Donna trudged slowly along the hall, dreading what she knew lay at the end of it.

Christine's 'office'.

She thought for a moment about simply turning around and going back to her room, but discarded the idea almost immediately, knowing that that wouldn't solve anything. Christine would only come and get her, and what she would do to her then would be so very much worse than anything that she might be planning now. It was yet another in the growing list of things in this house that didn't bear thinking about.

She took a deep breath, then raised her hand and knocked.

Christine opened it almost immediately. "You're here on time. That, I suppose, should count for something." she said coldly, and motioned for Donna to enter. "Come on in, and be quick about it."

Despite the fact that this room was called Christine's 'office', it bore few resemblances to that noun. True, there was a desk in one corner, with a computer and a telephone. The desk was of very dark wood, such a deep brown as to be almost black. The chair behind it was black leather. The bookshelves were of the same dark wood as the desk, and the file cabinets were of black-painted metal.

That, however, was the only part of this room that resembled an office.

The rest of it looked more like a medical exam room, or perhaps a science lab. There were two long tables, both of dull gray metal. Along the walls ran black countertops; above and below these were cabinets, and one counter held a sink. A number of instruments were neatly stacked about, only some of which Donna recognized as having legitimate medical uses. However, the presence of these items, here, immediately called their legitimacy into question.

While this wasn't the first time Donna had been in here, the familiarity did not make each new visit any easier. Because she never knew what would happen exactly, only that it wouldn't be at all pleasant. Christine's experiments and tests never were.

Donna stood quietly, waiting to find out what Christine would demand of her now. She was torn between being afraid of it and wanting to get it over and done with; the anticipation and fear was only making this worse for her. As for Christine, damn her, Donna knew she was enjoying seeing her suffer; she had come to know that only too well.

"Donna, after this morning, it's clear to both Nathan and myself that you need yet another lesson, a reminder about what is expected of you in this house." Christine began. "Since we do also need to continue the work of exploring your magical talents, I have come up with an experiment to deal with both issues." The look on her face sent chills through Donna. The way Christine's eyes positively glittered in anticipation did not bode well for her at all, Donna knew. It'd be something else out of Christine's bag of depraved and downright diabolical 'tricks'. The sorts of things Christine called 'scientific experiments' weren't much more than torture, and Donna couldn't repress a shudder about what could be coming next. Christine would have fit right in with some of the so called scientists of Nazi Germany that Donna remembered reading about in school.

"You know the drill." Christine said. "I want to examine you again before we do anything else today, so strip and put that on."

'That' was a hospital gown, hanging by a hook on the wall.

Here we go again, Donna thought, unable to entirely repress a shudder. It was to be one of Christine's medical exams. Every time Christine wanted one of those, it was the prelude to another of her experiments. She didn't even want to try and imagine what it could be this time. She'd find out soon enough, and she already knew it'd be bad, whatever it was. For a moment or two, she just stood there, trying to push aside the fear and make herself move.

"Are you suddenly deaf?" Christine snapped, impatient at Donna's hesitation. "Strip or I'll do it for you. And if I have to do that--" she broke off, letting the implied threat dangle unfinished. Sometimes what Christine didn't say was worse than what she did say.

Donna sighed and began to undress, slowly, hoping to delay the inevitable as long as she could.

Christine wasn't putting up with any of that, however. She swung her hand towards Donna, releasing a crackling string of red-lit magical energy, which leapt from her to Donna with an audible sound, similar to the crack of a whip--or a bolt of lightning.

Donna cried out as it struck her.

"Do you want more of that?" Christine demanded angrily.

Donna couldn't stop shaking, the tears ran down her face. "No...please..." she whispered. "I--I'm sorry." she murmured, desperate to keep Christine from using the energy whip again. She struggled to keep her hands steady long enough to finish undressing.

"Hurry up, then!" Christine snapped, her eyes daggers, silently daring Donna to push her any further. The look on her face implied she'd be eager for any excuse to strike Donna again.

Once she had finally gotten her clothing off and the gown on, Donna assumed the expected position on the table.

The examination got underway. Christine, as usual, was doing her best to make it as painful as possible. Donna closed her eyes, trying to block out the feel of Christine's latex-gloved hands pinching and pushing at all her most sensitive places.

