Chapter 6: The luckiest gir

(Aubrey’s POV)

I look at my feet, every now and then I venture a glance at the Matron, who hasn’t said a word since she got here. I waited for her all day yesterday and today all morning, now it’s way past noon and she just got here like fifteen minutes ago and has been silent the whole time. Just by looking at her face I can tell she dislikes me. That is no surprise. She thinks I’m an Eel, so of course, she hates me. Everyone in Estermond hates Eels, they are the enemies of our good and peaceful society, they threaten our existence as we know it; I hate them too and I hate that everyone thinks I am one of them.

The Matron sighs, like she is already bored with me.

“Did Keeper Winder explain to you what is expected from you?” She finally asks.

“I… I have to be an obedient and submissive Bearer,” I reply.

“Exactly, girl. We won’t tolerate any misconduct from you. I personally don’t like the idea of you contaminating other Bearers with your presence. We Matrons work very hard to make the Bearer Center a good place for our fertile female population. Having you with us is not ideal, but unfortunately, we have no choice but to put up with your presence among us,” she informs me with clear contempt. “You are to behave at your very best. No trouble making of any kind, is that understood?”

“I understand, Matron Mary Ann,” I reply glancing at her.

Some wrinkles are starting to show in her face, she has flushed cheeks and thin hazel hair. Her eyes are too small and don’t exactly harmonize with the rest of her features.

“Honestly, Aubrey, I can’t imagine what the Assignment Committee did to convince Commander Mortensen to accept you.” Matron Mary Ann says. “But I will make sure you become the best Bearer for him and give him as many children as possible.”

I reluctantly nod. In spite of her words, a warm feeling overcomes me, she just called me by my real name. Everyone has referred to me as prisoner 3312 since I got here. It’s nice to have a name again.

Suddenly, a tall and corpulent Keeper comes in carrying a bucket filled with water in one arm. She looks at me with contempt, leaves the bucket on the floor, and then she throws a bar of soap to my face.

“Clean yourself, Aubrey. We can’t take you to the commander looking like this,” the Matron says.

I freeze in my place. Do they expect me to take off my clothes in front of them?

“Are you deaf, Eel? You stink! Clean yourself now!” The Keeper yells.

Glowering at me, she reaches for the whip strapped to her waist so I walk as fast as I can to the bucket to do as she orders. I know I stink, I haven’t cleaned myself in weeks. I kneel next to the bucket and grab the soap, I start to clean my arms and face. My skin is covered in a thick layer of blood and dirt. Some of the wounds reopen as I pass the soap over them and start to bleed again. I wash my hair and then I shyly remove the shreds of clothing I’m wearing to wash the rest of my body. Once I am done, I take my clothes to put them back on, they are dirty and full of holes, but they are all I have.

“Don’t” says the Matron as I’m about to get dressed while holding a red cloth bag in front of her chest. “This is for you. I brought you a uniform and some other items we give new Bearers as a welcome gift. If you ask me, you don’t deserve them, but Mother Addison thought you should get your welcome package too.”

Mother Addison is the head of the Ministry of Females. She is an old and severe woman with a reputation for being too harsh on Bearers. I dread to be under her care.

“I don’t think she deserves it either, but what can we do?” Says the Keeper while frowning.

Matron Mary Ann gestures for me to approach her to grab the bag. Covering my body with my hands, I shyly start to walk towards her and take the bag from her hands. From the bag, I take out the sky blue dress, the Bearer uniform, hastily, eager to cover myself right away. As I’m about to put on the Bearer’s uniform, Matron Mary Ann clears her throat. I look at her and she gestures for me to look inside the red bag again. I do as she says, inside the bag there is also a light blue sweater and a pair of ugly black shoes; beneath the clothes, there is a bottle of perfume, a razor, and some very slutty black underwear. When I see the underwear I understand that the Matron means for me to put it on. I blush, I guess they want me and the commander to have sex as much as possible. I get that’s the whole point of this and the reason they allowed me to survive, but I’ve never had sex in my life and the idea of doing it for the first time with Leopold Mortensen, the unfriendliest man that has ever lived, gives me goosebumps. I try my best not to make a face, but I fail. I reluctantly put on the tiny thong and lace bra. I feel really uncomfortable, not because of the clothes, the fabric is actually really soft, but because I know what they are intended for: to make myself more attractive to Mortensen. I get a chill down my spine just thinking about it.

