Chapter 3 #2
"Where's Ines?" I asked, noticing the absence of one of our friends who spent her mornings in our room.
Esme was giving her Spanish lessons. "There's a new girl, she's been locked up for almost five days now.
Madam Joana says she'll crack eventually, but I doubt it, she's got a real.
.. personality," Ava informed me. "Ines has been trying to talk to her since last night, but it's no use," she continued, returning behind the counter.
"At this rate, she'll beat your record," sighed Esme, picking up a book while my gaze remained fixed on the floor.
Five days already. "How old is she?" I asked, getting up to retrieve my bag, which I had left on the table at the entrance to the suite that had been reserved for us for several months now.
The Halo was a large organization with considerable resources, led by Vassili Kosnetzov, one of the great families that made up the Bratva, and a member of the Council.
Vassili was responsible for prostitution in the Bratva and had used his power and knowledge to create a parallel business to that of the Bratva.
He had built a huge network brick by brick, a huge network that stretched across borders and oceans.
The young women, sometimes girls, whom he captured and then trained to be perfect spies so that they could gather as much information as possible from the influential men with whom they were forced to sleep.
Vassili then used his information to blackmail people into giving him whatever he wanted, which allowed him to expand The Halo even further.
So I wasn't just a prostitute, but also a spy, not the kind who climbs a fifteen-story building or fights like a ninja, but rather the kind who manipulates with words and gestures to get all the information I want.
Before California, we worked in a club in Las Vegas, then in Florida, a little while in Argentina, and even Moscow.
At least we got to see the sights and not just sausages.
I grimaced at the thought. Damn it! "Seventeen," Esme replied, glancing at me awkwardly over her book.
Yes, she knew I hated it when we took underage girls, girls who sometimes had no knowledge of sex.
"Hurry up, Joana will be back from her run soon!
" Diane warned me as I left the suite, closing the door behind me.
I walked along the corridor, greeting the many Shadows on duty who were smoking or chatting, their attention fixed on the closed doors behind which their Stars were working.
My gaze lingered for a moment on the elevator before I headed for the stairs.
Being locked in a dark cell for over a week had quickly dampened my enthusiasm for confined spaces.
I hurried down the stairs, my sneakers pounding the floor, and arrived on the ground floor.
The club had four levels: on the ground floor were the club and the restaurant; on the first floor were the Shadow suites and a gym; on the second floor were the Star suites and the work rooms, all connected to the same corridor leading to an inner courtyard, as was the last floor consisting of the VIP rooms.
"Stella!" Raoul, one of the club's agents, called out to me as I walked past the cafeteria.
"Come to the cafeteria, Marta has made lemon pie!
" he informed me, pointing to the kitchen with his broom.
They were cleaning up last night's mess with other staff members.
In a few hours, the club would reopen and it would be back to business as usual, "I won't miss it!
" I replied, waving to him as I headed for the stairs leading to the basement.
I suppressed a shiver as a familiar chill crept into my limbs.
I tightened my grip on the railing as the steps decreased, as I approached the basement and the cold, memories coming back, screams echoing.
I arrived in a long hallway with several doors, cell doors.
"Sienna!" exclaimed Ines when she saw me.
She got up from where she was sitting on the floor and hugged me.
"You look sick," she said, studying me with her big hazel eyes.
"I'm fine, just didn't sleep well," I replied, walking past her and stopping in front of the cell door where she had been sitting a moment ago.
The small opening in the door let in the light from the hallway, and I frowned as I tried to make out the body lying on the floor.
"She hasn't moved in twelve hours. If she keeps this up, she'll starve to death," said Ines, stopping beside me.
"First she'll die of thirst," I replied simply, stepping back and rummaging through my purse until I finally pulled out a key.
"I still don't know how you managed to get a spare set of these keys!
Joana is so thoughtful," she asked me as I unlocked the door.
