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The next thing Paulina knew, she was taking a sudden, deep breath and opening her eyes. Her arms were wrapped tightly around a man's upper-torso. The man, she soon discovered, was Frank, who was sleeping soundly on his back, one arm loosely draped around Paulina's shoulders.

She lifted her head hastily off his chest, then regretted doing so, for fear of waking the slumbering man. He, however, merely continued breathing slowly and evenly. Paulina attempted to unwind her arms from his body, difficult because one of her arms was trapped beneath Frank's back. Inch by inch, the girl managed to get free and slide off the bed, heart beating rapidly.

What had happened? Paulina struggled to remember anything past the sensation of being lifted up and carried. She had blacked out, then, and could recall nothing. Knees knocking together, she glanced back at her sleeping captor. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and Paulina couldn't see past that, for the sheets were covering all below his waist. Paulina's heart thumped painfully in her throat, and she was tempted to rest on the edge of the bed. She decided against it, not wanting to risk rousing Frank from sleep.

She glanced at his face, noticing how peaceful he looked. His features were not harsh, or sharp, or cold. Just...smooth and calm. Deep, even breaths caused paced risings and fallings of his chest. A chest that was decorated with tattoos, as were his arms and the part of his torso that Paulina could see. Some tattoos were words, some pictures, some both. It was interesting to look at.

The chest stirred, a fact that Paulina didn't register until it was too late. Her eyes darted to the door, but her legs were immobile. Too late, Paulina began backing away from the bed. Frank sat up, running a hand through his black hair once before letting his gaze settle on the small girl in front of him.

"Good morning, Paulina." Frank's voice was slightly raspy with sleep, but he seemed perfectly coherent. Paulina could see that he was wearing a pair of long pajama bottoms. He reach out his arm, opening his hand expectantly.

Paulina was stuck. She was terribly frightened to let him touch her, but she was also terrified of what kind of punishment her disobedience would earn her. With no other options, she slowly reached out towards Frank's patiently waiting hand. He grabbed her forearm, yanking Paulina to himself and causing her to fall, face-first, onto the bed.

"You know, Paulina," he said quietly, stroking the back of her hair as she lay face-down on the mattress. She didn't dare move, so she remained still and silent. She could only listen as Frank spoke. "I should think you'd be grateful to get out of that basement. I even allowed you to share my bed. Much more comfortable than the cement floor, or the chair that Bob gave you, I believe." He wound his fingers through the girl's hair, feeling the grime and dirt that had built up over the days.

"Paulina," he said grabbing firm hold of her black tendrils and pulling her up from the bed. "You could certainly use a nice bath. Come," he continued, standing and leading Paulina out of the bedroom by her hair. "Oh, Gerard," Frank called as they walked down a long, dark hallway. "I have a job for you in the East Wing bathroom." Paulina stumbled along, her stomach doing turn-overs at the thought of Gerard touching her at all, let alone bathing her while she was nude. They made it into the bathroom, where Gerard was already waiting.

"Your charge," Frank said, throwing Paulina forward by her locks and letting go. "She doesn't smell great, and her hair desperately needs a good wash. And comb. And brush her teeth; there must be moss growing on them by now. Don't take too long." With that, he turned and walked out of the bathroom, leaving Paulina alone with Gerard.

Gerard began to run the water in a very large bathtub. If Paulina hadn't known any better, she'd have thought it was an indoor swimming pool. In a matter of minutes, the tub was filled with water, and the room filled with steam.

"Strip," Gerard said lazily and somewhat sleepily, waving one hand at Paulina as the other tested the water. She hesitated a moment too long, and Gerard sighed and stood. He lifted the button-up shirt swiftly over Paulina's head, causing her to stumble, and gasp when she realized that she was completely nude. She attempted to cover up, but it was to no avail. She shot a horrified and embarrassed look at Gerard.

"Well, get in. I didn't run the bath for my health." He waved his arm at the steaming tub, following Paulina as she walked toward it.

"Yip!" Paulina jumped away from the tub after putting her foot in. She tripped over the ledge of the porcelain, landing hard on her rear-end. The water was impossibly hot, and it burned something awful to touch it. Gerard sighed again, bending over and picking up the small girl. Without warning, he dropped her mercilessly into the scalding hot bath water. She tried to jump out of the water, thrashing wildly, but Gerard held her down easily with one arm. After a few minutes of splashing around in the water, Paulina was able to calm down a bit. The water still scorched and burned her skin, but it was just this side of bearable.

"Well, it seems like you're wanting to do this the hard way. A messy job it shall be." With that, Gerard shrugged out of the black button-up he'd been wearing, to be clad only in a white T-shirt that was already quite wet from Paulina's splashing. "Alright," he said, bending over the tub with a bar of soap. "Stand up."

For the next hour, Gerard scrubbed, soaped, lathered, washed, and rinsed Paulina. Without warning, he would dunk her under for a rinse, or turn her roughly around to clean her back. Paulina ended up just going limp and allowing him to wash her without resistance.

"Alright, turn around," he said, making her face him again. He was holding a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. "Teeth. Let's see 'em." Paulina bared her teeth like a dog while Gerard scrubbed with the brush, lathering up the paste on her teeth. "Spit." Paulina did so, into the soapy bathwater. "Rinse." He handed her a glass of water, which she also spat into the tub after swishing it around in her mouth. "Alright."

Without warning, Paulina was pulled out of the tub by her forearm, stumbling over the ledge as she went. She was led back out into the hallway that she'd first been led down, and yanked through it. After the boiling hot water, the air conditioning in the hall was unbearably cold on her bare skin. Her wet feet slipped and slid along the wooden floors. She was pulled into a bedroom, different than Frank's, and tossed on the bed. A towel was thrown at her, with which she was to dry off. Paulina hastily did so.

"Turn around, and sit up," Gerard ordered. Paulina did so, yelping when Gerard began to comb her nettled hair. "No use in squirming around. It'll just hurt more, and, in case you haven't noticed, I have no qualms about hurting you." Paulina took this to heart and did her best to sit still. Soon, her hair was untangled and dangled past her shoulders freely.

"Put this on," he said, throwing a garment at her. Paulina examined the plain, white sundress before slipping it over her head, just grateful to have something to conceal herself. She stood and started walking around to get the feel of the dress. It fit fine, which surprised Paulina. How had they known her size, and gotten it so quickly?

"I wonder what this is for..." Paulina murmured, looking down a herself.

"You," Gerard said, handing her a blue sweater to go over the dress. "Are going to church."


You guys, I am so flattered. My last chapter got a rating of five, which makes me very happy, indeed. May I say, I am also flattered that you guys are calling me a great writer, and complimenting the story, etc. It means a lot that you guys like this story so much. Continue to comment and subscribe and rate, please, because it makes me happy, and it makes me write more. So, yeah. Next chapter to come soon, even sooner if a lot of people review. OverAndOutxx