CW: Mind control, Dollification, Non-Consent, Capture, Substances, Impact, Knives. All characters are adults.
Spare the Rod
Time has no meaning anymore. I try to count the tea parties, but I have no sense of how long they last. There is no night, no clear rhythm to mark the passing of the days. Each time I drink the tea the sun is already shining and eventually consciousness slips away, but I wake only during daylight hours. Sometimes I have clothes to wear and sometimes I have none. Sometimes my dress is changed several times in an hour just to suit the man's fancy. My body is bruised and aching from being clumsily tossed around and the different colored splotches on my skin seem to be the only indication that any time has passed at all.
I stretch in the bed under the coarse cotton blanket I've finally been allowed and rub the sleep from my eyes. I could have sworn that the blanket was yellow, but now I see that it is clearly green. My head spins for a moment and I realize as I sit up that the man has moved the bed to wall facing the door. I don't dwell on this long. The tea plays tricks with my mind.
The man is never here when I wake and I have no expectation that this day, if it even is a new day, will be any different when I rise. I lift myself slowly out of bed, my feet finding the cool wooden floor. The armoire holds a burnt orange robe today and I gently tug it on. Many of the clothing items he has given me are in autumn shades and slightly too large for my petite frame. I suspect that they once belonged to
Madmoiselle PΓͺche
, and as the delirium takes a hold of me, I think that Ana should have named her Miss Pumpkin Spice.
I sigh and reach for the door. There is no help for it. I'll need to eat if I'm to maintain my strength and can only hope I'll eventually begin to develop a tolerance to the tea. I cross the threshold and then collapse against the doorframe, a wave of vertigo nearly taking my legs from under me. My heart begins to race and I grapple for orientation.
The structural layout of the cabin is identical, but the color of the blanket and position of the beds aren't the only things that have changed. The aged vintage loveseat that I'd become accustomed to seeing the man sit on during tea has been replaced by a pair of wing chairs, upholstered in forest green, and a small cafΓ© table. Turning to glance across the room the I notice that the hideous mounted deer head on the wall has been replaced by a sensual rendering of a nude woman on her knees, facing away from the viewer, and that an abstract area rug in shades of cocoa lines the floor.
"A bit disconcerting, isn't it?" the man remarks from the kitchen. The scent of freshly baked muffins begins to tempt my empty belly as he continues his monologue and I continue my stunned stare. "The cabins are the pre-fab sort that you can just order and drop down on a parcel of land. I got a deal on them when I purchased the pair." It begins to dawn on me that it is possible I've been moved to a new location during an episode of drug induced stupor. "They're actually quite identical, other than the furniture and the unique remote locations, but at least you won't have to sit on the floor during tea anymore," he chuckles.
My heart begins to sink. It won't matter how many days have passed if I've been moved again and this man has significant resources at his disposal. He could have a number of hideaways purchased with cash or under alternate names. "It's been twelve days little darling," the man breaks the silence again. "I'm starting to worry about you developing a ketamine dependence and so I've worked out a solution." The hairs on the back of my neck begin to prickle and stand at attention as he moves towards me.