Ria:
I slept fitfully, not for more than a few minutes at a time. Nightmares haunted me with visions of burning cars, dead family, violations, and being bound in chains.
I have taken 2 baths and now a shower. I am looking at my clothes, thinking about putting on dirty things again. I hand-washed my underwear, but hand-washing jeans sucks ass. So I guess I'm putting on the flannel pajamas, so at least I'm wearing something clean.
I hear a loud knock on the bedroom door, so I hurry and finish getting dressed, and go open it.
Drago, Cole, and Natalia are standing there looking at me. I stand there and look at them.
Realizing that I'm not going to say anything, they all just let themselves in.
I stand back, wrap my arms around myself, and watch them.
Drago goes over to one of the locked doors and unlocks it. Then it opens, "We wanted to show you the closet. We have some clothes for you."
I follow them into a huge, roundish room. I realize it's actually an octagon. Each section looks like a closet, connected to the next by a 6-foot column of drawers.
I see a vanity table thing with a poofy chair and hideously lighted mirror. Wow, that's garish.
He stops in front of a section. There's actually not a huge amount of clothes there. I see jeans and some tops. There are some dresses, two just way too fancy for anything I would ever wear, and I don't wear dresses. There are also shoes on a shoe rack. There are two pairs of tennis shoes, a pair of boots, and three pairs of sandals I wouldn't ever touch.
Drago steps forward and opens a drawer of the column. I can see lace, so I don't go near it.
"These are things we bought for you. There is jewelry behind that wall mirror. Natalia is going to take you to town to go shopping today. That way, you can pick out your own things. I figured you would like to put on some new clothes. We will let you get dressed, and then we can all head down to breakfast."
With that, the three of them retreat to the bedroom, closing the door of the closet behind them.
I go to the drawer and see scraps of lacy things, and I want to throw up. I dig through the drawers and find a pair of black boyshorts and a plain black bra. Then I look at the jeans, happy there's a black pair, and they fit well enough; they're a little big, but they work. Then I found a short-sleeved black top. It has a red flower motif, but it's the best I could find. Then socks and a pair of black tennis shoes. So happily, I'm dressed in all black, or close enough.
I decided, while looking at myself in the mirror, that this will now be my color palette for all my clothes. It makes me feel like I am expressing my feelings about all of this shit.
I leave the closet, and the three of them turn to look at me. They don't say anything, and I walk back to the bathroom to get the brush. I stand in the bathroom and brush out my hair. I braid it and then use a section of hair to tie the end.
I walk back to the bedroom, and I follow them silently downstairs to the dining room.
This time, the sitting arrangements are a bit different, as there's no Senator Keeting, thank fuck. Drago is still at the head, Ash at the opposite end. They placed me on Drago's left, with Cinder next to me, Cole across from me, and Natalia next to him.
I sit down, and the same woman who brought in the food last night wheels in a tray. She lays out the bowls and plates of food. She looks at me and smiles a huge smile. It actually makes me uncomfortable with the way she's looking at me. I'm glad when she retreats to another room.
I look around for coffee, and finally see a carafe, so I grab it and fill my coffee cup. I doctor it up, then lean back in my chair and start to enjoy my coffee.
"What do you want to eat?" Drago is looking at me.
I look at him flatly, "Nothing, I've already been drugged twice, no way in hell will I give you a chance to do it again."
He looks at me in surprise. Then he sighs and shakes his head, "Ria, we're not going to drug you. You need to eat something."
I stare at him blankly. I'm not touching anything that I didn't personally cook, or watch be cooked.
He scoots his chair back, "Come with me."
Not wanting to fight right now, I need some downtime. I get up and follow him, making sure to bring my coffee.
I had thought about forgoing coffee, but I just really needed the caffeine goodness too much.
I follow Drago to what turns out to be a huge restaurant-worthy kitchen. The older lady is working at a countertop island.
"Mary, this is Ria, our mate. She was wondering if she could find a snack in the pantry."
She looks up at me again, "Oh, I am just so happy to meet you, love. You can help yourself to anything you'd like anytime. This is your house; you make yourself right at home. If there's anything you'd like that we don't have, you give me a list, and I'll make sure we get it."
I don't know if she took a breath while rattling all that off. I don't say anything, just sort of smile, but I'm sure it looked really wonky. I nod a little and follow Drago into a huge pantry room. It's actually astoundingly big, that's the only thing I can think to call it.
He starts talking, so I snap back to looking at him, "There are quite a few prepackaged snacks here. So look and see if there's something you'd be willing to eat."
He points to an area, so I step forward. I see a packaged blueberry muffin like the one I ate before, so I grab one. I also grab some peanut butter crackers. I turn back to him, and we go back to the dining room.
Everyone is still eating but pauses to watch us. We both sit back down. I set my coffee down and open the plastic wrapper of the muffin. I nibble on it cause my stomach is upset, not like I'm stressed or anything, cue eye roll.
"You and Natalia will be accompanied by two guards. I will introduce you to them. Also, if you would like to redo your room, please feel free to do so. You could also go to the hardware store and browse around. If you wish to order new furniture, we can sit down with you to do so. We have contractors who've worked on the house before, who could take care of anything you need."
I look at Drago as he rattles off all of that. Maybe I should tell them I absolutely detest shopping. Not sure it would matter. So I keep quiet.
I can hear them softly talking to each other, but I specifically shut it out, cause honestly, I can't take learning anything new right now.
After breakfast, Natalia leads me to a large foyer. There are two men dressed in black cargo pants and black t-shirts. They each have shoulder holsters that hold a gun. I can see that each of them has an earpiece. This is so fucking freaky. I'm not sure if they are protection or prison guards.
"This is Svendish, and Nathaniel." He points to them as he says their names. They nod at me.
"Gentlemen, you know Natalia, and this is our mate, Adriana, but she goes by Ria." Natalia smiles and gives a little wave. I just slightly nod.
We leave the house and get into a big SUV, similar to the one the guys had driven back home. I watch out the window, not wanting to encourage Natalia to speak to me.
We pull up to a small boutique store that is absolutely nothing like any store I have ever stepped into. I feel awkward stepping into this one.
The "guards" station themselves next to the door, and Natalia rushes up to the lady manning the store. I blink several times, watching them actually squeal, and kiss each other's cheeks. What the fuck was that?
"Sarah, this is Ria, my brother's mate; she needs everything."
Sarah claps her hands together, looks at me, and does this little body shake, an excited movement. Honestly, she freaks me out.
She rushes up to me, and I back up when she tries to touch me. I am scowling at her, so she stops.
"I'm sorry, I'm just so happy to meet you. What can I help you find? Do you have any idea what designers you prefer, or what look you're going for?"
"I want all black, nothing revealing, no dresses or skirts, no sandals, no jewelry, nothing with bling, simple casual clothes."
They both look at me like I shot their dog. I don't react, I know what I want, and I have a feeling they are about to find out how stubborn I can be.
Sure enough, they keep trying to sneak things in. I try a few things on, and they're shoving clothes in for me to "try on" that are totally not what I asked for. So I start throwing the clothes back at them over the top of the changing room door. I hear both of them huffing and growling in frustration. Finally, I've had more than enough. I walk out of the dressing room clutching the few things I actually want. I walk to the counter and put them down.
I look at Natalia, "So, how are we paying for these?"
Natalia gets a credit card out of her purse and pays for the few items I've chosen. I see the store clerk bending over the counter, whispering to Natalia while glancing at me. Natalia looks back at me, then back at the woman, and shakes her head.
I'm done, so I walk out the door. Nathaniel follows behind me. I go to the car and get in.