Turning away from the phone, she looked at herself in the mirror. A short, petite frame with ripe breasts, as her handler had told her. Hair so red and wavy, falling to her waist, surrounding a circular face with softness, light freckles on her nose, naturally arched red brows over bright green eyes that looked almost blue in some lights. She was beautiful; she had been told many times. But when she looked at the mirror, it wasn’t her beauty she saw. She saw her only tie to her past, and she saw questions. Did her genetics come from her parents or grandparents? Were they alive or dead? Did they have eyes like hers or another color?
As she continued to dry her hair with the towel, she imagined all the scenarios, and none of them brought her any comfort at all. But her mind rarely, if ever, did bring her comfort.
The sound of the door opening had her throwing the towel to the side as she sat down on the bed, doing her best to appear meek, her hands folded in her lap, her head bent as she watched from under her eyelashes.
Two security guys came in, armed to the teeth, and looked at the dead body before eyeing her.
“What the fuck happened?”
What always happened.
He’dtold her to tell them, but these guards were new and she didn’t want to risk their extra attention. So, she said what she always said. “I don’t know. I was in the bathroom.”
They believed her, not that they had any reason not to.
One of the guys, a dark-haired man who looked scary in his seriousness, nodded at her. “Grab your stuff. We have to get you back.”
Taking the bag the clothes had come in, she went to the bathroom to grab the rose and the small bottles of free toiletries. She always took those. The small bottles were pretty and, more often than not, they smelled amazing.
Roving an eye around the bedroom to see if anything else was worth taking, she followed the guys out within minutes. They took her down the elevator straight into the parking lot, and then straight into the unmarked sedan. Within minutes, she was locked in and they pulled out into the city.
“So,” the driver began. “What exactly happened up there?”
His skeptic tone wasn’t lost on her. But she didn’t know him, and there was no way she was talking. She’d learned early on that talking to outsiders got her punishment and nothing more.
“Exactly what I said.”
The guy stayed silent for a second. Something was off about him. She didn’t know what it was. She didn’t say anything else, just looked out the window and watched the city pass as they headed to the outskirts.
It was sad that she didn’t even know what the city was called or where the complex was. They never told any of the girls where they were moved. She could have been moved within the same city all her life or hopped a handful, she didn’t know. She wondered sometimes where she would live if she were ever free. She knew there were mountains and seas in the world, but she'd never seen either. She would like mountains. They would make her feel secure, like tall guards standing all around her, keeping her safe from outside invasion. Yeah, she'd like to see mountains one day.
And she most likely never would.
Blinking the stinging feeling in her eyes, she kept her face neutral.
“I’ve heard guys who bid on you die. That true?” the burly man from the passenger side asked.
She didn't respond. There was nothing for her to respond. The rumor mill was working as it always did. And it didn't do shit for her.
Before he could say another word, the familiar fences of the complex came into view, the large gates opening to let them in, imprisoning her once again.