Control, Enkindle

"Good luck with that. Now be silent," I said and dialed a taxi company. I ordered a cab to the address and the operator told me it would be there in just a couple of minutes.

Grabbing him under the arm I led him down to the street curb.

"You know," I began, unable to stop myself from having a bit of fun. "This was fun. We should do it again sometimes."

He glared at me, his jaw muscles flexing as he did.

"Oh cheer up. You got a good night of fucking out of it. Those ladies were pretty fucking hot to be honest," I said, giving him a friendly slap on the back.

He sank down to sit on the curb, hanging his head between his arms, looking utterly defeated. I said nothing else until I saw the cab turn around a corner and head towards us.

"I think we forgot your phone inside. No matter. Rich boy like you can afford a new one anyway," I said, sticking a piece of paper to him. "Text me your new number as soon as you get one."

"Haven't you done enough to me already?" he asked, sounding tired and defeated, taking the note and putting it in his pocket.

"Oh no," I chuckled. "I still have a few plans for you. Take this too," I said, taking out a small brown package from my pocket and giving it to him. "Don't open it. Just keep it safe until I tell you what to do."

He sighed but took it, rising to stand up as the cab came to a stop next to us. He moved to open the door when I placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning in close to his ear.

With barely contained glee I whispered, "Soon I'll be having her pinned beneath me, moaning my name as I fuck her lovely pussy."

He jerked like he was about to turn around and punch me. Being unable to do just that he instead fixed me with such a hateful, angry and vicious glare that had it been anyone else they would have taken a step back in shock. Instead I just chuckled and slapped him on the back before opening the car door, gesturing for him to get inside.

I stretched my arms as I watched the car drive away, not caring where he went. I was just happy having successfully solved that little problem.

-o-o-o-o-o-

When I got back inside and up the stairs I found Cassandra and Marcus outside Anastasia's door, trying to convince the girl to let them in. Or more accurately, Cassandra was doing that while Marcus was standing behind her, looking concerned.

"Anything?" I asked, getting a shake of the head from Marcus.

"Honey please, can you just let us in?" Cassandra called, getting no response from the girl inside.

"Should I..." I started a bit tentative. "Should I give it a try?"

"I don't think nows a good time," Marcus said, voice a bit on edge.

Cassandra sighed and let her shoulders slump. "He might as well," she said, turning to me. "She's not responding to us at all."

I nodded, looking at the door and putting on a concerned face. Marcus looked like he wanted to say something but his wife was faster. "Call us if she needs us," she said, pulling Marcus by the hand towards the stairs. As they went I heard Marcus mumble something to Cassandra, not sounding very happy. Before they were out of sight I heard her say, "Be quiet dear."

Fucking dog, I thought and couldn't help a grin sliding onto my face.

Knocking once on the door I said, "Anastasia, angel. They're gone now. It's just me. Can you let me in?"

I was silent and listened for any sound from inside. There was some shuffling and then more silence. After a few seconds I heard the lock click. Waiting to see if she would open I turned the knob when it became evident that she wouldn't.

She was sitting on the bed, still in her silk robe and her back towards the headboard, knees pulled up under her chin. Her eyes was red and puffy, a sure sign that she had been crying. And indeed, taking a closer look I saw her robe arm had a wet spot on it, presumably where she had wiped th tears.

I hadn't been in her room before so I took a moment to take it in. It was almost disappointing how normal looking it was. A bed with blue satin covers, a desk with a computer and a dresser was really all the furniture in there. A large floor to ceiling mirror in a wooden frame stood in one corner. There was also an open door leading into a walk in closet with some discarded clothes strewn on the floor.

Closing the door behind me I took a few steps into the room. "Hey," I said, waiting for a response but getting none.

Sighing I walked all the way over to the bed and sat down next to her, leaning against the headboard and tilting my head back against it. For a few minutes we just sat like that. She wasn't openly crying but once in a while I heard a sniffle coming from her.

