Summary: Kathryn and Sebastian attend his fathers wedding and later a tribunal meeting will decide Kathryn's fate as leader.
Authors Note: Okay so here's the deal, since I only have a few more chapters to go on this story I'm going to concentrate on this fic before updating Trip On Love. I will update tribunal again this weekend (or Monday) and then finish it during the week. Trip on Love will be updated again probably next weekend. Sorry for the delay but I want to get at least one story finished.
Chapter 12: Welcome To the Dark Side
"I don't know about you but I'm experiencing a serious case of deja vu" Kathryn sighed as she stretched her body out across the king sized bed.
"I should hope so" Sebastian snickered as he reappeared from the bathroom. Slowly he crawled towards her on the bed, a lascivious grin on his handsome face. "It was after all the first place I" he pushed her supple thighs apart and thrust his body between Kathryn's legs as he finished, "had you."
Sebastian bent down to kiss her but Kathryn stopped him. "Had me? You never had me."
"Well I do now." Kathryn gave him one of her blinding smiles as she allowed him to kiss her.
The morning following the incident at school the new couple was hiding out at Sebastian's suite at the Four Season's. The very same suite where they shared their first sexual encounter. A fact Kathryn hadn't even realized until the following morning. In her defense though they had been quite busy the night before with other things.
As Sebastian moved away from her mouth and started planting soft kisses on her neck. Kathryn wondered why on earth she ever denied her feelings for him for so long. If she had just admitted months ago, after they first got together, that she wanted him, if she had just left Joshua then, image all the pain she could have avoided. Not to mention the thirty stitches in her stomach.
Watching him intently as he kissed his way down her body Kathryn wondered if he was as happy as she was. Joshua's words echoed back to her causing her to question if she really was just another conquest to him. Sebastian loved her and she knew it but in the back of her head Kathryn pondered if that was enough. There was his reputation to consider after all. Could he really give that up in favor of being faithful to one girl? She then began thinking of all the other girls who laid in that bed with him before her. Had they loved him too?
"Sebastian how many girls have you had in this bed?'
He stopped his movements just long enough to look up at her. "I don't know I never took inventory. How many guys have visited your bed?" When she answered him with a strong glare he teased "ballpark? Fifty, sixty, or are we talking triple digits?"
Kathryn responded by giving him a sharp kick on the back of the legs. Sebastian winced in pain while she got out from under him knowing a retaliation was on its way. Sebastian acted quickly and dove on top of her. Laughing Kathryn pushed him off and straddled his lap. Grabbing him by the wrists she pinned him to the bed and demanded "are you insinuating that I'm a slut?"
He laughed "oh I wasn't insinuating anything. I was merely stating that I-"
Kathryn pressed her finger to his mouth silencing him. "Watch it Valmont, you wouldn't want to say something you'd regret."
Sebastian opened his mouth to speak again but stopped short of saying anything. Instead he grabbed Kathryn by the back of her legs and promptly flipped her over onto her back. Resuming his position on top all humor vanished from his face a he said quietly "I was merely stating that I would never refer to you in such a manor again."
Kathryn's jovial smile soon fell and was replaced by a softer more serene appearance. "Good" she replied pulling him back down to her mouth.
The foreplay ended there as Sebastian's movements became more aggressive toward her and his kisses harder. Kathryn opened her eyes and watched him as they kissed. She smiled at the pained look of pleasure on his face. He was just dying to get back inside her and Kathryn was happy to grant him that wish.
Reaching down she pulled her panties away with Sebastian's assistance. A moment later his boxers were joining the rest of his clothes on the floor. With one hand underneath her silk camisole kneeing her breast the other hand caressed her mound. Kathryn let out a soft groan of impatience "come on."
"Relax" he whispered back to her as he slid in between her legs and slowly inserted himself inside of her. "Just relax."
Kathryn tried her best but her body tensed as he entered her and she was eager for him to move. However Sebastian surprised her by remaining perfectly still. It was a new sensation to feel him inside of her still, but throbbing and stretching her in such a way that made her whole body tingle. As he bent down and began playing with her breasts Kathryn used her inner muscles to squeeze around his girth. His jaw clenched and he uttered a soft curse under his breath before ever so gently starting to move inside her. Sebastian rocked against her all the while keeping one set of fingers pressing her clitoris as the others gently caressed the back of her neck. As these new sensations flooded through her body Kathryn let out soft moans and whimpers of pleasure.
