The Chateau (Chateau 1)

I dropped my gaze because I couldn’t watch this, couldn’t experience this, couldn’t handle what was about to happen. I closed my eyes and heaved in pain, tuning out the sounds, disassociating completely.

And just waited for it to be over.

I didn’t sleep that night.

I watched the sunrise through the crack under the door. My cabin was insulated because it had no windows, but I could hear the wind rustle the trees, hear the distant howl of the elements. It wouldn’t be a sunny and clear day like the last week.

It would be so fucking cold.

Footsteps sounded on the patio, and then the door unlocked.

I was already dressed, my boots on over my pants, my heavy jacket on in bed so it would warm up before I went outside into the cold. My hair was pulled back out of my eyes in a ponytail. I hadn’t even combed it because they gave me nothing. It was probably one of the things women asked for in exchange for obedience, because some of the women had nice hair, even wore makeup.

My guard stood there in the open doorway, watching me sitting on the bed.

I sighed before I got to my feet, exhausted and cold. I turned to the door and didn’t look at him at all before I stepped outside into the frigid wind, the trees blowing along with the harsh howls. My arms immediately crossed over my chest. “Are we working inside today?” The coke would blow away, and they wouldn’t want to lose an ounce of their precious product that they were willing to kill for.

“No. We’ve got a pickup.” He took the lead, going a different direction than last time.

I followed behind him, watching some of the women walking along the usual path to the clearing, but a few women went in my direction. “A pickup?”

“You’ll see.” He walked to the edge of camp, where there were a few wagons and guards on horses. Bows were on their backs along with quivers of arrows. Bethany was there, giving me a glance before quickly looking away so as to not draw attention to our friendship. The guard turned around again, facing me with his back to the others, coming close to me so more of his features were visible under his hood. “Don’t run. They’ll shoot you on sight.” He stepped away and disappeared. He never seemed to participate in anything in the camp. His only job was to retrieve me in the mornings and in the evenings. He must have another position at the camp, but whatever that was was a mystery.

The girls huddled together, waiting for the last few girls to join us.

Bethany came closer to me, her hair blowing in the icy wind. “You okay?”

It was such a stupid question that I didn’t know what to say. All I did was shake my head.

“You get used to it…at some point.”

I would never get used to that. “I’m going to kill him.”

She watched me with her bright blue eyes, her gaze shifting back and forth as she read the sincerity in my expression.

“I will.” If I could never escape, then I would at least put him in the ground with me. He would pay for what he did to those women, for the years of corpses he’d created, the women he would continue to butcher until I shoved a knife in his gut.

Another woman joined us, one with jet-black hair and brown eyes. Her arms were tight over her body, and the vapor consistently rose from her nostrils. “You’re the new girl?”

“Unfortunately.” I didn’t bother with a handshake. I’d only been here a week, but I’d already disregarded basic courtesies because they didn’t apply in this hell.

“Cindy.” The skin on her face was cracked in places, especially on the bridge of her nose, because her skin was so dry in this wintry weather. Her complexion seemed destined for warm and exotic places with lots of heat and humidity.

“She’s the one who gave me the pill,” Bethany explained.

“Oh…thank you.” Now, I had a second friend, and that made me feel a little less alone.

Cindy nodded.

The guard escorted a few more girls to the group, and then we started to walk forward, leaving the safety of the tree line and heading into the open landscape before us. It was acres of snow, like a meadow replaced it in the spring. The wind pressed against us, making our jackets flap open like the canopy of a parachute. Two wagons were in the lead, while two other men rode on strong steeds, walking in line with us to keep us in their sights.

My guard told me not to run because it was pointless. In the wide open, there was nowhere for me to hide, no forest to escape into.

I’d never been so cold in my life. “Where are we going?” It was much easier to talk out here, with the wind blowing snow past us, making visibility poor, our voices trailing behind us and out of earshot.