Mother of Darkwaters: Book one of the Vessel series (92 page)

   “You’re actually serious.”

   “A succubus,” Jennifer continues, “is the explanation for an unseen force stealing your life force. So is incubus. Succubus is female and incubus is male. But in reality, it is a demon. People created the terms to free themselves for fantasizing about people other than their boyfriend or girlfriend.”

   Jennifer holds out both palms in a defensive manner, “No disrespect intended.”

   “None taken, Jen. But how’d they get succubus and incubus out of anguisette?”

   “I’m not sure, but they did cause that’s where I tracked it to.”

   “Hmm… still sounds weak.”

   “The only thing I can figure is that an anguisette is the exact opposite of succubus and incubus. Instead of stealing
your
life force, Mandie spelled you into stealing hers. Did you find it tough to stop yourself?”

   “You
did
see her, right?”

   “That’s exactly my point.”

   “So how do I control it?”

   Jennifer’s head retreats, “I thought you broke it off?”

   “I did, but just in case I run into another anguisette.”

   “Pfft – you know that’ll never happen. You’re in love with her and you know it.”

   Tamara checks her bff’s eyes for condemnation. She sees none.

   “I’m not in love with her. I barely know her.”

   “We’re not doing this, Tam. I watched you at practice, in the parking lot, in the restroom, walking in the hallways…”

   “Alright, I get it.”

   “Glad to hear it.”

   Tamara pauses in thought before, finally, speaking.

   “Has she said anything about me?”

   Jennifer grins, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

   “Come on, Jen. You’ve known me longer than her.”

   “Heh. I like seeing you beg. Maybe you’re an anguisette?”

   “Stop that. Just tell me.”

   “Maybe I should just tell you what I told her.”

   “No.”

   “She said she’d leave you alone. Whatever makes you happy.”

   “And what did you say?”

   “I gave you her statement. You could’ve had mine, but…”

   “Come one, Jen. Stop messing with me. You’re killing me.”

    “I told her that I thought my bff was making the worse mistake of her life.”

   “No you didn’t.”

   “Better believe it.”

   “Is that how you feel?”

   Jennifer narrows her brows for emphasis. Her words are clear and precise.

   “You…are-the…dumbest…bitch…I-know.”

   Tamara grins.

   “I started this conversation to give you some insight, Tam. You need to understand what’s at stake. This goes beyond feelings. You are her other half...and she is yours. I can see it even if you can’t. But together, you guys are dangerous for one another.

   “And for a moment I thought you were trying to put us back together.”

   “That’s on you two lesbo freaks. I don’t give a crap about that. But what I do care about is whether or not my bff goes to prison to be executed. You had to be aware of what was going on. Now you are. My job here is finished – finito. Who you call your girlfriend is none of my business. And I damn well better not hear any details.”

   “Please tell me how you
really
feel.”

   “Just did, bitch.”

   “Heh,” Tamara amuses. Over the years, she and Jennifer have picked up similar behaviorisms from one another. One of which is the way they sometimes laugh.

   “So Mandie told you she was anguisette?”

   “Yep.”

   “Why?”

   “Because I thought she was a psychotic suicidal sociopath. Any more questions?”

   “No, guess not.”

   “Good – cause I have a lot to do today. And if you make me miss meeting my favorite artist in the whole world, it’s your ass.”

   “I want to see Amy, too. Why would I make you miss the party?”

   “I have no idea – just trying to make sure. There’s no telling what’s going on in that lesbian head of yours.”

   “You’re not my type,” Tamara teases back.

   “You know, it’s a good thing we’re in our senior year.”

   “Why’s that?”

   “I’d seriously hate to have to chop up my bff for looking at me in the shower after cheer practice.”

   “Oh - please. I think you’d like it. Just think about all of the times we slapped each other’s butts over the years. It never felt weird and
you
were usually the one who always started it. Come to think of it, I only remember getting my ass slapped whenever we were naked.”

    “Pfft,” Jennifer rolls her eyes. Her brown eyes freeze in mid-roll rotation. She darts her gaze back to her grinning bff. She stares blankly. Her head retreats with an unforeseen visual.

