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Chapter 9

So there I was, lost in a dreamless slumber within a black mist of ethereal darkness. Unholy things were happening back in the waking world, beyond the veil of unconsciousness smothering all of my senses, but there was nothing I could do about it. Time itself had essentially stopped for me — and for me only — as whatever was in that glass of water kept me in the deepest sleep one could imagine.

Eventually, that silent veil of nothingness began to lose its grip on me. Little by little, my consciousness started to wake up again. It still took quite a bit longer than if I was waking up from a regular sleep, though; as if the different parts of my inner self were stirring at different rates each. Yeah, that odd, unnatural fog wouldn't easily surrender its hold on me.

Even before I could open my eyes, I remember awakening into a weird state of utter confusion. Where was I? What had happened? What day was it? Why was everything so dark? Was it nighttime? Were my eyes even open? Was I still sleeping? Why was my body not responding? And why could I not hear the sound of my own voice?

So my mind had woken up... to an extent, but my body was still asleep. As such, it didn't listen to anything I said. Even trying to raise a hand felt like a struggle, as if my arms were held down by weights. And it was the same with my legs. They felt impossibly heavy, even though there was nothing restraining them. Well, as far as I could tell anyway.

But my efforts soon began to bear fruit. First it was a finger. Then the rest of the hand. Sleeping muscles were lazily beginning to respond to me again, even if it only resulted in minor twitches for the time being. Still, I was eventually able to push a grunt of some sort out of my throat. I had to fight really hard to do it, but I did it! It was a small, but very welcome victory.

As my numb senses slowly returned, something else began to make its presence known, nestled somewhere deep among my innards. At first it felt like this weird sensation of wrongness, which seemed to throb along with my heartbeats. Then, the more aware I became, the more it started to feel like some vague kind of pain. It was warm and dull, like that of a somewhat fresh cut that was only just starting to heal. So, yeah. It wasn't unbearable or anything, but it certainly wasn't there before either.

“Can you hear me, Natalie?" a soft-spoken feminine voice suddenly asked.

Albeit with some difficulty, I opened my eyes and turned towards the source of the voice. There was a girl there; one who looked somewhat familiar, even though I couldn't quite place her face at first.

“W...wha...where...?" I pathetically croaked out.

“Ah, don't strain yourself. And try not to move too much either. You need to save your energy so that you can get better faster," the unfamiliar familiar girl advised.

'Get better? What happened to me?' I wondered as I looked at her questioningly. Then I switched my attention to the rest of my surroundings. I was in a rather fancy room, with wallpapered walls and all. The bed I was lying on seemed fit for a king as well, with satin sheets and impossibly soft pillows. Of course, all that stuff only filled me with even more questions. 'Where am I, and how the hell did I end up here?'

Then, slowly, it all came back to me.

'T-that's right! Abuela Olga was ill, and... And then the clinic... That man! The smiling rich man! He paid the clinic and then took me to... to his mansion. We rode his coach there. And this girl here... Ah, yes, this is... Adelaide, I think. The maid with the somewhat skimpy outfit. So I must be at that man's place still! What was his name again? Mr... Raoul, was it? But... what happened to me? And why do I feel like I was trampled by a whole stable of horses?'

“Wh... What... happened?" I finally asked; my voice still sounding like shit.

“You passed out last night," Adelaide replied after a pause, pointedly avoiding eye contact as she did. “The family physician saw you, and he... He prescribed this medicine here," she affirmed, producing a small, light blue pill. “One a day until you get better. Doctor's orders."

I had taken medicine before, when I was sick back at the orphanage, so I didn't think much of it. I mean, if a doctor says something-or-other is good for you, then it has to be, right? They have the brains for that sort of stuff, so you kind of have to trust what they say. Well, I certainly wanted to get better myself, so I took that pill in my mouth and helped it down with a sip of water.

Afterwards, I considered asking Adelaide to tell me more about the doctor who saw me, but my brain was still too foggy to even try arranging the necessary words for it, so I pushed that thought away. 'Maybe later, when speaking isn't such an ordeal for my stupid throat,' I thought. Then I tried to shift a little, but a sharp pang of pain somewhere below my bellybutton quickly convinced me to stop.

“Why... does it hurt... when I... try to move?" I asked Adelaide once I gathered the willpower to push those words out.

