Enslaved

“Luca!” 

  My eyes slowly opened.

  “It’s almost time. Get up.” 

  I rubbed my eyes and sat up slowly. 

  “Time for what?” 

  “For you to start working, but I have to show you around first..” 

  I was still reluctant to get up. He wasn’t having it. 

  “Mr Solis will be down soon. Unless you want to lose your job, and maybe your life, I suggest you get up.” 

  I sighed and forced myself out of bed. My body still hurt but I straightened up immediately. I knew better than to show weakness in front of him. 

  “There are clothes in the closet over there. You have less than ten minutes to get ready.” 

  “Less?” 

  “I don’t make the rules.” 

  He left. 

  I looked at myself in the mirror. For the first time in my twenty one years of living, I pitied myself. I also hated when others did it and made me look weak, even when I knew I was. 

  So I vowed to go harder each day, but now….

  I didn’t see the point anymore. 

  I wanted to take a shower, but I didn’t. Ten minutes was too little to have the shower I wanted, so I picked up the uniform and put it on. 

  Immediately I stepped out of the room, Ken started talking before I even closed the door. 

  “The other workers are in the kitchen. I’ll introduce you to them.” 

  I didn’t say anything, just followed him silently. 

  I looked around. I didn’t realize how big the house was yesterday. It was huge. There were even more guards now, almost like they switched positions over night. I wasn’t surprised, just fascinated about how much power Dante had even in his own home. 

  There was a fountain outside, a massive library that was obviously untouched, multiple rooms in every corner…and of course, cameras in every corner. But it still looked spacious enough. 

  Ken showed me each room that led up to the kitchen. He explained each room's significance. I could barely keep up, 

  Especially because it was six a.m. 

  When we finally got to the kitchen, everyone was talking, laughing. That was the first thing I noticed. I wanted to feel whatever they felt. Whether it was happiness or comfort, I wanted to feel it. 

  “Everyone, meet Luca. He’s in charge of the Master Bedrooms from now on.” 

  At first, they were all silent. Then a slightly chubby guy, unarguably the chef yelled, 

  “Ayeee, let's hear it for Luca.” 

  The others cheered like I was some celebrity.

  A faint smile spread across my face. Their warm welcome was probably the only good thing I got in the past few weeks. 

  “I’m Pete, the chef.” 

  I nodded. I could tell. 

  They were a little above ten. Each of them introduced themselves. 

  “Welcome to our little club. I hope you make it,” Maxine, the laundry lady said. Some of them laughed at that. 

  But to me, it wasn’t funny. 

  “Alright, now that that’s out of the way,” Ken interrupted, “ why don’t I continue the tour?” 

  I nodded and left the kitchen. 

  We went upstairs. 

  “You can’t be up past seven p.m, and you can’t go to your room until ten p.m.” 

  I was more surprised I was still breathing rather than a bedtime schedule. 

  “This is Mrs Solis’ room. You’d be cleaning it too. She doesn’t have a lot of rules, just keep it sparkling and smelling fresh.”

  I was still stuck on the Mrs Solis part. 

  The first time someone whispered about Dante having a wife, I thought it was a rumor. He never mentioned her, no one knew who she was. 

  Seeing that they didn’t share a room didn’t come as a shock to me, but it was still weird. 

  Ken noticed I had stopped walking and looked back.

  “Luca?” he called. “You don’t have all day”

  “Right, sorry.” 

  I caught up to him and tried to focus on the numerous things he was saying. 

  So, I switched topics.

  “What is she like?” 

  He paused, “Who?”

  “His wife.” 

  “Definitely not worse than Dante, but strict enough to keep you on your toes. But don’t worry, she’s not the type to speak unless she notices something wrong.” 

  “I see,” I muttered.

  He suddenly stopped walking. Only then did I notice we were at the end of the hall. 

  “This is Mr Solis’ room. He’s usually out of the house by seven, so you should be in his room around that time. After you’re through here, then you can go to Mrs Solis’ room.” 