Finally, it seemed to be over, going by the fact that Christine was now writing something down on her clipboard notepad.

Donna knew she was taking a chance, by trying to get up without Christine's noticing. The table was hard and lying on it for twenty minutes at a stretch didn't help at all.

The movement, however, drew Christine's attention, and her eyes flashed angrily. "I didn't say you could get up yet!" she snapped. "Do you want another taste of the whip?"

Donna shook her head frantically. "No, please." She quickly laid back down and waited apprehensively for whatever was to happen now. While one part of her was afraid of what was coming, another part wished she could just get this over and done with. If it had to happen at all, the quicker the better.

"You can sit up, but stay on the table." Christine said.

Donna did just that; she knew Christine would only make it worse for her if she showed even the slightest hesitation. The sooner she did whatever Christine wanted this time, the sooner it would be over with. Until the next time, that is--but that was another thing she wouldn't let herself think about. Doing what she was told without thinking about it was something she'd found herself becoming very good at, it was practically an essential survival skill in this house.

Christine placed a glass sphere, somewhat resembling a crystal ball, in Donna's hands. "You're going to channel energy, just as you did before," she said. "As I recall, you only managed to hold it for six minutes last time. I'm expecting to see a significant improvement today." The 'or else' was left unsaid, but implied in her tone, and Donna couldn't keep from shivering again.

"All right," Donna sighed. This test always took so much out of her--she wasn't at all sure she'd be able to make the channelling last much longer than she had before. However, she also knew if she didn't at least try, there'd be worse in store. She didn't want to find out what that might be, if she could help it. She'd been on the receiving end of more than enough of Christine's punishments as it was.

Doing as Christine had told her, she began to focus. After a few minutes, the ball began to glow, dimly at first, then progressively brighter.

Christine smiled as she observed this. When the sphere was glowing so brightly it hurt to look at it, she nodded. "Now, I want you to keep it exactly at that level, until I tell you to stop, and not one minute sooner." The 'or else' was unspoken, but Donna knew it was there. Christine's tone of voice was a red flag, warning her of that.

This was the part Donna had been afraid of. The more energy she forced into the sphere, the harder it was for her. It was draining her, literally, and the longer she had to hold it, the more it took out of her. The last time, it'd hurt to hold the intensity for only six minutes. Now, Christine wanted more, and Donna knew if she didn't get it, there'd be hell to pay. If only it wasn't agony to keep this up, she thought, even as she struggled to continue.

Donna strained, sweat running down her face as she fought to hold it. It seemed to go on forever; but as much as she wanted to, she didn't dare stop. Not with Christine staring at her in that cold, threatening way of hers, almost daring her to fail, her eyes and body language promising even more terrible things if she did stop too soon.

Christine kept looking at Donna, then at her instruments, then back to Donna again, still with an expression threatening dire consequences if Donna did not do exactly as she'd been told.

Just as Donna felt like she absolutely couldn't hold it another minute without passing out, Christine raised a hand and signaled for Donna to stop. Which she did, nearly collapsing over the sphere much like a puppet with its strings cut. She felt so utterly exhausted that she couldn't even hold her head up; and she felt like she could sleep for a year - or ten.

"Ten whole minutes." Christine said. "That's much better, but you still were showing far too much strain. You should have been better able to handle it by now. We will have to work on that. I was doing twice that when I was fourteen.\rdblquote She shook her head, then went to one of the cabinets and took out a jug of something Donna couldn't identify, along with a cup. Pouring some of the liquid into the cup, she handed it to Donna. "Drink this." Christine said, in a tone that invited no questions. "It's for energy and you need that right now."

Donna took the cup and, hesitantly, took a small sip. It looked like curdled milk, and tasted just as vile.

"Finish it!" Christine snapped. "Or do you want me to really get angry?"

Donna shook her head and choked down the rest of the substance. While part of her wanted to retch, surprisingly it did seem to erase some of the fatigue. At least now she didn't feel like she would fall flat on her face the moment she took one step. It was just as well she was still sitting on the table, though. If she had had to walk right now it was still debatable how long she'd be able to stay on her feet.

