6. Chapter Six
Chapter Six
Dominique “Nikki” Honoré
The sound of the lock of the cage rattling jolted me awake, and I let out a groan as I struggled to lift myself from the hard, cold floor. The absence of windows made it challenging to distinguish between night and day in the room, which I believed was a part of their plan.
I swiped my hand down my face, feeling the exhaustion seep into my bones. Despite feeling physically and mentally drained, I knew I had to hang on. Hang on to the little hope I had to get out of this place. Even though I had no idea when the time for me to get out of this hell hole would come, I just had to hold on a little longer.
The other girls were wide awake too, their eyes filled with fear as they huddled together against the far wall of the cage, desperate to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the man who barked orders when they gave us the chance to shower.
As his eyes laser focused on me, I met his intense stare. Deep lines creased his forehead, while his lips curled in a look of disgust.
“Up!” he commanded, pointing at me.
As Lila grabbed my hand, I could feel her fingers trembling, but I responded with a reassuring smile. “I’ll be fine,” I said, my heart pounding in my chest as I forced a smile despite the fear racing through me.
I didn’t know if I was going to be fine, my heart pounded in uncertainty. So many girls had left out of this room and didn’t come back. I hoped that wasn’t my fate.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, trying to convince not only Lila but myself as well.
While I knew Lila didn’t believe me, she reluctantly released my hand, and I let out a deep breath as I rose from the floor.
When I reached the man, he grabbed me by my arm, his blunt nails digging into my skin, and pulled me out of the cage, then out of the room.
“Where are we going?” I asked, but he just looked back over his shoulder, glaring at me before turning his attention back to wherever he was dragging me to.
As I realized we were going in the opposite direction of the usual large open room where they done all their dirty shit, my panic intensified. However, I forced myself to try to stay calm, knowing that this was my opportunity to find a way to escape. I had to pay attention to where we were going and prayed that I saw a way out.
As he pulled me along, I strained to take in every detail of my surroundings. As we walked down the narrow hallway, the concrete floor remained unchanged beneath our feet. The walls were like stone, but that didn’t seem right. Something you’d see in a cellar.
Maybe I’m not in Louisiana anymore.
“Let go!” I yelled, struggling to free my arm from his grasp. “Where are you taking me?”
“Shut the fuck up before you get us both killed!” he sneered, his grip tightening with each passing moment.
When I stumbled, he slowed his steps some. As we ventured further down the hallway, the temperature dropped significantly. They had to be keeping us in a separate wing or an addition to where Owen Decker held his party because we never left the property.
We reached the end of the hallway, and we could either go right or left. He took a left, and the hallway narrowed even more. At the end of the hallway, there was only a solid wall with some type of dirty wall hanging featuring a very familiar symbol. A symbol I hadn’t seen since leaving New Orleans—Baron Samedi’s vèvé adorned the heavy fabric. Also, with the Iwa’s fondness for rum and tobacco, the numerous offerings placed at the base of the hanging illustrated someone’s use of this area as a place to do rituals.
The man kicked over then stepped on the offerings to Baron Samedi like they were nothing more than trash. I gasped and my heart stopped inside my chest.
This will not end well for him.
Being the daughter of a Louisiana Creole man and a Haitian mother with deep roots in Louisiana Voodoo and Haitian Vodou, I understood the significance of what he had just destroyed. And while I didn’t practice, I knew he fucked up.
I looked at the discarded offerings, asked for the protection of the ancestors, then met his gaze. “You shouldn’t have done that,” I mumbled knowing the consequences were going to be severe for him.
“I know who you are and why you’re here,” he whispered, ignoring my comment, and looking over his shoulder like someone might sneak up on us any minute. “I’m here to help.”
All thoughts of the destruction of the offerings left my mind and my brow creased with confusion.
“Who are you?”
“I’m the person who got in touch with you about what’s happening.”
My eyes widened. “My source.”
“I’ve seen some of your work and know your connections. I thought you could help,” he continued.
“How do I get away?”
With a determined effort, he reached up, moved the wall hanging, and forcefully pulled the boards off an opening in the wall, then tossed them inside the tunnel. “This is your way out. It will come out in the swamps. If you go straight, you should come to a road.”
“I can’t leave Lila,” I said. “She’s too young to be here.”
Despite the frustration on his face, I remained steadfast in my decision not to abandon her. I will get us both out, and we’ll come back for the others.
He shook his head. “It’s too dangerous to take her,” he said, his voice filled with concern. “Right now, she’s his prize possession. She’ll bring too much attention if she’s gone. He’ll start looking at the men surrounding him including me.”
“I don’t give a fuck if she’s his damn prize possession. I’m not leaving here without her. I have a key to the cage. We’ll sneak out as soon as we can.”
“A key?”
