“We’re going to get out of here,” Lola insists, but Megan doesn’t respond to agree or deny that claim. “Megan? Do you hear me?”
Megan never speaks again.
***
The next couple of days pass as routinely as being held in captivity can.
We have bathroom breaks, a daily shower, and meals delivered. Angel instructs us on what to do, but he’s back to his old elusive self, merely supervising us when we’re out of our cages. We don’t see Miguel again, and Javier hasn’t come down to the basement either.
We all try to talk to Megan, but she never responds when she’s in her cage, and she refused to utter a single word when we’re out of them. She’s growing weaker, and I doubt she’s even drinking the water being provided. Our meal trays have been coming with some packaged food, and that’s the only thing I eat. I just can’t get past my mind convincing me that the food is poisoned, but I know as time goes on, I’m going to cave. I have no intention of starving myself, but it looks like that’s exactly what Megan is doing.
We’ve been back in our cages for what mentally seems like a lifetime, but it’s probably only been a couple of hours when Angel comes back in. I can tell by the way my body feels, now accustomed to the bathroom schedule, that he’s early, and this is never a good thing. Only bad things happen when someone comes in here outside of that schedule.
My pulse beats loud in my ears when he bends to open the lock on my cage.
You can trust him.
I know Lola was talking about Javier, but I don’t think Angel will hurt me. He was livid when he came down and found Juan raping Megan. I’ve never seen such a brutal attack before. Angel has never once given any indication that he’s here to hurt us. Yes, his job is to keep us trapped, but not even his gaze on us feels predatory.
“Where am I going?” I ask when he opens the door and holds his hand down for me to take.
He doesn’t answer me, and I don’t take his hand. I do crawl through the opening without an argument, and that’s just another sign of how damaged my head is from being trapped so long.
Javier didn’t touch me the last time I was taken to him, and after his warning to the others by way of a bullet in a man’s head, I presume that’s where I’m headed now. Angel wouldn’t risk his own death.
“You’re not going to fight me this time?”
I shake my head, drawing a frown to his lips. Is he upset that he doesn’t have to manhandle me to get me to comply?
I look from him to the other cages.
“What?” he asks.
“Can you please check on Megan? She’s the one that was—”
“I know who Megan is,” he snaps as if just the mention of her name upsets him. “Follow me.”
Lola doesn’t call out to be taken in my place this time, and it makes me think that she’s finally accepting what happened to her after watching it happen to someone else. I don’t blame her. I knew I was a coward before ever taking the brunt of any of the punishment doled out in this place.
“Don’t force me to carry you again, Cara,” Angel hisses when he notices that I’m not following behind him.
My feet move at his warning.
Chapter 12
Thumper
Two days I’ve stayed away from the basement.
Two days I’ve spent pacing and tapping my fingers on random shit.
Two days I’ve kept myself busy without pulling up the video feed from her cage.
Two days I’ve spent riddled with guilt for what happened to Megan.
Two days knowing that no matter the outcome of this, that woman will never be the same.
None of them will.
I’m not their savior.
I’m the catalyst for their abduction.
I can reason with myself that if I hadn’t purchased them, someone else would’ve, but that does nothing to ease the guilt.
It does nothing to prevent me from wanting to burn the world down.
To take on Gonzalo Sevilla on my own, and I know that I would if I knew where that evil fucker was hiding out.
I’d cut his fucking head off, plant it on a pike in front of his house and shoot down anyone who approached.
I’d rain hellfire down on every person I even suspected as having ties to a trafficker.
This isn’t the right job for me. There’s no satisfaction to being a cog in the wheel of this fucked-up machine. I’m as much a part of the problem as I am part of the solution, and it makes me physically sick to be playing a part at all.
Looking back, if I had a choice, I would’ve joined the Marine Corps which would have made me eligible for being a true member of Cerberus rather than a piece of shit who infiltrated their organization in hopes to get some dirt on them so the feds could shut them down.