Debt Free

Sits across from her stepmother, Kat Snow, whose face is drawn with worry lines that deepen as she explains her desperate financial situation. "I just need to give you to a friend for the day," Kat whispers, her voice cracking slightly. "They won't hurt you, I promise." London's protests in her throat as her stepmother's trembling fingers secure the coarse rope around her wrists, binding them tightly. The masked man's cold eyes appraise London through narrow slits in his black covering. "This will hold you over until we are even," he says to Kat, his voice emotionless as he leads the terrified London away. Later, Indica Jane and Juliana Marie enter with downcast eyes and submissive postures, kneeling before Kat, who commands them with unexpected authority. They pledge themselves to her service. When London returns, her eyes now hardened with betrayal, she and the masked man surprise Kat, binding her with the same rope she had used on her stepdaughter. Kat's muffled pleas go unheard as