Children of the Pomme - Book 1

by Matthew Fish

  “I love swimming,” Maddie said as she smiled. “I can’t wait for my arm to heal up a bit.”

  “This is impressive,” Mark added. This room was unlike any other room in the odd house. Instead of the usual red—the walls were a made of natural stone. Stained glass windows of various fish lined the long walls as a deep blue pool, with a series of tiled dolphins on the bottom, took up most of the space. A few fake palm trees with Christmas lights sat in a few of the corners as lounge chairs encircled the pool. A small hot tub and a steam room sat near the entrance.

  “However I would avoid this room in between the hours of nine and ten in the morning as that is when I enjoy my morning swim,” Caesar cautioned. “That is, unless you want to see a bit of cock.”

  “I’ve spent the last hour seeing a big one walk around and lead us all over the place,” Emily said as she shook her head. “I’m good.”

  “One of these days, Zampa girl,” Caesar said as he casually led them away and back towards the great room in which they first met. “That attitude of yours is going to push the ones you care about away.”

  “It’s Stapleton,” Emily said as she grunted angrily. “Where are all your friends, with all your rooms…and all your grand ballrooms and shit.”

  “Touché,” Caesar said with a false heavy sigh. “Oh to be rich and have lived such a fulfilling life—oh the agony…To have dined with presidents and to have so many connections that the depth of people that care for me would cause your pretty little head to spin around so quickly I dare say it might fly right off and into the nearest toilet.”

  “It sounds like you have a really great life,” Maddie added, attempting to do some damage control.

  “Mark?” Caesar said as he turned to Mark and cocked his head as one of his bushy eyebrows raised high upon his wrinkled forehead. “Why are you always so timid and quiet when these two are so…much more vocal? Are you a mere trembling virgin rabbit when it comes to being in the presence of the fairer sex?”

  “I umm,” Mark stuttered. “I just want them to get along—I figured they would work that out on their own. I’m not…I mean I am, but—yeah I just want them to work it out.”

  “I am surprised you are not on the floor with how much you trip over your own words,” Caesar said with a short giggle. “A word of advice, show a little spine or else these girls will eat you alive.”

  “Umm, okay,” Mark said awkwardly as he looked to Maddie who shrugged back at him.

  “Now off to bed with you lot,” Caesar said as he motioned them away with his hands as though they were birds he could scare off. “I’ve had such a long day and would like you to be back in your bedrooms.”

  “I’m not tired though,” Emily protested as the large unusual man began to push her down the hallway.

  “Well then read a book,” Caesar said as he hurried them along. “Learn something…”

  “I don’t like reading,” Emily said as she pushed Caesar away and began to walk on her own accord.

  “Shocking,” Caesar simply replied.

  “Do you…would you happen to have any needle and thread, maybe some cloth or fabric lying around. You know…like embroidery shit?”

  “Does it have a hobby?” Caesar said as he literally came to a dead halt. “Are you actually interested in something that involves time and effort—and daresay…talent?”

  “Forget it,” Emily said as she marched on. “Asshole…”

  “I happen to be in possession of a few large boxes of such craft materials,” Caesar said as he raised a hand in an attempt to stop Emily’s angered march away from him. “I shall deliver them to your room before I retire.”

  “Thanks…” Emily whispered just audibly enough for Caesar to hear it.

  Mark attempted to lie down for a bit, however found that after his nap earlier—sleep was in impossibility. He rummaged through a few of the books; however nothing seemed to catch his eye at the moment. An hour passed and Mark let out a heavy sigh as he pulled out his cell phone and placed it on the bed and let it quietly play some music. He sat upon the edge of his bed within the ambit of a dimly lit lamp as he unpacked his small bag into a drawer close by. Clearing the bag of what little items it contained, he then picked up his Standard and placed it on top of the dresser. He then took out his long coat and folded it up and placed it alongside his standard. He allowed his fingers to linger for a moment on the embroidered silver thread of the coin design on the back. He remembered how ridiculous it seemed to him at the time. The whole ‘Death Tosser’ thing still seemed incredibly ridiculous—but he felt that he was actually rather grateful for the Emily’s act. Mark looked to the window as a strange breeze filled the air.

