Guardian Wolf Ch. 06

In the mid 1980's Augustus Hamilton was among the first to discover the economic advantages of outsourcing his work to the third world. Labor costs and the ever growing threat of the Unions were enough to quickly open negotiations with textile firms in China, Vietnam, and India. Augustus opened up several large manufacturing and production factories in the port cities of Hong Kong in China, Hai Phong and Nha Trang in Vietnam, and Channai and Mumbai in India. By 1994, 83% of Hamilton Industries labor was overseas. By doing this Augustus was able to lower his operating costs by nearly 56%; his stock and that of his shareholders grew by 128% in just a few short years. However, the amount of American workers displaced due to foreign competition was in the tens of thousands. Augustus, of course, never considered his workers or their plight; it was, after all, just business. It was and would forever remain about business: first, second, and always business; everything else was a superfluous distraction.

A few years later with his empire now firmly entrenched and his wealth compounding at an alarming rate, Augustus decided it was high time for he and Anna to sire an heir to his industrial empire. Augustus needed a son to continue his legacy and help ensure Hamilton Industries strong presence for many years to come. Anna was less than thrilled to have a baby; she was worried a child would ruin her movie star good looks and figure. Besides she was far too busy lording over the various social circles and prestigious charity events they often attended to be worried with something as trivial as a child. But with assurances from Augustus and a promise of a personal trainer and nutritionist to help limit the effects of child birth, Anna reluctantly agreed. So an addendum was added to their long standing business arrangement and Anna conceded her will to Augustus and opened her thighs to his advances. A short while later Anna conceived and nine months later on April 22^nd, 1988 baby Jessica was born.

Augustus was down trodden with the birth of his daughter. The son he had so fervently wanted and worked so hard to achieve with his less than willing wife was cruelly denied him. His dreams of a son eventually taking over his companies were shattered. With his strict German upbringing and overly sexist view of the world Augustus never even considered Jessica as his successor remotely possible. The only worth she now held was as a desirable wife to an affluent family. It appeared the name of Hamilton (or more appropriately Himmelsohn) would die with him. Perhaps he would gain some small solace in seeing a grandson eventually taking over the firm through careful manipulation of his daughter's marriage.

Jessica's birth was extremely difficult and a physical trial for Anna and her body. After the ordeal, Anna was adamant that she would never allow Augustus to impregnate her again; no amount of reassurance or bribe for a son was enough to dissuade her from the decision. She scheduled a hysterectomy with a surgeon at the earliest convenience. At the time Anna could care less how many bastard children her husband might sire with other women, she refused to go through that amount of pain and agony ever again. An heir to his empire be damned!

From the moment little Jessica was pushed from the warm embrace of her mother's womb into her mother's frigid arms, Jessica Hamilton was the bane of Anna's existence. Jessica was no longer an innocent child; she was an insurmountable hurdle to Anna's happiness. She even refused to suckle the newborn in fear that the child would ruin her starlet rack through breastfeeding. Jessica was saved from starvation only through the kind and loving manner of the attending nurse; she quickly took the infant from the careless mother and nursed the baby through a bottle. The whole time cursing the Gods how such a sweet and innocent child could claim this heartless woman as her mother. Only the Fates knew how such a child would fare in the care of two heartless and unfeeling parents. When the Hamilton's left the hospital with the newborn, the nurse actually wept for the small child and prayed fervently that this child would someday find happiness; because it most certainly would not come at the hands of her parents. The nurse who wept so openly for the infant girl was named Camille Wolfe.

The Hamilton's new palatial home in Kingsgate, built through family money, would serve as Jessica's gilded cage for the next seventeen and one-half years. Her wardens would be two callous and unfeeling parents who substituted gifts in place of true love and affection. After all, doesn't money equal love? To both her parents this was a logical assumption. There was no love between the parents. Only the relief of temporal sustenance quenched the overbearing thirst for love and affection. Money and power were true happiness in their eyes. The first thing the parents did when they set foot in their palace was to hire a cadre of nannies and servants to attend to this child. They would both be damned before either one would actually change a diaper or sing a lullaby to lull their tiny daughter to sleep.

