It Started As a Deal

Chapter 22: Void I ~ In Action

"Kids are still depressed when you dress them up," ~ Melanie Martinez, Sippy Cup, Cry Baby.

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TAKES PLACE TWO YEARS IN THE PAST.

I had a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach when that day started off with my mother actually home for breakfast and was being nice to us. The feeling in my stomach was telling me that something horrible was going to happen and not to trust my mother. But how could I just ignore my mother for the whole day and hope for the best.

Even little Millie and Josh were suspicious of how our mom was acting. They didn't know what she did when she went off to do her own thing or what she was doing, but they knew that her being home wasn't normal.

"Why is Mommy home today?" Millie had asked me when we went down the stairs that morning to find our mom making breakfast.

"Yeah isn't she normally gone at this time doing stuff?" Josh asked having confused and conflicting expressions crossing his little chubby baby face.

"I don't know guys. I just don't know," I had said now knowing what to make of the situation. My mother and I were never really ever on good terms, so I had gotten used to her being gone during the day. With her being here I had become uncomfortable and worried about how the day would play out now knowing how she would berate me this time.

"Good morning kids; I took the day off today so that I could spend time with y'all," she had said with a cherry smile on her face that looked very faked and forced. It was probably because she had no idea how to act around us since she came home when we were ready to go to sleep. "I made you guys some waffles to eat for breakfast. After we eat, I thought it would be nice if we went to the park together as a family. Does that sound fun?"

We kind of just looked at her for a moment with shocked looks on our faces not knowing what to say. Our mother had never made a move for us to act like a family and go out with her for family outings. If we did though, she pretended that we weren't there and that we weren't her children unless Jessica was there and brag about how young she looked. For her to want to take us out as a family was unheard of and was actually downright frightening.

"Um sure I guess so. What kind of waffles did you make?" I had asked taking charge and leading Millie and Josh to the table. They were still somewhat frozen in shock at our mom's sudden change of heart.

"Chocolate chip and blueberry ones," she responded bringing us plates of waffles.

And so that's how fifteen minutes later we had all arrived at the nearby park with our mom smiling her fake smile at us. At this point in time Millie and Josh had basically forgotten about how strange the whole situation was. They were just happy to be to the park for once in their life. For once they got to actually act like kids.

As soon as we got there though, my mother started acting even more strange than she already was. Like it got to the point to where I actually wanted to run home because she was creeping me out so much. But I couldn't do that because she was watching me like a hawk stalking prey. She was also constantly checking her text messages and glancing up every time a vehicle passed to study them closely then look away. Her legs were also jiggling violently making a weird sound, and her hands and fingers were twitching as she fidgeted where she sat on a bench by the swings where I was.

"Imogen, I'm going to go run to the bathroom over there can you keep an eye on Millie and Josh for me while I'm gone?" she had asked really suddenly standing up and starting to move towards the bathroom without waiting for a response.

"Sure Mom!" I had called out to her even though I knew that she probably didn't even hear me.

Just then a crunching sound came from behind me, but before I could turn around, a gloved hand covered my mouth and nose with a napkin filled with chlorophyll knocking me out instantly.

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When I finally came to, I was in an unfamiliar room filled with other girls that I didn't know. We were each sitting on a bed with our names printed on cards taped to the bedpost. The carpet was mix matched terribly and once again had each of our names sewn into the ground. There was about twenty of us in there at the moment yet nobody was talking. They all sat on the bed with worried expressions on their faces just looking around the room and at each other.

"What's going on?" I asked in a whisper to the girl nearest to me whose name tag on her bed read Tiffany.

"None of us really know; all we know is that every few minutes someone new gets brought in and then wakes up soon after," she explained to me and then shutting up when a trap door opens. A grisly looking man then enters carrying another girl and places her on the correct bed before disappearing.

He then continues to come every few minutes just as Tiffany had said. By now there were about thirty five of us in the room all awake with no new person being brought in. The man then enters again through the trap door but this time by himself and walks to the center of the room. We all watched him with our eyes not moving because we were wary about him and what he would do.

"So I assume you are all wondering why you are here and what this place is am I right?" he had asked us looking around the room at us. None of us spoke, but some girls nodded timidly at him hoping he would further explain the situation. "Well allow me to answer you unspoken questions and explain why each and every one of you are here.

"You are all here because your family is finically struggling in some type of way. Whether it be you have many siblings, one parent living with you, a parent lost a well paying job, or a combination of some sort of the three. Because your parents need the money, my friends and I have given them the money they need, and in turn we will take care of you all.

"So what's going to happen here is that you are all going to be fed three meals a day and will be able to take showers everyday. The only thing is that you cannot leave here or he connected to the outside world. We will provide entertainment for you such as books, games, and cable TV with DVDs and VHSs.

"If you do wish to leave at anytime, you can go home, but we will take back half the money we gave to your family," the man said to us, "Any questions?"

"What's your name?" someone asked him.

"Jason Blackburn," he said.

But the only thing going through my head was that my mom sold me for money.

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