A/N: So, I wanted to apologize for the formatting of the last chapter. FanFiction oh so sweetly decided to take away all of my italics and line breaks, leaving the entire document completely plain. I promise I'll be more careful when posting, because formatting can make or break the way a story is executed.
I'm also going to take this time to tell you all that I'm going to try an interactive method of writing this story. Yes, I have an outline for it, but I'm also more than willing to consider where my readers think/want this story to go. So have at it!
Thank you for all of the reviews and favorites/alerts! You guys are awesome. And of course, a big thanks to my great friend and beta, Jess.
The four walked swiftly back to Santana's car and began their journey home. The long ride was silent. Santana gripped the steering wheel a little too tight, anger really starting to set in. She was angry that her night had been ruined. She was angry that she had been cut. She was angry that she was so easily sucked in by the pure looks of a slave, not to mention she was clearly disrespected in front of said slave, who needed to remain fearful of her and right now the slave probably thought of her as her hero, and that just wouldn't do. But most of all, she was angry that because of this girl, she had probably stirred up one of the most dangerous rivalries her family has ever known. Really? All for a worthless fucking slave?
Quinn noticed her fuming and reached her hand out from the passenger's seat to place it on Santana's shoulder. The gesture was obviously unwelcome, since Quinn found her own hand flying back towards her within seconds.
Santana pulled in front of her massive mansion, throwing the car into park. She got out without a word and threw the keys to her guard for him to park the car in their garage. Puck grabbed the slave's arm a little more aggressively than Quinn had and dragged her into the house.
When they got in the house, Santana turned and reached out for her new slave. She was incredibly pissed that this blonde had caused her so much trouble, and she didn't want to waste any time taking out her anger on her present. The girl tried to cower from Santana's reach, but Puck tightened his grip and forced her out in front of him. Then, a loud slap left everyone in the room wide-eyed. Quinn stood in next to Santana with her eyes boring into her friend.
"What the fuck Fabray?" Santana yelled, rubbing the forearm Quinn had smacked away.
Quinn took a step towards Santana and lowered her voice to a deep warning. "Santana, don't do this. Whatever you're thinking, it's not a good idea. Not when you're this pissed off. You need to get yourself cleaned up and go to bed. Leave the girl for now."
Santana was boiling beyond belief that she was disrespected in front of her slave again, and that someone dared to talk to her like that. But there was something about Quinn's cold stare that made Santana think twice. She clenched her fists and without taking her glare off of her friend she screamed for her head servant. "Devyn!"
An older woman with short brown hair came rushing in and bowed. "Yes, Miss?"
"Take the girl and get her cleaned up, fed, and shown to her quarters. She'll be joining our staff as my new personal servant." She demanded with a harsh tone, still not removing her eyes from Quinn's.
The woman nodded and scurried over to the girl, removing her from Puck's grasp and taking her away.
Before she knew it Santana was being led up the stairs to her master bathroom by Quinn. Puck called for a driver to take him home after Quinn reassured him that she could handle Santana from here. They walked into the bathroom and Quinn pointed to the marble counter. "Sit."
Santana sighed and hopped up onto the counter. As much as she wanted to smash Quinn's face, she knew her friend was here to take care of her and she couldn't exactly deny that Quinn may have been right in telling her to leave the girl alone tonight, because who knows how out of hand things could have gotten. She remembered when she was a hormonal teenager and her father got her a personal slave for her 17th birthday. Long story short, the poor slave ended up in the hospital two months later. Her father banned her from having a personal slave until she was old enough and responsible enough to handle one properly, and he decided 21 would be the proper age to lift the ban. Maybe taking her anger out on her helpless new slave the very first night might not be a good idea.
Quinn rummaged around the bathroom, getting out saline and bandages. She placed them on the counted next to where Santana was sitting and walked in front of her, unbuttoning her green blouse. Santana raised an eyebrow.
"Geez Q, you go from slapping me to undressing me in five minutes. I didn't take you for the aggressive type." Santana smirked.
A small smile graced Quinn's face as she shook her head at yet another one of her friend's severe mood swings. It really amazed her how she could be fuming one second and making pervy jokes the next. Quinn didn't respond and simply continued to carefully peel Santana's shirt off, trying to avoid the painful cut. Once Santana was sitting in her bra, Quinn wet a washcloth and gently dabbed the wound, cleaning the surface of it and wiping the dry blood threatening to stain her skin. She followed with the saline to sterilize it.
Santana squeezed her eyes shut in pain. "Ouch, fuck Q! That fucking hurts!"
"Well maybe if you weren't such a damn baby and you'd stop squirming then this would have been over by now."
Quinn finished cleaning the cut and wrapped it in gauze. She then reached around to unsnap Santana's bra, but Santana stopped her. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Helping you change, S. You're not gonna be able to do it by yourself. Besides, it's nothing I haven't seen before."
"Fuck you, I can do it myself."
Quinn stood back and put her hands on her hips. "Okay then, let's see it."
Santana struggled for a moment and tried to reach her injured arm around to her snap, but it made the wound shift. "Ow! Fuck!"
"That's what I thought. Now let me do it."
"Fine." Santana mumbled. Quinn suppressed a giggle at her friend's still childlike antics and proceeded to take her bra off, then carefully weave a white wife-beater over the bandage and up and around Santana's head.
"See? That wasn't so bad." Quinn said, smiling.
"Whatever. I can do the rest."
"Good, because I wasn't going to. I'm heading to bed. Goodnight Santana, and Happy Birthday." Quinn walked towards the bathroom door.
"Hey Q?"
She stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"
"Thanks."
Quinn smiled again and nodded. She then disappeared from the doorway, leaving Santana to fend for herself.
