She awoke to a sore back, and the sun shining in her face. Before she opened her eyes, she realized she wasn't in her own room. She opened her eyes, slightly to see the lab. Sitting up slightly and realizing she wasn't wearing anything, she clutched the blanket to her before it slipped down, and looked around the room. Christopher was nowhere to be seen. Getting up carefully, wincing when she moved the wrong way, she carefully arranged the blanket around her shoulders, and walked around the empty lab. On the desk, was the brown bottle used to clean her cuts the night before, and a couple of open books. Sitting down gingerly on the stool next to the table, she looked over the books, curiosity finally getting the better of her.

Christopher walked into the lab, carrying a tray of food. The makeshift bed was empty. Looking around, he noticed her sitting at his table, looking at one of his books. Frowning, he placed the tray down at the nearest table, and approached her quietly.
"Interesting?" he asked, his mouth near her ear. she jumped, then immediately winced, as her back cried out in protest.
"I'm sorry," she stammered, flipping the book back to it's original page. "I was just looking..."
Frowning, he reached over her shoulder, flipping back to the page she was looking at. "You can read this?"
Looking down at the page, she nodded. "It's a small recipe for a sleeping drought."
"You're able to read?" he asked her.
She nodded, confused over his astonishment, until she remembered learning somewhere that most slaves weren't educated, especially the women.
"I'm able to both read and write."
Christopher looked at her, pleased. "This is far better than I expected." He turned to gather a couple of bottles. "I was going to have you ride to town with me while Michael calms down, but now you can assist me far better than I had anticipated."

Five days.

Five days had passed without a word, Egon thought, looking out Ecto's back window watching the town go past. For the past week he tried to figure out why he'd been so edgy since Janine had left. At first, he'd thought it was the temp, but Aggie deWinter had shown not only an incredible proficiency for this type of work, but she actually seemed to enjoy it. Plus the others liked her. Ray so much that he and Aggie had started dating her third day there.
No, it had to be the fact that she still hadn't called, he thought as Ecto entered the firehouse. It was so un-Janine-like. To drop everything for a week and not check up. Janine loved her job, and guarded it jealously. She would've called by now to at least check up once. Aggie looked up as the four men exited Ecto.
"Hey," she said, pulling the phone from her mouth, and handing a sheet of paper towards Peter. "Here's a list of tonight's meetings and press conferences."
"Thanks Aggie," Peter said, taking the sheet from her and scanning it. Aggie looked over at Egon.
"Nothing yet, Dr. Spengler."
Egon nodded. "I'll be in my lab."
Ray walked over to the desk, watching Egon go up the stairs. "What's with him?"
"I think he's worried about Janine," she said, then turned her attention back to the person on the phone. "Now, about those accelerators that were suppose to be here Monday..."

"Last day of practice Raymond. Are you sure you won't freeze when you see her?"
Raymond nodded, suddenly looking like a deer trapped in headlights. "Could we practice it once more?" he asked.
Janine smiled, nodding. Brushing her hair away from her face, she stood trying to act important, while waiting for Raymond to make the first move. He walked over to her, bowing gracefully.
"Good evening, my lady."
"Oh, my Lord Raymond," she overdramatised, making him smile.
"Would you do me the honor of allowing me the next dance?"
She smiled coquetishly, pretending to fan herself. "I'd be honored, my lord."
He took the hand she offered, and swept her onto the dance floor, carrying her into the dance she'd taught him. She picked up part of her skirt and let him lead. He was immensely better than when she'd started teaching him. With any luck, tonight would go perfect for him. She almost wished she could be there to see it.
"You dance divinely, my lord." she said. He smiled. "Thanks," he told her. "I guess it wouldn't be a good idea to tell her you taught me."
"Um, no. Not a good idea at all." she said.
They danced a little while longer, until he released her, bowing. "Until the next dance my lady," he joked.
She laughed, applauding. "Very good my lord. You'll be perfect tonight."
He beamed at her. "I only wish you could at least be in the background to coach me."
"You don't need me Lord Raymond, you'll do fine on your own. Besides," she joked. "I'll be in the kitchen dancing with Magdaline."

