I toss and turn in my sleep. Filled with so much confusion, pain, and anger. I wake up in the middle of the night and sit up, running my fingers through my hair. This bed feels way more comfortable than the one that Im used to sleeping on. I place my hand on the mattress and an imprint of my hand is left on it when I remove it. I frown. What the hell is this? I look to my right and there is a large window with black drapes over it. Right across from my bed is a door to a private bathroom and to my left is a bedroom door. Actually, this place looks like it's fit for a princess. This room is huge. I toss the comforter off of me and walk around the room. There are carvings and murals all over the walls. The bedframe is solid gold and the decorations are also gold. 

I go over to the bathroom and open the door slowly. When I turn on the light, there is a large mirror from my door to the other door on the far side of the bathroom. I guess this isn't as 'private' as I thought it was. The mirror is trimmed in gold and the tub is porcelain and gold. The showerhead and faucet controls are all silver. The lights are as bright as they get, probably LED. There are neatly organized shampoos, conditioners, bodywashes, loufas, washcloths, toothbrushes, and everything else you need for personal hygiene. Even razors. 

I look in the mirror and the cut on my lip is healing faster than normal. The bruises on my face are virtually invisible, and somehow I didn't wake up feeling like someone tossed a ton of bricks on me. I wonder what they injected me with to numb the pain. Even my dark circles seem to have diminished. I observe my clothing. White silk pajamas that look like they were steam pressed to perfection. They fit perfectly. Even my hair looks like it's been through some beautifying process. I don't look like a prisoner, I look like royalty. I'd like to know why.

The door on the other side of the bathroom opens and I put my hand on the knob of the door next to me, ready to run out of the bathroom, if need be. This bathroom is the size of a small bedroom. You could easily fit four people in the tub and at least 8 people would fit comfortably inside the bathroom itself. Roman emerges from his dark bedroom and I keep my grip on the knob. He is startled when he sees me standing on the other end of the bathroom.

"Angel? What are you doing here?" He asks, just as confused as me.

I look him up and down. His bruises were too deep to have gone away in one day, but he definitely looks better. He has on black silk pajamas and his hair is in a silky bun. 

"What did they do to us?" I ask, calmer than I am.

"I don't know. Im trying to figure that out." He says, looking down at his pajamas.

I release my grip on the knob. I trust Roman. We are in this together, all of this. I think back to my nightmares and simulations. I trust him to a point. He looks in the mirror and fixes his hair. 

"This is insane." He says, feeling on his discolored face.

He pulls up his shirt and I stare at the bruises on his abdomen and.. his arm! There is a large gauze pad over the area where he was zapped by the lasers. He looks at me and I just stare at the gauze pad.

"Im afraid to take it off." He says honestly. "How can you even walk? I had to carry you back to your room after we met with Head Bitch after she put us through that obstacle course. You couldn't even stay conscious." He explains.

I feel on my pajamas, knowing how even a small amount of pressure on any part of my body would send serious jolts of pain through my body, last night. Today is a new day. Today they need us to be strong, for everyone else.

"They did something to us. Let me see your arm." I say, reaching for the gauze pad.

He nods at me, wanting me to reveal his arm. I place my fingers under an opening on the pad and I rip it off quickly. My eyes get wide.

"What the fuck." Roman exclaims, feeling on his perfectly healed arm.

He pokes and rubs on his arm. He looks at me, completely freaked out.

"There was at least two inches of my flesh gone! It was a hole! A HOLE! What the fuck!" He stares at his arm hard, thinking it will go back to the way it was.

I back up, freaked out as well. I don't know what they did to us, but its really unnatural.

"Maybe it was a skin graft?" I offer.

He looks at me, still slowly losing his mind. I look down and run my fingers through my hair.

"It doesn't matter how. They want us to be 100% for some reason. The best thing for us to do right now is just take it one moment at a time." I say, splashing some water on my face.

Roman drops his shirt back down. Thank God. Even with all of the bruises, his physique is still impressive. 

