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This is a work of fiction. Any people, places or locations within are purely fiction and the product of the author's imagination, or their names are used to add realism and/or for satirical purposes. Their use does not constitute any type of endorsement or agreement, in part or in whole, with any belief or message, expressed, implied or otherwise inferred by the author and the story/story line, nor do they imply any endorsement of the story or author.

This story contains scenes of EXTREME VIOLENCE, mature subject matter and deals with alternative lifestyles. If you are not comfortable with these concepts and materials, STOP reading NOW. If you are under the age of seniority and consent where you live, or if these types of materials are illegal for you to read, possess or download, you must STOP reading NOW and you may NOT download this story. If you are very religious, this work will probably anger you. Do not read it. Do not download it. Hello, nice to see you, GO AWAY. You'll be more comfortable at http://www.disney.com please go there instead of here.

 

Midnight Downloads
by Wendy-J
Wendy-J@KimEM.net
© 1999-2004 Wendy-J All Rights Reserved.
Unauthorized distribution or archival prohibited.

 

Part-3
Friday Afternoon September 4^th

"Aaah…" Thud… thud… thud… thud… "Oh... my head," he thought. "What is that pounding? Dear gods above. It hurts. Oh gods, everything hurts, what happened?" his mind cried out in agony. Ernie tried to open his eyes. It was as if there was something over them, keeping his eyelids pressed tight. The panic started again... in spades.

He tried to get up; hands held him in place. "What's happening to me!" his mind screamed out in confusion and panic. There were noises, but nothing made sense. Everything seemed to echo in to his brain from a million miles away. It all had a surreal quality to it, like something out of a bad 'B movie.' Every move he made caused excruciating agony.

He had to get free! He just had to! He struggled. "Gak! What's that awful smell?" He gagged.

"She's coming 'round! Hold her down! Hold her down!"

"Easy, Miss, you've had a nasty fall," the disembodied voice echoed.

"Oh my head," Ernie moaned, his voice strained and barely above a whisper. His eyelids were beginning to flutter. "What's going on? Who are you?" he asked groggily. "Why am I on the floor?"

As his vision started to clear he could see all the people around him. The panic, which had been easing began build again with a vengeance. The crowd of people, EMS and policemen… they were all staring at him!

"Easy there, Miss, you took a nasty fall," the paramedic said. "You probably have a concussion."

"Oh gawd, I think I'm gonna be si…" Ernie lost his lunch. He heaved up nothing but bile and coffee. There wasn't anything else in his stomach to lose.

The Paramedic was at the ready with emesis basin at hand. He helped clean Ernie up when the heaving stopped.

"Miss, can you tell me your name?" he asked.

"My name?" Ernie replied blankly, his voice still a hoarse whisper.

"Yes, Miss, your name. Can you tell me your name?"

From somewhere out of view, a distinctly blue-blooded British voice could be heard. "Her name is Tina, Tina Wilson."

"Do you know her, Ma'am?" asked the paramedic?

"I should say I do!" she replied, "She's one of my employees! It was I who called you. I saw her take that horrid fall. When I couldn't rouse her, I called you. I must say, you got here rawther quickly; good show. Her mother should be arriving presently. If you have any further questions, I suggest you hold them until she has arrived. Now then, can we move her to someplace more…dignified? Shall we say, for instance, my shoppe?"

The way she spoke you just knew she said the word 'shoppe' and not 'shoppe'.

The paramedic just sat there with his jaw hanging open. Never had he met someone like this mystery woman, the imperious Jennifer Winchester. He finally found his voice.

"Ma'am, I really don't think we should be trying to move her just yet. And when we do, I suggest it be only from the floor to the stretcher and then transport her directly to the hospital."

"Really!?!" she said in such a way as to make it an insult and one of the longest words in the English language. "I suggest that you do as I say. You would let a young lady lie about the floor like a sack of potatoes? How undignified! I insist you take her directly into my shoppe this instant! We shall await her mother there. You there! Officer! I must insist you disperse this crowd immediately! That's right, you sir! Get on with it! Now then, haven't you been listening to a word I've said? Help the young lady into my shoppe!"

Without thinking, the paramedics began to do just that. Some would argue that better sense, or common sense would prevail and that along with their training the paramedics would stick to prescribed procedures. However, none of those people have ever come up against the indomitable spirit of the Battleaxe known as Mrs. Jennifer Winchester. With exaggerated care, they placed Ernie on the litter and trundled him into "The Under-World." They followed the woman into the shoppe, through the sales floor, then towards the back of the upscale store where the woman insisted that Ernie be installed upon the overstuffed violet sofa in the salon.

"You there!" she said, pointing to the second of the paramedics, "I hardly think you both need to be lollygagging about my shoppe! And take that… that… contraption with you!" she exclaimed, indicating the stretcher.

