Cora the Hostage Pt. 01 of 02

Important note to you who read: All characters in this story are over 18 years of age. And it contains themes that some readers may find disturbing. Mostly Reluctance/Non-Consent. Check the tags for details. Also this first part is MOSTLY plot. Part 02 should be coming out around the same time.

Also this is more cyberpunk themed than my other work. Still sci-fi, just less space, more dystopian future capitalism. And a little dark of course, as all my stories seem to be.

Enjoy. ^-^ And don't be Too weird. And respect consent. And don't do crimes.

Chapter 1

It was more back luck than anything, that led me to my fate. Well, that and the willingness for others to do cruelty and harm, that is. Maybe if their team hadn't decided to go ahead with their plan despite us being in their way, then nobody would've died. Or, none of us at least. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

There were three of us who finally decided to go through with it. Myself, and my two friends: Hannah and Saskia. We were young and stupid and fresh out of our corpo sponsored higher education course. The three of us had roughly a month or two of freedom before our contractually mandated enrolment into one of the ruling Megacrops ever-churning yearly staff turnovers. The price of our education: the standard lifetime period of indenture to our sponsoring conglomerate.

But since it was either that or join a Syndicate, we wisely chose the former. The termination clause was less terminal with the corpos at least.

We'd chosen - like everyone else who wasn't a spireborn oligarch - to vacation within our own megacity. Travel permits being by their nature unfathomably expensive, forced everyone who wasn't really anyone to stay in their continental prefecture.

So, we friends had pooled together our meagre resources, and rented a high-class experience. Living in the relative luxury of the elites that we'd never be able to actually experience as anything other than a tourist. Particularly once we were working off our exponential interest educational loans.

Still, though one could live off microwave burritos and Ramen noodles for their whole life, and maybe pay off a quarter of the lifetime interest of their debts, it was nice to treat oneself once in a while. A sentiment my friends shared, as we rode the executive elevator up to our suite.

"Eeeee!" Hannah bubbled happily.

"Stop that." Saskia chided playfully. "We're meant to be high-class and refined now."

"Five minutes and already a class traitor," I observed, "why am I not surprised you're the first to fall to temptation?"

"And when exactly," Saskia shot back, crossing her arms, "did Cora Chase become hero of the common worker?"

"Touché." I conceded.

The elevator soared past the first hundred stories quickly, lifting us to the lofty heights of luxury that constituted the managerial caste suites. When our floor finally arrived, and a quick scan of our temporary access cards later, we were let out onto the mega-block's upper thoroughfare.

The sight took all our breath away.

I'd never seen above the cloudtop before, the permanent blanket of white and grey that choked out the sun planetwide. None of us had. Only the elites got to see the sun above, bask in the warming stellar rays. We'd seen them through holo-scrolls obviously, but not the real deal.

I got the sense - as a well dressed couple huffed and sidled past us - that our display of awe was a common annoyance for them. If they didn't want to deal with lower-city tourists though, they should've paid for a unit higher up the spire, one we couldn't afford to rent.

The main ring of our level, the circular walkway that surrounded the mega-block's central hollow void that ran down it's core, was lined with commercial stalls. Neon signs and cursive lettering for all manner of goods and services that the rich and powerful could afford. We wandered through for a while, marvelling at the handmade clothing and meals that weren't derived entirely from grub protein.

We didn't have allot of spending money though and we were going to have to last two weeks, so we decided to check how stocked the fridge in our rental was and hold off on spending an entire quarter's credits on a single bra.

Our home for the next few weeks was easily as luxurious as we were expecting.

Actually, there'd been a mix-up we found out just before we left, and they'd upgraded our rooms to the platinum tier, so it was actually better than we were expecting.

"Look at this place!" Hannah marvelled, dragging out the last word for emphasis. "This room is bigger than our whole unit!"

She was right, the living room/kitchen and dining space was wide and open. Wasteful, almost in it's space usage. There was a bar leading out of the wall with stools pushed up against it, this divided the space. On one side, a holo-projector sat in a small depression in the floor, surrounded by a long sofa built around it's circumference. On the other, an aesthetic but otherwise unremarkable kitchen space.

"It even has a window!" Hannah squealed, dropping her bags and running over to open the shutter.

It was a view of the neighbouring spire, mostly. But it was a view none the less, which is more than any of us ever had down below. Windows were brittle, and breakable. Better just to have solid walls to your home. Safer that way.

"Hannah." Saskia chided again, ever the voice of calm and order, "finish unpacking before you forget. I'm not walking by your room to see you living out of your bag for the next two weeks."

"But we're just gonna have to re-pack anyway." Hannah complained.

I snorted in amusement. Saskia shot me a withering look.

"Oh no," our functional mother for the trip went on, "I'm not letting you borrow my clothes when all yours end up creased and crumpled. Clothes, which I might add, that I helped you fold in the first place."

"Ugh fine," Hannah conceded, dragging out the syllables to indicate it was not, in fact, fine.

"So what are we gonna eat tonight?" I asked, eager to sow chaos.

Hannah, immediately distracted, went to the kitchen and started rifling through the cupboards. Saskia shot me another look, and I took the resulting disorder to get first pick of the rooms.

~

The beds were all about the same, all doubles. Which was part of the appeal of the trip. Both Saskia and Hannah harboured secret dreams of rags to riches tales. Of being noticed by a rich spireborn while we flitted around bars and restaurants buying the cheapest things so we'd be allowed to loiter there and take in the scenery. And the clientele.

