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Chapter Fifty-Five
Punishments and Allocations
"Madre van Dios."
"Dude, is that the driver's side door sitting in the backseat?"
"I think I see scorch marks in the back. What, did they get hit with a grenade?"
"I've never seen so many bullet-holes."
"Jason, Kevin," Karen suddenly called, face pained. "You're not helping." The two teens winced sheepishly, then glanced over at where Geo and MECH had seemed to enter some sort of daze nearby.
"Body demolished . . . chassis completely twisted . . . engine block cracked . . . fuel lines severed . . ." MECH had been whispering details of the wreckage ever since stepping foot inside, face traumatized as if he were any other child staring at a slaughtered kitten. Karen sighed.
"Look, Jon is in no condition to talk to anyone right now. Quite frankly neither am I," she added wearily. "Kevin, I need you to round up the girls, as well as George, Marius and Levi, and give them each suitable punishments." Jason opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, she had turned a stern look on him. "Jason, I need you to gather up all of our new arrivals, get them into the database and then settle them all into new rooms and get those who will be attending school class schedules for tomorrow."
"But I—,"
"Don't have anything else you need to be doing right now," she finished, steel in her tone. Jason closed his jaw with a scowl. Kevin didn't look any happier. He knew the last thing his easy-going, laid back best-friend wanted to do would be to dole out punishments to his girlfriend and a good portion of his friends.
Unfortunately such was their lot, being the two senior members of the team.
The door suddenly swung open, and a small herd of people stood on the other side of it. Jason halted himself mid-grumble and gave them all a winning smile.
"Hi everyone, please come in!" he called, his tone sugar-sweet and welcoming. "If everybody would please come inside and take a seat?"
The room was suddenly filled with a mini-tornado—nowhere near any of his guests—slinging six chairs from the side wall and twirling them until they each sat down in front of the desk in a perfect semi-circle.
Megan blew out a low whistle. "Wow,thatwassocool." It took him a second to replay that in slow-mo and translate, but as the others did as he'd asked, Jason grinned.
"Why thank you, Megan, I do try. Here at Haven we like to promote the use of your powers in everyday life. It's been proven that regular use will stimulate growth and strength, just like any muscle, your mutation needs exercise to stay healthy." He noticed the Hispanic girl with a disbelieving expression on her face. "Of course, some of us are blessed—or cursed—with some awkward or perhaps destructive abilities. In such a case, you can obtain permission with Mayor Geo or Vice-Mayor Karen to be able to train your abilities in our Battle Arena, which has been created by MECH to withstand all but a several kiloton nuclear blast."
Heinrich perked up considerably at the mention of a Battle Arena.
"Now," he cracked his knuckles. "First thing's first. I gotta get our new arrivals set up in the computer here. I believe you," he pointed to the dark-haired girl and she smiled.
"Maggie Santa Clara," she supplied helpfully. He grinned and nodded.
"Thank you, and you," he turned to the tall blonde. She gave him an equally friendly grin.
"Lucy Boggins."
"Lucy and Maggie have already been put into the computer, so if you'll just suffer through here for a few minutes while I take care of the others. Hopefully my hen-pecking typing skills will get us out of here sometime before nightfall."
Jason started at Megan and worked his way across, gathering all of the pertinent information from all their new guests—as was policy. He took special care with Angie, having taken notice of her slightly nervous and unsettled posture. He got the feeling she was still new and maybe a little uncomfortable in crowds, no doubt used to blending into the shadows and sticking to herself on the streets.
After that painful process was over with, he brought up the data-sheet for housing.
"Okay then. Miss Boggins, as you're over the age of eighteen, you have the option of being given your own place—what we call a single. It's basically like a one-bedroom house. Everyone else being under the age of eighteen with no other family in Haven, you'll be shacking up in the dorms. We have a boy's dorm and a girl's dorm. The buildings are right next to each other. Girls aren't supposed to be in the boy’s dorm after hours, and vice versa. Being right next to each other allows for ease of sneaking in however, and why Geo did that we may never know." That won him a couple of chuckles.
He brought up the boy’s dorm first, being as Heinrich was his only male. "Let's see . . . where to put you, Mr. VonDroth . . ." Jason's eyebrow raised, then he grinned. "Ah, perfect. Looks like we got an open spot right here in room 1445. You'll be rooming with a Marius Boudreaux. Great guy, Cajun from Louisiana. I'm sure you'll get along great." Heinrich obviously detected the heavy sarcasm in his tone, but wasn't sure what to make of it.