Christine's next move was to make Donna lay back down while she examined her a second time. More notes on her clipboard were made, while Donna lay there apprehensive about what was coming next. Something always did, she knew too well. Her fears were realized when Christine put the clipboard down, then shoved the sphere back into Donna's hands. "You're going to charge it again, but not until I tell you." she said firmly. "Lie back down and wait."

No. Donna thought, though she didn't dare voice it. She definitely didn't feel up to a second session with the globe--not so soon. That drink had helped some, but she still felt tired. However, she knew saying no to Christine's demands would get her nothing but another crack of the energy whip, or perhaps something much worse.

Christine, ignoring Donna's expression, went to another door and opened it. "I'm ready for you now," she called out, and a teenaged boy entered, one Donna didn't recognize. He wasn't one of the servants' children, so far as she could tell. In fact, Donna realized, he didn't seem much older than she herself was, and his clothing was somewhat worn and faded-looking. She wondered why Christine had brought him in here. Donna had a sinking feeling she wasn't going to like the answer. Not that that would be anything new around here, she thought miserably. So many questions she'd prefer not to know the answers to--far too many, really.

The boy looked at her and grinned wolfishly; that look didn't help Donna's fears about what was coming next.

"Now, remember what I told you," Christine said to the boy. "You'll do exactly what I tell you, and when. I gave you $100 to come here; you'll get the rest of the money we talked about when you've done what I asked."

The boy nodded.

The talk about money explained one thing, anyway, Donna thought. He must be some street kid Christine had found somewhere and hired for only she knew what reason. With that came even more certainty that she was about to find out what that reason was, and it wouldn't be anything she'd want to know. That was pretty much the norm around here, Donna thought bitterly. Always when something new came along, it would turn out to be something Donna wished she'd never known in the first place. Then she'd try as hard as she could to forget it, at least until the next sordid thing, the next painful experience, came along. It was constant, a struggle she endured every day, and it was eating away at her just as much as everything else around here was.

"As long as that's clear, we may as well get started. You see this girl?" Christine continued to the boy, indicating Donna with a wave of her hand. "What you're to do, putting it simply, is fuck her. Right here and now, with me watching."

"Um...okay." the boy said. Donna thought he sounded a little disconcerted, but that was nothing compared to what she felt about Christine's instructions to the boy. Her eyes went wide. "No-please--you can't do that!" she cried out.

"Oh, I can indeed. I can do anything I want." Christine sneered at her. "What's more, I'd think very carefully about what I said if I were you. You give me too much of a hard time, and Nathan will hear about it. I really don't think you want to know what he'll do then." The tone in her voice implied she'd enjoy it so very much if Donna were to give her any excuse to carry out that threat.

Christine was right, damn her--she didn't want to know what Tompkins would do if he got angry with her again. Every time that happened, he found some way to tear her apart inside a little more, Donna thought miserably, wishing she could be sick right now, and put an end to this that way. Then again, it probably wouldn't; knowing Christine, she'd just force Donna to swallow some more vile 'medicine' and go on with her so called experiment anyway.

Christine gestured to the boy, who'd already started to undo his trousers. "Besides, I've already promised this young man, and we wouldn't want to disappoint him, now would we?" she said in a sugary-sweet voice that only made what she was saying all the more terrible.

"It's ok with me," the boy said, "I didn't figure you for the kind of lady that did peepshows, but whatever floats your boat. I'm not looking any gift horse in the mouth, not for 500 bucks. What I can get for that sure beats eating out of dumpsters." he grinned. "Bring on as many girls as you want, I'm game."

Christine snorted. "I'm only interested in what you can do with this one. Is that clear?" Christine paused, her cold eyes holding the boys', as if daring him to comment further. "One more thing. You're never to tell anyone, and I do mean anyone, about today. You'll forget you ever met me, or saw her," she waved a hand in Donna's direction, "or that you were ever in this house, ever even saw this house. Is that understood?"

The boy raised his hands in a 'surrender' gesture. "Sure, sure, whatever you say." But that look of predatory eagerness never left his face.

Damn it, Donna thought. She could've guessed that Christine could be trusted to have found a kid who was a few decks shy in the morality department. From the way he acted, Donna was sure the boy was used to girls who'd put out willingly. "Christine--please--!" she tried again. "Don't make me do this...!"

