I don’t know how many days it had been - I’ve stopped counting. Everyone around me had lost the glimmer of hope in their eyes. I was held to be a plaything to a group of thugs. They made me do so many disgusting things and threatened my sister if I don’t obey. I’ve thought about putting an end to my life every single night but then who would take care of my sister? She’s only ten. Oh sweet, sweet Tia. You’re so young and yet how could fate be so cruel to you?

I'm so tired. Someone, please put an end to everything soon. God, if you really do exist, I don't care what happens to me but please, just save my sister from this hell. The fatigue takes my consciousness away, as I fall into a deep slumber.

###

My consciousness gathers.

A sound of laughter could be heard from the distance but what really woke me up is the aroma of caramelized apple and the sweet smell of cinnamon- crusted pie, just like how mom usually bakes it.

My eyes focus at a crackling sound: flickering flames can be seen inside an open fireplace. A wooden dining table is positioned just slightly in front of it, and on top of it are multiple glistening foods, as if there is a celebration going on. I can't believe my eyes as I rubbed it and refocused on the figures sitting by the table.

“Mom? Dad?” I hesitated to utter those words, knowing that both of them has passed away when we were raided by bandits.

Both of them look at me and smile, each holding out their hands to me. “Am I in heaven now?” I broke down after saying those words and tears flow down my eyes.

I felt that something grabbed me from behind and almost made me lose my balance. It was Tia, she took my hands and slowly drags me towards the festive dining table. “Oh no, Tia. Not you too…”

A splash of cold water was splattered on my face and I gasped, trying to recover from shock as if I was drowning. My dream was cut short and I woke up to the hellish nightmare that is my reality...

“Wakey wakey pig, hurry up and get up, It’s time for your reward.” A short, fat man snorts as he threw a bowl of leftovers at my face and spits at me.

Feeling bitter and frustrated, I clean up the pieces of food on my face, and whisper to myself “You look more like a pig than me...” I immediately regret my decision as the pig actually have a sharp hearing.

“What the fuck did you say to me, you little bitch?” The pig-like man is angry, he opens up the jail door that separates us apart.

The sudden realization made my eyes open wide as I look everywhere to search for anything that could help me. The feeling of fear and regret overwhelms me as I pray that he didn't actually hear the things that I uttered. My heart jumps as the feeling of something hard hits me on the top of my head- the sole of his boot forces my head down to the bowl of rice and some sort of bitter gravy. Luckily for me, the food absorbed most of the impact, so it didn't hurt as much as I expected. However, the sentiment didn't last long as I realized he's not lifting up his filthy feet anytime soon. It was hard to breathe- rice filled up my nose and mouth as I struggle to lift his feet with my hands.

The pig laughs and snorts, “You’ll have to finish eating immediately if you want to survive.”

Crying, I choke down the food in resentment, with my hands still trying to lift the weight off his legs. He kicked my head as soon as I finished the food and said. "That will teach you manners."

He grabs a thick lock of my hair and drags me out from my jailroom. On the way through, I saw Tia in one of the jails with three children around her age. My pain vanished for a moment as I felt a sense of relief since these pigs had actually kept their promise. The children remain untouched - for now. I have to work harder so that Tia does not have to suffer like this. The pig stops for a while and hangs the key on a holder near the jail entrance. He continues to drag me even faster across the cold cement when I flail my hand as if he enjoys watching it.

The dragging stops and my hands, tired from holding my hair, falls to the dirt ground. I stared at a few men and women, with hands tied behind them and collars dangling from their neck. The pig ties my hand behind me and left me with the group. He covers the head of a man with a sack and drags him towards a wall.

"The rules for today is simple. You're going to try and dodge the projectiles which we will throw at you. If you try to escape-" A loud gunshot breaks the silence, everyone starts to murmur and one of the women starts to cry.

"Don't worry we'll put you back to your comfy rooms as soon as we finish the projectile. Then the next person can take your shift. Simple, isn't it?" The man gave me a sadistic grin, as he laughed.

We were being forced to watch the ‘game'. They say that it adds to the flavour. A whistle is blown, indicating that the game has started.

Five men and two women, the core members of the thugs rise up and picks up the projectiles. The first shot is claimed by the pig-like man. Perhaps stepping on me has triggered his sadistic urge and he could not hold it anymore. He enters a stance and jokingly twitches around as he throws a baseball directly at the prisoner's groin. The pain causes the prisoner to immediately fell down to his knees. Tears and saliva flow down the orifices of the prisoner even though he's a muscular, grown-up man.

