Chapter 8 - The Cat and the mouse

CHAPTER 8:  The Cat and The Mouse

Sunnie walks the floors in front of the bed where Jax is sleeping, after 2 days of caring for her, the woman’s cheeks are finally gaining some color back, looking down at the resting woman the guilt overwhelms me yet again for the part I was forced to play in her being here when I hear commotion in the hallway, trying to hear what is going on but unable to through the thick stone walls and equally thick wooden door, I sneak over to peak out, hearing there's some kind of announcement going on, I look back to the now awake Jax and plead for her to stay put while I go check things out, sneaking out to the stair well and hiding in the shadowed alcove to peer down in the main foyer

Max was addressing, to his knowledge, all relevant personnel of the mansion... from trainers and slavers, to all the slaves and subs. "You all remember Cal... most of you heard he had disappeared... some of you thought he was dead... others just believed he was on another trip, stalking another woman to add to our collection here." He started...  Looking into the eyes of everyone... seeing that some had already deduced where he was getting at... others simply couldn't take their eyes off of the creature in the cage... "But I've decided it is time for you all to know the truth.... This...monstrosity... this ugly little..." he started.... just then the creature that was once Cal, hearing the insults thrown his way began squealing and hollering... likely trying to scream obscenities as he used to enjoy... "This screaming Potato!" he said with a laugh... "This is Cal. He was a piece of shit, he stepped on too many toes.... and then he made the mistake of annoying myself and Kills. So here he is now." He continued... a Stern look overcoming his expression...Seeing no point in really telling the entire story as to how Cal ended up injured by his own toy first.

 "Let Cal here be a lesson to you. I am the head of this Mansion now. If I am not around, you will answer to Kills. If any of you feel the strain of ambition, thinking you can take control from me, as I have from Cal... I promise you, this will be your fate as well. The only difference is, I will keep you awake and numb for the whole fucking thing.” He paused again as he looked around... many of the slavers, usually hard men... looked away as his eyes neared there's...  All the while as he made the speech, he was unaware of the little Bunny hiding in the stairwell.... all eyes surrounding him were staring either at him, or the caged creature.

Jax doesn't want to stay in this room not one minute more and she can feel Sunnie's anxiety so her fear rises.  She stands and soothes out the man's button up shirt she is wearing that she found in the room and takes a long, deep breath.  She tiptoes across the cold, stone floor with her bare feet and wished she had on socks.  Sunnie left the door ajar so she opened the door just enough to squeeze through and could hear a man's voice....  a familiar voice but she can't place it.  She looks both ways and sneaks over the banister but can't see anything.  She makes her way to the corner of the stairway, not realizing that Sunnie took the opposite stairs down.

Suηηιє hears the man's proclamation, seeing the horror of something almost unrecognizable caged in the foyer, my eyes grow large as my fear spikes uncontrollably, takes off running up the stairs, heading for her owner's chambers, needing to get Jax free from here, fearing her life is going to be like that thing down below for my own betrayal to new leader, tearing into the rooms and going for the closet to throw clothes out, not noticing Jax is missing, I start to throw on jeans and a sweater, sticking my socks and hiking boots on, while babbling on and on, startled over the silence of the room, I suddenly look up and see Jax is gone, a new fear gripping me that someone has taken her, I grab a bag and stuff clothes in for Jax and start running down the hall trying to duck and hide as best as I can from the other slaves, shaking with such fear and hardly able to breath, I duck around corners and find Jax slightly hidden near the stairs, whispering to her in terror of being noticed.

Max, once finished explaining the regime change to all in attendance, he steps away from the still swinging cage the creature once known as Cal was in, allowing some of the staff to pick his ear as to questions or suggestions that perhaps Cal had been deaf to... moving off to the side, and for now, out of sight or sound of the two little mice running around his mansion...

Jax tries in vain to hear what the commotion is about down the main stairs but she with all the talking that is echoing off the walls and up the stairs, she can't make out what is being said.  She hears whispering coming from up the stairs and jumps when she sees Sunnie and trips down a step, grabbing onto the handrail and quickly catching herself.  Sunnie keeps whispering so fast that she can't make out what she is saying.  She starts making her way quietly back up to the top of the stairs "What??  What are trying to say?" she whispers

Suηηιє pulls Jax into a darken alcove, babbling on and on that we have to get out of here, shoving the bag at Jax and telling her to hurry and dress, "we don't have much time, omg....we have to get out of here....we can't stay...omg....they horror" starts pulling stuff out of the bag to help Jax dress shaking so hard I’m not much help babbles on "I know a way out, but we have to be careful...Jax u have to come with me, we can't stay it isn't safe....omg' hears the commotion quieting, motions for Jax to hurry up as I look around to be sure no one has noticed us.

Jax is stunned and tries listening to her, whispering for her to calm down as she watches Sunnie unload the bag on the floor as she holds the bag.  Sunnie becomes very still and she listens to the lack of voices she now hears.  "We don't have time for me to dress... Go! Go! Go!" she loudly whispers and pushes Sunnie to start walking, dropping the bag on the floor and now is panicked with fear herself since she doesn't know what is going on right now.

Suηηιє grabs Jax's hand tightly whispering still panicked and in terror "We'll go out this door down here and go around the side, there's a hidden ladder there we have to climb down, if we can get to the forest I can help us get threw" looks pleadingly at Jax to trust her and tugs on her, my knees weak in my fear as I hear someone shouting my name in the distance.

Jax follows Sunnie, holding on to her hand tightly and running with her the best she can.  They take a different staircase which is just confusing her since this place is like a maze.  Sunnie slows down at the end of the stairs and she almost topples over her.  "What.....What's the matter?" she whispers into the back of Sunnie.