"Silence!" Christine hissed and coiled the whip, her eyes blazing, daring Donna to say one more word. "You'll do as you're told, and no whining about it! Unless you want some more of this!" The whip crackled as she raised her hand.

Donna sank back. Any hope she still had of getting out of this vanished. She closed her eyes, wishing with all her being that the floor would open up beneath her in this moment and swallow her whole. Anything, anything, would be better than this. But she didn't get her wish; the floor, and the table she lay on, remained stubbornly solid.

She felt the weight shift, pressing down on her, as the boy got into position. She wanted to pull away; but she didn't dare, not with Christine glaring daggers, and still coiling that whip.

"Wait a moment, don't go in yet." Christine said to him. "Donna, now you're to focus on the globe again. Put all you've got into it, just like you did before. I want to see how sex affects your magic."

Donna cried out as the boy took her, then had to concentrate on the globe or risk Christine's displeasure. In a way she was glad for that distraction as it helped her to shut out what was happening to her body.

The flow of energy out of her began again, and Donna realized it did feel different this time. Almost as if it was surging in time to...she wouldn't let herself think about that. She couldn't, or she'd lose it for sure, which would only infuriate Christine. Her reaction to that would only be to come up with something even worse than what was happening now.

Finallly the critical moment arrived. He came inside her, her body responded, and the magic surged brighter than ever for just an instant, the sphere glowing brighter than Donna had ever seen it.

Donna sagged back, too exhausted now to even keep her eyes open. Christine had to help the boy stand up, then turned her attention back to Donna, taking the globe from her. A third physical exam, as rough as the first two, followed. Once Christine was finished with her note taking, she sneered coldly at Donna. "All right, I've seen what I needed to. Get yourself cleaned up and dressed. I won't be needing you any more today, so you can go back to your room."

Donna was barely aware that Christine was leading the boy away. She could dimly hear her once again reminding the boy not to tell anyone about this, or where he'd gotten the money from.

It was all she could do to make herself even move--two sessions with the globe, so close together, had nearly worn her out, even with that so-called energy drink's help.. However, she didn't dare linger, as that would've only given Christine an excuse to come up with some other way to torment her. Not that Christine ever needed any excuses, of course; Donna had learned that the hard way too many times by now. Christine liked hurting people too much.

After Tompkins' nightly sessions, the boy's having forced himself on her didn't hurt physically in itself. But she still felt dirty deep inside, where no amount of soap and water could reach. She was an object to Tompkins and Christine both, and knowing that was destroying her.

Feeling like something the cat dragged in--if there'd been a cat in this house--Donna made her way out of the 'office'/lab and back to her room.

Once there, the first thing she did was go straight to the bathroom.

Though bathing did no good; it never did--not inside, where it mattered.

She wondered if she'd ever feel clean inside again. What was clean, anyway? Did she even know any more?

Suddenly something in her snapped, and she knew instinctively that not even for her mother's sake could she stand one more day of this. It was bad enough having Tompkins force sex on her, but now Christine was bringing street kids in? Not to mention that damned globe, and having been forced to work with it twice in the same hour. She was afraid the next time Christine would want her to do it three times; that might very well kill her.

OK, maybe not that--Christine would probably not let it get to that point, neither would Tompkins. She was too 'useful' to them, she thought bitterly. Yet what sort of life was this, where she felt like one of the walking dead almost all the time?

That was it. She had to get out of this house. She didn't know where she'd go, nor did she much care, as long as it was as far from Nathan Tompkins and Christine Benson as she could get. She didn't know the first thing about living on the streets; at this point, however, anywhere and anything would be better than more of this.

Donna opened the door to her room and looked up and down the hall. Good--there were no servants passing by right now. She slowly made her way out into the corridor and through this wing towards the main hall and the entry, listening all the while for the least little hint that anyone, especially Tompkins or Christine, was approaching. It'd also be better if none of the servants saw her; then Tompkins couldn't threaten to punish any of them when her absence was discovered. She didn't want to put them at risk if she could help it; they were, in their own way, as much prisoners of Tompkins as she was.

If her luck held, as she hoped it would, Tompkins was in his office, and Christine her lab, and neither one of them would notice she was gone until dinner time, by which time she hoped to be well away from here. There was, of course, always the chance they'd find her magically, but she had to at least try to escape. She simply had to or she'd break completely right now.

