“She lives with the others. I was chosen to stay with Master.”
People trafficking is Rowan’s business, and this is a kid who doesn’t know the world other than what a trafficker has shown him because he was born in it.
Holy fucking shit, this place is hell.
“Does Xanthe call you a name?” I ask.
“She brushes my hair sometimes.”
“That’s nice, my mom used to do that too.”
“What’s your name?”
“My name is Kane.” I hold my hand out. “What would you like me to call you, kid?”
“Kid is okay,” he says softly, ignoring my hand.
He’s breaking my fucking heart.
“Will you get in the bed now?” I gesture to it. He stops scowling as he slowly gets up and backs away, refusing to give me his back as he gets on it. I can’t offer words of reassurance when he wouldn’t understand them, so I sit in front of the door, allowing him to see no one will come inside as I offer, “You can sleep if you want or we can play a game.”
“What game?”
Thank fuck he knows what that is.
“Have you ever played charades?” I ask hesitantly while he stares at me with no discernible expression. “It’s where you have to act out the word for me to guess it.”
His eyes light up as he says, “Yes, Jasper taught me.”
“Is Jasper with Xanthe?”
“Yes. He’s moving soon so I don’t think I’ll see him again. Can we play now?”
“Yeah, do you want to go first?”
He stands on the bed, holding up two fingers.
“Two words,” I say.
He nods excitedly as he gets into his pose.
23
DELILAH
Kane has only been gone for a day and I’m already losing my mind. Between my parents, my grandparents, and the creepy atmosphere of this house, I’m tempted to take my chances by throwing myself out the window.
The food has lasted but fruit only manages to stave my hunger for so long. I need something more, something with significant weight so I don’t have to hug myself to be able to fall asleep while my stomach grumbles.
I don’t know what the freaks here do. I’m assuming they’re like normal monsters who come out in the dark, so I wait until the sun is at its highest point in the sky to leave the room. The belt is uncomfortable under the sweats Lennox brought me, but he packed thick fleece-lined socks so I can’t feel the cold as I walk down the stairs. Tucking my hands into my hoodie, I tilt my head, searching for anyone I could cross paths with.
Anna has fucked off and the rest have left me alone, but I still don’t trust them. Thankfully, there’s no one in the kitchen and I can’t hear anyone talking in the lounge, so I walk to the fridge on my tiptoes. The hum is far too loud as I pull the door open. LikeKane said, there are a bunch of meats in plastic tubs. I don’t look at them too closely in case they stare back at me.
There’s cheese, which I think is safe. That can’t be made from human remains, so I set it aside. I grimace at the bowl of cold boiled eggs as I take them too. It won’t be a lavish meal or anything close to appetizing, but beggars can’t be choosers. My options are severely limited and the only non-meat items are a tomato, some congealed flan pudding thing that looks disgusting, and celery.
Bread will be fine.
I turn, searching the counter for it. Just as I begin closing the fridge door, I jump as Helene asks, “Would you like me to show you the pantry?”
