I nervously fidgeted in my cell. Candace had cut my work off early today, letting me know that she was leaving for a party tonight with her friends- which did not include me.

I was going to be the subject of their afterparty.

Clutching my only little friend to my chest, all I could do was sit and wait. As far as I could tell, it had been over two weeks since Candace had returned my stuffed puppy to me. Her name was Poppy, and I’d had her since I was a teenager.

A string of mostly good nights followed in the weeks after I’d gotten her back, with a couple of bad nights sprinkled in occasionally. I was still scared to find out how Candace got ahold of her, wondering just how she had managed to obtain any of my belongings, let alone something so important to me. I had poured my entire adult life into that apartment, which meant that whatever she did to get to Poppy would have given her access to the rest of my things.

I had originally moved into the little two bedroom flat with my boyfriend at the time, desperate to get away from my foster parents and all of the other girls there. I had met him at this little store he worked at, where he was nice enough to hire me. He went on to become my manager, which I greatly appreciated, but things didn’t really work out with him. Once I discovered I was a lesbian, I was left in that little two bedroom apartment by myself.

I listened through the walls for any sign that Candace had returned, pressing my ear flat against the door, no sound whatsoever. I couldn’t see anything either, the light in my cage was fancy for sure- multicolored with varying levels of brightness- but Mistress had complete control over the light, and as a result I was often left in total darkness.

I didn’t often call her Mistress. I still hated Candace a lot of the time, but I was careful not to show that to her, so when she told me to- that’s what I called her.

I had no idea what to expect from Candace’s guests. I’ve heard from her directly that she has a personal assistant, and that she’d invited her brother to tonight’s afterparty, but aside from them I had zero clue who would be here.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was weird for Candace to invite her brother to come gawk at her shiny new slave, but I knew from experience that he was just like her. This sort of thing seemed to run in Candace’s family. She was the youngest of three siblings, who despite sharing the same father all had different last names to help hide their connections to one another.

I did eventually start to hear commotion from the master bedroom, signifying that Candace had returned with her guests. I sat upright, setting Poppy aside for now as I looked up at her from down on my knees, waiting for Candace to slowly unlock and open the door to my chamber.

“I hope you’re well rested now, you have a long night ahead of you Chloe~”

“Yes, Ma’am. I remember…”

“You’re to address me as Mistress for the rest of the night, understood?”

“Yes Mistress.”

“Since this will be your first time as a parlor maid, I am going to go over the rules one by one and you are going to maintain eye contact and acknowledge each rule as I go over them to show me that you’re listening. Do you understand?”

“Yes Mistress.”

“Good. Just like that, again.”

“Yes Mistress.”

“As always, you’re not to mention how we met, or why you’re here, I still don’t like talking about it. If someone asks you about it, let them know you’ve been forbidden from speaking to them about it.”

“Yes Mistress…”

“If anyone tells you to fetch them drinks you’re to do so, Aria and Leah are wasted, and they’re already digging around for more.”

“Yes Mistress~”

“You’re to speak only when spoken to. If someone asks you a question, answer them completely and honestly, but be respectful. Do not talk back or speak out of place.”

“Yes Mistress.”

“Address everyone in the room as your superior, including Liz, who is just dying to meet you.”

“Yes Mistress!”

“You’ll be completely naked the whole time, if anyone at all wants to touch, you will let them. Do not reciprocate, do not touch anyone.”

“Y-yes Mistress…”

“Do I sense hesitation, thrall?”

“No Mistress! Not at all~”

“Good. now, if there happens to be a lull, or you feel the need to rest, you may kneel- on the floor, next to me- so that I can keep an eye on you.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“You are my property, and you’re to follow my orders first and foremost, if I tell you to do something, you will drop everything and follow my directions.”

“Of course, Mistress.”

“If you have any other concerns, need to ask a question, or get scared that someone is going to hurt you, return to my side and let me know. I will not allow any unwarranted harm to come to you in any way.”

“Yes Mistress, thank you…”

“I’m protecting you for my own sake, not yours, but now that that’s out of the way… I want you to remember- everyone is here to have fun, except for you. You’re to behave in a manner appropriate to your status, to show me that you have learned from your time with me, and to prove to my guests that I have done well with training you.”

“Yes Mistress… I understand…”

“If you make me look bad again, not even I know how I’m going to punish you, so don’t fail me.”

“Yes Mistress, I promise.”

“Good, you may stand up and get to it now. Oh… and Chloe?”

“Yes Mistress?”

“I know you’re not here to have fun, but that being said… keep your chin up, try to have fun, and if you can’t, at least make it look like you’re having fun. If not for you, then for me~”

“Yes Mistress. Thank you Mistress.”

“The empty seat in the parlor is mine, go and kneel beside it, and wait for me to come sit down.”

Candace slipped her fingers between my neck and the metal collar clasped around it, pulling me out of my cell and into the hallway outside of her room, directing me towards the parlor.

“Yes, Mistress…”

I nervously stepped towards the commotion outside, still scared about letting Candace’s guests see me like this, completely naked save for a shock collar around my neck, and even though there was a lot of chatting already going on in the parlor, it seemed like time stopped just long enough for everyone to notice me.

There were a total of six people loitering around as I walked in. Off in one corner I spotted Candace’s brother, Cyrus, who I had already had the displeasure of meeting. He was a slightly shorter, more sun adjusted version of his sister. One without the tits and hips Candace was so comprehensively proud of. Cyrus was white like a lamb, yet his skin managed not to attain Candace’s sickly unnatural paleness to it. His hair was darker still- but still unmistakably blond. His sister’s blue eyes struck me as strange from time to time, but for the most part- his matched hers.

Sitting cross-legged in his lap was a woman around if not a few years older than Candace’s age, who I assumed was his wife. She had pale skin like his, falling somewhere between her husband and his little sister, leaning towards the darker, healthier tones. Her face was splotched to death in freckles.

