Copyright (c) 2016,   madvlad.  ALL Rights Reserved

Date of first publication in Mr Double's Palisade :
Friday, April 22, 2016

This story may be downloaded by Palisade members uniquely for their private use, and 
may not be distributed for profit or posted to newsgroups or other websites.  Mr Double 
may be contacted by emailing mrdouble@mrdouble.com.


A Palisade Author story from MrDouble's archive, 
Filename: bonnieem.txt
http://www.mrdouble.com



story_codes: MMM/g(6) rape; M/gg (11, 6), g/g, cons

story_intro: A porn video shoot in a dank basement is interrupted by a most unlikely person who is out to rescue the video's unwilling 6 year-old star. That the rescuer is a girl of only eleven is just the start of a very strange sequence of events and encounters.




story_language: English



Bonnie Emerges

Written by madvlad


comments_readers: This is a sequel to "Bonnie and the Beast", taking place three years later. Detective Harry Fairborn appeared in "Desperate Measures, Part 2" and "The Girl from the Alley, part 2" - neither of those need to be read to understand this story but they provide a little more character background on him. 

	Rob grunted as he once again worked his prick through the little girl's straining asshole. Her corresponding mewls were higher pitched and rather pitiful - just the way he liked it. So did his business partners and the people who would view the video being made. Steve and Rollie had already buggered her this evening, making the six year-old's rectum nice and squishy from their cum. But she was still snug inside that little rump and every with every push inward, her meaty channel squeezed his tool as he forced it to spread.

	Mandi had been their latest little porn star. Her story was far from unique - Mama was a whore with a taste for the kinds of pharmaceuticals that weren't available at your friendly neighborhood Walgreens. Then again, the neighborhood where she lived couldn't exactly be described as friendly, either. For the past two months, Mandi was taken down to the basement where she spend hours with the three men and their cameras while her mommy floated in a state of chemical bliss on the grimy couch in their apartment upstairs. 

	Poor Mandi, Steve reflected. She was just a little cunt in the wrong place at the wrong time. And things were going to get worse for her. Not "it will get worse before it gets better" - no, it would just get worse. And then...well, she'd have no worries.

	Tears tracked down Mandi's cheeks as the man's hard-on bruised her tender anal tubing. The salty drops rolled over the crusted semen staining her mouth before falling to the floor. Her hands and knees were scraped by the concrete floor as she had been holding the same position for over an hour. Adding to her pain were the twin points of fresh discomfort on her chest. Before the day's activities had begun, Rollie had pierced her tiny nipples with rings thick enough to make them stretch. They were locked in place and now swung back in forth in concert with the sodomizing thrusts she was enduring. It made the bits of flesh stiffen but the metal rubbing her on the inside made her sore. 

	With a satisfied growl, Rob flooded the little girl's ass with hot spunk. Mandi's head flopped down as she felt the shameful, sticky gushing in her violated bottom.

	"Look at that," Rob said smugly after tugging his dick out of her body. 

	He held her small buttocks apart, showing the chaffed, gaping hole of her anus that would take a while to close after three men had been inside. Thick jism oozed from the first grader's hole, spotted with a little blood as none of the men had treated her with any care. 

	Once Rob was done showing off their handiwork for the camera, Steve knelt behind the girl, slipping a circle of chain around her neck. Mandi quaked at the cold kiss of metal but remained still as Steve snapped a leash to it. When he pulled, Mandi felt the chain close around her neck. It was a choker collar meant for dogs.

	Next, Steve took some of the fluid escaping her rear and pushed it into the slit between the twin bulges of smooth little girl flesh between Mandi's legs. Mandi said nothing as the man's finger jabbed the gunk into her mound. She was used to such treatment and knew what to expect next. 

	Despite that piece of sordid knowledge, Mandi couldn't help whimpering when Steve plunged his cock into her cunny. She remembered the first time that had happened - the horrible ripping sensation she thought would mean her death. But she didn't die. Despite the blood that poured from her wounded little snatch and the series of hard pricks that drove in and out between her open legs, she didn't die. And living meant more of the same, now, with added cruelty each time.

	Steve took a few minutes to get his little sex partner's cunt broken in right with savage fucks of his meat. Mandi certainly tightened up between their sessions - both front and back - and Steve and his buddies took professional pride in getting her whore -ready each time. Soon, she'd start taking objects - rather large and nasty ones - in her young holes. That would really damage her but in another month or so it would be over and they would start looking for new talent while her remains settled into the murk of a sewer. 

