Hi everyone! Surprised to see another update so quickly? You're welcome!
By now, my longtime readers already know what to expect from me; however, this chapter includes a minor language warning and a trigger for teenage drinking. (Not from the Miscreants) and mention of human trafficking. Originally when I worked this chapter I'd planned to have a more explicit sequence, but ultimately decided against it, for now.
I guess that about does it. Read on and see me at the bottom.
Continuing from My Kimberly, My Tommy Chapter 26…
As Kim ended the communication, she saw Autumn leaning against the doorway drinking from a half-frozen water bottle. "Hey, Aunt Kim. Is everything okay?"
"Hey there, Night Owl. You're up already?"
The teenager nodded. "Yep. I'm awake and my mate is snoring loudly. I couldn't go back to sleep if I tried."
Kim nodded. "So, you wouldn't mind babysitting for the night?"
Autumn shook her head. "It wouldn't be the first time. Should I go get the portable crib and his stuff?"
"Yeah, you know where everything is, but make it quick. Your uncle Tommy is not doing well."
Thankfully, Autumn didn't need any more explanation, and she hurried towards her aunt and uncle's room…
After taking care of her personal needs, she went back into the room and stopped short, seeing a soft white light glowing around her husband's sleeping form.
The bond told her he was okay, so she sat in the chair across from it, pull up her legs and watched over him.
The spirits were at work.
Meanwhile in the Miscreant's sleeping car..
Autumn closed the door behind her as she juggled Maverick along with the portable crib
I wish you would have asked for help." Kyle said groggily. He was up on his feet instantly and took the crib from his mate and began to set it up by the desk.
"Sorry, but there wasn't time." Autumn answered as she sat on the bed with the baby in her arms. "Uncle Tommy and Aunt Kim need some time."
Kyle stood up and turned to her. "Is everything okay?"
Autumn shook her head. "Not that I could see. Uncle Tommy looked like a zombie. I didn't need any shaman powers to see it."
Kyle nodded as he took some extra blankets from the closet and settled them into the crib. "It's going to be a long night. I just know it."
Autumn smoothed the hair on Maverick's head. "I thought you were asleep."
"Not anymore. I can't explain it, but I woke up feeling restless and I had this surge of…something I don't know. I'm wide awake now."
Before Autumn could reply, there was a tapping at the door and Kyle opened it to see the rest of their group standing there in their pjs.
"You guys feeling restless too?" he asked.
Rook nodded as he rubbed his stomach. "Yeah, I'm too stressed out with all that stuff going on back home to sleep anyway."
Kyle stood back and let the rest of the group file in. "Once they were all seated, they just sat there."
"So, any idea why we're all suddenly insomniacs?" Leif asked as he held his wife close.
"If I were to hazard a guess, I would say it's a Ninjetti thing." Autumn replied. Uncle Tommy is not doing so good tonight, if his spirit is out of whack, then maybe Autumn and I are feeling sympathy pain from it…but that doesn't explain why you guys are feeling it too."
The rest of us are completely ordinary, except for being blessed by Shaman power. Why would we be affected by it?"
As if he'd summoned it, a sudden presence entered the room. It wasn't a spooky or eerie feeling, but almost instantly, a change came over Autumn and Kyle. They suddenly went still and closed their eyes.
"What's…" Katsume asked before being shushed by Elisa. "There's something here. It's a good something. Close your eyes and relax."
When everyone had done so, the feeling in the room intensified and they could suddenly hear the faint sound of drumming. Their heartbeat sped up and felt absolute joy…and then a faint itching on their right arms.
It wasn't enough to break their focus, but Rook had the urge to scratch his bicep. A few more minutes passed before the feeling was gone and the presence left the room.
Rook opened his eyes and then felt a slight burning sensation on his arm. When he looked down, he saw that was sporting an arm band tattoo.
"That's different…"
"Woah, that's cool." Leif added. "I always planned to get one, but they can get pretty pricey."
Autumn looked at her arm and then at everyone else's. "It's a gift from the spirits, I'm sure of it."