“Ah, I... T-that's why you need to rest. I'm positive the pain will go away if you give it time," she said.

'I hope you're right,' I tried to say, but it came out as a weird sigh of sorts.

“In the meantime," she continued, “I promise I'll help you with anything you might need help with, like eating or going to the bathroom. In fact, you could even say I'll be your personal nurse! So, for now, just focus on getting better as soon as possible, okay?"

I nodded weakly as a response. There was so much more I wanted to ask, but my body wasn't having it. I was too winded to keep asking questions. Still, all things considered, Adelaide seemed... trustworthy. By which I mean she really sounded like she was actually concerned about my well-being. Like, you can't fake that sort of thing... or can you? 'God, I hope my gut instinct is right about her,' I thought to myself.

Well, I guess in some ways it wasn't wrong. When Adelaide said she'd be my personal nurse, she meant it. Throughout the five days I spent bedridden in that room, she was pretty much always there, feeding me those light blue pills every morning, keeping me company, and making sure all my needs were met to the best of her abilities. Nobody had asked her to do it either; it was just something she took upon herself for reasons I would only learn in full on the fifth day.

Regardless, as much as I appreciated her warm, friendly company during that trying time, I just couldn't ignore the many questions still circling in my mind. I tried several times to dig for more answers on what exactly had happened to me, but Adelaide always responded with evasive mumbling, awkwardly changing the subject immediately after. The lethargic fog doggedly clouding my mind didn't help either. It just seemed like I was never awake enough to press her more effectively. It was frustrating... But in the end I sort of gave up. 'Maybe, for whatever reason, she's simply not allowed to give me any actual answers for those particular questions,' I thought. 'If that's the case, could I really blame her?'

What about Mr. Raoul, then?

The odd smiling man with deep pockets who had brought me there... was conspicuously absent throughout all those five days. I didn't see him at all during that time; not even once. What's more, whenever I mentioned his name, Adelaide's face would visibly fall, and a somber sort of sorrow would become apparent in her eyes; not unlike the very first time I saw her. 'What could that man have possibly done to her, for her eyes to lose all traces of joy at just the mention of his name like that?' I silently wondered.

The more I thought about it all, the more urgently I needed those answers, whether Adelaide was allowed to give them to me or not. And there was still the matter of Abuela Olga too, whom I hadn't heard a word of since she was admitted to the clinic. Was she alright? Did she get better herself? Could I go see her once I recovered from... whatever had happened to me? And would I ever stop feeling so drowsy all the time for a change?

Well...

On the morning of the third day, a certain growing suspicion came to a head. Whether an angel had descended during the night to give me some much needed clarity, that was the first time I didn't actually swallow the light blue pill Adelaide had been dutifully giving me every morning. Instead, I spat it back out and hid it under the pillow when she wasn't looking. And then I did it again the following day.

Lo and behold, the drowsiness went away.

And with it, so did whatever faith in humanity I had left.

Yes, I had recovered fully and felt great — physically speaking, that is. But the cost was high. It was a grim reminder that we can't just blindly trust anyone in this world. Oh, how it hurt to know I had been duped like so. I mean, why was she even doing that? Why was she acting like she really wanted to nurse me back to health, while at the same time feeding me sleeping pills every morning to keep me from ever actually recovering? Why would anyone do such a thing? It just made no sense!

Still, now that the strange abdominal pain holding me back during the first few days was gone, and so was the hazy mind fog from that light blue pill, I truly felt in control of my own body once more. Really, I no longer had a reason to stay put and just accept Adelaide's bullshit anymore. Not when there was a raging maelstrom in my mind burning with the very blazes of Hell.

Ah... I suppose I should have known better than to expect a total stranger like her to go out of her way to tend to me just because. In the end, it was all a lie! Really, just how stupid was I not to see it before? Even from the first moment, it was painfully obvious something was not right in that place! But that charade was about to end. Oh, you better believe the palm of my right hand was itching violently to meet Adelaide's cheek! And then, once I had left my mark and drilled some choice words into her eardrums, I would storm out of that place altogether to try and find my way back to Abuela Olga's side. Why, maybe she had already been discharged from the clinic and was simply waiting for me back at our alleyway, along with our two cats, Cenicienta and Blancanieves!

