Ariadne

Since the facility is located in the Virginia countryside, we had quite a drive back to our hotel, and then I had to figure out how to ship Ari back to my home in Connecticut. Richard had told me all about how the girl self ships, and had flown alone from Nevada to Virginia. If any other distributor had told me that about a girl, I would have thought he was lying. But I trusted Richard, as he had never steered me wrong in the past. Regardless, taking a girl on a public plane was a massive risk, especially since I didn't know anything about her. I had assumed she was meek and gentle, but I had just seen her incapacitate a security guard single handedly. I wondered what other secrets Ari was hiding.

The girl was pressed securely against the door, never letting me out of her sight. Every time I shifted, she tensed. I figured I needed to establish that she didn't need to fear me first, but how could I do that? Maybe getting her talking would help us make a connection, I thought. I quietly began to ask her questions, first about her life before this one, and then about her preferences. She ignored all of them, unless she could answer by shaking her head. Finally, I left her alone and dozed off, knowing my employee driving us would wake me in case of emergency.

It was past midnight when we arrived back at the hotel and the lobby was empty, save for a single woman sitting at the front desk. I took a deep breath and walked through the automatic doors, hoping Ari would behave herself and we could avoid an altercation. The woman looked up from her computer as we entered, and smiled brightly. "Welcome back!" she trilled, obviously not feeling the effects of the late hour like we were.

I nodded to her, and was shocked to hear a quiet, "thank you" from Ari, about ten feet behind me. I tried to disguise my surprise, and continued towards the elevators and pressed the button. Ari came to stop beside me, and we regarded each other with tired eyes. Why would she speak to a woman she doesn't know, and not me? When the elevator arrived, I held my hand out, gesturing for her to go in first. She kept her eyes on me as she walked in sideways, and pressed herself into the corner. I followed, mirroring her posture so we faced each other.

"Will you speak to me now?" I wondered aloud.

Her expression stayed the same, regarding me with the same intensity in her gaze as she had hours ago in that room. Her eyes flickered to her feet for a moment, and then she murmured, "You scare me."

I tried not to be visibly excited she had spoken. I replied, "I'll never hurt you, Ari. I'm not a rapist or a sadist, and what happened to you before I knew you makes me sick to my stomach. As long as you belong to me, you're safe." She smiled sarcastically, and it didn't reach her eyes.

"I don't believe you."

From her small bag of belongings, Ari changed from her grey top and leggings to a lighter sleeping shirt and shorts. I worked quietly on my laptop at the desk while she moved around the room gracefully and silently, brushing her teeth and hair and washing her face last. When she finished, she sat down on the sofa to my right and I immediately felt her eyes on me.

"It's rude to stare," I murmured. She blinked once in response, and cast her gaze to her hands. "Are you ready for bed?" I ventured. She nodded once, exhaustion seeming to cloud her eyes suddenly. I glanced at my watch and didn't blame her, as it was past 1 A.M. The tension didn't leave her form though, and I realized that she was waiting for instruction (or permission?) to go to bed. I turned to her and said, "Go ahead to sleep Ari, I'll be there soon."

She stood up and walked stiffly to the bed and peeled the covers back on the side she had placed her bag on when we had arrived in the room. She was about to climb in when I stopped her. "Actually," I said, "you can keep the shorts or the shirt, but not both." She turned to face me fully, and I could see defiance clearly in her eyes. I nodded to her to let her know I was serious, and she obediently lifted her shirt over her head and tossed it onto the floor. In the low light, her pale skin glowed softly and her form looked flawless. Now topless, she climbed into the bed and pulled the covers over herself.

I rubbed a hand down my face tiredly. I had assumed she would be wearing something under that light shirt, and hadn't intended to push her to this point so soon. But, it was important to keep my word and stay consistent in my directions, so I left her alone.

By the time I finished my work obligations and was ready for bed, it had been almost an hour. Ari hadn't shifted in a while, and I assumed she had fallen asleep. But, when I pulled back the blankets, I saw her blue eyes, wide open, reflecting the lights of the city behind me. She lay on her stomach with her head angled towards me. I could tell that as much as she wanted to say something, she wanted to maintain her silence more. Trying not to threaten her, I climbed into the bed and settled into the pillows, all with her eyes still fixed on me.

It had been almost five minutes when she whispered, "what's your first name?"

I turned to look at her, little more than an outline with the lack of light in the room, and answered, "Aiden".