The Sins of the Fathers

LADY SWALLOW!

Fuck! Shit! Dammit to hell! I don't wanna fucking do this, but I damn-well better!

Flipping open his cell phone, Jack Grant punched in Spencer's number. As soon as his best friend answered, Jack could hear some kind of music in the background.

Spencer never plays music so it must be the TV.

Jack was elated,

Hot damn -- at last, a fucking a break! Spencer's busy watching a game or something. I can just tell him I'll call back later, like maybe in a hundred years or so.

Desperately clutching at the reprieve, Jack's words rushed out nonstop. "Hey, Spence! Sorry to interrupt. Sounds like you're busy watching something, so I won't bother you. It can wait. I just catch you at the office on Mon... "

"Nah! No problem at all," Spencer interrupted him. "Hell, Jack, I'm glad you called, and I got plenty of time. Mac's swiped the damn TV controller, bound-and-determined to watch some dance show. Not that I care; there's nothing on it worth watching anyway. So, what's up?"

Jack sighed in defeat.

I'm a doomed man.

"Well, you might wanna find a place to get comfortable; this may take a few minutes."

"OK. Just let me move back into the kitchen, grab a glass of ice tea, and find a place to sit."

Jack waited several seconds. Obviously, the first thing Spencer did was tell Mac to turn down the TV. The other end of the phone got suddenly quieter, followed by the sound of a refrigerator door opening and closing. Next, there came the soft tinkling of ice cubes filling a glass and, after what seemed an eternity, Spence was back on the line. "Okay, I'm set. Fire away."

"Here goes. First, I think I'm too old to have a teenage daughter," Jack confessed.

Start with the safe stuff! Ease him into it!

Peals of genuine laughter rang out from the other end.

"Yeah, yeah...that's right. Laugh your ass off; it's fucking hysterical. But, I'm not kidding, Spence; I swear to God, I barely survived the other night with Nikki and MacKenzie both here. Christ, I feel so fucking old."

He cleared his throat. "Do they seem more mature to you? I mean do the questions they've started asking seem to be about more 'adult' stuff, lately?"

From his kitchen, Spencer looked into the front room at MacKenzie as she lay on the floor watching some dance show on the wide screen. Her ass moved in time with the dancing. Nothing new there.

It's a very nice ass. It just happens to be my daughter's ass. 'Nuff said!

"No," he said thinking, "Only change I have noticed is my credit card sure-as-shit has taken a beating this month. That much has changed."

Nervous as hell, Jack cleared his throat again.

Christ Almighty, he's clueless! Oh God, how am I gonna ask this without getting killed? How to ask?

"Oh, come on Jack, stop clearing your fucking throat; it's a dead giveaway. You only do that is when you are sitting on a shitty poker hand or uncomfortable with something you need to say. We ain't playing poker, so just spit it out," Spence prompted.

"Has Mackenzie asked anything about sex? You know, like seeking info. Like needing info about boys or men?"

Or about blow jobs? There must be a way to say this.

Spencer wondered aloud, "What's all this about Jack?"

Okay, how about this? Hey, Spence, I'm helping the girls learn about sex? Nope! I'm helping MacKenzie perfect her swallowing technique? Definite nope! MacKenzie kissed me naked? Nope. I found MacKenzie and Nicole asleep naked and, while I watched, MacKenzie went down on Nikki four times. Nope!

In his mind's eye, each of those statements ends with a terrifying vision of Spencer hanging up the phone and driving over to his house. Then, after crashing his steel-gray Jeep Grand Cherokee 4×4 into Jack's front room, Spence climbs out of the SUV and proceeds to kick Jack's ass. Finally, as an afterthought, Spencer methodically tears him limb from limb, calmly pours gasoline over his dismembered but still writhing carcass, and calmly strikes a match.

Jack rubbed his brow. "I think I may have just had the Bird's and Bee's talk, or a least some part of it, with Nicole. Since she and MacKenzie seem to share even the tiniest bits of information this summer, I thought maybe you should know."

Partially true at least. What I just did with Nicole was definitely within the parameters of the 'Daddy-Daughter Talk'. Give or take an eternally damning sin or two.

Spencer seemed to take forever before responding. At last, he spoke, "Shit! I was hoping to put this off a bit. You know, till after she married? Or the last weekend before college."

Jack damn-near passed out from relief.

He bought it! Thank you, thank you, thank you God!

