Page 13 of The Caged Girl

“You and Marcie have the one room on the entire floor that isn’t laced with cameras.”

Parting my lips, I found that shocking. “What makes me so special?”

“Not you, it’s Marcie. She’s…she’s… Just forget it.”

My heart sank. “Kandi, I know something is happening here. I’m sure you all were told about me and my past. I’m sure all of this is some sick web, but I will die trying to end this.”

“End what?” Kandi gritted her teeth as I opened Marcie’s closet. All white gowns, shirts, pants.

“Fuck!” I shouted.

Nothing black. But then I saw it, a small box off to the side.

Tugging it out, it was all black clothing.

“Was Marcie a nightingale?” I looked at Kandi.

She nodded slowly. “Yes. She was the only nightingale that got to…”

“Got to what?” I lifted a short, black tulle dress.

“Be set free from the cages.”

CHAPTERNINE

Begrudgingly,Kandi took the blonde wig off. A realization hit me as I ran my fingers through the natural texture and waves.

“Was this…” Chills grew on my arms.

“The hair belonged to the woman you replaced. “Most of the hair that is turned into wigs come from…” Kandi gripped her stomach as her cheeks flushed red and her entire body language shifted. “No. Never mind, I can’t be any part of this, Demi. You’re going to get killed, and I don’t want to be killed. I have…”

“You have what?” I asked as I slipped into the black tulle dress I had taken from Marcie.

“I have a daughter waiting for me.” Kandi wiped away a tear. “Taylor, Jamie, and Suzanne do, too.”

“Demi, you don’t have a reason to live, but we do. It was either we work here and never leak any secrets of La Gabbia, or our daughters would get trafficked into becoming a nightingale. You have no idea what it’s like to have no options.”

Grief and sadness plagued me as I realized how sick it was that Alister preyed on a mother’s love for a child. But Kandi didn’t realize that my life was one I had to live to save all the others; I was the only one who could try to end them all. I knew I’d find out what was on the bottom floor of this posh resort tonight. I knew I’d find out why those girls were called nightingales.

I quickly put darker eye makeup on and swiped bright red lipstick onto my lips. “You’re going to need someone to get you there. Let me see what I can do.” Kandi shuddered as she lifted the phone and made a very confusing request.

“Hello, this is Kandi calling from upstairs. I was requesting a nightingale to come to the doves’ residential floor to collect a box of black gowns we found.” She ended the conversation before hesitating and finishing my hair.

“Wow.” A voice startled me a few moments later. A woman wearing a black gown stared at me.

“You’re going to need someone to sneak you in.” She tilted my chin up and swiped the lipstick that smudged.

“I’m Anu, a nightingale. Say goodbye to life as you know it, my dear. Once you go down into the pits of hell, you’ll never be the same.”

I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “I’m already dead. I don’t think you understand what kind of hell I’m coming from.”

Anu smiled at me. “The Ivory estate back in America, where there are actual laws, is nothing compared to what you’re about to witness. The women down there are only living because they are scared of what will happen to their bodies if they die. And the women up here are only living so their loved ones don’t die.”

“What happens to their bodies when they die?” I asked as I slipped the black heels on.

“Hopefully, you’ll never have to know.”

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