Harem

... Agnes lead Ami into a large library, complete with newspapers, magazines and Internet. On a stand by the windows was a large three ring binder, inside were pages of pictures devoted to each of the girls in alphabetical order.

... Agnes was there with pictures of her working at Hot Dog on a Stick, high school, pictures of her Granny and of growing in the new place. Pictures of Agnes at Jason's and of her labia after the piercing.

... There was a section on Ami, with pictures of her with Aaron, at the apartment, on the beach, of her sleeping naked an hour ago.

... "H ... how did he get these?"

... "He works on a new girl for at least a year, most times longer, before he brings her in."

... "How often does he bring in a new girl?"

... "About every six months. Here." Agnes flips to the back of the book where there are pictures of girls Ami hadn't seen yet and no pictures of these girls at the house. They were perspective girls.

... "These are the one's he's keeping an eye on for now. But I don't know how long it will be until he takes another."

... "Why, am I so different?"

... "Oh no, it's just that we're set up for a dozen and now we have a dozen."

... A Dozen?! Ami had to pause over that but Agnes was so matter of fact that Ami decided that she'd do her pausing later. "How long has it been since you had a dozen?"

... "A little over a year."

... "And where did the last two girls go?"

... Agnes seals up. Ami thinks she should have seen this coming."Did they get away?"

... "No, no one has ever gotten away. Like I said, lots don't want to."

... "What about you?"

... "No, not anymore."

... "Not since he gave you your granny's fingers in a box."

... "No, I still wanted to go after that, I just wasn't going to do anything that might get her hurt."

... Ami had to move carefully here if she was going to get this straight. "But now you don't even want to leave?"

... "Right. Uh, I told you they took me to see my Gran at her new place and it's real nice. I saw her before she saw me. I saw she was happy. She's taken care of me since ... since I was born. She did her very best to make me happy all my life but once I graduated and the Social Security money stopped we were going to be dependent on what I could earn and Grand dad's pension. I couldn't do for her anywhere else like I do here. So this is my job, I have one customer and as long as I keep Jason happy, my Gran can be happy. It's the easiest job I've ever had."

... Yeah but you're a whore? If Persephone was to be believed, all women were whores the only difference was the place of business and terms of employment. And if Persephone was right then men were the ones who put shame on a woman's freedom to choose and gave honor to a woman's commitment. Ami wondered what her real feelings were about the activity.

... "And what happens if she dies of old age or something?"

... Agnes won't respond.

... "You'll be out on the street won't you? The system doesn't work if you don't have some one on the outside does it?"

Agnes still won't respond.

... "In here what ever happens to you, happens to them, but if something happens to them ..." Ami gets a flash that maybe they aren't thrown out when their relative dies, maybe they die too. Jason couldn't afford to let them go. One girl telling her story to the police wouldn't be believed but two or ... even over a period of years. And he really couldn't expect people not to notice if an individual kept loosing appendages. If things didn't work out, well then ...

... "Agnes, what happened to the girls before me?"

... "I don't want to talk about it." Agnes looked up, guiltily, at a corner of the ceiling. Could there be a camera there?

... Ami sucked on her drink.

... "Come on, I still haven't shown you the game room or the gym." Agnes lead her further around the square. The game room was just what the name said. There was a billiards table, electric darts game, fooseball, air hockey, video games, card table and cabinets full of board games. The room was empty at the moment except for the naked prepubescent girl playing one of the video games while listening to her Walkman turned up so loud that Ami could hear it just fine. (Did the Backstreet Boys still sing?) The girl was slamming the machine and swaying to the music, she looked like a tone deaf animal driven crazy by the sound. Her boobs were small, as were her aureoles. Her vulva was completely bald, not even a mustache, and she was as smooth as the proverbial baby. She had a way about her that made you think she was shoving her child's body at you, a "look at me you old hag," sort of thing.

...................................

... Ami whispered to Agnes, "What's her story?"

... The girl lifts a headphone, "I'm still jail bait if that's what you're worried about." She put the headphone back and continued playing pinball.

... "Brittanie-"

... "Brittany?"

... "Yeah, Brittanie, was on the street for two years, she ran away from home at ... ten we guess. She's been here two years so we figure she's about fourteen though nobody but Jason knows for sure. She was starving when he found her.

