Read Cat People for Free Online Page B

dress across the back of the chair Ruthie saw the bulge of a wallet in the back pocket of the man's folded pants. With a glance at the still-closed bathroom door, she slipped it out deftly and opened it up as she continued to talk.
    "For the straight massage you get ten minutes. The extras depend on how complicated you want to get."
    The wallet contained a thick, unorganized sheaf of bills. Oddly, there was no identification. What the hell, it was fine with her if the guy wanted to travel incognito. She slipped out a twenty-dollar bill and tucked it into her purse, then replaced the wallet.
    "We honor all the major credit cards—Visa, Master Card, American Express, but they're good for the massage only."
    She heard a soft scraping sound and quickly smoothed out the man's pants where they lay.
    "Tips are strictly on a cash basis."
    She unhooked her bra and draped it over the top of her dress. Watching herself in the mirror, Ruthie moved her shoulders to make her breasts swing. Recently she had been thinking about getting silicon implants. They said the process was perfectly safe now. It could be done in the doctor's office. Ruthie studied herself critically and decided the boobs were still plenty good. Time enough to think about implants later.
    She sat down on the bed and ran her hands down along her legs. They were her best feature. Her thighs felt warm and resilient under the black nylon stockings. She would leave the stockings and the garter belt on for now. A lot of men found that a turn-on.
    She stood up and patted her stomach. A little rounder than she would have liked, but firm.
    "Come on out, honey," she called. "We've already used up five minutes of your time."
    She started to peel the blanket back off the bed, but stopped when her fingers touched something cold and moist. She straightened a fold in the blanket to look more closely and uncovered a lump of pinkish membrane, something like a piece of uncooked chicken flesh.
    Yuck, was this guy going to turn out to be a weirdo? She prodded the lump with a stiff forefinger and shuddered at the slimy feel of it. What the fuck did the guy have in mind? She moved the thing, and beneath it was a pool of bloody mucus. A trail of the stuff, like some obscene snail track, led-across the blanket and dripped down into a shiny clot on the floor.
    Disgusted yet fascinated, Ruthie leaned down to look at the mess. Something else was down there. Thick and dark, looking like a length of wet black rope, it stuck out from under the bed.
    Right then Ruthie decided that whatever this guy wanted, he wasn't going to get it from her. She nudged the black rope with her foot.
    It moved.
    Ruthie sprang off the bed as though it were electrified. She stared at the wet black thing that now flicked slowly back and forth.
    Something in the room growled.
    "Jesus and Mary!"
    Ruthie began snatching up her clothes as the growl came again, deep and menacing.
    The narrow bed shuddered and began to tilt as though something under it were trying to stand up. Something huge and powerful.
    Whimpering, Ruthie forgot about her clothes and made a dash for the door. She had her hand on the knob when the bed went over with a crash.
    "Oh my God, my God!"
    Something grabbed her stockinged foot and pulled her back into the room.
    Ruthie screamed in pain and terror. Don't look back at it, she told herself, or it will never let you go. She lunged for the door, with her foot still held fast. She caught hold of the slippery doorknob and fought to make it turn. There was the crunch of bone and a pop as her Achilles tendon gave way under the growling assault of the thing that held her.
    At last the doorknob turned in her hand. The door swung open and Ruthie stumbled through it. In the hallway she almost fell into the arms of a frightened Eddie Mays. She slammed the door behind her. Something heavy thumped against it from the other side. There was a growl that rose to a roar of fury.
    "What the fuck—" Eddie began.
    "Get me