"OOOH, that's gotta hurt!" Yelled the pig, as he holds onto his own groin.

“You’re supposed to dodge them! Isn’t it obvious that we’re going to aim there?” he continued, mocking the blindfolded prisoner.

"Okay, my turn! Hey, are you going to stay like that? I'm about to throw, you know." A blonde woman with tied-up ponytail said as he walks up in front of the prisoner. She draws a knife and slides the blunt end on the prisoner's neck.

“Guess what I’m going to throw? You better get ready to dodge this.” She taunts him, as she licked her lips.

The blonde walks back to the line on the ground, her high heels clatter with each step. Suddenly, she stops before the line, and lifts her right leg, using it to kick the ground. She looks like a spinning top, being the only thing that touches the ground during her spin is the tip of her left high heel. She twists her body while holding the knife's edge with her left hand and throws it. The momentum of her spin is carried over by the knife and the force was more than enough to pin the prisoner's head to the wall. A bullseye, right between the eyes.

She laughs maniacally,“That’s why I told you to move idiot, a sitting duck is an easy target for me!”

"Christina, that's unfair. You haven't even reached the line yet… That guy was my type too." The brunette responded. She seems pissed that the target died before she manages to get a shot at throwing.

“Yes, yes, big sis! And it’s very painful for a man to get hit in the balls, y’know? Huh? He got balled in the balls” said the negro, muscular man as he laughs hysterically.

As they were chatting around, a dark-haired teenager goes to the corpse and pulls the knife out. He drags the corpse and throws it away into a pit. "Who shall be the next one?" He said while he searches over our group and gazes at a tan-skinned woman beside me.

The woman noticed his gaze and freaks out, she shouted "No please! I don't wanna die!" as she tries to get up and make a run for it. None of us is bound to anything except the rope that ties our hands together. The woman who is scared out of her wits barely reached five meters before she stumbles, head-first to the ground.

The blonde thug called Christina laughs at the pathetic attempt of escape and said; “The next stage is a moving target! This is gonna be fun!”

The tan-skinned woman wets herself after hearing such merciless words and tries to get up. While her back is turned away from the thugs, a metallic ball in the size of a fist darts across the field and hits her right at her thigh. The poor woman yelped in pain as she grabs her thigh and begs for mercy. “Please stop I don’t wanna die. Mommy.”

We watch as Christina happily skips towards the down woman while she hums a tune. None of us dares to do anything even though she was begging so much. Christina steps on the woman's hand with her high heels. "Shall we give you a second chance? What d'ya say eh? HahaHAHahAHa." she said, ignoring the woman's painful cries.

Suddenly, a roar is heard from the distance. A zombie horde can be seen forcing its way through the fence.

"Tch. There go our playthings. Men, take everything you can and let's move!" ordered Christina as she stomps and grinds her heels on the woman's bloodied hands.

"Wait, please! At least let us go!" plea the teenage boy beside me.

The brunette looks at us without any pity in her eyes and said, “What’s the point of gathering baits then?”

Without warning, she grabs the metal bat behind her and swings it directly at the boy’s ankle. He cries so hard that it manages to draw the horde’s attention towards us.

"Hurry up and move your ass Katalina," the negro said, as he presses the car honk.

The brunette blows a kiss and runs towards the car, leaving us to defend for ourselves. The harsh reality sinks towards me. I immediately get up and run towards the prison without looking at my back. I open the prison door and grab the keys holder, bringing all the keys with me towards my sister's holding cell. A few people noticed what has been going on and begs for me to open up their cells too. My mind is incapable of any thoughts other than to get my sister to safety, sacrificing my moral beliefs for the sake of her.

“Sis? What’s going on? Did they let us go?” said Tia, as she sobs and brings herself closer to the door, trying to hug me.

“It’s alright, we’re going to get out of here, okay?” I reassured Tia as I attempt to open the door with one of the keys.

The first three keys were not the right fit for the door and I start to panic as I hear the shrieks are getting louder. Having a tied up hand does not help the situation at all. I turn in the fourth key and a clicking sound echoes throughout the prison. "It's opened! We can make it!"