"And you," she said, turning to the first paramedic, "I suggest you have a seat in the chair next to her and wait quietly. Her mother shall be here shortly and I hardly think we need to bother poor Tina further with your incessant prattling."

"Marjorie!" she called out in a manner that only the bluest-blooded of the Brits seem able to manage. A beautiful, buxom brunette appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Yes, Madame?"

"Tina's mother shall be arriving presently, see to it that she is shown directly to me. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Madame."

"Very good then, off with you."

"Yes, Madame."

The paramedic again tried to argue that they should be taking Ernie to the hospital. He was losing badly. The woman was incredible. Never had he run into so forceful and domineering a woman in his life. He was beginning to fear the lash of her tongue.

It couldn't have been more than a few minutes later when Marjorie reappeared with a very worried Janice in tow. To the paramedic, it seemed like it had been hours.

"Madame? Mrs. Wilson has arrived."

"Thank you, Marjorie, that will be all. I'll call you if I need you. Do try to keep the customers up front till we're through here."

"Yes, Madame."

"Now then, young man," she said, turning to the paramedic, "you may speak with Mrs. Wilson, in just a moment. Till then, please wait here. … Quietly."

She turned back to Jan and spoke in a much gentler tone. "Janice, Dear, may I speak with you in my office… please?"

"Of course, Jennifer," Jan replied evenly. The two women filed into the office.

As soon as the door was closed, Jan started in on Jennifer, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Jenny, what in the name of Pete is going on here?!" Jan hissed vehemently. "First I get a phone call from you saying Ernie's been hurt. When I get down here I find your sales girl referring to my son as my daughter and saying she thinks SHE will be just fine! I come back here and you're playing the 'Battleaxe' like you've never played her before! My son is lying on your couch looking like death warmed over and there is a paramedic hovering about him as if he's royalty! The only time you pull the old 'Battleaxe' out is to buffalo some poor schmuck into doing your bidding. So I'll ask you again. What are you trying to pull?!?"

"Jan," Jenny said in a rush, the proper British accent a fond memory; "I'm only trying to save your son some embarrassment after the fall he took. With that and our little conversation this morning, well… We'll discuss that later. As it is, the paramedics got here much faster than I expected. I called them just before I called you. They arrived just as I got off the phone with you. It seems, they thought he was a she. You should have seen the crowd as they were trying to bring Ernie 'round. I told them his name was Tina. Now get out there and save your son's hide."

Jan relaxed visibly. She seemed to collapse in on herself.

"Thanks, Jenny," Jan said contritely. "Would you send the paramedic in for me please? I don't think I can walk another step. I need to sit down."

"But of course, Dear, use my desk. I'll go out and send him in," Jenny said.

Jennifer, again full of starch, opened the door to the office, and walked out. Her spine, almost painfully straight and erect, she turned to the paramedic and said, "You there! You may go in now."

The paramedic jumped to his feet as if called to attention by a U. S. Marine D. I. and went through the door to the office. Jenny closed the door behind him and rushed over to Ernie.

"Ernie! Honey, are you all right? I'm really sorry for all this. I just thought it would be better for everybody this way."

Ernie, finally coming to his senses, recognized the prim and very properly dressed woman kneeling beside him as the one who wanted him in to try on the lingerie. He paled, his eyes grew wide in horror, and… Ernie passed out!

Flabbergasted, Jenny stood and rushed to the stock room door. "Samantha!" she called.

A brunette head popped out from behind a row of shelves, "Yes'm?"

"Samantha, get a glass of water and bring it into the salon!"

Samantha, a dumbfounded look on her face, stared at her employer with wide, questioning eyes.

"Now girl!" Jenny said sharply, "I haven't got all day!"

"Yes'm!"

Samantha came rushing out of the stock room, a clear plastic tumbler of liquid in her hand and stopped short before her employer. An inch or so shorter than Jennifer's five feet nine inches, Samantha had an almost square face. Her wide set, almost violet eyes blazed with an intensity that was both captivating and disquieting. Sam's chestnut brown hair, worn in a classic bob, gleamed in the artificial, fluorescent daylight of the salon. It framed her strongly featured face perfectly. Samantha wasn't what you would call delicate, she was more heavily boned for that. If it weren't for her lack of fat, you could almost say she was cherubic. Her vitality and love for life itself was almost tangible, she seemed to sparkle with it.

"Samantha, Ernie Wilson has passed out on the sofa. Please see if you can bring him 'round. For some reason, he took one look at me and passed out!"

"Why does that not surprise me?" thought Sam. Then, the full impact of what her employer had just said hit Samantha with alarming force.

"Ernie!?!" she exclaimed, a look of horror on her face. Without another sound she flew to the sofa, anxious to help her friend. Jenny looked on in puzzled amazement.