She did manage to get out of the house without being seen. Then, she simply started running. She didn't know where she could go, she only knew that she had to get as far from the estate as she could before they knew she was missing.

The only trouble was she didn't know where exactly she could go; she'd never left the estate without Tompkins or Christine before now, so didn't really know the area. The few times they had left had either been with Tompkins or Christine transporting her magically, or else they'd been in Tompkins' car, so she had no real clear idea of what streets led where in the neighborhood.

She just kept walking, not sure of what else she could do at this point. She had to hope she'd find somewhere safe to spend the night before either of them caught up with her. She tried at several buildings that looked disused, but each time she tried to curl up in an entranceway, like she knew homeless people did, someone came along and chased her off, yelling things about vagrants and druggies. Neither of which she was, but she didn't have the strength to argue. She knew going to the police was out, that would lead right back to Tompkins.

In the end, she fell asleep under a tree in a local park. It wasn't at all comfortable, but at least Tompkins wasn't there.

The next morning, she woke up cold, hungry, but at least she was away from Tompkins. She'd have to think of what to do now. Who could she turn to? She didn't know anyone who wasn't connected to Tompkins and Christine. There was her mother to think about, too; along with the fear Tompkins would make good on his threats toward her.

Well, first things first. She'd have to look for something to eat somewhere, somehow. While the idea of rummaging through garbage dumpsters--as that boy had said he'd done--repelled her, she knew that going back to Tompkins would be a thousand times worse, especially now. She was certain that by this point, he'd be in one of his rages, and it simply wasn't safe to be around him at those times.

She made her way along the paths back to the park entrance, and slipped by while the ranger at the gate wasn't looking. It was safer to avoid being seen, or being askedany questions about why she was coming out of the park before the gate had opened for the day. She walked to a traffic signal at the nearby crosswalk and pushed the button. That, however, was the exact moment when she saw an all too familiar black limousine parked nearby.

Oh, no, she thought. It wasn't. It couldn't be. No, no, no! She closed her eyes, desperately willing the unwelcome image to disappear. Then she opened them again. Damn it! The car was still there.

The door opened, and Nathan Tompkins stepped out.

Donna could only stare in horror. Dimly she realized, Christine must not be with him, or she'd have gotten out of the car too. All she could see, though, were his cold eyes glaring daggers at her.

"I am so very disappointed in you, my dear." he said in a paternal voice that would've sounded sincere from anyone else, but only sounded phony coming from him. "I have given you so much, so many advantages you never would have had back in Illinois, and this is how you repay me? By attempting to run away like some petulant, spoiled child?" He shook his head. "I had thought you had better sense than this. Obviously I was mistaken in that."

The tears came to her eyes. She fought not to break down into sobs, utter despair overwhelmed her. "Please. Don't make me come back..." she whispered. "I can't stand it any more-it's killing me!"

Tompkins shook his head. "Do not waste any more of my time with these foolish hysterics. You know better than this, Donna. The life of the streets, among the common rabble, is not for you. Your place is with myself, and Christine. That is where you belong. Come, now, let us have an end to this foolishness, or I shall have to get angry, and I do not think you want that."

Of course, she knew him well enough by now. All this talk of being disappointed was only an act for the benefit of any passersby. She couldn't stop shaking as she thought of what he'd do once he got her back to the house. He wouldn't show anger in public, of course; he'd never be so undignified as to do that. What he'd do once they were alone, inside his house, however--she refused to let herself think about what would happen then.

She turned and tried to run in one last effort to escape, but to no avail. Tompkins gestured, magic flared and she couldn't control her body any longer. She was helpless to do anything more than watch herself climb into the car to sit beside Tompkins.

Once they were seated, he seized her hand, holding it so tightly it hurt. Yet she couldn't pull away, as much as she wanted to; his magic still held her in place. She couldn't move unless he allowed it, and right now, he wasn't doing that.

"You know I shall have to punish you for this, my dear. However, your own actions have brought this on yourself. Remember that." While his voice remained calm on the surface, Donna couldn't keep from shivering, and not just because of the cold. She knew only too well that beneath those words lurked anger, rage--Nathan Tompkins was the sort who would lash out, in one way or another, at anyone he felt had crossed him. She'd seen that demonstrated so many times, yet his inventiveness when it came to cruelty never failed to surprise her.

