The Collaring of Chloe Ch. 07

When she turned around to ask Nina to let her ride, she found her Aunt nowhere to be seen, lost in the tide of shoppers moving from store to store, having apparently not noticed that Chloe had taken off without her. For a long moment, she froze, realizing that she was alone, lost in a sea of strangers. Not knowing what to do, she vainly called out to her Aunt. "Nina? Aunt Nina? I can't find you! Where are you?" Despite her fearfulness, she couldn't manage to make her voice loud enough to be heard over the din of people or the music of the carousel.

With her eyes welling in tears, aware that her voice was failing to reach her only family, she began moving back through the throngs to where she'd last seen Nina. However, she could neither fully remember where that was, nor spot any sign of her Aunt ahead. She began moving about at random, trying to find Nina, but after several minutes of half-panicked dashing about, she began to feel a rearing panic of being lost.

Unfamiliar with the mall, she had no idea where to go or what to do. Being so small, she couldn't see well through the crowds, couldn't find anywhere to get higher so she could better see. She didn't even know what sort of shops her Aunt liked, so to try going there to look. She didn't even know what sorts of shops lay in what directions. She quickly devolved into sobs and tears, drifting to the floor in a wretched little heap.

All she could think was that she might never see her Aunt again, that she'd now lost her, just as she'd lost her mommy and daddy. Her child's mind, limited by lack of experience, tainted by experiences that no child should have, little Chloe wept as though the world was ending. In that moment, she felt completely alone, completely abandoned.

Suddenly, through her blubbering sobs, a voice drifted down to her. "Did you get separated from your parents, sweetheart?" She looked up at the speaker with watery eyes, seeing a handsome, uniformed man looking down at her with concern. She recognized him as a police officer or security man. He had a soothing voice and was giving her a practiced smile of reassurance, both of which, returned a small measure of her composure.

Though seven-year-old Chloe had not known him or felt any recognition in his face or features, another, present-day Chloe saw something familiar about the man's face. Less an accurate memory of his appearance, than a sort of unconscious juxtaposition of another man's face onto this one's. Another man who she was already beginning to think of as 'safety'.

"Ummm..." Chloe replied through her tears, uncertain how to respond, trying to untangle her jumble of emotions. Yes, she had been separated from her parents. By death in a car accident. However, it wasn't they one she had, right now, become separated from. Regardless, she quickly just gave a nod, unable to communicate anything deeper.

"I'm sure they're not far, sweetie." He said, carefully helping her back up, producing a handkerchief from nowhere like a magic trick. "I can help you look. What are they wearing?"

Chloe sputtered a moment, trying to think of what her Aunt had on. After a moment, she gave a hard blow of her nose into the hanky and cleared her throat. "A red jacket and dark pants." She got out. "And...and she's got a big black purse." She added.

Standing to his full height, he looked around a moment, tall enough to see over the sea of people. He glanced back down after a moment. "Does she have short dark hair?" He asked with a little smile. Chloe nodded energetically, hope blooming in her that maybe she would be okay. "I think I see your mother then. She's just over there." He pointed. "I think she's looking for you too."

He took her little hand and guided her through the throngs of people, which eventually parted enough for Chloe to see Nina ahead of them. She was turning about nervously, scanning anxiously through the crowds. Chloe puffed up with joy at the sight, relieved at not being lost. She had also felt a rush of comfort at seeing that Nina had been looking for her too, though an older version of her recognized the lack of frantic air that had been in that searching look.

The security guard called towards Nina, getting her attention. "Excuse me, ma'am."

She turned to look their way and, as they came into Nina's line of sight, she appeared to deflate with relief, a hand going to her chest. "Oh, there you are." She said with a sigh, a smile coming to her face, obviously glad to see her niece okay, but seeming to completely recovered from the ordeal now that she'd found her. Her gaze shifted to the handsome man and her smile brightened a bit more. "Thank you."

"This is your child then?" He asked, returning the smile politely.

"Oh, no, she's not mine." Nina corrected him awkwardly, blinking heavily. "Um, I mean, she was my sister's child. She, my sister, passed a couple years ago and I took in her in so she wouldn't have to go into that dreadful foster care system."

The guard paused a moment, parsing out what Nina said. "But...she does belong to you?" He asked.

"Oh, yes, I am her acting guardian." Nina said with a little laugh and a sort of half-hearted nod. Chloe noticed that Nina seemed to be fidgeting a little, smoothing her jacket and focusing on the handsome officer.

