Locked Together (In Chains) (9 page)

“It was okay,” she says. “I was hungry so I’m glad I got to eat and I enjoyed the smoke. He seems kind and I think it might be good to have him on our side.”

Hmm, on her side yeah, he won’t be on our side. “I’m glad you got to eat, you’ve lost weight. What else did you guys do?”

She pulls back and cups my cheeks in her palms; I’m forced to meet her eyes.

“We just talked.”

I swallow. “What about?” I don’t get to hear her answer because the door opens and the guard comes back in. He scowls at me.

“Get over here and finish this washing, slave.” He points to the tub of laundry that Reece was in the middle of doing. “Savannah, you do the pressing,” he says, “but if you can’t finish it all, don’t worry about it.”

I drag my arms away from Savannah and trudge across to the tub. I want to hate him, I’m jealous but I can’t hate him, because he’s making life easier for Savannah. I want her life to be easier, and unlike me he has the power to do that.

I don’t get to speak to Savannah again but I can’t keep from looking at her, the guards can’t stop me doing that. The sun is coming in through the window and when it hits Savannah her hair looks golden. She’s looked over at me and smiled a few times but she seems sad. I don’t want her to be sad. I love seeing her face light up when she laughs. The guard has been helping her most of the afternoon and I’m glad because she shouldn’t have to work. I’m lucky to have her; I know she can do better than me. I don’t wanna lose her and I don’t think I can let her go. I can’t wait until we get locked up so I can be with her; I need to hold her close.

Dean suddenly stands up. “Permission to speak sir.”

The guard spins around, he looks shocked. “You can speak?”

Dean looks nervous and shuffles his feet. “Yes sir, I can now. My voice came back this morning. I heard a noise in my throat & I practised talking and I could do it.” Dean’s now looking down at the floor and the guard is staring at him. I can’t help smiling; he’s done the right thing. Now they know he can speak they’ll move him to level one.

“What did you want to say?” the guard asks.

“I wanted to let you know I could talk sir.”

“Okay,” the guard nods his head, “it’s noted.” He walks over to his desk and picks up his newspaper. Dean smiles at me and I give him a thumbs up.

I’m finishing up the laundry when the door opens and Bailey comes in. I can feel my body stiffen; it makes my skin crawl to be near her now. It’s hard for me to believe I ever had a relationship with her but I never even liked her then, I just wanted someone to love and care about me and I thought she did, till I found out she was fucking other slaves as well. I watch as the male guard picks up his things and leaves. “Let me check that,” Bailey says, pointing at the damp washing in my tub. She picks up a pillowcase. “This isn’t clean,” she holds it up to my face. “Look, there’s a stain here.” She points to a spot on the pillowcase but I can’t see a stain. She kneels down and looks through the rest of it. “There are stains on everything slave.” She stands up, her hands on her hips. “This isn’t good enough, no dinner for you tonight, you need more practise.”

My palms are hurting and I look down and see that I’m clenching my fists. Dammit, why don’t this bitch just quit? I need some time with Savannah. I look over at her, she’s frowning at Bailey. Bailey steps in front of me and blocks my view of Savannah. “Look at me, slave.” I don’t wannna look at her, if I have to look at her face I’ll want to pound my fist into it, so I stare down at the floor. “The rest of you, line up,” she says as she heads over to the door. I hear the click of the door unlocking and my heart sinks as I watch Savannah leave. The door slams closed and I’m alone. I walk over to the far wall & sink to the floor watching the door. I suppose she’s gonna make me re-wash the damn laundry again.

A few minutes later the door opens and she comes back in. “Well Kade, I’ve given you time to think. I’m sure you’ve made the right decision and your girlfriend need never know.”

I lower my gaze to the floor. “There’s nothing for her to know. I’m not gonna have sex with you Bailey.” There’s silence, I can feel her eyes boring into me. “Why are you so bothered about having sex with me?” I ask.

“I told you, I like a challenge.” I don’t say anything and there’s another long stretch of silence. “Well?” she asks.

“Well what?” I mutter.

She laughs and it’s nothing like Savannah’s laugh, Bailey’s sounds hard and fake. “We’ve got a few hours, let’s have some fun.”

I shake my head. “No.”