   She watches Tamara pucker her lips and kiss the air between them. Jennifer’s eyes widen.

   “Ewww! Why’d you have to say
that
?”

   Tamara tilts her head curiously. “What’s the matter? I thought you enjoyed a good joke?”

   Jennifer gags. She shakes her head to combat the nausea building in her belly.

   “I think a shower sounds like a
wonderful
idea. Maybe right after our nap?”

   Jennifer turns her head to the right as she gags again. She, frantically, waves at the air with her left hand.

   “I know you’ve been dying to talk about this. And it’s really nice to see you revisit the good ‘ole days. There’s no telling how long I’ve been like this. Maybe since we played dress up? Who can really know?”

   Jennifer gags with a convulsive response from her gut. She glances at Tamara with angry eyes. Her bff is waving at her with girlie fingers and a big smile. Jennifer immediately covers her mouth and turns her back towards her bff. She gags – her eyes fixating on the trash can by the wall directly ahead. She darts forward and drops to all fours.

   “Maybe I should try my hand at some comedy...”

   Jennifer grunts as she lets out her first signs of a purge.

   “…I mean – after all, I’ve dropped my bff to her knees...We could both get naked on the stage and…”

   Jennifer lets out a second grunt as her purge announces it is now time to be consumed. As she does it, she is reminded of how she toyed with Caroline under similar circumstances.

   “…Yep…I should try that.”

   “Who are these people?”, Rebecca questions within her frustration. She turns and looks at Caroline. The captain of the cheer squad has her right arm pointed towards the front of her driveway.

   Caroline glances at the Network’s sports utility vehicles. Tinted windows hide the occupants inside.

   “Amy Lee’s security,” Caroline says. She points further down the street at some oncoming traffic, “But those guys are here to help us set up.”

   Rebecca follows Caroline’s pointer finger and observes a trail of semi-trucks heading towards her house.

   “What do they have in there – the entire high school?

   Caroline lowers her arm. She makes eye contact with Rebecca, “It’s a wall.”

   “A wall.”

   “Yes, a wall.”

   “And why do they have a wall?”

  
Ring. Ring.

   “One sec,” Rebecca says while staring at the trucks heading her way. She reaches into her back pocket and retrieves her phone.

   “It’s Jenny,” Rebecca informs while swiping her right index finger over her phone. She reads the text message:

  
Hey. Tam jst admtd hr lsbnsm. So srry for tsng u about u enjyng slppng yur cusn ass. Luv u.

   “What in the fuck?”

   Caroline’s eyes widen as she hears Rebecca’s words. It is the second time Caroline has heard this inexcusable filthy example of language usage. Jennifer, she understands. That girl has been fighting her filthy mouth for years. Rebecca, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of Jennifer – slang is her forte. Not to mention, she abhors the concepts in which that word was created. She never uses it…
never
. Even as high-strung as Becca can be at times, Caroline cannot recall ever hearing that word come from her Captain’s lips.

   “Something wrong?”

   Rebecca holds out her phone, “I think this is for you.”

   Caroline scans over the phone. When Rebecca lowers the screen from her face, Caroline has no idea what should be said.

   “Um - yeah…”

   “Tamara’s a lesbian. And you didn’t think I might need to know that?”

   “Uh…I thought
she
should tell us.”

   “So she has no idea that you know either.”

   “No.”

   Rebecca looks back at her phone with a frustrated glare.

   “Since when do you have a cousin? And you’re playing with his ass? That’s freakin’ nasty, Caroline.”

   “It’s not how it sounds. You know how Jen can be.”

   Rebecca holds her phone inches from Caroline’s face. She recites the words, “
Enjoying
slapping your cousin’s asssssss.”

   Caroline remains silent as Rebecca lowers her phone. She grins awkwardly and shrugs her shoulders.

   “Ma’am?”

   Rebecca looks over to her left. A man wearing a black business suit walks towards her. She swipes her phone and places it into her back pocket.

   Rebecca looks at Caroline, “We’re not
even
done with this yet.”

The blond cheerleader forms a wide smile and quickly turns, “Yes? Is there something I could help you with?”

