Hill, Meagan - Master Me [Masterson] (Siren Publishing Classic) (2 page)

Mandy knew very little of the hierarchy and rules governing the Gifted Ones. Males who had completed their training were called Noveos, while females were Novices. Men who mastered every nuance of their powers would become Masters and immediately quit aging. Women couldn’t achieve Master status, no matter how much they worked to master their powers. Mandy suspected there was more to their world, but Cabela didn’t want his members to know anything other than his own rules so as to ensure his dominion over them.

Mandy was a Novice, having completed her power training almost two years ago. Her behavior training, however, took much longer. Mandy was naturally a strong-willed person with a dominating personality. Such a personality does not learn submission well. She was forced to endure an extra year of behavior training, with six months of that as a personal slave to Cabela, the head of her coven. Cabela was the first man to rape her, and as of last week, the last. He was also the one who had given her the worst beating, actually requiring hospitalization for several days. The members of Cabela’s coven must learn submission to his many wants and desires. Disobedience was punished severely using physical and mental torture. Mandy couldn’t count the number of times she’d been raped and beaten by the various men within the coven, and she preferred not to remember.

Members of the coven who made it through training were expected to perform tasks for the coven, in addition to the financial support demanded. The members of the coven worked for several companies owned by Cabela, ensuring them the ability to take off work when Cabela had a mission for them. The women were given less than competitive wages, and half of their meager salary went to the coven, ensuring they would never get enough financial means gathered to get away. The financial aspect of it wasn’t the worst part of being part of this coven, though. Cabela was an incredibly smart man and knew that in order for him to maintain his power over his members, he had to taint and brainwash them into believing in and following his instructions. Anyone who was innocent when taken did not remain innocent long. Training for the proper behavior often included abusing other trainees or assisting with the punishment of coven members being disciplined. By the time a coven member was old enough to go out on his own, he was usually so blackened by his association with the coven that he no longer wanted out.

Mandy knew she was at her breaking point. She had somehow maintained a small spark of goodness within herself during the five years of hell that happened after she had been kidnapped, or “liberated from her prior influences” as Cabela liked to call it. She had finally made it through her training, both with her powers and behavior modification. She’d actually enjoyed learning how to develop and control her powers, and she had developed more than what she’d allowed the coven to know. Unfortunately, the behavior modification training had just about broken her spirit.

Unlike most of the Novices, Mandy had to spend an additional six months as Cabela’s personal slave. Those six months were the worst of the time spent in the coven. She’d had to submit to forced sex several times a day, not just for Cabela, but any male coven member or visitor. She was often beaten for failing in some way or other, or just because Cabela felt like it. He loved to see her flinch away from him, to quail before him on her knees, and to beg to be released from whatever torture device he’d dreamed up. The final result was a Mandy who hit her knees with just the hint of unhappiness, cowering before him. It got to be a joke for him to do it in front of others as a show of power. He would laugh at her fear and submission. He had no way of knowing, but it was his laughter that generated the anger that kept that small spark alive in her soul.

She’d finally completed her training the prior week and was on her first mission as a Searcher. Searchers were the members who went out looking for latents to take and train. Cabela liked to use young women as Searchers because the kids were more likely to trust them and come with them willingly, unlike Mandy, who’d been drugged and kidnapped from her room in her family’s house. He also preferred that the Searchers concentrate on finding young female latents. Young females were easier to train in submission and a lot more fun sexually, though Cabela wasn’t terribly picky about who was pleasuring him. He enjoyed raping men as much as he enjoyed raping women.

Shaking off her gloomy thoughts, Mandy crawled out of bed and headed for the shower. She’d been given several target locations to check out, and the nearest was about two hours away. She would get ready and get some breakfast before getting on the road. After her shower and morning grooming, Mandy stopped to take a long look at herself. Most men considered her beautiful. Her honey blonde hair fell just below her shoulders in layers, framing her face in soft waves. Her hazel eyes were mostly green, with flecks of gray. When she was using her power, her eyes turned almost completely gray. This marked her as different from the rest of her coven, and she had learned quickly to hide her eyes whenever possible. Those who had turned evil had black eyes when using their powers. Cabela was so evil that his eyes were always black with a ring of red around the outside.

Her facial features were delicate, giving her a very fragile air. Her nose had remained straight, despite having been broken three times. Her mouth was a perfect bow shape and a natural dusty pink shade. She was petite at five feet, two inches, and her servitude, coupled with a lack of regular nourishment, had guaranteed a slender build. If she ever actually got regular meals, her curves would probably fill out beautifully.

Mandy hated how she looked. It brought too much attention to her from the men in the coven. She had been raped and beaten more often than most of the other female members combined. Mandy applied her makeup, doing her best to conceal the fading bruises around her left eye and along her chin. She’d dropped a decanter of wine three days ago and had been punched several times in punishment. When she decided she had done the best she could, she pulled on a light sundress and her sandals. The day was already warm, and because her target location was a children’s day camp, she figured anything heavier would make her stand out even more than she normally would.

Three hours later, Mandy’s head was pounding, and she could swear she was lost. She was slowly motoring along a two-lane road that wound through the trees and hills, periodically crossing a nice-sized river. The camp was supposed to be on this road, but she hadn’t seen another car in over fifteen minutes. Just as she was about to turn around, she came around a curve and saw the sign for the camp. Shaking her head at the isolated location, she wondered if anyone even knew about the camp, much less sent their kids there.

Pulling up to the entrance, she was surprised to see a small shop right next door. According to the advertising signs scattered over the walls, the shop offered candles, potpourri, handmade goods, crystals, and a plethora of other “girlie” type stuff. What caught her eye, though, were the crystals. She hadn’t been allowed to bring any of hers with her, and she hoped to find an amethyst to help with her headache.

