Rule Twelve - Callahan

"Attention!" The Young Ladies were settling in to watch a movie in the recreation room when they were interrupted by a red-faced warden. "Milton was found this morning. Impaled on metal poles on top of the tram ride at that Risky Rush Park you all love so much."

Gasps rang out. It took everything in me not to show my nerves. I glanced at the other Daddies and matched their shocked expressions. It had been nearly a week since I"d confronted Milton. I knew I should have gone back and taken his body down. I"d been too busy fucking his girl every night while she slept to bother.

"It looks like he was murdered, and we have reason to believe someone here knows something."

"When?" Eleanor stood up. Tears streamed down her face. "When did he die?"

"Only a few days ago. His body was still fresh."

I flinched. Fuck, fuck fuck.

She let out a sharp squeak.

"Eleanor, do you know something?" the warden asked her. She shook her head vehemently.

"No, sir. I"m just upset. I"d like to go." She ran out of the room, and I had no choice but to follow her.

"Eleanor!" I stretched my arm out and sprinted after her.

"Leave me alone!" she cried and darted down a different hall. She tried to lose me, taking lefts and rights, but I was trained to keep my eye on her at all times, and eventually caught her, spinning her around. I squeezed her shoulders.

"Eleanor, please," I pleaded. "Let me explain."

"It was you. You killed him," she snapped. "Why? What did he ever do to you?"

"Milton, along with your original Daddy and some other Daddies, had planned to kidnap and rape you that night. They were going to kill you when they were done. I caught them discussing it and..."

Her eyes widened. "It was you. You killed my Daddy." She pulled away from me and backed into the wall. "You killed him and then took his place."

I put my hands up in innocence. "Yes, but not on purpose. I didn"t want to take his place. I just wanted to save you."

"You"re lying." She shook her head. "My Daddy would never."

"He would. Every generation has a Young Lady they choose, and this group had chosen you."

"That makes no sense." Tears poured from her eyes. "Why?"

"I can"t answer that," I said truthfully. I had never heard of this ritual until I"d caught them in the act. It was vile, and I"d acted quickly.

"Eleanor!" The warden"s voice boomed from a different hall and found us a moment later. He smiled tightly at us. I recognized the look. He wasn"t happy. "We"d like to talk to you. About Milton."

"Why?" Her eyes flicked to me. "I told you I don"t know anything."

"Yes, you did say that. I"d like to dive a little deeper. Come. You too, Callahan, she needs an escort."

I tried to follow her into the office, but he put his hand on my chest. "You stay here."

I nodded grimly. An hour later, Eleanor was released.

"I"m going to go to bed. It"s been a long night," she said blankly. I led her back to our quarters. The moment the door slid shut, she perked her head up. "They think I did it."

"What? Why?" I hurried to her, embracing her tightly. "No. You couldn"t have."

She sniffled. "I know. I told them that, but they kept telling me their story, trying to get me to agree to it. They said I went out to find Milton, he attacked me, and then I pushed him. They want me to go to the medic."

"What for?"

"T-they want to check if I"m a virgin."

It was as if they"d doused me with cold water. "Why? Did you tell them we?—"

"No! Of course not. They found my underwear on the tram. And my shoes with my name in them. They think he raped me and that"s why I killed him."

"But why does it matter?"

"They want to know if I"m pregnant."

That was it.They wanted Milton"s genes to live on, and they wanted Eleanor to be carrying it. They wouldn"t find his DNA, if they looked. They"d find mine.

"I don"t know what to do," Eleanor confessed. "They"ll kill us both."

I squeezed her hand. "We need to leave. Hurry, pack a bag, get your medicine, all of it. I"ll do the same."

"Where are we going?" she cried out.

"Where else? We"ll have to go above."

Bags slung over our shoulders, we waited. The warden was going to wait until morning. I knew his tactics too well. He was currently in his office or private quarters, planning it all. Ten Daddies, all armed, ready to shoot us the moment they discovered Eleanor wasn"t carrying Milton"s child.

I doubted she was even carrying mine, but it wouldn"t matter. The moment they realized she wasn"t producing an heir for the warden or Milton, she was useless. She"d been defiled, and that didn"t make for a good Young Lady.

We waited until the middle of the night and quietly left her room. Eleanor had put on the dress she'd worn for her birthday.

"It's my most cherished item," she'd explained sadly.

There was only one way out of the bunker, and they could be waiting for us in that room. Much to my relief, we were alone. I took a PARA suit, a gas mask, and a gun. Then, we went up.

"He said that?" she asked as we climbed the ladder. "That he was going to do that to me?"

"He did. They normally didn"t invite DITs to join but considering his status and his relationship with you, they decided to include him."

"Status?"

"He"s the warden"s son," I explained. "That"s the only reason this is such a big deal. If it had been me, they wouldn"t have cared if I was dead."

She grew quiet. It was true. People went missing all the time. It was a part of the job. But never had there been such a long search for them after. Everyone knew that once you stayed long enough above, you either became a creepie or a crawlie. Or, if you were lucky, you"d just die.

"You saw him. That day at the tram. What did he say?" We reached the ground and began our trek to the vehicles. I didn"t want to tell her the truth. Despite all that I had told her, I knew she didn"t want to believe it. She didn"t want to face the fact that the man she'd crushed on for years was a predator.

"He lured you out to finish the job. Milton was in the mid-stages of turning into a creepie. He took his mask off and told me to do the same, hoping I"d start the change too. And when I didn"t, he turned on me. It was either him or I, and if I died, then when you got up to the platform, he would have killed you too."

Clouds thundered above us, and I looked up. The sky was dark, even more than usual for nighttime. A bright light flashed in the sky, and then slow, small drips of rain began to fall from the sky. Oh no, acid rain. I reached for her and looked for the nearest roof to shield us.

"Ouch!" Eleanor squeaked. I reached for the arm she was holding and examined it. Where the rain had touched her, a small red mark remained. Only a small red mark. She was immune.

"Ouch! The rain is pinching me!"

"It"s acid rain. Don"t let it get in your mouth or eyes."

I hurried her along and then stopped in my tracks when we reached the gates and found the lot empty. Completely empty.

"Nice try, Daddy."

We spun around to see the warden and all the other Daddies. They"d followed us out here. Or, maybe they"d been out here before us and had been waiting. I shoved Eleanor behind me.

"Just let us go," I said. "Just let us leave, and there'll be no trouble."

"No trouble?" The warden stepped forward and laughed. I pulled my gun over my shoulder, and in sync, all the others did the same, aiming their weapons at me. "You see, soldier," the warden said, "it"s too late. We know how it went down. Milton had a camera on his person. You"re already in trouble."