"One moment at a time? Coming from the woman that was about to strangle Head Bitch yesterday?" He says, leaning on the solid white countertop.

I cut my eye at him. "What makes you think I still don't want to strangle her?"

He raises his eyebrow at me and I brush my teeth with these state-of-the-art toothbrushes and the best toothpaste on the planet. He watches me, looking to see if Im taking this harder than Im letting on. If anyone can figure me out, Im sure its Roman.

"You know what this is right? This is her reward. We're like her pets. Once we do something for her, she gives us a treat." He points around the bathroom.

My eyes follow his movements as I am brushing, not able to respond with toothpaste in my mouth, but Im listening.

"And if we do something wrong..." He pulls up his shirt. 

I spit out my toothpaste. "Punishment." I mumble.

Roman nods as I rinse out my mouth. I wipe my mouth off and look at him, folding my arms across my chest.

"Why us? I mean you're like a super human so I get that, but why me? I cant do anything that could benefit her plan of world domination." I say, looking for an answer from him.

"You're kidding right? Angel we would not have gotten through that obstacle course at all if it wasn't for you! You're so damn intelligent its scary. And you're strong, especially in dire situations. We're like Bonnie and Clyde. Maybe too literally..." He says, frowning.

I cant help a smile spreading across my face. I didn't know that I could be able to find anything amusing about being here, but somehow Roman brings out the best in me, even when we're in a prison. He sees me smiling and smirks.

"What's so funny? You like being Bonnie?" He asks, amused.

I shake my head, giggling. "No. Im just so freaked out that I have to smile to keep from going insane."

He nods. "Me too."

I look over at the tub.

"It's a Jacuzzi too. I can see the jets." Roman explains.

"You can shower first." I say, turning to go back into my room.

I close the door behind me and I hear the water start running. I imagine Roman stripping out of his pajamas and stepping into the shower, his muscles rippling. I sit on my bed, knowing I shouldn't be picturing him naked. Isnt it supposed to be the other way around? What else am I supposed to be thinking about? The fact that we're all slaves to these power hungry siblings and that we might not be getting out of here? I still haven't found my Mom. Not since the first day. Id like to think that they're using her as bait for me. That they are keeping her alive and that they can make me do whatever they need me to do to protect her. I just want to see her.

The water turns off and I am again picturing Roman's soaking wet body stepping into a pure white towel, his extremely long hair dripping water onto the floor. I guess it's my turn. I open the door and Roman is in just a towel, exactly how I pictured him, brushing his hair. I look down, suddenly my shyness has come back.

"Sorry. I thought you were done." I whisper.

"I am. I'll be out of your way." He says, putting the brush down on the counter.

I take a quick peek up at his body. His tattoo is glistening in the LED light and his complexion is beautiful. He leaves out of his door and locks it. I lock the door behind me and take a shower. I try to clear my mind. I usually think about everything that is going on with me while I am in the shower, but that's the last thing I want to do today, in this situation. I wonder if Roman is picturing me naked. Maybe he has already seen me naked and I just don't know it yet. He did say I was unconscious last night. Well, whoever dressed me also dressed Roman so Im guessing some other creep has seen me semi-naked. The thought makes me shudder. 

I turn off the water and put a towel around me, letting the warm air dry my skin. I use Roman's brush to brush my hair out. I could use my own, but his is right here. I stare at myself in the mirror. Whatever they did to me, they made me look better than I really look. My light eyes are glowing in the light, I almost look beautiful. But not really. I put the brush down and go into my bedroom, seeing a drawer filled with white jumpsuits. I guess they still want us to seem like the rest of the prisoners. I put my underwear on and throw on my white jumpsuit and tie my boots up. I see some white leather gloves in the drawer as well. Sewn onto the back of the gloves is the word "LEADER". I take deep breath and slide the gloves on. I don't feel like a leader, I feel like a sell-out. But I didn't do anything. I just survived, like everyone else.

~~~.~~~