When she was alone, it was easier to ignore her situation. Before they had taken her, she had been dwelling on a homework problem for school, walking slowly with her head down and music blasting in her eyes, almost in a different world. If she had to guess, she would say she had probably been their easiest catch ever. She was certain she wasn't their first, having seen the rows of doors similar to the one they closed on her.
Every time the men left her, she would remember where she was in the proof and continue with it. So far she had come up with a few trains of thought that seemed promising, but she was having trouble with the ending, especially without paper and pencil to keep track of everything. Still, between the mathematics and the singing, she was staying sane and keeping her hopes up.
She would get out of this, she decided. All she needed to do was rely on cold hard logic, stay realistic, and always expect the worst. She knew what they wanted of her, and she had done her best to give it to them. All of her punishments so far had been given for mistakes rather than disobedience, and her first "Master", Caleb, had been a cold, practical man, who was satisfied when she obeyed.
Her plan was to be perfectly obedient and docile, pliable for whoever came to her room. Escape wasn't going to happen here. She was too isolated, too disoriented to get out of a place like this. She had no idea where she was in the world. The only place she had seen in the compound was the hall where her cell was and the bathrooms where she was washed every other day.
Once she was sold, once she was trusted by her "owner", she would have a far better chance. Hopefully, she would be sold to someone in the US or Europe. She knew Italian and a little bit of Spanish and French, Her mother's side of the family was from Bologna, after all. Even a far-east Asian country might be alright. She learned Mandarin and a hint of Korean from high school and independent interest. Her greatest fear was that she might be sold to someone in an Arabic or African country--or the worst option, Russia--but she would cross that bridge when she came to it.
After this new man had left--Alex was his name--her mind couldn't focus on math or music or her plan. Everything was in jeopardy now because he, among all of the men she had interacted with in three weeks, had seen through her charade. He hadn't been fooled for a minute.
Damn her singing! For the first three weeks, she had been content with singing in her head and humming quietly, but the screams of the other girls had started to get to her, and she needed to drown out their noise with her own. She thought she had been quiet enough to go unnoticed, but clearly that was not the case.
Her new "Master", Alex, was different than Caleb had been; warmer, more alive, and she saw the spark of intelligence in his eyes that she had not seen in any of the others. He was much older than her, probably in his early forties--though she had always been a terrible judge of age. And observant. She could tell that straight away. He was soft spoken, and he wouldn't hit her unnecessarily, which was something she had feared, but he was worse than the others. He had made her sing, and for the first time, she had felt violated. She had cried, which wasn't good. She had also gone insane and spoken back to him, which was worse.
He would be planning something to 'break' her, as he so endearingly put it, so she had to come up with a counter to maintain the possibility of duping him into letting his guard down. She needed to predict what he would do to achieve that.
What would she do? If she were keeping someone against their will and had to really break their mind without beating it into them, how would she go about it? Whether Stockholm Syndrome was real or something Hollywood had made up, it was the only thing that popped into her head. Bonding with her captor. If he tried to make that happen, she could easily let him think it was working. But she would go further than that. Love was a difficult thing to fake, but she had no other option.
In what she assumed was the morning, She lay on her bed in the robe he had brought her. It was a Chinese style red silk with golden dragons and green lotuses. It wasn't warm, but it was nice to be covered up. The jug of water was sitting under one armpit, and she was grateful for at least one of the repercussions of her singing.
Over all, she felt comfortable and with a plan of action in mind, she felt slightly less nervous about her new "Master". She wasn't happy; in fact, she was furious. She had been orally and anally raped over and over for three weeks. The only reason they hadn't taken the last part of her virginity was because it drove her price up. But she could feel the hatred in her heart and it gave her strength and hope. She saw every single man who had entered her room over the past three weeks and imagined their deaths. It brought a smile to her face for a second.
The door was unlocked with a loud echoing clang, and she jumped from the bed, throwing off the robe and sitting on her knees on the floor. If it was Alex, the robe wouldn't be offensive, but if it was one of the testers, they would expect her to be naked.
He entered the room. She could see Alex in her peripheral vision since her eyes were downcast. "Look at me," he ordered. Her eyes flew up, and she saw a teasing smile on his face. "Whenever I enter this room, you'll look at me directly. Not like with the testers."
"Yes, Master," she said, fighting off the urge to roll her eyes, as she always did when she used the title. She kept her voice quiet and pitched it up from her normal tone. It sounded more pathetic that way. Looking at him, she noticed he had a stack of paper in his hands.
"Stand," he said. She obeyed and he turned on the overhead lights and walked over to her. The sudden bright light made her cringe for a moment, but she tried to open her eyes as soon as possible. He was standing in front of her, showing her the papers. They were filled with music. The first song was "Misty", which she already knew by heart. She looked up at him with questioning eyes, hoping he would see a combination of confusion and gratefulness in her expression. "You will learn all of this music. It will be more of a classic repertoire, catering to my tastes as well as some things that will increase your price. Let me know if any of it is inappropriate for your voice."
She looked down at the music and then back up at him, pretending to be at a loss for words before she said, "Yes, Master."
He grinned and set the music on the nightstand. "Did you not like your robe?" he asked. Her back was to him, but she could tell he was looming over her shoulder.
"No, Master, I do like it," she said. "I thought you might prefer to see me naked."
She heard him chuckle. "You were right," he said. "But I find something so tantalizing about removing a woman's clothes. Like unwrapping a present. When I enter, you will be wearing it for me to take off."
"Yes, Master," she said.
"Good," he said. "You'll be happy to hear that I've called off the testers. I'm the only person who is going to touch you from now on. How does that make you feel?"
What did he want to hear? Should she be happy that she was all his, or disappointed that she didn't get to service more men? "I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn from you one-on-one, Master," she said. She had said something similar in a seminar class at college once. Sans "Master".
He laughed out loud, a huge booming sound. "Good answer." He started playing with her nipples, which she had to admit she did enjoy. Pleasure was pleasure no matter what the circumstances. Besides, she could tell he liked it when she played to his touch. She blinked slowly and let the tingles sweep through her while keeping her head forward. He circled her and she looked into his eyes. She could tell even in the dark that they were blue. "On your knees," he said. "Time to feed you."