It was a pipe dream, vain and hopeless. But it had happened before, once or twice. For me though: I was more interested in finding someone... appropriately distracting to bring back for a night or two. I was looking forward to being thrown around the bed by some suit wearing corpo used to getting his way. As opposed to faking my enjoyment for some oligarch's fail-son at least.

So double bed gave me a fairly simple quest for my last adventure as a young woman in her twenties. Obviously a high caste corpo wasn't going to bring lower city trash like me back to their luxurious living space. But I was confident I could tempt this hypothetical man back to our cheap rental by whispering exactly what I'd let him do to me in my ear.

Or her, if it was the right woman. I had a preference, but wasn't so picky as to be exclusive. As long as they were the right kind of freak was all I cared about.

So, assuming we weren't just going to sit around our apartment on our first night, I unpacked my own bag and dressed. In terms of outfit, I decided to go with confident and secure in my looks, but not currently seeking. A street-wear look, baggy shirt a few sizes too big, so it would hang down below my waist and could occasional slip down and show my shoulder. And show off the rose-vine tattoo sleeves that darkened my arms, shoulder, and wrapping around the base of my neck. Below this, I wore dark leggings over my underwear and some knock-off fashionable sneakers.

I left my hair how I always did, the permanent shaved undercut on one side, and the long, dark straight hair hanging down chin length on the other. I wore a simple set of make-up, dark, matt lip-gloss and eye shadow to complement my light complexion over a simple layer of foundation. The understated look helped my eyebrow stud and ear piercings on my undercut side pop all the more.

It was casual, comfortable and very me.

"You really must tell me your secret one of these days." Saskia observed as I emerged.

I glanced at her and - as always - wondered what the hell she was talking about. Saskia was always the one of our trio I found most attractive, personally. Tall, all legs it felt like, when she wore tights and a pleated, business like skirt like she was then. And her wavy auburn hair was pulled into practical bun. This, along with her causal suit jacket, made her look professional in just the way I liked.

"Trying to blend in?" I smirked.

"Screw you." She clapped back with a grin.

"What about me?" Hannah demanded, emerging with dramatic timing like she hadn't been loitering inside her door and waiting fro the right moment to emerge.

If my choice of dress was casually dressed lower-city tourist, and Saskia's was corpo cosplay, then I would describe Hannah's attire, as For Sale. Not that she was particularly slutty, though the T-shirt was doing allot of heavy lifting without the bra. It was more just the way she was slutty.

She'd tied her long blonde hair into twin braids with a pink bow either side. These hung down her front, curving over her chest, and framing her face and cleavage. A face with softening make-up, to make her look youthful, doe-eyed and innocent. She was still also, like all of us, in her twenties now too; but along with her adornments, and the pastel hues of pinks and blues her outfit donned, the look was more of a sort of ageless, teenage aesthetic.

It advertised one thing: that she was more than capable of appearing younger than she was. Acting younger than she was. And she was willing to do it casually in public. And every older creep looking for someone to fulfil their, otherwise morally unconscionable, fantasies would notice.

If there was a non-zero chance - her reasoning went - that she could be one of the very few to get to experience the easy life by virtue of being young, pretty and available, then she wanted it to be as non-zero as possible. Which meant the lowest hanging fruit.

"You are not leaving the apartment like that." Saskia intoned gravely.

"Ugh," Hannah complained, "stop mothering me."

Chapter 2

The bar's floor was sticky, and the drinks were overpriced, but the music was quiet enough for us to talk at least. And there were seats too, but those were also kind of sticky so we chose to stand instead.

Hannah exhaled wistfully. "This is the life ladies." She offered.

"This drink was not worth enough credits to buy a week's worth of food." Saskia complained.

"I thought mine was okay," I countered, staring at the empty glasses of the drink we'd all finished an hour ago. But all collectively agreed we didn't want to pay for another one. "Strong at least."

"Of course you'd think that," Saskia snipped, "you're tiny."

"A fatal blow," I waxed rhetorical, "my petite frame and short height have finally been revealed. My greatest secret exposed."

"See," she went on, her argument unwittingly proven correct by my antics, "a lightweight."

"Be nice," Hannah chided, "I love Cora when she's tipsy."

"Aw same!" I hugged her.

"What about them?" Saskia asked, changing the subject.

They'd been lightly cruising the bar all evening, occasionally pointing out some new arrivals that showed promise in one way or another.

"Too easy," Hannah declared. A damning intendment coming from her.

"You think Syndicate drones are easy?" Saskia's scepticism could sometimes be as withering as her stare.

"You tell us," I suggested up to her, from at least a head height below. "You're the only one who's dated one."

"Yeah," Saskia continued, "and it was fucking intense. I don't recommend it for the faint of heart." She focused on Hannah then. "Or the short of attention." She added.

"What?" Hannah asked distractedly. "The tall one's kind of cute right?"

"Hannah!" Saskia hissed. "Don't just stare at- and now they're looking at us. Great."

I glanced over as well, since everybody seemed to be shamelessly staring anyway. There were five of them, all wearing Syndicate colours. Shenzenn by the insignia, I recognised. They were one of the half dozen criminal organisations - which was to say, just a Megacorp without an army, planetkiller weapons, or access to their own interstellar fleet of ships - that ran the underworld planetside. And, in the lower-city slums, a large portion of the overworld too.

