Page 35 of Stolen

I frowned at her response, unsure of what to say. On the one hand, she shouldn’t rely on me in the slightest. The only person she could count on was herself. But on the other hand, having a friend in a situation like this was the only available medicine worth a damn.

A few seconds later, three guards came in, each carrying a tray with bowls of food and had a large bag slung over their arms. One by one, they opened each cage, dropped the bowls and bottles of water at the foot of the cages, and relocked the doors back in place.

I stayed firmly on my padding as they opened my cage, placed the food and water on the floor, and locked it back up, repeating the same steps with the rest of the cages beside me.

Slowly pushing myself up and attempting to ease my sore body, I took my rations and sat against the wall of the cage. I nearly cried myself back to lying down from the agony of yesterday, but I needed to eat if I wanted to heal. I downed half the bottle of water and decided to save the rest for later. The contents of the bowl were the same as usual: chicken stir-fry. Did they not know how to make anything else?

I looked over at Kayla who was still trying to finish hers, but by the time the guards came back around to collect the bowls, she still had several bites left.

“Time’s up, bitch,” said the guard, unlocking her cage and reaching in. “Hand it over.”

“I’m almost done,” she said, desperately trying to spoon the rest of the rice in her mouth.

“I said now!” he shouted, grabbing her ankle and yanking her toward him. My body jerked in Kayla’s defense, but the sudden movement sent sharp pains all over. Kayla shrieked as she was tugged from the cage. The guard pinned her to the floor, mere inches from her face as he covered her body with his. “I gave you an order, slave! You don’t get to defy me!” he shouted at her.

All the other women around us whimpered in their cages or screamed in fear as their eyes took in the scene before them.

“I’m sorry!” she pleaded. “Please! I won’t do it again!”

“You’re damn right,” he said, and he slapped her hard across the face.

God, I wanted to help her, but I knew if I said anything, it would only make matters worse. I gently placed my empty bowl at the door of my cage and tried to keep myself from causing any further trouble.

“Got a fighter?” said the other guard, walking up to the scene.

“Yeah, a disrespectful little bitch who thinks she has the right to make me wait for her to finish stuffing her face.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Kayla kept whispering.

“Not yet, bitch, but you’re gonna be,” said the guard holding her down.

He then flipped her on to her stomach and spread her legs with his knees. She screamed and pleaded underneath him as he went for his zipper, and I felt my stomach shrink into knots. Closing my eyes, I visually tried to walk away. I tried to tell myself to let it go, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t just sit there and watch them rape her.

“Hey!” I yelled at them. “Leave her alone. She said she was sorry! She won’t do it again!”

The guard on top of her looked at me as if I had lost my fucking mind. I most likely had.

“What the fuck did you just say?” said the guard who was still standing.

“Please…just let her go,” I pleaded, looking at Kayla as she whimpered on the floor. The terror in her eyes was so apparent I could feel it in the air.

“I think she wants some, too,” said the standing guard as he walked over to my cage.

Fuck, and here I thought I was going to avoid conflict again. As he reached down to unlock my cage, I backed myself up as far as I could go, but his arm was too long as he grasped my ankle.

“Stop!” shouted a deep, commanding voice from down the hall. “What the fuck’s going on here?”

I knew that voice, knew it far too well as shivers ran down my spine and my heart dropped into my stomach. It was him. Fuck, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to deal with him today. Why the hell did I have to open my mouth?

The owner made his way down to us, his heavy footsteps creating echoes in their wake and forcing tighter knots in my belly. He stopped just in front of my cage.

“Just a couple of defiant slaves, sir,” said the guard as he released my leg from his grip and stood.

“Is that so?” the owner said, turning his head and staring down at my cage, the anger in his face fueling the rising fear in my body.

I shook my head pleadingly, trying to make him realize the misunderstanding. I looked over at Kayla, who was still pinned and spread eagle on the floor under the guard.

“Please,” I said, looking back at him, hoping to reason with him as he turned toward Kayla.

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