Disclaimer: We don't own, we merely puppeteer.

A/N: Hey folks! So, so sorry to keep you waiting for so long. The holidays happened and we either had family visit (because mine lives 12 hours away) or went out of town to see family, then I had to cover vacation days at the job, and then I brought a new family member in. I adopted a Maine Coon kitten from a local animal shelter and have been spending time welcoming him and getting him used to the concept of having a home and family of his own.

Now that that's over, let us reassure you on something. We're not going to quit this fic until this fic is complete. The only way it will get quit is if something terrible happens to us both. If we're late on an update, something has happened in our real lives and we'll be back with an update as soon as we can. :)

We want to thank you guys, so fucking much, for every alert, review and PM we receive! We are absolutely blown away by the support we're receiving. Thank you for giving our fic a chance and thank you to those of you who have stuck with us thus far. You are appreciated!

And an enormous Thank You to Cullen818, JaspersIzzy and givemesomevamp for Rec'ing us! And also to VegaTenshi for pre-reading! Keep in mind, if you rec us, you get the chapter early. Just let us know where you posted at! I have a feeling I missed someone in sending out the chapter, so if I did, you let me know and I'll make sure you get 10 before it's posted!

AND! For those of you who wanted a JPOV to this, we submitted a piece for the Fandom For Preemies and now the time has passed to where we can post it. The only place we're posting it at for Lord knows how long is over at TwiWrite. So take your behinds over there, sign up for an account and sign up for the forums as well because we're over there too! Come talk to us!

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.

-Charles Galton Darwin

I wasn't sure what woke me up, but I knew it was way too early for me to be awake. My eyes took in their surroundings before slowly rolling over. He was still asleep in the bed. I don't know how I knew that, but by now it was as if I could sense if he was in the room or not. Everything was still.

Too still.

It was enough to make the hair on the back of my neck raise in anticipation.

Something drew my eyes to the end of the bed. It was an inexplicable feeling rolling around in the back of my mind and the bottom of my gut, but I couldn't bring myself to look away.

I didn't have to wait long to see what my instincts had somehow known was there. Around the corner of the bed came slowly crawling a Mexican Red Knee Tarantula. It was easily big enough that I would have to have both of my small hands together to hold him or her or whatever it was. The idea sent a shudder throughout me. Renee had had one for a while after I'd moved out and I'd refused to be in the same house as it was. She'd finally sold it after it got out of it's tank one too many times and nearly gave Phil heart failure. After she did, I started visiting again.

I scuttled back against the back of my cage, pressing myself so tightly against the back wall that the bars were digging into my back.

"Master..." My voice came out so much weaker than I had intended. I knew that wouldn't wake him up, that man could sleep like the dead. I cleared my throat and tried again.

"Master!" That came out much louder than last time. I heard the rustling of sheets and gave a relieved sigh.

Glancing back towards the end of the bed again, I could see that the arachnid hadn't turned towards me and for that I was highly relieved.

The movement on the bed stilled and I heard a slightly incoherent grumble. I cursed to myself before taking a deep breath.

"Master!"

I whipped my head over to see if I had gotten any unwanted attention and found it already crawling my way, albeit slowly, as if it knew I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Apparently there was nothing over near the large potted plant in the corner to catch its interest so it decided to come check out the only thing moving and making racket.

There was no where left to go here in my cage. What was just considered my safe haven was now part of the cause of the oncoming panic attack.

I heard movement on the bed again and saw his bed head mop of blond curls, causing me to breathe a sigh of relief just at the sight. He turned his head and I was met with stormy blue gray eyes. He wasn't pleased. Oh well, I'd deal with whatever punishment he doled out if it meant he got rid of this terror.

"What is it Isabella?" His voice displayed no anger or agitation, just a little grogginess. I immediately pointed at the slowly approaching, panic causing creature. His eyes went wide at first before narrowing.

"Damn Peter..." He grumbled, getting out of bed on the far side and picking up the little trashcan he kept over there. When he reached the foot of the bed, he took the bag out of it and picked up a breakfast tray he'd forgotten to have me return to the pantry. Coming around the bed, he quickly sat the basket behind it and the tray in front of it before herding it into the trashcan with some effort. I was waiting to see it take off scuttling to either side of him. The idea of it would have been amusing had I not been trapped in here.

