Rule Eight - Callahan

We didn"t speak about what happened the next morning. In fact, we didn"t speak at all. I couldn"t read her. Was she upset, embarrassed, angry? I was all three at myself.

I should have never let my devious desires interfere with my job. She was a Young Lady, and I was her Daddy. I was to be dedicated, attentive, devoted, and a defender of my Young Lady. Not her lover.

I followed her dutifully for the next week, like all the other Daddies. Unless we were on a mission above, most of our time was spent simply watching from a short distance to make sure they weren"t doing or saying something they shouldn"t be. What that could even possibly be was beyond me, but I did as I"d been trained.

The other Daddies, my seniors, were nice enough. They knew I knew their secret, the truth about what happened the night of Eleanor's birthday, and could rat them out any second. Instead of being shitty to me, they chose to befriend me. They made jokes and invited me to have coffee in the morning and drinks at dinner. Despite all the attempted distractions, I was sweating bullets from morning ‘til night, when we'd return to our rooms.

Every time Eleanor spoke to one of her friends, panic shot up my spine. Would she tell them what I did? Which was worse, the brutal spanking or the later abuse of power? What would happen if they found out I broke my oath?

I tried my best to feign calmness. The only time Eleanor left my sight was to use the restroom. While she did call me by my title now, she continued to test my limits in public. I had let it slide for a day or so and then I couldn't take it anymore and began lashing back at her. I threatened another private punishment and while she didn't speak, her eyes told me to bring it on.

She knew I wouldn't do it.

"Eleanor, we should talk," I started, one night after a full week had gone by. We'd made it back to the privacy of her room and I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to know what she thought of me.

"About what?" She didn"t look back as she hurried to her bathroom. I opened and shut my mouth. What did that mean? Had I hurt her so badly she"d forgotten; or was she letting me off the hook? I stood there like an idiot for a moment before she turned at the door. "You"re fine. I won"t tell anyone what you did. Just leave me alone for a while, okay?"

I was taken aback slightly. She was letting this drop. But why? I"d known Eleanor since we were children. She wouldn"t do something nice without a motive. She hated me.

"Good night, Daddy. I"m just going to shower, rub some more cream on my bottom, and rest. I"m still sore." She gave me a quick wave and looked at me expectantly. I nodded and went to my room.

I heard her walking in her room and eventually, the shower started. Not being able to get the idea that she was hiding something out of my head, I went back to her room and began to look around. Had she perhaps sent a message to someone using one of the many gadgets Young Ladies had at their disposal?

I searched fast, not knowing how much time I had before she turned the shower off. I reached for her pillow and lifted it, finding a yellow, frayed envelope. I opened the letter and read the contents. My stomach dropped. No. This couldn"t be. This made no sense. How? The shower turned off, and I stuffed the letter back and slid it under her pillow. I returned to my room and paced.

While I"d only had the chemically-stained letter in my hand for a brief moment, I was able to memorize what was written.

Eleanor,

I"m alive and safe. I will be waiting every night, where we last saw each other. I"ll be hiding in the tram cart number 13. Climb up, meet me, and we can be each other"s first time like you wanted. No one has to know.

Love,

Milton.

Love. Ha! Milton didn"t love her. And he certainly wasn"t a virgin. He"d been the one to take me to the Gen Pop bar in the first place. Initially, I doubted it was him who had written it, but the more I reread it in my mind, the more I was confident it really had been him. Somehow, he"d lasted a full month above ground. How?

It was all coming together now. Eleanor thought she could pull one over on me, but I was one step ahead of her. I started toward the door to confront her, but then realized it would do no good. If she didn"t go tonight, she"d try tomorrow, or the next day. She thought Milton loved her, and she was too naive to know it was all a sham. No, I had to let her go and end this for good.

Milton had to be dealt with.

I went to the box I stored in my closet and pulled out a pill bottle. I popped two pills and left my quarters. No one monitored who went in or out these days, so I put on a PARA suit and my gas mask and went out and above. There were plenty of rides to Risky Rush Park. I took one of the motorcycles, leaving Eleanor with a four-wheeler. I rushed to the tram to meet and confront Milton. What state would he be in? He wasn"t taking the pills like I was. He had to be...

Despite hating the monster he"d become before the party, I couldn"t wish that ill of my old friend. He deserved to die, but not become a creepie. I took the stairs and found tram 13 was still at the gate, and someone was resting against it, waiting.

Milton tilted his head. He looked just as I"d last seen him, except his gas mask had been blackened. I couldn"t see his face, but I knew his mannerisms well. There was no doubt in my mind I was staring at my best friend I"d presumed dead.

I presumed that because I was the one who"d left him behind.

"Well, this is a surprise. How did you find out about this?"

"Eleanor was reassigned to me when her Daddy died. What are you doing, Milton?"

"I came to take what was rightfully mine. What would have been, had you left things alone."

When those gunshots had gone off, I ran to help them fight whatever was out there. However once I reached them, I didn"t see a single creepie or crawlie in sight. What I found was much worse. Monsters in human skin.

"You"re a bastard for agreeing to it," I said.

"You think it was my idea?" Milton kicked off the tram, causing it to rock slightly. "No. They"d been planning this for years. They drew her name out of a hat. Every generation has one. A Young Lady they turn into their whore. She was the one who was supposed to go missing. To not come home that night. Not me!" he screamed and ripped off his helmet.

I shrunk back at the sight of him. Milton"s face was covered in purple boils and his hair had fallen out in large chunks, leaving him with bald spots. His eyes were bloodshot and some of the boils were leaking blood and something white. He was turning into a creepie.

I knew it.

"I know you"ve been taking the pills. Give them to me," he demanded.

"I don't have them. Plus, they don't work like that. You can't fix what's already happened. It's too late."

"Bullshit!" he yelled. "They probably don't work, and that's why you don't want me to have them."

"No," I said, hesitantly. "Given enough time, they do work."

"Prove it. Take your mask off and fight me like a real man."

Reluctantly, I did, tossing the mask next to his black one. I inhaled deeply. I"d never tested the pills out. I was either about to feel fire in my lungs and begin to change, like Milton, or, they were going to work. The air was... okay.

"I"m not going to let you do anything to her."

"Why, because you"re her Daddy now?" He laughed. "What are you gonna do, tell on me? She won"t believe you. She fucking hates you. I always made sure of that. Remember, when we were kids and you told me how pretty you thought she was? I was jealous. So I did everything I could in that first year to make sure you hated each other. And it worked. Eleanor won"t touch you with a ten-foot pole."

"And you think she"ll want you? Milton, you"re turning." I reached for my gun. "The best thing that could happen to you is for someone to mercy kill you."

"Like hell," he snarled. "I"m going to rip you to pieces with my new-found creepie strength, and then I"m going to put this blackout mask back on and fuck her until I put a bullet in the back of her brain. I think I hear her now." He put his hand over his bleeding ear and grinned. "I do."

Growling, I hurled myself at his middle, dragging him across the platform. We hit the cement half-wall and he pushed me back. I reached for my gun but he was faster than me and managed to slap it out of my hand. I rushed him again, and he flipped over the wall. A sickening slicing sound pierced my ears and I looked over the edge. There were sharp, metal rails strewn all over the park, and Milton had been impaled on two of them. One in his chest, the other through his mouth. I looked away quickly, and just then, I heard Eleanor"s voice.

"Milton?" She was coming up the stairs. I panicked, looking around for something, anything to explain why I was here and Milton was not, and then, when I couldn"t think of anything, I picked up his blacked-out mask and slid it on, just as she turned the corner and stepped onto the platform.

Shit.