Perfect (Rewrite)

Chapter Thirteen

The three men returned to the room and escorted Chloe back to the white padded room. The lights were off when she was shoved in and chained up, so she couldn't tell if Melanie was with her or not. "Melanie," Chloe whispered after the men were gone. She said it almost as if she thought they were waiting on the other side of the door, listening for her to say something so they could punish her again. "Melanie." She said a little louder; then she glanced at the door, but it didn't budge. There was no one waiting for her, it was just her fear getting the best of her. "Melanie." Chloe stated and then she walked towards the side of the room Melanie had been at. She reached around and tried to find her, but she couldn't get close enough to the wall to tell whether or not she was there. It wouldn't have surprised Chloe if she was giving her the silent treatment, after all Melanie only had one chance left. Or she might've been asleep. It was the more obvious answer, but there was no way anyone could've slept through the noises the guards had made as they reattached her to the wall. 

Chloe walked back to her corner and slid down the wall before she dug her face into her knees and waited for the time to pass for the umpteenth time in the last twenty four hours. She couldn't see anything besides the small slither of light leaking in from the bottom of the door. Even though the room was really white, it looked pitch black and the room seemed to get darker and darker as time ticked by. It was almost as dark as the room she had received her first strike in. She tried to push the fresh memory out of her mind, which failed miserably, it was too scarring to forget.

Eventually the lights came on and Chloe cheerfully looked to the other side of the room, but the chains were empty and Melanie was gone. She didn't move from her spot, not even when the guards brought her food. The tray sat by the door and wasted away until another guard came and retrieved it. Chloe stared at the chains on the other side of the room as she waited for the process to start over again, for her to be assigned to a family again. The thought of not seeing Jacob or Melanie again scared her, but after a while she realized it was for the best. Now she knew not to mess up; she knew not to step out of line. He had hoped right. Chloe had learned her lesson, if only she hadn't had to learn it the hard way. Maybe he could've explained through the use of a textbook instead, then again, retaining information from text had never been one of Chloe's amazing qualities.

It took longer than expected, four more meals, the arrival of a new pair of shoes, and a nap long to be precise. Then the hologram appeared and Chloe jumped up and hurried to the slightly cracked door. She grabbed the new shoes sitting on the floor and attached them to her feet; then she walked down the hall towards the red door and entered the room with three other girls waiting. Chloe knew a few of them had to be new; they were freaking out and constantly asking unanswered questions. They all seemed impatient, but Chloe was the most impatient of them all. She grabbed the form from beneath her chair and began filling it out before the lady on the hologram even appeared. She had the last question answered after the lady told them all to begin the paperwork. Then she crossed her legs and waited for everyone else to finish and for the rest of the all too familiar instructions to be given to them. She was eager to get the ear piece, to open the door, to see if she would be reacquainted with her new friends. 

Chloe stood up immediately after the hologram appeared, and then she gladly stood at the front of the line. They marched off down the hallway as a few of the girls continued asking questions, but no one answered a single one of them. The line of girls reached the desk, Chloe sat her papers down on the counter and grabbed an ear piece before securing it on her head, against her ear. "Chloe," The voice in her ear called out.

Chloe walked forward into the darkness and glanced at every door she passed, trying to remember which one she had entered before. It seemed like forever before the voice finally told her to stop and turn to her left. She waited and waited for his next order to come. "Chloe, open the door." Then she took a deep breath and opened the door, inviting herself into the all too familiar house setup.

The living room was empty and so was the kitchen. Chloe looked for any sign to tell her whether or not she was assigned to the same house as the last time. There was none; she had nothing to compare it to. "Go to bed," The voice told her and then she walked towards the stairs, but the sound of the camera int he corner stopped her. She looked back and was disappointed to see there was no picture awkwardly hanging on the wall near the camera. Chloe sighed and then trudged up the stairs as she searched for her room, which was once again located at the end of the hall. The name Chloe was neatly printed on the wood of the door just as it had been in the other house. She traced her name and thought of the others before she opened the door. She entered the room, flung her new shoes off of her feet, and threw herself on the bed so that her feet hung off the side, opposite of the door.

She could feel the other end of the bed just an inch further from the top of her head. Chloe looked to her left side and smiled as she imagined Jacob laying next to her; he had been so kind in his attempts to protect her. Then there was the time in the bathroom when she had thought he was going to make a move on her, only to find out that he was saving her from being seen naked by the man who whispers in her ear, by the man who now owns her. Jacob had almost treated her like his little sister. It was sweet of him. Now that Chloe knew she would never see him again, her heart ached for him. Even though they had just met, Chloe knew that one day there could've maybe been more between them than just an acquaintanceship.