“What’s with the face? Is there a problem?” Matron Mary Ann asks when she sees my expression.

“No, Matron Mary Ann, there is no problem,” I reply as I hurry to put on the sky blue dress.

“You look miserable. I honestly don’t understand why. You are the luckiest girl I know,” she remarks.

“The luckiest girl?” I mumble in disbelief.

Is she joking? The luckiest girl she knows? I was confused for an Eel, I was almost executed, I spent the last few weeks being tortured and humiliated by the Keepers. How am I the luckiest girl she knows?

“Don’t you consider yourself lucky? You should be dead by now but the authorities decided to forgive you. Now you will be the partner of Leopold Mortensen, the best commander in this nation.”

“Yes. You are right, Matron Mary Ann,” I reply even though that is not how I feel.

“I want you to be aware that we will immediately bring you back to the Detention Facility if you misbehave. All of us, Matrons, Bearers and, I’m sure, commander Mortensen as well, will just be waiting for you to screw up so we can take you back here to the Detention Facility where you belong,” the Matron warns me.

“I won’t give you any reason for that, I promise,” I say.

The Keeper snorts and leaves the room.

“Now, let’s talk about the Bearer Center and your daily routine. Every morning, I will come to pick you up at 8:30 on the dot to take you to the Center and once a week I will accompany you to shop for groceries. You can’t go anywhere by yourself. You are also not allowed to talk on the phone or use any communication devices. You are only allowed to leave Commander Mortensen’s house if you are accompanied by a Matron or by Mortensen himself. Never alone. Is that clear?”

“It is, Matron Mary Ann,” I reply. I have no where to go and no one to call. They confiscated my cellphone anyway. Besides, probably everyone I know hates me for being an Eel, including Zack and my grandma, which are the only two people I still care about.

“Remember that you are expected to do household chores such as cooking and cleaning. Your house must be impeccable at all times,” she says and I nod. “Good. In that case, I guess we should get going, there is a vehicle waiting for us so I can take you to your new home,” Matron Mary Ann says.

I draw my breath in. I don’t think I’m prepared for what’s coming. My heart starts pounding against my chest. I’m going to go live with Commander Mortensen now.

Matron Mary Ann walks towards the door and gestures for me to follow her. Holding the red bag, I start to walk behind her thru the hallways of the Detention Facility. It feels surreal that I am actually going to get out of this place. I was so certain I was going to die here and now I’m about to regain my freedom. Well, at least a kind of freedom.

On the parking lot, there is a yellow SUV waiting for us. A driver opens the back door so we go in. Matron Mary Ann goes in first and I follow her.

We remain silent during the ride. I have too much on my mind to keep me occupied. How is Commander Mortensen going to be towards me? Is he going to be rude? Aggressive? Demeaning?  I feel a chill down my spine, I’ll find out in a few moments. The SUV takes us to a really elegant neighborhood, the houses are bigger than usual and the automobiles parked in front of the houses are clearly expensive. Under the Righteous Regime, there aren’t supposed to be any differences between Good Citizens but everyone knows that is not the case for certain special cases. The people that live in this neighborhood must be very important for the regime, just like commander Mortensen is. I’ve never been to this part of town and the elegance around me surprises me. The SUV stops in front of an elegant and spacious house, with wooden windows and a black convertible parked in front, more than an everyday car, the vehicle looks like a racing car. The commander must like to speed. The driver opens the door for us. Cold sweat runs down my back. This is it, I’m about to go into the lion’s den. We step down the SUV and walk to the main door.

“Be polite and well behaved,” Matron Mary Ann warns me as she rings the doorbell.

“I will,” I reply in a whisper.

A dog starts to bark inside. I never imagined someone like Commander Mortensen having a dog. Dogs are very friendly animals and he is definitely not a friendly man.  Shortly after, we hear footsteps and the main door opens. Leopold Mortensen appears under the doorframe looking annoyed. His piercing blue eyes glaring at us, like he hates for us to be there.