Cherry is watching the news footage of The Powerful Five.  The absurdity of it.  They believe they had powers, but Cherry had to admit she was a little intrigued by that possibility.

Master brought Cherry food.  Cherry knew she shouldn’t question his kindness, but it was a reflex.    “Did you poison it?”

This question of course infuriates Master.

“I’ve been kind to you, haven’t I?”

“Kind to me? You force to cook and clean.  You force me to decorate your house for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas and the most chilling of all?  You for me to call you Master!

“Watch your tone, little girl,” Master warned.

Master sighed.    “They aren’t coming to your rescue, Cherry.  No one is looking for you and I don’t care about some old new footage.”  Master strokes Cherry’s face, the one he had just struck two days ago.

Master brings out Cherry the handcuffs and warns her he will put them on her if she disobeys.

Cherry is now resigned.   She wasn’t about to test him anymore and see what would happen.  She already knew.

“Close your eyes, Cherry.  Dream about The Powerful Five all you want, but they aren’t coming to rescue.  You belong to me,”  Master reminds her.

It’s a crushing blow to Cherry.

Master tied Cherry’s hands together.  A tear slipped from her eye and Master reached up and wiped it.

“Please, Master.  I- won’t do it again,”  Cherry tried to bargain.

“I fell for that once and I’m not falling for your tricks again, little girl.

“It’s not a trick!

“Quit lying!” Master growled, starling Cherry.

“You think if you behave I’m going to let you go.  I’ve got news for you, Cherry.  I have no intention of letting you go.  You’ll be freed over my dead body.  Do I make myself clear?

“Ye- yes,”  Cherry stuttered.

“Good,” Master smirked and left the room, locking Cherry in behind him.

It was quiet and Cherry knew this was her chance to escape.  She at least had to try.   She wasn’t going to let this creepy guy keep her his prisoner forever.  No matter what he thought, she was not his and she was going to make sure of that.

   Cherry glanced up at the basement door, and noticed it was unlocked. 

 Thankfully,  Master never tied her hands even though he constantly threatened to do so if she misbehaved or was out of line. 

     She gingerly turned the lock and softly walked up the stairs.    His car was gone. 

      Cherry cursed under her breath when she heard his car.   She wasn’t fast enough.   Master and Cherry stood face to face.

     “Going somewhere,  Cherry?”

“No. No.  I just wanted to explore the house,” Cherry lied.

“Don’t you dare lie to me!”  Master bellowed.  He stepped forward and Cherry stepped back.

     “I warned you, Cherry.   If you were out of line, consequences will be severe and it looks like you will have to suffer consequences. 

  “Master, no.  No.  Please,”  Cherry pleaded.

“Quit your begging, little girl. It won’t work every time.

Cherry’s eye shot open.  She could hear music playing upstairs. She knew she was locked in the basement so there was no way out.  No matter how much she looked around for an escape route. 

 She could hear footsteps.   Master unlocked the door and brought her breakfast.

   “Good morning, Cherry.  I made you breakfast.  Eat up.”

Master turned on his heels but Cherry caught him off guard.    “Aren’t you going to stay?”

   “I have some stuff to do, but I’m starting to trust you.  Don’t break it, Cherry,” Master locked the door back and Cherry looked around.  She was going to escape if it was the last thing she did. 

Master stood up and took  Cherry’s hand in his.    “I know I’m the last person you’ll trust, but you should trust me,” Master said smoothly.   Cherry shook her head. 

  Master grabbed her face and was inches close to her.  She thought he was going to kiss her, but then he backed away.    “You go.  You’re dismissed.  Don’t forget to take a water bottle with you,” Master demanded.

 He glided toward the door to check outside.  He didn’t trust that Jack wasn’t outside lurking.

  Just as he was about to lock the door, sure enough Jack knocked on his door.   

“What do you want now, Jack?”  Master growled. 

“Dayton, I know you’re hiding something.  You have her, don’t you?”

Master laughed a sinister laugh.     “Don’t be ridiculous, Jack.  Do you think I could pull off something like that without help?  Why don’t you go look for her elsewhere?”  Master pushed Jack outside. 

Little did he know that Cherry was listening to this conversation.   “Dayton.  So that’s his name, eh?

