Daughters of Darwin Ch. 09

It wasn't as though Mark hadn't offered to help any way he could. He had, and Holly had told him what to do, quite explicitly, and it hadn't done much to calm his increasing worries about what he had gotten himself into. Quite the opposite.

"If 'Madeline' gets in touch with you," Holly had said, "call me immediately. I'll give you a new mobile number; you use that number. Any time of day, no matter what you're doing at the moment, if she tries to contact you, call that number. Got it?"

"Sure."

"If you see her anywhere on the street, same thing. You call immediately. There's just one situation in which calling isn't the first thing you do: if she's right in front of you." Holly grabbed Mark's arm firmly. "If that happens, you get a hold of her - you make sure she cannot run. Then you call."

Mark nodded, though slightly unsettled by her instructions. "Got it. But what if she tries to break loose? What if she fights back? If she-"

"You take her down," Holly said. "Punch her. Wrestle her to the ground. Do whatever you must, but don't let her get away."

"I don't think that's a very good idea," Mark pointed out. "If we meet somewhere in public and I start punching her or try to restrain her, people will turn on me."

Holly's grip on his arm tightened. "Then make up a story," she said. "Tell people she stole your watch or something. If they want to call the police, let them. Just make sure that if police comes, they're taking her away with you. I'll make sure she is turned over to us. And you get in touch with Alice so she can get you out."

Mark swallowed. "This is really serious, isn't it?"

"Absolutely fucking serious," Holly nodded. "We must find her quickly, or everything could be over."

And that was the last thing Mark heard from her for the next four weeks.

***

In the meantime, strangely, life went on as it had before. There were still plenty of dates on Mark's schedule, and none of them were canceled, though he had the feeling that a few of the women he met in those four weeks knew what was going on. They rarely showed it openly, of course, but there were some moments where they looked at him in a certain way, somewhere between pensive and uneasy, and Mark was quite certain it was because of the thing with 'Madeline'.

Then came his date with Alice, and to his surprise, she helped him understand the worries the women had, at least to some extent. After a very nice evening with oysters and French wine, they ended up in her four-poster bed, and after two rounds of rather loud sex - one with him on top, one with her - Alice had invited him to stay the night. The firm he worked at wasn't far from her law office, so that would work out nicely in the morning.

As they lay together in bed quietly, each with a glass of very dark, very heavy red wine Alice had opened for them, she suddenly started to speak after almost ten minutes of silence. "You know," she said, "I kinda pity the poor girl."

"Hm?" Mark looked over to her.

"The one who... decided to leave us," she continued. "Can't be easy for her, out there on her own."

Mark turned over to her and rearranged his pillow so that he could comfortably look at Alice. "I thought she was giving all of you - and me - all sorts of trouble."

Alice nodded, still looking at the ceiling. "She is. She shouldn't have contacted you, let alone allow you to give her a daughter. And the worst of all is that she is actively hiding from us now. If she's found by someone before we find her, that could reveal the existence of people like us to the world. And we can't have that."

"Well, she looks like a perfectly normal young woman," Mark said. "And I'm sure she won't stay in one place long enough for people to realize her pregnancy is going on in record time."

"See, that exactly is the problem," Alice sighed and turned over to him. "Being pregnant and on the run at the same time isn't the easiest thing to do. And even if you take that into account - our biology means that we have certain, um, needs we have to take care of when we're pregnant. I don't know how much I can tell you about that..."

Mark had a rather good collection of the extraordinary number of fridges Stephanie had kept around her bed. "I know you all do need to eat enormous amounts of food," he mentioned.

Alice's face relaxed. "Ah, so you're in the picture - great! Now, if we don't get the food we need, that's not much of a problem for the first two weeks of a pregnancy. We get ravenously hungry, but our bodies pretty much wait for us to find the nourishment we need. At least to some extent. However, after two weeks, it becomes a problem."

"Like what?"

"Like, our daughters start growing anyway." Her expression darkened. "And they take what they need from their mothers' bodies. Like parasites."

Mark swallowed. "You're saying they... feed on their mothers?"

