Chapter Fourteen

Sabrina didn't know what she expected out of Kinsley's room. She had been living in the house for months, she had been in the disaster area that Faith called her room, she had been in Lila's room countless times.

But Kinsley's room was always closed.

Part of her expected it to be a mystical fairyland, pinks and blues and pixies everywhere... another part of her expected it to be terrifying, whips and chains. The steel collar and bracelet were testament to her hidden wickedness. The night that Kinsley had held Sabrina's crying form in her lap felt so far away, the love that they had showered her with, the acceptance she had felt. Even as Kinsley dragged her along, Sabrina missed her. Not this Kinsley, not the cruel deliverer of punishment, the authoritarian... she missed the kind and sweet Kinsley with the warm eyes and soft hands, who would hold her entirely in her lap and stroke her hair. The Kinsley who would brush away her tears and made the pain of the outside world fade to nothing.

She had been kicked around for so long before she landed in the Dollhouse, rejected and broken, dismissed and dejected, drained and weak from everyone turning on her. The dolls, especially Kinsley, had shown her a sisterhood that she had no idea she had been missing. In that moment, as she was being pulled to certain pain, she wanted Kinsley more than anything, she wanted comfort. Her shock at Lila and the incredible unfairness that her current predicament carried disappeared into the background of her mind as fear began to grow.

All of her pain and fear, her hope for comfort and her desperation came in a single whispered word. "Kinsley... "

It was an enchanted forest.

Her room.

Sabrina's fear disappeared as she stared wide-eyed at her room. A large pink bed dominated the space, but it didn't draw the eye - the walls did. A single, enormous tree sprawled across the walls, gnarled, elegant branches with emerald leaves and tiny pink and white flowers with glittery silhouettes of fairies dancing from leaf to leaf. Even the lamp that hung down from the center of the room looked like it was magically crafted by the fae out of branches, and the light it cast was a warm yellow rather than the hard white that was in the rest of the house.

The painted branches of the walls flowed seamlessly into shelves here and there, each one covered with dolls. Pixies, kittens, all manner of cutesy magical creatures... honestly, it looked like the room of an extremely spoiled princess.

Sabrina was stunned, not only by the splendor of the room, but by the tight hug she found herself in. Her feet were lifted off the ground, she dangled in Kinsley's arms.

A soft whisper tickled her ear. "Bree. Why can't you be good?"

The oft-repeated words sent a new shock of fear through her. Any time Faith said that, pain followed shortly thereafter. It dawned on her how incredibly helpless she was, hanging in Kinsley's grasp. She couldn't touch the floor, she had no hope of resisting Kinsley at all.

And her tears began to flow.

"Bree, why can't you just be good? I have to punish you now. Lila is so fragile, Bree. I work so hard to take care of her, to keep her happy, to keep her safe."

"Kinsley please... "

"I'm trying so hard, Bree. Can't you see that? You hurt her last night. You made her feel like a fool and it's so hard to get her to open up." The world shifted, the crushed view of Kinsley's arm gave way to a gaze fixed on a pair of plush slippers waiting on the ground. Kinsley's knees were unyielding in her stomach, and the hand on her bottom brought fresh terror. Without thinking, her hands shot to cover her rear, but Kinsley's other hand grabbed her wrists and held them to the middle of her back.

"Please! I'm sorry! I'll be good!"

Her thighs were so bruised, so battered from recent punishments - she didn't think she could take more than one blow. Panic held her as tightly as Kinsley's hands. She struggled with all her might, but she was paper in Kinsley's iron grip. Hopeless. Helpless.

When the hand came down, when the fire spread through the backs of her thighs and tore a scream from her throat, she nearly passed out. Kinsley pulled her tighter, higher up on her lap as the second blow fell, incoherent pleading spilling from Sabrina's lips, a litany of apologies and promises to behave. Slurred words and sobs intermingled.

The third blow sounded just as terrible... but no pain came.

"Keep screaming."

It didn't make any sense, the slap of flesh on flesh sounded once more, but she felt nothing but the still-burning agony of the first two strikes.

The hand rose again, and Sabrina tensed, waiting, begging. The crack of the blow came again... but no pain. She tried to twist around to see what was happening in her confusion, but that only brought the next blow down across her thighs again, the pain spreading anew and ripping a fresh scream from her.

"Dammit Bree," Kinsley's voice seemed louder than it needed to be. "You bled on me."

Sabrina's eyes went wide as she tumbled to the ground, landing with a thud in a jumble of limbs on the floor.

"Please I'm sorry please... "

"Crawl to your room. I don't want to see you walk without permission today. Crawl to your room and clean yourself up, then you need to apologize to Lila for hurting her feelings."

Her response was swift but quiet. "Yes Kinsley."

She crawled. Every movement hurt, every inch was fresh agony, her thighs felt like they had been set on fire, they were literally giving off a heat that she could feel as her calves neared the backs of her thighs while crawling. With effort, she pulled Kinsley's door open without standing, and crawled to her room, her head jumbled and confused by what had happened.

She had been punished, but two of the strikes had missed her.

Nothing made sense. She had found Lila in nothing but a diaper and a bib like an overgrown infant, but she had been beaten for dropping waffles and not a single reasonable word was said about the bizarre scene.

