Remember, little doll: no names, no kissing, no falling in love.
My heart stuttered.
Beneath that, there were lines of precise, elegant writing, not typed, but handwritten. Someone had taken the time to make it painstakingly neat, almost calligraphy.
Tonight, you will undergo a one-on-one interview with me.
You will sit at the edge of the bed.
You will put on the blindfold provided.
You will answer every question truthfully.
You will submit to any necessary punishments, as per the terms of your contract.
You will not remove the blindfold until you are told to do so.
Failure to comply will be considered grounds for elimination.
My mouth went dry. I looked up.
The blindfold was already draped across the pillows, its black silk, neatly folded, as if it was patiently waiting for me. It was almost as if someone knew I’d stand here and read this, with my hands shaking, and my heart beating too fast and too loud.
It felt like the room itself was watching me, somehow.
Everything inside me buzzed.
This was it, the moment, the point in every movie where the girl hears the eerie music start and decides to go anyway and seals her fate.
This wasn’t just a game anymore, it was real. I looked at the door.
I could leave.
I could pack up, head downstairs, demand my keys, and drive until the lodge was just a ghost in the rearview, until the man with the scar and the unseen billionaire pulling everyone’s strings both went back to being memories I’d convince myself I’d imagined.
But did I move? No, and I didn’t even want to because deep down — beneath the nerves, the doubt, and the lingering guilt — I already knew the truth.
I wanted this. I needed it, not just for the money. Not just for the chance to get Granny Irene out of the ‘balance due’ column forever, either.
I wanted to be seen and judged worthy. I wanted, more than anything, to be chosen, for once in my life. Even more, I wanted to know what it felt like to hand over control and become someone else, just for a little while, even if it meant following rules that made my chest tighten.
No names.
No kissing.
No falling in love.
I smoothed the skirt of my green dress down over my thighs, then tucked a loose piece of hair behind my ear, like that would somehow make me braver.
Then I sat on the edge of the mattress, spine straight, knees together, hands resting palms-down on either side of me to keep them from trembling in my lap.
I sucked in a deep breath and reached for the blindfold.
The silk slid cool through my fingers as I tied it in place with clumsy care, tightening it until I could see nothing but black.
The world narrowed to sensation and sound.
My own breath was what I heard first, too fast and too shallow, but real.
