Mother of Darkwaters: Book one of the Vessel series (35 page)

   “Why would I kill her?”

   “I hope you beat her ass good,” Rebecca declares venomously.

   “Oh I did,” Tamara confesses.

   “Make her show us,” Rebecca orders, “I want to see it.”

   Tamara's blood briefly rushes with resentment. She forces herself to shake off the feeling. But she quickly understands that staying incognito may be tougher than she thought.

   “I want to see what took so long,” Jennifer agrees.

   Mandie walks towards the S.V.C. She stares down at the asphalt in front of her feet. Although she has no problem about being nude in front of someone, she's not exactly excited about stripping down on the school's parking lot. But it's all part of the package. She knew that before she provoked them. And now the time has come.

   The dark hair of Mandie blows with the gentle morning breeze. Today, she has elected to wear it down. No clips. No ties. Just her natural waves.

   Her clothes have been picked out for this very moment. They are simple and plain. But more than anything, they are comfortable. It seems that day two hurts a lot more than day one by a long mile.

   “Hey skank,” Rebecca verbally attacks, “I see you got what you deserved.” Although the imprints of Tamara’s rings are not visible, the deep bruising left in their wake is evidence enough.

   Mandie looks up. She locks stares with Rebecca so her eyes will not give her away. She can't look at Tamara. Not yet. She needs more time.

   “I'm sorry for how I treated you in class, Rebecca,” Mandie apologizes. She glances back down to the asphalt.

   Rebecca gloats over Mandie's cut face with a victorious grin. Tamara's rings have left their mark and the girl's lips look extremely painful.

   “Let's see it,” Rebecca orders Tamara.

   Tamara hesitates.

   “Come on, Tam,” Jennifer says irritably, “We don't have all morning.”

   Caroline usually enjoys one of her sister's moments. But she is speechless and doesn't understand why. To add to the oddity, Caroline is somewhat fearful of Mandie. But there's no real reason for any of it. The skank is nothing more than a Tamara's Submissive. The proof is smashed into her face.

   “Tamara,” Rebecca commands, “Make the order.”

   “Take your clothes off,” Tamara fails to hide the regret within her tone. Her bff catches the subtle glitch. She begins watching Tamara's body language a little closer.

   Mandie holds her nervous stare upon the asphalt's surface. She defiantly ignores Tamara's regretful tongue.

   “Did you hear me?”, Tamara questions softly.

   Mandie nods, but refuses to obey.

   “Do it skank!”, Rebecca's bitter bite slices through the air.

   Mandie, slowly, raises her head. Her green eyes fixate onto Rebecca's blue eyes. The beaten girl speaks – her tone cold and deliberate.

   “The last time I checked, Rebecca,” Mandie's voice pierces through the thickened atmospheric tone set by the captain of the cheer squad, “I am a Tamara's Submissive. Not a Rebecca's Submissive. Ownership is through Tamara.
Not
you.”

  
There she is. Gawd, she's so beautiful. I know what she wants.

   “Off with the cheap dress, bitch!”, Tamara snaps. Her familiar
I mean business tone
causes Mandie to flinch. The girl's honest response makes it difficult for Tamara to strangle back her smile. Rebecca and Caroline – focused as they are on the new girl – don’t catch the minimal delight within Tamara's eyes. But Jennifer sees it.

   Mandie lifts her dress over her head. She wears a two-piece bikini underneath. Jennifer forces her critical gaze of her bff over to the new girl.

   “What the..?”, Jennifer's coke buzz seems suddenly ruined. She reads the scabbing words on Mandie's body.

   “What in the hell?”, Jennifer's tone reflects true sympathy for the girl, “How are you still alive?”

   Mandie stares down at the pavement. She doesn't answer the inquisition.

   “Crap, Tam,” Jennifer begins feeling nauseous, “What did you do?”

   “Quit being a baby, Jenny,” Rebecca orders. “The skank deserved every bit of it. I think you did a great job, Tamara.”

   “Turn around,” Tamara retains her commanding voice.

   Mandie lifts her head. She turns, but is careful to not look upon Tamara. She pauses when her back faces the S.V.C.

  
Get away from her!

