The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged (28 page)

“What the hell did you do?” he asked, running
to Anna to comfort her.

“Aaron, stay away from her,” Wilhelm ordered
sharply. “She has been disobedient.”

Aaron gave Wilhelm an exasperated look. “You
can’t be serious.”

“Aaron, back off,” he growled, and picked up
Anna and carried her to the couch.

Her face was screwed up like she was in a
tremendous amount of pain and tears ran down her cheeks. Aaron
looked at Kurt, who watched her with pained eyes.

Wilhelm stroked her hair back from her face.
“Anna, will you stop rebelling?”

She didn’t answer right away. She started to
shake her head and she shrieked again and grabbed her head.

“What the fuck is going on?” Aaron growled.
“What are you doing to her?”

“He is not doing anything, Aaron,” Kurt said
softly. “She is doing it to herself.”

Aaron could hardly bear to watch her and
turned around. “What is she doing?”

“She ignored a command from her Master,” Kurt
said. “The pain will not stop until she stops rebelling.” He gave
Aaron a small smile. “I never knew she could be so stubborn.”

Aaron frowned. “I did.” Anna shrieked again
and Aaron winced. “I suppose I never imagined her acting out to
your father, though.”

Kurt sighed and pressed his lips together.
“Aaron, please believe me. I never wanted to hurt her.”

“Then why did you?”

“I did not mean to...I just....” He shook his
head. “I cannot explain it right now.” He gave Aaron a pleading
look. “Please encourage her to trust us. I promise everything will
make sense soon.” He turned back to look at Anna with such longing
on his face, Aaron hurt for him.

“All right,” Aaron said after a few minutes.
“But can you stop being such a jerk?”

Kurt nodded. “I never wanted to be a
jerk.”

Wilhelm stroked Anna’s hair back from her
face as she slowly calmed down. He was truly amazed at the amount
of stubbornness in this little girl. Well, she wasn’t a girl
anymore. She was twenty-five. Oh, how time flies.

“Are you going to punish me?” she asked in a
raspy voice, eyes full of fear.

“Do I need to?” he asked gently.

She swallowed nervously. “You are my Master,”
she said softly.

He pulled her up into his lap and cradled her
head against his chest. “I think you have learned your lesson.” He
kissed her forehead and held her until she was completely calm, and
then set her on the couch next to him.

Kurt and Aaron had disappeared a while ago,
and he was alone with Anna in the apartment.

“Do you love him?” he asked quietly.

“Hugo?”

Wilhelm nodded.

She didn’t answer right away, instead
twisting her hands in the tie of her robe. “I don’t know. I might.
I care for him immensely.”

Wilhelm was fairly certain that Hugo cared
for her just as much.

“We broke up because of what you told me
about marrying Kurt. That was the only reason.”

“Ah.” He hoped she would forgive him for what
he was about to say. “Anna, I must forbid you from having sex with
him anymore. It is not a good idea for you to become attached to
him, or anyone for that matter.”

She stared at her hands. “Yes, Wilhelm,” she
said after a moment.

He saw something hit the side of her hand
resting in her lap and realized it was a tear.

“May I go?” she asked quietly without a hint
of rebellion.

He knew he had wounded her by his command,
but he knew it was the right thing and hoped she would understand
someday.

“
Ja, Liebling
,” Wilhelm said in a
gentle voice. “You may go.”

Anna was trying to contain her tears. She had
learned her lesson. A painful lesson about rebellion. She would
never do that again.

“Would you like us to stop by on our way home
on Monday?”

“Whatever you would like, Wilhelm.” She
turned and gave him a respectful nod, and then walked quickly to
her room and fell onto her bed. Her pillow still smelled like Hugo
and she cried herself to sleep.

“I’m so sorry about Chris, Connor.”

Devin and Tyler sat in Connor Diaz’s large
living room in the suburbs of Philadelphia. His wife and four
younger children were somber, sitting together on the couch. The
second youngest son, Chad, was in his mid-twenties. How would he be
as an Elder?

“Thank you, Devin,” Connor said, more sober
than Devin had ever seen him. He sat in an easy chair, staring out
the window.

Devin didn’t want to imagine what it would be
like to lose his son. He suppressed a smile, remembering what
Wilhelm went through.

