"Show me where forever dies," -I Will Not Bow by Breaking Benjamin

The knock against the window came again, this time more rapidly. Now? It was happening now? This was too fast. The thought of one last begging episode with Hayden crossed my mind, but I bit my lip to keep my mouth shut. It wouldn't do any good.

A hand clamped on my arm and jerked me out, pulling me to my feet. "Having your owner's brother drop you off must mean he really enjoyed you," a female's raspy voice spoke in my ear. She quickly pushed me aside. "How is your brother, Starling? Do be sure to tell him that donation was much appreciated and that we understand he'd like us to take good care of what's his. Is that him in there?"

The female guard started to bend down to peek inside, but Starling shifted and cut her line of sight off. "No, it's my bodyguard. He insists on going everywhere with me."

"Ah."

The sun was just peaking in the sky. It must've been around six-ish because there was enough light that I could see fairly well. The ride here must've taken all night.

"She's a cute one." The blonde guard nodded towards me, her hands still clamped on my shoulders. The thick material of my black tuxedo jacket with a white lining couldn't stop the steel gripe from biting into my flesh.

With my expression schooled, I turned my head away and looked at the menacing ten foot gate topped with barbed wire. It surrounded a brick building, covered in browning ivy. Patches of yellowing grass and mud seemed to be the walkway in. Clearly the other donations Baton received didn't go to maintaining the facility. It looked like the joke of a horror story, where the house is really haunted but nobody believes it until they spend a night in it and end up dying.

I clamped my hands together and remained quiet, but the sudden pinch on my shoulder tore my attention from the building.

"Kendal!"

Who the fuck is Kendal?

"A little spacey, isn't she?" the guard asked.

"That is exactly why we want her in this program to begin with. She just doesn't pay attention to what she's doing and Magie's wife is afraid she'll be prone to jay-walking."

"Jay-walking, huh? Usually a judge overlooks that, but its better safe than sorry. I commend you and your family for taking action on the matter."

"Magie's wife felt it would do her good. She needs a little discipline. You know how the help can be sometimes," Starling said with a chuckle.

"Help? She is Owned, correct?"

Starling cleared his throat. "Of course, but we haven't exposed her to certain aspects of what it means to be Owned if you know what I mean."

Gertie blinked. "You haven't taken her to a party yet?"

I swallowed the vomit down. Owned were a limited time 'party favor' for an Uptown get-together. All those attending would bring their Owned and pass them around to others. One of my Owned friends, Billy Stone, attended one of those parties and I never saw him again. It must've been an organ donation party because a few months later I saw Billy's eyes on someone else's face. Momma said it was my imagination, but I know what I saw.

"Gertie, we were wondering," Starling paused, and motioned her over. She shifted her feet, dragging me with her as she got closer. "If we made another 'personal' donation could we get her out sooner than the six months?"

Gertie pulled away, her eyes darting back and forth as she watched him, contemplating what he was asking. "If anyone found out about this we could get into some serious trouble. This isn't a program you pay for. The only benefit to staff is the use of Owned, it's why we've gotten the go-ahead to do this. You understand that, right?"

"Of course! I speak for all the taxpaying citizens when I say we appreciate this free service you're offering, but between friends?"

She heaved a sigh but didn't need much longer to think about it as she answered. "It would have to be a rather large donation."

Starling beamed at her. "That shouldn't be a problem. It'll take some time to get a large sum to you. A few months at best I think. You and the others will take care of her? No scars?"

Gertie chuckled. "We'll do our best."

Man. I did not like the sound of that one.

"And remember, her name is Kendal Panama," Starling said, heavily emphasizing the name. "I know you see names all the time and can get confused. Kendal Panama. Say it with me."

Gertie rolled her eyes but obliged. I guess I found out who the fuck Kendal was after all. Kendal Panama was going to be my new name for a while. At least, it wasn't too off my original name.

"We got her paper work. I said her name. We've given her a special inmate number. I know what she looks like – awfully cute in this, isn't she?" Gertie slid her hand down my side. I tried not to stiffen as her fingers slipped underneath the skirt waist band to snap my underwear before she pulled her hand out. "She'll get picked up right away. Not much I can do about who it is either," she said with warning. "The whole point of this is to immerse them in prison life. Six months of this and they'll never want to come back."

"Yes, but please nothing physically damaging. I'd like her returned without any of her organs missing and no scars. We like that she has no scars."

Gertie cocked her head. It was more of a manly gesture than a female one. "We can only promise no scars. Does she have both of her kidneys?"

"No, she doesn't. She donated one to her sick brother."

I frowned at Starling. If the prison decided to do a physical that lie would cause a large problem.

"And she doesn't have a scar? Downtown doesn't have our new technology do they?"

"We had the procedure done. She's been Owned since birth."