  “You know,” Emily spoke as she had projected into the room. “I was half afraid you’d laugh at me and throw it away…”

  “What are you doing here?” Mark said as he covered himself up with a sheet. He was simply wearing a pair of black boxers and a white t-shirt. It rather reminded him of the first time they met…when she burned his Grandmother’s house down. In the faint light he could make out her attractive form. Her pink hair was shining in the dim light. Her Hazel eyes were staring at him, they looked somewhat sad. She was wearing a black tank top and a rather revealing pair of tight white boy-shorts panties.

  “You remember I don’t sleep much…” Emily stated as she began to pace back and forth. “Maddie’s out—heavy sleeper…not a very good trait for a Conductor yeah? I mean I could have toasted her in her sleep. I didn’t though—if you were worrying.”

  “Do you want to sit?” Mark said as he made some room on the bed. It was obvious that she was looking for someone to talk to.

  “Yeah,” Emily said as she nodded once and bounced into bed beside Mark and rested her head upon his shoulder. “Do you like her?”

  “Maddie…?”

  “No, Caesar,” Emily said sarcastically as she poked Mark in the stomach.

  “She’s cool,” Mark replied, unsure of how to answer correctly. Perhaps there was some truth to Caesar’s words—these two girls did terrify him a bit. “I mean she’s pretty—and nice. She’s a good friend.”

  “She’s too old for you,” Emily retorted.

  “She’s only like…two years older than I am,” Mark said as he laughed. “Does it matter if I like her or not? I’m sure she just thinks of me as a friend…probably even a liability.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, I ain’t interested, Morty,” Emily added as she pressed her head into Mark’s shoulder.

  “I don’t get that one,” Mark said as he felt rather confused as her actions seemed to speak completely otherwise.

  “Don’t get what?”

  “Morty…?” Mark answered as he thought back to all the different nicknames from before. “I mean, it’s been a different nickname almost every day since we met—so about a week’s worth of dickwad, some version of tosser…which I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be offended or not, and quarters.”

  “It’s just…short for mortal. I guess it’s not as clever as I thought,” Emily added as she continued to snuggle up to Mark. “It’s been longer than a week—we’ve known each other for like two weeks.”

  “Are you counting the time you tried to abduct me?”

  “Well, yeah,” Emily said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Don’t you know that first impressions matter? Like a lot…probably.”

  “Well that was quite a first impression,” Mark said as he felt even more nervous as she continued to draw in closer and closer.

  “I appreciate it all,” Emily said as she closed her eyes. “That story about my sisters putting a stake in me—that was true. I wanted to be like them, or at least…I wanted them to like me. They just didn’t. I even did some designs for their clothing that they wear on assignments….when they saw what I had done, they laughed at me and made me watch them burn the clothing. My father wanted me to take more interest in training…I was more interested in having fun and…well, embroidery—it was the only thing my mother tau
ght me before my dad found himself another whore. His wanting me to become someone else pushed me away.”

  “I’m sorry they did that,” Mark said as he placed and arm around Emily and squeezed her tightly against him. Usually he would not think to try such a bold act—however, she had just opened up to him and he finally found the courage to do so. “My father didn’t want me to become a Conductor—I think that’s why he tried to get me interested in it when I wasn’t…I know that’s kinda the opposite—but I just realized…he pushed, but not really too hard. Just enough to make me disinterested.”

  “Do you regret it?”

  “No,” Mark said plainly. “I don’t like some of the things that happened—that Bradley betrayed you, Maddie got shot—that whole mess. But I don’t have to like that, to…appreciate, well—I guess to appreciate that my life is different…but not in a bad way.”

  “I thought you’d abandon me after that,” Emily admitted. “You kept me as your bodyguard…you trust me.”

  “Completely,” Mark said as he nodded.