Devin and Tyler had stopped by and offered to
accompany them to the funeral. Tonight would be the Gathering for
Chris and to make Chad the Elder-Son. Once more he was reminded
that Anna had run away and there would be a struggle to maintain
his leadership. No one had said it outright, but there was the
question of how he could remain Chairman without an Elder-Mistress.
He assured the other Elders that he would find Anna. And soon. And
oh, how he would punish her!

Twenty minutes later, it was time to leave.
His limo waited outside and the group made their way outside. He
walked next to Connor, asking him a question about Chad, and
suddenly there was a loud
bang.
A moment later, Connor
fell to the ground.

Devin stared in astonished horror at the hole
in the center of Connor’s forehead. Screams from his family echoed
in the area as he dropped to the ground and pulled Tyler down with
him.

“What happened?” Tyler asked in a shaky
voice.

Devin couldn’t pull his eyes away from his
friend’s clearly dead body. First Chris and now Connor? What the
hell was going on?

Anna woke feeling incredibly lonely. She
stared at the window for a long time. There was no reason to get
out of bed. She couldn’t go to rehearsal, or anywhere for that
matter. She would be here until next week.

Should she even let Hugo come over tonight?
Would that be disobeying Wilhelm? Should she just avoid Hugo? Maybe
she should just avoid everyone. Go back to being on her own, like
when she was in San Francisco. She never wanted to feel that
searing pain in her head again.

She’d never disobeyed Devin like she’d tried
to disobey Wilhelm last night. Now she knew what would happen if
she did. The pain didn’t subside until she had decided to stop
disobeying. Her mind would punish her if she tried to be blatantly
rebellious.

Great
. She didn’t need Devin to keep
herself in line. Her mind did it for her.

Anna reached for the remote and turned on the
TV. She wanted something to distract her. Anything.

She stared at the TV at the special news
report about a shooting in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Wilhelm and
the other Elders would be there today! Had one of them been
shot?

She sat up and stared at the TV until the
name was announced: Connor Diaz.

Connor? Connor had been shot? The reporter
said that he had been on his way to his son’s funeral when he’d
been shot in the head. She didn’t like Connor by any stretch of the
imagination, but she wouldn’t wish the loss of a father and son in
one family on anyone. His poor wife.

Anna stayed in bed until after lunchtime. She
wasn’t hungry, she wasn’t motivated to do much of anything. It was
a surprise when there was a knock on the door. She went to answer
it, and found Hugo standing there with a tender smile on his
face.

“Hey, Kittycat,” he said, leaning towards her
to kiss her. “I missed you last night.”

Anna stepped away and shook her head. “I
can’t.” She blinked back tears and hated the ache in her heart. She
could see the hurt in Hugo’s eyes as he straightened. The tears won
the battle, running down her face and she turned away. She walked
into the living room and sat down on the couch.

“Katrina? What’s wrong?” Hugo followed her
and sat down next to her. “Do you regret what we did?”

“No,” she said, burying her face in her
hands. “No, not at all. I.... Wilhelm has forbidden me from being
with you again.”

“Forbidden you? What does that mean?” He put
his hand on her leg and she scooted away.

Anna sniffed, feeling miserable. “He knows
what we did and he told me I couldn’t have sex with you
anymore.”

“Who the hell does he think he is?” Hugo
exclaimed. “It’s none of his business what we do!”

Anna shook her head. “It is,” she said sadly.
“Everything I do is his business. He’s my Master, remember?”

Hugo growled. “You don’t have to tell him. He
doesn’t have to know.”

“Hugo, I can’t. I can’t disobey him. I
feel...physical pain if I do.”

He looked at her and she wasn’t sure if he
believed her or not. “Are you just saying that because you don’t
want to be with me?”

Anna’s heart ached even more. “Hugo, if I
could run away with you this moment, I would. I would go anywhere
with you, to escape my life and spend the rest of it with you.” She
swallowed. “But I can’t.”

“Why not?” He cradled her cheek in his hand
and stared deeply into his eyes. “Run away with me. We’ll go
somewhere where no one will find us.”

