An Unexpected Luna

6 - Slave

Olivia

I wake up looking at my surroundings and hoping they would have magically changed overnight. Reality hits me right in the head, like a hard thrown brick, and I should know, I've experienced that before.

I groan a little, taking advantage of the fact that I'm in here alone. Of course my surroundings didn't change, not for the better, at least. I'm still in one of the small closets that are dotted around the hidden passages of this house. It's all a maze, but one that I've come to know like the back of my hand. Unfortunately I also know for sure that all the exits are sealed, hence why I'm allowed to roam the passages freely, and I nestled in this small room where I know nobody will bother me.

Another day in hell! I mutter to myself, forcing my aching body to get up. I have a lot of work today, starting with preparing something to eat for the poor 22 women that are currently living an even worse nightmare than I am, and then feeding the same monsters that create our nightmares.

I had tried in the past to help a few of them escape, but that ended badly both for me and the girls. The brick incident being one of the easier punishments I received. This is why, over time I have given up on that, and settled for keeping them fed and holding their hands when they needed soothing. If I'm being truly honest with myself, I don't think I can even remember the way out of this hell hole. I've been here since I was 18, and not even once I was allowed outside of the house. Over the past couple of months I have been somewhat promoted, and I'm allowed to go upstairs and even open the front door and greet guests.

It's not because I have done anything to prove myself to the monsters that hold us all captive, it's because one of them forced himself on the actual maid they had, and ended up killing the poor woman.

Mr Daniels, the boss, refused to hire another maid, scared that she might discover his operation or end up like the last maid. Instead, he decided that his oldest slave, which would be me, can be trusted enough not to escape anymore, and honestly, he's not wrong.

During my latest escape attempt which was well over 6 months ago, I ended up with blood on my hands, both literally and figuratively speaking.

Mr Daniels doesn't play, unlike his other associates. He only shouted 'Olivia, come out or I start killing'in a bored voice. When I wouldn't come out of my hiding spot, I heard the first loud bang and started praying he's only bluffing or trying to scare me.

He must have known I was somewhere in the garage, because that's where he came and shot the second girl, proving to me that he is indeed, not playing.

I had the smart idea of crawling under one of their SUVs and latching onto the underbelly of the massive car, waiting for them to drive it away, and me along with it. In retrospect, it was a poor plan, but at the time it seemed like my best shot, considering I had no other way of getting out of this house.

As soon as I saw the body drop on the concrete floor with blood pooling fast around her head, I dropped to the ground and crawled out from my hiding spot. Mr Daniels only smirked and yelled at me to clean up the mess, casually letting me know there is another one just like it, in the foyer.

That day I threw up things I didn't even know I had in my stomach. Some guards took the bodies away, as I was not trusted to go outside, thankfully, but their image is still vivid in my memory, and every time I close my eyes. Those two innocent girls, that went through hell and back, are dead because of me, so I swore never to try and escape ever again. I have done enough damage, and if I truly want to be brave, then I should just end my own life. But that's the thing, I was never brave enough to kill myself, there is always that nagging little voice in the back of my head, that small glimmer of hope that one day all this nightmare will end, and I will be free. Free to live, to have a normal life. I'm still young, I can still enjoy a few years of freedom if I'm ever able to leave this hell.

I'm 23 and I'm practically a slave. So I'm a slave, just not a s*x slave and that's a win in my eyes. This is what I tell myself every time I need a pep talk. Sad, I know, but so far it worked, I'm still hanging on.

Now I'm up and ready to start my day. I have a few hours to tend to the women and make sure they are alright, before I start with the tasks list I've been given.

My main task today is to make sure the house is clean and the guests are well tended to. I didn't ask, as I'm sure I would have received a hard slap rather than an actual answer, but I'm fairly certain today we will have various buyers parading around the estate in order to pick up the girls. That's what it was like previously, at least.

I hate that I'm essentially a part of a human trafficking operation, but deep inside I'm shamelessly glad that I ended up here and I wasn't sold like the rest of the women had.

I've learned fast to use whatever pills or herbs I can find around the house to knock out any of the men that give me lingering looks, before they manage to r**e me. It's mostly the men that work for Mr Daniels, because the old man himself looks at me and the other captives with so much disgust that I almost feel insulted. Almost. But the old guy never touches the merchandise. Oh no, he only ever f***s high end escorts, not that he doesn't enjoy it when they try to fight him off.

"Olivia! Open the f*****g door. Can't you hear there's a car that stopped outside? Open your f*****g ears, or I'll be forced to put a bullet hole through your thick skull and see if that helps your hearing!" I jump startled, just as Mr Daniels, the devil himself, stops right next to me. He is not a tall man by any means, and even though his shoes have heels that would rival those worn on a catwalk, his eyes are still at the same level as mine.

"Sssory sir. I'll go right away." I stutter and look for a quick escape before he serves me my punishment. Knowing that we'll have guests all evening and night, he won't hit me hard enough to draw blood or leave marks, so my guard is not all the way up. I should have known better.

A hard punch hits one of the ribs that was well in its way towards healing completely. I guess it will have to start the process all over again, because the pain that's shooting from it means it's clearly back to being broken.

Before I could compose myself and grab the door, Mr Daniels squeezes my upper arm so hard that it's distracting me from the pain in my ribs.

"This is the biggest buyer we have ever had, hence why I'll be meeting him in person, in my study. He might even take all of them, so don't f**k this is up by being an ungrateful and disrespectful little b***h, because if all goes well, I might even throw you in as a bonus to his purchase. And trust me when I say that you will miss being back here with me." I gulp and quickly scramble towards the door, opening with a smile that I pray doesn't look too forced, just polite enough. I don't need to piss of Mr Daniels' biggest buyer, or else they might end up fighting over who gets to put a bullet in my head.

I welcome the gentleman inside, looking in his general direction, but avoiding to make eye contact or even taking in any of his features. All I notice is that he is extremely handsome, but I ignore the stupid flutter in my heart. He is a monster just like Mr Daniels, I need to remember that and know my place. Being an eye witness and being able to recognise these people in a line up, puts a big, red target on your back, one that even I'm not stupid enough to risk.

I can feel the stranger's eyes scanning over my body, and Mr Daniels' words echo loud in my head. I force myself to appear as uninjured as possible, hoping I look like any other maid, because the vibe that this man is giving clearly tell me that he is also beyond pissed off.

Oddly enough, I feel safer around him, as I silently guide him towards my boss' study, and this is why I don't turn around, not even once, until we reach the door. It's the first visitor that came to this house and I was able to turn my back to without having that deep rooted fear of being groped, killed or seriously assaulted.

I knock softly on the door even if I feel like rolling my eyes, because Mr Daniels only got in the room a few seconds before us. He was spying to see how I received the stranger in, and didn't leave until we started walking to get to his study.

I hold the door open for the stranger to walk in, and I freeze when I hear him speak a full sentence since he stepped foot inside this house.

"Thank you, now please leave." His words surprise me for a lot of reasons. Firstly, he thanked me, and it wasn't sarcastic, which never happens around here, not with a slave like me, at least. Second. when he told me to leave, his tone was not dismissive, but more like pleading with me.

I only nodded meekly and made myself scarce before Daniels could say anything, and before I would give in to my instincs and and look at the stranger's face. I keep chanting in my mind the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat', as I hastly retreat, making a point at knowing I am the cat, but as I try to busy myself away from the study, yet still close enough to hear Daniels if he yells for me, an idea pops into my head.

"This cat will definitely end up dead one day." I mutter as I go into the servants' tunnels and tiptoe to get as close to the study as possible without giving away my presence.