  I looked around. It was already spotless. 

  “Who used to do this job?” I asked. 

  “She got fired yesterday after you showed up. She always put her all into this to gain recognition from Dante…which she never got. But you have to do twice as much as her if you want to survive here.” 

  “If I had a dollar for every time someone told me about survival,” I shook my head and moved my finger across the side table.

  Spotless. 

  “Change the sheets everyday, even if he doesn’t use them. Use a cloth to wipe the tables and surfaces at least twice. You know how to clean a bathroom, yes?” 

  I nodded. 

  “Good. Amelia’s room doesn’t require as much…just make sure it’s clean and it smells good.” 

  “Mrs Solis’?”

  “I get tired of saying that sometimes, they’re not even in love.”

  I laughed a bit. 

  “So Amelia? Between both of us?” 

  “Yes.” 

  I nodded and looked around again. “Do I start now?”

  “Yes, you do.” 

  That wasn’t Ken. I turned around to see Dante walking in. 

  He went straight to the table, in search of something.

  “Do you need my help, sir?” Ken asked. 

  Dante didn’t respond, which meant he didn’t. 

  Ken looked at me, his eyes told me I was already in hell, and I had no other choice than to burn. 

  Then, he left the room. 

  I stood there for a moment, then walked to the side table where all the materials I needed were already lined up. 

  I pretended to do something, even though my mind wasn’t really there yet. 

  He finally stopped rummaging around his table and straightened up. 

  He picked up a watch and put it on before turning to face me. 

  His eyes were low, slightly red…beautiful. He didn’t have that sharp stare that sent chills down my spine every time I saw him. I guess he only had it around us to make us scared.

  “What was your name again?”

  “Luca.” 

  “Luca, right,” he walked to the bed. “Why aren’t you working?” 

  “The room is spotless already.” 

  I don’t know why I said that. I regretted it immediately when I realized I was no longer talking to Ken. 

  “And?”

  I immediately started wiping, looking for any stain at all to clean. 

  He didn’t say anything else, he just left. 

  I could finally breathe. 

  I walked into the bathroom, hoping the smell of disinfectants and air fresheners would be strong enough to distract me from how I felt. 

  It took me at least an hour to clean the whole room. It was huge. 

  After I was done, I went back out and looked around again. 

  The sheets were the last thing I did. I changed them and took the previous one out of the room in search of Ken. 

  Thankfully I saw him before I could get lost. 

  He took them from me. 

  “You didn’t tell me where to keep them.”

  “Yes I did. You weren’t listening. The laundry room is downstairs after the kitchen.” 

  “Oh, sorry.” 

  He gave me a tap on the shoulder and left with the sheets. 

  I looked around as I walked back to Amelia’s room. I knocked first. 

  After waiting a few seconds, I slowly opened the door. She wasn’t inside. 

  I saw a big portrait of her on the wall. She was beautiful. Shocker that Dante wasn’t in love. 

  My body was slowly giving up, but I had to do something. I wiped the tables, cleaned the mirror, swept and vacuumed the floors…anything to make it less obvious that I didn’t mop it. 

  After a long hour, I was finally done. 

  I wanted to go back to my room and just sleep, but the clock was still very far from ten p.m

  So, I went searching for Ken again. 

  I checked a few rooms, discovered places he had already shown me but didn’t take note of. Then I saw him, standing by the wine area, cleaning. 

  “Hey.”

  “Oh, Luca. Are you done?” 

  “Yeah.” 

  He went back to cleaning.

  “Where are the rest?” I asked. 

  “Scattered around the house making themselves look busy. You should too.”

  I sighed and picked up a cloth. 

  “It feels like everyone’s watching me,” i whispered to him. 

  “They are. Dante never brings a half dead boy to the house, talk less of as a worker. We all thought he was punishing you by keeping you alive.”

  I looked around watching every guard glancing at me.

  “Not a crazy thing to say.”