Mother of Darkwaters: Book one of the Vessel series

by Tony C. Skye

  Caroline’s eyes widen, “Tamara?! Our Tamara?” She looks at Jennifer, “And you knew?”

  Jennifer points at Julianna with her fork, “Kinda fell in love my ass. And keep telling yourself that about the guys. Like I said before, ‘Let me know how all that works out for ya’.”

  Jennifer points her fork at Caroline, “As for you, you need to grow up and leave the fifties where they are. It’s not that big of a deal.”

  Jennifer looks at her food and stabs up a piece of her pancakes with a fork, “And yes, I have known about it. But Tamara doesn’t know that I know.” Jennifer looks back up with a warning stare, “And she better not find out from you.”

  “Gawd,” Caroline answers, “You don’t have to be such a witch about it.”

  “I’m just sayin’.”

  Caroline looks at her cousin, “When did it happen?”

  “After I parked in Tamara’s spot.”

  Caroline’s head retreats, “How did you fall in love with someone by parking in their spot?”

  Jennifer drops her fork and stares at Caroline, “You are the densest person I have ever known.”

  “You need some Midol,” Caroline counters, “You’re being really mean.”

  “Pfft,” Jennifer responds by shaking her head and picking her fork back up. She remains silent while cutting into her pancakes.

  Caroline looks at Julianna questioningly.

  “It wasn’t the parking spot,” Julianna answers. Her face blushes slightly, “And I didn’t expect it to happen – never seen it coming. I had no idea. I had a plan, but falling in love wasn’t part of it.”

  Caroline pauses within her thoughts while Julianna remains silent. Jennifer watches the girl to her right with her peripheral vision. Caroline’s mouth opens.

  “There it is,” Jennifer announces.

  “You mean?”

  “That’s what she means, Yoda,” Jennifer replies, “Tamara slapped that ass just the right way.”

  Caroline’s nose crinkles as she looks at Jennifer.

  “Heh,” Jennifer amuses, “How’s the imagery?”

  Caroline looks down at her food. She suddenly feels full. The girl looks up at her cousin, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pried. Jennifer’s right, it’s no big deal. I…”

  “It’s alright,” Julianna intervenes before Caroline can say something she might regret.

  “Ready to leave it alone?”, Jennifer questions.

  Caroline nods, “Yeah, I get it now.”

  “Finally,” Jennifer replies while taking hold of her orange juice, “I was beginning to think that Jamés gave you brain damage.”

  Caroline’s brows narrow.

  Jennifer grins as she looks at Julianna.

  “On another note,” Jennifer speaks, “You explained the stone thing to us, but I still haven’t figured out why you chose us. I mean, I understand Caroline – she’s your cousin. But I’m not. So why’d you choose me?”

  “I didn’t choose any of you – you chose me,” Julianna corrects. She observes the confusion on Jennifer’s face.

  “I made contact in order to give Caroline a choice,” Julianna informs, “But from there, I’ve been gifted to know her friends. You sought me out after your trip to the girl’s locker room yesterday. You could’ve easily taken a different route, but you didn’t. I only provided you an opportunity. You made the choice on your own to come back and follow me outside. You made the choice to let me come here. You chose to trust me. The only thing I have done is to say yes – yes, I would be honored to call you family.”

  Jennifer lifts her right brow as she studies the girl sitting to her left. Whenever she relaxes her brown brow, she sits back in her chair, “You need to run for public office.”

  “Not happening,” Julianna counters with a slight grin.

  * * *

  “I feel like a slut,” Caroline complains, “I’d rather wear a bathing suit.”

  “You’re supposed to be slutty-looking,” Jennifer responds, ‘It’s the whole point.”

  “Why can’t you do it by yourself?”, Caroline urges, “You have all of the experience.”

  “Did you just call me a slut?”

  “No, Jen. I’m serious. I’m freaked out right now.”

  Julianna examines Caroline’s short skirt. Part of her bare buttocks is showing.