"Um . . . thank-you. I think."
Jason just buried the snicker, then pulled up the Girls dorm listing next. "Let's see here . . . Natasha, given your unique preferences in room temperature, I think it'd go best for everyone involved if I room you by yourself, or at least with someone who has an immunity to cold—,"
"I'm immune!" Maggie suddenly blurted, then blushed a little when everyone turned to stare at her in surprise. "I . . ah, I-I mean. With my powers, I don't feel any temperature anymore. So she could make it as cold as she wanted, I'd never feel it." Jason blinked, then turned to Natasha, who looked extremely bored with the whole proceeding.
"Uh, okay. Is that alright with you, Nata?" The Russian female—who could perfectly understand them with the new translator bud that MECH had given her in her ear, shrugged.
"Da."
"Alrighty then, moving on. Let's see where to put Angie," he murmured, clicking through several screens. He didn't want to put her in a room by herself. She was isolated enough as it was. But he had to be careful with who he paired her with. Someone who wouldn’t be freaked out by her animalistic tendencies, someone who might even understand them. He hesitated on the next page—weighing the pros and cons. Then he sighed and decided to go with it. "Okay Angie, I'm gonna put you in room 0890, with Nichole Avery. She mostly goes by the name Ani—short for Animal." He glanced up and treated the shy girl with a smile. "Ani's got a mutation that's somewhat like yours. I think you guys'll hit it off great." She smiled back and nodded.
"Merci."
"Okayit'smyturn,pickme!" Jason chuckled along with most every one else.
"That it is, my hyper friend." He gave her a smirk. "I'd say cut back on the sugar, but something tells me this is all au'natural." She grinned.
"You betcha."
"God save us all."
"Hey, is that any way to speak to a new arrival?"
"Gotta start somewhere." Amidst the giggles, Jason scanned through the listings. "Let's see here . . . well, looks like you get to room by yourself for now." Megan's shoulders slumped with a slight pout. He sighed. "Don't worry. We get new arrivals in almost every day. I doubt you'll be talking to yourself for long."
She grinned. "How'd you know I do that?" He laughed.
"Lucky guess. And God does that scare me."
Then, Jason made the "or are immune" remark. No way. There was no way she had been that good this year. Or that it was Christmas time so early. Maybe it was a late birthday present, you know, one to make up for the whole mutation thing ruining what little life she had had to begin with.
"I'm immune!" she had called out. Smooth one there, Maggie. They don't suspect a thing. She had then proceeded to trip over every word in her mouth, offering a token explanation that wasn't just 'she's totally hot.’
As people were filing out to go to their respective rooms, Maggie slid up to Natasha and grinned big. Might as well get the flirting out of the way, save us some awkward time later. "So, sexy,” she murmured, “do you have a nickname, or should I just start calling you 'Beautiful' or 'Gorgeous' or 'The Sexiest Thing I've Ever Seen' and save myself some time?" She paused a second. "Okay, that last one's a little long, but it's got a ring to it I think. And it's more than accurate."
Please don't be offended. Please don't be offended. Please don't be offended, she started chanting in her head. If the beautiful girl took it all in stride, laughed, or flirted back, Maggie was thinking about taking up religion again. Hell, if she flirted back, Maggie was liable to drop to her knees and start praising God then and there . . . or at least one of those lust based deities.
Natasha blinked, faintly surprised by the come-on. She'd never been so blatantly flirted with by a female before. For a moment she was unsure how to respond. If it had been an average-looking female she would've probably responded with something appropriately aloof or bitchy and moved on. However, the girl standing in front of her warranted a second—perhaps even a third glance. As pale in feature as she was, Natasha tended to lean more toward the darker-featured in what she considered attractive, This girl embodied the word dark. With thick black hair, black eyes and dark coppery skin—not to mention very wonderfully curved.
She'd never considered herself attracted to another female before, but Natasha decided there was a first time for anything. She finally let herself brandish one of her more flirty smirks, then tapped the translator button on her ear bud.
“For most, I am Natasha, darling, but for you," she made a show of glancing down, then back up, "I will settle for Nata.”