Well, the charade ended, alright — just not quite in the way I was expecting.

“It looks like you might not need to be my 'personal nurse' anymore, Adelaide, because I feel fantastic today!" I told her on the morning of that fateful fifth day, jumping out of the bed. “See? I'm on my feet right now, and I don't feel woozy or anything! Whatever bug I must have caught is all gone!"

Utter confusion set in her eyes before a shadow of panic crossed her face.

“T-that's, uh... great!" she awkwardly said; her eyes worriedly darting this way and the other. “But... Are you sure you don't feel maybe a little bit dizzy still?"

“Uh, yeah, I'm sure..."

“O...okay, but... W-what about that headache you had? S-surely it can't be gone this soon, right?"

She was casting such an intense, desperate gaze at me as she said that. Was it really that shocking for her to see me break the script she had apparently written for me?

“Nope. No headaches," I firmly stated. “I really feel as good as new. Awesome, isn't it?"

Adelaide's heart seemed to sink in her chest as I watched the blood drain from her face.

“Ah... uh... L-let me check your temperature," she finally said in a trembling voice, taking a tentative step towards me. “You— you might still have a fever, a-and..."

“Don't even try," I drily said as I produced the pills I had not taken, showing them to her face. The double take she did was... sadly expected. And just as damning, of course. As I feared, she knew exactly what she was doing. “Well? What do you have to say now?" I prodded.

“Natalie, please..."

“Please what? Please don't get well just yet? Please let me play the good, caring nurse some more?" I spat back, not bothering to hide my anger. “I thought I could trust you, Adelaide. Or, rather, even when I always suspected you were hiding things from me, I really thought I could at least trust that you truly wanted to see me back in full health as soon as possible. But I couldn't be more wrong, could I?"

She looked hurt.

Like... so unbelievably hurt.

For a moment there was only silence between us, and then...

“I tried," she began, almost like a whisper; a tear rolling down her cheek. “I really, really tried... to at least buy you some more time. I tried so hard to keep you away from his reach... for a few more days, at least... but I suppose I always knew it would end like this. After all, at best, I would only be delaying the inevitable. And I couldn't even do that! I... I'm sorry I failed you, Natalie. I'm so, so sorry."

I was... very confused, to say the least.

“W...what are you talking about?" I tried, taking one step toward that crumpled, sobbing mess that used to be Adelaide. “It's... It's Mr. Raoul, isn't it? You— you made me ill to... to keep him away from me?"

“No, I didn't m—! I... I mean, I didn't cause you to faint! That was all him! I just thought that... that maybe I could keep you bedridden for a bit longer than the usual five days, so he wouldn't—"

“The 'usual' five days??" I exclaimed in utter disbelief. “What do you mean 'the usual five days'??"

“N-Natalie, Mr. Raoul is not what he seems! He's a monster!" she hurriedly tried to explain, although I had already figured out that much. “A-and this— th-this mansion is the last place on Earth you want to be! I'd tell you to run away, but... it's much too late for that. By the time you even sat in his coach, your fate was already sealed. Trust me; I was in your shoes once too... And so were all the other 'maids' in this horrible den of sin. We all fell for—"

Suddenly, the door swung open.

“Horrible den of sin? Ohohohoh, my, my! I don't think I appreciate you referring to this humble abode of mine in such vulgar terms, my dear Adelaide. It is simply not proper etiquette, and we don't want to give our good Natalie here the wrong impression, do we?"

“M-Mr. Raoul!" I exclaimed, startled by his sudden appearance.

Yep, it was him. There he stood, smiling impeccably with his impeccable hair, clad in his likewise impeccable two-piece suit. Poor Adelaide looked like she wanted to crawl inside herself and die. It was like seeing a person regressing into something like a snail out of sheer terror. Then again, he wasn't alone either. There were huge gorilla men in jet black suits and shades flanking him. None of them looked like they had smiled in years, if ever...

“Ah, well, I suppose you still took good care of our newest addition while she recovered, so I might be inclined to overlook that little outburst of yours... this time," continued the man as he stepped further into the room; arms crossed behind his back. “Indeed, let it never be said I'm not kind and forgiving to those below me, as a good Samaritan ought. After all, noblesse oblige, isn't that right?"

There was something... hideously viperine in that perpetual smile of his. Like, it practically made my stomach turn. I hated it. I hated it so much.

