Sanctuary

Chapter 4

We had made great time from the city of Grand Rapids Michigan to just outside Pellston, where the north American Sanctuary had been built. Okay, when it was built there was nothing within many, many miles. The nearest settlement had been fort Michilimackinac at the straights. 

Now a small town had built up in the middle of a vast expanse of forest. When I was born the closest settlement had been Cadillac. Even today the forest still reins supreme for many miles around our home.

Our ride turned onto the Sanctuaries long winding drive and I used the time to rearrange my Shaper face. I had to do this everything I arrived here with Varden. I swept all of my love, all of my feelings for him into one of my minds many boxes and locked it tight. When we were here, I could feel nothing for him more than open lust, or scorn. Sad as it was, those were the only excepted, or expected emotion one of the sisters could display for him. That and outright hatred, and I would never be able to go that far. No matter how many times I'd been tempted to.

All the time I was trying to tamp my feelings down, Varden was just staring out the tinted window at the passing trees. He could turn his emotions off and on like he had a switch inside him. I guess that was the gift for him being a guy.

"Are we ready?" I asked, giving his hands one last quick squeeze. Then the vehicle came to a full stop.

"Yeah, lets get this over with." Before Jeffery could get to the door, Varden was grabbing the inside handle and pushing it open. I cringed when I saw Damaris and her entourage standing on the gravel walk that led to the front entrance.

I was ignored as I stepped from the door, Damaris had eyes only for the vehicles other occupant. Varden hopped from the door, standing there he surveyed everything before him with a single glance until his gaze settled on the High Mother.

"Hello Damaris, nice day isn't it?" He had swept his gaze and was now looking everywhere except at the raven haired woman.

"Yes it is. I am so happy you dained to visit us." She huffed, waiting for Varden to stop his visual ignoring of her.

"We do not have all day to watch you admire the landscaping. Come with me, now." At the last words Varden looked straight at her, his gaze hard as iron."

"Oh come on." I said. "Since there is no way to have a dick measuring contest lets just get this over with, shall we?" I stepped between the two of them and watched Varden shrug and fall in line behind me like the good pacified man he was supposed to be.

"Stupid male." I heard one of the High Mothers guards mutter.

Before I could turn, Varden had the woman by the throat and lifted into the air, before any of us could move.

"High Mother." He hissed through clenched teeth. "I would advice you to train your bitches to keep their mouths shut, or you're going to have a very high dental bill coming." He turned from the woman in his grasp to look at Damaris. " Are we clear?"

"Clear, now could you put her down? I've spent a lot of time training that one. I would hate to lose her for any length of time because she couldn't keep, her, mouth, shut." Damaris spoke the last words for dramatic effect, clipping them all cleanly.

Varden sat the woman back down on her feet and patted the top of her head before turning to follow me again towards the front entrance.

"You had to do that, didn't you?" I whispered under my breath so only he could hear me.

"Yep, sure did." Was his only reply.

I guess it was better than the last time he was here. That time he broke the ribs of two of the sisters, and an arm of a third. In his defense, they did start it. When you have a man in the training level of the Sanctuary for the first time in living memory, the sisters just got a little too excited.

Then there was Samantha, five foot six inches of sex on two legs.  She was two hundred and three years old, and lets say at that age, she's had plenty of time to perfect her craft. When she became aware that a male Shaper was on the way to the Sanctuary, she set her ambush.

When it was all over, we had one very, very, very angry Samantha, and an apoplectic Varden. He still hasn't told me what happened when she finally tricked him into her room, but it must have been horrible, or hilarious. All according to how you saw it. 

Looking over my shoulder I could see Varden's face harden the closer we got to the front door. The house in front of us was only a facade, a modern two story ranch style home, three bedrooms two baths. Everything within worked, from the electricity, to the plumbing. The television had a cable package that would be the envy of even the most dedicated couch potato.

Yet for all the work that had gone into the houses construction, it was just a mask for its greater purpose. Because within the guest bedroom there was a closet. Inside that closet was a door, behind the clothes hanging one hangers. Grabbing the doors handle I held it for a few seconds while it read my hand print. With a soft click and a whoosh of trapped air the door swung inward and I stepped through. Varden stepped in after me and and the door slammed shut behind him.

He didn't need to touch the door to be admitted. Okay, technically he should have had to touch the door handle so the system could distinguished him as someone who was supposed to be here. It's just that the first time he came here at my urging he grabbed the handle, and promptly shorted out the entire Sanctuaries power grid. It took several seconds for the emergency generators to kick in. For those seconds blackness had descended on the entire Sanctuary, and everyone within thought they were under attack. It had taken some slick talking on my part to bring that situation under control.

We had both entered a short white hall that ended in a double door at the other end. Guards stood one either side of the doors. 

"Hey Steve, how's it been here with all these women?" Varden shot ahead of me, startling the two men with his greeting.

"It's been fine, sir." Steven tried to maintain his discipline even as Varden grabbed his hand and shook it.

Grabbing him by the shoulders I pushed him through the now opening doors. The instant they closed I whirled on him.

"You do not talk to the help!"