Closing her eyes for a moment, Alice nodded. "They're pretty much devouring them from the inside through the umbilical cords. And that doesn't end well for either one of them. The mother gets too weak to survive giving birth. And the daughter comes into this world with no one to take care of her."

"Damn." Mark shuddered. "I didn't think of that. If Madeline doesn't have access to a ton of food, she might end up dead!"

"And it pretty much doesn't matter if she's found by someone else before or after she has died," Alice added. "A young mother, obviously dead from starvation, is bound to raise questions, and maybe an examination. And even a run-of-the-mill autopsy may be enough to find out that she isn't exactly a normal young woman."

With a worried look, Mark thought about that for a moment. "So what can we do?" he asked.

"Find her," Alice said, "before it's too late."

***

Of course, there wasn't much Mark could do in that respect except keep his eyes open. But despite him trying his best, he didn't see or hear anything from the woman he knew as Madeline again.

Four weeks went by. And then, when he came back from work on a dark Thursday evening in November, Holly was standing in front of his apartment wearing a warm white jacket and dark blue jeans. Not the police uniform Mark had been accustomed to seeing her in.

"Walk with me," were her only words.

As Mark followed her down the street, strolling by her side, Holly said nothing for a minute or two, until they were a good bit away from his apartment. Then she finally turned her head towards him. "I have both bad news and good news," she said. "Which do you want to hear first?"

"You mentioned the bad news first," Mark replied. "Start there."

"You wanted to speak with someone who was allowed to talk about us," Holly explained. "The bad news is that the person I had in mind for that wasn't available on a short notice. In fact, I can't even tell you when she will be available. Sorry."

Mark sighed. "I hope the good news will be better, then."

The expression on Holly's face wasn't exactly a happy one. "More or less," she said. "The good news is that we have found another way that would make it possible to clue you in. Stephanie, in particular, said we absolutely ought to offer it to you. But personally, I think you're not going to like it."

"I suppose that depends," Mark chuckled. "What is this other way?"

"Well, I can't tell you right here-"

"Of course you can't!"

Seeing the frustration on Mark's face, Holly hurried to explain herself. "But we can tell you everything back at the safehouse," she said. "And if you're willing to do what's necessary, we can answer all of your questions right after that."

Mark stopped in his tracks and looked at her. "And you mean ALL questions this time?" he reassured himself. "No more secrets? Nothing like 'well, of course, we cannot talk about THAT particular thing'?"

"Nothing will be secret to you then," Holly nodded. "Full disclosure. I promise."

"Well, count me in then," Mark smiled. "I guess I will be coming to your mansion this weekend."

Holly raised her right hand. "One more thing, though," she interrupted him. "The solution we have in mind will require more than a day, or even two days. You should be ready to stay at the safehouse for about five days."

That sounded more than a little fishy to Mark. "Five days?!"

"Six, at the most." Holly looked at him. "Ah, I can already see you're not going to like the idea. Just as I thought."

"What in the world could require me staying for five or six days if it's just information you're sharing?"

Crossing her arms, Holly sighed. "It's not just sharing information, Mark. It's more than that. It wouldn't take that long if it was easy. Well - in a way, it is easy. But it has consequences. And the last thing we want is for you to be in any way unhappy with these consequences."

Now it was Mark's turn to sigh. "Can't you women speak three straight sentences without some innuendo towards things that could happen but that you just cannot tell me about right now? How am I supposed to trust you?"

"You don't trust us?" Holly asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I do trust you, but-" Taking a deep breath, Mark looked straight at her. "You're not making it easy with all of this super-confidential, eyes-only, conspiracy-stuff talk. Give me one straight answer, at the very least."

Holly nodded. "Shoot. I'll try to answer as straight as I can."

"If I come to the mansion, and I don't like what you have in mind, then what happens?"

"In that case," Holly said, "you're free to leave again. Nothing changes. We still have the agreement with you, the rules still apply, you stay friends with us." She returned his prodding, questioning gaze with a surprisingly tender, vulnerable look of her own. "None of us wants the thing we have with you to end, Mark. We like you. We really, really like you."

Mark just couldn't be angry with someone who looked at him that way. "Alright," he smiled, "I'll come. It's got to be the week after Thanksgiving, though. That's the earliest I can be away from work."