  Master checked Cherry’s work.     “I like it. “

Cherry breathed a sigh of relief.      “But don’t get so comfortable because I won’t always be easy on you, Cherry.   You understand, don’t you?

  “Ye- yes, Master, I do.”

      “Very good.    Why don’t you meet me in the kitchen?”

“Wh- why?”

     “For breakfast, of course.”

“You- you want me to eat with you?”

     “Of course, I do.  I want to get to know you,  Cherry,”  Master said smoothly.

“But- why?’

      “Because you’re going to be here for a while.”

“A while.  H- how long is a while?”

      “How about forever then?”

“Fo-forever?  That’s a long time, Master,”  Cherry knocked off her glass of milk.

   “Relax,”  Master whispered in her ear.

Master went about decorating the house for Halloween.   He thought about Cherry and the least he thought he could do is share Candy with her. 

“Y- you’re sharing candy with me?”

    “Of course.  I do have a heart, too.  

“But-”

    “You didn’t think I was going to deprive you of things, did you?  That’s how monsters work and I’m not a monster.”

  “No, of course not,  Master.  You’re too smart for that,” Cherry countered. 

“I also don’t need you flattery, little girl.   All you have to do is obey me.  Now is that too much to ask for.”

   “No, I suppose not.”

     “You know what? I have a better idea.  How about you decorate for Halloween, Cherry?  You better do a good job, too.   You know why don;t you?”

   “B- because if I don’t the consequences will be severe,”   Cherry stammered.

     “You’re finally starting to get it,”  Master smirked and led Cherry up the stairs.  She was nervous.  This could be a trick to catch her off guard, but something in her gut and heart told her it wasn’t.

      Master put down the box of decorations on the table.   “I’ll be back to check out your handiwork,” Master warned.

Master brought Cherry dinner.   It was burritos and he also brought a soda.

   “Th-thank you,”  Cherry stuttered. 

“Hmm.  Even in the face of uncertainty, you’re still ever so polite,” Master titled his head.

    Cherry made up her mind then and there.  She was never going to let him see how scared she was. 

          “Remeber eat up and no funny business,”  Master eyed Cherry suspiciously.  

         “M– Master.  May I ask you a question?”

“Certainly.”

” Why – why did you take me?”

“Usually,  I wouldn’t give you an answer, but I get lonely sometimes,” Master replied, shutting and locking the door.  Cherry shuddered.   She was going to have to get creative if she wanted to survive and escape.

 Someone knocked on Master’s door and for just a moment one small moment,  Cherry almost allowed herself to hope that she would be freed. 

     Master opened the door.   “What do you want,  Jack?”  Master growled.

    “Did you hear about the missing girl?”

   “I wasn’t aware anyone was missing,”  Master lied.

    “If you see her-”

“Yes, I’ll let you know,”  Master tried to get rid of his unwanted guest. 

   Jack finally took the hint and left.

Master turned back and went to the basement.       “You thought you were going to be freed, didn’t you?”

   Cherry shook her head. 

  “What did I tell you about using your words,  Cherry?’

“So sorry, Master.  No, I wasn’t.”

   “Don’t lie to me, Cherry!”

“No no,  Master.  I would never.”

   “Let’s be clear,  Cherry.  You are mine and you will obey me!  Do you understand?”

   “Yes, yes, sir.”

“Good girl.   Now I’ll bring you dinner.  No funny business.”

 

He pushed her into the cellar.  He had blindfolded her and forced to come with him. 

     Frightened,  she tried to back away but he wasn’t having any of that. He clucked his tongue.    “Don’t worry  I’m going to remove that blindfold.   Interesting.  I see the fear in your eyes, but yet your tone of voice holds none whatsoever.  Don’t try to be brave for me, darling.  It won’t work.

   “You will address me as either Master or Sir.  Understood?  Are we clear on that? When she didn’t answer, he was starting to become impatient.   “I said are we clear?”

   “Ye- yes..”

“Yes, M-master,” Cherry corrected herself. 

“Good.  You learn quickly.   Now I’ll ask what your name is.”

“I’ll never tell you that.”

      “Very well then but I do have ways of finding out your name.”

“My name? It’s Cherry.”

   “How delightful.   A fake name.  I know that’s not your real name, but if you insist, I shall address you like that,”  Master turned on his heels, locking Cherry in.