The couple were chatting away with a woman sitting across from them on the Mistress’ large circular sofas, who seemed like she was almost irritated to be talking with them at all. Almost opposite Candace’s nearly straight- near shimmering white hair- hers spun into curls, practically raven black. This woman was not family. Shockingly (at least to me), her eyes were also blue. Almost unbeffitingly so. Noticing the pattern started by my owner and her brother, that cerulean seemed like it should almost be saved for only the most ‘on high’ of fair folk; she had none of that going for her. Dead inside, they sat set against her tanned olive skin and focused only on her spirits. She was going to need more than a drink if she wanted to keep talking with these two- which she didn’t.

Leah. A pretty name, if it was hers, fit her like a glove.

In another corner of the room sat an older woman, who I could assume was Cyrus’ mother judging on just how similar the two seemed to look even with her greyed head of hair; whoever she was, she didn’t seem to care much for the woman sitting across from her son. She was elderly and sick, her skin unnaturally pale and ghastly. A sign of age.

Candace told me that she would occasionally invite her father’s ex-wife to keep him from coming to her parties, and she was very intent on him not being here today. From the sounds of it, he didn’t actually know that his daughter had claimed me, but his former wife surely did.

Standing across from her was a younger man next to a large china cabinet, holding a drink in his hand already. His hair was even shorter than Cyrus’, shaved on either side. Like his skin, what hair he did have was wavy and dark. His eyes- when looked at under the light- were gray. His was the darkest complexion of the bunch, giving him a striking silhouette to stand out from the rest around him.

It was a shame- I thought- that the pert Afro-Latino boy and his miserable Jewish companion were the only ones in the room not possessed of an air of affluence and elitism. But it was telling.

Oh my god, is that-

Finally, my attention was drawn to the wide glass door that was open to the large front lawn outside of Candace’s mansion. Standing on the porch by herself, looking out towards the garden was a woman that I recognized as Aria Fairmont, a professional model and friend of Candace’s who would frequently do photoshoots with her.

Aria was small. A couple inches tall of the stupidly small stature of Cyrus’ wife, but about as short and almost a whole fistful thinner. She had eyes- unlike the rest of them- that were amber. Her skin was white and her hair was blonde, but they both had more color to them than these people had. Think more upper middle class suburbia than countryside equestrian. She, out of everyone, looked the least happy and the most drunk all at the same time. She wore it in an updo so that her golden locks can shine in the light of the stars- or maybe just because she anticipated being hunched over after the events of tonight let her slightly astray of alcohol poisoning.

It was easy to see where the divide lay- the group was almost split clean in two. Family. Friends.

I completely and totally froze in place as the gaze of everyone in the room moved to look up at me, in awe, mouths agape as they saw me standing there just inside of the doorway. I saw the expressions on every face change as the realization of who I was finally dawned on them, each of them recognizing exactly who I was, and being amazed that I was here.

“Well look who it is~” The young man in the corner spoke up, and I recognized his voice as the one I had heard weeks ago, speaking to me from the hallway. He was short and flamboyant, smiling eagerly at me. This must have been the personal assistant that Candace had told me about, which finally answered my question of whether he was a man or a woman. Definitely a man.

“No way!! That’s Chloe?!” From the other side of the room I heard the voice of Cyrus’ wife, still in awe as she realized who I was. She fidgeted in his lap for a moment before taking her eyes off of me, turning to face him as he began to whisper into her ear.

“No wonder Candace wouldn’t let me meet you…” The seemingly miserable woman sitting across from the couple spoke up next, just a little bit less miserable now than she had been when speaking to Candace’s brother. She held up a wine glass, tilting it upside down to show off how empty it was. “When you get a chance, I’m thirsty~”

“It’s wine not gin, dear. You can’t go slamming it like it’s nothing…” I turned to Cyrus’ mother as I heard her speak. “When Candace said she needed to make some personal adjustments to the collar’s design, I never imagined it was for her. Did you know about this, Malcolm?”

“Candace has kept it a pretty tight secret up until this point, but she needed some help here and there, yeah~” Candace’s assistant replied. “She modified the security devices herself, to give it some new features.”

“You can play with her later, Elizabeth. I’m sure Candace has something planned for her~” It sounded like Cyrus was scolding his wife for not being patient. She must have been the one who was excited to finally meet me, yet something seemed off between the two of them.

Despite all of the remarks I’d gotten from the rest of the group, none of them said anything about who I was, which I was thankfully for. When it came to that woman standing out on the porch however, all I got was an angry glare straight from her eyes, staring me down with a fierce intensity before seemingly very nearly vomiting, turning back to admire the garden ahead of her.

Silently, I found my place on the floor beside the single empty chair, where I assumed Candace would be sitting. It was the only seat around this front table that wasn’t part of a sofa, and it looked the most regal of all of them, and I had reason to believe from the wear and tear that it was her favorite.

I diverted my eyes, unable to take anymore of being the center of attention, looking back towards the sights the other woman was admiring, out through the large open window and out onto the porch, gazing into the night sky. It was a sight I hadn’t seen in months- or at least what felt like months. She had kept me in that lonely windowless room for so long that I wasn’t sure how long it had really been, making me wish I could just run through those doors and be free from this nightmare forever.

“Don’t be getting any ideas, plaything~” Candace finally made her debut, sitting down in her chair right where I had expected, towering over me as usual. “Well everyone, this is the girl I’ve been talking about. Her name is Chloe, I selected her myself. She was quite a difficult pet to catch, but she’s been worth it, isn’t that right Chloe~”

Candace ran her fingers through my hair, slumping into her seat as she pulled my locks into a tight grip, slowly lifting me up onto my feet by my hair. She knew how precious my long head of dyed hair was to me, even after the color had most faded away. It was the one thing that I still had pride over, she knew I’d follow her hand if it meant keeping her from tearing it away from me like she had taken everything else I’d ever had.