When it came to devising ways to put someone through hell, the man was positively diabolical. Christine was, too, so with both of them together, the word nightmare wasn't strong enough to describe it, but she couldn't think of any better word to use. She shuddered at the thought of what terrible punishments they were both certain to have in store for her by now.

When they reached the house, Tompkins all but dragged her to his office. She'd tried to struggle, to break away from his grip--physically and magically--but to no avail. "Oh, no, my dear. Do not dare think for even one moment you are going to get away with this. You are an ungrateful and disrespectful child, and ungrateful, disrespectful children must be taught a lesson." he growled. "Do you realize what your actions have cost me? I had other plans for last night and today, which I was forced to delay because of your stupidity and foolishness! That delay has already resulted in a significant loss, so for that, too, you must pay the price!"

"Please!" she cried. "I'll do anything, anything you want, only please, don't hurt me!" The tears flowed unchecked, she couldn't even think of trying not to cry; she begged, pleaded, for him to let her go.

"When I am certain you have learned your lesson, my dear." he said through clenched teeth. "Not one minute earlier than that. What is more, when I am done with you, then there is Christine to be considered. Your rash actions have been a great disappointment to her also; and so she has as much right as I do to teach you your proper place. Which she will; make no mistake about that.\rdblquote

Nothing she said or did made the least bit of difference to him. He simply couldn't see her running away as anything other than an insult to himself, Donna realized, and his pride couldn't take that.

He magicked away her clothing, then forced himself into her. This time it was even rougher than it usually was; he seemed to be taking out his anger and rage against her by making this as painful as he could. Donna couldn't stop crying the whole time, try as she might, That, however, only made him angrier, which in turn made him hurt her more, a vicious circle she didn't know how to stop.

When he was finally done with that, he didn't even give her a chance to rest. There was a flare of magic; then they were both in Christine's lab/office. Donna shivered at the thought of what would happen to her now.

"You've found our little lost lamb, I see." Christine said in that terrible mock-sweet voice of hers, the one that always sent chills through Donna.

"Yes. I have already meted out what I considered proper punishment," Tompkins replied. "However, I thought you, my dear, might want to have your own turn with her. That could only help to make the lesson more memorable, do you not agree?"

Christine smiled horribly. "Oh, yes, indeed, Nathan. I shall enjoy teaching her what a foolish, stupid child she has been."

"Then I leave her in your hands." Tompkins replied. "Do, please, inform me of how the lesson goes. I shall be very interested to find out how cooperative she is...or is not."

Christine smiled again, in that same horrible, chilly way. "You know I'll tell you everything, Nathan,\rdblquote she cooed, brushing her fingers along his hand. "I always do, you know that.\rdblquote she chuckled. \ldblquote As for Donna, she will be an absolute model of proper behavior by the time I'm through with her."

Tompkins smiled back at Christine and his hand closed over hers for a moment.

Watching this didn't reassure Donna at all. Those two were so totally tuned into each other it never ceased to make her feel positively ill. Christine's words, their terrible implications, only added to her terror. She had already cried so much already that she had no more tears, or she thought she didn't. Her body hurt all over from Tompkins' handling, that coupled with the fact she'd eaten nothing since lunch yesterday and been outside in the cold all night didn't help.

Tompkins vanished-and she was left alone with Christine.

She could only moan in terror as Christine dragged her over to the table and strapped her down.

Christine waited until Tompkins had left the room, then manifested the energy whip again, and Donna knew how much more terrible Christine's punishment for her was to be. She couldn't keep from screaming, it felt like every nerve in her body was on fire as the whip struck her again and again until she passed out.

When she came to, she was still on the table. "You'll spend the night right there, my dear. What's more, there'll be no dinner for you tonight." Christine cooed in that same horrible voice. \ldblquote I would really think about even trying to get up without permission if I were you. I'd so love to have any excuse to teach you yet another lesson. Remember that!"

Donna was too spent, in too much pain, to do anything more than lie there, the tears flowing uncontrollably. She'd come so close to getting away--so close--damn it did Tompkins have to always win?? It was looking more and more that way.

Eventually she cried herself to sleep, right there on the hard, cold, table; she was too utterly exhausted to stay awake any longer.