True to her word, she was in the kitchen that night, but it wasn't to dance with Magdaline. Instead, she was helping with the food, and humming along to the music. Magdaline looked fondly at the red head sitting at the table, slicing fruits for a tray.
Magdaline had been with the DeWinter family since the time Alec DeWinter, the brother's father, was the head of this household. She was young then, and quickly learned first hand of the two faces of the DeWinter clan. She'd grown fond of the new girl and hated to think that she was going to be yet another victim of the DeWinter brothers.
"Have you learned yet what Lord Christopher wants you intact for?" she asked. Janine looked up over the apples at the woman.
"Christopher hasn't told me yet, and I haven't found the right formula in any of the books yet," she said. "But I assume since he needs me untouched and unharmed, whatever he's doing probably calls for a virgin sacrifice."
Magdaline was so stunned by Janine's frank observation, she almost dropped the goblets she was setting out. "You don't know that." she told her.
"No, I don't," Janine admitted. 'But that's usually what happened to the virgins in the old days. Sacrifices or dragon lunch. And I don't think I've seen any dragons yet."
"You shouldn't joke about such serious things.' Magdaline said. Janine shrugged, arranging the tray.
"It's easier to joke about, than to think about what he could possibly want me for. If I think about, my imagination would come up with all sort of horrible things that could be done to me. It's easier to ignore it and hope it'll go away."
Before the conversation could carry on further, several male slaves came in to collect the food and drinks that had been prepared. Magdaline looked over at Janine fondly. "Why don't you go outside?" she suggested. 'Take a walk. Get your mind off the dance."
Janine looked up at her smiling. "You know, I think I'll do exactly that."

Janine was walking around the grounds, every once in awhile, peeking in through one of the windows to see how Raymond was doing. She didn't see him, but she did see Christopher smiling and talking to several eligible young ladies of good standing. She sighed, pulling the worn wrap Magdaline had given her tighter around her shoulders. She still remembered the first day she'd seen him. It was like an electric shock rushed through her body when their eyes met. Then when he told her she would be working with him every day closely in his lab, it was an everyday battle to keep her thoughts off of him. He was just so damn attractive. And when he looked at her, she swore her whole body tingled. And it only intensified when he took off the glasses he only used for reading. She swore she had a very good idea what Egon would look like in contacts.

Egon.

She stopped suddenly, her body freezing at the name. She hadn't really thought of him since she'd gotten here. That was five months ago. Five months without Egon, without Peter, and Ray and Winston. She realized she even missed Slimer. She was stuck here, she thought suddenly, tears forming in her eyes. She was never going to go home. She was going to die a slave, without ever seeing her family again, or her friends. Or Egon.
"What's wrong?" she heard someone say behind her. Spinning around, she saw Christopher standing there, looking at her curiously.
"Oh, I'm sorry my lord," she said hastily, wiping her eyes, hoping he wouldn't notice. "I was just getting some fresh air before I finish helping Magdaline."
To her dismay, he touched her face gently, wiping her face. "Then why are you crying?"
"I...I just...it's nothing my lord, I'm sorry." she turned to return to the kitchen, but he grabbed her arm, pulling her back to him.
"I thought we agreed months ago you weren't going to call me that." he asked her.
"Are you going to kill me?" she asked suddenly. He was taken off guard. "What?"
"I mean, I know I'm here for some other purpose than to be your personal assistant," she rushed on before she lost her nerve. "And I can't find it in any of the books. You keep insisting I'm not to be harmed, and I just wanted to know if I'm going to die, because I'd really like to know, so maybe I could plan for it?" He smiled, finally realizing what she was babbling about. "No Janine, you aren't going to die. You're right, the spell does call for a virgin, but not a virgin sacrifice. That is positively medieval."
"I thought that's where we were?" she asked.
"I promise you, whatever happens next month will not be painful."
"Well, that's something to look forward for," she joked. He smiled down at her, then without warning, he bent his head and kissed her.

All breath left her body, as she lost her balance, falling into him. He pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. Her mind was whirling, her heart was pounding, and parts of her were screaming. She groaned in his mouth and pulled herself closer to him.
Then as suddenly as it had begun, he pushed her away gently.
"I'm sorry," he groaned. "I didn't mean for that to happen."
He let go of her, stepping away. Her mind was still whirling, but at least her balance was back...slightly. He straightened his jacket, looking again all aristocrat and nothing like the man she spent almost every waking moment with.
"You should get back to the kitchen," he told her. "Just in case Michael finds you out here."
Janine just stood there, watching him walk back the way he'd come out, then finally walked back to the kitchen. Magdaline was standing there waiting for her. "What's wrong?" she asked as Janine walked back into the warmth of the kitchen. She slowly looked up at the woman. "I'm not sure," she said. "But I'm not going to die."