"I'm almost there" he whispered in her ear, moving gently inside of her as if he was afraid he'd hurt her.
"S-so am I" she stuttered "oh god Sebastian."
"I wanna cum inside you."
Her brain was barely functioning enough to form words but she was able to consent, "do it."
"Your mine" he growled as he began to shudder and come inside her "now and always."
It was with those last words Kathryn also came, quivering as her orgasm hit her. Sebastian still buried inside her body collapsed on top of her. She hugged him to her letting her fingers play in his hair. They laid like that for awhile just listening to each other catch their breath. Sebastian at last broke the silence. "I love you, you know."
"I know" she whispered. Kathryn didn't say it back to him, she felt embarrassed for some reason. Even though Sebastian and her had become closer than they'd been the last few weeks she still wasn't quite ready to be that vulnerable in front of him yet.
Kathryn thought he would get angry at this but if he was upset he hid it. Instead he surprised her by saying "I was proud of you yesterday. What you did at the church."
"Proud?" she repeated with a soft chuckle. "That has to be a first."
Sebastian looked up at her "I mean it Kathryn. It took a lot of balls to stand up for yourself in front of Isabel and the whole school." He snickered "I'm still reeling over the fact that you called her a cunt in front of Hardgrove. I thought he was going to faint when the word came out of your mouth."
Kathryn sighed "yeah well, we'll see how brave I am come Monday morning. I'm going to be kissing that losers ass for weeks just to keep him from tossing me out."
"You could have just given into Isabel's demands"
"Right and spend the rest of the school year answering to her every whim? I think now. Besides I'm quite pleased with the way things turned out."
Tracing patterns on her flat stomach Sebastian noted solemnly "you sacrificed a lot. Your reputation, student body president position, Joshua. If you wanted you could change your mind, about us I mean."
Kathryn's brow crinkled in concern "is that what you want?"
"Of course not but I do want you to be happy."
"I am" she whispered. "Perhaps for the first time in my life I'm truly happy."
Looking down at her he asked "what about the tribunal?"
With a small hopeful smile she suggested "you could always join..."
He laughed "I'd do anything for you...but you're on your own with that. Are you worried Joshua is going to make trouble for you with them?"
Thinking back Kathryn remembered Joshua's warning to her. There was no doubt in her mind he wouldn't act on it. Joshua was most definitely ruthless and vindictive enough to try and hurt her for leaving him. Kathryn knew all this but didn't say a word of it to Sebastian. He would just tell her to leave the tribunal and she didn't want to do that. It was as much a part of her as he was and she didn't want to give either of them up.
"Kathryn?" Sebastian called to her waking her from her thoughts.
She smiled at him "no I don't foresee any problems."
Sebastian looked less than convinced as he leaned back on his elbow and considered her a moment. "You know you never did tell me what happened between you and Joshua."
No she hadn't and she really had no desire to rehash it with him. Instead of going into the whole story of the other girl and his threats Kathryn explained "when I got out of the hospital I kept thinking about what you say to me. That if I truly loved Joshua I never would have gone to bed with you. You were right I just didn't want to believe it." She snickered softly "I've been deluding myself for years about my relationship with Joshua. It was never a relationship it was just sex with a title. This, what I have with you is a relationship. I tried to tell you that the other day..."
"I'm sorry about that" he sighed "I was just really angry and I didn't want to listen to anything you had to say."
Kathryn nodded "so who was the girl?"
"Girl?"
"Yes the one who you kicked me out for."
"Oh" he grinned "there was no girl. I actually spent most of the night drinking myself into a stupor."
She smiled faintly "what a coincidence, I did the same"
Sebastian laughed "yeah well it was that or help prepare for that damn...oh FUCK!!!"
Kathryn sat up startled as he got off the bed and started tearing around the room. "What? What's wrong?"
"The wedding!" he yelled as he began putting his boxers back on. "The fucking wedding is today! I completely forgot."
Glancing at the small clock on the bedside table she asked "what time does it start?"
Sebastian picked up his Rolex and then tossed it to the ground in disgust. "Fifteen minutes! God if I'm not there my father is going to kill me or worse yet send me back to my mother."
"I thought you wanted to go back to Europe?"
He stopped his frantic movements and strode back over to her. Cupping her face he told her "the only place I want to be is with you."
Kathryn smiled as he bent down and kissed her and then once again started to draw her down towards the bed. "Uh, Sebastian" she pushed him back up right and reminded him "the wedding?"
