Page 27 of Invincible
CHAPTER8
Mia hadn’t gottensteak for supper that night.She and the other girls were learning to subsist on a meal of convenience store hot-box items.
Tonight they got day-old, overheated hot dogs, stale chips, and an overripe banana.As much as she wanted to throw it back through the links in their cage, Memphis had told her to eat everything she was given to maintain her strength.It didn’t help that she could almost smell her dad’s burgers cooking on the grill each night in her dreams.
“You need to eat,” she whispered, sliding over to one of the other girls.Her name was Kelley, and she had told Mia she was thirteen.She had become sick on the trip here and was still too pale for Mia’s liking.
She had overheard the leader of the men telling them to increase the food portions for the skinnier women so they would look healthier when sold.That translated to an extra hot dog for each of them.Most everyone wolfed down the little they were given, but quite often lately, she had noticed Kelley leaving most of hers untouched in its container.
“Why?They’ll just kill us in the end,” the seventeen-year-old Natalie snapped from her perch above them on one of the cots.Mia had taken an instant dislike to her caustic personality.Natalie was always quick to point out the worst-case scenario at every turn.It did little to bolster the other women’s spirits.
Kelley started to cry, something her sadly dehydrated body couldn’t afford to do.Mia shot her best death glare at Natalie before wrapping an arm around Kelley’s thin shoulders, pulling her closer.
“That won’t happen.There are people out there right now hunting for us.I know for a fact that they won’t give up until they find us.”Natalie rolled her eyes, moving to the other side of the cage while Mia rocked Kelley gently.At least she hoped they were still looking for her.
Memphis had assured her that they were doing everything they could to find her, but could you really believe a ghost?She wished, ghost or not, that he would come back soon.It was really hard to keep up a strong front without encouragement and most of the girls in the cage had already begun to give up.
“No,” she said to herself, pushing the doubt deep down inside.“I know they are tearing this town apart looking for us.”That was the only thing she needed to tell herself.“They are out there and they will find me.”Maybe if she said it enough times, it would come true.
She began to repeat the mantra in her head when she noticed that Kelley had fallen asleep on her shoulder.She eased the girl’s head down onto her lap, pulling a blanket over her.
Mia had begun her mantra again, staring blankly out of the cage when she saw the men across the room suddenly jump to their feet from the table they had been playing cards at.That could only mean one thing.He was coming.
She had learned his name was Mr.Tirich from his men, a name now embedded in her brain for all of eternity.Without a doubt, he was the vilest man she had ever come into contact with.She had also had enough of waiting.
“Hey!”she shouted, rising to her feet.“Hey, I need to talk to you.”
“What are you doing?”Natalie hissed at her.“You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“Fuck if I know, but I’m not curling up in surrender without a fight.”She felt her breath catch in her throat when the man turned his glacial gaze on her.Whatwasshe doing?She had read in some magazine that teenage brains were like Swiss cheese.She obviously should have been included in their case study.
Mr.Tirich’s eyes never left her as he spoke to one of the other men.
“Oh, shit.You’re dead,” Natalie added when two of the men hurried toward the cage.With regret racing through her, she took a fortifying breath before stepping to the gate.She just wished she had gotten to tell her dad how much she loved him and how sorry she was to cause him so much worry all the time.If she died, she hated to think he would never know.
One of the men unlocked the cage using a key he kept in his pocket and jerked her out of the cage.The other man watched the rest of the women with a gun pointed through the cage mesh.No one even tried to help her.
She stumbled once as she was marched across the cement to her fate, but managed to recover quickly.When she was stopped in front of Mr.Tirich, he had sat down in a chair with his legs spread out like he didn’t have a worry in the world.
“Did you have something you wanted to tell me, little girl?”
Mia stood trembling while she tried to remember what she wanted to say.As if in slow motion, she watched him blink slowly before a look of impatience flitted across his face.
All those movies where the woman spit in her abductor’s face before turning into a certified badass were pure bullshit.She was scared shitless and the last thing she wanted to do was make him even angrier by spitting at him.
“Well?”he asked again.“Speak up, sucia putita.”
“The food,” she blurted out.“Some of the girls are undernourished and need better food.Something health—” Her voice faded out as she saw the calculated look of cold, controlled rage on his face.She tried her best not to flinch when he slowly rose to his feet.
Quicker than she would have thought possible, he wrapped his large hand around the back of her neck, pulling her forward.When she was just a breath away from crashing against his chest, he leaned down until his cold eyes could look into hers.
“What, princess, are the accommodations not to your liking?Is that what you’re saying?”All she could do was stare at him, certain her eyes were the size of saucers.“I apologize for any inconvenience I have caused you.”
He leaned in farther, so his mouth was next to her ear.“Now listen very carefully.Are you listening, puta?”Mia nodded her head.“The next time I so much as see your mouth open, I’ll shove my dick so far down your throat you’ll choke to death when I come.”Tightening the grip on her neck to the point of bruising, he pulled back until they were face to face again.“Do you understand?”
Mia felt the hot tears that had been building at the back of her eyes spill down her cheeks.Mr.Tirich smiled, making her skin crawl even worse than it already was.
Standing back up to his full height, he shoved her at one of his men, who grabbed her upper arm before she went sprawling onto the floor.She was dragged back to the cage and thrown inside where, much to her later surprise, Natalie threw her arms out, catching her in a hug.They slid down the side together as Mia fought to regain as much of her courage as she could.
