Page 40 of Taunting Tarran
‘Please, help me, us,’ I whisper, the words tumbling out before I can stop them.
Her laugh cuts through the air, sharp and hollow. ‘You’ll be out soon,’ she says, mocking and cruel. ‘Then you’ll be in a new home. Maybe.’
Shecrouches slightly, her eyes glinting with something dark as she pushes the bowl towards me, the harsh scrape of metal against the floor making me flinch. ‘But first, we need to get you cleaned up. Make you pretty.’
Her smile stretches wider, a parody of kindness. ‘Come on,’ she urges, her voice coated in false cheer. ‘I’ll even get you a sandwich if you’re a good girl.’
I curl my lip, glaring at the bowl as anger churns beneath the fear gripping my chest. The promise of a sandwich feels like an insult, a taunt that twists the knife already buried in my gut. I lift my gaze to meet hers, my voice steady but cold. ‘Where am I, and what do you want?’
The woman looms, her broad frame seeming to swallow the space between us. Her dark brown hair curls softly at her shoulders, a deceptive contrast to the hard glint in her eyes as they lock onto mine. ‘So, you’re the tough one?’ she sneers.
I meet her gaze with a glare, my hands gripping the bars so tightly my knuckles ache. She takes a step back.
Wise.
But her smirk just deepens. ‘But now you’re trapped, like a rat in a cage. And then…after…’ Her laugh is sharp, dripping with mockery. ‘You’ll be set free.’
‘Free?’ The word slips out before I can stop it, a flicker of hope igniting in my voice.
‘Si, nena,’ she says. The hope dies as quickly as it came, snuffed out by the cold, menacing look in her eyes.
‘And that’s it?’ I press, despite the dread curling in my stomach.
She sighs, exasperated.‘Hablas mucho!Whoever buys you will finish you off, once and for all.’
The words hit me like a blow, robbing the air from my lungs. I want to respond, to fight back, to spew venom, but my throat tightens, and all I can do is press my lips into a thin line, a defiant line.
‘Good,’ she says. ‘That’s better. Save your breath for the games.’
With that, she turns, walking off down the corridor and ascends the steps, her figure disappearing into the shadows, and plunging us back into the suffocating darkness.
‘Pssst,’ the sound is faint, barely audible over the heavy silence of the cells. I tilt my head, my eyes locking onto the girl in the opposite cell. She leans against the bars, her lips moving in a whisper so quiet I can’t make it out.
‘You’re going to have to speak up,’ I whisper back, glancing towards the steps, afraid that any sound might carry too far.
‘Shush!’ she hisses, her eyes darting down the corridor. ‘You’re going to make it worse for all of us, asking all of those questions.’
‘What’s going on? Where are we?’ I ask, desperate for answers, for anything that might explain this nightmare.
‘Didn’t you see on the way here?’
‘No,’ I reply, shaking my head. ‘I was drugged. I woke up here. Who are you?’
‘Jessica.’ Her voicecracks. ‘My family is here on holiday, down on the coast. I just wanted to go out. I was told it was safe, but…’ her breathing quickens, her hands trembling as she grips the bars. ‘I-I was walking home, and out of nowhere, these people grabbed me. They covered my mouth. I tried to scream, but…’ Her voice falters, tears glisten in her eyes. ‘They shoved me into a car. We must have driven for hours, and then they dragged me through this dark forest. The ground was uneven. I kept tripping, but they just yanked me along like I was nothing.’
No, no, no. I can’t be back there.
Her words settle in my ears, cold and crushing.
‘What else did you see?’ I press.
‘A large stone building,’ she whispers, her gaze unfocused as if reliving the memory. ‘The walls were covered in ivy. And…I heard them talking about an auction.’ She swallows hard. ‘Are we…are we for sale?’
I pull back from the bars, sinking to the ground.
I know where we are.
‘Psst,’ she hisses again. ‘I’d do as that woman asks if I were you. Before you, there was another girl. She too asked lots of questions, disobeyed, kicked and screamed.’
