Flight Ch. 02

Hello, Matilda. I would say I'm excited to see you but I left my cross at home and I'm feeling vulnerable."

Her sharp smile never wavered, "I'm going to let that go because you should never kick a dog when she's down."

"Go fuck yourself," I said just as sharply and was happy to see her mask crack.

"I'm going to report that disrespect to Archer."

I tried not to let that bother me. Being back in an environment where I was answerable to someone.

"I told Tiller that I didn't need to be here. I'm fine."

Matilda gave me a mocking look, "As if anyone cares what you say? Now take your clothes off. You need a physical exam"

I stiffened glancing at the men Tiller had left me with. Matilda noticed my gaze.

"Oh, don't be shy, little girl. I would think this would be something you're used to. And yes, if you're contemplating on fighting me, we will forcibly remove your clothes. I'm not giving you another chance."

Having dealt with this psychopath before, I begrudgingly started to strip my clothes off. I felt slightly embarrassed because I hadn't been very strict with how I treated my body.

"Underwear and bra too and hop up on that table." She said snapping on lavender colored gloves.

I did what she asked.

Matilda poked and prodded my body making rude noises at random times and stopping to take notes on her clipboard.

"You've lost weight," she said blandly and I didn't know what to say so I kept my mouth shut.

She pulled out my arms, looking at the crooks and then bending them to look at my forearms.

"Have you been abusing any types of drugs?" She said pulling my fingers apart to look at the skin.

"No."

"Are you lying? We're going to take your urine and blood and if you're lying it will go in my report." She said that as if I was the scum of the Earth and could not be expected to tell the truth.

"I don't care what you report."

She released me and made another note. "Slide onto your back and put your feet in the stirrups."

A nervous energy overtook me and I glanced at the door. One of the men responsible for me for the moment, raised an eyebrow and made a point to lean against the door.

The paper under me crinkled, loud and obnoxious in the room.

As I laid back, I focused on the circular light above me that let off noticeable heat. It was going to burn out my retinas if I didn't stop but at least it gave me something to look forward to.

I heard Matilda snap on another pair of gloves and then she was pulling me further down on that table. A cold instrument forced its way into me and I fought the need to squirm away from her. I gritted my teeth to keep from making a noise.

There were a few clicks and I felt an uncomfortable pinch inside of me.

Matilda murmured something and then, thankfully, finished up. She stood and slid the gloves off.

"Have you been on any type of birth control since you left?"

"That isn't your business."

"I'm going to put you back on birth control. You'll be started on the pill you were prescribed before. If you wish to change it because of how your body reacts, though your charts don't indicate anything from before, you'll need to speak with Archer," She said ignoring me altogether.

I closed my eyes momentarily, fury burning in my chest.

In a matter of hours I had once again been reduced to whatever Archer would want me to be. He would dictate what medicine I would take, when I slept, woke up, my food.

My pleasure.

God, I had just started to claim my own autonomy. I had eaten cereal for dinner and cake for breakfast because he wasn't there to stop me. I had slept in when I could and cut my hair the way I liked it because I could.

And now I had Satan in heels telling me even any possible birth control change would have to come from Archer.

At that point, I refused to answer anything she asked me. I let her draw my blood and peed in a cup. When she finally handed me a stack of white cotton clothing, I was relieved.

"Take this," she said handing me a little plastic cup of colorful pills and a cup of water to wash them down.

As I was planning to leave, I heard Matilda behind me, "You deserve whatever he does to you."

Probably.

*****

My God. My room hadn't changed. Archer hadn't changed anything.

I stepped cautiously into the room as if a bomb was going to go off underneath my feet. The last time I had called this home it had been the summer before my junior year of college. I still hadn't been able to budget or put my clothes in my hamper but I could name every popular vine that had come out that year.

It was no surprise Archer had been able to wrap me around his finger. He had targeted me at the perfect time.

I walked over to the feminine bureau and opened the bottom drawer. It was still there. My favorite college sweater that I had packed on the vacation I thought would be nothing but beautiful nights under the desert sky.

And it had been. Until the end. It had been one spur of the moment hiking trip before we set back to campus. I had been the only one who hadn't made it back. I had been promised the others had been set free. I don't know if I believed that. They hadn't made a sound when they got into the real world. Hadn't stirred up a fire for my rescue.

They had to be dead. It would be cruel for them to be alive.

I stuffed the sweater back in there and slammed the door shut.

God, I had been a slob. Archer hadn't been happy with the mess but he had been giving me leeway because I had been...compliant.

I wasn't going to clean it now. I wasn't going to be that pliable little college girl he hunted and put on a shelf for everyone to see.