* * * * * * * * * *

After breakfast the next day, Tompkins made her come to his office once again.

"Now, my dear. I trust you have learned your lesson. You belong here, with Christine and myself. So let us have no more of this foolish rebelliousness."

There wasn't anything she could say or do that would make any sort of a difference. He'd never see her attempt to run away as anything other than ingratitude and defiance. He never forgave such things, she was coming to learn the hard way.

Then he came up with another list of things he wanted her to steal for him. She was too worn out to even try to resist any more.

When he was done, he sent her to her room, with strict orders to come to dinner on time.

That was exactly what she did, in the end, even though she didn't feel much like eating. She thought about simply refusing to come to dinner, but rejected the idea. Doing that would only get her at the very least a lecture on 'proper etiquette'; at worst, another punishment. Christine and Nathan, between them, certainly knew how to be inventive at coming up with the most painful, humiliating, and degrading ways to punish her. As if that weren't bad enough, it was becoming clearer to her all the time just how much they seemed to enjoy inflicting pain, not just on her, on others as well.

She got dressed and went downstairs, feeling more like one of the walking dead than anything else, although she wasn't physically ill. This was a feeling she was getting used to since coming to live here.

When she got to the dining room, she saw it was going to be even harder to get through tonight, because it wasn't going to be only herself, Tompkins, and Christine. There were a large number of guests, all of whom were social or business associates of Tompkins'.

Oh, now she would definitely be in for it. If Tompkins was strict about 'proper behavior' (or his definition of same) when it was just the three of them, he was a hundred times worse when guests were present. As for Christine, damn her, she would always back him up in anything.

Tompkins had been so different when they'd first met. Why, oh, why, hadn't she seen what he was then? There she had been, unable to stop herself from reading the emotions of those around her, and yet she had not picked up on his. Or Christine's. Oh, she knew now that his own magic had blocked hers, but part of her wished it'd been otherwise. Then maybe things would be different and she wouldn't be trapped in this hellhole.

Donna immediately hated herself for thinking that way. The fact was that without Tompkins her mother would be dead by now. She did owe him for that, she told herself firmly. Only why did the repayment have to make her feel like she was dying inside, little by little? That was a question she'd asked herself more and more often lately. She was no closer to finding the answer to that now, than she'd been the first time she'd thought of the question. Part of her wondered despairingly if there even was an answer.

She waited for Nathan and Christine to take their seats, then took her own. She'd not make that mistake again, get into trouble that way again, if it could be helped.

She looked around at the table, and wished she dared excuse herself right now. Because it was even worse than she'd thought. She recognized quite a few of the guests; they were representatives of various charitable organizations. They'd been at other formal dinners that Tompkins had made her attend before; some he'd hosted himself. Tompkins never lost an opportunity to make himself look good, she thought bitterly. It was also very true that, with all the money he had, he could well afford to give away a few thousand here or there and never miss it. He could quite literally buy anything-or anyone-he wanted to. She'd begun to suspect that'd been how he'd gotten custody of her. That was another thing she'd seen firsthand so many times she'd lost count.

Now she knew why Tompkins had insisted on her being here; so that he could show off the 'poor little girl' he'd taken into his home out of the 'goodness of his heart'.

Every single one of the people here tonight thought Nathan Tompkins was such a wonderful, civic minded person, a real Good Samaritan. Trying to think that way about him now only made her want to be sick, to wonder how any of them could be so utterly blind as not to see Tompkins for what he was. Then she remembered how Tompkins had fooled her all those months ago; her and her mother both. What made that hurt even more was knowing that Kendra still had no idea what was really happening to her now, Donna hadn't dared put anything about what was happening to her in her letters, since she wouldn't put it past Tompkins and/or Christine to read them before they were sent.

She wanted so much to scream out, to tell all the guests what really went on behind the closed doors of this house. She wanted so much to have every single one of those people who so looked up to Tompkins finally see him for the monster he really was. If only she dared--but she knew far too well what would happen if she did. Not only would Tompkins and Christine punish her again, but it would likely be fatal for her mother. No matter how much it was tearing her apart, she couldn't risk that.

