Chapter 15

The lock clicked. 27 opened her eyes immediately.

Pink ceiling. Pink walls. The cage. The room. The house. The forest. The plan.

She repeated the last one twice.

Just to make sure it stayed.

Lately, thoughts had become slippery things. The important ones needed reinforcement.

The lock turned. The door opened. Viv entered first. Elara followed.

27’s stomach tightened immediately.

Breakfast.

Routine.

Another day.

Another opportunity.

“Good morning, pet,” Elara said. 27 sat up in position as always. Viv studied her for a moment. Long enough that 27 wondered if she’d done something wrong.

“You’re coming with us today.” 27’s pulse jumped. She forced herself not to react. Not to look too interested. Not to look hopeful. Hope felt dangerous around Viv.

The older woman noticed everything.

The bathroom routine came first. Twenty minutes Or what she assumed was twenty minutes.

Shower.

Hair.

Teeth.

The same sequence.

The same order.

Predictable.

She’d started measuring time by routines instead of clocks. When she emerged, Viv was waiting outside the door. Leash in hand. The familiar click attached it to her collar.

“Come.”

Breakfast happened in the kitchen.

The pink bowls.

The signal.

Permission.

Wait.

Eat.

Stop.

Wait.

Eat.

The routine settled around her like a second skin. 27 hated how natural it felt. Across the island, Viv read something on a tablet. Elara drank coffee. Their knees touched beneath the counter.

A small detail. One she probably shouldn’t notice. But she did. She noticed everything.

After breakfast, Viv stood.

“Library.”

The word nearly made 27 stumble. Not physically. Mentally. The library had windows. Large ones. She remembered that. The leash remained loose as they walked through the house. 27 kept track of every turn.

Every hallway.

Every staircase.

The information collected quietly inside her mind. She didn’t know if it would help. But information was better than nothing.

The library doors opened. The scent hit her first. Paper. Leather. Coffee. Wood.

Thousands of books stretched toward the ceiling. Sunlight streamed through enormous windows. And beyond them,

Trees.

Not the forest.

Not yet.

But closer.

Viv removed the leash. That surprised her. The collar remained. The leash disappeared into Viv’s hand.

“Sit.”

27 obeyed. One of the leather chairs swallowed her whole. Elara immediately curled up on a nearby couch.

Shoes kicked off. One leg draped across Viv’s lap. Viv absentmindedly rested a hand on her ankle. Neither seemed aware they were doing it. Or perhaps they were. Perhaps they simply didn’t care who saw.

“Can you read?” Viv asked.

The question caught 27 off guard. “Yes.” Viv crossed the room. Her fingers skimmed along rows of books. Eventually she selected one.

Hardcover.

Dark blue.

She handed it over. 27 stared. A book. For her.

“You may read.”

Suspicion immediately surfaced. There was always a catch. Viv seemed to read the thought.

“There are conditions.”

Of course there were.

“If you follow instructions, the book remains in your room.” A pause. “If you don’t, it disappears.” There it was. The catch.

The book felt heavier in her hands. Not because of the pages. Because of what it represented.

A privilege. Something that could be taken away. Something she suddenly wanted. The realization irritated her.

Viv returned to her chair. Elara stretched across the couch like a cat. And for a while, silence settled. The Mistresses worked.

27 read.

At least she tried. The words blurred occasionally. Not from difficulty. From distraction.

Her eyes drifted toward the windows. Toward the trees. Toward freedom. Then back to the page. Then back to the trees.

A movement outside caught her attention. A man. Security. Walking the property. Her pulse quickened. There were guards.

Of course there were guards. She should have known. The man disappeared around the side of the house.

27 immediately started calculating.

One guard? Multiple? Patrol routes? Shift changes?

She forced herself to keep reading. Not because she cared about the story. Because looking outside too long felt obvious.

And Viv noticed things. Hours seemed to pass. Or maybe it was less. Time remained impossible. Eventually Elara sat up.

“Question.”

Viv didn’t look away from her work. “Yes baby.”

Elara smiled. Then looked at 27. “What do you remember?”

The question hit harder than expected. 27 froze. The book rested open in her lap. “What?”

“Before.”

Silence. The library suddenly felt much larger. Much quieter. “I remember…” Nothing.

Her throat tightened. She tried again. “I had an apartment.”

Maybe.

The answer sounded uncertain even to her. Elara watched carefully. “Where?”

27 opened her mouth. Nothing came out. She didn’t know. She genuinely didn’t know. The realization felt like stepping off a ledge.

Viv finally looked up. Their eyes met. For once, there was no amusement there.

No satisfaction. Only observation. Like she was recording data.

