18th October, 29 days until the banquet.
“Good morning, Sophia.”
“Good morning, Candace.”
Candace grinned at her, sitting at the dining room table alone, a glass of morning coffee in front of her. “I see we’re using names and not insults this morning, progress~”
“Don’t flatter yourself, please.” Chloe stepped past her without looking her in the eye, the bell on her collar ringing faintly with each step. “I just don’t care at this point.”
“Glad to hear it.” Candace smiled, watching her as she walked around the table, gathering the dishes from breakfast. “My sister has you on cleaning duty, huh?”
“No actually, I’ve just come to respect Darcey for the work she does and want to help her out is all.”
“How noble of you~”
“What do you want, St. Clair?” Chloe scoffed, a stack of dishes piling up on the table next to her as she glared at the other woman. “Didn’t you say everything you needed to say yesterday?”
“I said everything I wanted to say, sure.” Candace slowly sipped her drink. “But I didn’t get to ask everything I wanted to ask.”
“What could you possibly have to ask that’s so important-”
“Aria.”
Chloe immediately froze, setting the last of the dishes down into the pile before stepping away from them, her eyes fixed towards the floor. “What about her?”
“What did she tell you?” Candace finished her coffee, setting the empty glass down on the table beside her. “What all did she say?”
“What does it matter?” Chloe slowly made her way towards Candace, careful not to look up. “She told me everything I needed to hear, clearly you already know what she said, since you’re asking about it.”
“I want to know what she said and why she said it.” Candace swallowed nervously, looking away from the other girl as she got close. “Because you deserve to know if she lied to you.”
Chloe picked the empty mug off the table next to Candace, holding it gently in her palms so that she didn’t drop it. “Refill?”
“No thank you.” Candace instinctively waved her off. “I just want to hear it, that’s all.”
“Okay.” Chloe set the empty mug down alongside the tray of dishes. “But you have to own up to the truth.”
Candace nodded, perfectly willing to accept those terms. “I can do that.”
“She told me to my face that you didn’t love me, that you just wanted me to think that you loved me.”
“She wouldn’t know-”
“True or false.” Chloe stopped her, reminding her of the rules. “Truth or lie.”
Candace glared at her across the table. “Lie.”
“Justify?”
“No one can judge how someone else feels. She can’t really know that I don’t love you just like I can’t really know that you were ever happy with me- but I can tell you that how I feel is for me to say, not her.”
Chloe just nodded at that. “Okay.”
“So?”
“So what?”
“Do you believe me now?”
“That’s not the game.” Chloe shook her head. “The game is me telling you what she said and you telling me if it’s a lie, that’s it.”
“Alright. I can play by that. Next?”
“She told me that you have this web of yours, and that when you see a girl you like, you pull them in. Truth or lie?”
“Truth.”
“Justify?”
“So I have to justify her truths too-” Candace rolled her eyes, tapping her fingers on the table. “It stands to reason that if I didn’t claim you just to punish you, I did it because I wanted to and no other reason.”
“I need more examples than one.”
“When you first left, I spiraled.” Candace wasn’t proud to be admitting it, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her. “I got drunk one night, met a fan of mine and ended up raping her in her own hotel room.”
“And you didn’t make her your slave?”
“I was going to, but my father doesn’t want me to have another slave. So Leah killed her, to protect me, and to protect her from me… I’ve thought about her every night since then.”
“Aria told me that I wasn’t the first girl to fall for you- she was.”
“Truth.” Candace didn’t need to be prompted for justification this time. “Aria’s had feelings for me for quite a while now, and those feelings never went away. Question-”
“Answer?”
“Did she neglect to mention that I fell for her first… and that she rejected me before anything else?”
Chloe paused, shaking her head and trying to be neutral on the subject. “She did not.”
“I’m not asking you to believe me at face value, just to consider my point of view too… next?”
“Aria told me that she was trapped, that the family’s eyes were always on her, and that she couldn’t go anywhere or do anything on her own. She couldn’t escape you.”
“Truth. Aria had a house by herself here on the island, but she had her driver’s license taken away, she couldn’t travel. The family was always watching her.”
“Why was that?”
“Because she stole something from my sister.” Candace paused, thinking it over in her own head. “And I only recently realized that she might have done so on her mother’s behalf-”
“Aria’s mother?”
“Claudia’s mother. Lilith.”
“Justify?”
“I don’t know the answer to that, I’m sorry.”
“Aria told me that you tricked and lied to get to her.”
“Truth. I manipulated her finances through illegal means, incentivizing her to do photoshoots with me so that I could get closer to her.”
“Justify?”
“She was a young hot supermodel, and I have a lot of money.”
“But she rejected you first?”
“Money can’t buy everyone.” Candace smirked, giving Chloe a sly grin. “Well… I guess that’s not all that true, Claudia certainly bought you, didn’t she?”
“Not funny…” Chloe frowned, blushing. “For how much?”
“You can ask her yourself- five hundred thousand~”
“That’s as much money as I won from the tournament.”
“I would say that’s a coincidence, but my brother was the one to sell you, so I can’t be sure.”
“Aria told me that you wanted me to believe that nobody was looking for me.”
“Did she tell you otherwise?”
“Not as such, but… she told me that I have fans and that you were one of them, and that she was happy when I won.”
“But did she tell you that people were looking for you?”
“She implied it.”
“She lied… the implication is false, at least… and I would suppose that that’s why she only implied it, instead of stating as such.” Candace shook her head. “And I have been very up front so far about when something she said is true.”
“So it’s true- no one’s been looking for me.”
“And I said that. I manipulated you a lot that day, but when I said that no one was looking for you, it was true. Everyone really did think you were dead.” Candace blushed, curling her hand into a fist on the table. “I cried tears for you that day. I told you that I was prepared to face anyone who came looking for you, but nobody came. That wasn’t a lie.”
