The Surrogates: The 5 Book Paranormal Pregnancy Romance Box Set

by Angela Foxxe

  She felt like she was racing the rest of her competitors and when she was finally done, she handed it back to the man who was hovering near her. She let out a sigh of relief as he took it and looked over the document, checking to make sure she had signed everywhere she needed to. It was only wasting his time as he looked. When he was satisfied, he took the clipboard and pen from her, turned on his heel and headed back to the orbital ring of lackeys who were waiting. She looked around and saw the other women scribing their names in ornate, beautiful scrawls that seemed like a waste of time to her.

  They weren’t here to make their names look beautiful. She wondered for a moment how many of these women were pageant girls, the kind of women who were raised and bred to be the most perfect and beautiful women in the world. How many of them were here because they had the good fortune to be born into a family that was rich and lavished with money.

  “Very good,” Mr. Grayson said, clearing his throat as the last of the packets was picked up. “Now that this legal business is out of the way, I want to tell all of you that I’m very excited for the road ahead. If you would all be so helpful as to stand and follow me, we’ll begin the first part of the application process.”

  Tasha nervously stood, feeling like she was about to be thrown from the frying pan into the fire. It was the most uncomfortable situation that she had ever been in, but it was so exhilarating to be here. She was ready for anything that they would throw at her. She was ready for all of it and more. They could do whatever they wanted to her and she was going to throw it right back at them. There was no way that she was walking out of this building without five million dollars. If she had to fight to the death against all of these women, she was going to do it no matter what.

  The suits stayed in the lounge and Tasha couldn’t help but look at the woman behind the bar, cleaning the glasses of the few who had decided that they needed a drink before they continued on. She looked at all of them like she was watching gladiators about to enter the arena. There was something nerve-racking about the look she gave all of them and the soft smile on her lips, like she enjoyed watching all of the beautiful women walking to their demise.

  Rounding the corner, Tasha thought that there were bathrooms there, but she was definitely wrong. The black granite walls revealed a silver door that was very easily identified as an elevator. Mr. Grayson stopped in front of this door and turned to face the women.

  “As you are well aware, there are twelve of you,” he stated the obvious as he looked at them.

  Tasha remained safely in the center of the group, not willing to stick out just yet. She would wait until her performance would do the speaking for her. In the end, it was the results that mattered and it wasn’t going to be up to a matter of opinion from Mr. Grayson. If that were the case, then she would have tried a lot harder to stick out just now.

  “On the other side of this elevator ride, you’ll be getting dressed in the locker room and you will be preparing for the first application test of the day. I want to be completely clear at this point, failure to follow the rules that I had set out for you will end in the immediate termination of your place in this process. But, when you’ve completed your strip down and dressing, you will be taken to a gymnasium and you will be given an endurance test to qualify you for the second phase of the application process.

  "At the end of the examination, three of you will be eliminated due to your lack in physical performance and endurance. If that is the case, you will be escorted back to the locker room and you will be thanked for you time and your effort in this examination. Have I made myself perfectly clear?”

  Everyone nodded to him and in response. He pressed the button to call the elevator. When the doors opened, Tasha felt like there was going to be some sort of heavenly music, calling them up to the next plane of existence, but instead, it was silent. It was just a large elevator, waiting for all of them and as they stepped inside, she was surprised at how large and spacious it was on the inside. A dozen different perfumes mixed and mingled in an invisible, gaseous cloud when the doors closed and she could barely feel the elevator ascending.

  And so it began.

  *

  The locker room was nicer than anything she had ever seen before. It was startling to be in a locker room that was more attractive than any building that she had seen in her hometown. In Idaho there was hardly anything that looked similar to this and it was just another moment where she realized how little she had seen the world and how insignificant she was in this race.

  It was hard for her to swallow, but as she started to dress down, feeling the cool air kissing her body, she didn’t waste time looking at the décor or the other contestants. In fact, all she looked at were the clothes in front of her. They were all given the same thing to work with. She was given a sports bra, panty shorts, yoga pants, a white shirt, socks, shoes that fit perfectly, and a band to tie her hair back with. She dressed as quickly as she could and made sure that her clothes were folded and placed inside of a locker that was more advanced than anything she had ever seen.

  There was a list of comprehensive instructions waiting for her to work with. She walked through them step by step, pressing her thumb on the bio-scanner and when it took the reading, it could only be opened with her thumbprint. With all her jewelry and clothes safely inside the locker, she shut the door and adjusted herself, not bothering to look at her reflection. It wasn’t like this was going to be a beauty workout.

  Everyone else in the locker room wasn’t under the same impression as she was. They were primping and fixing everything that they could so that they were the most beautiful athletes in the history of the gym. She didn’t waste her time with them and Tasha was the first one ready, waiting at the door where there was a woman standing in an entire set of white scrubs. She smiled at Tasha and had her hands folded behind her back as she watched her.

  “All ready?” She asked with a soft, polite voice.

