Chapter 36: A Real Friend (Patreon)

Somewhere in the decrepit existence that was Hillview, where people survived the barest way they could the best way they could, a girl thought too young for the task always allotted to her sat, knees tucked to her chest. She wore no clothes save the small torn sheets she hugged to herself and her mind wandered far away.

Shanine sat down feeling filthy. It wasn’t a new feeling, in fact, it was a very old one now, but she still couldn’t get herself to come to terms with it. Tears stung at the back of her eyes and she held them back with nothing but a stubborn will. She couldn’t let herself cry now, not here, not in the presence of a mage like Abed. Tears would show him that she had not enjoyed herself which would lead him to feel he was not as much of a man as he thought he was. Which he wasn’t. but it would displease him.

At best, he would strike her in his anger, but not too hard. No. He was always gentle, always soft enough to inflict pain but not to damage the goods. At worst, he would refuse to pay and Madam Shaggy would be furious at the reason. She would appease him with sycophantic words and even pay for the disservice Shanine had caused.

Then when all was settled, she would take Shanine by the neck and she would beat her. Abed was a stronger mage than Madam Shaggy but Shanine was her property. Madam Shaggy had no compunction towards not damaging the goods. Shanine had seen her hit one of the girls. Elena, once and had seen the devastating outcome.

Before that night, Elena had been as pretty as Shanine. In fact, she’d been prettier. And she’d actually enjoyed doing what they did. But the amount of money she was bringing in and the constant flattery from Madam Shaggy and her companions had gotten to her head and she’d thought herself more important than she was. So when a customer had tried to get rougher than she was used to, Elena had slapped the man and spat in his face.

Madam Shaggy had found out what she’d done and Elena had tried to defend herself. She’d claimed the man would’ve left her bruised and marked; he would’ve spoiled the merchandize.

Madam Shaggy’s response had been simple.

“Then he would’ve paid for it,” she’d said. “Any harm he causes, a decent enough alchemist can fix.”

That night Madam Shaggy reminded them that she was worthy of fear. In summary, that night was the reason Shanine was now the finest of Madam Shaggy’s girls. It was the reason she was the only one without any glaring fault and the reason she was now everyone’s favorite.

Thinking about it left a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach so Shanine pushed the thought aside.

Beside her, Abed slept like the dead, passed out like he always did after any of their sessions. Tonight he must have been in a good mood because he had been gentler. He’d also talked a lot, told tales Madam Shaggy would’ve been more than happy to know.

Apparently, Abed had plans for Hillview. He wasn’t the official mayor, as Hillview was not worth being called a town of any kind, but he was the strongest mage around and most people deferred to his decisions.

But on a whole, every power in Hillview had something of an autonomy. Abed’s plans would see their autonomy done with. The visit from the VHF mages had been nothing but a coincidence but now Abed wanted to make it far more than what it was. He planned to bring the entire VHF down on Hillview. His aim was to have VHF recognize Hillview as a colony town and appoint him as its head and official mayor.

Shanine had heard the rumors about VHF much like everyone else had. Their headquarter was one of the few old world places that still retained their names. It sat in California with all the amenities and beauty the world had once had. The stories said their buildings still touched the skies and lit up their nights in countless lights. They had soft drinks and fried food. They had uninterrupted power and adequate health care, not the concoctions any two-bit mage calling themselves an alchemist would brew up when passing and sell for a year’s worth of rune-dollars. No. In California they had proper alchemists and doctors and people. But most important to her were the stories of video games.

Shanine had been too young to remember the first awakening, but before the second awakening she’d been into video games so much that her parents had made a fuss about it. The one real disadvantage of the second awakening besides mages too strong to be opposed was the absence of video games, and she missed them dearly.

She had no doubt the command of VHF would be good for Hillview. Their colony towns weren’t as beautiful and prosperous as California, but they were always the next best thing. The health care and basic amenities were extended to these places and a modicum of order was established in each one. But Shanine knew Hillview would be different.

If VHF made any of those currently holding power its mayor, there would be anarchy. The others would rise and challenge the authority. She knew this as she knew she hated what she did to stay alive.

Madam Shaggy would survive. She always did. And she would make an enterprise for herself, because the services she rendered would always be wanted as long as there were men alive.

But the others would never bend the knee. Shanine had been in enough powerful people’s beds to know what kind of decisions they would make. Shanine didn’t know much of the intricacies of power amongst mages but she knew far more than Madam Shaggy thought she did. For instance, Madam Shaggy had no idea that Abed was planning on taking Shanine for himself once he’d struck a deal with VHF; once he’d helped them establish their power here.

It was a sad thing to know, even for Shanine.

Abed had all but promised her paradise as he’d taken her. He’d filled her ears with his disgusting voice as he promised her the power of queens. He’d told her he would place her above Madam Shaggy when the time came. That she would need him for a while longer before she would be able to stand on her own two feet.

