Carmen
"Don't move," The large, burly man who had a gun pointed at my chest repeated.
I looked over to Ashton, who was pale and looked like a deer in headlights. Oh, my savior.
I sighed, not particularly scared. I've seen what gangs do, and most do the same thing. They threaten, say they'll kill you, lead you somewhere, lock you up, and keep you there until you escape. It's a vicious cycle.
I took a deep breath, hoping Ashton would remember the plan.
"What is your kind doing in these parts?" Another man asked, his gun pointed at Ashton. "Y'all must be damn stupid, comin' 'round here."
I sighed, trying not to look intimidating. That can give you away; not being afraid.
I just looked over the shoulder of the men, at the last rays of light.
"You," the man in front of me said, prodding me once with the gun pointed at my heart. "What is your pretty little face doin' down 'ere?"
"I'm w-with him," I said, trying to sound scared. Ashton swallowed and his eyes widened, and that's when I knew that he remembered.
"Yeah," He said, trying to impersonate the men. "I got a girl for myself."
The man in front of him stared at him, looking back and forth between him and I. Then he smiled, and slapped his shoulder, and their aim was removed from our chests. "Ah, good to see a guy get 'imself a slut," The man said. I cringed at his word choice; it upset me, what these groups do to the woman of the city.
It's terrible.
"I'll lead you to the house, er.....?" The man who used to have a gun on me said to Ashton.
"Maxx," Ashton said, using the name in the plan. "Don't forget; two x's."
I took a deep breath, cowering a bit, acting to make myself seem innocent and scared. That's all it is right now; hope our acting is good enough to get us out alive. This is one of those times when I wished I was in Drama in High School.
-
"Here ya go," A man from the group said, leading us through the house. "Haven't seen you in a long time, eh, Maxx? None of us 'member ya."
"It's been a while." Ashton said, willing his voice to go deeper. "When I was here I wasn't one of those big dogs anyway."
"Yeah, yer arms are a bit skinny," He said. "Nothin' we can't fix."
I breathed slowly and quietly as he lead us to a door in a hallway. I heard muffled screams somewhere in the hall.
"Enjoy." The man said, opening the door.
I pretended to finally realize what Ashton, if he were another gang member, would 'do to me.' I started to yell, try to run, pretend to cry. Ashton followed suit and pulled me into the room.
When we went inside, I swore I saw a dry splotch of blood on the floor of the hallway.
"Wow," Ashton whispered, closing the door and sitting on the bed beside me.
"What?" I sighed quietly.
"You're acting. It was amazing. I almost forgot the plan at first." He said, laying back on the bed.
"You were good too," I whispered. "But we need to get out of here. We've got to get to The Periculum."
"Yeah," Ashton whispered. "How?"
Before I could answer, the door was flung open, and a big, muscular, sweating man appeared. "Dinnertime. Sorry to interrupt, but man, lock the door next time." He paused. "I'll take yer girl to the room and lemme know when you're done, and I'll bring 'er back."
Ashton nodded, eyes wide for a moment, and I felt my heart sink. Where was this room?
The big, burly man at the door walked inside and grabbed my arm, yanking it. I followed him, my arm sore from his tight grip. He led me down the hallway, and for a moment, I was actually scared. For the first time in as long as I can remember.
"Get in there, bitch." he said, yanking open a door and almost throwing me inside. I turned around, feeling an instinct to either beat him or bash the door down, but I realized who I needed to be right now.
I heard whimpering.
I turned around, and found myself inside a bedroom. Only one girl was in here at the moment, and she was silently crying, whimpering every now and then.
"Hey," I whispered. "Are you okay?"
She looked up, eyes wide as I sat next to her. "You should be asking yourself that question," She said quietly, her voice barely audible.
"What?"
"You mean they haven't done it to you yet?" She whispered, narrowing her eyebrows at me.
I realized what she was talking about. "No," I whispered. "I got here not twenty minutes ago."
She leaned back and sighed. "Then I apologize early," she whispered. "It's.... horrifying," She started quietly sobbing on the last word she spoke. She covered her mouth with her pale hand, trying to muffle her cries.
It's terrible, what these men do to women. They take you from your home, lock you in a room, and do whatever they want to you, not having a care about what you might think or if you object or what might happen in result. They ruin your life; they scar you, taking things from you and not even giving you the basic needs of survival. You stay here for a long time, normally forever. Unless you are one of the lucky few.
"I'm sorry," I said, placing my hand on my shoulder.
"It's alright," She said. "I'm.... I'm sorry, too. We're both kind of...." She trailed.
"Screwed?" I said. She nodded, smiling for only a moment.
"The best thing we can do is try to be happy for this small frame of time we have," She said. "It's only us, right now. And we're "Dinner partners" for being locked in a room while they eat."
"What happened to your last... 'mate'?" I asked, regretting the words as soon as I said them.
"She...." She sighed. "She was killed."
I looked down to my hands.
"I'm Mia, by the way," She said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Katy." I said, using my fake name Ashton and I decided on.
She smiled. "Maybe we'll get out," she said dreamily, looking to a place I couldn't see.
"Maybe," I sighed. "Just maybe."
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A/N
I want you to know that this does happen to women. Real women, and I want you to know it does.
-Hope
