by Lily White
Looking down at the side of my abdomen, I could see small trails of blood running down from my back. “Shit.”
She stood up from her chair, moving quickly to my back, her hands lightly exploring the wounds. “I need to bandage this back up.”
Pushing back, I stood up and turned to face her. “It’ll have to wait. Grab the first aid kit and meet me back here in ten.”
It was a quick trip down the corridor that led to the back of the house. I reached Claire’s door, opening and shutting it behind me, noticing how Claire was curled into a fetal position on the mattress. She’d get sick soon if she didn’t get out of this room and the momentary thought bothered me more than it should. Aiden kept the initial holding area as uncomfortable as possible. It would later be used to create appreciation in the woman being trained when she was given a nicer room in the house. I understood that, but I still didn’t like it.
Flipping on the single light bulb, I stepped lightly across the room, setting the plate down on the mattress by Claire’s head. Reaching out, I shook her shoulder. “Hey. Wake up. You need to eat.”
Her eyes fluttered open, the skin around them stained red from crying. Pushing up sluggishly, she sat straight and looked over at the food. All that the plate contained was a slice of buttered toast and some apple slices.
Smiling, I explained, “You said your stomach hurt or that you weren’t hungry, at least. I figured it was stress. So, I remembered that when my stomach hurt when I was a kid, this is what my mom gave me. She said it was easy to digest.”
Breathing out heavily, she gave me a pathetic smile before saying, “You still are a kid, Holland. At least, compared to me, you are.”
“How old are you?” I knew she was older than me, I’d even obtained all her information before abducting her, but I’d never really paid attention to her actual age. It didn’t matter, really. She could have told me she was eighty and I would still think she was the most beautiful woman I’d seen.
“Thirty-One. I’m ten years older than you.”
“That’s not that much older.” I winked and her sad smile brightened.
Slowly, she ate the food and I noticed she was having trouble swallowing down the toast. I left the room to get her a glass of water. Once I returned, she’d finished the food on the plate.
Handing her the glass, I joked, “I’m glad to see you didn’t toss the plate across the room this time.”
A humorless laugh burst from her lips. “I have no problem eating. It’s the dog bowl I take offense to.”
The tension her words created was instantaneous. Like a curtain had been dropped between us, I remembered the distance I was supposed to keep. She noticed it as well because once I pulled the empty glass from her lips, the smile that had been there before was gone.
Grabbing the plate, I decided to let the distance remain. I’d be back in a handful of hours, although she’d think it was afternoon rather than four in the morning.
Aiden had been smart to remove the windows in these back rooms. It made it easier to confuse a person when they had no way of keeping time. After a few days of only getting an hour or two of sleep at a time, she’d wear down, finally breaking under the pressure of the demands we made of her. Even the small amount of time that she’d been here, I could see a small fracture forming in her refusal to submit.
“I’ll be back later for lunch.”
“Please don’t leave me in this room by myself anymore. I can’t sleep anyways and it’s so fucking cold…” Sobs broke apart her words.
Refusing to allow her pain to affect me, I crossed the room and opened the door before repeating, “I’ll be back later for lunch.”
Rebecca was sitting at the table when I returned. She’d stopped crying by now and was on me as fast as I could enter the room. “Sit down. Your back looks horrible.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You did this to me.”
She smiled. “I know.”
I didn’t expect her to feel sorry for what she’d done. She enjoyed pain and she enjoyed delivering it. I believed that’s what Aiden liked about her so much. Rebecca was the most valuable just because of how truly rare she was.
Working quickly to clean up my back and bandage it again, she didn’t bother speaking to me. Finishing up and closing the kit, she sat down and asked, “What did you need to talk to me about?”
“I need your help.” I didn’t bother beating around the bush with her. If I kept the same sleep schedule I was expecting Claire to keep, I would end up just as tired and confused as her by the end of it.
Examining her fingernails, she acted disinterested when she asked, “What kind of help?”
I grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from her face. She looked up at me and struggled to break my grip, but I was far stronger.
“Look at me when I talk to you.” Only a hint of anger laced my words, but it was enough to get her attention. “This is the reason why you’re being sold. You keep forgetting your place.”
“Why do I fucking care?” She spit out. “He’s selling me to the most disgusting man he could find. Why should I give a shit anymore? He doesn’t want me…”
“No. He doesn’t. Not when you’re acting like a spoiled brat.” I interrupted.
“Fuck you.” She glowered at me. “What do you know about being spoiled? You’ve lived a cushy little fucking life since you were born.”
I sighed. The relationship between Rebecca and I was a tough one because I was the only target she had for something that had been done to her years before.
Prior to meeting Aiden and prior to becoming a courtesan, she’d dated my older stepbrother. I was four years their junior so I wasn’t old enough at that time to understand what happened, but I’d heard enough bits and pieces now to realize that my stepbrother, Trenton, had hurt her considerably. What I thought had been a nasty break up, had actually been an opportunity for Trenton and my stepfather to torture her for years, isolating her from her friends and making her the laughing stock of her high school class. I never asked for the specifics because I had no reason to know. What I did know was that if Trenton and my stepfather were involved, it must have been horrendous.