“Not even Justin?” Chloe’s hands were shaking too hard to continue with dishes. “He really believes I’m dead?”
“He knows something that he’s not letting on, I won’t lie about that.” Candace rested her chin in her hands. “I’m going to be hosting the championship this year, with him.”
“What?” Chloe’s heart jumped in her chest. “Why?”
“In your memory-”
“You sick fucking monster.”
“Please, calm down… it was Justin’s request.”
“…Was it?”
“I don’t know what he knows, but he and I met in person, and I think I’m beginning to piece together the picture. But in the meantime- there was something else she told you… what was it?”
“You cheated.” Chloe snapped back at her. “You cheated to get to the finals.”
“The big question…”
“Answer it.”
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about this question.”
“Say it.”
“I don’t need to say it, Sophia. Because this is you talking, not Aria. I read your poem, you’re a wonder with words, but Aria didn’t say that- did she?” Candace, despite all odds, remained calm. “Did she say it, or did she imply it?”
“What does it matter-”
“Because if she didn’t say it, there’s a reason.”
“No.” Chloe fumed. “She implied it. But that didn’t change the fact-”
“I told you it wasn’t fully legitimate, and it wasn’t. But it probably wasn’t nearly as bad as you think it was, because I didn’t cheat at the game.”
“If you didn’t cheat at the game, then what did you do?”
“I bribed the people in charge to manipulate the matchups in my favor… to put us in opposite brackets.”
Chloe blushed, picking up the tray of dishes. “To put us in the finals together…”
“Yes.”
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Chloe had been guiltily waiting in the kitchen next to an oversized stack of dishes for quite a while before Autumn actually showed up to do anything about them.
“Hey Autumn, I’m sorry about the-” Chloe swallowed nervously as she watched Autumn step inside of the kitchen followed by Nell. “Dishes.”
“It’s fine…” Autumn replied in a somber tone. “I’ll get to them later…”
Chloe quickly took a step backwards to evaluate the situation, somewhat confused by what she was seeing. She assumed that Autumn stayed inside of the kitchen all day because she didn’t like talking to people, but-
“Hold still.” Nell had to wrangle the otherwise restless slave, grabbing Autumn by the upper arm and yanking her- violently.
Autumn let herself be dropped to her knees, still firmly within the enforcer’s grasp. She didn’t like what was going on, but all she could do was silently sulk as Nell hauld a light but firm brass chain from the pantry, attaching one end to a small stake in the floor and the other to Autumn’s head.
The girl had a rather long french braid, running uniformly down the middle of her back, and at the end of that braid her hair was secured by a strange metal tie. It was actually a lot like a metal shackle had been combined with a hair clip, clamping down on the end of her braid and holding it in place. It was so fiercely embedded into her hair that there was no way of pulling it out without tearing her hair from her head.
“Nnngh-” Autumn lurched backwards, catching herself on her hands and knees as the enforcer pulled harshly on the chain, making sure she was safely secured into place.
“You know the rules, Autumn.” Nell locked the metal leash in place with those same keys. “I shouldn’t have to fight you about this every morning.”
Chloe swallowed nervously, instinctively reaching upwards towards her own head of hair- short but meticulously cared for. Chloe’s locks hadn’t ceased being dear to her even after Candace had sheared a lot of them off, and Chloe would hate to be put in a device like that herself.
Autumn of course said nothing to either of them, cold and uncaring as she stared down at a fixed point on the floor before her, waiting for everyone else to leave.
“And you-” Nell turned their attention onto Chloe. “Don’t think I’m not watching you. I don’t know what you’ve been up to, but I don’t expect it’s any good, so shape up and make yourself useful.”
Chloe swallowed nervously, just glad Nell hadn’t caught her with the keys just yet. “I will, I swear. I’m filling it for Darcey today, like she asked me to.”
“You’re what?” Nell was surprised to hear that, and clearly so was Autumn, silently glaring up at Chloe from below.
“I’m on cleaning duty today.” Chloe reiterated. “Miss Josephine approved it, you can ask her-”
“And I will, slave.” Nell sighed, brushing Chloe off. “Don’t tell me how to do my job, and I’ll tell you how to do yours.”
“Yes. I understand. Thank you… it won’t happen again.”
Nell quickly made their way out of the room after that, their keys in hand. Today was going to be… interesting.
“What are you doing here…” Autumn mumbled at her from the floor below. “Where’s Darcey…”
Chloe just shook her head and sighed, not wanting to put up with Autumn’s attitude towards her. “Darcey is taking today off.”
“We don’t get to take days off…” Autumn snapped back at her, still robotic and emotionless. “She’s supposed to be serving her function… not you…”
“Well you’re stuck with me today, okay?” Chloe stepped over her chain, making her way towards the sink. “Look, I can even wash the dishes-”
“Don’t touch those!!!” In a bout of unusual aggression, Autumn lunged forward, grabbing Chloe by the ankle and tipping her off balance- sending her falling to the floor beside her.
Chloe thudded to the floor, scraping her elbow and knee during the process of being pushed over. It wasn’t fun, but it was little more than annoying, unlike Autumn herself.
Christ did these women have issues.
Unable to help herself, Chloe snapped at Autumn with extra aggression. “What did you do that for?!”
“I didn’t mean…” Autumn was wide eyed as she was yelled at, not expecting something so… purely angry from a fellow slave of hers. “Look, just… don’t touch my dishes…”
“I thought Darcey was the one who cleaned?”
“Yeah, but not those!!!” Again, Autumn was filled with unusual emotion as she spoke, having to reel herself back in, silencing her emotion. “Those are mine to clean…”
“Alright fine, whatever!!!” With equal parts aggression and just pure disbelief, Chloe stood up, brushing herself off. “You didn’t need to knock me over-”
“So what… you got to talk to my mistress… or something?” Autumn was blushing, unable to take her eyes off of that fix point on the floor anymore. “She let you just… change jobs with Darcey…”
“Yes, Autumn. Yes she did.” Chloe sighed, slowly calming down alongside the other girl. “What does it matter?”
