by Randi Darren
“I am your wife by law,” Decima said. “I’ve been your wife for a while now. We simply haven’t consummated it.”
“See, if this was the era you were born in, that’d mean we weren’t married,” Sam said with a laugh.
“Shut up,” Decima growled. Then she sighed and relaxed partially under his arm. “I’m sorry. It’s all so much to take in. I’m not declining you bedroom rights out of spite or anything. I know our contract and what I’m supposed to do. I just… it’s all so much.”
“I know. And that’s why I’m not pushing,” Sam said. “So far. Though at some point you’ll have to start paying your obligations. So to speak.”
“I know it. And I’ll pay them rightly, have no fear of that. You rescued me from hell,” Decima murmured. “Now, let’s go meet Mitch’s parents. You said they were golems?”
“That’s what I was told,” Sam said turning toward their next door neighbor’s home. Decima moved with him, staying in the circle of his arm. They started walking forward together. “So essentially exactly what you are, but a lot more basic and with a slew of magical programming.”
“As if I don’t,” Decima scoffed.
“What, magical programming? You don’t,” Sam said. “I only put in a fail-safe that you couldn’t betray me. That’s it. I mean, if you think about it, chances are you’ll learn my true name at some point. Can’t have you using that against me.”
“I don’t believe that for an instant. I’m sure you filled me to the brim with sexual wants and desires you just had to put in me,” Decima argued.
“No, truly. I didn’t,” Sam said with a laugh. “You’re as free as a golem can be. You just can’t betray me. Here, I’ll even demonstrate it.”
Sam used a scrap of Essence to make sure his voice wouldn’t travel in any way, shape, or form beyond three feet.
“I swear on my name, Sameerixis Fidenis Xilin Fisch Elh Caerwin Aderin Telis, that I put no programming in you whatsoever, other than you’re not able to betray me,” Sam said. “See? Nothing happening. Free as a golem can be.”
Decima was shaking her head now, as if to disagree with him. But she clearly couldn’t.
Sam wasn’t a shrieking ball of meat right now from his oath backfiring in using his true name.
“Cheer up, Decima Vera Fidenis, you’re a happily married golem with absolute free will outside of a non-betrayal clause,” Sam said. “Which is why I think you’ll feel pity for these two poor golems we’re about to meet. I’m betting they’re little better than robots as to what they can do.”
Walking up to the front door, Sam let his arm fall away from Decima. Lifting up his hand, he knocked on the door and then waited.
“You really think so?” Decima asked under her breath.
“I do,” Sam said. “I think they’ll seem absolutely human, but be driven by a set of rules that prevent them from deviating from whatever it is they’re supposed to do. And we’ll—”
The door swung inward and a man in his thirties greeted them with a smile. He had short brown hair, brown eyes, and seemed to look like anyone else you’d meet. Neither handsome, nor ugly.
“Hello there, neighbor,” said the man. “What can I do for you?”
“Ah… I’m your brother, Samuel,” Sam said. The Curator had said he’d take care of this, but it seemed like that might not be true.
I think he said the man’s name was Ted.
Blinking slowly, almost inhumanly so, the man’s eyes refocused on Sam again.
“Sam! It’s so good to see you,” said the man suddenly, his entire demeanor changing in an instant. “And Decima! You look amazing. I haven’t seen you since Mitch was just a baby.”
Turning his head, the man looked back into the interior of his home.
“Wanda, Sam and Decima are here!” called the male golem.
“What?” called a voice from inside. A few seconds later and a rather pretty woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes was standing next to the man. She was considerably shorter than Ted and looked confused and disturbed, her eyes moving from Sam to Decima, then her husband. “Ted, what are you talking about?”
“I’m Samuel, Ted’s brother,” Sam said to Wanda.
Much like Ted had, Wanda’s eyes slowly closed and then reopened.
Smiling widely as if Sam were a long lost friend, she immediately moved forward and wrapped him up in a hug.
