The Cunning

14

"Where have you been?" Sam asked when Jase came downstairs after having a shower once Madison had fallen asleep. His hair was wet, the curls stretched out into waves that he'd pushed back. The kitchen filled up with the smell of his deodorant.

"I went to lay down for a few hours," Jase replied, putting two slices of bread in the toaster.

"Where?"

"In my room." He yawned, pulling the chair out opposite Sam. He lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply and blowing the smoke up towards the ceiling.

"With Madison?" Sam asked. Jase bobbed his head slowly, looking up at the clock. It was already twelve.

"Madison was in the room," he confirmed.

"What did you say to her last night?"

Jase chose his following words carefully, aware it wasn't a good look that he had done nothing in retaliation to her headbutting Charlie.

"She's still learning the rules. Charlie knew the rules and broke one. I'm letting this slide. I think the fear alone of getting a slap has made her pipe down."

Sam wasn't overly keen on how Jase was handling her. Janine had a point about the other girls finding out and deciding to take a page out of Madison's book. They couldn't exactly kill all of the girls or turn them all into drug-induced zombies. The girls made up two-thirds of the house's income, and every time they got someone new, it was a risk. The whole operation ran on fear, and they would have nothing to fear if there were no punishments. He kept that thought to himself.

The toaster popped, and Jase finished making the girls food, taking Madison's last. Three days was the longest any of the girls went with no appetite. On the second day, most of them caved to settle the hunger pangs. He expected Madison would be no different.

"You need to eat. You threw up last night," he said. She didn't acknowledge him. She just picked at a loose thread on her sleeve. "Madison," Jase barked. Her expression remained vacant, but her lips moved.

"Why do you care whether I eat or not?" she asked.

"I don't," he replied flatly, "but starving you isn't beneficial for us."

It wasn't beneficial for her either. Madison wasn't sure what her angle was by refusing to eat. A low rumble sounded from her empty gut- an internal plea for some form of nutrients. She didn't want to give in to anything they told her to do purely because they told her to do it. Not unless she gained something in the process.

She looked at the toast.

"What kind of bread is that?" she asked. Jase scrunched his nose up in confusion.

"White?" he replied. Madison rolled her eyes.

"I can't eat that even if I wanted to. I'm a celiac. I can't have gluten." Jase folded his arms, unsure if she was telling the truth. Madison continued, "I'm not trying to be difficult. I'm just trying not to die." She huffed. "It would be pathetic if I got abducted and then got killed by a piece of bread because of an intolerance."

Jase's left brow twitched. A sense of humour was rare in the girls they collected, at least under the circumstances the men put them in, but it wasn't completely unheard of. A dark sense of humour was another coping mechanism.

Madison saw it as more than that. It was harder to kill someone that made you laugh or had a personality outside of the object you see them as. Dietary requirements, quirks, flaws. It makes them more 3D.

"What can you eat then?" he asked after a brief pause. Madison shrugged.

"Anything without gluten." Jase pursed his lips

"I'm not giving you special treatment," he said. Madison resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him again. The fear that had radiated off her last night had worn away. She was back to pushing boundaries.

"It's a dietary requirement. Special treatment would be letting me go. Again." She mumbled the last part, not wanting to be too brazen. Jase knew a challenge when it stared him in the face. He lowered his voice.

"I would keep that to yourself if I were you. I'd get a smack on the wrist. They'd kill you." He took the plate away, blissfully unaware that he had told Madison what she wanted to hear. He shouldn't have let her go, no one knew about it, and there would be consequences for him too if anyone were to find out. The immediate consequences of his actions might not be that bad; however, a seed of distrust was all she needed to plant for things to start going South for Jase.

Her inventory now consisted of leverage and four bobby pins in the top drawer of her nightstand that Lily had left behind. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

*

What do you think Madison is up to...?  Will Sam's suspicions bring Jase trouble?  Or will he mind his own business, knowing he still gets paid regardless of whether Madison is working or not? Don't forget to vote and comment, I love reading through your thoughts and theories x