Chapter one

CHAPTER ONE

I could not remember my life outside the four walls of the place I had been locked in for so long but I remember the look on my family’s face while I was being taken away, relief and happiness. That was the day I realized you only have yourself in this world, just you. Life within these walls was my own hell, a hell I had to burn through day and night. 

The stench of fear, was strong in the room, the barely there lights cast an eerie glow on the faces of the terrified girls huddled together. I had lost all sense of time within the confines of this place. At first, I had counted each passing day and night, but as they stretched into months, I abandoned the idea. 

The room was quiet, aside the usual sniffles and dry cough, the rest of the girls were lost in their own world, some sleeping while others stared off into space. Beyond the room, I could hear the boots and cheers of the men, they were probably drinking again, and I feared what would happen when they run out of alcohol or things to entertain them. When it happened, they turned to taunting and hurting us for entertainment.

My trembling body was pressed against other girls who shared my fate. One of the girls had begun to cry loudly, her body wracking with harsh sobs, the girls beside her tried to comfort her, whispering words I knew held no meaning in this place, with a hand around her shoulder. Her sobs grew louder by the minute and soon I could no longer hear the laughter of the men. As if on cue, the door to the room swung open, making me hold my breath in fear. One of the men walked in, his hand wrapped tightly around a pistol, his eyes scanned each of us before settling on the crying girl. He took a few steps towards her before yanking her off the floor by her arm, we watched with bated breaths as she staggered to her feet, her loud cries had slowed down to violent tremors.

“The sound of you crying is beginning to piss me, shut the hell up!” He shouted in her face, shaking her with such force it almost sent her to the ground if not for the right grip on her arm. 

The girl responded, her voice shaky. "P-please I just want to go home."

Her confession amused the man holding her, he let out a loud laugh, it sounded empty and menacing. His eyes settled on her when his laughter had died down. Nothing could have prepared us for what happened next, one minute we were watching the exchange and the next minute there was a loud smack and we watched the girl crumble to the ground holding her cheek, blood dripping from her split lip. I couldn’t help the gasp that left my lips, or the tears that welled up in my eyes, seeking comfort, I huddled closer to the girl on my left.

“You are delusional if you think you are gonna leave this place, this is your new home now sweetheart, get used to it.” He taunted, waving his gun in the air. “In fact, why don’t I give you a tour of your new home, a welcome home gift even.”

With that, he roughly snatched her off the floor again and hurled her towards the door, ignoring her pleas. “Stop please let me go! Please I beg you.” 

I listened to her scream and shout until they were out of earshot. I was terrified, this was the second girl they had taken out of this room, the first had still not returned, I assumed she was dead already. The other girls tried to silent their whimpers and stifle the sobs. We had just witnessed that crying too loudly drew the attention of the men, and seemed to fuel their anger. 

I felt a nudge on my side, I turned my head to see Anna, the somewhat friend I had made while here, “Do you think she’s going to come back?” I didn’t have the answer to her question but for both our sakes I offered a wry smile hoping it would do some good in calming her nerves.

“I don’t know Anna, I don’t know.” It was silent after that.

I had just started drifting off to sleep when a nudge came again, tiredly I glanced at Anna, she had this determined look in her eyes that scared me as much as it made me curious.

“We are going to escape,” she said with a sure nod. I continued to stare at her in confusion. 

“Stop joking around Anna and try to be quiet okay?” I moved to lay on my side trying to get comfortable but Anna wouldn’t let me be. This time when I gave her my attention, she was waving a pocket knife in the air. I was quick to bring the hand holding the knife down, looking around to make sure no one had seen that.

“Are you out of your mind Anna? Where did you get that from?” I asked in a hushed voice.

“I stole it from one of the men when I went to the bathroom earlier,” she admitted with a proud grin, I shook my head at her, her idea was dangerous and I did not want to be a part of it.

“Come on Elena, Do you want to die in here? When they come in again, we can use this knife,” she argued.

I tried to object but a part of me liked the idea, wanted to execute it even, who knows, we might be able to make it out of here.

“Okay, but how?” Anna’s smile grew wider as she proceeded to explain the plan to me in details.

“When they return, you’ll distract them. Just pretend you are sick or something and when he leans in to check on you, I’ll attack him with this knife.”

We waited for our chance. My breathing deepened as footsteps of the men drew closer. The door opened and two of the men entered inside. I feigned sickness, clutching my stomach and groaning, the men were at my side instantly, looking over me. From the corner of my eye, I watched Anna rise to her feet, slowly approaching one of them from behind. But just as Anna lunged at him, the man spun around, his eyes locking on the knife, in a seconds he had the knife in his hand and Anna on the ground. 

I took pride in being rational, thinking things through but I hadn’t considered the consequences if Anna’s plan was to fall through, I only realized how stupid it was when the first blow came, and the next, and the one after that.

Anna watched from the corner as I took the beating for both of our actions, she had been quick to deny everything and pretend like I was the one who found the knife and orchestrated everything. I struggled against the men while she watched

me, occasionally mouthing the words “I’m sorry”