  “I feel naked,” Caroline says while her heart pounds. Her forehead and palms are sweaty.

  “We’re only walking down there long enough for Brian to weed out the horn dogs. He has to know who is showing too much interest in you. You have to be there.”

  Jennifer continues, “Soon as he gives the signal, we’ll come back up here and change into our regular clothes for the interviews.”

  “You can see my boobs,” Caroline pleas with her eyes, “The lace doesn’t hide anything.”

  Jennifer looks downward, “They’re nice – good DNA.”

  “I hate you,” Caroline complains.

  “You love me and you know it.”

  Jennifer looks at Julianna, “We need to get this done before she passes out.”

  “Go,” Julianna nods, “He’s ready.”

  Caroline and Jennifer walk towards the stairs. With each step, Caroline’s breathing becomes shallower and shallower. Jennifer grabs her left arm.

  “Hold up,” Jennifer says while turning Caroline to face her.

  Caroline shifts her eyes towards the stairs.

  “Look at me,” Julianna coaches.

  Caroline forces herself to obey by finding Jennifer’s brown gaze.

  “Why are you trippin’ like this? It’s not that much different than your cheer uniform, and you wear that all day.”

  “It’s nothing like our cheer uniforms,” Caroline counters, “If we were on the street, they’d take us to jail. This is horrible.”

  “You’re looking at it all wrong,” Jennifer replies; “We have to find someone who will clothe you if you’re ever in a compromising situation – someone who won’t try and take advantage of you. You need a protector who actually protects and doesn’t try to get some when he thinks he might get away with it.”

  “I know,” Caroline responds while shifting her stare back towards the staircase, “But they’re strangers – men. It’s not like school.”

  Slap!

  “You bitch!”, Caroline turns an angry stare towards Jennifer.

  “Time to go,” Jennifer says while quickly walking towards the stairs.

  “I should you throw you down the stairs,” Caroline quietly threatens.

  “You can try,” Jennifer says while still maintaining her small distance with quick steps. She slows as she takes the first step descending to the first floor.

  Caroline nervously shifts her eyes as she begins descending the stairs. When she looks at the bottom, her heart’s anger beat changes to that of fear and anxiety. Brian stands with his back to the statues of Jennifer and Danny. In front of him – against the wall – stand eight other men. They have their hands at their sides while staring straight ahead. It reminds Caroline of some horrific army movie where the soldiers are awaiting their girlie fun – awaiting fun time with the whores.

  As she nears the bottom stair, she runs over the plan within her mind in order to move her focus from her appearance. According to Julianna, the men against the wall have no idea why they are here. The element of surprise is a necessity. Julianna assured her that it’s impossible to hide surprise. And it will be Brian’s job to catch the pervs. She only hopes that her cousin was being truthful about Brian’s observation abilities.

  The men have been secretly numbered one through eight. The numbers run from left to right whenever facing them. Caroline and Jennifer must act submissive and accustomed to abusive behaviors from their male counterparts. This is the part which has Caroline so nervous. She feels practically naked and must act like a hired whore when she has never even been to third base.

  Caroline turns left and walks up to Brian. Behind her, Jennifer watches
the men. Caroline feels Brian reach his fingers into the top of her waistband as planned. He, forcefully, yanks her closer. She feels like screaming, but makes herself stare into his chest while he groans eagerly. Brian slips a note from her back pocket and slaps her on the buttocks. Caroline feels like crying, but maintains her composure for the mission at hand.

  “That’s a fine hard ass you’ve got there,” Brian says lustfully.

  Caroline stares blankly at his chest. This scenario is taking much longer than she thought it would. Unbeknownst to her, however, Brian has already eliminated numbers three, four, and six from the line.

  “Step over there while I read this,” Brian commands.

  “You,” Brian looks at Jennifer, “Stand in front of me so I can get a better view.”

  Caroline switches places with Jennifer. Caroline’s long brown hair is in front of her face as she bows her head. She can see the guys and their expressions, but they don’t get the same variable within the equation.

