Chapter Two #3
Holly took a small sip, and Abbott told her, “I found you passed out in a wooded area of Miller Park. Eight cents in your satchel, no identification, and strung out on meth — which you appear to have run out of and crashed after being awake no telling how many days. I’ve helped people get clean before, and I brought you to my home in the hopes I can help. ”
“Who says I need to get clean?”
The Master opened up a pathway so I could hear into Holly’s mind. Even her thoughts had that thick, redneck accent.
Did you miss the part where I found you in the woods with no money? Abbott asked her telepathically.
“So? It’s a free country and that park’s public property. I can sleep there if I want.”
Everyone was silent for a handful of seconds while we waited for her to realize he’d asked the question in her head. When she didn’t, Abbott spoke in her head again.
How long has it been since you saw your son?
“How do you know about…” She stopped talking as fear spiked through her body. Abbott froze her legs so she couldn’t run.
I’ve been all through your head, Holly. I know you quit school and ran away in the tenth grade, so you only have a ninth-grade education.
Your parents hired a private detective when the cops didn’t seem interested in looking for a screw-up kid who’d been failing classes and doing drugs.
When the PI found you nearly a year later, your parents put you in a rehab facility.
You were released a few months before you turned eighteen and went right back to drugs.
They’re raising your son and have had to cut you out of their lives to protect him from your stupidity.
You have supervised visitation rights, but you haven’t seen him since Christmas.
Your big brother’s been helping you, but now that you’ve stolen from his daughter, it’s likely you won’t be able to crash on his sofa anymore, either.
She glowered at the smoothie and didn’t drink anymore. Her thoughts were all over the place, but seemed to focus on the fact he’d called her stupid, instead of the rest.
“You will live with me for six months,” Abbott said, “after which time you’ll be given a choice of whether to leave or stay. If you leave, you’ll remember being placed in a rehab facility to get clean. You’ll remember group therapy. You’ll be happy, and will have plans to stay clean.”
“Forced rehab? That’s illegal if you aren’t a judge.”
My former master would’ve slapped her so hard she’d have landed on the floor. Abbott didn’t seem pissed, though.
“No one knows where you are, Holly. I could keep you forever if I wanted.” His voice was matter of fact with no emotions, and yet it came off as a statement instead of a threat.
Sharp fear rolled off her and I had to hold my breath a few seconds to keep from gagging on the stench of rotten cabbage and bad eggs.
She didn’t look terrified, though. She lifted her chin and met his gaze as if she wasn’t the least bit worried.
“You can screw me any way you want if you give me a hit. Cleaning me up isn’t the way you want to go. ”
He spoke with a touch of power. “Drink your smoothie, Holly.”
She drank it down in four gulps, and I rubbed her back as I marveled he’d aimed the power of his voice to her without it doing more than making me shiver. I hadn’t felt the need to take a drink. Master Abbott wasn’t just scary-powerful, he wielded his power with tight control.
“You must feel awful,” I told Holly as she set the glass back on the table. “Some food in your stomach and calories for energy will help. We’ll have watermelon for you soon, but I’m sure we have grapes and bananas in the kitchen if you’d like some more fruit?”
She turned to slap me and I caught her wrist. Her eyes shot open wider than I’d thought possible, and I kissed the fingertips of the hand she’d meant to slap me with.
“You never said if the red is good or if you wanted another color.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Who undressed me and cleaned me?”
“I believe I’m to be your caretaker, so the job fell to me.”
Abbott sighed, and I picked up a hint of sorrow from his scent.
“Spencer was sold into slavery at eleven, as he was finishing the sixth grade. He was in the foster care system and was assumed to be a runaway, so no one ever looked for him.” Abbott looked to me a brief second before returning his gaze to Holly.
He spoke to me telepathically while he looked at her.
I hope you don’t mind, but I believe knowing your story will let her know you’ve had it worse than her and could help the two of you bond.
Also, it will remind her she had every opportunity and squandered it, while you had none and you’re solid — a good head on your shoulders and in complete control of your words and temper.
I trust your judgment in all things, My Master.
I sensed a micro-second of frustration before he continued talking to Holly. “He was trained to be a sex slave without anyone actually taking his virginity, and his Master took it on Spencer’s twelfth birthday.”