They were serious, and ruthless, and viewed lives as little more than resource to be spent. Which made them terrifying. Most people just viewed them as an extra level of corporate bureaucracy. Another tax to pay by the end of the quarter. But with tax collectors who'd gut you and leave you hanging as a warning if you attempted to defraud them.

This particular group were an uneven assortment of body types and genders, three of them had already turned their backs again when I glanced over. Of the other two, one looked at each of us in turn, then disregarded our existence. The last one, tall and scarred enough to easily scare me away, looked at each of us, then lingered on me.

I saw him smile a little as our eyes met, then glance down below my eyes, making me blush. But soon he'd he joined the others in ignoring us. And I was honestly a little relieved.

"Rude." Hannah declared, having been passed over without even a smile.

"Wrong bait," Saskia pointed out, "you should've worn the boots and ripped fishnets for them."

Hannah nodded, and took a breath to centre herself. "Right," she agreed, "focus. We're here on a mission."

"You're here on a mission," I corrected, indicating them both. "I'm here to have fun and keep my head down. So stop attracting the guys who skin people alive for a living and find us someone who'll buy us drinks."

~

We did find someone who was drunk enough to mistake Saskia for someone who mattered, and buy us another round. I opted for non alcoholic that time, wisely too considering I was still tipsy when Saskia and Hannah became buzzed enough to flirt openly with strangers.

Hannah looked on the fence for a while with a guy in suit who whispered in her ear long enough to make her blush, but then that guy's partner came over and politely extracted them from her grasp.

Saskia stared at two women long enough that one of them came up and asked their permission to give her their contact. An unfathomable skill of hers I'd never understood in the least. Saskia looked the prospect up and down, then declined. I could've sworn I saw the woman shiver a little as she walked away flushed and sweating.

And I mostly avoided eye contact. Or glared a warning at anyone this didn't work on. It was my first night, and I wasn't in a rush. Quality over quantity, you know?

We met some new people, my compatriots turned down their remaining offers, and then the three of us strolled back along the mega-block's level to our apartment.

"That girl seemed nice though," Hannah observed. "Your type, definitely."

"Too vanilla." Saskia declared, dismissive and final.

"How can you even tell that?"

"No piercings," she rattled off the list, in staccato, "No tattoos. No pain tolerance."

I once again couldn't comprehend why Saskia wasn't the least bit interested in me. But then, the heart wants what it wants.

"I'm sleepy," I yawned.

"Boo," Hannah groaned, "one more bar!"

"It's always one more bar." I astutely observed.

"But this time Saskia is saying it so it's true." Hannah declared. For Saskia. Then glanced at her hopefully.

"One more bar?" Saskia asked me.

I was outnumbered. It was two against one. A dirty tactic.

"Fine." I conceded. "One more bar."

It was not just one more bar.

~

After waking up hungover, we drank our dark coffee breakfast - real coffee! The luxury these people enjoyed - and decided to slow it down a little for our second day.

Needless to say we spent the morning, and most of the afternoon, eating junk food and watching comfort holos. It was good to recover and give the guy Hannah brought back time to wake up and slink away sheepishly.

"So how was your night?" Saskia inevitably asked the question for both of us, not waiting a single moment once he was gone before interrogating her.

"Good practice," she replied, seeming satisfied with herself at least.

"So," Saskia concluded, once again for both of us, "bad then."

"I mean he was okay."

"Definitely bad." I agreed.

"He really liked my outfit," Hannah went on conversationally. "I was actually pretty flattered."

"Bad," Saskia amended, "but brief at least."

"Don't be mean guys," she chided, "he was sweet. Just inexperienced."

"How old was he?"

"Forty three I think."

"You think?"

"He bought us allot of drinks." She waved her hand vaguely. "The details blur together."

"That he did," Saskia agreed, nodding in appreciation, "taking one for the team. Nice work Hannah."

Hannah teared up then, the hangover making her even more mercurial than usual.

"You'd do it for me," she blubbered. "You guys are my best friends and I love you!"

And we both rolled our eyes and hugged her.

Chapter 3

We'd made plans that evening, but mostly it was just wandering the nearest few levels and looking at all the things we couldn't afford. But once we'd noted down a few cheap local attractions we could afford, we decided to call it a night. Soon we'd had a cheap grub protein derived meal, said our goodnights, and gone off to our separate bedrooms - the luxury! - and get up early the next day.

So I was lying under a thin sheet, in nothing but an old shirt and underwear when I woke up to an upsetting realisation. Namely a hand clamping over my mouth.

I tried to scream of course, and then tear the hand away, but found my wrists pinned down too. As comprehension dawned that I was being held down and silenced by at least one person in the middle of the night, I started to panic.

I thrashed and kicked as much as the vice-like grip of my assailant - assailants? - would permit. Which wasn't much. Actually barely any, honestly. I'm small, and as I felt four hands gripping me so tight it hurt, I realised I wasn't going to overpower them.

So, breathing rapidly through my nose, I stopped struggling, and tried to scan the pitch black darkness to get a look at who they were.

"Behave," a low, male voice told me from the dark, "we aren't interested in hurting you, or your friends. We aren't here for you."

