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Cupid's Breath

By S. P. Riley

When I first got into politics everyone seemed to latch on to my minor in chemistry. At first I didn't know why, but then I met the Attorney General and he got me a job in the drug enforcement division. I work at deciding if a drug is to be a controlled substance or not. In short I pass a paper on to my boss, he signs it, and the drug is considered a controlled substance. I have yet to find any significant drug to pass on. Mostly pharmaceutical companies will ship their patens on to me, and I check them over and pass them on, but mostly there has been nothing to note. Some use of those three years of chemistry classes. That is until that fateful day when I got the call.

"Have you ever heard of something called Cupid's Breath?" Sheriff Hampton asked over the phone.

I sat behind me desk, in my suit and tie digging out an old dusty book. Most of the time a drug's street name is well known, but I had never heard of anything-called cupid's breath, and figured it was an old name. "I have Dragon's Breath and Death's Breath and Mud Breath, but no Cupid's Breath," I replied to the officer. "What is it?"

"Well we're not sure. It's some type of liquid, that when someone takes it, anyone who hears his or her voice will become almost addicted to it."

"No, I have never heard of this," I said already pulling up a flight registration page, "I'll come out there right away to check it out." I finally get to go out to the field. I had not seen a lab for two years, and felt that I was getting soft. Sure I'm only thirty years old, and still a single guy, but I'm always focused on getting a good job. Now that I have one I want something more. Most people would go for a wife at this time in their life, but I just haven't found the right woman. So I have to keep occupied with my job and a trip out to Wyoming is as good as any. I cleared it with my bosses, and they bid be a good trip. I check with my neighbor to make sure that he would water my plants while I was away. A five-minute packing and I was off to the airport.

Wyoming is a very odd state. From the air I could see that half the state was flat and the rest was mountain. I thought that it was like sandpaper one side was smooth and the other side was ruff. I landed in Sweetwater county or more precisely just outside of Rock Springs. I pulled my rental just outside the sheriff's office and went inside.

"High I'm Otto Campbell," I said extending my hand to the deputy behind the desk.

"And that would mean what?" he said with the IQ points of a tick and not taking my hand.

"I'm from the attorney general's office in Washington."

"DC?"

I smiled at his inferior mind, "yes DC, Washington DC."

"Well why you here?" said this dumb man who I swear I could see him spitting on the floor if he had any chew in his mouth.

"Officer Hampton called me," I said.

"Well why didn't you say so," said the simple man and then turned around to the office, "hey Joe! You got a visitor."

Joe Hampton was not quite what I would call a sheriff. He was short and thin with a round head and dark brown almost black eyes. The gun on his hip seemed too large for his body. His brown hair was worn long, but not to the point that it would look odd. The uniform that he wore looked even too small for his little body. "Otto Campbell?" Joe asked extending a hand.

"Yes and you must be Sheriff Hampton," I said with respect pumping his hand. Just because he has to work with dumb people doesn't mean he is one.

"Call me Joe. Please follow me to my office," Joe said leading me into the body of the department.

The office was quiet and had with soft lights and wood furniture it gave a less harsh look to it. The walls were painted a drab brown that gave the look of wood, and the walls held prints of Monét and Norman Rockwell. "Nice office," I said.

"Thanks I hate the color white," Joe said taking his seat. He handed me the arrest files of everyone suffering from the effects of Cupid's Breath, and the laboratory results of what it is. Joe pulled up an evidence paper bag and placed it on the uncluttered desk. "This is what I called you about," Joe said pulling out an eyedropper. "We have been having a bitch of a time with this stuff. Please excuse my language but when you have something this dangerous you'd understand."

"You said that someone would be addicted to the voice of whoever used this stuff," I said taking the bottle from Joe.

"More or less," Joe said. I unscrewed the cap and was about to take a whiff of it. The smell was like vomit and vinegar with car exhaust mixed together, and I quickly moved my head away to just put some distance from the smell. "Ha that was my reaction," Joe said. "We know of seven different people who have used this stuff and the people they have spoken with have in effect become slaves to the users."

I put the cap back on and said, "So the drug itself is not addictive but the second hand effect is? This is quite an odd drug."

"It's also not pretty to watch someone go though withdrawal," Joe said putting the eyedropper back in the bag. "Do you want to see one?"