"He cheated on me," she eventually said, voice broken and unsteady.

Again I sighed and nodded. "I know. I saw the pictures," I said and pulled Tom's shattered phone from my pocket. I had picked it up when I got back inside.

She glanced at it but she didn't move to do anything. After another minute of silence she asked, "Where is he?"

"I sent him away. Called a cab and made sure he got in it," I said, placing a cautious arm around her shoulders. This seemed to cause the flood to begin anew as she curled into my side, fresh tears beginning to soak into my white t-shirt.

I let her cry, running my hand up and down her arm, doing my best to soothe her. After a few more minutes she seemed to calm down, her crying growing less intense.

"Why is it that every guy I meet turns out to be a fucking asshole?" she asked, sniffling and wiping at her eyes.

"Because all guys are assholes," I said, causing her to blurt out a short tearful laugh.

"You're not," she said. "You've always been nice to me."

It's called discipline, honey.

"Oh I'm the biggest asshole there is," I said, causing her to let out another laugh. "Truth is I feel a little responsible for this happening."

She pushed away a little and looked up at me, tear stained eyes staring at me with confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I... I dunno," I began, looking away from her. "I shouldn't have shown you that stuff I found on him. It wasn't any of my business and maybe if I hadn't shown you... well..."

"You were right though," she said, leaning back down. "And it wouldn't have changed what he did."

I gave a somber nod. "I suppose not. Still makes me feel a little guilty," I said.

"Don't. It's not your fault," she said, running a hand over my chest for emphasis. Again I nodded.

Another couple of minutes passed in silence during which she cried some more before speaking again.

Her voice was low and barely audible when she said, "Why did you have to leave Uncle Jason?"

"It's... complicated," I said, running a hand through my hair. "You wouldn't understand. I deeply regret not staying in touch though."

I felt her nod against me, again wiping at her eyes. "Thing's could've been different," she said. "Better. Happier."

"Easier," I added.

"Easier," she repeated.

After another minute of silence there was a soft knock on the door before it swung open, revealing the worried form of Cassandra. She was dressed now, a silver white dress that matched her silver white hair.

"Everything alright honey?" she asked, looking at Anastasia. The girl in question sniffled once and sat up, disentangling herself from me.

"It's..." she began but couldn't continue, another wave of emotions coming over her, causing another stream of tears to run down her face.

"Oh honey," Cassandra said, her voice heartbroken as she rushed forward, sitting down on Anastasia's other side and hugging her close.

"I'll just leave you two alone," I said, moving to stand. One of Anastasia's hands stopped me though, grabbing a hold of my t-shirt sleeve. I turned to look at her.

"Thank you Uncle Jason," she got out between sobs, looking at me with her beautiful stormy gray eyes. I gave her a smile and stood up.

Halfway across the room I turned my head to look back and saw the two women locked in a firm embrace, Anastasia's shoulders jerking up and down as she cried. Cassandra found my eyes and mouthed a silent, "Thank you." I gave her a nod before leaving the room, closing the door behind me.

Almost easier than shooting fish in a barrel.

Fuck I'm good.

-o-o-o-o-o-

I didn't expect either of them to come out anytime soon so I instead decided to get some work done. Before I could do that though I needed to check on Gabrielle. As I entered the kitchen Marcus was already there, sitting at a table and eating a toast sandwich.

"How is she?" he asked, looking up as i entered.

"Sad, angry and betrayed," I said, fixing him with a sharp look. "Cassandra's with her now."

He nodded, breaking eye contact and looking down at his plate. "Sorry," he said. "For before. Didn't mean to be a jerk."

"It's understandable," I said, opening the door to the cellar. "She's your little princess." And my little angel, I added in my mind, beginning to descend down the narrow stone steps.

Gabrielle was awake and hiding behind a shelf when I entered the supply closet. When she saw that it was me she took a cautious step forward.

"Good morning Miss LeGrand," I said, giving the timid girl a gentle smile.

