Chapter 25
From the gossip circulated by the small staff employed by De Jääger, he had immigrated to Suriname from the Netherlands in the mid 90's. No one knew exactly how he had amassed his huge fortune, but one thing that sprang up more than others was "strip mining." He did own many of the aluminum processing plants in the Brokopondo district. With the obscene amount of money he amassed, he could afford many creature comforts. Having hailed from a much colder climate, he preferred his house to be cool. Therefore, when Friday morning dawned warm and muggy, the temperature in the house was lowered tremendously. Unfortunately, Livy was raised in Southern California, so the colder interior made getting up in the mornings harder. Olivia had slowly been getting acclimated to the vast discrepancies between inside the massive house and the exterior. Still, waking up before dawn and standing on cold floors made her teeth chatter and her bones ache. It always took her a while to warm up. This morning, after a night of little sleep, she woke up later than usual. The sun was already above the horizon. Cursing to herself, she ran to her closet, still shivering. Unable to take her normal shower, she knew it would take longer to warm up. Ignoring the customary shorts she usually wore, she threw on a pair of yoga pants and topped her tank with one of the only long sleeve sweaters in her closet. She sprinted down the hallway, throwing her hair up into a ponytail. Flying down the stairs, she entered the gym where the other three women were already into their exercises.
"Someone's in trouble," Rana sang from the rowing machine. The smug look of satisfaction made Olivia's stomach roil. Mishi and Catori were running on treadmills, and both had their faces down. Dread coiled in her stomach when she realized the door to the playroom was open.
"Shit," she muttered and quickly jumped onto the stationary bike. Setting the timer for the amounts listed on the whiteboard, she began her workout. After only a few moments, her head was snapped back by a fist full of her ponytail. She swallowed as she saw the malicious glare of Anton staring back at her.
"You're late," he stated simply and yanked hard on her head. Her scalp prickled and stung from where he pulled her and she fell from the bike to her knees at his feet. "This is much better."
"Anton, bring her to me."
Keeping his hand curled around her ponytail, Anton dragged her to the playroom, through the door and dropped her at the throne. Taking a step back, he smiled smugly at her.
"You know my rules. You were to be in the gym by dawn to do your workout. You were late." De Jääger eyed her critically. A frown marred his face. Reaching down, he grabbed a handful of the sweater she wore and pulled it. "What is this?" He snarled, yanking the sweater from her and threw it to the side. "I have gone to great lengths to ensure my treasures are beautiful, elegant, and desirable. To this end, I have supplied you each with every luxury. This includes the proper clothing for every occasion. What you have on is not proper nor is it suitable for this occasion. I don’t spend the money I earn to see you dressed like a hobo!"
Livy watched in horror as he pulled the square controller out of his pocket and pressed on the surface. Pain arched through her body as her nerves took the electroshock administered by the collar and forced her limbs to clench. She fell to the ground, unable to breathe or even scream, pain arcing through her frame until darkness curled around her vision. She could have wept with happiness as the darkness expanded and encompassed her and she slipped from consciousness.
Her happiness was short-lived when she awoke sometime later to discover herself shackled to the wall of the playroom, naked and staring into the eyes of Anton. He reached out a hand and tugged on her hair, pulling the elastic from the mass, and tossing it over his shoulder. Her eyes widened as they fell on De Jääger sitting upon his throne, fingers clasped over his stomach. Anton took a step back and looked over Olivia's head. Her skin prickled with goose bumps as the cool air caressed it. She wanted to ask what he was going to do with her, but she had learned to keep her mouth shut. She also knew he preferred that his possessions to not look him in the eye, so she dropped her gaze even as her fury blazed up. She filed this moment away, along with every other horrible moment she had endured. She let it bank her anger but not blaze out of control. There would come a time she would need it, but not now.
"You've disappointed me, Olivia."
De Jääger's words were low and metered. "I had such high hopes for you. It seemed you fit in so well." He frowned. "Then today you presented yourself filthy, incorrectly dressed, and late for your appointment. Last night, I showed you the pleasure of these walls. Today, we'll discover some of the pains. Normally, three indiscretions at one time would get you beaten and caged. However, I cannot have you marked before the gathering tomorrow. I've been a bit boastful of my newest acquisition. It was too quick, much too fast. I should have waited, but that can't be helped. However, there are things that can be done to express my... shall we say... adamant insistence in your complete acceptance and cooperation." He settled back against the throne and nodded to Anton. "Begin."
Later, laying on the floor of one of the cages in the gym, she pulled the thin blanket they had left with her around herself tightly. The tears she so desperately needed to shed wouldn't come. Her voice had given out from the screams of pain Anton had inflicted upon her over the course of the day. She had given up counting the number of times she had passed out from what had been done to her. True to De Jääger's words, other than a few red marks, she bore no visible damage. However, the emotional torture had been more than she thought she would ever be able to endure. They had shown her the intricate finesse of the collar and how it could be used to control her and coerce her into doing anything they wished. Livy shuddered as her mind shied away from so many of them. It was horrible, disgusting and degrading. Anton treated her like an animal, walking her on a leash as she crawled on her hands and knees, barked, and ate her dinner from a bowl. He laughed and called her his little bitch. He even put her hair into pigtails to resemble long ears, added a muzzle and... she shuddered. She wouldn't think about the rest. It had been one of the worse parts of the day.
She took a cleansing breath and slowly let it out. They hadn't broken her, not completely, but the blatant disregard of her as a person had been crystal clear. She truly was a possession to De Jääger, a toy and plaything to be passed about as he wished. He had tried to make her beg him as he promised she would, but she refused. She would not beg him to rape her. Not even the threat of being given to some unknown guest at the party for the evening would make her beg.
She rolled over and stared up at the cage roof. She had to get out of this madhouse. At this point, she didn't care if it meant her life. Dying with some shred of her dignity left would be better than becoming the same broken, dead-eyed copies of Mishi and Catori, or worse, the gleefully accommodating Rana. She made her mind up. Tomorrow, when the gathering was going full swing, and attention was on other things, she would find a way to leave this hell on earth even if she died trying. Each time she had searched the house, she hadn't found a telephone or a computer. There had to be one, somewhere, and her bet was on the mahogany-lined office that De Jääger called his sanctuary. If it were there, she would find it. No matter what.