Deck of Cards

Day 21- Jen

Sorry this is a short chapter- things WILL get longer I promise. And way more exciting! This book is what I would describe as a grower, it gets more exciting the further you get in.

Three of Diamonds- Cleaning for 0 hrs

Jen's POV

Diamonds meant planning time. Escape was still hot on my lips and my tongue had become so used to saying the word that it was almost like it was programmed to say it. I had thought of everything: dig a hole, kill a guard, act insane, try and hide and then escape. Nothing seemed plausible, I felt like I was acting like a little child. I assumed all the other girls had thought of high-tec plans which would work every time. The trouble was, I wasn't that smart.

I had dropped out of school, no qualifications to my name and I had never listened to a single teacher. If only school had taught me the important things in life- like how to escape your kidnapper if they lock you up in a basement and force you to play their sadistic game.

I had lost count of how many cleaning cards I had got- it seemed like every day I had to clean something. Maybe I was losing track of the days. I had stopped counting how many days it had been in after about day five. I saw no use for it. Roughly I knew I was almost halfway through my pack so I knew I was around day twenty one but I didn't really care. It didn't effect the outcome.

I wanted to see the other girls and plan something with them, I knew I couldn't escape on my own. I was nowhere near qualified enough. It was aggravating to have no clue how to help yourself and get out of a situation- I felt like some caged animal at a zoo. I was, in theory, a caged animal. Maybe not in a zoo but  in a mad house.

Even after twenty one days in the place, I still had no idea how people found pleasure in watching me slowly deteriorate to the point were I was like a zombie. I felt like I had lost every part of myself and I was left as a fragile shell of a human.

I heard two guards clink down the corridor, oblivious to me being there because of the dark. They stopped right outside my cell and faced away from me so they couldn't see their rude eavesdropper.

It was confusing to me that they didn't know that I was there, seeing as the guards knew the way around the labyrinth of corridors ,which made up the basement, like the back of their hands. Nevertheless, I listened in with excitement. I liked drama.

"Can't believe that the boss sent his own daughter into this- he couldn't have got THAT bored!" one said and the other chuckled. I was shocked- one of the girl's was the leader's daughter! How could anyone even do that to their own child?

As a mother, the idea of torturing my child was out of the question. My child was a part of me- even seeing my son cry made me feel his pain. I couldn't imagine watching him being whipped, abused and cursed at.

The guard took the words out of my mouth, " How could someone even do that to their own kid?" he chuckled as if it wasn't that big of a deal.

"Its not uncommon, that Jen girl was handed over by her mum. She didn't ask for any money though it was weird. Nobody questioned it though. Even the boss was dumbfounded. He took the girl in but didn't really want her," the other one said and I blew my cover.

"WHAT???" I shouted at them and they both jumped in shock and turned around.

After seeing me and realising the situation, they ran away like cowards leaving me seething in my cell. I wanted to scream and shout in anger but no sound came out. She had handed me over to the lions knowing exactly what was going to happen. She handed me over to get my son. She was evil through and through. I needed revenge. I needed help. I would take her down once and for all.

Suddenly the people holding me weren't the enemy, they had simply taken me in. They didn't even want me! My mother was the true devil in the situation.

When I was younger my mother was awful, she was horrible. A part of me thought that she had changed but this just proved that she could never be trusted. I needed to get out and show to everyone the monster she was. Suddenly the escape looked easier; trying to prove that a woman like her was evil would be hard. It was impossible to not take her side when you saw the two of us standing side by side. Prim and proper vs scumbag from the streets. Tea addict vs alcoholic. I had no chance but I had to do it.

I needed to stop her tyrannical rampage.