“She talked to you… and not to me…” Autumn was fixated on the floor in front of her, but it wasn’t working. The usually robotic and heartless slave woman was too out of balance to keep her mortal body from crying. “It doesn’t matter… never mind…”
Oh god… Chloe was kicking herself for jumping the gun yet again. She’s just as fucked up as Darcey…
“It’s just a leak… It doesn’t matter… We don’t matter…” Autumn closed her eyes, wiping her tears away with her gloved fingers. “Slaves don’t cry… We exist to perform a function… to serve a purpose…”
Chloe was just about as shaken watching this as she had been with Darcey. “Autumn… I-”
“It doesn’t matter… We don’t matter…” Autumn went on, ignoring Chloe’s words altogether. “We exist to serve… it doesn’t matter… I don’t-”
And then she stopped, her eyes going wide as she heard the words leaving her mouth, catching herself before she made it about her. Things always derailed when they got personal, things were never meant to be personal.
“This kitchen is mine…” Autumn climbed to her feet in as few fluid motions as possible. “Leave me and perform your function elsewhere, zero zero zero zero…”
“Autumn…” Chloe frowned, now more than a little bit concerned for the girl. “Come on, don’t be like this?”
“Leave me be, and perform your function…” Autumn’s voice turned hot, full of hatred and bitterness. “Elsewhere.”
“Alright fine. Be that way-” Chloe snarled, turning tail and walking away. If Autumn didn’t want help, then fine, it wasn’t Chloe’s job to help her. “See if I care.”
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What do I care if Autumn’s hitting her own self-destruct button, she’s not my problem.
Chloe stormed out of the dining room, stopped in her tracks the moment she reached the ballroom ahead of her.
And she’s not my problem either.
Right. It was Sunday morning, and Sunday morning for this family usually only involved one thing- church. Chloe didn’t understand it persay, but she respected it.
“I must say, dear.” Claudia talked at and slightly over her sister’s head as she spoke, her daughter at her other side- wife inconspicuously missing. “It is nice getting to attend services with you again.”
“And it’s just a shame father didn’t come like you wanted him to.” Candace still seemed chipper- collapsing an umbrella as she walked through the foyer, keeping her sunglasses on to protect her eyes. “We’ll visit him in a couple weekends, right?”
“We’ll have to, you still owe me that~”
“Yeah yeah, whatever.”
It was a bright sunny day outside as the four of them returned from church, Candace used an umbrella not to protect from the elements, but to shade herself from harmful rays. Claudia’s naturally pigmented skin helped protect her from burning in the sun somewhat- not that it would be a problem in the middle of October- but Candace’s albino skin was sensitive to the sun regardless of the season. It was why she liked going out at night- and still wore sunglasses when she did so.
“Mommy…” Lilian nervously spoke up, tugging on her mother’s sleeve. “I’m hungry…”
“A hungry munchkin~” Claudia smiled, leaning down and scooping her daughter into her arms. “How about we all go sit down for lunch?”
Lilian settled into her mother’s grasp. “Can we eat outside, mom?”
“I don’t know, honey~” Claudia responded, kissing Lilian’s forehead. “Don’t you want Nanny to eat with us?”
“Mhmm!!!” Lilian bounced in her arms.
“Then I’ll tell you what-” Claudia smiled, firmly holding the girl so that she wouldn’t fall. “Nanny’s not allowed outside, but we can sit and eat in the conservatory. Little flower needs sunshine~”
Lilian seemed to like that idea enough not to argue about inside or outside any longer, nodding her head happily as her mother held her close.
Chloe wasn’t really supposed to be out here watching this, but as it was happening, she found herself just staring out how happy Claudia was to hold Lilian in her arms- her own hand drifting to her belly.
She thought she had been spayed, but knowing that Candace hadn’t actually gone through with it recontextualized everything for her. All of a sudden it was once again possible for Chloe to carry children- and when she thought about it now, she liked that idea.
She was paid little mind as the free women headed upstairs however, even from Candace. But Candace couldn’t just walk by without catching Chloe’s attention, and when she did it was… an oddly mixed batch of emotions, all rushing to her head and her heart at the same time.
Welling up inside of her chest, suddenly dragging her down.
What the hell is wrong with me…
Chloe was having an awfully difficult time… focusing? Was that what she was struggling with? She couldn’t remember- she couldn’t think? No, she could think… just not very well?
Oww…
It wasn’t brainwashing. Chloe refused to believe it was brainwashing, she didn’t believe in brainwashing. It was something, but she couldn’t quite figure out what.
“Well don’t just stand there or you’re going to get in trouble.” Nell’s voice again snapped Chloe out of her little trance, grabbing a fistful of her hair from behind. “If you need something to do, you can deliver lunch to the observatory, now go.”
Chloe sighed, doing as she was told. “I can do that…”
She at least appreciated how simple Nell was, and their role within the home. Nell didn’t care about personal problems or family drama, they just cared about making sure everybody got their job done, and that they did it well. They weren’t the most intelligent person out there, but to be fair-
Neither was Claudia.
Chloe was more than capable of serving food, but she was going to need those keys to get to Poppy either way- and with Nell out of the way and heading back into the rest of the house, now was the perfect time to snag those keys from their office first.
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“Here…”
Autumn set the finished dishes down on the counter, sighing under her breath as she did so. She didn’t at all seem to appreciate her assigned job, but she did it nonetheless.
“Thank you, Autumn.” Chloe made a point of not smiling at the girl, giving her a fierce glare as she stepped into the kitchen. “Sorry- zero zero zero four.”
