5 – Sadie
SADIE
Day Two
(I think…)
The Start of the Cabin Experiment
R ain attacks the van like it has a vendetta, hammering the roof and windows without mercy. I squeeze my eyes shut, hoping that only the rain has an issue with wherever we are and that thunder and lightning won’t join this fight.
I can feel the road winding upward, higher and higher into the belly of a hill, and I have the sudden urge to vomit.
I’m minutes away from begging them to stop this ride, to show a hint of humanity and let me breathe some fresh air, but then, mercifully, the van shudders to a stop.
The doors fling open, and the night scene ahead hits me like a dream.
Moonlight slips between the thick tree canopy above, painting silver stripes across a gray graveled drive.
I blink, half convinced I’m hallucinating.
We’re definitely not at a prison.
We’re here…
The guards slip into puffer jackets and rain gear, and I wait for them to hand over the raincoat that’s promised in the Weiss Institute brochure. It’s a line I’ve mentally repeated during the entire ride, my final rig of hope.
Upon arrival, you will be immersed into a softer reality. As my facility is subject to wet and humid conditions, the guards at the gate will give your transport team a raincoat, boots, the cabin was attached to its face as an afterthought.
When we finally reach the porch, the guard presses a few buttons on the keypad.
It flashes yellow, then green.
Locks twist and turn, echoing through the woods like warning, and then the door slowly opens to reveal…him.
The man who has dominated my fantasies after a mere first glance.
With a slight stubble on his jawline, Dr. Weiss’s white button-down shirt is hanging open at the top, revealing hints of a chest tattoo.
He studies me for several seconds, his lips parting slowly, but he doesn’t speak. Instead, he quickly focuses his attention on the guards.
“You’re late by two fucking days ,” he says coolly. “Actually, at this point, it might as well be three.”
“What’s your point, Doctor?” one of them asks.
“That’s not how I run things here.” His eyes are cold. “I don’t appreciate you fucking with me.”
“We had other inmates to drop off,” one of them offers. “If you’re so upset, would you like us to take her back?”
Ignoring that question, he rolls his eyes and opens the door wider to let us inside.
The sudden blast of cold air hits my wet jumpsuit, making me shiver.
As if everyone else has been through this operation before, the guards move with robotic precision, guiding me to a sleek metal chair and unclasping the shackles from my ankles.
They remove the black box that guards my waist chains, but they leave the ones on my hands.
While they speak in code to each other, I look around the space in utter awe.
Glass walls wrap around the entire cabin, giving it a voyeuristic openness. Cream appliances gleam in the kitchen. Above the stove, a red neon sign reads: Welcome to the Process.
Everything looks exactly like the pictures in the brochure, minus the gray double doors in the back that read “Weiss Staff Only: Do Not Enter.”
As a guard checks the sole of my shoes, a truck roars outside and within seconds, more guards flood the cabin.
They’re sweeping every inch with scanners and wands, opening drawers, and directing dogs to check. One of the female guards blushes bright red when Dr. Weiss offers her a small smile.
Or is he smiling at me?
“Let’s do this.” She strides over to me, snapping her fingers.
“Arms up, Pretty,” she demands. “Turn around.”
I oblige, and she presses her palms on my shoulders. She takes her time patting down every inch of my body.
“Tilt your head back and open your mouth.”
I avoid Dr. Weiss’s gaze as she shines a flashlight under my tongue.
“Hair check.” She hooks a finger beneath the elastic at the base of my ponytail. Without warning, she pulls it hard until it breaks—forcing my hair to tumble over my shoulders.
Then, as if I’ve somehow hidden a weapon between getting out of the van and walking inside this house, she pats down my hair in sections.
She grabs the waistband of my uniform next, pushing my wet pants to the floor.
“Pull down your panties and bend over,” she commands. “Hold still until I tell you to cough.”
“No.” Dr. Weiss’s voice cuts across the room. “That won’t be necessary. You can stop your power play now.”
