Chapter 9
I foundout on Thursday morning that Reg was coming home on Friday after school.
I threw up that morning after I heard.
I hadn’t gone to see him in the hospital, I’d always come up with a convenient excuse to bow out of it, but I couldn’t avoid him forever.
I still hadn’t gone over the envelope with the list of rules by Thursday, so I forced myself to open it and find out what the Organization had to say about my behavior. It had been so much easier to exist in a realm of denial where Reg was dead and I was free. But I couldn’t live like that for long, not in this town. Not when I was Tribute and had no say in the matter.
I opened the envelope and began to read. There in the first rule was the reason I’d been avoiding them all together. The reason I thought I was going to curl up and die the moment I faced the reality of my predicament.
“You must obey every member of the Organization. If you are not aware of their status within the group, you must ask them the sacred question and they must respond with the sacred key. The question is: who is my master? And the key is: Bellua.”
I had no idea who Bellua was, maybe that was the name of the old man at the head of the table. The one that made me feel so insignificant and as if my life was meaningless. The one I yearned to destroy.
There was no way that was going to happen, and the stress I felt over defying their order before I’d even had the chance to test the waters was off the charts.
What was I going to do if he decided to seek his revenge by forcing me into horrible situations? How could I protect myself if he asked me to do disgusting things with him, his friends, or the Organization?
I was so worried about it, I almost chewed my thumb nail clear off. As it was, the quick was gnawed down to a raw, painful red as I went through the rest of the rules.
The second rule emphasized the first one, but added to my fears. Why did they specifically target Reg, and what sorts of sick, twisted orders would he give me once he got home? I felt a wave of nausea roll through my stomach again, stabbing it with a dull blade of worry.
“You must obey your stepfather and any other agent we choose to act in our stead.. He works directly for us and will act as the eyes and ears and enforcer of the Organization. Disobeying is disobeying us.”
The third rule was also obvious, but one I’d already broken. Three times now, and I would have broken it more and more if I had been able to, if we hadn’t already been warned by the Organization.
“You must remain pure. The Kings are to break your spirit in any way possible, but your virginity does not belong to you. It belongs to the Organization and whoever claims it on the night of Dirty Kingdom.”
I prayed Kingston would win the final fight so he could claim for himself the thing he’d already taken. Otherwise, I had a lot of explaining to if anybody ever found out. But I planned on ending everything before it got to that. I belonged to nobody but myself, and they would find that out, eventually.
There were two more rules about my behavior and code of modesty in regards to my dressing. And then a strict one about my grades, and how I couldn’t let them slip lower than an A average in all my classes.
The final one scared me the most.
“Finally, if you are found to have forfeited any of the above rules, then you forfeit your participation in Dirty Kingdom as Tribute. Once you lose the title of Tribute, you will be passed on to new masters and auctioned off to the highest bidder in an international market.
In the spirit of generosity, you are given three chances to make mistakes. Each mistake will be recorded as a black mark. Once you hit three, you will be stripped of your title as Tribute. The only exception is with your virginity. You must keep that intact.
Do not bother showing this to any authorities, or seeking help from any law enforcement agencies. You will not get far, and it will count as a black mark against your record.”
I gulped as I read it all over again, and my stomach roiled with a thick, greasy sensation that almost caused me to vomit on my bed.
I texted the group chat to let the Kings know what the envelope said, and they were all dutifully disgusted with the audacity of them. But they couldn’t help me, not when Reg was coming, and I didn’t know how much he would take this whole thing seriously.
I couldn’t sleep on Thursday night, and Friday during school I was a wreck.
The Kings tried to help me by taking me into the boy’s locker room, through the coach’s office, and into the equipment storage room for a quick fool around session.
“This place smells like stale jock straps,” I complained once we got inside.
“It’s only because it’s full of stale jock straps,” Valen laughed and grabbed my hand. “You’ve been driving me crazy today, with that sexy little dress.”
I was wearing a knee length wrap dress in fall colors with Archer’s football hoodie on overtop. I was also wearing knee high black leather boots with a bit of a heel, so I stood taller than normal. They didn’t have to bend so far for a kiss.
“She’s been driving me nuts, too,” Kingston said and took my other hand. He sat down on a pile of gymnastics mats and pulled me with him. Valen reluctantly let me go and I wound up sitting on Kingston’s lap.
“I think we all have a bad case of blue balls this week,” Archer said, grabbing his to adjust and emphasize. “Fuck, Ev, I can’t stop thinking about your tight little pussy.”