Chapter Four
Astra
“You have lost your fucking mind,” I deadpan. “If I run, I die.”
“Astra, honey. I need you to trust me,” she says. “You have a two-hour window and one mile to reach freedom. Every government official will be at this meeting, and the police will be entirely focused on maintaining their safety. Guard patrol will be minimal for that two-hour window.”
“And if I get caught?” I ask.
“You fight,” she says. “You do whatever the fuck you have to to get to the guard tower.”
“Even murder?” I ask, testing just how serious she is. She is nonviolent in nature, so I don’t think that she would encourage me to hurt someone unless necessary.
“Absolutely. I will send you off with a hunting knife. If anyone tries to stop you, you do what you have to do. Aim for the throat or anywhere near the heart. You put every bit of your strength behind it, and you don’t stop until you get to the north tower,” she says.
“Alright,” I sigh. “When?”
“As soon as Vinny leaves,” she says. “He will more than likely come in to get himself off before he goes. Be compliant, and he will come faster.”
“For all of this technology, you would think they would figure out how to get rid of body odor by now,” I frown.
“You’d think so, huh?” She smiles. When we hear footsteps, she immediately steps back and bows her head.
“Present yourself,” Vinny says. I immediately drop to my knees, cross my ankles, and clasp my hands behind my back. He wastes no time pulling his dick out and grabbing me by the hair. “Suck my cock, whore. Make it fast. I have places to be.”
I close my eyes to keep myself from allowing my annoyance to play through to my facial expressions.
I open my mouth and start sucking the moment he shoves himself to the back of my throat.
I’m trying not to gag because that only leads to injury if he feels as though I am rejecting him.
He takes my face between his hands and rapidly fucks my mouth, moaning like a maniac.
When he isn’t getting the result that he wants, he shifts me so that I’m sitting with my back against the bed.
He pushes my head back so when he puts his knees on the bed to kneel on either side of my face, he can force himself deeper in a more violent way.
“Take it, slut. Take my cock, you worthless bitch,” he growls. “That’s it. Suck me. Fuuuuck, swallow. Fucking swallow, whore.”
I hold my breath in an attempt not to throw up as he forcibly comes down my throat. The rancid taste makes the Hydrovita sludge seem like heaven. By the time he pulls out of my mouth and steps back, I have tears running down my face, and I am desperately trying not to throw up still.
“When I get back, be ready to serve any man who sets foot in this home,” he commands. “Be naked and present yourself at the door for us.”
“Yes, Master Vinny,” I say tearfully. How many men is he planning on sharing me with?
“Ready yourself to be awake all night,” he chuckles.
That is his way of saying to take a nap because I’m going to get raped for hours on end, and if I pass out, I will be beaten bloody.
Technology allows men to take a fast-acting supplement that will allow them to fuck for hours on end.
He has used it frequently in the six weeks that I’ve been here.
I cannot even begin to count the numerous injuries I have received or even the number of times I have been raped.
He has never shared me with anyone during this time, so I am terrified to know what he has planned.
When he leaves the room, Lyra immediately comes to me.
She knows how I react to him taking me orally and hands me a trash can as soon as my body rejects everything he just did.
It feels as though my stomach is turning itself inside out as I vomit.
Eventually, it subsides enough that I can handle a glass of water.
“Drink,” she says gently.
“What?” I snap. “Water is…”
“Safe,” she says. “I promise, this is safe. You will need the energy.”
“Okay,” I relent with a sigh. I take a sip of the clear liquid, and relief washes over me instantaneously. This is more than just water; it has to be. I continue drinking the heavenly liquid until the glass is empty.
“Now,” she says as she stands me up. “I want you to put this on and run.”
“What is this?” I ask as she hands me a set of black clothing.
“The lavender cover will give you away almost immediately. It is reflective, and they will be able to spot you from far away. The black will conceal you,” she says. “The sun is down, and the window is open. Hurry up and change.”
I nod and immediately do what she tells me to do. I pull off all of my clothes before putting the new ones on. They are made of a different material altogether, so I wonder where she got them from. I don’t stop to question things; I just get dressed and put my feet into black shoes.