	It was sort of a shame, really. Mandi was a cute kid with dimples on her chubby cheeks during her rare smiles. They were the sort of smiles that would have gotten her in advertisements or even TV and movies. But it was all for naught as Mandi never smiled in the videos she starred in. 

	Steve was holding her with one hand gripping her hip, his fingers adding to her bruises as they dug into her. With his other hand, he pulled on the leash, slowly tightening it around the girl's neck as he drove his prick in the slippery clutches of her baby cunt. Mandi had become pretty meek but the interrupted supply of air began to make her panic, making her brown, curly locks jiggle. 

	The little girl desperately wriggled as she was savagely fucked, enhancing her rapist's pleasure as her struggles made her twat tunnel flex and press against the stabbing member thrusting inside. Mandi clawed at the collar, unable to relieve its grip as darkness swirled on the edges of her vision. Steve came hard, shooting jets of sperm into the childish organs that were not yet mature enough to use it.

	When he yanked his prick out, Mandi limply fell to the floor, lying on her side as she heaved in lungfuls of musty, life-giving air. The men smirked as they watched her.

	"You can't just give up after one dick on your twat, baby whore," Rollie sneered. "You've got a lot of work left tonight if you're gonna pay for your mama's bag of candy."

	"Maybe you need a stronger girl."

	Startled, the three men spun to see a slight figure in a hooded cloak standing near the corner of the room. The door was on the other side of the room, so how had she gotten in. There was a grate near her right foot that led to some utility access, but it was heavy and rusted - this person couldn't have moved it without them hearing - if it could be moved at all.

	The figure brushed the cloak back, letting it fall to the floor. Revealed to the trio was a slim girl with her reddish brown hair tied in a severe ponytail that extended to her waist. But what really attracted their attention was the black spandex cat suit in which her barely developing figure was encased. There were only small swellings on her chest and the slightest curve to her hips. The material stretched over the mound of her crotch and then men's penises stiffened at what lay beneath. Even the clunky boots looked sexy on her.

	"I don't know where you came from," Steve began as he reached for her. "But we're sure gonna...YAAAIII!"

	The girl grabbed his hand, breaking two fingers as she suddenly twisted it around. Steve fell forward, stopping only when her elbow connected with his nose. Staggering backward, he reached for his bloody face with the hand that now sported two badly crooked digits. 

	When Rob charged at her, she spun around, delivering a roundhouse kick to the side of his jaw. The splintering inside his mouth meant he was suddenly minus two molars.

	Rollie's lunge at the girl ended with him sailing through the air, courtesy of a judo throw. His trip concluded painfully against the wall and the girl stood triumphantly. Her grin froze as the men's anger overrode their injuries and she crouched in a defensive stance.

	Rob picked up a length of discarded pipe, letting one end scrape ominously on the rough floor before raising it in front of him. 

	"Bitch," he growled as he waved the pipe. "I'm gonna bust up some ribs. And after we're done making you a whore, you're gonna learn what this feels like in what's left of your cunt. In fact, we'll...GAK!"

	Steve looked over to Rob to determine what "gak" meant and saw a shadowy figure standing behind his friend with one hand on the back of his neck. Steve was pretty sure the newcomer was a man, but the shape seemed a little....not right. The latest guest launched Rob straight up. It was quite impressive, looking some sort of special effect. When Rob's head connected with the ceiling, Rob said nothing while his cranium made a wet crunching sound. 

	Steve was too stunned to move when he saw the gore atop Rob's shoulders as his friend landed gracelessly in a heap. Then he was grabbed by the attacker. The guy's face didn't look so good - but not nearly as bad as Rob's now was. Then the face was gone and Steve found himself hurtling toward the wall at a very unsafe speed. In his last moment of mortal consciousness, it registered that the sound of his head was remarkably like Rob's had been.

	Rollie decided it was time to leave, but the girl tripped him, sending him face-forward to the floor. She pounced on him, trying to hold fast. Then the odd-looking man plucked her from him and he took hold of Rollie. Rollie's neck turned with an unhealthy snap and the man stood up.

	"Bonnie! What were you doing?" he scolded to the girl.

	"I was rescuing her," the girl replied, pointing to where a wide-eyed Mandi sat.

	"And who was going to rescue you?" the man asked, ignoring Bonnie's gesture.