The holding cell was in effect a hole in the wall with bars. The wall just seemed to have a large rectangle hole, where there was a woman wearing only a shredded T-shirt that didn't quite cover her up. She was literally bouncing off the walls. "I need it! Give it too me! I need it! I have to have it!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Her blond hair was long and flipping all over her moving head, as she seemed to try and get through the bars. Her late teenager body was well proportioned and her breasts would eventually become quite large.

"This is Kimberly Smith and she is the latest woman to be effected by Cupid's Breath," Joe said leading me to the woman.

At the sound of the word Cupid's Breath Kim perked up, "Cupid's Breath you've got Cupid's Breath. Please use some on me. Please I need it. I wouldn't be taking it, you would. Please I don't want this pain anymore." Kim shrank down to the floor and started to cry.

I looked at Joe and he explained. "As soon as someone hears a person using Cupid's Breath he or she will do whatever they are told. Kim here was told to go to the city government building and masturbate to orgasm twenty times. But you see the down side. Once they follow the orders they have been given he or she will loose all control or should I say want to give up control. They don't want to live with the need to make decisions. I think that it is psychological." I agreed. "Kim here was exposed to her command about twenty-four hours ago, and I would say that by now she has maybe six hours left until she is fully recovered. The hospital didn't have much to go on. Past victims' blood work is clean and brain activity didn't show any signs of abnormality, so we don't have much to go on."

"Kim," I said hunching down to be close to the woman on the floor. She didn't look up but I continued talking, "Who used Cupid's Breath on you?"

Kim looked up and her eyes were blue and filled with tears, "I can't remember I just remember that I wanted to do what he said. It seemed perfectly natural to go to the city building and play with myself. I don't know why I even wanted to do that, but it felt so good not to have to think anymore. Do you have any Cupid's Breath? Could you just say one word? I'm a good fuck, you could ride me as long as you like, or I could do all the work and you could just lie there? Please I need it?"

"Otto," Joe said motioning me over away from Kim. "This is normal, a person will beg and then they will cry some more and then they will come out of it. From what we can tell after a person is exposed to the secondary effect of Cupid's Breath they will follow the commands of the user for about thirty hours after exposure to have the drug run its course."

"How do you know that they will follow any command for thirty hours after exposure?" I asked just to confirm my suspicion.

Joe took a deep breath and then said, "We had a person in a cell and they were at the point that Kim here was. Someone calling saying he was a relative to her. We gave that person the phone hoping that it would calm her down and she started to masturbate and did so for five hours until the drug wore off."

"And since the person who took the phone call wasn't effected then you figure that the secondary effect lasts for thirty hours," I said to Joe's nodding head.

We retired to Joe's office to go over the arrest reports of the people affect by Cupid's Breath when the Deputy came in. "Joe we got a call in about someone who had Cupid's Breath used on 'em," said the slack jawed man who first greeted me.

"Thanks Darrel," Joe said taking the slip of paper from Darrel. "John Harris as it the mayor Harris?"

Darrel shrugged and Joe quickly got his coat on, "You want to see this?"

"You bet I do," I said also getting on my coat. As soon as we were in Joe's squad car and he whispered, "you just knew his name was Darrel."

The Mayor Harris's house was not small; three stories if you count the windows out of the attic. The white exterior was illuminated red and blue by the flashing lights. Joe ushered me past the local police department and I got a good view of a sight that will got get out of my head no mater how hard I try.

On the bed of a very female teenage room laid a girl who was in all honesty quite pretty, if she wasn't doing things that others weren't suppose to see. Her hair was in two pigtails, and her T-shirt was white with a print on it, but that was all that was normal about her. Her eyes were rolled back in her head and her mouth was open in a long gasping moan. Her pants and panties were nowhere to be seen, but to be seen was her womanhood, a carrot. The carrot couldn't have been that large, but it had to be buried deep inside her because just a small part of the end was still visible. I quickly averted my eyes as soon as I saw this, but in that split second it was like a painting in my mind. For some reason I kept thinking of my niece one day being affect by Cupid's Breath and I couldn't let that happen. I told Joe that I didn't belong there and would try to interview her tomorrow, and Joe arranged for me to be taken to a local motel. I checked in and called the office.

