Disappearance: A broken Wing

Regret

It had been three days since Keto banned me from eating. Maely risked her life sneaking me food every day, and I hated the thought of her getting caught because of me. I'd started waking up at three in the morning just to clean all eight bedrooms and three bathrooms, terrified of making another mistake.

I was scrubbing the last bathroom floor when I heard shouting in the next room. My gut told me not to get involved—but my heart wouldn't let me ignore it. I set down my sponge and followed the noise.

When I reached the doorway, I saw one of the guards towering over Maely, yelling in her face.

"HEY! Leave her alone!" I demanded.

"Kara, don't," Maely said quickly, glancing at me. "This has nothing to do with you."

"Leave her alone. She already lives through hell every day—she doesn't need your attitude on top of it!"

The guard turned slowly toward me. "You've got some nerve, little girl."

"Leave her alone," I repeated, my voice steady even though I was shaking inside.

The guard charged me, and I backed up, but I hit something solid. It wasn't a wall—it was Keto.

Before I could react, Keto slammed me against the wall, one hand gripping my throat.

"Who do you think you are, yelling at my men?" His voice was low, sharp, deadly.

I couldn't answer before his fist sank into my ribs. A crack echoed inside me—I wasn't sure if it was the wall or my bones. I gasped, my breath stolen by pain.

"You disrespect my men, you disrespect me." Another blow, harder than the first.

I bit back a scream, tasting blood.

"Cage," Keto snapped, "take her outside. Let's remind everyone what disrespect gets you."

"Yes, boss."

Cage grabbed me by the arms like I weighed nothing and dragged me outside. He tied me to a pole as the women were herded into the courtyard.

Keto's voice boomed. "Ladies, Kara, here thought it was wise to challenge my authority. Let's show her the price of disrespect."

He picked up a whip. The crack of leather against my bare back ripped a scream from my throat. Pain tore through me with each strike, like my skin was splitting open.

"How does it feel now, Kara?!" Keto shouted over my screams.

By the tenth lash, I was barely conscious, my knees buckling beneath me. Keto finally stopped, breathing hard, and spat in my face before walking away.

"Disrespect me again," he said coldly, "and see what happens."

When he left, I collapsed, barely able to breathe. Every time I tried to push myself up, my arms gave out. My body was trembling too much to stand.

Maely and five other women rushed to me. "We've got you," Maely whispered, her voice breaking as they lifted me gently.

"Thank you," I rasped. I hated that they had to see me like this, hated that my need to protect someone had led to this punishment. If I'd just stayed quiet, maybe I wouldn't be lying here, torn apart.

They carried me to the bathroom and lowered me into a tub of cold water. The moment the water hit my raw, open wounds, I arched in pain, my screams bouncing off the walls.

"I can't... I can't live like this," I whispered.

"We're almost done," Maely soothed, carefully rinsing the blood off me. When the washing was over, she rubbed ointment across my back and ribs, every touch making me flinch. She wrapped me tightly in a compression bandage, helping me back to the basement.

"Everything's going to be alright," Maely whispered.

But I doubted it.

That night, I woke to the sound of screaming. My heart pounded as I sat up, every muscle aching. Across the room, Maely's eyes met mine, and I saw the silent message in her glare: stay down.

"Someone's getting hurt," I whispered.

"Someone's always getting hurt," Maely muttered, rolling over.

"Maely, how can you just go back to sleep?"

"You can barely walk, Kara. You're in no condition to help anyone," she warned.

She was right. But I couldn't shake the voice in my head telling me I had to try.

"The only way we survive is if we stick together. When one of us hurts, all of us hurt," I whispered, more to myself than to her.

I used the wall for support, dragging myself up the stairs despite the stabbing pain in my ribs.

"Kara, don't," Maely whispered urgently. But I ignored her.

The screams grew louder as I approached a door down the hall—the third one to my left. I pushed it open and froze.

A guard was on top of a woman, holding her down while she screamed.

"GET OFF HER!" I shouted, adrenaline drowning out my pain. I charged at him and shoved him off.

"You little—" he growled, turning on me.

"We are NOT your property!" I spat.

He grabbed my arm, twisting it painfully. My body was too weak to fight back, but I kicked and struggled anyway. He yanked me to the ground and began punching me.

The woman I'd tried to save scrambled to her feet. For a second, I thought she'd help me—but she only looked at me with wide, terrified eyes and bolted out the door, leaving me to take the beating meant for her.

I was fading fast when the door burst open.

"Kara. Kara. Kara," Keto's voice sliced through the room like a blade. "You just don't learn."

The last thing I saw was his fist coming toward me, and then—darkness.