He promised her protection until she awakened to mana in two years because everyone knew mages awakened at eighteen. So he promised her he would keep her and care for her until her eighteenth birth day and Shanine had never been happier for how she looked than she was.

She was small and petite with olive skin and thick black hair. Most people called her lips soft, and while it was a compliment, the things they went on to do to them were not. Some people saw the end of the world and the beginning of magic as a good thing now that they had power, but she did not. To her, the second awakening had been hell, and the world after, greater still.

Tired of allowing herself to be swallowed by the sadness of her plight, she slipped out of bed, allowing the tattered sheets fall free from her naked body, and walked over to the vanity mirror at one end of the room. Abed had gotten it specifically for her.

According to him, he didn’t want her to ever forget how beautiful she was when she was with him. Sometimes he even made her watch during his pleasure. She wasn’t sure what kind of person he thought she was that she would take pleasure in watching him take his pleasure in her; that she would be happy to watch herself as he did what he did.

He probably thought that in his own way he was nice to her. It was pathetic and disgusting.

Shanine sat in front of the vanity mirror on an uncomfortable stool, which was more than she’d ever gotten with Madam Shaggy, and took a comb from the drawer. She slid it through her hair, combing at her thick locks. With the African blood in her, her hair was thick enough that whenever it tangled, which was almost always, it was a battle to comb. So she struggled, allowing the stinging pain of combing replace the emotional pain of what she had become.

Once upon a time she had been a pretty girl all the boys liked. She had been as disciplined as any teenager was expected to be, and wasn’t so self-righteous as to deny she had found some levels of enjoyment in life. She had had female friends with far less discipline as herself and she had had boyfriends. Her beauty had filled her with confidence then. Now, it drew the wrong men to her. But unlike the old world, there were no rules and laws and friends to protect her from them, there was only Madam Shaggy to make sure the men displayed a level of civility when they took her.

Her combing done, Shanine remained seated and stared at the girl in the mirror. For a moment her mind carried her from the room and she let it. It moved her back in time to a memory of when she’d felt, even if for a moment, like a normal girl, and she caught herself in a smile.

She didn’t know his name but she remembered him clearly. With auburn hair so red it looked like fire and green eyes that were always smiling, the man had talked to her like she was a normal human being. He was a mage, and a powerful one, considering he walked with Jason’s crew, but he’d spoken to her like she was his equal.

She knew he’d only talked to her because he wanted information Madam Shaggy wasn’t willing to give him and the boy he’d come with, but mages weren’t that nice when they wanted something from her. They weren’t that natural. And if the man had been faking it, then he was a far better actor than she was in bed.

Shanine liked to think that was actually who the mage was, though, nice and gentle, normal in a world where nothing was normal. It might have been her deluding herself, but in a world like hers there was no reason she couldn’t allow herself small reprieves. So she thought of his kindness to her, his easy personality, his gentle, natural smile. She thought of the single braided lock of hair that hung down one side of his face and wondered if his girlfriend had done it or if he’d done it himself.

There were only a few more days before she would try and flee and she counted them cautiously. The world thought she was sixteen and she let it think that way. She let it underestimate her. In a few weeks, she would be eighteen, not more than two months. She would awaken to magic then, and she would run as far as mana let her.

Until then, she was one of Madam Shaggy’s girls. Until then, she was a prostitute.

“Come back to bed, my love.”

Shanine bristled at the sound of Abed’s voice and hoped he didn’t see it. She plastered an easy smile on her face, putting on the actress that would’ve made a name for herself in Hollywood in the old world and got up from the seat she sat on.

She sauntered over to the bed with all her feminine charm, allowing her hips sway with each step just the way she knew most men liked it, and slipped under the sheets. Abed groaned in her ear when she was within his reach and his hands went to places she wished they wouldn’t.

She drowned herself in the thought of friends from the old world. She was done with romance already, tired of it and the confusion it led men into, men like Abed. Gently, her mind drifted back to the man with auburn hair a little too red and his humane treatment of her.

A man like that must have a lot of friends, she thought. She might already be too broken to find any appeal towards romance but she wasn’t too broken to want a friend. A real friend.

Perhaps he would agree to be her friend when she becomes a mage.

………………………………..

Chris growled unhappily as she stomped past a tall tree, her new bone club trailing behind her as she stalked after Zed. On Zed’s part, he walked backwards, picking up the pace and increasing the distance between them, false apologies spilling from his lips even as he laughed.

“For the last time,” Chris snarled. “If you say that word one more time, I’ll break your head with this club.”

“That was a gift,” Zed gasped. “And friends don’t hurt each other with their gifts.”

“Again!” Chris roared. “I am not your friend!”