Gertie nodded. "Oh. It makes sense now. She's like Magie's daughter, huh?"

I wanted to spit on both of them. I have great parents and for them to say I belonged to someone else was a slap to them. My parents loved me and would never do something like this to me. And that is the difference between people from Uptown and those from Downtown. We know what real love is.

Starling nodded. "Exactly. We won't hold you responsible for any emotional trauma but for the sake of her owners..."

Gertie waved him off. "I get it. No STD's, right?"

"She's clean. Pristine, in fact."

I raised an eyebrow. Is that a nice, Uptown way of saying I was a virgin? The flashbacks of a sweet, yet sweaty, emotional and physically painful night with Billy beg to differ. It was the one thing I could give him before he went to that party. We weren't lovers or dating. It was just that one time and I haven't had the stomach to do it again since then. I was sure it had something to do with Billy being torn apart for his organs. We'd just been good friends and decided to lose our pristine with each other.

Gertie raised a blonde eyebrow. "That's a new one. It'll be best to keep that quiet."

Starling leaned forward and captured my chin. I jerked away without thinking and cringed when I glanced up at him, apologizing with my eyes. Starling laughed it off. "She's upset with us. She's grown attached as well, and as I said Magie's wife thinks Kendal could use the wake-up call. It's just for a little while. Okay?" He lifted his hand again and stroked his thumb over my cheekbone.

"Consider yourself lucky," Gertie said.

Starling pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry," he whispered into my ear. "You'll be okay."He pulled away, actually looking sorry. He offered a timid smile too.

In his warped way, Starling was trying to make me feel better. It didn't work. I even tried to appreciate the attempt, but my skin was still crawling over the casual way the guard had stuck her hand down my skirt. If a guard was that 'friendly' I couldn't imagine how the inmates were going to be.

I sat for three hours in a holding cell before the other prisoners came. A total of twenty needed to be processed, all different ages and sizes. The only common grounds among them...fear. Some schooled their features better than others but I was observant. I could see the flickers of hopelessness.

Could someone see it in my eyes? Am I not scared enough or is my fear too obvious?

"Squat and cough."

The repetitious demand from the scratchy-voiced male guard with salt and pepper hair bounced off the speckled brown and egg-white colored walls. The cold from the puke yellow colored tiles seeped into my bare feet, and the feel of imaginary bugs burrowed into my skin. I kept one arm wrapped tightly over my exposed breasts and the other fallen between my legs, shielding myself from the lineup of other naked men and women. My fingernails dug into my bare biceps, and my cheeks burned as the young male in front of me did as he was told.

This is humiliating.

Counting the peppering black dots of the male guard's hair couldn't distract me anymore, so I turned my gaze away. No amount of training could prepare me - or anyone - for this type of degradation. I would bet that half of these people didn't deserve this type of treatment.

When it was my turn, I just stood there.

"Don't be shy, Baby doll, you've had enough examples. Squat and cough."

"Why?" I cringed as my voice cracked.

The guard raised a graying eyebrow and popped his hands onto his sides. His stance was wide as he leaned back on his heels. "Why do I have a feeling you're going to be a troublemaker?"

I shook my head vehemently. "No. I promise. I just want to know why we have to do this."

He tilted his head. The angular features of his cheek bones seemed more prominent and angry with the move. "Not that I have to tell you, but this is to make sure drugs aren't being smuggled in."

"I-I thought most drugs were legal."

It was the hard drugs like heroin that were still illegal.

"None of them are legal here. The only thing you get here that's legal, Baby doll, are condoms and cigarettes," he said and stopped to glance down at the chart in his hand. "Ooh, aren't you special. You get your own clothes too."

That was surprising. Not that I got my own clothes, some people were lucky enough to cop a deal and get that. What was surprising was the condoms. They were basically black market items. Trojan issued a statement against a law passed some odd years ago by the New World Order. The people in power did not take it well and about three months later a new technology called Phallic Tease replaced them. It did everything a condom would do and more according to the advertisements. Apparently, the people that bought them thought so too because it wasn't long after the product had been released that the other condom producing companies slowly went out of business, and eventually got banned. The CEO's and workers of the company Trojan, having lost it's power base and money source, were rounded up and killed. Some say the owner took his family underground and went rebel.

"I want my own clothes," the plump, dirty female behind me mumbled. "How do I send for my clothes?"

The guard swiveled his head eyeing her naked body with interest. "Not you, just her. Unless you have something we can barter with, but of course, you know special privileges come to those who have wealthy benefactors that care."

I frowned, ignoring the comment and hoping there would be no retaliation from the others at the knowledge of my 'special privileges'. The glint in the guards eyes told me that he was hoping for that retaliation. Anything for their entertainment, after all. I resisted the urge to glare at him.