Bound to You

Zack walked in right away without even knocking, pulling Eliza in with him. When they stepped inside, Eliza studied the décor as they walked along. The walls were a deep, crimson red, the hard wooden floor beneath their feet dark, setting a moody feel. There was a single, black wrought iron chandelier with authentic candles hanging from the ceiling. When she looked up, the rafters were much higher up than she’d originally thought the building to be, and the wooden beams were exposed. He pulled her through the large, dark room to a hallway just off of it, walking slowly along. When he got to the end, there was a doorway that was locked, and Zack pulled a key out of his pocket, inserted it into the lock, and then let the heavy wooden door open. Eliza followed him into the room, and saw that it was a large, spacious office. There was a long, dark desk with a wall of windows behind it, covered by panels of rich, dark green drapes. The floor, like that of the hallway and the first room, was dark wood, and shiny. Zack walked over to the desk, and motioned for her to take a seat on the black velvet sofa along the wall.

“We won’t be in here long.” He told her. “You’re going to sign a document, and then you’re going to seal it in blood.”

“What the hell makes you think I’m going to do that?” She retorted. Zack smirked at her.

“Like I told you before, Eliza. You have no rights anymore; you have no say in anything you do.” He told her. “And you’re going to do it whether you want to or not; either you can do it my way and you won’t be hurt, or I can force you and make it quite painful.”

“What is this place, anyway?” She asked him grudgingly, knowing that he was right.

“The capitol of Bat Country. We’re in the City of Evil.” He told her.

She gulped. She’d heard of the City of Evil; like its name suggested, it was nowhere you’d want to be. If this was the City of Evil, and if she was in Bat Country, in the capitol building, that could only mean one thing.

Whoever Zack was, he was obviously important. She wondered if perhaps he was one of the five guys in charge of Bat Country, but shoved the thought aside. She couldn’t be that unlucky, could she? It all just had to be a coincidence.

He walked over to her with the two pieces of paper, and held them out to her. “Sign the bottom line, in cursive.” He told her. She narrowed her eyes at him, and then looked carefully at the paper. It was some sort of contract; she had no idea what it meant, because she couldn’t read the words. He sighed. “You have no choice in signing it, Eliza. Just sign the damn thing. I don’t have all night.”

Eliza sighed, knowing he meant what he was saying. She took the pen he held out to her, and signed her name in scribbles, making it barely legible on purpose. As soon as she was finished signing it, Zacky smiled sadistically at her.

“Congratulations, Eliza. You just signed yourself over to me. You are now officially my property.”

She glowered at him, crossing her arms across her chest. “Not like I had a choice, is it, asshole?”

He gripped her arm tightly. “Now, now, Eliza. What did I tell you about slipping up like that again?”

She glared, but said nothing in her defense. Zack grinned, and held out a small knife.

“Hold out your finger.” He told her. When she didn’t offer her hand, he grabbed it from her and stuck the tip of the knife into her skin, the red blood bubbling to the surface and spilling out of the puncture wound. He took her finger, and much like a police officer would when taking a criminal’s fingerprint, pressed it against the paper, leaving her bloody fingerprint on the white parchment paper.

He pulled her hand to his mouth and put her finger in his mouth, sucking the blood off lightly before letting her have her hand back. When she looked at her finger, the cut was no longer there.

“What did you—“

“You’ll learn more about what I am and what I do in time, Eliza.” He told her. “Now, come on. We can’t be late.”

With that, he took the papers and rolled them up, holding them in one hand while holding Eliza’s elbow in the other.

As they left the office, he turned and looked at her sharply. “Remember, Eliza. We’re a perfectly normal couple. There will be some people here who know what you are, but there will be others from your government that will have no idea. If you so much as hint, there will be serious repercussions.”

She glowered at him, but nodded since she knew she had no choice. She walked with him out of the office and towards a large, double door at the other end of the hallway. When he opened it, the room was full of a lot of people; some of whom she recognized vaguely but the rest of whom she’d never seen before. Everyone was dressed in the same manner as she and Zack; the women in elegant dresses and the men in tuxes similar to Zack’s. One half of the room was void of any furniture, and the few couples dancing on the floor indicated it was empty so that couples could dance.

Zack led her to a table at the back of the room, facing two long rows of tables, and pulled a chair out for her to sit at. He sat next to her, and within minutes the remaining seats at the table were filled with men and women.

The night went by as a blur for Eliza. She ate the food that was placed in front of her by Zack. They had danced for awhile, though because she had two left feet Zack had gotten annoyed with her and stopped. After that, Zack had spent several hours speaking with other people in attendance, Eliza at his side, not saying a word and smiling when she needed to.

They were now driving again, though Eliza didn’t think they were going back to the mansion. She was exhausted. She didn’t know what time it was, but she was guessing it was close to dawn because the sun appeared to be rising.

“You may sleep now, if you want.” Zack told her. “We’re not going back to the mansion today.”

Eliza couldn’t argue, and before long, she felt her eyes fluttering closed and leaned her face against the cool glass of the window. The last thing she heard before she fell asleep was the sound of a guitar and a crooning voice through the speakers.