My blood ran cold. Syndicate, they had to be. Corpo goons didn't bother with quiet. And petty criminals this high in the spire wouldn't last a week. This was Sybdicate territory. My mind raced through the possibility that the voice was lying, that they were here for one of us. But we were small-time. Insignificant tourists. And they liked to tell their examples what they were gonna do to them, so at the very least they weren't there for me, I knew then.

I nodded against the hand that held my mouth.

"She nodded," a second voice said, a woman's. "You scream," she added to me, "you die."

I nodded again. When the hand left my mouth and my right arm released, I didn't scream. Didn't thrash. And then I felt a blindfold close over my eyes and I couldn't help but whimper.

"Easy girl," the woman said, "we just don't want you seeing our faces. You keep the blindfold on, do as we say, and we'll be out of your hair in no time."

"Mhm." I mumbled.

A light flicked on I heard then, and the vague impression of illumination poking down from the top of my blindfold confirmed this.

"Tie her." The woman's voice commanded. "Then put her with the others."

The others. My mind was frenetic, desperate to parse every scrap of detail I could from the few scattered words that passed between them. They have Saskia and Hannah already. Came for me last. My room was furthest from the door so they probably came in through the front.

"Wrists and ankles?" The man's voice asked.

"Whadda' you think?" Her voice was annoyed I could tell then.

"I was gonna walk her there first."

"Yeah, obviously. Now get it done."

I perceived someone leaving the room. Followed by a muttered curse from the man, as I felt him release his grip, replacing it with a knee on my chest. I grunted with discomfort at the pressure.

"It's okay," the man soothed, "just put your wrists together in front for me."

I obeyed without hesitation, seeing little sense in angering my captors. Especially if they were Syndicate, as I suspected. I felt so helpless, so vulnerable, barely dressed and pinned to the bed by a man I couldn't even see.

I felt a thin strip of plastic surround my wrists, digging in as he bound me with what I realised to be zip-lock cuffs. He tightened them a couple of times, testing the give until I had no chance of slipping them off, but not so tight that it would cut off my circulation.

"Alright girl," he said as he lifted knee from me, "sit up."

I sat up.

"Now swing your legs off the bed, and I'll help you stand."

I obeyed, and felt the rough skin of his hand on my elbow.

"Good," he sounds... pleased? "You're doing good. I know this is allot, but just keep staying calm and you'll be alright."

"Okay." I replied, quiet and with a slight tremble.

A moment passed, and I felt air move near me as he let go of my elbow. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I felt watched. Observed. Dissected.

"H-hello?" I asked, softly.

"Sorry," he said, close to my ear, "you're kinda distracting, you know that?"

I whimpered again.

"Come on," he went on, "I'll walk you out."

~

I walked carefully, hands before me to stop me bumping into things and a guiding hand led me out of the room. I heard someone approaching as we entered the hall, tensed when I felt them get close. My guide just lightly pulled me to one side and the presence passed by us.

"It's alright," he whispered, a little too close to my ear again. "Come on, you're doing really well."

He sounded deep, husky when he talked under his breath like that. Like a smoker, with an already gravely voice. It was uncomfortable. And uncomfortably comforting at the same time.

"There," it was the woman's voice again, as we reached what I assumed was the living room. "On the sofa next to her friends."

As we came close I heard them. Sharp, panicked breathing, and quiet sobbing. They're alive, I thought, with relief.

"Step down coming up." The soothing voice warned as I reached the depression in the floor.

I had to crouch down basically, and sort of climb down crablike like onto the sofa. But like a weird crap, with one single, inconvenient claw in front.

"Cora?" I heard Saskia whispered.

"Mhm," I confirmed, nodding.

"Hannah's here," she added, "gagged."

"Yes." A new woman's voice right next to us agreed. "Your friend was the only one of you stupid enough to try and scream. We were kinda surprised she didn't wake you two."

There was a shift on the sofa near us, and I realised this woman had been sitting in silence right next to us, and we'd had no idea.

"You wanna be gagged as well, Legs?" The voice asked, heavy with menace.

"No." I heard Saskia whisper, small and fearful.

"Then don't speak until spoken to." The voice concluded. Standing loudly and making us flinch as she moved away.

We stayed that way for a few minutes, several times having someone walk close to us, making Hannah wrack out a small sob of fear. I could hear her, those short panicky breaths. She wasn't built for this, I realised then. Couldn't take it.

Saskia could, she was tough. And I'd actually been detained by one of the Syndicates before in the lower city. They weren't there for me, just needed to access the compartment I was working in. So they blindfolded us and held us for a day.

That'd gone fine. I mean, it sucked, but they let us use the bathroom when we asked and fed us, so mostly it was just really scary for a bit and then we went on with our lives. I was hoping this would be like that.

And I wanted to tell Hannah that too. Reassure her. Because I could hear her slowly unravelling next to me. I don't know if Saskia heard it too, the way Hannah's mewling was getting a little worse every time. But if our tall, maternal friend noticed, I couldn't hear a change in her breathing at least.

"So!" The first of our captor's voice, the woman's, declared sharply, making Hannah whimper. "Here's the deal you three. This apartment was supposed to be vacant, but someone somewhere fucked you over because you're here. And it's not.

"So," she went on, sounding bored almost, "we're gonna be here for a few days. You don't need to know why. You don't need to do anything we don't tell you including whimpering like that-" Hannah moaned in terror. "-once were done with our job, we'll leave you here to wait for the Corpos to come looking. They should arrive a few hours after we leave.

