I scanned the entire room searching for Ember. Nothing. Maybe it was for the best that she wasn’t here. Maybe that meant she was home.
At the very back sat the kitchen, where slaves lined up to grab food. I ambled over and grabbed a tray, then was served fruits, soup, oatmeal, and yogurt. My mouth watered at the sight of the chocolate brownies, and I almost squealed.
“First time, huh?” a female voice came from behind me. I turned to see if she was speaking to me.
“Huh?”
“First time they let you out of your room, right?”
“Yes. That brownie looks like gold after that horrible lukewarm chicken-stock thing.”
“Here.” She was handing me her piece.
“Oh, no. You don’t have to do that.”
“It’s okay. I’m tired of it, to be honest. What’s your name?” she asked as I followed her back toward the tables.
Some other slave with a tray full of food crossed before me, and as she walked, she greeted, “Oh, hi, Little One.” There was a smile on her face and in her tone.
“Uhh… hi.” Seconds later, there was laughter behind me. I didn’t think much of it because I was alarmed I couldn’t remember my name. “Uhh.” My brow furrowed; I truly didn’t remember. It was on the tip of my tongue. The other girl stopped walking, waiting for me to answer.
“I-I don’t remember.” I searched in every corner of my memory. Where was it? How could I not remember? “My slave number is 5156A.”Wait, why couldn’t I remember my name but remembered that?I screamed in my mind while scouring for the letters that would spell it. None felt correct.
What’s the first letter, Little One?
I looked around because I could have sworn he was behind me asking me that question. I heard his chuckle at myrealization that I had lost my name and he wasn’t there after all.What had they been doing to me? What’s happening?Despite the panic taking over my mind, I met her gaze again. With the way she gawked at me, studying me, I could tell she didn’t believe me.
“Not there yet?” She smiled and started walking again. “That’s okay. I’m Summer.” When she placed her tray on a table, I dragged my palm along the edge of it, letting it scratch me, to make sure it was real because nothing seemed clear or real. We sat facing each other next to the fountain.
“How long have you been here?” I asked, trying to sound normal even though I was losing my feeble hold on reality.
“Eight months. Are you okay? You look… a little paler than before.”
“I’m fine.”
After starving for so long, I scarfed everything except the soup. Summer pushed her yogurt toward me.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to eat?” I asked.
“I’m not so hungry.”
I hesitated but kept looking at the yogurt, then at her, then back at the yogurt, and in the end, I gave into my temptation and took it for later. “Thank you. May I ask why aren’t you hungry?”
“My trainer told me something so awful that I don’t know what to believe.”
“What?”
“He said they ate my baby.”
I stopped chewing and lifted my gaze to hers. “Do you think… it’s possible? I mean, would they?”
She nodded. I stared at her, not wanting to believe they would do that, yet feeling like an idiot for doubting it.How many times would they shock me, fool me?
Summer sighed, and now that she’d told me that, I could see she looked sick to her stomach. She then added, “Hedoeslove to fuck with my mind.”
“Yeah. Mine does too. I don’t know what to say. I’m… so sorry. Did you love him?”
“Who?
