A/N: Sorry it took me so long to submit this, I was caught up in the drama that is house hunting. The good news is I found a place, the bad news is that I will be dropping off the face of the planet (again) in about a month. Hopefully I will be able to get a couple of chapters in before then. Again, sorry. I always hated when authors stop mid series, how sad I have become one of them...
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Emma awoke to the sensation of her warm, comfortable queen-sized bed. "God" She groaned "what a dream." she thought groggily. "No, what a nightmare!" she amended. "And right before my camping trip. Great."
Emma snuggled deeper in her covers, trying to shake off the memories of the nightmare. It seemed so real. After a dream like that she debated just rolling over and getting some real sleep instead of getting up and going on her backpacking trip. Unfortunately her bladder had other plans.
With a groan, she rolled onto her back and opened her eyes, promptly shutting them when the bright morning sun got in her eyes. "Owww..." She thought "Did I forget to shut my blackout curtains last night?" She slowly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling though slit eyelids, trying to adjust to the bright light. "Wait, my ceiling isn't blue..." She raised her head to look around her and spotted the large wooden post that led to the canopy that hung above her bed. She sat up quickly in shock, her bladder protesting loudly "I don't have a canopy bed, or a 4 post bed for that matter. What the hell?"
She took a better look around the room, noting the antique looking furniture, the huge fireplace in the corner and the paintings on the wall. It was like stepping back to Victorian England. "Either I'm still dreaming or I've gone back in time." Emma thought wildly. She reached down to pinch her thigh, hard. "Yep I'm awake. Where the hell am I?"
A piece of paper on her nightstand caught her attention. She opened it in hopes it will give her the answers and reads:
Hello,
Our names are Peter and Jane MacDougall. We are the alphas of our pack and you are in our compound. You are safe. We have eliminated all members of the rogue pack that kidnapped you and the other girls. We have no intention of harming you or forcing you into doing anything you don't want to. We thought this letter would be less intimidating than us waiting by your bedside to greet you. Your friends are also safe. They each have their own rooms in this hallway. Feel free to come and go as you please. Attached is a map of your suite and the wing to which you girls are located.
We look forward to meeting you in person. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at the number listed below.
P & J
Emma contemplated the letter, deciding whether she was really free or if this was simply a nicer cage for them to hold her. Soon, more pressing issues arose, causing Emma to open random doors in search of her supposed en-suite bathroom, quickly bypassing the walk-in closet that seemed to be jammed pack with clothes to locate the, hallelujah, washroom.
After taking care of her needs, Emma finally noticed her surroundings. "Is that supposed to be the bathtub or a small pool?" She mused, also taking in the shower in the corner that was about the size of her bathroom at home. She debated a shower vs. a bath and settled on the shower, promising herself she will luxuriate in the tub at a later date. She was anxious to check on the other girls, to make sure they were being treated fairly.
She cranks the tap all the way to hot, excited for her first warm shower in 5 years. She closes her eyes and revels in the steamy air moving in and out of her lungs. As she steps into the shower, the water drenches her waist length curly hair, causing it to straighten all the way to the top of her butt cheeks. She hasn't cut her hair in 5 years and it showed in the large rats nest and split ends throughout her hair. It was tradition for all new "toys" to be shaved bald when they first enter the house, a way of determining rank (i.e. how long they've been there). She was always conscious of the looks of awe and fear that crossed the newbies faces whenever she first introduced herself. It was her duty as "alpha" to welcome all the new girls and introduce the rules. Any girl that forgot or disobeyed a rule would be reflected on Emma, because obviously she did not teach them properly.
"Well maybe if I'm so free, they will let me cut my hair." Emma thought as she dumped a handful of shampoo into her hair, lathering and rinsing the grease and dirt out. There was less than expected. "Hmm...they must have bathed me when I was..." Emma realization that her so called rescuers had sedated her causes a flash of anger and pain. Anger because they had sedated her, pain because they had lied to her about her being free. If they truly wanted her free, they would have just left her there to make it back to society on her own, they wouldn't have felt the need to sedate her so they could transport her to a new location.
She sighs, simply accepting this new development. She will look for an escape route soon but right now she is going to enjoy her hot shower. The ice baths the girls endured at the house will forever leave her with the fear of drowning and hypothermia.
Stepping out of the bathroom, she cased her room for possible escape routes. She quickly ditches the plan off the balcony, not because they are on the 3
rd
floor but because there is a motion detector camera pointed at the balcony. They would know the moment she steps on the balcony. Thankfully there are no cameras mounted in the room or in the bathroom. They're not blatant perverts at least. It's a step up from their previous jailers.