With a frustrated groan he pulled away from her and walked over to the phone. "This fucking wedding...I never should have agreed to be in it. So are you doing to come with me or what?"
"Are you inviting me?"
"Who else would I take?"
Glancing down at her wrinkled clothes on the floor she sighed "I don't have anything to wear."
"That's all right neither do I." Turning away from her Sebastian spoke into the receiver "yes, hello I need you to send up some clothes to penthouse 4. I need a tux and a dress. No, no money isn't a problem just charge it to the room. I don't know black" looking back at Kathryn he said "and for the dress, something...short"
Kathryn hurled a pillow at him and yelled playfully "I'm not showing up at your father's wedding in some slutty dress just so you can spend the day ogling my breasts."
Sebastian grinned at her as he said into the phone "I want something elegant, sophisticated but sexy. Yes I need it now, better yet yesterday. Okay, good I'll be waiting." As he hung up the phone he asked "better?"
"Yes"
"Good, now onto ogling those breasts." Sebastian walked over to her and began massaging her tits. "Very nice."
She rolled her eyes "go get ready, we're already going to be late."
"Fine, fine" he smiled and gave her one last kiss on the forehead before disappearing inside the bathroom.
It was a gesture that Joshua always use to do, give her a light kiss on the forehead. Kathryn always liked it because there was something gently and intimate about it. Sebastian had done it in the past and it always reminded her of Joshua. However this time when he kissed her the only person she was thinking about was him.
"Hey Valmont?"
"Yeah?" he called to her from the bathroom.
"I love you"
There was a moment of silence before Sebastian stuck his head out the door and with his usual smug smile replied "yeah, I know."
* * * * * *
"Just where the hell have you been all night?" Edward Valmont demanded, his usual calm face turning red in anger as he stood before his son. "You nearly ruined my wedding!"
Sebastian glanced around the wedding reception noticing some of the guests who were doing double takes when they got a look at how angry the groom was looking. "Relax" he advised his father. "I got there in time and everything went perfectly."
"You walked in after the bride!"
"But I walked in didn't I? Look you did it, you're married now, so what's the problem?"
Edward wasn't charmed by his son's boyish smile and wasn't about to let this little miss step go so easily. Sebastian suspected the real reason his father was so tense had to do with his new ball and chain but it was easier to yell at him than acknowledge he made a mistake marrying Nina.
Stepping closer to him Edward hissed "Sebastian I'm not just going to forget about this little mishap and I know for damn sure Nina won't let me. I'm going to spend half my wedding night listening to how my son upstaged the bride. I want to know now where you were and it better be good. I still have those brochures to that military school in Vermont and don't think-"
"I'm sorry Mr. Valmont by I'm afraid I'm to blame for Sebastian's tardiness" Kathryn suddenly appeared besides Sebastian wearing a sweet as apple pie smile she was famous for scaming most of Manchester with. Looping her arm around her date's she explained "you see Sebastian picked me up for the wedding and well...you know how us girls are, it took me forever. Sebastian kept ushering me to hurry up but I just thought he was being impatient. It really is all my fault we were so late, I had no idea the time. I'm so terribly sorry."
Kathryn was appearing so sweet and charming no man on earth could even try to resist her. Luckily for Sebastian his father was one of those men. Looking over Kathryn appreciably, his eyes wandering towards her breasts for a bit longer than necessary Edward smiled gallantly "well don't be ridiculous dear, it was a simple mistake and no harm was done."
"Oh thank you" she beamed. "Sebastian always talked about how generous and kind his father is but I had no idea."
Sebastian couldn't be sure but it actually looked like his father was blushing at Kathryn's compliment. Containing the urge to gag he tightened his grip on her as he introduced them. "Father this is my girlfriend Kathryn Merteuil."
It was hard to say what Edward was more stunned over. The fact that his playboy son had an actual girlfriend or that she was a Merteuil, one of the most tony families in New York. Either way the older man was quite pleased that Sebastian for once hadn't fucked up. He might have thought the boy was simply using her as he did all his other dates but the way he looked at the pretty brunette told Edward his son for once might genuinely care for a girl.
Just then Nina strode up to them, the end of her Vera Wang gown swishing across the ballroom floor. "Darling it's time for us to share our first dance" she instructed her new husband. "Oh hello Sebastian, glad you could make it. Do you that by showing up late you-"
"Dear" Edward put a halt to her rant. "This is Kathryn Merteuil she's Sebastian's new girlfriend"
"Girlfriend?" Nina repeated the disdain evident in her voice. "Well this is a first isn't it?"