	"I had everything under control, Eric," the girl retorted sulkily.

	Eric pressed his hands to his temples, shaking his head.

	"You're good," he said. "You're as stealthy as a cat and your martial arts are good - but not enough against three grown men at once."

	"How do you know?"

	"I taught you!" Eric shot back, exasperated. "I..."

	He looked up at the basement ceiling and cocked his asymmetrically shaped head. Bonnie knew his hearing was better than hers - some sort of payback from Nature for all of the other physical misfortunes he had been dealt. Now she acquiesced to his authority.

	"People coming?" she asked.

	Eric nodded and turned to the grate he had opened as skillfully as Bonnie had.

	"Wait! We can't leave her!" Bonnie cried.

	Eric turned and looked at the naked child. Her dark brown eyes locked onto his, seemingly seeking a kind soul behind his twisted features. Eric surveyed the signs of her foul abuse, his rage at the dead men gaining a new life. Of course, violating their corpses with further damage wouldn't accomplish everything. Despite his physical deformities, Eric was a creature of intellect and logic - although Bonnie had been pushing his limits as of late.

	"Is your mommy or daddy somewhere close?" he asked the girl.

	"I don't have a daddy," Mandi explained. "And Mommy is having happy medicine but she gets mad if I bother her now."

	Eric understood the score. Three years earlier, he had rescued Bonnie from imminent death. This girl's death might not be as quick in coming, now. But he and Bonnie may have only forestalled a tragedy. 

	He sighed. It looked like he was going to be adopting - unofficially - again. One of the men's jackets lay discarded on the floor and he used it to wrap Mandi. 

	When some building residents finally ventured down to the basement, all they found were three gory messes and no sign of anyone else.

	Harry Fairborn turned sideways to allow a forensics tech to pass by on the stairs before he proceeded the rest of the way down. The detective could smell the metallic tang of blood mixed with the mushier stench of voided bodies before he saw the corpses. Then he focused on the woman jotting something in a notebook, her brown face set in a scowl.

	Lola Mansfield's cornrow braids may not have been encouraged by the police department, but the brain beneath them was top notch when it came to homicide. Harry knew that from experience from his time working with her in Sex Crimes and then in Homicide. Seven months earlier, he had transferred from Homicide to Burglary & Theft, though. It might not have been a calculated career move, but too many deaths were killing him on the inside and he wanted to still keep his family and sanity intact.

	Two months earlier, an investigation into a home break-in had uncovered a sordid sex ring involving educators and school girls - some in their teens and some much younger. Harry had been the initial investigator who had realized there was more than a stolen car and some valuables involved. Interestingly enough, some of the kids who had been ensnared in the sex ring were still missing, having absconded with the stolen car. 

	Although off the case after it was transferred to Sex Crimes, Harry couldn't let the thought of those young girls go and had kept a cold case file on them. Last month, a lead had come in as the car - with different license plates although the VIN matched - was found just outside of Bozeman, Montana. 

	Shaking his head to clear it, Harry approached his former partner. Lola looked up and gave him a sad smile; she knew the toll that his earlier assignments had taken on him and did not make the decision to call him here lightly.

	"Anything look familiar?" she asked.

	Harry glanced down and to the left where Rollie's face looked blankly at them with his head spun a hundred and eighty degrees from the natural direction.

	"Not him, even with his clothes on backward," Harry said, maintaining some of the old gallows humor that had kept him away from too much of the bottle back in the day.

	"The other two aren't much to look at, either," Lola replied. "In fact, were only tentatively identifying them from the contents in their wallets. Facial recognition won't work - their heads look like they were done by Pablo Picasso."

	Harry regarded one body lying head first (or more like shoulders first) against a wall where the remains of a head was still dripping. The last corpse had gore still plopping from the ceiling above it. He closed his eyes and calmed himself.

	It had been one of those cases that stayed with a cop. Harry had kept his own cold case file on that one, too. But after three years, he had nothing new at all. There were two murders in the building. One was a guy who had butchered in his apartment after trying to screw over a drug distributor. The second was one of the distributor's men. He had been in the basement, smashed by something into a wall. 

	At first, Harry thought he had been smashed repeatedly because of the damage done to the body. But forensics indicated the guy had only been crushed into the wall once. No one was normally that strong but maybe someone hopped up on narcs could have done it. But that didn't jibe with Harry's reasoning. He'd seen what junkies could do when they were whacked out. Had it been the case here, the whole room would have been torn apart. No, this was one hit against the wall - with ungodly force.

