13
Catalog
Two more days had passed since the owner’s late-night visit, and my body was finally beginning to feel better after his latest onslaught. I kept his nighttime visit to myself, not wanting to worry Kayla any more than she already was. It was never far from my mind, though – the theories were running through my head of why he was there. I didn’t want to admit what I thought was obvious because that would terrify me even further. I didn’t want to be of special interest to the owner. I didn’t even want him to remember my name, yet I had a strong feeling he would never forget it, even after I’d been sold.
I had been spending most of my time sleeping the aches away, and it finally seemed to be paying off. I was still stiff from being cramped in my cage, but I stretched as often as I could to relieve the tension. We had received another brief shower earlier in the morning, this time with zero hiccups, as I just wanted to wash away all my grief without issue. It was nice to feel somewhat clean again.
With the auction getting closer every day, we could all feel it like a dark cloud over our heads.I hated it—hated my lack of control in the situation, and I could feel myself growing angry all over again. How the fuck could these people do this to us? Like we were fucking cattle to sell off because our lives obviously held no other value to them.
I looked around at all the other girls huddled in their cages. I didn’t know their names since they rarely spoke, too afraid to draw any attention to themselves. Every now and then, I’d catch them talking to their cage neighbor, but most of the day was filled with tears and stifled cries. I hoped they found a friend in each other as Kayla and I had. It was the only way we were able to get through this.
Yesterday, I had tried to speak to the girl next to me, but she just shook her head and turned over, giving her back to me. I didn’t understand her rejection of support and comfort, but it occurred to me that she had given up a long time ago...or maybe she resented me for her failed attempt at escape. I didn’t know. I told her that I was here for her regardless.
The hopelessness in this room was toxic. As if the harsh reminder of our horrific reality poisoned the air we breathed. We were never getting out until we were bought and paid for.
I hated thinking about another human being that way, but I didn’t have a doubt in my mind that was how these people saw us. They were running a business, and we were the product they were selling. The obvious success of their previous transactions honestly scared the shit out of me. Clearly, sex slaves were in high demand these days, and the whole idea disgusted me.
Eventually, the stress of worrying all morning left me feeling depressed and exhausted, so much so I attempted a light nap to regain some much-needed energy. But after twenty minutes, the distinct sound of a slamming door woke me from my half-failed attempt, the echo a sharp reminder in my ears of where we still currently were. Lying on my side, I watched as two guards headed to the very end of the row of cages to begin passing out our lunch for the day.
Accepting my bowl and water without complaint, I sat back against my cage, crossed my ankles, and immediately went on autopilot, attempting to eat as much as I could before the nausea returned. I could still barely eat half of it, and I feared my stomach’s continued rejection of food would bring me another private visit from him. And that was the last thing I needed right now. I could only muster one more spoonful before the growing nausea scared me off completely. Leaning back against the wall, I set my bowl in my lap, hoping after a few breaths and some sips of water, I’d be able to finish it all.
“You feeling okay?” Kayla asked me as she set down her empty bowl.
“Yeah, just trying not to throw up my lunch.” I took a deep breath and slowly released it through my nose before attempting another small bite.
But the second I put the spoon in my mouth, I felt the deep cramps of my stomach just before the retch. Jolting to the side, I vomited the contents of my lunch into the pipped hole of my cage.
“Jesus, Jaden. Are you okay?” Kayla asked as she set aside her bowl.
Spitting out the awful aftertaste, I took a swig of water to rinse my mouth out and spit it down the pipe.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “I’m fine.”
“You gotta finish that food. You need it.”
“I know, I will,” I said between breaths. Sitting back against my cage, I drank the rest of my water slowly. Filling my stomach with water only allowed me to get about two more bites in from what remained of my lunch.
“I know it’s tough, but you really do need to keep your strength up. You’ve been looking really pale lately.”
I chuckled a little before turning my gaze to her. “Okay, mom,” I said with a gentle smile. “And don’t worry, my skin just hasn’t seen the sun in … fuck, I can’t even remember now.”
“Don’t even try to remind me how long it’s been,” Kayla said dismissively.
Returning my attention to my bowl, I felt angry that I couldn’t get through the most basic human need. Stress and food just didn’t mix for me, and stressful times required the most strength. Final exams during my first year of law school were spent practically starving myself the day of the exam, my nerves too rattled to stomach anything almost the entire day. Of course, once the exam was over, I’d gorge myself on Buffalo wings until the sun came up.
But as I looked at the leftover rice, all I could think about was how one punch to my gut was all it would take for me to throw it up all over the place. And the likelihood of me taking a hit like that was pretty high, even when I did keep my mouth shut.
Weighing the rest of the food on my fuck-it scale, it just didn’t hold the weight against the amount of fucks I had to give, so I poured the rest of the bowl down my makeshift toilet, and resigned myself to just digest what little I could. He couldn’t possibly be bothered to keep track of my dietthatmuch.
“Cheater,” Kayla mumbled with a smirk.
“Shh,” I hushed her. “You saw nothing.”
Kayla and I sat there for a few minutes in silence. My eyes closed as I tried to relax, waiting for the guards to come back to collect the bowls. It seemed they were waiting a little longer than usual, like twenty minutes longer, but I didn’t make anything of it until my vision suddenly seemed warped.
What the fresh fuck is this?
The door slamming and boot-steps echoing, I found my body becoming strangely heavy. Watching as the guards walked by the cages, I noticed their legs looked out of focus like their motions had been sped up. Lifting my head from the wall to get a better look sent a wave of dizziness through my entire body, making me sway into the bars of my cage.
