The Cunning

32

Lily would arrive at the house soon to give the new girls a brief rundown before the showing. Jase decided he wouldn't do her the disservice of sending her into Madison's room again. He smiled momentarily as he recalled the worrisome look on Lily's face after their first meeting.

"She's going to be difficult," Lily had determined as if Jase hadn't already figured that out for himself. At least he could admit one thing; Madison supplied the house with a bit of entertainment. Her being there kept him on his toes. However, with things going how they were, he didn't have time for Madison's brand of entertainment. The smile faded as soon as it appeared.

Guests started arriving at half eight, and the girls were let out of the rooms. Madison was last. She walked down the stairs casually, preparing herself to put up with the men's medieval attitudes through the night. Her plan was laid out in her head.

She would do exactly what they wanted of her. The naive child was a role she slotted into quite comfortably, being no stranger to deception either. There had been plenty of situations growing up where 'no Mr Police Officer, my dad isn't home' had left her lips knowing he was sitting in the kitchen and they couldn't come in without a warrant. Madison took to lying and acting like a duck to water.

The new girls were standing in the corner of the living room, both with brunette shoulder-length hair that had been curled by Lily. Their sunken eyes flickered around nervously, fingers entwined. Adam was in Benny's chair, looking over at them every few minutes during his conversation with a large middle-aged man.

Madison had put Adam into his category a while ago, the day he'd laid into Annabelle. He was a power-hungry sadist. He loved working at the house, but he probably wasn't a fan of the pecking order. Having to do anything Jase told him to do was probably tough on his ego and he took it out on the girls. He was the only one she had to be extremely cautious of unless Jase was in the room

She backed out of the doorway and went into the kitchen, where Jase was sitting at the table. Once more, he was engrossed in conversation but not too engrossed that he didn't acknowledge Madison as she walked in. His eyes brushed over her attire. She'd gone for a figure-hugging vest, exposing what she hoped was a tasteful amount of cleavage, jeans, and heels. It was acceptable but not overly promiscuous like the others. Benny wouldn't have stood for it but Jase let it slide, hoping her lack of visible flesh would keep the night from going in the same direction as their last showing.

Jase didn't stray from his conversation as she opened the fridge behind him, taking out three bottles. As she went to leave, a bulky balding man blocked her exit. He smiled a smile of malice, flashing a set of teeth that appeared too small for his mouth, one of them gold.

"Where have you been all my life?" Madison took a timid step back. Even in heels, he was half a foot taller, towering over her. She couldn't stop her face from contorting into a look of disgust.

"Not here, surprisingly enough," she replied. His smile widened, and he stepped closer. The fiery ball of panic rose in Madison. Her hands grew sweaty around the bottles of alco-pop. The man was a lot bigger than Charlie, too big to get in a decent head butt. Her dad had never spent much time teaching her how to fight. He informed her that given the situation of a fight, even if she had grown up knowing how to use her fists, it might do little to help. No one knows how they're going to react to being attacked until they're attacked. He had pushed knowledge over strength, encouraging Madison to use her head if she was ever met with conflict. He probably didn't mean so literally.

"Shame, I would have already spent quite a bit of money on you-" Madison's stomach lurched at the implications. Then, at the sound of Jase's voice, her knees buckled in relief.

"Mike, leave her alone," he interrupted from the table. The man was distracted long enough for Madison to slip past, heading straight to the new girls. Adam's watchful eye remained on them. The hair on the back of her neck prickled at the arousal of his raptorial attention but persevered.

"Hey, I'm Madison," she greeted. They both looked at her, terrified, exchanging glances. Lily's warning prohibited the girls from speaking to one another, a rule Madison was breaking so flagrantly. She held out the bottles which they sheepishly accepted.

"I'm Gabby. This is Tia," one of them replied with a heavy Polish accent. Madison knew then that these were the girls in the room next door. One of them was the voice of the lullaby. Gabby's eyes darted around to watch out for any signs of trouble because she had talked.

"Are you sisters?" Madison continued, her own attention being drawn to Adam briefly, making sure he was watching. He was. The girls nodded in unison. "How old?"

"I'm twenty-two, Tia's nineteen," Gabby said, visibly relaxing a little when nothing terrible happened. "You?"

"Seventeen," Madison replied.

"How long have you been here?" Tia asked. Madison shrugged. She had lost track at this point.

"A few weeks, I think."

"You're not supposed to be talking to us, are you?" Tia said, crossing her arms after catching Madison eye ball Adam for the second time. Madison gave her a noncommittal smile.

"Technically, no." She ignored the guilty twang she felt for involving the scared sisters in her experiment, knowing it was possible they could come to harm because of it. This wasn't the kind of place you escaped whilst playing to your conscience and morality. She lowered her voice, leaning into them, "I just came over to tell you that you're clearly very uncomfortable, and Adam is watching you like a hawk." As expected, they both looked over to Adam. "I know you've both spoken to Lily, so I'm sure you know all the rules. If I were you, relax a little, stand up straight. Smile. Just pretend this isn't the worst place on earth, and you'll have a much smoother time. Trust me." It was the same thing Jase had told her to do and Madison hated herself for parroting his orders knowing how difficult they were to follow.

Gabby narrowed her eyes, mirroring her sister's defensiveness.

"Why should we trust you?" Madison looked around, pursing her lips before turning back to them. Adam hadn't made a move yet, but he was still watching.

"A few weeks here is long enough for me to figure out what goes down well, and your body language won't. It's all about putting on a brave face." The girls looked at each other as if seeking permission to believe her. Whether they did or not wasn't important.