully into the bed as he worked dedicatedly to make her orgasm.

She keened softly, arching her body up off the bed as her sex spasmed hungrily, juices matting the fur of her pussy-lips and thighs. A moment later, she panted heavily, looking down at him adoringly.

"Thank you," she murmured.

He smiled just as tenderly up at her and smiled, licking his lips in a *very* feline display, cleaning her juices off as he slipped back up to hug her.

"You're welcome," he murmured. "You taste wonderful," he praised, kissing her head, caressing her neck, shoulder and back.

"Thank you," she repeated, blushing beneath her fur. "Make love to me, Hien."

Murmuring, purring, he spread her legs with his own, shifting his crotch to press against hers, his soft fur brushing her own, his smooth body firm against herS.

Reaching down, he guided his shaft against her now slick opening, pressing in slowly. "Alice," he moaned. "Oh Alice!"

"Ah!" The Rabbit gasped in surprise as she felt his barbs, her body twitching, not sure if it wanted away from them, or to feel them more. "Hien!"

He groaned and held still, pressing as deeply in as he could very, very slowly, not pulling back for good long minute as he let her adjust, but the moment he began to withdraw the barbs dug in again, flaring as he pulled back, his eyes nearly rolling back in his head. It had been so long since he had actually used his shaft like this.

Too long, he decided, as he started to thrust in, Alice crying out in pleasure and pain. He hadn't been on top with a lover in years, he knew that for certain. He wasn't about to go straight, but he could *definitely* handle being between Alice and the Master just about now!

Groaning, he held her close, kissing her neck as he began to thrust in earnest. He could do little for the pain she felt but try to make the pleasure outweigh it. He searched for her g-spot as his hips began to meet her own faster and harder, and her cries became more and more insistent, her body milking his with admittedly rusty skill.

"Hien!" She cried out, clutching him to her as she came, hard, milking his throbbing cock.

He couldn't hold back a minute more. Rowling with pleasure, he came hard, pressing himself deeply into her as he could as he came, emptying seed he had saved up even through his last night with the master. "Alice! Ohhh godssss...."

The Rabbit panted softly, looking up at him with a shy sort of adoration.

He blushed and looked back, not sure what he felt, but feeling very close to her for sure.

"Can I stay here tonight?" She asked him shyly. "Please?"

He nodded softly, welcoming the company. "All right," he agreed, shifting them aside just enough to pull one of the covers over their nude, coupled forms.

"Thank you," she smiled softly, kissing him, holding him close and sighing happily as the two of them drifted off to sleep.

An effeminate yet male form stretched and turned, rolling over just in time to see the sleepy-eyed, dawn's light vision of Alice's back as she left the bedroom, slipping her nightgown on again as she walked. He purred, more awake than asleep in an instant.

"Alice?" He rumbled, but she did not hear him. He sat up, shivering slightly, naked in the cool morning, her warmth no longer near to keep him warm. Slipping out of bed he pulled another fine set of clothes from the closet, as girly and frilly as anything he'd worn yet; he even went so far as to find Mel's panties still hidden in their drawers, only pausing long enough to wash himself and do his morning business. Re-tying his pink ribbon around his sheath firmly, he smoothed out the lacy folds of his dress and headed out into the upper hall and down the main stairs.

He could hear Alice talking below... almost yelling, actually. It sounded like she was arguing with somebody.

He snuck closer, feline feet quiet as the air as his ears swiveled forward to listen. His curiosity was piqued, his stomach tied in a knot. Who could she be arguing with?

He couldn't hear the other side, but he could tell that her side was about him... she thought it was, at least.

"It happened before, and look what happened! It doesn't have to be that way, Master!"

Hien swallowed and edged closer, mind flashing between every story and every word in Mel's journal, the family's history flashing across his imaginative consciousness as he tried to listen, tried to hear the other side of the conversation, or at least get more details out of Alice's side.

"Master, I care for him... he could be the one!" She said, slightly clearer the closer he came to the kitchen.

His heart leapt into his throat as he edged near the doorway, searching, listening, *sure* this regarded him. He was so intent on eavesdropping he didn't notice the run in the well worn old carpet until his claws caught a loose thread and he felt it pull painfully.

He yelped, bringing his hands to his mouth too late to stop his surprised sound of pain. Hands over his mouth, eyes wide, he froze, praying he hadn't been discovered.

"Hien!" Alice said, hurrying out of the kitchen. "I didn't think you'd be awake for an hour or more," she observed, kneeling to help him with the thread. "I need to trim that...."

