Thirty
Eve
My head aches, banging like a drum, and my stomach roils. How much did I drink last night? I’ll kill Billie. I’m sure this hangover is her fault. Consciousness creeps back in slowly, and with it, an awareness of my body. There’s pain in my shoulders and back. I must have slept funny.
I try to roll over, but doing so wrenches my arm, increasing the pain from a throb to a screech. Something sharp digs into my wrist. It’s a jolt to my brain, cleaning away some of my confusion. Reality rolls back in. Gabriel. The Compound. I open my eyes a tiny slit, but the light stabs me, and I screw them shut. What…
“She’s waking up.”
The female voice snaps everything into place. Melanie. She had a phone. We walked into the alley beside the lab building to search for the spot where a signal can get through. I can picture the gloomy shadows and remember thinking it was a weird place for someone to have got a signal. Then…
Nothing. Black. It floods my brain, a swirling, impenetrable mass, when I try to think past entering the alley.
Did the Brotherhood catch us ?
Oh, God, no.
I force my eyes open, sure I’ll find myself in a cell, probably with Kendrick staring at me. What will the punishment be for having a contraband phone? For trying to use it?
The room, though, is nothing like I’m expecting. The walls are high and made of sheet metal, and I’m facing a pile of broken old palettes and boxes. Dirt covers everything, and the light isn’t sunlight, but a single bright floodlight aimed in my direction.
Instinctively, I try to raise my hands to shade my eyes, but I can’t. Icy horror soaks my senses as I realize why. I’m fastened to a chair, arms wrenched behind my back and feet strapped to each leg. My mind races, trying to come up with a sensible reason the Brotherhood would bring me to a dirty old warehouse, but I can’t find one.
“Let’s film this for Gabriel. Extra motivation.” Melanie’s voice again, but this time, it sends shivers along my veins. What the heck does she mean, “Film it for Gabriel”?
She comes into view, phone pointed at me. She’s dressed as she was earlier, in a plain blue shift dress, but it’s rumpled and filthy. I look down at myself and see I’m in the same state, covered in dust and patches of something darker. She follows my gaze and shrugs.
“We didn't exactly travel first class, crammed under the false floor in a truck. But we did it.”
“Did it?”
Speaking brings to mind how dry my throat is. I can barely croak the word out. I lick my cracked lips as she smiles.
“We’re out of the Compound.”
She waves her hands at the gloomy warehouse like it’s something worth celebrating. Out of the Compound? My heart gives a weird, confused lurch. Under other circumstances, it might be good news, I suppose, but I'm tied to a damn chair. Nothing about this feels safe.
And Melanie definitely can't be trusted. “What happened? Who drugged me?”
Her pleased expression falters. “I'm sorry I lied. I didn't know if you'd go along with it. It'll be worth it, though. We're free!”
Just as I gather my energy to say something more, a man walks into my field of vision, looking at Melanie with undisguised irritation.
He’s short, and with his beard and little round spectacles, he looks like someone who could lecture at my college. He wears an ill-fitting white shirt buttoned right to the neck and khakis.
Not an intimidating man. But he’s familiar, and it takes a moment before my fuzzy brain places him. Gabriel’s assistant. He points to me. “Film this.”
Melanie frowns but raises the phone. He speaks. “She’s awake now. You’ve got one hour left. Better hurry.”
He strides over, and before I know what’s happening, he punches me in the face.
I scream as my head jerks hard to the side, tasting blood as his fist mashes my lips into my teeth. It’s a brutal explosion of pain, and it ricochets from my mouth and into my aching head and wrenched neck. I cry out and stiffen, braced for another blow, but it doesn’t come. My stinging, bruised lip starts to swell as he steps away.
Melanie’s yell grates on my ears as I blink back tears. He snatches the phone from her hand. “That ought to keep him moving.”
I stare between the two of them. “What is this?”
The words come out muffled through my puffy lips as Melanie steps back, eyes wide. “You weren't supposed to hurt her.”
Gabriel’s assistant looks at her as though she's a bug. “Just a bit of motivation for her boyfriend. She'll live.”
She stares between him and me. “But…”
“Just keep your mouth shut until the deal's done.”
It’s like looking at a jigsaw scattered across a table. So many bits, and not all of them make sense, but you can start to see how they fit together. Bait. Melanie was the bait to get me where this man wanted me. I’d never have followed a man down a dark alley. But a woman, another captive just like me? It never crossed my mind she’d be a threat.