“M-Master, have some mercy, please!" Adelaide begged him on her knees. “S-she's only barely eighteen, and you're thirty-six years old!"

“So what?" he said in turn; indifferent. “Age is but a social construct, my dear. It only serves to support an ill-designed system of arbitrary limits and restrictions. I, for one, shall never abide by something expressly created to stifle the sanctity of man's God-granted freedoms!"

Back then I had no idea what he was even talking about. Still, none of those grand words sounded good coming from that obscenely self-complacent smile of his. In fact, they sounded rotten beyond belief. Worst of all, he was looking at me when he spoke them. And his eyes... There was something deeply unsettling in his gaze. I had never seen anything like that before. That man hadn't even touched me yet, and the overwhelming sense of terror he was filling me with was still far, far beyond what I thought possible.

If I had to describe it, I'd probably use words like pure, raw, visceral... Like, what does a pinned mouse feel when it sees the cold stare of its feline captor right before the end? I wouldn't know, but I imagine it'd be something very close to the kind of terror I felt.

“Very well then," he continued. “Seeing as though Miss Natalie is back in good health, it seems the time has finally come for me to inform her of what her future entails. In private, of course."

“No!" Adelaide tearfully cried. “Please, Master! Don't do this to her!"

But her words fell on deaf ears. One silent hand gesture later, Mr. Raoul's black-suited goons surrounded the poor sobbing girl and unceremoniously dragged her out of the room, closing the door behind them. Eventually, her screams faded away in the distance, and I could hear her no more. Now it was just that man and me, all alone in that bedroom. And he smiled...

“Don't worry about her," he said. “She was just being a little emotional. It happens sometimes. Oh, but let's not talk about Adelaide now. Instead, let's talk about you."

“About me? What is there to talk about me?" I warily asked, keeping my distance from him.

“Everything, my dear. You see, you are my property now. You belong to me in body and soul. It's a fair trade for saving your grandmother, don't you think? After all, nothing in this world is free."

“...W-wh-what?" I stammered in utter disbelief.

“It's just as you heard. I own you now, Natalie. I am your master, and that is how you shall refer to me from this point onwards."

“N-no. No, no, no, NO! I— I'm leaving!" I exclaimed as I tried to visualize how to best make a run for the door.

“Ah, I'm afraid I cannot let you do that, my dear," Mr. Raoul said as he calmly locked the door with a key that was chained to his belt. “Our conversation has only just begun. We have much to discuss still."

“G-give me that key!" I demanded, shaking.

“Such fierce eyes!" he said with a chuckle. “You want this key? You can have it, but only after your initiation is complete."

“My... initiation?"

“Indeed! Since you'll be working for me, an initiation is in order. It's a necessary step towards making you fit for the job," he said while slowly closing the distance between us. “The first part has already been taken care of. All that remains is the second part, which also happens to be my favorite..."

“D-don't come any closer!" I shouted as forcefully as I could, still trying to keep my distance from that creepy man and his sinister grin. But I was quickly running out of options, as I eventually found myself bumping my back into a wall.

“But I must!" he gleefully said, clearly enjoying the moment. “Or else how would you expect me to assert my total and complete ownership of your body?"

“I— I swear I'll scream!" I tried.

“That's wonderful! Please feel free to scream to your heart's content, my dear Natalie!"

By that point, he was looming menacingly over me, watching me with that perverse smile of his. Then, the moment I saw him raise a hand, I made my move. I shoved him away putting my all into it, then grabbed a heavy oil lamp and brutally smashed it into his face... Or at least that was the idea. Of course, none of that happened. Instead, he expertly deflected my attempt at shoving him and grabbed me by the wrist, painfully twisting my arm behind my back in one swift motion.

“Nice try, but I'm afraid this is not my first rodeo, as they say," Mr. Raoul stated while quickly tying my wrists together with a length of rope behind my back. It all happened so terrifyingly fast it took me a few moments to even process that I had just lost the gamble I took. That's just how adept he was at swiftly and efficiently overpowering young, vulnerable girls like me, I suppose.