"Attorney General's office Controlled Substances division Amy speaking," said my co-worker over the phone.

"Amy it's me, Otto," I said.

"Otto how's the trip?"

"Sick and disturbed, listen I need you to do some research for me. Can you look up all the chemical processing plants in or around Rock Springs."

"Sure but it may take a while," Amy said and I could hear her starting to click on her computer.

"That's fine I have arrest reports to go over."

"This Cupid's Breath is that nasty?"

"Worst shit I have ever seen," I said in clenched teeth.

"Okay I'll call your cell," Amy said hanging up before I could say good-by, just a trait of hers.

I looked up in the phone book for a pizza place that delivers and was quite happy to find one that sold nine-inch personal pizzas. I ordered one and a two litter of Pepsi and sat down to watch a bad movie and read even worse arrest reports. It wasn't long when my cell phone started to vibrate.

"Otto Campbell," I said.

"You really have to open your caller ID," Amy said.

"You need to date more I just realized that it is 9 PM where you are," I said knowing that Amy is like me dedicated to her work.

"I'll let you know when I care. Okay I checked the whole Southern state of Wyoming and some even into Colorado and Utah and came up with three places, maybe. There is one really close on I-80 called Medical Chemicals. One is just in Utah that makes allergy medicine. There is one that might be it far into Colorado that is a big chemical company called Process Chemical. So your best bets are Process Chemical or Medical Chemical."

"Thanks Amy."

"Not a problem, by the way I forged your signature on a request form for more copier toner."

"Okay thanks talk to you tomorrow," I said hanging up before Amy could.

There came a knock on the door and I heard, "Pizza."

I pulled out my wallet went to the door. When I opened it I expected to see some zit faced teenager, and that is exactly what I saw. What I didn't see was a pizza, and then he put his hand forward like he was giving me a gut punch. There was a large white light before my eyes and then everything went black.

I am not sure what I noticed first the fact I couldn't move or that I was no longer in my motel room. Taped with duct tape around my writes and ankles to the wooden chair I was sitting upon. I opened my eyes and found that I was in a large empty garage. I shouldn't say empty because there were three other men there, a van with two speakers mounted on top of it and a table with odd items on it. One of the men before me I recognized quickly.

"Darrel what the hell is going on?" I yelled.

The three heads turned to me and Darrel smiled like he was a father learning that his boy got a black eye in a fight. The other two men one was short and stout and looked like life had kicked him hard in the face, he was the one that I met at the motel door without a pizza. The other man almost looked normal if he wasn't covered in leather and a shaved head.

"So the G-man awakes," said the leather man. "Permit me to introduce myself I am Peter Long. I am the inventor and sole supplier of the drug commonly known as Cupid's Breath."

This man this pale faced, lanky body, and baldheaded man created something as dangerous as Cupid's Breath. "I don't believe you," I said to his face.

"Yes you do," said Peter. "Here's a hint I talked with the mayor's daughter today, and if I am not mistaken you saw her in the throws of orgasm with a carrot lodged deep inside of her pussy." The leather man said with a wicked smile.

"Prove to me you created Cupid's Breath," I said hoping to figure something out.

"Why do you think that I brought you here?" Peter said with a wide smile. "Yes I want you here I need you. You see I am a history buff. I learned that before pot was made illegal only one half of one percent of the population smoked the stuff, but after it was illegal it jumped to thirty-percent use. You see you will be the best thing to happen to my drug. That is why I have this." Peter reached behind him and pulled out a folder. "Here is the chemical composition of Cupid's Breath, what chemicals go into making it, how to make it, how to administer it, any side effects, and the withdraw step by step. Plus," Peter turned to the table and there was a large plastic sealed jug, "I am giving you a very generous sample of Cupid's Breath. One advice don't put it in the sun it reduces the effect."

The van's speakers came alive, "Testing, testing one, two, three."

"What's with the van?" I asked curious.

Peter smiled with pride, "You see this is a two part plan. One, you are going to make Cupid's Breath illegal and two, we are going to make world wide news by making Rock Springs the orgy capital of the world for the next thirty hours. We will drive down the road using the speakers to make everyone so horny they will fuck anything and everything in sight. Now then we can't have you effected though, you need to be a witness." Peter reached to the table once more and pulled out of a box a plastic package that contained two foam earplugs. I didn't protest as Peter put them into my ears. He said something but I couldn't hear what he said.

