Thanks again for your continued support whilst writing this. Your comments, votes and feedback are always hugely appreciated.
I apologise that again this has been slow to release. Whilst I write this, I have several other short and longer stories on the go, it's just the way my brain works unfortunately. Many never make it to publication, but I enjoy writing them.
Reminder to new readers that this is part of a longer series and doesn't particularly work as standalone.
Happy fapping,
G
Music I listened to writing this chapter:
Mr Sandman, SYML
Paradise Circus, Massive Attack
Angel, Massive Attack
Spanish Sahara, Foals
Chapter 9. Hope
The music pounded in Joni's ears, the repetitive beat jarringly out of rhythm with the heavy thud of her heart against her breast.
2's club looked a little different to Henri's. The 'show' with Sato should have given her an inkling, as the whole place was much more whips and chains than the red velvet and gold she was used to in Kletka. Her uniform thankfully was a similar dark vinyl dress, slick to her curves, and when Joni looked around at the dancers, wearing little more than nipple clamps and latex, she was thankful to be so covered up.
"You're on cleanup for now."
The short severe women that was in charge had barked orders at Joni from the moment she had arrived. She had translucently pale skin which made her look sickly when next to the thin line of merlot lipstick that she wore.
"Table 3. Now."
Despite the change of scenery, the night went the same as any other she had worked in Kletka. She mopped up dirty tables, handed out drinks, and all while avoiding the jeers and gropes of the lairy customers. One thing that felt different however was an unsettling feeling that followed Joni around the whole night. It was the prickle of the hairs at the back of her neck that told her she was watched.
She had felt the feeling once before. In the alley the night they had abducted her. Ghostly fingers reaching out for her, getting closer each second but never quite getting a grasp. It followed her around the club, and she couldn't shake the feeling even when she had retreated behind the bar to empty one of the dishwashers.
"Miss?"
Joni looked up to see an older man with sharp frown lines cutting down the sides of his mouth. She stood up and plastered her smile back on.
"How can I help?"
"Maybe it's me who can help you."
His words had been said before to her in the Fort. In jeering tones usually accompanied by a hand on her arse. But this man was different. His eyes darted from either end of the bar and he cast a glance over her shoulder before giving a curt nod and holding out his empty glass. Wrapped around the cut crystal was one of the clubs dark napkins, seemingly folded with great care. The man was careful not to lose it as he passed the glass over, and then he was gone.
"Table 18 wants another round."
The manager barked at her and before she realised what she had done, Joni had tucked the scrap of dark tissue under the tight hem of her dress. For the remainder of her shift it sat safely nestled against her thigh.
When she had finally been allowed to finish, she had almost forgotten it, and as she had pulled up the dress in the bathroom the napkin had fluttered out and fell to the dirty tiled floor between her feet. She stood on it firmly, looking over her shoulder in the hopes that she was out of view for the cameras, or that the surveillance guy had been too absorbed in something else at that moment. Crouching low and confident that she couldn't be seen, she picked it up and unfolded it, turning it over in her hands hastily to find the hidden note. In the top right corner were three small words.
*Our room nine*
Joni's eyes scanned it once more before she flushed it away, watching it swirl helplessly in the water before being engulfed and disappearing down into the pipes.
Her heart swelled. Before Joni's thoughts could darken, and before the fear crept up, she allowed herself one fleeting moment of girlish joy at his words. He had called it 'their room'. A warmth crept up her stomach and settled in her chest, next to the gentle flutter of her heart. Her thoughts however inevitably flicked back to the unsettling feeling of being watched, and it crossed her mind that it could be a cruel trick by 2. Had they found out about the white room? Tracked Henri going there? Or worse still, had they spied Joni sneaking in and found her note? She hadn't recognised the man who had passed on the message, but then again wouldn't that be the point? It would have been foolish of Henri to send someone so easily tracked back to himself.
Joni was running out of options, and felt that she had to take a chance on this. When else would Henri have the opportunity to get another message to her? He had impressed upon her the danger they both faced, and that they had eyes on them now, creeping ever closer. How long before they figured it out? How long before they got to the Italian couple? Or the doctor? Or Marnie? Tears threatened to spill over at the thought of her friend in 2's office, being asked questions she couldn't or wouldn't answer. Patting her face with the back of her hand, she took a deep breath.
- - -
Joni had taken a less direct route to the white room that night. Following on from Doctor J's directions, she had avoided the main corridors and found herself safely at the door at 8:58. She knew because the time was lit up against the blue background of the keypad on the door. Pressing in the code, she pushing the door openly firmly, her racing heart seeming to quieten at the proximity to him.
He stood with his back to her as she entered, broad shoulders stretching the white cotton of his shirt. His hair was a unkempt mass of dark waves, and as he turned she saw the shadow of stubble against his chin. Finally Henri's eyes caught hers as they so often did, and she fell willingly into the icy blue depths of them.