I was so close to taking the mess from sloppy to disastrous. Instead, I pushed aside the gowns I had been fawning over that night so long ago, and I crawled into bed.

*****

I came awake, the darkness giving way to the brilliant morning.

"I know you're awake," he said, his voice taking command of the whole room.

I didn't wait. Before my brain had completely processed what was happening, I was on my feet. It wasn't the most stable position to be in but it seemed like the right thing to do. To be above him.

He was sitting on the gray, tufted, ottoman that sat at the end of my bed.

The sight of him completely took my breath away. It hooked me under my ribs and tried to pull me to him. All the old habits that had been mercilessly branded into me by way of his "lessons" almost made me get off the bed so I could go kneel at his feet.

Because there were consequences for not following the rules.

He was and wasn't the same. He wasn't in his all black. His clothes had some variation that spoke to the power Tiller said he now held. He wasn't wearing a suit jacket but his dress shirt melded to his body, showing off the strength that he had harnessed in the brutal environment of his profession.

His black hair that used to be hidden under black Adidas hats was now GQ perfect. I could smell the mint and forest scent of the cologne he had been wearing for years. God, how many times had the smell of him clouded my head? How many times had he forced his space into mine so that I would bleed into him?

Even now, those memories made my body respond, heating my soul that had been so cold.

His presence in my room made me wet.

Archer looked slightly amused but made no move to make me submit.

"Do you feel safe up there?" He asked.

I swallowed but refused to move. "No. But I can still see you."

Archer had something in his hands but the shadows were still giving us an atmosphere of being on opposite sides of a battlefield.

"Sit down, Mina," he ordered, the glint in his eyes a warning.

"No." I answered, pressing further against the wall and headboard. He didn't get to come in here and try to make me obey like a dog.

"You still act like a child," he murmured in a tone that indicated I was the problem.

"If I'm such a child let me go," I challenged.

He let out an amused noise. "You would like that, wouldn't you? Did you enjoy your vacation?"

"I would hardly call you hunting me into paranoia a vacation," I snapped.

"You seemed to be enjoying yourself," He said vaguely and I felt a moment of uncertainty. What did Archer already know?

I thought back to my time out in the world and didn't think I did anything offensive to him. Then again, Archer's views of my independence clashed with mine. On those nights when I refused to heel he yanked it out of me.

"I was enjoying myself. I appreciate you taking it all away." I said angrily.

"Watch your tone," He said coldly. Calmly.

That was it. The stress of the being pulled out of my home and brought back to a world I had no idea how to control took over my muscles and spirit.

"No! No, I won't! What do you think was going to happen? That you were going to walk in here and I'd grovel at your feet! Fuck you, Archer."

He didn't react the way I thought he would, the way he had before. Before I never would have gotten away with that outburst. Now, Archer just observed me from his relaxed position. Still holding whatever it was he had.

"Of course I didn't. I'm not stupid, Mina. You've been enjoying yourself in the outside world, I get that. But I hope you understand that this means we're going to have to start over."

Chills came over my skin and I tried to pull air into my body. To make some retort. To let him know he couldn't control me.

But I couldn't.

"You can't do that..." I said softly.

Archer got up, slowly, unfurling with ease.

"You knew this was coming. You knew. You knew what would happen when you ran from me," he said coming a little closer. I counted it. He was five steps away.

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't run? How long did you expect me to be your fuck toy?" I said my voice getting louder.

"Mina, I won't tell you again to watch your language. Do you understand?"

His threat made me dig my heels deeper into the mattress, "Are you going to give me my stuff?"

"Do you think you've earned the right to have your things?" He said in the most reasonable tone he had.

"I don't think you have the right to keep them from me."

Another step. Four now.

"I don't want you getting distracted by things you can't have."

"Archer...you don't have to do this. Please." I begged, not sure what I was begging for, or if this new Archer cared to listen to me.

Gone was fire that scorched every part of me and in its place was a coldness honed by circumstance.

"You ran from me, Mina," he said without emotion.

"You caged me, Archer."

Another step. Another internal reaction.

"You were never caged. Not the way you should have been. If you had been you would have never run. Do you know what that tells me? That you were lying the whole entire time."

Fuck. His words caused a thrill to go up my spine. Was he going to do this now? Had I expected him to go slow? I didn't think it was in my best interest to say anything.

"Do you agree, Mina? When I gave you every opportunity to tell me the truth? Instead, you chose to lie to me. And then...you ran."

I could feel my heart pulsing in my throat.

"But we'll fix that this time. Your manipulative behavior is unacceptable."

He stepped closer, so close, I was afraid to make a move.

I could see his beautiful face in the light of the rising dawn. He was angry.

"This time I won't make the same mistake. Starting now. Get off the bed and take your fucking clothes off."