A Game of No Hands Chapter 24

The next morning, Auntie or just Isabell to everyone who wasn’t Steve, wasn’t upset at all, at least not initially. In fact, it wasn’t until she tried to make tea that she even remembered being human. From there spiraled into a bit of an existential crisis how she was going to explain this to her coven. Steph suggested not explaining it at all. Call it a happy accident. This struck Auntie Isabell as hilarious, ridiculous, and began to reel off reason after reason. Tina made a comment that she certainly smelled happy. That stopped her as everyone sniffed the air. Steve thought it smelled a bit like hot chocolate mixed with mulled wine in the small house. Tina cited pine and cinnamon notes, Angelica likened it to brownies baking and Steph compared it to the aftermath of fantastic bang.

The small purple skunk woman muttered something about scents don’t lie and spent a minute or so staring down at her semi useless paws. Unlike Steve and Steph, she had thumbs. They were just as thick as the rest of her padded digits but they were there. Then she giggled. “Happy accidents indeed, my stars. Oh, I cannot wait to see Madam Butterscotch’s face.” Clapping her paws together, a chair shot out of the corner to attend her. She hopped up onto it and set about making tea, not letting her clumsy digits do anything but delay the process a bit. From there, she brushed any offers of help and determinately cooked up a pile of flapjacks and several of Angelica’s eggs. Although when her tail swept several glasses off the counter, she didn’t object when Steve and Steph rushed in to sweep up the glass.

Once fed, she mentioned she had a very, very busy day ahead of her. They all took the hint and bustled back out to the SUV. Auntie Isabell loaded them down with the moonsilver, a basket of assorted perfumes and wrapped short bread cookies. As Steph and Steve gave her a hug goodbye, she whispered that Elfford manor once lay about an hour north of her shop. Tina got a hug and a kiss on her nose. Angelica however, picked her up and kissed the little skunk woman so hard that her tail flipped up as if to spray. As Tina and the sisters backed away, their muzzles and tongue worked in a manner that Steve feared she’d was about to witness her aunt get fucked against the side of the car.

But instead, the Punk Panther demonstrated restraint and broke the kiss first, placing a dizzy Isabell on the ground with a nip to her ear.

“Oh my Angel.” Isabell’s little wings flapped as she wobbled in place. “You’ll come to visit, won’t you?”

“You bet your lucky stars.” Angelica booped Isabell’s black nose. “I’m sure we’ll all see you soon sweet Auntie.”

At that Isabell’s tail wrapped itself around her legs and she hugged it. No blush made it through the fur but the entire posture radiated bashfullness. “Good luck!”

They piled into the card, Steve and Steph taking the driver’s seat and drove off with the bright purple and pink skunk waving in the rear view.

“She’s. My. Aunt!” Steve exclaimed as soon as they turned onto the road.

“The family resemblance is adorable.” Angelica grinned like a kitty who got cream.

Steve knew she would not win this, but felt duty bound to continue. “She’s, like, close to twice your age.”

Angelica sighed, “Please don’t set me off over this, Stevie. I’m still really sore.”

Tina gave a low chuckle, “We as well. Yet, perhaps it is time to pass a ruling among this… family we are. Are we to be exclusive to one another?”

“Yes. No!” Both Steve and Steph answered immediately and opposite to each other. They turned to glare at each other the best they could, cheek to cheek.

“I gonna fuck whomever I wanna fuck!” Steph growled.

“And what if I say otherwise?” Steve growled right back.

“You wanna fuck whomever I wanna fuck sister.” Steph grabbed at the upper most tit on Steve’s side and pinched the nipple hard. Steve yelped in surprised as Steph continued, “You’re just too damn proper to admit it.”

“Girrrrls!” Angelica protest with a breathy moan.

“Bad!” Tina added with a bark.

Instantly the pair flinched, “Sorry your highness!” They refocused on the road ahead.

For a long moment, the loudest sound in the car was Angelica’s heavy breath.

Tina drew herself up in a regal manner. “While in the grip of the game’s urges, asking for exclusivity is asking for heart break. We will revisit the issue after the game conclusion. To I hear objections?”

“Nope! Total agreement.” Steph said.

Steve sighed and pressed her lips together. She knew she had no a leg to stand on with this. Besides, If they tried to make any rules, then the cards might force them to break them on purpose.

“Very well, drive on. We will attend to our kitty’s needs.” Tina giggled a bit as Angelica’s tail made a soft floomp against the ceiling.

“Be gentle.” Angelica whispered.

Steve and Steph couldn’t see how Tina attend Angelica precisely, but the soft rowls of pleasure that followed left them quite moist. Once Angelica yowled into Tina palm, the pair stilled, and rested their heads on stolen motel pillows.

That left Steph and Steve’s body tingling with their own unattendant wants as they drove on. This had been a frequent occurrence on this trip, but this time they really had no idea where they were going. No GPS to tick down the miles until it was Tina’s turn to pilot the SUV. At Steph’s suggestion, they were eyeing the road for a pull over spot for a quick stop at tentacle town when they heard the flutter of shuffling card next to them.

There, in the shotgun seat, sat the golden jackalope. He held the deck of cards and bridged them back and forth between his small paws. “Almost there.” He said with a wink. “The final round. I wonder how the card will fall.”

“What?” Steve blinked. The Jackalope, although semitransparent, remained there.

“I’m giving you directions.” His small muzzle broadened to contain the width of his sly smile. “And maybe a chance for you pair to get back in the game and keep things a little spicey.”

Steph leaned forward to peer around Steve. “How? We’re so far behind.”

