Mother of Darkwaters: Book one of the Vessel series by Tony C. Skye Page A

presses down on the gas pedal.
       Rebecca commands the voice auto-feature of her radio to play her favs with the volume set to a comfortable conversational level. The curly blond keeps her eyes on the road while questioning her bff.
       “What happened to you last night? I tried texting and calling. You know how I hate to actually make a phone call.”
       “I've not been sleeping well lately,” Caroline answers.
        “Dreams again?”
       “Yeah. Something like that.” Caroline stares out of the passenger side window. A world which seems to be increasingly more distant each day is passing by.
       “What about the marks?”, Rebecca quickly denotes, “And don't tell me you did it to yourself.”
       Caroline defensively responds, “They're from me, Becca. Freddy Kruegar is not real. Fictional character, remember?”
       Rebecca softens her probing, “Sorry, Caroline. I know Freddy's dead. I watched them kill him…over and over and over and..” She pauses momentarily before finishing, “Over and over and over again.”
       Caroline looks at Rebecca. Her frustration gives way to a small smile. Rebecca winks with her right eye. She commands her radio to maximize its volume.
     
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       Screech!
       “Hey skank! Watch where you're going!”, Rebecca yells after locking the tires up on the parking lot of West Hills High School. She narrowly escapes a head on collision with an older model Chevy pickup truck. Pulling into one of the reserved student stalls, Rebecca continues to vent her irritation,
       “I hate poor people.”
     
       Caroline cocks her left brow, “Say what you want, Rebecca. But that poor girl over there has something to drive. I don't even have that.”
       Rebecca rolls her eyes, “Gawd, you're full of all kinds of depressing. You need some serious sleep.” Rebecca turns off her ignition, gets out of her car, and shuts the door. Caroline follows her team captain’s example and makes her way around to the driver's side of the car. Rebecca Hindsworth activates her car's alarm with her keychain,
       “Come on, Ms. Sadness. Let's get into some trouble.”
       “It’s just a dream, Becca,” Caroline counters while walking towards the street that divides the student parking lot from the school.
     
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       “Rebecca! Caroline!”, a brunette with brown eyes and shoulder-length hair yells out from further down the hallway. An eighteen-year-old by the name of Jennifer Hammond quickly walks up to meet the two girls standing by their lockers. She holds up her smartphone for easy view, “You have got to see this.” She activates the play feature on the video. The video portrays a woman in her mid-twenties kissing an older gentleman wearing a suit. He looks to be in his forties.
       “Oh, gross,” Caroline responds.
       Jennifer laughs, “I know, right?”
       Rebecca makes a gagging sound then asks, “Is that Ms. Davis and Mr. Donovan?”
       “Yep,” Jennifer triumphantly answers.
       Caroline's brows narrow, “I thought Mr. Donovan was married. Don't they have kids?”
       Rebecca considers Caroline's situation with her mom and dad. She decides to tread carefully, “Yeah. I think you're right, Caroline.” Rebecca gives Jennifer a scornful look, “Is he married, Jenny?”
       Jennifer returns a confused look back to Rebecca. The taller six-foot two-inch girl answers compliantly, “Yes. He's married.”
       “Sick bastard,” Rebecca dramatizes. The captain of the varsity cheerleader squad pretends to have a sudden moment of inspiration, “Caroline. Isn't Mr. Cheater head of the senior activities this year?”
       Caroline gives her best friend a look of sly recognition, “Why, Becca, I believe he is.”
       Rebecca centers herself to face both Jennifer and Caroline, “You guys thinking what I'm thinking?”
       Jennifer and Caroline grin devilishly.
       “What are you guys