Chapter 13

I told Amber to drive, giving no directions. I needed to clear my head for a few minutes, and besides, I was nervous. Amber seemed to like being commanded, especially where I was blunt and assuming, giving no room for objection. I didn't ask, I told; and she did. She pulled onto the main road and drove away from my neighborhood, heading towards the commercial plaza. After a few minutes she butted into my brooding.

"So where are we going?" Amber asked, her soft voice rising above the background music playing from the radio.

"I've got a special evening planned." I hinted to her. "But I need to finish something first." I explained, telling her about Kristine's parents and the abuse they had been inflicting upon her.

"What a bunch of crazies." She said. "I've seen Kristine around school, but I had no idea that kind of stuff was happening. Did they really flail the skin off her back?" She asked.

"I saw the gashes, some of them an inch across and several long. Not to mention the scars from past abuse. She was a real mess, and not just physically. I'm surprised she's been able to function as well as she has in public. She's an emotional wreck."

"So how did you get involved?"

"Now that is a long story." I began, explaining how my sister had always treated me like crap, and how it had only gotten worse in the last few years. I told her how things had escalated that evening, briefly mentioning how hurt I was by Haller's death, and focusing on how she had harassed me about the date, and her insults towards my new girlfriend. Amber took it all quite stoically; even when I went on to describe the retribution I exacted upon them.

"I'm sorry your friend died." She said, and I nodded to accept her sympathy. I hadn't told her the details of his death, but I also didn't want to frighten her. She surprised me by smiling. "I wish I could have seen you take Karen down. She's gone after me more than a few times over the years, and I'm sure you didn't give her back nearly as much as she gave out."

I found myself grinning as well. "She was being remarkably compassionate towards me before I left. I really couldn't figure it out. What's her motive? Is she just so terrified of what I can do to her that she's trying to placate me? Or is she honestly feeling guilty over the way she's always treated me? Does she believe I will release her after the weekend, or is she afraid I'll break my promise if she doesn't act nice?"

"You probably won't find out until you let her go. If she's no longer under the threat of your power and she goes back to her regular attitude, then nothing has changed. But if she continues to act decently towards you, then at the very least she respects your power, and maybe has seen the error of her ways."

I harrumphed. "I'll believe that when I see it."

"So where does Kristine live?" Amber asked.

I pulled the directions out of my pocket and unfolded the paper. "Her house is at twenty-six fifty, Avon Park South."

"That's not too far. But it is the other direction." She commented, turning into the mall parking lot and pulling back out the opposite way. "About five minutes." She guessed.

It actually took almost ten minutes, but only because we hit every red light along the way. That was fine; it gave me more time to think. When we turned into the housing development I could see that it was an exclusive and wealthy neighborhood. There wasn't a single house there that was worth less than three-hundred thousand, except maybe the guest houses attached to some of the more extravagant mansions. There were several of these.

And Kristine's house was one of them, right at the rear of the development, with a wide front yard and a few hundred feet of space between it and the previous home. The other side of her house was against the edge of the forest that formed the boundary of the development. There might have been a pool enclosure in the backyard, but it was hard to see in the dark.

"Pretty well off, aren't they?" Amber said. I nodded in silent agreement. "I thought she was from a rural community." Amber said.

"So did I." I said with a snort. "Maybe they won the lottery."

"Stranger things have happened, and people can be funny about that sort of thing; they don't like people know they've come into that sort of money."

"I'd better get this over with." I said, opening the door and stepping into the cool night air.

"Did you want me to come with you?" Amber asked.

"If you want to, then sure. It might be fun." I told her. She turned off the car and climbed out after me. We started up the path together, the light from the street lights casting shadows across the walk. Amber stayed comfortably close to my side, and my arm held tightly between both of hers.

We came up to the door and I paused, turning to Amber. "Let me do the talking, and play along with whatever I say." I told her. She nodded ascent and I rang the doorbell. There were already lights on in the house, and I could hear what sounded like a television sports broadcast. There were some muffled voices from inside.

"I think someone's at the door." One voice said, the feminine tones barely notable over the din of the television sports announcer and rampant background cheering from the crowd.

"Well go see who it is! Can't you see I'm busy? The game is on!" Another voice replied, and this time it was definitely masculine.

I saw a light turn on just beyond the door and a shadow cross to the curtained window adjacent to us. The curtain was pulled back and a young woman peered out at us. Her youthful appearance was a surprise, because she hardly looked older than her daughter. Despite the lack of apparent age she definitely shared a resemblance. The same dirty blond hair fell around her face, highlighting the same blue eyes. She looked us over for a handful of seconds and then let the curtain drop back into place.

"Howard, it's a couple of kids." She said, walking over to the door and opening it, but leaving the screen in place. "What do you want?" She asked, obviously annoyed.

I read into her mind for a moment until I found her surname. "I need to speak with you and your husband about your daughter." I said.

"What sort of nonsense is this?" She asked. "Who are you?"

"This is very important, Mrs. Hampton." I assured her, nudging her ever so slightly.

"Well alright, you can step inside." She said, opening the screen. "I'll go and get my husband, but both of you can wait right here." She told us, walking though what looked like a sitting room and into the den where the television was still blaring loudly.

"Did you see her clothes?" Amber whispered to me with a giggle. In fact, I had seen her outfit, and it was the very definition of prude. It showed less skin than my church clothes, and implied nothing about the figure beneath it. She also wore a cross on a chain around her neck.

Anything I might have said in reply was overridden by a sudden shout from the den. "Why did you let them in the door!?" The male voice from earlier was saying. "Damn it woman! I'll be there in a minute." He said.

Amber gave me a look of disgust. "I thought you liked being bossed around?" I asked her.

"Not by someone like that!" She whispered back. "I want to submit to someone who will take care of me, not someone who will just abuse me to make up for their own ineptitude." Then she grinned. "That's not to say that a little punishment isn't welcome; it can be quite a bit of fun if you play right." She said, her grin replaced with a sly smile. "But he sounds like the worst sort of uncaring person; definitely not someone I would give myself to."

"What makes me any different?" I asked. Both of the Hamptons were now arguing in the den, apparently unaware of the two teens standing in their foyer.

"I don't know. I just trust you to always care about me." She said after a moment on honest consideration. "I mean, I know you could just be making me feel this way, but I really believe you would never hurt me. You've already proved you have absolute power over me, but even when you forced me to service you, when you might only have considered yourself, you took care of me as well. You made sure I enjoyed it, and made things right afterwards. You're the kind of person I want to give myself to, because I trust you."

"But you hardly know me."

"I know, but I still trust you!" She took my hand in hers and her smile was radiant.

I suppose that I still had my doubts, because I found myself looking into her mind, sifting through her thoughts, trying to make sense of her proclamation. What I found there was fear; raw staving terror. She was terrified that I wouldn't accept her, that I would reject her and force her to remain alone. She wanted desperately to give herself to me and to have that commitment be accepted. Her explanation helped me to understand why she latched so strongly onto me in the first place, but her continued fear was baffling. Had I not already claimed her as mine?

"I definitely want to talk to you when we're alone later." I told Amber, flashing a reassuring smile at her when she glanced worriedly at me. Mrs. Hampton was returning from the den, so I didn't have time to say anything more.

"You might as well make yourselves comfortable. Go on and have a seat." She told us, gesturing for us to enter the sitting room. I took a comfortable section on the couch and Amber sat close to my right, our sides touching. I could see that Mrs. Hampton took a serious dislike to us immediately after that display of affection. Her eyes narrowed and she harrumphed to herself. "I hope whatever you have to say isn't a waste of our time." She warned.