“With all due respect, she’s still state property, Dr. Weiss.” She pulls an inspection stick from her waist belt. “Part of being an inmate means full body searches whether you like it or not.”
“Did it sound like I was making a request ?” The iciness in his tone freezes the entire cabin, and it’s suddenly pin-drop silent. “If it did, let me repeat myself…”
“You’re already three fucking days late, and your reasoning is full of shit.” He glares at her. “I doubt she’s managed to smuggle in anything between now and her last body check, but if she has, I’m sure you’ll see it since you have twenty-four-hour camera access to everything that happens here.”
She looks around as if she’s waiting for one of the other guards to step in and say something, but no one says a word.
Her gaze finds mine and he steps in front of me, instantly blocking her intrusive view.
“You don’t need to humiliate her any further,” he says. “Get over your fucking self...”
She tucks the mirror away with a scowl and walks outside.
Dr. Weiss turns around to face me, keeping his voice low. “Pull your pants up, Sadie…”
I oblige, and then a different guard approaches me with a clipboard.
“This form gives Dr. Weiss full authority to administer any substances he sees fit during your stay—and waives the Department of Corrections of all liability.”
He clicks a pen, holding it out.
“If you refuse to sign, we’ll have to arrange for a transport back. Full compliance is non-negotiable.”
I sign my name.
The guards sweep through the cabin for several more tense minutes, calling out “Clear” one by one as they finish. Then they file out in silence.
The cabin door slams shut behind them, echoing like a verdict.
Now, it’s just me and Dr. Weiss.
He stares at me for several moments, his expression dark yet unreadable.
I’ve incessantly envisioned how our first moment alone will go, and wonder which possibility will reign: He’ll pull me into his arms and kiss me until I can’t breathe.
He’ll unlock the hand chains that all the guards apparently forgot to unlock, or he’ll lead me out of the cabin and drive me to a place no one will ever find us.
“Allow me to tell you how my program works, Miss Pretty.” He shatters my hopes within seconds. “You’re officially a bird in my cage, and my job is to study you intensely.”
I swallow.
“Through multiple daily therapy sessions, behavioral exams, and some other experimental tests, I’m working to see if you're fit to rejoin society ahead of your parole hearing or your new trial, whatever outcome your future holds.”
“Every move you make will be monitored via constant surveillance—” He points to a line of cameras on the wall, and as if on cue, a short white robot rolls toward me.
Stopping right at my feet, it moves its head up and down, and then a message appears on its screen.
Welcome to the cabin, Sadie Pretty.
Please act accordingly during your stay.
It rolls away, disappearing around a corner.
“What about the bathroom?” The question falls from my lips. “Will I be watched while I’m in there?”
“No.” He looks amused by my question. “There’s a blackout curtain for whenever you use the toilet, shower, or tub.”
“The shower and tub are separate?”
He smiles, giving a glimpse of his pearly white teeth, but he doesn’t answer my question.
“You're required to meet with me every morning and evening for a private therapy session, and while you're here, your newly appointed lawyer and a few others will make scheduled visits in the afternoon,” he says.
“There is no telephone or internet access available to you, but you can access my library and send mail. Clear?”
“Clear.”
“Your remaining hand chains will come off at my discretion, but I usually get my patients out of them after their third full day here.” He glances at my hand, then turns away to a guard in the corner who I somehow missed.
“Can you loosen these a bit for her, please?” Dr. Weiss asks. “Leave enough play for her to move around and grab things.”
“As you wish.” The guard walks over and obliges.
“If you try to escape this cabin, there’s no report I could ever write that can help you.
” Dr. Weiss looks into my eyes. “There are guards stationed all over the woods and at the bottom of the hill, so they’d be able to catch you within minutes and add more years to your sentence. Do you understand that?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Good to hear, Pretty,” the guard says. “Doctor, I’m going to head to my post outside. You know how to reach me.”
“I do,” he says, watching him leave. Then he looks at me. “Let me show you to your side of the cabin.”