Living in Darkness (Bloodbreeders) (16 page)

“If you think that was bad, wait until the next time she gets her hands
on you. She’ll take a piece at a time off that little thing between your legs.”

“Please, please, please, I want to go home,” the young man started
pleading,

I guess we all begged for the same thing down here, I thought as they
started coming in my direction.

“Shut up or I’ll rip it off myself,” Enrique yelled at him.

After that, all I heard were sobs. Enrique brought the male and chained
him on the wall across from my cell with the other two. When he saw the corpses
hanging next to him, he went crazy, writhing and screaming. The bastard that
put him there just started laughing and walked away. I tried to get the young
man to calm down, but when he saw me, his screams only got louder. That was
when I knew he was a normal.

“Please, get a hold of yourself. If you don’t, they’ll come back,” I
said to him. He continued screaming, as if he never heard me, so I spoke more
firmly, “Do you want him to come back and
do
what he
said would happen next?” That got his attention.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” he cried. “I was supposed to work the
tables, but they brought me here.”

“They don’t care. They did the same to everyone down here,” I explained,
scooting closer to the bars of my cage. Now that he was still, I could see his face
more clearly. “I know you. We’re from the same area.”

“You’re as crazy as them,” he said, slowing his fearful squall as he
looked at me. “I
ain’t
ever laid eyes on you.”

“You’re going to get us in trouble if you don’t stop raising your
voices,” a small voice said. It was the boy in the cage next to me, and the
fear in his voice was undeniable.

“If they come in and hear you, they’ll punish us all,” another voice
spoke out. “Please, just stop.” The voice was female. I couldn’t tell where she
was, but she was obviously afraid as well.

I didn’t want to
get
caught, but I couldn’t
just let this young man scream in vehement fear. I knew him, and I was a little
desperate for him to realize that
he
knew
me
. I leaned as close
to the bars as possible and whispered, “You’re one of the Brown boys,
ain’t
you? It’s me, Renee Crocker from Burkett. Our Pa’s
traded goods.”

“You can’t be Renee, I went to her funeral.” He had stopped crying, and
just stared at me in disbelief. “You’re a liar, just like them.”

“I’m different, but it’s me.” I racked my brain to figure out how to
convince him I was actually who I said I was. “Okay, remember when your little
brother broke his arm at the fair last year in the calf-roping contest?”

“Yeah, I remember,” he said, slowly starting to believe that I was
telling the truth. “But, but how? I mean, I was at your funeral...”

“I don’t know how, or why, but we’re here now, and we have to deal with
it, okay? Have they told you anything?” I asked.

 
“When I asked why they were
doing this, the lady told me that I was a special order,” he shook his head. “What’d
she mean?”

“When did she tell you that?”

“She would open up the long wood box they made me stay in to give me
food and water. She always said, ‘we need to keep your strength up’, ‘growing
boys need to feed’, strange things like that,” he explained through sobs while
straining desperately on the restraints that held him firmly by the wrists.
“I’ve got to go home now.”

Now I knew what were in the crates on the boat. “Are you hurt?” As soon
as the words left my mouth his head shot around the side of his chained arms
looking back at me with a sight of pure distain in his eyes and seeing the look
on his face, I quickly rephrased my question. “I mean, physically? Do you have
any broken bones?”

“No. They told me to take off all my clothes in front of a bunch of
people. I said I wouldn’t do it, but then the big man started ripping them
off...” he began to cry again, softly. “I started hitting him, trying to make
him stop, but he’s so big, he just laughed. That’s when the two women came up
and started hitting me. They told me they would make sure I did what as I was
told next time.” He paused and looked at me pitifully. “I’m scared, Renee… really
scared.”

“I know, babe, me too.”

“You don’t understand, that woman told me she was going to cut off
my... my...” he stopped, curled in on himself as best as he could, and began
sobbing even harder.

“Robert, Robert that is your name, right? Do what they say, no matter
how hard, or embarrassing it is. They’ll kill you if you don’t,” I said, doing
my best to try
and
make him understand something that
I couldn’t even explain to myself. “Do you hear me?”

“I just
wanna
go home. I want my Ma,” he
cried. “She lied to me. She said I was
gonna
to be
working on her farm. She said she just bought it and needed help.” I knew who
she
was, and it only made me hate her
even more. Rebecca.

I tried to comfort him the best I could through my own encasement, but
I knew we were both in this hell together. I couldn’t even help myself, much
less this poor innocent young boy, who was the only normal down in this
nefarious dungeon. Robert suddenly got very quiet, and I was praying that he had
passed out.

This was more than just insane. How could this be allowed to happen? I
knew I would be asking myself that very same question until someone answered
it. I swore to myself right then that if I ever got out of this, I would do
everything in my power to bring these people down.

Chapter 13

The next night, after being hosed down with the painfully stinging salt
water, Enrique came down, and headed straight for Robert. The boy started
screaming hysterically as soon as he noticed him approaching. When Enrique
started unchaining him, he threw in a few kicks to the boy’s stomach, because
he was thrashing about too much for Enrique’s liking.
I
couldn’t stop myself
,
I had to intervene
.

“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size, you piece of shit?” I
yelled.

Enrique looked over at me, while binding Robert’s hands with rope, and
laughed loudly. “If you weren’t already paid for, I’d gladly take you in his
place, but the one that you hit paid a handsome price for one night with you. Sounds
like you’ll be having all kinds of fun.” He laughed again, and turned his
attention back to Robert who was struggling ineffectively.

“Renee, don’t let him take me,” he screamed, as Enrique stood to drag
him out.