“Why don’t you go get us a tray of drinks, I don’t care how many, we’ll drink them all~” Almost immediately after she and I had gotten settled next to each other, she was sending me away. I rose to my feet and walked back the way I came, into the kitchen, and I was already not looking forward to this kind of get together becoming a regular occurrence.

I could see the night sky from here in the kitchen too, looking over at the gorgeous stars over the moonlit beach behind the home I never really got to be a part of. The ocean at night wasn’t a sight I’d seen since the night I’d gotten here, and somehow it felt further away now that it had been then.

It was nights like this that somehow made me wish I could spend more time with Candace, despite how awfully she treated me. It was scary to think about, but if Candace wouldn't constantly keep me at arm’s like she did, maybe I would actually start to like it here.

It would be a terrifying adjustment, but if she someday let me sleep with her in that luxurious bed of hers- or even on the floor next to it- and not in a cold windowless closet alone, there was always a chance that that longing to dive headfirst into the ocean and escape into the distance might go away.

But that was never going to happen, not with her. Candace kept me to punish me, to make me feel pain at her hands, not pleasure. I used to like Candace, but she was never going to return those feelings, Candace was never going to love me. The only way out of this torment for me was to escape.

Despite spending much of my day in the kitchen crafting each and every one of the Mistress’ meals for her with painstaking amounts of effort, I was honestly still a pretty lousy cook. She hadn’t even stopped to tell me where most of her dishes were kept, let alone teaching me how to cook properly. I had to learn through trial and error where to put clean dishes from the dishwasher, after she’d punished me for getting it wrong so often.

That was to say, I didn’t actually know where she kept her alcohol, she hardly drank for one. She also kept most of the drawers and utensils locked away to keep me from getting into anything that I’m not meant to. That was another reason I was such a terrible cook, I didn’t even have access to the things necessary to experiment and learn on my own, she didn’t even allow me to handle knives.

The drawers were still locked, which meant that just about the only thing I could still access was the dishwasher, and I might not have found what I was looking for, but I did strike gold. A knife. I didn’t know or care who had done it, but someone left a knife in the dishwasher.

If I wasn’t completely naked I’d think of taking it and using it to make some sort of escape attempt while the doors were wide open, but being surrounded by so many people made me think that tonight was likely not time to try and escape again. But I might just be able to use it later~

“Is there any alcohol under the sink?” It was that voice again, Malcolm, Candace’s personal assistant. He caught me digging in the cleaning supplies I kept under the sink when he came in to check up on me. “She keeps the drinks over here, Chloe.”

It would only make sense for him to know a little bit more about the house, knowing now that he sometimes watches over it while Candace was away. Trying to save face, I turned around to face his, the knife now buried deep beneath the sink.

“Yes Sir, thank you.” I stood up and nodded respectfully. He stood on the other side of the counter from me, leaning against one of the shelves as I slowly began to place bottles of wine and beer- as well as empty glasses to hold their contents- onto a glossy silver tray. “I will remember that for next time…”

“I’m sure you will~” He smiled, closing the cabinet once I was finished getting things out. Then he gave me a wink. “I take it you liked your puppy then?”

Poppy. He’s talking about my stuffed toy, Poppy. That actually made me smile back, nodding my head in response.

“I love her… but where did she come from?” Feigning a work minded attitude, I lifted the tray over my shoulder. “Do you have the rest of my things? What happened to them?”

Malcolm cut me off at the neck, his eyes darting towards the other room. No time for talk- that look of his said. “You should know better than to speak out of line. I’ve done you one favor already, I’m not going to be bailing you out of any trouble tonight~”

“I… I forgot… Sorry…”

“Sounds like Candace has something planned for you tonight, good luck~”

The thought of that did not breed confidence in me.

He turned around, making his way back out to the parlor ahead of me. I wasn’t going to be able to count on him to help bail me out of trouble, but he was already doing me a favor by not checking under the sink, since everyone was busy enjoying themselves I knew that now had been the best possible time to hide something like a knife while no one was watching.

I should have known that Candace was planning something, I was told that I’d be the subject of tonight, after all. I made my way back to Candace’s side, setting my tray of miscellaneous drinks down on the table for her. She merely looked at me and smirked, picking a beer bottle up from the tray and holding it out to me.

“The woman sulking on the porch, you know who that is, bring this to her~”

“You mean outside, Mistress?”

“Yeah, take your time, I know you haven’t gotten to see the house’s exterior in a while~”

“Because you don’t trust me to leave the house without running?”

“Not unless it’s a night like tonight, you did promise to behave~”

“Yes Mistress… I promise I’m going to behave.”

She gestured for me to leave, a smug grin on her face as she watched me. Everyone in the house was watching me, save for that woman on the porch, but they were all staring over my naked body even as they spoke, snickering to themselves about my predicament. From the way that they looked at me, I could tell that they recognized me. They’d all seen my face somewhere before, and though I was flattered, it was terrifying.

My ears began ringing as I walked, my knees shaking with pain as I felt electricity spreading through my body from the collar. The woman on the porch finally turned around and giggled at my despair as I fell, almost to my destination but not quite.

I dropped the bottle almost instantly, watching the woman pick it up from the floor at her feet. It didn’t shatter, but its contents did spill, thankfully pooling on the porch rather than the carpeted floor. I was stuck there in agony as I heard the guests laughing at me, especially Aria, unable to move until the shock was finally done, turning back to see Candace’s smug grin.

“Clean that up and get her a new one, maid~”

God did I hate her for always making my job harder than it needed to be. But I didn’t make a fuss, not tonight, I had promised to behave.

I whimpered to myself, still in pain from being shocked as I rose to my knees to retrieve another beer for Aria. This time she watched me as I approached, reaching out and taking the bottle from me as soon as my feet landed on the porch.

“You’re pathetic.” She gagged at me, a full bottle in one hand and an empty bottle in the other. “No wonder you bend over and squeal for the good witch over there~”

“…Good witch?”

