Ch2

Sally Pov

Sally eyes the sleeping girl nervously. Nora had assured her that this was helpful, but as she watched and the battered girl laid still she couldn't help but feel bored. This wasn't a real task, they were just trying to get her out of the way. Jealousy played at the edges of her thoughts. What she wouldn't give to sleep in her bed one more time, to cry out and have someone hear her. She quickly dismissed the thought as her gaze landed again on the bruises littering the frail girls skin. The injured girl was slightly less grimey now that Nora had wiped her down, but there was still blood caked in her hair. Worse still, in some places the damp rags had revealed more damage underneath the blood and dirt. Sally couldn't bring herself to truly envy her position. This poor thing had been subjected to too much for too long.

Suddenly the girl stirred, her eyes blinking open. A second passed silently... and then she panicked.

"YOU GUYS?" Sally yelled as the girls breathing increased and she started to shake hard looking frantically around the room for a way out.

OC POV

My eyes began to focus and bright lights and wallpaper were all I could see. I had to get out of here. Before he came to punish me, to break me in, to tame me... It didn't matter why he wanted me. I had to get out. I glanced around wildly. The window maybe? Depending on how high we were? What's the worse that could happen? I was acutely aware that If the fall left me injured rather than killing me, he would still use me. It would be immeasurably more painful, and I'd render myself somehow more defenseless than I already was. He'd be angry and I'd be in more pain.

But what if the drop from the window wasn't far? If I could just step out and run. Hope filled my heart for a moment before I remembered my bum leg.

I had barely made it up the stairs of the house… the house! Memories came in flashes. The man in the alley! He had helped me. He was ... kind to me?

Josh POV

Sally poofs in front of me in the kitchen, interrupting as I cooked.

"She's awake." Sally spits out quickly, clearly nervous.

I tossed both hands in the air exasperated, "Of course she is. Because Nora JUST left."

I could do it. I could check her vitals. Panic consumed me but I fought it. Aiden would be there in 15 mins or so. I could do this.

I climbed the stairs slowly and knocked lightly on the door and after a moment's pause, slipped in. Immediately I saw the girl. She was gripping the edge of the bed, with both legs hanging off the side, as if she'd been gearing up to stand. When she saw me she ducked her head and crossed her arms in front of her.

"Hey, do you remember me? I'm Josh, I brought you in from the ally."

She was shaking violently with her eyes glued on my hands. "I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to disturb you." Her voice was hoarse. Her breath sounded short.

"You didn't, I just um … I need to check your vitals? Is that alright with you?"

"Yes sir," She said breathlessly as she dropped her arms robotically to her sides.

"Ok um I'll just need your arm?"

Her forearm shot towards me, with her hand fist up. The blood smeared wrist is hard to look at. Repeated teeth marks carved out of her forearm broken again as soon as it clotted. Her wrist was a bruise. I gingerly took her hand, she was holding her breath. It wouldn't affect her pulse, thankfully, just her respiration. I pressed down lightly on her artery, she winced but made no noise. Her pulse was quick and strong, I let go and she immediately pulled her arm back to her chest.

"Ok two more, then we're done ok?" I rummage through Nora's bag and come up with a thermometer. I turned it on and reached to place it in her ear. She flinched hard and hid behind her arms.

"oh geez! Sorry… sorry."

Her reaction had surprised me, but I'm not sure why it came as a shock that'd she'd been hit before. I remembered her shying away from my hands in the ally when I made an attempt to steady her. If the rest of her body wasn't a good enough indication, that certainly was.

"Sorry." I repeated softly. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, but her arms slowly dropped back down to her lap as she watched my hands. "It's just a thermometer. It uh . .. it doesn't hurt. See?"

I stuck it in my ear and waited for the beep and showed her the glowing screen. "99.8… oh I uh I run high." Like a dog I thought.

"Can we try again?," she eyed me warily. "It's ok," I said as I, slower this time, moved the device closer to her face, I paused and she closed her eyes. I gently put the tip in her ear. She shuttered but otherwise didn't move. I pressed the button and her whole body jolted at the beep.

I removed it and read 98.6. 'Normal thank God!' I thought, one less thing to worry about.