	It may have ended there, just a curious case except that the upstairs victim had a daughter who now could not be accounted for. She was only eight years old and the thought was that the other killers might have taken her. But after they were apprehended a week later, there was no evidence they had taken the girl. In fact, they had sworn that the guy found in the basement had taken the girl from the apartment and that was the last they had seen of either one of them.

	Harry opened his eyes, letting them roam over the room; three bodies, a piece of pipe that could have been a weapon yet had no blood on it, and a video camera. He turned to Lola.

	"Anything on the camera?"

	"Yeah, that's what cinched the deal," she replied. "There was a little girl and a lot of big evil - I'll spare you from looking at it - you get the idea."

	Harry nodded, his jaw clenched.

	"We found the mother, we think," Lola went on. "People had seen the victims going in her place on several occasions. But she's no good - in orbit around Mars right now. She was getting drugs while they used her baby girl. But now they're dead - good riddance - and no girl."

	"Missing child, murder through extreme force, in the basement," Harry said woodenly. "Even a grate."

	"Huh?"

	Harry pointed to the utility access grate. Lola shook her head.

	"Way too many places have these to be of interest. Besides, you went into the access corridor, what, three times the last time. Okay, three times officially - I know you went more than that. But you found nothing."

	"Yeah," Harry acknowledged, still unable to shake his instinct that the grate was the key even years later. "So then why did you call me here?"

	Lola sighed, suddenly looking older than her forty-three years.

	"Because I've got my own lost little girl, Harry. And I need any help you can give me I saw what yours did to you - kind of end of the last straw even if you didn't know it right then. And God help me, I've got my own, now."

	They were deep within Eric's underground lair; safe from all kinds of things. With delicate care, Bonnie washed Mandi's body. The little girl whimpered as the older girl parted the lips of her vulva. 

	"Shh," Bonnie whispered. "I'll make it all better."

	Mandi lay dead still while Bonnie cleansed her there and between her buttocks and further on. Eric stood back, nearly mesmerized by Bonnie's intensity and gentleness. Lately, she had seemed so impatient.

	"It hurts here," Mandy complained as she brushed her fingers near one of her pierced nipples.

	Bonnie examined the ring, noting how it seemed to twist together. She didn't want to harm Mandi anymore than the girl had already suffered so she turned to Eric wordlessly.

	Eric opened a drawer in his tool chest, choosing a thin-nosed, heavy gauge wire cutter. When he approached Mandi, he was worried she might be frightened by his appearance now that the initial shock from her ordeal was fading. But she only looked at him curiously.

	Satisfied that Mandi would remain still, Eric cut the rings and crimped one end to remove the sharpness from the cut metal before he threaded the ring out. After he repeated the process, he risked giving her a smile (that could also be unintentionally scary).

	"All done," he announced.

	Mandi eyes him thoughtfully.

	"Are you a goblin?" she asked, matter-of-factly.

	"No," Eric answered, taking no umbrage at the direct and innocent question.

	"Are you a troll?"

	"Nope."

	There was a brief pause. Then, "Are you a hobgoblin?"

	"Uh, uh."

	Mandi clearly wasn't done although she didn't know what to ask him next. Eric made a suggestion.

	"Try asking me if I'm an ogre."

	Mandi shook her head.

	"You're not an ogre. Ogres are green."	

	"Those Shrek movies are making it hard for the rest of us real ogres," Eric grumbled in mock disgust.

	That made Bonnie giggle. Eric liked that - she had been rather surly of late. He missed her laughter.

	Mandi sat up, wincing at the pain still residing in her orifices but fascinated with Eric.

	"You really are an ogre?" she asked in amazement.

	"Well, no. You see, I-"

	"Wow! A real ogre!"

	Eric turned to Bonnie for help, but she was too amused. Mandi yawned.

	"Ogres are nice," she said sleepily. "Just like Shrek."

	Bonnie tucked her in and then sat by the bed, watching the child drift off to sleep. Eric quietly padded away but when he reached the doorway, she spoke.

	"Thanks."

	Eric was touched and thought this was an opportunity to lecture her on the dangers of the "upper world". Then something told him not to screw up the mood and he walked away with only a nod.

	
Mandi stood up in the tub, her bare skin gleaming as the water slid from it. 