“Candace, you moron. I can not believe that there’s someone so pitiful that even our little sweetheart, Candace, can tame. I never thought it’d be possible~”

“I’m sorry… I don’t understand-”

“Oh god tell me you’re not that dumb, Candace is Daddy’s little princess, even you must have enough brain cells to know that much.” She tipped the emptier of the two bottles back towards her lips, drinking whatever drops were left inside. “I guess you’re lucky you’re so pathetic though, the last girl who crossed Candace got put on her daddy’s personal little watchlist.”

I lowered my gaze, turning around to face the house, half looking in towards my mistress and half admire the home she forced me to live in. “…The last girl?”

Aria, in her drunken haze, hooked her arm around my neck, taking a drink of her beer- and I just had to let her. Candace had given me my rules, if someone wanted to touch me, I was to allow it. I wasn’t to fight back, no matter how hard I wanted to.

And when it came to Mistress’ drunken associate, I definitely wanted to. It was clear that Aria just didn’t like me, hence the teasing and taunting. I could tell that she was just trying to claw her way under my skin, and I had no choice but to sit through it.

“Never mind the last girl~” She tapped the empty bottle against my forehead, still holding me in a makeshift headlock. “You should ask her about her father’s plans for that rival of hers.”

“Sophia Cavalier?” My ears rang at the mention of her, nervously glancing in towards Candace for a few moments to make sure she wasn’t listening. “I’m sorry… I’m not supposed to ask things like that…”

“Then just be glad that you’re as pathetic as you are because last I heard, Candace’s father was out for her head.” She finally let go of my head, letting me stand up on my own beside her. “Be thankful that our little sweetheart chose you and not someone else… or it could have been you on her daddy’s chopping block~”

I stood up straight, regaining my composure as I found myself too distracted by how Candace looked to get a very good look at the mansion. That woman may very well be beautiful, but she was still a devil in pale skin.

“…She’s not a sweetheart, Ma’am.”

Smash!! I had only started taking in the view of the house from the outside, still amazed by how gorgeous it was once I’d pried my eyes off of my mistress, when I felt the glass bottle shatter on the backside of my head, and my ears were once again ringing in pain.

Before I could even reach to cover them, Aria had her fist wrapped around my earlobe, pulling me back inside by force, slumping me down on my knees before Candace.

“Aria!! What did you do?!” I heard Candace’s voice through the ringing, trying to speak up and ask for her help.

“She hurt me, Mistress…”

“Silence, now.”

Aria just gagged, astonished to hear my mistress even try to defend me. “Oh don’t get all sorry for her, I only smacked her upside the head, she’s not even bleeding.”

“You can’t just smash a beer bottle on my servant’s head, Aria.”

“If you had heard what came out of her mouth, you would have done the same~!”

Candace was already furious, and I recoiled in place as I saw her shift her anger onto me, still lying on the floor.

“…And what did she say?”

“This thing tried to insist that our Candace here isn’t a sweetheart~ <3”

“…Did she really?”

“Why don’t you ask her?”

“No… It sounds like she deserved what she got, didn’t you Chloe?”

I looked up at her in terror, nodding my head hesitantly, tears starting to drip down my cheeks. “Y-yes, Mistress… I’m sorry…”

“Anyways~” Aria spoke up again, leaning down and grabbing another beer for herself. “Where’s Thea?”

“Thea is in her bedroom, getting used to the new kitten.”

“You got a new kitten!! Where is she? Can you bring her out?”

“Not tonight… She’s still acclimating. Besides, tonight’s about Chloe proving her submission to me, right Chloe?”

I sniffled, nodding my head at her. I hadn’t realized that Candace had gotten a second cat, especially knowing how much I hated the first one. “Yes, Mistress.”

“Lame.” Aria practically a whole bottle of booze in one chug, setting the empty bottle back down and grabbing a new one. “Is she cute, Chloe? You like cats, don’t you?”

I turned to look at Aria again, wiping my tears from my face, sighing in frustration.

“…I’m allergic to cats…”

“Pftt, that’s probably why she got a new one~”

I repositioned myself once again, kneeling next to my mistress as her fellow model walked back towards the porch, a drink in hand.

“She sure is something, isn’t she?” I heard that still unidentified woman on the floor mumble as she watched the other girl saunter her way back towards the porch. “I wouldn’t mind watching her serve drinks sometime~”

“You're in a relationship!!” Cyrus’ wife almost scoffed, shaking her head at the other woman. “You shouldn’t say things about people like that when you’re spoken for, man or woman-”

“Tell that to my bastard of a boyfriend…” She seemed to hang her head in defeat, having downed about twice as many drinks as Aria had but still managing to stay mostly composed. “I don’t comment on your love life, don’t comment on mine.”

The woman just seethed. “Honey, please tell Leah-”

“That’s enough, Elizabeth.” He shushed her, shaking his head to show his wife disapproval. “She’s been through enough already.”

“Yeah. No thanks to you, asshole.” She stood up, grabbing her drink and taking it with her as she made her way towards better company. “Keep your rat in check or I’ll put her down for you…”

There was the confirmation I needed. That was the assistant that Candace mentioned her father had, Leah. From the sounds of it, she was going through a hell of a time, hence the turn to alcoholism, but I knew not to press Candace for anything more than that, not after I could hear her brother speaking at me.

“Sounds like she’s having a bit of difficulty taming you after all, huh?”

“Shut up Cyrus, she’s my first slave.”

“My first slave didn’t act up like this, ever.”

Concerning- it occurred to me- to hear that despite not knowing a thing about his little sister’s operation, Cyrus had a slave of his own. Or at least from the sounds of it, used to.

“I highly doubt that, brother. You wouldn’t have gotten a new slave if you hadn’t put the first one down.”

Liz seemed to tense up as she listened, nervous at the mention of slaves being put down, much like I was, but she didn’t say anything about it- not after her husband told her to be quiet.