"Ernie! Ernie! Come on, Hon, wake up!" she pleaded. Samantha was kneeling beside Ernie, rubbing his wrists. She had no idea why, but they always did it in the movies so she figured it couldn't hurt. "Come on, Ernie, wake up!" she hissed.

His eyelids fluttered, and suddenly Ernie was looking up, at his only friend in the world.

"Samantha!" he breathed, a wan smile coming to his lips. "What are you doing here?" he mumbled.

"Me?!" she said incredulously. "I think the questions of the day are: 'What are you doing here?' and 'How does Mrs. Winchester know who you are?'"

"Huh? Where am I?" he asked, more confused than ever.

"On the sofa in the salon where I work!"

"Where you work?" he asked weakly.

"Uh huh. What are you doing here?"

"Ungh… No! You gotta help me get outta here!"

The panic was starting to show again. He tried to sit up. "Oh my head. What happened?"

Samantha looked at him strangely. "You're asking me? Mrs. Winchester comes into the back room and tells me to come out and take care of you and you ask me what happened?"

Jenny approached the two of them. As she neared the sofa, Ernie saw her. His eyes widened in fear.

"Ernie, I don't know what is going on with you," Jenny hissed, her voice barely above a whisper. "But unless you listen and listen good, I think you're going to be a very embarrassed young man. When you were out cold in the mall, the paramedics thought you were a girl. Rather than let you embarrass yourself in front of the crowd out there, I took control of the situation and had them bring you in here. Now, unless you want to be embarrassed further, here is what I suggest you do…"

Ernie was just sitting up…s - l - o - w - l - y… when his mother opened the office door and ushered the paramedic out.

"I really don't think this is a good idea, Ma'am," the paramedic was saying, "we really should take her to the hospital to have her checked out by a doctor."

"I told you, Bob, I will take her to see our family physician directly. Thank you for your concern and have a good day," Jan said with finality.

The paramedic opened his mouth to speak, but seeing the expressions on the faces of Janice and Jennifer, thought better of it. He shook his head and walked slowly out of the salon muttering under his breath.

"Now then," Jennifer began; at the same time, loud protestations could be heard from the front of the store. She never got to finish her thought. "Tch! Oh bother!" she exclaimed and rushed to the front to see what the commotion was this time.

Janice looked at her pale, woozy son. "Are you all right, Honey?" she asked with concern.

Ernie just stared at her, his eyes as big as saucers, a pleading look in them. Samantha turned to her and spoke.

"Mrs. Winchester said we should get 'her' changed now and take 'her' home."

The use of the feminine pronoun was not lost on Jan. She looked at her son and spoke.

"I agree with Jennifer. Let's get you something to wear. You just sit there and don't say a word. We don't need a scene right now. I think there's been enough trouble as it is."

Turning to the teen she said, "Samantha, could you please get an ice pack for Tina? Then, when you're done with that, could you please give me a hand?"

"Of course, Mrs. Wilson," Samantha said with a dazzling smile.

Then, turning to Ernie, she said, "I'll be right back, Honey, don't you move. It'll be okay, I promise. Just trust me, all right?" With that she rushed off in search of an ice pack.

Ernie just sat there holding his throbbing head and stared at the two retreating women in disbelief.

As Jan walked into the main part of the store, she could see Jennifer in a heated discussion with a mall security officer and a local police officer.

"Oh Janice, there you are! Could you please tell these two 'Gentlemen' that Tina is just fine and that she will be accompanying you home?" The 'Battleaxe' had returned.

"Of course, Jennifer," she said.

She turned to the officers and said, "Thank you for your concern, gentlemen, but my daughter will be just fine. She's resting now. As soon as I feel it appropriate, I will take her to my family physician and then home. There really is no reason for you to worry."

"But…" began the policeman.

"Thank you again, gentlemen, for your concern. I hardly think a visit to the hospital is necessary at this time."

"Then she is your daughter, Ma'am?" the policeman asked.

"That is what I said, officer," replied Janice.

"Then I'll need you to sign this report, Ma'am."

"Oh! Of course. Here…where do I sign?"

The officer handed her his clipboard and indicated where she should sign the form.

Jan scanned the form, recognising it as an accident report form. She checked the details and scrawled her signature where indicated.

"Now, is there anything else?" she asked, looking at them both. Seeing them shake their heads negatively, she bid them good day. And finally, they turned and left the store.

Looking at Jennifer, Jan spoke, "Lord above, Jen! What else?"

Jennifer motioned to the displays of clothing with a sweep of her arm. "Now then, where do we start?" she asked, with a sly smile slowly spreading across her face.

Jennifer Winchester turned to Marjorie and said, "Mrs. Wilson will be assisted by Samantha and myself, dear. Please try and run things by yourself for the time being."

She turned to Janice and said, "I have just the thing for Tina. Come on back with me."

With that, the women turned and went back into the salon.

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Continued in Part-4

  

  

  

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