"Stay tied up, or they'll think you're accomplices. And you don't want that. Tell them the truth, and they'll let you go back to your lives. Any questions?"

There was a pause, then I heard Saskia clear her throat. "I need to talk to Hannah." She declared, attempting to sound more confident than she was.

"The pathetic one," the voice deduced, "I'm guessing?"

"Please sh-she's really scared!"

"So are you," the voice pointed out, "you didn't try to bite one of us."

I winced invisibly. Hannah you idiot!

"She was scared and could you blame her?"

I couldn't believe it. Saskia was arguing with our captors. And over what? Over Hannah's blubbering? I wanted to help her too but this was not what helping looked like. But she couldn't help herself, I realised then. Saskia needed to be in control, did it without thinking. It was like she didn't get that none of us were in control any more.

"Braids is a big girl," the voice went on, sounding less bored now. A little annoyed even, "she'll figure it out soo-"

"You came into our apartment!" Saskia actually interrupted her. "Abducted us in the night and terrified my friend."

"We did, did we?" The voice queried, heavy with impatient sarcasm now. And I heard something else then. Quiet. Close to the woman's voice. The rustle of a belt maybe.

Then a sound of metal scraping. Like someone had just tested something along a blade, and made it sing. My blood turned to ice in my veins as a single word flashed through my mind. A word every Syndicate drone loved.

Example.

"Yeah!" Saskia cried, losing self control quickly at her own helplessness. Lashing out. "Now give us a minute you psychotic-"

"Saskia!" I cut her off, almost shouting her down. "Shut your fucking mouth!"

"Wh-"

"Do what she says," I enunciated, in a voice so gravely urgent I didn't even know I had it until that moment, "or she is going to kill you slowly. Shut. The Fuck. Up."

There was a silence, the whole room too. Apparently I'd gotten everyone's attention. And in a helpful accompaniment to my advice, the voice made that blade sing loudly this time. Once. Twice.

"You should listen to your friend Legs," the voice added after, "she just saved your tongue."

Saskia shut the fuck up. And Hannah, thankfully, stopped sobbing.

Chapter 4

We were quiet then, all three of us. The calm of icy terror, like the taste of cold steel on your tongue, gripped us tight. At one point a new voice, different man this time, snapped at Saskia and Hannah.

"No touching," he commanded, "no talking, no holding hands."

And I realised then that they'd found each other in the blackness that covered our vision. That one or both of them had gone to the other.

Not to me.

Which was fine, wasn't it? They were probably already close to each other or... I tried not to let it get to me, but all we had was time to think then and...

It was like I was blaming them for it. For all of this. I was so angry all of a sudden. Scared and angry and I was lashing out at them in my head. Wanting to scream at them for dragging me up above the cloudbank on their stupid adventure.

Except it was my adventure too, I'd wanted to go. Picked the apartemnt, even. Assured them, that the upgrade was a good thing.

Instead of a nightmare.

So I didn't scream at them for seeking the basic comfort of whichever friend they could get close enough to hold. Because I was too busy hating myself then.

"Alright," the man's voice this time, the first one. The weirdly soothing one. "Bathroom, anyone need to go?"

We sat in silence. Obviously reluctant to find out what the exact mechanics of this entailed.

The voice sighed impatiently. "I won't check again for a while so-"

"I need to go." I said, rasing my hands slightly. It was already uncomfortably true.

"Here," the voice replied, taking hold of under the arms and hoisting me up without warning. "Wow," he observed then, sounding close. "You really weigh like nothing huh Tiny?"

Tiny, I thought, I was wondering what my nickname would be. And there we were, Legs, Braids and Tiny. Like peas in a pod. Held hostage by a Syndicate of other, very, very, intense peas.

I swallowed. I could feel his chest pressing against my back. He was so much bigger than me.

"Come on," he offered, taking my elbow again, and making me gasp in shock as a knife sliced through the zip-lock keeping my ankles together.

~

Now that the abject terror had cooled into a broader, more rational horrified acceptance, I was able to walk without trembling this time. As we turned down the hallway and neared the bathroom, I heard the mutter of conversation and what sounded like the whirr of a plasma cutter, a little muffled, like from behind a door.

But before I had much chance to focus on this though, I felt myself swing gently around at his guidance, and step into the bathroom.

"Okay," he said with a laborious sigh, "this is the bathroom. We've checked it, searched for communicators or anything else you three could use to do something stupid and permanent. Do I need to keep the door open?"

"No." I shook my head, viscerally upset by the idea.

"Privacy is a privilege," he went on, "one that can be taken away."

"I know." I nodded, voice quiet and compliant. "I'll be good."

There was a pause, just a little too long.

"Yeah," he seemed to be agreeing, though more with himself than me. Some internal debate. "I don't even need to remind you about the blindfold," he asked, "do I?"

"No." I confirmed.

Taking the blindfold off hadn't even occurred to me. But it was nice to know this for certain, for the future, I supposed.

"Go ahead, I'll wait outside."

I took a moment once the door closed, a single steadying breath. Then, feeling the call of nature growing ever more urgent, I attended to my needs. It wasn't until I was drying my hands after washing them, that I realised he could've just stayed quietly in the bathroom watching me. And I felt a revolting chill at the thought.

Then he knocked on the door from the outside, and exhaled in relief.

"Coming," I answered.

I was feeling around for the door control, and he must've heard me because he opened the door himself then.

