Mother of Darkwaters: Book one of the Vessel series (65 page)

   “For what? You going to have us offed?”

   “Us?”, Gale jumps in, “There was no us when you hit her. You did that suicide mission all by yourself.”

   Julianna smiles before responding.

   “For not being a mindless zombie, Alex.” Her green stare moves towards the other nurse, “You too, Gale. I believe the police would refer to your role as an accomplice. Thanks for not intervening.”

   Gale nods. She’s beginning to understand what just happened.

   “Are you supposed to be on some kind of medication we’re not aware of?”

   Julianna looks at Alex and laughs.

   “No. I just wanted to see if you would stand up for yourself knowing your life was on the line.”

   “Honestly, I really didn’t give it all that much thought.”

   “I know,” Julianna informs the nurse, “It was instinct. But that’s what I was looking for.”

   “I’m confused.”

   Gale turns to her left so she can view her friend better.

   “I believe what the Mother is saying, is that we were being tested.”

   Alexandria’s right brow lifts questioningly.

   “She’s right,” Julianna confirms, “I have an offer for the both of you.”

   Alexandria looks at her patient – as does Gale.

   “You don’t have to accept,” Julianna begins, “And what happened in here will never leave this room. I promise. This offer is not an ultimatum. It’s a choice.”

   Alexandria and Gale both watch curiously.

    “I am giving you both the chance to make your vows to me personally. You will no longer be bound by Network protocol except for my safety. I have no say in that department.”

   “Sold,” Alexandria eagerly agrees. Her friend gives her a warning glare.

   “What?’

   “Making a vow to me is lifelong, Alex” Julianna explains for Gale, “It is not a reversible choice. You should really think it through.”

   “Network isn’t reversible either,” Alexandria counters, “And I have thought it through. I sort of had fantasies about this.”

   “Excuse me?”

   “What Alex means is that most anyone who is Network would love the chance to work for the family,” Gale explains.

   “Work? I don’t want you to work for me. You can if you want to. But that’s not really what I meant.”

   “I’m more confused,” Alexandria put her two-cents in.

   Gale nods appreciatively, “I would be honored to.”

   Julianna smiles.

   “Honored to do what?”, Alexandria questions. She is beginning to feel like she belongs on the little bus. Gale walks over and whispers in her right ear, “Friends.”

   “Ohhhhh,” Alexandria responds while feeling like she probably does belong on that little bus after all.

   Alexandria looks at Julianna, “You mean like real friends – not hired help.”

   “Real friends,” Julianna confirms, “The kind like I saw a few minutes ago.”

   “Gotcha,” Alexandria agrees with the terms, “If you ever need a bloody lip, just bring that lesbian stuff this way.”

   Julianna laughs, “We’ll do.”

   “No, don’t do,” Alexandria objects, “Once was enough.”

   “Agreed,” Gale chimes in.

   Julianna’s amusement is short-lived as the door behind the nurses makes a clicking sound. A moment later, the handle turns and the padded door is swung wide open. Two security guards rush into the room and take hold of the nurses. Julianna watches as they swiftly escort them out into the hallway.

   “What are you doing?!”, Julianna yells defiantly, “Let them go!”

   A third security officer, Charles Stevens, steps in Julianna’s way as she attempts to walk into the hallway. He is the one her grams is always posting at her door. Julianna stops and looks up at the very tall and large man.

   “What’s going on?”

   “They put your life at risk,” Charles states calmly.

   “No they didn’t. What are you talking about?”

   “They turned off the video feed to your room.”

   “I told them to. I needed a bath.”

   “Not true. I’ve seen the video that recorded the whole thing. They never spoke to you beforehand and were completely unaware of the video feed on themselves. They will be dealt with accordingly.”

   Julianna steps back as the large man begins to shut the door on her. She looks around him and can see Alexandria and Gale having their wrists zip-tied.

   “Those are my friends you’re messing with you monkeys,” Julianna hollers at the two men with their knees in the nurses backs. The two black males look at each other and shake their heads. Julianna’s nose wrinkles whenever she puts the scene together.

   Charles brows narrow, “Racism is an ugly attribute.”