Mandy was pleasantly surprised when she opened the door to the shop. The shop smelled wonderful due to the wall full of candles in every imaginable size, shape, color, and scent. The back wall was dedicated to alternative “New Age” lifestyle needs, including aromatherapy oils, incense, and the crystals she was seeking. The rest of the shop was filled with beautiful handmade items. She made her way to the back of the store and looked over the selection of crystals carefully. They actually had a very thorough selection of crystals, and she could feel the power radiating off them. Just being in the shop had already eased her headache, but she decided to go ahead and get a couple of crystals anyway, just in case it should return once she left the shop.

“Can I help you find what you need?” asked a soft voice just behind her shoulder. Mandy flinched sharply. She hadn’t heard the shopkeeper walk up behind her. “Oh, my dear, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s okay. I must have really been concentrating hard,” Mandy stuttered out. A hand pressed against her chest where her heart was still pounding. She couldn’t explain to the shopkeeper it was actually a response she’d developed over the past years to anything that might be considered a threat, including someone walking up quietly behind her. Finally getting her heart under control, Mandy turned to face the shopkeeper. She appeared to be in her mid-forties, with kind eyes and a soft smile. Wisdom, peace, and acceptance radiated off of her.

“I’m Nina. You were studying the crystals pretty intently. Are you looking for something specific?”

“I need some amethyst for a headache I developed looking for the place next door. I thought for sure I was lost.”

“It is a little difficult to find, especially for someone who hasn’t been here before. May I ask what you’re here for? You don’t seem to be the normal visitor they get over there.”

Mandy hadn’t really thought that through yet, so she was scrambling to come up with a half-decent reply. Finally she blurted out, “I’m checking it out for my sister’s kids. They’re coming here for a couple of weeks this summer, and she wanted to figure out how to keep them occupied while here.”

The lie fell flat between them, though Nina’s expression didn’t change. She did seem to narrow her focus onto Mandy a bit, like she was looking through her eyes in search of the truth. After a moment’s hesitation, Nina replied, “That sounds like fun for the kids. I remember taking vacations with my kids. It was either wonderful or terrible, depending on what we found to keep them entertained. It’s still periodically like that, even though they’re all grown up.”

Mandy could only smile sickly and nod her head. She hated lying, especially to people she knew she had nothing to fear from.

“Well, let’s see which of the stones wants to go with you,” Nina commented smoothly, pulling the container of amethyst crystals out of its holder and moving to a velvet-lined board placed next to the display. She carefully emptied the container onto the velvet, making sure the stones were not stacked, but not touching them. “I cleansed them last weekend, and I’m fairly sure no one’s stuck his hands in there. You should be able to get a good reading from them.”

Mandy lifted her hand above the stone, moving slowly and systematically, opening herself to the vibrations of the stones. One of them held a much more powerful vibration than the others, and she knew she had found one that corresponded to her personal vibrations beautifully. “Wow, this one is much stronger than the one I have at the compound.” Mandy moved her hand over the remaining stones, wanting to be sure she had found the one with the best resonation, and then gently picked up the stone that had spoken to her. Nina picked up a small wooden block, using it to push the remaining stones back into the container before replacing the container in the display.

“Did you want to look at any of the other ones? I can feel the rose quartz and the rutilated quartz calling for you, too.”

Mandy could only stand there and blink at Nina’s suggestions. Clarity, courage, openness to love, aural cleansing, and healing. These were just some of the effects of those particular stones, and exactly what she needed if she was going to survive the week. She had to wonder if Nina herself was a Gifted One. Either way, Mandy wasn’t about to ignore the nudge she’d just received. “Yes, I think you’re absolutely right.” They repeated the choosing process, with Mandy finding stones with a strong resonance with her in each type. Mandy then selected a wired necklace to keep the stones in. She had no pockets, and she needed to have the stones on her to work. After browsing through the rest of the store, Mandy was ready to continue her mission.

She and Nina made small talk about the next-door children’s camp while Nina rang up her purchase. Nina helped her place the stones in the necklace and then place the necklace around her neck. When Nina secured the clasp, Mandy felt a jolt of energy, again making her wonder if Nina might be a GO. Just as Mandy was about to leave, Nina called to her. “Mandy, be sure to speak to Mitch. He’s the owner of the camp, and he can answer any questions you might have. Tell him you saw me, and give him this message—‘Hakuna matata.’ He’ll know what it means.”

“As in the phrase from
The Lion King
?” Mandy was starting to wonder if Nina was messing with her.

“Yes, that one. No, I’m not playing a trick or anything. Just tell him.”

“Um, okay, Nina. I’ll tell him. Thank you for your help,” Mandy replied as she pushed the door open and went outside. She considered moving her car to the parking lot next door, but it was clear she wasn’t in anyone’s way, and she really felt like walking the distance down to the river. It felt good to be moving around freely at her own pace. That decision made, Mandy dropped her purse into the car and started her way down the road leading down to the camp.

The road wasn’t that long, but it got steep quickly as the land angled down toward the water. She passed what she assumed was the main building, which was really a beautiful, older Victorian-style home with a huge back deck covered in picnic tables and lounge chairs. The land steepened even further just past the deck, and Mandy was glad to see there was a crudely made stairway down the rest of the way. The steps were dug into the hill and laid with railroad ties. They were uneven but still climbable. The scene below her was idyllic. The river flowed gently in the background, with several canoes and rafts filled with preteen boys paddling around. A small group of boys were being instructed on tying ropes, while another set were learning how to start a fire using natural objects. Several adults were scattered throughout the area, watching over and leading the different activities. Everywhere she looked, she saw boys in the dung-colored uniforms of a Boy Scout troop. Mandy was relieved there were no girls around. She would be able to cleanly report she had been unable to find a female latent because there were only boys at the camp.