Hien blushed, smiling sheepishly as his claw was freed and he could stand again. "I woke up when you left... light sleeper today I guess."

"Ah... you are okay, yes? I uhm... don't have breakfast ready yet, and I need a shower badly," she blushed.

"I'm fine..." He nodded, tempted to hug her. "Why don't you take a shower? I'll go down and check the bridge and come back for breakfast. I uhh... I'm in no hurry to leave today, if you'll have me a while longer?"

"With pleasure," Alice smiled shyly. "I'll see you in a little bit then?"

He nodded and hugged her quickly before heading back for the main entrance. "Yup, enjoy your shower!" He didn't linger to see her reaction or talk. He needed to think a little. He knew, deep down, whether the bridge was fixed today or not, he would stay a while longer....

The truth was that today, the thought of going down to the river scared him. He hurt inside as well, but he knew he had to face where it all had come to and end... or started, depending on how one looked at it. And if the bridge *was* finally fixed, the option to leave would be a comforting one.

It wasn't much of a walk, one he'd made twice before already. The bridge was in better shape, but nowhere near fixed yet. Probably another week before it was really fixed up, if the progress was any indication.

He sighed, fighting nerves for a while as he walked down the river a ways, every log, every large stone... every shadow seeming to hide the bulk of what used to be his boyfriend. But his ex was nowhere to be found, nor was any sign of how he himself had come to the bank so unscathed.

After less than an hour Hien gave up the depressing and frightening search, nearly running for the house. He could stand not a minute more in the presence of his own thoughts.

He remembered Dan, remembered what he looked like... and the stark terror in his eyes.

If only he could convince himself that the Leopard had deserved what he'd gotten, for trying to kill him.

Even as he entered the mansion, filled with its own pain and it's own memories, he couldn't condemn the older, larger leopard to his fate. He had at least accepted what that fate must have been. For all Dan had, or had not deserved his demise, Hien could not shake the thoughts from his mind.

"You're still hurting," Alice observed softly, meeting him with breakfast on a silver tray. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"How is it that you know?" He asked softly, suppressing a deep sigh, the feeling bubbling in him like an ache in his insides, up into his chest. "I remembered who I was with before I woke up here, last night." He began, sitting down and accepting the tray with a thank you and a soft, favorable smile. "It was a boy... someone I'd been seeing. But they didn't know I wasn't a true fem, and when they found out they became *very* angry. He... he chased me through the woods, and somehow down here, right as the storm hit and the flash flood came through the river. We crossed the bridge, he was behind me.... The bridge was swept out and we both went, he was in the middle though. I don't think he made it... the next thing I remember is waking up...."

"It's not your fault, Hien," Alice reassured him gently.

He smiled softly, nodding in agreement. "I know that... but I don't feel any better somehow. The bridge is still out," he added as he started in on the finely prepared breakfast.

"Alice.... Last night?"

"Yes, Hien?" Alice asked, sitting down near him.

He reached over with his off-hand, shyly 'asking' for her own. "I'm not sure what I want to ask.... Mostly that it happened and what you think about it." He chuckled. "I can't exactly talk to Master about what we do... I guess I do get that luxury with you."

"What happened was wonderful," Alice smiled, taking his hand. "But if you don't want to do it again, I understand."

"I never said that." He grinned, squeezing her hand.

His smile shifting to a softer, more thoughtful one, he looked down at his plate as he nibbled away at his breakfast. "And... thank you. I guess I needed it, in a way."

"If you want to do it again, I *definitely* understand," Alice said, blushing beneath her fur. "Though maybe not tonight again already."

He nodded and smiled. "From the looks of things out there, I'll be here a while more if you'll have me.... Anytime you like," he agreed, blushing as well.

Alice glanced downward, her bright eyes looking up towards him.

"During the day, maybe," she suggested. "Master was a little... jealous."

"Ahh...." The Leopard nodded, smiling softly. "I would like that... and I'm sorry. I didn't really know how our relationship was progressing, he and I. I should have thought about that too."

"I think it was mostly that he's not used to somebody else being in the bed of his lover," Alice explained. "And he wasn't sure if you'd want to try a threesome, so he was a little put out."

The Leopard blushed and almost laughed. "The idea had crossed my mind, and I wasn't... opposed." He chuckled sheepishly, bracing for her disapproval.

"I think it'll be a while before I'm up for that," Alice blushed.

"Understandable... me too I suppose." He nodded, finishing his breakfast. "Anytime you feel comfortable with it, or with any form of intimacy while I'm here, you only need show it." He smiled. "And if you see the Master before I do, tell Him I'm sorry. Do you feel like another walk around the grounds today? I was curious about the east side, I think there used to be a garden or orchard there once, am I right?"

