Control

Chapter Nine

Locke awoke the next evening as soon as the sun set. He blinked into the light wondering if he had forgotten to turn it off. He sat up and frowned in confusion. “Hope?” he asked spotting her sitting on the floor. “What are you doing?”

“Good evening,” she said. “I’m sorry about the light. I just remembered something that should be in this box.”

He yawned and noticed that there was a sheet draped over him. He smiled knowing that she must have covered him up. “And what’s that?”

“My mom’s diary,” she said. “It’s a leather bound journal. I could never bring myself to read it before. I guess because I thought that if I read it I was accepting that she really was gone. I couldn’t even open it. When I woke up this morning I just really wanted to see it. I hope you don’t mind.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “No, it’s fine, but I didn’t see a book that looks like you were describing.”

“That’s because she put a cover on it, I just can’t remember what it was.” He stood and stretched. Her eyes widened and she looked away.

“It’s nothing that you haven’t seen before, sweetheart,” he reminded her going to his dresser and putting on a pair of boxer-briefs.

“Only in books,” she protested.

“We showered together,” he pointed out.

“I didn’t peek,” she said looking offended.

He laughed. “I can’t claim that.”

She blushed looking down at the box. “Here it is!”

“Good.” He put on a pair of jeans. “I have to go out tonight. Would you like to stay in the library?”

“Sure.” He put on a white button up shirt and led her downstairs to the kitchen. “Um, do I have to stay locked up forever?” she asked as he sat with her as she ate breakfast.

“After you’ve been with me for a month or two you’ll be able to have free reign of the house when I’m not around.”

“That’s good.”

“I am sorry about that,” he told her. There was a knock on the kitchen door. Locke stood and opened it, letting Salem in with a leggy brunette. She bowed slightly to Locke.

“Hello, Anabel,” Locke said. “Salem, what brings you two to my home?”

“We were wondering if your girl would like some company today while we’re out,” Salem said.

“Hope?” Locke asked.

“That would be nice,” Hope smiled. Anabel actually clasped her hands together.

“I’m so glad,” she gushed. “I never get to see any other humans.”

“Belle,” Salem said gently.

“Sorry, master,” she chirped. “I brought my bag, we can give each other manicures and everything.” Hope glanced at Locke who looked like he was fighting a laugh.

“I’ve never had a manicure,” Hope said.

“It’s fun,” Anabel assured her. She turned to the men. “You can go.”

Salem strode over to her and towered over her. “Are dismissing me?”

Anabel giggled and pulled him down for a kiss. “Yes.”

He smiled, hugging her, before turning to Locke. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Locke nodded. “Have fun, ladies.”

“We will,” Anabel smiled.

“I don’t have to be locked up?” Hope asked.

“Not if Anabel is here,” Locke shrugged. She smiled brightly. “Goodbye, dearest.”

“Goodbye, Locke,” Hope said blushing a little. The two walked out.

Anabel grabbed Hope’s hand. “Come on,” she said. Hope followed her to a small cozy den. Anabel pushed a button opening a wall which revealed a flat-screen TV. Hope watched with awe as she put in a blu-ray disk which started a movie. “Have you ever watched TV before?”

“No,” she confessed.

“Goody, we can watch chick flicks and paint each others nails and everything,” Anabel chirped. She pulled out a bunch of nail polishes and some other items. “What color do you like?”

“Um… green?”

“Yes, green is definitely your color.” She painted Hope’s fingernails and toenails as they watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. “You have wonderful skin since you came from The Outside.” Hope noticed the way that she said the words, as though outside the city were another planet rather than a simple forest.

“Thank you,” Hope said smiling as she looked at the color. “How long have you been with Salem?”

“Since I was sixteen,” Anabel told her. “I was put up on the block. No one would bid on me.”

“Why?” Hope said beginning to paint the other girls fingernails. The brunette before her was gorgeous.

“I can trust you, can’t I?” Anabel asked. She looked at Hope closely then smiled. “I think I can. It’s nothing the vampires don’t already know but… people tend to look down on you because of it.”

“What happened?”

“I was… taken by the men running the auction.”

“Taken? You mean raped?”

“No one really uses that word too often,” Anabel said. “But, yes.”

“Why not? It was rape, why call it something else?”

“Oh, you are from The Outside. Calling it rape implies that the vampires did something wrong,” Anabel said.

“That’s just moronic,” Hope said shaking her head.

“Don’t let them hear you say that. Locke and Salem are okay but some of the others, well, you’ve met Selena.”

“Yes, I have.”

“Well, to continue my story. There I was standing there naked with all of the vampires ogling me as they talked flippantly about what had happened to me, as though I were… asking for it. When it came time for the bidding everyone just laughed saying, ‘who wanted a used up whore?’” Anabel shrugged but Hope could see the pain in her eyes. “Then Salem stood up, he offered ten times what they were asking.”

“Ten times?”

“I asked him later, why he offered so much. He said that he’d feel as though he were robbing them if he didn’t. When he brought me home I thought he’d want us to have sex right away. I even thought that he might drain me. I thought, why else would a vampire buy a girl who wasn’t a virgin? Instead, he showed me to my own room and sent a maid up to my room to keep me company for the night.”

“He sounds wonderful.”

“Oh, he is,” Anabel nodded. She gave Hope a smile. “But don’t let on that you know that. He’d be quite upset with me. After all being a badass is the most important thing to them.”

“Very true.” As their nails dried Anabel put in Cinderella.

“I love princess stories.”

“These are very entertaining but nothing… um, nothing like the stories that my mother told me when I was little.” Hope mentally kicked herself over what she had almost said.

“My mother told me fairy tales too,” Anabel nodded. She held up her hand examining the pink colored nails. “You did very well, my nails never look this good when Salem does them.”

“Salem paints your nails?” Hope asked. Anabel giggled and held her finger up to her lips. They chatted for a while about their childhoods. “Could Salem get your mother out of the farms?”

“He tried, they wouldn’t allow it,” Anabel said. “And they told him that he was too soft.”

“That’s not right,” Hope said offended.

“That’s life for us,” Anabel shrugged. “You just have to hope that you’ll find a man like Salem, or Locke. Speaking of Locke, how’s he treating you?”

“He’s great, he really is,” Hope said honestly. “He gave me my own room.”

“That’s good,” Anabel said. “You can always tell the difference between a man who wants a mate and one who’s just using the woman.”

“Salem, is he your mate?”

“He’s going to turn me when I turn twenty-five,” Anabel said looking both apprehensive and excited.

“You want that?”

“Well, I’m nervous, but I want to be with him, and this is the only way we could be together forever. And it’s truly the only way a relationship between us can be equal.”