   “Yes, ma’am,” the man says while finishing his approach, “Could you please give me a tour of the grounds so we can plan our security strategies?”

   Rebecca glances at Caroline with her pretend smile, “I’d love to.” She points towards the first semi-truck in line, “You handle that.”

   Caroline nods without saying a single word. She is thankful for the chance to come up with a story. What story, she has no idea. But, hopefully, she can come up with one...something…anything. Problem is that Rebecca is extremely observant. In addition, she pries like no other. Caroline hates to admit it, but she believes Jennifer has just made a serious error. Caroline pulls out her phone and begins texting.

   “Full?”

   “Plenty,” Amy complains. She glances around the restaurant. Besides her and Julianna, the establishment is void of any patrons. Amy’s two personal bodyguards sit at a table nearest to the front entrance. Julianna’s head of security is positioned by the kitchen’s doors.

   “What’d you do?”, Amy continues while picking up her glass of red wine, “Like buy the place out for little ‘ole me?”

   “Nah, it was probably the critic’s reviews about the rats and roaches.”

   “It’s nice,” Amy ignores the sarcasm, “Thank you.”

   “Not to worry. You’ll be suffocated in a few more hours…teenagers.”

   “Fans,” Amy corrects.

   “My friend Jennifer is like the biggest fan you’re ever going to meet.”

   “I hear that claim a lot. Sometimes it turns out to be like a scene of stalkers and scary letter writers.”

   “Jennifer would never do that. But she does have every download, cd, hard to find custom vinyl, poster, shirt, and other memorabilia. She probably has stuff
you
don’t even know about.”

   Amy laughs, “That’s probably true. I like to focus like on the music end.”

   “Don’t be surprised if you see a tall girl with short brown hair pass out on the ground. That would be Jennifer.”

   “I’m used to it,” Amy grins. “
You
almost did the same thing at your sweet seventeen.”

   “Don’t remind me.”

   Amy takes a sip of her wine and sits her glass down.

   “Just did,” Amy reminds. She looks down at the piece of paper sitting by her plate.

   “Rebecca Hindsworth is her name?”, Amy questions before glancing back up to look at Julianna.

   “Yes, it’s her parent’s place.”

   “Like you
do
realize that if we go through with this, her popularity is going to skyrocket. It won’t exactly like help her if she has a goddess complex as you say she does. But what do I know? I’m just the hired help.”

   “Don’t even,” Julianna counters, “Not after that speech back at your hotel.”

   Amy smiles as she looks back down to the paper.

   “So, they’re like all cheerleaders, huh? Doesn’t seem like your kind of crowd.”     

   “It was weird at first,” Julianna confesses, “But I found out real quick that they are
really
loyal to one another. Well…the inner-circle of them are. They can be vicious to anyone on the outside.”

   “Hmm…I suppose I stand corrected.”

   “What’s that supposed to mean?”

   Amy grins.

  
‘Hit me baby one more time…’

   Amy arches her right brow slightly as Julianna smiles awkwardly. She watches as the girl reaches into her purse and retrieves a phone. Julianna swipes over her phone’s screen and silently reads the text.

  
Hello, Mandie. I wld like to tlk to you if you wnt to. Txt me bck and let me knw. Tamara.

   Julianna sees another text message and opens it up. She reads:

  
Hi cousin. Need yur hlp. Jen made mstke wth Becca. Asap. Caroline.

   Julianna sees an attachment and loads it onto her screen. She scans over Jennifer’s text to Rebecca, swipes her phone’s screen, and places it back into her purse. Julianna looks up. Amy is staring at her while sipping on her wine.

   “What?”, Julianna questions innocently.

   “Really?”

   “Shut up – you’re just jealous.”

   “Um - no…like not even close.”

   Julianna laughs.

   Amy nods towards Julianna’s purse, “Everything alright?”

   “Yeah. Care to give me a rundown of names?”

   Amy flips the page face down on the table. She stares at Julianna, “Rebecca Hindsworth – queen bee of the ego tribe.”

   Julianna grins.

   “Tamara Stilliard – lover extraordinaire. Jennifer Hammond – my favorite of all…
huge
fan, and Caroline Reynolds – cousin to like the craziest friend I have.”