"Good," he observed, "you didn't lock the door. Though I forgot to tell you not to so it would've been okay, but still."

I nodded shaking my single cuffed pair of hands of the last of their damp.

"Well behaved," the first woman's voice observed, the one with the blade, "isn't she?"

"She is." There was something in his voice. Something I couldn't identify. A smile maybe.

"Smart too," the woman went on, "keep them in line Tiny. Make them be smart, like you. And you might just keep them alive and intact."

I swallowed, cleared my throat. "I'll try." I croaked.

"She is smart," the man agreed, looking at me as he spoke I felt, "small, smart, and obedient."

There was a pause. I shifted uncomfortably, felt the awkwardness.

"What?" The man asked.

No response.

"What Fennel?" He demanded.

I flinched. The silence that followed grew heavy. Fennel. The name that would be forever seared into my brain, from that day until my last. I couldn't have forgotten it even if I'd wanted to. And both of them knew it. That I'd heard it. Learned it. Because the next thing the man did was swear under his breath.

"What?" The voice of Fennel began, echoing her companion with a venomous edge. "That was what I was wondering. What, exactly do you not understand about guard the hostages? What, are you doing eye-fucking Tiny instead? What the fuck, do you think you're doing using names in front of her?!"

There was a beat in which I heard her fuming.

"She won't talk." He replied then, oddly calm about the whole thing.

And Fennel didn't sound abjectly furious at his response, which was actually even more unnerving. "Hm." Was the only noise she made, sounding almost thoughtful.

I gasped as a hand took hold of my chin. "Relax." Fennel instructed.

I steadied my breathing, and allowed the woman to draw me closer to the source of her voice.

"What would you do," she asked close to me, "if we took your blindfold off."

My breath caught in my throat, I tensed again, tried to pull away.

"Relax." She said again. Commanded, really.

I hesitated, gathered myself. Obeyed.

"I'll rephrase," she went on, coolly, "what would you do if, through no fault of your own, your blindfold came off, and you saw my face?"

I was being tested, I realised then. Evaluated. Like I was auditioning for a part, but the part was being allowed to live. And I didn't want to find out what failing this examination meant.

I breathed through my nose then. Once. Twice. Took my time with the answer.

"Nothing," I explained, slow and careful. "Because it didn't come off. I was blindfolded the whole time and I didn't see anything. They'd have killed me if I did. Because that's what a Syndicate does with witnesses."

A sharp intake of breath.

"Did you tell her-?" The woman demanded.

"No I-"

"I guessed it." I added quickly, realising my idiotic mistake. "This is how they operate. Quiet, I mean."

There was another long, uncomfortable, unbearable beat of silence.

"It's a very good thing you're so obedient, girl." Fennel went on, finally, voice heavy with menace. "Else you'd be too smart for you health."

I felt the blindfold move, I scrunched my eyes shut tight. The blindfold loosened, fell away. I kept my eyes shut.

"Look at me," she ordered.

I shook my head. "Please no I don't want to-"

"You already know my name is Fennel," she snapped, impatient suddenly, "which is far too much to let anyone else live." She leaned in close, I could feel her breath on my face as she spoke. "But you're not anyone else, are you? You know better than to remember my name, or my face, or anything else, don't you?"

I opened them then, blinked at the brightness as my eyes adjusted. Then I saw her face.

Chapter 5

It was just a woman. A regular person, maybe with a few more dermal combat implants, but some lady. In my imagination she was... hells, I don't know. A demon? A creature of unknowable malice. Something that would hurt us, kill us if it felt like it.

And her smile was... nice. Friendly, even. "There," she said, "isn't that better?" And the terror her voice inspired stopped me from staring at her any further.

Then I became aware of the of the man, who's voice had soothed and coveted. His height looming over me, out the corner of my eye. And the moment I glanced up at him I was glad I didn't resist. He was tall, more than a head taller than I, with broad shoulders that filled out his Shenzen Syndicate bomber jacket. The skin I could see was painted with tattoo ink up to the base of his neck.

He wasn't even that built compared to other Syndicate drones I'd seen. Just tall and muscular making him towering compared to me. Then I realised I was staring as his strong jaw twitched into a smirk. And that he was watching me from dark, half-lidded eyes.

"Glad to see it's mutual," he smugged. Which was a bit like observing something, but more smugly.

I looked away sharply. His voice fit him perfectly. Rough, but with a softness too it. But only when he was quiet, only to me.

"You trying to piss me off Theo?" Fennel fumed. "Stop. Eye. Fucking."

"And now she knows my name." He shot her a look.

Fennel laughed. "You want her to know your name." She barbed. "Now stop thinking with your dick, and do your job."

Fennel scowled at him, then turned her attention back to me. "Keep them in line," she offered, "and we all go home happy in a day or two. Understood?"

I nodded.

"Smart girl." He tone was cold. Flat. Threatening. Telling me that not being smart would be very, very, bad for my happiness and personal wellbeing.

And with that she left, and entered what had been Hannah's bedroom. Before they'd moved in what I was increasingly certain was a plasma cutter. And I guessed that it wasn't really something worth hiding, considering cutting open a compartment bulkhead wasn't something you bothered hiding after the fact.

Then I realised I was alone, in pyjamas, with my hands tied, in front of a guy I now knew for a fact had been staring at me the whole time. And I felt suddenly very uncomfortable there in the corridor with him.

