Traffic

Chapter 3

It had been a little more than two weeks since I was brought into the dorms. I was given a room of my own, although it contained two skimpily clothed single steel framed beds, and every night one of the security guards would bring me dinner. Usually it was some sort of dry questionable meatloaf and a salad made of wilted lettuce and tomatoes that were barely still good to eat. But after my time in the Hostel, the food was a blessing and I welcomed it; at least my shrunken stomach did. I hadn't yet been anywhere other than my room and the communal bathroom that I shared with the numerous other girls in the dorm.
It was nearing dinner time and I sat cross legged on my bed waiting for the guards, my stomach had gotten used to the clockwork feeding times and was rumbling quietly every now and then.
It wasn't long before there was a knock on the door. I didn't get up, there was no point. We had no choice in who came in to our rooms at whatever time of day or night. We were prisoners, slaves, so why would we get a choice?
The door swung open and in the doorway stood Bill, the usual guard who brought me my dinner. He was a towering hulk of a man, not quite bald but very little hair, and he was kind with kinder eyes. He was the only person who had shown me any human decency since I was taken from my home.
He wasn't alone this time though, behind him stood a young, tall, ashy-blonde girl. Her oval face looked as if it was made of porcelain, her large powder-blue eyes overflowing spilling crystal tears down over her rose blushed cheeks.
Bill nodded at me.
"New room mate," he grunted while guiding her gently into the room.
"Dinner will be late."
He turned on his heels and left, closing the door softly behind him.
I shot up off my bed and embraced the girl with everything I had in me. Her tiny arms wound themselves around my body and we stood like that for what felt like eternity.
I felt her shudder and start to cry.
"Shhhhh," I tried to soothe her, "it's okay. You're fine."
I took her head in my hands and made her look at me,
"My name is Charlotte. You're fine, okay?You're alive. No one is going to hurt you."
She stared at me, sobbing heavily while the tears flowed down her flushed cheeks.
Between heaving breaths she told me her name was Abby, she was 19 and she didn't know why she was here.
I guided her to her bed and sat down with her, we spent the next few hours talking about our lives, how we got here, and by the time dinner came we knew practically everything about each other from birthdays to favourite colours to mothers maiden names, it was nice to have a friend after so long.

We ate in silence as the guards watched.
For every room-usually two to four girls in each depending on how many beds the Dembro brothers were willing to cram in-there were two guards who stood at the door and made sure we ate every bite. Not eating was not permitted, and if you broke that rule, or any rule, you were taken from your room and beaten.

Once Abby and I got talking again, 11 p.m rolled around without us noticing. Lights out. One by one all 24 doors in our dorm building was locked from the outside with skeleton keys the guards wore on their belts. No girl was allowed out of her room after dark, NO exception. If you had to use the bathroom, you either messed your bed and faced the consequences or you held it until the doors were unlocked come 5 a.m.
We lay in silence, I stared at the roof and tried to drift off, every now and then I could hear her gasp for a breath and then sob some more. She sounded so heart broken, so utterly devastated. I knew she didn't understand why her parents had sold her off, she had come from a wealthy family. One of the wealthiest in the city. I didn't understand either, how a parent could sell their child for a mere three hundred dollars. But I guess desperate times call for desperate measures, right?
I slowly climbed out of my bed, crept across the bare wooden floor and slid into Abby's next to her. She gently rolled over to face me and buried her head into my shoulder, I could smell the generic shampoo we were all forced to use but somehow it smelled so much sweeter lingering in the loose curls of her hair.
After a while she stopped whimpering and her breathing slowed as she drifted off.
I gingerly kissed the top of her head and closed my eyes. It wasn't long until I drifted off and fell into the first decent sleep I had had since I arrived.