Chapter 7
DAISY
She corrected me in the night. I was asleep and she must have come past my room and pressed the button.
When I screamed in shock and pain, she zapped me again, and I remembered that I’m not supposed to make noise.
I blacked out after that, I think.
These are my first thoughts when I groggily stir awake.
The second is that my sheets are cold and wet under me.
The third is that I’m uncovered and that I’m fully naked.
‘There you are,’ I hear Nasty Nurse purr. ‘I’ve been waiting for you.’
‘Why did you call me here, Aggie?’
Joe.
I swallow hard, everything in me warning me to run, but my body is weak and limp. I wonder if she zapped again me while I was out.
‘I have a very importan— Oh.’ He chuckles.
Fucking psycho. They both are.
Scared, I try to move my sluggish arms, pull my legs together, but Nasty Nurse pinches my cheek.
‘Stay exactly where you are, and act like you’re unconscious or I’ll give you another zap and make it true,’ she says close to my ear.
‘How many times did you shock her for her to be this senseless?’ Joe asks.
‘Twice. About two hours ago. She was unconscious for a bit. Then I got her a couple more times about ten minutes ago.’
Joe snorts. ‘Any particular reason why?’
‘I feel like she needs to understand who’s boss.’ Nasty Nurse titters. ‘And I like to keep the retard on her toes, right, sweetie?’
She pinches my nipple hard, and it takes everything in me to lie still, and not make a sound, not to slap her across her fucking face.
‘So, why is she laying here naked with her legs wide open?’ Joe asks, much closer now.
He’s standing between my legs, getting a good look.
‘Well, she is going to be your wife. Maybe you should examine the goods properly.’
‘Has she pissed herself?’ He laughs, but I hear him step closer. ‘I told you, Aggie. I’m not fucking her before the wedding. My family has rules about this sort of thing.’
‘Nothing? Really? A little feel?’
Joe murmurs something about her being incorrigible before a hand cups my mound. I swallow hard and retreat deeply into my head, barely feeling it when his finger slowly penetrates deeply into me.
‘How does she feel?’ Nasty Nurse asks.
‘Tighter than you,’ Joe retorts.
‘Does she?’ The nurse pinches my other nipple very hard, digging her nails into me.
I bite my cheek, willing this to be over.
Then, she sits on the bed next to me and grabs my knees, pulling them up and spreading me as wide as my legs will go.
Joe’s finger moves in and out of me. ‘Definitely.’
He pulls my pussy lips open with his other hand and lets out a hum. ‘Marcus did say it was a pretty one. I’m glad to know that her cunt doesn’t seem to be as deficient as the rest of her.’
Nasty Nurse chuckles. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be there on the wedding night to make sure you’re ready to fuck a baby into your new wife.’
Joe’s hands leave me, thank God, and I hear the nurse gagging. Her grip leaves me abruptly.
‘How does she taste, Aggie?’
The nurse gags and splutters a second later and I crack my eyes to see her pushing him hard in the chest. His fingers are deep in her mouth.
She spits them out and turns on him. ‘Not as good as me.’
He grins. ‘I’ll see you later. Be ready for something rough. I’m going to hurt you so good, baby.’
Nasty Nurse moans.
‘Put her in some normal clothes to go to campus today, would you? People are going to start talking if my future wife is out and about in prison fatigues.’
‘Yes, sir,’ she says in a sultry tone.
Joe leaves the room.
‘Get up, retard. No time to shower. We leave in twenty for you to get to class. If you’re fast, maybe I’ll let you have breakfast. You should be grateful I don’t give you a zap for peeing the bed. God, you’re pathetic.’
I get up, avoiding her eyes as I go into the bathroom.
I don’t bother shutting the door. I just wash myself, assuming she’s watching.
I don’t give her any tears or, in fact, anything at all.
I don’t revisit what just happened in my head.
I refuse to think about it. Instead, I go over the plan that’s been forming in my mind, and I think I have the details sorted.
I’d hoped for a little more time to iron out the kinks, but I will be enacting it today because I’m not staying here any longer.
I can’t.
It comes as a surprise when I get out of the bathroom and she isn’t there.
On the bed are some of my wide-leg jeans and a sweater.
Normal clothes. The underwear isn’t mine, it’s the nasty coarse stuff, but it’s baggy enough to go over the straps of the GED, so I put them on.
I can’t face the ill-fitting bra, so I go without, despite the fact that I hate the feel of nothing around my chest.
Before I leave my room, I make sure I have my school bag, the necklace Blake gave me for Christmas and the fake Envy pills. I put two in the bottom of the trash, wrapped in a note begging for Samantha’s help, hoping she sees it before we leave. The rest come with me.
