The Cunning (18+)

44

Madison stared at the clothes in the wardrobe. There was no middle ground. She either wore a skin-tight dress or covered up entirely. She would rather the latter but couldn't see it going down well with Jase. A dress was out of the question, too many wandering hands and no guarantee that Jase meant what he said. As much as she despised doing what he told her, until she figured out her next move, it wouldn't be wise to piss him off too much.

A few minutes later, she was in the hallway.

"What's up?" Janine asked cautiously when she opened her door. Madison stepped in.

"I need to raid your wardrobe," she said, already opening the doors and sliding coat hangers back and forth.

"You're not allowed in here unless Jase says," Janine whispered, though she was already closing the door.

"As you said, there's only so much they can do," Madison replied dismissively. Janine was quick to pick up on her energy, the anger from Jase pinning her down had yet to subside. The last time Janine had seen her, she'd been crying, ready to quit. This didn't feel like Madison quitting.

"What's happened?" Janine asked, lowering herself onto the bed. Madison relayed the last few encounters with Jase. She was sitting at the dresser table by the time she finished, twisting her hair up in space buns.

"He said you're 'his to play with'?" Janine repeated.

Madison nodded, chewing the inside of her cheeks as hard as she could without drawing blood. She wanted to hurt him, to rain pain down on him. To humiliate, violate and torture him the way he, and the others, had done to so many girls before her. Previously, there had been a small space that allowed for a pinch of compassion where Jase was concerned, a mild understanding of his behaviour. Now she held nothing but contempt for the man.

"And when you tried to kill him, he just laughed?" Janine confirmed. Madison nodded again. Janine closed her eyes, shaking her head. "What the fuck is going on?"

"I don't know, but if he thinks he's made enough threats to get his point across then he's got another thing coming," Madison seethed. Janine tilted her head. There was no use telling her not to make things worse for herself, to sit down and shut up, or that Jase wasn't only making threats. Madison was willing to die for her freedom and as a fellow woman, who had grown a set of balls since Madison entered the scene, Janine couldn't sit by and watch her get herself killed. She had already turned a blind eye to too many other lives.

"You can work with this," she said after a moment's contemplation.

"What do you mean?" Madison asked.

Janine pulled a black lace vest out of the wardrobe. "I have an idea, but it's fucking crazy," she replied.

"Try me."

Janine hesitated, stepping over the shoes strewn across the floor and laying the vest on the bed. "The other night, when that guy was touching you up, Jase looked pissed. And if he's called you his, that sounds possessive. You can work with possessive, Mads. You can work with his ego."

Madison's nose wrinkled at the implications. "I'm not his fucking pet."

Janine rubbed her lips together, bobbing her head slowly. "No, but perhaps being his pet wouldn't be such a bad thing..." she trailed off. Madison cocked a brow in question and was met with rolled eyes. "Look at what you know. You've got closer to Jase than anyone. I know it, you know it, everyone knows it, that's the problem. He let that happen. Right now, he's just mad because he let that happen, and everyone saw it. But if he really hated you, if he really wanted to teach you a lesson, he wouldn't waste so much time on you personally. He'd be whoring you out to every Tom, Dick, and Harry." She opened a drawer, pulled out a pair of fishnet tights, and tossed them on the bed next to the vest.

"And you don't think he plans to as soon as he gets bored of me?" Madison asked.

Janine smiled then. "So don't let him get bored." She turned, delving into the trench of clothes at the bottom of her wardrobe. "Even at the showing, he wouldn't let anyone touch you. Not for long." Madison watched colourful fabrics float to the floor as Janine hurled clothes over her shoulder. "He literally called you his. He's still possessive, but he's presenting it under the guise of ownership rather than some sort of mutual respect-" she pulled out a pair of light wash ripped jeans, chucking them on the bed, "-or whatever was going on as to why he was treating you differently." The statement was open-ended, a silent invitation for Madison to reveal all. She didn't and Janine didn't push, satisfied that her current involvement was probably enough to risk her life as it was. "Regardless, and toxic or not, possession is a form of attachment."

"I don't want to be his plaything," Madison reiterated defiantly. Janine stood up, putting her hands on her hips as she looked around for the last piece of the outfit.

"You can either be his plaything, or everyone else's," she said with such frankness Madison flinched. Janine sighed, pinging a plaid black and white button-up off the hanger. "You and I both know which is the lesser of two evils."

A heaviness settled over the girls. What Janine was suggesting wasn't as easy as she made it sound, something they were both mindful of. The risks were higher this time. Jase's patience was wearing thin.

"If I do this and it doesn't work, he could kill any of the girls here because of me. I don't want what happened to Annabelle to happen to anyone else," she said. Her palms grew moist at the mention of Annabelle. Now the indignation had muted itself, there was room for logic in her over-stimulated brain. Logic that told her it was selfish to persevere at the risk of others. Logic that told her she was out-manned, out-gunned, and unprepared. Yet it was logic that hushed the volatile voice inside, ensuring she had all the knowledge necessary to out-manoeuvre them. Self-doubt began to envelop her, pulling and tugging her under the current of second-guessing and low self-esteem. Uncertainty was a luxury she could not afford, but she was in two minds.

Janine saw she was losing Madison to a hailstorm of conflicting emotions thundering through her. She crouched down, taking Madison's hands in her own, ignoring the clamminess.

"Eggs have been cracked, Mads. You may as well make your omelette, otherwise it was all for nothing." Madison knew Janine was right. If she called it a day now, Annabelle already died for nothing. Collateral damage was bound to happen and if she didn't at least try, they would all die for nothing, anyway.

She met Janine's eyes.

"Where do we start?"

Janine smiled slowly, the tingling of forming a plan to aid in Madison's escape was just enough to keep the nauseating anxiety at bay. It was rather exciting, all this scheming. It was like having life breathed back into her, even if only for a short while.

"He likes you angry. If he isn't beating the shit out of you when you talk back, keep doing that. Keep him on the line. Anything to keep his attention because Jase doesn't share. He doesn't share his workload; he doesn't share his spot as Top Boy; he sure as shit won't share his toy." She pointed to the clothes. "Get dressed."

Madison did as she was told. Janine had pulled a militant attitude from nowhere and the pep talk was dissolving Madison's stubbornness. She knotted the sleeves of the button-up around her waist, turning to the full-length mirror. Janine stood behind her, holding a pair of heeled ankle boots.

"So essentially, the plan is to give myself to him, like some sort of peace offering?" Madison asked.

"Babe, you have something no girl in this house has ever had; Jase's attention. Use it. You're going to have to play his game anyway so play it on your terms," Janine said. She dropped the boots on the floor, picked up a black velvet choker from the desk, and reached around Madison's neck to clasp it. "If it's entertainment he wants, give him a show."