	"I want to dress up," she declared as Bonnie reached for a towel.

	"Okay, but don't you think you should be dry first?" the older girl suggested.

	"Yes," Mandi giggled as Bonnie helped her from the tub.

	Mandi had been with Eric and Bonnie for several days now. Despite her recent horrors, the little girl was enthralled to know a "real ogre" and could never get enough stories involving magical creatures and princesses. Last night, Bonnie had suggested that they get Mandi one of those Disney dress-up sets with a wardrobe of princess clothing from various movies. Eric had thought it an excellent idea.

	And then they argued. The tenseness between the two had dissipated with Mandi's arrival but it returned when Bonnie said she would go buy the play set. Eric was adamant that she stay below while he would go, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and loose clothing to help conceal his deformed appearance. 

	For Mandi's sake, Bonnie relented but fumed silently after he left. Although she wouldn't admit it to him, she had been a little worried when her initial attack on Mandi's rapists hadn't been as devastating as she had hoped. But still, she could have beaten them...probably. But going out to buy dress-up clothes for a little kid wasn't like taking on an army. Still, he wouldn't let her go - like she was still that little kid from three years ago who was dependent on him.

	Bonnie felt like she was suffocating. But as she was rubbing Mandi's nude figure with a fluffy towel, she was also feeling curious and rather itchy. On Eric's computer, she had discovered lesbian porn about a year ago and loved to watch it. Her hand usually found its way to her crotch and she concluded her viewing sessions with an orgasm.

	Eric didn't mind at all, encouraging her to explore her own sexuality. (It was a shame he wouldn't let her explore the city, though.) He teasingly asked her if she was now done with cocks and she always enjoyed showing him exactly how much she still loved his member. At least when it came to sex, things were perfect between them.

	Mandi flinched as Bonnie used a little too much pressure while drying her chest.

	"Do you still hurt there?" Bonnie asked, surveying the nipples. 

	"A little," Mandi answered. 

	Bonnie leaned forward and lightly kissed the sensitive pink dots.

	"Did that make it feel better?" she asked.

	Mandi smiled and shivered, giving Bonnie a nod. Displays of affection had been scare for the last few years and she relished the attention she was getting from her new "family". Emboldened, Bonnie picked the girl up and laid her out on the bed and stripped before joining her.

	"I'll make them feel even better," she said huskily as she lowered her mouth to Mandi's chest again.

	The six year-old loved the gentle grip of Bonnie's lips as they pulled at her flesh, the tongue caressing the centers to stiffness. Once she had her fill of that smooth, immature chest, Bonnie slid up, pressing her lips against Mandi's. When she slipped her tongue into the tot's mouth, Mandi did not resist. The smaller girl was mesmerized by the contact, willingly offering her tongue to Bonnie's.

	They kept at it for a while. Bonnie's licks were languid at first, but grew a little more forceful as her arousal boiled. When she lifted her mouth away from Mandi's, their lips made light noises as the seal of saliva broke. 

	Bonnie slid Mandi down until the little girl's face was in front of her freshly sprouting mounds. Without instruction, Mandi understood and opened her mouth. Finding contentment there, she burrowed her face against Bonnie's chest, suckling at the eleven year-old's tiny breast while Bonnie's hands roamed over her body and cupped the pliant buns of her little rump. 

	Noticing movement, Bonnie turned her head to see Eric watching. When he made to leave, she tilted her head in a silent invitation to stay. Although she could have stayed like this for hours, Bonnie wanted to go further. She slid down again with Mandi reluctant to let her tit go free. But the oral hold broke and Bonnie finished moving before she rubbed her nose against Mandi's.

	"Is there any other place I can make you feel better?" she asked. "Any places where they hurt you?"

	When Mandi shook her head, Bonnie pressed two fingers against the little girl's bald mound. Rubbing her there, Bonnie repeated the question.

	"Um, I think my kitty still hurts a little," Mandi said, understanding that something good was going to happen although she didn't know any details.

	Hearing what she wanted, Bonnie positioned herself and Mandi before pushing the younger girl's legs apart. Despite the repeated rapes, the first grader's puffy little twat looked sweet and innocent. Sucking noisily at the tender flesh, Bonnie slathered the hairless surface with spit while Mandi breathed heavily.