   Caroline shakes her head against the unfounded desire to take off running. She doesn't understand why she should. There's no reason to. Mandie isn't a threat. Not in the slightest. It must be part of the side effects from her meds.  She makes a mental note to question her doctor about it after school.

   “I'm with Jennifer,” Caroline attempts to mask her confusing fear, “I've had enough. There are better things to do than to stare at a girl.”

   “You two aren't going anywhere,” Rebecca demands control, “Not until she apologizes on her knees for that last comment of hers.”

   “Turn back around,” Tamara commands.

   Mandie obeys.

   “On your knees, pri...”, Tamara slips up.

   “On your knees with an apology,” she corrects, “And it better be legit.”

   Jennifer's brows narrow as she scrambles to fill in the blanks of what her bff almost said. With the unavailability of any more syllables, Jennifer gives up and turns her attention back to the girl who is kneeling.

   Mandie lowers her bare knees against the pavement. She looks upward with her arms dangling to each side of her body.

   “I am truly sorry, Rebecca,” Mandie's words are filled with genuine regret; “You are a member of the S.V.C. like Tamara. I am your property and should have obeyed you accordingly. It won't happen again. You have my word.”

   Tamara notices Rebecca's venomous expression melt away like butter. Mandie has just fed Rebecca's goddess complex.

  
You clever woman. You baited her. Good girl, princess.

   Tamara's thoughts race with adoration. No one ever controls Rebecca outside of her friends. And they can only do so by giving her absolute control over the small things. But not Mandie. She has done the impossible. The evidence is in Rebecca's expression.

   Mandie continues, “I should never speak to you like I did in class or just now.”

   The girl looks away with shameful eyes, “I-I was just intimidated by your confidence and beauty. Your presence is so commanding and I was afraid you wouldn't like me.”

   Mandie, reluctantly, glances back up into Rebecca's blue eyes, “I won't ask you to forgive me because I don't deserve it.” The beaten girl looks back down to the pavement surrounding her knees.

   “I was a coward and should have known better than to think I could best you.”

   Mandie forces her green eyes from the pavement and back to the captain of the cheer squad, “You are like Artemis, Rebecca. I would call you a goddess, but I'm afraid you would be offended.”

   The beaten girl holds out her bruised arms and smiles, “And we both know how it turns out whenever you are offended.”

   Rebecca laughs. But instead of her mocking the girl's words, she laughs because she believes Mandie to be humorous.  

   “Okay fine,” Rebecca keeps up her snippy attitude, “Just don't do it again.”

   Mandie nods silently.

   “And if it's okay with Tamara, you should probably get up and cover yourself. There's no reason to be cruel about it.”

   Jennifer, Caroline, and Tamara stare at Rebecca with disbelief. Not only has their captain just demonstrated compassion towards a Tamara's Submissive, but she also asked for Tamara's permission in the process.

   “Go ahead,” Tamara forces out the words while staring at Rebecca.

   “Can we go now?”, Jennifer complains.

   “Yes,” Rebecca turns her body with her answer. She faces the school from the parking lot. Her back is to the girl standing to dress herself.

   “
Finally
,” Caroline accidentally refers to her uncomfortable fear levels.

   “It wasn't
that
bad,” Tamara joins her friends as they walk across the street.

   “Jennifer almost purged,” Rebecca announces she caught Jennifer's nauseous look.

   “You should have been there,” Tamara brags.

   “Not in this lifetime,” Jennifer answers.

   Tamara laughs. Rebecca, however, doesn't join in with the idea of Mandie's beating. The absence of her voice isn't lost on Tamara.

   “You feel bad for her,” Tamara points out.

   “No,” Rebecca answers, “I just think you got carried away. Next time you might actually kill someone.”

   “You should be more careful with that,” Jennifer catches Tamara's guilty grin.

   “With what?”, Tamara questions.

   “With your beatings,” Jennifer spills a half-truth.

   “I will. I know what I'm doing. Relax,” Tamara references her own abilities.

   “Do you?”, Jennifer questions while moving past her friends towards the school.

   “I thought you said she'd be better today?”, Rebecca questions Caroline while staring at Jennifer's back.

   “Don't ask me,” Caroline defends, “Maybe she
is
ragging.”

   “I think she's just worried about me,” Tamara gives her answer.