Smiling back, Holly nodded. "Thank you. I'll tell everybody. We look forward to seeing you. Bye."

"Bye." Mark looked after her for a moment as she continued to walk away before he turned back to return to his apartment.

It was only then he realized he hadn't asked her who she had meant by "everybody".

***

To Mark's great relief, the mansion wasn't nearly as crowded with people as it had been during his last visit. Only one other vehicle was parked directly in sight - Naira's SUV - and the moment he got out of his car, the front door opened and Stephanie walked towards him. Mark was particularly happy to see Tanya standing up there too, almost shyly waving towards him when he looked at her.

"Nice to see you again," Stephanie greeted him. "So you've decided to listen to our suggestions."

"Well, no thanks to you all hinting and warning me about your super-important secrets," Mark chuckled. "I mean, my curiosity can only withstand so much teasing, can't it?"

To his surprise, Stephanie wasn't laughing with him. She wasn't even smiling. The last time he had seen her this serious was when she had caught him and Tanya in the mansion just after he had found the place. All she did was look at him, and it was an absolute no-nonsense look. "Do you have your phone on you?" she said.

Mark nodded. "Right here, in my-"

"Leave it in the car," Stephanie demanded. "In fact, no electronics altogether. If there's a computer in your suitcase, leave it here too."

"I don't bring my notebook with me when I come here," Mark complained, "what are you thinking? That I don't find you entertaining enough?" He took his cellphone from the pocket of his jacket and put it on the seat of his car. "I hope temperatures don't drop too much during the nights. I don't want to come back here and find it's broken."

Stephanie turned around. "We'll get you a new one then," she coldly replied. "Follow me."

She walked ahead, Mark following her with his suitcase in hand, and the minute he got up the stairs, Tanya gave him the very big, very welcoming hug he needed now.

"Hi," she beamed.

"Hi," Mark smiled and let go of his suitcase so that he could properly hug her back. "How've you been?"

To his surprise, the look on Tanya's face darkened quite a bit. "I've been better," she said, her voice eerily quiet in comparison to her usual lively self.

Mark put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a worried look. "What's going on with you?"

"She goofed up," Stephanie said. "Big time."

"I goofed up," Tanya confirmed and looked to the side, apparently unable to meet Mark's gaze. "Sorry. You wouldn't be in this situation if I had be more... careful."

Before Mark could ask her what the problem had been, Stephanie had already walked towards the staircase. "NAIRA!" she shouted. "Come down! He's here!"

From above, the sound of a door banging could be heard, and a few seconds later, footsteps hurried downstairs. Then Naira became visible. To Mark's surprise, she seemed to still be putting on her white doctor's coat, as though she had just picked it up on her way into the parlor.

"Mark," she greeted him with a smile. "Nice to see you in good health. And thank you for coming."

"I wish I knew what I have been coming for," Mark replied. "Good to see all of you, but I'm really wondering what this is about. Holly didn't tell me shit - as usual - and to be frank, the only reason I decided to come is that she said you'd finally be able to answer all those questions I have. That there'd be a way you could do it."

Stephanie nodded. "There are actually two ways," she said, "one of which you already know. The one where you give up your old life."

"The one we all know you won't take," Naira added.

"The second one is at the same time less and more dramatic," Stephanie continued. "Less insofar as it allows you to go on with your life, your daily routines, your job, pretty much everything. But more insofar that it takes something away from you. Permanently."

Mark raised an eyebrow. "That... doesn't sound like it's something I would want," he said. "What exactly is it you're taking away? You don't mean my-" His eyes darted down to his crotch.

With a quick laugh, Tanya shook her head. "No, of course it's not that," she giggled. "Why would we take away the part we like most about you?"

"Then what is it?" Mark wanted to know, his voice making clear that he didn't quite see this quite as funny as her. "What do I have to go through to finally get to know your secrets?"

"You will have to drink this," Naira said, pulling something that looked like a small thermos flask from her coat pocket. It was large enough to be holding around sixteen ounces.

Mark eyed the metal container suspiciously. "And what's in it?"