That’s when another itch in my brain left me scratching my head.

“Aria has a point though, you always have been a sweetheart, that’s why people like you~”

“I am fully capable of being mean, Cyrus!!”

“Since when? You’re almost as subdued as Elizabeth, you can’t even bring yourself to order her around without feeling bad about it~”

“I can too!!”

I started hearing the other guests giggle. Cyrus’ mother, Lilith, was now sitting next to him on the sofa, chattering away with Leah across from her, purposefully positioned away from the other woman’s son. I looked up at them just in time to see them taking a break from mutually admiring Aria on the porch as everyone- including Liz- started to giggle at Candace’s expense.

I had noticed that something was off about Liz the whole night, but I was only just starting to put the pieces together. She was now on the other side of the sofa, away from Candace and I- not sitting on the sofa, but kneeling on the floor next to her husband. The possibility hadn’t occurred to me due to the lack of an electronic metal band about her throat, but I was beginning to piece things together.

The woman had her own jewelry around her neck, a day collar that her husband made her wear in public, and she was fidgeting impatiently, not speaking a word as she fiddled with her own shoulder length brown hair, the tips dyed mint green.

Liz also had a weird tag on her right ear, like a cattle tag. It was almost pure silver, with the numbers 0002 printed on the front, alongside the initials, CG, engraved into the metal.

She wasn’t just Cyrus’ wife, she was his slave.

Her enthusiasm had also caught me off guard; I hadn’t thought that someone so happy about being with her tormentor as Elizabeth was could have been a slave, knowing how much I hate my own position. She looked like a rat, ready to pounce at a scrap of food, hanging onto Cyrus’ every command as she looked to him with those two desperate green eyes she had.

But snapping back to reality for now, I was at least relieved to think that the only slaves in attendance were a pair of dye headed freckle-faced white women.

Husband of hers snorted. “Sure you can, little sis, I believe you~”

“Cut the sarcasm.” Candace was blushing, clearly getting embarrassed seeing each of her guests seemingly calling her out on being a pushover.

“You’re right. I guess I’d rather say- I will believe you, once I’ve seen it. That’s why we’re here isn’t it, Candace?”

“By the end of this, you’ll be calling me Miss St. Clair .”

“Sure I will~”

Candace was only getting more and more flustered by her older brother and his arrogant attitude, and his wife seemed to be swooning over it. My mistress turned to me, audibly huffing in frustration.

“I ought to punish you for speaking bad about me, but you have the right idea Chloe, I’m not a sweetheart, am I?” She gestured for me to answer, uncrossing her legs and nudging me.

“No Mistress, you’re not a sweetheart, or a pushover…”

“Good. Since you’ve already gotten your head pounded, I’ll let it go for now, I have plans for you tonight anyways~”

“Yes Mistress… Thank you…”

“By the way, how was the view of the mansion, did you notice anything you hadn’t seen before?”

“I didn’t get to look at it for very long, Mistress.”

“That’s alright, did you at least enjoy what you saw?”

“Yes Mistress. It was almost as beautiful as you…”

Candace stopped, clearly taken off guard by the unexpected compliment, her face getting even more flustered. “Why… thank you, slave…”

“Awwww, my little sister has her first serious admirer~”

“Shut up, Griffin!!!”

“That’s Mr. Griffin to you, young lady~”

“Cyrus, I will beat your head in harder than Aria with a beer bottle.”

By this point, the guests were doing more than just giggling at their host, Leah seemed to be busting her gut laughing at all of this as it went down, and I could hear that Malcolm and Aria had joined in from the table up front as well.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time, except for Candace. Mistress St. Clair had ordered me to try and have fun, and seeing Cyrus’ wife across from me giggling at my owner, I couldn’t help but smile, beginning to giggle at Candace’s expense as well.

Candace did not appreciate this.

As soon as I made eye contact with her, I could see all of the pent up anger and frustration in her concentrating towards me, standing up to kick me in the chest for that. She slammed me to the ground under her boot, stepping down on my chest and pinning me in place as she fumed.

I lied on my back as she pressed down, looking up at her with terror in my eyes. Her maroon heeled leather boots were thick and painful, digging into one of my breasts, threatening to pop them.

“You should know by now that you are not a guest here!! You are not here to have fun, you are here because I want you here, to prove to me that you are worthy of living in my house!! To prove to me that you know your place!! Not to have fun!! I told you to try and enjoy yourself, but not at my expense, you’re to prove to them how well your mistress!! Has!!! Tamed you!!!!”

She picked her foot up off of my chest and slammed the back of my head into the ground, causing even more pain to my already aching head. By the time the ringing had subsided once more, the room was almost completely silent, but that only lasted for a few moments before everyone started to giggle again, this time at my expense.

“Well little sis… I believe you now~” Cyrus lifted his drink, tapping it against the drink in Candace’s hand for a toast.

“Thank you, it comes naturally to me now~”

“As it usually does with practice, I’m proud of you~”

“It’s nothing, I told you I could do it without the facility’s help.”

“But not without the facility’s technology.”

“It’s the family’s technology, and I made it mine with a few adjustments.”

“I’m sure I could add those adjustments to the facility’s technology.”

“As if I’d hand you my work just like that- but speaking of, why doesn’t Liz have a collar of her own?”

“Because she has been through the facility, and thanks to me, she’s the perfect slave~”

“So what, you trust her to stay obedient without needing a collar?”

“I have other ways to keep my slave in line, you should learn a few.”

“I’m well equipped without your help, thank you. Didn’t you say Liz wanted to play with Chloe?”

“She does indeed~”

“Let her have at it then, while I have Malcolm get the things ready.”

“Hear that pet? Go. Play. Just don’t break her.”

I didn’t like the sound of it, but before I’d even had the chance to sit up, I saw Liz looming over me, on all fours, her hands firmly planted next to my head as she looked down at me.

