Page 10 of The Labyrinth

It was dark in the hall until Griffin flicked on the light. “I always forget these humans can’t see like us. Fucking inconvenient if you ask me. Come on. I just left Clara, so she should still be awake. She can help get you settled in, and explain the ropes.” We walked down the hall behind Griffin, Rissa cooperating until we reached the first of the rooms.

The cells were set up with two beds each, comfortably appointed really. Behind the bars a woman slept or sat on each bed, staring at us blankly as we passed. One after the other, the women stared at us, caged and waiting. I knew what they thought as we walked by. I knew what they were waiting for. I wasn’t proud to admit I had used my fair share of these women, but desperate times came with desperate measures.

Rissa was slowly realizing something was off about this place. She tensed beneath my hand, coming to a stop. “What…what kind of camp is this?”

Griffin stopped as well and turned around, surprise written clearly across his face. “Did you not explain any of this to her on the walk?”

“It would have been easier if she came willingly,” I grumbled. I hoped of all people, Griffin would understand that. “Figured we could tell her once she was here and couldn’t run away. I really didn’t feel like chasing her.” Another bitter lie, a surprise to me this time. Would I have enjoyed chasing Rissa? Maybe I would’ve liked the part where I caught her.

Griffin rolled his eyes and tugged on his short horn, a nervous habit from childhood. “You’ve been told this is a camp, yes?”

Rissa nodded, looking anywhere other than at Griffin. She eyed the women in the cages, probably what had made her alarm bells go off. They were all female. We had men, too, though. They were just in a different wing. We didn’t need to deal with any human babies.

“It’s a work camp of sorts, but probably not what you’re expecting.” He glared at me, annoyed he had to be the one to tell her. I just shrugged my shoulders. I had brought her to the camp, and that was what mattered, wasn’t it?

Rissa stared up at him. For the first time, I could sense her fear. It was absolutely succulent. “So I’m not going to be smashing rocks?”

“No.” Griffin laughed. He looked at me, cocking a challenging eyebrow. “Go on, Ten. You can tell your sweet little captive where she is.”

Of course he wanted me to tell her.Dick. Rissa turned to stare at me, her perfect eyes peering up at me as if I could save her. But I couldn’t rescue her, because I had already condemned her. I opened my mouth, knowing the words that followed would change her life forever. The horrid little weed growing inside of me protested with every breath I took. “This is a breeding camp, Rissa.”

Chapter5

Rissa

Ihad misheard him. Right? Right. I must have misheard him. That was the only option. I was brought here for some hard manual labor, maybe cleaning some houses and scrubbing some toilets if I was lucky. Not breeding. Anything but breeding. “Awhatcamp?”

“A breeding camp,” he repeated slowly, not breaking my gaze. “You’ll be fucked and bred here, until you’re capable of carrying a half-human child.”

No. No. No.“No.” It was the only logical answer.

Ten tilted his head to stare at me. “You’ll be bred, or you’ll die. Your choice.”

I couldn’t wrap my head around this newfound development. Ten was well over two feet taller than I was, and the other one who had greeted us at the door was nearly as big. Surely their…appendages would be just as huge? Was this why all the women in here seemed shell-shocked? Fuck. No.

But your family.Was my family worth being raped day in and day out, to be impregnated?You can’t escape anyway. Not yet. But maybe eventually there would be a chance. I just needed them to let their guard down. Could I wait them out? Maybe. And one question still remained. “Why?”

“The half-humans are better for infiltrating the other gangs. We need more of them than we have currently,” Ten responded, giving me exactly what he thought I needed to know, and nothing more. I was beginning to realize this was how he explained everything. “Besides, our number of female citizens are decreasing at an alarming rate. Human women are how we can keep our birth rate steady.”

I spun around, scanning the women behind bars around me. Some looked dead-eyed, some stared at me with a quiet curiosity. Some looked feral, like they would snap given the slightest chance. What would I look like after a week here? A month? A year? Would they even look at a half-human child the same way they saw a monster child? I had so many questions, and not a chance of getting any of them answered.

“Like I told you before, your family will be compensated. So you can make this easy on yourself, come and meet Clara, and go along with everything. Or you can do this the hard way, still end up fucked, and die at the end of it. Which would you rather?”

Ten didn’t need to ask. He already knew my choice. “Clara,” I whispered.

He and his monster friend both dragged me behind them as we continued walking. Eventually the cages became bigger, with only one bed inside each cage instead of two. The girls became less shell-shocked, more quietly resigned to their fate. Soon we stopped in front of the largest cage yet, the bed draped in thick blankets, and a small window carved into the back wall.

“Back so soon, Griffin?” a smooth voice called out of the cell.

“You wish, Clara,” the one standing with Ten replied. Griffin. Strangely fitting. “I have a new girl for you to teach the ropes.”

“Oh, really?” Curiosity laced the female voice as she stepped into the light. She was beautiful, and even more shocking, she was clean. Her blonde hair shone, draped over one shoulder, her ample curves cloaked by a silky dressing gown. She looked me up and down, giving me an easy smile. I already liked her. “My name’s Clara. What’s yours?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, Griffin jumped in. “Her name is Rissa.”

Clara snapped her head toward Griffin, her full pink lips turning down in a frown. “I askedher, not you.”

Oh, I definitely liked her. I didn’t know why she had the better room, or was so comfortable with Griffin, but since she wasn’t afraid to stand up to him, I knew I needed to stick with her.

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