“…What happened?”

One week. That’s how long it had taken me to be purchased by a new owner after I had been taken away from Candace… and now I was somewhere completely new.

Did I faint? I whined loudly, trying to sit up in bed so that I could take in my surroundings. Wait a minute, am I in a real bed?

I actually was. I was waking up in an actual bed for the first time since I had been with Candace, rather than waking up from my recurring nightmares on a bench inside of my holding cell at the facility. I wasn’t even at the facility, I was somewhere else entirely.

“So is that really her??”

“She’s so pretty…”

“Wait look, she’s waking up~”

As soon as I was sitting up in bed I found myself suddenly getting swarmed, surrounded by a group of girls I had never met, who unlike me, were wearing nightgowns and pajamas rather than sleeping entirely naked.

Oh god… am I in hell? It might seem pretty weird to the uninitiated to assume that waking up in a room full of giggling girls meant that this little lesbian had finally found her way to hell, but the only thing it reminded me of was waking up in a bedroom with three other orphan girls.

Oh fuck, please don’t tell me all of that was a dream. For a split second, I was panicking. There were parts that I most certainly wished were a dream, but I was horribly concerned that I was somehow back in the girl’s bedroom back at the foster home, and I desperately was hoping that not all of my adult life since then had been make believe in my head as I slept.

Feeling horrifically flustered all of a sudden, I quickly examined by body hoping that my memories were real, and sure enough when I looked at my lower back, I saw it-

My brands… or more accurately, one of my brands. That demented nautilus shell was still there, but Candace’s initials were not. They had been burned over completely, leaving no sign they had ever been there.

“Master watches professionals stream sometimes, she didn’t put that on you, did she?”

“Isn’t that the zerg spiral…”

“So what, did you used to play a lot of starcraft???”

Oh fuck. I suddenly realized who these girls actually were, that woman’s other slaves. So it all was real…

I may be a proud lesbian icon, but having three complete strangers gawking over my naked body was nerve-wracking, even if they are women… very attractive women no less.

“…Didn’t the matron say to let her know when she wakes up?”

“Zenna should be the one to go tell her~!!!”

“Wait, why do I have to be the one to do it?”

“…Because she belongs to Claudia, doesn’t she?”

“We belong to Josie, remember???”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I should have to do it?”

“Well I don’t want to do it…”

“And neither do I, Claudia scares me~~~”

“But I don’t want to either?”

“Come on…”

“Just go!!!”

“Alright, fine.”

It was like a cartoon watching them speak one after another, and before I even had the chance to get a word in, the third girl, Zenna, had already stormed out of the room.

“Hey~!!! I’m Darcey!!!”

“And I’m Autumn…”

“H-hi, I- Where am I?” Holy shit, they will not give me a second to adjust, will they? This really was turning out to be just like living in the girl’s room at my foster home. Hopefully they wouldn’t be as annoying as the other foster girls I used to live with. Please don’t be Jana, Sakura, and Lily all over again…

“You’re home now, I think… This is our bedroom.” Autumn piped up, shushing Darcey before she had the chance to jump back in and overwhelm me any more than she already was. “You know that you’re like… a slave, right?”

“I’m a slave, yeah… I remember that.” I sighed, wishing it wasn’t the case but knowing that it very much was. “My name’s Chloe…”

“You’re that slave girl with no last name, right?” Darcey added, having calmed down just a little bit since I had woken up. “I saw on some of your paperwork you just don’t have a last name somehow~”

“I’d… rather not talk about it…” I frowned, retreating in bed as the two of them stood over and questioned me. Autumn was very cute in her nightgown, and Darcey pajamas were just as cute, but I didn’t have anything but the pink bed sheets I was grabbing at to cover up my naked body. I should not be trusted to live in a bedroom with three other girls. “Wh- what happened to me last night?”

“You came out of the facility high on drugs from your surgery, and you fainted~” Zenna opened the door, not for herself, but for her master.

“Claudia…”

“That’s my name, but that’s not how you should address your superiors, Chloe…” She shook her head, swinging her cane in her hand for a moment before leaning on it for support. “You do know better than that, don’t you?”

“Yes, Ma’am!!” I quickly blurted out, still scared and disoriented. I was in her home now, and that meant I needed to be careful. “It won’t happen again, I’ll be back in working order by the end of the day at the latest, I promise… I just…”

“You just need a moment to adjust, I understand. That’s why you’re not in trouble just yet.” She smiled reassuringly, turning to the other slaves that had been in the room with me and directing them out of the room. “I don’t care where you go, but go make yourself useful, girls… I’d like to give Chloe my full attention for the time being~”

The other girls, without hesitation, did as Claudia said- leaving the two of us alone together.

“Ma’am, I-”

“Can you work today, Chloe?” Claudia turned to me and smiled, being as friendly as she could for a person who held my life in her hands. “I’m not going to hurt you, so be honest~”

“Yes. I can work today if need be, Ma’am.”

“But do you want to?” She smirked, almost giggling under her breath.

