"No. Absolutely not," Santana insisted, crossing her arms over her chest, a defiant look on her face. They needed to know that she may be their prisoner, but she still had her dignity and she wasn't going to let them take it away from her for their sick and twisted personal amusement. "For the millionth time, I am not your pet. You have a pet, Sam. If you want to stick him in funny looking clothes, then go bother him. He probably likes getting dressed up and ridiculous for you, and even if he doesn't at least he won't complain."
Quinn studied Santana carefully, she didn't want to deal with Santana's temper tantrums and she turns to Charlie hoping that she had gotten bored with playing this game by now. She sighs, when she sees her twin practically vibrating with excitement. It was going to be one of those days. "While I understand that my sister has rather questionable taste, it's not as if she didn't allow you to pick out all the clothes that you wanted, and made sure that they were properly tailored to suit your—stature. So, for my sanity, can you please do this to appease her? We do have appearances to maintain and needless to say it's rather—unbecoming when she pouts."
"Because it isn't unbecoming to force me to wear a silly outfit that she chose for me?" Santana challenges immediately. She immediately stumbles back when Quinn appears in front of her and she scrambles back, but juts out her chin defiantly. Quinn had done that on purpose to intimidate her. "You can't make me—"
"That's where you're wrong. I can make you do anything I want. Shall I give you a small demonstration?" Quinn moves again so she's kneeling in front of Santana, her fangs extended.
Santana continued to crawl and pull herself backwards, attempting to get away. Quinn's eyes were glowing—they were fucking glowing and it was the creepiest thing that she had ever seen. Her back collides against the wall, and almost immediately her body's flight or fight response is activated. It was a shame her brain knew that nothing she did would work. "I—" she stutters, her mouth going dry.
"I've been kind, you know. I've let you throw your temper tantrums, I've let you talk back and out of turn. Mostly because I was curious, I wanted to know why my sister spared you. I've found your rudeness to be amusing, like a defiant child, but now I've grown tired of it. I've grown tired of your ungratefulness. She allowed you to live and if she wants you parade around the halls naked, then that's what you will do."
Santana distantly is aware of Charlie standing up in the distance. But she can't take her eyes off Quinn, she had no idea what she was going to do and all she could feel was this pressure. This overwhelming pressure, she had been afraid when Hunter had gotten his hands on her, but this was different. It was like her whole body, every last one of her senses was informing her that she was in danger, that she was going to die soon.
Quinn moves again, about to pin Santana to the wall. She wanted to watch Santana's body writhe and struggle to break free. But before her hands can wrap around Santana's neck she feels an arm encircle her waist and pull her back. It's Charlie, she's the only one who would dare. She's also the only one strong enough to force her to stop. "You know, I was just sending a message. A healthy dose of fear is good, she needs to remember her place." Quinn drawls, leaning her head back against Charlie's shoulder.
Charlie didn't say anything right away her attention focused on Santana for a moment who was shivering in the corner. She exhales and turns to Quinn, and raises an eyebrow at her twin, not letting go of her waist. Her lips moved slowly, but no words came out.
Quinn scowled at Charlie, well reading Charlie's lips was certainly easier to understand than Charlie waving her hands around like a crazy person. "I was merely trying to help. I was under the opinion that you wanted her to wear the silly outfit for you—I don't like it when you pout." Quinn watched Charlie's lips move for a moment. "I'm not being a bully. I just don't believe that you need to spoil the crap out of her to get her to do what we want her to do. It's been weeks, she needs to learn. She needs to be better." Quinn insists.
A slow smile crosses Charlie's lips and she moves away from Quinn and approaches Santana who flinches when she pets her head. Charlie doesn't pull back and instead continues to pet Santana gently and patiently.
Quinn watches for a moment and groans, of course her twin wasn't listening to her. "You know I'm right." Charlie turns to her and her lips begin to move and she rolls her eyes and turns away. "You really do need to fill me in on this master plan of yours—" Charlie's lips moved and the smile was back, her eyes dancing with amusement. "What do you mean you don't have a plan?" Quinn frowns and watches her sister continue to talk. "You just wanted a new—seriously?"
Charlie nods and looks at Santana who finally seems to be back to herself and was scowling at her but for once wasn't trying to get her to quit patting her head. It was progress. Not the one that really mattered in the long run but it was progress nonetheless.
Santana flicked her eyes towards Quinn who was still watching Charlie, no wonder they were in charge. She had never really understood it, why everyone backed away, why they walked on eggshells around them but now she did. She was certain that if Quinn had touched her she would have lost it completely. It felt like she was in very small cage with a lion that was starving. She needed to stay on their good sides, because she didn't want to find out what Quinn meant. "Can I go back to my room?" she asks finally, looking at Charlie.
Charlie nods and smiles at her, despite the fact that Santana immediately takes her answer and bolts. Running out the door, and closing it. Charlie sighs and tilts her head towards Quinn who doesn't look apologetic in the slightest.