Chloe could be the bigger person, but she was always the better person- and Sophia had never been known for being uptight, kind, and polite like she was expected to be now. Sophia was a real person with a heart, unlike-
“I’m sorry…” Autumn kept her back turned to the other girl as she spoke, her words surprising Chloe as she said them. “I didn’t mean to get angry at you… I’m not usually like that… It was a mistake…”
Chloe smiled just a little bit, now teasing the girl. “And you don’t usually make mistakes, I take it?”
“I can’t afford to make mistakes…” Autumn’s voice was calm and measured. “If a machine made a mistake, you would either fix it… or destroy and replace it… like Bella.”
“Bella?” Chloe was only pretty sure she had heard the name before. “Who’s Bella?”
“0006Z.” Autumn responded robotically. “You’re her replacement.”
“0006Z?” Chloe continued. “What’s the letter for?”
“It means she’s dead, just like we deserve to be if we make too many mistakes-”
“Now wait, hold on.” Chloe threw her hands up, stopping the girl. “I’ve… never even heard of Bella. What happened to her?”
“There’s no point in explaining it to you… you’ll just get emotional…” Autumn went on in the same emotionless tone. “We’re not meant to question things like that…”
“We’re not machines, Autumn.” Chloe quickly interjected, refusing to let the other girl be this way. “You shouldn’t be put to death for one or even two minor mistakes.”
“And who are you to decide what we deserve… You were on the zed list just like us…”
Oh great- another term Chloe was unfamiliar with. “The zed list?”
“Are you serious…” Autumn just gave her the side eye. “If Miss Claudia didn’t buy you, you would be dead… It’s death row. People on the zed list are put on the zed list as a warning- behave or be put down - If you’re on the list, and you are, you know the reason why.”
“The reason why…” Chloe backed up a few steps, swallowing nervously. “It’s because… It’s because of her…”
“Look. I don’t know or care who your previous owner was-”
“Candace.” Chloe sank to her knees, burying her face in her hands. “It was Candace…”
That response seemed to break Autumn, her normally lifeless expression making way for a mixture of confused emotions. “You’re lying…”
“Darcey already figured it out.” Chloe sighed, hanging her head in defeat. “I guess that’s all I am, the girl who used to belong to Candace St. Clair…”
“Chloe…” Autumn slowly got down on her knees next to her. “I’m sorry-”
“I’m fine.” Chloe retracted herself away from Autumn. “I’m fine without her… I don’t want to hear it.”
Autumn paused for a few moments, staring over Chloe with a look of concern. “Well… do you want to hear why I was put on the list?”
“Oh yes, storytime from the robot-”
“I’m serious…”
“Fine.” Chloe frowned, resigning herself to whatever fate lied on the other end of the brick road ahead of her. “Why were you put on the list?”
The heartless Autumn Turner actually giggled before she even got started. “This is gonna sound weird, but… I used to work for the family… I used to be Claudia’s enforcer back when it was just Darcey-”
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m not kidding!!!” Autumn was jittering in place. “That’s kinda why Nell doesn’t like me very much…”
“If you were Claudia’s enforcer, then what happened?”
“She caught me… stealing things.” Autumn sighed. “She called me something like a stupid mouse for going into her office and taking stuff… and she sent me to the facility-”
“Is that what got you on the zed list then?”
“No…” Autumn also hung her head in defeat. “I got put on the zed list for… being stubborn, aggressive, and violent…”
“That sound very unlike you-”
“That’s because Miss Claudia fixed me… She fixed me when she made me one of her drones…”
“One of her drones?”
There it was again- drones- Claudia had this obsession with drones.
“She taught me that it’s best to be a machine… like a drone. She replaced me as her enforcer. Destroyed what I was. Fixed me into what I am now. Gave me my new purpose…”
“And you don’t hate her for that?!” Chloe quickly jumped to her feet, scoffing angrily through gritted teeth at the girl. “She’s the reason you’re here- she turned you into a slave, and you don’t hate her for that?!”
“You don’t understand…”
“Like hell I don’t understand?!”
It was like a switch had been flipped in Chloe’s mind- she had been calm and collected, but now she was manic and angry.
“Candace is up there right now, and I don’t forgive her!!! I’ll never forgive her for what she did to me!!!”
“It’s not like that!!!”
“You can’t just tell me that it’s Claudia’s fault that you’re a slave, and that you’re happy belonging to her for the rest of your life, Autumn. That’s not-”
“But I don’t belong to her… I belong to Miss Josephine…” Autumn was crying now, curling up into a ball on the floor in front of her. “Miss Josephine bought me… Miss Josephine saved me from the facility even after she caught me trying to steal from her… I deserve this…”
“You really think you deserve this?” Chloe scoffed, shaking her head at the very same delusion she perceived of her own situation. “What were you trying to steal that was so important to Josie that you deserve-”
“Darcey…” Autumn said between her tears. “Back when I was their enforcer… I tried to free Darcey… to take her and run.”
“I… Why did you-”
“I was their enforcer for years, even before they bought Darcey. I tried to be loyal, but the idea of having to look over slaves… it nauseated me.” She began wiping the tears from her eyes, attempting to calm down. “Darcey’s not allowed in Miss Claudia’s office, but that doesn’t stop her… and neither could I. If I turned her in for snooping around the office like she was back then, she would’ve been killed.”
“So you… took the fall for her… and Josephine saved you from being put down… even when her family wanted you dead?”
“I deserved what I got, and she still made room for me in her life…”
“And you just want to be a part of that life.” Chloe frowned, her mood switching on a dime again, back to empathy rather than rage. “That’s why you’ve been so upset with me lately… You think I’m hurting her…”
“She smashed a bottle over your head…” Autumn’s mood did the same as Chloe’s, switching from sad to calm in the matter of moments, as she had been trained capable of. “She’s been struggling for so long, and I just want to help her but I can’t… I can’t even deliver lunch outside of my dumb little radius… they don’t even let me step past the dining room…”
Autumn reached behind her, grabbing the chain keeping her in place and holding it out for Chloe to see. “They think I’m too dangerous to even let me clean the house, but all I want is to be more than just… an emotionless husk that belongs in the kitchen…”
“You’re a lot kinder than I thought you were when I first met you.” Chloe took the chain in hand, shivering at the sight of the diabolical hair clip. “But you’re not a heartless tinman… you’re caring, kind, loving... and you’ve just been isolated for so long that you’ve forgotten that…”
“I’m being patient…” Autumn pouted, thumping her feet against the floor in anger. “I know I made a mistake, and I’m happy to wait as long as it takes until they let me out of my shell… but it’s not fair… I’m doing all I can do and they still just… leave me in here.”
