The Prison Realm

Chapter 2: The Inevitable

Rosa:

Ericka was going to explode. I just knew it.

After a year of living in the cell, I'd become pretty good at keeping my mind busy. I spent my time tending to the other slaves, all of whom were freaking out in some capacity. Ericka, the latest addition to the cell, was a red-haired Canadian woman who had only been in this world for about a month or so. Everyone in this world had to get through a phase of denial. They would believe there was some way, through magic or some other means, to return to their homes.

I was well past that point, so I had appointed myself as mother hen of this cell.

Ericka wasn't going to welcome any intervention on my behalf. She paced the barred wall of our cells, her arms folded across her chest, radiating tension.

So I instead turned my focus on Willow and Amelia.

"What do you want to do today?" I asked the two of them. It was shortly after our morning slop meal. The sweltering temperature in the slave tent was starting to peak. A distraction was needed or we were all going to start getting agitated. 

Willow shrugged, which was unhelpful, but it was a standard answer.

"Tic tac toe? Hangman?" I suggested.

Amelia was mute, so we tried to keep our little games as non-verbal as possible, which usually meant we stuck to writing in the collected grime on the floor.

Was it gross?

Probably.

But it was seriously difficult to come up with something that would keep everyone entertained, and that was my whole gig. I looked at Amelia to include her in the decision-making process, but she was looking past me. I followed her gaze to see a woman waving her over in a neighboring cell.

Since Amelia had once been a med student she was the slaves' go-to for medical advice. It was typical for our neighbors to seek her out for advice.

Amelia gave me a flat smile to wordlessly excuse herself and stood from her cross-legged position on the floor. Willow uncrossed her arms to follow Amelia.

"I'll translate for Amelia," Willow said.

I nodded and briefly considered going with them to hear gossip from our neighbor, but then Ericka let out a long frustrated sigh.

I wanted to sigh.

Then again, Ericka was still newish to the slave tent, and long ago, I had promised not to leave a new girl when she was on the brink of freaking out. So, grudgingly, I turned to Ericka and asked, "You okay?"

"No!" Ericka exploded.

I was ready for it. I crossed the cell and leaned against the bars beside her.

"Why aren't we trying to escape this place?" Ericka demanded.

I didn't let out the exasperated sigh I desperately wanted to. Ericka had heard my explanations for why we do things a certain way, but she still didn't like them.

"I've told you. There is no escape. I've seen women try. You know what happens to them. They get sacrificed on the altar when the slavers perform the ritual to summon more women. We can't draw attention to ourselves, and that's exactly what will happen if we try to escape and fail. We can't risk it."

Ericka's green eyes flashed.

"That's bullshit, Rosa," Ericka said. "You can't tell me that life in this cell is good enough."