Melanie looks down at the floor. “Okay.”
She's scared. How well does she know this guy? Does she have reasons to trust him, or did she just grab desperately at a chance to get out of the Compound, however risky? Recalling how unhappy she seemed with the place, it's probably the second option. Not good.
The phone beeps, and the assistant reads a message, smirking. “That pissed your boyfriend off.”
He reads in a sarcastic voice, “Touch her again, and I’ll kill you, you fucking bastard.” He shakes his head. “Scary. As if that little emo prick would have the balls to try it.”
“What do you want from him?” My words are clearer this time, and Melanie stays silent, twining her fingers together.
“Me? Nothing. But I work for the Calders, and they want his research. He’s racing back right now, ready to package it all up for them in exchange for you.”
There’s a mocking edge to his voice, and hearing it, a horrible certainty crystalizes. It won’t end well. He’s not planning on letting me go, whatever Gabriel does. I don’t want to ask, but I have to.
“What’s really going to happen? ”
A momentary flicker of surprise passes over his face, quickly wiped away. “Don’t worry. You’re not going to die. You’re too valuable for that.”
Valuable. It’s only a slight emphasis he puts on the word, but that, combined with the smug look on his face, tugs at something. Valuable. It only takes a second before I pull it out. The Calders deal in women, as well as tech. “You’re going to sell me?”
He shrugs as if it’s of no real consequence.
My throat burns from a sudden burst of nausea.
No. No. No.
I can’t let it happen. I’m not free now, but it’s different. Gabriel took me because he wanted me and no one else. I’m special to him. I’ve come to life under his hands, and I want more. Even now, the thought jolts me, but it’s true.
The thought of anyone else touching me makes me want to vomit. My guts churn, and I swallow down bile.
The assistant turns away. He must be bored with taunting me. I glance at Melanie, staring down at her hands. Does she really think he’s going to set her free? I’d bet my life he’s planning to sell her right along with me.
“I’m going to take a leak.”
He walks out of my field of vision. My eyes lock on to Melanie in a wild moment of hope. How far will he go? I try to remember the first sluggish moments after I awoke. Melanie had shouted to him, hadn’t she, to let him know I’d woken up? He doesn’t see her as a flight risk.
Is he out of earshot? I listen but can’t hear any sounds beside my own breathing. And anyway, I won’t get another chance.
I lower my voice to what I hope is a calm whisper. “Melanie. Please. Come here. I need to talk to you. ”
She looks up at me. Mercifully, she matches my whisper with one of her own. “What?”
She doesn’t come any closer, but I’m out of options. I lower my voice even more. “He’s not going to give you what he promised. He’ll sell both of us. The Calders deal in women. We need to get out of here.”
She shakes her head. “No. He’s going to let both of us go. That was the deal.”
She glances in the direction he walked. My next whisper comes out a desperate hiss. “He’s lying! You have to see it. He wasn’t supposed to hurt me either, but he did. And you heard him say I was valuable. He pretty much admitted what he's going to do.”
Misery contorts her face, and she shakes her head more fiercely. “No.”
Panic scrabbles at my ribcage. Time is draining away, and she’s just standing there. “You think it was bad at the Compound? If we get sold, it’ll be ten times worse.”
Her head snaps up, pure venom spitting from her lips. “What the fuck do you know about unhappiness? Gabriel worships you. Everyone is talking about it. He only wanted you, even though it was a massive risk. You’re his special princess.”
Massive risk? I want to question her, but there’s no time. “I know you had it worse than me, and for much longer. But that's not what matters now. We need to get out of here.”
My voice cracks on the last word, and Melanie’s gaze burns into me. Her fingers never stop twisting around each other, but at least she’s listening. “I don’t blame you for helping him. I know you were desperate. But I promise you, he’s lying.”
She shoots a glance toward what I’m now pretty sure must be the door. Every second lands like a boulder in my gut. “Untie me, please, and we’ll make a run for it together. ”
Melanie bites her bottom lip. Her chest rises and falls, the harsh floodlight casting her face into sharp lines. She gives a tiny, decisive nod. “Maybe—”
She cuts off, head whipping to the side. I can't see what she sees, but her eyes widen. There’s a frozen moment of silence, then she spins on her heel, racing away from whatever she's seen.
There’s no bang, just a sad, muffled thud.