"We should probably see if the others need to go," I suggested, eager to at least be back with my friends then.

"Oh yeah," he agreed, as though he'd been too lost in thought to do his job.

While he was still staring at me.

~

I recognised them then, I realised. That smirk of his. They were at the bar that first night. He'd checked me out then. And I'd already been scared of him. But he'd been working, I realised. That's probably the only thing that stopped him from talking to me then. From making me shiver with his comforting deep-toned voice.

But I couldn't say any of this obviously, as he let me sit back down under my own power, next to Hanna and Saskia. Because then they'd know too much, like I did. Because they weren't smart. Or just not obedient.

The other Syndicate goons were there, all five I guessed, that we'd seen in the bar that day. As we walked into the living room I saw the other woman that was with them, wispier than Fennel, but more weathered and grizzled. All scars and no patience. A killer through and through, I felt.

She glanced at me when we came in. Then she started, and shot Theo a look that demanded explanation. He just waved her off. She didn't look the least bit mollified by this. Instead she looked me dead in the eyes with murderous intent, until I quickly learned not to look at her ever again.

He walked me over to the sofa depression and let me sit down under my own power this time. He took out new ziplock cuffs, glancing at the still visible red lines on my ankles from where they'd been bound before.

Then his eyes found mine again, and I saw him mouth the word: Behave.

I nodded once, wordless. He didn't cuff my ankles again.

"Anyone else?" Theo offered.

Saskia went first, stumbling awkwardly from where her leg had fallen asleep. But other than that she went and came back without incident. I could see it now, the turmoil in her face. She was struggling with the submission. Hated it. But she was holding it together. Just.

She couldn't do that for anyone else then though. The way she shook when he put the cuffs back on her ankles, like being re-bound was bubbling up inside. A wave of panic that it was taking everything she had to keep in check.

This would probably haunt her for the rest of her life. The trauma. Change her. Test her.

But she wasn't the one I was worried about.

"Don't touch me." Hannah snapped, the moment he took the gag from her mouth.

"You said you wanted to go." Theo pointed out. "And I need to lift you out of the sofa-"

"I don't care I don't want you touching me!" She was belligerent, squirming already and sliding down her seat. "I want a woman I don't trust you!"

"Well that's a shame," he observed, grabbing forcefully and hoisting her, "because I'm all you get."

I flinched, looking away when he hit her in the stomach. She gasped, retched, crumpled to ground wrists and ankles still tied. Then he grabbed her by her hair, dragged her near to where I sat, and motioned for me to give it a try it seemed.

"Hannah?" I whispered by her head.

She coughed. Whimpered.

"You have to do what he says, Hannah," I tried desperately to keep my voice from cracking. "It's really important you calm down, and do as they say, okay?"

She sobbed, miserable and pathetic in her agony.

"They're not just gonna let you sit there and piss yourself," I went on, really painting the picture of what her possible future will look like. "They're gonna take you into the bathroom, dump you in the tub, and shoot you."

"Too much noise," Theo corrected. "We'd cut your throat."

She let out anther wretched noise of horror. I tried very hard and very unsuccessfully not to cry.

Amazingly, I seemed to have actually gotten through to her. Either that or she just wore herself out. Her breathing seemed to steady, and a cathartic calm seemed to wash over her.

"He's gonna cut your ankles free now," I explained through my tears. "And he's gonna show you to the bathroom, and then let you close the door and have some privacy. Okay?"

She nodded, trembling a little.

"That's good," I sniffed, unable to hide the emotion any more. "You're doing really good Hannah. Being really brave. I'm proud of you."

And she actually did seem a little braver then. Hannah was a mess on the best of days, so seeing her stand and walk to the bathroom and back before she collapsed in a tattered heap was genuinely impressive.

I can't imagine what she was going through, whatever complex had crippled her from being able to go and perform that one basic human function. I don't think I ever will, really. I had my own issues to deal with.

Like how calm, and... comfortable I felt. Had felt, from the start. Like a switch flipped in my brain and suddenly I did whatever they said without hesitation. Like I wanted to obey. And even though my crazy may have been useful then, it came with it's own fucked up series of drawbacks. Like how, once my eyes were free to roam, I noticed him staring more than once.

And how I held his gaze just a little too long each time, before looking away in discomfort. Like I wanted to see what he would do, if I stared back long enough.

Chapter 6

After we'd finally all had a bathroom break, I think the exhaustion got to us. I didn't know how long we slept before they broke in and tied us up, but it was still dark outside the window shutter for a while. Hannah sank back down in a way that let her rest her head on Saskia's shoulder, and the two sobbed quietly like that until their breathing grew steady.

I watched this happen, both of them comforting each other without any obvious attempt to find where I was. Maybe they were afraid of being scolded for touching again, but that horrible, ugly part of me was upset with them regardless.

Since I wasn't blindfolded any longer I glanced up to Theo and not at the scary woman. I caught his eye again, and he gave me that hungry look. Then he noticed they were sleeping against one another and gave me a shrug. So, confident at least they weren't about to stomp over and wrench them apart aggressively, I dozed off as well.

I can't have been asleep too long because light was barely leaking in through the shutters when I stirred. I tried sleeping again but slumped on a sofa, hands bound while being held hostage wasn't exactly conducive to a sleepy atmosphere.

