The sound of an alarm shrieks through my ears as I open my eyes. Smacking the clock, I see that it is 8:30 am.

A sharp, raw pain travels up my arm reminding me of last night’s events. I tenderly remove my arm from the sheets as I try to get out of bed. I’m still wearing the same clothes from yesterday.

After I shower and change I head to the living room of our suite where I hear the voices of April and Sara.

“Yo,” April greets me from the couch.

“Bonjour,” Sara’s light French voice calls from our mini kitchen.

“Morning,” I sigh as I plop onto the couch across from April. I prop my stocking feet on the glass coffee table.

“How’s your arm feeling?” April lightly traces her fingers over the Capricorn sign on her forearm.

“Like hell,” I say and study the scarring.

“Sounds accurate,” she sighs. “You know they put a chip in us too, right?”

“I thought so!” my eyes widen. I knew it. That’s what I was trying to figure out before I passed out.

“I asked Paula about it and she said it’s a tracking device,” Sara says as she brings us plates of eggs and toast.

“But I thought we were kind of confined to this place?” my brow furrows.

“That’s what I thought,” Sara watches us eat. “Apparently, we get to go out now - only with our masters of course. We're not just their slaves. We're their...."

She pauses in search for the word.

"Acquaintances?" April asks through a mouthful of toast.

"No," Sara bites her lip. She snaps her fingers. "Mistresses. We're their mistresses. We accompany them to events, publicity meetings, wherever they need to have a female accompaniment. The management said they don’t have the time to get an actual girlfriend and that it’s irrelevant to their career."

"Wow, that's kind of pitiful," I take in a forkful of eggs.

"Damn," April narrows her eyes. "We need to start working on getting information about these grounds. Escaping is going to be harder, and if not almost out of the plan, since we have these chips in us."

“Oh,” I sheepishly remember. “I actually found a book on the history of this castle.”

“Oh my God, no way!” April’s eyes are as big as the moon. “Where is it?”

“Um,” I fumble. “I bumped into Harry in the hallway and hetookitawayfromme.”

“He what,” Sara is ashen faced.

“He took it away from me,” I take in a deep breath.

“It’s okay, that’s okay,” April gets up and paces in front of the crackling fireplace. “He’s your master now, so all you have to do is try to smuggle it out whenever he calls for you in his room!”

She claps in excitement.

“You can do it tonight too,” Sara nods furiously. “All the boys want us tonight. Which means they probably won’t want us for at least 2 more days in which we can roam free, with them of course.”

“Okay,” a flicker of hope plays across my smile. “I’ll try it.”

Eliza and Amelia walk in as we start washing our plates in the sink. The day drags on slowly as each of us split up to try to map each hallway and every room we can find in the castle.

The hallway I’m going down is the hallway where Louis’ room is located. I come to a stop in front of his door. Should I? I bring my fist an inch from the wooden door. I tense up trying to decide whether or not to knock. Ehhhh, fuck it I’m doing it.

And so I knock. Shit I really did it. Oh God.

The door opens to reveal Louis in his messy hair and pyjamas. He looks slightly surprised.

“Robin,” he says before he brings me into a tight embrace. All I can do is stand stiffly in shock. He pulls back.

“How are you feeling?” his worried eyes search mine as he holds me at arm’s length.

“I could be better,” I shift in my knee socks. “My arm feels like it’s constantly on fire.”

“Come in,” he gestures for me and walks into his room. “I might have some cream or something for it.”

“Thank you,” I quietly mumble. His caring personality is overwhelming - warmer than anything in this cold castle.

I stand awkwardly in the middle of the cozy room and watch him go to his bathroom to get the lotion.

He comes back with a bottle and leads me to an arm chair. Sitting across from me, he applies the cool lotion to my burn area. His hands are soft as he massages my arm. My forearm instantly feels better and calm washes over me.

“There we go,” he hands the bottle to me once he finishes. “Take this to give to the other girls.”

I nod a thank you.

“So have you started that book yet?” he settles back into the chair facing me.

“Yeah,” I smile. “It’s great. I love the writing style.”

“Good,” he returns the smile. “I have tons and tons of books, so feel free to ask for a new one anytime.”

“Thank you,” I look at my hands. “You’ve been so kind. Why?”

Looking up at him, I see his eyes shift uncomfortably to the rows of bookshelves behind me.

“I want to help,” he explains quietly, locking his eyes on mine. “I want to prove I’m not like the other boys. I could never hurt anyone the way they do. Especially when the person has done nothing to deserve it.”

The sound of our breathing fills the silence settling between us, but it’s not uncomfortable. Just being in each other’s presence makes me feel safe and brings more warmth than any fire could.

A grandfather clock chimes 7pm.

“I should get going,” I stand up so abruptly I nearly lose my balance.

Louis catches my arm and steadies me.

“Sorry,” I mumble. “Thank you again.”

He smiles warmly and leads me to the door.

“Be brave, Robin,” he says as I walk out the door.

I turn to look at him. I study his beautiful features as I speak.

“Always,” I promise.

Notes

Sorry again about the terribly long periods of time between updates. All I can say is expect updates to be once a week. Thankfully this week is Thanksgiving break so I will update this week again. Thank you for staying true, gems. I hope you enjoy this chapter and remember to leave comments saying what you think. I love hearing from y'all. ^_^
~christi ellie