I stopped, thinking about it for a moment. “Not really, no…”

“Then let’s skip that for today, then~” Her smile was infectious, and her charisma was unmatched, even by my last owner. “How good are you on a leash?”

“Like a show dog, Miss.” I bit my lip, smiling back at her. “Quiet and pretty~”

“Just how I like my slaves~”

Claudia held up her cane, twisting the head of the implement and pulling a long bronze chain from the head of the cane, the end that doesn’t make contact with the floor, equipping herself with a leash built into her cane.

“Are you familiar with proper leashing procedure, doll?” Claudia held the end of the chain in her hand for a moment before pressing a button and actually letting the chain retract back inside, stepping towards me.

“Not yours, Miss.” I took a deep breath, steeling myself as she approached, using up all of my energy to keep myself from backing away. “Will you please teach it to me?”

Polite, calm, composed. I had made a lot of mistakes while I was with Candace, and I wasn’t about to repeat any of them. There wasn’t going to be any misbehaving from me today. I needed to impress her.

“On your knees, legs spread. Arms behind your head, elbows up, hair in hand. I need you to keep those sunny locks of yours out of my way.” She smiled, tapping the end of her cane on the ground just once.

I did as she said, spreading my thighs apart as I knelt for her, holding my hair behind my head. Something about that cane of hers was terrifying to me. “Like this?”

“Just like that, yes.” She grinned excitedly, holding her cane by the opposite end and put the head to my collar.

It was a strange little detail, but the fancy piece decorating the very top of her cane was actually a head, a sculpture of an animal’s head at least. It was somewhere between a snake and a dragon, and it appeared that the jaws actually opened up at the press of a button.

Click. The metal jaws of the serpentine creature opened up, before just as quickly closing around the head of my collar, biting down on it. There was another clicking sound, Claudia pressing a completely different button, before opening the jaws again and pulling the head of her cane away from my collar. Click. Click. I wasn’t sure how, but in just three clicks she had affixed a leash to my collar without even having to reduce herself to my level.

“Now say thank you and bow, keep your head down, palms flat on the floor~”

I was careful not to do anything before she told me to, letting my hair back down and putting my palms on the floor at her feet. I was so close to her, all it would take was grabbing her ankle and knocking her over, but I didn’t. I was too nervous.

She wanted her due respect from me and she was going to get it. I placed my palms on the floor, and lowered myself to the ground, bowing for her at her feet. “Thank you… Master…”

Master. The word still sounded wrong coming out of my lips. I couldn’t believe I had called her that last night, and I was equally bothered to find myself saying it to her now. Master… that’s supposed to be for Candace, not her.

“Rise to your feet and stay at my side, I don’t want to feel your collar pulling taut.” Claudia gently but firmly tugged on the chain, letting me know it was time to get up.

I rose to my feet, obeying her every word. At least she was a woman who knew exactly what she was doing.

“When we walk like this, on a leash, you’re behind me and on my left at all times. That means I want the rightmost point of your right foot further left than the leftmost point of my left foot, and the furthest point of your front foot behind the heel of my back foot, without letting your leash pull taut, do you think you can do that?”

“I think so, Ma’am…” I bit my lip nervously, already able to tell how difficult this was going to be. “It might take me some practice…”

“Would you like said practice now, my dear?”

“If that’s alright with you, Miss…”

“Follow me, cutie~”

↞✶↠

I quickly got the hang of it, but I wasn’t confident enough to try and tell her when to stop, so we paced around for quite a while until Claudia decided she wanted to stop.

“Take a seat.” We stepped into what looked like a second story conservatory, with great glass walls overlooking the beautiful gardens outside. “On the floor with you~”

I knelt on the floor once again, like I was told, turning to face her in her seat as she spoke.

“So…” She crossed her legs and smiled, setting her cane down beside her, leaning against the chair. “Let’s figure out what I’m going to do with you then, shall we?”

“Y-yes, Ma’am?” I swallowed nervously. This was the moment of truth, if I couldn’t do as she told me to do, I was almost certainly going to die.

“You’re a slave. You’ve memorized all of your guidelines, I don’t need to teach you those, I just need to give you purpose… as my maid.” She smiled, admiring my naked body as I looked up at her. “I’m sure you’re good at all of the traditional maid duties, but as you can see, we already have three maids, Chloe.”

“I see that, Ma’am. Yes.”

“Darcey cleans. Autumn cooks. Zenna cares for our daughter.” Claudia’s smile faded away as she took a deep breath, trying to ease her own excitement. “What can you do for me, Chloe?”

“I… excuse me?” I swallowed nervously, shaking in place as I struggled to figure out what to say. “I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking… I’ll do anything you make me-”

“I know you will. I’m not concerned about that.” She went on, sighing. “In order to give you the best chances of success, I want to know what you’re good at, Chloe.”

“What am I good at, Ma’am?”

What was I good at?