Sapphire nodded. "I think you're right. The question is why?"
"We're a tribe…right?" Elisa asked.
Kyle nodded. "That's what Diesel said on the night we were blessed."
"So maybe this is just a visual sign of that; Only I'm not an official member yet."
"Maybe the spirits don't see it that way." Sapphire reasoned. "We've accepted you already; the ceremony is only a formality."
That statement warmed Elisa's heart and she smiled softly. In response, Katsume kissed the back of her head affectionately.
"So, what do we do with all of this?" Rook asked from his spot on the bed. "Do we just go on like nothing happened?"
Autumn nodded. "For now, yeah. We have no idea what will happen tomorrow other than us finally arriving in San Diego. I'd be shocked if Jezebel stayed quiet after that video went out."
Rook grimaced but nodded. There's no way that b… jerk stays silent."
Autumn grimaced back before taking a deep breath. For tonight, let's try and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day of travel.
"I'm not sure I can sleep after all this." Katsume commented. "I'm pretty wired right now."
"Well, we do have a portable DVD player. We could watch a few movies until we fall asleep."
And that's what they did. One by one, they all fell asleep.
Unfortunately, for Autumn, her sleep was a restless one.
In her dragon form, she soared over the city of angel grove. She'd never done this in her dreams before and she gloried in it. On her dragon wings she swooped and dove and allowed the thermals to lift her back up.
This felt amazing and she couldn't wait to tell her mate about it!
Then all at once, a smell of sickly sweetness met her nostrils and she wanted to wretch. She shook her scaly head and then looked below her. On the outskirts of her town, near the lake where she had her sweet 16th, she could see a greasy oily filth polluting the water.
What the hell?
She swooped down till she floated above the water and saw that the pollution wasn't coming from the lake, it was flowing from the land. She followed the oil at dragon speed and soon found herself hovering over the mall. There on top of the mall sat an evil looking dragon with massive horns and sickly eyes that looked more like infected pustules to her.
It was bigger than her and it opened its mouth, spewing more of that oily pollution over the innocent shoppers below.
Autumn could only watch in horror as one by one the shoppers fell to their knees and passed out. This happened multiple times, but what really got her attention was when she saw an older woman walking with her grandchild fall down and pass out. The sound of her knees hitting the ground rang loudly in her ears and she swooped down to the woman to offer aid.
She pressed a claw over the woman's heart and felt it slowly stop.
"Grammy!" The little boy cried out in distress.
Autumn backed away and looked around trying to find one of those defibrillator kits that hung from the wall and felt sheer panic rise up when she didn't see any.
She didn't need to hear the cries to know the woman had died. She got up and took to the sky to challenge the evil dragon, but just as she got to the highest building, she saw the dragon transform into a much more familiar form.
It was Jezebel standing with another woman. A woman she didn't recognize. Autumn cringed when she saw the long-pointed nails digging into the bully's shoulders. She looked into Jezebel's face and instead of pain, saw pure happiness. Then the woman grinned widely, revealing fangs.
Autumn couldn't look away as the fangs bit into the girl's neck.
Blood flowed out and stained her rival's designer clothes. Both monsters looked at her and laughed wickedly…
Autumn gasped softly as she woke up. Instantly, Kyle's arms wrapped around her tighter and she felt his lips kiss the back of her neck.
"You okay, Corazon?" Kyle whispered softly in her ear.
Autumn took several deep breathes and then answered. "Yeah, just a bad dream."
Kyle kissed the back of her head and held her closer to him. Instantly, she felt his calming vibes being pushed through their bond. In minutes, she was asleep again; this time, she slept soundly.
The next morning
Rook felt refreshed as he stepped out of the sleeping car. After that weird experience last night, they'd all slept soundly, and he was ready to greet the day and get some breakfast. Of course, that all changed as Mr. Oliver met him in the hallway.
"Rook, you need to come with me. We need to talk."
Instantly, his good mood vanished and was replaced by worry.
"What's wrong? Is it Joy?"
"I'm not saying anything till we get to the conference car."