"Great, um Last thing," I said uncertainty as I rummaged through the black bag for the stethoscope. I felt the tubing under my finger tips and pulled. The tool stretched, and flung out of the mess, the amplifier end snapping back when it reached its limit.

A whine escaped the girl, I looked as she curled away from me towards the headboard.

She was crying, but trying her best to mute her sobs by holding her breath. That wasn't gonna work.

"Easy it's ok." I said putting the ear pieces in and warming the amplifier on my palm. "Um this just listens to your lungs, so you um, you can't … you can't hold your breath." She took in a few

gasps and shuddered heaves before her sobbing was silent. Her breath uneven but very measured now. I put the disc to her back below her left shoulder. Her heart was running away with her. But I moved away to the other side to hear a clear lung and quick shallow breaths.

'Geeze thats high…' I took a moment to consider. If nerves is the worst of her vitals and she wasn't at immediate risk of shock I'm sure Aiden would still be pleased.

"Ok that's all I need." I shoved everything back on the bag and turned to walk out. Sally was blocking the door, shaking her head about to reprimand me. Thankfully, I remembered my task before Sally could interrupt me.

"I'll make you some food, eggs and toast sound ok?" Nervous and hopeful she nodded tightly,

"yes sir. thank you sir."

"Ok um Aiden should be here pretty soon. I'll bring your food up when it's done. You can eat as soon as he finishes your exam." Her face fell at my words, the fear was taking hold again. I wasn't sure which aspect scared her, that he was arriving soon, or that he'd be looking her over.

Either way I couldn't change it, so I left and closed the door.

OC POV

He would be here soon, I had only minutes. As soon as the door clicked behind Josh, I listened hard for his retreating footsteps. He sounded far enough now, maybe at the top of the stairs? It didn't really matter as long as I stayed quiet. Aiden could not find me in a bed. He couldn't know that I, the filthy slave, sullied these clean sheets. He'd be furious that my blood stained the pillow. He couldn't know.

I pushed the pillow under the thick blankets and as quietly as I could lowered myself to the ground. I fell with a small thud, frozen for a moment I listened for footsteps over my own loud heartbeat.

Once I was sure no one was coming, I backed up to the wall with the bed to my right. I stayed pressed against the wall. This corner felt somehow safer than the bed. Having the wall to my back and one side meant I knew where the blows would land. A small comfort in a hellish reality. I tucked my head farther behind my knees trying with my diminishing strength to stretch myself into a ball. Just shoulder and shins. That's all I wanted to be. Those pieces were built for the wear and terror of life. Not like hands, mine broken and tucked behind calves. Not fragile like forearms stomachs or faces. Mine were littered with bruises, from the times I hadn't been able to chose my positioning.

A memory of ropes holding me in place, as the first part of Bishop's training regimen began, flashed through my mind without warning. The sensations it brought with it of nausea, and desperation washed over me in unwelcome waves. Each pushing me further and deeper into the anxiety, clouding my vision. The memory made my ankles itch where I had struggled and the ropes had cut. The worst of my injuries, though, were the bites.

I had received my first while tied to a mattress, with arms and legs spread wide. My clothes were taken, my dignity stripped from me along with them. Bishop had made his intention clear. I would learn to behave. I would feed a new master, serve a new master without hesitation or objection. Until I understood that, he would violate and drink me slowly until I learned to willingly comply. My wrists and neck showed their use with gaping 4" wounds with ragged edges. He hadn't had to strap me down in two weeks because I had learned to comply. I had understood that there are worse things than the pain of feeding a master. His other appetites and punishments were not always painful but they left me feeling hollow and small. Reminding me that I was powerless. I am powerless.

Especially now, it seemed. I had finally completed my training and Bishop had deemed me compliant enough to serve a new master. Aiden.

He had told me stories of his warrior son. Stories that had made Bishop appear tame, patient…even gentle. Aiden would have to be ripped away from blood dens after slaughtering slaves. He had no restraint, for his thirst or his violence. Bishop had been quick, harsh, and cruel, but he had taught me how to behave. A slave is always to be quiet, obedient, ready to serve, and all together unresponsive to pain.

I was meant to be a gift to his son, and my lessons would be my only means of survival now.