Chapter 4: Strip or Walk

I woke up before dawn.

The floor was hard. The living room was cold. And my shoulder was screaming because Emily had used it as a pillow for half the night.

Internal: You haven’t slept on a floor since the last time you got evicted. That was three years ago. You swore you’d never do it again. And now you’re doing it by choice.

I sat up slowly, careful not to wake Emily. She looked younger when she slept, the sharp edges softened, the permanent scowl smoothed away. Sixteen going on forty, but right now she could have been twelve.

Aaron was already awake. I could smell coffee.

He was standing in the kitchen doorway, watching me. He’d put on clothes sometime in the night, jeans and a flannel shirt, buttoned wrong. He looked like he hadn’t slept much either.

“Morning,” he said quietly.

“Morning.”

“Coffee’s on. You can have some after you kneel.”

Internal: After you kneel. Please do not modify it. Not if you want. After you kneel. He’s not asking anymore. That’s the deal.

I didn’t argue. I just shifted onto my knees, facing him, and waited.

He nodded, went into the kitchen, and came back with two mugs. He handed me black, no sugar, and kept the other for himself.

“Drink,” he said. “Then we talk.”

The coffee was hot and bitter. I drank it anyway.

Emily woke up about an hour later, grumbling and stiff. She saw me kneeling and rolled her eyes.

“You’re still doing that?”

“Yes.”

“It looks stupid.”

“Probably.”

She sat up, stretched, and looked around the room like she was seeing it for the first time. The morning light was gray and thin, filtering through dirty windows. The furniture was old. The carpet was stained. It wasn’t much to look at.

“So what now?” she asked.

“Now we go over the final rules,” Aaron said. “Then we decide if you’re staying.”

“We already decided.”

“You decided on the shelter. That was hypothetical. This is real.”

He walked to the front door and opened it. Cold air rushed in, carrying the smell of dirt and hay.

“Outside,” he said. “Both of you.”

Emily looked at me. I looked at Aaron.

“We’re naked,” I said.

“I know.”

Internal: He wants us outside. Naked. In broad daylight. This is a test. Don’t fail.

I stood up and walked to the door. The porch was wooden and splintered. The yard was overgrown with weeds. There was a barn in the distance, half-collapsed, and beyond that, nothing but cornfields and sky.

I stepped outside. The cold hit me like a slap.

Emily followed, cursing under her breath. “This is bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit,” Aaron said. “It’s a choice. You can walk back to town right now naked, probably, or you can stay and follow the rules. But you need to understand what you’re agreeing to.”

He walked past us, toward the barn. “Follow me.”

The barn was darker than the house, and colder, and it smelled like old hay and rust. Aaron flipped a switch, and a single bulb flickered to life.

In the corner was a gun safe, one of those big, green monsters that weighed more than a car. He spun the dial, opened the door, and gestured inside.

“Your bags,” he said.

Emily hesitated. I didn’t. I walked over and put my bag in the safe, then turned around and faced him.

“Anything else?” I asked.

“Your clothes.”

I nodded and started undressing. Slowly. Deliberately.

Internal: Let him watch. Let him see what he’s getting. Stretch marks, scars, and skin that’s seen too many years. If he’s going to be your Master, he should know what he’s claiming.

I took off my hoodie, then my shirt. My bra followed. The air was cold on my breasts, and my nipples tightened.