mentally - silently gathering the ruptured pieces in his mind. He must, and would stay the course- for both of them. From behind his back he pulled out his “trump card”; he retrieved earlier from the bedroom, palming it.
Francine’s eyes widened when she saw the thin strip of leather with the blinking light in his hand. What was he about now? Oh no, she felt hot panic take hold of her again, her underarms prickling with the stress, he wasn’t coming near her with that! Futilely she tried to squirm away, as he grabbed her gently, but firmly, he was strong, so strong as held her close and fastened a hateful little collar about her neck.
“What’s that!” She asked the note of panic crept into her voice at the sound of a click. To her hears that click was as loud as a gunshot.
“It’s a collar Francine.” Oh no! no! Her mind is in a swarm, she realized she was losing her sense of balance, she’d gone back - back there, the iron collar, their evil control, everything she had been dreading. Please - she’s was clouded in the past, tethered, terrified and her heart rate sped up. She felt like she couldn’t catch her breath; dimly she heard a beeping and realized that he had taken her in his arms. It helped to bring her back. When she was there in the dark there were no arms, no one to hold her, to whisper to her. She felt the tears on her cheeks and dimly she realized she was being pulled from the darkness. He pulled the blanket back around her. She hadn’t realized that it was a heated blanket, he’d untethered her from the table, and was once again wrapped in his arms. He’d even rubbed medicated Vaseline into her chapped lips crooning to her “It's OK, little one, I've got you.” That voice, it was so deep, soothing, not oily and evil like the others. She realized that in spite of all of the reasons she had to descend further into her own mental chaos it’s calming her, “You're mine now,” he said “That’s all that matters and I'd never damage what's mine, I promise Francine. I promise, shhh. It's to help me keep you safe.”
The slavers had warned her she might be collared. That was one of the things he had cruelly whispered about (the horrible greasy man in the suit). Cruel collars used to choke or to shock or simply to mark as a slave... But what did the light mean? She looked up at him, her eyes clearer now, focused, but wary. “Why the light? What does it do?” He held up - a device, with a blue dot on it in a velvet sea of black.
“It’s a tracking device Francine, that’s it. I promise you. I’m not going to keep you tied up all the time. You're not an animal and I can’t take the chance of not being able to find you in the dark in these woods, so... there you are. I was going to put it on you after we had a talk, but I had no idea you’d have the strength to run the first day. You’re in pretty decent shape.” Francine thought about the couple of times a week she spent walking or doing some kind of casual work out at the campus gym when she wasn't chatting with her friends between machines. The exercise while casual must have netted her some kind of payout - go figure. “We will discuss this more tomorrow, after you’ve eaten and rested.”
The collar she thought. That’s why the easily unlocked door and no basement. He wasn't as stupid as she’d thought. Humph - she was figuring out a lot of things wasn't she? Slowly she trembled, her situation seemed to overwhelm her again and she heard herself begging, the tears really welling up now, “K, please take it off, please...”
“No Francine, I’m sorry,” and he realized that he truly was.
“But I can’t take the chance. I’m going forgive your running off today because it’s the first time, but I really can’t condone you running from me, it’s dangerous and I won't tolerate it.” With that he released her leaving her on the floor.
Then he said without looking back as she felt her hand rise to her neck, "Don't