I shook my head, a laugh bubbling forth. This man wasn’t to be trusted. That was the one thing all of us slaves ever hoped to hear. But I knew it was a lie. The worst one of all. I wasn’t free. I wasn’t anything but a slave.
“Just kill me.” I nearly cried, pressing my palms to my eyes.
“No one is going to kill you, kiddo.” There was a long pause before the man took a seat on the edge of the bed. He didn’t touch me, but he could have if he wanted to. I wouldn’t fight him, even if something in me wanted me to fight, to kick and scream.
Nothing good would come of it, though.
“You’re free. Carson....”
At that name, I dropped my hands to look towards the man.
“Carson wanted to save you. You aren’t the first to be set free, kid. There’s tons of others.”
I didn’t exactly believe his words.
“The boy that is across the hall was just like you. A slave. His...Allister is helping him. He’s free now, too. But he’s a bit under the weather right now.”
I could only blink. The words weren’t setting in my brain. I didn’t know who these men were, or why I was here. Or anything.
“I’m....a slave.”
I had known nothing else for so long.
“I’ll make you a deal,” Collin shifted, turning to face me again. “If you tell me your name and age, I won’t ask any more questions until the sun has risen.”
“Asher.” I had to think about my age. “Sixteen? I...I don’t know, sir.”
“I can work with that. Thank you.”
What did that mean?
I looked up at him, his gaze open and truthful. Or maybe that was just a part of me that hoped with a tiny bit of spark that he was telling me the truth.
Was I really free? Was I really safe from the hands of the monsters once and for all?
“What...what about the others there?” Even though I didn’t like Will all that much, he didn’t deserve to suffer.
“I’ll do what I can to get them out. To help them, you’ll have to answer questions. Can you do that?”
Was it going to be a trick? Was this a way for this man to find out how well I could keep secrets?
“You don’t believe me.” It wasn’t a question. “I don’t expect you to.” A pause, like he was thinking too hard. “I hope in time you will. I don’t know what to do to show you that you are free now, Asher.”
Collin left me a few minutes later, leaving the light on from the table that sat beside the bed. I waited until after he shut the door most of the way behind him before I climbed from the bed. There was no way I could stay sitting or lying any longer. Sleep wasn’t going to find me any time soon, if ever again.
My mind spun.
I wasn’t free. I’d never be that. I just couldn’t. I wasn’t...no.
Shaking my head, I had to get these mind games to not make me feel hope. I couldn’t think I was free of that sort of life.
I wasn’t sure what I needed to even halfway believe that lie. There was nothing that could.
If I were anyone more normal, freedom would be about going back to my family. Free to go to school, or walk out the front door and never be seen again. But none of those were an option.
Sniffing, forcing back the tears, I wandered into a bathroom. A light blinded me for a moment before my eyes adjusted to the brightness.
One look in the mirror above the sink made my nose wrinkle. I looked horrible.