   “Maybe,” Rebecca partially agrees as she steps off of the sidewalk and onto the school's lawn.

   “Bro,” Marcus watches Mandie pull her dress over her head.

   “Damn,” Jason answers his friend.

   “Whoa. Your girl did a real job on her,” Marcus can't remove his eyes from Mandie's beaten body. Even from across the street, the two basketball players can tell she's in bad shape.

   “Yeah, she looks rough,” Jason admits guiltily. He might not have had a direct hand in the girl's actual beating, but he stays with Tamara.

   “Let's get outta here,” Jason refuses to watch anymore of the S.V.C.'s morbidity.

   “I thought you were going to talk to her?”, Marcus observes Tamara command her Submissive.

   “Not in the mood, anymore,” Jason confesses, “I'll catch her later. When she's done with all of that.”

   From his tone, Marcus understands the hurt within his friend.

   “Let's bolt,” Marcus agrees without making an issue of it.

   “Thanks..”

   “You don't need to thank me,” Marcus pats his best friend on the left shoulder, “She's not
my
girlfriend.”

   “Gee thanks.”

   “Anytime,” Marcus laughs outwardly. Deep down, however, he worries for his friend. Jay is in love with a chick with some serious issues. But it's not his place to say anything about it. And even if he did, Jay isn't the type to listen. He learns everything the hard way. He's stubborn like that.

   “I need to see you four ladies in my office,” the male teacher sounds angry, “Right now.”

   The four S.V.C. members look nervously at one another as the man turns around and begins leading them down the hallway away from their lockers. He walks the hallway's length, turns right, makes the next left, and then stops at the second door on the right. The man slips a key into the doorknob, twists, and pushes the office door open.

   “Have a seat,” he points to four purposefully placed plastic chairs in front of his desk. The man walks around and seats himself behind his desk.

   “It'll be just a minute,” the man begins typing on his keyboard. He pauses as his fingers swipe on the monitor, motions leftward, and then lowers back to his keyboard.

  
Click.

   The four cheerleader's turn to look. The school nurse has just closed the door behind herself. Jennifer looks nervously at Rebecca.

   “Welcome, Ms. Davis,” Mr. Donovan greets, “Would you care to have a seat?”

   “That's okay, Mr. Donovan,” the school nurse retains her professionalism, “I'll just stand by your desk if that's alright with you?”

   “That'll be fine,” the man nods.

   Ms. Davis walks over and stops by the right side of Mr. Donovan's desk. She looks at him.

   “Shall I do this?”, the nurse ignores the girl's in front of her, “Or do you want the honors?”

   “Mr. Dono...”, Rebecca attempts to explain, but is quickly cut short.

   “Haven't you done enough already?”, the teacher questions. “I believe it's our turn now. You ladies just sit there and be quiet for once on your lives.” The man gives the nod to Ms. Davis.

   “You ladies are changing from teenagers into young women,” the nurse begins, “And in the adult world there are certain behaviors which are not tolerated. There are many others which are. It's similar to high school, but far more complex.”

   “Ms. Davis, I...”, Jennifer attempts to apologize.

   “Not now, Ms. Hammond,” Mr. Donovan rejects her offer.

   Ms. Davis notices movement through the glass of the office door. She waves her hand, “Bring her in.”

   The cheerleaders turn and see Mandie being escorted by the vice principal.

Caroline's eyes widen.

   Mandie notices the sadness within Tamara's betrayed eyes. But she doesn't let on.

   “Thank you,” Ms. Davis infers that the vice principal is no longer needed. The man turns and exits quietly.

   “Ms. EvéMari has told us everything you girls did,” the nurse gets straight to the point.

   “We didn't do...”, Rebecca speaks up, but is cut off again.

   “Not now, Ms. Hindsworth,” Mr. Donovan scolds, “You'll have your turn.”

   “The way you ladies took care of her,” the nurse nods towards Mandie, “It's not only a selfless act full of love and compassion, but it's an action which should be commemorated.”

  The four cheerleaders sit in confused silence as Ms. Davis smiles approvingly.

   “You ladies have demonstrated what it means to be alive in this world. A meaning many people never come to understand. Life is precious. It is too short. And no matter the differences in our individual backgrounds, when someone needs us we will do our best to help them.”