As Tomas finished his session with the remaining neighbors, the square slowly emptied. Jane and Tia took Sarah to the edge of the lawn, under the giant peach tree that provided shade. As they settled down, Jane couldn't help but notice a glimmer of curiosity in Sarah's eyes.
"So what happened after Tomas left?" Sarah asked Jane. "Why didn't you try to escape?"
Jane sighed heavily, her piercing blue eyes gazing at the lush greenery surrounding them. "It wasn't that simple, Sarah. Early on I tried. And new Recruits often try. But the reality is that now none of us want to escape. We love the Neighborhood. The benefits of it are great versus the outside world."
"What exactly are the benefits?" Sarah asked skeptically. With a knowing smile, Jane replied, "Firstly, you'll never need to worry about finding a job again. There's no economy, no currency, and no competition. Every basic necessity is taken care of, including food, clothing, and shelter. If there's anything we want, we ask Tomas and he does his best to make it happen."
"Secondly, we don't age. We remain eternally youthful. No more wrinkles, no more gray hairs, and certainly no more aches and pains. Heidi was recruited from a doctor's office kind of like you. Turns out she has stage 4 cancer. With immediate aggressive chemo and radiation she might have lived a year. That was 11 years ago."
"Well that's kinda right," Tia jumped in. "Or at least that's what we think, we don't exactly know. I mean, we are sure something is happening to affect our aging but we aren't positive exactly how it works. Jane, here, looks 25. But really she's 45! She was Recruited 20 years ago when she was just 25. We all can see some sort of aging is affected. But we think that aging hasn't stopped exactly. More like it's being held back.
Last year Mercs left the Neighborhood for a month. She's been living here for 12 years. When she came back, she looked like she aged 5 years. She said that after a couple days she could actually feel it happening to her. If Heidi left it could be pretty instant death."
"Maybe for me too," said Jane, "Who knows what badness has built up in me over the past 20 years that's being held back by the Neighborhood."
"But that doesn't mean I need to Pledge and become his toy."
"Actually, it only happens to Pledged Neighbors. That's something we don't understand. Helle held out Pledging for nearly a year. She was 37 at the time and over that year you could see gray in her hair start coming in. After she Pledged it stopped changing. Didn't go back, mind you. But her aging stopped. She's still lovely, by the way."
"Tia, there, is Bi. She doesn't get Free Use of everyone like Tomas does but several Neighbors, including Helle, like a little variation too."
"Also Recruits don't get Neighbors' food and you don't get your own place. The whole Neighborhood is inside, so you don't have to worry about the weather being outside at night, but eating rations 3 times a day is just yuck."
As they continued talking Sarah started to become a little conflicted. The idea of eternal life, forever young, was something people literally dream for. But she couldn't stand the idea of that kidnapper touching her. But he did have some undeniable magnetic attraction. And somehow everyone seems to have come to accept or like him. She didn't know what her future held. Is escape really impossible? Would she be here forever? At some point will she give in?
Every day Tomas would come to Sarah. He would stand before her and ask her to Pledge. Every day she said "No." At first defiantly and emphatically. Each day her tone softened ever so slightly. Each time Tomas simply replied "Ok" or "I understand." He stayed true to his word that he didn't touch her while she didn't Pledge. She expected anger in return and was prepared for it. She could always see he was aroused when he finally arrived before her.