Chapter 2
Avidya
Loud male voices reached my ears, hours or maybe it was days, later. My body was stiff and sore. The blindfold was still covering my eyes, but I could tell it had slid around as I slept. Part of my nose was now covered. That alone made it harder to breath.
My heart was beating in my chest, letting me know I was in fact, alive. I had desperately hoped I wouldn’t wake up. It would have been so much better than facing the unknown. I couldn’t understand a word that was spoken by at least two males. They seemed to be right outside the room I was held captive in, I didn’t dare make a noise to draw their attention.
What were they talking about? Was it about me? Had Becca’s body been found? I was sure she was dead as her scream still echoed inside my head. There was no use trying to stop the tears that began soaking the rough blindfold. I must have made some sort of whimper, causing the men to instantly stop talking.
Heavy footsteps entered the room, pausing only inches from me. It frightened me to the core and only made me sob harder than before. What was going to become of me?
“How long has it been since the head injury?” the man spoke as he kneeled down, his knees popping in the quietness of the room.
“Day or two,” answered a low voice. “Can’t say for sure. The one that brought her in is no longer with us.” Both of their voices had had an Italian accent to them, one more than the other.
“When do you expect her to be sold?” the grouchier voice asked.
“Oh, as soon as possible,” the lower voice answered, almost hurriedly. “She’s a debt to be repaid.”
Apparently, the man closest to me already knew that or didn’t want to know whose debt I was being used for. It made a million more questions pop up.
Did I know who had basically sold me off? Or was I just a random nobody being at the wrong place at the wrong time? Did it even have anything to do with who I was?
“When?” the man spoke as he removed the blindfold from around my head. His fingers, when he grazed my skin, was much warmer than I expected. Although he tried to be gentle, not sure why it mattered, but my hair was tangled in the tie behind my head. His fingertips were rough from long hard days of work.
I had to blink a few times, squinting, as my eyes adjusted to the light. The light from the middle of the room was too bright. It didn’t help my head or my queasy stomach.
Clenching my eyes tight, I gagged, feeling as if I was spinning in circles. Maybe I was in a circus doing all the spinning while everyone watched.
“The usual?” the man asked as I willed myself to not react to anything around me before feeling my bladder release. It was better than puking, at least.
“Do you have to ask?” sneered the man. “Just hurry up.”
The man slowly pushed me onto my back by my shoulder, and I slowly opened my eyes to look at him. His gray hair was combed over his balding spots. Looking into his pale eyes, I could see that he pitied me. He felt sorry for the position I was now in. And there was nothing he could do about it. Maybe he was as much of a prisoner as I was now.
I wanted to fight him as he checked my body over from head to toe. I really did, but my brain shut down, knowing it would do no good. He was gentle, though. Muttering to himself, he took blood samples and then gave me something for the pain, though I had no idea what. He said it’d help with the headache I was dealing with.
~oOo~
The next time I awoke, although still weak, I did feel better. My head only slightly throbbed in the tune of my beating heart. My eyes were swollen and mattered closed. I was still alive. Was that a good thing or bad thing? Did it matter?
Keeping my eyes closed, I took stock of how I felt. Although mostly naked from the doctor’s check over, I was in one piece. Nothing seemed to be missing or in more pain than before.
I was still chained to the wall and didn’t have the energy to fight or try to escape. I didn’t have much chance of getting away even if I had all my strength.
Slowly, I opened my eyes, meeting the lone light bulb on the chipped ceiling. Rolling my head, I saw just how small the room was. There was another set of three chains bolted to the walls.
Had these rooms been filled to the brim? Would I be here long enough to find out?
There were no windows, and the only doorway was doorless. I wasn’t sure that frightened me more or helped to keep calm. Why was I so calm anyway? I knew logically, I should be fighting in panic, but I was just . . . numb.
Numb to everything.
Rattles of chains from other rooms echoed to my ringing ears. I knew there were others here, wherever this was. How many others were there?
With a sigh, I closed my eyes, picturing what my parents were doing. Were they looking for me? Did they know I was missing?
I highly doubt that they knew yet. Maybe in another day or so after I missed a few check in calls that were demanded of me. My parents tended to always overreact, and I knew they had good reasons. That didn’t mean they couldn’t let me breathe a bit.