I open the door and grabs Tia’s hand before I throw the combination of keys toward the other inmates. Wishing for their best, we ran out of the prison and the blinding sunlight causes our movement to a halt.

Our eyes adjusted to the contrast and the sight of terror causes each strand of hair on our body to stand. A dozen of zombies is merely a few meters away from the prison and following behind them, a horde of hundreds.

The tan-skinned crippled girl is the first of the many to fall. She was trying to crawl her way out when a zombie grabs her ankle and takes a huge bite out of it. The crying and spraying blood triggers a frenzy as they rip the poor girl to shreds.

Everyone else was busy scampering away from the horde and that action painted a target on each of their backs. The horde splits up and chases after the men and women with their hands still tied behind their back. The zombies' attention is distracted and I decided that it is the best time to run towards the forest.

Watching such a dreadful slaughter pumps our body full of adrenaline. The rush allows us to run nonstop while barefoot through the rough ground. Not a second wasted, we did not stop even though fatigue overwhelms our body. After what felt like an eternity, Tia’s feet is the first to give up. She trips over an uneven ground and luckily a growing thicket breaks her fall.

“Owwie” she sobs.

The effect of the adrenaline has dispersed and now, our limbs are weak as we are gasping for oxygen. My wobbly feet guides me toward Tia and I fell down on my thighs when I tried to get her up. I try to hug her with the energy left in my body and said. "It's okay Tia, we have run far enough from the horde now."

She nods and put her arms around me, squeezing as if to ascertain that it is not a dream. After a few minutes, we got up and walk slowly with our feet. The sun is high above our heads but the forest provides enough shade that we could walk comfortably below them. There is no certain destination in my mind, merely trying to move forward. The sun starts to set and I couldn't believe my eyes. I blinked a few times and asked Tia. "Is that a patch of road?"

“It’s too dark to tell, but I think so?” Tia answered.

After reaching the road, I took a look around us. The road stretches as far as my eyes can see to the left while on the right side- “A mansion?” I said, trying to reaffirm the image with Tia.

"Wow sis, it's so far away but it is huge enough that we can see it from here," Tia said with a tone of astonishment.

Distracted at the mansion, I didn’t notice there was something creeping behind us from the bush.

“Sis, look out!” Tia yelled at me and pushed me away.

The zombie leapt and tries to take a bite at my neck. Luckily, Tia managed to push me away just in the nick of time. I fell on my butt while Tia tries to balance herself with one of her legs but the shock couldn’t be fully absorbed by that little body. She fell and shouted “Oww!”. It seems that the fall has sprained her ankle.

What should I do? Even if I carry her we won’t be able to run away in time. Should I just run away? I feel disgusted at myself for having such thoughts. As if trying to shake off that terrible thought, I grab a piece of rock on the ground and lunges at the zombie. After a few minutes of struggle, I finally manage to bash open the skull of the zombie.

“Sis, you’re bleeding. Are you OK?” Tia sniffles, on the verge of tears.

“It’s alright Tia. These are just- ” A sharp pain is felt on my wrist- A bite mark.

Hiding it away, I continued, "just zombies blood! Haha, your sis really did good huh?"

“You’re the best, sis!” she said, with a smile of relief on her face.

I move over to Tia and give her a piggyback ride, taking care that she does not notice the bite mark on my wrist.

“It’s going to be alright Tia, your sis will protect you.” Mixed feelings flow in my head, some of them curse my fate and the other felt relief that Tia is safe. I carry Tia over to the mansion, stopping at the colossal gate.

I press the intercom and a female voice replied, with elegance. “Yes, may I help you?”

"I'm sorry but I and my sister had just escaped from a bandit camp-"I tried to explain but I was cut short.

“Is it only you two?” She reaffirms, trying to access the situation.

“At the gate, yeah. But at the camp there’s-” I replied, as I got cut short the second time, the gate suddenly opened.

A tall woman in a maid outfit, with dyed dark blue hair tied to make a bun walk out of the mansion. She approaches us, her pose is upright, and each step she takes are brimming with diligence. Her voice sounds full of confidence as she says. "I'll take over from here, you're injured."

She gets down on one knee and offers her back to Tia. Tia hesitates and looks at me, waiting for me to let her down, probably worrying about my injury. Having no other choice but to trust the maid, I put her down and the maid carries her up as if she’s weightless. She said. “Let's talk inside, there might be other creatures lurking nearby.”