Jessica Hamilton had been reduced from a loving daughter to just another asset to be used and manipulated when needed. She was an amusing new trinket to be brought out during special occasions to thrill their guests and to be stored carefully away until the next event. Both parents quietly regretted having Jessica; Augustus regretted the loss of a male heir and Anna regretted a daughter who would quickly become a rival to her beauty. Too bad they couldn't trade her in for something much more useful. Alas, they were now stuck with the child for better or for worse. After all, there was no factory recall on the human soul, was there?

It was within this environment that young Jessica had been raised. A cold yet opulent world filled with lavish toys and an army of servants that bowed to her every childish whim. Jessica quickly adapted to the growing void that was in her heart. But no matter how much she fed her aching soul with sorbate trinkets, it remained stubbornly empty. And so Jessica's heart and personality came to reflect her reality: cold, callous, and uncaring towards others. She adopted her parent's views of others, treating them simply as useful assets to further her personal objectives. She treated everyone with suspicion and disdain daring anyone to get close to her; daring anyone to help fill the void that slowly ate away at her heart. It would take a man of supernatural patience and love to repair the damaged goods that were Jessica Hamilton's heart and personality.

So here she sat brooding in her callous demeanor, hating the upset that this black brute had caused to her perfect life. Even the seats he had purchased were pathetically rural; if they were any further from the stage they would be outside the arena. Unfortunately the distance from the stage did nothing to lessen the deafening noise emanating from the stage. Despite the headphones and her iPod's desperate attempts to drown out the world around her, a constant barrage of electric noise assaulted her delicate ears with every beat. The superior acoustics of the arena that once brought her great joy at other concerts were quickly wearing on her last nerve. The constant cheering and screams of the crowd were only adding insult to injury.

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The arenas at SPARC were round in construction allowing for more seats and better spacing. Archer and Wolfe engineers spent a lot of time researching and developing optimal acoustic characteristics for the space allowed. They created precise calculations using Oscar Bonello's model density formulas and reverberation time algorithms to construct the most acoustic friendly structure for the space allowed. They used space age technology and high end sound dampening to minimize resonation where it was not wanted and to maximize where it was. The result was one of the most modern and highly rated arenas in the country.

When the Silver Peaks Arena and Recreational Center first opened the marketing firm at Hunter Realty shot several commercials demonstrating to the world the superior acoustic qualities of their arena. The most famous of these commercials illustrated, when the arena was perfectly quiet, that a pin falling on a riding crash cymbal could be heard from the back of the arena without the assistance of a microphone. The commercial quickly found its way on the Internet and became an instant viral success. When YouTube was founded in February of 2005 the series of commercials illustrating SPARC's superior acoustic abilities were some of the first videos to reach one million hits.

But all of the technological and professional popularity were irrelevant to Jessica Hamilton. The only thing going through her head was how best to drown out the constant stream of auditory graffiti without permanently damaging her hearing. The fact that young Robert Buchanan was blissfully ignorant of her discomfort only helped to darken her mood until it was a blackened chunk of Anthracite deep in the pit of her stomach. She hated this concert! She hated this 'coon for bringing her here! But most of all, she loathed her parents for putting her in these situations. If her father thought she would remain a pawn in his business dealings, he was sorely mistaken. She refused to be married away so that his 'empire' would remain in family hands. She did not give a flying fuck about her father and his precious company. If she did marry she would marry for her own god damn reasons, not her father's.

