Deadly Perception

After Sean had successfully untied my ankles from the cuffs, he took my hands-careful of my wrists-and pulled me up the stairs. When we stepped into the bright lit living room, I was more than relieved. I was tired of darkness, and the light felt good even though it stung my eyes. The living room was small, like a dirty beige square box. On one side was a TV, and across from it, a tattered brown couch. There was a bunch of useless shit tossed carelessly on the floor. Sitting on the couch were Nate and Dalton, my two least favorite people, not including Jack and Blaze of course. Too bad, they were looking right at me.

"Hey, Sean, what are you doing with our pretty little prisoner?" Nate asked smugly. Sean sighed in exasperation and turned toward him without letting go of my hand.

"She's a human being, Nate, she needs to get a bathroom break sometime." Nate looked intrigued while Dalton snickered.

"Does she now? I think it's a little risky to let her in there by herself. She might try something," Dalton said musing over the though. Oh no! I know exactly where he is going with this. Nate laughed openly and gave him a high-five. Lovely, they were both on the same page.

"I agree. I think we better... supervise her." When Nate saw my shocked expression, he wiggled his eyebrows at me. He can't be serious!

Sean was hardly fazed by this. "I'll stand outside the door," he said with a shrug. I was really starting to like this guy.

"No, no, no, someone needs to got in there with her." Dalton argued putting emphasis on the 'in'.

Now, I was fuming. "I don't think-" Nate cut me off.

"Nah-uh, orphan. We do the thinking 'round here. Now, either you pick who goes with you..."

"Or all of us will," Dalton finished with a smirk. You could tell he liked the idea, liked it a lot. I cursed my luck as I latched onto Sean's elbow with both hands. I looked up at him and gave him my best puppy dog expression. God! I hated to beg, it made me feel weak.

"Please come with me," I pleaded afraid that either Dalton or Nate would try something if they came with me. Sean seemed decent enough, right?

Sean shrugged. "Sure," was all he said as he slipped his arm around my waist and led me toward the bathroom. In the background I could hear Nate and Dalton mumbling angrily, and that gave me great satisfaction. For once, I win. Besides, I don't even know why they expected me to pick them in the first place. Common sense.

When we were inside the bathroom, he gave me the clothes and turned around to shut and lock the door. I watched and waited for him to turn back around and face me, but he never did. He just eyed the door pointedly as if something on there greatly interested him. After getting over my awkwardness of the situation, I did my business. He didn't flinch or speak once!

Once done, I picked up the clothes off of the floor. I groaned when I examined them, though, I knew I shouldn't have expected anything more. There was a pair of tiny black shorts, if they could even be called that. Underwear is a better word for them. There was also a dark purple spaghetti strapped tank top that was much too low cut to be modest and probably wouldn't cover my belly button. Suddenly, I wished I could've just kept my dress. These don't even classify as clothes in my book.

After I pulled the shirt over my head, I tapped Sean on the shoulder. "Uh, what do I do with this?" I asked holding up my dress. He turned around to see what I was talking about.

"I'll hold it..." He trailed off. I knew he wanted to say 'In case you want it back later', but he-as well as I- knew that there might not be a later. If Nick didn't come up with the money... No! I couldn't think like that. Nick would. He wouldn't leave me here for this guys to use me and then kill me. I have complete and utter faith that he'll come through for me.

Now, back to the matters at hand. I pinched the thin fabric of the tank top between my thumb and index finger. "I've never felt so uncovered in my life," I informed Sean. He eyed my cleavage for a second before I snapped my fingers in front of his face. He was the only one who wasn't a horny freak so far. Let's not start now.

"Well..." He thought for a minute trying to choose his words carefully. "You better be grateful for it, because that's going to be the most clothing you'll ever wear while you're here." He didn't say it in a mean or perverted way, he just said it in a factual way. It's like he was explaining a cake recipe to me.

"What. Do. You. Mean?" I demanded.

He sighed. "I'm not supposed to give anything away." When I glared at him, all he did was shrug his shoulders, hardly fazed. Im going to forever associate him with that motion from now on. "Let's just say that your next outfit won't be as forgiving." I was about to retort when he grabbed my wrist lightly. "Come on, let's disinfect your cuts before I put you back in the basement." Perfect!

Now, I felt more like a house pet than ever.