"Thanks, Jack," Spence continued, "To tell you the truth, she did seem a little quieter after their sleepover. I wondered what they are talking about?" His voice rose, "What the hell am I saying? God damn it, I'm not ready for this!"

"Spence, I'm not sure that I'm ready for this coming of age stuff either,"Jack admitted out loud.

At least, that is definitely the truth.

"So, how was the 'Birds and the Bees Talk'?"

"What?"

Shit! Shit! Shit!

Jack searched frantically for some way not to talk about this.

"So help me out here, Jack; give me some pointers. How did it go? What did you talk about? I'm curious, 'cause like you said, 'they share everything'."

Jack scrambled,

Don't panic! Just take a deep breath! It's an innocent enough question; nothing but two normal dads talking about how to handle similar problems. Happens all the time.

At that precise moment, Jack Grant decided to survive no matter what it took; suddenly he became the best friend another single dad could have. Keeping his voice calm and relaxed, he began, "Oh, you know, I guess the usual. Subjects like how to keep your panties on. What to do with fluids. How to tell if the boy likes you. How tricky men can be when they want to get into a girl's panties." Quickly clarified,"Of course, I mean how to keep her panties on. Tricks to satisfy the boy without giving up her virginity!" Jack paused, then continued almost clinically,"We covered hand jobs; we covered dry humping; we covered kisses."

And oh yeah, Spence; I find it all works best if you throw in a little 'show 'n tell'! God, I hope I didn't say that out loud.

In his imagination, Jack kept hearing the distinct echo of a hammer pounding after each mention of his 'Birds and Bees' discussion with Nikki; he just couldn't tell if the sound was a coffin nail being driven into a casket or the gavel on a judge's bench. Neither image soothed his worries. It didn't make any difference either way, the verdict was 'Guilty ... guilty ... guilty'!

"Wow! Jack, that's totally ... " Spence tried to find just the right word.

Terrifying!

"Spencer, honestly it was the most emotionally and physically tiring talk I've ever had in my life. I'm freaking exhausted."

Maybe 'drained' would be a more accurate description. Drained, definitely drained!

I fucking hate being a single dad!

Spencer thought. "I guess I better sit down with MacKenzie before someone else does. You know, before I walk in on her going down on someone and have to kill him."

Kill him?!

Jack cringed. "Hey, I'll let you have the rest of your day. I'm worn out anyway. I think I'll turn in early tonight."

"Jack, I .... I want to thank you for all the time you let MacKenzie spend at your house. I know she can be a handful. I'm so grateful that you and Nikki share your lives with her." Laughing, Spencer added,"And I want you to know it's not just because you never get laid and I do!"

And, God knows I'd never get laid if Mac was here all the time.

Fortunately for both of them Spence couldn't see Jack scowl, jerk the phone away from his ear, and flip it off with the bird.

Oh, very fucking funny! No, I don't mind at all being the single father of 'two' girls while you get your ashes hauled on a regular basis by someone in orange shorts and a tight white shirt with Big Owl Eyes on it.

Instead, Jack graciously replied, "It's been a pleasure to see her grow up, Spencer. I loved helping teach her to ride a bicycle. I loved teaching them to fly a kite at the beach."

And since you put it that way, I fucking loved teaching your daughter to throat-fuck. Actually I'm embarrassed to death at my lack of control, but I can't tell you either of those things.

Jack reminisced, "They have grown up ..."

Spencer finished the thought, "... like sisters!"

Jack added quietly, "It's like having ..."

Spencer chimed in again, "... two daughters."

" 'Night, Spencer."

" 'Night, Jack. Thanks for the heads-up."

While the dads were finishing their man-to-man talk, a disgruntled Nikki walked into the living room. She plopped down on the floor on her tummy, her fingers fiddling with the small knobs on her game controller. She rolled over on her back and groaned in frustration.

I'm so bored. My dad is totally useless; he hasn't paid attention to me all day. All day! He's just been reading some manual from one of his games. Now, he is on the phone with Uncle Spencer.

And he's never going to answer my question! It's been hours! I'll go crazy if I keep thinking about it!

.

Sighing, she hit the power button on the controller. The PlayStation box lit up happily. She rolled back onto her tummy. Escape from boredom beckoned as the lighted stripe on the case began to pulse.

Play me!

