Chapter Six

Ryan slammed the trunk shut and got into the passenger seat and they were off.

They were in the car for about an hour when it finally came to a stop.

Ember looked out the window to see a massive mansion looming over them. The windows were large bay windows, which were dark and covered by a thick black velvet curtain. The mansion itself was painted white and had tall red columns surrounding it. Ryan got out of the car and made his way to the trunk where Ember was.

He opened the trunk door and waited for her to jump down before closing it once more. The two walked up to the front door and stopped. Ryan turned to Ember and looked her in the eyes before speaking. "You are now my property. You are going nowhere without my permission. You won't touch anything or speak unless spoken too and if you dare to try anything, I will not hesitate to have you punished. Do we have an understanding?" He asked. Ember nodded her head as a response. "Good girl." He said, smiling. "I will let you settle in tonight and then tomorrow I will be going over the rules."

With that being said, he opened the front door and led her inside. He then turned left and led her to a small room on the first floor. "This is your bedroom. You will not leave this room at night and in the morning a servant will come and let you out of the cage." He said while opening the door and walking inside. The room was quite small and empty apart from a large cage in the corner, a water and food bowl against the wall, a small white rug in the middle of the room and a shelf hung on the wall containing a box of different collars and a few different leashes hanging off hooks on the side.

Ryan opened the cage door and waited for Ember to walk in. When she did, he reached in and took the collar, muzzle and chain off. "You won't be wearing any of this.. rubbish while you're here." He said with disgust clear in his voice. And with that, he closed the cage door, turned off the light and left the room, the door locking as he closed it.

Embee sighed as she took a step inside the cage before letting her knees give in and crumple to the floor, falling to the ground in defeat. '𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵." She thought to herself.

She laid there on the floor, tears stinging at her eyes as she sobbed quietly, trying not to attract any unwanted attention to herself. But even though the silence helped keep her thoughts at bay, she still couldn't help but feel like everything was spiraling out of control.

She laid there motionless, staring blankly at the ceiling trying to figure out a plan to escape. Not that she'll ever get the chance to but it's always good to have a plan. After about twenty minutes, feeling exhausted from the events that took place that day, she drifted off to sleep.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~~•

"Ember." A familiar voice called. "Ember dear, get up." The voice called again. Ember slowly opened her eyes to see a woman sitting on the floor in front of her cage. "Mom?!" Ember yelled as she quickly sat up "But how.. I saw them kill you.." Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to comprehend that her mother was sitting right in front of her.

"It's okay, sweetie." Athena said gently "I know you're confused right and I'll answer all your questions later but right now I must warn you about trouble that's about to come." She said, Ember furrowed her brows in confusion. "What do you mean mom?" "Listen very carefully." Athena instructed. "I can't exactly tell you when, where or who but something big is coming. Something bad."

"What do you mean?" Ember asked. Athena gave her a sympathetic smile. "We will talk about that when the time comes Ember. For now just know that something dangerous is coming. Now, wake up dear." "What?" Ember questioned. "Wake up Ember." She said again. "Ember, wake up." Athena repeated.

Just then, Ember was jolted awake by one of Ryan's servants. "Master Ryan has requested you to meet him in his office." The lady said. '𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵?' Ember thought to herself. '𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?' "Master Ryan doesn't like to wait." The servant said with annoyance in her voice. Ember nodded and stepped out of her cage.

With a yawn and a big stretch, Ember followed the servant out of the room. She followed the servant down numerous hallways until eventually they arrived at a big spruce door. The servant knocked on the door three times and waited. "Come in!" A deep voice replied. The servant pushed the door open and stepped aside for Ember. Ember entered the room and saw Ryan sitting at a large desk, he was dressed in black leather pants, a white button up shirt, a black waistcoat over it and black dress shoes with red soles.

"You're late." Ryan remarked with slight annoyance in his tone. Ember didn't know how to respond, she didn't even know how long she had been asleep. "Well, don't just stand there, get over here. We have a lot to go over." Ryan said in an annoyed tone. Ember took a deep breath and walked over to the desk, sitting down on the ground next to him.

"As I started yesterday, I'll be going over the rules." Ryan began. "First rule, you will follow every order I give you without question. Secondly, you are to stay near me at all times unless otherwise stated. Thirdly, if you have any questions, you may ask them when I'm not busy." He continued. Ember nodded her head slowly. "Fourthly, you will not leave the house unattended. The only times you're allowed to leave will be when we're going somewhere or when you're in the backyard doing your business." '𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘨.' Ember said to herself, displeased at the thought of being treated like the average canine mutt.

"You will eat only in your room when food is served, you are not to have any 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 anywhere in the house. When you have to use the bathroom, you have to wait by the back door for someone to let you out. When night is nearing, you will be put in your bedroom and I expect you to be waiting in your cage when I or one of the servants come to lock you up." He continued.

"When we're out in public, you are not to speak unless spoken to and lastly, you are not to bite, growl or claw anyone. Punishments will range from no food for a few days to death. Now I do not want to have to kill you but I do not tolerate disobedience and disrespect so I suggest you be on your best behavior. Do I make myself clear?" He said sternly. Ember nodded her head in response.

"Very well. Now, I have many things to do today, I expect you to be on your best behavior." He said while turning his focus back to the mass of papers scattered across his desk.