“I’m sorry, Autumn. If there’s anything I can do-”
“You can deliver lunch before it gets cold…” Autumn frowned, glancing up at the already finished food just sitting there and waiting to be served. “And… maybe ask Josie to come down and visit me…”
“I can do you one better…”
Chloe stared at the food for a few moments, getting ready to pick them up and do just that before taking another look at Autumn and that clamp keeping her in place. She knelt next to her again, retrieving Nell’s keys from tucked away inside of her corset, taking them to the lock keeping Autumn’s hair tied to the ground and unleashing her.
“There… now you can leave the kitchen… and you can visit Josie yourself…”
Autumn just stared at her in shock for a few moments, pulling her braid from the shackle. “Thank you…”
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Chloe was going to get in so much trouble for doing that, but only as long as Autumn snitched on her to her masters or to the enforcer. But Autumn was bound to get into just as much trouble as Chloe was if Claudia or Josephine found out- and she wasn’t known to like Nell all that well.
The observatory was adjacent to Lilian’s bedroom, so it was risky to try and go in there- but now might be the only chance she had. Autumn was doing the job of delivering lunch for her- and Lilian’s nanny had gone to lunch with the girl and her mother.
It was a perfect opportunity to quickly go in, find Poppy, and then get out- Too perfect of an opportunity.
She took a quick glance to make sure that no one was around, before kneeling next to the door to Lilian’s room, her hands steady as she slid the key into the door and unlocked it- quickly pulling the keys back out just in case.
That’s it… I’m in~
Chloe was almost sure she had gotten away with it, until she heard that intoxicated voice behind her. “What are you doing with those keys?”
“Miss Josephine…” Chloe nervously rose to her feet in front of her. “You’ve been listening again… haven’t you?”
“I have.” Josephine curled her fingers around the empty glass bottle in her hand. “I have the right to.”
“Yes, you do, Ma’am…” Chloe lowered her head in defeat, her proud grin quickly fading away. “I’m sorry-”
“Just answer the question, please-” Josie scoffed, more drunk than high tonight. “What are you doing with those keys?”
She wasn’t exactly sure what she was supposed to say to that. She was a slave, she wasn’t meant to have the keys. No answer she could come up with was sufficient to save her skin from punishment, not this time.
“It was my idea, Mistress…”
Josie’s tension slowly eased itself as she saw Autumn approaching from the conservatory across from them. Her grip on the empty glass bottle becoming a little bit less angry as her slave once again threw herself under the bus for the sake of another.
“I asked Chloe to grab them and help set me free so that I could deliver lunch… since nobody wanted to come visit the dining room to eat…” Autumn gently took the keys from Chloe’s open palm and held them towards her owner, trying to help the other girl. “I just wanted out of the kitchen… I’m sorry…”
“Autumn.” Josephine said with a frown, glancing down at the controller that she had very much been listening to. “If you are telling the truth and not just trying to accept blame… you’re going to be punished. You know that right?”
“Yes, Mistress…” Autumn took a deep breath, slowly lowering herself to her knees in Chloe’s place. “If you want to put me down… I understand…”
The sound of Autumn choking back sobs was instantly drowned out by the sound of that glass bottle shattering, not against her head- but all over the floor beside the girl.
“Honey, no-” Josephine knelt directly in front of her, disregarding the glass on the floor as she went to console her slave. “I’m not going to get rid of you… I love you…”
“N-n-no you don’t, Ma’am…” Autumn’s sobs quickly overtook her, wallowing in a sea of doubt and self-hatred. “You keep me locked away in the kitchen because I’m too dangerous… You don’t even trust me to clean…”
“Darcey can cook, Autumn…” Josephine tried to shake her out of whatever emotional spiral was overtaking her. “If you want to clean, you can clean…”
“It… it’s not that I want to clean, Ma’am… I just want to be able t-to leave the kitchen-”
“Then you can clean, alright?” Josie smiled at her, squeezing both of her palms in hers. “Darcey can cook and you can clean. That way you can come visit everyone and Darcey can do something more than manual labor.”
“But Mistress…” Autumn frowned, guilty to see her Mistress like this. “This is the way things have been for years…”
“Then it’s about time that things change. Things can change…” Josephine took a deep breath, taking the keys from Autumn and squeezing them in her hand. “I can change.”
Josephine stared directly into Chloe’s eyes as she forced the keys back into her hands, helping Autumn to her feet. “You. Go put those keys back where you got them. Autumn will clean up this mess, and I expect both of you to be punished for this- and I don’t want to hear any complaints. Got it?”
Chloe swallowed nervously, her heart fluttering just a little bit at how forceful Josephine was being- even if she wasn’t the one brave enough to do the punishing herself. “Y-yes, Ma’am…”
✶ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✶ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✶
“So… let me get this straight, again…”
Thump . It was almost comedic how much this scene echoed the previous night.
“You two are both in trouble with my wife… and she sent you to me to be punished?”
“N-not exactly, Ma’am…” Autumn hung her head in shame. “My deepest apologies… I don’t want to inconvenience or correct you any further, but… being sent to you is our punishment.”
“So… you’re just here to be played with… again?”
“Yes, Ma’am…”
“It’s like I’m living in a comic strip.” Claudia pinched the bridge of her nose as she stood. “What exactly are you two get in trouble for anyways?”