“What now?” I ask.
“Now you run, sweet girl,” she says tearfully, cupping my face. “You do not stop for any reason. No matter who you see or what they say, you do not fucking stop. Do you understand me? If they catch you, they will kill you on the spot or, worse, bring you back to Vinny.”
“What about you?” I ask.
“This is what I was meant to do, Astra. I feel as though everything in my life has led up to this moment. You deserve freedom, and it is everything I have ever worked for. I need you to run, Astra. You are a kind and caring woman, but I need you to tell that part of yourself to shut the fuck up so you can be selfish. Okay?”
“He’s going to kill you, isn’t he?” I ask tearfully.
“Yes, baby,” she says. “I will be the distraction that you need even after the window has closed. There will be ten other men in this home tonight, and I will be the one who takes the brunt of their anger. I promise, this is what I want. I want you to run, and I am more than willing to die for you.”
“Thank you,” I say as I suddenly throw my arms around her.
“You’re welcome, Astra,” she says softly. “Always remember, you have a choice. You will always have a choice. The people you are going to meet will never hurt you. No matter how they present themselves, you are safe.”
“The savages?” I ask, realizing.
“Yes, baby. The savages,” she says, pulling away. “Go, Astra. Tell them I will carry their love for eternity.”
“Okay,” I sniffle. She puts a knife and sheath on my hip before leading me out of the room.
We rush to the back door, and she shoves me out as soon as she pulls it open. She simply points toward the tower off in the distance before shutting and locking the door behind her.
Suddenly, I am alone. Every second of this terrifies me, but I start sprinting anyway.
I keep to the shadows and move as quietly as possible.
I am clutching the knife as I rush toward the north tower.
I don’t know what awaits me, but anything is better than Vinny.
Surely Lyra wouldn’t send me toward anyone worse than Vinny, right?
As I round the corner, I run directly into a man in red.
It’s plain as day that I do not belong wearing black clothing.
As soon as he reaches for his radio, I plunge the knife into the side of his neck.
I am just as surprised as he is. Our eyes go wide, and he hits his knees when I pull the knife out.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” I chant quietly. “I can’t stop. I’m so sorry.”
I can hear him gurgling on blood as I grab the radio and sprint away from him. Within seconds, I hear an all-call on the radio. The window is closed, and I no longer have a distraction.
“Alert! All channels. Astra Lavender is on the run toward the southernmost tower. Five feet one inch. Waist-length brown hair. She has the leader’s crest on her left wrist,” a robotic voice calls out.
It repeats it over and over again as I run.
Vinny must have come back for some reason, and Lyra gave false information as to where I went to give me more time, but I am taking this as I am out of time.
I don’t want to get comfortable. I will die before I let them capture me.
The second someone finds the dead police officer, they’ll know I went this direction.
The tower and connected wall come into view, and I push myself harder as I run through the field.
The door to the guard tower is open, so I dive into it.
It is pitch black, and I take the opportunity to catch my breath.
When I can breathe without gasping, I start to feel around to see if there is another way out.
I find the staircase but skip past it and keep going.
All I feel is brick, but there has to be a way out to the other side, right?
How else do you get out? I know the southern tower leads to the mountains, but I have no idea what is beyond the north wall.
How in the fuck am I supposed to get out of here if there is no way out?
This doesn’t make sense. Maybe Lyra was just trying to get rid of me.
Maybe it was a test to see if I would run from Vinny.
I am not sure of anything anymore. She seemed so believable when she told me I was meant for greatness.
If she wasn’t lying, then she’s currently being raped by eleven men in my place.
She won’t survive ten other men like Vinny without being given a chance to heal.
Who will tend to her? She always took such good care of me.
If I were a better person, I would go back and try to save her.
She deserves freedom, too. Why couldn’t we both run?
If there is no way out, I should go back for Lyra.
As soon as I decide to go back, I am reminded that I still have the radio when it starts screaming in my pocket.
“North tower! North tower!” a voice screams into the radio.
“Who’s there?” A voice calls down from above.
“Shit. Shit. Shit,” I say with a hushed tone as I frantically look for a way out that isn’t back into the city or up the staircase.