Chapter 20: Not Really Free


    The first thing that ir did was to take a real shower. She stood in the bathroom with the chair


    pressed to the inside handle and scrubbed like she''d never scrubbed before. She did everything to feel


    normal and clean. She also found a pair of scissors and trimmed her hair the best she could. She


    thought about chopping it really short but didn''t.


    ir had found some fresh clothes that fit her well. She wasn''t so sure that the house hadn''t prepared


    that for her. These clothes were a pair of ck dress like pants and a white turtleneck. It was still cool


    in the house and this wasn''t so bad. She didn''t need to worry about being totally hidden. Though she


    wasn''t going to change her habits for three days.


    She brushed out her hair and fingered it. The wet mass was heavy and had a slight curl to it. She


    scrubbed her teeth, flossing and rising. She felt so good to be clean, and she was always normally a


    clean freak. She would have done a bit more for him if she could be allowed one day every week to do


    this.


    ir tossed her bad clothes into the chute. She knew that the chutes all came out somewhere in the


    basement. From there she didn''t know what happened to them. She went out the door after checking


    and went to the kitchen for food. She had a quick dinner. Happy to have milk for the first time in months


    and that it was fresh. She ate some of the fruit there as well.


    "Thanks." She said to the house and moved off. There were actually three kitchens in the house but the


    main one had most the food and it was huge. She passed two peopleing to find some eats and


    they looked at her,.


    "How are you so clean?" The one woman asked.


    "Showered, I won the game I yed with him." She looked envious. The other woman already slipped


    into the kitchen. She left ir and ir moved off down the hall. She wanted to learn more about this


    ce now that she had time to do it.


    However she grew more tired and moved off to find a room out of the way to sleep in, she wanted a


    bed. ir found one on the third floor in the left wing. Sheid down, a chair against the door and she


    fell asleep. Was it going to stop Isaiah or the hounds? Not really but she''d get warning and it would


    stop the humans.


    Morning came and ir opened her eyes, she nced at the clock. It was almost ten. She''d been


    asleep for nearly nine hours and it felt good. She felt good, felt like a great weight had been lifted from


    her shoulders. Now that she didn''t have to be so careful, she could explore andmit more to


    memory than she already had.


    ir meandered through the house looking at everything, and testing for hidden doors. She found one


    that she hadn''t known before and it led to a room that had no doors at all. It seemed the small crawl


    space led right in here and to nowhere else. The room was simple and square oddly it had a stereo


    system setup with speakers along the walls. She moved to the stereo and looked at the CDs there and


    shook her head. She didn''t know how these things got here but they did.


    She tested the walls and found one to be a false wall that opened to a closet with different gowns and


    suits. Sheughed a little, this closet had no exit. She looked at some of the intense looking gowns that


    had to be years old but in pristine condition.


    There were far more modern ones as well and some she would never have dared to wear in public.


    She looked at the tuxes and dress clothes for men. The shelf above had hats and gloves and she took


    one that reminded her of the gangster hats in the fifties. She put on a tie letting it hang loose and tipped


    the hat, she grabbed a pair of shoes from the floor. It took her a bit to find one that fit her. In the end


    she found a pair of closed toed shoes with high heels on them.


    She put them on and grabbed a cane from the closet and feeling that she should make the most of her


    time, she went to the stereo and put in a CD at random. She let it y and moved to the panel with the


    crawl space. Out in the other room the music couldn''t be heard. She went back in and twisted one of


    the speakers that led her right into a hall. No sound out here either.


    She went back in the room and put in a CD she knew and danced to it. A solo routine she''d learned


    long ago and enjoyed. After it was done she moved back to the closet and pulled out different dresses


    and tried them on. Looking in the full length mirror there. This was fun, and she''d always loved dresses


    but no where to wear them.


    "Not bad." She said standing in a tight midnight blue evening gown that fit to her body like a glove. It


    hugged her chest making it look bigger than it was and the soft re to her hips. A slit in the dress went


    all the way up to her hip.


    "To bad I don''t like to show my butt." She said swishing the back of the dress to show skin. She gave a


    laugh and took it off, pulling out a few others and trying them on. She couldn''t get the ball gown toce


    up in the back all the way but it was a gold color and made her hair very dark. She tried a pink dress


    that was so short she didn''t think that she could sit or bend without exposing herself. She took it off and


    grabbed a white one.


    This one had a tie around the neck and the straps connected right to the part of the dress that covered


    her breasts. She tied it up and if she hadn''t had her bra on. She wasn''t sure how she would have even


    stayed in the dress. There was a lose tie around the waist and it had a kind of handkerchief bottom,


    though the front under skirt cut off mid-thigh and the back fell farther to the floor.


    ir was curious to see just how this dress would hold her without the bra so she reached back and


    took it off with a bit of work pulled it out from the dress and fixed it properly.