“I can’t tell you, Ma’am… it would make our playtime less genuine…”
“This is why there needs to be one authority, and not two.” Claudia just rolled her eyes, biting down on her lip. “Josephine isn’t tough enough to punish you two herself, but she has the audacity to make me do it- go figure.”
Autumn didn’t like that at all. “Don’t talk about my mistress like that, Ma’am…”
“This coming from you?” Claudia scoffed at her, pointing her cane accusingly. “I can hurt you all I like, but say something bad about my wife and you suddenly go all attack dog on me-”
Thump . Claudia’s cane came down on the floor at Autumn’s knees.
“That stops now.”
It was astonishing how close this was to the previous night, right down to Candace’s reluctant presence within the room, at her sister’s behest.
It’s just like the clicker. Candace was gritting her teeth together at the realization. It’s not brainwashing. It’s just training. They’re all trained to be scared of the cane…
She crossed her arms and her legs as she sat at the vanity again, staring down at her sister’s slaves- or more specifically, at Chloe. All of them except for her… she hasn’t been here long enough to be afraid of it… so what’s going on in her head…
“Yes yes, I look amazing, enough ogling-” The moment Chloe noticed was the moment she immediately taunted her for it. “Have you finished your duties for today?”
“Why yes, actually. Yes I have.” Candace grinded her teeth together, scoffing at her own words being spun against her by her own former slave no less. “What do you want me to do with this, Clauds?”
Candace picked up her sister’s famous mousetrap , a diabolical little clamp that was made to hold slaves by the hair, which Claudia had instructed her to retrieve. “Did you attach it to the vanity like I told you?”
The littlest sister just yanked on the thing as hard as she could, watching unsurprised as nothing so much as budged. “Does that answer your question?”
“Yes.” Claudia grinned, giving Chloe a knowing look and nodding. “You know what to do~”
“Yes, Mistress.” Chloe giggled, quickly springing into action at her master’s command, making her way towards her former owner. “I know exactly what to do~”
“Hey!!” Candace scoffed, sitting still as Chloe grabbed a handful of her platinum blonde locks and began to curl them around themselves. “What are you doing??”
“Just let her do what she’s been ordered to do, sis.” Claudia interjected. “Relax and enjoy the show~”
Click . The jaws of the fiendish hair clamp shut tight around her ass length locks, trapping her in place.
“There.” Chloe grinned, tugging on Candace’s captive hair braid. “Now you have to stay and watch.”
“Is that so?” Candace was entirely unamused to have to put up with Chloe putting her hands where they don’t belong. “You think?”
“That thing isn’t coming out of there without the key, and I sure don’t have the key anymore.” Chloe gave her a sly shrug as she made her way back to Claudia’s feet, kneeling before her new master. “So unless you’re willing to slice your own hair off like you did mine, yeah. I think.”
“Well there you go, that’s your problem.” Candace stared her down as she spoke. “Drones don’t think, and neither should you.”
“And that’s not the only thing drones don’t do…” Claudia spun her cane around again. “Alright girls. Repeat after me.”
Chloe groaned under her breath as Claudia began her process again, gazing over at Candace out of the corner of her eye, heart thumping with both anger… and longing- knowing that thumping little heart of hers was not long for this world. If Claudia could get rid of whatever terrible emotions Chloe felt whenever she heard Candace’s name- Chloe was going to let her.
“Drones have no heart. I have no heart. Drones do not cry. I do not cry.”
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Claudia drilled this new phrase into Chloe’s head, clearly having done much the same with Autumn many times before- this seemed like the exact teaching that she had personally delivered the girl that made her so… robotic. Unfeeling. Alone.
She was going to keep repeating it for as long as Claudia wanted her to, and Candace wasn’t going to be able to stop her.
“Sophia…” Candace frowned, gazing at the girl she loved as she played right into Claudia’s hands, and when that name didn’t snap her out of it, she did what she needed to do. “Fine… Be that way…”
It only took Candace a few moments of digging through the drawers of her sister-in-law’s vanity before she found something sharp enough to do the job. Chloe wasn’t going to respond to words or to reason- she was way past that. The only way to her now was through emotion.
“If you want me to stay and watch, all you have to do is ask.” She lifted a small pair of scissors from one of Josephine’s drawers, fitting it to her grasp. “But I’m not going to sit here and watch you throw your identity away, Cavalier.”
Snip. She drew the fashion scissors through her own locks right before Chloe’s beautiful little eyes, severing the connection to that heinous little clamp keeping her in place before standing up- doing what she needed to do- leaving.
And that stopped Chloe cold in her tracks.
“Well that was rather rude.” Claudia just smirked, beckoning both girls into bed with her, smiling at the door as it slammed shut. “Those ugly little locks of hers were worth losing anyways~”
“Ugly?” Click- Chloe couldn’t quite decide if she hated or loved St. Clair after what she just did. “She’s not… ugly , Ma’am…”
“Oh, enough talk, you~” Claudia cupped Chloe’s chin in her hand, pointing her face towards the other slave behind her. “You can find better places to put that mouth of yours, slave.”
Chloe blushed, smiling just a little bit as she stared at Claudia from the corner of her eyes. “Yes, Ma’am. Anything for you~”
“It’s been a tiring day, clearly. You’re not the only one who’s exhausted.” Claudia smiled, gently tugging Chloe’s cheek to her lips and giving her a kiss. “Be a good girl and put on a show with your new friend, and I’ll let you off the hook for whatever silly trouble you got into with Miss Josie, alright?”
“Can do, Ma’am~” Chloe smiled, laying on her belly and looking up at her master as she got out of bed, admiring Claudia’s body as she slowly got undressed. “And you, Mistress- will you be playing with us tonight?”
“I’m afraid not.” She smiled, gently leaning down and giving Chloe a scratch or two behind her ears. “I know we don’t get much time together, but I have work in the morning and need to shower between now and then.”