"There was," Alice smiled, "but I should probably focus on the gardening today... you might want to work on finishing your reading," she suggested.

Hien's jaw worked lightly as he tried to ask how she knew. Finally he nodded, asking. "You, don't mind?"

"We did say to make yourself at home," Alice pointed out. "Besides... you should know what you're getting into."

The Leopard cocked his head, nodding slowly. "Thank you... and... okay. I'll see you later then?" He smiled, standing and offering his hand to help her up as well.

She took his hand, standing and nodding.

"I'll see you then," Alice smiled. "Have a good day, Hien. I'll call you for dinner."

"You too, Alice... I'll seeya then." He smiled, each heading their own way to engross themselves in the day.

~~~===~~~

Hien settled in in 'his' room, pulling the diary from beneath the pillows where he had tried and failed to hide it from Alice.

Opening it, he began to read. The next few passages dealt with life after Mel's attempt to be more masculine for Alice had come to blows. As the days went on, life got back to normal and by the time the Master went on his next trip, she was writing again about her plans to disobey her father again.

This time, after he had left.

Alice murmured softly, snuggling up against the body of the black-furred Fox in bed with her as the morning came.

Mel's heart could have been lighter, 'her' body more excited. Sighing happily, he snuggled back and kissed her until she peeked one eye open at her. "Morning...."

"Morning," Alice smiled softly, returning the kiss. "Mmm... *good* morning," she rumbled softly, reaching down to stroke his sheath.

He groaned, head arching back, moan of pleasure sliding into a pleased giggle. "Mmm, naughty bunny!" He grinned, reaching between her own legs to rub gently at her nether-lips. "Sleep well?"

"Mmm... like I only do with you," she murmured, kissing him again. "I love you, Mel...." Just then, the alarm clock rang and she reached up to turn it off with a sigh. "But I'm still just a servant," she sighed.

He smiled and held her hips, kissing her deeply. "Love you too, Alice... and that may be, but you're my servant." He winked, caressing her hips with his thumbs.

She cooed softly, pressing her naked body against his, kissing his neck.

"I have to go though," she murmured softly.

"I know you do," he murmured, reaching around to pull her closer, one hand over her rump, the other around her back. "You really should," he rumbled, kissing her again.

"Please don't make me choose," she whimpered slightly. He knew she didn't want to get in trouble, but knew just as well that she wanted to stay with him, make love to him again.

"I won't," he murmured, squeezing her firm little rear. "Go on..." He purred, kissing her again, and again, his other hand coming around to caress her chin as he lifted it to kiss her yet again.

"Can't," she whispered as he rolled over on top of her.

Maybe it wasn't fair, but just now, his balls didn't particularly care.

Murmuring, he caressed her sides, bringing his hand up again under her chin to kiss him, kissing her back deeply as his erection throbbed against her tummy. "Is this what you want, Alice?" He chuckled, grinding the swelling length through her fur softly, shivering with pleasure.

"Yes," she whimpered. "But I... oooh...."

He rumbled, sliding down her body some, the fingers under her chin travling down her throat, between her cleavage and down her chest and tummy, over her belly button and down through her pubic fur, slipping between her legs to fondle her warmly. "Want me to give you a licking first?" He yurred, having learned about the miracle of foreplay over the last few weeks.

"Please," she moaned softly. "Oh Mel...."

Sliding down her body, he kissed and licked, savoring every inch of her body as he slid himself between her legs, pressing his nose against her clit and inhaling, the scent of a real woman so intoxicating to him. "With pleasure," he rumbled, lower lip trembling from arousal as he began to lap at her sex, slow and sensual.

Alice rubbed his ears tenderly, her fingers gentle and soft against the sensitive skin as her juices began to build up at his attention.

He rumbled, Vulpine tongue delving her sex slowly, his eyes turned up to watch her with a sly, impish smile as he ate her out, hands caressing her thighs and hips, over her tummy and back to do it all again.

