Fettered

The Vaccine

She was completely broken by Eveline's 'gift', she had to be. Pleasure at Lucas's hands rushed through her and she loved every fucking second of it. She'd been all over him first: tongue in his mouth, hands across his chest and shoulders, an unexplainable desire pushing her the moment he entered their bedroom. She'd been shoved against the wall, both wrists clasped by one of Lucas's hands, giving his other the chance to roam across her breast and down her side. He'd crammed himself so hard into her that she felt like she could barely breathe.

When he fucked her, she screamed and begged for more. She loved crying out his name and loved looking at the marks on her body from his nails and teeth afterward. She reveled in being dragged around by her leash, having him threaten to shock her (or, better yet, actually do it). Somehow, there was nothing wrong with her change of heart; things were how they should've been all along. Excitement rushed through her every time he came around.

That evening was no different. He walked in with a briefcase and a grin, and she jumped off the bed to launch herself into his arms.

"Hey, beautiful," he said, embracing her with his free arm. "Got somethin' fer ya."

Something for her? She was about to gush about how sweet he could be, but some part of her muddled brain remembered the vaccine as they moved to the bed. Brining her the vaccine was still pretty damn sweet anyway. He plopped the case down and unlatched it, opening the leather-bound case to reveal the velvet insides. Indents in the velvet snuggly fitted a small bottle of alcohol, a container of cotton balls, and a vial with a 23G hypodermic needle. Amber-colored liquid floated in the syringe.

"Fin'lly got this from those bastards I been tellin' ya about. It's th'—" He lowered his voice, though Eveline was not around, "—vaccine."
"Thank god," was all she responded.

Still of sound enough mind to give herself an intramuscular injection, she took it upon herself. Alcohol on the cotton, swab the skin, remove the needle from its vial, undo the cap, and insert into her bicep—motions intrinsic and robotic. The vaccine spread hot across her arm and made her muscle ache.

She asked, "What's it gonna feel like?"
"Kinda sucks fer a few hours n' you'll prob'ly get dizzy, but nothin' ya can' handle. It takes a day 'r two fer it t' work completely but y'all should feel back t' normal after that."

Then the room spun and she nearly toppled over before she reclined against the mattress.

His voice seemed to come from another room. "It's just yer brain gettin' cleared a' th' fungus."

He took his place beside her, cuddling, snuggling, letting her get comfortable in his warm, welcome arms.

For the next day, she went through the motions of pain in her bicep, dizziness, and an overwhelming exhaustion. She stayed in bed to sleep it off, staring at the swirling ceiling most of the time. But after that, thoughts of Evie and pleasing her with new family members subsided, leaving her brain clearer than it had been in who-knows-how-long.

When the family had gotten crazy at dinner a few days later, the yelling and screaming only made her ears ring. She watched on the sidelines, leaning against the wall with hands in her pockets, next to Lucas as he kept Diane away from fists being thrown by Mia and Marguerite, who seemed to really hate each other. No one mentioned her change in demeanor, not even Eveline who seemed like she thought fist fighting and screaming was a part of every family's meal.

Her clear mind was both a blessing and a curse. Now that she got to see the fighting and reflect on her months living here with Lucas with a mostly normal brain, she saw how extremely fucked up everything was. Sometimes it felt like watching a movie, like none of that could've possibly happened to her. But the shock collar reminded her of how real it all was.