New Living Quarters

"This is the lord’s room. Make yourself comfortable,” Retchet told Rebecca, as they stopped in front of a door with various ‘Do Not Enter’ or ‘Keep Out’ labels right on it, complete with a barricade tape forming a large ‘X’ on it.

After walking up several steps from that meeting room, Rebecca had assumed she would be taken to the car to Christian’s house. Her hands were finally out of the cuffs on the walk up- most likely to avoid any suspicions when they exit out this hideout. She did not expect to just be taken to a different room on a different floor. Much less for the door before them to be one leading to Christian’s room.

Retchet noticed the perplexed expression and asked, “Is something wrong?”

While unsure about asking him, Rebecca grew too curious about the situation before her and spoke, “I thought Christian doesn’t live here.”

Retchet narrowed his eyes at the statement and said, “It’s ‘Master’ to you. Don’t forget, you’re his pet now.”

Rebecca flinched at the reminder, before looking down with a grimace.

“As for the lord’s living circumstance, while I am unsure what you’ve heard about his life in the surface, he has always lived here,” Retchet continued, surprising Rebecca with the info.

“Even though his father is the owner and CEO of Riverdale Corp? But I thought coming from that sort of family, he would be living in some mansion with them.”

Retchet closed his eyes with a light sigh at the statement. “If you wish to know about the lord’s living circumstance, you best ask him yourself. That is not something I should tell you about. Besides, if I recall, don’t you two go to the same school?” Rebecca’s surprise grew at the question. “I looked up your file on the drive here. You may be a young girl, but we need to make sure that bastard father of yours did not give us a spy or a government agent of sort. I do hope you understand that much.”

Rebecca could not say she understood a single thing about this circumstance. However, she supposed as a mafia- a dangerous underground group- these people did not want the police or any government officials to know of their location.

“Anyway, stay in the room until the lord arrives. And don’t do anything that will garner trouble. You don’t want to upset him.” With that last warning, Retchet left the room.

Rebecca watched him leave before turning to the door. Swallowing down a lump in her throat, she twisted the doorknob and opened the door. Inside was a seemingly normal room. One that more belonged to any average boy than son of the wealthy, or leader of a mafia.

The room itself was small- almost as small as her own room. The bed was single, and had simple bedsheets and blankets on it. There were no windows in the room, but there was a lamp on a small desk on one side of the room, though it was turned off.

If there was one thing that most especially stood out to Rebecca, though, it would be the wall on the other side of the room. That in which had a map of the city they live, with various photos and various newspaper articles pinned on it, as well as post-it notes and lines and arrows drawn on it. She grew curious of the wall and approached it.

“Is this… an investigation board?” Rebecca wondered in a whisper.

She remembered seeing something like this in a tv show her father would often watch. Rather, on nights when he would leave the television on while he fell asleep drunk. Although there weren’t that many pictures on the wall, from what she could see, they seemed to be centered around someone. Who that person was, she couldn’t tell, when there wasn’t a good photo of this person’s face. Though from the figure, she could see it was a female.

“Who is this person?” she asked, raising a hand up to one photo.

Before she could even touch it, however, a hand slammed against her own. Rebecca bit back a yelp, feeling a pinky crushed from the slam, as she was forcibly turned around, where she came face to face with an enraged Christian.

“What do you think you’re doing, you stupid pet?” he questioned, with much venom in his tone.

Rebecca thought the way he acted before to Boner was frightening enough, but seeing Christian now? With his face this close to her? She felt frightened by him; more than she did with her father every time he abused her. It did not help that her hand was also getting crushed in his.

Upon getting no response from her, Christian grew more enraged by the silence and raised his free hand to her throat, choking her as he lifted her up slightly. “Let’s make one thing clear. You are nothing more than a pet now. You do as I say when I say it. Do it right, and you will be rewarded. Do one thing wrong- anything at all- and you. Will. Be. Punished. Is that clear?” With those last words, the grip on Rebecca’s hand tightened, and the girl clenched her teeth tighter to prevent a cry from escaping her throat.

She hastily nodded, wanting the pain to end, and was dropped down to the floor. She coughed, getting some air back into her, relieved that the pain and fright were over.

“Do not ever touch my stuff again. Especially not the board,” he continued to warn.

Regaining some composure, Rebecca looked back up at Christian. Not in fear or rage, but more in confusion. In fact, she was nothing but confused about this man. While he usually kept to himself even while being crowded by his fans or teammates from various sports teams, not once has she seen him act so coldly. And there was also his living circumstance to call into question.

“It’s late, and it’s school night. We’ll start your lessons in the morning,” Christian continued, before tossing the pillows and blanket from his bed to Rebecca. “Since you’re a pet now, your ‘bed’ is the floor.”

Rebecca managed to catch both items, and watched as her 'owner' lied on his bed, using his arm as a pillow. Judging by the gentle movement of his chest rising and falling, she could tell he had fallen asleep.

So many things happened tonight for her, at a pace too fast for her to follow. She wasn't sure what to think of it all. As much as she wanted to question it, however, she had to admit, she was feeling a little exhausted.

'Too much has happened. Too little time to think on any of it,' she thought, lying down with the pillow under her head, and the blanket over her, making herself comfortable as possible on the floor. 'Christian made the right call on one thing, though. For now, I'll just sleep on this.'