Chapter 5 - The Fire They Fed
914 Words
After Madam Orella left, Zaria looked around.
Some girls looked scared, some were crying, while others had already given up hope.
The noise from the girls echoed in her throbbing head—the drugs hadn’t fully worn off.
She remained silent. She didn’t speak, but how could she forget?
The betrayal.
Her father’s voice negotiating her price.
The triumphant glint in Elira’s and Saphina’s eyes.
They were enjoying her mother’s wealth.
Zaria turned to the barred window and whispered to herself,
“Do they think they can silence me or kill me? Nay... they’ve just awakened the raging beast in me.”
A few hours later, some burly men arrived with food.
The newcomers glared at the food with disgust, but the older captives quickly began to eat.
Zaria couldn’t bring herself to touch it—not because it was disgusting, but because her heart was too full of defiance to feel hunger.
She didn’t want to survive—she wanted to escape.
Not just to be free, but to prove to Elira that she was a stone: unkillable, indestructible.
Later, Madam Orella returned and noticed the untouched food in front of Zaria.
She scowled and snapped,
“Who do you think you are? If not for the money I can get from you girls, I’d have thrown you into the jungle behind this building to be fed on by lions!”
Zaria met her gaze without flinching.
That unyielding stare made Madam Orella bristle with rage, and she stormed off.
Zaria turned to the barred door and watched the guards pacing the hallway.
They were built like bulls, with cruel eyes and no mercy.
She sat on a thin mat on the floor, remembering her mother’s peaceful face on the morning she died.
Once again, she whispered to herself,
“I won’t die here.”
A girl across the room had been watching her.
She looked older and tougher, with a scar under one eye and calloused hands.
When she saw Zaria meet her gaze, she walked over.
“Hi. My name is Nyra. What’s yours?”
Zaria studied her face. From her appearance, Nyra had clearly been here a while.
Zaria gave a faint smile.
“I’m Zaria.”
Nyra smiled back.
“Let me give you some advice. Don’t look like a fighter unless you want to be broken faster.”
Zaria took her words seriously. Nyra clearly knew the dark rhythm of this place.
After the lights went out, they talked quietly.
Nyra revealed she had been there for years and was watching for any opportunity to escape.
“There are cracks in this place,” she said. “But most girls are too broken to crawl through them.”
Zaria listened carefully, but didn’t fully trust her.
After being betrayed by her own father, how could she trust anyone?
Even a child learns to fear the ground after falling multiple times.
She wanted to escape—but could she?
Could she really get out and take revenge?
What if she was sold before she had the chance?
She tapped her forehead, forcing herself to focus.
Think positive, she reminded herself.
If I lose hope, Elira wins. Saphina wins.
---
Flashback...
“Zaria, I’m sorry... but I don’t love you anymore,” Cyrus had said.
Saphina stood beside him, feigning sadness.
“Sister, I know you must be angry. You have every right. But Cyrus and I... we really love each other. We need your blessings.”
Zaria had stood frozen.
How could this be real?
Cyrus—her fiancé since birth—was now with Saphina?
The same Saphina who stole her father’s heart... and helped take her mother’s life?
As silence stretched, Cyrus had stepped in.
“C’mon, Zaria. You can’t act like this. You know I love your sister. Why won’t you give us your blessings?”
Zaria had laughed bitterly.
“When you were cheating on me with her, did you ask for my permission? So why do you need my blessing now? Or are you afraid of karma?”
Saphina puffed out her cheeks.
“Why should we be scared of karma? We didn’t do anything wrong. We’re just two people in love.”
Zaria smiled coldly.
“Then I wish you both a long, happy marriage. After all, a green tea b*tch and a sc*mbag deserve each other.”
Saphina burst into tears.
“Cyrus, she just cursed us!”
Cyrus held her.
“Don’t cry, Saphina. Not everyone has a heart as kind as yours.”
Zaria had walked away without a word.
End of flashback...
---
She looked at Nyra again and gave a small nod.
She still didn’t fully trust her—but maybe trust wasn’t the point.
Time passed.
More girls were sold.
Zaria had been there for a year now.
In that time, she had done one thing: observe.
She watched the guards, learned their shift schedules, duties, and how they changed over time.
She noticed their strengths—and their weaknesses.
Now, she sat alone, chewing on a piece of dried bread she had saved.
A spark glowed in her eyes.
She had made up her mind.
She was going to try.
Even if she failed, even if she was caught, she’d rather fall fighting than sit and rot.
They thought they caged me, she whispered,
but they’ve only sharpened me.
She looked up and saw a lone star through the barred window, shining defiantly into the darkness.
- Writer