... "She's got a little sister still at home. The deal is Jason keeps an eye on the father, if he touches the sister he gets a visit from David or Frank. He's gotten two so far. As long as Daddy stays away from her little sister, Brittanie, does anything Jason wants."

... Humph! Ami had to admit it looked like a good deal from "Brittanie's" point of view. Then Ami processed the corollary. If Brittanie misbehaves, what? Daddy gets to molest little sister once? And what would he show Brittany to teach her her lesson, pictures, semen sample? And if Jason had enough proof to send David and Frank twice, he had enough proof to give to Child Protective Services so they could remove little sister from the situation. No, it was only a good deal for Jason.

... Ami then wondered about the expense of keeping this guy under surveillance. Was a willing prepubescent sex slave really worth all of that? What could he get from her he couldn't get from the rest of them? Even more to the point, what was he getting from them that he couldn't get from willing girls? If you're rich and you want to be surrounded by willing nubiles, start a magazine like that Perfect 10 guy or a web site or something. Become a movie producer with a reputation for couch casting. There had to be something he gained that he couldn't get through legal means.

... Was he into dominance? It didn't add up. A dominant wouldn't want all this trouble and a dominant enjoys a more direct relationship between threat and action. This was definitely delayed gratification on a large scale, the girl didn't shiver with fear until she got the evidence back, hours to days later. And, if all went well, Jason would never have to use the threat. That wouldn't satisfy a dominant either.

... What did Jason get from the situation that he couldn't get by simpler means? That was the key. And once she had the key and the lock, the door to her freedom should open. Her inclination though was to kick through the door or to, at the very least, pull the hinge bolts. Looking for the key and the lock meant playing by Jason's rules and her gorge rose at that thought. (Fortunately, a little more liquor could push most gorges back into place.)

... Agnes lead them into the gym. The gym had it all, even a boxing ring. Ami pointed at the ring. "Oh Persephone is into boxing. We used to have a girl who was into kickboxing too, but ..."

... "But she was one of the ones who left. What happened, did she try some moves on David or Frank?"

... "Oh no, and I wouldn't recommend that. I think they're just waiting for something like that."

... Well that might explain a thing or two, if it were true. Either way Ami was going to see if Persephone would teach her a thing or two. (Kicking through the door was still a more attractive option.) Agnes showed her the sauna next to the gym. A couple of girls were in it.

... Ami wondered if she should think of them as girls or women? Only Brittanie, so far, was a girl. Then she wondered that Jason would take the risk of having a minor here. But if no one from outside ever came in, and you're already guilty of kidnapping, slavery, rape and mutilation, charges of statutory rape probably don't hold much power.

... They were back out in the garden, Ami needed to sit down.

... "Oh, we don't spend much time out side when Jason's not here."

... Ami didn't immediately understand. "When Jason's not here? You mean he's left? What about Frank and David?"

... "They're all gone."

... "Then why are we sitting here, why don't we ..."

... "Because they'll catch us and cut off Aaron's little toe."

... "You can't be sure they'll catch us."

... "When I tried the wall I thought they were gone, I was wrong. And if I'd gotten over, ... I've lived here three years, I've been through that gate over fifty times and I have no idea where we are. I don't even know what town we're in or which way to the closest pay phone or police station. You have no idea where your brother is, but they do. You could be telling your story to a very understanding police detective and by the time they find Aaron he'd just be a pile of bite sized pieces."

... Ami really hated her. She'd given her a shot and now she was giving her the truth. "But there's got to be something. We have to do something."

... "We keep Jason happy and he takes care of our loved ones better then we could. That's the deal and there's no way out so get used to it."

... "But I didn't-"

... "It doesn't matter if you didn't ask for it or if you didn't want it. That's the way it is, deal with it. Deal with it right now or you and your brother are dead. It's as simple as that."

... Being dead sounded better then being here but Aaron wasn't dead. The MS would eventually kill him, years from now, but for now ... he was scared. There wasn't anything he could do to protect or defend himself. He was her big brother. He'd taken care of her when they were younger, now it was her job to take care of him. She knew that upset him and she didn't like it either but now ... Now there was no putting it out of her mind. If they were to survive, if he was to survive, if he was to live without pain, it was up to her.

... She tossed her drink into a flower bed. "What do I have to do?"