LIE

Part 3

It felt like I was lost in a circus show. The magician had taken me on stage, performed his mysterious disappearing act, and seemed to have failed to bring me back.

Among people with slanted eyes, in some restaurant, I was supposed to taste foods I'd never known, while standing behind my ex-girlfriend, pretending not to recognize her.

Our leader, who had added two men and a girl to his team, didn't know what to do. Although the others were as curious as I was, they remained silent. They bowed their heads, standing like helpless slaves. And so did I...

I had never bowed to anyone until now, and here I was, unable to even lift my head. What I feared was death. The sweet side of life weighed heavily on me with the thought that there was no life after death. But wasn't real life supposed to begin after death?

David, who shattered my religious thoughts, turned to us. His thumbs were in the pockets of his black jeans. I felt his eyes on me for a few seconds.

"Follow me," he said with a cold, harsh, and distant voice.

Had I not remembered our old funny times together, I couldn't even have imagined this man smiling. Walking behind him, I preferred to be at the very back. Each step he took reminded me of the times he had stepped over me in the past. This man had hurt me enough to make me change cities.

Trying to ignore the lump in my throat, I looked back at where we came from. We were standing in front of a locked door, at the end of a long corridor. He took a key out of his pocket and opened the door. When the iron door opened, I didn't encounter the scene I was expecting. I was expecting a room, not an elevator.

"Wow," whispered a man from behind.

"Silence," came a warning immediately, from the men standing beside us.

In the elevator, I was again next to David. Even though I felt his sidelong glances, I was determined not to look.

"You!" roared one of the men dressed as guards. I understood he meant me from the way my arm was harshly grabbed. "You can't be so close to the master," he said, pulling me in the cramped elevator cabin.

"Let go of me," David said in an irritable voice.

"Some feelings are still the same..."

David had his own kind of jealousy. During our time together, he even used to be jealous of the intimacy I had with my girlfriends. I couldn't even talk about another man in his presence. Now, we stood side by side like two strangers. He was a ruthless man. He was going to hurt me. Again.

"I'm sorry, sir," the man said, releasing my arm.

But I didn't close the distance between David and me. Being near him, breathing in his scent, wasn't good for my heart. Finally, when the elevator stopped, I followed David out.

A hand roughly nudged my shoulder. When I quickly opened my eyes, I saw it was one of the guards. The dirty-bearded, blond man was the guard who had pushed me in the elevator.

"Get up," he said with an impatient voice.

While his eyes uncomfortably scrutinized me, I quickly straightened my disheveled blouse and rose from the seat. I walked quickly, disturbed by the man following behind me. But what I feared happened: The man's hands grasped my hips and squeezed with a filthy laugh. My heart pounded rapidly, and for a moment, I thought it skipped a beat.

"Son of a bitch!" I suddenly yelled, and the man's hands dropped from my hips.

As anger clouded my mind sharply, I turned and headbutted the man's brazen face. Ignoring the throbbing in my forehead, I could see the fury on the face of the man stumbling backward. His nose was bleeding, and his eyes were looking at me with a deadly glare.

"What's going on there?" I heard a voice.

"Just a cheeky friend of ours, sir, nothing more. She'll learn to be respectful after a lesson," he said while wiping the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. His gaze at me instilled fear, but it didn't stop me from looking at him as if I would kill him.

"Come here immediately!" David shouted.

Turning my back on the man again, I looked directly at David without hiding the anger on my face. I wanted to kill him the most. The only reason I was here was because of this son of a bitch.

While he watched me with no expression on his handsome face, I stepped down from the minibus. Moving to stand next to the girl I made eye contact with, I started to survey my surroundings just like she did.

I was in a pitch-black forest. Everything that once was green seemed newly burnt, and the smell of soot was still very strong. The sight was intimidating. A little further ahead was a dilapidated structure. It resembled a house with huge, faded pink shutters, about the size of a school. On the structure, there was a sign reading "Mental Problems House." As I looked at the collapsed state of a mental hospital, David stepped in front of us. Everyone turned to him, except me this time, and he looked at everyone but me. The man who had harassed me earlier was next to him, staring at me in an unpleasant manner.

"Everyone must be wondering why they are here, right? Wondering why you were taken from your families, what you are doing here," he said loudly.

"The first reason you're here is because of your profession," he said, and I saw everyone sink into thought.

Since I had no profession, what was I doing here?

"Your families are safe. For now," he continued, looking at each of us in turn. Seeing that no one made a sound, he continued.

The only thing you need to do is not ask questions and do whatever we say without causing trouble. If you cause trouble, you will get hurt. If you question, you will get hurt. If you try to unite, you will get hurt. You are alone, and there is no possibility of becoming friends. It's forbidden for you to communicate with each other. It's also forbidden to unnecessarily communicate with any of us. I think there's nothing unclear about this," he said and looked at the silent group with satisfaction. "Good," he said and turned around.

As he opened the doors of that ruined mental hospital, the guards instructed us to follow. I tried to stay as far away from the man who harassed me as possible, but he was right beside me. Even if he didn't say anything, I could tell from his looks that I was in trouble.

While David walked down the corridor of my new prison, which looked ruined from the outside but was perfectly intact inside, he stopped and looked at me this time. First at me, then at the guard standing beside me, who was still looking at me. When he looked at the guard for a long time, his eyebrows slowly furrowed. His gaze at the man was not a good sign. Well, at least for David, I was still not just anybody. When I looked at the man beside me, I wished that David would have no mercy on him. I wanted his disgusting face to be etched with endless pain.

"You, come with me," David shouted. When I looked back in that direction, his eyes were on me. Even though I knew he was calling me, I stayed where I was.

"He's talking to you. Walk," the harassing guard said. He pushed me forward, causing me to walk towards where David was. Reluctantly walking towards him, I began to feel excited. I knew my legs were trembling. I hoped David wouldn't notice.

Oh God! This was nothing but torture!