“Sam! It’s so good to see you. I haven’t seen you since Mitch was just a baby,” Wanda said, taking a step away from Sam and then grinning at Decima. “And Decima! You look amazing.”
Yep. Golems.
“Come in, come in,” Wanda said, pushing Ted to one side and dragging Decima inside.
No sooner than the door had closed, Ted and Wanda stood up straight and left Decima and Sam where they stood.
“Uh,” Sam said, watching the two leave.
Following behind Decima, Sam trailed Ted and Wanda into a room.
The two golems walked inside, closed the blinds to the window, and then laid down in the bed.
Both of them closed their eyes, ceased moving entirely, and laid there like the dead.
“Right,” Sam said, watching Wanda to see if she was even breathing. She was, it was just very soft. “Golems. Programmed to conserve their energy as much as possible. Their spirits are starting to tire and are wearing out. Just like Miles said.”
“Miles?” Decima asked, moving over to Wanda’s side. She laid a hand to the other woman’s neck to check for a pulse, Sam imagined.
“The Curator. Anyway. I guess that’s that,” Sam said. “I bet they’re active when Mitch is home. We’ll come back then. Tomorrow probably.”
Letting out a slow breath, Decima stood up and put her hands on her hips.
“I suppose I should be grateful,” Decima murmured. “I never really considered all the things you could do to me when you shaped this body.”
“You have no idea,” Sam said with a chuckle. “There was a part of me that wanted to turn you into a sex-junkie. Pity I didn’t. Would have been fun. I bet you’re an animal if you could ever let loose.”
Sam put his hands in his pockets and left the room.
“Pity, indeed,” Decima whispered from behind him. He was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to hear that, so he ignored it.
Fifteen - Worries -
Reaching over, Sam pushed the passenger side door open for Hillary.
Clambering into the brand new car, she flung her backpack into the rear of the car and slammed the door shut.
“Oh… my… god. I forgot how stupid boys were at this age,” Hillary grumbled, snatching at her seat belt and slamming it home.
“Is that so?” Sam asked, amusement curling his words.
“I was asked out twice, insulted both times for saying no, and there were a number of creepy ones who just stared at me,” Hillary said, then shuddered. “Ugh. I mean, thinking back, this isn’t any different than when I went to high school the first time.
“I’m just way more confident now and actually dressed to fit who I am. No baggie sweatshirts and hoodies this time.”
Sam gave her a quick once-over and found that she’d dressed in a way that definitely made her look good. It wasn’t sexual, or provocative, but she looked very attractive.
“That’s fair. Not every woman gets to turn back the clock and check out what she’s gone through before with an adult perspective,” Sam said.
“So stupid,” Hillary said, then she gave herself a quick shake and visibly grew taller, her chest expanded, and so did her hips. “There. Legal age again. You don’t have to feel awful for looking at me anymore.”
Hillary reached over and laid a hand on Sam’s thigh, then got comfortable in her seat.
“Anyone here will still recognize you, and I’m supposed to be your dad,” countered Sam.
“Ugh. That’s just stupid. This whole thing is stupid,” Hillary grumbled. She didn’t pull her hand away from Sam’s lap but she definitely appeared to
have gotten her head in the right space.
For his part, Sam didn’t pull out of the parking spot. He’d gotten the car the Curator provided them set up in a space across from the school.
He knew for a fact that Wanda the golem would pick up Mitch in the same spot every day.
It was a security risk in the long term, one that he’d have to fix, but for now it’d give him an easy way to spot his target.
“He’s a nice kid,” Hillary said, her fingers lightly trailing up and down Sam’s leg. She was watching around them in what he assumed was an attempt to make sure no one was watching. “Little naive. Kinda shy. Seems like an all-around okay kid though.”
“You met him?” Sam asked, somewhat surprised.
“I did. I claimed I was his cousin, and managed to talk a teacher into letting me take him to lunch,” Hillary said. “The harder part was convincing Mitch to go off campus with me. We just walked over there.”