Maggie smirked back. Inwardly, she was cheering out praises to Aphrodite. "Alright, Nata, I'm Maggie. Though, you can just call me yours if you want,” she added slyly. "How's about we go grab our stuff and head up to our room, so we can get a little bit . . . cozier with each other. You know, put away our clothes, model our underwear for each other, give each other massages, that sort of thing?"
Natasha snorted, shaking her head slightly. "Well, I could use a place to put my things, and I certainly want to get to know you better," the hot Russian replied. Her ice blue eyes twinkled with humor. “You seem very . . . interesting.”
"Alright, I'll just go get my stuff,” Maggie replied. “Don't start without me." Then she started for the door. Natasha’s eyebrow quirked.
"Start what?"
"Oh," Maggie smiled wide, slipping from the room, calling over her shoulder, "I'm sure you can use your imagination."
More importantly, she had changed into a black tank-top, knee-length pleated skirt and spider web fishnets, her gloves still on her hands. Even if Nata didn't mind the cold, Maggie was pretty sure she wouldn't like electrical impulses pulled from her if body Maggie happened to touch her. Accidentally. Or on purpose. Whichever came first. At this point Maggie wasn't sure if Nata actually liked girls, or if she was just flirting for flirting's sake.
Of course, since you're totally falling for her, you hope she likes you back, a voice in her head teased. Maggie shut out that voice though, scowling. She didn't fall for people. She lusted after them. Plain and simple.
When the door opened, Maggie got up and sauntered to her door-frame, greeting her roommate with a smile as she draped herself across it. "Hey there, pretty lady," she waved.
Natasha chuckled. "Привет непосредственно, любимая," she murmured. At Maggie's blank look, she winced and tapped the translator at her ear. "Sorry, forgot about the stupid translator. What I said was, hello yourself."
Natasha glanced around the room she had just entered afterward, and let out a long drawn out sigh. Bare, beige and absolutely boring. "Suddenly sleeping on the streets does not seem so bad," she muttered distastefully. She glanced into what would be her bedroom, noting that it wasn't much better.
Natasha considered a sudden thought for all of a minute, then turned back to her new roommate. And pretended to ignore the curvy girl's eyes snapping back up north.
"I had no time to bring any of my clothes from home," she announced. "And this drab little tank top does not constitute. If I am to be forced to attend such a thing as public high school tomorrow, I must go out and see what this provincial little hamlet has to offer in the way of fashion." Natasha turned back for the door, then threw a coy look over her shoulder. "Perhaps you would care to join?"
"I'd follow you anywhere you went, babe,” was Maggie’s casual retort. "Oh, and the flirting never really stops, just to warn you. But I imagine you can live with that." The Hispanic girl pulled on her trench coat. "Besides, I only have a duffle bag full of stuff, so I could use some threads too. I think there's a place downtown."
Maggie glanced around the room distastefully. "And I think we could get some posters or paint or a flame thrower or something to make this place slightly less . . . ."
"Beige?"
"Yeeaaah." Oh God she's so hot. "Oh, and we might want to, you know, hold hands and cuddle along the way. For protection and stuff. Because we're both new here, of course."
"I was wondering how long it would be until you flirted again." Nata smirked as they headed out the door.
"Well, I'd hate to disappoint you, amiga." She paused as she turned the lights off. "Oh, and trust me, I won't."
She had had her suspicions, of course, by how Jason's smell had fluctuated so much when he mentioned her name. But now Angelique was positive. This girl was Jason's mate. There was no mistaking it—she was all too familiar with that scent by now. It had hit her every time she had come anywhere near her crush. That and the "Do Not Touch" sign that smacked her upside the head with every whiff.
She almost started to knock, then hesitated. What am I so afraid of? That she will smell my feelings for her mate on me? There is no reason I cannot civilly live with her. However, the knock still did not come. The feral girl waited a few more moments in front of the door for her new room, still grappling with the uncertainty of the situation.
The alpha female will want to know I am in her territory, she finally reasoned. If I am unannounced, that will cause more problems than not. Good old instinct. She tried to listen to it as much as possible, when it was not telling her to kill and/or devour everything in her path. The small French girl raised a clawed hand and wrapped a few times on her new room's door, hoping that her new room mate was in so she could get this painful introduction over with.