“Hi Chloe~!! I’m Liz~!! I’ve heard you’re really stupid, so I figured I might as well make sure you know in case you haven’t figured that out~!!”

I took a deep breath, once again trapped on my back as I was forced to look up at her. She was calling me stupid, her- of all people?

I bit my tongue and rolled my eyes. “Hello, Ma’am…”

“Ma’am?? I like how that sounds… The most respectful thing I’ve ever been called is Mrs. Griffin, but I like that…”

“Mistress said t-”

“To treat everyone as your superior, including me, I know. I’ve been looking forward to this~”

“…L-looking forward to what…”

“To putting the fresh little fuckmeat in its place. Isn’t that right, Sir?”

Oh she did not just call me that.

I wasn’t sure what Liz’s deal was, but I was sure that I didn’t like her attitude towards me, not one bit. But I couldn’t say that to her- not after the tiniest little slip up with Aria earned me a broken bottle to the skull and the slightest of giggles got me put under Candace’s heel for trying to enjoy myself.

I looked up towards Cyrus, lifting my head to see him from beneath his slave. For right now, Liz was on top of me, and she was going to stay there until I could find a way to escape. It was clear that tonight was about Candace impressing her brother and his mom, the other guests in the room were just window dressing.

“Yes of course my darling, make me proud~”

“Yes, Sir!!” Liz turned back to me, slamming her forehead into mine, forcing my head back onto the ground. “You’re less than worthless, aren’t you Chloe? That’s why you’re perfect for our Candace, you’re not even fit to be called a human~”

“I- I- I- mmmph…”

I held my tongue, knowing that nothing good could come out of that mouth of mine, this was torturously humiliating, and all I could do was sit through it- not fight back.

I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, unable to speak as I felt Liz place her hands on my breasts, pressing her weight down on them. She squeezed them in her hands, giggling to herself at the chance to torment me.

“So pathetic, I love her!!”

“P-please… that hurts…”

“When Cyrus told me about Candace’s new slave, I never imagined it would be you~!! I should have expected Candace to get her revenge on you~”

Oh she was just itching to rub that in, wasn’t she?

My new mistress had scolded me long and hard about what I did to her, and why it was all my fault that I was here. I knew why she wanted me here, and it was all to punish me. But even I wasn’t allowed to talk about it with her, she brought it up when she needed to hold it over me, and hardly for any other reason.

“I-I’m not allowed to talk… about it…”

“Awe… that’s a shame~”

“…Please let me up?”

“Not until you tell me who you belong to, that way I know you’ll stay in your place~”

Who do I belong to?

I paused, my breath caught in my throat as I struggled to give her an answer. I knew who I belonged to, it was her. Candace was out on the porch next to her assistant and her cruel lady friend, watching me.

When she wanted something, she always had this determination about her, and I could feel from that look on her face that she wanted this. I didn’t know what this was, or what it meant to her, but from the way she hung onto my words just then- I knew that she wanted it.

“I’m… Candace’s…”

Candace’s cold determined scowl had just a little bit of light in it, almost proud of herself. I felt Liz slowly move off of me, letting me regain my composure, leaning towards me to whisper into my ear.

“Just do as she says and she’ll take good care of you. She takes very good care of her property, if she’s anything like her brother, you’ll come to love it eventually~”

Liz finally took her hands off of me, smiling happily towards Candace as she made her way to the couch, now returning to watch over me. “Please tell your pet to heel, Cyrus~”

“Alright cutie, you’ve had your fun, silence yourself and come kneel.”

“Yes, Sir.” I watched as Elizabeth reluctantly pried herself from next to me and returned to her husband, finding her place quietly kneeling at his feet.

I didn’t know what this facility they kept talking about was, but it was clear that the results of being sent there were far more extreme than anything Candace was accomplishing here with me.

The way that Liz mindlessly obeyed her owner was sort of terrifying to watch. She didn’t even have a collar like mine, despite it being facility technology, which just meant that she was so totally broken into being a slave that stayed loyal without it- and that was almost unspeakably awful to think about.

I nervously sat up, glancing over my shoulder to my mistress sitting behind me, that light in her eyes still staring at me with evil intention.

That could have been me… Candace could have sent me to the facility…

“I hope you had fun with Liz~” Candace relaxed into the sofa opposite her brother, pointing at the ground in front of her. “Come kneel before me for forgiveness, NOW.”

Candace just wanted to make my punishment personal…

I didn’t hesitate with begging her for forgiveness, placing my head in her lap as I knelt, beginning to sob loudly.

“Please… I’m sorry for everything, Mistress… I-”

“No, not everything. What did you do tonight to deserve my wrath, what are you apologizing for?”

“I-” I swallowed nervously, heart swelling in my chest as I kept my head down, still buried in her lap. “I’m sorry for giggling at you, Mistress…”

“And why aren’t you allowed to giggle at my expense?”

“Because you’re my superior…”

“Very good. Look at me.”

I lifted my head up to meet her gaze, tears still flowing from my eyes. She patted the empty seat on the sofa between her and Leah, forcing me to lay next to her with my head in her lap as she slowly stroked my hair.

“Lay here and rest with Mistress.”

Candace usually sat in her chair alone, but I quickly realized that the reason she sat down on the couch at all was for me to lay down next to her, which I appreciated. I murmured back to her, nuzzling my head into her lap.

“I never thought you could personally train a slave… not without the facility’s help…” Lilith just stared at me, looking like she really needed a cigarette. She was clearly deep in though, simultaneously admiring Candace’s work and contemplating how she felt about it. “She needs a number.”

“I think that’s my decision to make, but yeah- she does.” Cyrus interrupted his mother, his slave’s cattle tag held firmly between his fingers. “Any preference, sis?”

Candace just grinned excitedly, reaching down and pushing my hair aside so that she could pinch my earlobe between her fingers. “You know which one I want.”

