Deck of Cards

Day 23- Scarlett

Two of spades- cursed at all day

Scarlett's POV

I was still in shock from seeing everyone the day before; it was so overwhelming to know that only a short walk away were other girls enduring the same things. Crying about the same things. Living the same things.

It was a two which didn't really bother me because I didn't listen to the guards anyway. Hopefully it would give the blond haired warden a chance to give me whatever was on that shelf. If it was what Ava had said then it would mean that we had the upper hand. The knowledge that I had a group of another four girls made me feel stronger. More empowered.

I was taken to another cell but I didn't dread my time in there. In fact I was quite excited to see their faces turn red with rage as they let all their anger out on me; I had thick skin- I could handle it.

To my surprise, there was already a big crowd of men waiting for me. Eager much. This time there weren't as many guards but more men in suits, people who I presumed either worked in other sectors of the game like the boss did or were paying customers. It made me shiver to think that people were watching my every move, watching me from the comfort of their huge mansions which had thirteen swimming pools and it's own airport.

The alarm sounded, something that I still wasn't accustomed to and jumped whenever I heard it. I could have sworn that the restraints weren't as tight; maybe they wanted me to lunge at them to cause some drama. I wouldn't fall into their trap. I wasn't stupid.

The first few men went up and said their lines with confidence but I could tell that they had been practicing them in front of a mirror. I didn't know how they would keep it up for a whole day, surely they would want some kind of break? I could see a little buffet at the side of the room and there were chairs for those who wanted to sit. I felt like laughing at it because it was like a business conference but I didn't see it as appropriate. I felt like the guards were feeling a bit trigger happy and would shoot you for anything. We had been too 'well behaved' for them.

Looking round the room, I saw the familiar blond hair and kind face which had given me my first ounces of hope. He was smiling like an idiot as he watched the imbeciles shout at basically a brick wall while I became lost in my own thoughts. He pulled a face at me which made me chuckle slightly; the guard at my side jabbed me with the end of his gun. Glaring up at him, I continued to stare at the crowd.

I wondered if the customers watched it on some TV channel and if so why hadn't I seen it before? It made me laugh internally as I thought of somebody flicking through channels and seeing a group of people shouting at a girl. They would probably think it was some kind of intervention or talk show. Especially with all the food. It made me ponder the thought of me being in a reality show and whether everything so far had been a set up. No it couldn't have been, they wouldn't let the guards hurt us so much. It would get taken off the air.

Their words seemed to bounce off me and I didn't catch any of them, I wasn't really concentrating. I was too absorbed in my thoughts of a reality show; I imagined people phoning in to say who they thought would survive. I wondered if there was some betting against who would come out alive; something  like the odds of Ava surviving were five to one. It was amusing in a depressing sort of way.

The men went in and out of the cell, probably to use the toilet and then came back all guns blazing. I think they were getting annoyed at me because I didn't give back any reaction, mainly because I wasn't listening. The time was up before I could get bored, maybe I was getting so used to my own company that I didn't need any entertainment. As they all filed out I saw my little blond angel waiting at back. He stepped in when my guard tried to undo my restraints.

"I can take her back Bob, you go and take a break. You've been standing for an awfully long time," he gave his most sincere smile and Bob nodded as if to say 'yes I have been standing for a long time, I do deserve a break'. It was really hard to not laugh. When my guard was gone, the blond saviour undid my restraints angrily to keep up his façade for the cameras. I still didn't know his reasons for helping me but I didn't care. I would accept anything to help me escape.

As we walked back, I felt his hand wander down to my jean pocket. I mentally thanked myself for wearing jeans to my date. I wondered where 'Simon' was? Was he in the building? Or did he only kidnap the girls and skip the torture part?

"It controls the security system, type 2375 into it and that will disable all of the cameras. You will have about two minutes before they use the emergency control panel," and with that I was thrust back into my cell with a remote in my pocket.

I knew I had to hide it somewhere but there wasn't really anywhere in my cell and I was scared that they would come in to clean or something and find it. That would put me in trouble as well as my blond ally. I was worried as well about the activities, what if it fell out of my pocket? What if someone found it when they were doing god knows what? I decided to sleep on it and decide the next day.