"Good morning," she said. It was a bit eerie, hearing the French girl speak with a pitch perfect British accent after only knowing the language for less than twenty four hours.

"I'm just checking in to see how you are feeling after yesterdays events," I said, taking a seat on a wooden stool nearby.

"Um," she said, sitting down on the cot, looking at me with nervous apprehension as she did. "I'm okay."

"Good. That's good to hear," I said. She was still dirty from being held at the slaver facility and her unwashed hair was looking a little slick from sweat and other grime. I would've liked to get her up to one of the bathrooms to clean off but now was not possible. "I'm just going to run a few more tests today."

As I said that her face took on a fearful expression as she shied back a little, beginning to tremble. "Please don't," she whispered.

I placed a hand on her knee and she jumped. "Don't worry. Nothing like yesterday. Nothing painful," I said.

She was still trembling but not as bad. "Promettez-vous?" she said. "Promise?"

I nodded my head. "I promise. Only questions this time," I said.

After a moment I think she decided to believe me, nodding and relaxing back into a proper sitting position. The questions I asked were similar to the ones I had asked after the memory transfer the day before. She answered much the same but some things were different after she had gotten a night of sleep. All in all there didn't seem to be any side effects so far.

When I was finished I asked one more question. "How does it feel, being able to speak English now?"

"Strange," she said. "I still think in French but some words seem to fit better as English now."

I nodded, not really understanding it. I suppose being an English only speaker myself I didn't have the mental experience that someone who spoke two or more languages would have.

"Well, thank you Gabrielle," I said and stood to leave. "I'll be back a bit later with some food and fresh clothes for you."

"What..." she said, prompting me to stop and turn back. "What are you going to do with me? Those other girls..." she said and shuddered.

"Oh no, don't worry. You're much to valuable to end up like them," I said, noting that she seemed a little relieved hearing that. "In fact, I'm expecting to have you back with your parents in only a few days."

"Really?" she asked, looking hopeful for an instant before apprehension melted back onto her face. "Do you really mean that?"

"Absolutely," I said, giving her a grin. "I haven't lied to you so far." It was true. She was the only one in the house currently that I had not yet lied to. That was not so much a conscious act on my part as a lack of a need to do so.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Cassandra and Anastasia still hadn't emerged from her room when I got back up. I found Allie out on the veranda eating breakfast with her laptop beside her. Walking out to her I glimpsed a picture of the human anatomy before she tabbed to another page. No doubt it was part of her little secret project.

Melinda was out there too, sitting opposite of Allie and eating. She gave me a look as I sat down to join them, feeling a little hungry myself. Breaking up engagements is hard work. Allie gave me a wide smile when I sat down, a reminder of our amazing encounter the previous night.

Melinda wasted no time on greetings, saying as soon as I sat down, "I need something."

I just raised an eyebrow and looked at her. She was being dead serious, her brown, almost amber eyes boring into mine.

"Really," was all I said before I focused on a platter of fruit, pulling various colorful pieces onto my plate.

"I want my phone back," she said.

Scrunching my face up in confusion I asked, "Why?"

She shifted her eyes at me. "Are you ordering me to tell you or do I have a choice in the matter?" she asked. Her tone was neutral but I could see a hint of a scowl on her face.

"I actually don't know where your phone is. I just want to know why," I said, shrugging.

"Ooo, I've got it right here," Allie piped in, starting to rummage around her computer bag. "I've kept it charged in case someone texted something interesting. It's only been this Eric fellow though and it's been mostly the same. I stopped reading them after the first twenty."

Melinda tried to scowl at her as she placed the phone on the table next to me but as soon as her eyes landed on her she flushed and had to look away. Allie didn't seem to care though, going back to whatever she was working on, a happy smile on her face. The phone had a large crack in the display, running all the way from the top to the bottom corner. It seemed to be working fine though as I clicked the button to activate it. There were about fifty unread messages and a dozen or so missed calls.