After he was successful, he pressed the tray to the bottom and tipped it over to where the tray was sitting on the floor and the trashcan was resting atop of it. He looked at it speculatively before setting a thick book from his bedside table on top of the can.

Satisfied with the containment, he picked up his fancy-dancy phone and called Joseph to come take Peter's pet and put it back into its terrarium and make sure it was securely closed this time. I couldn't help but look over my shoulder in paranoia that another may be crawling around here somewhere. After only a few moments, a knock came at the door before opening to reveal his butler. The two nodded pleasantries towards each other with Joseph ignoring me entirely, which I was fine with. In all honesty I wouldn't care if that man never spoke to again. He gingerly picked up the tray, careful to keep the book balanced on top. As he disappeared out the door, I let go of the breath I didn't realize I was holding as relief flooded my system.

The sound of the lock clicking brought my attention to the doorway and to the bleary eyed bane of my existence. As he opened the door, I crawled out immediately, grateful for the open space. I paused, not knowing what he wanted me to do. He sighed quietly before nodding towards the bathroom.

I didn't have to be told twice and quickly went to take care of my morning routine. After using the restroom, washing my face and brushing both my teeth and hair, I went back into the bedroom. The sight of him lying on the bed, rectangular black framed glasses perched on his nose as he quietly worked a crossword puzzle in the newspaper, made him look quasi-normal. The instant his eyes flicked up to meet mine though, that all went out the window and I wanted to slap myself for even thinking that.

"Come, get on the other side of the bed." He went back to his crossword and left me standing there surprised.

Of course, I knew that if I disobeyed him I'd end up across his lap again and I hadn't had a spanking since the tea incident. The memory came unbidden as I went around the bed and crawled up beside him, pulling my legs up close to me.

Flashback

"What the fuck is this?"

I fell off my stool and looked up at him, wide eyed to see his tea splattered across his desk, and soaking into the papers laying there, a look of disgust on his face. In that small time frame of the salt and sugar switch up and James encounter with me I totally forgot about the tea!

Fuck me.

"I-It's your tea. Is there something wrong with it Master?" I asked, furrowing my brow and trying my damnedest to seem clueless and innocent.

"This tea reminds me of a salt lick, Isabella. Why did you find it a good idea to dump salt in there rather than sugar?" He sat the glass down, semi-forcefully.

I ducked my head down. I was nervous because it was the first time he'd ever raised his voice around me. I suspected that it was more out of surprise though. "My apologies Master, somebody came in the kitchen and startled me. I must have grabbed the salt by mistake. Charlotte keeps them in the same type of canister sitting side by side." I hoped he would buy it but I had a feeling I was going to get punished regardless. Might as well try to get out of it as unscathed as possible.

He seemed to consider it for a second before getting up and extending his hand. I put my hand in his slowly, wondering where the hell we were going and praying it had nothing to do with the Isolation Room. Although, when we took a left out the door rather than a right, I knew that the Room wasn't going to be brought into use. Not yet at least.

He led me by the hand down to the kitchen, where he knew I prepared his afternoon snack and looked for himself to see two identical canisters, side by side. Pulling them forward, he muttered something about Charlotte labeling them or changing them. He poured some from each onto the counter and set each canister behind its pile. When poured on the counter like that, it was obvious which was which.

He brought me up in front of his little display, propped up on the counter with one hand, the other resting in his pants pocket. "Lick the tip of the index finger of your right hand."

I had an idea of where this was going, but I did what he said.

"Now dip it into the right pile and then lick it off." I did as I was told and scrunched up my nose a bit at the taste of salt dancing across my taste buds. "What was it?"

"Salt, Master." I replied before rubbing my tongue along my teeth to try to get the flavor gone.

"Now lick the tip of the index finger of your left hand, dip it into the left pile and lick it off."

I did as I was told, enjoying the sweetness of the sugar way more than I did the saltiness I'd tasted prior.

"And what was that?" He asked expectantly.

"Sugar, Master." I answered quietly as I rubbed my hands together to get rid of the remnants of the crystals.