“Then she can have it.” Cyrus smirked, leaning back and letting his own slave relax. “I’ll put her in the system- that way you can use the facility resources on her.”

“So be it.” Lilith sighed, whistling towards Aria and Malcolm on the balcony to give them the go ahead for whatever my cruel new mistress was planning for me. “It’s my son’s facility now, not mine. You three can do as you wish~”

“Finally~” Candace had that evil glow about her as she stared down at me, licking her painted lips to show her hunger. “I think I would appreciate the earliest appointment you have.”

“You really have done well with her huh, Candy Cane?” Leah giggled again, setting another empty wine bottle down on the table. “And for a second I thought she’d never have to step foot in that place~”

“Leah did you… drink an entire bottle of my wine?”

“This is me you’re talking to, of course I did~”

“You have a problem…”

“No you have a problem~” She snickered, tapping my ass with a cold beer bottle as she picked it up off of the table. “It’s not like you’ve raised cattle like the facility has.”

“I assure you, I am more than capable of handling this little cow all by myself~”

“I can see that, she’s even more castrated than you~”

“LEAH!!!!”

“Right… We don’t talk about that- speaking of neutering animals, I don’t even see why you’re having her spayed, it’s not like you can get her pregnant any-”

“Leah!! Shut up!!”

“…Maybe that is enough booze for tonight.” I looked up, trying to figure out what was happening as Leah placed the bottle back down on the now empty tray. “Or maybe not~”

“Eugh.” Candace forced me out of her lap in frustration, shaking her head at the other woman. “Take the tray back to the kitchen, Chloe. We’re almost done for tonight-”

“You’re having me spayed?!” Tears had started pouring down my face again, flushed with fear and humiliation at the horror of it.

“Do as I say before I slap you.” Candace forced the tray of dishes into my hands without asking. “We are not talking about this right now. Go.”

I wanted to fight- to scream, to punch her- but I couldn’t. At this point I had no choice but to do as she told me, taking the tray back to the kitchen, slowly wiping the tears from my eyes.

Candace is going to spay me- like an animal.

I couldn’t believe it. Of course she would do something like that, I was just a fool for thinking that our tiny moment of intimacy together on the couch meant anything. Candace didn’t see me as someone worth spending time with, she didn’t even see me as a person anymore. She saw me as an animal- human cattle.

“I’d say I feel sorry for you, but-” Leah followed me into the kitchen, breaking back into the wine collection and cracking open another bottle. “It’s not like I’m ever going to have kids either, so…”

I steeled myself, stuffing my emotions back into their cramped little hole- resisting the urge to drive a knife through all of their throats. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Save it. We both know what we did to get here, live with it.” Leah took just a few drinks from the bottle before deciding it was enough, slamming it down on the tray next to the other drinks. “Candace expects you back in five, if you’re not out by then I’ll have to drag you.”

“Thank you, Ma’am. I’ll be out soon…”

I forced my way back to the parlor before Leah had to come and get me, and by the time I returned Lilith was now sitting next to Candace, her hand on my mistress’ shoulder.

“I would be proud to have you as my daughter, Candace…”

“Thank you, Miss Mariam. That means a lot… Do you think I’ll ever get Claudia to come out to one of these?”

“I doubt it hon… My daughter has never been that type of person…”

“She’s always been so distant with me…”

“She didn’t get along with your mother very well.”

“That’s not my fault!!”

“I know it’s not your fault sweetie, your mother was an astoundingly wonderful woman…”

“She was…”

“I know she was… But you’ll always have us, sweetheart~”

“Thank you…”

“I must ask though, did you really have to brand the girl with that symbol? Couldn’t you have put your name on her?”

“She knows exactly what that symbol means, but since you mention it anyways…” Candace smiled mischievously, staring up at me as I stepped into the room. “We’re about to take Chloe outside for her new brand, something more personalized this time… her idea not mine~”

New brand… my idea? I swallowed nervously, my cheeks turning bright red as I quickly realized what she meant Oh no…

Candace brought me outside onto the porch, her assistant had just finished getting everything set up as she knelt down next to me. She took a large metal chain, attaching it to a large metal post built onto the porch, the kind of thing you’d restrain cattle with.

“I hope you’re ready, my little calf. If anyone is squeamish I suggest you go back inside while I’m handling the human cow over here~”

I nervously lowered my head, staring down at the floor of the porch, seeing none of the guests head back inside. They all stood around me from on or near the porch, as I anxiously awaited whatever it was that Candace was going to brand me with.

“You’ve done this once, you can do it again.” She placed one hand under my chin, forcing my gaze up to look at her. “Go on, say thank you to Mrs. Watts for giving me a branding iron~”

I bit my lip, a lump forming in my throat as I turned to look at Leah, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. “Th-thank you, Mrs. Watts…”

“Ms. Watts-” Leah rolled her eyes, cursing under her breath, clearly wishing she hadn’t gotten rid of the last half of that bottle of wine. “But you’re welcome.”

Candace stared at me as I turned to face her, looking me in the eyes. “Before we start… I want to hear you go moo~”

I took a deep breath in and swallowed the lump in my throat, seeing the glow of the moon reflected in her eyes and noticing for the first time that she was definitely wearing contact lenses. My heart skipped a beat, strangely, I had never actually been close enough to see it- but her eyes almost seemed mismatched in that glow. It was like one of her contacts just about made her eye seem purple.

“M-moo…”

My voice was shaky and my face flushed with humiliation as Candace reached towards my open mouth, placing a large bit gag- a long straight leather rod- into my mouth and clasping it around the back of my head before she restrained my collar to the other end of the chain she had set up for me.

Candace simply held her hand out towards Aria, who deposited a strange metal ornament into her palm. It was a cattle tag, like you would attach to a cow. Gold, rectangular, and to my surprise- had my new name engraved onto it- Chloe. Engraved below the name was a number, and on the back, Mistress St. Clair’s initials.

