Chapter 5 : Gathering Information

I woke up the next day unaware of where I was. As I looked around the unfamiliar room, everything came back to me at once. Joining the society, the party, Dante’s kiss, and finally, agreeing to work with him. It gave me a headache just to think about it.

I got out of bed and automatically looked for my phone.

Oh, right. I wasn’t allowed to have my phone or any contact with anyone outside. I wished I could talk to Bridgette or anyone else from work. I felt lonely, even though I was in a house full of people. I checked the alarm clock next to me.

It was already ten in the morning. I never slept in this late. My roommates, Charlotte and Alice, weren’t here anymore, and their beds were made.

Quickly, I got ready for the day, not wanting to miss anything I could use in my investigation. It was strange not wearing my own clothes or using my own bathroom products. I took a quick shower and dressed in jeans and a simple black t-shirt. I left my new long dark hair down.

I got lost two times before I finally made it down to the kitchen. This house was too damn big. When I got there, a few women were doing various chores around the kitchen. One was sweeping the floor, one was putting away the dishes, and someone was even on a small step stool so she could dust a light fixture that was above the door.

“Good morning, Gabrielle,” Valerie said from her seat at the kitchen table. “Breakfast is on the counter,” she told me with a smile.

She was dressed in white slacks and a pressed pink shirt. Valerie had an undeniable air of superiority as she sipped on a coffee cup. Even though her tone was friendly, I automatically didn’t trust her. It was my belief that she had something to do with The Golden Hive, even though it appeared that she used to be an escort herself back in the day.

She was on my suspect list and I wanted to discuss her with Dante the next time I saw him.

I prepared my breakfast which consisted of egg whites and fruit. Then, I brought over my plate and a black coffee with a glass of water. Valerie studied my choices and nodded in approval. It bothered me so much how controlling she was, especially with our food.

I tried to eat clean in my normal life, but I ate a lot bigger portions, especially because I boxed almost every day. If I didn’t eat enough calories, I would lose muscle. Valerie controlling the food we ate as well as our portions was just wrong.

“I would like to congratulate you, Gabrielle,” she began when I was halfway through my breakfast. “You are officially an escort. Dante Faust has agreed to be your sponsor.”

“Oh, wow. That’s amazing news!” I responded, trying to act overjoyed, without laying it on too thick.

“Whatever you did last night in that private room worked,” Valerie said, winking at me. “Keep up the good work.” I managed to give her a smile, but my breakfast was stuck in my throat. I didn’t like what she was insinuating. “After you're done with your breakfast, I’m teaching a class in the ballroom to the women who have sponsors.”

I took a sip of my coffee and hoped she would explain what the ones who didn’t have sponsors would be doing. I wanted to get all the information I could.

“Last night wasn’t the best turn out,” she continued. “We have many women in our system, but only a handful have men that would like to sponsor them. You may do as you please besides attending my training sessions. But since most women don’t have someone to pay their way here, then they have to do chores,” Valerie told me, gesturing around to the girls who were cleaning. "So, you should consider yourself lucky and keep the interest of Dante so you can keep sleeping in and relaxing."

Holy shit, this was sick.

Even though no one was forcing us to have sex with anyone, if we didn’t want to spend most of our day doing slave labor, we had to ‘hold the interest of a man’, which basically meant we had to have sex with them. So, this was how they made most of their money? Incentivizing us to have sex with the members? This place made me more nauseous the more I learned about it.

After I finished with my breakfast, I attended Valerie’s class on how to keep a man interested in us. First, she congratulated us for being the only women to officially be sponsored. There were only five in the class. Then, she just went on and on about how to flirt and be coy around them. She never explicitly said to sleep with our sponsors, but she very heavily implied it. Her words made me feel dirty, like I needed to take another shower.

Valerie dismissed us and told us we could do what we wanted for the rest of the day, as long as we got at least an hour workout in. Her treatment of us disgusted me. It was like we were objects that she had to take care of until the men came back to play with us.

I walked around the huge house, trying to find women to talk to and see if they had any information on the society or if they knew anything useful. Most women didn’t have a sponsor, so they were doing various chores around the house. I tried to strike up a few conversations, but although everyone was friendly, no one seemed like they wanted to actually talk to me.