	Bonnie lifted her head and used her fingers to pull the child's cunny lips wide. The delicate frame of Mandi's inner labia showed the glistening interior of her sex and Bonnie dove in for the feast of little girl meat. While Mandi squirmed and mewled, her tiny pussy basted itself with Bonnie drinking the drippings. She grasped at Bonnie's head, humping upward with her little hips and whining needfully. Then she jerked, her eyes widening while a high-pitched exclamation escaped her gaping mouth. 

	Bonnie's mouth smacked lustily as she polished off the orgasming six year-old. Noticing the bulge in Eric's pants, Bonnie got up to her knees and seductively beckoned him to the bed.

	"Mandi," she said to the other girl. "We're going to do something nice. I know those men hurt you, but Eric's not like them and he makes me feel good."

	Mandi blinked as Eric removed his clothing. His penis was erect but wasn't as long or as thick as the bad men who had hurt her. And it looked sort of like the rest of him - a little twisted in the flesh. At the bottom were small lumps of flesh; extra material that the fates had deposited there. 

	"I'll be on top so she can see," Bonnie whispered.

	Mandi did see; her young eyes large as Eric's erection disappeared between the smooth lips of Bonnie's prepubescent sex. Aroused from her oral loving with Mandi, Bonnie easily sank down on her protector and lover, the gnarled flesh exciting her as it filled her slick, eager channel. Eric's hands found Bonnie's diminutive breasts, squeezing them just the way she loved as she rode his cock. Her sleek young body churned and her snatch grappled at his member as it ground against her sensitive lining. 

	As they had done so often, they came together. Bonnie's back arched, pushing her new tits against Eric's fingers as his semen thundered into her barely developing organs. When Bonnie opened her eyes, she saw Mandi staring at them while one tiny finger was stuck into her hairless slit. 

	Another of Eric's blessings that countered his other misfortunes was his quickly returning stamina. But Bonnie pulled off of him, bringing Mandi to him instead. Eric was about to protest, worried about frightening Mandi, when Bonnie spoke to the girl.

	"He won't hurt you. He'll make you feel like I made you feel."

	Mandi may not have been completely convinced, but she allowed Bonnie to lift her above the purple head of Eric's dick which was still lubricated from Bonnie's cunt. But when Bonnie lowered her down, Mandi suddenly clapped a protective hand over her quim. Eric responded by lightly taking her wrist. He didn't pull her hand away, only stared at her calmly. 

	Mandi swallowed hard and Eric let go of her wrist. Then Mandi removed her hand and allowed herself to be penetrated. The first grader's steamy little twat engulfed the deformed prick, stretching enough for Eric to enter her fully. The snug fit against Mandi's taut cunny tubing meant that the uneven flesh of Eric's penis rubbed her even harder. Mandi gasped and her hairless pussy gurgled thickly as it was skewered. 

	With Bonnie and Eric both holding her, Mandi was raised and lowered on the cock, making her moan weakly as her little body was pounded by waves of sensual heat. Her second orgasm lasted longer, punctuated at the end with heavy ropes of sperm-filled liquid that filled her tiny womb.

	Lost in the sensations of her climax, Mandi was disoriented until she found herself on her back again while Bonnie's tongue was cleaning between her legs. Looking over at her Disney playset, the six year-old wondered about the magic that princesses enjoyed in their castles.

	Mandi lay cuddled against Eric as the two of them slept. Slipping out of bed, Bonnie regarded them for a moment, feeling wistful. Quietly, she dressed in jeans and a t-shirt before slipping away. She needed time for herself - to show Eric she didn't need him to protect her. She wouldn't stay away forever, just long enough to prove herself. And she would do it by leaving the underground world at the same place where she had entered it.

	Harry hadn't been here for over a year. He left the lights off and sat down on the floor to ponder once again a case that he could not let go of - or would not let go of him. His wife had understood when he said he would miss dinner with the family but she sounded worried. She knew him all too well, he admitted. 

	The grate shifted with only a whisper. Harry couldn't see it in the darkness but could hear it. Whoever was doing it was very skilled. There was movement and the same whisper again as the grate slid back into place. Harry closed his fingers around the metal of the D-Cell Mag Light resting on the floor, letting his hearing focus on the slight sounds.

	Aiming the light, he thumbed it on, surprising the small, lithe figure he captured in the beam. Harry was confused, not expecting a mere girl. Then his detective's mind noted the hair color and the facial features, melting three years from them until he saw in his mind the school photograph that had haunted him all this time.