I hated my stepfather and stepbrother and I’d done a good job of keeping my distance from both of them until Trenton disappeared three years ago. Once it became clear to my stepfather that Trenton wasn’t coming back, he’d turned his attention on me, making quick work to mold me into everything he’d hoped Trenton would become.
It was the reason I was training to be a Master and the reason why Aiden’s approval was so important. If I failed, my stepfather would have no problem cutting me off financially. Without money or college, I’d lose everything.
“My life wasn’t as easy as you think. Try living with my stepfather, Rebecca.”
“I’d kill him before I ever lived with him.”
“Then you should feel thankful that Aiden didn’t choose to sell you to him. You and I both know that Gail Carlisle would have jumped all over that deal.”
She shuddered.
“Aiden doesn’t love me.” Spoken on a whisper, her words sounded more like she was admitting it to herself than to me. Shaking it away from her thoughts, she looked up. “What do you need from me?”
I explained my plan to deprive Claire of adequate sleep and food and my hopes that by doing so, I could show Aiden that there were other ways to train a Courtesan without having to use absolute force. I didn’t believe it would change his methods. In fact, I knew for a fact that it wouldn’t. However, if it achieved the same goal and kept me from having to break Claire under my fist, it was worth it.
Rebecca agreed to wake Claire during the day while I slept. Every four hours on the dot, only providing small amounts of food every so often and nothing that had the protein or components she needed to keep up her energy.
“I’m interested to see if it will work.” She shrugged. “Although it doesn’t sound like it’s as much fun.”
I laughed. �
��For you, maybe. I think it’s necessary. Claire is too knowledgeable about situations like this. The only way I’m going to strip her of her refusal to submit is to weaken her to a point where she has no choice. If I tried to beat it out of her, it would only strengthen her resolve to disobey. I think she would prefer death to what’s being done to her.”
Rebecca smiled. “I remember feeling that way. Despite what Aiden did, I couldn’t help but love him. Not at first, but eventually. Especially when I thought I saw something deeper in him than what he shows on the surface. And now, even knowing that he’ll toss me aside, I can’t stop loving him. I love this life; the freedom and pleasure that comes with it. I never have to worry about anything. Well, I didn’t until…”
Her eyes flicked up and softened at what she saw.
“Aiden.” The named rolled off her lips with all the respect and adoration of a true slave. I knew it before, but it couldn’t be denied now: No matter what Aiden did to her, she hadn’t lied when she said that she would always love him.
Turning in my seat I looked over to find Aiden leaning against the entrance wall of the kitchen. With one shoulder balanced against the wall, he reached up and loosened his tie before unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt. The cuffs of his sleeves were rolled up and the silver band of his watch flashed beneath the lights above him.
“I’m going to ignore the fact that you two are in here whispering about me like old women.” He attempted a smile, but the annoyance he felt was clearly visible in his expression. His eyes flicked from me to Rebecca and heated as he stared at her.
“On second thought…” Clearing his throat didn’t help the rough edge to his voice. “…Maybe I won’t.”
With a smooth swagger he crossed the room, offering his hand out to Rebecca. She took it with a seductive grin peeking out from her lips. I didn’t have to watch them as they walked away to know that Rebecca moved more gracefully when she was by his side.
Once they were gone, I was returned to the silence of the kitchen. Glancing up at the clock, I decided not to sleep until Rebecca emerged from wherever Aiden had taken her. Standing up, I crossed the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.
These next few days were going to kill me, but if it would save Claire the bruises and fractures I knew would come with her training, I was willing to at least try.
Sitting back down with a warm mug in my hand, I glanced back up at the clock. Only a few minutes had passed and I groaned with the realization that this was going to be one hell of a long night.
Chapter Twenty
Claire
Six days had passed. Six long days that I only realized had passed because of the repetitive schedule I’d been forced to keep. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were my time clock and it was the only way I was able to remain sane.
At first, I didn’t want to sleep in this place. I couldn’t adjust to the cold temperature of the room or to the utter blackness and nothingness that surrounded me when Holland wasn’t around. After a full week, my body was weak and tired and I was beginning to understand that this would be my life until I became everything they expected me to be.
A slave.
No more and no less.
It scared to me to finally recognize that they would get it, no matter how much time it took. Knowing that, I had to wonder: Was there any use in fighting?
I was woken up and fed, allowed to use the bathroom and shower, then returned to the same room. That was my life and by the third day, all I wanted to do was sleep. It felt like every time I was finally able to close my eyes and rest, I was being awakened once again. Everything was happening so fast that I felt like I was trapped in a whirlwind, the entire world spinning around me while I sat, constantly waiting for something to happen.
Something did happen, I guess. I’d come to realize that whatever Aiden had done to Holland had worked. On the occasions that he was the one to attend to me, he kept his distance, barely making eye contact and not saying much more than instructions for me to eat, sleep or use the bathroom. I didn’t feel like I was allowed to think for myself any longer. I was nothing more than a trained dog.