Gods but he loved the way she looked when he did this. Partly ashamed, partly ecstatic... she loved it, but wasn't sure it was all right for her to do so.

He happily indulged her carnal side, swirling his tongue inside of her and out, washing her with the soft, warm, wet muscle from the bottom of her netherlips up over her clit.

As much as he *wanted* to make her cum, time and again, he knew that they had to hurry a bit this morning. Once Daddy was gone they'd have all the time in the world; until then, she could still get into trouble if she wasn't close to on-time.

He brought one exploring hand down, running his tongue over her clit with a slow, sensual motion before he cupped his lips around the nub, pressing two fingers up into her body, his heart hammering in his chest.

"Oooh!" Alice moaned, squeezing her body down around his fingers. "M-Mel... please... let me touch you too?"

"Cum for me first..." He yurred, looking up into her eyes as he ran his tongue over her clit, swirling it and pressing down. His fingers pumped in and out of her body, wiggling for her g-spot, pounding her pussy.

She bit her lower lip, very nearly drawing blood as she came around him, biting back the urge to scream with pleasure as her body spasmed and twitched and coated his fingers in her juices.

He rumble and moaned softly, looking very pleased with himself, and her as she came, fingering her gently until she finished and gifting her clit with one last kiss. "Mmm, I love to feel you do that...."

"Thank you, Mel," she blushed down at him, pressing her shin against his cock. "Your turn?"

Mel groaned softly, once again aware of just how aroused he was. He rather liked the feeling of getting lost in someone else's pleasure, only to come back to find his own. "Mmm, thank *you*.... And I think so, or I'm gonna be in a terrible state all day."

"Mmm... only until I bring you lunch, Master," she winked. "How do you want me to help you though?"

He murmured, shifting down to rub against her foot, blushing as a thought leaped across his mind. "Think we can find a way to get me off like this?" He blushed more, rurring shyly. "I like how it feels."

She blushed with him, her cheeks and ears pink as she spread her toes to take his shaft between them, the thick, throbbing length barely fitting as she started to move her feet up and down it, the leathery pads on the bottom rubbing his knot and balls as her furry toes worked his cock.

"Like this?"

He groaned and nodded, burying his face in the soft fur of her belly. "Oh Gods... Like that... mmmm...."

"I love you, Mel," she murmured, rubbing the back of his head as she worked to give him the foot job he'd requested, not entirely sure how she liked it, but knowing she liked his reaction to it.

"I love you too, Alice..." He moaned, lapping at her tummy shyly as he thrust between her toes, shaft throbbing, wetting her soft fur and leathery pads with his pre. He wasn't sure what to think either, but Gods it felt nice, and so different from anything he'd done before.

At this rate, he was going to be *very* kinky by the time Daddy got home from his business trip!

He groaned, clutching her hips, arms pressed along her outer thighs as his balls pulled close, shaft erupting all over her shin and foot, deep, thick ribbons of fox-cum splattering down as his shaft pulsed between her toes. "Alice...." He groaned, hugging her hips tightly.

The Rabbit smiled down at him softly, fondling his black-furred ears.

"You liked, Master?" She asked with a shy smile, his semen cooling on her shin.

He murmured and nodded, groaning and squirming at the feel of her toes still working on his shaft, slippery and warm as the squeezed the tender flesh.

"Gods, I loved it," he yipped, kissing her navel. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she smiled. "But I do have to go now... as soon as I can, I'll be back?" She offered.

He smiled and nodded, kissing her tummy. "Mmm, I'll be here, probably showered and girly... but here." He shrugged and smiled.

"Girly's okay," Alice smiled, shifting to kiss him before hurrying off to the shower, trying not to drip cum from her leg onto the carpeting.

He giggled and watched, rolling back on the bed to find a nighty. Tonight, he'd do his best to show her that while girly was okay, he could do better.