The maid takes a few steps towards the mansion as I'm spiralling down into deep thoughts. Tia is in safe hands. There is no need for me to risk her safety by being with her. I bite down my lips, trying to hold my tears. I don't want to die yet. I promised mom and dad to take care of Tia. I want to watch her grow up. There are so many things I haven't done yet-.

Noticing that I haven't stepped into the gate, the maid said. "Miss, is this about the bite?"

“Sis? What bite?” Tia’s voice breaks up, it seems that she is really concerned about what the maid had just said.

I grip tightly at the bite mark and said, "I'm sorry for hiding this Tia but you're safe now. Please, take care of my sister." "Sis? What are you talking about? You promised that we're going to be together. No! I hate this! Let me go!" Tia throws a fit, but the maid remains unflinching.

"We have a cure. How long has it been since you were bitten?" The maid's words echoed in my mind and make me wonder if everything is real or perhaps I'm already dead from fighting the zombie.

"That's impossible, I've met a few groups of survivor for these past 4 years and nobody was even close to reaching for a cure," I said, trying to reconfirm the facts.

“We do. Come with me if you want to live.” The maid said.

Burdened with the desire to live, I step towards the mansion hoping that the maid speaks the truth. The door to the mansion opened, we are greeted by four maids. One of the maid, with a crimson coloured short hair, opens both of her arms towards Tia and said with spunk, "I'll bring her to the infirmary, headmaid!".

She carries Tia over her chest, just like a princess and makes a weird remark, "Wow you're light, you really should eat more gyahaha!"

Without further delay, she carries Tia over to the corridor, leaving me with the other maids. One of the maid, a blonde with curly hair reaching her shoulders breaks the silence, “I’m Esmeralda and I apologize for Ruby. She always speaks up her mind even though I told her it would be rude to do so.”

“Well then, I’ll leave the matter to you three. Introduce her to the mistress.” the headmaid said as she walks up to the stairs.

“Shall we go, miss…?” said Esmeralda, trying to inquire my name.

"Ah I'm Stephanie, you can call me Steph," I responded, as I walk over to her.

Escorted by the four maids, I walk over a huge hallway decorated by life-sized statues made from marble and gold. Three maids are cleaning the statues dedicatedly. Their focus is centred solely on the statues, not minding us. The sculptures are made so that it captures even the finest details.

We moved to pass a statue of a long-haired angel, posing like a shy girl begging for a kiss. Although both of her hands are folded neatly behind her wings, the demonic gauntlets on her wrists are on display and as well as the talons peeked from her fingers. The angel’s body is provocative, with only her hair covering the private parts of her voluptuous body. A blonde maid uses an adorned handkerchief and her hand slowly creeps up the statue’s long legs, as if she’s wiping her lover in the bath. At first glance, nobody would notice the drool that was dripping from her lips, nor the crazed look in her crimson eyes.

I gulped after witnessing the disturbing vibe and try to shake the thoughts by initiating a conversation with Esmeralda, “There are so many maids here, are there butlers too?”

Esmeralda, who is walking slightly in front of me turns her head slowly, revealing her sharp, cold eyes and said, “We have no need for males here.”

The shocking answer prevents me from prying into further details as I shift my focus to the large door at the hand of the hallway. A statue of a knight, gallantly sitting on top of a six-legged horse stood on its hind legs, with four front legs froze in mid-air.

The sculptor really went all out on creating this fine piece of art. Even a blind man will know that the knight is a she, considering that he is allowed to grope the statue. The full plate armour wrapping the slender limbs is adorned with beautiful golden patterns, contrasting the dark shade of green.

The helmet is a two-piece, in the shape of a dragon’s head. The first part is the cranium, with a voluminous ponytail bearing down beneath two large horns. The mandible part is slightly open, revealing a rather attractive face with conviction in her eyes.

She wields a brilliant flamberge rapier, with an elegant protective hilt on her right hand. On the opposite hand a kite shield, covering almost half of her body. Her right arm is raised, with the tip of the sword pointing at a demonic statue across the door, which is almost twice her size. A closer inspection reveals that all of the equipment, even the horse’s armour are real.

The sound of a door opening breaks my mesmerised state, and beyond the door are rows of seats. The inside of the room reminds me of a basketball stadium that I frequently visit during my elementary years. As we move through the flight of stairs, somehow my attention could not shift away from a decorated seat, almost like a throne on the opposite side of the court.