Just "poor Lila".

As she pulled her own door closed behind her and gingerly touched the back of her thigh - her fingertips coming back wet with blood that seeped from the welts left by Kinsley's fingers - she had no idea what to do or how to handle anything.

What the hell was normal? How were you supposed to treat an adult in a wet diaper who was screaming about waffles?

She wasn't sure what the answer was, all she knew was that she had done it wrong.

If she hurt Kinsley's precious little Lila's feelings, Kinsley would hurt her body.

▲ ▲ ▲

"How is it my fault?" Faith sounded angry. As far as Sabrina knew, Lila had never come out of her room, though she might have dozed off while laying in her bed... on her stomach. "I gave her a simple task, I didn't know she was going to mess it up!"

"Don't you yell at me, Faith." There was an edge to Kinsley's voice that brought the fear back in full force to Sabrina without even being in the same room. "It wasn't that long ago that you were over my lap."

"It's not my fault! I had a date and I she's given Lila breakfast lots of times. This is Bree's fault."

"You knew she was in a bad way last night. You knew she was really upset because Bree laughed at her. You knew this was a possibility. You chose to go to Angie's anyway."

"You leave Angie out of this!"

Sabrina winced at the fire in the words. Kinsley didn't respond right away, the silence was impossibly tense - she knew what expression Kinsley would be wearing, the cold fire in those icy eyes. She didn't envy Faith... for once.

"You're on little sister duty."

"What!? No! Angie's coming over tonight! Put Bree on little sister duty!"

"Bree doesn't even count as a human right now, Faith Morgan. She's not getting a free upgrade just because you want to grind on your girlfriend. One more word out of you and it'll be two days."

"Yes Auntie."

Sabrina blinked. Just like that, the conflict was over. Faith did not sound happy - she sounded furious - but she wasn't objecting any more. She had no idea what "little sister duty" entailed, likely babysitting Lila the little sister. But doing what, having a tea party? Playing with dolls? Lila had seemed perfectly coherent if a little wound up.

But a fresh glimmer of hope was lit by their conversation.

Angie.

Faith's girlfriend.

The dolls would likely keep her locked in her room, away from Angie, or they'd try to intimidate her into not saying anything to the guest... but it was her best chance. She could bang on the door or scream if she were locked in. She could find a way to get Angie alone, explain that she was being held prisoner... it was the first hope of escape in a while. They hadn't left her alone since her last attempt. Not without locking her in or chaining her to something. She had thought about climbing out of a window, but with the high foundation of the house it was quite a drop... and the dolls kept something unpleasant under each window. A bin of rakes and lawn tools under one, and a cactus of all things under her bedroom window. Between the drop and the obstacles, she didn't think she could make the drop without breaking a limb.

Sabrina flinched as the door to her room opened. Kinsley slipped inside, closing the door behind her.

A whimper escaped her as Kinsley sat down on her bed... but she was pleasantly surprised when she felt a gentle hand gliding over her hair.

"You're going to be a good girl, right Bree? Who's my good girl?"

Doesn't even count as human.

"I am." The words came out a whisper, her eyes clenched shut as Kinsley's fingers caressed her, sliding along her hair and down behind her ear, pausing to stroke her earlobe.

"I need you to be an extra good girl today, Bree. You're going to go upstairs and you're going to help take care of Lila and Faith." What? Sabrina's head cocked to one side involuntarily. "You're going to stay upstairs unless I give you permission to go somewhere else. Lila and Faith are watching TV, you're going to sit with them, and you're going to not say a single word to them. Do you understand? You are mute. If I hear you speak, I will make the worst spanking I've ever given you seem tame. I've been hitting you with about half of my strength, at most."

Her eyes went wide at the thought of Kinsley hitting her twice as hard. She could only take a few hits on a good day, she had broken down after only one this morning, her backside hurt so much.

"What are you going to say to them?"

"Nothing."

The world ignited in a blossom of purple and red at the edges of her vision. The blow came so quickly and so far beyond anything Kinsley had dished out before, she didn't even scream. She never even heard the sound. Kinsley's hand clamped over her mouth, the other hand on the back of her head. Blue eyes locked on her own.

"You. Are. Mute. Do you understand?"

Through the tears, through the fear, she nodded. As Kinsley released her, a sob escaped. Her left thigh felt like she had been shot, waves of pain were still rushing through her, one after another, all throughout her leg. It took everything she had to keep from moaning. She curled up on one side, her hands cupping her stinging flesh gingerly.

Kinsley's fingers were in her hair once more, stroking her, petting her. She became aware of soft, soothing sounds.

"Good girl, you're my good girl. Such a good girl."

She hurt too much to blush. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on those gentle touches, on the soothing caresses, while her leg was doing its best to keep a deathgrip on her full attention. When the pain faded to a dull ache, when her breathing returned to normal, Kinsley spoke again.

"What are you going to say to them?"

Sabrina only shook her head.

"Good girl. Come on, let's go check on the girls. Remember - you're not allowed to walk. Crawl to the stairs, crawl up the stairs, and rest on the floor near them. I'm going to be sending you downstairs for things, you may walk then. Do. Not. Speak. Do not make any sounds or you will be punished. Do you understand."

Nod.

"Then let's go."