Suηηιє shakes as if in convulsions the fear engulfing me, whispering 'they're gonna kill me Jax...that man! he's the one that tricked you at school....the one that took you....he's gonna kill me for trying to save you.....omg we have to run, please try to keep up” jerks on your hand hard the fear propelling me to move at a faster pace, feeling Jax stumbling behind me, my terror making me irrational as I hear my name being yelled again, ever closer and angry, making me squeal out feeling Jax’s hand slipping, I try to grasp onto her even as my fear envelopes me and makes me start to run faster trying to make it to the side door up ahead.

Jax tries again to keep up and she hardly hears what Sunnie is trying to tell her, something about school and she's gonna be killed. Sweat beads up on Jax's forehead, running down her temples as the fear grips her.  Her hand now sliding out of Sunnie's grip as Sunnie runs faster down the dark corridor.  "Wait....please!" Jax pleads loudly now with Sunnie.  Her bare feet slapping hard against the stone floor and echoing loudly through the hall.

Suηηιє turns and goes back for Jax, putting an arm around her waist, begging her to not be loud.....when I hear a man screaming for me, stopping like a deer caught in headlights, the shakes so bad, my arms going lack as I turn towards the sound of the voice, backing up shaking my head whispering "I’m sorry....I can't.......they'll kill me.....I can't" takes off running, my feet moving faster than I can keep up tripping and stumbling, leaving Jax behind as tears roll down my face, already in my head that I’m dead.

Jax stops cold when she catches up with Sunnie and is lost for words when she also hears a very angry voice calling out for Sunnie.  She stares down the dark hallway and misses the fact that Sunnie just took off in that brief moment after hearing her whisper that she can't.  Jax leans against the wall to hold her steady and tries to focus on just where she is.  "Sunnie!!!" she whispers to no one.  She follows the hallway, keeping with the wall until she is back to fork and forgets which way to take.  The angry voice is just getting louder and closer.  She takes off running down the left hallway, around the corner, the steps again: at least she knows where she is now.  She flies up one set of steps and waits... listening..... and runs up the last set, opening the door quietly and back into the upstairs hallway.  Where to go?  Back to the room? No...... she runs down the west wing, quietly slipping through the double doors and along the outside hallway and into the room that once was her prison.

Suηηιє rushes down the hallway, going through the outside door, moving as quickly as I can along the narrow path not daring to look down to see the large drop between where I am and the ground, finally nearing the hidden ladder, I hear the scream of my name as if it is right next to me, causing me to jump and nearly fall down the ladder, I shimmy myself down to the forest flooring, tears nearly blinding me as my heart races so fast I fear it will explode, ducking down under the castle windows to make my way around the back, picking my way carefully through the traps so I’m not caught, hearing an alarm being sounded, I flee faster to the thickets of the trees, keeping to the shadows as best as I can, still trying to step carefully even as I stumble every so often, vowing to come back to save Jax as soon as I can.

Max, once the questions, or at least the immediate concerns of the various staff members were addressed the crowd began parting... slaves and subs conversing amongst themselves, slavers bringing the various captives back to their cells and cages.... those he'd been talking to finally dispersing as well.... Sighing he began walking up the stairs and towards his office... now that all was said and done, he had a few things to attend to... including getting in touch with that man Rock... who expressed interest in purchasing Cal... As he neared the doors leading to his new chambers... he noticed the door was slightly ajar... raising a brow as he didn't recall leaving it so... nor did anyone have cause for going down that way.... curiously he moved through the corridor... pausing at his office door... His ear to the door, he listens for movement inside...

Jax tries the door and to her surprise, it's unlocked.  She opens the door cautiously and peeks in the crack.  The room was mostly dark with little light coming through the curtains as the sun was setting.  She opened the door enough for her to squeeze through and closed it.  She turned to face the room and looked for the cage that was supposed to be in the middle and it wasn't there.  In fact, the curtains.... now there was curtains?  She didn't remember those.  "Fuck.... fuck..... Am I in the right room?" she said to herself.  Same pictures she thinks...  Footsteps!  She runs around the first piece of furniture in the room, a desk... crawling under and pulling her legs into her arms, she forcefully quiets her breathing and waits in fear.

Max hears the loud, rather irritating alarm sounding.... Grumbling... he steps away from the door... making a call to the head guard... "what the fuck is that noise going on about" he all but growls into the phone... rolling his eyes as the guard explains a few of the captives... a male and two females, had taken advantage of the assembly he'd gathered and made a break for it.... Apparently afraid of what they saw in the cage... "Alright, alright... shut off the fucking alarm. Get the dogs and chase them down. Let me know when you have them.... and no, I don’t particularly care what condition you bring them back in." he explained... the man rattling apologies for the inconvenience among other things... Another roll of his eyes, he hung up the phone as the guard was still speaking.... moments later the alarm was abruptly silenced.... considering he'd have to look into the alert system for escapees... as he couldn't have some annoying alarm going off when guests were present. But then subtly was never a part of Cal's personality... yet another thing that would soon change.

Because of the alarm, and his discussion with the guard he was unable to hear anything in the room... thus he simply went for the direct approach... opening the doors and strolling inside... he then closed and locked them behind him. Not wanting his intruder to escape, whether it was another escaped slave, or some idiot thinking they could take advantage of the sudden regime change to take command themselves... he would deal with things himself. Looking around, taking in the room, and looking for anything out of place... he waits still as a statue for several moments... eyes closed as he focuses on his sense of smell and hearing... With the alarm quieted, the room would be very quiet, allowing him to listen for sounds that didn't belong...