Eat, sleep, use the bathroom…repeat.
Over and over again.
What hurt more than that was the fact that it wasn’t always Holland who forced me into that grueling and brainless schedule. On some days, I didn’t see him at all and Rebecca would come for me, holding me to the same tasks while not looking at me or speaking to me. I felt crushed on those days because I realized that the one thing I’d found comforting in this place, the person I’d seen in Holland on that terrible night in the theater, wasn’t always going to be there.
At least it was never Aiden.
I hadn’t seen him since the night he forced us to watch the video and it was the only thing I had to be thankful for.
Now, at least a week since I’d been taken from the school parking lot, I was sitting on the bed with my back against the wall and my legs bent in front of me. I needed to sleep, but I was so tired that even sleep was too tiring to accomplish. In this state, the sensory deprivation of the room was even more astounding. I’d jumped at every small sound that I heard from the hallway, wanting to run and hug whoever it was that walked in just to feel something other than the ‘nothing’ I was trapped inside.
My mind wandered most of the time. Memories of my youth, the dreams I had growing up and the hours of my life I’d wasted studying and working towards the career I thought I’d have. However, life was a cruel thing and no matter what you plan, it doesn’t always turn out the way you expected in the end.
I’d been careful in life. Almost too careful and it felt like I’d wasted so much time working towards something that would eventually have no meaning. I should have been out with friends. I should have been falling in love. I should have been doing the things I would never have the opportunity to do since I’d been thrown into this room, left to wither away like a dying flower.
A small metal click sounded in the room and I knew somebody stood on the opposite side of the door. When it creaked open, I didn’t bother to look in its direction, didn’t care to know who had entered or who would be pushing me through my daily routine.
“You ready to get out of here for a while? It’s morning. The sun is up, the birds are singing…” A hint of sarcasm was evident in Holland’s words. “Perhaps you’re ready for more in this life than a cold dark room and a bathroom.”
I laughed and it sounded more crazy than funny. “What more is there?”
He touched my hand and I flinched at the contact. It had been the first time he’d touched me since having sex in the shower.
“Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up, then I want to show you some things in the house. I think you’re ready for them.”
I closed my eyes trying to block out the images of what other nightmares could exist in this place that I hadn’t yet seen.
After removing the shackles from my ankles, he helped me up from the bed, walking me to the bathroom to use the toilet and shower. Over the past six days he hadn’t approached me in the shower again and I didn’t expect it this time. Once I was finished, he helped me dry off and took the time to stand me in front of the mirror to brush my hair. I looked up at his face in the reflection and noticed that, even when I could barely focus my tired eyes, he was still as polished and beautiful as ever.
Running the brush through my hair, he commented, “You are quite possibly the most appealing woman I’ve ever come across, Pet. Once you stop fighting, and learn to accept your new role, I think you’ll see it as much as I do. It’s your job to be beautiful, Claire. It will be an easy one for you. While other Courtesans are strolling around, preening to get their owner’s attention, all you’ll have to do is look up at him with those stunning eyes and you’ll have him in the palm of your hand.”
Glancing in the mirror I cringed because all I saw was a worn down woman with bags under her eyes and loose skin from lack of food. My hair hung in clumps at the sides of my hea
d, but he made quick work of that with the brush. Once he had the strands tamed back and combed, he smiled at me in the mirror.
“Let’s get you dressed.”
“Dressed?”
For such a simple word, it was so confusing.
He took my hand and led me out of the bathroom. Once we were in the hall, he let go, allowing me to walk in my dutiful place behind him. The halls spun as we traversed them and the house felt more like a maze than it ever had before. I could barely stand upright, much less pay any attention to where we were going.
A few more turns and we stopped in front of a white door. Holland looked at me, angling his head towards the door as he said, “Open it.”
Tentatively, I reached out and circled my hand over the cool metal knob. I turned it, pushing the door in and noticing the way it didn’t creak in protest to motion like the door to my black cell. As soon as the door was open, my eyes widened to see a beautiful bedroom behind it.
Holland stood motionless next to me in the hall. Although my attention was directed at the room, I could still feel how intently he studied my face and my reaction.
“Go in.” He chuckled as he spoke.
I looked between him and the room, not understanding what he was doing. “What is this?”
His hand was on my back and he pushed me forward until he could close the door behind us. “This is where you could be staying from now on. That is, if you can prove to Aiden that you deserve it.”
A chill ran down my spine at Aiden’s name.
Suddenly dizzy, I wobbled on my feet and Holland caught me, walking me over to sit on the bed. I took a few minutes to gather my bearings as I looked around. The entire room was white. So brilliantly white, that it was the exact opposite of where I’d been kept before. White blankets, white carpet, white drapes on the barred windows. The walls were white, so were the closet and other doors. Even the pictures on the walls were of white objects, some abstract and others that were of flowers and clouds. Bits of color could be seen in those pictures and also in other objects around the room, touches of silver metallic and glass in the tasteful decorations placed throughout.