My former master had lived in a time when children could marry at twelve. In his mind, waiting until I was ‘of age’ had meant he wasn’t a pedophile. I was fairly certain my new Master wasn’t ready to tell Holly about vampires just yet though.
I could still hear Holly’s thoughts, and though they were jumbled, she was horrified.
“Master Abbott saved me from my previous owner,” I told her.
“He saved all of us.” I looked to Abbott, knowing he knew what I wanted to say next.
I was unsure if it was okay and wanted permission.
He gave a tiny nod, so I told her, “He freed a couple of us, those strong enough to survive after a life of slavery. I’m not sure I’d be okay as a free man, and I believe my new Master knows this. ”
Her mind was still a jumble of thoughts. Mostly trying to figure out if this meant safety or danger to her, personally, but also shock that I was an actual slave.
“I’m learning lessons online, at my own pace,” I continued, “and the Master has tutors I can contact if I need more help. My old master made sure I could speak correct grammar, but I had no need of any other knowledge just to be a sex slave.”
Sex and blood, but she didn’t need to know the blood part yet.
“You’ll be in your room a few hours while Spencer and I handle some things,” Abbott told her.
“I can offer a pen and notepad if you’d like to write your thoughts, or a novel.
We have some ebook readers, and my people can download whatever you wish to read.
When the runner comes back with your watermelon, it’ll be cubed and placed in your refrigerator.
Is there anything else you have a taste for? ”
“Brownies and ice cream. Or maybe apple pie and ice cream? Or a Coke float. Can I watch TV?”
He shook his head. “Television time will be earned, and even then, the programs restricted. You’ll begin an exercise program soon and will have lessons to learn, but for today your choices are a book or the opportunity to journal your thoughts.
We have ice cream and Coke, I’ll have someone bring it to you shortly.
I’ll request the apple pie and ice cream for later, and you’ll get another smoothie in an hour.
Let the person who brings it know what you’d like for dinner.
You won’t get to dictate meals indefinitely, but we’ll do our best to accommodate you in the coming days. ”
I wondered if giving her a pen was a good idea because I worried she’d hurt herself. Abbott sent me an image of a felt tipped pen, specially designed so there were no edges strong enough to break human skin. Too much pressure would make the entire thing crumble to dust around the spongy ink center.
I relaxed. He knew what he was doing. It was going to be okay.
Holly’s muscles flexed as she fought the mental hold Abbott had on her legs. The scent of her fear permeated the room again.
“What have you done to me!? Why can’t I move?”
Fear turned to terror, but I couldn’t help her.
“Help! Help! Someone help me!”
“That’s enough.” Abbott’s voice was mild and no louder than normal conversation, but he put a little of his power into the words. She quieted immediately and looked at her empty glass.
Abbott lifted her water goblet and moved it a few inches closer. A subtle hint he’d like her to drink more.
“If you follow the rules and do as you’re told, you won’t be hurt.
Should we need to provide consequences for misbehavior, you’ll feel a great deal of pain but you won’t be injured.
” He nodded to the wolf-guard in the doorway — a large, imposing man who looked like a bodybuilder.
“If you don’t want your toast or eggs, the guards will return you to your room.
Again, you can request an e-reader with popular books on it, or a specific book.
Read, don’t read, I care not today. However, if you purposefully break the electronic reader then you’ll be spanked like a child. ”
When she was gone, Master Abbott motioned to my plate. “Do you wish for more food?”
I only had a few pieces of bacon left, and I shook my head as I reached for a piece. “Just what’s left on my plate, but thank you for offering, Master.”
“You don’t need to call me Master with every sentence. You’ll figure out when it should be used, and I’ll be understanding while you work through it. However, for the time being, you’ll feel a magical shock when you use it and I don’t wish to hear it.”
“I’m sorry, Mas…” I stopped, squeezed my hands into fists, and started again. “I apologize for annoying you with it. I hope to learn your ways quickly so I can please you.”
“Tell me your rules.”
I was at a loss. Slaves have so many rules, there’s no way to number them.
He tried again. “The three things I’ve imposed on your will.”
Ah. “Not to harm anyone you claim or care about, including myself. Not to try to escape. Not to share supernatural secrets.”