~~~===~~~

It was evening time, an hour after supper, an hour before dusk in the Mansion. Mel had spent part of the day dressed in his finest girlish things, gone outside and waved to the car as it left, taking her father away on another trip somewhere. As usual she hadn't even seen him really leave, just the car go, leaving her alone in the house with the servants.

The black pelted fox had slipped upstairs after supper and changed into one of her brother's suits, becoming a 'him' again and slipping down stairs to surprise Alice in the kitchen.

"Good evening, Madam," he murmured, his voice a practiced, feminine, soft tone he couldn't break, but his form rather dashing, the suit fitting him rather nicely.

"Ye - Mel!" Alice squealed as she turned and saw him. "Oh, it looks wonderful on you, Master," she smiled approvingly.

He smiled and blushed just a little, stepping in and offering her his hand, a rose from the garden offered in the other. "Aww... thanks. Feels weird, but I like it," he winked.

"It *does* look wonderful," Alice smiled, accepting the rose shyly, and his hand. "We should find somewhere private though, before we're seen...."

"My room?" He rumbled, pulling her close.

"Please," she murmured, rubbing his chest. "Let's hurry!" She giggled.

He giggled too and grinned, winking. "First one there gets to cum first!" He grinned, adding quickly and with impish tones. "Go!"

The two of them rushed up the back stairs to the second floor, though he was sure that Alice was giving him the lead intentionally as they hurried towards his room.

He giggled dashed in first, turning to catch her in his arms with a rumble, their chests heaving against one another. "You threw that!" He grinned, kissing her feverishly.

She moaned into his mouth, practically melting against him as the door closed behind them.

"And are you complaining?" She asked him, rubbing his back, down towards his ass.

He groaned and shook his head, his own hands roaming her backside. His eyes twinkling as he kissed her again, caressing his lips to hers. "No... but I like making you cum," he winked.

"We have all night, and all week while the Master's gone," she murmured, giving him one final kiss before pushing him back towards his bed. "For now, I want to return the favor you paid me this morning."

He rumbled and yipped happily. "Mmm, well then... when you put it that way!" He grinned, pants growing tight as his shaft began to throb to life.

She knelt in front of him, still in her uniform, undoing his pants and nuzzling his shaft beneath his brother's stolen briefs.

"I love you, Master," she murmured, kissing his sheath through the cotton.

He groaned, leaning back to brace himself on the bed, one hand supporting him while the other lovingly caressed her ear.

"And I you, Alice," he moaned, shaft surging at the warm, damp sensation it got through the cotton.

The maid opened his pants completely, pulling his underwear down to release his dark, black shaft, cooing and nuzzling the full length.

He cooed as well, fondling her long, velvety ears and moving to the other, caressing her head fur as she nuzzled and licked and touched. His shaft throbbed in her hands, pre and her own saliva making the ebony rod shine in the room's soft light as she licked at his cock. "Ooohhh...."

"Now you know how you make me feel," she smiled up at him, licking his balls and swelling knot, kissing the hypersensitive flesh and sucking it lightly.

He groaned deeply, head lolling back, his eyes screwed shut as she licked. His shaft was alive in her hands, under her tongue, twitching and pulsing. Her warm, moist breath and hot, soft tongue made him melt as she pleasured him. "I'll... have to do it for you....more often!" He groaned.

She shifted to take him fully into her mouth, moaning lustily as she sucked his cock like a massive straw, her jaw stretched nearly to its limit to take the swollen tip.

He moaned, thrusting ever so lightly, balls tingling, churning with pleasure. "Oh... Alice...." He cooed, desperate pleasure filling him, his skin crawling as she made him almost literally melt.

She fondled his balls and squeezed his knot, her floppy ears bobbing up and down in opposition to her head, almost comical.

He groaned, yipping softly, his balls pulling close. "Alice... gonna... gon-nayahh!"

Alice pulled back, coughing a bit as she felt the first spurt of semen jet against the back of her throat, then closing her eyes with a moan as the rest arched up to stain her face and uniform.

Mel moaned a wet, sultry moan of pure bliss as he shot his seed all over his lapin lover's face, thick drops splattering to her uniform, neck and hair, his hips bucking as they tried to push every drop out to reward her.

Then the door opened, Master Cannard glaring at them from the entrance to Melora's room.

Mel's eyes shot open and he froze. His shaft still twitching, he could only stare back at his father.

"I expected this was going on," the older, black-furred Fox growled, stepping in and grabbing one of Alice's ears roughly, hauling her to her feet as she cried out in pain. "Right under my nose no less!"

Mel fumbled with his pants, for a moment trying to pull the hem of a dress he wasn't wearing, down. "Daddy!" He yipped. "Please!"

"Shut up!" He bellowed. "And get out of those things, now!" He threw Alice back against the dresser, turning on her as she cried out again.

Mel stood, advancing on his father, barely zipped up. "Leave her alone! You're hurting her, Daddy!"

"And the two of you aren't hurting me?" The middle-aged Fox shot back, turning and backhanding his son. "Your brothers all died, I did everything I could to make them grow up as men and they died! All I wanted was another chance, a chance to bring up a daughter, and you two sluts deny me even that!"

"I've tried!" Mel cried, tears running down his cheeks as he rubbed the welt on his cheek. "But I can't be a girl, I want to feel love, Daddy!" He raged bitterly, soft voice breaking up. "Not stagnate in pink frills until I die!"

"Oh you can be a girl all right," the Master growled, grabbing him by the throat and squeezing. "You *will* be one," he continued. "Now take those fucking clothes off! They aren't yours, they don't belong to you, *or* on you!"

Mel whimpered, removing his clothes slowly, his face flushing purple under his black fur as his father choked him. "Hurting... me," he sobbed softly, catching a glimpse of Alice watching terrified from next to the bureau she'd been thrown against.