Holding the flask up, Naira looked at it with something like... maybe pride in her eyes. "Essentially, it's a protein shake," she said, "but a special one. It's spiked with all sorts of hormones. Strong stuff. I would have to get very technical with you to explain what it does exactly, but its primary effect is to permanently change your biochemistry. In short, it rewrites how your body produces dopamine and serotonin."

"Dopa-what?"

"They are two hormones that serve as your body's reward system," Naira explained. "Essentially, they're what makes you feel happiness. Usually, your body produces them when- well, when you have reasons to be happy. There's lots of triggers for it. Eating sweet foods is one, for example. Having sex is another."

It wasn't that Mark was an expert on all things medical, but that seemed easy enough to understand. "Okay," he said, "so my body produces stuff that makes me happy."

Naira nodded. "Exactly."

"And this, um, protein shake does what exactly?"

"It makes you addicted to us," Stephanie bluntly said.

"W-What?!"

"What Stephanie is trying to say," Naira tried to pick up her explanation again, "is that this shake will change the triggers you require to feel happy. In addition to everything that works already, you will also need something else, and that's a certain pheromone we emit."

Mark suddenly understood. "Yeah, Mona mentioned that once," he said. "All of you emit a certain sexual fragrance, a pheromone."

"And that is what you will need if you ever want to feel happy again," Stephanie added. "You'll have to be around us, pretty much daily. If you can't, you will feel a craving for it, much like a junkie craves for drugs. And if you can't get it..." She softly shook her head. "You're gonna have a bad time."

"Essentially," Naira said, "we're brainwashing you. There's no way of sugarcoating this. If you decide to drink what's in here, you'll need us to survive. That's why we can afford to share our secrets with you then."

Stephanie nodded. "If you're ever betraying us," she said, "all we need to do is cut you off from us, and you'll throw yourself in front of a bus three days later." She looked him straight in the eye. "And I'm not shitting you. That's what happened to the another guy who tried the shake."

Mark slowly walked away from her. "Why are you telling me all this?" he said. "It almost sounds like you don't WANT me to drink this... stuff."

"We had a discussion about it," Tanya said, softly touching Mark's shoulder. "Stephanie said there was no way you were going to drink it once you knew what it was all about, and that we should absolutely tell you all the details. Mona suggested to make you drink first and then tell you what you had just done, but Naira thought that was unethical. And I..." She slightly blushed.

"You...?" Mark almost dreaded her answer.

Tanya still couldn't meet his gaze. "I said we should tell you," she almost whispered, "but that you'd absolutely say yes once you knew what you get for it."

Looking around between the three women, Mark wasn't certain who to talk to. "So," he eventually decided so speak in no one's general direction, "I get all there is to know about you. Is there anything else?"

"Of course there is," Tanya answered to his surprise. "You'll get our promise that as long as you stay with our cause, there'll always be one of us at your side. Your bed will never be empty, we'll take good care of you, and if you ever fall on hard times, we'll work together to get you through. If you get sick, we arrange the best possible medical care for you, and once you grow old, we'll make sure you have all you have ever wished for your old age."

"You have no idea what I want for my old age," Mark said. "Even I have no idea what I want for my old age."

Tanya had to chuckle again. "Whatever it is, you'll have it."

Mark nodded. "Okay, that does sound good. I suppose-"

"You'll get all of this for the low, low price of getting addicted to us," Stephanie pulled his head out of the clouds. "And you'll have to trust that we're keeping our promises. Nothing of this is ever going to be put on paper."

"If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't even be here," Mark said confidently. "Thank you, Stephanie, for trying to talk me out of this. But I will have that shake now."

Stephanie wasn't quite done with him, though. "So you're really okay with not being able to live without us?"

Mark could only laugh about this. "What makes you think I even WANT to live without you? Hand over that shake, Naira!"

"Alright," Naira nodded. "Leave your suitcase here and follow me."

"Can't I just drink it right now and get it over with?"

Naira shook her head. "We need to take a few precautions", she said. "The shake is potent stuff."

Taking the lead, she walked back upstairs, followed by Mark, Stephanie and Tanya. Unlike last time, she headed for the big room where Tanya had stayed during her pregnancy. As they all entered, Mark could see that a few of Naira's medical machines and supplies had been set up here, mostly around the bed.