"I was making a point," Quinn insists trying to shrug off Charlie's look. She scowls at Charlie who is still staring at her giving her that irritating look and turns around. "I'm going to my garden. You are not invited." She insists before leaving the room.
Charlie's lips quirk upward into a smile before she gets up and leaves the room as well. There was so much to do.
~O~
"Don't come in." Santana scowled from where she was currently sitting on her bed as the door opened again, but she didn't say anything. The last thing she needed was Quinn making another point. She relaxes a bit when Sam pops his head in. "I said don't come in," she repeats petulantly.
"I brought food."
"I'm not hungry." Santana dismisses. Really, all she wants is to be left alone. She's anxious and uncomfortable and just wants to lick her wounds and pretend that today hasn't happened.
"Oh, well I am," Sam informed her as he entered the room and took a seat on her floor opening the dinner lid on the tray that he had been given. "You don't mind if I?"
"If I say yes, are you just going to ignore me again?"
"Probably."
"Then I guess it doesn't matter, does it?"
"Guess not." Sam shrugs with a smirk. He busies himself with unpacking the takeout, but Santana can feel his eyes search her even though she never actually catches him doing it.
She lets him carry on with whatever pretense he thinks he's getting away with. "Just—don't turn into a dog, or whatever you turn into I don't want fur everywhere."
"You sound like Quinn," Sam grins. "Always complaining about the fur—I mean sure I made sure to get it everywhere, all over her clothes and their bed."
Santana rolls her eyes but doesn't choose to take the bait from his words. "Charlie sent you, didn't she?"
"That would suggest that she said something to me, Charlie doesn't talk, and the only person she writes things down for is you. She didn't send for me, I heard that you managed to piss off Quinn. And you're still alive! That calls for a celebration as far as I'm concerned. Pissing either of them off is a death wish."
"Yeah, well I've never been particularly bright." Santana scoffs self-deprecatingly.
Sam puts down his food and looks at her closely, apparently giving up any pretense that this is a simple friendly conversation. "Then you'll die," he states bluntly. There was no point in mincing his words. She needed to understand her precarious position. "I know you'd rather be anywhere else, that you'd rather be free but that wasn't the hand that you were dealt."
Santana swallows but shoots Sam a defiant look, "I'm not a pet. I'm not going to let them treat me like one. I'm not going to let them humiliate me and trot me like a show-pony. That might be your thing, but that's certainly not mine. I didn't go after Hunter, I was innocent. If they want me to be in prison for what the laws I did break, then that's better than this. Anything is better than this. You know that. That's why you left isn't it?"
"Who told you that? Or is that an assumption that you're making?" Sam asks. "You know what they say about those don't you?" Sam brings the plate up and inhales. "I don't think you understand how bad it is out there. How shitty it is for my kind. You think that they're these monsters, that they're the bad guys but they aren't."
"Tell that to me next time Quinn uses her mind control powers on you." She snaps. It's easy for Sam to dole out advice from his comfortable spot as far away from the monster twins as possible.
Sam shook his head, "You think she hasn't? She tried to put the fear of god in me when I chewed up one of her plants, I will fully admit that I peed all over the place. But I'm still here. I still chewed up her shoes like two days later." He laughs, at the memory, it had been Charlie's terrible idea. "Quinn was the one that saved me you know. Saved my life, sort of how Charlie saved yours."
Santana scowled, "Let me guess you were a 'terrorist' too?"
Sam rolled his eyes, "You were a part of a terrorist group, it doesn't matter if you never built a bomb or firebombed anything. It matters that you were part of a terrorist group."
"It was a group devoted to protecting humans. It wasn't my fault that they all decided to become criminals." Santana retorts. "But you're dodging the question, so what was it? Were you some kind of criminal?"
"Let's just say that they found me when I was young. I wouldn't be here without them."
"Don't duck the question. You want to try and tell me that you know what it's like? To suddenly become their property? Then you've got to give me more than 'they found me when I was young'. If you can't give me that, then get out and leave me alone"
Sam sighed, it wasn't a story that he simply told people. He didn't like to think of those times. "Well, was I apart of something illegal? No, it wasn't illegal in the area I was in. But the difference between you and I is that I didn't know better. My parents—well to be honest, I don't know what happened to them. I was abandoned as a pup. My memories of those time are hazy. But the long story short, I was part of an underground shifter fighting ring. Dog-fighting is probably more humane than what I went through. People, humans, other shifters and the vampires, they placed bets on the fights and enjoyed watching us tear into each other. Maiming, death this was my life as a child. I spent days—months in my animal form—I didn't know how to turn back. The transformation was painful, I don't know if it was because of the damage that I endured or because I simply didn't know how to do the shifting. If I didn't win, I didn't eat. If I didn't fight, I didn't eat and I got a beating. If I lost it was much of the same, this was my life. If anyone has any reason to hate everyone it's me."
