Cassie was devastated.

It was only after Claire had left, weeks ago, that she had realised how much she meant to her…

She’d spiralled into a dark place after Claire left. She’d not bothered to go to work; they’d phoned her a few times, written as well, then she’d received her notice of dismissal by post. She didn’t care.

The flat was in a real state; the smell from the bins in the kitchen was disgusting, and the food in the fridge had gone off long ago. She was still drinking, but only because she had to, not because she wanted to. She’d lost a great deal of weight through not eating; her skin was just hanging off her body.

There was a knock at the door.

“Cassie? It’s your mum. Are you in there?”

She was too weak now to go to the door, not that she could be bothered.

There was a sound of a key in the lock, and light from the hall spilled in. The manager had given Cassie’s mother a key.

Her mother came in, then immediately started coughing from the smell.

“Oh God… this place looks like it hasn’t been lived in for weeks…!”

Her mother started looking around, climbing over rubbish. She managed to pull the curtains open, to throw some light in the flat. As she did, she went into Cassie’s bedroom.

She saw the small form on the bed. She shrieked…

A quick check proved that Cassie was still alive, so she immediately phoned the emergency services. The ambulance crew arrived quickly, and Cassie was carted off to hospital.

Her mother never left her side.

Cassie stayed unconscious for days; the hospital fed fluids into her intravenously and some liquid vitamins to try and build her up.

Eventually, she awoke.

She didn’t speak to anybody. If anyone tried to talk to her, she just turned away from them, staring at the wall instead.

Finally, her mother had had enough. She grabbed Cassie’s shoulders and turned her back towards her.

“Cassie! Snap out of it! Talk to me! It’s your mother…!”

“She left me, mum…”, said Cassie quietly. “I never got chance to tell her I loved her…!”

“Who, darling?”, said her mother.

“Claire… my roommate!”

“She said I made her choose between her ‘mistress’ and me…”

Haltingly, Cassie told her mother what had happened. Her mother gasped as Cassie told her about the scars on Claire’s back, and the transparent clothing…

“She’s being treated like a slave!”, Cassie wailed. “I don’t know where she is, or anything! I’ve met her so-called mistress, Jaranda; she just thinks of Claire as her ‘pet’.”

“Did you say Jaranda?”, her mother said, suddenly angry.

“Yes, why?”

“Let’s just say we have a history…”, her mother said. “You rest and get better. I’ve just got to pop out for a bit; I promise I’ll be back later.”

“Ok, mum. I’m not going anywhere”, Cassie said, smiling at last.

Cassie’s mother recognised the name, alright. She’d trained her.

“I didn’t bring you up to be that sort of a bitch, Jaranda”, she said. “I think we need to have words…”

She quickly headed into town and parked up outside a fairly nondescript looking building. She didn’t even bother to knock; she just kicked the door in.

“I want to speak to your boss. Now!”, she said to the woman that came running.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?”, the woman cried.

“Her boss!”, Cassie’s mother said. “Just tell her Maggie is here to see her. She’ll come.”

“Wait here!”, the woman said, vanishing up a flight of stairs.

Shortly, there was a crack, followed by a shriek, and the woman came flying back down again with a red, handprint shaped mark on her cheek.

“I’m sorry, Madam, I didn’t know!”, she cried. “This way, please!”

She bowed to Maggie and led her up the stairs, knocking on a door at the top.

“Enter!”

Maggie and the woman walked in.

Jaranda was standing behind the desk. She came racing out and, to everyone else’s amazement, knelt before Maggie.

“Mistress! It’s an honour!”, she said. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“I thought I always commanded respect”, Maggie said. “How come, then, you have decided to insult my family?”

“Mistress, what do you mean? I’ve never had anything but the utmost respect for you!”

“I’m talking about the despicable way you have treated my daughter.”

“I’ve never been near her!”

“Oh; so, you deny meeting her in the supermarket carpark a few weeks ago?”

“Wait… Cassie is your daughter? I didn’t know!”

“You also stole her girlfriend from her. She nearly killed herself because of it. She’s in hospital now because of you!”

Claire, kneeling by the desk in her transparent uniform, went white.

“Cassie? In hospital? I never knew she loved me, let alone cared about me that much! God, she was only looking out for me! I’ve been so wrong…!”

Claire, to Jaranda’s shock, stood up.

“And where do you think you’re going?”, Jaranda asked.

“She’s coming with me to see her girlfriend”, said Maggie. “That’s after she puts some real clothes on…! And don’t you even think of trying to stop us.”

“I can’t change clothes”, said Claire. “Mistress has locked these onto me.”

“Keys. Now!”, said Maggie.

Jaranda handed the keys over by kneeling in front of Maggie and holding them in her upraised hands…

“I should think so, too”, said Maggie. “It should be you that’s begging to get into my daughter’s life, not the other way round. Claire, you can still see her if you want to, but Cassie is your first responsibility, now.”

“Of course”, said Claire. “I don’t want to see Jaranda again; I thought I loved her, but she changed as soon as she thought she possessed me. I tried to fight her off, but she locked these clothes on me and threatened to whip me again if I didn’t do everything she wanted. I thought I wanted this life; I was wrong. It was lust, not love…”

“If you want to know what real love looks like, go see my daughter”, Maggie said.

Claire had changed, and she was now wearing a tank top and jeans.

“That’s better”, said Maggie. “Come on, let’s go.”

As they went to leave, she looked back at Jaranda.

“If you even think of coming after her again, or get anywhere near my daughter, I’ll show you the things I didn’t teach you”, Maggie said.

Jaranda went white…

As soon as Cassie saw Claire in hospital, she tried to sit up to hug her.

Claire cried when she saw the state that Cassie was in.

“I didn’t know! I swear!”, she said, hugging her gently.

“I was going to tell you when you walked out on me…”, said Cassie, quietly, still feeling weak.

“Can you forgive me?”

“I can, but the flat… that’s another story…!”

The pair giggled and snuggled together. They then both hugged Maggie…