“My last owner made me cook, clean, and serve her. But before that… I don’t know… I’m good at video games… I-” I bit my lip, staring up at her with a bright pink blush on my cheeks. “I can entertain you, Ma’am~”

“I’ll believe that when I see it.” Claudia eyed me hungrily. “So go ahead, entertain me~”

You can do this, Chloe…

I took a deep breath, trying to make myself look as cute as possible as I crawled to her on my hands and knees. I had become accustomed to accomplishing minor tasks such as movement in as humiliating a manner as possible. It hurt, not physically, but mentally, to have to put your pride on the floor for someone else to step on. But it was my life, and if I needed to be good at it to survive, then I was going to master it.

“May I use my mouth for you, Ma’am?”

“Do you think you deserve to put your filthy little animal mouth anywhere near me, Chloe?”

I looked up at her and shook my head, my hands and knees still firmly planted on the ground beneath me. “No, Ma’am… I don’t deserve that.”

“Then no, no you may not.” She sat there, her legs still crossed as she watched me, waiting to be entertained.

Right… I need to put on a show. If she wouldn’t let me pleasure her, I’d have to do something else to impress her. Something that Candace liked seeing from me. “May I humiliate myself for your amusement… Ma’am?”

I never thought I could possibly fall this far… asking for permission to do something I didn’t want to do, for the amusement of a person that I didn’t yet know or trust, or want to be with. That was my life now.

“You may…” Claudia set her elbow on the arm of her chair, leaning her head against her palm for support. “Find a place where you think your mouth does belong, and put it there~”

I sighed, face still flushed as I thought it over, knowing exactly what I ought to do. “Yes, Master.” I took a deep breath in, and then out, lowering my head to the ground between her feet and gently kissing the floor.

There was a moment of silence, the air cracking with fear as I trembled beneath her, hoping that I was doing alright. But somehow all of that stress melted away when I felt the weight of her foot, firmly pressing the back of my head to the floor, reminding me where I stood.

“You know where you belong, don’t you?”

“Below you, Ma’am.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I’m your slave, and you’re my master.”

“More specific than that, Chloe. Why are you a slave? Why do you deserve this?”

“Because you’re better than me, Ma’am!!” I pressed the back of my head into her foot as she held it there, not trying to break free, not trying to move her away, just feeling the resistance. I pushed against the weight of her stepping down on my head, just trying to feel her hold me there, wanting to feel her above me. “Because I need to feel your power over me. I need to feel… lesser than you.”

“And why is that, Chloe?”

“Because I am lesser than you…” I stopped, putting my head back to the floor, feeling the weight of her foot follow me down. “I’m lesser than you, Master.”

Claudia lifted her foot off of the back of my head, setting it back on the floor beside me. “I don’t care what your childhood was like, or about your life before me, you are a slave and you are mine.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Say it.”

“I am a slave, and I am yours.”

“Again.”

“I am a slave, and I am yours.”

“One more time?”

“I am a slave, and I am yours.”

“I lied… one more time?”

“I am a slave, and I am yours… Master.”

“Your life is worth less than that of an ordinary human, do you know why?” Claudia spread her legs excitedly, waiting for me to raise my head from the floor before giving me the answer herself. “It’s because you aren’t a human, not anymore.”

“Yes, Ma’am…” I swallowed nervously, keeping my gaze down at her feet and my palms flat on the wooden floor beneath me. “I understand.”

“But that doesn’t mean I don’t want you to be happy.” Claudia smiled, reaching for my chin with her hand rather than using her cane to touch me, lifting my gaze up to look at her. “Darcey, Autumn, and Zenna are all happy, healthy, obedient, and loved. I love all of my slaves dearly, and I want them to feel that, but you have to deserve that love… do you deserve that love, Chloe?”

“No, Ma’am… I don’t.”

“Not yet, you don’t.” She smiled at me, sitting back up in her seat and continuing to stare down at me. “Did your last owner love you, Chloe?”

Did my last owner love me? Really?

Of course she had to go there. I could handle anything she could throw at me, except for that. Because the truth was, I had no idea… I had no idea whether Candace ever truly loved me, or if she had just been pretending.

“I… I don’t know, Ma’am…” I was just glad I had gotten as far away from her as I could. “I’m sorry…”

“The point of me asking is that it doesn’t matter… whoever she was, she can’t reach you anymore. I’m your world now~”

Claudia smiled, uncrossing her legs and spreading them as she continued to gently gaze into my eyes, her loving aura quickly filling my heart with warmth.

“And as long as you recognize and respect that… you deserve my love~”

I could feel that warmth spreading to my cheeks as I blushed even harder, my face turning red like a cherry. “Do you mean it, Miss?”

“I do…” She gave me a toothy grin, her smile filling the entire room with warmth. “Now get at it, little thing~”

Claudia was stunningly beautiful, and it made peeling back the hem of her dress all the more satisfying just to get at her quim… and there it was, wet and waiting for me. She wanted me as much as I wanted her, and honestly… probably quite a lot more.

There was unfortunately no cock to be found hiding between her legs, but that was okay. Not everyone could be Candace St. Clair, drop dead gorgeous, busty, curvy, perfectly feminine, and well endowed… unbelievably well endowed. I would prefer to be sucking on some nice thick girlcock, but drinking juice straight from the cunt of a goddess was more than enough for me.