  “No more talking right now,” Emily said as she climbed atop mark and pulled her tank top up and over her head, tossing it to the floor.

  “What are…?” Mark began to speak as he felt a strange overwhelming sense of nervousness overcome him.

  Emily gently placed a hand to Mark’s mouth as she began to grind against him. She then released her hold and grabbed Mark’s hands and placed them on her breasts.

  Mark nodded silently as he felt the soft flesh of Emily’s perky breasts in his hands. He gently caressed her nipples with his thumbs as he squeezed gently. Emily reached down and began to tug away at Mark’s boxers. He quickly pulled them down as she slid down her own boy-shorts, revealing her completely shaved pussy. In the dim light, Mark traced down her lithe form with his eyes as she sat atop him, grinding against his erection.

  Mark gulped hard as she allowed herself to slide down over him as she let out a short little whimper. Emily pushed Mark’s arms down to the bed as she quickened her pace, moving up and down upon him as he let out heavy breaths and moans. Emily continued to make a whimpering noise as though she was attempting to keep quiet. She dug her nails into Mark’s wrists as she let out a loud squeal as she pushed down hard against Mark’s cock. Mark felt a warm rush throughout his body as he came.

  “Okay…” Emily said between heavy breaths of air. She wiped away a bit of sweat from her forehead and slowly pulled herself off of Mark. She then bent over the bed and retrieved her panties from the floor. She positioned herself on the bed as her breasts bounced as she pulled her panties back on. She then reached for her tank top and pulled it back over her head, covering her beautiful, once naked, body. She then got up to her feet and stood next to the bed for a moment.

  “You don’t…you can stay if you want to,” Mark said as he still attempted to catch his breath and mentally come to grips with what just transpired. He covered himself with a sheet as he could feel himself growing small again—he felt rather exposed now that she was dressed.

  “I can sleep now, besides you snore…I was in here while you were napping, quite boring really,” Emily said as she folded her arms and looked towards the door and then looked to Mark. “This doesn’t change anything, Morty.”

  “Okay,” Mark said, confused.

  “Don’t go thinking you owe me anything,” Emily added. “If you want to chase after that Maddie girl then…do that—you’re both normal, so it makes sense. I could never do that whole—growing old thing. Even if I can just be young again when I want to, you can’t…eventually it’d get gross.”

  “I don’t…I’m confused.”

  “Of course you are, Morty,” Emily said as she smiled. “You’re a little slow. It’s okay though—I’ll be the best bodyguard any coin tosser’s ever had.”

  “Alright…thank you?” Mark said in a questioning tone—he was still trying to wrap his mind over their encounter.

  “Oh and don’t go worrying about me having any freak babies or anything,” Emily added. “Perpetuals aren’t able to spawn until we age at twenty-four. “Night…”

  “Goodnight…” Mark began just as a wisp of air flew through the room and Emily disappeared.

  I still don’t understand why Emily came to me that night. I felt…well, magical. Still, at the same time, I remember feeling rather sad. It was the first time that she had opened up to me—like she had just broken down a wall…only to put it right back up. I don’t know what I expected to happen after we were together that night. I didn’t know what the next day was going to be like. I honestly didn’t even know how I felt about everything…or anything at that point. To say that I was in a state of confusion would be a monumental understatement. Emily was a very complex person. She had this entire personality of being careless, always cheerful, rude, and rather flippant. However, I was beginning to realize that there was a whole other Emily buried beneath the surface of what she commonly showed.

  Chapter 6

  “Mark, Maaaaarrrkk,” A voice whispered through a crack in the door.

  “Yeah..?” Mark said as he climbed out of bed.

  “Your cock is out,” Caesar whispered as he peeked through the tiny opening in the door.

  “Shit,” Mark said as he reached for his boxers and quickly pulled them up. “Sorry—I got…hot.”

  “I didn’t want to wake the others yet,” Caesar said as he watched Mark get dressed. “I have a special present—just for you, boy.”