"Now I want you to lean down and look at the differences closely." I put my hands on the edge of the counter as he pushed my shoulders forward and down until I was only a few inches above the little piles.

I felt the back of my dress raise and rest along my back. I knew I wasn't going to come out of this unpunished. After he pulled my panties down to just below my cheeks, he braced one hand against the small of my back before he began.

The sounds of flesh meeting flesh filled the kitchen as I tried to hold in my cries and whimpers. That shit stung to high heaven. I thought the spankings might get better over time, but shit was I wrong. Tears began to slide out of my eyes and land in the piles of crystals, making a mess I was sure to have to clean up momentarily.

I thought the worst was almost over when I heard the kitchen door swing open and a feminine 'Oops!' before the door hastily swung back shut again.

Charlotte!

I thought about how embarrassing it was going to be for me to look her in the eye again and felt more tears slip from my eyes. I felt my panties being pulled back up a moment later and withheld a hiss that wanted to escape as the underwear clung to the sensitive skin. I hadn't realized he'd stopped since I'd been in a semi-panic over the thought of seeing Charlotte face to face again. He dropped the skirting of my dress and smoothed it back out before turning me around and tipping my chin up to look at him.

"Now since you definitely are aware of the difference, you will pay more attention to the task at hand to ensure this doesn't happen again, yes?"

"Yes, Master." I felt defeated. Not only did he punish me, but he humiliated me as well. That's the part that would stick with me longest. I'd think about it for a while every time I looked at Charlotte. I should have known the entire thing would have backfired on me. I expected a spanking, but I'd rather take that than the additional humiliation that came along with this particular one.

"Good. Now, make me another glass, correctly this time and bring it up. I'll have the things out for you to clean my desk with when you get back." He issued his order before turning back and heading back to his office.

End flashback

I was speculating over the softness of the mattress and pillows and linens when a puzzle book and pen appeared before my eyes. My eyes snapped to his because this was unusual. Normally I would wake up, almost always at 8:30, crawl out of my kennel, do my morning routine, put on clothes he'd laid out for me and then go to his office, where he would put my collar on and the day would begin after he styled my hair. He was never here when I woke up and I was never invited to sit on the bed.

The day boded to be more interesting than usual though and I couldn't decide whether that was a good or a bad thing. I took the puzzle book from him and flipped it open without looking at the cover. Sudoku. Interesting.

Then again it seemed like he knew everything about me anyway, so I didn't see why it surprised me that he was handing me a book of my favorite puzzles. I was so caught up in my thoughts, I almost forgot my manners, despite the fact that I felt that he didn't exactly deserve them.

"Thank you Master. These are my favorites." I flipped to a page and began a medium rated puzzle as a warm up.

"You're welcome Isabella." He said quietly, continuing on his puzzle. I chanced a glance over at his and took a pause when I saw that it was all in Spanish. It didn't surprise me entirely but it made me wonder what it was like to be bilingual to that extent.

I shook it off and went on about my thoughts, going through the process of elimination as I worked my way through each square. We worked on our puzzles in relative silence and I thought about how refreshing it was to be doing something so... Normal... Something so different from what I endured everyday for the most part.

The comforting, relaxed silence was abruptly interrupted by my stomach growling loudly. I stopped in the middle of forming a two and glared at my stomach and its interruption of something that was pleasant for once.

I glanced over to the other bed occupant to see him looking at the clock on his phone. He put his phone in his pocket and set his puzzle on the bedside table. I took that as my cue to put mine aside as well. He got up and headed towards his door, barefoot and just in blue and black plaid pajama pants. He stopped at the doorway to glance back at me and gesture to 'come with' with a subtle jerk of his head.

I took a glance at the floor and the idea of something else crawling around down there made me light on my feet, causing me to move away and towards him quickly after my toes touched the hardwood flooring. With my luck, if there was anything else down there, it'd take the opportunity to shoot out and under my feet as soon as I hopped off the bed.