  “A little closer,” Brian commands while pulling on Jennifer’s white tee-shirt, “Take it off.”

  Caroline doesn’t look to her left as Jennifer removes her shirt. She is so thankful that Jennifer took this part of the mission upon herself. Caroline knows she couldn’t have done it. There’s no way.

  “No bra,” Caroline hears Brian speak in a disgusting way, “That’s real nice. I like a woman who sun-bathes.”

  Caroline feels like puking as her butterflies steadily increase with each agonizing second. Time seems to stand still while Brian pretends to read the blank note he took from her rear pocket.

  Caroline’s brows narrow as she regains focus. The guy in the number one position is staring at Jennifer like he’s ready to gobble her up.

  Creep.

  Don’t do that!

  Caroline panics as Julianna’s words rip through her mind. It is too late. Guy number one is glancing around with a freaked out expression. Caroline watches the rest of the men, but none of them seem to be reacting.

  “Turn around,” Caroline hears Brian command Jennifer.

  Smack!

  Caroline feels disgusted as guy number seven grins when Brian slaps his hand against Jennifer’s buttocks. She feels like marching over there and kicking him between the legs, but refrains so as to keep the plan intact.

  “I think you need to have your little girls pinched until they bleed,” Brian says, “Turn around. And I better not hear any whimpering about it. If I see tears, I’m using my teeth.”

  Soon as Brian says it – as soon as Jennifer begins to turn around – Caroline sees scowls from numbers two and five. The two very large guys step forward with ill-intentions towards Brian. The man harassing Jennifer quickly grabs hold of the tall cheerleader and steps between her and the two fast approaching men.

  Caroline startles as four guys wearing black suits crash through the double-doors leading from the dining room. They have to run in order to subdue Brian’s attackers in time. Caroline barely has time to start processing the struggle whenever it is ended. She can’t believe how fast the two enormous guys were put down. The only thing she can figure is that the four guys who rushed in are of equal size. Other than this, she has no idea how the fight ended before those guys took hold of Brian.

  “Thank you, ladies,” Brian’s demeanor changes to that of a kind and gentle voice, “You did wonderful, thank you. I understand your sacrifice.”

  Jennifer slips on her tee shirt as she approaches Caroline with a smile, “All done.”

  Caroline doesn’t say a word. She turns and walks towards the stairs. This time, it is her that leads. She ascends the staircase, turns left, and approaches Julianna.

  “You didn’t say anything about that!”, Caroline glares while pointing her right hand towards the staircase.

  “Would you have done it if I had of?”, Julianna questions with a calm tone.

  Caroline lowers her hand, “That’s not the point and you know it.”

  “Relax, Caroline,” Jennifer says while joining her friends in the hallway, “It’s all over.”

  Caroline turns and glares at Jennifer, “Did you know?”

  Jennifer takes hold of Caroline’s shoulders and smiles, “You kicked ass, girl. I’m so proud of you. I thought you’d fold for sure. But you didn’t.”

  Caroline doesn’t have time to stop Jennifer before the taller girl wraps her up with a hug. When Jennifer steps back, she is still smiling – her brown eyes full of pride.

  “I hate you,” Caroline responds with a pout, “My butt hurts.”

  “I know,” Jennifer says with excited eyes, “He’s really strong.”

  “You’re gross,” Caroline says while turning her attention towards the T-section of the hallway. She ignores her cousin as she walks past her.

  “What would you have done if he would have tried to hurt you?”, Caroline speaks to the air before her.

  “If those hands would have grabbed me,” Jennifer answers while following behind Caroline, “I would have choked him out with my tongue.”

  “You’re sick.”

  “Brian would never do something like that. But if he would’ve tried it, he’d be dead and a cleanup team would be on its way to take care of Jennifer’s floor,” Julianna answers – her words are factual and without emotion.

  Caroline turns right at the T-section. She doesn’t know how to respond to what her cousin has just said. Her mind feels so scrambled right now. She wonders if a straitjacket might be the better alternative to her new life’s choice.