“Alright, do you know what an escort is?" that horrible man asked as he pinned me onto the ground under his weight, gripping my throat with one hand to keep me from struggling too much. “I happen to have very powerful friends, Natalie. Together, we constitute a secret society that basically runs the whole kingdom from the shadows. That's right; we have more power than even the king of Roud himself! And we gather here every now and then, mostly to allow ourselves a liberating moment of carnal indulgence with my 'maids.' Indeed, whenever one such gathering takes place, your job will be to sit by our side and smile as we do with you what we will."

I was trying my best to break free throughout all that, but it was to no avail. With my hands tied behind my back, his weight pinning me down, and his steadfast grip on my throat, there was nothing I could do. Nothing but struggling vainly as I cried for him to let go of me.

“It seems like you have a lot of fight in you, my dear!" the slimy scumbag observed, softly caressing my cheek with his other hand as his vile cologne permeated my nostrils. “That is quite alright by me. In fact, I do encourage you to fight it all you want, as that only makes it all the more fun for me! Ah, but in the end, you'll be thoroughly tamed either way, just like Adelaide and the others. And just like them, you'll too kneel before me and call me Master, as that's an inevitability. It's only a matter of time."

Few things were more repulsive than the grazing touch of his hand on my cheek as he softly explained how he was going to break me in exquisite detail. My heart was pounding out of my chest in utter terror while I choked on my own tears of powerlessness. No matter what I tried, there simply was no shaking him off me. The only thing I could do was close my eyes shut so that I could no longer see his hideous smile looming over my face.

“You might not think so at the moment, but you're a lucky girl, Natalie," he asserted as he began to undo the laces of my vest one by one. “In the streets, your life had neither a future nor a purpose. It was just a complete waste of young, nubile flesh, bound to withering away in total obscurity. Here, however, you can leave your little mark in the world as an escort who diligently services the most powerful gentlemen in all of Galia. In that sense, right now we could say I'm the righteous hero saving you from continuing to live through a meaningless existence, wouldn't you agree?"

Despite all my efforts to the contrary, that pig eventually finished undoing every lace and pulled the vest I was wearing open, baring my small breasts for him to ogle at. Ugh, I feel ill just reminiscing that moment. I mean, I had never before felt so terminally exposed, and there are no words to describe the agonizing sort of humiliation that came with it. Even words like 'degrading' and 'dehumanizing' fail to truly convey the actual dimension of that horror.

Yeah... The concept of consent clearly meant nothing to that man. For crying out loud; it was my own body being exposed against my will there, and I had no say over what was happening to it! My thoughts and feelings simply didn't matter. I was no longer a person, but a thing he was entitled to. Any rights I thought I had — which until that point I had taken for granted — got promptly stripped off me along with that vest.

“Ah, there's nothing like groping the naked chest of a young, pretty girl like you, Natalie," he said as his hands played with my nipples, squeezing them with gusto while ignoring all of my sobbing and anguished screams. “Of course, we're only getting started here. There's still a lot more of your tight little body for me to lay claim to. Do you know which spot is next on my list? Here's a hint: I'll get there by sloooowly sliding my fingers up the soft flesh of your thighs..."

A mortal dread seized the pit of my stomach the very instant I felt his hand on my thigh. Again, I thrashed about as hard as I could, trying my damndest to break free, but nothing worked. It was like fighting an unstoppable force. No matter how hard I struggled against it, or how much I cried for him to let go of me, I was entirely at his mercy... And he had no intention to stop.

“Your resistance, although deliciously adorable, is ultimately futile, my dear," he crooned as his despicable hand slowly made its way under my dress and up my thigh, squeezing it every now and then like he owned it all. “The sooner you get used to this, the better; because this is going to be your life from now on. Then again, biblically speaking, your duty as a female has always been to submit to us men, and to humbly do our bidding with pious devotion. Which, of course, includes opening your legs to us whenever we desire it. After all, God made us stronger for a reason, and might makes right; wouldn't you agree?"

A part of my very soul died when he finally reached his destination and slid his fingers inside me. “Once more, you'd do well to know your place, woman," he 'advised' as he forced them deeper still, despite all my thrashing about. “And your place is to always be ready to offer yourself to us, your rightful masters. Needless to say, you are to do it wholly and without reservations, for that is your only reason to be, as you belong to us in body and soul."

