It was the only thing she had left that was hers. Her body had long been stripped of its autonomy, but nobody could take her mind, so she protected it with a ruthlessness she was surprised she was still capable of.
A pretty pink unicorn came trotting toward her. It was her entrance to the deepest recesses of the world she’d created for herself. Once she climbed on its back, allowed it to carry her into her little oasis, she would basically check out of her surroundings. Her cage would fade away, a pretty tropical jungle taking its place, and her single mattress became a huge bed in a cute little cabin that was all hers. All her favorite foods would spread out before her, and she could still remember what each one tasted like even if all she ever ate these days was slop in a bowl.
Stepping into this world literally felt like she was leaving her body and reality behind.
Maya hadn't just found a place to hide when her circumstances became too bad to handle, she had found a place to live, to be free. It didn't matter that it wasn't real, that it was nothing more than delusions she conjured up to replace a life she didn't want to live anymore.
After all, who got to decide what was real and what wasn't?
Were her imaginings any less real to her than the torture she endured daily?
Just as she was climbing onto her unicorn’s back, she heard more noises.
Closer noises.
It sounded like they were coming from Master’s room.
Was he still up? He’d already been to see her tonight. At least she was pretty sure it had been tonight, but she didn't really have any way to tell time. Not even her meals were delivered regularly. Sometimes she was barely hungry again, other times it felt like her stomach was trying to eat itself before another bowl of slop was brought to her cage.
Master never came back once he’d finished with her for the night and gone to bed, and he’d already played with her, then she’d heard him take his shower. Master liked that his bathroom was right beside her room because he knew she could hear him in there, enjoyed taunting her with his long showers when she hadn't cleaned herself in …
Years maybe?
Even though she was sure she was safe for the night, she could hear movement in the other room, and that meant only one thing.
With a deep, heavy sigh, Maya smoothed a hand down the silky, soft fur of her unicorn and turned her back on it. As badlyas she wanted to disappear for a while, she wouldn't make a mistake.
Couldn’t.
If Master was coming, she needed to be prepared for him.
If he came in and she wasn't prepared … there would be hell to pay.
Slowly, the bright lights of her special little world dimmed as she walked away from it. The darkness of her room filtered back into her consciousness. The large metal cage was in the center of the room, and various toys—well, Master called them toys but to her they were more objects of torture—lined the walls. Inside her cage was nothing but a mattress and a cat litter tray that served as her bathroom.
Tears had long since disappeared from her life, she knew how pointless they were, but there was still a heavy blanket of sadness that coated her soul as she shifted so she lay on her back in the middle of her mattress. No matter how far she roamed into the recesses of her mind, how distant her past and the girl she had once been seemed to be, echoes of that past still existed, and she would never not be sad for the girl whose entire future was stolen.
The sounds in the other room grew louder, and she quickly bent her knees and spread her legs as far as they would go. Master liked a good view of his hole when he came to her, and if she didn't give it to him, he’d make her suffer.
Suffer.
That was all her life consisted of, and she’d learned not to expect any differently.
Chapter
Two
February 21st
11:53 P.M.
“It’s not him,” Thunder said as he flipped back the covers to reveal the man in the bed.
Relief filled him at knowing they hadn't lost their chance of being the ones to end the life of Dr. Gardner, but it was quickly followed by frustration.
The scientist had gotten away again.
“He hasn’t been dead long,” Dragon said, his nostrils flaring as he scented the room, probably able to catch a scent now that the body was exposed.