"Thank god."
In three long strides he reached Joni. Throwing his arms around her back he pressed her in, enveloping her tightly into the warmth of his chest. She could feel the heavy pounding of his heart against her ear.
"I wasn't sure you'd make it...I've got a trusted guard taking the next shift at your dorm, so we have some time...but thank fuck you came."
Joni couldn't seem to find the words for what she wanted to say. It had been only days since she had seen him last, but so much had happened since then, and those days seemed to have stretched into years in her mind. For that moment, she allowed herself to simply be held. She reached her fingers around and reminded herself of the taut stretches of muscle up his back. She trailed those fingers down and felt the firm curve of flesh under his belt. Everything south clenched deliciously, awoken by the heat of his embrace.
"Joni..." Henri pulled away, pushing her to arms length and searching her face nervously.
"What's going on with 2. I can't see the camera footage from her office, so I'm in the dark here. Are you working for her now? That's what your note said? They just took you off my books, no explanation."
Joni nodded, clearing her throat quietly to speak.
"She knows something's going on. She couldn't trust us to be so close I think...she's trying to get it out of me. She's threatened me but nothing worse yet."
"Fuck. It's only going to get worse Joni. She won't let this lie now. She'll be pushing your sale through, but she'll make your life hell while she can I'm sure. I don't think she forgave you for that shit with Verity or Felicity or whatever her name was, and now she's pretty sure you're helping me...I can't protect you from her now."
"I met the buyer."
Henri pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed, his jaw clenching violently.
"Piece of shit isn't he...I...I saw you in the club...with him...on the cameras. Fucking hell Joni. I couldn't do a thing to stop it. I'm so sorry. If I'd have turned up, 2 would have all the evidence she needed to have us both finished. I was pushing back the sale while I could, saying we needed more documents for you, but...I don't know."
He pressed his fingers into his temples firmly and sighed. He looked tired down to his very bones, and Joni felt an unexpected sadness for him. Although he was far from an angel in this place, she had to remind herself that he too had been a victim. She shook off the dark thoughts that followed.
"The cameras...were you always watching?"
"What do you mean?"
"You always had a habit of turning up just when I needed it. The drunk guy that time, the thing with Verity, and then a couple of times in the club. I knew you watched me on the cameras, but I just wondered...how much you saw? Everything?"
"I watched whenever I could yes. Shit...you didn't always make it easy for me Joni. Running off whenever you got the chance. Bad luck seems to find you, even more than most here..but yes. I watched. I listened to conversations you had with Marnie and I tried to follow you in the club...make sure you were safe. Don't go back to that security checkpoint you found. It's just about the hardest place to leave from...When I could I cut the feed to the main surveillance desk, so only I saw you, but I couldn't always. You've been discreet though so it's fine...most of the time anyway."
The corner of his mouth turned up at that moment, and his eyes darkened to a deep ocean blue.
"There was one occasion I can think of when you were less than discreet."
His hand reached out across the bed and his long fingers toyed with hers playfully. Joni's cheeks burned a scarlet red and she felt the familiar stirring of arousal beginning in her stomach. Her eyelashes fluttered up innocently at him.
"Oh really?"
"Yes...I think you know exactly what I mean."
He edged his body closer to hers as his fingers crept up the goose-bumped skin of her arm.
"What were you thinking? You could have had every guard In this place watching you" He purred, his face leaning in and mouth pressed against her neck now. His other hand traced small circles up the skin of her bared thigh. Despite the disapproval in his words, his tone was filled with nothing but a deep aching desire.
Joni's mind flashed back to her actions in the toilet stall so long ago, after Henri had revealed his true intentions to her. The dizzying heat in his first kiss still clung to Joni's lips that very day.
"Was it for me? Your little show?" He leaned back to ask the question, bringing his eyes in line with hers.
Joni's breath was heavy now and her skin had warmed under his touch. His words were like lighter fluid, igniting her where she sat. She didn't need to nod, his question was rhetorical. How could her show have been for anyone else.
"I thought so...I saw it all. Fuck Joni. When I was in here with you...before you knew it was me...it was perfect, but I think I still needed you to want ME that way, the real me. Not the 'white knight' as you so ironically put it. Then that night in my office...and seeing you doing that afterward...looking up at the camera...looking straight at me...fuck. I wanted nothing more than to run straight to that bathroom and fuck you against the stall door. Bury myself in you as deep as I could and feel you come apart around me. At that moment I wouldn't have cared who heard us. I only wanted to hear you scream my name."
Joni marvelled at how he could switch in an instant to this mentality. One second he could seem stern and anxious, and the next that dark predatory look washed over his face. The one that set her pulse racing and started the gentle tingling in her palms. She wondered if this was a relic from his time as a slave, knowing herself how important it was to compartmentalise yourself in this place.