She was an insanely pretty woman, as striking as she was imposing. Claudia was six and a half feet of pure lady. She wasn’t wearing anything under that dress of hers, of course she wasn’t, why were rich people so weird?

I thought this kind of strange behavior ran in Candace’s family, but maybe after a certain point, all wealthy people were just deplorable.

“Thank you, Ma’am…” I relaxed, feeling her running her fingers through my hair made me feel at ease, like she was in control here. I could mess up if she was in control, so I let her bury my face into her clean shaven cunt. Kissing her labia as if they were a pair of lips.

I had no idea what my new master wanted, but that was okay. I was going to learn, eagerly. I had no reason not to trust her yet after all, it wasn’t her fault I had been forced into slavery, it was Candace’s. Claudia was just the one who bought me off of the black market and decided to give me a home here between her legs, and I should be grateful for that. I was grateful for that. It was leagues better than getting sold off to a man I’ve never met, or getting fucked to death by Candace’s brother. I never wanted to see another member of Candace’s family in my life.

“Good girl, Chloe~”

Praise. I liked praise, especially when it came from the lips of gorgeous women like her, it meant that something I was doing was making her happy. That’s what I was after, making her happy. I had nothing to strive for in life anymore, except for her. I was going to find happiness somewhere, even if it came from pleasing Claudia Mariam.

“You’re a very pretty slave, you know that?” This was normal for her. She had three slaves already, she had a girl between her legs more often than she didn’t, she was used to holding conversations like this. “Aren’t you glad you found your way to a proper master?”

“Yes, Ma’am. Thank you very much…” She just won’t stop talking. How am I supposed to do my work if she won’t stop talking? It makes it really hard to focus on pleasuring her.

“That brand of yours you have down there is also quite pretty, I can’t believe I didn’t notice that before~”

“Yes, Ma’am… I had to have one of my other brands removed before I got to you.”

Oh my god. Why does she keep going? I get that she wants to get to know me, but is questioning me while I’m trying to service her cunt really the best idea?”

“Isn’t that the zerg spiral?” She commented, clearly quite amused that it was there, something she was able to easily recognize. “You know, my little sister plays that game~”

“Starcraft, you mean?” Oh my god, please shut up. I kept cursing her out in my head, unable to speak my mind to her. “It’s a popular game, Ma’am. I used to play it too~”

“That’s nice, I hope you had fun with that. I won’t be able to let you play any more of that, unfortunately. Online capabilities and what not, you aren’t allowed contact with the outside world I’m afraid.”

“That’s alright, Miss. I understand that. I had a bit of a falling out with the game anyways.” If I never got to see or hear anything from that cursed game ever again, I would be just fine. In fact, I hoped I’d never have to play another real-time strategy game in my life. I may be good at them, but look how much good they’ve done for me. Things went well for a while, but everything went south when I got to the top.

You would think that once you reached a certain level of notoriety, you’d be immune to that kind of thing, but no. I was never going to reach a point where I would have been safe from getting kidnapped and sold into the black market, not if getting to the top of my sport wasn’t enough.

It didn’t seem fair that these sickos could be so wealthy and prosperous, but as soon as I became the best in the world, I became a slave. I was just going to have to live with that though. There wasn’t going to be any esports for me, ever again, and that was fine. I had something new to focus on and devote myself to, pleasuring my masters, whoever they ended up being.

I sighed, pressing my lips to her vulva and slowly lapping at the inside of her cunt with my tongue. Maybe if I smother myself in her genitals she’ll take the hint that I just want to eat her out, and hopefully she’ll let me go quiet. It’s not that I don’t want to talk with my new master, but right now I just wanted to tune out the world and forget how cruel my fate really is.

“That’s too bad, I was going to suggest that we watch my sister together.” Claudia sighed, cooing at me from above condescendingly. She could do what she wanted with me and I would have no power to stop her, so at least she was being nice. “She plays that game professionally, she’s quite good at it~”

“Ghhhck-” I quickly yanked myself off of her, pulling out from between her legs, gagging and choking on a combination of my own spit and her vaginal fluid. “What?? What was that??”

“Well now, slow down… be careful.” That was probably a mistake, but she didn’t exactly seem to mind, thankfully. “Starstruck, dear?”

“Y-your sister, Master?” Why am I breathing so fast? Why is my heart beating so hard? What’s wrong with me?

She can’t be talking about who I think she is. She can’t. She can’t. She can’t.

I gagged, trying desperately not to faint out of shock for the second time in as many days. “You mean th-the one who’s on vacation?”

“That’d be the one, yeah. Why? Would you like to meet her?” She winked, giggling under her breath at my presumably fangirl-esque freakout. “Oh, that reminds me. I really ought to give her a call before I forget… Hold tight cutie~”

Wait. Shit, no!! I watched helplessly as she stood up from her chair, stepping halfway across the conservatory before I could stop her. My mind was racing too quickly for me to get words out of my mouth, my throat clenching down on my sentiments before I got the chance to say them.

