Free to Feel [Temporarily (??) Discontinued]

Chapter 24

Catherine exhaled as she got out of the car and clicked her tongue at the sight of the poorest photo centre she'd seen in her entire life. The building was tiny and messy, with windows that could do with some cleaning and the front door covered in colourful posters and adverts. It smelled here... Smelled of mold and something rotting.

"Is this it?" Maya asked as she got out of the car and helped her brother get out as well. He gulped nervously and stood back behind his sister, as if hiding from something. "So much for the bright future."

"That's the point, it's supposed to be pathetic." Cat shrugged and felt something tug on her heartstrings as she understood that Heather wouldn't be joining them. No, Heather was dumped somewhere on the side of the road, waiting for her to come back, like... Hachiko. She shook her head and tried to get those thoughts out of her head. No. No. She would soon come back for him and... And everything would be alright. Everything would be wonderful. Maybe if she just hurried...

Suddenly she felt her phone buzz a little, almost as if it received a new message. Weird. She'd never received any messages as her boss always called her as did her family, and she'd blocked as much spammers as she could.

Leaving the slaves to breathe for a few moments she went to check the message and frowned. It was sent from an unfamiliar number but... Apparently it belonged to Jared? Jared Nelson, the police officer who used to own Heather long time ago and was actually the only one who treated him with some decency. Catherine smiled at the photo attached to the message - it was a selfie, Jared taking a picture of himself and Heather in a police car. Judging by the expression on Heather's face he was alright.

Well, it was for the best. She didn't want him to freeze out there in the cold after all, and Jared was trustworthy enough to let him take care of the guy for a while.

"I honestly don't see how it's supposed to work." Maya muttered and folded her strong arms. Catherine took a deep breath.

"Nobody has ever hired a slave before, and these guys are desperate to have at least someone work for them. If there's anyone who'll hire you and be willing to pay you money it's them." She explained and grabbed the door handle, recoiling when she felt how sticky it was. Goddammit, couldn't they make the place at least a little bit cleaner?!

The door opened with an ominous creak. Cat took a step in and wanted to cough or to vomit when the horrific taste reached her nostrils. Luckily enough, neither of the redheads seemed to be affected by the odor, so... Yeah, that was good enough.

"Hello, this is a photo centre." Greeted a guy from behind a messy desk. He looked like he was a part of the place itself, so untidy and wild was the mop of his hair and so dark were the bags under his eyes and... And so dead he sounded. "We make photographs for documents, calendars, presents... The cobbler is down the hallway to the right." 

Right. Catherine cleared her throat and looked around, seeing quite a few posters that were almost begging for someone to work there. She knew that the wage here wasn't nearly enough to have a good life, just enough to survive. But it didn't matter right now. Maya and Sam already had a place to live in and food to eat, they just needed to earn at least some money in order to be able to rent, or even better, buy a place to live in.

"Uh... I see you need employees." She did her best to speak calmly, knowing how much she stood out. In her nice and - not gonna lie - not very cheap clothes, she wasn't meant to be here and she knew he could see it as well.

The guys of the guy lit up and he even straightened his posture a little, as if the mentioning of employment breathed some life into him.

"W-well, yes, uh... We need a janitor, someone who can hold a camera and press a button, um, the experience doesn't really matter, it's not that difficult to take pictures and-"