A silhouette of a little girl can be seen sitting on the seat, just like a Roman emperor watching over his colosseum.

Just like a life-sized doll, brought out to life directly from a renaissance French art.

Wearing a black gown, as dark as the night itself. Ample layers of frills fluttering on the slightest movement of her hands or feet. Embroidery made out of gold linings on a white silk adorn the edges of the gown.

Above the gown, there is a matching shawl covering her chest and shoulder with a dozen contrasting silver grommets at the centre. Connecting the shawl together is a series of ribbons laced through the grommets, each strand is precise of the same length. The ribbons are so perfect as if there is a series of mechanisation designed just to neatly tie them together.

On top of her beautiful platinum coloured hair, there is an elegant bonnet adorned with grey flowers. My initial opinion regarding bonnets is that they are designed as an accessory for children but the aura radiated by the silhouette extinguishes such thoughts.

“She’s gorgeous, who is she?” I asked.

“The mistress,” said Esmeralda.

“An empress.” said the maid on my left.

“My saviour,” said the maid on my right.

Even though each one of them has different opinions regarding her, their devotion is equally matched.

There’s a noise of opening gate just beneath us. I look down and see a tied up blonde woman struggling, as she is being escorted to the middle of the court. I recognize the woman just by looking at her back, blonde ponytail and wearing a skimpy leather outfit. The woman’s name is Christina, the sadistic leader of the thugs. She’s the one who enjoys torturing us the most and just by looking at her makes my blood boil.

The escorting maid ties her rope to a pole, leaving enough space for her to move around, just like how one would tie their horse during medieval times. The maid stands beside her prisoner, looking up to the little girl. The angle allows me to catch a glimpse of her face, she seems very happy and proud, just like a dog waiting to be praised by her owner.

Suddenly, the headmaid appeared from behind the large throne and dismisses the escorting maid, “You may leave now.”.

The maid immediately turned around walks toward the gaping gate below me, with a look of disappointment on her face.

“Who the hell are you guys? I’m going to kill you guys slowly! Release me you worms!” said Christina, still trying to break the rope with brute force.

“You’re the leader of the bandits stationed at the base near the mountains, correct?” said the headmaid, her voice sounds cold.

“What the fuck do you want? Why do you care?”

“I don’t. But the mistress has taken an interest you.”

“What does that mean?”

“Tell me, are you good with knives?” said the headmaid, as she draws a dagger with a ruby on the hilt.

“Why don’t you give it to me and I’ll show you?”

“You might reconsider trying to throw it this way. We won’t give you a second knife.” just as soon as the headmaid finishes the sentence, three rotten zombies appear on the gate below me, tumbling their way towards the tied-up victim on the centre of the court. Looking at the zombie causes the bite mark on my wrist to throb.

“What? No way! Stop!” begs Christina, as she struggles harder trying to break the binds.

The headmaid throws the dagger right between Christina’s legs, and said, “You shall be granted freedom if you finish three trials.”

Christina immediately gets down on one knee and cuts the rope loose. One of the zombies is faster and manage to pin her down. She uses her left arm and pushes the zombie’s throat, preventing it from biting her. Her right hand frantic wildly, trying to reach the knife lodged deep in the ground.

A second zombie reaches her right feet and grabs her heels. She pulls her legs but the zombie’s grip is too strong and the momentum draws the zombie closer to her.

Her quadriceps muscle suddenly contracts and she launches a lightning-speed spear kick directly at the zombie’s head. Her high heel causes the force to be concentrated in a single spot which is more than enough to pierce a rotting zombie skull.

With one imminent threat resolved, her attention shifts to the zombie mounting on top of her. Supported with her right leg, she flips the zombie over while making sure that her arm protects her from the zombie’s rattling bites. With one swift motion, she picks the embedded knife and stabs it right between the sphenoid and the temporal bones.

After confirming that the zombie has stopped moving. Christina immediately gets up and throws the knife at the zombie’s skull. As the zombie goes limp, she laughs like a lunatic and said, “These three zombies are the trials? That’s pathetic! Bitch, I’m gonna enjoy watching you suffer!”

The headmaid remains unflinching even after hearing taunting words and responded. “That was the first trial.”