    "Eek, no quick movements I guess."


    She turned in the mirror and looked at the back. It cut down in a v to her lower back. It was a pretty


    dress but one she didn''t think she could ever wear. She picked up her bra and turned looking at the


    other dresses. Facing out into the room she sighed and undid the dress she wore. Putting on her bra


    she grabbed the hanger and put it back up.


    She touched several of the other ones there, which one, which one? The music was still ying and


    she sang along to the song that was going. What she was doing was strangely fun and made her feel


    very light.


    "Just one more and then food." Maybe she''d go in the dress just for fun. Why not, right now was her


    chance to feel safe. To feel good for once in what felt like forever.


    There was a ck one that she pulled out made of a soft material and another rather clingy one. She


    put it on and it was very nearly see through. Most the dress on the bottom hung to one side. The dress


    coming all the way up to mid-thigh. It had a tight part for the upper chest and no straps, she turned in a


    slow circle.


    "Think I like that blue one." She said and took it off pulling on her normal clothes. She was going to the


    kitchen to cook herself a meal, a real one, and was going to sit down and eat it like a normal person.


    Not shoving it in her face.


    ___Isaiah___


    Isaiah watched through the one way mirror as ir left the closet. He''d chanced upon her moving


    through the passageway. He''de to a sudden halt as he''d glimpsed the movement. She stood there


    in nothing but her underwear sorting through the dresses.


    He''d decided right then to stay and watch her. He''d leaned back against the wall his arms folded, nails


    biting into his arms, digging into skin. At one point, he was pretty sure he drew blood, but didn''t look


    down to see.


    The sight of her slender body in those garments and how she moved in them... A woman made to wear


    such tight fitting things. If he''d only been able to touch her. He''d have gone right in that closet and


    dragged her to the floor. As it was he continued to shift as his body grew hard and ufortable. The


    most he saw of her was when she undressed.


    He had a growing irritation at the small bits of material that covered her without the gowns. Any time


    she removed her bra she always put it back on not facing the mirror. He wondered if she was ashamed


    of her body. He couldn''t see how she possibly could be.


    He moved now as she left through the wall and out into the hall behind him. He turned the corner as


    she disappeared around the opposite corner herself, he went into the room. The scent of her thick in


    the air. He moved to the closet and her scent was strongest here. He nced at himself in the mirror,


    his eyes were dark, very dark, but not solid ck yet.


    Isaiah had decided that he didn''t much care for ir in the normal clothes that she wore. He wanted


    her in these garments. The ones that hugged her body and offered a glimpse of soft expanses of flesh.


    He moved from the closest, memorizing the ones he''d liked most on her. Then he went to the hall and


    followed where she had disappeared to.


    He followed down the hall at a slow pace. He felt others moving around a few of the rooms, and


    listened to what they were doing. He nced at the ceiling, Gustav was still alive. His mind hard to


    read but he was a maniptor. His ability to read minds was very helpful as well. Currently he moved


    swiftly down the hall in the opposite direction above Isaiah. The man was filling the heads of those that


    he could get to listen with ridiculous nonsense.


    There was a strong smelling from the direction of the kitchen. A smell that had never filled the


    house before. At least while he''d been here, it was the scent of human food cooking. Curious he


    moved down to the kitchen to see what it was.


    ___ir___


    ir didn''t make anythingplicated. Just shoved a frozen pizza into the oven. Then made noodles


    boiling them, and heating sauce in another pan. Alfredo sauce. She wondered how old the frozen pizza


    was. Couldn''t be that old seeing the hell hounds ate everything in the house once the humans were


    gone. She wondered why they would even bring something like that, but she was d at the moment.


    "Why they would think anyone would use this, oh well d it''s here." She felt a kind of warmth from the


    kitchen to her. It was happy to be being used. Just like the room she''d stumbled upon today.


    "You cook as well?" She jumped and grabbed the knife near her turning. "No need for that, can''t touch


    you." Isaiah said and she rxed a little. Yeah well he wasn''t the only one that might attack her. She


    didn''t trust the others in this house either.


    "I was taught to be self-sufficient."


    "Fascinating." ir didn''t want to take her eyes off of him, but she knew he had to keep his promise.


    She went in the cupboards looking for a strainer. She got one and set it in the sink. She stirred the


    sauce and then dumped the noodles.


    "Is there some reason you are here?" She asked looking over her shoulder to where he stood watching


    her, his eyes dark. What could he possibly want with her, when at the moment he could do nothing to


    her?