Anna let out a sob. “I want to, Hugo. I want
to so badly, but I can’t. My...my life is not my own.” That was the
ultimate truth. She was not her own person. “I’m a slave. I can’t
do what I want. I can only do what my Masters want me to do.”

“Slavery is illegal, Katrina.”

She shook her head. “Not in my world,” she
said sadly.

Hugo rubbed the top of his head and leaned
back into the couch. “I don’t know whether or not to believe you,”
he said softly.

“Why would I lie?” she whispered, hurt. Damn
Wilhelm and Kurt! Why did they have to come last night? “If you
don’t believe me, ask Aaron,” she said softly.

Hugo didn’t say anything for a few minutes
and then shook his head. “Regardless, we should rehearse.” He
stood. “Do you need to change?”

Anna looked down at her pajamas and nodded
sadly. She understood why he didn’t believe her. He didn’t know
anything about the Brotherhood. He was lucky.

Rehearsal was productive, but sad. They only
spoke of dancing, both ignoring the hurt in their hearts. When they
were finished, Hugo gave her a sad look and left without saying
much. Anna went back into her room and cried.

Aaron found her in the same position she’d
been in when Hugo left. He lay down behind her and held her. She
slowly told him what had happened with Wilhelm and Hugo.

“That is really fucked up, Anna,” Aaron
said.

“Story of my life.”

Aaron sighed and kissed the back of her head.
“Too bad you can’t go out tonight.”

“If I was allowed to go out tonight, none of
this would have happened.”

“True.”

Anna turned over and looked at Aaron. “I hate
this. I had gotten to the point where I wasn’t resenting what Alex
had done in saving me when I came here. Aside from the Devin power
thing, I’m beginning to resent it again.” She sighed. “I wish it
was all over now. Just...ya know, move on with my life. No more
possibilities, just...life.”

“I’d miss you, though.” He smoothed her hair
back from her face. “I like having you here with me.”

“I like being here with you too.” She sighed.
“I don’t know how Wilhelm expects me to go without sex until I
marry Kurt.”

“Does he know about Mr. J?”

Anna shrugged. “I certainly didn’t tell him.
But, I don’t know if Mr. J. is still interested in me. It will be
three weeks tomorrow that I haven’t seen...er, felt him.”

Aaron chuckled. “If he’s found someone better
in the sack than you, I want to meet her.”

Wednesday, Anna was allowed to go out again.
She hadn’t seen Hugo since Friday and he avoided looking at her
when she arrived at the studio that morning. She blinked back tears
as she went to her place at the barre. Hugo had moved across the
room. She felt miserable the entire class.

“Okay, girl,” Stefanie said at lunch, trying
to cheer her up. “We need to go out this Saturday. You’ve been
cooped up for too long.”

Anna hesitated. “I don’t know if I’m up for
going out.” Would Wilhelm disapprove if she did that? She hated the
uncertainty, not knowing what she was supposed to do. It would be
easier if Wilhelm were here. Then he could tell her exactly what
she was to do. Or maybe she should just go live in Tom’s Manor.
She’d know what to do there.

“I will drag your ass out if you don’t come
voluntarily. Being alone isn’t good, Katrina. You need to get out
and have some fun. You look so depressed.”

Anna wished she could tell her friend more
about her life, but didn’t know if she was allowed. Tom had given
her permission to tell Hugo. Was she allowed to tell her new best
friend? How was she supposed to have a friend if she couldn’t tell
her anything about her own life?

She hadn’t even told Stef about what happened
with Hugo. As wonderful as it had been, making love to him, the
knowledge that it wouldn’t happen ever again made the memory
painful. She was afraid she’d finally fell in love with Hugo, and
now could do nothing about it.

She hadn’t heard from Simon yet. Maybe it was
a good thing. Was she up for a “date” with Mr. J.? Maybe Mr. J.
really had lost interest. Wilhelm had forbidden her from being with
Hugo. He had also said she shouldn’t get attached to anyone else.
Had that been a command? It didn’t feel like one. Besides, she
wasn’t getting attached; she was just enjoying sex with him. That
didn’t involve emotions. Much.

Oh, she hated all the confusion! Resentment
towards Wilhelm and Kurt was growing steadily.

“Euroman wasn’t at the club last week,” Stef
continued. “I wonder if he found another place to go.”