Shattering my Over-used Heart

Laceys First Chapter.

My whole face throbs, my throats deathly dry "that's a shiner for sure" my conscience must be playing tricks on me "which one do you think hit her?" I hear voices, to many to know, my body doesn't seem to work, "Brute for sure, bet some cubes on it" I can't wiggle even a digit or feel my toes and my neck feels constricted. "All bets are on " I want to move but I'm too terrified to "2 cubes she panics" I'm laid down that's for sure, slowly my body and brain can make out I'm lying on something, not soft but not unpleasantly hard. "1 cube, she tries to escape" my legs and arms feel heavy, but mostly it's the cloud in my head, like I've been drugged and dragged. "The real question girls, is who was she brought here for?".

I don't know how many hours pass before I can feel each toe, my eyelids have stayed firmly shut, like they know the terror I'm about to see if I open them, the voices died down when I didn't respond to their pokes and prods trying to rouse me, I can feel the tears in my eyes because my eyelashes are stuck together, what the fuck happened? but first I need to open my eyes for the oncoming tears to fall free, I didn't imagine those voices, each voice was female and slightly different, I take a deep breath and flutter open my eyes, I'm met with a bone white wall, ok? I think, not so bad, I move my head slightly to finally look down at what I'm lying on, I stretch my hand out slowly to feel the fabric, just a plain ordinary mattress sheet, I grip it suddenly to see if its real, it is. I bring my hand up and run it over my face, what the hell is happening? Where am I? still at that house? I roll onto my back and look up at the ceiling, it's just a bright big square light in the middle, I raise my hand to cover my sensitive eyes, and blink adjusting to the brightness, I turn my head, exhaling to see the white walls end and there's just a doorframe, I'll have to eventually get up and investigate but right now, I just focus on breathing in and out until my neck touches something on a big exhale, but then again I move my shoulders and feel uncomfortable on the back of my neck too, my hands make their way towards my neck, I falter when I get close not wanting to actually find out, but my fingertips touch it, then I grip it and pull, but I chock myself with my own force, my breaths quickens but I slam my hands down by my sides, no its ok I think, everything ok, it's not a collar, you're not wearing a collar, my eyes are closed now, I start to think I'm dead, I ate that soup and died, but that thought lingers with me, I didn't eat, I'm alive and the last thing I remember is crashing into that hulk of a man when cooper was chasing me, I open my eyes again and then I see movement outside the doorframe, I hear giggling, I hear talking, and I sit up slowly, resting my arms on my knees, I rub my temples and then my forehead, the pain in the right side of my face makes me wince, how could I have forgotten that I was hit? My fingers lightly feel over my cheek and puffy eye, I sigh and hang my head, what the fuck have I got into? And where were trey and cooper?

I hear a light gasp and I shoot my head up to see another girl, standing in the doorway, looking at me, her eyes scan me from toenail to hair follicle, and she smiles, she actually fucking gives me the biggest smile I've ever seen. " SHES AWAKE" she screeches and I hold my ears, my hands go from my ears to my hair, its neatly braided in two tight Dutch braids, I bring the braids over my shoulders to look at them closer, that's when I hear footsteps, and there's a lot of them. my doorframe fills with about fourteen different pair of eyes and my mouth falls open, girls are pouring in to look at me, and every single one of their heads is braided, the exact same way as mine, the bile in my stomach churns, my throat tightens, I lean against the closest wall near me to keep myself from fainting, but I feel the tears form in the corner of my eyes, not one girl has broken the silence until. " Not much to look at is she?" I don't even look over to whoever is speaking "nonsense, she's beautiful "my grip tightens on these sheets below me "wonder what she is?" I rub my face with my hands secretly hoping this will wake me up and I'll be in my bed, laughing at this vividly wild real dream I'm having right now, I use the wall to try and get up. "Whoa, wait till the drugs wear off "one girl says coming towards me to hold me still, drugs? What drugs? I scream inside my head. My lips are dry and cracked, I'm hungry and desperately thirsty, my thoughts are racing in my head, and I can't keep up with them because this brain fog is not making any sense. "Where–" I start to say gathering up as much spit as I can to lubricate my mouth. "where are you? if we knew we would tell you" The lady in front of me says "Hell" one says behind her "salvation" another voice speaks up "Prison" says another. I look towards all these eyes, every face is different, every eye colour is looking deep into my features. "Heaven" another girl comes forward kneeling down to my eye level "When you think about it, thous men saved you from the world outside-" she was cut off quickly by another women shoving her down, showing to me there's a hierarchy here or its dog eat dog. "Fuck that, they keep us here like cattle and then-" an elbow is pounded into her side, and she caves in, letting out a sharp gruff sound, the room is getting smaller, the air in this place is actually stinging my lungs as I try to take breaths. "Oh, she's panicking" a voice comes through the doorframe as some girls slowly leave. "No, she's not" another voice fills the void "just let her adjust Jesus, how would you like it if knowing your stolen and were all peering down at you like your on sale" my eyes rush to find the girl talking but the dwindling numbers just leaves the girl who was pushed down by my side, she's sat crossed legged on the mattress about 5 inches away from me. "we share a room" she smiles at me like this is nothing new and she's happy with the company, finally I feel like my eyesight is mine again, I take a breath in and hold it, I count to three, I won't panic I tell myself, if I look at this with a clear head, whatever this is. I tilt my head up, this room is about 8ft by 9ft, the walls are a deathly plain annoying white and my eyes wince again at the only light source, then the black dome security cameras catches my eye, so someone's watching. I sigh and my head falls down, I'm sitting on a mattress embedded in the floor, I feel the embarrassment as this is a dogs mat I'm sat on pops into my head, but then I look over to the girl next to me whose just waiting, her smile is still the same like she's giving me time to process all this, my eyes go back and forth to the fact were both wearing plain white snug t-shirts and shorts way above the thighs, and horrifying enough she's wearing a collar too. then it comes back to the hair, both finely braided and not a strand out of place, I go to touch my head and she flinches, so I flinch, her eyes widen in response to what she's just done, she raises her hands to wave softly. "I'm sorry just, don't un-do your braids okay?" I start to nod and my lips part to ask why but she stops me "please don't ask why, we have this game ... we play to past the time, most of all you have to figure everything out yourself, but just from needing a friend here, something that I didn't have, please don't undo your braids" she whispers the last part like I'm not supposed to know, my mouth stays open as her smile then fades, she takes a breath herself and extends her hand. "I'm four" my eyebrows raise, and I look at her hand, is this a joke? "that's... your name?" I finally ask after leaving it too long, but I take her hand and shake it politely. "I'm Lacey" I finally add, and her smile widens "Oh lacey, that's a pretty one" her eyes go down to her fingers trailing a circle in the sheet below her, my eyes follow her movements then back to her eyes. "You still haven't answered my question" I ask her slowly and more soothingly, she's got light sandy brown hair, her roots even lighter maybe by the sun like mine, she has high cheekbones, and her skin is flawless, but it's the shadows in her eyes I can't get past, her topaz blue eyes, she bites her bottom lip but looks directly into my eyes. "I forgot my name" she says plainly and truthfully, I just look at her, I stare until she gets uncomfortable, but I can tell straight away she's serious. if I was told not to panic then I'm really fucking trying not to now "how ... how long have you been here, four?" I finally say low and my voice trembles saying her number name, her lip trembled now, and she looked everywhere but at me "Now that, is a good question" she reply's in a hushed whisper.