Page 5 of Dark Knight

Sean turned and picked up the duffle bag that he had dropped on the floor, completely ignoring Sampson’s offer. "I think you'll find everything in here is sufficient."

"I don't want to do business in front of her." Sampson's tone was clipped, and I knew Sean was walking a line that he didn't even realize. That line would quickly bring violence if it was crossed.

"Fine, but I need to get her to the boss as quickly as possible."

"Understood, but don’t forget to mention my offer," Sampson said before jerking his head toward the door. The two men hurried out with what I assumed to be a duffle bag full of money, though I was surprised I was being paid for in cash, surely there were easier ways to go about it these days.

As soon as the door latched behind them, I looked down at the cuffs. Both the one around my wrist and the one around my ankle were metal. I knew I didn't really stand much of a chance of getting out of them. If I could at least get my hand free, maybe I could figure out some way of getting the bottom cuff off as well.

I stepped on the chain that connected to the cuff around my wrist, holding it in place as I yanked against it. The furious need for freedom pulsed through my veins. Adrenaline sparked through me, as I knew this was my last chance. If Sean took me back, I wouldn't be able to escape again.

Within seconds, my skin was red and puffy, and I tried to remember what I had seen in TV shows and movies about people escaping from handcuffs–not that I'd seen much of it until I ran away from my family. In shows, they always seemed to have a hair pin or some sharp object they could use to help free themselves.

Unfortunately, I had nothing like that.

The only thing I could think of was breaking my hand somehow, which might make it small enough to fit through the cuff. It was the only thing I could think of that might stand a chance of getting me free, and while I could do that with my hand, that didn't solve the problem of the cuff on my ankle. Plus, would I still be able to escape only having one functional hand? Especially if it was my non-dominant hand?

Small rivulets of blood dripped down my hand, which made the place where the skin and the metal of the cuff connected slippery. It didn't quite make it slippery enough for me to get it off, though. That would just be too easy.

I was so focused on getting myself free that I hadn't even noticed footsteps coming up the hallway again. It was only when the door opened that I realized Sean had returned.

He was alone, which could only mean the sale had gone through.

"Did you think I would forget about you?" he asked, and I couldn't tell if he meant from the sale, or from the cult, or life in general, so I just widened my eyes and tried to give him my best innocent puppy-dog look. He crossed the room in just a few strides. A small key hung from his fingertips in his left hand. The gentle jingle of metal on metal was the only sound filling the space.

"I could never forget about you," he said as he cupped the side of my face with his hand. I had to repress the urge to jerk away from his touch.

Angering him right now would serve no purpose, so even though I wanted to scream and rant at him at how fucking insane he was for tracking me down and buying me at an auction, I kept my jaw clamped shut.

"I have some clothes waiting for you in the car, but maybe you should change here. At least you'd have some privacy–I wasn't sure what the situation would be."

"Did you run away?" The question slipped from my lips.

I knew from the cloud that passed over his face it was the wrong thing to ask. "Of course not. I am loyal to the Light Father, but even though you were meant to be our Light Mother, you left us. Somebody had to come and find you, and I wasn't about to let anyone else get in the way or risk losing you again."

My heart froze with fear. "You've been looking for me this whole time?" Please tell me it isn't true, I thought to myself.

"Of course I have. You're beyond precious." He looked down at me with nothing but naked adoration on his face, and it made me want to vomit.

There was nothing precious about the role of Light Mother. I had to fight the urge to scream at him. Somehow, I managed to curl my lips into something resembling a smile, even though I just wanted to throw a tantrum and beat the absolute shit out of him the way Lyric had with my ex, Cliff. If only I could channel my roommate.

For what felt like the millionth time, I wondered what she was doing, what she thought of my disappearance. Did she have any idea that Sampson was the one who took me? Was she looking for me at all? We hadn't known each other that long, but we were good friends. Falling down that rabbit hole of spiraling thoughts wouldn't do me any good, though.

"Can I ask you something?" I kept my voice soft and pitched higher than it normally would be, trying to sound as feminine and as meek as possible.

"You can ask me anything. You're my Light Mother, and I'll help you fulfill that role however I can."

I took a calming breath. "You know the-the-the man who took me, he said that you were buying me for your boss. The Light Father doesn't have much money, though, does he?"

Sean frowned. "This isn't going to be pleasant for you to hear."

Gently, he pushed me back to the bed and sat me down before perching on the edge of the mattress next to me. "When I left to find you, I had to find a job and somehow I fell in with the type of people who would buy somebody like you. It was just luck that I saw your photo mixed in with some paperwork that my boss was looking at a few weeks ago. I tried to figure out where you were based on the photo, but the background was too generic, so I worked on my boss until he agreed to buy you.

“We came to an arrangement, one which he doesn't think I'll break, but as soon as I get you out of here safely, I'll take you back to the compound. I won't let anything get in the way of your destiny. Now, let me go and get those clothes." He looked me up and down. "I'm sure white isn't a color you can wear anymore." His words hurt, but not for the reason he thought. "I know it probably wasn't your choice, but that's something you'll have to discuss with the Light Father."

Sean didn't understand that I hadn't been able to wear white since I was a child, not truly. In fact, none of the men in the compound understood that. He pushed up off the bed, moving to leave. I grabbed the back of his shirt, intending to just tug on it a little bit, but I pulled too hard and he wound up flopping back on the bed. "Don't leave yet," I whispered. "Not when that bad man might still be around."

"He won't come back for you," Sean reassured me.

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