Submission

3

The door opened to the same man from the night before. He wore a new suit and adjusted his tie as he looked at me. I sat up feeling the fishnets leave a painful imprint on my skin.

"Good morning, kitten," he smiled as he pulled out his keys. I scooted to the edge of the bed, glaring up at him through the light. "Well, aren't you just a little ball of sunshine?"

"I'm not a morning person," I gave him a sarcastic smile. He chuckled as he unlocked the collar, dropping it onto the bed. "Something about being chained to a wall all night just really takes the good right out of my morning."

"Maybe it'll improve your mood to know that you'll get to shower and change before breakfast," he offered as he motioned to the door. He pointed to the bathroom attached to his bedroom and kept walking. I opened the door to see a girl there. She had beautiful curly hair bouncing around her shoulders and I found myself wanting to ask her to nod just so I could watch it bounce. She looked at me through big brown eyes and gave me a soft smile.

"I'm Bianca," she said gently. She spoke like I was a frightened child that she wanted to comfort.

"Hi," I nodded. "I'm Abreanna."

"That's pretty," she said before digging into her bag. "Go ahead and take off your clothes, Abreanna. I'll step out and let you use the bathroom before your shower."

"Oh," I was surprised at the casual tone she used, but I did as she asked. My skin was so thankful to be free of the fishnets. She turned on the shower and motioned for me to get in.

The warm water cascaded down me and I wanted to melt into it. There was no hot water at the dormitory and it had been seven months since I'd had a hot shower. It felt like such a stupid thing to be so emotional over, but I swore to that hot water that I was in love with it. I was interrupted by Bianca ripping open the shower curtain.

"Sit," she ordered gently. I did and she began to scrub shampoo into my hair. I leaned back toward her so she could rinse it. She handed me a cloth with a small pile of soap. "You wash yourself while I condition your hair."

I did as she asked. She spoke like this was routine. I could tell she did this kind of thing often and I wondered how often.

"Do you always do this for him?" I asked as she rinsed my hair.

"Do what?" She dug in her bag before returning. "Stand."

"Wash the girls he brings in."

"I prepare everyone brought in for the Puricks. You're only the second girl I've prepared for Bellamy." She started shaving my legs and I raised them closer to her to make it easier as she went. It felt weird having someone do this for me, but I didn't feel the need to try to fight with her about it.

"Bellamy?" I questioned. "Is that the man who brought me?"

"Yes."

"What happened to the last girl?" She stopped the razor and gave me a serious look.

"I recommend you don't mention her. She's fine, but do not bring her up to Bellamy." She finished my legs and raised my arms to do my underarms.

"Did he hurt her?" I couldn't help but ask.

"No," she looked at me for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "But I don't know that he won't hurt you. She was a special situation. If I give you any advice, if he wants to hurt you, let him. It'll be easier and hurt less."

"How did they get you?"

"My mother gave me to them." She didn't look at me as she spoke. "I was thirteen and she owed a lot of money to one of Drake's... salesmen. So she gave me to them, hoping I'd be sold to pay off her debt. Drake said he had other plans and told her it would be best if she disappeared. She listened. That was eight years ago now. She never looked back. They've grown so used to me that I have specific jobs to do here now. I prepare new arrivals and basically babysit them."