"Believe me, thoughtfulness doesn't stand a chance against a good old bottle of vodka," I replied, opening the creaking door and entering, ignoring the visceral fear that gripped me.
The cells were all the same: black, cold, lonely.
Whether in Seattle, Las Vegas, or California.
I knelt in front of the girl's frail body and pushed back the dirty blonde strands of hair that covered her dust-covered face.
Her eyes were open but empty. It was a look I knew all too well.
How many times had I looked in the mirror and seen that look? Hundreds? Thousands?
"What's your name?" I asked her, but she didn't answer.
She didn't even react. "My name is Sienna, but they call me Stella here," I told her to reassure her and get her to confide in me.
"They could have come up with something more original, don't you think?
" Still nothing. I sighed and searched my bag again to take out my water bottle.
"Would you like some water?" I asked, shaking it above her face.
Her blue eyes slowly slid toward the bottle, finally, a reaction.
She had blue eyes, just like him. I pressed my lips together as I opened my water bottle and held it out to her, but she didn't move.
"Drink while you have the chance. When Joana comes back, who knows how long she'll keep you here," I tried to convince her.
She glanced at me and I nodded to encourage her.
She finally pushed herself up with her hands and, struggling to get up, sat down on her bottom and took the water bottle with her trembling, dirty, and injured hands.
She gulped down the contents of the water bottle, quickly emptying it, and handed it back to me, carefully avoiding my gaze.
"Joana won't let you out of here until you obey her," I said, putting my bottle back in my bag.
"Don't force yourself..." "Cecilia," she suddenly whispered, her girlish voice filling the cell.
She slowly raised her face, her blue eyes remaining averted.
"My name is Cecilia," she repeated. I said nothing, just watched her as her arms wrapped around her legs, which she pulled up against her chest. I sighed and sat down on my butt too in front of her.
"Listen, Cecilia, I know you're scared, that.
.. you feel alone," I said firmly, I couldn't show my emotions; she had to understand that emotions were a weakness here.
The worst kind. "Do you know why? Because I was in your shoes years ago.
I know how you feel, what you're thinking.
But there's nothing you can do about it.
You're in the lair of monsters now." I glanced at Ines, who had stayed at the door to make sure no one was coming.
The absence of surveillance cameras worked greatly in our favor.
They hadn't seen the point in installing them since few women resisted and ended up locked up in this hole.
"I wasn't given a choice back then. They forced me to become a monster like them," I sighed, bending my knee to rest my elbow on it.
"But you, Cecilia, I'm going to give you a choice," I continued, taking two things out of my bag: a lipstick and a vial.
"Either you obey and become a monster like us to get a chance at revenge against the people who put you in this situation," I handed her the lipstick.
"Or you choose not to obey and you die because that's the only way out of this hell.
It's poison," I handed her the vial containing a red liquid.
Her eyes finally met mine, but they remained empty, as if she couldn't see me, as if nothing was worth her interest anymore.
She slowly raised her dirty, bloodstained hand, worn out from banging on the cell door for hours, days, begging to be released.
My jaw clenched as she grabbed the vial with her trembling hand, her body shaking from the cold but mostly from fear.
I nodded slowly. Cecilia had made her choice, and it was time for me to make mine.
—
The brush slid through her hair as if it were made of silk, a silk as black as a night sky.
“Do you think I could have a second dessert at breakfast tomorrow?” Valentina asked as I began braiding her hair. We had been lucky enough to shower first after classes, so we had taken the opportunity to have a little pajama party in the room before the others arrived.
“I don’t know… it’ll depend on what’s left after service,” I replied, finishing the braid and tying it off as she turned toward me, her dark eyes plunging into mine.
“Olga likes you, I’m sure if you ask her she’ll give you more,” she insisted, and I smiled.
She was still just a child. A child, despite where we were, despite everything we were living through. And I was determined to do everything I could to make sure she stayed one.
“I’ll try, I promise,” I said, kissing her cheek as she nestled against me.