They chucked as they picked me up. Two hands grabbed my ankles, while two more grabbed my wrists. I was carried a couple feet, then tossed onto the bed into the bodies of the other girls.
If you would’ve told me it was possible for me to fall asleep in the middle of a crisis, I would have called bullshit. But seriously, that’s exactly what happened.
Maybe it w
as because the bed was hella comfortable, with some sort of cashmere blanket covering it. Maybe it was the warmth of the other girls nestled next to me while they slept. Or, maybe it was the drop in adrenaline after being tranqued, kidnapped, sprayed down with a hose, then herded around dressed up like a doll.
Whatever the reason, I passed out. Like dropped into a deep, dreamless sleep for who knows how long. Maybe it was my body’s form of self-preservation, like it knew I need to regain some energy for what was about to come.
I didn’t come awake slowly, wondering where I was or what happened. No, I came awake with a start. My heart beating frantically, as if I’d been frightened awake.
I looked around the small room to see the other girls waking more slowly, probably roused by me thrashing about in the bed. A sound had my head turning, and I watched as the curtain was slowly opened by some sort of machine, revealing a large open room with rows of chairs ten deep lining it.
I looked through the window to see at least twenty other rooms just like mine being revealed as all of the curtains were opened. Each with large beds heavy with slumbering girls of all shapes and sizes. There were varying skin tones and hair colors, the only thing that was the same, was their young ages. Everyone other than me was a minor, their sweet clothing and hair only making their ages more apparent.
Unfortunately, I was still coming out of a deep sleep, and hadn’t remembered that I was supposed to be drugged. The men on the other side of the glass now knew that I was not only awake, but aware of what was happening around me.
I heard them shout, then two men rushed out of the viewing room, and I knew they were headed right for me.
Moving quickly, I jumped off the bed and rushed to the door, closing it quickly and searching for a lock. Of course, there wasn’t one, so I ran back to the bed and started shaking Alani.
“Alani!” I yelled, no longer trying to keep up the façade. “Wake up. You need to wake up.”
A couple of the other girls murmured, but I was focused on Cade’s sister.
When the shaking didn’t work, I whispered an apology to Cade’s whole family, then reared back and slapped Alani across the face as hard as I could.
“Alani, please, wake up.”
Alani twitched, then her eyes opened.
“Lila?” she asked drowsily. “What’s going on?” Her hand flew to her cheek and she added, “Did you hit me?”
“Alani, the shit has hit the fan, for real. We don’t have time; they’re coming.”
“Who?” she asked, then I saw her eyes flash like she’d remembered something. “Yusuf,” she whispered.
“Yes,” I said with a nod, my tone relaying the heaviness of the situation.
“I feel funny,” Alani said, then she looked around the room and yelped when her eyes landed on the blonde girl in the middle of the bed, who I assumed was the much talked-about virgin. “Hannah!”
I knew they had to be getting close and we were about to be busted.
“Alani, they’re here, we have to go.”
“We can’t leave her,” Alani argued, and as much as I wanted to get the hell out of there, I was proud of her for wanting to help her friend.
“Okay, help me get her off the bed,” I said, placing my hand on Hannah’s ankle and pulling her down to the foot of the bed.
Hannah started to wake, and mumbled, “Wha?”
“Wake up, Hannah, we’ve got to go.”
I looked around the room and saw nothing that would help in this situation, so I dropped to my hands and knees and looked under the bed. When I saw that the bed was held up by wooden slats, I stood and pushed the remaining girls to one side, then crouched down and called for Alani to help.
“When I lift, you pull out a couple boards,” I ordered. “Quick.”
Alani left Hannah leaning against the wall in a daze and did as I asked.