So all she could do was sit there with a smile plastered on her face and murmur polite replies to any comments directed at her--as difficult as that was when she was asked things like, 'are you happy there?' and the only safe response was, "yes, I am very happy." No, I'm not! Anything but, she thought, but had to keep from letting that show in her voice or expression. The least hint otherwise, and both Tompkins and Christine would be on her like vultures on carrion, she thought miserably.

A glance in their direction confirmed that; she could see Tompkins and Christine both watching her, silently daring her to say the wrong thing, their looks promising dire consequences if she did. Consequences...that was another one of Tompkins' catch phrases. 'There are consequences for everything'. Though she wondered, if that was true, why exactly was it that he never had to face any? Another unanswerable question to add to her growing list.

In the course of the evening, Tompkins came up to her with another woman--not Christine--clinging to him. "Tracy, I do not believe the two of you have had a chance to meet before," Tompkins had said. "This is my ward, Donna Shelley, and Donna, this is Tracy Hannah."

Donna had nodded politely, and murmured a 'nice to meet you." She had to say something, however, or risk enduring Tompkins' displeasure later. Surprisingly enough, though, a moment later Tompkins was called away to talk with someone else, and Tracy was left with Donna for a little while.

"So how long have you known...Mr. Tompkins?" Donna said, remembering she wasn't supposed to call him 'Nathan' when anyone else was around. Not only that, but she was certain that anything she said to Tracy would likely end up being repeated to Tompkins later on.

She'd learned early on not to trust anyone else who worked for him, not even the household servants. Too many of his other employees were too afraid of him to do anything other than what he expected of them; those few who weren't in that category were too much like him. There simply wasn't anyone who she could really talk to about anything, and be sure they wouldn't go running right to Tompkins with whatever she said, to improve their own status or situations. So there was no real or logical reason to believe that this Tracy Hannah would be in any way different. She'd simply have to be very careful what she said, that was all. That, too, was another thing she'd learned the necessity of the hard way.

Tracy shrugged. "A few months, now. Since May." she said. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason. Just that I've been here since August, and I didn't remember seeing you around before tonight." Donna replied quickly.

"That's no big deal." Tracy said casually. "I'm surprised he let me come here tonight, myself. But he's got his reasons, I'm sure. I work for him, too, but not with him directly. I'm involved in one of his projects somewhere else, and he usually wants me to stay there."

"Where's 'there'?" Donna said, "If it's ok to ask, I mean. I don't want you getting in trouble."

"You've heard of Shawn Catlin, the singer?" Tracy said.

"Sure!" Donna replied. Here was something she didn't mind talking about. "I've got most of his cds!"

Tracy nodded. "Well, Nathan wants me to stay close to him, that's all I can say about that. So I get to play Miss Groupie most of the time. Shawn's home is in Tampa, that's in Florida, so I can't come up here unless Shawn's got a concert in town. Which he does tomorrow night, so I've an excuse to be in New York."

Tracy talked mostly about Shawn for the next several minutes, until Tompkins came back. She hadn't, though, explained exactl why Tompkins wanted her at Shawn's, and Donna knew better than to press on that subject. Though she couldn't help but wonder--maybe Tompkins owned his record company or something. That at least made sense. Donna shrugged and concentrated on trying to get through the rest of the evening.

Finally, though, dinner was over and Tompkins allowed her to go. Once she was out of the dining room--out of his, and Christine's sight--she all but ran back to her room, ignoring the looks of servants she passed.

She was about to lose it and she wasn't going to do that in front of anyone if it could be helped. The servants couldn't help anyway, she knew only too well. They didn't dare interfere, she was 'the master's business' and none of theirs. Not to mention that Tompkins wouldn't at all approve of any of them 'intruding into matters that are none of their concern' -- at least, she was certain that that would be the way he'd put it, if he were to catch one of them even so much as trying to console her.

Once in her room, she flung herself onto the bed and burst into desperate weeping. The strain of playacting through the dinner had been too much. What else could she have done? There wasn't anything else that wouldn't have gotten her punished again, perhaps even put her mother in danger. That was the one thing that Donna feared most. If only it wasn't tearing her apart inside, what she was having to endure for her mother's sake.

Once again she cried herself to sleep. The talk about her mother brought back the memories of those last months at home and she found herself slipping back into them, to relive in her dreams the events that'd changed things so badly.