Black mask said, “Each of you who was chosen will follow the other guard to the fighting pits. You will receive your instructions there. The rest of you can return to your cells and expect to go hungry today for failing to please our guest.”
The rocker swayed and stood with a jaunty stance, like he thought he was king shit of turd mountain. Like he believed he actually fucking mattered.
It pissed me off, especially when Ryker had to single file out behind the guard who was leading them to fight.
The rocker sauntered towards us and tapped each one he found interesting. I was hoping to be ignored. I would give up my daily meal just to get back to Penny and never find out what these fighting pits were all about.
I was so wrong though, because black mask announced, “Each of you who was chosen will follow the guard to the pleasure room. You will receive your instructions there. Those who are not chosen, return to your rooms and prepare to go hungry.”
A few of us lined up behind another guard and followed him back through our building, but we continued down the hall past our cells. It was winding and twisted, the corridors and hallways turning this way and that, but eventually we walked into an area that was simply gorgeous luxury. Everything was overindulgent, from the furnishings to the silk hand painted wall paper, it screamed old money.
A few of the girls spoke in excited tones, while the rest of us were silent. I wondered how many had done this before, but considering how rough and seasoned most of them seemed, I suspected they all knew what they were getting into.
I was the new one here. I was the only one who didn’t know what was about to happen. And it made me feel sick inside. I’d rather fight than do whatever was required in the pleasure rooms.
We walked past a wall of paintings of old men, turned right and walked into a large room that looked like a high end pub crossed with a casino. There were card tables arranged around the room, and a large bar at the end with a crowd of well-dressed old men gathered around drinking.
All the bartenders and wait staff were wearing suits themselves, and they were all wearing glittering golden masks. It was somehow more unsettling than the white masks, or black mask.
We walked right through the room into another one and the guard told us to stay there until we were called.
“What’s going to happen?” I asked one of the girls near me.
“You’re going to get fucked,” she said and shivered with disgust. “Just the first of many, many times, so get used to it.”
The lights dimmed around the edges of my vision and I felt as if I was going to pass out.
And I thought again about how I’d rather be fighting than here with these predators. And how much I’d like to kill them all. Every last one of them.
But at least it was me, and not Penny. That was the one thing that kept me on my feet.
CHAPTER7
I didn’t passout even as the darkness crept farther into my vision. I fought it. I ground my teeth and pinched the inside of my arm with the jagged edges of my fingernails. I gasped and focused, driving the darkness from my sight and settling on the floor in front of me.
“Come, hurry,” a voice called to us from the side of the room. I looked around then and saw racks and racks of clothing hanging around the perimeter of the room and make up stations set up nearby. It was like the backstage of a strip club, from what I’d seen in movies.
All the other girls began to tear at the hangers and fight over costumes while I stood unmoving and uncertain of what I was supposed to do. The person who directed us walked over to me and stared at my face through the holes in their mask.
“I said hurry up,” she hissed, and I realized it was a woman behind the gold glittering face. “If you don’t find a suitable costume, you can go out naked.”
She reached out and yanked my nightgown. The flimsy silk tore away and left me exposed in front of her and all the other girls.
I was immediately ashamed of the bruises and wounds across my body, but saw the same thing on every one of them. They were all just as rough as I was, and none of them were free of injury.
My heart ached for all of us, for the torture we’d already experienced at the hands of the Organization.
I wandered to one of the clothing racks and pulled a simple black dress off a hanger. I slipped it over my head and let it hang there like I was merely a coat rack. My lack of enthusiasm couldn’t be more apparent, and I could taste bitter bile in the back of my throat from the acid there.
The female guard approached me and looked me up and down.
“You are filthy,” she sneered and I could sense the look of distaste on her face through the mask. “Why haven’t they allowed you to wash?”
“I don’t know, why don’t you ask your bosses?” I sneered back.
She glared at me, I could see her blue eyes narrow behind the glittering gold. “You disgust me,” she said. “You smell and your hair is greasy.”
“Then you deal with it,” I replied. “Send me to a shower. I haven’t been able to because they lock us in our rooms.”