Of course he tries.

"Yeah," Grant says with a nod. "Let's grab her, too." Mary nods approvingly and Mel smiles enthusiastically.

"Great! She's kind of a pain in the ass, but it'll be nice to have someone I know with me now that you're my owner," Mel gushes. "And she's the slutty twin, too, so you know. If that's something you're looking for...well, all I know is that she's pretty popular with certain boys. That'll come in handy now... Come on, this way!" She leads them off down the hallway as Grant shakes his head in disbelief. Mary and Olivia follow, smiling.

Mel leads them quickly through the apartment's foyer and living room and down one of the hallways, indicating as they go that they should be quiet. The place is nice - it's not a luxury condo or anything, but the furnishings are all high-quality and the apartment is spacious in a way that the other ones Grant's seen in the building are not. For this part of town, it's the lap of luxury.

Mel stops outside a door in the hallway, holding a finger to her lips. "This is her room," she mouths. She carefully swings the door open and pads in, Grant following. His heart is beating fast in spite of himself.

The room is startlingly messy, even for a 19-year-old. Clothes, books, shoes, and what looks like sheet music are scattered all over, and the walls are practically wallpapered with band posters. There's a bed in one corner of the chaos, and directly across from the doorway sits a large desk with a fancy desktop computer perched on top of it. A teenage girl sits at the desk, back to the door, staring at something on the monitor intently as she bobs her head to the music faintly audible through her over-ear headphones. Mel, a small smirk on her face, tiptoes up to the other girl and grabs the headphones. "Hey sis! Guess what?!"

"Ah! Jesus, Mel, you freak, you startled m - AHH! WHAT THE FUCK?!" The second girl, starting to turn in her chair, sees Grant and recoils. Grant lunges, barely managing to grab her by the sleeve of her leather jacket.

"I clai - AGH! Hnnngh!" Even as Grant tries to speak the words, the panicked girl flails wildly and jabs him in the solar plexus, making him double over, wheezing. The girl tries to scramble backward out of her chair but Mel is suddenly on her, grabbing her sister with furious strength, seizing her short-cropped hair. The unclaimed girl yells in pain as Mel jerks her head back.

"You stupid bitch!! Why would you punch him?!" Mel shrieks. Mary and Olivia have barrelled into the room as well, eyes cold, and seized the struggling girl. Between the three of them, Mel, Mary, and Olivia bear the unclaimed young woman to the ground, holding her struggling body in a kneeling position.

"Mel what are you doing what did you do oh FUCK what did you do what is this - "

"You stupid bitch! You always have to ruin anything I have! Any nice thing that happens to me you can't just let it be nice, you've gotta act like it's some sort of problem - "

"Jesus Mel what are you doing let me GO - "

There's a sudden cracking sound and a cry from the girl on her knees. As Grant looks up, Mary slaps the restrained girl again, then a third time. None of the blows are gentle - the girl cries out with each one, and when Mary stops, hand raised, the poor thing is trembling and panting. Mary stares down at her, looking quietly enraged. "You little bitch," she hisses. "How dare you hurt Grant?" She glances over her shoulder. "Are you ok, Grant?"

"I...I'm all right," Grant wheezes. He's starting to be able to breathe again. "Not...too bad."

"You're so lucky he's not seriously hurt," Mary hisses to the kneeling girl. "I would find so many ways to make you pay..."

"I would break her nose," Olivia says conversationally.

"I'd break her ribs," Mel growls.

"Let's - let's not do any of that!" Grant gasps, straightening most of the way up. Jesus, they really don't like it when I get hurt, huh... "I'm ok! No one needs to get hurt...we'll just do what we're here to do."

Mary smiles at him. "All right. I'm glad you're ok...go on, then." She steps to the side, leaving Grant a path to the wide-eyed, frightened girl. She's nearly a mirror of Mel: slender frame, pale, freckled skin, brown hair. But where Mel has a sort of wholesome girl next door look, this girl - Abby, was it? - is decked out in punk rock concert clothes, clad in studded jeans and a light leather jacket despite being indoors. Her hair is cut in a rakish, slightly ragged bob, and her green eyes widen as Grant takes a step forward. "Claim her," Mary says. "Make her yours, and make her grovel for forgiveness for laying a hand on you." Her smile as she suggests this is unkind.

"No, n...no, nonono," the girl whispers, shaking slightly in her captors' hands as Grant steps forward. "It's...it's real, isn't it? I didn't believe, but...it's real? You...you claimed Melanie?" She glances at her sister, looking both stricken and curious, belief warring with cynicism on her face.

"That's right," Grant says wearily. "And now..." He reaches for her, and she yanks her head away, straining against the other women's hands.

"Nonono pleaseplease...please, listen. You don't have to do this!" The desperation is clear in Abby's voice, but her eyes on his are steady. "You don't...I'll work with you, we can work together, whatever you want, I'll do what you say, but don't...don't fucking brainwash me..."

Grant hesitates, his hand inches from the girl's face. She looks up at him, eyes wide and pleading and serious. Mary glances toward him as well, frowning. "What are you doing? Just claim her, Grant! Break her will and turn her into a toy. It's what she deserves, and she'll enjoy it, too." Grant swallows. This is harder than the last two. With Olivia he still only half-believed the whole thing was real; with Mel it all happened so fast. But this - this is different.