It can’t be, that’s just too absurd, the chances are too astronomically low for- Oh my god, wait. Candace doesn’t have a sister… does she?

No, fuck- She does, doesn’t she? But this can’t be her, that’s just- what was her name? What was her name?

I could feel my arms and legs wobbling beneath me as I sat there, still on all fours- about to collapse where I knelt, where I cowered. If my mental state was a bad sign, the reaction my body was having was probably even more concerning. I was racking my brain for answers, but I just couldn’t figure out her name- I knew that I had heard it once before, but I couldn’t remember, that was such a long time ago.

What was Cyrus’ last name? Griffin. That’s different from his mother’s, isn’t it? What was her last name? So what if it’s Cyrus’ facility, he wouldn’t let me get sold to his other sister, would he?

Besides, just look at her- it’s not possible. She’s too tall and… she doesn’t even look like Candace. Like sure, they would only be half sisters, and Candace is albino, but they look too different.

Cyrus would have to be her full sibling, and they somehow look even less alike. Cyrus is shorter than Candace too, and just look at the height difference between him and Claudia, it’s nonsensical to think that they could be related, right?

Claudia’s hair is light brown anyways, Candace and Cyrus are both blonde, just like their father. Their father was pretty tall though, and even if Lilith’s hair was kind of brown, it was mostly grey- amazingly.

The only thing they all have in common with her are those… Stormy blue eyes of hers…

“Gah. Straight to voicemail, drat.” Claudia rolled her eyes and grumbled, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for the tone to tell her to leave a message, clearing her throat as she prepared to do so, gazing straight into my eyes from above- like a goddess. Like Candace. “Her phone is on too, or else it would have sent me straight to her inbox instead of making me wait through her dial tone-”

I stared straight up into them, those gorgeous blue eyes that Claudia has, and for once they seemed calm, less like a storm and more like… the ocean.

Those are Candace’s eyes.

“Hello dear, it’s your sister again. I was just wondering if you had any more thoughts about coming over for a visit anytime soon. My, um- husband… has been dying to get a chance to see you again, says he has something to tell you in person, which I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by.”

She winked at me, holding one finger up to let me know that this was just going to take a moment as she turned to face away from me, our eyes no longer locked together.

No…

“But anyways, we have several new additions to the family that I’m sure you’ll be delighted to meet. You know- pets and whatnot, they’re the most adorable things… and I-”

Please don’t tell me…

“I guess I just want to catch up with you?”

She can’t be…

“Last time we saw each other, Lillian was so little, she doesn’t even remember meeting her aunt… and I was wondering if my mother had given you a call recently?”

That’s not possible…

“Anywho, please call me back. I’m dying to hear back from you-”

Please tell me you’re not…

Click. Claudia, my master, hung up the phone, turning back to face me. She gazed straight into mine with those beautiful oceans in her eyes, and her gorgeous candid smile, her dirty blonde hair glistening in the sunlight beaming down into the conservatory.

I retched, scurrying across the floor away from her seat- away from her- my nails scratching the ground like I was trying to claw my way out of here in some vague sense.

Claudia was about to say something, I could tell, but all I could hear was her gasping as she watched me for a moment. Those gears in my head that you could always so clearly see ticking away stopped, jammed together and completely stuck, like some stray thought was caught in the gears, shutting everything down in an instant.

It was like my body was trying to expel every part of itself from the inside out, I retched- gagging and hurling. I could feel tears of pain cutting their way out of me like needles as I vomited right there on the fancy tile floor of the conservatory. My new master’s conservatory- on the first day here. She had just brought me home, and almost instantly I was fucking up in the most major way humanly possible, first thing in the morning no less.

“Chloe!!” She shouted, and it just made everything worse. The tears had just been pain, but not now- now they were fear, and anger, and sadness, and despair, all while the tears of pain still poured out of me.

“I- I- I- I- I- I- I- I-” The first word out of my mouth screeched its way through, looping like a broken record. One syllable, one letter, it was almost as if it was the only word small enough to slip between the cracks and grooves of the gears still stuck in my mind. “I- I’m so… so sorry… Master… my master… I-”

This is it… I’m a dead woman…

“Oh, hush!!” She scurried towards me, and I was sure she was going to strike me dead then and there, but she found herself at my side. “And you tried to insist that you could work today.”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen, Master. I swear!!” I shut my eyes, hoping she would just be quick. Painless, merciful- that’s how I wanted it. The only thing that I could ask for is that my death not be humiliating. “I’m a failure… I’m sorry I’m such a failure…”

“I said hush, Chloe. Listen to me when I speak.” A hand on my skin, gently rubbing my back. That was what I felt, not a deadly volley of electricity, not the pain of her bludgeoning me with her cane, a hand rubbing my lower back, right around my brand. “Deep breaths.”

“Ma’am… I-”

“Deep breaths, no words.” She silenced me, standing up behind me and looking down at me and the mess I had made. No, I was the mess here. The vomit on the floor was indistinguishable from the ugly disgusting mess that I had become. The catastrophe here in the conservatory with her was me, bile and all. “Can you stand?”