“First…? ”As soon as she finished uttering those words, she turns around and gasped as she sees the creature moving out from the gate. It’s a morbidly obese zombie unlike any other I’ve seen before. Patches of blisters with green fluids are all over its body, with a bloated stomach as if the slightest poke would cause it to explode. The zombie charges to the centre of the court, with speed unbefitting of its size.

“FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!” shouted Christina, as she runs towards the fallen zombie, trying to pick up the knife that she threw away earlier.

She reaches the zombie and tries to pull the knife but it is stuck. She gathers her strength and pulls it for the second time, releasing the knife along with the brain contents. The fat zombie is right in front of her and she immediately slashes its stomach with lightning reflexes. A gush of bile explodes out from the grotesque stomach and spill all over her body. I could smell the putrid scent even from this distance.

Christina vomits and cries, “What have you done? Now I’m infected too!”

She sprints to the wall below the headmaid, slamming both of her hands to it while she shouts, “Get down here so I can strangle you to death, you little bitch!”

A slight chuckle can be heard echoing across the room. The little girl stands up from her seat and moves toward Christina. As she walks out of the shade, revealing the beautiful platinum colour of her hair and eyes. Her eyes gaze directly at Christina’s, as she took a heavy breath. She suddenly spats at Christina’s mouth “.

“What the? How much more do you need to insult me!” she yelled.

As her sanity is challenged her assault on the wall became faster, with each strike further damaging her bare hands. She stops abruptly, making a choking sound as grabs her throat with enough force as if she’s trying to strangle herself.

“What did you do to me?” she asked, her voice gasping for air.

She fell down on her butt, still strangling herself and she shouts as if in deep pain. Her veins popping out from her skin, displaying a dark purple or green colour contrasting her pale skin. Her beautiful blonde ponytail gradually loses its tone, becoming white as if she became an elderly woman in just a few seconds. The screeching stops and her body that was convulsing profusely a few seconds ago become still.

All of a sudden, a cackle echoes throughout the court. Christina stood up, her eyes turned to crimson and it looks crazier than before. She lifts up both of her arms, as if trying to embrace a lover and said, “My Goddess!”

The little girl opens her mouth and lets out a beautiful voice and in a commanding tone. “This is my first decree. Hunt down what remains in the camp.”

All of the maids had an erotic face and some of them went down to their knees just from hearing their mistress’ voice. However, none of them displays the amount of joy as much as Christina. Her face is flushed red as if in the verge of orgasm. Her voice sounds high-pitched as she says, “Yes, My Goddess!”

Christina darts over the court with lightning speed, as if the weight of her body didn’t exist. She jumps over to my side and kept running towards the exit directly behind me while laughing like a witch.

The pain pulsates as I feel it rising up to my arm. I try to prevent the sensation from escalating by making a tight grip on my wrist. The absurd situation left me with so many questions. What causes Christina’s aggression to suddenly stop? Why are all the maids acting like that? Did she just jump over a 5-meter wall like it was nothing? As more questions bombard my mind, I notice that the little girl is gazing at me as if she can see my soul. The unbearable pain that I’ve been feeling suddenly dispersed.

Our eyes met, the first thing that I notice about those beautiful eyes is that the pupils are vertical-slits, just like a predator watching its prey. My body trembles as I feel a sharp pain, a rushing sensation of an electric shock from my brain to my private parts. I feel like the temperature of the room is heating up, drops of sweat begin to form around me. Strangely, I enjoy the feeling of being gazed at by those wondrous, piercing eyes.

Months of being kept as a plaything have caused my mind to wrap and moulded me into a masochist. Being able to convert the pain into pleasure has managed to protect me against those gruesome tortures. The thugs said that they loved my buns so much that they play with it every day. The continuous biting and clamping have deformed the tips, permanently causing it to be swollen and more sensitive than ever.

However, no amount of the being toyed with have managed to make me feel this euphoric before. My chest hurts as the erect tips grind against my clothes. My breathing grew heavier, the mistress did not break her gaze even for a second. I don’t even need to touch anything. Just a little more, and I can, I’m almost -

The mistress grins and says, “Do you want a decree?”

Hearing her voice causes each muscle in my body to tense up. The feeling of heat swells inside of me. A burst - just like a waterfall gushes out and stains the carpet.

I smile from ear to ear, unable to think about anything else. I need to hear more of her voice. I need her to notice me. I need her eyes to focus on me. As the whirlpool of emotions cloud over my mind, I do my best to respond to her call.

“Yes, my Queen."