Of course, he didn't stop there. Once he was done violating me with his fingers, he unbuttoned his trousers and... Yeah, I don't think I need to say more. I'd rather not relive any more of that if I can help it. Suffice to say; once it was all said and done, he left a sobbing, crying mess vaguely resembling me lying on the floor. I remember I had instinctively sought refuge in the fetal position, all curled up and with my knees close to my face, except my hands were still tied behind my back.

“Very well, my dear. I'm happy to say that your initiation is now complete, although your training has only just begun. Therefore, you can be sure I'll be back this afternoon to do it all over again, and then again tomorrow, and so on and so forth, until I deem you compliant enough to begin your duties as an escort," Mr. Raoul nonchalantly stated as he opened the door to take his leave. “Ah, I almost forgot. I promised you a key, didn't I? Well, here you go."

He then lobbed the damn key in my general direction. It landed near me, but I hardly paid any attention to it. I mean, I was much too busy wallowing in the deepest, darkest depths of despair to take notice of that, or even care about it. Not that it mattered anyway, as having that key obviously offered me no advantage whatsoever. Otherwise, he wouldn't have given it to me. Regardless, he closed the door afterwards and left, leaving me all broken and alone in that bedroom.

And, boy, was I broken...

I was in shock, shivering non-stop while crying long, silent wails of agonizing anguish; beyond overwhelmed by the sheer horror of what had just happened to me. That man— No, that monster had violently stripped me of any sense of agency I might have once had over my own body, completely disregarding my dignity as a person. In fact, he openly enjoyed crushing it under his heels. He used me as though I was nothing but a thing to be used for his own sadistic pleasure. I could hardly imagine living through a more degrading experience than that. In fact, I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

A few minutes later, I heard someone coming into the room, but I didn't open my eyes to see who it was. I guess I was just too scared to find out. Regardless, this person walked up to me, then knelt down and began to untie the rope holding my wrists together.

“Natalie, it's me. I'm here."

That voice... Even though it was barely a whisper, I still recognized its soft, gentle sound. It was unmistakably Adelaide's. Yeah, she was there, releasing me from my binds, and I couldn't be more grateful for it. Soon, the rope fell and I was able to use my hands again, although I still remained curled up on the floor, shivering and crying and thoroughly broken.

Adelaide then lay down next to me, gently wrapping her arms around my frame and pulling me closer to her chest. She didn't say anything, as she knew no words could possibly deliver me from the unspeakable abyss of horror I had been plunged headlong into. Yeah, there was no undoing that nightmarish ordeal, so nothing she might have spoken could have helped in any meaningful way. Which is why she let the warmth of her company do all the speaking instead.

And it felt... nice.

No, it didn't undo my ordeal, but I still welcomed it. As in, her companionship gave me some much-needed hope to hold onto. Thus, although I was still sobbing my heart out, at least I was doing so in the arms of someone who understood my pain perfectly. After all, let's not forget she had also gone through the same horror herself. But now, through her embrace, Adelaide and I could commiserate together. And so we did.

There's no telling how long we stayed there; me lying in her comforting arms with only the sounds of my sobbing breaking the silence as she gently stroked my hair. It couldn't have been less than an hour, I don't think. At any rate, little by little, I began to calm down. That is not to say that the crushing shame and crippling humiliation ailing me magically went away, because they very much didn't, but at least I wasn't crying as hard anymore... which was better than nothing, I suppose.

Of course, I was no longer mad at Adelaide. I mean, yeah, she had tried to keep me out of commission with those sleeping pills for as long as she could — all in a misguided attempt to save me from falling into Mr. Raoul's vile clutches, but... Well, I guess her heart was in the right place. We can't deny that, can we?

It was a stupid plan, though; and it was doomed to fail from day one. Because, let's be real: even if I hadn't realized what she was doing, there was no way Mr. Raoul wouldn't have eventually noticed that something was afoot. But when Adelaide saw that man's trusted physician checking me, she hastily decided to go with that idea anyway out of sheer desperation, as it was the only one she had. Also, she really, really didn't want to see anyone else going through the same hell as her. So... yeah. She swiped those pills from the doctor's bag — very much risking her neck in the process, then put her half-baked scheme into motion. Alas, in the end, it was all for naught; and she thoroughly regretted ever thinking of said scheme... but I don't hold it against her. I simply can't.

Oh, Adelaide, you silly, silly girl. If only you knew how much I miss you...

To be continued...