Deep breaths, no words. I couldn’t say for sure that it was a test, but it might have been. I breathed in and out, in and out, nodding my head in affirmation. I could stand. I didn’t have to speak or disobey to let her know that. I could just stand up.

So I did, slowly but surely, I rose to my feet. I left my pride and dignity on the floor with the rest of the sludge and bile I had spewed out of me. I had no use for them here, my ego was going to do me no good, it was just as useless as I was.

I used to hate this, and I still did, but I had learned to put up with it- I could put up with looking like a worthless pathetic mess. I could accept being a worthless pathetic mess, that’s what I was. I hated looking the part, but there was no amount of pride that was going to help me here.

“Don’t think I’m not going to punish you for this, even if you feel like shit- you at least need to learn not to lie about being able to work, and pushing yourself when you’re so clearly inundated with pain.” I could have sworn that she had shouted at me in anger, but she hadn’t. It had been a disappointed yell for sure, but she had shouted at me out of concern. “You’re going to clean this up.”

I am, of course I am. I nodded again, still not needing to speak, not when she told me to stay quiet. I kept breathing, trying to stay calm and collected and presentable. Not for me, but for her. I would never make you clean up after me, Master… I would never let you…

Thump. That was the sound of the end of her cane tapping the floor just once. Not too quiet, not too loud, but just enough to get your attention. It was invasive, but it wasn’t threatening, it was firm… No, it was even more than that. It was strong, but not just strong-

It was assertive.

“You, my new slave, are to find your way to the washroom downstairs and find some way to clean all of this up- including yourself.” She pointed her cane directly at me, more authoritatively than accusingly. “I don’t care how you get it done, it’s not my job to know how my home stays clean. It’s my job to shelter, nurture, and feed the ones who do… and in return for their service, trust my slaves and their ability to do so.”

I nodded, still silent, still obedient. My eyes lit up as I looked into hers, feeling at ease, safe in knowing that I wasn’t dead just yet. -And I wanted to keep it that way.

“Show me that I can trust you to get it done, with or without the help of someone who will offer such a thing to you, but get it done quickly- or I will be sending you off to bed without dinner tonight.”

Thump. I heard that sound again, and before I was even aware that it was what I was doing, I was already out of the room, headed downstairs. I was obeying.

I shut my eyes and ran down the stairs. I didn’t care if there were tears running down my face or piss running down my legs, I was going to do what I was told. It was the only thing that I had anymore, my desire. My desire to live, my desire to listen, to serve, to obey, to do what it takes to survive… and the thing that I desired most of all was love.

I wanted to be loved, and I was going to do everything in my power to make that happen.

I ran through the house with my eyes closed, trying to reduce the stimulus I was experiencing. Out the door, off to the left, down the stairs, and immediately to my left again, across the hallway from the room I had woken up in should be- I opened my eyes and peered inside. The washroom.

We had walked past it on the way upstairs to get to the conservatory, it was right there before the stairs, directly outside of what I assumed was the slave’s quarters, our bedroom- my bedroom. Hopefully after today I would actually get to sleep in a proper bed.

It was practically the first thing we had walked by on our way through the house. That was where Darcey, the blonde one, had been. I was pretty sure that she was the one in charge of cleaning, right?

“Darcey?” There she was. I couldn’t tell if she was working, on a break, or otherwise, but I didn’t know what I was doing. I wasn’t going to torture myself trying to make it seem like I was a better maid than I was. I was going to do this right, even if that meant admitting that I couldn’t do this by myself. “I need help…”

Please… She stared at me. I could feel it, but I couldn’t see it. I couldn’t see what she was thinking through my crying eyes as I wiped the tears away. Claudia said that I could ask for help, I just need to find someone who would offer it to me, someone who would help me.

Please help. Please don’t tease me, please don’t bully me, please don’t make fun of me. Please just-

“Yes, I can help-” My eyes slowly fluttered open hearing her voice kindly agreeing to help me. Relieved that she wasn’t like the girls I grew up with. “What do you need, what can I help with?”

Maybe this isn’t going to be the foster home all over again…

↞✶↠

“Now let’s get back to bed, and sleep.”

Darcey helped me clean up the mess in Claudia’s conservatory upstairs with little to no complaints. She didn’t do the work for me, she just got me what I needed and helped walk me through it. Thankfully our master didn’t seem to mind.

“Am I being put away for the night, Ma’am?” I was composed enough to speak, and hopefully she wouldn’t mind hearing my voice after all of that. I wasn’t arguing, I was just asking to be informed. “Should I expect to go without dinner tonight?”

I was on her leash again as she led me downstairs. I had hardly even noticed that she had let me off of the leash when she was on her phone call, it had never felt like she was any less in control. But somehow it still felt like a relief to be on a leash again.

