216
Once the gag was undone I tried to beg, apologize, and plead. My mouth just would not work right. Now released from bondage my jaw ached something terrible.
“Hush,” Christof said, “your jaw will be sore. Stretch it out until it feels better.”
I did as he ordered as he rose and carried me to the table. Kein fed me a drink with little sips. Soon the thirst was manageable, but I drank my fill.
Once I was done, I tried to explain to Christof.
“This is too much for me to bear,” I pleaded. “There must be another way.”
My men were sad and troubled as Christof spoke.
“One day we will find a way out,” he promised me. “Live for us until then.”
Tears ran down my face as I looked at them, all of them. I loved them, yes, but what was being asked was too much.
Bane picked me up and took me to the lavatory. He pulled up my short dress and sat me on the pot. I felt ridiculously prim sitting there with my legs bound tightly together. Here I was in a bathroom with five men waiting for me to pee, sitting like proper English royalty. I smiled at the irony of it.
“What made you smile?” Christof asked as we headed to the sleeping chamber.
“It’s complicated,” I said expecting him to drop it; he didn’t.
The men made me explain the whole thing and it was a very long story, I thought.
While we talked they sat me on the bed. The lights were extinguished until the only light came from the moons outside the window. They were stretching out and yawning. I guessed it was bedtime.
“Small things still make you happy,” Bane said as they untied the bonds on my arms.
I sighed with relief until they were retied in front of me.
“We will continue to try to make you happy,” Kein said as he looped the rope around the pole at the center of the bed. “If you still enjoy small things that is good. Soon you will lose this foolish death wish.”
“Or at least understand we will not allow it,” Evan said as he stripped off his pants and shirt.
Damien was before me in the moonlight and he put his face right in front of mine. “Will you attempt to harm yourself with your teeth?” he asked seriously.
“No,” I answered quickly and emphatically.
The look on my face seemed to satisfy them for the moment and Damien stepped away into shadows.
“Masters?” I asked cautiously looking around in the dim light.
“We are not that,” Damien said sadly, “never that again. We love you, Sister. This is for your protection, please understand.”
“May I explain that I do not wish to die, Masters?” I said ignoring his comment and wiggling around like a worm. “I foolishly thought of my human friend when I saw Master Evan’s blade. She was cut in the lower stomach and lost the organ to bear a child. It was a stupid thought and I apologize-”
“Hush, Ciara,” Damien commanded, “stop calling us that name and go to sleep. We will relent when we no longer fear for your safety. Your words to us are meaningless and I will not listen to them again. Tomorrow you will talk with your friend, that will help.”This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
Damn their perception, there was no way out of this. They’d leave me ‘safe’ until I somehow proved myself. Frankly, I had no idea how to do that. I couldn’t move and I couldn’t speak. I settled down and stared at Bane beside me, he started to snore lightly in a matter of moments.
Hopefully, sleep would take me soon, too.
I should have anticipated the nightmares. Stressed in mind and bound in body, rest did not come easily. I woke once screaming as Bane soothed me and once with Kein. The dreams didn’t stop until they put the cream on my head.
The next day I woke to whispers, female whispers. Dragging open my eyes, Fuji squealed with delight and the men in the apartment fussed at her.
“We have Keepers today for just us,” Rose said leaning over me and smiling wanly.
The men lifted me to stand, which I did on shaky legs. My lower half must have been unbound by Damien and his Brothers at some point. My arms were left tied.
I was walked to the bathroom and freshened. They brushed my hair and cleaned my teeth. Feeling slightly zombie like, I just did as they asked.
In the kitchen the Keepers sat me on my chair and fed me. They didn’t request I kneel and they didn’t seem bothered that I sat or that I was dressed. Looking quickly at their arms, I noted not one of them had human ancestry. Damien and his Brothers had thought this out. These men were the perfect Keepers.
After my late breakfast, Fuji, Rose, and I moved back to the bedroom and sat on the bed. I was tethered to the center by a cord on my neck, but my arms were unbound. Our little pad was handed to us and we were instructed to do what needed to be done.
I really needed to talk to Rose and I even had permission, but we had a job now. When Fuji took the pad, I was thrilled. Her owners had instructed her to participate. She was going to draw pictures to go with the story. The men had told her that would be good.
For a moment we sat silently as Fuji diligently worked. Rose finally broke the silence.
“You must really have screwed up,” she said quietly in English.