Melinda looked at it then up to me. "Can I have it back please?" she asked. She was doing a pretty good job of sounding polite.

I shrugged, not seeing the harm in it. I slid it across the table and she snatched it up as soon as it was within her reach.

"Just tell me why you want it so desperately now and not yesterday?" I asked.

She narrowed her eyes a little. "I want to text Eric," she said, looking down and beginning to tap away.

"Pathetic," I spat, frowning. Her shoulders tensed but she didn't say anything or look up. Perhaps my expectations of her had been a bit too high. Our discussion in the car didn't seem to have done anything for her. No matter. Worst case she could be used as a bargaining chip with Marcus who, despite having had a go at her already, kept giving her hateful glances whenever they were in the same room.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Nothing much else happened that day. I spent most of it working on my project, making quite a bit of progress. Everything was pretty much finished and the only thing left was for me to test it. Before I could do that though there was a few things that needed to be prepared. I also needed an extended period of time where no one would bother me. This meant that I would have to hold off on testing it until I could find the right moment.

Anastasia eventually left her room and while she wasn't crying anymore it was obvious she wasn't her same old happy self. It looked like she wanted to be left alone but Cassandra kept trying to get her to engage with the others. It got to a point where I though she was about to snap and I felt a need to step in.

I made a phone call to the house, holding my phone under the table so no one would notice. While Cassandra went inside to answer I caught Anastasia's gaze and held up the keys to Marcus's SUV. She looked confused for a second before giving me a subtle nod.

She excused herself to go to the bathroom and headed back inside. Although there wasn't any need to pretend in front of Allie and Melinda she didn't know that. Marcus was nowhere to be seen and I had a sneaky suspicion he was at a certain slave complex. I told Allie to make up some excuse involving Anastasia grabbing the car keys and making a break for it, me going after to make sure she was alright. I wasn't worried, Allie would make it sound believable.

I went inside and crossed the entrance hall, managing to get outside just as Cassandra came from the kitchen on her way back outside.

Anastasia was already in the passenger seat as I got in, me having unlocked the car from the veranda before. We didn't say anything as I put the car into gear and drove out the driveway. I had a destination in mind and entered the location in the car GPS. She didn't seem to care or pay attention, only staring out the passenger window, arms crossed.

It wasn't until after a few minutes of driving that she broke the silence, saying, "Thank you." Her voice was low and soft but I could clearly make it out.

I sighed and glanced at her. She was wearing tight jeans and a simple black top, her waist long hair looking brushed and proper. I couldn't fathom her caring about trivialities such as having good looking hair in her current situation so it was no doubt a result of Cassandra's urging.

"Any time, angel," I said, keeping my eyes on the road. "She means well but I don't think she knows what it feels like to have someone you thought you loved betray you."

She turned and gave me a curious and slightly surprised glance. "And you do?" she asked.

I gave a shrug. "That surprises you?"

"I-" she began but stopped. She turned to stare out the window again, mumbling, "Sorry."

"It's fine," I said. "It wasn't as bad as this but yes, I do have an idea of how you're feeling."

I let a few seconds pass before starting.

"It happened some time ago, even before me and your father became friends. I was young and naive. Absolutely brilliant, I was told, but oh so naive."

"I met a woman much older than me. Gorgeous and brilliant. Her name was Rebecca and the first time I saw her I fell head over heels. We became friends but it soon became evident that she didn't feel the same way towards me as I did for her."

"I convinced my gullible mind that if I worked hard enough then maybe, just maybe I could win her affection. One of the very first things she confided in me was that her father had been diagnosed with stage three Alzheimer's disease and that she was deathly afraid of the day he would no longer recognize her."

Giving her another glance I saw that I had her full attention.

"There was my moment, my opportunity to win her heart. I decided to put that brilliance everyone told me I had into action. A year later I published my results in what you might know as Angel Drops. It was labeled a miracle drug and everyone told me how incredible I was for inventing it."