Chapter 22
I stay by the burner phone all day, and nothing comes through.
The ear device is quiet as well. Will we go straight back to the silence that we had just before our Valentine’s night together?
I spend the day deep-cleaning the house so it’ll meet Reik’s standards when he returns from his trip, but it takes me extra time because my body is still so sore.
Still, I can’t stop wondering…
Just who is my master?
Will they come back for me?
I sit and stew silently in the living room, nursing a cup of tea and still not reading the book in my lap. Reading is the last thing on my mind. I tap the phone on the arm of the chair and stare at it. I could call, I suppose. But I’m not sure my master will answer.
Debating, I go back and forth on what to do. I don’t want to break any of the rules that we created together, and I don’t want to cross any lines that are set in stone. But I have to know. Picking up the phone, I tap the only contact in it and let it ring.
I hold my breath, pressing the phone to my ear.
Suddenly, the ringing stops. But no one says anything. There’s just silence to greet me.
“H-hello?” I say, still not sure if this is what I should be doing. “I-I know you’re there.”
Still silence, no words to guide me deeper into the conversation or the questions. I close my eyes and try to focus. What should I ask first?
“Thank you,” I whisper, questions failing me instantly. My master has to know that I have so many thoughts running through my brain right now, but this is the only one that matters. “Thank you for yesterday. I… I’ve never felt so free before.”
An intake of breath echoes through the phone. It’s enough to tell me that they’re there, listening to this. I grip my mug of tea tighter.
“I don’t know what we do now, if we…just forget about each other or…”
I’ll take anything that goes with the or. Do it again. Tease each other through technology. End up together. It’s stupid to think that last one, isn’t it? Because I’m married to Reik, and my master is still a complete stranger. I never managed to figure out who they were before they took me.
“Where do we go from here?” I ask, because that’s really what I need answered. What’s the next step? Who am I to you? Who are we together? But all of those questions sound unreasonable and clingy.
“Oh my little slut.” The T pops off their lips, and I shiver as I remember the way they called me that for hours. “Overindulgence isn’t a good idea when it comes to this.”
What the hell does that mean? Are we done after this? Was this a one-time thing? In the trope world, we’d call that one-night-to-forever, and of course, I don’t want it.
Desperation digs its nasty claws into my chest, and it won’t let go. This can’t be the end of our relationship. I don’t want it to be.
“Please don’t leave me,” I whisper, fear in every single word.
“This is the end of our time.” That mechanical voice sounds so cold and harsh. Like they’ve already pulled away from me. “I’m no longer your master. I release you.”
Air rushes from my lungs in one big wave. Tears well in my eyes, stinging them. My nose stops up with snot as the emotions of loneliness sink into me and consume me. There’s no way to escape this, is there?
“I… You can’t leave me,” I demand. “I-I won’t let you.”
I don’t get a response. Pulling the phone away from my ear, I stare at it to make sure that the call is still connected, and it is. They’re still listening to me.
“I need you,” I try again, my voice wavering with pent-up anxiety and fear.
“D-don’t leave me here. You don’t know… You don’t understand…
” If Reik finds out anything about this weekend, he’ll kill me.
It’s not just a little anger at dinner time when his plate isn’t made up; it’s so much more than that.
But I can’t say it out loud. If my master doesn’t know it already, then they won’t ever know it.
Because just like always, they’re leaving me.
I’m not who they want. I don’t live up to their expectations.
“I’ll change. I can be whoever you want me to be,” I beg, tears sliding down my cheeks and onto my shirt. “I’ll be better next time.”
Why aren’t they listening to me?
I look at the phone again, and it’s still connected. Why the fuck aren’t they saying anything? Why aren’t they responding?
“Do you get off on this? On putting me in so much emotional distress because you show me the world and then snatch it away, not even a day later? How could you?” I nearly screech out the last part.
I groan and clench my fist tightly. I squeeze my eyes shut and take a deep, steadying breath.
“You’re not who I thought you were. You were never my master.
” I spit out those last two words with as much venom as I can manage.
Then I hang up the phone and toss it onto the couch.
“Fuck you!” I shout before settling back into the chair.
I know they’re still watching me. I can feel their eyes through the cameras.
Fuck this. Fuck everything. This isn’t what I agreed to.
This isn’t what I thought I was getting myself into.
All I wanted was to be taken, once. I didn’t want to be shown everything I’m missing out on in this world.
Standing up, I flip off the camera in the corner of the room and immediately stomp up to the spare bedroom. Fuck the rules.
I’m going to figure out who BandAid42 is, no matter how long it takes me.