She never did finish college. Dropping out at the age of twenty, she had ended up working in retail for a time, before moving to fast food, and then back to retail. Minimum wage was a standard for her, and were it not for Aria, her sister, she'd never have been able to make it in this world.

Psychology. She'd wanted to go into psychology. Only, she'd never gotten the chance. Whether or not she was smart enough wasn't relevant. She'd just never made it. It was as her parents had always said: she would never amount to anything if she kept on her path. Which she did. And now, it was too late to diverge from it. Her loans loomed overhead like an angry ghost of her past, dragging her down, eating her monthly pay. A hungry beast, they were never satisfied.

Aria worked as a consultant, and was the only reason Kat - no, Katherine - Katherine could make it. They would have their sleepless nights, for sure, where they stayed awake, sipping coffee, struggling to understand where to go from here. Their finances were in a wreck and the future seemed bleak.

So, Katherine did what anybody in circumstance would do, she thought. She stole. From stores, mostly. Petty shoplifting of various items, and she was pretty good at it too. She'd not been caught once, and Aria never asked her where the food was coming from; she was just relieved to have it. Katherine felt proud, in a way, to finally be throwing in her support for the house. Especially since her parents had disavowed her like the bastards they were.

She would curse their name every time she had to steal. It wasn't that she wanted to. There was no thrill involved, only the anxiety of being caught, the fear that sat within her like a stone. And still, it wasn't proving to be worth it. Her sister was facing more and more debt everyday, simply trying to put up for both of them. Rent was pricey in the city, and food for two just compounded their problems. Katherine needed more, needed to pitch in her support somehow. She could see the stress in Aria's eyes, the black circles that formed beneath them a testament to those sleepless nights of stress.

That was when she'd met John. A thief, he was. He'd noticed her stealing from the store and stopped her on her way out, giving her the worst panic attack of her life. At the time, anyway. She thought she'd been caught by a store employee, or an off duty police officer, but when John asked her if she was interested in getting more, it'd all flipped like a dime. Suddenly, he had her interest, and she was in the palm of his hands.

He'd taken her aside, off to an alleyway. Not the smartest thing, she knew, but times were desperate. He'd mentioned that he was planning to rob a house, steal some jewelry and dip. And she'd be paid beforehand for just keeping guard outside. An easy job, and the cash sounded nice. Four hundred dollars to just look both ways before crossing the street? Perfect.

She took the job. It'd been her first mistake of many. He'd chosen the house, a small one in a suburban area, a little upbeat and out a ways from the city. A nice place in a nice neighborhood. Apparently, the people were out of town, so it should've been an easy target, according to him. All Katherine had to do was sit in the car and wait for him to return. Easy as pie.

Only, it wasn't so easy. He'd made it in alright, but within minutes, police were on the scene. He'd apparently forgotten about the alarm. They were both swiftly arrested and tossed in jail. That was the first time Kat had ever been in a cell, but it certainly wouldn't be the last. Oh no. If only she'd known what was in store, she would've learned her lesson there. She would've stopped.

The judge she went before was Judge Wayne A. Gaddet the Honorable. He wasn't too old for a judge; she guessed he was in his late thirties at most. His short black hair had just a tinge of gray in it, but he was clean shaven and had strong features. The look in his eye when he looked upon Kat was one of pity, almost. Certainly a strange sadness.

"What," he'd asked, "is a young girl such as yourself doing in my court today? Why would you put yourself through something like this?"

She'd tried to explain her poverty, her fear, how John had roped her into a scheme. She confessed to it all, while he listened intently. And in the end, she'd gotten off with a fine and probation. Probation which, though painful, she served for six months.

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Of course she learned nothing.

John had gotten it worse. He'd been sentenced to three years in prison, with the possibility of parole. She'd never seen him again. She didn't have time to.

Aria had been incredibly disappointed in her, and that'd hurt worse than the sentencing itself. Of course, she helped Katherine pay the fine, but still. With their already burdened finances, they couldn't take much more of that. And yet...

