The Cunning

22

Lily would arrive at the house soon to give the new girls the rundown before the showing. Jase decided he wouldn't do her the disservice of sending her into Madison's room again. He recalled the worrisome look on Lily's face after their first meeting.

"She's going to be difficult," Lily had determined as if Jase hadn't already figured that out for himself. At least he could admit one thing; Madison was refreshing. Her being there kept him on his toes. However, with things going how they were, he didn't have time for Madison's particular brand of entertainment. The smile on his face had barely appeared before it left.

Guests started to arrive at half-eight. Madison was the last girl let out of their room. She walked downstairs, preparing herself to put up with the men's mediaeval attitudes through the night.

She would do exactly what they wanted of her. The naive child was a role she slotted into comfortably, no stranger to deception. 'No Mr Officer, my daddy isn't home' had left her lips many times as a child, always with her father sitting silently in the kitchen. She knew they couldn't come in without a warrant. She'd been rusty when lying to her boss but she was warming back up.

The new girls huddled in the corner of the living room, both with brunette shoulder-length hair Lily had curled. Their sunken eyes flickered around nervously as they clung to one another. Adam was in Benny's chair, half paying attention to a conversation with a fat man with wire-rimmed glasses, mostly staring at the new girls.

Madison had put Adam into his category a while ago, the day he'd laid into Annabelle. He was a power-hungry sadist. He loved working at the house, but he probably wasn't a fan of the pecking order. Having to do anything Jase told him to do was tough on his ego and he took it out on the girls. He was the only one she had to be genuinely wary of unless Jase was in the room.

She backed out of the living room doorway, heading into the kitchen, where Jase was sitting at the table. He wasn't too engrossed in conversation that he didn't acknowledge Madison as she walked in. She'd gone for a figure-hugging vest, exposing what she hoped was a tasteful amount of cleavage, jeans, and heels. It was acceptable but not in-your-face promiscuous like Lily had dressed the others. Benny wouldn't have stood for it but Jase let it slide.

Jase didn't stray from his conversation as she opened the fridge behind him, taking out three bottles. As she went to leave, a bulky balding man blocked her exit. His smile was full of malice, flashing a set of teeth too small for his mouth, one of them gold.

"Where have you been hiding?" Madison took a step back. Even in heels, he was half a foot taller. Her face contorted in disgust before she could stop it.

"Not here," she replied. His smile widened, and he stepped closer. The fiery ball of panic rose in Madison. Her hands grew sweaty around the bottles of fruity alcohol. The man was a lot bigger than Charlie, too big to get in a decent head butt. Her dad had never spent much time teaching her how to fight beyond playing. He said given the circumstances of a fight, even if she knew how to use her fists, it might do little to help. No one knows how they're going to react to being attacked until they're attacked. He pushed knowledge over strength, encouraging Madison to use her head if she was ever met with conflict. He probably didn't mean it as literally as Madison had taken in.

The man had backed her into the kitchen side, leaving little space for her to squeeze by.

"Shame, I would have already spent quite a bit of money on you-"

Jase's deep, not-to-be-fucked-with voice cutting him off almost made Madison's knees buckle. "Mike, leave her alone," he ordered from the table, distracting the man long enough for Madison to slip past and out. She made a beeline for the new girls.

Adam's watchful eye was still on them, no doubt he'd been told to watch their every move. The hair on the back of Madison's neck prickled at his raptorial attention but persevered.

"Hey, I'm Madison," she greeted. They both looked at her, exchanging terrified glances. Lily's warning prohibited the girls from speaking to one another, a rule Madison was breaking so flagrantly. She held out the bottles which they sheepishly accepted.

"Kasia. This is Karolina," one of them replied in a thick Polish accent. Madison knew then that these were the girls in the room next door. One of them was the voice of the lullaby. Kasia's eyes darted around as she spoke, visibly terrified.

"Are you sisters?" Madison continued, her attention flickering over to Adam, ensuring he was watching. The girls nodded in unison. "How old?"

"I'm twenty-two, Karolina's nineteen," Kasia said, relaxing when nothing terrible happened. "You?"

"Seventeen," Madison replied.

"How long have you been here?" Karolina asked.

Madison shrugged. She had lost track. "A few weeks, I think."

"You're not supposed to be talking to us, are you?" Karolina said, crossing her arms after catching Madison eyeball Adam for the second time. Madison gave her a noncommittal smile.

"Technically, no." She ignored the guilty twang for involving the sisters in her experiment, knowing they could come to harm if it went wrong. This wasn't the kind of place you escaped whilst playing to your conscience and morality. She lowered her voice, leaning into them, "I came over to tell you that you're uncomfortable, but Adam is watching you." As expected, they both looked over. "I know you've spoken to Lily, so I'm sure you know all the rules. If I were you, relax a little, stand up straight. Smile. Pretend this isn't the worst place on earth, and you'll have a much smoother time. Trust me." It was the same thing Jase and Lily had told her to do and Madison hated herself for parroting their orders.

Kasia narrowed her eyes, mirroring her sister's defensiveness. "Why should we trust you?"

Madison looked around, pursing her lips before turning back to them. Adam hadn't made a move yet, but he was still watching. "A few weeks here is long enough for me to figure out what goes down well, and your body language won't. It's all about putting on a brave face." The girls looked at each other as if seeking permission to believe her. Whether they did or not wasn't important.