“Yes, Ma’am…” Chloe sighed, more than a little bit disappointed. “I feel like I never see you outside of the weekend.”
“The week is for business, dear.” Claudia smirked, planting her cane upright against the vanity, pointing its glowing eyes towards the bed. “The weekend is for fun, and that’s what slaves are- fun~”
“But it’s still the weekend, isn’t it?” Her dazzling little slave responded, protesting. “We could… play in the shower?”
Chloe’s eyes glowed just a little bit as she admired Claudia’s beautiful physique from in bed, ever so slightly illuminated by the also glowing eyes of her serpentine cane- Preyboy - as she had called it, staring at the slaves from afar.
She wasn’t sure what Candace was complaining about at all with respects to how she was being treated. Living with Claudia was kind of nice, at least compared to living with her sister had been. It helped that Chloe got five nights away from her owner, it helped keep her hatred for the woman down.
Claudia really did work a lot. It felt like Monday through Friday featured very little time at home for her. Chloe got to see her in the morning for breakfast, and in the evening for dinner- and that was it. Claudia stuck to her routines, not allowing herself to play with her drones during a workday, at least not after the first few weeks of having them.
Chloe’s cheeks were red as she looked up at her, smiling eagerly at her naked mistress. She had hated Claudia just earlier this day, but that all seemed to have faded away by now, strangely. Maybe she was being brainwashed after all, it was clear that she wasn’t in her usual headspace at all, and she was beginning to suspect that she hadn’t been for a while now.
“N-no…” Claudia responded, nervously. Despite being six and a half feet of pure woman, she felt vulnerable while naked and away from her cane. Claudia was human and had her own insecurities, Chloe knew that- probably even better than Claudia did. “I… I can’t- no sex in the shower~”
Chloe’s eyebrow raised just slightly, listening to Claudia try to play it off casually. “But Candace said-”
“You can’t trust everything Candace says, slave.” Claudia snapped back, her own cheeks red with frustration, as well as a hint of what Chloe’s overthinking brain recognized as shame. “She has lots to say about a lot of things, but they’re hardly things worth listening to- especially when it involves me.”
“Ma’am?” Chloe slowly sat up in bed, curiously. “Are you… jealous of her?”
“Jealous of her?” Claudia scoffed at the idea of it, making her way towards the bathroom door. “What does my sister have that I don’t?”
Chloe giggled, not thinking before she answered. “A penis~”
Claudia just stood there in silence, staring straight into Chloe’s eyes, blushing- and Chloe sensed that might have been the wrong thing to say.
“It’s more complicated than penis envy…” Claudia frowned, grinding her teeth together. “I’m glad to see that you’ve learned not to think, but that’s enough. Play nice for the camera, I want you to be finished by the time I return~”
“Y-yes, Ma’am~!!” Chloe smiled, eagerly jolting upwards to try and make herself look nice for the camera. “Have a nice shower~”
“I will.” Claudia shot her one last wink before making her way inside. “Be here when I get back~”
Chloe sighed, enjoying the little bit of humanity she got to see from Claudia on occasion. She had her quirks, sure- but she was nicer than Candace was. Still, she had her orders, and she needed to follow them.
“Nnnghh…” The few short moments of silence following Claudia’s shower sounding off in the background were cut in by the sound of quiet sobbing from beside her.
“Autumn?” Chloe quickly turned to her, not sure what was wrong all of a sudden. “Are… are you okay?”
“I… I don’t understand… What even was that?” Autumn choked on her own breath, no wonder she had been so quiet for a while now, she wasn’t just struggling to keep together, she was speechless. “You’ve been here for what, two weeks?! And she lets you talk to her like that?!”
Chloe almost felt attacked by that one. “Is there something weird about how I talk with her?”
“Y-yes?!” Autumn instantly snapped back, still crying. “Sh-she found out Zenna spent Friday night consoling Lilian, a-and she… she punished Zenna a-and Lilian for it-”
“…Wh-what did she do to them?” Chloe’s face went from nearly smug about being able to talk to Claudia like no one else was, too eyes wide with shock at the implication. Her hand instantly shot to her own belly, her womb tightening with anxiety. “She didn’t… she didn’t hurt her… right?”
Autumn lowered her gaze, nervously eyeing Claudia’s cane, staring at them from across the room. “I don’t know… do spankings hurt?”
Chloe swallowed nervously, her breath seething with new anger that she knew she couldn’t take out on her master. “I don’t know- why don’t we test that?”
Chloe smirked, quickly grabbing the older girl by the braid and roughly hauling her into her lap, wishing she had a crop to use on Autumn’s cute little butt.
“I knew it…” Autumn could only hope to murmur angrily as she was helplessly dragged over Chloe’s knee. “I knew this was going to happen…”
Chloe pressed her hand firmly against Autumn’s skin. “You knew what was going to happen?”
“Josephine is the only reason any of us are here… She bought me, she bought Darcey, she bought Zenna, and she bought Bella… but you-” Autumn scoffed angrily, letting herself be strangely vulnerable, as she was taught to be. “You were Claudia’s idea… and that scared me… because I knew something bad was going to happen-”
“Oh yeah?” Chloe rolled her eyes, biting her lip in frustration at Autumn’s accusations. “Like what?”
“We tried to convince her to give you a chance, but Miss Josephine didn’t want you… She was just too nice to stop Miss Claudia from saving you…” Autumn whimpered, letting out a few fearful sobs in anticipation of what she was sure was to come. “But that was before any of us knew what you looked like-”
“How does the way I look have anything to do with this?”
“I knew you were dangerous… I knew the moment you walked in the door and cucked my Mistress that you were dangerous!!!” Autumn propped herself up with her elbow, glaring straight at her with her glowing emerald eyes. “I knew you were dangerous, because you were Miss Claudia’s idea- She replaced me with Nell and now she’s replacing Miss Josephine with you!!!”