As I approached him, he turned slightly and as I made it to him, he slipped his arm around me and rested his hand at the small of my back. I let him lead me along, wondering what his plans were because today was not normal and I didn't know what the world was going on. He led me quietly down to the kitchen where Charlotte was dicing tomatoes on the work area side of the breakfast bar. Her head came up and offered us a soft smile, looking at each of us as we came through the swinging door. My cheeks heated in reaction, thinking of when she walked in on us a few days ago and my eyes went to the floor.

"Good morning Jasper, Isabella." She greeted as she dumped the chopped tomatoes into a large mixing bowl and before starting on a new set. I supposed from the sight of that that today was salsa day. Charlotte always made a large amount of fresh salsa every week or so. Sometimes twice a week depending on how full the house was.

We both said our good mornings and sat at the bar. He began talking to her, making small talk and it made me wonder, and not for the first time, who Charlotte was to him. She didn't refer to him as Master Jasper like the other hired help did. I came out of my musings in time to catch him request huevos chorizo and fried potatoes with chorizo.

"Isabella, get our drinks please." He requested, looking at his phone as he messed with it.

"What would you like, Master?" It would have been easy except that he wasn't constant on his food or drinks except at snack time. Sometimes he had coffee and others he had tea and occasionally he had juice or a soda.

"A cup of coffee please." He requested, still tapping away with rapid precision.

Well, okay then. Coffee was easy enough. Like knowing his tea, Charlotte had showed me how to fix his coffee as well after the first time he sent me down here for a cup. I maneuvered around Charlotte, who was flitting around between the stove and the cutting board where she was still chopping vegetables and the chorizo, to get to the cabinets that housed the mugs. I opened the cabinet and looked at the selection rather quietly. On one shelf there were an assortment of mugs that I wasn't suspecting there to be. Star Wars mugs, Godzilla mugs, mugs with silly sayings on them and some with rude sayings on them, some even had pictures or cartoons. One mug on the end gave me an idea as to whose collection this was. I couldn't help but roll my eyes after reading it all. It read 'Peter- Worlds Greatest Lover'. I'd seen Peter before many, many times but I'd never spoken with him. He didn't seem the type to be into silly things like this. At all. I supposed though, that it would be a good idea not to judge a book by its cover.

I went with the bottom shelf containing the more 'normal' looking mugs and picked out a burnt orange one. From there I picked up the new blue canister of sugar and added two teaspoons before adding enough chocolate flavored creamer to bring it to the perfect color. I took the little spoon and stirred diligently, careful not to slosh any over the sides. Then after it was mixed well enough I dipped the spoon in and brought it to my lips, giving it a taste. It was perfect.

I picked the mug up with both hands and delivered it to him, watching as he took a tentative sip. He gave a nod of approval before reaching out to stroke my hair and the side of my face with the backs of his knuckles. "Good girl."

I felt blood rush to my cheeks. He'd never done that before. Stroke my hair? Yes. Touch my face? Not in a gentle manner like that. I saw his lips twitch a bit as if they wanted to quirk up into a smile.

"You may have coffee, juice or milk. Fix it, then come back to your seat."

Coffee? Oh my. Coffee was something I hadn't had since I'd been here. I didn't drink it religiously like some people did, but I did drink it around half of my mornings. The other half I'd drank juice or milk. I went to turn, then paused.

"Thank you, Master." After he nodded, I proceeded on my way back to the cabinet. For myself I chose a dark green one. It reminded me of home. Of Charlie. Of Edward and Jake. It reminded me why I couldn't give up and why I had to continue on this treacherous path. I knew in my heart that they would never stop searching.

I pushed those thoughts out of my mind. I didn't want to cry in front of them. Sometimes in the shower I'd let my thoughts wander to them and let the tears flow freely for a little while, but never in front of anyone else. I didn't want them to see how much it affected me. I looked down to see that I'd mechanically assembled my drink and was now stirring it. I took it back and sat next to Jasper again and had just enough time to take a sip before a plate of hot breakfast was put in front of us both.

I picked up my fork and slowly ate despite the fact that I wanted to shovel it down my throat. I knew I was hungry but hadn't realized just how much until now. I snuck a glance over to see him eating breakfast at his usual slow pace. I'd never seen him rush through his food. He took the time to enjoy and appreciate it. I could easily see why. Charlotte was an amazing cook. Everything that came from her kitchen was delicious and damn near perfect. It was no wonder he snatched her up when he got the opportunity.

