Other slaves walked through the area without noticing us. As if she were training me for a marathon, Summer walked faster and faster, circling the building despite there being tons of space allotted away from it. Only after the rage evaporated did I understand the fast walk was helping me get over it.
“You can never trust him, you know?” she warned, as radiant-green blades of grass got flattened by our stomping.
“Sometimes, I get the feeling that there’s something between us… and I can’t help but hang onto that. Did you ever… want him to love you? Your trainer?”
“No.” I almost stumbled into her when she stopped walking and turned to talk to me. “There isn’t anything special between you. He’s just fucking with you. You’re just trauma bonding to him. He’s abusing you, and you’re attaching yourself more and more, thinking your love can change him, fix him. Don’t do that to yourself.” She paused.
Her stare made me feel so stupid. Summer was stronger than I was. Here I was, needing him to care about me when we all knew the truth.
“Do you know that your trainer is famous for making his slaves fall in love with him?”
“Uh. What? But… how? Why?”
She shrugged. “God only knows why any of these sick motherfuckers do what they do. He probably enjoys the manipulation, fucking your brain, not only your body. It’s not as rare as you’d think. I think that’s why every time he puts you on display, everyone is so eager to watch. They want to see if you’ve already fallen for his tricks. I heard you two gottheapartment after the paddle session. The overlords were amazed by your defiance, so were some of the girls.”
If she only knew that the idea of him acting this way with someone else was what was pissing me off. Boy, was I doomed. I turned to the beautiful orange sunset beaming through thepine trees and decided I could think about all that when I was locked in my bunker. A crisp wind forced a shiver from me.I was staring at the grass, trying to register everything she’d just revealed to me. It was a lie, everything I’d felt for Sir, it was all just another mindfuck.
A girl was passing by us when she said, “Oh, hey, Little One. They let you out of your bunker?”
“Okay. I’ve had enough!” I took a step closer to her and gathered my rage into my fist, then punched her in the nose. The bitch dropped right away, bleeding and crying. All the other girls stopped everything they were doing and gawked at me.
“One more stupid bitch greets me like that, and it won’t be just one fucking punch. We are all victims. We are all fucked. Stop thinking that I have it better. Stop dividing each other into niches. Stop being pick-me bitches!” Guards dragged me away as I screamed at them.
Summer smiled at me and waved.
The next day while Summer and I were out by the pond, I asked, “Do you happen to know what month it is?”
“November. We’re having a nice long summer. Good thing he let you out before the winter really settles in.”
I closed my eyes while feeling the last of the sun’s warmth on my face. It was as if it had lit the path for the memory to return to me.I sat around a table, eating dinner with a family.Were they my family?Oh, they were so beautiful. They were laughing, smiling. An older man and woman and then two teens.Are you, my parents?It had been November.
Have I been here a year?I sat on the ground, afraid I would faint, then lay down, smelling the grass. It was probably best I didn’t remember life before this. The sun consoled me, warming my skin.It’s all that mattered, the sun on my skin.The happy memory and the warmth made me forget Sir for a second, and I smiled. The smell of grass and trees, the wind, it was allbeyond spectacular. Some birds were chirping. The sky was full of colors. It all gave me an instant dose of hope.
The love of my life was in my past, not in my present or future. It had to be enough. Some people were never loved; at least I was, once upon a time. Even if I couldn’t remember the details of it, it had to be enough.
We walked to a pond a few yards away from the building. The only other person there was a girl in a wheelchair. As we walked closer, I heard her crying.
“Hi,” I said to her, but she didn’t answer. Summer and I peeked at each other. “Are you hungry? I brought some of the chocolate.” I offered it to her, and she shook her head.
“Do you remember your name? I don’t remember mine yet.”
“I’m Summer.”
“Scarlett,” she mumbled after a few silent minutes.
“Are you hurt? Is there anything I can do?”
“They took her…” When I looked back at Summer, tears were marking her cheeks and she was swallowing hard. She walked around the wheelchair to the other side.
“They took mine too.”
For the first time, I believed Sir. This placecouldhave been much worse for me. I didn’t hate him as much for all the mindfucks. There was no way I would be able to survive someone killing my kid or taking it.
After that, none of us spoke, we just sat together, holding hands until the guards came for us and walked us back into the building.Scarlett stopped crying once the sun had completely submerged, leaving only a speck of light.
Thank heavens that wasn’t the only day we were able to meet. Eating, talking, and going outside to feel the sun on our skin became something magical that bonded us. Slowly, I learned their stories, and we had so much in common.
30. The Plan
