The Island

[Quadhouse]

CHAPTER 1

Lorie didn’t know how she got into this position. Try as she might, nothing made sense to her. She was just an unknown reporter for a small newspaper in a small town. Just how did she get an interview with one of the wealthiest men in the world? And exclusive interview! Everybody at the paper wanted to know how she did it. Even the chief editor, Thomas Meadows, wanted to know. She didn’t tell them anything. How could she, when even she didn’t know how she did it. It was only later that she found out how she got the interview.

She got it by being Jonathan Bellsworth’s high school classmate.

Lorie barely remembered the name. She had to go home and open her high school yearbooks to get a reminder. Even then, she didn’t recognize the name. She didn’t even recognize the face. They didn’t share the same social circles. They didn’t have any classes together. Nor did they share the same clubs. So, how did he know who she was? And why did he choose her to interview him? Those would be the first questions she asked him when she saw him. Until then, she would try to relax.

She looked around. Lorie was sitting in the main room of a very large yacht. She didn’t what type only that it was big and expensive. The room was tastefully decorated. The furniture looked expensive without being tacky. And, even though she was sitting by a window, nobody was sitting with her. It may have been the fact that she was the only normal looking person in the room. Scattered among the furniture, Lorie could see a tiger woman and her child, three fox people, a couple of bears, and six wolves. Only the child returned her smile. The others gave her looks of suspicion. She didn’t blame them. The public did not accept their choices. Mostly because of biased reporters.

With a sigh, Lorie turned back to the window. She started reviewing what she knew about Jonathan Bellsworth. By this point, she didn’t need her notes. Which was a good thing as she had left them in her room. Jonathan was born to Larry and Miriam Bellsworth. He was homeschooled until he was 16. His grandfather, Tobias Bellsworth a lawyer, had him emancipated at 14. They lived together until the grandfather died 2 years later. He started attending high school as a last request from his grandfather. By this time, Jonathan had several PhDs added to his name and several very lucrative patents. He was well past the high school level. Lorie thought the only reason the school even let him attend was because of all the buildings there were donated while Jonathan was there.

While he was at the school, Jonathan kept to himself. He did not try to make any friends and all that tried to be friendly to him, failed. It may be because they all were trying to get close to him because he was rich. Jonathan did not like suck-ups. Eventually, he allowed a few students to stay around him. They were mostly outcasts from the various groups in school. The ones who didn’t care about what you did or didn’t have but cared about who you were.

Jonathan also started a business while he was in school. Through his grandfather and other intermediaries, Jonathan was able to start a thriving genetic alterations business. At first, only the porn industry was interested. Nobody else was willing to believe he could do what he claimed. And even the porn industry wanted proof. He gave them proof.

Two young porn actors, Stacy Lidecker and Marvin Stucker, were his proof. Before he worked on her, Stacy wore a 34 B-cup bra. After he was done, she had a 74-inch bust. She still needed a 34-inch bra band, but nobody made cups big enough for her. Marvin grew an 18-inch penis. Both actors became very well known in the porn industry after that. The other actors beat a path to Jonathan’s door. It wasn’t too much longer that he branched out into the field of cosmetic surgery. It was there that he proved that he could do more than make penises and breast larger. He could also change the color of one’s hair and eyes. He could also darken skin color. Huge numbers of people availed themselves to his work. Even after he admitted that the changes in size were permanent.

It was the changes he made in the cosmetic surgery industry that kickstarted Jonathan’s fortune. With the money, he started a private project. Nobody knew what it was, but they knew that it was massive. He also began other businesses. Some of which were extensions of his original business. All, though, were related to his beginnings in cosmetic surgery. Now that she thought about it, Lorie believed that his private project went up too fast. Either he had started earlier than he said, or more resources had been put into it. She might just ask about that when she interviewed him. She dozed off before she could decide if she should ask him or not.

* *

Slowly Lorie became aware that something was staring at her. She had her eyes closed because she had been asleep, but now she was awake. She decided to keep her eyes closed and her breathing steady. She wanted to know if whoever it was would go away if she just lay there. It was boring just watching somebody sleep. After a minute or two, she realized that they weren’t going away. She opened her eyes to see who was staring at her. She screamed.

In front of her was a tiger. Lorie jerked her head back. There was a loud crack as her head smacked into the wall behind her. She grabbed her head as stars exploded in her vision. As she curled up in pain, she was vaguely aware of excited voices surrounding her. Slowly the stars and the throbbing in her head faded.

“Are you alright,” she heard as she started to straighten out.

“Yes,” Lorie shakily answered. “It’s not the first time I banged my head.”

“Good,” the voice answered. “Unfortunately, I’m going to ask you to stay in your room for the rest of the trip.”

Lorie was shocked. “Why?” she cried as she opened her eyes. She found herself staring at the ship’s first-mate. He had the features of a walrus. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You’re causing a disturbance,” the first-mate said. “We hold the right to put anybody who is causing a disturbance in seclusion. If you don’t like it, we could put you in the brig.”