When they got there, the adults including Miss Anderson sat around the table. None of the other Miscreants were there.
"What's going on? Is Joy ok?"
Kim nodded at him. "Yeah, she's safe for now. My girls are keeping her safe for now along with her family."
Rook sat down in his chair. "Jezebel retaliated."
"Huh, I thought you'd be shocked by this." Tommy said with a raised brow.
"I threw the gauntlet down yesterday. I'd only be shocked if that…if Jezebel didn't do something to get back at us." He paused. "I'm guessing it's a new video."
Kim nodded. "Before we cue it up, did you know anything about Joy's past? Has she told you anything you'd find shocking?"
Rook sighed. "She didn't need to. My uncle taught me to notice things, it's why I was such a good snitch for him. When I went to pick her up at her house, I saw a little girl that looked just like her. I know she's a foster and the little girl looked nothing like the parents. That means at some point she got knocked up by some dude and that it's hers even though her foster parents are doing the baby sitting."
"On our date, I asked her about the little girl, Hannah. Joy was very upfront about everything. She's not hiding anything about her past that I can tell."
Kimberly nodded and then smoothed out the hair on her son's head. "Sadie, please play the video we cued up earlier."
"Playing now."
Rook braced himself as the hologram appeared. He sighed disgustedly as Jezebel appeared before him with a glass of what looked like wine. She looked fresh as if she'd just come from the spa and she looked incredibly relaxed.
Until she looked directly at him…or at least the camera she was looking into.
"Well, that was incredibly cute video, Rookery. That's your stupid little nickname now, isn't it?"
"I looked it up, too. It's a tower of protection thing, isn't it?" She snorted derisively and flipped her blonde curls over her shoulder.
"Well, I have a question for you, protector, would you protect the fair maiden if she's not a maiden at all? Did you know she's a slut with a brat in tow?"
Rookery growled softly and he looked like he wanted to reach through the screen and choke the bitch.
As if she could see his reaction, she sat up and sneered. "Awe, did you think that little girl was her little sister or something?"
Rook closed his eyes as his nostrils flared.
The video continued as the bully looked away from the camera to someone offscreen.
"Jamie, cue up that video. It'll destroy the little whore."
What showed up on the screen was not as bad as Rook was expecting. It was a candid shot of Joy in a hospital bed in what could only be a maternity room. She looked wrecked as a little baby was given to her. Out came her boob as the nurse helped the baby latch on.
"Do you see the little whore you're so bent on avenging? Not only is she fat, but she's also got a brat to take care of. She only wants you because she's looking for a baby daddy. Is that what you're looking for, Rookery?"
When the video ended and Jezebel was on the screen again, she looked just a little drunk.
"Think about it, Rookery. Do you really want a slut for a girlfriend? Can you even guess how many men have fucked her? If you don't know, maybe you should ask Elisa what it's like dating a whore. That's what Katsume is anyway, isn't he?"
The hologram ended and Rook blew out a breath.
When he looked up, everyone was watching him. "What? She's not the first mom I've seen feeding her baby. All this confirms is that Hannah is Joy's daughter. This changes nothing about how I feel about her."
A moment went by and then Rook added. "What I really want to know is how Jezebel knew about Katsume. How could she know anything about his past?"
"I'd like to know that too." Katsume said from behind him. "What does this bitch know about me?"
"That's the big question isn't it." Miss Anderson added. "I know this video sucked, but I wanted to see your reaction to it."
"Last night, someone managed to find a back way into the home office's computer files. Our computer expert assured me that nothing was taken, but she was able to back trace the hacker and it came from somewhere in Angel Grove. My gut tells me that it was someone from Jezebel's group looking for dirt."
Saying this, she pulled out a manila envelope and showed it to him. "I know it's not as high-tech, but the FBI hasn't caught up with all the fancy gadgets yet."
She pulled out a few pictures and put them on the table, causing Katsume to suck in his breath and approach the table.
"Do you know these people?" Miss Anderson asked.
