JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Neon Soul

CHAPTER 20: She's My Collar

14 MONTHS AGO

"It's been one month since I've been living with her. She wasn't joking when she said I would be her maid. The house is large and extravagant, with everything you'd expect a wealthy person to own. A pool, a garden, several cars, it's all hers. Inside was interesting, to say the least. The living room is massive, with an oversized circular couch in the middle of it. Towards the back wall near the kitchen is a staircase that led to the numerous rooms upstairs. The kitchen's very modern, with every appliance you could imagine. She's making me wear this humiliating maid outfit, and all contact with the outside world has been taken from me. I have a room upstairs with my things, well, the things she let me keep. I miss my old life. I miss my family. I miss being able to do what I wanted when I wanted to. She isn't around all the time and stops in occasionally to check on me. Every time I hear her say 'Caitie!' I'm reminded that in my current situation, I am completely powerless. I'm responsible for the upkeep of the house. I clean, I take out the trash, I water her plants, and I maintain her garden. Pretty much anything she wants me to do, I do. I've thought about running away, but even if I did, she'd track me down and kill my family. I'm not allowed in most rooms, and when I'm not working, I just sit. And think. And remember the times where I wasn't being forced to be Cyreen's maid. But this week, she's been popping in more than usual."

***

"Hello, Caitie!" chimed Cyreen as she entered the house. The chirp of birds could be briefly heard before she closed the door. With a deep breath and sigh, Caitlin responded.

"Hello, Miss!"

"I'm in the kitchen, just cleaning."

Cyreen walked to the kitchen and saw Caitlin standing there, washing dishes over the sink. She walked closer to her, opened the fridge, and took out a yogurt.

"So Caitie, what do you have planned today?" she asked as she grabbed a spoon from a nearby drawer. She peeled open the top of the yogurt, dipped her spoon in, and began enjoying it.

"After I am done here, I will be in the garden for much of the day. The flowers and plants require constant maintenance, so those will be my focus. If I may ask, what do you have planned for today, Miss?" asked Caitlin, looking up from the dishes.

"Well, I'm free for now, but later there are financial duties concerning the High Court I must see to. I won't bore you with the details, though," answered Cyreen as she walked back to the living room. She set her yogurt down on the large glass coffee table in front of the couch, grabbed one of the magazines neatly arranged on one of its corners, sat down, and began to read.

"Financial duties, huh," thought Caitlin.

"Probably collecting 'taxes' from the people she controls."

Caitlin grabbed a nearby dishrag, wiped down the plate she had been cleaning, and started to walk to the cupboard where the others were. Despite it having been a month, she was still getting the hang of walking in heels for extended periods. When suddenly, a small misstep caused her to lose her balance, tripping her. She landed on the ceramic tile floor and the plate flew out of her hands and shattered on impact. Her eyes instantly grew wide upon realization of what she had done.

"Shit! No, no, no, no! M-Maybe she didn't hear it. These damn shoes are a pain! I-I need to collect the pieces and hide them before she finds out," she thought as she scrambled on her hands and knees to pick up the broken shards scattered on the floor.

"Okay, I think that's most of them. I'll check behind me too."

But as she turned around, standing in front of her was Cyreen. She held her arms behind her back and stared down at Caitlin with intensity. Caitlin froze in place. Not because of Tainted Love, but because she was too frightened to move. Before long, she resumed looking for the pieces of the broken plate until they were recovered. She looked back up, and Cyreen was still silently staring at her.