I nodded, keeping my guard up and refraining from sharing any more details. He might be my source but that didn’t mean I trusted him completely. People in dangerous situations would do anything to save their own asses. Only I knew where I’d hidden the key so even if he was not who he said he was, no one would ever find it.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he let out a frustrated sigh. “Okay. When you get somewhere safe, tell the authorities what’s going on. We may not have time to wait for your story.”
He didn’t wait for me to respond before he yanked me back down the narrow hallway towards the cage. Hopefully, I’d be able to get Lila and myself out of here and find some help. If not, I’d die trying.
When some of the girls were taken from the cage and I was certain that no one would be entering the room for a considerable amount of time, I made the tough choice to leave. Regardless of the time, the moment to act had arrived, and I knew I couldn’t wait any longer. My source had shown me the way out. All that was left to do was for me to swallow down my fear and make a run for it.
I’d already removed the key from its hiding place making sure no one saw what I was doing. I leaned over to Lila, giving her a soft nudge on the arm to wake her up.
“It’s time to go,” I whispered.
When she glanced at me, her eyes were filled with a mix of surprise and fear. She didn’t move.
“I’m not leaving here without you. I know how to get out. When we get outside, just run straight. Don’t stop.”
She vigorously shook her head, and I palmed her face with both hands. “We have to do it now, Lila. The auction is tomorrow.”
She let out a gasp. It wasn’t exactly a lie because none of us had any idea of the auction date, which could have been tomorrow for all I knew. She needed to trust me that if we were going to go, it had to be now.
“You are his prize possession,” I said repeating the words of my source. “And if someone is willing to pay for you, your life is going to be even more shitty than it is now. Do you want that? Because I don’t want that for you. I don’t want that for me or anyone of these women. It’s time to leave.”
I got up and offered my hand to her, patiently waiting for her to grab onto it. And when she did, I let out a sigh of relief, as I pulled her to her feet.
Right now, the others who were still in the cage were sleeping, as we crept to the cage door. I reached my hand through the bars, twisting it to reach the lock on the cage.
Once I unlocked it, I slowly pushed it open, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Once we’re both on the outside, I closed the cage door making sure not to disturb the other women. Like I said, I wasn’t sure who I could trust, but I’d make sure once Lila and I got somewhere safe, I would come back for them. I refused to let them go through this kind of life if I had the chance to stop it. I wouldn’t wish this existence on anyone, not even my worst enemy. Nobody deserved this fate.
It was like a lead weight sat on my chest knowing that I would have to leave them, but it was all I could do right now. I glanced at the women one last time as we approached the room’s door. I slowly pulled it open, praying to whoever would listen that nobody would see us. When I looked out and the hallway was empty, I felt a wave of relief wash over me. I clung to Lila’s hand as we rushed out of the room.
Following the same path my source had taken me earlier, we walked down the narrow hallway as quickly and as quietly as we could until we reached the wall hanging. “As soon as we get out of here, we’re going to keep straight, okay? And don’t step on any of this stuff.”
I motioned to the offerings kicked across the ground. We didn’t need any more problems than what we already had. Lila’s gaze shifted down to the floor, then back to me with recognition in her eyes and she nodded.
I shifted the wall hanging, opening the space so we could crawl through. Once we were inside, it became clear that we were in a tunnel of some sort. It was just tall and wide enough for us to move through on our hands and knees. Not sure what it had been used for, but I was thankful it was here.
Ignoring the bugs, spider webs, and other creepy crawlers, we made our way through the dirt tunnel. Although, it was only wide enough for a person to crawl through on their hands and knees, it took us only minutes to reach the end and make our way out.
In an instant, the humid oppressive night air enveloped my skin. As I stood on the damp soil, the satin nightgown clung to my body and my bare feet sank into the wet dirt. This was going to be brutal. We weren’t dressed for this. But we had no other choice.
I looked over my shoulder only taking a glimpse of the place that had become a nightmare for me and a lot of other women. The massive antebellum house was picture perfect on the outside despite the horrors that took place inside and no doubt had taken place there in the past.
Lit up against the backdrop of an orange and blue sky as the sun disappeared behind the horizon no one would ever believe the horrors that took place behind its walls. Or maybe they would because it was definitely history repeating itself.
I grabbed Lila’s hand, and we ran. I didn’t know how far this road was from where we were, but I prayed it was close by. Despite the terrain, despite the dangers of the swamp, and the humidity, we kept running. However, within minutes of our escape shouts and footsteps began to sound behind us.
“Shit!” I shouted. “Come on, Lila. We’ve got to keep moving,” I said as my fear and our pace picked up. “If they catch us, we’re dead.”
As we ran for our lives, thundering footsteps behind us grew louder with each passing second. Time seemed to slip away from me, leaving me feeling disoriented and disconnected. I couldn’t tell you exactly how long I’d been stuck in the cage sitting next to Lila along with the other women. And right now, I had no idea where we were at even though I believed we were still in Louisiana. But it didn’t matter if we were in Louisiana or Mississippi, we couldn’t stay there. We had to find our way back home to our families.
We had to keep running.
