Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64545 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64545 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
“Okay.” Courtney bounced on her toes.
“Take your medicine.” He pointed a straight finger at Ariana then left the room.
Courtney let out an exaggerated sigh and gave Ariana a long appraising look. “Are you okay?”
Ariana shook her head. Of course, she wasn’t okay. What the fuck was going on here? Why was this grown woman speaking and acting this way? Medicine? Sippy cups? Playroom? Daddy? This had to be a nightmare. A sick and twisted nightmare that she had to wake up from. She didn’t know if it was the sedative or panic, but her ears rang, and her head spun. This couldn’t be real.
This couldn’t be real!
“I need to get out of here.” Ariana rushed to the door but found it locked.
“He probably locked it on his way out. Most Daddies do that when their girls show up at first. Don’t worry, eventually he won’t anymore. Once you start taking all your medicines.” Courtney dropped her teddy bear on the bed and picked up the sippy cup. “You should drink this.”
“What is it?”
Courtney shrugged. “I’m not sure exactly, but it helps make everything easier.” She plopped down on the bed, kicking her feet against the gray carpeting.
“Makes what easier?” Ariana demanded. All of the half answers she was getting made her aching head spin even more than it was.
“Being their little girls,” Courtney said plainly. “Sometimes it’s hard cause the grownups in our bodies don’t want to be little girls. So, they give us the medicine to help us be the little girls we are meant to be.”
Ariana took the sippy cup from her and stared at it. It looked like water. She unscrewed the top and sniffed. No scent, but there had to be a drug inside.
“What if you don’t want to be a little girl?” Ariana asked, screwing the top back on the cup.
Courtney frowned. “You don’t want to know,” she whispered. “It’s really bad.”
“Like how bad?”
“Well, there was a girl a few months ago who didn’t like it here. She stopped taking her medicine and refused to listen to her daddy, so Uncle Frank came and took her away.”
Ariana took a slow breath. Getting information would take patience, but unluckily for her, it didn’t look like she had anywhere else to be.
“Who’s Uncle Frank? And where did he take her? And what are we trained for? And what’s that guy’s name who was just in here?” Ariana rattled off her questions. He could be back any second; it was crunch time.
“You ask a lot of questions.” Courtney sighed. “Okay. Uncle Frank owns the House. He never comes here though unless someone’s in big trouble. Our Daddies teach us to be good girls so we can get adopted one day…” She tapped her finger against her chin. “What was your other question?”
“That guy,” Ariana prompted. Panic built in her chest. She needed to sort all this out.
“Oh. His name is Costello, but you have to call him Daddy until you get adopted, then you’ll call your new daddy, Daddy.” She nodded with a smile.
Ariana’s stomach twisted. Things like that were nightmares for other people. Horrible stories on talk shows and late-night documentaries. They weren’t supposed to happen to girls like her.
“Courtney, where did Uncle Frank take the girl who stopped taking the medicine?” Ariana asked, squatting down to get on the same eye-level as her.
Courtney’s brow wrinkled.
“It’s important. What happened to her?” Ariana pressed, forcing her voice to stay steady. She knew that if she let the panic in her chest leak into her voice, she’d scare Courtney.
The door opened and closed, startling both women.
“Courtney, go to the playroom. Your daddy is waiting for you.” Costello’s dark voice shut Courtney down before she could give a real answer.
“Okay.” Courtney hopped up from the bed, grabbing her teddy bear. “Bye-bye.” She wiggled her fingers at Ariana and smiled up at Costello before skipping out of the room.
“Why does she act like that? What’s in this medicine?” Ariana demanded, throwing the sippy cup at Costello. It hit his chest and fell to the floor with a thunk. The top popped off, spilling the contents all over the carpet.
Costello’s gaze settled on the mess the liquid made as the carpet drank it up, then as if in slow motion, he brought his dark, angry eyes to hers. Ariana took a step back, raising her hand to ward him off as though her single palm could keep the anger she saw in his expression from reaching her.
“Well.” His shoulders dropped. “I guess now’s as good a time as any to show you what happens to naughty girls. Come here, Ariana. You’re going to get your first spanking.”
She’d thrown the cup at him! Costello had met dozens of girls in this room. After being abducted and waking up in the House, the girls were usually disorientated, frightened. Most were compliant, doing whatever they could for a chance at escape, to be let free. The drugs they were given during intake helped keep them calm, but Ariana seemed to fight against the sedatives racing through her veins.