"I've learned my lesson, Master."

After dispensing so much more energy, you figured Arabella was about over with it, too. So, you both *actually* shower to get cleaned up. After drying off and getting dressed up again, you let her stay inside and get squared away, physically and emotionally.

Outside, Scarlet is asleep on the couch, her eyes closed and her mouth shut. You press the back of your hand against her forehead. She’s running hot, and there is visible sweat dimpling from her hair. You brush the loose strands from her face and sit across from her. You yawn, glancing at the clock mounted high on the wall. A lot of time has passed since you went out and got her out. You close your eyes and lean your head back, dozing off in only a few seconds.

…

…

“Wake up,” you heard your mother say as you spoke to her in your dream. The voice didn’t match her face, and you narrowed your eyes at her. She repeated herself in the wrong voice. “WAKE UP.”

Your eyes opened to a bright room. Four girls stood around you. The fox girls and Scarlet are dressed in casual clothes. You notice that Scarlet is adorned by some of the clothes you’ve bought for Arabella. Denim jeans, white tops– the usual.

“Good morning,” you stretch. “Are we in trouble?”

“No,” Gwendolion giggles. “We don’t know what to do now, so we’re waking you up.”

You looked at Arabella, and she blushed. “Sorry for raising my voice at you, m-master.”

Scarlet rolls her eyes and crosses her arms as she scoffs. “You’ve got them trained pretty well,” she murmurs.

“Shut up,” you lean forward and rub your face. Morning breath and last night’s stress trickle into your thoughts. Things might be shittier now than they were a few hours ago. “Well, I don’t think saving the town from the bandits is possible. The best bet is just to skip town and move deeper south. I don’t know where you fall into this, Scarlet, but since you’ve lost all your gear, you’d like to retrieve some of it before we leave.”

She flicks her eyes at you, lowering her arms before she responds. “We ought to smoke that fucker that’s running this crew.”

“Not worth the trouble,” you say. “It was a close call last night, and now that he’s aware of us being here, he’ll be ready.”

“Nah,” Scarlet shakes her head. “Before they doped me up, they were talking about staying in a place a little way out of town–”

“Not worth it,” you say.

“Then give me a fucking gun, and I’ll do it myself,” she spits at you. “I understand why you think it’s worth your time, but after getting smacked around like a ragdoll and having the rest of my life sentenced to slavery, I think his **** is a good enough payment.”

“Yeah, sending you off alone after all that sounds like a brilliant idea. Sorry for thinking otherwise.”

“I don’t make the same mistake twice. I underestimated his clown pose after dusting so many of his fuckboys I figured they wouldn’t have been able to strife me,” she groans. “Christ, that asshole punched the shit out of me…!”

You look up at Arabella, who is smiling slightly. Apparently, her sympathy only goes so far. The twins are watching, curious about where this is going now. Behind them, everything is loaded into bags. Many things have been discarded in the garbage bins in the kitchen; probably stuff repackaged to make the process of packing possible.

Scarlet snaps her fingers. “You helping me or not, Warren?”