Very slowly they all came to stand in a line in front of the desk. Some stood there boldly—like George and Ani—resigned to whatever punishment they were about to receive. Some stood defiantly—like Marius and Lexy—perhaps feeling what was to come next was unjustified. And some—like Sammy—just stood there absolutely miserable and on the verge of tears.
"Well," he began heavily, "apparently you all don't know what to do with yourselves having any free time. And as Geo and MECH are too busy lamenting over what's left of his car, I've been given the distasteful task of giving you all suitable punishments." He glanced at each in turn. "I'm not gonna go into some lengthy spiel about how you should've known better, and that by doing what you did, you put not only yourselves in danger but the entire town at risk. I'm sure you've already heard it. So let's just get down to the nitty-gritty, shall we?" He leaned back farther in his seat.
"Josephine, Mia, Aislinn and Animal will all be required to serve one week's worth of extra shifts in the fields, for a period of no less than four hours a day." Josie and Mia looked slightly relieved, until he continued with, "Mia and Josie will also be required to serve one month's worth of training sessions with Aqua, no handicap, for a period of no less than two hours a day." Both girls paled.
There was a very good reason why Kevin and Jason usually only ever trained with each other.
"Levi will be required to serve one month's worth of shifts in MECH's garage as his assistant for a period of no less than four hours a day." Levi looked close to passing out in horror. "George will be required to serve a month's worth of extra shifts in the fields, as well as assisting MECH in the rebuilding of Geo's car."
George showed no signs of caring one way or the other. He also showed signs of not sleeping much these past few days. Inwardly Kevin didn't blame him. He turned to his next victim.
"Marius, due to your injuries, you will be required to serve one week's worth of extra shifts at the school, assisting the Glee Club President for a period of no less than two hours a day." The Cajun's expression tightened slightly, but he made no other move.
Kevin turned to the twins last. Sammy's chin was quivering, mismatched eyes glassy. She already knew what was coming. "Samantha, you will be banned from attending the Public Library for a period of one week. If you have any books checked out, you will be allowed to return them this afternoon."
Lexy scoffed. "What the heck kind of punishment is that?" Kevin turned to her with a stern look, and she promptly quieted again.
"Lexy, you will be required to serve a week's worth of shifts in the Public Library, for a period of no less than two hours a day."
The other Yansu twin looked absolutely appalled.
"Alright then, you're dismissed," he finished. "You're hereby released from your room confinement. Your shift schedules take effect tomorrow morning."
And with that all of them—even Josie—slowly filed back out again. As soon as the door closed, Kevin's rigid posture relaxed and he sighed heavily, eyes closing.
God he hated doing that.
The early afternoon was brisk but Ani was sweating heavily, though from more than just her physical exertions. Her whole body felt flushed and prickly, her skin sheened with a fine film of moisture and her spiky hair clung to her forehead and neck in wet tendrils. The thin cotton undershirt and baggy sweats she wore did nothing to ease her discomfort; in fact the soft cotton was like sandpaper against her ultra-sensitive skin. Her body wanted nothing more than to be completely naked, as if protesting the very thought of being clothed. The only thing her skin wanted to feel on it was more skin—of the hot, male variety.
This marked the eighth and last day of her cycle, forty-eight hours longer than she had waited last time. It hadn’t seemed so bad at first. She had felt the urges, but no overwhelming needs. Without her “mate” anywhere near . . . but then he’d come back. All she’d had to do was catch a faint whiff of his scent from the next office over, and her whole body started going haywire.
Not trusting her body or how she might react, Animal had retreated out here to the stable, her one constant place of comfort. Animal tried to keep herself busy with work, hoping that maybe physical exhaustion might stave off the sharp edge to her emotions, but it didn’t seem to be helping at all. Every minute that ticked by just made her needs that much deeper, that much stronger. Very soon she feared she might have to ask Geo to put her back into solitary for the rest of the night. Before she completely lost her mind and found any willing guy to try and ease the throbbing ache between her legs.
Before she hunted him down and begged him to take her, so that she might feel whole again.
Animal glared at the hay bales through the haze of tears that tried to threaten, gritting her teeth. It would be so easy to give in, her needy body seemed to taunt temptingly. Jason was more than willing to have her back. He had been chasing her around town for weeks now professing his love and regrets and desire to get back together, showering her with little love notes and trinkets. One little come-hither from her and Jason would probably ease her need gladly. Animal’s whole body was screaming its approval of that plan. But she couldn’t! She couldn’t risk that kind of pain again. Not to mention there was no telling what any more physical contact between them would do to his genetics. She already felt so horrible about what had already happened.
