Withering Ivy: Chapter Two (Patreon)

I wasn't expecting congratulations but I wasn't expecting what came either. Suddenly I was a sold pet. The man leading me out of the big room to a hallway made that very clear when I told him my name and tried asking for help. "You've been bought. That's not your name anymore."

The hallway was wider than most, inside of it scattered plastic tables with different people waiting for me. The first was a nurse, she was polite and said hello again as she turned me to face the window. The window showed another hallway with a few men in suits walking by, that was until a slender woman with long brown hair and large sunglasses covering her eyes came into view. She was on the phone. Her attention to me was very limited as she folded her arms and nodded to whatever the other line was saying. Behind her a tall man stood, a linebacker frame with no emotion protecting her backside from any danger.

"Deep breath in." The nurse's accent was heavy, I barely had time to react before there was a sharp pain in my shoulder. "All done. What color?" Breathing heavily I looked down at the color options but I couldn't pick. I had no idea what was happening. "Pink then." The woman put on the band-aid and directed me forward, handing papers down the line to a more upbeat woman.

"Good afternoon sweetie I'm just going to ask you a few questions before we let you go." She didn't even look me in the eyes, she only stapled some papers together and put together a bigger file. I in turn looked around for the woman and her hard-to-miss bodyguard, they had gone past the glass and into a cozy store that seemed to be my next destination. The mysterious woman was still on the phone but that didn't stop her from multitasking as she browsed a section of dresses and bows. Were those for me?

"Date of birth?" I answered. "Any allergies?" Again I complied. Down to the very last question of my existence. I had to wonder if my parents knew I was gone yet. "Very good!" The woman stood and straightened all her paperwork. "Let's get you to your new home baby."

"New home?" I whispered. She took my hand softly and the bell of the door rang. Suddenly I was in the same room as the woman that bought me. I never had the privilege of hearing her voice however as she was leaving at the same time. The responsibility of me now being left to her bodyguard who took the paperwork from the woman. He looked down at me but said nothing as the woman patted my head.

"Just follow the directions of the paperwork to activate the microchip in her name and everything else should be that easy. If Ms. Winslet has any concerns or questions our phone number is directly at the bottom and our phone lines are open 24/7." The man said thank you, in such a quiet voice that I couldn't tell if it even came out. It was so deep that I felt my stomach rumble. "Is that all?" He put the items on the cabinet and she took that as a yes.

As she rang up some items I expected were for me I felt my mouth go dry as I felt this odd comparison to a pet store. I was being sold just like a puppy, but the comparison got worse as I felt a harness go around my arms and tighten at the back. I tried to fight back for a moment but the woman only laughed and clipped on the leash. "She'll get used to it in no time, she's not trained but these girls from America learn very quickly."

Handing over the bedazzled handle to the man and also the bag full of stuff he huffed. "Not trained?"

The woman realized her mistake. "My apologies-" she tried to think of what to say as she clipped a green bow into my hair but didn't need to say anything else as he only cleared his throat. "Anything else?"

She clasped her hands together. "Her ankle bracelet is in the bag and so is her complementary collar. I hope she is a good fit for Ms. Winslet." My breath stopped and I looked the woman in the eyes like she had sold me to the devil. A collar? Where was I going? "Please let me go home." I whispered to her grabbing her hands." She found this cute however as she fixed my loose strands of hair.

"You are going home, silly girl."

Feeling a tug at my back I was forced to follow the man out of the store. No matter how much I tried to reach back and unlink the harness it was no use and he was already tired of my attempts as he pulled me closer and grabbed me by the neck instead. I was more obedient under his callused hands but I couldn't stop my head from looking around as we left the exit doors. I had to shield my eyes from the suns rays as we went outside. A black car waiting with a driver that looked exactly like the one that handled me waiting with the back door open.

He pushed me in with little warning and set the sack of goods onto my lap before slamming the door in my face. It stunned me but not as much as the sigh leaving the woman next to me. Her eyes were still covered with glasses but her hands flipped the pages of the newspaper. "Always slamming doors." She complained shaking her head.

