The Retreat
Chapter 2
Sara awoke as sunlight streamed through the window onto her face. She yawned and stretched and lay there for a moment in the soft bed, listening to the birds and letting the sunlight play upon her face.
This is nice
she thought.
Then she remembered what had happened, and sat upright in a panic. She frantically looked around the room and found herself in a rather posh 19th-century English-style bedroom. Carved wood and gilding covered the walls. A fancy oriental rug lies on the floor. Her bed is a massive thing with four posts carved to look like vines rising from the floor. The bedding felt like she was lying on a cloud. She gaped at the finery she saw in the room and realized that she was no longer in pain. That bothered her for some reason, but wasn't exactly sure why.
"What?" she started to say, but recalled the rules Leah had laid down:
No speaking unless spoken to.
It's time to get up and get out of here s
he thought.
She threw back the covers and was surprised to find herself dressed in a rather nice black silk sleeping gown. As she ran her hands along the soft fabric, she noticed a slight pulling on the back of her right hand. She glanced at it and was stunned to find an IV poking out. The thin hose ran up to a bag of saline cleverly tucked away behind one of the bed posts. Seeing that IV set Sara into a full panic. She ripped the IV out of her hand, jumped out of bed, and made a beeline for the door... then promptly tripped and fell to the floor with a grunt.
Sara pushed herself up with a curse and looked at her ankle. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the manacle locked securely around her ankle. Her eyes following a thin chain connecting her ankle to an iron ring set into the floor, and a large padlock securing the chain to it. She pulled hard on the chain, but it wouldn't budge. She was truly trapped. Tears came unbidden to her eyes, and she began crying. Partially out of fear, partially out of frustration, and partly because she didn't know what else to do.
Several minutes passed and Sara began to calm herself down.
Crying like a baby isn't going to help anything. I need to think,
she told herself.
She stood up and began to search the room as much as the chain would allow. Looking for something, anything that could help her get out of this. While looking under the bed, she heard the door open and what sounded like a cart being rolled into the room. She dove fully under the bed in a panic, hoping that she wasn't seen.
"Oh, stop being silly and get out from under there."
It was Leah's voice and it sounded...amused.
Sara sheepishly crawled out from under the bed and started to brush her nightgown off, then stopped, and stood up defiantly, shooting daggers with her eyes at Leah. She opened her mouth to demand what the hell was going on, but Leah simply raised her hand. Sara's mouth closed with a snap. It took her a moment to realize what just happened, and she opened her mouth again to shout at the woman standing before her.
"I know you'll have many questions. And I'll freely answer all of them. But please, sit and eat. It's been days since you've had a proper meal," Leah quickly broke in.
Sara could only splutter. Days...the word rang in her ears like a bell. She felt like she was going to be sick. Her knees felt wobbly and she collapsed with a sob.
"What is going on?" she muttered and began to cry again.
"There, there," Leah said as she knelt beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"I'm not going to hurt you. But please, let me explain and answer your questions. Come on." She said as she helped Sara up to her feet and led her to the bed.
Sara was still sobbing and wiping the tears from her eyes as Leah made quiet comforting sounds while gently rubbed her back.
"Let me start at the beginning. But first, you need to eat," Leah said as she stood back up and moved to the cart she had brought in.
She bent down, pulling tray out and set it up in front of Sara.
Sara sat and stared at Leah is disbelief, and quickly wiped the tears from her face. She still felt frightened and confused, but was starting to calm down.
Leah turned back removed a large lid from the top of the cart then set a plate full of food in front of Sara and laid out the silverware.
"Eat." Leah prodded gently, but in a motherly tone that brooked no nonsense.
Sara didn't realize just how starving she was until she obediently took the first bite. It was delicious! Just like home, but somehow even better. Her stomach rumbled, but she ignored it, forgetting her fear for the moment.
"I invited you here because I believe that you can provide a service for me and that I can also help you. The other night was partially for my pleasure, and yours of course, and partially to give you a taste of the life that awaits you." Leah explained as Sara ate.
At that, Sara frowned.
Service? A taste of the life?
She stopped eating suddenly.