  “You don’t want to be alone when you’re tied up like that.”

  Caroline immediately stops at the room’s entry leading into PR1. She turns and points her right index finger at Jennifer, “Stay out of my head.”

  “Pfft,” Jennifer mocks, “Make me. You need the practice Miss Creep.”

  “What’s your problem?”, Caroline counters angrily while lowering her accusing hand, “He wanted to mount you like some kind of animal. I did you a favor.”

  “And you almost blew the whole thing in the process. We would have done all of that for nothing.”

  Jennifer points at Caroline’s chest as she continues, “Practice – keep me from hearing your thoughts.”

  “You’re new at this, too.”

  Jennifer lowers her hand, “And I need as much practice as you, but I’m not acting like a spoiled brat right now.”

  Caroline shakes her head and turns around. She enters the room and begins to gather up her belongings, “I need a break or I will be in a straitjacket.”

  “Straitjacket?”

  Caroline pauses as she turns to look at Julianna.

  “Don’t pretend you don’t know what we’re talking about,” Caroline accuses her cousin.

  Julianna shifts her eyes from Caroline to Jennifer and back again. She shrugs her shoulders, “No clue.”

  Caroline looks at Jennifer and shakes her head with doubting eyes.

  “Where you going?”, Jennifer questions as Caroline turns her attention towards the door’s entry.

  “Home.”

  “Dressed like that?”

  Caroline stops and looks down, “Crap.”

  “Heh, it didn’t take you long to get used to it.”

  Caroline ignores the comment as she exits the room and turns left towards Jennifer’s bedroom, “I need your room.”

  “Shouldn’t I get a commission?”

  “I hate you!”, Caroline yells back.

  “You love me!”

  Jennifer winks at Julianna as she hears Caroline say whatever.

  “She’ll be alright,” Jennifer says, “She’s in shock. The last time I seen her act like this we were at Nationals. It’s her way of venting. She’s not going anywhere.”

  “Maybe we should have told her,” Julianna observes the obvious.

  “No way,” Jennifer defends her earlier decision, “She would have passed out on the way down the stairs and we would all be at the hospital right now. She’s okay. Trust me
. I know her.”

  * * *

  Julianna turns whenever Caroline comes back into the room. Her cousin tosses her stuff on the couch and walks up to Jennifer.

  “Hands down,” Caroline says while looking up at the taller Jennifer.

  Jennifer looks at Caroline’s right open palm, “You have got to be kidding me. I did that to snap you out of your Caroline craziness.”

  “Hands down.”

  Jennifer lets out a sigh as she relaxes her arms and closes her eyes.

  Slap!

  Jennifer opens her eyes – the left side of her face stings immensely, “That was way harder than my slap.”

  “You’re bigger,” Caroline counters.

  “Feel better?”, Jennifer questions.

  “Almost,” Caroline responds before turning to glare at Julianna.

  “Bend over,” Caroline orders, “It’s your turn.”

  “Uh - you probably don’t want to do that,” Jennifer speaks up.

  “Oh yes I do,” Caroline says angrily while staring at her cousin.

  “You sure about that?”, Jennifer tries again.

  “What are you talking about? It’s the only way to make it fair.”

  Caroline closes the distance between her and her cousin.

  “You got a problem with it?”, Caroline speaks to Julianna with angry eyes.

  “I don’t think you understand what Jennifer’s trying…”

  “Of course I understand,” Caroline cuts off Julianna’s excuse, “You tricked me and I’m paying you back. If we’re going to be friends, it’s the way it has to be.”

  Julianna hesitates. She looks at Jennifer.

  “She’s not going to save you,” Caroline interrupts, “Bend over and take it like a woman. You dished it out and you’re going to take it back.”

  “Caroline…”

  “Stop it, Jennifer,” Caroline retorts, “I have to do this or I’ll regret it later.”

  Julianna turns and places her hands on the bar stool.