She reaches for the fob on her belt loop, points it at me and presses it. Every muscle in my body tenses. I clench my fists and grit my teeth as pain shoots through me. Oh God it hurts. Everything hurts. I can hear someone screaming, I think it’s me. I want it to stop. I’m lying on the floor, my fists are still clenched and it’s hard to breathe. There’s a metallic taste in my mouth. I put my hand to my lip, there’s blood, I must have bitten my mouth or my tongue.

“Get up.” I look up, she’s standing over me. I scramble to my feet because I don’t want to get shocked again. She reaches for the fob.

“No,” I call out before I can stop myself. She presses it and I try to get ready for the pain but it don’t come. Instead my wrists slap together, she must have switched on the cuffs, I let out a breath.

She opens the door. “Move, slave.”

We go past the level three block, so I guess she hasn’t finished with me yet. She unlocks a metal gate and we’re in the yard of the children’s block. Why is she taking me here? There’s no one around, the kids will all be locked up for the night. She unlocks the door to the building and pushes me inside. We’re in a long hallway and she’s behind me, shoving me in the back to get me to move along. She pulls me to a stop at a door and as she opens it, the smell hits me and makes me gag. She shoves me into the kid’s washroom and the door slams shut, trapping us both in there with the stink

She unlocks a metal cupboard, gets out a bucket, tosses in a bottle of detergent and kicks it across to me. She then gets out a wooden scrubbing brush and throws it at me; it hits me on the side of the head and falls to the floor. “Pick that up slave, and clean this place up.” I hold out my wrists to her. She raises her eyebrow at me.

“Are you going to unlock these?” I ask her.

She reaches for her fob and I hit the floor as pain wracks through my body again. When it finally stops I curl up into a ball, my head hurts and I think I’ve pulled a muscle in my back.

“Don’t speak without permission, slave.” I stare at her boots as she stands by my head. I can move my hands, so I guessed she unlocked the cuffs. “Now get up and clean this washroom. If I have to tell you again I will cause you pain like you wouldn’t believe is possible.”

I get to my feet and limp over to the faucet. I can feel something trickling down the side of my face; I wipe at it and see blood on my hand. I fill the bucket with water, squirt in the detergent and get down on my knees to scrub the floor. After a while I don’t notice the smell but I’ve got a headache, my back hurts like hell and my arms are still sore from yesterday. My stomach rumbles and I remember I haven’t eaten for two days. I must be hungry if I’m thinking about food in a place that smells this bad. When I’ve finished scrubbing the floor I head to one of the stalls. Ugh, the bowl and the seat are covered in crap. I can’t see a toilet brush or bleach anywhere. “Permission to speak please ma’am.”

“Denied.”

Great. I suppose I’ve got no choice, I’ll have to use the scrubbing brush and the floor detergent. I flush the toilet but it don’t make much difference. I’ve just started scrubbing the bowl when I hear her yell, “What do you think you’re doing, slave?”

“Cleaning the toilet ma’am,” I sigh.

She rests her hands on her hips. “With a scrubbing brush?”

I gaze down at the floor and shake my head. “I tried to ask for a toilet brush but you wouldn’t let me speak, ma’am.”

“Don’t you dare blame me for your incompetence, slave.” She kicks at my hand. “Drop the brush.” I let it fall to the floor. “It’s obvious you don’t care about proper hygiene, so we may as well dispense with hygiene altogether.” I’m not sure what she means by that but I know whatever it is, it ain’t gonna be good for me. “Clean it with your hands. Now.”

I look at the bowl, covered in shit. No way am I touching that. I swallow hard. “No I won’t, ma’am.” My muscles lock up and my neck is burning. My muscles are so stiff it feels like I’m gonna snap and all I can think about is the pain. When it’s over I lay there, my face pressed against the cold toilet bowl, shaking.

“The answer I’m looking for, slave, is yes ma’am.”

I can’t speak right now; all I can do is groan. She must have hit the button again and I cry out as the pain returns. “Ahhh please stop. Please.” It feels like forever before it finally stops and I’m gasping for breath and shuddering. “Okay, okay,” I manage to whisper. My head smacks into the toilet bowl as my body spasms again.

“I said, the answer I’m looking for is yes ma’am.”

“Yes ma’am,” I stammer.