“What else?” Elara asked softly.

27 searched. Found fragments. A couch. A window. A grocery store. A bus stop. Tiny pieces floating in darkness. Nothing connected. Nothing solid.

Meanwhile she could describe the library perfectly.

The kitchen. The garden. The pink room. The exact shade of Viv’s eyes. The sound of Elara’s laugh.

The imbalance terrified her. She gripped the book tighter. And through the fear, through the frustration, through the humiliation,

One thought remained clear. The forest. Not because it was important. Because she had made it important.

A lifeline.

A destination.

A future.

She would reach it. Somehow. She had to. Even if she couldn’t remember where she’d come from anymore.

She needed to believe she could still choose where she was going. Even if she couldn’t remember where she’d come from anymore.

The thought sat heavily in her chest. The library remained quiet.

A grandfather clock somewhere deeper in the house chimed.

27 startled slightly. She hadn’t heard one before. Or maybe she had. Maybe she’d heard hundreds. She couldn’t remember.

Elara noticed. “You’re thinking too hard.” 27 looked down immediately.

The book remained open in her lap. The words on the page had stopped making sense several minutes ago. She kept reading the same paragraph.

Forgetting it.

Reading it again.

Forgetting it again.

Like her mind refused to hold onto anything new while desperately trying to recover something old. Viv stood.

The movement immediately drew 27’s attention. Viv crossed the room toward one of the windows.

She paused beside it. Looking out. For a moment, 27’s pulse quickened.

The trees were visible from there. The gardens. Part of the grounds. She wondered if Viv could see the same section she kept studying.

Wondered if she knew. The thought made her stomach tighten. Viv turned. “Come here.”

27 froze. Then stood. The book remained behind in the chair. Her bare feet sank into the thick rug as she crossed the room. Sometimes she forgot she was naked all the time.

She stopped where Viv indicated. Near the window. The glass stretched from floor to ceiling.

The view was incredible. Gardens. Stone paths. Flowers. Hedges.

And farther beyond…The forest.

Her eyes immediately found it. She couldn’t help herself. Dense green. Quiet. Waiting.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Elara said from the couch. 27 swallowed. “Yes.”

The answer came automatically. Because it was. The property was beautiful. That was part of the problem. Viv watched her carefully.

Not the view.

Her.

Always her.

“What do you see?” Viv asked. The question felt strange. 27 hesitated.

“A garden.”

“A fountain.”

“Hedges.”

Viv nodded. “And beyond that?”

27’s heart skipped. The forest. The word nearly escaped. Instead she forced herself to answer carefully.

“Trees.”

A small silence followed. Too small to mean anything. Too long to ignore. Then Viv nodded once.

“Good.”

27 wasn’t sure why. Good what? Good observation? Good answer?

She couldn’t tell. Elara finally stood and stretched. The movement broke the tension “She’s overthinking everything.”

“She’s planning,” Viv corrected.

The words landed like a stone. 27 froze. The room suddenly felt colder.

Elara tilted her head. “Maybe.”

“No.” Viv’s gaze remained on 27. “Definitely.”

Silence.

The kind that seemed to swallow the room whole. 27’s pulse hammered. Had she been caught? Had they known?

The forest.

The windows.

The routes.

Everything.

Viv sighed softly. Not annoyed. Almost thoughtful. “We always reach this stage.”

Always.

The word echoed. Always. Not the first. Not unique. Not special. A stage.

Something expected. Something familiar.

Elara moved closer to Viv. Their shoulders brushed.

“The garden did it this time.”

“The garden usually does.”

They were talking about her. Right in front of her. Like she wasn’t even there. Like she’d become a case study.

A pattern.

A chapter they’d already read.

Viv finally looked away. “Sit.”

Relief and frustration mixed together. 27 obeyed immediately. Returning to the chair. Returning to the book. Returning to the role she hated how easily she filled.

The Mistresses resumed their work. The library grew quiet again. But the conversation lingered.

‘We always reach this stage.’ The words refused to leave.

Had the others planned too?

Had they stared at the same forest?

The same garden?

The same windows?

Had they believed they could escape?

The thought unsettled her. Because she suddenly wanted answers. Not about the house. Not about the Mistresses.

About the people who had come before her. The ones who had worn collars. The ones who had lived in the pink room. The ones who had apparently reached this stage.

What happened to them?

The question settled deep inside her. Alongside the forest. Alongside freedom. Alongside everything else she was desperately trying not to lose.

And for the rest of the afternoon, 27 pretended to read. While secretly collecting questions.

Questions she wasn’t sure she wanted answered.
—-
(Viv can mind read I swear.)