Rough draft! I'm still going to be focusing on Foxed the most but I wanted to get this out there. Owned is happening roughly around the same time as Foxed it's just involves Harper and Hayden instead of Kender and Rafe. Enjoy!

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This heat was murder. 

Super -like I'm gonna melt- hot, and the moist air made me feel like my chest was filled with glue. Central air was a luxury my family didn't have. So it was the one thing that kept me coming to work day in and day out. Working in an Uptown restaurant during the summer meant all the cold air I could get. Of course, today happened to be the day it decided to break... today of all days. 

Side-stepping the busboy, I grabbed a damp cloth and wiped the beads of sweat off my forehead. He gave a lopsided smile as I tossed the dishrag back into his tub. I didn't know him well but he lived on my street, just outside of Downtown, where all the poor people lived.

"Hello? Can you take my order please? Honestly, I don't know why they let these dirty riff-raffs work here! You should consider yourself lucky to have a job in this restaurant."

Getting fired for mouthing off to a rich brat had been a huge fear of mine ever since I started at Monterey's and even though today was my last day, I held my tongue. There was no point in losing my pay for the week over this. All things considered, she was actually one of the nice ones.

I batted at the stray piece of hair in my eyes, bounced on my tiptoes a little so my ponytail swayed, and smiled so wide my cheeks ached. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. Would you like a table or did you want to make an order to go?"

The woman rolled her mud-colored eyes and tapped the band of her large diamond ring against the counter. "Obviously to go... only animals can handle this heat," she said, giving me a disgusted look.

I reached into the pocket of the black apron folded around my waist and clutched the pad of paper so tightly I could feel the metal rings smashing into my palm. "Of course, what would you like?"

"Harper Thomas?" a man behind the woman asked.

He was tall. A few inches taller than my dad who was well over six foot. He had a beautiful blue eye on his left, but where his right eye should've been there was a large gash. My eyes dropped to his neck, confirming my suspicion when I saw the gleaming silver tags around his neck. He was Owned... and an organ donor. He was lucky all they took was an eye. Kender's best friend Billy had been an Owned organ donor. His Owner took him to an Uptown party where his body parts where the party favors. I remember because Monterey's catered and I was one of the waitresses. I could still hear Billy's screams. I never told Kender. There were too many horror stories in our lives already. I couldn't protect my  younger sister from much, she was already the most jaded of the bunch with her what her 'special' talents were. 

"Are you Harper Thomas?" the man asked again.

"Y-yes, I am. I'll be right with you, sir," I said, smiling at him but careful not to stare at his scarred face too long. 

I turned to take the woman's order, but he stepped forward and extended his hand. "My apologies to the lady," he said with a nod at my customer, "but my orders come from Hayden Marks. You do know who that is, Ma'am?" 

"Mm, who doesn't, but what does he want with her..." she paused and reached for one of his dog tags. "Toby."

Shame flushed my cheeks and I bowed my head, thankful that the redness could be mistaken for being overheated. I didn't want to tell her what Hayden Marks was to me. Or rather, what he was going to be to me.

I'm not a slave yet and I don't have to be treated as one yet!

The grim expression he gave me warped his face. He could've passed for a tagged gangster if it wasn't for the pity in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Miss Thomas, there's no delicate way to say this," Toby said. "You're to be taken to the closest fertility clinic in Uptown immediately."

The woman still slightly in front of Toby raised an eyebrow and the corner of her mouth rose. "You're Owned?" She slapped a hand to her chest and her eyelids fluttered shut. "Shén, wǒ xīwàng nǐ shì féiwò!"

I could feel my heart crack. Anymore of this and it would shatter. I too wanted good results. I wanted to be able to have children, but not with him and most definitely not for her, or other people.

"That damn war ruined most of us women!" she continued to rant. 

Most of the women in Uptown anyway... a couple decades ago a New World Order started a war and disguised it as World War III so fourteen men could rule the world. During the mass takeover a chemical was released in each major area of the world. It was an airborne opiate that was supposed to make everyone docile for a certain period of time so the NWO could complete the finishing touches without trouble. The supposedly unintentional side effect of the chemical made most women barren, particularly those in the northern 'rich' areas, also called Uptown. Anyone with a lick of sense knew the truth. It was all about money and promoting human trafficking of the poor. Momma said people didn't even bother to fight when human trafficking was legalized because of the lack of new babies. 

"You'll have beautiful babies," she paused and reached for my hair, "chestnut brown hair with baby blues on a child--oh, can you imagine? Keep me posted, will you? I've wanted a child for such a long time. My names Kip Tanner, by the way," she said. "Should I give you my number?"

I wasn't sure if she was asking me or Toby. 

Toby, bless him, ignored Kip. "Miss Thomas, Mr. Marks wants the results before he comes for you. He needs to know his options. We must hurry."

His options. His options.

I'm Owned. Being Owned meant at least one of three things. I'd either be a sex slave, a baby making machine, or an organ donor. If the results came back positive I knew it would be the best and worst day of my life.