  “Ready to do this,” Tasha smiled back and nodded to her.

  “Well, when the others are ready, we’ll get you set up,” the woman said and Tasha was left with the unfortunate and unbearable burden of waiting for a dozen women to decide that they looked pretty enough to go work out in a room with the same twelve women.

  The gym turned out to be something that was rather simple and when they reached their first position in the gym, there were twelve treadmills set up for them to start the running portion of the examination. Tasha saw a black sign with red letters that had her named spelled out for her, beckoning her to the treadmill that would be hers for the portion of the exam. She stepped onto it and looked at the control panel, only to find that there were no buttons, no meters, and nothing to tell her what was happening or how to control the treadmill.

  “For the first portion of this exam,” a thoroughly electronic voice spoke to them over a speaker, “you will be given a test of cardio-endurance to measure your fitness level. Should you feel that the examination is beyond your capabilities, please, step to the side and your machine will stop. Do not exert yourself in fear that surrender will determine disqualification. Your safety and health are our top priorities, so please, only go as far as you feel you can.”

  Somehow, Tasha doubted that this was the case. When the machines started up and she began to walk, the speed slowly began to pick up and soon she was jogging and then running. There was nothing about this that seemed difficult to Tasha and she immediately employed the skills that she had developed from an early age when she started running. She loved running, to be honest, the way that only runners truly could. She enjoyed the peace and the calm of it. She enjoyed being able to regulate her breathing and to control how she felt through the entire process. She enjoyed the ability to really get into the mindset that would enable her to be the best that she could be.

  Closing her eyes, she let her body take over, jogging and running, depending upon the speeds that they changed up to try and give them a rest from straight sprinting. She could handle it and
she was grateful for this being part of the test. She wasn’t sure how long they were going to be running and jogging, but she didn’t think it really mattered if she knew how long they would be. It wasn’t like she could track the passage of time.

  Paying no attention to her fellow competitors, she continued to run and jog until she heard a soft bell and the machine began to slow down and they were given the opportunity to take a cool down lap. Now, opening her eyes and sweating, she glanced around her at the other competitors. She saw that two of their competitors had stopped running and were standing around with their arms crossed, clearly ashamed or embarrassed that they weren’t able to keep up with the rest of them. She thought that it was kind of sad that they couldn’t do it.

  This was one of the things that they were supposed to be able to do in the original application process. What exactly had they expected this whole thing to be? She took a deep breath and tried to get her heartbeat under control and calm her body down, letting the cool down take over.

  “Please proceed to the next room,” the soothing, electronic voice requested of them.

  Stepping off her treadmill, Tasha followed the others and entered the next room where they were each shown an area that was blocked off from the others by a glass wall that had been frosted. At best, all you could see were blurry silhouettes. Like the treadmill, there were signs in front of each of the stations, calling each of them to their spots to work out. As she approached her area, she looked at it and felt excited for what was to come. On the white wall, there was a list of exercises that she was to perform with the free weights. Depending on her results, she was certain that she would be graded.

  The racked weights were ready for her and she looked at the bar with eager anticipation. This was where she thrived. “Proceed through the workout at the weight increment that you are most comfortable with. Feel free to max your weight if you are comfortable. If not, do not feel pressured. Your weight will not affect the results of your success or termination.”

  When the soft bell rang one more time, Tasha approached the weights that were racked and she began with the first exercise. She had to do four sets of squats with fifteen reps each. When she lifted the weight and loaded it onto the bar, she started doing her workout, the exact same workout that she had done last time she was at the gym. Confident in her strength, she lifted her max and didn’t waste time pushing herself. When she was done, she moved to the next workout and then kept going until she was done. Every time she removed a weight from the racks, she watched the totals registering on the wall next to the listed work out, keeping track of exactly what it was that she was doing. It felt like the wall was magical and it actually made Tasha smile. She would kill for this wall at her gym.

  Again and again, she finished her workout until she was completely done, sweating and her chest heaving as she clamped her hands on her hips and paced back and forth, trying her hardest not to peek at the others. She could hear them working out, grunting, and pushing themselves to the limits of their capabilities as they continued on their workouts. Soon, they were completely finished and the soft bell rang out.

  Sweating and exhausted, she looked around for an attendant like there had been at the last room and in the locker room, but after a moment, she could hear the thick click of expensive shoes and she could see Mr. Grayson and a few attendants with him walking the length of the room, checking each of the competitors briefly before turning and walking back to the center of the room where he turned and faced the rest of the group.

  “Congratulations,” he said with a very clear and professional voice. “You have completed the first phase of the examination. Before the second phase of the examination, you’ll be given the opportunity to shower, dress, and cool off before you meet for the next part. Please, step through the next doorway, and follow the hallway to the door that is marked with your name. Your thumbprint will unlock the door and give you access to the room. Congratulations and thank you for your hard work.”

