Chapter 4

I've been training for months with him, obeying every order, waiting for the chance to get out. He plans on booking me for gigs and parties to show me off. I've been in music videos and started receiving some fame. He named me Star. That's my name for now. All the videos have been made by him here but soon he will trust me enough to take me to outside shoots, signings, all the other things celebrities do to start off and rocket their career. By doing so I will learn the town, the area, gain a large network of people to connect too and social standing. Today is my first charity gig, Master says it plays on peoples heartstrings and makes you more intriguing to the public. He's made a lot of money off the videos and by making my appearances so rare and exclusive, I've become widely talked about in the media and even on some T.V shows like Ellen.

I've begun writing my own songs, of course, Master approves them but I do get to write them and sing the ones he likes. I've made $70, $10 dollars a well-received song. The more popular I become the higher the bar is for what is considered 'well-received'. I'm given less and less privacy and money. I only get 4-hour naps, the rest of my days are spent recording, working on backstories, memorizing names and corporations I should know. He is on edge, I will be going out for my first public performance today. He treated me worse and worse, I know that he is getting more accustomed to having someone who can't say 'no' under his belt.

I'll be performing to raid money for a local hospital today, Forks Hospital- an important destination to learn the route of I'd say but I don't think I will be actually going there yet. If this goes well, he may have me meet some of the children as a publicity stunt.

My body has improved, I'm heavier now than I was and eating more nutritious foods, full portions. It is far more luxurious than what I am accustomed too but I have not lost sight of my goal. I've been trained to act less enslaved, more like the people I'll meet. I greet them in the eye, I shake hands, I smile and laugh openly. But it is just a different kind of slave. I'm not allowed to cry or refuse to laugh at a joke, refuse to shake hands, or refuse to smile. I am still the slave I've always been, even if I'm wearing makeup and eating steak, besides I have no free time here. That is new. Masters normally use us when we are needed and then we return to the slave quarters, a place most Masters invest in. Some slaves are for cleaning, some for sex, some are strictly entertainment but we all had the same place to rest. Of course, we never had any chance of escaping so there wasn't a need for cameras. They could hear every step we took, every breath, you could be in front of an open door and know better than to step out it.

I will behave myself at the charity event, I need more time, more knowledge, more trust. This is the first real test. Master will look to see any form of disobedience, any sign that I don't like our arrangement. I must be perfect. The event is a concert where all the profits go to the hospital I mentioned. I will be meeting a representative of the hospital and his guests, it will be a short encounter but one of the most important of the test for me. He needs to see that no one will be suspicious of me, that I can act normal and stick to the life story he has created for me. He has chosen my clothes, the songs I will sing, any and all other decisions. I just sit in my cell, waiting, doing voice exercises when told too until he comes to fetch me. "It's time to leave."

I stand and go to him, he grips my elbow and escorts me to his car.

Once there I speak and laugh with producers who have come to see the concert and meet with the fans I have gathered. People telling me that my music, my lyrics, have saved their lives makes me feel much more connected to them. I have always loved music but it became basic survival and lost a lot its element of freedom to me. It's nice to see others find my lyrics freeing. Truthfully, talking to them is the first time I've felt free since my parent's death. It is an invigorating feeling, the ability to matter to someone. If it weren't for the constant overseeing of my Master, I might actually love this moment. If I wasn't so afraid, I might actually love being a singer.

After meeting them, signing things as 'Star', and shaking hands with numerous new associates of my Master- I go on stage to perform my set, free of his hands on my elbow and waist, free of the house, free to think of the little girls looking forward to this music and for the first time in a long time, I sing with feeling.