“The Queen’s got eight points, Punky’s got seven, while you two are way back at three. Even if you two come out on top of the last challenge, grabbing nine points, whomever takes second still wins. But, I’ve always had a soft spot for the underdogs. What if I offered you a way to scrouge up three extra points?” He drew a card from the deck. “Have to up the stakes a wee bit though.”

“We’ll take it!” Steph said quickly.

“Wait!” Steve cheek shoved her eyes back onto the road. “What stakes?”

“Hehehe. Now, now. You’re both a single player, so you need to agree.” He hopped up onto the dashboard and carried the card where they could both see it.

“You read to me. I’ll drive.” Steph said, directing her eyes toward the road.

Swallowing, Steve focused on the card, “Points for Permanence.” She read the bold text across the top of the card, above the icon of a shiny padlock. The roof of her mouth went dry.

“Ooooh.” Steph’s excitement wagged their tail.

“You activate this card when you play a card on yourself. You receive one point, the number of discards allowed at the end of the game reduces by one. Further more all Husky Maid cards will be permanent regardless of the duration declaration of the winner.” Steve’s voice reached a new level of squeak at that last bit.

The tail gained speed as Steph panted with excitement. “I like this deal, sister. We don’t need any discards.”

“Yes we do! Do you want to be stuck with paws for the rest of our lives? Or-“

“A second head?” Steph cut Steve off. “Let me warn you sister, if we are forced to share a skull again, don’t think I’m going skulk in a dark corner of your forbidden desires. I’m here now and you're not getting rid of me. Don’t think fleeing back to the body of a fat man is going to save you from my fashion sense.” She gestured at their outfit, a pastel pink maid outfit with a deep V that displayed the cleavage of their top four breasts through a mesh of lace.

“That wasn’t what I was going to say at all!” Steve whined, “I was.. More thinking of the compulsions. Do we really want to spend our entire life dressed as a maid? And the third round might have something we don’t like.”

“Ah-hem.” The Jackolope pointed at the card, where final line sat still unread.

Steph turned towards it, abandoning their arms to Steve who mentally scramble to take over driving.

“Only the winner’s boon can adjust these parameters.” She finished. “Oh! I see. Its all or nothing. We just have to win, then we can get the exact body we want.”

“Exactamungo!” The Jackolope chirped.

“But if we have to use the Boon on ourself we can’t use it for other things, like creating a start up or something.” Steve said.

“So? Without the card we won’t have a chance at the boon at all. And who knows what Angelica or Tina will wish for. I like being their pets but maybe, we should determine the length of our leash?” Steph pressed her cheek against Steve’s, “Whatta say sis?”

Steve took a deep breath. “Okay. We’ll take the card.”

“Wonderful!” The Jackalope tossed the card at their chest and it disappeared in a flash of gold. “Dealt and sealed. Now coming up here you wanna take a right INTO the cherry tree.”

“What?” Steve looked ahead and saw the pink flowers of a Cherry Tree right beside the road and coming up fast but there was no road. “There?”

But the Jackolope had disappeared.

“He said into the tree!” Steph insisted.

“There’s no road!” Steve shouted.

“Do it anyway!”

“Ah fuck.” Desperately hoping the Jackolope wasn’t one of those spirits that lured strangers to crash their cars into study object Steve slammed on the brakes. A startled yip and meow came from the back as she turned the wheel hard. The tires squealed as the SUV fishtailed and dove off the road. Steph and Steve’s shared heart lurched up into the throats as the gnarled trunk of the tree rushed toward them.

As the front bumper kissed the smooth bark, all the occupants heard softest sound, like that of a bursting soap bubble, but with a base thump that made itself known in every bone. The SUV rock as if they had hit a speed bump at an unwise speed. Steve opened eyes she didn’t remember closing to see a white gravel road traveling beneath the hood as the car settled onto its shocks.

“Ow. Did we hit something?” Tina asked, rubbing the underside of her jaw.

Angelica rubbed her chest. “Now I got other parts that are sore.”

“Sorry!” Steve and Steph said in unison, then giggled. “Blame the bunny.”

“What bunny?” Angelica asked.

“Tell you later,” Steve said waving a paw ahead of them, “Look!”

Elfford Manor declared the white marble gate that stretched over the road. Ivy choked its sides and cover the doors, that appeared to be a combination of wrought iron and pearly bone. One side swung open as their car approached and it was more than wide enough to admit them. Beyond it, a short driveway led up to a circle road around a fountain twice the size of the largest back yard swimming pool Steve had ever seen. Moss and lichen covered statues of mermaids and satyr aggressively frolicked with the tentacles of a giant woman with the lower body of an octopus.

Behind it, a vast mansion towered over the circle. A strange chimera of architecture, the columns of its central entrance harkened to the ancient Greek temples, the right wing shifted to cut stone of European castles, complete with a round tower extending from the roof and up several more stories. The left wing modeled itself as Victorian design, a smattering of large window and balconies beneath a sharply peaked roof.

The signs of neglect and abandonment were everywhere, the paint peeled, vines choked the windows and wildflower sprouted from the gutters. Yet there were no holes in the mossy roof that Steve could see, and every window still contained glass. While the sun shined gently upon them as they exited the SUV, no one could ignore the chill of emptiness that lay on the property like a fog.

“Think the guy who did the visual design for the little mermaid got inspiration from this?” Angelica asked as they walked around the circle.

Tina chuckled uneasily. “Maybe?”

Steph, too busy staring up at the house, had left Steve to do the walking, and she gave the fountain a wide berth. The statues, even clothed in moss, vines and other signs of decades long stillness, were far too life like for her taste and she could easily imagine them reaching out. If this Tipper had made the game, who knew what other magical wonders could be sitting in this house.

Read Chapter 25