   “I’m not racist you moron,” Julianna counters, “I call all of you guys with huge muscles monkeys. About all I’ve ever seen them good for is picking up weights and bullying weaker people. Like monkeys.”

   Charles gently pushes Julianna into the room.

   “See!”, Julianna yells, “Monkeys!”

   “I just have a job to do,” Charles Stevens calmly counters while shutting the door.

   Julianna rushes between his legs and belly flops herself into the hallway. She quickly stands up and turns around. Charles is already within grabbing distance. Julianna holds up her hands defensively.

    “You touch me monkey and I’ll have you put down,” Julianna threatens.

   Charles pauses. He isn’t quite sure how to handle the situation. Julianna is of the bloodline. Her position in the hallway doesn’t interfere with her immediate safety. The teenager was in more danger whenever she was alone in the room with the subordinate nurses. But as of now, his men have those two under control.

   “Please go back to your room,” Charles attempts a different route than force.

   Julianna closes her eyes. She can hear Alexandria cursing and Gale whimpering.

   “I have a job to do, too,” Julianna quietly informs the large man standing in front of her. Before he can make any objections, Julianna begins speaking in the tongue of Lilith.

   “Gariatu Estidium Merné,” the teenager begins. She briefly pauses as she hears shuffling within the open hallway. She grins as she recognizes the sounds of kneelers.

   “Shriavet uté trovéi bélohni,” Julianna speaks with a loud authority, “Zelio xoéh ré tréls shixoi shrié féi zéch zoslexlo aynslthn.” As she reaches the last word, she vaguely feels movement within her hair. The encouraging warm breeze causes her to speak even louder,

  “Ré itiéhti ticititi yheoi xoréhnc réhn xoréé jizeati.”

   Julianna sways as her ears are filled with the sounds of someone gasping in the distance. Her lips tremble with power while she continues speaking,

   “Zéch yhnslosté shié féiéé véuté xoré sloihnhé. Ré shié slotivé tieititi yheoi xoréhnc.”

   Julianna feels her hair waving violently within the hallway in which she stands. It’s as though someone has turned on an industrial fan. Oddly enough, the rest of her body doesn’t feel anything except for the tingling sensations of a growing power.

   “Ré shié shoiohn réhn xoré sloihnhé. Zéch shrié féi slati aihn xoréé sloié. Gariatu Estidium Merné.”

   Julianna’s breath is steady and heavy as her mind recites her dark prayer,

    “To the God of Heaven be damned.

      Welcome to your Mother.

      All those I find worthy will be my adopted children.

      I rebuke every holy thing in this place.

      My hands will bless unto the darkness.

      I will devour every holy thing.

      My will be done on this day.

      To the God of Heaven be damned.”

   Alexandria and Gale are pulled up to their knees. Their captors take places next to them upon the ceramic-tiled floor. Alexandria watches her new friend speak the strange words. She can feel an ominous power resonating from the Mother of Darkwaters. The sudden change in atmosphere has her questioning her earlier behavior. Was she brave or just downright stupid?

   A moment later, Alexandria feels an unfamiliar breeze within the hospital’s hallway. It doesn’t take her long to realize that everyone is staring at Julianna’s black raven-like hair. It is blowing in the wind – the same wind that holds no logic to its intrusive nature. She hears Gale gasp whenever Julianna’s hair freezes in mid-air, splits itself off into an evil rendition of Medusa, and then begins to strike sporadically at the air around her head.    

   And just like that, when Julianna finishes with her family’s known mantra, the room falls into silence. The wind is gone – her hair falls limply around her shoulders. No one moves – not even Charles.

   Julianna opens her eyes. Her belly growls and she sways slightly. She looks down at Charles. The head security guard looks utterly terrified.

   “I’m starving,” Julianna announces innocently. Charles doesn’t move.

   “That was kinda scary, huh?”, Julianna teases. The kneeling monkey before her remains motionless. Julianna, slowly, cocks her head to the left and then back to the right.

   “That was too much, huh monkey?”