“We assign numbers to each and every one of our slaves. You probably don’t know how to read, but yours is 0000, we save the special numbers for our personal slaves~”

It was painful to look at, I had gotten my ears pierced in the past, but it was always by a professional. That was the same tag that Liz had on her ear, and I didn’t want to know what other extreme Candace planned on taking this to, but unfortunately for me I wouldn’t have to wait very long to find out.

“Hold still for me, okay?” Malcolm crouched beside me, a large piercing needle in hand. “This is only going to take a sec~”

He put the needle through right around the center of my ear, causing me to flinch- and I admittedly expected it to be a lot more painful than it actually was. I wasn’t sure what his deal was, but I was relieved to see that Candace’s assistant knew exactly what he was doing by the time he got done piercing my ear.

“Stay with me here, beautiful.” Malcolm tried to keep me calm as he tilted my head back, his tone indicating that he was just used to talking to girls like this in his overly flamboyant voice, rather than flirting. He held the needle in his hand like he was going to put it into my nose, but thankfully- he didn’t need to. “Well would you look at that- she’s already got a septum piercing~”

“Does she really?” Candace sounded almost surprised, despite being the one who never bothered to get close enough to check. “Then I suppose I won’t have to wait before putting a nice matching little nose ring to my nice little cow~”

Malcolm smiled, letting me go as he stood back up on his feet, stepping away from me. “She’s all yours~”

“And she always will be.” Candace sat in front of me, grabbing me by the head as she prepared to decorate me. Unable to jerk my head around, Candace did as she promised- placing the rose gold colored cattle tag onto my right ear, and sliding the matching nose ring into my septum. “Won’t you, Chloe?”

I could only pray that the answer I gave would somehow turn out to be a lie- but I nodded to her, crying out in pain through the gag to show her my submission.

I wished the night would just end there, but everyone was still watching and waiting. They’d been promised a brand, and they were going to get one. Candace mercifully gave me a few minutes to recover while she prepared the branding iron, this one carved into a completely new shape, just for me.

She stood in front of me for a moment, blowing on the iron before pointing it towards my face to let me see what she was going to be putting on my skin this time. “Property of CStC.”

Those were her initials.

That was why she hadn’t branded me with them since last time- she’d been waiting for tonight to brand me again, permanently, as her property. She was going to do it in front of everyone she knew to make a point out of it, to prove herself to be superior to me to what felt like the whole world.

Candace didn’t care about me. She had forgotten about our first meeting- it was my fault that this was happening to me. If I hadn’t opened my stupid mouth she wouldn’t have remembered writing her initials on my hips the first time we met, and she wouldn’t be doing it again.

For a moment I was afraid she’d do it to my face, but I knew exactly where she was going to put it. She made her way behind, twirling the iron as she got into position, holding the glowing hot iron just inches from my skin.

“Now you’ll have a visible reminder, at all times, of who owns you.”

She pressed it deep into my skin, just above my previous brand, which was now dwarfed in comparison to this new one- almost like a little symbol to punctuate Candace’s ownership of me. It was like I was screaming into the abyss, the pain in my backside threatening to send my entire body into shock.

“Just like that, now you’ll never forget will you, Chloe?” My mistress ran her hand over my skin once it was safe, outlining the letters in her initials before sitting back down in front of me, cupping my cheeks in her palms. All I could do was shake my head, tears still streaming out from my eyes. “Very good… what do you think, want to sleep out here tonight?”

Still helpless to do anything about it and not wanting to make my mistress any angrier tonight, I simply hung my head in defeat and sobbed, letting her rhetorical question go unanswered.

But as soon as I thought the night couldn’t get any worse, she curled her fingers into my long well kept hair, climbing on top of me and sitting on my back while on all fours.

“I hope you’ve all enjoyed yourselves tonight, I know little Chloe here has~”

And just like that, the night finally seemed to be over.

In short succession, after Candace was done putting on her show, the guests seemed to slowly make their way home- one by one- until it was just Leah and Aria left.

“Leah’s too out of it to drive me home- and I don’t have a license, let alone a car.” Aria did her best not to look at me, lest she’d end up gagging herself to the point of vomiting. “Mind if her and I- you know~”

“Chloe will be sleeping out here on the porch, Leah can babysit her to make sure she doesn’t escape, as a way of making it up to me…” Candace finally climbed off of my back, glaring the other women down. “Take the guest bedroom for the night, but make sure to make breakfast for us in the morning, someone will need to make food while Chloe’s out here- or I’ll have to eat my new cow.”

“Careful when you say things like that. With all of those weirdos at the facility, she might think you’re serious.” Leah stood in the doorway, giggling at me as she put one hand on her hip, making sure I saw that she was armed with a handgun. “If she tries to escape, I’ll cook her myself.”

“Hear that, Chloe?” I watched helplessly as Candace leaned down behind me, still too weak to fight back as she cupped both of my breasts in her hands. “I defy you to try~”

The remaining guests left my mistress and I alone, making their way to the guest bedroom together. Even after all of the torture I’d been through tonight, I still couldn’t help but be disgusted at myself for how much I liked the feeling of her soft touch against my body.

It wasn’t something I’d felt when my fellow slave did it to me, but Candace’s firm grasp carried a weight to it that I couldn’t help but love, unable to control myself, and it left me longing for more by the time she let go.

“You’re going to be a good slave, now aren’t you?” She sat in front of me, tilting my head up to look at her one last time. “I’m sure you’ll try something in the future, but I don’t have to worry about you trying to escape tonight, do I?”

I looked up into her eyes, seemingly asking an honest question, and I nodded. I had a knife stashed away under the sink in case I needed it- but for tonight I was content with being chained up outside on the porch, perfectly happy to not put up a fuss.

“Good work tonight, Chloe.” Candace smiled, and for just a moment brought a tender warmth to my blushing face as she pressed her lips to my skin, kissing me once on the forehead. “My cattle did very well tonight after all… Mistress is very happy with you~”