Hillary lifted a hand and pointed to a restaurant that looked like it served “burger and fries” type of food. It was practically next door to the school.
“Smart,” Sam remarked mildly. “A nice way to get in close and give yourself an opportunity.”
“I figured you’d approve,” Hillary said. “Take me to dinner? I’ll shift my features around once we’re gone so no-one will notice.”
“Can’t. The golems would have told Mitch about us coming to town yesterday night. We have to go over and officially meet him today,” Sam said.
“That’s him right there. Black backpack, blue jacket,” Hillary said, pointing with her free hand.
A young boy was trudging along toward a mini-van pulled up to the curb.
“That’s one of the golems?” Hillary asked, apparently only now noticing Wanda.
“Yep. His mom,” Sam said, watching Mitch.
From this distance, Sam couldn’t see anything different about the boy. He looked like so many others.
Short brown hair that was cut in a boy’s style, clothes appropriate for his age, and looked quite human. In fact, Sam would assume he was human if Miles hadn’t told him otherwise.
“Wow, she’s kinda hot,” Hillary said. “You going to make a play on her? You said she’s a golem, so she’s not really human.”
“I don’t go for those already in relationships, remember?” Sam said. “Besides, golems don’t really have any taste to them. Their souls are usually there long past their expiration, so to speak. Any Essence they generate usually reflects that.”
“Decima isn’t like that though, is she?” Hillary asked.
Mitch opened the passenger side door and got into Wanda’s minivan. They’d be leaving in seconds.
“No, she’s not a golem. Her body is a golem but… I made an empowered human and stuck her soul—which was very willing—into it. She isn’t bound to the golem, she is the golem,” Sam explained.
Putting the car into gear, Sam pulled out of the parking space and headed over to the exit. He wanted to be right behind Wanda if he could manage it.
“You said you were going to be the vice-principal?” Hillary asked, her hand edging closer toward the inside of Sam’s thigh.
“That’s what the Curator arranged, yeah,” Sam said pulling into traffic right behind Wanda. “Good place to watch over Mitch while still being removed to a degree. And I can leave when I need to without causing too much of a disruption.”
“Huh. I never liked any of my vice-principals or principals,” Hillary grumbled. “They never liked me, either.”
“I imagine that’d be your species again, Hillary,” offered Sam. “If you haven’t noticed, your kind doesn’t normally go into public openly as you and your family did.”
“Hah, yeah, kinda noticing that far too late for my own good,” Hillary said. “My mom was an adopted baby, though, so… we’re just rolling with what we got from her parents.”
“That happens. One night stands can be particularly bothersome for some species. Especially those with stigmas attached,” Sam said.
Hillary fell silent after that, as she processed what Sam had said.
Her hand continued to stroke away at Sam the entire drive home. Sam stuck close to Wanda.
“I think we’ll need to tell the golems we’ll take Mitch to school going forward,” Sam said as they pulled onto the street they lived on. “It’ll be easier to keep an eye on him to and from school.”
“Oh, that’d work. Though I won’t get to touch you for even longer, which I’m not very fond of,” Hillary murmured. “I find that I’m considerably more touchy-feely than I thought I was.”
Sam couldn’t argue that. He’d spent the night with Hillary who’d been incredibly intimate and needy with him. Kissing him all throughout their love-making, or running her hands over him.
“You don’t mind, do you?” Hillary asked as Sam turned, pulling their car up into the driveway.
“Nope. Switch back. We’re going to go say hi to Wanda,” Sam said putting the car in park.
“Really? I don’t think Mitch would notice. It’ll be fine,” Hillary said and then opened her car door.
Getting out, the two began crossing the grass to where Wanda was unloading her minivan of what looked like groceries.
“Oh! Hello, Sam, Hillary!” Wanda said, clearly drawing on the memories the Curator probably put there. “Mitch, come over here. Your uncle Sam and Hillary just got home, too.”
“Hi, Wanda,” Sam called out. “Need a hand with those?”