A dark and haunting strain of music filled her headphones as she returned to the 'Holds of Skyrim'. It was a virtual world of myth, magic, dragons, and dragon slayers. In an ancient nation split by civil war, Nicole's plays the role of a Dragonborn, a long-awaited herald of either a New Age or the End of the World. In this vast virtual landscape, her avatar, Lady Swallow, moved gracefully and noiselessly through a rustic town. It was dark outside and no one noticed her. She was like a living shadow. The haunting music of the game ebbed and flowed around her like a dirge.

Lady Swallow was hungry. It was night. It was summer. She needed to feed.

Nikki lay on the floor using the controller. The avatar that she'd created months ago was a now a vampire, which meant the whole world turned hostile if they found her out. The young female vampire looked just like Nikki. Blond, long haired, slight of build, and almost willowy, her avatar was almost girlish in figure. It had taken Nicole four hours to replicate herself in the game. She had more than a thousand hours of play in this persona.

She hadn't planned on being a vampire, but she'd been bitten and infected during a fight with a cult of the 'Undead' who killed a small girl in the village. The cost of her careless moment, avenging the death of the girl, had been this curse. Now, she found it a source of increased strength and endurance.

Nikki's avatar searched the far corners of this fantasy world for 'words of power'. When speaking these words using 'The Voice', she invoked the power of the ancient language of dragons. Words shaped this world. She wielded magic like a shield. She wielded magic like a weapon. She usually fought with a dark elf at her side, but they had become separated in the underground caverns outside town. That was okay, because there were some things about herself she didn't want the dark elf to know. The dark elf was a mercenary and master of combat. Any weapon Nikki gave her, she used to perfection. She had no mercy and Nikki never had to save her. She was totally fierce. The elf reminded her of MacKenzie.

But, right now, Lady Swallow was alone.

She didn't want her dark-elf companion to know how hungry she was. She especially didn't want her to know how she satisfied her hunger.

Unheard by Nikki, Jack Grant walked up behind his teenage daughter as she lay on the floor playing the game. He watched as a naked young woman on the screen moved silently down a rustic hall. Her eyes glowed. She was naked. He frowned; the character bore a distinct resemblance to Nicole.

I didn't know video games were so realistic. Her body is almost like Nikki's. I also didn't know video game characters were naked.

"Nicole?"

She still didn't hear him with the game turned up, so he reached down and touched her shoulder.

"Hey there, Daddy." She turned her head.

"Why is your character naked? I mean, don't these games have some kind of parental controls on them for kids?"

Kid?

Cocking an eyebrow, she shot him a look. "Dad, I distinctly remember turning eighteen about five months ago. You remember, the party with the Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake? How come you always seem to forget that?"

"Sorry, my bad. Yeah, yeah ... you're a young woman. So, may I ask why your character just happens to run around naked?"

"My character in the game is very powerful. I've played her so long that I can beat most enemies easily if I use armor and weapons. I'm playing her without weapons and armor to see if she is powerful enough to fight without them; I'm trying to see if she can win even naked. She uses magic and other powers to stay alive."

"Other powers?"

"Watch!"

While Jack observed, Nikki's character slipped into one of the rooms that must have been in some kind of hostel or inn. A woman lay on a bed. The avatar removed her clothes. Still, the woman did not stir. Nikki's character bent closer.

Glowing eyes!

Jack smiled. "She's a vampire?"

"Yes, she is, but not just a vampire."

She is much, much more!

"Oh?"

The woman on the bed tried to stir. Nikki's avatar waited till she resumed sleeping. As she leaned over the sleeping form, the question "Feed?" appeared on the screen. Nikki fed.

"She's a sex vampire!" Nikki declared proudly.

Lady Swallow is the first ever sex vampire! I rule!

"What the fuck is a sex vampire?"Jack blurted out.

What the hell kind of game is this?

"Her name is Lady Swallow. She takes blood to live, but she also feeds on secret desires and fantasies. She feeds on their dreams while they sleep."

Everyone has secret fantasies, Daddy. Even you!

"You do lead a rich fantasy life, Nikki!"

Like father, like daughter!

Jack took a place on the couch, not really paying attention to what she was playing anymore. However, he was paying attention to what she was wearing. He looked at his daughter, lying there on the rug dressed in a t-shirt barely long enough cover her small butt. He waited as she kicked each foot back and forth. He saw where her legs entered the long tee. He couldn't see any panties, but he shook off that thought as he started reading.

