"Ah, good job. I knew I could count on you Jen. Thanks." Devon leaned back and the window slid shut again. Devon looked back to me. "She is the best driver we have. She used to be some kind of presidential security driver and I should just let her do her thing, but I will never get used to the way she insists on driving with that window rolled up. I suppose it makes sense though, she says the action back here is too distracting when she needs to concentrate. Now, where were we? It looks like we still have some time."

I thought for a moment and shifted in my seat to allow Rose to get comfortable. She had settled back down on the seat and was actually asleep in my lap this time. I spoke softly to allow her to sleep. "I kind of lost track too, but I'm curious, what do those people want?"

Devon lit a cigarette and laughed quietly. "Money, power, wealth; they want it all. But from us? They want the power they perceive comes with leading this club. If anyone can be said to lead this thing I'd like to know who it is."

"But why? I mean, it's not like you guys get anything special out of having to organize all of this. Do you?" I wondered suddenly, what kind of hidden perks came with being the leaders of an underground club based on sexuality, trust games and the changing of societal norms.

"What do we get out of it? What, you mean like free sex? Xeno, I thought for sure you wouldn't fall into that trap. Look at yourself, you were invited into the club by a beautiful woman, if and when she is free to give herself to you, you will probably be lucky to be able to get it up after you are done with each other. And that's somehow forgetting all about the beautiful Rose who sleeps so comfortably there in your lap. Do you still think you would need to be in charge of this club just to get laid?" I shook my head mutely. When he put it like that it did sound pretty silly.

"So what do they expect to get out of taking over the club? Power mostly, I guess they are trying to take the leadership from us because it's there. They feel they have to be at the top to be recognized. The sad thing is that we invited them in, and originally enjoyed their company because of the ambition that now drives them to try to pull this whole house of cards down around their ears. They are driven. Some folks who are driven will always try to lead by example and live decent lives. Some will find themselves in positions of power, regardless of how hard they try to stay in the background. Others will try to wrest that power from the existing leaders. That type usually thinks it is theirs by right, and they will feel there is no value in the investment of time that leads naturally to positions of respect and trust."

I nodded. He made a lot of sense, and I saw some of what he was saying in myself. I remembered back in my high school days. I tried to gain popularity by being cooler than the coolest guy there was, tougher and more of a bad ass than the roughest bully, and sexier than the guy who had gone on to model men's underwear. I had realized soon into the game that it just made me look ugly and little minded to those around me. So instead of trying to be more than those around me, I had decided to be me. My life had gotten so much better at that point. Granted it had also gotten harder, but better all the same.

Devon's voice took on a sad note and his face fell. "I had so hoped it would not come to this. I mean, sure, it's kind of fun to watch the people who have royally screwed themselves out of a good time run around and bitch about it. And it's even fun to take a few vicious emails at times, but what do you do when they start getting violent? It's one thing when these twits are potentially learning from their mistakes, but quite another when they use their punishment as an excuse to make more mistakes. Kali warned me that this would happen, and I still don't want to believe her." He brightened visibly. "On the other hand, this does make maturity levels pretty obvious. Well, at least we have our retreat, and we can watch some of the havoc from here instead." Gravel crunched under the tires and the car slowed as we turned a sharp right.

The window rolled down behind Devon's head, and Jen turned to speak. "We made it safe and sound Dev. I lost whoever it was that was following us, but I'd like to take the car back out and see if I can spot them. I'd hate for them to glom onto one of the other less aware drivers and find us." Devon nodded and we piled out of the car. A moment later Jen turned a wide U-turn and disappeared back into the trees.

Rose leaned sleepily on my shoulder and together we looked up at Devon's retreat, and up, and then around behind us. "What the hell?" I muttered, confused. We were looking at a grove of trees. Nothing so impressive as redwoods, but there was something odd about them, there was no house. I kept craning my neck looking for some sign of a forest bungalow, or a cabin, or something. What I saw was actually the head of a massive forest, and a lot of empty space. "Do we have to hike to the house or what Devon?" I had come full circle and was back to staring at the forest. Otherwise, I would have missed it when a door opened in the swollen base of one of the trees. I started and Devon laughed.

"How cool is that? I love this place, it is seriously cool. Come on, let's find you all some place to sleep tonight. We followed, bewildered. A quick survey showed that I was not the only one. Rose was looking around herself with wonder and MD and Krista both looked amazed. When we reached the base of the tree I saw it was the butler from the mansion. I was surprised, but only mildly. His presence was nothing compared to this hide out.

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