“I’m sorry, Robert. Be strong, do what they say,” I replied reaching my
arm through the bars as far as I could.

Enrique slapped my hand away, but it only made me reach harder. Robert
continued to cry out for help, and I frantically tried to reach him, if nothing
more than to offer a touch that was not one of torment, but perhaps to offer a
little hope. As they passed my cage, Robert swung himself bodily towards me,
momentarily catching Enrique off-guard, causing him to drop the boy. He reached
his bound hands out and our fingers brushed for a brief second before Enrique
yanked his foot, lifting him into the air,
then
dropping him onto his back. Robert hit the ground hard, and without missing a
beat, Enrique took hold of his bound hands and dragged him towards the door
leading upstairs.

“Help me! Help me, please,” Robert screamed, his wide eyes staring
straight at me.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” was all I could say. Then they were gone,
taking away the only familiar face I had seen in what seemed like an eternity. I
fell back and cried, not only because I knew the suffering he was going to
endure, but because I was unable to stop it. I will never forget the terror I
saw on that boy’s face that night, or the sheer terror that I heard in his
voice. I believe that was the last night anyone ever saw Robert.

*****

Many nights passed, though I lost count after ten or twelve, because
the weakness of not feeding was setting in. I hadn’t fed since my first night
in Cuba. The longer I was here, the angrier I became. I replayed the whole
scenario over and over again in my mind, the faked friendship, the lies, the
betrayal, and the horrific screams of a frightened child. The angrier I became,
the more I wanted to hurt—no, kill—
each and every
one
of them. It was definitely a fantasy I was hoping I could one day fulfill. The
only thing that I was anywhere near grateful
for,
was
the fact that they never came for me like Enrique had said.

As always, I awoke to the hose. I didn’t know why they bothered. My
skin was constantly wet, because the ocean water never completely drained. Plus,
this place was so full of filth it remained polluted no matter how much they
sprayed. The stench alone was to the point of being unbearable. When I had
arrived, I was unsure whether the man across from my cell was alive or dead,
but now there was no uncertainty. His body was decaying right along with the
corpse that hung at his side.

Clashing with the horrible odor, I suddenly smelled something wonderful.
Blood… fresh blood. I licked my lips just thinking about it.
Tanda
came walking up to my cage and leaned down in front
of it, with a small metal cup in her hand.

“Here, Miss,” she said, holding the cup out for me to take. “The
Mistress says you must feed.” She then leaned closer, and whispered, “They are
coming to take you tomorrow. You’ll need your strength.”

“You can tell your mistress to shove it up her backside.” I replied as
I pushed the cup away.

“But... but Miss, if you don’t do as they say, they will force you...”
she said a bit taken by surprise, before I interrupted.

“Do you really think I care what they do anymore? Go tell your mistress
I would rather die.” I sat back against the wall and turned my head away from
Tanda
, hoping that she didn’t notice the ravenousness look
of hunger on my face.

“You are a brave woman,” she replied. “But bravery in this place will
bring on rewards of dire consequences.”

As she walked away, I could hear the other slaves gulping their drinks,
and then immediately began begging for more. I held my hands over my ears,
trying to block out the noise. My stomach churned, but the gnawing pain was
nothing compared to everything else that I had endured.
Maybe they’ll kill me
,
I
thought to myself.
I would happily welcome
death over this
.

It wasn’t long before everything was once again quiet, with nothing
other than the occasional cough or moan. About an hour later, I heard several
sets of footsteps coming down the stairs. Everyone in their cages froze, and it
became so silent you could have heard a pin drop. As they came closer, I
distinctly heard Annabel order someone to “prepare the room.”

Oh God, not
Annabel
.
I couldn’t help but to hope they would pass me by,
but after the message I had sent to the mistress, it was pretty clear who they
were coming for. My suspicions were soon proven correct, as Enrique stopped in
front of my cage and unlocked the door.

“Now, don’t make me come in after you again. You remember what happened
last time, don’t you?” he said, wiggling his fingers at me with a grin on his
face.

“Go to hell,” I said, flashing him a finger of my own. “Come get me if
you want me so bad.”

Enrique must have wised up since his last venture through the sludge,
because tonight he sent in two of the men he had with him. Last time they were
lucky. I was beaten and broken. This time was different. My body had healed,
and though I was weak from hunger, I was more than ready to put up a much
stronger fight.

The first man to enter the cage grabbed at my feet just as Enrique had
the first time, and he suffered the same fate. My foot hit his face with such
force that his head smashed against the top of the stone cage, stunning him
momentarily. The other man was now crouched in the cage, and as soon as he had
the opportunity, he threw himself on top of me, immobilizing my body and then
grappled for my hands. He put his head a little too close to my face and I took
advantage. He screamed as I bit down on his ear and tried to pull away from me.
While he was pushing
off of
my chest with his hand, I
was rising with him, and then in one swift move, I yanked back hard enough to
keep a portion of his ear in my mouth.

After struggling with the men for several minutes, everyone heard,
“Enrique, get in there and do the job that your men can’t seem to do.” The
thought of getting another shot at that bastard brought a smile to my face. Enrique
slung the two men from my cage, as they were doing their best to back out, and
slid inside. He reared back to hit me, but Annabel stopped him.

“Stop! We don’t have another week for her to heal. Just drag her out,”
she demanded angrily.

Enrique turned his head to look at her, and that little second was all
I needed. I smashed one hand into his groin, grabbed his testacies and twisted,
while punching him in the nose with the other. He yelled out in pain and reared
back again, only this time he ignored all orders and slammed his fist into the
side of my face. I fell backwards; losing my grip only after my head hit the
stone floor.