The moon shown half full in the sky, a lone sentinel in an otherwise bare sky. The lights of the city below choked out the stars, leaving nothing but the moonlight to creep between the blinds of an unsuspecting house in the suburbs. The pale beams shone in to meet the harsh red glow of the digital clock. The numbers glowed like angry coals. 6:59.

The alarm turned seven and a klaxon call blared through the room. Leona stirred a bit, being forced into consciousness by the shrill, rhythmic beep. Her Master moved to turn off the offending alarm, but found himself bound too tight to do more than wiggle. Memories of the previous night flowed back to him through the haze of white-furred dreams. He remembered Leona holding him to the bed. He remembered protesting when she brought the restraints around to latch him down, but found struggling against her manticore strength to be too much for him to handle. He remembered the rough pawpads against his chest, pinning him down as she fastened the cuffs around his wrists as he’d done to her so many times. He’d long since lost count of how many times he’d chained her down before sleeping.