Reaching the door to the hallway, she places her ear to the door, trying to detect anyone waiting for her to come out in order to attack. Nothing. She opens the door a crack and peers out. No movement. She does however spot the camera at the end of the hall, pointing at their doors.
Taking a risk, Emma uses her fist to pound hard on the door frame 3 times. With this signal she hopes to catch the attention of the other girls without drawing the attention of their new captors. After some tense moments, she is rewarded with the scrape of doors being gently opened and 2 sets of blue-grey eyes peering at her from across the hall and one set of bright green eyes staring kiddie corner to her door. They wait silently for the sounds of approaching feet, notifying them that her signal has been heard and her captors are on their way to stop them. Nothing. The camera must not have a microphone.
"Ice and Lois is that you?" She whispers to the girls across the hall, still not wanting to risk being heard. Both girls nod their head. "Lil' is next to us and Doc is next to you." Lena responds, nodding her head in their directions.
"Where's Suzy?"
Emma's question is met with stony silence.
"Ummm" She hears Lil's voice pipe up from her left. "She committed suicide. Jumped off the balcony when we first got here."
"That's why they installed cameras on the balconies and why they don't like us going out on the balcony. You go out and within a minute, you have one of them knocking on the door asking if everything is ok." Alice adds.
Emma's guilty conscience sags further under the load that another girl put under her care is now dead from senseless violence. "She didn't even have a nickname yet." She whines.
Suzy didn't have a nickname yet because she hadn't been around long enough. Most of the girls gained their nicknames after the group discovered some identifying personality trait that stood out. Lena was Lois because she won't stop asking questions and she still holds hope that somebody will rescue them. Alice was Ice because she distances herself from her situation by sitting perfectly still by the lone window in the cell, living in her fantasy world. Emma was B which stood for Boss. Lil's real name is Liliana so her nickname wasn't much of a stretch. The girls always made sure they pronounced her nickname clearly so that it wouldn't be confused with "Little One". Their nicknames were kept secret from the men who kept them prisoner. The basement was their refuge from the corny pet names the men called them. Doc will never be able to hear the endearment "Darling" without having a horrendous flashback to her induction ceremony.
"It's not your fault." All 4 girls chime in.
"God," Mumbles Lena, "You weren't even there. You couldn't have stopped her."
"I should have been." Grouses Emma. "I promised all of you that I would always be there for you."
"And what would you have done when Suzy decided to take the flying leap off the balcony?" Alice asks. "Contrary to popular belief, you can't fly and we would have lost both of you. It would have caused more pain and emotional damage to lose our leader."
Emma stuck her tongue out at Alice and was met by 3 tongues sticking back at her. She could only guess Doc was sticking her tongue out too, she couldn't see her.
"Wait," Doc speaks up "What if they can hear us and are faking it so that they can eavesdrop on us?"
All the girls sober up at the thought. Switching into their own personal sign language Emma motions the girls to come into her room to talk. She watches as Alice relays the message to Doc. Having to design their own sign language was made necessary for them to communicate with Doc.
Doc's form of torture caused her to go partially deaf. The men would scream directly in her ear when she was in the process of sewing up their injuries. They apparently were teaching her how to keep focus in a loud and distracting environment. If she lost focus, they would beat her and leave her in a room with death metal on full blast. It was so loud it would shake the foundation and leave the girls in the basement covered in cement dust. Doc learned quickly never to lose focus.
Nowadays, she can hear people, for the most part, when they talk at a normal volume but if they whisper she can't hear or understand them. She is learning to lip read but whispering causes the words to distort so she can't be sure she knows that they are saying.
All the girls file into her room and with a last look at the hallways camera, Emma closes the door.
"Ok... So how long have I been out and what's been going on?" Emma says as she settles into one of the comfy chairs in front of the fireplace.
"You've been out 3 days and apart from the suicide and the camera installation they've pretty much left us alone." Lena speaks up, taking the other fireside seat.
"They deliver meals 3 times a day and we can order food whenever we want." Alice adds, stepping behind her sister.
"We met the alphas. They seem really nice." Lil' says as she flops onto the bed "Aww man your bed is comfier than mine." She whines.
"They haven't questioned us about what happened in the house. I think they were waiting for you to come to." Doc finishes as she flops onto the bed next to Lil'.
"Wait you actually eat what they serve you? What if it's drugged?"
"It's not drugged. I would know." Lil' snaps, offended that Emma would think she would let the others eat drugged food.
"I don't doubt you Lil', I just don't know how much we can trust these guys." Emma says, trying to soothe Lil's bruised ego.