"It's nice to meet you" Kathryn replied.
Taking Nina by the arm he told them "well we should get on with it then. It was wonderful meeting you Kathryn perhaps we can have a dance later?"
"I would love that."
Sebastian's father turned to leave but not before leaning in and whispering to his son "try not to fuck this up."
He responded with a sarcastic smile as he watched his new stepmother, who was looking back at him in anger get dragged to the dance floor. Grabbing a glass of champagne off a passing waiters tray Sebastian grumbled "welcome to the family."
"You know your fathers rather cute"
He shot her a disgusted glare "cute? The man's a leech, didn't you notice the way he was ogling you? And you better watch it with that bullshit charm of yours around him, before you end up as wife number four."
"Well at least you'll still get to fuck me. How many times did you sleep with that woman?"
"Just once" he sighed "which was plenty believe me. Now can we please stop talking about my demented family? I'm going to be rid of them for three glorious weeks and I'll have the whole house to myself. If you're nice I might let you visit."
Kathryn smiled coyly "you're assuming I want to come."
Pulling her into his arms Sebastian whispered in her ear "ah baby you always want to cum."
She laughed in response until her eyes noticed something, or rather someone across the room. Moving away from him, suddenly angry Kathryn demanded "what are they doing here?"
Sebastian turned around not sure of who she meant until he caught sight of Annette and Marcus on the other side of the room dancing. With a careless shrug he explained "I invited them."
"Why? I thought you hated Annette?"
He smiled "no that's you who hate Annette. I could give a shit about her one way or the other. My father told me I could invite a few people and seeing as I thought I'd have no one to talk to outside of my fathers boring friends I invited Marcus." Noticing Kathryn's annoyed reaction he asked "what's the matter, you don't like Marcus anymore?"
"No of course not, it's his little date I have a problem with" she replied sharply.
Steering Kathryn in the opposite direction Sebastian suggested "then we'll just ignore them. Besides I was planning on ditching this party in a few minutes anyway."
"Won't your father be angry?"
"Probably" he answered with a mischievous smile. "I'm going to go see if I can go snag us a bottle of the good champagne from the bartender. I'll be right back, try not to get into any fights while I'm gone."
While he darted off in the other direction Kathryn attempted to avoid the happy couple by heading over to their table on the other side of the dance floor. However before she could get there someone steeped into her path. "Kathryn hey" Jen Robert's greeted her with the usual too eager to please smile of hers.
Annoyed at the mere presence of another one of Sebastian's conquests she demanded "what are you doing here? Don't tell me Sebastian invited you."
"Oh no, no my mom is friends with the brides cousin" she babbled. "But you must have come with Sebastian I mean after what happen in the-"
"Yeah I'm his date" she interrupted. "Was there something you wanted Jennifer?"
The girl looked slightly hurt at how she was being addressed. Her brown eyes going dark she replied "yeah I just wanted to say I'm sorry, you know about what's going down to night. It must be really painful to learn-"
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't you know?" When Kathryn shook her head no Jen gave her a small, almost cruel smile as she explained "well I guess you'll find out soon enough."
Without another word Jen passed by her and joined a group of women gathered around the bride. Kathryn wanted to march up to her and demand a further explanation but she didn't want to cause a scene. Instead she was left to ponder what she meant by "you'll find out soon enough." Since the only connection between the girls was the tribunal she assumed it had something to do with that. This sent her nerves on high alert. Nothing should be going down with the tribunal without her knowing about it, nothing.
Storming off to the bathroom Kathryn entered and whipped out her cell phone. She was about to make some calls to find out what was going on when she was stopped by the sound of someone throwing up. Kathryn turned up her nose at the disgusting sound and started to leave when she heard a toilet flush. She was shocked when a moment later Annette walked out of the stall. Judging by the look on blondies face she was just as surprised to see her standing there as well.
"One too many glasses of champagne princess?"
Annette rolled her eyes at Kathryn then walked over to the sink and ran some water. After splashing her face she explained "I must have eaten something bad. It was probably the shrimp or something."
Kathryn eyed her skeptically "you're saying the Valmont's thousand dollar a plate sea food made you sick?"
"So I have a weak stomach" Annette grumbled "why do you care?"