  “Alright,” Mark said as he zipped up a fresh pair of blue jeans and rubbed away the sleep from his tired eyes. He looked out the window and saw the sun rising just on the horizon causing the tips of the trees to glow in a fiery orange as a soft mist filled the yard and glimmered brilliantly.

  “Mush mush,” Caesar said in a quiet voice as he pushed Mark out the door and led him by the hand down the hallway. “I feel like its Christmas morning, only I’m Santa Claus giving away toys to excited little tots.”

  “You’ve given me more than enough,” Mark said, still half asleep as he allowed himself to be haphazardly led down the spiral staircase. They took a small hallway that led to an old stone staircase that smelled slightly of old water.

  “Careful on the stairs,” Caesar said as he beckoned for Mark to follow him down the dungeon like staircase. “I had a particularly nasty fall once, was out for an entire day—luckily we don’t suffer the same way Mortals do.”

  After descending the staircase, Mark followed Caesar along a narrow damp stone hallway to a brilliant red door with gold accents. A giant apple tree carved from gold adorned the door as two deer were perched on each side, heads to the sky and front hooves stretched outward.

  “What is this place?” Mark asked as he looked at the beautiful door—a strange contrast to the old musty hall and staircase that led here.

  “Just my old sex dungeon,” Caesar said as he squealed and laughed. “It’s another jape, boy. This—this is your present. Let me just find the key.”

  “What does this symbol mean?”

  Caesar fumbled with a small key ring, attempting to find the right one for the lock. It was apparent that he hadn’t been down here in a while. “It’s one of the symbols of the old order of Conductors…It’s German—back when they were called the Schmied. Here we are—perfect.”

  Mark peered through the door as Caesar slowly opened it as though he was carefully untying the bow on a present—he was allowing Mark to take it all in slowly. The room was filled with various cases. A bright diamond shaped amber light that twirled slowly overhead caused all the different coins and pieces of metal to glow and shimmer like the room was beneath a sea at sunrise.

  “Our Captain William told me that you had lost something of great value,” Caesar said as he bade Mark to follow him into the large octagonal room. “Something that I am here to replace—Maddie has an entire case filled to the brim with coins, what have you left of your father’s vast collection?

  “Just what I have in my standa
rd,” Mark answered as he stepped down into the room and marveled at all the different types of coins and the strange metals in all the different cases that surrounded the room like some kind of grand royal treasury. “I’ve got probably a hundred coins or so…”

  “All within the last fifty years or so…?” Caesar said as he led Mark to a large cabinet filled with quarters. “Every single year—in centuplicate all the way to the vest first quarter…”

  “It’s an amazing collection,” Mark added as he placed a hand on the case and counted down through the various years, each one marked with a gold label.

  “It’s all yours,” Caesar said as he hurried off to a trunk and pulled out a red, velvet vest. “Most importantly, put this on.”

  “What is this?”

  “Do you know what Schmied means in German?”

  “I don’t…”

  “Of course not,” Caesar said as he helped mark into the red vest. “This is a Schmied vest—Schmied being a word from the German dialect with means, of course, blacksmith. This is what the conductors of the olden days used to wear—this is an original, of course. To have one in such a pristine condition is a rare thing. I have kept this one for nearly a thousand years.”

  “You…you want me to have it?” Mark said as he admired the softness of the velvet vest with its subtle intricate ivy design on the front. He opened the vest up and placed a finger against one of about a hundred raised loops on the inside. “…I’m really thankful…but why?”

  “All you know is quarters,” Caesar said as he reached into a case and carefully pulled out an old iron nail. “Do you know what people valued, before there was coin currency?”

  “Nails…?” Mark guessed as he watched Caesar carry the old nail as though he was carrying a fragile egg.

  “Nails, boy,” Caesar spoke proudly, ignoring Mark’s correct answer.

  “Why do you always call me boy?” Mark asked, he noticed that this was about the twentieth time or so in the sparse time he’d been there that Caesar had referred to him as ‘boy.’