a face, clutching my hands close to my knees as sweat drops roll down my back. I look up at Soren whose eyes are still on April, but the occasional look thrown my way does not go unnoticed. I have to be careful of what I say or else.
“I … don’t know. I was taken.”
“But you chose this, right?” Olivia mutters. “I mean, we all did.”
“Not me,” April chimes in.
Unsure of how to answer, I reply, “But I don’t know what I did.”
They all look at me, and it makes me even more confused, more uneasy about myself. So I get up from the couch and pat down my dress.
“Do we deserve this?” I mutter to myself. “Maybe. Or maybe we’re all just sinners in this room. Even him.” I point at Soren. “What makes him better than us?”
He narrows his fiery eyes at me almost as a warning sign not to go too far. But I’ve already long crossed that line.
I march over to the girl standing near the window, grab her shoulder, and force her to turn around. “You’re not here because you wanna be. That’s why you don’t talk, right? You never asked for any of this, just like me.”
Her lip quivers while her eyes fill with tears.
“Why do you let them do this to you?” I ask. “Look at how afraid you are.”
“Enough, Amelia,” Olivia says.
“No,” I growl back.
“She was already damaged when she came here. She never talked. Don’t you see?” she replies. “She can’t handle your questions. So leave her alone.”
“So what, you all agree with how they treat you?” I scoff.
Jane’s brows rise. “I don’t … think I’m being treated that badly, to be honest. I mean, we get lavish rooms, lots of food, plenty of attention.”
“Because that’s what’s important in life,” I retort, rolling my eyes.
“Maybe not to you, but to us, it’s a blessing when compared to jail or something worse,” Olivia says.
We look each other in the eyes. “And I think this has gone on far too long,” I say, trying to stand tall even though these girls make me question my own resolve.
“We don’t get to decide that,” Olivia says.
“No, I think I agree with Amelia,” April says through gritted teeth. When I look back at her, she’s stood too.
“See?” I say, trying to inspire something in the other girls, but neither of them seems impressed. In fact, they’re both just sitting there, looking at me like they wanna beg me not to start anything. And it fucking hurts.
I march over to Soren, huffing and puffing, but he just stands there near the door, arms crossed, glaring at me like I’m an ant he can squash at any moment. I’m not afraid of him. I’ve seen death, looked it straight in the eyes and spat in its face.
“I’ve seen enough,” I growl at him.
His nostrils flare. He looks away, and I follow his gaze right toward April. The moment she notices his penetrative stare, she gulps again and immediately sits down on the couch, clutching the armrest like she hopes it’ll protect her.
“Let me out,” I growl. “Do you hear me?”
All he does is raise an eyebrow at me, and it’s infuriating.
“I want to speak with Eli,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Amelia, c’mon … let’s talk about this,” Olivia says.
“No,” I reply, without even looking at her. “I want to know where Anna is. Now.”
“Anna?” Jane mutters.
“The other girl,” I say, and in the spur of the moment, I clutch the door handle and jerk it until the door opens just a tiny bit, enough for me to stick my fingers through.
Soren suddenly grabs my wrist, lifting my arm in the air while grunting at me.
“Let me go,” I growl at him.
He narrows his eyes at me and then fishes in his pocket and presses something, I don’t know what, but a beep goes off.
Within seconds, guards burst into the door.
“Party’s over,” one of them says, and he grabs me and pulls me out.
“Fine,” I retort. I don’t even fight as they drag me away from the room. The women continue to glare at me up until the door is shut again. While they stay inside, I am hauled up the stairs. While they get to continue their conversations, I get to go back to my room.
And I’m not even sure if I mind.
The next day, Mary comes to my room. She doesn’t say much. “C’mon.”
She turns around and walks toward the door, so I follow suit.
“Where are we