Caged Animals (1)

The world was obscured, blended into a never ending nightmare where Ari couldn't tell if she was awake or still trapped in unconsciousness from whatever drug her coffee had been laced with. God she hated coffee. No matter how hard her eyes strained they wouldn't adjust to the pitch black of wherever she was.

Slowly she tried to stretch each limb to make sure everything was intact only to be stopped short by the limitation of chains. Her hands and feet were shackled together making running or doing more than crawling on her hands and knees impossible.

There was another chain around her waist which connected to her wrists making her have to curl up to receive any slack on the line. Clearly she'd been betrayed by the blonde but why? She only vaguely remembered the woman's words before passing out, "You who catches a pretty price."

Somehow Ari had found herself caught in what could only be human trafficking. Where was Benjamin or Rafael or anyone? "Help! Someone let me out!" She thrashed around making the chains jingle loudly.

"Quiet." Someone hissed among the darkness, the sound more chains clanking as they moved around. If it wasn't for an odd reflection of light bouncing off the metal, she wouldn't have seen them, but she could now when they pressed their face into the bars. "They might come and grab you first." The person laughed, flashing gums that held not a single tooth inside.

"I'll play dead and weak. Save your strength. Don't you watch horror movies? The one that screams always gets it, fool." Another said on the opposite side.

Her head turned to each side staring off at what she assumed to be people although there was no way to be sure. Ari quieted down, whispering instead. "Where are we and why are we here? It's not like I expected to wake up in chains in some creepy basement." They couldn't see it but she rolled her eyes. Cliches were often far from the truth. When she called for help at the nightclub Alaric had come. But he wasn't there this time.

Playing dead probably wouldn't do them much good. People willing to snatch them in broad daylight could probably find a way to profit from their corpses. There was no way to tell how much time had passed. Had anyone noticed she was gone?

"We don't know where we are, all we know is we've been here for far too long. Can't tell you when the last time it was that I saw the light." The man coughed into his hand. The cells were cold and damp, the wet stone smelling like mold and mildew. Whenever he went silent. The soft patterning of leaking pipes filled the quietness. "I've been here since I was fifteen. I'm now forty-five."

"And the only time we're allowed to leave these cages is to go into what they call the red room. We aren't talking about the fifty shades of Grey. We don't remember much. Flashing lights, dancing, pain. Sometimes it's all a blur. We end up bleeding, even bruised when we come back to our cages." The woman whispered.

"I'm hungry." A child whined, nomming on a dirty hole riddled white sleeve.

Things were worse than she thought. Human trafficking, buying and selling people, was one thing. This place was fresh hell. What they described was torture. The fact that a child was among them saddened her. Ari wished she had something to give them.

She sat back against the wall, shuffling around awkwardly. Her bindings didn't allow for comfort. The metal chafed the skin around her wrists and ankles leaving them sore and raw feeling.

Ari didn't want to imagine what the man looked like after years of captivity. She was scared, but of course they all probably were. They were kept in the dark, left to their imaginations and cold misery with little hope of escape. If she had the chance to get out, if Alaric cared enough to come for her, she'd make sure to free them all with her.

Until then all she could do was wait. There was an odd sense of familiarity that came with the stench of refuse mingling with the palpable fear in the air. A vague memory teasing the edges of her mind slipping just out of reach every time she thought too hard on it. "I'm sure someone will come looking for us," she whispered.

An old lady's voice came from across the room, her tone breaking off into laughter. "No one's looking for any of us. We don't have families. You think these people are stupid enough to pick people that will be on the raidar. Some of us are homeless, orphans. Unless you have family that'll come bursting in here."

People made noises in agreement, nodding their heads and clapping at her words.

"Don't give false hope. Had that for far too many years. I'll see it when I see it." The man shook his head and flopped onto his back. The cold splash not so much as making him shiver. It seemed he was used to his sleeping environment being wet.

Ari was taken aback at their complacency. Despite being poor and far from home, even when things seemed to hit rock bottom, she never gave up trying. Even when she had to throw away her pride and go crawling back to someone who humiliated her. She buried her face in her knees, curling in on herself to try and keep warm despite the cold puddles around her cell leaching it from her.

Her fingers knitted together, shivering and left to rot. "Giving up doesn't do anyone any good either." But it was little more than a half hearted mutter. The others clearly didn't want to hear what she had to say. It was probably like that every time someone new came in, adding to the collection of forgotten nobodies.

The door opened before any of them could respond to what she said. More metal clanking metal as everyone in their cells and cages perked up. Closer and closer the person got until the metal slits in the vents above twisted open. Enough for a little droplet of sunlight to come spilling inside the overwhelming musty darkness.

The woman from the mall jangled her keys around, blonde hair bouncing as she had a skip in her joyful walk. A smile stretched across her pallid features. "Wakey Wakey, time to get you flashbags food. Good and fat." She tossed dirty bowls inside, nasty gritty food sloshing over the edge.

Several people grasped at them like hungry dogs, trying to stop even the smallest bit from spilling. They wanted every last drop. The kid reached her hand out to get her bowl that the blonde purposely placed too far out for her to grasp, then stepped on her hand and twisted.

Bones popped, and when she lifted them, most of them bent to the back of her hand while her pink perked up like a crinkly fry. Blue and red already. She screamed, and the woman unlocked the cage and lifted her by the throat. "You're fat enough now. They love them young and innocent just like you."

Still her legs weren't entirely stable but they seemed to get better by the day. It took her a few tries before she managed to reach up to catch her own bowl though half the slop was already on the ground.

Ari carefully set it in her corner away from wandering hands before banging her wrists loudly on the bars, trying to grab at the lady. "You! What did you do?! You know Alaric won't let you get away with this! So why not save us all some time you Svetlana-looking half asses wannabe and let us out."

The thin beam of light was enough to offset the hazel in her eyes highlighting the deeper emerald tones which were narrowed up at her. "You'll be lucky if you get to rot in a prison somewhere when they come for me." She stood on her top toes, leaning heavily on the bars, lips pursing to spit a huge wad of spit right on her too perfect cheek. (1500)

One minute the woman was across the room, the next she was in front of Ari's cage. She hit her in the throat with her palm, then pulled her forward by the neck until the side of her face slammed against the bars. "I plan on it darling. V'what? You think my brains are as punty as yours?" Using her thumb, she dug her sharp nail into her cheek drawing blood. Her tongue slid up the crimson line greedily. "Oh my. V'what have we here?" In the light her blue eyes lit up like diamonds, pupils blown wide.

Another man came in and yanked her off her feet, the blonde failing and screaming, veins popping in her neck. "Give me her! I v'ant. I v'ant." She was dragged to the door.

"Come on now. You've had enough. Chill the fuck out." He hissed as the door clicked shut and the vents closed, cutting off what little light they had.

"Are you top tier?" The man in the cell next to her asked.