Getting some elbow room

The top floor's layout is much simpler than the rest of the building's: it opens from the elevators into a simple hallway that terminates in a single door in each direction, labeled "A" and "B." Grant glances around. "Which...which is it?" he asks nervously.

"It's Penthouse B," Olivia says. She leads the way down the hall to the heavy door with its ornate letter and bites her lip, finger over the doorbell. "How should we...how should we do this?"

"Well, we have to assume they know about the Claiming by now," Mary says. "Or at the very least, they've seen the messages. So..." She glances at Grant. "You should probably stay out of sight."

"Don't I need to...claim one of them?" Grant asks uncertainly.

"Yeah, but to do that we need to get the door open first. And that'll go better if we're the ones asking for it."

Grant nods slowly. "You're...gonna trick them? Trap them?"

"Like flies with honey. Or, actually, more like an animal that pretends to be injured...whatever. You stand over there and get ready to grab whoever opens the door." As Grant moves out of view of the peephole and the camera over the door, Mary turns to Olivia. "Ok, story time. What are we looking for?"

"I mean, what about a safe place to stay? That's true. And we can say that we saw that creepy guy, Noah, and we're worried that he's coming for us," Olivia suggests.

"Good idea, but let's make it more urgent." Mary tousles her own hair, getting it messy, and tugs sharply on her tank top to get it misaligned with her bra. "He's right behind us - we got away up the stairs but he's coming."

"Oooh, yeah. He grabbed at us and we just barely got away." Olivia nods enthusiastically and pulls one of the straps on her bikini top down so that it hangs loose off her shoulder. She shakes out her hair and musses it to match Mary's. "That's good. We should run up so we're panting. They might hear that too."

Grant, from his place in the shadows to the side of the door, watches this murmured conspiracy with a mixture of admiration, arousal, and dawning horror. They're really putting all this thought and effort into...tricking another girl into being owned. They're going to betray someone just like them all for my sake. That's... He shivers slightly. ...pretty hot. And pretty scary.

The girls have backed up to the elevators, and glance at one another for confirmation. Mary mouths, "Ready...set...go!" and they take off, charging down the hallway as fast as they can. They nearly crash into the door, both of them hammering on it with both hands.

"Help! Hellllp!" Olivia cries as Mary babbles, "Open up, open up, please open up!" It's honestly a pretty good performance, and Grant feels a twinge of guilt at the trick they're pulling. But...we need somewhere to stay.

After a few seconds of the breathless hammering, there's a chime and a female voice comes through the fancy digital peephole. "H-Hello?? Who are you?!"

"Please, please," Olivia babbles, as Mary overrides her, "I was visiting Olivia, she lives here, this whole thing happened and a guy was waiting outside her apartment! He claimed our friend and now he's trying to grab us too!"

"We ran but I think he's coming!" Olivia glances back at the elevators as though he might emerge at any time. "Oh, please let us in!"

"I'm sorry I...I don't think I should do that..." the woman on the other side of the door says hesitantly. Mary slams her palm against the door.

"Please! Please...he was really creepy, and talking about how he'd turn us into some kind of sex slaves...I don't know what's going on but I just want to get out of the hallway...!"

"I've seen you and your sister and your mom around!" Olivia adds. "I know you guys are safe, please, we're just two girls, please let us in!! I'd do the same for you!"

"I..." Grant can hear the girl on the other side of the door wavering. "...Ok. Ok, come in quick." There's a click as a bolt slides past, and the door swings open.

"Thank you!" Mary cries as she lunges forward. At first she just seems to be **** to get inside, but there's a muffled cry as she instead seizes the person who's opened the door. Olivia darts in after her and they drag the struggling girl forward as Grant leaps into the doorway. He barely even processes what the struggling figure in their arms looks like as he reaches out and grabs her shoulder.

"I claim you," he says quietly. "You're mine!"

The girl's eyes, wide and frightened over Mary's hand covering her mouth, bulge. Then, suddenly, she slumps. Every time he's seen this happen the process is startling. The girl had been thrashing and struggling less than five seconds ago, and now, all of a sudden, she relaxes totally. Mary smiles and takes her hand off the girl's mouth, though she keeps her grip on her arm just in case.

"Wow," the girl says with a little laugh. "I feel...pretty stupid. That was a good show you guys put on..." She's pale-skinned and fresh-faced, with a slender frame and small breasts. Her hair is light brown, curly, and currently gathered up behind her in a ponytail. She wears designer jean shorts and a tight white t-shirt. She looks up at Grant with a shy, wary expression. "So you're my...my owner now. Wow! I wasn't sure it was...real." She swallows and drops her gaze, clearly shy. "I'm Melanie Parks, I'm 19...my friends call me Mel. I'll do my best to make you happy."

Grant grins. "Good. For now, let us in...and is anyone else home? Your mom and your sister?"

Melanie stands aside, letting Grant, Olivia, and Mary into the apartment's spacious foyer. "Abby's home...she's in her room, probably got her headphones on. Mom's not home, but she texted that she's on her way and told me to keep the door locked. Said people are going crazy out there..." She shakes her head ruefully. "Guess that was true!"

"Ok, good," Grant says. He chews his lip, thinking. Should I claim the other daughter, too...? He glances at Mary, who gives a firm nod.

"The mom's the one we really need compliance from," she says to him quietly. "Think of anyone you don't control as a potential threat...if we get the sister, then we're only facing one point of resistance, and we have even more leverage over her."

"You want me to bring you to Abby's room?" Mel asks, looking eager to be helpful.