Terri woke, blinking at the ceiling, her body chilled before realizing she was laying naked on a bed, no sheet covering her, an IV in her arm. She looked around to see a room like a doctor's office. She sighed, wondering what was going on.
The door opened, a freckled faced woman about five feet tall in a lab coat entering to walk to Terri. She had out two fingers.
"How many fingers am I holding out?"
"In human form, two. If you were in your usual alien form, about a hundred."
The woman smiled.
"Nice to see you back, Terri. What's the last thing you remember?"
"Clearly? I was on a jog when a dart hit me and now I'm awake here. Everything else is a dream."
"Tell me about the dream."
She helped Terri to a sitting position, holding her as a wave of dizziness passed. Terri told her about waking in a metal box, in a metal room, with a large screen always on and facing her, the soft voice always talking, and the figures in cloaks who put in appearances.
Terri looked at her bruised and skinned knees and sighed.
"It wasn't a dream, was it, Debbie?"
Debbie took vital signs from her as she related seeing the kidnapping occur in the park, going to the Gregors to have them trace the van. Once it was shown Terri was led out of the van and taken indoors, they did a deep dive on the operation there, Debbie getting eight cameras and going into Terri's house to install them.
They couldn't do much in the two and a half weeks Terri lived behind the walls, but they could arrange a visit when the cameras gave proof of what Angie was up to.
"Angie?"
"Redhead with a snake tattoo on her left hand. Has a lot of job changes in her history until she started working for Dan and then got into an affair with him. You do remember thinking your fiancé was doing the wrong tango?"
"I remember. Is that why I was taken to my own house in my own car?"
"Yep, Angie is a bitch, but why pay rent if the man you're with is willing to let you have it all for no rent? Dan's always been a bit of a push over."
"Something I liked as he wouldn't argue with my decisions."
Debbie removed the IV, picked up a backpack and set it on the bed. Terri opened it to see her clothes inside, getting off the bed to get dressed. She wasn't embarrassed to be naked in front of Debbie or getting dressed. They had been best friends for years, developing busts together and learning about blood cycles every month. They were past embarrassment while still in middle school when taking showers after gym class. The only difference was Debbie going lesbian early, while Terri stayed straight. Batting for the other team didn't affect the friendship.
"Of course, now that I'm back, he might find he won't like my decisions. I might even sell his crap and offer him money to get lost."
Debbie laughed as she watched Terri slip a tee shirt over her head.
"You might want to change your mind on that. I'm not telling you the rest so you can make your own judgement."
Debbie filled her in on more as they went to Terri's house, Terri aware she had been brain manipulated when kept captive. She looked at Debbie as they stood in the front room, the wine glass still on the coaster.
"Why manipulate my brain? She already had my fiancé, why do this to me?"
"From what the cameras showed, she thought Dan was the primary breadwinner. She quickly found out he's lousy with money, you controlled it all to get his credit score up and left no passwords so she could steal what she wanted. She just needed to break you so you'd give her the money so she could pay some dark web people to assist."
An Uber pulled up outside, a woman getting out, removing a carryon just as the car started driving away. The woman didn't look up as she rolled the carryon up the driveway and into the garage. The women moved from the front room to the kitchen, Debbie all smiles, Terri confused.
The woman entered the kitchen, jerking to a halt as she saw them.
Debbie grinned, said 'watch this' softly before looking at the figure before them. Terri realized it was her fiancé, all dressed up, including a wig.
"Is this the position for an inferior to use when around Superiors?"
Dan quickly went to his knees, the carryon rocking slightly before remaining upright. The eyes were lowered, the makeup not hiding the shock on the face.
"Who are you and why are you here?" Debbie demanded.
"Superior, its name is Danni, and it is a maid for the Superior of the house."
"No, it is simply a maid, not worthy of a name. So far, neither of us see any reason to keep it around. It's attitude sucks."
Terri stared at Debbie, the normally easygoing person now demanding in tones Terri never heard her use before. Not even in their rare arguments as teens.
Before it could apologize, Debbie slapped it.
