Clean Break

Chapter 9 - Bethany

I awoke to the strong smell of smoke and alcohol. The room I woke up in was pitch black. The only source of light was coming from a small skylight above me.

I sat up and tried to allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness. I sat in silence for a while listening to the laughter of the men above me. They were so loud, there must have been at least twenty men up there. Suddenly I heard a groan and turning around I saw a dark silhouette of what looked like another girl.

"Hello?" I said

"Help...me..." said a small disembodied voice. The silhouette rolled over exposing it's face. It was a girl, maybe a bit younger than me. She had two bruised and very swollen eyes. Her face was full of blood and cuts. Physically, she looked extremely skinny and frail.

"Oh my God" I exclaimed "Are you alright?". I ran over to her and helped her sit up. Her lips were cracked and almost blue.

"Do you have any water?" she croaked. I looked at her sympathetically. " I thought not. I advise you to stay quiet" she said "if they know you're awake they will come for you"

"Come for me? What do you mean? What are they going to do to me?" I cried.

"Every day, at the same time one man will come down here for me. He will take me into his bedroom where he...". Her voice broke off. A tear began to roll down her face.

"It's okay" I replied "You don't have to explain". She gave me a half smile.

"Whats your name?" She asked

"Lara, whats yours?"

"Bethany"

There was an awkward silence whilst I tried to get my head around everything that had happened in the last 48 hours. I couldn't believe I had ended up here. I knew there had to be a way out of this room.

"Okay Bethany, we need to get out of this room. Now."

"I've been down here for months, there's no way out. Trust me"

"There's always a way out" I said optimistically.

Looking around the room I seen a locked door. I walked over to it as quietly as I could. I tried the handle. Of course, it was locked. After what felt like hours searching for a way out I sighed and fell to the floor. I rested my head against the door and shut my eyes.

"Told ya there was no way out" Bethany said .

Suddenly I felt something sharp dig into the back of my head.

"My hairgrip!" I exclaimed. I had seen so many people in movies pick a lock with their hairgrip's. It couldn't be that hard, surely? I took the grip out of my hair and tried to pick the lock. After about a minute of moving my grip inside the key hole I heard a click and the door cracked open slightly.

"There we go" I said proudly

"Wow, you actually did it" Bethany cried.

"Now come on, we can get out of here. We HAVE to be quiet. It only takes one of them creeps to hear us. Okay?" I asked.

"Okay".

I took her hand again we quietly creeped out of the door...