	"Bonnie Chartrand," he whispered.

	Bonnie looked like she was about to bolt.

	"W-who are you?" she asked.

	"The one who's been looking for you these last three years. The one who's been worried about you."

	"No one worries about me," she snapped. "Not here in the upper world."

	Upper world? Harry thought. Had she been down there... wherever it led...all this time?

	"At least one did," he said. "Here."

	He placed the flashlight on its end, removing the blinding glare from Bonnie's face and somewhat illuminating the basement where Eric had rescued her before.

	Bonnie looked at him, seeing a man with glasses and thinning hair who looked ridiculous sitting on the floor in his suit.

	"Who are you?" she asked.

	"I'm a cop. A detective."

	"Are you going to arrest me?"

	"What? No. I'm here to help you."

	"How?"

	The single word floored Harry. How would he help her? She was an orphan and would become a ward of the state. At age eleven, with a past that, well, would be unique, where would she fit in? All of this time, he had obsessed with finding her but had never dwelled upon what would come after. But at least she was alive.

	"I don't need anyone's help," the girl declared.

	"Yes you do."

	Harry was surprised by the echo in his voice for a split second until he realized that someone else had spoken at the same words at the same time he did. That same someone else had silently come through the grate (how the hell did that work - the damned thing was heavy!). Harry was reminded of the Hunchback of Notre Dame with a few extra twists added and the hump in the back missing. 

	"Eric!" Bonnie hissed. "You followed me!"

	"For good reason."

	"No! I can be by myself for a while. In the upper world."

	"Unthinkable. You're a child."

	"Child? I'm eleven years old!"

	The recurring confrontation was about to bubble over before it was doused by Harry's laughter. Eric and Bonnie turned to look at him.

	"I take it you are her guardian?" Harry asked Eric. 

	"Yes," Eric replied cautiously. "I'm the one who saved her."

	Harry remembered the body of the man who had been found here and mentally calculated the distance between the newcomer and himself. The weight of the pistol in his shoulder holster was there but he was hoping it would remain there.

	"Yes, you saved me," Bonnie said. "But can't you let me go now? You've got another little girl, now. You can take care of her."

	"That's why you tried to save Mandi?" Eric asked.

	Harry's pulse quickened. Mandi - from a few days ago? What had he stumbled onto? All he meant to do was to come here and think and suddenly the keys to all kinds of mysteries were falling into his lap. He marveled at that while Eric and Bonnie kept arguing. When he resumed listening, Harry chuckled.

	"What is so funny?" Eric demanded.

	"Yeah, what?" Bonnie added.

	Harry shrugged.

	"It is funny when I'm on the outside of the argument for a change," he explained. "Bonnie already stated the root cause of your problems. She's eleven years old now."

	That earned him a glare from Bonnie and a look of hopeless confusion from Eric.

	"The wife and I have four kids. The oldest two are boys. They were relatively easy when they got that age. Maybe it was easier to ease on the reigns and the protection because they were guys. But our oldest daughter, Melissa, is twelve, and we had the same arguments that started about a year ago. She was becoming a young lady but was still our little girl."

	"I'm not a little girl, anymore," Bonnie grumbled.

	"No, not quite so little," Harry agreed. "But to him," he pointed to Eric. "You'll always be his little girl. My wife is forty and she is still her dad's little girl. He's an ex-Marine gunnery sergeant and he still threatens me with some rather unique revenge if I ever do his little girl any wrong."

	"That's not fair," Bonnie groused.

	"No, that's love and men will always feel protective - at least the ones worth a damn. But we also have to learn to let go."

	"So did you and your wife fix things with your daughter?" Eric asked.

	"Sort of," Harry admitted. "There's no magic solution. Just mutual trust and respect - that means it goes both ways. We all know there's nothing perfect, but we try our best and try not to overreact. Emily's our youngest - she's eight. Maybe we'll have it practiced better when she gets older."

	Harry continued, trying to explain it better as Eric and Bonnie peppered him with questions. It was only later that he wondered just how he wound up being a family counselor. Then again, this was a night of the unexpected. 

	"Okay," Eric conceded. "You can go further out, Bonnie. But you have to let me know where you will be in case there is trouble."

	"Uh huh," Bonnie said quietly. "But you can't sneak around and follow me. I hate that."

	"Agreed."

	"Hello?" came a small voice from beyond the grate.

	Eric and Bonnie stared at each other in disbelief.