"I don't know what you just said," I replied, "but you can kiss my fucking ass."

Peter just gave me the thumbs up sign and then climbed into the van. I could tell the van started up from the exhaust coming out the end. The garage door opened and then van went though, and the door closed behind. I felt so helpless to stop what was about to happen.

I found that the chair's legs were not bolted to the ground and I was able to stand up. I put the chair on its back, and I was able to slide my legs off the chair legs. You may be asking yourself, how could he do that if his legs were taped to the chair. Well duct tape has an adhesive that can slide if enough force is applied. So my legs were free so now what? I looked around and found the wall behind me was a sturdy cinder block wall. Telling myself don't think, I ran backwards fast and slammed the wooden chair against the hard wall. It hurt, my how it hurt. My hands went numb. The chair's back dug into the back of my head. I found out later, I broke a finger doing this stunt. The chair broke fractured and was in splinters falling to the floor, but with a large long piece of wood was still taped to my left hand.

I removed the tape from the wrists, still holding onto the long piece of wood, and then headed for the normal door. I was about to turn the knob when the door opened and I was face to face with Darrel. His slack jawed expression was back, and I was quite happy to smack it right off his face with the long piece of former chair. Darrel went down and I dragged his body back to the table. Finding the roll of duct tape I bound him hand and foot, and I waited.

If Darrel came back into the garage for whatever reason then the van should still be out there, and so would Peter and the ugly man. I found out much later that Darrel had forgotten, get this, the ear plugs that Peter so graciously gave me. That's beside the point, the two remaining dealers would wonder what happened to Darrel, and would come and look for him. One minute and I heard something muffled that sounded like it could have been a car horn. I waited. Another minute went by and the door opened again. The ugly man came in and didn't see me behind the door, but he did feel the blow to the back of his head. He went down hard and I was happy to hit him one more time for good luck. I propped his dead weight against the wall next to the door, and used his arm. I opened the door just a crack and was able to squeeze his arm out and wave it for Peter to enter. Thinking about this now I realize how stupid it must have looked like. Here I was pressing my weight against this unconscious man to have his arm out the door to wave limply for a very dangerous man to enter.

I didn't have to wait long and the door opened for a third time and Peter entered. I gave him as hard of a hit against that head as I could. The blow from the remaining part of the chair placed it in the same category as the rest of the chair. As for Peter the wood make a split in the skin on his head, and his eyes rolled into his head, and went down.

So there I was in a large empty garage with three unmoving bodies lying around me. I was about to go for help when I realized that I hadn't remove the earplugs yet. That is when I thought that if these three were about to full-fill their plan then they might have Cupid's Breath on them. I duct tapped each of their mouth's shut, and bound the two I hadn't. I found out later that Cupid's Breath only lasts for one breath, but at the time I didn't know that and I didn't want to be a victim of the drug.

The rest was quite normal I called Joe from a nearby fast food restaurant and he came down. Joe was quite shocked to see Darrel, and I was quite happy when he asked me to turn my back and I heard a very large smack.

Peter was good to his word and everything that I needed to, not only convict him of assault, but also prove Cupid's Breath should be illegal was in the folder. Even better I was quite happy to realize that he did all the work for me to make Cupid's Breath illegal. I was on cloud nine, for about two hours.

When we went to Peter Long's work place, Medical Chemicals, to look for the Cupid's Breath that he said that he made, it was all gone. There were about two hundred litters of Cupid's Breath made up and somewhere in the world. On top of that when we got into Peter's computer we found that he e-mailed the chemicals needed and procedure to make Cupid's Breath to individuals both on the East coast and West coast.

In the end Peter did get what he wanted. I made Cupid's Breath, or as it is now known Isopropal methalcarbonic saline, illegal. Rock Springs gained popularity as the testing ground for Cupid's Breath. The only problem with Peter's plan is he is not the sole source of Cupid's Breath, and we don't know who is now. There are some reports, even this soon, of possible victims of Cupid's Breath on the East Coast. It frightens me to know that there is something as dangerous out there as Cupid's Breath, but I have done my part and now it is in someone else's ball field, God have mercy on their soul.

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