Champions of Serenity :Gathering the Circle

Chapter Eleven

Debra wiped her forehead and bent over the sink again. She wished she had a dishwasher in her apartment like at work. It was so hot in her ground floor apartment, even if it did overlook the lake and was around the corner from the resort where she worked. To escape from the chore she really hated, Debra began to write the story in her mind again. In a few minutes, she was caught up in the beautiful but deadly world of her own making, living adventures with a group of friends and heroes that was legendary.

Shægnek smiled to herself as she set the stones in prongs of gold. She was creating a masterpiece necklace worthy of a goddess. The goddess often wondered what the Father had done with the champions from this other world, especially the First. One of the emeralds shattered and she replaced it with another, finer, brighter.

The First had been running to Sandeenai in her mind for some time now and each time, she was more and more accurate. Soon, she would have the faces of the Champions perfectly, as well as how and when they would meet. That information was something only Serenity and the Father knew, not even she had been allowed to know that. Chaos would kill for such information, although what he would do with it was still a mystery to Shægnek.

“She gets closer all the time, doesn’t she?” Chaos asked, watching Shægnek over her shoulder. “That girl, Debra, she keeps getting glimpses into our world. Do you think she could know?”

Sadly, Shægnek shook her head. “No, she believes it’s all made up, and that she’s making it up as she goes along. She perfects it in her mind, wishing it was true. It’s how she escapes.”

Chaos frowned and moved to look at the goddess’s face. He reached out and tilted her chin up to look into her eyes. “Shægnek, what is she escaping from? She is the leader, she is the strongest, and she is the catalyst. Are you saying she is damaged?”

“Chaos…” Shægnek didn’t know what to say at first. She was surprised at herself at the strength of emotion she felt for the woman who hid among dishes and dreams. “Chaos, I think, that like the Demon Elf here, the First there, Debra, has her own personal challenges she has to overcome before the Circle can be complete.”

“They all have personal challenges to overcome, Shægnek, that’s why they were chosen.” He was impatient; he knew she was holding out on him. “But this is different. If you won’t tell me, then show me.”

“As you wish, Chaos. But I warn you, you won’t like it.” Shægnek set the necklace aside and opened a curtain. The window beyond began to cloud over and then the image shifted to a few months earlier and Debra at work again.

Debra hummed and laughed with Kim as they set the tables for the dinner crowd. They compared notes on the new cook and how cute his butt was. It was odd thinking of Kim as female when just three months ago she had been Tim and male. It was what he had wanted and saved for and it hadn’t changed his personality any.

“So, I heard that he asked you out, Debra. Are you going to do it? He is such a hunk.”

“You weren’t so bad yourself, Kim, before.” Debra looked over at her friend, nudged her with her elbow and grinned. “But you are also a very beautiful woman, so you won’t have to complain. I haven’t decided yet if I want to go out with him or not, I get a really funny feeling about him.”

Kim tossed Debra a stack of pressed muslin napkins. “It’s called, lust, Debra. And it’s perfectly natural.”

Debra caught the napkins and folded them into the swans the restaurant was known for. She then carefully set them on each of the china plates Kim had put down a few minutes before. Beyond the closed door, she could hear the gathering of first wave of dinner guests.

“We’d better hurry, it sounds like they are about to break down the door.” Debra said, evading the question about the date. The new cook was good looking, but she had other friends who were better looking; Jared, Grant, Darin, and Mike to name a few. And even though she hadn’t seen him for almost a year, she still considered that she and Darin were dating. He thought so as well, as his last letter to her stated.

“You haven’t answered my question, Debra. Are you going to go out with him?”

“I have a boyfriend, Kim.”

They finished setting the tables and left the room so the matre ’d could start the guests through. In the back, they made up extra settings for when they would have to rearrange tables and for the next wave of guests. Then they took their pads and began to take orders from those who were seated.

In the back as they poured out carafes of wine, Kim persisted. “It doesn’t count, Debra. Darin lives in California and only comes to visit you two or three times a year. Besides, it’s just one date; it isn’t as if you are going to marry the guy.”

“I don’t know, Kim, I really don’t. He is good looking…but that can’t quite make up for the fact that he creeps me out.”