Devyn led the still bound girl through the grand hallways of the Lopez mansion towards the servant's quarters. The girl was in awe at all of the intricate paintings and sculptures lining the walls. The floor was a beautiful, sparkling maroon marble which contrasted the lighter gray, almost silver painted walls. The ceilings were incredibly high with small chandeliers hanging effortlessly from them. This place was much nicer than Hugo Kelly's place, and from the looks of the servant walking next to her, they were treated a lot better, too.
Though the servant's quarters weren't as nice as the rest of the house, it was still way better than her last setup. There were two separate rooms stacked with several bunks, a large bathroom, and a door that led them to the back of the house kitchen. Devyn led the girl to the center of the room where she proceeded to untie the blonde girl's hands and finally peel the tape from her extremely chapped mouth. Before any words could be said, the blonde all but collapsed into the older woman's arms, sobbing desperately into her shoulder. Though she was slightly taken aback by the sudden outburst, Devyn wrapped her arms around the girl and gently patted her head. She tried to come up with comforting words for the poor girl, but images of the last personal slave Santana brought home flashed in her mind and she was doubtful that this case would turn out any better. Sure, Santana had grown, but her anger problems have only gotten worse. But still, she couldn't leave the girl with no hope right off the bat.
"Shh, everything will be fine, you'll see." And she hoped to god she wasn't lying. "What's your name, child?"
The blonde lifted her head off the woman's shoulder, revealing her dirty, tear streaked face. "B-Brittany," she responded with a sniffle.
"Okay, Brittany, well don't you worry. We'll get you new clothes and something to eat. Is that alright?"
Brittany nodded weakly.
Devyn helped the blonde get undressed. It wasn't until then that the older woman saw how abused this girl really was. She had bruises up and down both arms, scabbed marks that looked like lashes across her back, and her ribcage could be seen clearly around her chest and back. Devyn wanted to question Brittany's horrible condition, but she didn't want to risk growing an attachment to this girl in case she didn't last long in Santana's care.
Devyn tossed her some old sleepwear to put on, and promptly threw away Brittany's old blood and dirt stained outfit. She briefly showed her the bunk she'll be sleeping in before leading her into the kitchen. Though it was around 2 in the morning, a tall Asian chef was actively cleaning the kitchen.
"Brittany, this is Mike, the estate's cook. He can get you whatever you want to eat. Normally we have set times to eat during the day, but late at night we're allowed in the kitchen to snack if we're still hungry."
"Mike, this is Brittany. Santana's new personal servant," Devyn said, her voice wavering slightly.
Mike shot Devyn a quick, knowing glance but smiled. "Hey there, Brittany. Is there anything I can get you?"
Brittany thought for a second. She didn't know what to do…food was almost foreign to her. "Anything, please."
"Okay then, 'anything' coming right up," Mike laughed.
As Brittany ate for the first time in what seemed like weeks, Devyn explained the way of life at the Lopez estate. "The Lopez mansion is owned by Juan Lopez, Santana's father. He's away at business deals most of the time, so Santana is the head of the house. There are over a hundred people working here throughout the day, but very few actually live here. The bunks you saw belong to a few other important servants to Santana, and the room next to it houses some of the Lopez's personal guards. Each of us has a different day off. I have Monday off and Mike here has Thursday off. Santana will assign you yours when she meets with you for the first time. While most of the workers here get paid with money, we get paid with hospitality. This is our home. As long as we do our job and don't disrespect Ms. Lopez, we have full usage of just about everything on the property. However we are never to leave the estate."
"What do I do?" Brittany asked shyly.
"Your job here is to serve Santana's every need, regardless of request." She clearly emphasized the last portion, making Brittany's stomach churn. "You are to be there when she rises in the morning, and don't leave her side until she dismisses you, or she leaves the estate. Always greet her and leave her with a bow. Punishment for disrespect depends on what you've done and Santana's mood at the time. She can get very…temperamental, so it's best to do as you're told."
Brittany kept her gaze straight ahead, processing all of the information about her new home. She'd seen the way Santana had acted earlier that night, and while the setup at the Lopez estate sounded nice enough, she wasn't looking forward to being personal slave, whatever that meant here. Brittany also had a strong feeling that there was something these people weren't telling her.
But the blonde was too exhausted to question anything else right now. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd slept. She finally nodded and got up from the table.
"May I go back to my bed now?" Brittany questioned quietly.
Devyn nodded and got up as well. But as Brittany started towards the door, her knees buckled and her body went slack. The blonde hit the ground and laid motionless. Devyn yelled for Mike to retrieve the number for the Lopez doctor as she made sure Brittany was still breathing.
Minutes later, Santana rushed into the kitchen with Mike close behind. When Devyn spotted her master, she quickly got up and bowed.
"What happened?" Santana asked, looking from Brittany to her head servant.
"I don't know, Miss. She just collapsed. She needs a doctor."
"Okay, Mike, lift her and carry her to her bed. I'll send for the doctor."
About 30 minutes later, Santana stood outside the door to the servant's quarters with the doctor.
"What's wrong with her?" Her tone was demanding but somewhat worried.
"She's in extremely poor condition, Ms. Lopez. Her body is shutting down and from the looks of it, she hasn't eaten or slept in quite some time. She needs a while to rest, and she'll need to be on constant watch for a few days while she recovers."
Santana nodded and looked back into the room with the now stabilized blonde. The girl was giving her way more trouble than she anticipated.
When the doctor left, she called for Devyn. "You're on duty to watch…"
"Brittany." Devyn filled in.
"Right. Brittany. Watch her for a few days, make sure she's getting enough to eat. I can't have her collapsing again and causing any more disruptions in this house." Santana said with a firm tone, and swiftly turned on her heel to retreat into her quarters.