“And starve a sick little sweetheart who needs sustenance to recover after her time at the facility?” The thought seemed silly to her, who wanted me back in proper shape to serve her as quickly as I could be. “You, who just ejected whatever little food you had in you, going without dinner?” She giggled, pulling me along. “Unless you make a number of other mistakes today- No. Not likely.”

“Thank you…” Now this, this was a woman who I was eager to impress, just like her. “Thank you, Ma’am.”

It had taken me this long to figure out what this reminded me of, what this felt like. But eventually my brain got back into the right state to be able to figure it out.

Candace. This felt like Candace.

I could remember that day so clearly, it was like it was happening again. Wanting to serve her only for her to interrupt me, making my work harder for me. Getting flustered, frustrated, wanting to run away from it all.

A sudden surge of pain and terror, unable to breathe, making a mess of myself and immediately thinking that my life was over for it. To get yelled at for getting my bodily fluids all over her floor and immediately be forced to apologize and clean up after myself.

Trekking across the house with my face flushed with shame and humiliation, and in the end being grateful for the sympathy she decided to show me, and being forgiven. Getting let off the hook on the promise of having dinner taken away from me if I made any further mistakes.

That was the night she gave me my first brand.

It really was like it was happening all over again, in a different place, at a different time, and with a different mistress, but it was the same. It was almost like I was still with Candace…

But unlike last time, I wasn’t going to make any further mistakes and get myself in trouble. I wasn’t going to let history repeat itself. I wasn’t going to give Claudia a reason to punish me with a brand. I was going to have dinner tonight, with my new owner, and her family… my new family…

If I can manage not to fail her like I failed my previous owner, then maybe for once in my miserable useless life I wasn’t failing Candace again. I’m not going to let her efforts go to waste, she wanted me to be safe, she wanted me to find a good home, and I’m not going to let her down by failing another mistress like I had failed her. I’m not going to fail Candace again, not tonight… maybe tomorrow, but not tonight…

Candace…

All signs pointed to it, and I had grappled with the idea of just letting it go, maybe I didn’t need to know- but I did. There was plausible deniability, even just knowing how unlikely it was, but it could still be her. I couldn’t let this go, I couldn’t wait any longer, I couldn’t keep going like this… I needed to know.

I have to know.

“Master.” Claudia had delivered me, on a leash, straight back to the same room I had woken up in. She wanted me to settle down and get some rest, and I wasn’t going to be able to sleep until I knew for sure, but I knew that once that leash came off, I wasn’t going to have the strength to ask. It had to be now, before she tapped that cane of hers and let me off her leash, I need to know. “Excuse me, but I hope I have permission to ask… what’s your sister’s name?”

“My little sister?” I could see in her eyes that it was an odd question to ask, out of all things. But she had no reason not to tell me. So she did.

“Candace. Candace St. Clair.”

Snap. It was like a lifeline keeping me afloat was being severed as she pressed the button on her cane, retracting her bronze chain and letting me off of her leash, the one thing giving me strength right now.

“Why do you ask?” She twirled her cane in her hand, now free to swing it around as she pleased. “You aren’t familiar with her, are you?”

“No, Ma’am.” I clenched my mouth shut, lying through my sweet little lips as I bowed for her, my new master. “I don’t know who that is, I’m afraid… my apologies.”

Yes I do. I know Candace better than anyone else in the world…

↞✶↠

Dinner. Autumn came to get me for dinner.

Candace is her sister… I belong to Candace’s sister.

I didn’t sleep, I couldn’t possibly sleep after learning that, I just laid there in bed and cried, but Claudia didn’t need to know that.

“We sit down here~” Autumn, just like Darcey had been, was doing her best to be helpful. She wasn’t mean, she wasn’t bullying me, she was being kind and welcoming- just like everyone else here had been.

And that was eating away at me. Because if she was really a part of Candace’s family, that meant the rest of her family was too… and I had never thought a member of that family could be so welcoming.

“Here. We sit here, at the end.” Autumn pulled out a chair for me to take a seat in, so I did, watching Darcey, the other slave, sit down across from me.

The table was long, and Claudia sat at the head of the table, with no one sitting opposite her on our end. It was like the table in Candace’s dining room, but larger… and there I went comparing everything to Candace again, but this time I had a reason.

She’s going to find out eventually… I knew that much, I just didn’t know whether I should tell her now, or whether it would be best to wait. Sooner or later, I wasn’t sure which was better just yet. It was obvious that I knew, but she didn’t. Best to keep it to myself tonight…

But for right now there were more important, and frankly more concerning, things to worry about.

“Who’s she Nanny? I’ve never met her before…”

There was a child here. A child. There was literally a child here, in the room with four slaves, all of whom were wearing nothing but their uniforms, save for me, who was and still is, completely naked- in front of this small girl, not older than the number of fingers she could count on one hand.

Of course… leave it to her family to expose their own children to something so horrid.

“That’s Chloe. She’s your mommy’s new slave.” The Nanny that the child had referred to, was actually Zenna, Claudia’s other slave. Not only was she standing there holding this little girl’s hand as she walked her inside, but she was also saying the word slave to her like it was normal. Her outfit certainly didn’t help make that any better, not only Zenna’s uniform, but all of the uniforms, left the wearer’s breasts and genitals completely exposed. “She belongs to your mom.”

