Chapter 25

At first, Rory was happy to be free of the smelly, hot, and musty container. But her happiness soon faded when she was shackled and shoved into a cage on the back of a truck. The cage was covered with a thick tarp that was tied down.

If the sun had been up, she might have been able to determine where she was, but she’d seen nothing other than a few palm trees. Her stomach cramped, telling her it had been too long since her last meal. She didn’t want to think about food, so she closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but the truck took off, rumbling over potholes that made her head bang against the side of the cage. Sleep would be impossible.

Slowly, at the bottom of the tarp, light began to glow. It wasn’t the dull glow from a fluorescent or a bright slash of light from headlights. No, the sun was rising. It was already warm, but with the sun bearing down, sweat started pouring.

After a few hours, the heat became unbearable. She wasn’t sure if she fell asleep or just passed out. Eventually, she woke, hot and sweaty. Her mouth felt like someone had put glue paste on her tongue and then dried it out. She needed water but was sure she would vomit if she drank anything.

Dirt clung to her sticky skin. Her stomach rebelled, and she gagged at one point and then passed out again. The only thing that saved her was a small amount of wind blowing through at the bottom of the tarp, cooling her overheated skin. She was sure she would have died in that heat trap they’d assembled except for the breeze created by the truck driving fast.

When the truck finally stopped, it was night again, and the air was cooler. The tarp fell away, and the men banged on the cage. She didn’t care that they were slamming metal pipes against the bars holding her captive. She didn’t move as they opened the door of the cage. Her plans for escaping seemed impossible. Running was out of the question because she could barely lift her head.

She wasn’t sure if she’d made it up or if it actually happened, but she swore someone had given her an IV after cleaning her body. She woke feeling better than she had before and realized she was clean. She couldn’t determine if the IV part had been real or not.

The world tilted as she sat up. Her head and her stomach swam, and she worried she would vomit. As she glanced around, taking in the room, it was like a metal band started playing music in her head. She squeezed her eyes closed and clenched her head. She felt better, but her body hadn’t recovered from the trauma she’d suffered. The people who’d abducted her had shipped her overseas, and she didn’t know where she was.

Once her head stopped pounding, she glanced up, squinting at the light spilling in. The windows were at the top of the room and only about four inches tall. There were no coverings on the windows blocking out the sky. All she could see was blue sky, no buildings, trees, or mountains.

Eventually, she stood and moved around the room. The first door she tried was locked, which didn’t surprise her. The second door opened, and there was a closet with nothing inside. The third door led to a bathroom.

She tested the faucet and found it working. She didn’t care if the water was properly treated or not, and lowered so she could drink straight from the faucet. Even after she’d gotten her fill of water, the wet felt good on her tongue, and she let the flow run into her mouth, though she just spit it back out.

Maybe a minute or two passed before she stood and turned off the water flow. She found enough toiletries to shower and brush her teeth. It looked like she would be here for a while.

As realization dawned, she sank to the floor. This was her new prison. They wanted her clean, and they were allowing her a place where she could wash her body, a toilet to use the restroom, and a bed to sleep in. But she had no freedom. She would never be allowed to move freely around the place.

Her eyes had stopped producing tears at some point before she passed out for the last time before waking up in this room, but now, with the water she’d consumed, she could cry again. No one would ever know where to find her. Her past life was over, and now she would have to survive here or kill herself.

The thought felt like a hot knife plunged into her chest. Never in her life had she contemplated taking her own life. But what type of life was this? What would these people who’d transported her in a cage, then almost killed her in a heat box on the back of a truck, and then cleaned her up and put her in this room want with her? Nothing they came up with would be good. She would be trapped in a life she’d never asked for. Could she end it by taking away the one thing they had no say over?

In the middle of her pity party, she heard the door in her room open. Fear raced through her. She glanced at the doorknob for the bathroom and saw no lock. She might be able to close the door, but whoever had just entered would never let her stay locked in this room.

“Come out,” the person commanded.

Her hands shook as she moved to stand. She wasn’t sure she had the strength to rise in one fluid motion, so she rolled to the side and slowly stood by pulling herself up on the cabinet. Her legs shook, whether from fear or weakness, she wasn’t sure.

She swung the door open and came face to face with a man dressed in an expensive suit. He looked wealthy. His hair was perfect, and his skin appeared free of wrinkles, though it was obvious he was older based on the gray flaking of his black hair. He had a cane that she bet he would use to beat her with if she came at him. She glanced over his shoulder and spied another man, this one young and bulky, like his muscles had muscles.

“I always have a personal guard with me. So even when we’re fucking, one of my men will be in the room to protect me.”

A shiver slid down her spine. She had to find a way to end this.

“We have a system here. You’ll learn to comply or be punished. There are a few women who are free to move around the compound without restrictions, but that takes time. Your every move will be restricted until you prove you can be trusted. You will call me Sultan at all times.”

His words felt like a death sentence. She couldn’t believe she was in this position. A week or so ago, she’d been free. If only she could go back, but she couldn’t.

“The first test starts now,” Sultan said.

The man behind Sultan moved fast. He grabbed the hospital gown she’d been wearing and ripped it from her body. She gasped and stumbled, but the bulky man caught her and then forced her in front of Sultan before hitting the back of her knees, making her kneel.

Rory gasped for breath as she tried to steady herself. Weakness seemed to prevail as she tried to look up at Sultan’s face, but dizziness made it impossible to glance up that high.

“Obedience grants you rewards, like food. You will be given enough sustenance to keep you alive. However, you won’t like how it’s delivered if you act out too much. If you obey, you’ll eat like a queen. Punishment comes from the cane or the paddle. We have many ways of making you obey. You’ll learn or suffer. You will drop to this position whenever I enter a room and stay there unless I call you. You are now known as Forty-three. Remember that name. You will go by Forty-three from here on out. You are only allowed to stand and approach me if you are called. Do you understand?”

Bile rose with the desire to spit on his feet. The bulky man hit her back with a stick, making her gasp.

“Y-yes.”

She heard the swoosh of the stick that had been used to hit her, and she cringed, waiting for it to fly.

“Yes, what?” Sultan asked.

This would be like the military but much more damaging to her psyche. He expected her to address him when speaking to him. She’d seen men in positions of authority abuse their power, and this man wouldn’t be an exception. “Yes, Sultan. ”

He cupped her jaw and forced her to look up. “That wasn’t so hard. Now then, you’ll be allowed to wear clothes after you prove you deserve them. For now, you will be naked. Obey me, and you won’t receive too many demerits. Ten strikes against you, and you’ll be given to the guards to do as they please. About fifty percent of the women who are given over to the guards survive the week. The rest are not so lucky. If they survive, they are allowed back in to be mine again. Only one woman has been sent to the guards twice before. Her skull is displayed prominently in the garden as a reminder of what happens to the disobedient.”

How bad could one week of torture from the guards be? Then, it would be over with. Her gaze slid to the muscular guard, and his evil grin sent a shiver through her. No question about it. If she ended up with the guards, her life would end badly.

She didn’t want this life, but getting out would be painful. Eventually, she would take that option. Living as a prisoner would only last for so long before she lost it. She never imagined she would end up like this. Nothing, not basic, not officer training, nothing in the Navy prepared her for being a slave to a crazy wealthy man.