"I don't" she replied even though it was a lie. Kathryn momentarily forgot all about the tribunal as she wondered what really was making Annette sick. She had a pretty good theory what the real reason was, and why Annette wouldn't want to tell her the truth. However she kept her mouth shut. For now she would keep this little piece of information to herself. One never knows when you might need that ace up your sleeve.
* * * * * *
Sebastian was almost home free. With one arm circling Kathryn's waist and the other clutching a champagne bottle he headed for the exit of the reception. Since the party was being held at the Waldorf hotel he had taken it upon himself to get a room thinking that he and Kathryn could sneak out early and have some real fun. After nearly an hour of pretending to be cordial around his father's friends and business associates he figured it was time to make an exit. Only as per usual there was someone standing in his way.
"Hey Kathryn we need to talk" Marcus suddenly appeared in front of them blocking the nearest exit out of the ballroom.
Rolling his eyes in annoyance Sebastian told him "not now Marcus we're busy."
"Ignore him" Kathryn advised her friend. She had a sneaking suspicion this might concern the tribunal. Sebastian's libido could wait a little while longer as far as she was concerned. "What's wrong?"
Marcus expression was grave as he told her delicately "this is about business. Perhaps we should..."
He trailed off and shot a quick glance Sebastian's way obviously indicating he did want to talk about the tribunal. Kathryn knew Sebastian would understand if she wanted to talk to Marcus alone but she didn't want to keep things from him. She trusted him and knew he would keep whatever it was private. "It's okay, tell me now."
He nodded and led her over towards an empty table. Looking behind him she noticed Annette come up and stand beside Sebastian. The two outsiders getting to listen in, it went completely against policy and years of tradition. But at the moment rules and regulations were the last thing on Kathryn's mind.
Marcus took a deep breath before he revealed "I think you should know, Joshua called an emergency meeting for tonight."
"What!?" Kathryn exclaimed not caring in the slightest who over heard her outburst. "He did what?"
"He called a-"
"He can't do that! I'm the fucking leader. ME! He's not even involved anymore!"
"Calm down" Marcus instructed her. As always he had a more level head than her. "Look when Joshua called me this morning and told me about it I asked him what it was about but he wouldn't give me any details. However he did tell me not to mention it to you which made me think he was planning a mutiny."
Kathryn's eyes narrowed at him, "mutiny?" Suddenly she remembered the encounter she had with Jen earlier and everything she had been babbling on about started to make sense. "Joshua's trying to get me booted as leader."
"Yeah it appears that way" he sighed. "I made a couple of calls and apparently Joshua's been less than discreet about his intentions. According to Todd he's going to hold a vote about weather or not to get rid of you."
"What are the odds they'll vote in my favor?"
Marcus's eyes looked away and then back at her before he muttered "they're not good. Joshua's been pointing out to people that your judgment has become...impaired recently and that certain things have been distracting you."
"What things?"
"Me" Sebastian remarked quietly.
Kathryn met his eyes and shook her head "that's bullshit. Who I'm involved with has nothing to do with the tribunal. God damnit I knew Joshua was going to do something like this." Getting to her feet she muttered under her breath "he threatened to destroy me but I never thought he'd go this far."
Sebastian came up behind her and placed a hand on her arm. "Why didn't you tell me he threatened you?"
"It wasn't important" she replied. "At least I didn't think it was." He started to pull her into an embrace but Kathryn pulled away from him. She couldn't be comforted right now she needed to think and plan out her next move.
"What are you going to do?" Annette finally spoke, asking what they'd all been thinking.
Kathryn turned back to Marcus and asked "what can I do?"
He shrugged "I don't know, you're going to have to trump Joshua some how. Whatever it is its going to have to be big."
"Well I'm going to that meeting tonight"
Getting to his feet he remarked "he's going to trash you Kathryn. He's going to use every weakness against you and do everything in his power to humiliate you. I mean at this point I don't know what you could possibly do. Half the group is totally enamored with Joshua. There's no way they'll turn against him. Kathryn? Are you listening to me?"
She had been listening to him and as he spoke Kathryn began to get the most delicious idea. Not only would it trump Joshua it would totally hit him where it hurts and he would never see it coming. All it would take was a little persuasion on her part but she didn't foresee it being too difficult. Turning back to Marcus who was regarding her with concern she smiled broadly. "I know exactly what I'm going to do."
"Care to share it with the rest of us?"
"You'll find out tonight."
* * * * * *
The games began at nine.