Most of their personalities and responses began to freak me out after a while. They were eerily similar as if they were told by someone on how to think and act. My mind automatically went to Valerie’s training classes. Something strange was going on around here. There was more going on under the surface than what met the eye.

A few of the girls I saw had a deep kind of sadness in their gaze. Even though they were smiling, I could tell that they were not as happy as they pretended to be. I wanted to ask them what was wrong, but I didn’t want to cause unwanted attention to myself. I needed to lay low, especially because I had just gotten here.

After a quick lunch, I went outside. The grounds were beautiful, the grass was a vibrant green, and there was a garden with many beautiful flowers. I found my roommates, Charlotte and Alice, out there picking weeds. I walked over to them.

“Hey, guys, would you like some help?” I asked them, and shielded my face from the glare of the sun.

“Oh, don’t be silly,” Charlotte replied. “You’re lucky enough to have a sponsor, so you don’t need to help.”

Her words made me blush, but not in a good way. I felt somewhat embarrassed by what it actually meant. It shouldn’t be something for people to feel proud about. I knelt beside them and started to help.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t help,” I told them firmly.

We worked in silence for a while as I tried to gather some courage to snoop around without raising suspicions.

“So, what made you guys want to join the club?” I asked both of them, trying to keep my voice light.

“Well, I came from an abusive home. I moved out when I was sixteen and lived on the streets for a while,” Charlotte explained to Alice and me. “It was a terrible situation. When I heard about this house and the escort system, it seemed like a way out. I’m really thankful to be here,” Charlotte said with a smile.

My heart hurt for Charlotte. I wanted to tell her about all the local women's shelters and programs I knew of that were much better than giving up your life to join a secret society like this and be at the beck and call of men. But I had to stay in character. They thought I had willingly chosen to be here too.

“Woah, Charlotte, that's awful," I replied softly. "I’m sorry you had to grow up like that.”

Alice nodded in sympathy.

Even though Charlotte had just told us about her horrible childhood, she still had a positive attitude. While we continued to pull weeds, Charlotte told us what she knew about the Golden Hive. She had made friends with some of the girls who had been here for a long time. I tried to memorize all the information that she was throwing at me, but she talked very fast. Most of it was things that I already knew before I joined.

Alice and I mostly listened to her. I liked both of them and I was glad that they were my roommates. They were opposites, with Charlotte being outgoing and bubbly, and Alice more reserved and insightful.

When we were finished, we went back up to our room and took turns taking showers. I thought about everything I had learned today. I wished I could write everything down, but I couldn’t risk someone finding the sheet of paper and knowing that I was undercover. I would just have to try and remember everything.

After speaking to most of the women here, I realized that I couldn’t trust a fellow escort to help me with my mission. Dante was my only hope even though I didn’t fully trust him yet. He would have to prove his loyalty to me as time went on.

Even though most of the women here seemed happy and I didn’t see any signs of physical abuse, I knew there was more going on under the surface than what I was seeing. My instincts told me that some of these women were brainwashed.

We were clearly being persuaded into having sex with men and that was sick enough, but I was starting to think there was even more going on. Like they were suffering some form of Stockholm Syndrome and were told that they should be here over and over again until they believed it.

Were these women like Sara? Had they been kidnapped, given different identities, and thrown into the escort system against their will? My instincts were telling me the answer was yes, but I had no way of knowing for certain until I had more information.

Or had these women chosen to join on their own free will, like Charlotte? I was starting to think that it was a mix of the two.

One escort I tried to talk to didn’t even seem like she was able to converse with me. She couldn’t tell me her name or anything about her. She just smiled and nodded at me, even when I wasn’t asking her a yes or no question. It seemed like she wasn’t allowed to have an original thought. Like the Golden Hive had squeezed out all of her personality and now she was just a shell of the girl she used to be. It was something straight out of a horror movie.

All I was sure of was that if I didn’t act carefully, I could be caught.

Dante had better be telling the truth about wanting to work with me. Otherwise, it seemed like I had no other way to fight all of this on my own.