“Just like you, Nanny!!” The girl giggled, bouncing along the length of the dining room towards her mother at the head of the table, without a care in the world. “You’re one of Mummy’s slaves too~!!”

“That’s right, sweetie.” Strangely, Zenna did seem to mind being called a slave, even by a five year old child who somehow outranked her. “I belong to your mommy, I’m one of her slaves too~”

“That you are, Zenna dear.” Claudia seemed to just watch as Zenna helped the little girl into her seat next to her mother, watching her slave give her a bow before walking away towards her seat.

“Do I get to play with your new slave, Mummy?”

“Not tonight, Lillian… but maybe in a few days if you’re lucky~”

“Are you going to play with your new slave, Mummy?”

“Of course I am, but Mummy plays games that you’re too little for~”

“Do I get my own slaves when I’m big enough?”

“Of course you do, sweetie… but you’ve still got a long way to go until then~”

It was kind of revolting watching this five year old child talk about slaves so casually, even if she was adorable. But luckily, Zenna quickly came to put a lot of my worries to rest.

“She doesn’t know that any of this is abnormal… Honestly I think it’s good for her to recognize the difference between us and real people. You know, humans and slaves.” Zenna sat directly next to me, across from Autumn’s still empty chair. “Don’t worry, playing to Lillian just means video games, she has no idea what any of this is, and she’s not allowed to know.”

“So you mean you don’t… you know-”

“Absolutely not… the masters got rid of the last and only slave who tried… they take that as seriously as they can given their…”

“…Given their what?”

“Given their… tendencies.” Zenna swallowed nervously, sitting up in her seat as she looked to the doorway at Autumn as she entered. “Is Josephine not coming to dinner?”

“Master requested that I deliver her dinner to her room, she’s not feeling well, so I did just that~”

“Alright slaves, quiet down~”

Thump. With the sound of Claudia tapping her cane against the ground one more time, the room went completely silent. Exactly how our master wanted it.

“It’s dinnertime, which means if they want to sit at the table with us, the slaves are to stay silent until spoken to.” Claudia grinned, setting her cane aside as Autumn began to deliver food to everyone, her master’s first, fellow slaves second, and herself last. “Those are our rules, Chloe… do make sure to follow them, if I have to remove you from the table, you won’t be getting to sit on the floor to eat, understood?”

“Yes, Ma’am. I understand.” I sat up straight in my chair, watching Autumn deliver my food to me. “Thank you for making sure I know, Ma’am.”

“Of course, darling… Now be a good girl and eat, you’ll need your strength for tomorrow.”

“Yes, Ma’am… Thank you.”

Thump. She did it again, tapping her cane on the floor, and commanding silence and obedience from her slaves once again.

And so she got just that. We sat there, silently eating dinner like we were told to, listening to Claudia and her daughter chat about silly little things that Lillian said while her mom helped feed her. It was strange on the outside, but as things went on, it was actually kind of sweet. Claudia wasn’t normal, but she seemed like a pretty good mother who genuinely loved and cared for her daughter.

But still, it was strange that she exposed her child to her slaves, and it was odd that she would even allow her slaves to sit at the same table with her family in the first place.

“Did your last owner let you sit at the table for dinner, Chloe?”

The whole room froze as she asked me that, within an instant, the eyes of everyone in the room, save for Lillian, were on me- making the realization that I did in fact have a former master.

“No, Ma’am…” It took me a while to remember that it was alright to respond when spoken to. “Sometimes I got to sit on the floor next to her and eat, but more often than not I was fed in my cell.”

“That sounds dreadful…” Claudia sighed. “She sounds like a dreadful person to make her slave suffer needlessly like that-”

“She wasn’t.” I shut that idea down immediately, realizing a bit too late that maybe that wasn’t the best idea. “I mean… she did things differently, but it wasn’t any worse, Ma’am…” I blushed, trying to flatter my new owner rather than disrespect her. “But, I do like the way you do things, Master… thank you~”

That’s your own sister you’re talking about…

“You’re very welcome, dearest.” Claudia smiled, wiping her face clean of food scraps as she stood up, helping Lillian out of her seat. “Now then, I am going to put Lillian to bed and join my wife. You slaves are to clean up and get to your room. Nell is very much still on duty, so don’t misbehave.”

The three other slaves, though they were being spoken to, did not respond with anything more than nods and bows.

“And Chloe…” Claudia smiled as she walked past me. “You make sure to sleep in tomorrow, I need you ready to perform exceptionally well on your first day~”

I swallowed nervously, realizing that those were the same words my last owner used to describe my first day with her. “Yes, Master… I won’t let you down.”

“Good girl… I’m counting on it~”

Claudia did exactly as she said she would, leaving us to ourselves and turning in for the night. It wasn’t flashy, it wasn’t perfect, but I had at least gotten through my first day with her without getting killed.

And that was all that mattered right now.