Santana shifted uncomfortably, she hadn't been expecting that. Sam didn't seem damaged, "I'm sorry—"
"You weren't there. You weren't one of the ring-leaders, you never hurt me," Sam interrupts, and picks at his food. "You think that what you have is bad? You're wrong. I've been to the other states, I've seen horror and I'm not talking about what happened down south. Not everyone on the Red Court believes as Charlie and Quinn do. They don't rule the way they do, some are just as cruel and sadistic as the members of the black court that you find down south. Vampires like Hunter are common, hopefully they aren't the majority but they are common enough that it's a problem. Quinn saved my life, I don't think she sees it that way. I honestly think she simply picked up an injured puppy who was being chased by the ringleaders. She saved me and brought me home, probably as a way to keep Charlie entertained. I don't think they realized that I was a shifter until I transformed back. They took care of me they raised me, made sure that I could read, made sure that I was okay. As okay as I ever would be."
"You were a pet, even after everything you had been through you were still their pet."
"So, what? Sam challenged. "I occasionally got put in funny outfits when I was in my puppy form for their amusement. I had three square meals, I got an education, I was treated with respect and dignity. They didn't look down on me because of what happened to me, they didn't pity me either. I'm sure your parents dressed you up in funny clothes and took pictures of you when you were a child. They took me in, I'm a stray. They made me part of their family and look at me now. I don't hate people. I don't hate anyone not even the people who did what they did when I was a child. They did that. Both of them."
Santana frowned, "Look you had it rough, and I get it. I fucking get it, to you they're your saviors. But they aren't mine. I'm a prisoner here."
"You joined a hate group, and now you're stuck in close quarters with the very people you hated. This is a punishment for you. And sure, they mock you and tease you and Charlie wants you to wear weird things for her personal amusement, but apart from today have they done anything that deserves your hatred?"
Santana opens her mouth to disagree and closes it again. What had they done to deserve her hatred. Enslave her? Save her? She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about any of this. But she wasn't about to admit that to him.
~O~
Santana sighed as she opened the door to her bedroom and poked her head out of her bedroom. She looks both ways, making sure that the hallway was empty before leaving her room. She felt stupid in this outfit, ridiculous even but hopefully it would be a peace offering and they could figure out something that worked. Maybe they could start on better terms, maybe if they saw how miserable she was in this they wouldn't try it again. She bites her lip and darts down the long hallway to the rather ornate dark oak double doors and knocks on the door.
There isn't an answer, and she taps her foot nervously looking around. The last thing she needed was for someone—Blaine to see her like this. She could hear the comments and laughter already. She frowns and tries the door handle blinking when it clicks open. Santana looks around twice before slipping inside the room.
She's stunned for a moment, the high ceilings and marble floors catching her off-guard. Still, despite the high-quality finishes in their room, it's also surprisingly clutter-free. She can tell that both Regents prioritized comfort over opulence. She's sure that if someone like Hunter had the influence that Quinn and Charlie did, his bedroom would be some tacky room filled with plated gold.
She stumbles forward a bit and continues to look around, this was a terrible idea. She was invading their privacy, and she wasn't even sure that they were in here. Sure, there were a few lights on, but that didn't mean anything. It could just mean that they didn't really care to turn them off. She's about to call out again when she hears a thump that's coming from what she assumes is the bathroom. It's quickly followed by laughter and she moves towards the noise.
The door is open slightly and Santana pushes it open gently, and her jaw drops when she's taken in by the sight in front of her. She can't help but stare, because right there on what she imagined was the cold floor was Quinn and Charlie, both naked—with Quinn on top of Charlie, moving and rocking her hips against Charlie's hips, while Charlie's face seemed to be entranced by Quinn.
"Oh shit." Santana breathes out, backing up instantly and turning away. She stumbles and tries to shut the door behind her, accidentally slamming it in her haste to escape. She turns immediately, to run away only to slam into a very naked and wet Quinn. "How—?"
"What the hell are you doing in here?" Quinn snaps. She doesn't look like she cares that she's still naked instead she simply looked annoyed that they had been interrupted.
"I just—fuck—I just wanted to show you the stupid outfit and to maybe start again. I didn't know you were in some weird—I didn't know you and—fuck. Look I'm not going to tell anyone. I promise."
"I don't really care if you tell anyone, I assume that most people have figured it out by now," Quinn interrupts. Her eyes flick upward past Santana as the door to the bathroom opens and Charlie stands there, a towel wrapped around her. "Personally, I suggest going back to you room. We'll talk about this in the morning." Quinn informs Santana and takes a step aside so Santana has a clear path.
Santana doesn't need to be told twice as she bolts from the bedroom, why hadn't she knocked? Or said something? She slips back into her room and slams her door shut. She shivered, she had just made her problem worse. What were they going to talk about in the morning? Were they going to kill her? Make her forget? She had no idea what to expect and that was what terrified her the most.