   Again, Charles refuses to show any signs of lucidity. Julianna looks around and can see the same response from the other two guards. Gale seems speechless, but at awe. Alexandria looks mystified. Her new friends do not show the same fear as the men do; however, they do exhibit fear nonetheless. Julianna takes a deep breath and lets out a dramatic sigh.

   “Everyone up,” Julianna orders as though she is really tired of saying the commandment.

   Like well-trained monkeys, the men quickly rise to their feet. Alexandria attempts to stand, but stumbles back to her knees. Gale doesn’t even attempt a try. Julianna points her right index finger at her friends while staring hard at the two black males.

   “Get those off of them.”

   The two men look at Charles for an answer. Julianna really dislikes it whenever people do that. But under the circumstances, she decides to remain closed-lip in order to minimize any further trauma. Charles gives the men the nod they were seeking. The guards pull out their knives and cut the women’s wrists free. Gale and Alexandria stand to their feet. Julianna crosses her arms and turns her sole attention back to the man in charge.

   “Charles,” Julianna says playfully, “Can you tell me who I am?”

   Charles nods.

   “Well? Let’s hear it. Who am I?”

   “You are the Mother,” Charles answers – his voice cracks like a boy in puberty.

   “Agreed,” Julianna winks at the man with her left eye. She unfolds her arms and claps her hands together one time.

   “Now,” Julianna continues, “Let’s order some pizza. I’m starving.”

   The teenager looks over at her new friends, “You guys hungry? Pizza sound good?”

   “Sounds great,” Alexandria answers. Gale gives her answer with a nod.

   Charles sways. Julianna puts her right hand on his chest.

   “Listen monkey, you need to order us some pizza before you pass out.”

   Charles nods, but doesn’t move his feet.

   “Charles!”, Julianna yells.

   The man shakes his cloudy head and refocuses his gaze upon the Mother.

   “That’s better,” Julianna says. She lowers her hand from his chest and offers it to him,

   “Hi Charles, my name’s Julianna. It’s not
Mother
. It’s not
Oh great one
. It’s not
Master
. I am Julianna. Do you understand?”

   Charles nods as he takes her hand and gently shakes it.

   “I promise to go back to my prison cell – like a good little girl – if you get my friends and I that pizza,” Julianna informs as she releases his weak grip.

   “As you wish, Mother…I mean…As you wish, Julianna.”

   “You monkeys might understand more than I thought you did, ” Julianna teases with a follow-up grin. Charles returns her greeting with a blank stare.

   Julianna rounds his left side and walks towards the two insubordinate nurses. He vaguely hears her ask them for a shower. Normally, this would never do. The nurses should be put to death for placing her life into danger and the teenager put back into her room. But after what Charles has just witnessed, the Mother only obeys because she wants to and not because she has been told to. It is quite evident that the power within her is greater than any of the books written about her.

   The part that has him a bit shaken is not the event itself; instead, it is the calming manner in which the Mother schooled everyone as though she were given a simple lesson within her classroom. She established her authority like a teacher slapping her yardstick against the desk and let it be known she had the ability to use it upon her students at any given moment. Yet, because of her intentions to teach and not to punish, she exhibited mercy. This apparent sociopathic-type behaviorism is what caused Charles to freeze under pressure, so to speak.

   He has seen this familiar face before. Soldiers will separate themselves emotionally from what must be done in order to keep their sanity intact. It is a necessary skillset for survival – lower the enemy’s human value to something lower than your own. With that being said, he has also seen the unfortunate soldiers who could not return to their formal mental state. These soldiers allowed their emotional separations to consume them. Some confuse it with post-traumatic stress syndrome. And maybe in a sense, it is. The Mother, however, seems more like a controlled version of the latter with just the right amount of mix with the former. In other words, she is textbook serial killer material. And as far as Charles Stevens is concerned, if the Mother wants a shower, she’s getting it – lesson received and learned.

Chapter 12

   Assuming

   “What’s taking him so long?”

   “He’s in the hallway, dear.”

   “I wish he’d hurry up. I’m ready to go.”

   Julianna hears the locking mechanism on the door click.

   “Finally!”, Julianna exclaims as she stands up from her bed.