“Then stop wasting time and get on with it, slave.” I grimace as I get up. I slowly put my hand in the toilet bowl, my stomach heaves as my hand touches the crap. It’s just as well I haven’t eaten or I’d throw up for sure. I continue dry heaving as I wipe my hand around the bowl; I’m trying not to think about it. I jump when I hear Bailey’s voice; she’s now standing right behind me. “What do you suppose your little girlfriend will think when I tell her you wiped someone else's shit from a toilet with your bare hands?” My body stiffens. “I think she’ll be disgusted by you, she’ll never let you touch her again.” She sounds like she’s smiling. I swallow hard. I don’t want Savannah to be disgusted with me; I don’t think I could take it if she didn’t want me anymore. She’s the only good thing in this damn world.

My mouth has gone dry and I’m having trouble swallowing. “You mean if I have sex with you, you won’t tell her and if I don’t, you will?” I ask her. Pain wracks my body again and I hit my head on the wall of the stall. “Fuck.” I’m lying on my back on the floor, she’s smiling down at me.

“You forgot to say ma’am, slave.”
Ahh, I’m gonna fucking kill this bitch.
I close my eyes and try to calm down. There’s no point in losing my temper right now, not while she has that damn fob. “Finish cleaning the toilet, unless you want to be licking it clean instead, slave.” My eyes snap open and I crawl up on my knees and put my hand back in the bowl. There’s no way I’d lick it clean and I don’t wanna get electrocuted to death. I’ve gotta hope that if she tells Savannah, that Savannah will be kind and understand. Oh well, at least she’s given me something else to think about but I’d rather be thinking of touching shit than losing Savannah. I flinch as I move too quickly and pain shoots across my back.

I finally finish the damn toilets. My palms are brown and there’s crap under my fingernails. I hold my hands out away from me, they stink. She’s bending over the bowl checking my work and I really wanna grab the hair on the back of her head and shove her face in it. I wonder if anyone has ever been drowned in a toilet bowl. I wonder if I could do it before she gets her hand on the fob. I guess I took too long thinking about it because she’s now facing me. She sneers at me with a look of disgust on her face. “You stink, slave. You’re a disgusting piece of filth.”

She presses her fob and my wrists lock together, she jerks her thumb towards the door. “Get moving.” I head over towards the door, and stop. She shoves me in the back. “I said move, slave.”

I take a deep breath. “Permission to speak please ma’am.”

“Denied. Move.”

I look down at my hands. I can’t let Savannah see me like this, I can’t. She unlocks the door to our block and I’m heading towards our cell when she calls out. “Stop. This way.” She’s pointing towards a room off of the hallway; I stand behind her as she unlocks it. The room’s empty, except for two metal doors along the back wall.

She opens one of the metal doors and I look inside. It’s a small, narrow cell; the walls and floor are metal. She glares at me. “Get inside.”

I shake my head and back away. She points the fob at me and I hold my breath, but she doesn’t hit the button, she smiles at me. “If you don’t get in there, right now, your girlfriend will be.” She glares at me. “It’s either you, or her.”

My shoulders slump and I stare at the little cell. I don’t want her to hurt Savannah. It’s small and I just manage to squeeze myself inside. It’s too small for me to stand upright, even with my knees bent; my shoulders are hitting the ceiling. I can’t raise my head and my chin is pressed against my chest. She slams the door closed, it’s dark. I lick my dry lips, maybe I can sit down. I try to slide my back down the wall but it’s too cramped, there isn’t enough room to bend my legs to sit. My heart is thudding and I feel dizzy, I can’t move, I suck in a breath. “Let me outta here,” I yell, but there’s no answer. I close my eyes and try to stay calm.

I can feel warm air blowing onto me, there must be a vent in here but I can’t move to find it. I’ll think of Savannah, she’ll take my mind off this. I imagine her standing behind me, her arms wrapped around me, whispering softly in my ear. “You stink Kayden. Ugh, what is that on your hands? Is it crap? Ugh, that’s disgusting. Don’t you ever touch me again.” My eyes snap open and I gasp for breath. Okay, okay, maybe I won’t think about Savannah. What other nice things can I think about? I search my head but I can’t think of anything, Savannah’s my nice thing, at least she was. My back feels like it’s on fire and my thighs and shoulders are beginning to burn, my head is pounding, my mouth is dry and I’m hungry. How long am I gonna be stuck in here?