“Now hold on just a minute,” a feminine voice growled. Both Lorie and the first-mate turned toward the speaker. It was the tiger woman. She was glaring at the first-mate.

“It was my daughter, Crystal, who caused all this,” she continued. “All this woman was doing was sleeping. Crystal was curious about her and snuck over to look at her. By the time I noticed she was gone, it was too late. The woman woke and found herself nose to nose with Crystal.”

“So, waking up and finding herself face to face with a little girl was enough to make her scream,” the first-mate asked suspiciously. Lorie could tell he wanted her to be at fault. Why, she could not guess. She had been nothing but polite the whole trip.

“No,” the tiger said with an eye roll. “Waking up face to face with a tiger was enough to make her scream. Wouldn’t you?” The tiger woman opened her purse and showed the first-mate something. “Now, I know you want to keep the peace, but you didn’t even ask anybody what happened. I’d hate for word of your behavior to get out.”

The first-mate swallowed. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “I just over reacted. Stress, you know.” With that, he turned and walked away. Whatever that woman showed him was effective.

“Thank you,” Lorie told the woman.

“Don’t mention it,” the woman replied. “If Crystal hadn’t scared you, this wouldn’t have happened.” She held out her hand. “My name’s Sarah. And you’ve already met Crystal.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Lorie answered as she shook Sarah’s hand. “My name is Lorie. . .”

“Lorie Riverton,” interrupted Sarah. “We all know who you are.”

“How,” asked Lorie. “I know I’m not a famous reporter. So how do you know my name?”

Sarah sighed. “Reporters don’t’ have a good reputation here, as you well know.” Lorie nodded. “Well, when we heard that Mr. Bellsworth actually invited a reporter here, we were a bit, peeved.”

“So, you researched me,” Lorie stated. “I’d do that in your place.”

“Exactly. A lot of people are upset that you’re here. They’ll put anything you do in as negative light as they can.”

“Great,” Lorie said as she sat down. “Any idea on how I can change that?”

“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” Sarah replied. “The ones who actually talk with you will know that you’re a kind woman. You can’t help those who’ll judge you without meeting you.”

Lorie closed her eyes with a groan. “How am I going to interview Jonathan without everybody thinking I’m going to twist his words?”

“Maybe if you interview others,” suggested Sarah. “That could help.”

“Only on the island itself,” Lorie firmly said. “And only after they give me their permission. Anything else wouldn’t be right.”

“Keep that attitude,” Sarah said. “That will help things.” Just like that, the two women started chatting.

As they chatted, Lorie kept an eye on the other passengers. Now that she was watching them, she could tell that they were tense around her. That tension eased as they continued to talk. Sooner than she expected, the trip came to an end. She and Sarah went to their respective rooms the gather their bags. Lorie took her time as Sarah had given her some good ideas to think about. She even volunteered herself for an interview. Lorie wanted to take Sarah’s interview, but she wasn’t sure what her schedule would be. When she admitted this to Sarah, she was told to give her a call if she had the time to take her interview.

As Lorie had taken her time, she was one of the last to disembark. She was surprised to find that Sarah and Crystal were waiting for her. “You didn’t have to wait for me,” she said.

“I wanted to,” Sarah said. “Besides, Crystal has something she wants to say.” She nudged her daughter forward.

Crystal stepped forward a couple of steps with her head down. After a moment, she raised her head and looked at Lorie. “I’m sorry for scarring you,” she softly said. “I didn’t mean to. I was just curious.”

“That’s alright, sweetie,” Lorie replied. She really couldn’t stay angry at such a cute face. “Just remember, you shouldn’t get so close to a sleeping person. You never know how they’ll wake up.”

“That is something you really should remember,” Sarah told her daughter. “Not too many people react well to having a tiger in their face when they wake up.” Crystal only hid behind her mother. “Kids.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Lorie said. “I don’t have any at this time. I may have some in the future. If I find the right guy, that is.”

“I hope you find him.” Sarah looked at Lorie’s 3 pieces of luggage. “Is that all your bags,” she asked. She continued when Lorie nodded. “Well, throw them on my cart. I can’t believe they didn’t offer you anything to carry them with.”

Lorie shrugged as she put her bags on Sarah’s cart. “I sort of expected it,” she said. She agreed with Sarah, but she didn’t want to get anybody in trouble. “You know reporters aren’t the most liked people around here.”

“While that is true,” Sarah said as they started walking towards the admittance center. “That’s still not an excuse. Common curtesy and professionalism are things you know!”

“If you feel that strongly about it, the report it. I don’t care either way.”

“You bet I will,” Sarah all but yelled. “You may be a reporter, but you were invited here by Mr. Bellsworth himself. That alone should have told them you were different. Besides, anybody who actually spent time around you would have noticed the same thing.”

“Ahem.”

Sarah’s and Lorie’s heads snapped around to look at the person who just grabbed their attention. Both women gasped at the site. Although, for different reasons. Sarah gasped because she recognized the female standing there. Lorie gasped because she found herself face to face with the largest pair of breasts she had ever seen.