"Please, sir, it's not his fault," the Rabbit whimpered. "He did it for me!"

"Oh I know that," the elder Fox growled, releasing his son's throat. "And I'm going to give *her* a very good reason to be what she is supposed to be!"

Mel whimpered, backing away quickly. "Alice, leave," he ordered with as much dominance as he had left, afraid for what his father might do. He had never seen the older Fox so worked up.

"Stay," the elder Cannard growled firmly. "And you finish stripping! I'll deal with your little slut while you do that."

Alice, for her part, seemed too terrified to move, petrified, as if holding still might protect her.

Mel whimpered, pulling off his... her brother's briefs, pants, shirt and undershirt, shivering in rage, pain and fear. "Don't hurt her," the younger fox begged.

"I won't hurt her," the older Fox growled, turning to rip her uniform off of her. "I'm just going to make sure she knows her place in this household, before I throw her out of it!"

Mel rushed to pull on a frilly pair of panties and grab her father's hand. "No!"

Alice trembled as Melora's father turned around, grabbing Mel's wrist and lifting her physically from the floor.

"You. Be. Quiet!" He growled, throwing her back onto the bed. "Alice, onto your knees on the floor. Use your tongue, and clean my *daughter's* ass. I intend to prove to her how much of a woman she is."

Mel whimpered, not at all liking where this was going. "Daddy... please!" She whimpered, trembling.

"Quiet!" He snarled, slapping her as Alice got to her knees, her entire body trembling as she crept towards the bed.

Mel whimpered, nursing another slap, huddling onto the bed as tears matted every ebony strand of fur on her face.

"Lay on your back," her Father ordered her.

She complied, trembling like a leaf, unable to meet her father's angry gaze, or even Alice's equally scared one as the Rabbit carefully pulled her panties down, nuzzling her balls lightly - and then screaming as the elder Fox grabbed her ear and twisted, hard, immediately recognizing the punishment and shifting to rim Mel.

Mel groaned and sobbed. "Don't... hurt her!" She pleaded as the rabbit's tongue washed over her tail hole. What would have been a pleasant feeling any other time was rather lost on her now.

Alice whimpered and focused on the rimjob as the black-furred Fox behind her released his grip slightly, starting to undress.

Mel caught just a glipse of her father out of the corner of her eyes, screwing them shut with a sob as she realized just where this was going, her heart racing, chest tight even as Alice's soft tongue brought her some amount of arousal.

Her cock started to harden, responding to the pleasant physical sensations, but Mel's father took the ribbon from the bureau and quickly tied it around the base of her half-hard shaft, cutting off the blood flow and keeping it from getting harder.

She gasped and whimpered, as much from the painful, wanting sensation it left her with as for the fact her *father* had touched her there. "Daddy," she pleaded. "I'll be good, I'll be your little girl... just don't... don't make me... m-make...."

Alice was thrown aside as the older Fox finished stripping, his own cock rock hard as he grabbed Mel's legs.

"You need to be punished," he growled, then slammed the thick tip against his 'daughter's' anus, starting to force it open.

Melora cried out, shoving back against the older but still stronger Fox, beating against her father's arms as his hot, thick shaft was forced up her tail hole. "Noooo!" She cried, choking on her own tears.

"Stop it!" Alice begged, the nude Rabbit earning a backhand that sent her reeling before the Master focused on raping his 'daughter,' pain screaming through her ass.

Mel whimpered, defensive flailing waning as she sobbed bitterly, pain searing through her body, heart, mind, her soul and body betrayed by her father, and itself. "I'm sorry," she cried, to Alice, to her father, to herself as she was *made* to feel like a helpless female.

"What... nngh... are you?" The older Fox asked, grunting as he forced his unlubed cock up into his only surviving child's unprepared body, groaning at the heat of it.

Body, ass, muscles quivering, tail hole clenching as the dry skin was pulled against his father's thick cock, forced aside so the shaft could violate him, Mel yipped, crying bitterly: "Girl! A girl!"

"That's... fuck... right!" The older one growled, pulling out, tearing at extremely sensitive flesh, blood seeping out around his shaft.

Melora cried out, nearly a scream as she tried to curl into a ball and push her father away, broken beyond words.

He wouldn't let her, holding her close as he raped her until he groaned, pumping a thick, hot load of his semen into Melora's ass.

She whimpered, having eventually stopped struggling, cheek pressed against her father's shoulder, arms curled against his chest as he groaned in her ear, she felt his shaft pulsing, felt the warmth of his thick cum pooling in her body and all she could do was cry and lay still, his warmth filling her, covering her... once comforting, now it left her feeling as hollow as it made her physically full.

