Rain pours down heavily onto the asphalt outside a stranger's garden, hurried footsteps dancing across it in vain attempt to avoid being drenched.

A passer by bickers about the weather with another. "Where did the sun go?" They ask bitterly, blistered with hail. 

A streetlamp flickers on as night comes earlier than before, illuminating a thin layer of frost. 

College is coming to an end. 

Amy wipes her brow and leans back in her chair, bedsheets hugging her waist to spare her from this biting autumn chill. The deadline for her dissertation is on the horizon and now she no longer has to fear its approach. Relief washes over her in a wave that carries the girl back to shore, no longer having to tread water like she had been. This was the final proofread, she's ready to submit.

Fingers hastily swipe across her phone and she makes a call, practically bouncing in her chair, biting her nails as she waits for owner to pick up. 

"It's late, girl. Have a nightmare?" Speaks those dulcet tones that make her feel in her place, so at ease. 

"S-sorry... I just wanted to hear your voice, I deleted that recording like you asked me to so..."

"Good girl. Is there anything you'd like to share, princess? How's your paper coming along?"

Amy wishes she was allowed to touch herself, but knows that she's never been talented enough at it anyway. Much better to wait for those gloved fingers to whisk her way again. "Ah! I... I finished it. Like, fully finished. I think it's really good... had to take a few liberties to make sure I don't get in trouble aha... but it's a good piece. Thank you, sir."

"Good, I look forward to reading it if it gets published. Then, princess, I believe our business here is concluded. I've enjoyed you a great deal, amusing as you were." Click.

"...what? Owner? Uhm... hello? Hello?" Colour drains from Amy's face, ignoring those final words as she wonders if she accidentally hung up the phone on her end. Quickly calling back, Amy sits and waits with pounding heart, only for that perfect voice to never return. 

Placing down her phone, Amy stares out of her window and wonders what she's going to do now. 

When she wakes up in the early light, Amy gets ready for morning assembly before remembering that strange interaction on the phone the night before. For the last few weeks the girl has been to every line-up without fail, deciding to push that call to the back of her mind and focus on her daily routine like nothing's wrong. She still needs to submit her dissertation, but this is more important.

The girl taps her foot nervously during the bus ride over to the edge of town where Eden sits hidden in plain sight, surprised to find that Dani is not here as she usually is, catching the same bus from a few stops earlier. Perhaps she's running early... or late. Nothing to worry about, Amy tells herself as she holds back panic. 

Stepping out in a rush, Amy shudders at this sudden cold and already misses summer. Perhaps she should have layered up more, but she knows that owner likes to see her body on display and... she'll be at the entrance soon enough anyway. It's a surprisingly well heated place for a converted warehouse, owner put a lot of money into insulation. As she finds the door, Amy waits for a few minutes before knocking when it isn't automatically opened for her like it usually is. After a second round of knocking, she is met with more silence and her face scrunches into a grimace. "Oh, p-please! Let me in... it's cold... I-I'm good, I've been good. Hello?" 

Amy shakes off the cold, heat rising to her cheeks as she bangs on the door one last time before letting out soft whimper. "What did I do wrong..." The girl asks meekly, wondering what Amelia would think of her now. As she turns away and takes a step, Amy considers her training and balls her fists. 

"Is this a test?" She mutters to herself again, turning back towards the door and giving it a determined look. "I'll... I'll show you just how good I am. I've nowhere else to be." 

The girl sits down, planted in the frost, hoping that owner sees her resolve and comes to fetch her. She looks around for a camera but cannot find one. 

"Nowhere else..." 

"Jesus, Edie, she's an icicle." Seven and Twelve strokes the back of their hand over Amy's forehead and they wince. "We need to take her inside, like, yesterday."

"What have I told you about nicknames, dear? I prefer titles... ah I'm far too lenient with former friends, this is why I prefer to take strangers." The redhead snaps their fingers and their right hand slides the warehouse door open, scooping Amy into their arms and quickly rushing inside. The stranger follows, flicking on the lights to the empty warehouse and ordering their oldest slave to take their newest to the beds at the back. 

Inside a room Amy has never entered before, one lined with beds like an infirmary but with handcuffs dangling from a few of the frames, Amy is gently lowered onto a bed and wrapped in several of the sheets. Seven and Twelve rushing off to fetch a warm water bottle. The stranger steps forwards and removes a glove with their teeth, peeling the other off and placing them aside. "Corrupted a sweet thing in here once, she had a nurse fetish, one of the few times I took on a gendered role given her obvious preferences. I don't really mind it, only acting." They pull up a stool and sit beside the girl, assessing her thoroughly as those eyes snap open. "What a stupid thing you did, freezing yourself out there in the hopes it was a test. You could have died."