Debra took in a tray of crystal glasses and a carafe of wine to one of her tables. The next time she and Kim met when they could talk was when they both had to wait for orders of cheesecake from the kitchen.

“Debra, it’s just one date. If you don’t like it, then you don’t have to go on another one. In fact, if you go on this one date and it doesn’t work out, I promise I’ll never pressure you again.”

“Okay, fine, one date. My next day off is Thursday, tell him I’ll go out with him either Wednesday after work or Thursday.” Debra took her tray of deserts and left, feeling as if she had just signed her death certificate. Why couldn’t she like this guy? He was nice enough to her at work, and he had taken other of the girls out and they had glowing things to say about him. The only reason they didn’t like him now was because he stopped asking them out and started asking other girls out. He laughed it off, saying that he wanted to share his attentions around. Just something about this guy didn’t sit right with Debra and she didn’t know why.

After work, Kim came up to her, smiling and informed her that Jason would pick her up from work at 10 on Wednesday. She then took great pleasure to inform Debra that he was really looking forward to it as Debra was the last of the girls that worked here he hadn’t been able to take out. Jason wouldn’t take Kim out because he knew Kim had been Tim, but that didn’t seem to bother Kim at all.

All day Wednesday, Debra felt fear build in her stomach. Something was going to happen tonight, something she didn’t think she’d like. At 6o’clock she got a call and a stern lecture from her boss about personal calls at work. When she answered the phone a warm voice reached out and seemed to envelope her in a hug.

“Heya, Cutie, how are you doing today?”

“Jared? Wow, this is out of the blue. What’s up?”

“I don’t know, Debra, I just had this very strong feeling I should give you a call. Is everything okay?”

Debra wondered how Jared knew she was worried about tonight. This wasn’t the first time he called out of the blue to see how she was doing. And each time he had called, it had been either when she was scared or excited for some reason.

“Yeah, Jared, everything is fine here. How about there? How is Emily? I haven’t heard from her since she took that business trip with her boss to London. Did that turn out okay?”

“Oh yeah, that was great. You should meet Phil, Debra; he’s a really great guy. It looks like Emily will graduate with honors thanks to him and his encouragement of her.”

“Has Karen backed off of him? Last I heard from Darin, Karen was all over him like white on rice.”

Jared chuckled and assured Debra that Karen was still pursuing him, but was trying other tactics. Then he made sure once again that she was alright and hung up. He knew she was lying to him, something was wrong and she didn’t want to tell him. That worried him, but there was nothing he could do about it from this distance.

“I didn’t realize that the bond between those two was that strong already. This has happened often?” Chaos asked as he paused from watching the scene.

“Many times, and it works both ways. I just wish…”

“What?” Chaos looked at Shægnek a moment. “You wish that they had their other abilities to stop whatever it is I’m about to see. Shægnek, we can’t make everything easy for them or they won’t be what Serenity needs, what the Father promised her.”

“What, is Dreybrenic acting up again, Chaos?”

“Just continue. What happens on this date?”

Debra dove behind some bushes as headlights began to light up the street in front of her. She took a moment to adjust the shreds of her blouse back over her chest and wipe some of the blood from her nose. When the street was clear, she made her way back down the road. She wasn’t far from her apartment now if she could just make it, it would be okay.

Her hands shook as she tried to get the key into the door. Then a male hand took the key from her, opened her door and pushed her inside. “It took you long enough to walk, Debra. I told you, you should have stayed in the car with me and I would have driven you home. You’ve been a very bad date, Debra.” She tried to scream, to alert her neighbors, but he slapped her into the couch and pushed a pillow over her mouth. “Now, Debra, you are going to be a good date and make up for all the trouble you put me through.”

Later, as she stood under the stream of hot water in her shower, she wondered what she had done to deserve this. She had taken one look at her face in the mirror and winced away from the black eye, the swollen lip, and the cut on her cheek. It was a good thing she had the next day off, it would take her that long to hide the damages.

“Is that why she hides?” Chaos demanded, anger heavy in his voice. Even though his nature was the same as his name, he wasn’t evil and didn’t enjoy hurting people just because he could. It also angered him to see Debra brought so low by someone who wasn’t even worthy of kissing her feet.