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Because of the distance to the stage, Robert had borrowed his father's pair of Steiner 12 x 52 Nighthunter XP binoculars. These binoculars not only allowed him to see what was happening on the stage with stunning clarity, they automatically compensated for the low light levels. His father Abraham had lent Robert his favorite hunting glasses on pain of death if they did not come back with him in show room condition. Robert was floored while feeling immensely proud his father would even consider letting his $2000 binoculars out of the home, let alone into his possession at a concert. It would not speak well of him if he did not honor his father's trust in him. Now only if he could survive the night with this maniacal bitch; a succubus, in Robert's opinion, which was spawned in the ninth circle of Hell and unleashed upon the world to torment and wreak havoc upon an unwilling populace.

For the first time Jessica noticed the binoculars held together in the custom harness around Robert's shoulders. Without thinking Jessica reached for the binoculars without caring they were still attached to Robert's body. Robert was rudely interrupted from enjoying the concert by this prissy daddy's girl trying to rip his father's glasses from his body.

"What the fuck are you doing you crazy bitch?" Robert said as he whirled upon his reluctant date. One could always tell when Robert was angry; he was not one to use profanity lightly.

"I want to use the binoculars. I'm bored out of my fucking skull right now. If I'm going to be stuck with your black ass for the next couple of hours, I want something to take my mind off this god awful concert. My iPod is not working to drown out this shit. I want to do some people watching; it will amuse me. Watching a bunch of drunken, drugged-up head bangers smash their heads against each other will be the highlight to this otherwise dismal evening. Just give me the fucking glasses before I tell my father what a horrendous date you were. I'm sure that will shine poorly on your father's chances for promotion," Jessica threatened.

Robert blanched at her threat. This caustic bitch was actually threatening to sabotage his father's chances of advancement if he did not give in. Gods help the poor man that married this frigid basket case. She would have his balls displayed in a little glass jar full of Formaldehyde on the fireplace mantle before he could say 'I Do'. A little memento of happier days; something the poor bastard could look upon fondly and think of better times before the bitch removed his manhood and used it as a decorative conversation piece:

"What are those? Those are my husband's balls. He wasn't using them and he has no need of them, now that he is married to me. I found a better use for them and they certainly add something to the room don't you think?"

Robert imagined Jessica proudly displaying her husband's balls like a trophy to impress her useless friends. The thought of being that man sent a cold shiver up his spine and sent a thick wave of nausea coursing through his stomach. Robert felt like he was going to throw up.

A guy would probably get frost bite from even attempting to stick his dick in her Arctic hell hole. He imagined some poor unsuspecting sap sticking his dick into her pussy, expecting a warm reception; instead her pussy would be like a cauldron of pure liquid Nitrogen. Pull the guy's dick out and you could shatter it with a ballpeen hammer; the shards of his manhood falling to the floor like a busted Christmas ornament. Robert closed his eyes and shook his head to rid him of such horrendous imagery. He whispered a silent prayer to every god and deity to end his misery, 'Gods just strike him down now so he wouldn't have to deal with this perpetual PMS machine anymore'.

Robert opened his eyes, praying that it was all a bad dream and he would wake soon. Seeing that no such miracle was forthcoming he sighed heavily, unclipping the harness around his shoulders and handing the rig to Jessica. "Fine, fine. But just remember. You break them and your ass is grass. I am not going to feel my dad's belt across my ass because of you," Robert threatened in kind.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry Honky. I won't hurt your daddy's precious glasses. Just chill the fuck out and watch the rest of your stupid concert," Jessica snapped.

Robert just rolled his eyes and shook his head in frustration. Despite her upbringing and wealth, Jessica Hamilton had no class. She was a spoiled, self-centered, immature child. Gods only knows how she will survive in this world. Probably the only way she will make it in life is on her back. From all the rumors at school, it sounded like Jessica Hamilton was getting a head start on things. Robert couldn't find it in him to hate Jessica; he could only pity her. And to Robert Buchanan, pitying someone like Jessica Hamilton was the saddest thing of all.