  Tasha took a deep breath and wondered which of them would be going home. She was betting that there was a card or an attendant in the room of whoever ended up going home, waiting on the other side of their door. Suddenly, she felt like her nerves were standing on edge. She wasn’t ready to go home and she wondered if the other women had lifted more than she had or done better than she did in the endurance portion of the examination. There were some muttering and quiet conversations as they headed to the door on the far right side of the room and the frosted glass door slid open, letting them walk down the hallway.

  Finding the door with her name on it, she could feel butterflies gliding through her stomach. It felt like there were bombers actually, circling inside of her stomach, looking to drop their fiery payload and unload on her. She wanted to puke, to pass out, or to cry when she found the door waiting for her. She held up her thumb to the scanner and pressed it gently, listening to the beep and the sound of the lock unlatching.

  Pushing open the door, she stepped into the room, Chopin softly playing over invisible speakers. There was no card waiting or her, just a clean lounge and wardrobe waiting for her, with a bathroom. There was no attendant waiting to take her home.

  She had made it.

  Sighing in relief, she started to undress.

  *

  The second portion of the examination wasn’t what she had expected. Drying her hair and walking down the hallway to the room at the end of the hall, she found out that it was another elevator and that it wouldn’t rise up to the next level until everyone had gathered into the elevator together. Two women were waiting for her and one by one, everyone started emerging from their rooms, until they realized that there were only nine of them again. Tasha immediately took inventory of everyone who had made it.

  She instantly recognized that the crimson haired woman, the Asian lady, and the black woman with the large hair had failed to make it through the last round. Everyone was on edge and the tension was electric, passing through all of them and making them nervous, considering what it was that they were going to have to pass through next.

  What was it that they were going to have to do in this next portion?

  The elevator rose to the next level and opened with a soft ding that made Tasha jump. She was too lost in her thoughts, drowning in nerves and anxiety. Part of her was overly thrilled by the fact that she had made it this far and that she had survived the first round, but three were gone. The odds of her sticking to the middle and safe were diminishing. If she didn’t make it through this next round, then she was going to be in serious trouble. But, the thought of actually making it through this round and being forced to fight through the next room was equally terrifying.

  Stepping out of the elevator, nine women, dressed in robes and slippers stood in a room that was sectioned off in nine separate cubicles where there were three women waiting for them. Hanging over each of the cubicles was a sign that declared the owner of each cubicle and Tasha immediately knew what this was going to be. Each cubicle had a woman in a long white coat, a doctor, and three nurses who were attending them, helping them with whatever examination they were looking to do for them.

  “Please proceed to your booth and comply with the requests of your doctor,” the soft, electronic voice requested of them.

  Instinctively, like a herd of sheep, the women complied with the signs and Tasha found herself standing in front of a woman with a short haircut that was shaved on the side of her head. She wore a mask over half of her face and all she could really see were the striking hazel eyes and thin eyebrows of the woman. One of the nurses drew a curtain around the single open side of the cubicle and gave them some privacy from the other women. The doctor sat down and motioned Tasha to sit down on an examination table.

  “We’ve received medical records from your doctor, but the Matterhorn Company would prefer if we did our own thorough examination of you before letting you proceed, especially after a rigorous workout. Do you understand?”

  Tasha nodded to he
r.

  “Great,” the doctor said to her. “I’m going to walk you through the entire process and if you have any questions, feel free to ask them. I want this to be as smooth and simple as it can be for you.”

  What followed was the most invasive and thorough round of tests that Tasha had ever experienced in her life. They drew blood, tested her for STI’s, checked her reflexes, performed a drug test, checked her for lice, searched her body for any discoloration or moles, and a hundred other tests that Tasha found herself nodding along with the doctor, regardless if she knew what the test was for. She didn’t care about it. She had a highly successful past of not getting sick and definitely not getting any kind of illness or disease, whether it was from sex or any other form of communicable transference. She was as clean as a whistle.

  What felt like hours passed and finally, when they were done, the doctor made a final note and then looked up at Tasha with her bright hazel eyes. She wondered if the doctor was smiling or not.

  “We’re through here,” the doctor said with a soft voice. “You can go to the next room and change.”

  “I passed?” Tasha asked with excitement.

  “You’ll be processed out in the next room based on the results,” the doctor immediately shot down any kind of excitement that might have bubbled up inside of Tasha.

  Deflated, Tasha headed into the next room.

  The following room looked much more like a dressing room than anything else. As she stepped into it, there was a long white ottoman that stretched the length of the room with several doors stretching off to the side. Her name was marked on one of the doors and instinctively, she pressed her thumb to the scanner and listened to it as it unlocked. Inside the dressing room, she grabbed the clothes out of the locker and proceeded to dress herself in the new, fresh underwear, yoga pants, shirt, hoodie, socks, and slip on shoes. She was surprised at the materials that they were wasting on the application process. It was all so top notch that she felt like she should get to take them home if she didn’t pass.