Joshua had left instructions for everyone to meet at his parents townhouse that night. Sitting in her limo outside his home she looked down at her watch and counted the seconds until the large hand swept over the twelve. When it did she smiled coldly in satisfaction and then instructed the driver, "now."
He quickly got out and opened the door for her. Stepping out into the cold November air Kathryn removed her long coat and tossed it inside. She was wearing a black dress with a dangerously low cut front and no back along with a pair of matching stiletto heels. She looked alluring and dramatic, it was the perfect outfit to make her entrance in.
The maid let her in obviously assuming she was just another one of her employers guests. Little did she know how unwelcomed this particular guest was. Strutting towards the large parlor room where she knew everyone was gathered Kathryn threw open the double doors and didn't break her stride once as she strut up to the center of the room. Every head turned her way, every set out eyes was on her including her ex-boyfriend.
Lounging comfortably in one of the arm chairs in front of the room, he was talking and laughing with some other members when he noticed her presence. His head shot up and he got to his feet immediately. "Kathryn" he breathed. "We weren't expecting you tonight."
"So I gathered" she confident grin. "Don't tell me my invitation got lost in the mail?"
Joshua smiled "no actually I think we all just assumed you'd be too busy with your boyfriend, you know holding hands, writing love letters that sort of thing."
This was met with a few snickers from the others members but Kathryn didn't flinch. "No Joshua I think you have me confused with you and your boyfriends."
He shook his head "no need to be juvenile Kathryn."
"Juvenile?" she repeated. "What the hell do you call this? Calling a meeting behind my back all because I finally wised up and dumped your sorry ass? I got to tell you baby as far as payback goes this is pretty pathetic."
"Don't flatter yourself this has nothing to do with our so called relationship. See unlike you my concern lays with the tribunal. Now I might no longer be leader-"
"Yeah which means you don't get to call meetings or hold court"
Joshua crossed his arms to his chest as he stared her down. "Read the bylines Katie. If the previous leader believes that his successor may be abusing his power-"
"Abusing my power?" she hissed incredulously. "Are you out of your fucking mind? I did no such thing!"
"Or if you're not fulfilling the position. I believe that your judgment has become impaired Kathryn and the tribunal should appoint a new leader."
"On what grounds?" Kathryn demanded.
Joshua laughed obviously quite pleased at her question. "Oh where do I begin? Well let's start with the Valmont situation shall we. The boy poses an obvious threat to us and instead of destroying him as any good leader would you take him to bed and not only that you fall in love with him!" Strutting up to her slowly and menacingly he continued on "you let your feelings for him completely cloud your thinking. You let your power within Manchester slip, you start canceling tribunal meetings, you invite an intruder into one of our private parties and proceed to have sex with him."
"I never-"
"I saw the tape of you two in the pool" he told her. "Marcus showed it to me."
Kathryn shot a look Marcus's way and his eyes darted to the floor. Joshua now standing only a few feet from her continued on his rant "Kathryn you allowed yourself to be completely humiliated in front of the entire school, a move I understand that could have been prevented. Then instead of denying involvement and pleading forgiveness you give up the student body president position!"
Staring him dead in the eye Kathryn replied coldly "I don't plead."
His eyebrows shot up at this and he asked "then I take it you'll give up the leadership position without a fight?"
She laughed "not a chance. What you are doing here tonight Joshua is complete and utter bullshit and we both know it. You're jealous and pissed that I chose Sebastian over you and instead of keeping it between us you drag the tribunal into it. Tell me did you tell them about how you threatened me, how you vowed to destroy me if I didn't stay with you?" Kathryn shook her head at him in disgust "god you're pathetic. Valmont was right about you. You couldn't cut it in college so you come back here to try and relive your past victory where for a brief moment you were important. Well you're not anymore. I'm leader and I'm not about to have you come in and take that away from me!"
"We'll see about that" he sneered at her. "The fact is Kathryn you can't dispute any of the claims against you because they're all true. You were never strong enough to be leader to begin with, hell everyone knows the only reason I gave you the position was because you were a great fuck. I made you and now I'm going to break you darling." Turning back to the crowd he called out "all those in favor of Ms. Merteuil's resignation?"
The room erupted in clapping and a few cheers but not everyone joined in. However enough made their voice clear that she was unwelcomed. Facing her once again Joshua smiled "well there you have it."
"I wasn't aware we ran a democracy Joshua" she scoffed.