I finished breakfast before he did and sat quietly, sipping my coffee and relishing the taste. When I got out of here, I would hold an entirely new appreciation for everything. Chocolate, coffee, and choices would all be appreciated like they should be. People didn't realize how precious freedom was until it was taken away.

When he was finished with his breakfast, he slid his plate towards me. I took both of our dishes and silverware to the sink to rinse them before stuffing them in the dishwasher. After drying my hands and turning around, I found him standing with both coffee mugs in hand. He tipped his head towards the door, indicating for me to follow. With a nod and a 'thank you' to Charlotte for breakfast, I followed him back up to his room. He led us to the small sitting area near his closet and sat our mugs on the little coffee table. I sat at the other end of the couch and cut my eyes to the side, watching him tentatively.

"Isabella, I'm going out of town for the next three nights. You will be with Vladimir and Stefan while I am gone or Peter if they are handling something. If you wish, you can request to be allowed to go to the kitchen with Charlotte. She may or may not put you to work. After eight o'clock you may come here and either watch television or you may bring a book from the library. I won't require you to be kenneled though. You may sleep in my bed. After you come in, lock the door and only open it for Charlotte, Peter, Stefan or Vladimir. Don't venture out after you've locked yourself in. Do you understand me?"

I looked up at him, wide eyed after he announced he was going to be away for a few days. I was simultaneously excited for the time away from him and terrified of it. Now I was going to be in the house with James and without Jasper.

"I understand, Master." I looked to him, trying keep my mask of calm and cool in place as if he'd done this a thousand times before.

"That's my good girl. I want you to wear your collar without the bell while I'm away as well. People around the house understand its significance and won't fuck with you. If they do anyway, alert one of your guardians." He finished his set of instructions and leaned back with his cup, taking a contented sip. I picked up my cup as well, noticing that it had been refilled. I took a tentative sip and was surprised to find that it was just like I liked it. Charlotte must have been paying attention.

What if James approached me again? What would I do then? I never told Jasper about my prior encounter with him because why would he believe me over one of his own men? I didn't think he would and I didn't like the thought of what would happen after he informed me that he believed I was lying. Finally receiving his belt, getting sent back to the isolation room or God knows what else.

After draining the rest of his cup, he pulled a list out of his pocket and began to move around the room, packing clothes and necessities. After those were packed he went to the curtained doorway and pushed aside the thick drapery. The room had dark hardwood flooring and matching cabinets that lined one side of the wall. The other walls that I could see were covered in rocky bricks. The only other things I could really see was a large cream sectional at the other end of the room with a large, heavy looking coffee table and matching end tables. I watched as Jasper unlocked a set of cabinets, mildly wondering where he'd picked the keys up from, and pull out a selection of guns. He placed them carefully in a duffel bag before zipping it and filling a backpack with ammunition.

He relocked it and slipped the keys into his pocket before dragging his bags over to sit next to his suitcase. He stood there, staring at them contemplatively before having an 'ah-ha!' moment and going into the bathroom and returning moments later with his toiletries kit. After shoving the small, rectangular leather bag into his suitcase, he started carting stuff downstairs. I was unsure of what I was supposed to be doing, if anything, so I remained on the couch, playing with my coffee mug and hoping to get the 'privilege' of having the brew more often.

I watched him make two more trips after taking the first bag down that contained the guns. I supposed that shit must have been heavy though and was suddenly glad he didn't require my assistance. My mind went back to my earlier pondering over how torn I was over his trip. I hated the man with my entire being, yet he was the guarantee to my safety. As long as he was here, nothing else could get me. In some fucked up form, he was my protector. Ugh, how that thought made me shiver unpleasantly. I didn't want to dread his leaving.

I made a mental checklist of things to do while he was gone. First of all was I had to see if I could find something to lower myself to the ground from his balcony. Or see if it was feasible for me climb down from his bathroom window. Second, I had to find something to hold water, like a canteen or thermos. Thirdly, I had to find a satchel of some sort and gather supplies. Finally I had to see if I could get into those cabinets. Guns would be extremely nice to have. That way if one or more of those motherfuckers came after me this time I'd be able to actually take care of the problem.