Smack!!! Much like she had done to Darcey to snap her out of her spiral the previous night, Chloe smacked Autumn as hard as she could, but rather than harming Autumn’s perfectly uniform little face like she had with her raggedy counterpart, this time she swatted Autumn right on the ass.
“Shut up!!!” Chloe shouted at her, voice shaking with rage. “I’ve done nothing wrong, so stop projecting your fears onto me!!!”
Smack!!! She did it again, just as hard and just as angry as the previous time.
“I haven’t been treated this well since back when people actually loved me, and I’m not going to let you ruin this for me, okay?!” She was angry now. Apparently Claudia treated her better than the other slaves, but that wasn’t her fault, she didn’t deserve to be blamed for that- not again. “I don’t control how she treats me- that’s not my doing?!”
Smack!!! She swatted Autumn’s ass as hard as she could, making her own hand sting in the process as Autumn began to cry.
“I’m not a monster like they are…” Chloe swallowed nervously, staring down at the helpless girl’s dripping little cunt as she laid in her lap. “Don’t make me out to be some sort of homewrecker, I have no choice. I do what my master tells me to- and if that means being her wife and having her kids, that’s what I’m going to do…”
Chloe scoffed, shoving Autumn out of her lap and onto the floor at her feet- forcing herself away from the girl’s cunt before she did anything she’d regret.
“It’s not my fault. I’m not the monster here.” Chloe huffed, slowly curling up into a ball at the end of the bed as Autumn quickly clawed her way towards the door. “It’s not my fault-”
“And I was really beginning to like you…” Autumn sobbed, yanking on the locked handle as hard as she could manage. “I thought we almost… had something-”
“Autumn…” Chloe frowned, gently climbing out of bed and making her way over to the other girl. “It’s not like that… I meant everything I said today-”
“Miss Josephine has never hit me like that…” Autumn thudded her forehead against the door. “Josie wouldn’t…”
“Autumn please-” Chloe grabbed her by the hand, turning her around. “I’m just doing as I’m told-”
“And you will continue to do as you’re told, won’t you- slave?”
Thump . Fresh from her shower, Claudia made her way over to her cane and thumped it against the floor, drawing both of the other girls into a more agreeable state.
“If you’re serious about wanting the role, you’ll need to memorize your lines~” Claudia giggled, keeping her back turned to them as she tapped her cane lightly against Chloe’s otherwise untouched ass. “So repeat after me…”
“Sorry, Autumn. I’m just… doing as I’m told…” Chloe glanced towards her master, nervously holding Autumn against the wall by both wrists now, much like she had done to Candace previously. “Ready when you are, Ma’am…”
“Drones have no heart. You have no heart. Drones do not cry. You do not cry.”
Thump .
Chloe stopped for a moment, staring into Autumn’s crying green eyes as she spoke. “Drones have no heart. I have no heart. Drones do not cry. I do not cry.”
Smack!!! Chloe quickly found herself receiving a firm swat to her behind for that one.
“No dear, I’m afraid those are Autumn’s lines…” Claudia scolded her newest slave, simultaneously taunting the other girl. “You will repeat me word for word, and then Autumn will respond with her line- Now do it right.”
Chloe shuddered slightly, taking a deep breath in and then out before staring back into Autumn’s eyes. “Drones have no heart. You have no heart. Drones do not cry. You do not cry.”
Autumn clearly grew more terrified as Chloe spoke, but nevertheless, she responded. “Drones have no heart. I have no heart. Drones do not cry. I do not cry.”
“Very good~” Claudia clapped for them both. “Now again, but with more confidence and passion~!!!”
Thump .
So Chloe went again, doing nothing more than what she was told. “Drones have no heart. You have no heart. Drones do not cry. You do not cry.”
And Autumn responded again, this time reduced to her usual calm and collected state. “Drones have no heart. I have no heart. Drones do not cry. I do not cry.”
“Again-” Chloe said that one herself, not needing her master to tell her what to do or thump her cane for her. “Drones have no heart. You have no heart. Drones do not cry. You do not cry.”
And Autumn didn’t need a cane thump either. “Drones have no heart. I have no heart. Drones do not cry. I do not cry.”
“Good girl, Chloe.” Claudia smiled proudly, putting one hand on her shoulder. “I couldn’t have put it better myself.”
“Ma’am…” Chloe smiled, blushing. “I just do as told.”
“Then let me give you one last order.” Claudia picked up her cane and pointed it across the room towards the dumbwaiter. “Take Miss Josephine’s slave downstairs, she can sleep in the cell for failing to stick to her teachings today.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Chloe grinned, beginning to drag Autumn across the room like she was told. She didn’t want to put Autumn in the cell- at least that was what she told herself- but she was just glad it was Autumn and not her. “Come on, let’s go to bed…”
Chloe let the now pacified Autumn step into the dumbwaiter first, before stepping in with her- but the moment she was inside with the girl, Claudia stopped her. “Step out of the elevator, and let Autumn go down on her own… press the button for me~”
Chloe blushed slightly as she heard that, stepping out of the dumbwaiter and doing just that, sending Autumn down alone. “What now, Ma’am- am I staying here tonight?”
“No~” Claudia giggled at her, waving her off. “Weekends are for slaves, you’ll sleep downstairs with the riff raff.”
Chloe sighed, bowing slightly. “Yes, Master…”
“Maybe there is some hope for you after all~” Claudia grinned, setting her cane down on the bed next to her. “I won’t let you stay here… but I will let you use the door~”
Chloe’s heart thumped in her chest as she glanced towards it, realizing the opportunity she was being given, having been expressly forbidden from taking anything but the dumbwaiter up to Claudia’s room. “You… you mean that?”
“Of course. I’d do just about anything for my new favorite girl.” Claudia cooed back at her, blowing her a kiss goodbye for the night. “I can’t lead a family on my own after all~”