"Can't you see you're not wanted? Jesus Kathryn have a little self respect and leave with some dignity."
Kathryn nodded solemnly as if defeated and turned to leave. She took a few steps towards the door before turning back to him "oh wait there was one last thing."
Joshua looked towards her impatiently "yes, what is it?"
"Well before you called this little meeting I took it upon myself to induct a new member. I've already gone through all the initiation steps and was going to announce it at the next meeting but apparently you beat me to the punch."
His eyes narrowed suspiciously at her "who is it?" Before she could answer Joshua grinned and then let out a hearty chuckle "oh don't tell me you brought your little boyfriend into the fold? How incredibly predictable of you."
Kathryn shook her head at him "don't be ridiculous Joshua, Sebastian would never join the tribunal. What with him having a mind of his own and everything. No our new member is someone else entirely. Actually if I'm not mistaken I believe you know her."
"Her?"
The doors behind them opened then and the new tribunal member made her entrance.
It was Annette
Wearing a strapless navy blue dress, with her blond hair swept up she looked decidedly more grown up and Kathryn like. Ignoring the many stares and whispers that followed her entrance Annette walked up besides Kathryn her expression cool. Upon seeing her Joshua gaped and whispered hoarsely "Annette?"
"Hello Joshua" she greeted him.
He didn't speak for a moment he just stared between the two girls as if not believing his eyes. At last he demanded "what is going on here?"
"Yeah I'd like to know the answer to that too" Marcus demanded as he stepped towards the center of the room.
Annette simply nodded to him "it's fine Marcus. This is what I want."
Moving towards Kathryn Joshua hissed in a low voice "what the fuck are you playing here?"
"I'll explain" she replied curtly as she pushed him aside and strode towards the front of the room. "Now can I have everyone's attention." When the room went silent she smiled and began to explain. "I know that many of you want to see me evicted from the leadership position and I know some of you don't like me which is fine. Point of fact I'm not terribly found of some of you. However none of this matters. The tribunal as you know is a way that we can all come together, pool our various resources in order to get everything we want weather it be revenge, better grades, higher level on the social ladder or hell even better seats at a Nicks game. We can accomplish anything but in order to do that we need to function as a unit and we need a leader guiding that unit.
"As Joshua has pointed out I have been distracted lately and I have allowed my position in school to be compromised but it is hardly interfering with my duties as leader. Has the tribunal been exposed? As anyone gotten hurt, arrested or even so much as detention since I've been elected? No. The truth is I'm a fucking great leader but that has been overshadowed by our former leaders need to get revenge for his bruised ego. Rule number one of the tribunal is we're not suppose to turn against our own but he did it without so much as blinking an eye. It's only a matter of time before he does the same to one of you.
"Any of you doubting my power can look at our new inductee as proof that I am always one step ahead and I always will be. Annette Hardgrove is not only our prestigious headmasters daughter but she is also one of the most upstanding students in the school. She's smart, beautiful, clever and will be attending Harvard in the fall. Her boyfriend is already one of us and she is also a friend of some of you. In short she is perfect for our organization. Now I have said my peace about the matter so the rest is up to you. Would you like to be left in the hands of Joshua who will soon be leaving to attend his actual school or would you rather I stayed on as your leader?"
This time the room erupted into unanimous applause as everyone got to their feet cheering and calling out her name. Kathryn confident as ever kept her emotions as bay and simply nodded. Striding over at Joshua who was regarding her with stunned disbelief she stopped in front of him and with a victorious smile told him "checkmate asshole."
* * * * * *
When the applause eventually died down Kathryn began to make her way around the room thanking everyone for their support. Of course they all plead that they hadn't been one of the members that voted against her but she knew otherwise. It didn't matter though, her plan had worked and not only had she gotten her position she managed to take Joshua down in the process. All in all it wasn't a bad night.
"We need to talk" Marcus grabbed her by the arm gruffly and pulled her over towards a quiet corner. Kathryn wasn't surprised that he was angry at her but she didn't appreciate being manhandled either. As she pulled out of his grip he demanded "just what the hell do you think you're doing bringing her into the tribunal?"
"Okay first off don't raise your voice to me like that. Second I'm the one who should be angry, in fact I am angry. What the hell we're you doing telling Joshua about Sebastian coming to the Halloween party? How did you even know about it to begin with?"
Marcus shook his head angrily "no you don't, don't you dare turn this around on me. You did something to her Kathryn didn't you? What was it blackmail? Threats?"