He pulled out of her, finally letting her abused ass relax as he grabbed her throat. He pulled her up for a disgustingly tender kiss, then dropped her again.

"Good girl," he told her, collecting his clothes and leaving the room. "I'll be leaving tomorrow - you're going to come with me."

Burying her head in her arms, Mel curled into a ball on the bed, all but ignoring him. She didn't have to acknowledge the statement anyway, they both knew if he had one ounce of say she'd be right there in the car with him.

Chained into the seat if necessary.

She... *he* wasn't going to let that happen.

"I *hate* you!" She screamd as he left, screaming it again and again until her throat was raw. Even as a child she had never screamed at her father... his father. He wasn't going to be a girl for him, not anymore...

Alice tried to move to stop the Fox, holding him, trying to calm him down.

He sobbed, clutching her tightly, still trying to scream over her shoulder until he simply collapsed futilely into her embrace, sobbing harshly as he clutched at her.

Somehow, some time, the two of them cried themselves to sleep.

Hien swallowed, wiping his eyes as he tried to read the next passage. Like much of the last had been, it was shaky and tearmarks stained the pages even all these years later. The Leopard was horrified by what had happened, things falling rapidly into place. Even the slight arousal at the thoughts of all the sex was overshadowed by knowledge of what had happened, and who he was dealing with now. When the Master had 'played' father to him the other night, it was *not* just a kinky game... he had really done it before.

The next passage was short, and as heart wrenching as the last, if not more so. Hien had to read it twice to get it all in, his mind a rush of fear and sadness as he read.

"Dear Diary, I woke sometime tonight, it's very late.... I tried to write down everything that happened tonight before now, but I can't stay long. I think the sun is coming up, and I won't go with Daddy, I won't be a woman anymore... especially not his woman. I almost wouldn't have minded being that... close to him, if it had happened some other way. But what he did to me, what he wants to do... I can't live with, and I can't live my life like this anymore. He'll send Alice away before we return I'm sure, and more than anything, I can't live with out her in my life. I know this will hurt her, what I'm going to do... but I want the last thing we felt together to be sleeping in each other's arms.

I'm going to kill myself; I've already dressed in my brother's things, and I've prayed to them both that they guide me away. I know they made it to heaven, they did the right thing in their lives.... Diary, this will be my last passage, and I'm so sorry that it has come like this. Alice, I love you, even you Daddy, maybe when all your children are gone you can fully know how wrong you were to treat me like this.

Melora"

Hien shivered at the last words, everything making sense now. The Master's last son had killed himself, not had an accident. His "daughter" had gone away, after a fashion.

And he was in the house of, sleeping with, a rapist who'd killed his son as sure as if he'd thrown him off himself.

His blood ran cold, and then hot. Mel's father had been little better than Dan, and if it cost Hien a place to stay, or even his own life fording the river to leave, he was going to tell the son-of-a-bitch just that.

Standing he left his room, marching down the hall to the one and only room he had not been shown, or allowed to go into, the Master's room. Twilight turned to dusk outside the windows as he turned the old knob, stiffer, rustier than the rest in the house.

He was surprised to find the door wasn't locked, the door opening with some protest after he forced the knob one final bit.

What he saw inside made his blood run cold again. There was a body on the bed, practically skeletonized, in a sleeping position. A dark, gory stain above its head and the shotgun next to the bed spoke volumes about how the Master had died.

And the mummified Rabbit still dangling lifelessly from the ceiling told him who had pulled the trigger. White fur, black hair, the uniform....

Alice had died not long after her lover, but had taken the man she held responsible for his death with her.

Hien felt sick for so many reasons. He turned, making it half out of the room before he threw up, chest heaving with tears and fear. Both creatures, every night, every moment, every word, every feeling he had experienced since he had arrived had been with what? Ghosts? Just the fact that they were dead was frightening enough, warped enough of his perceptions... knowing they lived in un-dead ways and he had not only been around them, but been intimate with them... or something... was just a feeling he was sure no ghost movie had ever portrayed. No one could act how he felt right now.

"You know," Alice said softly, standing nearby, reaching down to put a hand on his shoulder.

He shrank from the hand as surely as he would if the mummified corpse hanging from the ceiling had touched him. He looked up at her, eyes as large as the tea-cup saucers she always had when she had made tea for him.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't tell you," she said softly. "I knew you'd find out, I *wanted* to tell you... believe me I did...."