The idea of taking a life nauseated me. I recalled Charlie's lectures from the times when he'd taken me to the firing range. I couldn't imagine pulling that trigger and seeing the light fade from that person's eyes, but I knew I would do it if it meant my survival or escape.

I filed my plans away for later and stood, picking up our cups and heading downstairs to the kitchen to deposit them in the sink. On my way back to the staircase, I saw him by the front door, talking to Stefan, Vladimir, Peter and Charlotte. He looked up as I went towards the stairs and motioned me over. I approached his side and he placed his hand lightly on the small of my back.

"I've briefed everyone and gave them their instructions. Be a good girl alright? If you need to be punished Peter is going to take care of it while I'm away." The idea of someone else punishing me made my insides squirm unpleasantly. Before I could let my thoughts on the matter show on my face, I nodded.

"Yes, Master. I'll be good." I folded my hands together in front of me and glanced up to him. He gave a slight smile to me before nodding to the others. Before he turned to leave though, he stroked my hair lightly and gave a light nod before heading out the door. I turned back to find everyone but Peter still standing there. He'd already headed back down the hall to his office.

"Would you rather spend the rest of the day with Charlotte or come with us?" Stefan asked politely. I thought about it for a minute before deciding I'd rather stay with Charlotte. She spent most of her day near the coffee maker.

"I'll stay in the kitchen with Charlotte, if that's fine?" The two men nodded and turned to go on about whatever they'd been doing. Charlotte gave me a pleasant smile, as if she was glad I'd chosen her over the other two dipsticks.

"Come on, sugar, let's go into the kitchen." She put her hand on my shoulder and walked by my side as we ventured back into her enormous work area. I wasn't aware how long I'd been here seeing as I'd lost track of time some time ago. Used to though, walking beside another woman would have been normal. It felt strange to walk next to anyone as if I were just a girl rather than the slave I'd become. With Charlotte though, I felt a little bit of that normality come back.

We spent hours making fresh tortillas, refried beans, seasoned black beans, Mexican rice, guacamole, and beef and chicken enchiladas. In the midst of all of the stirring, chopping, rolling and smashing, I made a few quick and simple chicken, beef and cheese quesadillas from the leftover enchilada filling. At promptly 5:55, we started carrying dishes of food as well as plates and silverware into the large dinning room. I'd been in here once on the tour but when Jasper and I ate in the evenings, we were usually at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. After the food was all in place, we retreated to the kitchen for our own dinner.

It was then Charlotte pleasantly surprised me. I figured she'd whip us up something American or Mexican like we had most of the time but she showed me one of her secrets. She told me to have a seat somewhere and when I returned to the bar stool I'd sat upon that morning, she slid a cutting board in front of me with mushrooms and bell peppers, instructing me to slice and chop them into bite sized pieces. I made short work of that and by the time I was done, I saw Charlotte pulling out a bowl from underneath the countertop that was covered with a dishtowel and turning the oven on. She sat the bowl on the counter and retrieved a jar of red sauce and a large lump of mozzarella cheese from the refrigerator, setting them gently next to the bowl. I had an idea of where this was going and my mouth started watering at the thought of hot, cheesy pizza.

I bit my lip to contain the grin that wanted to break out on my face. I sat silently and in awe as she pulled a quarter of the dough away and started to flatten it into an almost perfectly round circle. She'd flatten it more and eyeball it, flatten it more and eyeball it until it was just thin enough for her liking. From there, she picked the round doughy disc up and placed it on top of one of her fists before sliding the other underneath to join the first. Slowly and gently, she began to stretch the dough, moving it in circular motions to keep everything even.

When it got a little bit bigger, she got a look of concentration on her face and spun the flat disc into the air, catching it carefully before repeating a few times. I'd seen it done a couple of times before in my life, but I was no less impressed. She asked me if I'd like to try and apparently the horror I felt played out on my face as the scenarios ran through my mind over what would probably ensue. Broken dishes, me covered in pizza dough after I failed to catch it, me tripping over something because I threw it crooked and was trying to run to save it. I shuddered and politely declined. Charlotte couldn't help but laugh at me, but thankfully didn't push me to try it anyway or poke fun at my lack of coordination.