Jack was already half-way through a seven-hundred page manual for the simulation game he was currently enjoying each night in his den. The title of the manual:

The Falcon 4.0 Officer's Edition Loose-Leaf Manual.

He was reading-up on the procedures for aerial refueling and trying to figure out how to keep his jet F-16 from bobbing up and down behind the air tanker as he approached. The Chapter:

The care and feeding of your Falcon!

Nikki reached forward, placing her game-controller carefully on the floor in front of the plasma-screen TV. Her shirt rode up just enough to answer his question.

Bare cheeks. No panties.

He sighed audibly and she looked over her shoulder at him. She thought for a minute and got up, stretching. That lifted the shirt enough for him to see her bald, little pussy peek out.

She sat down next to him. "I'm starving, Daddy!" Putting her head against his shoulder, she pleaded, "Feed me." The haunting music of Skyrim filled the living room as the game's soundtrack played on.

Jack had to laugh at the incongruity of his daughter using those words after what he'd just seen her character do in the game. Kissing the top of her head, he stood and headed to the kitchen to prepare them a dinner.

The Grants had a late supper of fresh spinach salad, chock-full of cucumbers and tomatoes and topped with bacon dressing. To hers, Nikki added sprinkles of six different cheeses and some pecan halves. She dragged her bowl back to the living room to play her game. Jack wasn't really hungry. Satisfied she wouldn't die of malnutrition, he retired to his den to play on the computer but his mind wasn't in it. After a drink or two or three, he thought over the morning.

Was that really our 'Birds and Bees' talk?

An exhausted Jack went to bed early. Tossing and turning, his last waking thought was Nikki's warning,

Just don't take forever!

It was almost midnight, Nicole was still on the PlayStation in Skyrim. She was thinking about their morning while she played. She looked outside at the deepening darkness.

Night has fallen. In the game, in the world of Skyrim, night had fallen as well.

Lady Swallow was hungry. It was night. It was summer. She needed to feed.

Armor off and weapons removed, she moved naked towards the King's hall. Here, in the imaginary world of the Holds of Skyrim, she was a dreaded legend. She had become a creature of magic and power, both respected and feared.

What I want, what I need, I take! Try to stop me if you dare!

Silently, she crept past a guard into the royal chamber. It was dark. The King, an older man, not unlike her father, lay sleeping. She looked down on him. Then, she removed his clothes. She took just enough blood to fight off the fever of her hunger. She took it with a night kiss. He lay there afterward, diminished. Swallow wanted more. She intended no real harm, but she needed this. She created a staff almost from thin air. It gleamed. Pointed it at the sleeping king; it reached out, touching his innermost fantasies. It took his dreams. The strength of his secret needs fed the staff's power. Lady Swallow could use that power.

It was midnight when Nikki saved her progress in the game and shut down the PlayStation. She stretched. She wasn't tired, but she was hungry. It was late at night. It was summer. She needed something.

Sometimes art imitates life. Sometimes life imitates art.

Nicole stood in front of the open refrigerator. She had a drink of milk from the bottle. Nothing in there seemed appetizing. Her hunger grew.

It's not my tummy that feels empty. This hunger is lower.

Nikki smiled faintly. Her eyes filled with need. She was beginning to recognize this feeling. Without a moment's hesitation, she did what she had done hundreds of times in Skyrim. Nicole stripped naked. She removed the band holding her hair in a ponytail. Shaking her head, her hair fanned out dropping across both shoulders. Her appearance became wild and untamed with her hair like that. She smiled, moving soundlessly across the carpet and quietly mounted the stairs.

She was accustomed to the dark. It wrapped her in a cloak. Tonight, it would obscure what she was planning to do. Like a shadow, she moved down the hall towards her dad's room.

This night, there is no lightening to break the darkness that hides me in this hall.

"I can do this!" She closed her eyes for a moment, then Nikki's lips whispered a silent invocation.

I am the need that burns in the night. I am the eyes that see in the dark. I am the night wind that rustles no leaf. I am the shadow that leaves no trace of passing.

I take only what I need.

He will not wake. He will not see. He will not know.

It was Nikki who moved towards her father's door, but t was Lady Swallow who crossed the threshold to the King's royal bedchamber. This house's guardian, a giant and fierce bear, lay sleeping down the hall.

The King is unprotected.

He lays there under the covers, defenseless, before me. The man is tired. Like all tired men, he snores.