Page 34 of The Caged Girl

I took a deep breath as my head throbbed and the light beeping in the background taunted me. “Bradley…” My voice cracked.

“Demi.” He sighed as he brushed the hair out of my face, but I slapped his hand off me.

“My sister is alive. My sister is alive!” I screamed. Bradley looked alarmed as he glanced around the room. I didn’t even think to check where I was, and truthfully, didn’t even think I cared.

It was a stark white space that resembled a hospital room.

“Demi, you are dehydrated, you are sleep deprived, and under extreme distress.” Bradley lifted a cup filled with something steaming. “Drink it, Demi.”

I pushed it away and forced myself to use any bit of strength in my body to sit upright.

“No. You don’t get to gaslight me and make me think I’m crazy. She was there. You were fucking my sister, and there were women hung upside down, bleeding out.” I licked my dry, cracked lips as snot dribbled out of my nose.

Bradley tilted his head and watched as tears poured out of my eyes. They weren’t tears of sadness; they were ones of anger and exhaustion.

“Demi, think about what you just said. Please. Your sister, Layla, died in an apartment after you stabbed her to death to put her out of her misery. You think there were dead women hanging upside down as blood drained from them?”

Closing my eyes, I was shaking, feeling the IV needles deep in my flesh and I began doubting myself.

“Demi, Alister flew to Miami for the day to handle business. You are lucky he thought you’d gotten up to work. Mrs. Rothschild has been asking about you and needs you to be back serving her. She refuses any other dove.” Bradley placed the mug down and rested his elbows against his knees before running his hands through his hair.

“Demi, this is an all-inclusive resort for wealthy couples to come and heal their marriage and expand their families. There is nothing to it. No one is here against their will. You poke and prod until someone gets hurt, or worse, someone or many people die.” He looked back at me.

“Once you’re in this family and have seen what you have, there’s two options: one, you accept this as your new normal, or two, you kill yourself or be killed. That’s it. You’ll never escape this family. They will never let you go, and most of all, you’re forgetting that you are an Ivory.”

“I’ve decided you will no longer be exposed to the Euphoria program. Being a nightingale is intended for the women who were on death’s door…the women we saved.”

“Saved them?” My forehead creased as I shook my head. “Those innocent girls are rotting in sheer darkness, deprived of sight and all their senses. They are expected to feel grateful to serve and be used, raped and tortured by rich men who want to feel what? Appreciated? Powerful? And then…you let them die so they can serve men as corpses.” My heart raced with fury.

“Demi?” Bradley and I both looked at the door. Nothing made any noise here; everything was quiet, and I knew we were always being watched or heard.

“Mrs. Rothschild is looking for you. She’s very upset and even asked for her husband to be returned so they could depart early, unless you came back to serve her.” Marcie paused and crossed her arms. Her shiny blonde hair was perfectly placed in a low bun.

“Demi needs more rest,” Bradley replied. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the image of Bradley sleeping with my sister and the bodies hanging in the background.

I could hear their moans and my shriek. I could hear my heart pounding against my chest as the world crashed in around me. Layla and I looked almost the same, except for the small birthmark she had on her cheek that was never noticeable since she covered it with makeup. Most of our lives people had assumed we were twins.

“Demi has rested plenty,” Marcie said sternly as she reached over and yanked the needles out of my arm. Bradley tried to block her, but she pushed him away as I cried out in agony.

“Get up, Demi. We cannot lose one of our richest clients over your little dehydrated-induced hallucinations.” Marcie tugged me into the hallway and my head spun from the sudden crass movement.

“Easy, Marcie. Easy, now.” Kandi, the makeup and hair stylist, was waiting in the hallway with her white makeup box.

“I think our Demi needs to stay in heaven and far away from hell.” Kandi winked at me as I held on to the doorframe. Everything was sterile and all white. There were nurses walking up and down the hallways with blonde hair, green eyes, and the old-fashioned nurse outfits and hats.

“Demi, this is inside of La Gabbia. When you live on a private island and in a resort, then you have no reason to leave. We have our own little airport right outside for the private planes to land, and beyond that it is our haven, right, Marcie?”

Marcie wasn’t smiling or showing any emotion beyond watching Bradley over my shoulder. “Get her ready and drop her off to Mrs. Rothschild, Kandi. I need to have a word with my…”

Bradley’s jaw tensed. “I’m not your employee, Marcie. Alister would never give you that control.”

Marcie smirked, and for the first time, I saw something inside her I’d never seen before.

Evil.

“I’m going to warn you once, Demi. If you don’t start behaving and doing your job, you’ll be one of those girls hanging upside down and drying out to be used…”

“Marcie!” Bradley put his hands up as I looked between them.

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