The guard glanced at Chloe, who nodded at him that this was who she'd been separated from. However, the joy and happiness had gone from her. All her little mind could really hear was 'she's not mine' ringing over and over. She moved soberly over beside Nina, who was still chatting with the handsome security guard, but she had stopped listening to what was being said. All the color had gone out of the mall, all the magic and excitement as lost as she'd been for a few moments.

After several minutes of conversation, Nina took her leave of the man, taking Chloe's hand and leading her away. "My goodness, Chloe, but he was attractive." She chuckled, waving slightly at her blushing face with her free hand. "That certainly turned out better than it could have." She'd actually gotten the man's phone number before their parting, the promise of a possible dinner date to be planned. "Stay with me from now on, okay?"

She stayed at Nina's heel the rest of the trip, never noticing any other delights or colorful entertainments offered by the once magical place. Though she seemed very relieved to have found her niece okay, Nina had only generally admonished her for running off. Chloe was beginning to register the lack of strong emotional response from her Aunt. There had been no anger at Chloe wandering off, no breathless fear that she'd gone missing, no tears of joy at their being reunited. Just general relief that had quickly turned to flirtation with the officer who'd found her. She'd not even hugged her to show her how happy she was to find her safe.

Some part of her, including a now far distant part that was no longer seven and far more able to see things that her younger self could not, knew that her Aunt did care about her, was glad that she was okay. However, she lacked the real connection of a mother, the ability to really see anyone but herself. Her Aunt Nina wasn't the sort of person that could fully understand the selfless importance of hugging a child when she'd been scared. For Nina, the danger had passed and all was okay. She assumed that the seven-year-old girl in her care was mature enough to realize that she fine and no harm was done.

Some part of her knew that Nina loved her, in her way. However, her way did nothing to comfort a little girl whose parents had been lost to her forever and who had, subconsciously, for several moments, connected that eternal loss with the temporary loss of her Aunt in a crowded mall. Too young to even know how to explain that, Chloe was left with nothing but the pain of knowing that, even found, she was still on her own.

They spent a while longer shopping, Nina buying Chloe a few new things to wear, as well as several new things for herself, including a very nice dinner dress to wear should a date materialize from the encounter with the officer. As they drove away from the mall, a couple hours later, Chloe leaned against the door of the car, looking out the window silently, feeling a desire to cry coming back to her, but seeming unable to start. In that moment, she felt adrift, alone. She didn't belong to anyone. She felt a whimper well up inside her, quickly building to a sob as the thought grew inside her breast.

But then a curious realization came to her. Though she was leaning against the door of the car on her right side, she realized that it was her left side that she felt pressure on. The odd disjunction of that seemed to make everything in the moment jitter, as though losing focus. In the next moment, her mind remembered that she was not a child of seven, but a woman in her mid-twenties. What she felt was Mittens. Beautiful, beloved Mittens, leaning against her bound body in Master's dungeon.

The imagined world, like a realistic dream, dissolved back into the dark silence of 'The Void' and she leaned into Mittens, savoring the feel of the girl's pressure. A moment more and she felt a slight tickle against the edge of her temple, the feeling of a soft fuzzy cat ear grazing her. A smile tried to come to her mouth, though it was hindered by the large ball of the gag, but she felt it grow full in her soul.

The feel of her sister submissive became an anchor for her, keeping her from slipping into more 'dreams', though many times she felt them begin to form. Time still felt distorted, impossible to measure, but as it stretched out, Mittens kept her company in the dark, helped her never forget that she was not alone.

And then, suddenly, there was another pressure against her and the feeling of movement around her head. A heartbeat later, sound flooded into her unblocked ears, soft and subtle, but distinct, once more creating that thin tether to the world. A moment more and sight returned, her eyes blinking against the flare of light a moment before adjusting to see Master before them, removing Mittens' blindfold. Next came their gags, leaving Chloe working her jaw a moment as he unfastened them from their chains and unbound their legs.

It was like surfacing from being underwater too long, suddenly with her senses again, movement quickly returning to her. She felt him unfasten the straps that held her arms firmly around her, granting her freedom to at last move all her limbs again. However, instead of continuing to free them from the straitjackets, he slipped down between them and encircled both of them in his arms.

"It's over." He said softly, voice full of emotion and caring. "I'm here and I have you." To Chloe, it was like he'd lost them for a while, and was now overjoyed to have found them again. He hugged her tightly to him, glad to have her back with him. In that moment, she belonged to him, was wanted by him, was claimed as his. Her jacketed arms wrapped around him, just as Mittens' were from the other side, and she felt tears come, not of despair or sadness, but tears of purest happiness.