“I’m going to burn this place down,” Scarlett said after we’d been sitting by the water for an hour.
“If you try to escape this place and they catch you again, they’ll just make your life even more miserable,” Summer warned.
“Alice says I can do it. Besides, once I call my twin brother… there will be nothing that can keep me here. We may hate each other’s butts, but the minute he realizes what’s happened…”
“How are you going to tell your brother where you are at, Scarlett? And who the fuck is Alice? Please. I can’t take the wishful thinking, okay, there’s no way to escape. Sir said there—” The words caught in my throat.Fuck.I hadn’t meant to bring him up. The girls didn’t like how attached I’d grown to him, how much I was struggling in his absence.
“Why do you believe everything he tells you? You know he’s just like the rest of them, right?” Scarlett asked.
“Yeah. You’re right. He wouldn’t tell me if there was a way out.”It hurt to say it, but deep inside, I knew it was true. There was a pause to our conversation. Scarlett, as of late, had an imaginary friend. Summer said it was a coping mechanism for losing her baby. It seemed like she was getting worse every day. Ididn’t know where she’d gotten it, but she was always carrying a doll. Every time the grief made her cry, she’d sing a lullaby to the doll. It freaked the other girls out, but we understood.
“You two really can’t see her?” Scarlett asked.
“See who?”
“Alice. She’s right here. You?—”
Summer and I both gawked at her. “There’s no one there, Scarlett. Are you okay?” I asked.
“No! Of course I’m not okay. Who the fuck could ever be okay in this hell hole?”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I began crying, lately I’d been just as emotional as her. “Of course you’re not okay.”
Summer placed her palm on my shoulder. “Don’t cry, hon.”
“I’ll do anything for you two. Whatever plan you have. Whatever you need me to do to get you the fuck out of here, just let me know.”
“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” apologized Scarlett.
“So how would we do it? If we dared? How could we get a hold of your brother, Scarlett?”
“We’d need the help of one of the lords. One of these motherfuckers has to give in,” Scarlett said.
“If we did it, we’d have to find a way to kill them all,” Summer said. They were both looking into the forest, sounding as if they were in a trance.
“We could make it look like there’s a show in the auditorium and lock them all in there. I noticed that there is a certain code they used to recruit everyone there. Maybe there’s a code to recruit only the guards, lords, and buyers. We get them all in there and then lock the doors. Only bad thing is that we won’t be able to watch them burn. At least it will smell good. Like bacon.”
They both gawked at me. “What? Why you girls looking at me like that?”
“You’re a fucking genius,” they said, smiling.
31. God, Men are Stupid
MAGDALENA
Arope digging into my throat woke me. There was no way for me to know how long I’d been there, with a thick rope almost dislocating my neck and my wrists tied behind me.
Was this a punishment? What had I done wrong? Was it another of his shows? Was Sir back? Despite the pain I was in, my heart fluttered at the possibility. Time was not significant to me, but it did feel as if he’d been gone for too long. While standing there with my head tilted back as much as possible, I realized I couldn’t deny it. Even if it was another of his shows for his buddies to jack off to, I’d still be happy to see him, to feel him inside me.Maybe if I put up a good enough show we could get an apartment together and he would cuddle with me.
All the lights were off, so I stopped breathing to listen for him. Nothing. In trying to readjust so the noose wouldn’t hurt anymore, I ended up on the very tip of my toes and unintentionally tightened my butt around whatever he’d stuffed me with. Hot liquid burned the inside of my ass, heating my body. I whimpered at the burning of my walls. My throat and mouth were as dry as sandpaper, and my stomach cramped as if it were eating itself.
This had to be punishment. It was so painful. I’d messed up, but I didn’t remember how. Had they found out what Scarlett, Summer, and I had been planning? Or maybe about our secret language we were developing? No. That’s not possible. We only talked at the pond.
Fuck!I’d tried doing everything he’d taught me, and I still wasn’t good enough.
Not long after taking the new position, the ache, like electricity, pulsed hot from my toes up my foot and leg to my hip, where it throbbed oh-so mercifully, so I shifted to my other leg. Seconds later, that leg was hurting too.Fuck!
It took forever before the door opened and a deep laughter filled the room, accompanied by the giggles of a young lady. Although I couldn’t remember who it belonged to, I knew that laughter, but it wasn’t Sir. Nausea rose in me at the smell. Aftershave and bleach. I hated that smell. I tensed up, trying to keep from shaking, and failed. More of the flesh in my butt burned. I winced and bit my lip, avoiding hissing.