“Yes, please. Thank you,” Wanda said then walked around the far side of the mini-van toward the open garage door.
“Now, remember to be nice. They don’t know anyone here and your Uncle Sam can be a little odd at times,” Wanda said to Mitch in a much more quiet voice. Sam, of course, had no problem hearing it.
“I know, I know. I already met Hillary today at school,” Mitch whispered. “She’s nice. Took me out to lunch.”
“Oh? That’s nice of her,” Wanda said, walking away into the house.
Sam reached the back of the vehicle as Mitch stepped around the side.
He was a cute kid, with clear gray eyes. He’d likely grow up into a handsome young man sooner rather than later.
“Hello,” Mitch said with a small smile. Then he looked at Hillary and the smile grew much warmer. “Hi… hi, Hillary.”
“Heya,” Hillary said waving a hand at him.
“Hello,” Sam said, grinning at the kid.
He’s got a crush on his “cousin”. Adorable.
Sam was always interested in family dynamics. He really didn’t have any family of any sort, which made everything related to family a curious subject for him.
“You’re… going to be the vice-principal, right?” Mitch asked.
“I sure am. Why? You one of the trouble makers?” Sam asked with a chuckle. “Cause I can’t really see you as being one. Your father certainly wasn’t one growing up.
“That was more me. I’m afraid I caused problems wherever I went.”
Ducking partially into the mini-van, Sam grabbed a number of shopping bags and then started heading into the house.
He had his own role to play after all.
“Tell me about your school and grab a bag,” Sam said as he passed by Mitch.
***
Yawning, Sam leaned back in his chair.
There really wasn’t much for him to do.
His predecessor had taken care of almost the entire school year’s requirements before they left for their new job.
One that was handed to them by the Curator on the premise that they set up this school as best they could before they left.
Which meant that Sam really only had to worry about some record-keeping, basic human resource meetings, and any change in school scheduling.
Given the tenure of the teachers, and the fact that it was a high income public school, he doubted he’d need to do anything with that.
His biggest concern would be keeping his boss, Principal Barker, complacent
enough that Sam could do what he wanted to.
“And really,” Sam said shaking his head. “That’s just a matter of hitting him with a whammy and telling him to leave me alone.”
Lightly patting his hands together, Sam really didn’t know what to do with himself. He couldn’t go check on Mitch that often because it’d just be strange.
Nor could he wander the school too frequently, as it wasn’t an expectation that others would have of him.
He’d already wasted four hours of his morning visiting the Judge and tumbling her endlessly until lunch came.
One of his duties was being on the gates to help check for those with an “off-school pass” that would let them go off campus for lunch.
“Could go visit Alexis,” Sam mumbled to himself. “She’s working contracts with Jes. Oooh. Maybe I could catch both of them at the same time. They’re always a really fun three-way.”
Of everyone Jes shared Sam with, Alexis was one of the very few Jes got into it with other than Abigail.
There was a solid knock on the door to his office, causing Sam to sit up straight.
“Come in,” he said, moving a few papers that were on the side of his desk to be in front of himself. Then he grabbed a pen and leaned to one side.
“Hey,” Hillary said, walking into his office. Then she closed the door behind herself. “Thought I’d drop in on your first day and see how it’s going. You have lunch?”
“Yeah. I did. Dropped in on Eugenia,” Sam said. “Besides, that doesn’t seem like a smart thing to do here. For a number of reasons.”
“I… yeah, I guess you’re right,” Hillary said, walking over to one of the chairs in front of Sam’s desk. “It just feels weird. I don’t think of myself as young. I just see myself as me. I know technically I’m not a minor, even if you see me as one. But couldn’t you just… glamour them all? Get everyone to do what you wanted rather than this?”
“I sure could,” Sam said. “And if it came down to it, I would. But the goal here is to be as unobtrusive as possible. We’re working as bodyguards, but we’re also trying to not bring attention to Mitch. Too much of us throwing things around could just as easily draw attention to him when he doesn’t need it.”