As owner's naked hand reaches out and strokes thumb over Amy's cheek, the girl weakly grabs it and pushes it onto her properly, treasuring the feeling. "I haven't felt your bare touch before... I think it's worth the gamble... uhm, anyway. It wouldn't the first time I almost... well, you know."

"Pretend I don't. I want you to act like this wasn't a test, like I really care." Owner cups her cheek and allows her to nuzzle it, Amy getting lost in the proposed fantasy and nodding against the warmth. 

"The day I first saw you... I spent that entire day in the park, I felt it only right that I spend it outside, around people. It was meant to be my last after all." Amy closes her eyes, that hand telling her that she's not alone while her collar's temporarily removed. "I hated college... had no friends, I was so different to everyone and... they always found me rude when I never meant to be. It was exhausting, I didn't fit in anywhere and then..." The girl traces her neck, the mark left by leather, tears escaping from the corners of her eyes as she smiles. "You gave me a place to belong. I felt scared at first, but I shouldn't have... I had no colour in my life until I met you, sir. Owner... Your hand is softer than I imagined." 

"It always is, Charlotte." 

Amy's eyes open wide and fix on the stranger's as she watches them narrow on her. "Then you're... oh, I see..."

can't meet today after all. too much on my mind. sorry, charlotte.

"Yes, it was all pre-planned in advance. I'm only telling you now because I can trust you to accept what's best for you, even deceit. I've recruited from those kinds of forums before, lonely women who have given up on their lives are the best targets to give a new one to. It's hardly immoral, you'd have thrown it away in either case and well, I take some pity. Reminds me of myself, there's nothing wrong with casting off one life to embrace another. Agree to love me and I'll take you in, Amy. You'll be my personal property, well looked after like the rest of my girls."

The girl eagerly nods into that hand, looking so contented. "Yes... I-I love you, can I... finally have your name? I'll still call you owner if you like, I just really want to know..."

With a delicate laugh, the stranger replies. "I told you from the start, girl. My name is Eden. You're truly not upset with me for staging your acquisition? Pretending to be some kindred lost soul who got cold feet at the last second? Right on cue for my little show." 

Amy shakes her head, feeling baptised by this hand and the warm tears rolling down her face. "No, you saved my life." 

"Something like that... still, you failed my final test." Eden removes their hand, making Amy lean up like a scared puppy. 

"No, what? How? I-I'm sorry, I'll make it right... please." She begs with her eyes as much as her words, reaching out to cradle the retracted hand. 

"Even so owned, you're an amusing and challenging girl. I think I'll like having you around."

Relief washes over the girl and she sits back, Seven and Twelve returning and placing hot bottle under her sheets. "So... you're not getting rid of me again?" 

"I can't. After testing your survival instincts and seeing you end up bed ridden when left to your own devices for half a day, I suppose I've no choice but to claim ownership over your life. You can't be trusted to look after it given two near misses that I know of. You'll be much safer in my care, okay?" Eden smiles darkly, holding Amy's head up by her chin and feeling startled themselves for once when the girl pulls them into a tight hug. 

"Please look after me." She whispers softly, before adding: "And... I'm already so horny again, it was your hand..." 

"Tends to have that effect on people. Get some rest, I'll put you in time out if need be, Seven and Twelve is going to fetch you a bell. Abuse it and well... Danielle will answer the summons instead for some behavioural adjustment. Don't think she'll go easy because you're sick, that girl was a sadist before I had the pleasure of sinking my claws into her head, she just didn't have the confidence before. See? I'm always trying to help people, in my own way."

"You're amazing..." Amy's eyes are brimming with adoration, ready to frame every act of manipulation in an overly positive light. She's too far gone now, just another piece of Eden's property. 

The garden's master seals it with a melding of lips, Amy kissing away Amelia for good as she melts against her owner's softness and blinks with newfound dullness in her eyes. With a quick turn, Eden leaves the room and clacks heels onto warehouse walkway with a look of satisfaction. Seven and Twelve is waiting outside to receive instruction, walking alongside their owner in perfect step as they reach the main office. 

"She looks finished to me, sir. We already did the public test and she never even realised, that's pretty far gone if you ask me." The woman with two bodies squeezes onto armchair opposite Eden's desk, watching their owner retrieve chalk to update Amy's progress on the board. 

"I never do and yet you always seem to share your opinions! I'm just like my Amy, no friends to my name... perhaps I like pretending, so go ahead and speak your mind."

"Okay! Well then, I definitely think we can take her off the board. Don't you? The girl's completely in love, not just with you, but with the idea of her new life as a slave. That forum's a gold mine, if you'll pardon the insensitivity... hm~" 

Eden nods. "Yes, yes. A pass with flying colours, I can't say I'm not disappointed though. She proved easy, too weak. Not only that, she didn't care a lick about her dissertation." Amy's new owner wipes her from the chalkboard to make room for new subject, forgetting the board as they step close to their final project and cups both of their chins. 

"Unlike me."