I tried a few half- hearted escapes, for my mind's sake, but I knew I'd at least get a new location. Breck took it with little emotion. I was a bit itchy from the skin drying soap he'd used to scrub me clean. I was boarded into a small plane with no windows and plenty of unfriendly women. The whole thing was carpeted and there were couches bolted to the floor. Two Asian men took possession of me and set me down on the nearest couch.
Breck smiled and said, "What? No gratuity?"
The two men looked at each other and then back at him. The women moved close to me and gave a half-smile as I was given a jacket and a blanket to cover my baggy t-shirt and shorts. They both ushered him quickly off of the plane and gave a signal for the girls to be seated. The women squeezed in next to me and fastened my belt for me.
The men spoke with familiarity in a foreign language and ignored everyone else as the plane took off. By the way that they glanced casually at me, I knew the majority of the conversation was of me. I was offered a pillow and rested with my head back for the hours that we were together.
The women turned out to be nice and of many ethnicities. They were admitted prostitutes in the employ of the master; whoever that was. Their smiles and low giggles were a bit unnerving, but they did their best to make me comfortable. I was managing to have conversations with each woman, though at times I didn't know what I was saying to make them so at ease.
Toward the end of the flight, the men got up from their side of the plane and gave the girls a short command. They stiffened and looked away from me. I looked up at the two and they seemed surprised that I would make eye contact. The lead one took my hand and turned it to expose my palm. He ran his hand up my arm until I pulled myself from his grasp. He smirked and made a comment to his partner. I felt something was happening, that I didn't understand. They reseated themselves and spoke on a phone. We landed quickly, and I was moved through a series of walled corridors. The man that had taken an interest in my arm gripped my elbow and held me back from the group.
"What is your trick?" He boldly asked.
"Trick?" I wasn't sure what he was saying.
"You spoke so freely with the girls. What did you do to them?"
"I..." I instantly knew the truth, that I didn't know what he was talking about. I just thought they were friendly, sort of. When I looked at him as innocently as I could, he moved me back in with the others.
We were loaded into a van and driven through a big city. There were all sorts of people on the street. I couldn't figure out where we were. I think they did it on purpose. The vehicle finally turned onto a small road and then a smaller drive until we came to a steel gate. The thing hinged open and the van rolled into a tight garage area in front of a small house. It seemed overgrown with trees and prickly bushes.
I doubted that half of us could fit in the tiny place, but then I turned the corner and saw the rest of the place. It was a home built into the side of a hill with various levels of glass clad spaces. We were herded through the kitchen and down into a padded hallway. Each girl went to her respective room along this corridor until it came to me.
The two men showed me to a small cubicle with a bed and a low table facing back toward the door. The leader pointed to the door and told me to remember it. I then noticed that all of the doors were subtly different in color. Mine was the ocean blue door with the purple lettering. 'Ocean blue with purple lettering,' I thought to myself. It was definitely a beautiful script but I couldn't read it. I was led to a broad tiled pool. There were several very beautiful women all over the place. I felt immediately odd. A raisin in the rice pudding came to mind. I was allowed to slip into a shower and wash myself for the first time in a few months. I tried not to imagine the feeling of Breck or Mike washing my skin. My skin was so ashy dry that I just let the water flow over me. I felt my nappy hair and washed it out. I tried to finger comb it, but it hadn't been combed for weeks. I was escorted back to my room and I dropped down on the bed to sleep.
*
He'd watched from a distance when she was unloaded from the plane. She crouched low and curved her back to match the height of one of the men. Everything about her screamed submission. Except for the way that she looked at his man. The unflinching gaze was rewarded with a shove toward the van. He slid into his car and rolled in ahead of the lead car. The extra security would make sure that she was protected from the prying eyes of the city.
Once she was at the compound, she didn't raise up once. She really had spent the entire time on her back. He would have to get her swimming to stretch her constricted back muscles. He walked down to her room and kneeled next to her as she slept. She'd pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. He marveled at her ability to sleep in this constricted way. It possibly had been the only way that she could sleep peacefully. He would allow her to sleep for as long as she needed to, then he would start to acclimatize her back to normal life.
***
Rousseau traced a pattern in the condensed water off of his glass of vodka. The people he'd requested an hour ago, strolled in casually. Dominic was allowed in as he held Lucy's hand. Jimmy followed and held the door for Sheila, the petite blond pacifier that had been screwing the bouncers. They joked and smiled with each other until Rousseau slammed down his glass.
"Sit!" He barked.
They all dropped to a chair with their eyes diverted from his.
"A continent, Lucy," he smoothly ordered.
She closed her eyes and then opened them quickly. "She doesn't know. She was on a plane. She's very tired. She didn't even give me a fight to get into her brain."
"Damn you. I know," he grumbled as he sat back in his chair.
Dominic moved to defend her and was stopped by Rousseau's raised hand.
"You are no longer needed," the red head growled. "I appreciate your concern, but I won't kill her."
A stifling silence continued until Dom was out of the room. James immediately moved to stand next to Lucy, and soothed, "Now, cousin. We don't need to get so..."
"Agitated?" Rousseau looked up with his swirling eyes and smirked. "The investigator that I hired to get her back just stole her for himself. I need that place, and Lucy is going to tell me where she is."
James avoided Rouseau's gaze, "Yes, she'll tell you. I'm sure, since it was blackness in Lucy's mind for so long, that Ellen needs time to regain her gifts. She's been severely stressed. Just think of Ron before you try to force something out of her."
"You should have told me when I came by," Rousseau accused Lucy. The woman had acted as though Ron's being locked into canid form was a normal occurence.
"Thank you, Jimmy," Rousseau softly dismissed him.
James got up and lifted Lucy to stand.
"No, Jimmy, leave her here. I am invoking my privilege."
James looked at Lucy and he released her hand reluctantly.
"Thank you, James. You and Dominic will get the night alone."