	"Hello?" the voice called again. "I can hear you. Where are you?"

	"She snuck out and followed me," Eric muttered. "I never even heard a thing."

	"See what I mean?' Bonnie snorted. 

	"Who's that?" Harry asked, his suspicion growing.

	"It's a girl named Mandi," Bonnie said. "Um, we..."

	"I think I know the rest," Harry cut in with a wave of his hand.

	"I'll get her," Eric grumbled, hopping lightly through the hole the grate had covered. 

	Harry was impressed with his agility and then Eric reappeared with a little girl wearing a light blue dress. Harry recognized it as one of those princesses from "Frozen". Then that damned song started in his head. His dear, sweet Emily had scarred his brain for life after playing it for at least four hundred thousand times by his count.

	Bonnie came over and hugged Mandi and then sat beside Eric as he sat with the little girl in his lap. Mandi looked at Harry, unsure of his purpose but felt safe with Eric and Bonnie when Harry spoke to her.

	"Hi, Mandi."

	"Hi," she answered brightly. "Bonnie is my mommy and Eric is my daddy now. Eric is an ogre but he's not green like Shrek."

	"He also doesn't hang around with donkeys," Harry noted, scoring approval points from Mandi for his Shrekian knowledge.

	"I'm a princess!" Mandi declared, patting her pretty costume dress.

	"So now what?" Eric asked, tensing as he regarded Harry.

	Harry stared at the two missing girls and weighed their futures. Bonnie had no family but would not be easy to place for adoption at her age. And her unorthodox upbringing would not help her adjust. There were some damned good foster parents out there and some very fine people in Children's Services - he had recent proof of that a month ago with two little girls who had been taken by a crooked detective. But what were Bonnie's chances?

	Mandi would have it worse. Her mother was still around and he had seen the pattern play out before. Mama would lose custody and go into rehab while some good foster parents got the kid somewhat healed from living with her mother. Than Mama would be "cured" and the system would quickly put Mandi back with her, declaring their work a "success" while Mama happily took her little girl - and the corresponding welfare support - back into her home. 

	In six months or less, Mama would be neck deep in drugs and probably pimp her daughter out again. Everything would repeat until the bureaucrats and some shithead of a judge declared yet another success. A childhood of these successes would likely have Mandi addicted and pregnant by the time she was fifteen or sixteen.

	But here she was now, being a princess. Had she ever been made to feel like one before? The detective was pretty damned sure he knew the answer to that one.

	Harry stood up. 

	"So here's the 'now what'," he said as he stretched a kink in his back. "It's getting late and I need to finish some paperwork in the office. And it's almost bedtime for little princesses. Good night."

	Eric and Bonnie stared as the detective left without another word. Moments later, the grate settled into place, leaving the basement empty. Farther below, Mandi happily held hands with her two "parents" as they returned home.

	The Bonnie file had been part of his life for three years. Now Harry tossed it in the wastebasket without another thought. One other, more recent file remained open on his desk - those four girls who had gone missing after stealing that principal's car. Having the file had been a risk as some cover-ups were done at higher levels above the police department, but Harry wasn't going to be cowed. 

	Now he focused on the two sisters - the youngest of the group. Ashley was eleven and Carly only six - Mandi's age. Harry remembered finding the bed in the basement of the principal's house - the one with the shackles and the sticky sheets. Carly's tiny panties had been underneath the bed. Their mother was still around and he could see the same vicious cycle for them that Mandi would have been subjected to.

	His eyes flicked to the computer monitor where an e-mail gave the Montana address of one of the other girl's aunts. The woman was some sort of New Age hippie type - just the sort to take in a quartet of girls on the run. It would be worth checking out if someone had his information.

	The file landed on top of Bonnie's in his wastebasket just before the Montana e-mail was deleted. There was still the matter of letting Lola know that somehow he had information that Mandi would be okay. He owed his former partner that much - and wanted to spare her his years of torment. But he was mentally exhausted and only had one good idea left in him tonight.

	Harry got up and called his wife. She laughed at his suggestion and shortly thereafter he could hear Emily squealing in the background at her mother's announcement that Daddy would be coming home to take them all out for an ice cream sundae run that would extend past her bedtime. 

	He walked away from his desk and the wastebasket that the janitor would have empty by morning.



madvlad@mrdouble.com
http://www.mrdouble.bz/htm/authors/madvlad.htm























This story is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.


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