Voices of Humanity

Chapter Eight

* A/N : Alice was in a really bad place last chapter. But maybe there is still hope she could regain her place? ....

My new life was more hellish than anything I could have conceived. In the kitchen, Madam Rin was committed to doing her part to reform the wayward actions of my past. No longer did I have my own belongings. Everything I'd ever owned was confiscated. The books, the special treats I'd hoarded from Lexia's gifts, even the small handwritten recipes left behind by my mother. I was left with nothing but two worn dresses and a thin coat to my name.

"Perhaps now you will see what you truly are," Madam Rin said coldly as she forced me to watch each of my possessions destroyed or given away to others. "You are an animal and have always been one. I only wish I had the chance to give your previous overseer a piece of my mind for the havoc she has wrought on these kitchens in her leniency.

Indeed there was no "leniency" or special privilege in Madam's household. Rin ruled us all with an iron fist, liberally dispensing blows with her club or hand whenever she felt the urge.

In order to cement my place, Rin continued to assign me the most deeming tasks in the kitchen and around the estate, from cleaning the bathrooms, to butchering, to staying late to scour all pots and pans used throughout the day by myself. I was allowed nowhere near the stove and denied the chance to cook or perform any other task that might earn me praise or give me the chance to be in my Master's presence and make amends.

The other humans were hardly sympathetic. I knew many resented the favor Lexia had shown me, in spite of the efforts I'd made to use my position to help others. Seeing me as a greyskin, many likely believed I'd received exactly what I deserved. Besides, I could hardly blame them for their abandonment. I was out of Dulane's good graces. Everyone knew it was best to leave me to my punishment and keep their distance least his anger turn to those aligned with me. After just a few weeks, my hands were raw from harsh soaps and cold weather, my soul worn in its isolation.

Sadly, it was not just Rin whose resentment continued plagued me. Embolden by Dulane's order to act as my reformer, Everett lurked around every corner, waiting to hear of an excuse to drag me away for more "training."

A true monster, Everett took full advantage of his position, beating, whipping, and otherwise inflicting suffering whenever we crossed paths. And, of course, there were more trips to the breeding sheds...

If the mood struck him, Everett would come to take me from my tasks, claiming report of some misdeed I had done. No one dared to question and why would they? I was a wayward animal known to be in desperate need of taming. He was the head overseer, a sibla man of fine moral standing and the trust of Cedrick Dulane. I was entirely at his mercy.

Having been trained to allow my body to be used since my first breeding years before,  I knew the feeling of unwanted assaults, but nothing had prepared me for Everett's particular predilections, and it seemed my first experience with him had barely scratched the surface of his dark fantasies.

Working to degrade me in every way possible the overseer would use me as if I were not a living being at all. Though I did my best to comply with every demand it was never enough to escape the pain he enjoyed inflicting.

The feeling of his teeth upon my skin became all too familiar as he dug them into my neck, arms, and legs, whatever he chose to sample, leave horrible patterns of blue, green, and purple bruises all over my body.

"One day," he would whisper, "these samples will not be enough. One day I will devour you."

I knew it was the truth. That was all I amounted to. An item to be consumed. My flesh, the flesh of my children, it was all the same. I was a commodity, nothing more. He could do whatever he wished to me and none would come to my aide.