David stepped out of the shower and into the hotel room. Wearing nothing but a towel, he walked up to the full length mirror and used a second towel to dry his hair. In the corner of the room, crammed between the night stand and the wall, Olivia stared at him with fear. Her naked body shivered in the warmth and she tugged helplessly at the collar around her neck.
“You okay?”
“No,” came the strangled reply.
“It will get better.”
She tugged on the collar with more strength, lurching forward when it didn't give. “Why did you do this to me?”
David stared at her through the mirror.
“I didn't. The hotel did when your mother's credit rating dropped. They couldn't find her and I assume you tried?”
She sobbed. “I couldn't find her! I tried so hard, but I was running out of time.”
David thought for a moment, then he picked up his portable terminal from the side table. Turning it on, he performed a quick search for Deborah in hopes that he could find the girl's daughter. He didn't know what he would tell his former teacher, but at least he could give Olivia some hope. But, after a few minutes, he was dry but he still couldn't find her. Looking over to the cowering girl, David's lips tightened into a thin line. He ran his thumb along the additional options, then ordered a full search for Deborah; it would take hours or even days, but they would find her one way or the other. He set down the computer and turned toward Olivia.
“Why did your mother leave you?”
Olivia choked back a sob as she shook her head. “I don't know! She said Lauren was in trouble and that she had to stop something. She told me to stay in the room and avoid everyone, especially you.”
“Why?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“B-Because she said you blamed her for your sister's death and you were going to kill us. A-And,” she gulped, “you did.”
David pushed himself from the table. Walking over to her, he squatted down in front of her. Olivia's eyes widened and she tried to crawl into the wall. David stared at the girl for a long moment before he spoke carefully.
“Listen, I'm only going to say this a few times. In the beginning, I blamed your mother. I blamed my parents. I blamed everyone but myself. Your mother failed me in the last semester of class, but it was my own fault. My grades were so bad that I couldn't graduate and had to take summer class. Because of that, I didn't go backpacking in Europe like I planned. So, my sisters went in my stead. Somewhere in Germany, after a night of partying on the Rhine, they attracted the attention of someone with blood money. He bought both of them and I never saw them again. So, yes, your mother's actions may have contributed to their death, but it was my own fault for failing her class.”
Olivia frowned, not quite cringing from him, but listening with confusion.
David chuckled bitterly. “I tried to explain to your mother. Yes, I own two slaves. But, I bought them to prevent them from getting hurt. I don't abuse them, I don't torture them. The most I do is fuck them and me.” He grinned, “And keep the house clean. I hate doing dishes.”
Olivia peeked up at him, still shivering. David reached out and watched her flinch, but with nowhere to go, she couldn't stop him from cupping the side of her face with his hand.
“Look, I'm not going to hurt you.”
“Can't you just let me go?”
David shook his head, “You are property now. My property, but you have no more rights, no more presence. As far as the computer systems are concerned, you are nothing but an object.”
Olivia started to cry again.
David sighed and stood up. “Sleep on it, okay? It isn't so bad, once you get used to it.”
He locked the door and turned off the lights. Slipping into his bed, he settled down in the darkness and stared at the ceiling. From the corner, he heard Olivia sobbing. It hurt his heart to listen to.
Rolling over, he grabbed his terminal. Flipping it on, he paged through the commands. Underneath “Slaves”, he founds records for Naomi, Christina, and Olivia. Tapping on her brought up the notice of her sale in the hunting report and the certificate of transfer from the hotel to him. He already knew there wasn't any way of reversing her status, but he still looked for twenty minutes.
He checked the status of the search for Olivia's mother, but no progress. He spotted a few vague reports of her leaving Tijuana, but nothing concrete.
David did find a small obscure section of the system. His purchase of Olivia was already recorded in Mexico, but it didn't get him the full rights in the States. Without the precious transfer of weregild, there were some special conditions where he could lose her. Most of the legal pages suggested that it could never happen, but David found that he could transfer a weregild to Deborah through his purchase of her daughter.
He didn't even think twice. With a press of his thumb, he authorized a transfer and became the complete and utter owner of Olivia, with the full rights to do anything he wanted to, including killing her. David only saw that he gave Deborah at least some money, a lot of money, for his part in Olivia's servitude. He watched the blood money disappear from his account and he closed the terminal. Whispering to himself, he felt some easing of his guilt.
“She'll never talk to me again, but at least she'll be taken care of.”
He leaned back in the bed an stared at the ceiling. From the corner, Olivia continued to cry. David, with a heavy heart, closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.