And because, when I opened my eyes, Theo was sitting a little ways away watching me. I looked away at first, still regaining my senses, remembering. Then I looked at him again, and he didn't smile. Or do anything but look at me a little while longer.

Then he mimed eating and pointed to me, like he was asking if I was hungry. That or he was threatening cannibalism. I decided to assume the former, and nodded. Theo stepped over quietly and motioned for me to be quiet as he helped me out of the sofa.

I didn't need the reminder, keeping my own shit together was enough with him literally breathing down my neck then. Didn't want either of my friends to awaken and falling apart as well too.

We walked around the dividing island into the kitchen space, and he motioned for me to wait while he started quietly rustling in the cabinets. The woman glared at me an I was very uncomfortable standing right next to her while she did it.

"Can you watch the other two?" Theo asked over his shoulder to her, whispering low and quiet.

"They're asleep." She replied, mirroring his hushed voice.

"So?"

"Why don't you watch them? You were staring at them for a solid hour."

I felt a sudden chill.

"I'm making her a sandwich," he pointed out.

"What made you lose interest I wonder?" I saw her smirk out the corner of my eye. I shuddered.

"Maybe I just got hungry too." He offered. "Two birds, one stone."

"That's one word for it." She went on. "Hungry."

A shiver ran down my spine.

"Hey isn't it time you went on break Vic?"

She finally turned sharply, and glared at Theo for a change.

"Already knows our names," he went on, ever the same hushed tone, "Fennal and mine."

"Oh," her tone shifted, hostility gone and replaced with something like contempt. "I get it now."

Vic, I now knew her as, straightened from where she was leant back against the counter, and moved quietly past me then.

"Back in five." She said to him as she left.

I stared at the floor, felt my hands go clammy as I were suddenly alone with him. Behind me the soft snoring of my captive friends, in front, the man who I knew wanted me, his back turned. Making a sandwich of all things. The least threatening of all the foods one could make.

He turned to me, causing me to flinch.

"Here," he offered, holding out a plate.

Then he pulled it back at the last moment. Looked at me, looked down slowly. Lingered at my waist. And I watched him stare, a cold dread of certainty settling in my gut. As though my mind had decided what my future held, and was quickly scrambling to prepare me for it.

And I didn't need to prepare all that much, I found then.

Theo placed the plate back down next to him, and stepped towards me. I backed up, until I was against the bar dividing the living space. He stopped, leaving a small gap between us, just enough to stop me feeling really trapped.

"Turn around for me." He asked, the way one sounds when they are not, in fact, asking.

"Why?" I attempted, already reaching the limits of the pitiful resistance I could muster.

"Because I want you to."

So, it's hard to fully understate how nuts I am. Like, I knew I was a little out there sometimes. But my reaction to Theo's confident dominance in that moment, leaving aside the threat and danger of it all, was completely insane. There was nothing from the lower-city slums to the highest cloud spire that could've stopped me doing what he told me to in that moment.

So I turned around, slow and careful. And I took in a sharp breath as I felt his hand on my back.

"Quiet," he purred next to my ear, "your friends are sleeping."

I nodded, clamped my mouth shut. His hand pressed me forward, until I was slightly bent over the counter. But since I was short I couldn't bend over it very far without physically climbing off of the ground. I think he saw me on tiptoes and snorted in amusement, before gently pulling me back to stand normally.

Then, his hand started to trace down my back, making my skin tingle under the fabric of my shirt. I was suddenly, extremely aware of how I was only wearing underwear. Which was prescient, because he didn't waste time pushing his hand under their waistband, and into my panties.

I blinked rapidly, breathing in short sharp breaths through my nose. I trembled under his touch on my bare cheeks, right up until he squeezed me hard. Really digging his fingers in, you know? And I couldn't help the small muffled sound that leaked out of my throat then.

I didn't need to be told to arch my back as I leaned forward, I just did it, pressing up and spreading my legs a little as his hand moved down, grazing my taint and finally meeting my lips.

"Fuck you are perfect, girl." He breathed, close to my ear. "Already wet for me and we haven't even started."

I said nothing. Didn't deny it.

Instead I ground my hips against his fingers. And he obliged with a groan of want, slipping two of his thick, long fingers inside. Up to the knuckle.

I made a choked sound, swallowed. Felt sweat prickle upon my brow.

He moved. Pivoted carefully. Teasing at me, watching my reaction. Learning me. I shuddered and made a small noise as he found that wonderful angle, and he tested me with this for a few intense seconds, before resuming his exploration.

I endured this quietly, though I'd let my mouth drift open and my eyes shut by the time he had me trembling in anticipation.

Before he stopped, and slipped his fingers out of me, and pulled me around to look up at him.

"Taste yourself," he told me, as he brought up his soaking, calloused hand and pressed between my other lips this time.

I met his gaze through hooded eyes, staring up at him as I lapped and suckled dutifully. Then I was left breathless. Edged and teased into a frenzy of desire, and left there as he stepped back, and smiled mischievously.

I adjusted my now wet underwear and tried to figure out what had just happened, just as Vic walked back in. She glanced at me as she passed, then stopped. I stared at the floor in shame, visibly flushed, as she looked at me fully.

"It wasn't even five minutes Theo!" She hissed, as quiet as she could.

"Relax," Theo assured her, "Tiny was just thanking me for making her a sandwich."

Then Hannah woke behind us, immediately panicking and giving me an excuse to get out of the situation as quickly as I could.