I go downstairs and find Samantha in the kitchen. I try to catch her eye.
‘You!’ I say loudly. ‘My trash hasn’t been emptied out in three days. Do it. Right now!’
‘Of course, ma’am. So sorry,’ Samatha gushes.
One of the other maids, who doesn’t like me, gives me a dirty look. ‘Who do you think you are? You don’t tell her what to do!’
‘It’s okay,’ Samantha says, not looking at me. ‘I was going up there anyway.’
She disappears through the door and I sit at the breakfast bar.
No one asks me if I’d like anything, so after a moment, I get up and go into the cupboard for some bread.
But then I spy a box of muffins and forgo my idea of toast in favor of chocolate.
I grab one before anyone can stop me, putting it on my plate and daring anyone to try and take it.
After the morning I’ve already had, I might just cram it into someone’s face and take another if they mess with me.
But no one does. I lament the fact that Stephens isn’t here. He would have made sure I got a decent cup of tea at least. I wonder if he’s okay. If the plan works out, maybe I can visit him.
As I’m finishing my muffin, Samantha comes back.
‘All done for you, ma’am,’ she murmurs as she goes by, and I hope she means that Nasty Nurse has been dealt with already. If so, I wonder how she got the awful woman to drink it.
Was she able to message Lu from my phone like I asked as well? God, I hope so.
A few minutes later, I hear movement behind me.
‘It’s time to go,’ says the heinous woman herself.
‘I just need my laptop,’ I say.
Nasty Nurse rolls her eyes. ‘I highly doubt you need a laptop for every class! Get a notebook.’
‘University policy,’ I half lie because I don’t think they care in English Lit, so long as you have the source material with you.
She makes an annoyed sound. ‘Fine.’
She goes off in the direction of the staff bedrooms, and I cross my fingers, hoping the pills work in time.
She comes back with my laptop and half throws it on the kitchen counter. My lips thin, but then I give her my pleasant smile. ‘Thank you, Nurse Smith.’
Her eyes narrow as if she thinks something might be up.
‘Let’s go.’
She grabs me by the arm tightly and begins to pull me along down the hall behind her.
I glance at the grandfather clock in the hall.
It must be over ten minutes since Sam was able to slip her the pill.
At the club, it didn’t take much longer than that for Bennet and the mean girls to start expelling it. I need more time.
‘Oh!’ I pull back and double over.
‘What is it?’ the nurse asks with not one shred of empathy, fake or otherwise.
‘My… My ankle! I just went over on it.’ I grasp my foot and let out a dramatic gasp.
‘I need to sit down.’ I hop to the polished wooden bench in the foyer.
Nasty Nurse doesn’t help, of course. She just watches, probably relishing the pain she thinks I’m in.
What a bitch.
She leans down, pressing on my foot harder than necessary. ‘Where does it actually—’
She straightens with an odd look on her face and a gasp of her own. Her stomach gurgles audibly and her eyes widen. ‘I’ll be right back!’
She speedwalks down the hall toward the staff quarters, her shoes clacking so quickly it sounds like someone in one of those old movies where everything is sped up.
I stand and grab my bag. I take out the second pill and put it in my pocket.
A few minutes later, it’s time to leave or I’ll miss my pretend class, and Nasty Nurse hasn’t returned. The front door opens and Jacob’s imposing figure is at the threshold.
‘Change of plan,’ he says. ‘Nurse Smith messaged me to say she won’t be joining us.’
My plan is coming together.
‘Why not?’ I ask innocently.
He just shrugs and gestures for me to come outside. I see Joe’s town car and swallow hard.
He might be in there, ready to play more games with me while I’m forced to be still and…
My reaction is visceral. My stomach churns and the only reason I don’t throw up is because I know that they’ll decide I’m sick and can’t go to Richmond U.
That’s not an option. So, I do what I do best. I push the thoughts away, knowing there will be plenty of time for them to upset me later.
I focus on my goal–on my plan–completely.
I stare at the car as I stand next to it for a moment too long and Jacob sighs. ‘He’s not in there. Get in the car.’
He opens it and I get in. It’s empty just as he said, and he sits in the front. I listen to the conversation that Jacob has with the driver.
‘Where’s the hot nurse?’
‘Sick, or something.’
‘Too bad. She sure is nice to look at.’
Jacob lets out a soft laugh. ‘Too rich for my blood. Nutcase, too. Trust me.’
I press the button to close the screen and bask in the few minutes of alone time I have until we get to Richmond.
I go over my plan, make a few little tweaks and, by the time we pull up at the curb, I’m much more confident that I can pull this off. I just need a little luck. I’m certainly due some, that’s for sure.