The car shook as both huge men got in the drivers and passenger seats. The dinging of the car started leaving Ms. Winslet to put the paper down. "Can you put on your bloody seatbelt Tobby?"

"Sorry Ms." the passenger did as he was told and shot an angry look at the driver who snickered. It had to be his brother.

The air conditioning felt nice and so did the smells of the woman's perfume but I was still too paralyzed in surprise to do anything else. I had just been sold and we drove down dirt roads of a place I knew not where. My shoulder ached and my dress was riding up too far up my thighs.

"She's not trained." Tobby broke the silence and that seemed to really piss the woman off as her sunglasses finally came off and her gaze landed on me.

Her green eyes were slightly terrifying as she looked me up and down. "Fifty goddamn million and they haven't trained her?" Her British accent seemed to strengthen with her annoyance. "I'll have to call Joaquin myself later. What are we to do with that?" Her hand fell on the paper as she shook her head again. "The greediness of the world is becoming so problematic." Ms. Winslet seemed done with that as she took the sac off of my lap and searched through it. "What color did you settle on?"

Tobby popped his neck and moved the air conditioner more toward his face. "Green, it seemed like her color."

Holding up the color and reading the tag she nodded. "It is fitting." She put it down on the seat in between us and opened up some of the sundresses picked for me and held them up in front of her. Her eyes studied the color of each individual one before tsking her tongue. "Their options are limiting aren't they?"

"Would you like to stop at a shop?" The driver asked.

She sighed. "No, I can't find the patience to take an untrained pet shopping today." She looked out the window and I did the same knowing the pet was me. The word almost stunned me as to not even notice us going down the streets of London. The rest of the drive was my eyes taking in the scenery of Europe. It had to be two hours at the least that we drove down the countryside and watched trees blanketing the sides of roads. I had never been outside of America so my knowledge was limited to our whereabouts and even some of their conversations.

Even if it was about me.

Before long, however, we turned down the last road to one that had me leaving my mirror to look out the front. "She's excited," Tobby said. Smiling at my shocked face. A water fountain in the middle had un turning down a beautiful European home. It was no mansion but it was big enough to have a groundskeeper trimming at the hedges as we passed. Greenery showered down the home and the magnificent door opened for a few to come out and greet and I stared in awe.

"So good to see you home." A man said, his hands still carrying the clippers from before. "How was the trip?"

"With this man behind the wheel you know it's never a bore." Tobby laughed and opened the door for me. I reluctantly stepped out to see a few faces staring at me.

"Nina, I'm the cook here." The older woman waved and I waved back feeling the presence of Ms. Winslet appear beside me. My throat caught and I looked over at her. It was the first time she had really studied me.

"That's Tobby, his brother the driver is Jonathan." She took a deep breath as if it was a lot of trouble. "Milo is our groundskeeper and-" she paused to look around. "Where in the bloody hell is Grace?" As if she had answered the call a woman came out of the house, a beautiful one with put-up blonde hair and a fitting checkered dress. "Ah." That was all my new owner said.

"Calm down Amelia I was in the back when you pulled up. I'm not that quick anymore." For the first time, a hand reached out to me. "Grace Clarke." I took it slowly to shame her hand and started to speak but was quickly interrupted.

"Ivy."

My hand let go of the woman's and I looked up at Ms. Winslet who put her sunglasses back on.  My identity was gone and instead, one was being decided for me.

"Ivy, that does suit you doesn't it?" Grace smiled and took the bag from Ms. Winslet. "All is Included?" The taller woman nodded but leaned over slightly to whisper in her ear. "I'm sure I can arrange my schedule for training," Grace replied.

Amelia Winslet nodded and looked over at me for the last time that night. "Start training tonight and make sure her microchip gets activated. We don't want her running off on the first night do we?" She gave me a smirk and I only gulped watching her walk up the stone bricks with her heels higher than my bow. She really had no cares in the world as she brushed her hair back and disappeared into the house.

Her help followed and I was left with Grace who only smiled and held her hand out. "Let me show you around Ivy."