“Give her to me,” one of the girls, who I think had been renamed Ilse, said urgently as she reached for Minnie. She gently pried her out of my arms and took her back with her to the group of girls who were staring at Luuk in shock.
“Get out,” he said in quiet, seething tone. The rest of the girls quickly scrambled and ran from the room through the back doors except for Ilse. She handed Minnie to one of her friends and came over to take me out of the room too, but Luuk shook his head slowly.
“Out,” he said to her again. “The bitch stays.”
“But Luuk –” Ilse started to protest and he cut her off with a sharp look. “You can take her place if you’d like,” he said in a sinister tone.
Ilse wrung her hands for a moment. She looked at me with tears in her eyes before she hugged me, kissed my forehead, and ran out of the room. Just make sure Minikin is safe from here on out, I thought silently after her.
When we were left in the dining room alone, I got to my feet and faced Luuk. I had a modicum of courage swelling inside of me; something I had obviously taken from Amity and Famke. I would take whatever punishment he would dole out to me as long as Minnie was safe and left alone.
I watched him as he wiped the blood off of his face and chuckle. His hands moved down to his belt buckle and he undid it, pulling the leather strap loose.
“Come here,” he said pointing to a spot directly in front of him.
I lifted my chin a little higher, stood up a little straighter, and walked with purposeful long strides to where Luuk had directed. I was afraid, terribly afraid, but I would be damned if I would let it show.
“Do you know that I could kill you for this?” he asked calmly.
I nodded and waited.
“And do you think I should?” he prompted.
“What you do to me is of no consequence anymore. My best friend is dead and I have no resolve to live,” I replied bravely.
“So, perhaps I should just have Minikin go through another round of what went through with Kerstan before she was given to me?” he asked, a disgusting smirk crossing his face.
“No!” I closed my eyes for a moment and took a breath to steady myself. “No. Please. Leave Minikin out of this. I was the one that attacked you, I deserved to be punished.”
“I meant what I said when I called you a bitch,” Luuk said conversationally. “Take your panties off and bend over the table, Betje.”
“What are you going to do to me?” I asked nervously eyeing him and pulling my underwear off.
“Break you,” he replied simply.
I closed my eyes tightly as I bent over the table and gripped the edges. I grunted in the next breath as he brought the belt down as hard as he could over my bare ass. Tears stung my eyes because my pride was wounded.
Luuk spent the next ten minutes whipping me repeatedly until he decided he was tired and I had been punished enough.
I’d give anything to go back to Kerstan, I thought as I struggled to reach down for my panties and cried out in pain as the delicate silk touched my burning skin.
Three
One full week passed before the pain finally went away. Minnie and Ilse spent their time taking care of me and my welts, which was quite humiliating, but I’m sure that was part of the punishment.
In the seven days I struggled to be able to sit again, Famke was gone. She hadn’t come back and I wondered if she had absconded and why she didn’t at least take Minnie with her. One of Ilse’s friends entered the room and came over to my bed. She leaned over and whispered something to Ilse in their language and handed her a piece of paper.
Ilse looked around before she unfolded the paper and read its contents. I saw her look of surprise coupled with a gasp of shock. When she was done she quickly folded the note and slid it underneath the mattress.
“I’ll burn that later,” she said quietly. “Eva brought news. While she was out today with her clients, she came across a man that spoke of his distaste for Luuk. She said she approached him as if she were going to proposition him, but the man brushed her off and told her that he would not fuck a whore from this house. He also said that she would be better pressed to work for him.”
Ilse gave me a knowing smile.
“Kerstan?” I asked in shock.
“She described him as tan, green eyes, and somewhat long black hair, and absolutely beautiful.”
Yeah, that’s Kerstan alright. The devil in disguise himself.