She pulled it inside and inhaled, laughed and said, "I never thought something so small would bring me so much joy. Thank you."
"I'm sorry the toothbrush is used, but I couldn't help myself," I told her. They'd given us a travel size brush with a tiny tube of paste.
"Oh god, I don't care," she exhaled loudly. "You could have cleaned the toilet with it and I'd still use it at this point."
I laughed and understood where she was coming from. I felt the exact same way.
After that, we let her brush her teeth and wash up as much as she could in the tiny sink. Ryker told me he was going to lie down and suggested I do the same. I agreed, so I did. I sprawled onto the mattress and tucked the blankets around me like a cocoon to escape the reality of the prison. It didn’t totally work, but I did manage to fall asleep again, even though daylight still streamed in through the window at the top of the cell.
* * *
"Get up,"the voice barked in my ear and I came to with the jolting sensation of falling. I reached out frantically to stop myself, then realized I was still on the bed. The guards in my cell laughed mockingly behind their grey masks at my mistake. "Follow me."
They left my cell with Ryker behind them, and I came up after that. They were at a brisk pace and I was still wobbly from sleep, so it was difficult to keep up.
It wasn’t until we got to the door at the end of the corridor that I realized Penny wasn’t with us. I looked back for her, but was rewarded with a whack from one of the guards. At least his baton didn’t have the electrical current on, so I was spared the pain of that.
I walked faster, catching up with Ryker and letting him take my hand to keep me steady. It was dark outside now. I could see that through the window at the end of the hall when I looked to the right.
But we turned to the left, towards the showers and past them to the place beyond. The casino rooms, the pleasure rooms.
The militaristic marching of the guards and the sterile, blank walls set me on edge. I couldn’t help but worry about the reason we were going back to the pleasure rooms. My every instinct was telling me I was walking into a lion’s den.
“Why are you taking us there?” I couldn’t stand the anticipation and blurted it out as we moved.
“Keep your mouth shut,” the leader said, not even bothering to look back. He knew I was cowed, and they were in control.
And fuck, I hated it. I hated they were so certain of their ownership that they didn’t bother addressing me as a human being half the time. I was simply an object to them, a possession of the Organization, and I dreaded what we were about to face.
“Don’t worry,” Ryker said in a low voice. “I’m here, I’ll keep you safe.”
He squeezed my hand in reassurance and I had to squeeze back, even though I wasn’t sure how he was going to protect me against the likes of Thackeray and the Organization in the pleasure rooms.
We walked until the walls became nicer again, and eventually we moved through the set of thick metal doors and were greeted with warm wood paneling in a rich reddish brown.
“Where is this?” Ryker asked.
“The way to the pleasure rooms,” I said, and I shuddered. I didn’t know if I’d be able to handle this again. I would have already crumbled without Ryker by my side, but even with him I felt fragile.
The psychological torture they’d imparted to me over the last few days had already stripped down parts of my humanity, and I didn’t feel comfortable in this civilized hallway. I’d gone half feral in that amount of time. What would I look like at the end of it all if we didn’t end it soon?
We went through another set of doors, these heavy and wood, before making a sharp turn right and going into a bedroom.
“Choose something from the closet. You have five minutes,” the guard said before turning and motioning to Ryker to follow him.
I was left alone and almost started crying when I looked around. There was a plush king sized bed against one wall with a beautiful linen head board and a faux fur throw. There were dressers, a wide comfortable reading chair, lamps, and a chaise under a tall window. It wasn’t like the fake luxury of the prison cells, this was the true luxury of the extremely wealthy.
I walked through the closet to a private bathroom done in beautiful white marble with gold fixtures. The shower was pure decadence, and the bathtub was a deep soaker that practically called my name.
I would have given almost anything to soak away the aches and bruises throbbing in my battered body.
But time was limited, and I was still afraid to stand up to them until I had a better idea of what was going on.
So I went back to the walk through closet and took a look. There wasn’t much on the hangers and everything I found was skimpy and made out of sheer material. They were all evening gowns, but more like gossamer wisps that hinted at clothing, truth be told. They were prettier than the clothing from the racks in the stripper room, but none of them were anything I’d choose on my own.
I finally settled on a black one with silver inlaid thread. I stripped, wasn’t wearing a bra or panties anyway, and slipped it on over my head. It clung to my body, unlike the other black dress I’d worn earlier.
And I was right. It was the mere suggestion of clothing and barely covered anything. My breasts were obvious and you could even see the darker color of my nipples showing through. The dark V of my pubic area was obvious, and you could even see the purple and blue bruises along my abdomen and across my ribs.