3.
1174 คำ
The room, cemented, with no paint, had no windows.
To the side was a table. torture materials I had only ever seen in movies or read about in books were displayed. Besides the table was an iron chair and on the wall were chains. All that had me gulping, and a shiver went down my spine, but the very person sitting in the middle of the room made me feel some sort of comfort.
The old woman, her hair gray and her back hunched, with her lips set in a firm line, sat on a chair, in front of her a table and another chair.
"Come forward and sit here, my dear," the woman stated. My attention went back to her, and that was when I noticed it.
Not only did her eyes seem cloudy, but they stared right ahead, and I could tell she wasn't looking at me.
"Huh!" I found myself scoffing as I walked towards. I pulled out the chair and sat down.
"I can't believe I was feeling so fearful about nothing. You are blind, aren't you?" I waved my hand in front of her face and she didn't blink, nor did her gaze move. Somehow, her eyes seemed to be fixated on me.
"Yes, I am blind alright. Have been since birth. But what I have been able to see is beyond what your little mind can comprehend," the old woman said with a smirk.
"Sure thing ma'am," I smiled, feeling at ease with the woman. If anything, I knew someone like her would not harm me.
"Please call me Ruth."
"So Ruth, what are you doing here? What is going on here?"
"My job is only to direct you to your fate, dear Everly. Now, give me your hand," she said, and I didn't hesitate to do just that.
I mean, what can those thin, callous wrinkled arms with veins be able to do to me anyway?
Ruth took my hand in hers and took a deep breath, closing her eyes.
So this is what this is about? A fortune teller? Seriously? What trafficker is superstitious? I tsked.
"Quite!" Ruth gritted and I pressed my lips together.
Ruth drew in a sharp breath before squeezing my hand. She opened her eyes, and for the first time, her face showed emotion, which I couldn't tell.
Was it pity, or fear? It didn't matter anyway, because I didn't believe any of that.
"Oh dear. How terrible. I have never seen a fate like this one. You will go through things most will never go through. You will marry a man who has..."
"Oh please?" I rolled my eyes. "I already know what you are going to say. I have already gone through the most terrible thing ever, and I don't think I'm getting married ever again. Not in this life at least. So, unless you are going to tell me that everything that has been happening to me for the past month has been a dream, and I am going to wake up and realize that it was all a lie, I don't want to hear of it. Also, I have nothing to pay for your service. Which I didn't ask for," I said everything in one breath.
Ruth only smiled. As if she knew things no one else knew, but I wasn't going to believe any of that anyway, so why listen?
"Alright then," she took out a yellow string from a drawer right under the table.
She tied the string around my wrist.
"Go on then, there is a guard outside, show him this."
Standing up, I went to the other door, opened it and stepped outside. At that point, I didn't really care what happened to me onwards, and that made me feel more at peace with myself.
*
I was shown to a room, and not long after, some of the women I shared a cell with joined me. In the end, there were five of us there.
I wonder where Jesse was assigned. I thought as I looked at my bandaged leg.
I should check the wound too and see what Jesse did. Maybe she sutured the wound and injected me with some analgesics?
Before I got the chance to unwrap the clothes, a middle-aged woman entered the room, and we all looked at her.
"Alright girls. No need for introductions. Just take a shower and wear your uniforms. Then I will assign you to your tasks," she said, and before I got the chance to ask her any questions, she went out.
I took my uniform, and we got into the bathroom, each one of us taking a stall. It took me 10 minutes to wash my hair and wash out all the dirt on my body. I put on the uniform which consisted of a white dress shirt and black pants.
After we were done putting on our clothes, one of the girls approached me. She had blonde hair and her skin was tan.
"Are you also a witch?" She asked and I looked at her dumbfounded. Did this woman just call me a witch? No, maybe I heard wrong.
"Pardon?"
"Like the other girl you were with. She is a healer, right? I saw her healing your leg last night. She helped some of the other women too."
"She doesn't seem to have any gifts if she ended up with the rest of us. She is probably just a weak omega like the rest of us," Another with red hair sneered at me, but I didn't care. It just occurred to me.
I lifted my trousers and looked at my leg. When I got into the shower and took off my clothes along with the pink clothe, I was too focused on washing my dirty body that I had forgotten.
Before I was able to fully process my situation, the woman came back in again.
"Now you all look presentable. You have all been chosen to work at the packhouse. When you get there, Anna will assign you your tasks. The alpha is currently away, but make sure you avoid any sort of trouble with the Luna. The rules are simple. Don't speak unless spoken too. Do your work but make yourselves invisible. And know your place, you are the lowest ranking among the werewolves, so if you cross the wrong person, you could die. Now move along, you will be taken to the packhouse."
No wait. I don't get it. What is with all this weird stuff I'm hearing? Witch? Omega, Alpha? Luna? Packhouse? Werewolves? And wound healing?!
Suddenly, I felt my legs start to weaken, everything appeared in two and the room started to spin. Then it occurred to me. I haven't had a meal in two days.
Before my head hit the floor, I heard two voices, one panicked and the other scornful.
"I think she is going to fate."
"She is just pretending so she won't have to work."
What sort of place have I found myself in?
- ผู้เขียน