Within a few days, Katherine was arrested trying to pickpocket a man. It was swift this time, two days in jail and then back before judge Gaddet. Once more he had that sad, pitying look in his eye, one that seemed to strike her to her core and leave her feeling violated.

"This is your second time here. Did you learn nothing at first?" he asked. "Two hundred dollars, and a warning. This is your second strike. If I see you in here again on a theft charge, I may not have the power to save you again."

With that, she'd been sent on her way. Again, Aria had helped her pay the fine. But in the end, it'd meant nothing.

Her third charge was the worst of them all. Theft from a car, during which she'd been caught by an off duty police officer. After being promptly tackled, she'd appeared for the last time in judge Gaddet's court, where she learned that that was his own daughter's car.

She remembered when the courts had made their decision. The uncaring look on the judge's fat face. The court room's silence. Her own despair. The way the rain tapped on the roof of the court house. And for what? Petty theft.

She remembered Aria's face when the gavel came down. How the color drained from it. How her hands shook. The lonely tear that crept down her cheek and dripped to the carpet below. At the time, she'd wished she could react like that, but the shock of it all had her frozen, wallowing in her own fear like an insect caught within a hurricane. That was the last time she'd seen Aria.

And that was her first day as a slave.

Kat laid her head on her Mistress's chest, looking away. A small tear trickled down her cheek and onto her Mistress's pajamas. Mistress Alexa said nothing, wordlessly stroking Kat's hair and breathing softly. They sat in each other's company for a time, before Kat spoke again.

"My first Master. He bought me soon after that."

"Who was he, Kat?" Mistress Alexa asked. "Tell me, please."

"He..." Kat sniffled and blinked away a tear. "He was that man. The one I threw the platter at."

Mistress Alexa's hand paused for a moment, before continuing to pet her. Kat's fingers curled up around the blanket and a pang of shame heated her cheeks. "He would hit me when I did something bad. Even when I didn't. He would... do things. Bad things. Awful things."

She buried her face into the blanked and squeezed her eyes tight, stifling another tear. Voice muffled, she continued, "He would use me. When he got home, he would come find me, and if I hadn't finished my chores, he would... he would..."

Don't cry, she thought. Not now. Don't let go. But it was too late. The tears were here to stay. She sobbed into the blanket, clenching it in her fists. Mistress Alexa kept petting her, silent. Images of her Master floated through her head. His face, his evil eyes, that wicked smile he always had. She shivered.

Eventually, Mistress Alexa stopped and pulled Kat up to her. Kat let her do it, going limp. The fight in her was gone, exhausted. She let her Mistress pull her up and settled her into the crook of her arm. Mistress Alexa leaned in and planted a small kiss on her forehead, and Kat nuzzled into her neck.

Slowly the tears stopped, and Kat was able to regain some of herself. She sniffled and looked up to her Mistress, who looked down at her with concern in Her eyes. "That was him?"

She nodded. "Yes, Mistress."

Mistress Alexa turned away, seemingly lost in thought. "I see. Kat?"

"Yes Mistress?" she responded.

"If I had known what that man did to you, I would have never let him into our house. I mean it," Mistress Alexa said, shaking her head. "I'm... sorry, that you had to go through that."

Kat stared at her for a minute, and then laid her head back down. "Thank you Mistress."

"Thank you? For what?" Mistress Alexa asked, looking back down at Kat with furrowed eyebrows.

Kat smiled softly, blinking another tear from her eyes. "For caring."

Mistress Alexa squeezed her. "Of course I care, Kat."

"You don't have to, though."

"I want to."

Kat curled her fingers into her Mistress's sheets. "Because you're a good person."

"So are you, Kat. You deserved better than that. Than this."

A moment of silence passed over them. It seemed like her Mistress wanted to say something more, but was hesitating. She stroked Kat's back under the covers, quiet. Kat noticed, and paused.

"Mistress?"

"Yes Kat?" she said, turning down to look at her as Kat laid on her chest.

She hesitated now. Something was wrong, but she wasn't sure what. "It's... nothing, Mistress. Sorry."

"It's okay Kat," she said, planting a small kiss on her forehead. "It'll be okay."

"I know, Mistress."