Page 8 of Reclaimed

If,I thought, but I didn’t dare say it aloud. The room was beautiful, but I couldn’t associate it with anything other than fear, especially once I noticed the cage. I took an instinctive step back and felt Ray’s hands close around my arms.

“No…”

“Shhh, little one. You’re not going in there now, okay?” I continued to struggle; I couldn’t stay here and let him do those things to me. How could he be doing all this? I needed out.

“Callie,” he said, more firmly now, and my body automatically stilled in response to his commanding tone. “You don’t have to go in there if you don’t want to. Be a good girl, and you can keep sleeping in your room for now, understand?” I nodded, but I didn’t trust him to keep his word. The whole point of a cage was to hold someone against their will – why else would he have got it? I knew it was only a matter of time before Ray would want to reclaim what was his, and I was petrified of that moment. I didn’t want to get any closer to the cage, but Ray was intent on showing me everything he’d prepared.

“There’s a dressing table for you by the window, and here are your other new clothes…” I zoned out a little while he was showing me everything he’d arranged for me. How long had he been planning this? How long was I going to be here? How long before he insisted on us having sex? Suddenly, I was grateful for at least having my own separate room.

Ray showed me where a few more things were, including his office on the far side of the building, which I was forbidden from entering. He started explaining his rules as we went. I must knock before entering any room he was in. I had to put on proper clothes every day and ask his approval of my outfit each morning. I was to eat whatever he provided for me, brush my teeth and generally look after myself, and present myself well.

“You’ll eat with me, unless I say otherwise. But if you’re hungry in between meals, you can come and make yourself something. I take it you don’t still smoke?”

“No.”

“Good. You won’t be needing these then.” He took a packet of cigarettes from his pocket and stowed them away at the back of a cupboard. “You can drink alcohol only when I offer it to you, clear?”

“Yes.” The missing Master in my response was noticed by both of us, but he didn’t comment. It seemed that that particular battle was temporarily on pause.

“You will take one of these every day.” He took a tub of vitamins out of the cupboard and placed them next to the kettle.

“Vitamins?”

“You will get looked after properly here. You’ll take them; that’s a rule. Do you need any other medicines?”

“No.”

He raised an eyebrow. “So you weren’t taking any other medication?”

“No.”

He looked at me sternly, and I knew he knew.

“Are you lying to me?”

“I… yes.” He took another tub of pills out of the cupboard. How could he have them? How long had those men been waiting for me in my house before…

“The label has your name on it. Anti-anxiety pills?” There was a long silence. He’d been thorough. He sighed heavily. “Stopping something like this suddenly can be dangerous. How am I supposed to keep you safe if you’re going to lie to me about something this important?”

“I’m sorry,” I said in a small voice.

“I’m keeping hold of these ones. I’ll keep giving you your dose in the mornings like it says, and I’ll see about ordering you some more.”

“You don’t have to keep them; I’ll take them, I promise.”

“The only reason you’ve taken them the last two days is because I gave them to you. I’m keeping hold of them.” I was confused at first, and then I remembered that yesterday he’d given me three pills after he’d hit me, and they couldn’t all have been painkillers. It worried me how easy it was for him to have everything under control.

“Okay.” He gave an exasperated sigh and slipped the tub of pills into his pocket before turning to look at me.

“Do they help?”

“Normally.” He looked at me questioningly when I didn’t elaborate. “Well, it’s kind of hard to tell right now because of… everything.” I thought he might be angry with me, but he just nodded in understanding.

“At least you can drink on them. Wine?”

“Yes, please.” I knew this was potentially dangerous. I wanted to stay in control of myself, but at the same time I desperately needed to relax. I also suspected that Ray would like the idea of us having a drink together – in his twisted brain, that would probably be interpreted as me starting to accept the situation, which in truth, I was far from doing. Each new thing he did or said made the whole situation even more alarming. It was unnerving how meticulously he’d planned everything.

“You have a question.”

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