"Why couldn't you show me... what *are* you even?" He whimpered, trapped between the cold room behind him and the frightening exception to all reality he had ever known that stood before him in the from of a pretty, young rabbit maid. "W-why you two?"

"The Master didn't want me to," she said softly. "And I'd say a ghost... but most ghosts can't touch, can't love, can they?" She asked rhetorically. "The Master died a rapist, by my hand... and then I killed myself. I couldn't let him get away with what he had done. I've kept him here, a shade, ever since... I've served him, keeping us both in this living Hell. Then you came."

"You can," he noted needlessly, though it seemed the reason for that escaped even her.

"And now what?" He asked, wiping his lips off, still quite frightened of her now, although nothing she had ever done before he knew the truth had ever given him cause to be.

"It's up to you," she said softly. "You can leave... tell people what happened here... and the Master and I will go on to whatever fates we have earned." He saw the shade of the Master seem to rise up out of his remains, floating above the bed. "Given what we've both done... I don't know that I like that choice much," Alice admitted.

Hien nodded, looking back at the shade, seeing, and understanding for the first time, shuddering but beginning to cope, he looked back to Alice, her eyes downcast as she admitted her unwillingness to move on. "Why does it fall to me? I wasn't here then," he noted softly, adding a question. "And the Master? How does he feel now?"

"He still wants his little girl... but willingly," Alice said softly. "And you were willing. It falls to you because you're the one who's here, who can carry the story of what happened out of these walls. We're trapped on this island... everything that's happened since you came here is an illusion. The other choice... is to join us."

"You mean... stay here, not leave when the bridge is fixed?" He ventured carefully, looking between the two, a mix of fear and sorrow, for them.

"No," Alice said, shaking her head as the shade floated out in front of him. "I'm sorry, Hien, it's a terrible thing to ask... but I'm so lonely... and so scared," she admitted softly, looking towards the balcony overlooking the lobby. What she meant was clear.

If he was going to join them... he had to fulfill the re-enactment. Take Melora's place, by jumping from the balcony.

"Why... can't you get Melora back?" He asked, barely a whisper, his heart going out to her, but clenched with fear for himself as he looked at them both, side by side.

"He was buried," Alice said softly. "The servants thought the Master or I had killed him... we were left here, as we were," she explained, gesturing towards the bedroom.

"So... he got to move on and you stayed here?" He concluded, slumping against the doorframe.

He whimpered, asking a question so softly, in such fright, he could hardly believe he was asking at all. "If I stay... what will it be like?" The truth was, he had nothing to look forward to outside. Dan was dead, he'd been gone for days... and the thought of condemning these two souls, Alice's frightened one especially, terrified him.

"You'll be with us... another spirit, able to act as the Master and I both can," Alice explained softly, guiding Hien towards the balcony, away from his lost dinner. "You'll be with me, with us, for all eternity," she said softly, taking his hands and holding them tenderly, feeling firm and real and warm.

So different from the ghostly shade following him. Maybe because some power had taken pity on Alice for what she had gone through with Melora?

Would that same power have the same pity for him?

"What if... what if it doesn't work?" He asked softly, clutching her hands tightly. "What if I can't interact with you... or...." He shivered, looking for some form of comfort even from the ghostly but real forms with him now.

"It will work, Hien," Alice reassured him, leaning back against the railing and holding him against her. "It has to," she whispered, kissing him. "I'll even help you over...."

He shivered, clutching her tightly, arms wrapped fully around her body, front pressed firmly to hers. "Master too...." He swallowed, tears running down his cheeks, he wasn't sure what for, but they made small furrows in his spotted, soft fur.

"There's not enough of him left to do what has to be done," Alice apologized. "But he'll be there for us."

Hien nodded and gripped her tighter, reaching one foot around her to wedge on the lowest rail of the wooden railing. "I love you, Alice... even the Master... I hope eternity will be as pleasant with you as every day knowing you both has been since I came here 'til when I found out...."

"Close your eyes, my Melora," Alice whispered softly, kissing him.

He did so, returning the kiss... and Alice leaned back, putting both their weight on the aged wood. It creaked for a moment, then splintered, and Hien plummeted towards the ground with Alice in his arms.

About half-way down, her body faded out of his arms, and then he hit. There was a sharp pain in his neck....

And then nothing.

Three bodies rest eternally in Cannard Manor, three souls joined to ease their shared damnation. The bridge was repaired, but nobody went out to visit the crumbling building, to see if anyone had hid from the storm in the ruins of a place considered cursed for decades..

Yet in the eyes of those who would spend eternity there, it would always be home.