Katsume nodded and pointed to the picture of an older teenager. "I know this guy. He calls himself Valentine and he screws girls like it's going out of style. He's a hell of charmer and girls just seem to fall at his feet.
"So, you're thinking that this idiot knocked Joy up?" Rook asked.
"We don't know, but he's someone that we're checking out. If this is just the tip of the iceberg, there may be more boys like him that are bringing girls into the ring. One of the things we noticed is that most of the girls in the ring are foster kids or shelter kids."
"It makes sense to me." Katsume replied offhandedly. "No one cares about what foster kids get up to. As long as we're off the street and staying out of trouble, no one takes a second look at us. That's how I got away with my back tattoo."
At this, Miss Anderson looked up at him sharply. "You have ink?"
Katsume shrugged. "Yeah, I don't try and hide it. The girl I got it from did everything but add color. She got caught with her tattoo gun and it was confiscated. I left a few weeks after that."
At the counselor's stunned look, he added. "Trent knows all about it, and he says that if I stay out of trouble till my eighteenth birthday, he'll pay to have it finished."
Miss Anderson nodded again. "Well, there's nothing to be done about that, so we'll just move on."
"Good, can we just focus on Joy now?" Rook interrupted looking agitated. "I don't want to leave her vulnerable while we sit around figuring this out. If she didn't handle the hazing well, I'd hate to think what will happen when she has this secret exposed for all the world to see."
Kimberly took the outburst in stride. "She'll be fine for the moment at the Manor. We're already making plans to bring them to the hotel in San Diego. Everything will be figured out when we're in a more peaceful place."
"So what? We just sit around waiting to get to San Diego?"
Tommy nodded. "Yep, but first we're going to have breakfast and then I suggest you spend the rest of the time with your crew and veg out the best you can. Once we get to the hotel we'll be surrounded by kids and I want to keep this mess from them. As far as they're concerned, we're there to celebrate with friends and enjoy SeaWorld. Got me?"
"Yes sir."
"Good, now let's eat!"
That seemed to be the signal for everyone to relax. At Rook's disgruntled look, Kimberly added. "Hey Rookery, you should know that you're not fighting this battle alone. There are a whole lot of adults standing with you. Remember that."
"Yes ma'am. If it's okay, I'd like to go get some air."
Kimberly gave him a kind smile. "Go ahead; when you're ready to eat, we'll have food for you."
Many Hours Later
Rook sat moodily in the open-air car as the rest of the miscreants chatted. He only halfway listened as the train sped down the tracks.
"Wow, he's certainly got the whole brooding bad boy thing down. I'm sure Joy will love that."
Rook looked up sharply. "What about Joy?"
"Hey, there he is!" Autumn said teasingly.
Rook sighed running a hand through his hair. "Sorry guys. I guess I'm just not with it today."
"Hey, we all know where your head is right now." Kyle said as he sat back with Autumn curled up to his side. "That revelation was a surprise to all of us, but we'll help you figure things out."
"There's nothing to figure out." Rook said. "I told you guys that I already knew about the kid. All I want to do is kick that bitch's ass, but I'm not allowed to. It would look bad for me to hit a girl, not even a bully like Jezebel."
"Then leave that up to us." Autumn said. "If she tries anything, I'll have no problem laying her out cold."
"In the meantime, we should do as the mentors said and relax. There's going to be a lot of fun waiting for us at the hotel. We get to celebrate love at our reception, not to mention running with Monsters at SeaWorld. It'll be the perfect chance to let off some steam."
When Rook nodded uncommittedly, Kyle lifted up the sleeve on his shirt, revealing the magic tattoo on his bicep. "Hey were a tribe of Miscreants now. We ride for each other. Whatever is waiting for us next, we'll handle it as a group."
Rook looked up at him. "All for one and one for all?"
"You're damn right." Kyle answered. "Now, let's go get our things together. We're almost to our stop."
Finally, we've made it to San Diego. LOL. Sorry it's taken so long.
Anyway, what do you guys think of this chapter? What do you think the story is with Joy and Hannah? Let me know what you guys think in the reviews.
See you next chapter.