    "The pleasure of yourpany." She eyed him suspiciously, he gave her a smile that didn''t reach his


    eyes. "You, I am still trying to figure out." She took the sauce off the heat. He''d never watched a human


    prepare food before.''


    "I''m sure I''ll know when you do."


    "Will you?" He mused as she dumped therge amount of pasta he was sure she could not eat into a


    large bowl, and then the sauce over it.


    "Yes, I''ll be dead." He gave a lightugh at that.


    "And that is what perplexes me so. Ready for your death but fighting so hard against it."


    "How did you get stuck here?" She asked suddenly. "I mean why haven''t you ever tried to leave?" She


    asked curious as to how one like him got stuck in a house like this. It was clear that he wanted to leave,


    and he had to have been here for a long time. He was always willing to make a deal and she was


    wondering just what it would take to release him. If the price to help was her freedom too.


    "Oh I''d leave if I could, trust me. I made a promise that caused this to happen. I''m much more careful


    when I word the things I say now."


    "What will it take to free you? I don''t suppose it''s something anyone here can do." She stirred the


    noodles as she asked not looking at him.


    "I would have offered you your life if you could free me." Well, he probably wouldn''t kill the one that


    could free him as that one was permanently going to be bound to him. In exchange for his freedom


    they took being bound instead. They would be bound to him. Cause and effect, that''s how magic


    worked. How science worked too, kind of funny how close the two were and no one even knew it.


    Seeing Athena was the reason, it also had to be a woman. Not that that was aint to him.


    "What does it take?"


    "You don''t have what I need, so it doesn''t really matter. There is a very specific set of rules and


    requirements for my release and you arecking one very important one."


    "Oh." She sighed and grabbed a smaller bowl to put her pasta in to eat it. She moved back to the stove


    and opened it. It was a strong but notpletely disagreeable smell. She grabbed a te and moved


    to grab a knife. She cut the pizza and took a piece moving to the next room to the table there and sat


    down. A ss of milk already there, he followed her.


    "I thought I was free of you for three days."


    "Free of me doing anything to you. I''m allowed to be in any space of this house I wish." She took a bite


    of her food and he moved to the table sitting across from her. She seemed perfectly calm in his


    presence at the moment. So he would see just how calm she could remain with him here.


    "Are you waiting for my time to run out? Following me, that''s obsession."


    N?velDrama.Org content.


    "Perhaps." He responded. He noted that she still didn''t meet his gaze. She always fixed it to a spot


    near his shoulder or past him.


    "Over a human, who''s not worth much in the way of life ording to you."


    "This is true, but tell me ir, do you not value certain objects you own more than others? Not desire to


    use certain ones more often or more than once?"


    "Yes."


    "Your value at the moment is above the others in the house. It''s really your ticket to keep living."


    "Until you break your toy." He could hear a few moving in the kitchen and he understood now why she


    made more food than she was going to eat.


    "I hope not to break you too soon." She looked down at her food. "Why don''t you ever meet my gaze


    for more than a few seconds?" He asked suddenly annoyed. He wanted to know what she was


    thinking. See her reactions, but she hid her eyes from him and he couldn''t hear her mind.


    "Why do I need to?" She retorted, he looked at her bent head. He''d had more conversation with her


    than he''d ever had with anyone in years. It was nice in a way, different.


    "Because it annoys me that you don''t." He snapped not meaning to but he couldn''t very well take it


    back. He wanted to read her the way that he could others, but she was very hard in more ways than


    one.


    "Sorry for the inconvenience." she said in an almost snide tone. Different from her normal quiet and


    almost respectful manner.


    "Are we feeling a bit jaded, orfortable with your current condition?"


    "No, notfortable at all. The longer one has with their freedom the more you tend to forget that you


    are not truly free."


    "Very smart." He stood.


    "You don''t ever have to give a human the chance to live. Why do you?" This time her eyes met his. He


    was silent for a moment and felt a few urges rush up so he stood. Best to leave, he knew himself too


    well.


    "I get bored, and I like to y games. Goodnight ir." He said turning to leave, because he needed to


    leave her presence. Or do something he''d regret.


    "Goodnight Isaiah." He looked over his shoulder at her, but she wasn''t looking at him anymore. He


    didn''t know how to feel about her calling him by his name, it felt personal. He thought that he saw a


    slight smirk on her face.


    She was ying with him and he saw it right there. This was such a hard choice. He moved down the


    hall thinking. He could keep her around, enjoyment was hard to find as ofte. She provided him with a


    good amount during her time here. Unfortunately his desire was far more than his need to keep her


    around. He''d want her blood and when she failed he wouldn''t be able to stop himself. Isaiah gave a


    harsh sigh still thinking.