"Neither" Annette replied as she came up from behind him. Placing an arm around his back she explained softly "it was my decision Marcus, Kathryn didn't do anything."
"Right" he scoffed "so you expect me to believe that you just decided to up and join the tribunal for the hell of it?"
She shook her head "no, Kathryn suggested it to me. She didn't order me to or blackmail me she just told me some of the benefits. One of which was I'd get to spend more time with you, we can be even closer."
Marcus gave Kathryn a weary glance before turning back to his girlfriend. Placing a hand on her cheek he whispered "baby it goes against everything you believe in. Now if you want to join that's great but I don't want to force you into anything just for my benefit."
"I may not agree with everything that goes on here but it doesn't matter. The only thing I care about is you and our future." She sighed "besides which school's almost over with anyway."
"There, see" Kathryn huffed "you should be thanking me. Now I want to know why the fuck you betrayed me?"
"I didn't betray you" he assured her.
"Yeah you sort of did" Annette chimed in. Turning to Kathryn she explained "it was after you blackmailed me, he was trying to get even. He showed Joshua the security camera tapes of you and Sebastian and told him he needed to come home right away. It was awhile ago and Sebastian already fought with him over it. You should just let it go."
Kathryn cocked an eyebrow at her "is that an order?"
"Just a suggestion"
"You'll do well not to give me those"
"Oh I'm sorry, what am I suppose to salute you now when I address you?"
"If you'd like"
"Jesus this is going to be a long school year" Marcus grumbled looking upwards. "Now all you have to do Kathryn is convince Sebastian to join. After Annette that should be a piece of cake."
Kathryn laughed "are you kidding? Nothing short of hell freezing over would make that boy join. Which I've learned to deal with. Actually I rather like that he's not, I rather keep him to myself." It was only a minor fib but in the back on her mind Kathryn plotted how she could convince Sebastian to join them.
Looking over to his girlfriend Marcus asked "so where did you get your mark?"
Annette's cheery lips curled into a smirk as she shot a glance Kathryn's way then revealed "it's not exactly visible now. Later when we're alone I'll show it to you."
Marcus looked over at Kathryn wide eyed and stunned over the prospect that she might have been branding Annette in a less than virtuous place. She merely smiled in response and gave him a shrug before turning on her heels to leave. Kathryn had enough fun for one night and she planned on going home to regale Sebastian with stories of her victory. However before she could leave Joshua appeared in front of her "going so soon?"
"Yes I've got to be getting home. I promised Sebastian I'd come home early and fuck his brains out."
She attempted to duck under his arm to get past him but Joshua grabbed her by the arm and forceful slammed her up against the wall. Kathryn winced at his tight grip and hissed "let go of me."
"Do you think this is over?" he demanded. "Do you honestly think you've won?"
"Oh wake the fuck up Joshua I have won!" Kathryn pulled out of his grasp but didn't make a move to leave just yet. "You tried to destroy me and failed miserably. Not only am I still leader but I managed to destroy the one thing you've always wanted but could never have."
"And what's that?"
She smiled "Annette of course. Your precious, darling, innocent little school girl is innocent no longer. I know it's her you've always been after, the one you truly loved but I could never understand her appeal. Well I did tonight. You wanted her so badly because she was innocent and pure, untouched." Kathryn laughed "well she's not anymore, if she ever was to begin with. Annette's one of us now, she's tainted and not only that...she loves Marcus. Funny I just thought it was a fling but I realize now they definitely have a future together."
"Oh I wouldn't count on it" Joshua sneered.
"Silly rabbit" she teased caressing his face "you never did learn how to loose gracefully."
"Katie my love, this isn't nearly over. I'm going to make you pay dearly for what you did tonight. I can promise you that."
She didn't flinch at his threats she just shook her head at him and replied "I'm petrified. Do your worst."
Joshua said nothing allowing his eyes to burn into hers. Once filled with twinkling adoration they were now filled with searing hatred. The way he looked at her sent a shiver down Kathryn's body but she ignored it. With a triumphant smile she turned away from him and walked out the door. She no longer cared if he hated her or not, Joshua was now an insignificant part of her life. Everything was now perfect and no matter what he did he couldn't change that. Climbing back into her limo she instructed the driver "take me home."
Kathryn had no way of knowing that her victory over Joshua would be short lived. He would get his revenge on her just as he promised. By the end of the night everything in Kathryn's world would change forever.
- to be continued (Please Review)