Free to Feel [Temporarily (??) Discontinued]

Chapter 34

Dropping Maya and Sam off, along with their clothes in a bag, Catherine couldn't help but notice the tension between the two. Maya looked like she's was going to explode but was forcing herself to wear the mask of calm and peace for some reason. Sam, however, looked absolutely miserable and tried not to look at her, hugging himself and being even quieter. When the photo centre manager opened the door to greet his workers, the puzzled expression on his face suggested that he hadn't expected to feel such a tension between them either.

Cat looked the place up and down and smiled in satisfaction. Although the place was still run-down and pretty much ruined, at least it was cleaner now. The floors were swept, the windows cleaned very well and even the lights were fixed.

"What happened to them?" The manager asked Catherine, glancing at the redheads, who had already split up and went to their chores, with Maya going into the storage room and Sam heading to the room where the photos were taken.

"No idea." Cat shook her head and shrugged. Well, they were siblings after all, they had a right to fight every now and again. "I'm pretty sure it's nothing important, though."

She had more things to worry about right now.

"I must say, they've been extremely helpful." The man gave a smile and a spark in his eyes - the one that had lit up when the siblings first showed up - burned even brighter. "We have more customers now, I mean, it's still far from enough to fix this dump, but..."

"I'm glad." Catherine smiled and nodded. "Oh, one more thing, my mother or my father will be picking them up from now on. Is that alright?"

"Well, yes, sure, absolutely!" The manager nodded happily and exhaled. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to get back to work..."

Cat chuckled and walked off, letting the man go. She didn't actually want to keep chit-chatting with him either, there were many things on her mind. Who was that man her mother had found? Would he really help them? Was it just a scam? Was freeing slaves considered and illegal action?

How did the people react to her post?

She felt her heart squeeze out adrenaline at the last thought, and immediately did her best to calm down. She knew well that her blog couldn't have gotten that much attention overnight, especially considering the fact that she was new on that website and her topic was quite controversial. The majority of people adored slavery and wouldn't give it up at all, but she still thought it was just because people didn't know what being a slave actually meant.

Being a slave wasn't carefree and glamorous, as could be seen in those 18+ magazines offering Sex Slaves to be bought or rented. Being a slave had nothing to do with karma - even though initially slavery was a punishment for not being able to afford a house, now it was more of a lottery. Heather or Raven, Maya or Sam - they had done nothing to deserve their nightmare of a life, they were just born into chains and cages.

A sign caught her eye, she was pretty sure it was a new one. It was like an advertisement, showing a grinning teenager holding a bone in his mouth. He looked happy, smiling, with those curly hair and shining eyes... The text below basically said that the Market offered only the happiest slaves.

Catherine turned around, trying not to gag. She'd seen pets there. They were broken. Wounded. Taught to pretend they were happy. Maybe that's why Peculiar Slaves or Punching Bags were rarely advertised, not to speak of Donor Slaves: it was next to impossible to make them look... Presentable.

Her train of thought was interrupted when she saw the familiar car parked on the other side of the street. She paused and blinked, then tilted her head. Was that Jared's car? What was he doing there? She shook her head, there was no way it was actually his car. Heaven knew Cat had bad eyesight, working with a laptop does that to a person! Besides, it was likely just another car similar to his, she didn't remember his plates.