After the pizza doughs were good and flat, she pricked them with a fork and spread the sauce on them before sliding them in the oven for a bit. It gave us just enough time to cube the cheese and split large green olives into quarters. She quickly pulled everything back out, one at a time, and we sprinkled cubes of cheese and the vegetables across the sauce, making sure not to get too much on each one. After that, it didn't take long for the cheese to fully melt after it was back in the oven.

Charlotte and I each had a pie apiece seeing as they were in between a medium and a large sized thin crust pizza. She saved the other two for Peter. We cleaned what little there was to clean in the kitchen before I got a glass of water and bade Charlotte goodnight.

As I ascended the stairs, I noticed how quiet the house was. Everyone must be gone or asleep. Hopefully they were gone. The thought of one person in particular creeping around in the dark made my heart rate double and sent a chill down my spine. I sped my steps up, padding along to make them quieter. I reached the door and scooted in quickly, twirling around to shut the door as quietly as I could before throwing the locks. With that bastard around it didn't take much to get my paranoia wheels spinning. I checked the extra room, the closet and under the bed before going and running a hot bath in the enormous tub. Deciding I wanted fluff with my steam, I squirted in some of my strawberry shampoo and watched as it began to foam up. After it was full of bubbles and steaming hot water, I shed my clothes and collar and slid in.

Today was grating on my emotional well being. Every day thus far had been fairly predictable. I knew what was expected of me and what I could and couldn't do. Today I didn't know what I was supposed to or not supposed to be doing. Then the whole thing with spending the day in the kitchen with Char? Unusual, but enjoyable. It was really refreshing to be doing something other than retrieving things for Jasper or sitting on my little stool reading. Although, it was slightly out of character for Charlotte. Or maybe she was now warming up to me more. I didn't know. It didn't really matter because I'd rather have her be like this than like she was before. It felt like I had a semi-ally in this mess.

I shoved the thoughts all out of my head suddenly. I didn't need to think about this. I just needed to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet while he was gone. That and see about escaping from this hellhole. I would check around tomorrow night for the rest of my supplies and see about getting gone the third night. If anything, they'd be watching more closely the first and second nights. I'd noted that there were a few thermoses in the pantry when I'd went in for dried beans today. There was always fresh fruit as well, which would be excellent for traveling foods. Now I just had to snoop around and find a bag and some rope. The rope would be the hard one to get a hold of.

I relaxed a while longer and enjoyed the warm water without time constraints, satisfied that I was making a little headway on my plan. After my fingers started to resemble the California Raisins, I drained the tub and rinsed off. I wrapped one towel around my hair and the other I dried my body with. Once I attacked my hair with the blow dryer and brush and brushed my teeth, I headed into his bedroom. When I got to the bed though, I came up short. I wasn't going to sleep in his bed naked, but I didn't exactly know where my pajamas were.

After eyeballing the dresser next to the locked bedroom door, I went over and opened the second drawer. In my experience, men usually kept their socks and underwear in the top drawer. So hopefully the next one would be pajamas. I pulled the drawer open and was greeted with t-shirts. I poked around until I saw one that looked larger than the others. I shook it out and held it up to my small frame. It wasn't pajamas, but it would work.

I slid it over my head and smoothed it around my thighs before flipping the lights off and heading back to the bed and stopping short once again. Which side did I want to sleep on? I debated with myself over which side I should choose. If I slept on his side, when he came back he'd be able smell me on his pillow. That could give the wrong impression that I missed him or some shit. Although, if I slept on the other side, that'd be saying that I actually respect his space when he's not here, and I really, really don't.

I kept up the back and forth battle before saying fuck it and just climbing in between the sheets and cutting off the light. I sprawled out in the middle of the king sized pile of soft goodness and snuggled my head into the feather pillows. How I'd missed being able to stretch out on something that was actually soft. The effects of the day, the bits of normality from dinner and the aftermath of the hot soak took a hold of me, finally, and pulled me under into a dark, solid sleep.

A/N: We hope you enjoyed the change of pace! Remember! Reviewers get teasers!