Ivory woke up in the dark of night, nothing but an abyss of nothingness meeting her eyes. Once her eyes adjusted she saw outlines of furniture and a bed in a room in the pitch black. She then remembered coming back to base with Lily, seeing a massacre, and then being abducted just to hear that her family knows Blue and that she must marry him. She had a rough day; her stomach twisted at the thought of having Blue has her husband. The man was demented.
She turned to see that she was the only one in the room; the clock read 11 PM. She wondered where she was and where Blue was --- then she realized that she must be at Base 1 but had no idea where it was even located. She peered outside in the dark, seeing trees high and tall like skyscrapers and no street lights. She assumed they were somewhere upstate.
She went to the bedroom door and opened it, seeing that the base had cream colored walls and wooden furniture in the corridor, and was confused on why Blue had this hideout look completely different from base.
Suddenly, she saw Blue at the bottom of the stairs and his empty blue eyes met hers as his muscular frame took up half of the staircase.
"You should be asleep," Blue said, not harshly or kindly.
"I just lost track of where I was," Ivory replied.
"This is one of my private homes -- we will remain here for a while. I am thinking it might be better to stay longer than a year until everything dies down. I need to hire new workers."
"May I speak to Lily? If not, can you just tell me if she's okay?"
Ivory lost Viper; she didn't want Lily to be forever gone, too.
Blue nodded. "She's with her sister and Red -- they're okay. We are the only ones here."
Ivory followed Blue into the bedroom with butterflies in her stomach; her life had just taken a 360 , and worst of all, she had no friend or family member to vent to. She doubted that Blue would want to hear her stories, problems, thoughts, feelings, and concerns -- the man was selfish and cruel in her eyes, though she had to play the part of a loving wife, and that's what scared her.
Blue stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned to Ivory, who peered down at the floor, anticipating that he was going to hurt her.
"Tomorrow I am going to have you read and sign the contract; it's a marriage contract between us. You're given a list of strict rules to follow as a Mafia Wife. There's a lot that you can and cannot do; so when you're up tomorrow, you will read and sign it. There's no turning back now, Ivory. This is your new life."
Ivory nodded, refusing to stare into the eyes of the demented man that stole her life, friends, and identity. She ran away from the foster home for freedom just to have it all taken away from her.
"From this day forward, you are no longer a hacker," Blue continued, and Ivory's big eyes got wider and sadder, but he shook his head. "Mafia wives are traditional -- those are the rules. It takes a lot of emotional and mental strength to care for a child; that is your purpose now. Though, just know that you will always have my protection and security as long as you remain dutiful. This isn't about love; this is duty."
Ivory nodded and followed him onto the bed where she kept a huge distance between them on the bed, a huge space of white was between them like a floating cloud, where she just wanted to sleep off her troubles. Though, what pained her returned when Blue wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.
"I see you're avoiding me," Blue replied carelessly. "You have to deal with your new life now. This is your duty."
He pulled her into his chest and she had sought a way to fall asleep in the hands of a monster --- the puzzle to her peaceful rest was daunting and impossible to put together as she laid awake while Blue slumbered as if no regret or guilt kept him awake.
Ivory decided that she would play Blue's game and would escape when the time was right; for now, Blue kept her hostage financially; they both knew she had no chance of survival without a job and a degree, so she remained tethered for now. She had to be patient. Ivory didn't know what would come next, or how she would exact her escape; it called for her, her soul longed for it, but she couldn't have it now.
Then, she closed her eyes and stayed half asleep, thinking about her new duty and how to use it to her advantage.