I paid no attention to the pain of twigs and rocks digging into my bare feet. I disregarded the relentless bug bites that covered my entire body, as well as the painful scratches from the thorns and branches that grazed against my exposed skin. Despite the fatigue weighing down my limbs and the drowsiness that threatened to overcome me, I kept running. I had to save them. I had to save Lila. I had to save myself. That was what kept pushing me to keep going. To keep fighting.
I just prayed that we weren’t running in circles or back in the direction we had come. My source said stay straight until we reached the road because if they caught us, we were dead after they made us suffer.
I was sure we weren’t the first ones who tried to escape. No doubt if anyone had attempted it before us and had been caught, they were tortured, raped, then killed while they forced the remaining women to watch. To teach them a lesson. And despite all the consequences that came with running away, we had to try.
We stopped dead in our tracks when we reached the edge of a swamp.Black-trunked trees rose out of the murky waters. The croaking of frogs, and the buzz of insects mingled with the shouts of the men getting closer to us the longer we stood still. The awful smell of decaying trees, plants, and dead animals was almost too much for me to handle. However, I forced down the vomit inching its way up my throat. I really didn’t want to go through this water. I could only imagine what lurked in its murky depths, but it might just make them stop chasing us. Or at least I hoped it did.
“Fuck!” I mumbled, looking over my shoulder.
They were coming. The snapping of branches and their curses echoed in the darkness all around us. We didn’t have any more time to think. We’d already wasted enough as it was.
“We don’t have any choice,” I whispered to Lila who looked like she was doing worse than I was. “They’re getting closer. We’ve got to go through it.”
As I waded into the water with my arms stretched out away from me, the coolness enveloped my feet, and I heard the soft splashing sounds of Lila’s steps behind me. The briny water sent a chill down my spine, its coldness more intense than I thought it would be. Luckily, the further we moved out, the water wasn’t too deep, only coming up to our waists.
The dense cover of the trees in the swamp created an ominous atmosphere as the last rays of the setting sun were blocked, casting eerie shadows over the area. The darkness made it virtually impossible to see what lurked beneath the dark waters. And I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
As something brushed against my leg, I suppressed a scream, so I didn’t give away our location just in case the men chasing us hadn’t spotted us yet.
My feet sunk deeper into the mud at the bottom of the swamp as we treaded through the cold murky water. When we reached the middle, I could see the other side.
I gritted my teeth as my body was wracked with shivers from the water and fear. It wouldn’t be long before hypothermia set in if we didn’t get out of here and get warm.
“There they are!” someone shouted as water splashed behind us. “I’m going to fucking kill you when I get you bitches!”
Shit! They were closer than I thought.
I sped up, treading water as fast as I could while pulling Lila along with me as I tried my best to get us to the other side before they reached us. If they caught us in the water, they might just drown us and leave our bodies for the animals.
I wanted to let out a sigh of relief when I noticed the bank getting closer, but we still had a few feet before we were safely out of this water.
“Come on, Lila,” I called out over my shoulder. “We’re almost there.”
She nodded, but I could see the weariness on her face. I was tired of running too but it didn’t matter how tired we were, we couldn’t stop.
When we pulled ourselves onto the bank, we didn’t have time to rest because we still hadn’t put any distance between us and them. We were running for our lives. We’d seen too much. We’d seen too many faces. We would have to split up.
“Run Lila!” I screamed, pushing her in front of me. “Keep going straight until you reach the road. Don’t stop running until you get help.”
The horror and fear in her eyes pulled at my heartstrings but there was nothing I could do. If we stuck together, we’d get caught together, and that wouldn’t be good for either of us. But if we separated at least one of us had a chance.
“Go!” I screamed again, pushing her away from me, causing her to stumble. “Run, Lila! I’ll find you later! Go!”
Even though the terror remained in her eyes, she ran into the tree line in the direction where the road was supposed to be. I on the other hand went in a different direction—along the bank of the murky water until I reached the tree line in the opposite direction of her. They’d either split up, some chasing her, the others chasing me, or they’d only come after one of us. And if they did the latter, I hoped they would come after me and not her.
Darkness engulfed me along with a loneliness I hadn’t felt in a long time. I was in this thing by myself again. I hated to separate from Lila, but it was the only way for us to survive. If I didn’t make it at least I gave her the opportunity to escape.
At least I hoped she did.
I jumped over a fallen tree, and even before my feet could land back on the soil, something strong hit me in the side, knocking me to the ground. All the air escaped from my lungs, and I couldn’t breathe as pain ricocheted across my entire body. However, I didn’t have time to dwell on any of it before the back of my head hurt so bad I saw white spots in the back of my eyes.
“Bitch!” someone shouted from behind me. And before I could do anything another wave of pain hit me against the side of my head, then spread over my entire body.
“Help!” I called out into the darkness even though I knew there would be no one to save me. “Please…help me!”
“No one’s gonna help you, bitch,” he sneered.
He punched me so hard that everything went dark.