Lara Swift is Colonized Ch. 02

He spit a fresh wad of saliva into the plastic cup, as though to punctuate his thought. Lara flared her nostrils - it was every bit as demeaning as she thought it would be.

"Well, what can we do about it?" Lara demanded.

"Lara, they were just trying to scare you at that point! If you hadn't attacked Dr. Yeung, you would have been out of there within the week. Maybe you'd get a spanking or two, but something like that could only teach you some manners!"

Lara blinked, not deigning to respond to that little barb.

"But now," Errol continued, "the doctor is out for blood. She wants you to stay in this asylum until your court date with Mrs. Liao, and they are pulling all the strings they can to make sure it's in the far, far future."

"I cannot stay here," Lara said, keenly aware of the way his smile perked up to hear her beg like this.

"I know. I talked with the staff here, and negotiated with them pretty hard to get you a deal. They can let you out of your cell, and you can even interact with other patients, but you have to participate in their educational program. I'm not saying it will be nice, but it beats being locked up for 24 hours a day for the next sixteen months."

"Or, there's always Mrs. Liao's offer to take over your title. If you give her that, you could be out of here on the very same day."

At this, Lara could hardly keep track of all her warring emotions. First, the crushing realization that there was no quick way out of here, at least not until her solicitor found her. Then, the uplifting thought that she might actually talk to other women in her same situation - after all, captivity shared is only semi-captivity. But beneath everything was a suspicion of her Uncle Errol, and a strong aversion to trusting him on anything. It certainly didn't help that he was openly ogling her body - she could have slapped him for being so brazen.

"Very well," Lara decided, "I will do the... education program."

"Well, it's not as simple as that, love. It costs quite a bit of money to take part in it - two hundred thousand pounds up front."

Then he spit towards the cup, but missed utterly, brown juice splashing against Lara's bare thigh.

"Whoops."

"Two. Hundred. Thousand. Pounds?!" Lara hissed, feeling the muscles in her neck tense up. She reached towards the spittle to wipe it up, but Nurse Cerys firmly commanded her to keep her arms at her side. It trickled down her muscular thigh, causing her to cringe as it slowly moved towards the earth.

So, this was their plan! To bleed her dry by making her purchase the slightest easement of suffering at an insane cost! It was a lot of money, to be sure, but only a drop in the bucket compared to the value of her inheritance. She could spare it. What did it foretell about the rest of her time here, though? How long until they demanded more of her money, and gave her even less in return?

"Yes, two hundred thousand." Uncle Errol said.

"And you'll need to decide very soon. Visiting hours are short - I almost have to leave just now. If you agree, I will need you to give me permission to find the money on your behalf since your assets are still frozen. I would only need enough to pay your tuition, and to support myself here."

Lara could have killed the the bastard right there. She knew he would take more than was necessary, and there was nothing she could do to stop him. As though to pile on the insults, he spat into the cup again. This time he missed badly, and stained the crotch of her shorts. It made her bite her cheek so hard she could nearly taste blood.

"Well Lara, what's it going to be?"

She fantasized about the revenge she would take on him when she was free again. Revenge against all these horrible people. But her stay the solitary cell had softened her up more than she would care to admit, and she was prepared to take any almost any deal to avoid going back. Anything except for Mrs. Liao's offer.

"Alright. I will pay the tuition," Lara relented, barely able to tolerate the look of satisfaction on Errol's face.

It turned out to be less simple than that, he said. Mrs. Liao had frozen her assets - she had no way of accessing the 200,000 she needed. The panic set in right away; she didn't have that much money lying around! And she couldn't sell anything while all her property was tied up in this ridiculous legal drama! She tossed out half-baked ideas, feeling like a trapped animal, until Uncle Errol spoke up.

"Well, I know neither of us has that kind of money. But how about your friends? Robin Woodward - I'm sure she would float you the cash."

Lara gave her Uncle a pitiable expression, begging with her eyes for anything but that! Robin would never allow Lara to live it down if she provided that sort of help. It would be a little card she could pull out at any time to humiliate Lara - and she knew Robin would start the most vicious rumors about why she was in the asylum. If she went to Robin for help, she could practically kiss the rest of her friends goodbye as the rich bitch poisoned the well against her. But wasn't anything better than staying here? Errol kept his measured smile, but she could tell he was loving every moment of this.

"Ask Jayne Branwen," Lara said, "Or Paula Knowles. Either of them would help - but not Robin."

"I'll do the best I can, Laura," was Uncle Errol's response, but it did nothing to inspire her confidence. It sounded like his heart was set on asking Robin, like he was only politely listening to her objections in the way a person would listen to a girl asking for a unicorn for her birthday.

"Love the tattoos, by the way."

She didn't even see the contents of his briefcase! Probably a prop, just something to create hope and then dash it in order to get her to be more compliant. He gave her another kiss goodbye, leaving the dirty cup in her lap, and soon Nurse Cerys was prompting her back into her cell. The entire time she was praying to herself: not Robin. Don't borrow the money from Robin.

Please, anyone but Robin.