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Jessica was enjoying the glasses immensely. No wonder Robert was afraid to lose these glasses; his father had indeed invested a lot of money into these binoculars. The low light feature cast everything in an eerie green glow. Watching people unawares did amuse Jessica. She felt so deliciously naughty in her voyeuristic endeavor to catch people when they were most vulnerable. It made her feel Godlike (even more than her already bloated ego allotted) to watch the human drama unfold around her while the subjects of her little soap opera blissfully went about their lives. The only problem with the binoculars was the stage lighting. Every time she turned her attention to the crowd in front of the stage, one of the 65,000 lumens lamps would flash across her field of vision and disrupt the NVG capability. It was quickly becoming a major annoyance and only helped to worsen the headache now forming in her frontal lobe.

So she diverted her attention elsewhere and let the boiling masses of idiotic metal fans soothe her damaged ego. Jessica focused her attention on one of the lower levels center stage. She caught two young men arguing furiously at one another, each pointing to a woman desperately trying to keep them apart from one another. Jessica quickly surmised that the woman in question was a girlfriend to one of the boys and she was covertly carrying on an affair with the other one. Not so covert anymore, it appeared, seeing how vehemently the argument was now raging between them. The poor girl was stuck helplessly in the middle as a crippled mediator. Serves the cheating bitch right for not keeping her liaisons more discreet! You should never cheat on a boyfriend with a best friend; a lesson she had learned firsthand. The chances of being caught are infinitely against you when you are in mixed company. A loose lip and a few unguarded words were enough to sink the sturdiest of relationships.

Just as Jessica was becoming bored with the altercation, the two men quickly took their verbal brawl to the next level. One of the boys pushed the girl forward, causing her to fall into the occupied seats in front of them. This created an open field between the two combatants and they quickly escalated to throwing punches at one another. This was more like it! Jessica never tired of physical confrontation. Boys! Despite millions of years of evolution there was still a small ember of primal Neanderthal burning inside them. Given the right circumstances and an opportunity, two civilized young men will become savage, grunting brutes fighting over the right to breed a single female. Jessica could care less what the fight was really about, physical altercation was always highly entertaining. She watched in devilish glee as the two (former) friends went the rounds exchanging blows and slinging insults.

One of the two males ducked allowing a right cross to miss its intended target and come careening into the jaw of an innocent female bystander in the row directly behind them. The punch must have been carrying considerable momentum because the next thing Jessica saw was a gargantuan male that easily measured well over six feet and must have weighed in the range of 300 pounds stand to tower over the fighters. Jessica could almost feel the rage boiling from the brute's face as he stood to destroy the ill-fated man who damaged his woman. The boorish leviathan picked up the offending party like a rag doll and quickly dispatched the cowering miscreant with a left upper cut. The boy flew downward to land, ironically, upon the very girl he pushed to begin the fight. The boy (or is it boyfriend) landed on the poor girl with the entirety of his weight causing both to fall further onto other spectators. By this time the immediate area was awash with screams and people trying to free each other from the combat zone.

Jessica was laughing in maniacal glee. This was better than day time television. Who would have thought a heavy metal concert would be such fun? Not for the music of course, but the dramatic brutality was delicious. Maybe there was something to all this testosterone driven madness. Damn! She wished she had remembered her cell phone. The video capability would have captured a moment worthy of YouTube. Oh well, maybe next time. Who was she kidding?!? There would never be a next time. Jessica sighed in resignation as security was brought in to bring order to the mass of limbs and chaos. She moved her attention elsewhere to things that would provide entertainment.

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Damn these binoculars! How do you turn of the blasted night vision? Jessica was trying to focus on something that caught her eye near the front of the stage. Her mind registered recognition but with the damn lights flaring every time she tried to focus, she was unable to confirm her suspicion. She turned haughtily to Robert in a huff of exasperation.

"How do you turn of the damn night vision? Every time I try to focus on the stage, the lights cause the binoculars to flare. I can't see a damn thing!" Jessica huffed like a petulant child.

"What do you care? I thought you hated this music. Why should anything on stage interest you?" Robert rebuked trying to enjoy the last song from Deathstars before Type O took to the stage. The annoying din of this whining female was making it difficult.