The Unclaimed

Ellie stepped out of her car and into the street, nervously checking for anyone who might recognise her. She had driven all the way to Georgia, confident nobody knew her there. An airport in North or even South Carolina felt too risky. She stopped in some random town en route to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to pick up a few bottles of water and some other supplies. It was a hot day and the heat was really getting to her. She figured surely nobody here would have a clue who she was But, within minutes..

"Hey, Ellie, wait!"

Even though it was a female voice, it still sent a shiver down her spine. She spun around to see a striking looking woman in a cap, shades and headphones walking towards her.

It wasn't anyone she knew, she felt sure. The stranger scanned her surroundings, as if checking she wasn't being watched or followed, as she walked over to Ellie. When she reached her, she spoke quietly but clearly.

"See how easy it was for me to find you? You aren't safe here. Follow me!"

"Wait, what do you mean? Who are you?"

The young woman gestured to her headphones to indicate there was no point asking her any questions yet, and Ellie felt she had no better option but to trust her. She was led to a car and urged to get in. Her own vehicle was still in the lot a few blocks away on a one hour ticket, and it had most of her stuff in it. But she was starting to sense her situation might be much more serious than she had realised and it may not be safe to ever go back to it.

As Ellie climbed into the car and strapped in, her driver took off her cap, headphones and shades before starting the engine. She was even more beautiful than Ellie had initially thought.

"Sorry about that. I know this all seems like a lot. But you can trust me. You and I are family"

"Oh. So does that mean?"

"Yes, I'm also one of the unclaimed" the woman nodded "You can call me Madison, though that isn't my real name, obviously"

Ellie looked down at the dashboard where "Madison's" drivers licence sat. It said 'Paige Jimenez' next to her photo.

"Shit, I've got to get better at this incognito stuff" Paige sighed as she snatched the card away "Okay, you can call me Paige when it is just us in the car. But if we are anywhere that anyone else could even theoretically hear us talk, it's Madison, okay?"

"Of course" Ellie nodded "So how did you find me? I thought I'd covered my tracks pretty well"

"Your registration plate and a few unconfirmed sightings of you"

"WHAT?!!" Ellie gasped in horror.

Paige passed her a tablet. It was displaying a site named Cursed Cuties with the tagline beneath saying 'Gotta Claim 'Em All!'. The front page image was a barely censored nude still of Holly from the movie with a red 'Claimed' stamp across her body. As Ellie navigated the site, she quickly came across a database of all claimed and unclaimed women with Petersen blood. Each of those not yet claimed had their own page with as much information as could be gathered to help identify and locate them. There was also a busy forum where each unclaimed and claimed Petersen had their own thread. For the unclaimed it was all about sightings or discussions on how to catch them. For the claimed, some masters had posted explicit photos and videos of things they had made their girls do. Ellie was relieved that neither Mel or Kylie's masters had posted anything. And, of course, the nude Holly content was out there already. In more general threads, masters were arranging group meet ups where they could request commands for each other's girls.

Perhaps most disturbing for Ellie was the very prominent Most Wanted list, featuring the top ten highest sought after Petersen women. Ellie was both shocked and alarmed to see her face at number one. Paige was number two - Ellie would have recognised her and known her real name immediately if she hadn't already spotted the drivers licence. The bounty on this car right now must be immense, she thought to herself.

"How am I number one? You're the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen!" Ellie asked in disbelief.

"Hey, you're not so bad yourself" Paige chuckled "And you're Holly Petersen's immediate cousin right? She is the golden idol for these freaks. People were pissed that her sister was already claimed and at how quickly yours both got caught. Sorry about that, by the way"

"Yeah, it really sucks" Ellie admitted "Do you have any relatives?"

"I've got a sister. She's number five on these sick fuckers wanted list" Paige, upbeat until now at the rush of having rescued Ellie, suddenly sounded little down "But there are no leads on her to follow. I just hope that means she's really good at hiding"

"I really hope you find her soon. Also, thank you so much for saving me" Ellie told her new friend.

"It's my pleasure. It's kind of a kick using these fuckers own information against them. I think we are better at finding each other than they are at finding us"

"So how many of 'us' are there?"

"So far, I think you are the twenty fifth we've 'unclaimed', as we like to say. We aren't all together though, we are coordinated but in different parts of the country. You will be the fifth member of Unclaimed South. We also have Unclaimed North, East, West and Canada. The membership is pretty evenly spread, I think. But, of course, we are trying to find people and grow it every day. "

"And how many are still out there?"

"Globally, just under five hundred. In the US and Canada, around 250. But claimings aren't happening much now. I think it's kind of assumed everyone left is on the run or off grid and hard to find. Anyone who didn't flee is claimed by now for sure, and the days of hunters just showing up to someone's home or workplace and claiming them are over"

"Fuck, if I'd waited even another hour" Ellie realised with horror.

"This is all moving very quickly. Believe it or not I've only been doing this since this morning. You're the first one I found, actually. Kind of a coup to get the most wanted on my first go. The others will be so happy you are safe"

"So what do we do from here?" Ellie was keen to find out.

"I'm going to take you to meet the rest of our little gang. Then we will both get makeovers, which will probably suck, and have some fake IDs made up, so you might want to think of a name you like now, since that is effectively what you will be called from now on"

"Maybe Chloe?" Ellie thought out loud off the top of her head.

"Okay, cool. Chloe suits you actually" Paige smiled "Anyway, Chloe, after we have done all that and gotten something to eat, I figure maybe you and I go and search some more this evening. I'd kind of like the two of us to buddy up and stick together through all of this, if that's okay with you?"

"I'd love that" Ellie gushed at Paige more enthusiastically than she had intended. This was the first time in her life someone had made her consider that she might not be completely straight. The thought of being so close with her hot saviour from now on gave Ellie unexpected fuzzy feelings.

"Cool" Paige nodded as she turned the car radio on "Welcome to the Unclaimed"