“That is part of it. Watch, you will see the rest.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Collins, but I can’t have someone who looks like that working the tables. It would give us a bad name. Besides, we are short handed in the kitchen and can use your help there. That is your only option for the time being, unless you want to make up beds in the hotel. Until you recover from the accident, you can work in the kitchen, or work the maid service, after hours.”

Once back in the kitchen, Jason came over and touched her arm. “Ah, I see that you are going to be my helper tonight. That’s good, Debra. I’ve been worried about you, taking those three days off of work like that. I’ve missed you.”

She moved her arm away from him with a jerk. She saw his eyes narrow as he advanced on her. “Don’t touch me, Jason. Don’t ever touch me again. I haven’t said anything to anyone yet about what you did, but if you so much as lay one finger on me, I will tell everyone.”

“You’ll tell them what? Let me tell you something, Debra, I select my toys very carefully. I set it up just as carefully. Think about it. I have gone out with every other single female that works here with the exception of the changeling. I made sure that each of them had fun and thought me the perfect gentlemen. And then I went out with you, last of all. It isn’t a mistake you were last, Debra, you were my first choice.

“You are a loner; you don’t have any real close friends. You do your job well and people like you, but you never get involved. You go home after your shift; you don’t share your personal life with those you work with. You are, in essence, the perfect victim. Who would know what was true or not about you since they really know so little about you outside of you are a hard worker?

“So, go right ahead and tell your story. Who’s going to believe you? I made sure that people know me and like me. When you come out with this tale of how monstrous I am, do you really think all those women whom I’ve shown a completely different side to will believe you, especially after I act like the innocent victim in this case?” He reached out and touched a strand of her hair and laughed under his breath. “I’ve been doing this too long to get caught, Debra. You can either enjoy what I am giving you, or you can suffer. Either way, I win.”

He thrust her against the sink and laughed at the hiss of pain she made. As the night progressed, he made sure she had the worst of the pans and dishes to clean up. He even managed to keep her late on some excuse or another. Every time he had the chance, he would touch or caress her in a familiar way that made her skin crawl and made her want to throw up.

Even after her face had cleared up and she went back to working the tables, he took every opportunity to humiliate her anyway he could. Then Debra received the news that she was pregnant and that Jason was the father. He didn’t like hearing that, as it confirmed her story and not the one he would have told. So once again, he waited until she had worked late. As she was leaving, he attacked her behind the building where no one would see, making sure he did enough damage that she would miscarry.

Kim found her behind the dumpster on her way home that night and rushed her to the hospital. She called Debra’s parents, not understanding what their reaction would be. Debra and her family belonged to an extremely rigid religious denomination and anything that looked like sin, whether it was or wasn’t, was condemned. And being attacked late at night and then having a miscarriage because of the attack spoke loudly of a lifestyle contrary to what they believed and raised their children to follow.

Debra understood she would be looked down on for it, even though it wasn’t her fault, simply because that was how things were in their home and with their religion. Kim was appalled at how heartless Debra’s parents were, all in the name of religion, and took her friend under her protective wing.

When the police questioned her about the attack, Debra, with Kim’s encouragement didn’t hesitate to tell them who did it and why. The problems caused by the very public arrest of Jason made Debra wish she had never made the report. But when the management learned that Jason was a wanted felon in five other states under different names for rape and murder, they were very glad that Debra had the guts to come forward and possibly save the life of one of their patrons. It was still hard; some of the girls had liked Jason and didn’t understand why Debra hated him so much.

“And that is why she hides and spends her life dreaming. She has cut herself off from anyone who cares or would help her. She lies to Jared when he calls, she refused to take her vacation and visit Darin and Emily when they offered to buy her a ticket, and she doesn’t talk to many of her co-workers any longer. Kim is protective of her and a bell boy by the name of Chris, but for the most part, no one else there likes her anymore. She does have a new boss though, and that might help make things better for her.”

Chaos turned from the window and looked down at the necklace Shægnek had been working on. It was finished now and looked as delicate as a spider’s web but was as strong as silk rope. “Will she recover?”

“Yes. Even now the weave of life is spinning threads to repair the damage to her. It will take time, but she will heal.”

Chaos nodded. He looked up and around the library again a moment. “Good.” Then he turned and left.

Shægnek sighed softly. He had a tender heart, for all of his love of wild and willful things. She turned to look once again at Debra and made a slight adjustment to the necklace.