No matter how much her body craved and her heart wept for him, she couldn’t give in.
Animal turned and pitched another bundle of hay into the empty stall, then all of a sudden she stiffened with a gasp as a sharp, seizing pain twisted her middle. Ani dropped the pitch fork and doubled over, her eyes squeezing shut through the worst of it. A small whimper escaped her clenched teeth when the twisting pain flared again. It felt as if her very womb was spasming.
“That looks painful, sweetheart.”
Animal straightened up with a violent wrench and whirled to find Jason leaning against the closed stall door, his arms crossed over his chest and an unreadable expression on his tanned face. He wore a pair of slightly baggy jeans and a tight red t-shirt that revealed far too much of the impressive muscles beneath it for her peace of mind. His long black hair was also swirling and whipping around his face and shoulders erratically, revealing why she hadn’t caught his scent before now to warn her. He was using his powers to mask it from her, and her pain had distracted her from hearing him either. Ani could only stare at him for a moment with wide and terrified eyes, her hands still clutching her convulsing middle.
“You look like you need somethin’, baby,” he continued softly, his deep voice like warm velvet, seduction personified. Animal started to shake harder as every nerve-ending in her body responded just to the sound of his voice, then bit back a desperate sob. She’d never be able to resist him like this . . . .
Awareness was slow to come, but when it did, it was harsh. Animal let out a gasp before tensing up and then shoving him away. Jason fell back with a grunt of startlement, releasing her and allowing her to slide back to her feet. Animal suddenly wanted to cry, which was in distinct contradiction to the little thrums of intense pleasure still humming through her body. She gave him a watery glare before turning to snatch her clothes up out of the hay.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” she snarled, yanking her underwear and pants back on, then replacing her shirt. By the time she turned back he had pulled his pants back up and refastened them.
Christ, she had let him fuck her up against the stable wall and he hadn’t even taken his pants off. She felt her face turn scarlet in a rush of mortification. His expression was unreadable again.
“Can’t believe I did what?” Jason demanded, pretending ignorance. “Give you one hell of an orgasm? Don’t try to deny it, baby, I got the marks to prove it.” Animal glared, trying not to look at the small bite mark on his shoulder and the angry red scratches that marked his shoulders and chest. The blatant physical proof of his words. Her voice was low and hissing when she spoke again, lashing out in the only way she had left to her.
“You might as well have just raped me, Jason.” That made his expression go black, and Animal felt her chest tighten in apprehension. She knew from experience what that expression meant.
“Rape you?” he demanded angrily. Then it was as if he forcefully leashed his demon, and after a long, slow intake of breath he shook his head. “No, sorry baby, you can’t rape the willing.”
With a scream of rage her hand lashed out, fingers bent. His head snapped hard to the side, a small splatter of blood flying free as her claws raked four deep gashes from the edge of his ear to the corner of his mouth.
Before he could recover, she turned on her heel and ran out of the stables entirely. What she was running from—him or the cold, hard truth of his words—Animal couldn’t be certain.
"I still can't believe you went and caused mischief without me." Josie rolled her eyes and groaned while he lifted his head and gave her his best pout. "Why couldn't you've waited until we got back?"
"That would've defeated the whole purpose of it being a girl’s night out, baby."
Kevin didn't look convinced. Instead he just heaved a monstrous sigh and flopped his head back onto her belly. Still pouting. Josie just shook her head, then she hesitated, and brightened.
"Hey, I have an idea. I know just what'll cheer you up."
He didn't look too enthused, but Josie just grinned and slid out from underneath him, then grabbed something out of her closet and disappeared into the bathroom—though not before making sure he agreed not to peek by using the faucets.
Ten minutes later Josie exited the bathroom again. Kevin—who had flipped onto his back with his arms behind his head—went stock still and his eyes slowly widened. Josephine grinned, draping herself back against the doorframe, dressed in what could only be described as scandalous red lingerie.
"Lookie what I got for you," she cooed, dark eyes dancing.
Two minutes later she was flat on her back on the bed with Kevin becoming intimately acquainted with how it all came back off again, trying to decide if she wanted to laugh or moan. Eventually the second option won out.
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