Heart Of Darkness

Chapter 39

"Where are you taking me?" Angelica asked.

"I am sure you know since you tried to run away." Said the man sitting to her left and holding the dagger.

"I don't want to." She said.

The man nodded. "I can see that. It is hard to accept, but you will get used to it."

Are you used to it?

The man sitting across from her studied her face and let his gaze rake her body. "You would make a lot of money.." He said as if that should be some consolation.

"A lot." The other one emphasized.

The one with the dagger nodded again. "You will do well, Angelica. You won't even have to try. You will never be able to pay back Lord Green." He told her.

These men...she couldn't believe it. They were talking casually about it as if she was going to do any other work. Perhaps it was any different kind of work for them.

Angelica shook her head, feeling the tears burn her eyes. She was not going to cry in front of these men. No!

But the tears fought against her, and one fell slowly down her stinging cheek as if taking time to caress her.

"Oh no. Don't cry." Said the one sitting in front of her. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. "Here."

Angelica looked at him confused but didn't take the handkerchief from him. He waited patiently and then dropped his hand with a sigh.

"I heard you have a younger brother from Lord Green," he said. "All his inheritance is taken away from him. Think about your brother. Doing this will allow you to earn a lot of money, pay off your debt and even save something for yourself and your brother. We have a lot of rich men coming to us, ready to throw away their money for a little entertainment. For you, they would empty their pockets."

 This confused her only more. Why were these men trying to make her feel better and see the positive things about what she may become soon? This was not how she expected them to act.

The man with the dagger nodded in agreement as usual.

"I still don't want to." She said, feeling like she was whining.

"You better convince yourself to want it because there is no way out for you."

 More tears fell down her cheeks, and the men became quiet and stayed so for the rest of the journey. When the carriage stopped, it stopped with her heart. The men opened the doors and stepped outside, but Angelica remained seated.

"Come on. I don't want to have to drag you." The dagger man told her.

Angelica stepped out of the carriage with wobbling legs and a stomachache. She looked around her surroundings. They seemed to be at the back of a house. Two ladies sat in the backyard wearing a dress where the corset forced half of their breasts to stick out of the neckline. They were chattering and laughing before they took notice of them.

Their eyes widened as the dagger man grabbed her arm and led her inside the backyard.

"Oh, who do we have here? A new member, it seems." One lady said.

"Indeed. This is Angelica, and this is Tereza and Mina." He introduced them.

"Angelica? Are you perhaps... the traitor's daughter?" Mina asked.

So they also knew her? It had to be the red hair. Now they would mistreat her on top of what she would become.

"Oh, don't worry. We don't care about such things." She waved her dismissively.