Return Of The Exiled

8- The Moonlight Effect

Benita

How am I supposed to sleep with that horror show on replay, in my brain?

"Which hand did he touch you with?" Joe had addressed me inside the grease mingled with blood-smelling garage, and when I pulled in my lips instead of answering him. His dilated pupils gave me no clue as to what he would do next. They placed Sloan's hands, one after the other on top of the steel table, a baseball bat coming down on each one with such force that I was certain bones broke with the sickening sound.

I threw up some more. Nothing but liquid as I had nothing to eat this morning but had consumed a glass of orange juice that was in the fridge.

Sloans loud screaming deafened my ears. Though it pained me to see him that way, I did not say stop to Joe. Not when I had been begging Sloan to stop his grubby hands and mouth from me and he refused to.

Nobody grabbed at me when my legs collapsed beneath me, and I sat on the bare floor, partially on my vomit, taking it all in. My sickened feeling soon eased.

Something inside me seemed- satisfied. The feel-good chemicals dopamine and endogenous opioids were released inside my brain.

"Teach you to touch what is another's. She's mine!" Joe's words did not register to me then, but they do now as I lie awake. Now, the adrenaline seemed gone as I lay here wide awake on this rather comfortable bed at- I glanced at my phone- 12:45 am, the next morning- his words unsettled me.

Mine. I was his- is he the one I must sleep with? Not his grandfather? I pondered on that for a bit, and I think I would prefer the older man. Shiela informed me that I had signed up with the mob. They were the mafia that ran the town near mine, but I had laughed thinking it was a joke she made to lighten the mood. Just as she informed me that her boss meant it as a joke that I would be a stripper when I would actually be just handing out bottles to the waiting staff.

A cult-mafia.

I can't get out of the deal now. He would sue me, and I had nothing to give- except myself and this is what got me here in the first place! Didn't the mafia kill people that upset them?

Why would he purchase me for himself? He is young and handsome; I am certain for sure women beat down on his door to be with him.

Getting up, I find myself wanting to see the outdoors. As if the moon itself was calling out to me. Quickly, I removed the robe and changed into the clothes one of the girls brought to me, deciding to take a walk outside to the huge tree that grew between my building and the other one, separated by maybe one lot of land.

Sucking in a deep breath, I marvel in the cool night air. I needed this.

My bare feet enjoy the feel of the low-cut grass as I walk around the wide yard, looking out in the distance of the woods. The trees are beautiful in the distance. All is quiet except for the sounds of a few insects. It is strange being in a place so quiet. No barking dogs or cats making noises and destroying rubbish bags. Nobody playing music loudly. No vehicles on the road.

Opening my arms, I spin around in glee, making a happy sound, feeling myself basking in- something I cannot explain, under the full moon. 

Realising I am not alone, I stop spinning and I make out another person from the bright moon's light, already there and sitting beneath the tree but on the other side of it. A rug beneath him but I am not spooked. I feel- safe.

"Took you long enough." He did not look up but tapped the space next to him for me to have a seat, continuing to stare out into the woods just as I had been seconds before. The six-feet-plus man sat with his jeans-clad legs and boots, stretched out in front of him. Yellow short-sleeved t-shirt.