Since no one had issued any relevant instructions, she didn't listen to the voices.
There was more than one of them, though. It wouldn’t be the first time Master brought other people to her room, although it didn't happen very often. He didn't like to share his toys, and he didn't play well with others.
Drifting in her zone, she didn't allow what was happening touch her. It was safer this way. She didn't need to focus on the pain Master inflicted on her, or focus on the humiliation of being treated like she was less than human.
Even if she was less than human now.
Those voices didn't go away, and it almost felt like they were talking to her. Like actually talking to her, not just at her. It had never seemed like a difference to her before, but now she understood. Only one way of talking made the other person an equal, and it wasn't the one she’d become used to.
But she assumed she must be wrong, so she ignored the voices, and pretended like whatever they were saying had nothing to do with her. It certainly didn't interest her. She didn't care what Master and his friends were saying. Her body was theirs to use, but her mind was her own, and she wasn't going to allow them to invade it.
It felt like she was floating.
Moving through rooms, even though she knew that couldn’t be true.
Master rarely allowed her out of her room, and the only way she was allowed out was on her hands and knees with a collar around her neck and a leash in Master’s hand. Since she hadn't been told to get down on her hands and knees and crawl, she had to believe that part of her mind was still back in her safe little world, playing with her animals, lying in the sand, swimming in the ocean, and climbing through the mountains.
One thing she loved about living in the world she created was that she wasn't bound by any normal constraints. She could go anywhere she wanted, she didn't have to hop on a plane or even climb into a car. All she had to do was conjure up wherever she wanted to go, and voila, she was there.
When a waft of breeze caressed her skin, Maya startled.
That felt real.
Shockingly real.
But she didn't go outside.
Ever.
Not since she’d been bought by Master and brought to his island home. On the odd occasion she was taken from her room, she caught glimpses of the outside world through the windows, she’d even felt the breeze wafting through the open windows once or twice, but this felt different.
Like she really was outside.
That was impossible.
Yet …
Her vision cleared a little, and she blinked. Above her wasn't the ceiling of her room, the bars of her cage, and the white ceiling above them. Instead, it was an inky black expanse dotted with shimmering stars. And was that … the moon shining brightly in the sky?
Beside her was a huge building. The house. Master’s house. The place where she’d been kept for however many years it had been since she was sold and bought like a piece of meat. It looked bigger from the outside, the white walls glowing in the light of the moon and stars.
Alongside the voices still speaking in soft, hushed tones, she could hear the waves crashing on the sand. It was all so life-like, so real, and she was still moving, the person carrying her taking her away from the house.
Carrying her.
A man.
Slowly, that began to seep into her consciousness as she became more aware of what was happening to her.
Blinking, she took in the black clothes of the man who held her in his arms. He had a sharp jaw, and most of the rest of his profile was obscured by big, weird glasses that he was wearing. She didn't know who he was, but she quickly realized that he wasn't alone.
There were five other men with him.
At least.
Possibly more that she couldn’t see.
Something flickered to life inside her. Something she thought she’d long since left behind because she’d found a way to protect herself from the horrors of her life.