Chapter 3
About two weeks after they first met, Grace and Ciara went to the restroom together after class.
No one else noticed, but I quietly pressed myself against the door, trying to hear their conversation.
"My name's Grace Lemmon. I'm from Hinston, and I used to be a college student. I had a boyfriend who said he'd take me home to meet his parents," Grace said, her smile bitter. "But when I woke up, I was here, sold to some lonely old man. I ended up having three kids with him."
Ciara grabbed her arm and asked, "Do you know what happened to the other women who ended up here?"
Grace leaned in and whispered something in her ear.
I couldn't catch what she said, so I pushed the door open just a little and pressed my eye to the crack.
Connor and Brody always told me to keep my eyes on them.
"Ciara, my life's pretty much decided now. But you're still young. You..." Grace said.
Her eyes suddenly snapped at me, and she went tense, on high alert.
Then, her expression turned cold and threatening.
A chill of unease crept into my chest.
Before I could react, I heard a loud scream from behind me. It was from one of the kids from our town.
"Go tell the adults. Ms. Lemmon is trying to help Ms. Gagnon escape," the kid shouted.
*****
Grace was dead.
When Connor and the other men from town rushed back, they found Grace holding a shard of glass pressed hard against Ciara's neck.
"Let me go. I want out of here, or I'll kill her!" Grace yelled.
The sharp glass scraped a line of blood across Ciara's neck.
But there was no way Grace could stand up to all those men.
They tied her up like an animal ready for slaughter and had Fred take her back to his place.
A crowd of men followed, all wearing ugly grins.
Ciara, still shaking, curled up next to Brody and handed him a crumpled note.
"S-She made me promise to get her message out when you take me to town in a few days," Ciara stuttered.
The note was in shaky handwriting. It said: [My name is Grace Lemmon. I'm from Hinston. The exact address is...]
At the bottom, scrawled in blood, were the desperate words: [Save me.]
Brody grabbed Ciara's chin, his voice dripping with suspicion. "You don't want to run?"
I saw a flash of something fierce in Ciara's eyes.
But she kept her head down, her voice quiet and submissive. "No, I'm not running. I'm just an orphan with no one else. You can give me a home."
"Besides..." Ciara's hand moved to her stomach. "I think I might be pregnant."
*****
That night, my ears were filled with voices.
Enid was bowing in front of the family altar, her voice full of devotion. "Please, let this one be a boy."
She drew a tarot card and analyzed it. "Oh, it must be a boy this time."
Brody's voice was full of excitement as he kept telling me to bring Ciara food and water.
Then there were Grace's screams, growing louder with each one, mixed with the barking of dogs echoing through the air.
"Kill me! Even if I become a ghost, I'll never let any of you in this town off the hook," Grace screamed.
She added, "You're all just a bunch of animals!"
Her voice was filled with so much rage that it made my skin crawl.
I couldn't even close my eyes because I feared I'd see her pale face staring at me with that cold, hateful look.
"Brody, let's go. They need help over there!" Fred called from outside.
He added, "Enid, they need a woman to see her off. You need to go, too."
Enid muttered under her breath, "What a shameless bitch. Now we have to clean up her mess."
Then Enid and Brody left, but not before locking me and Ciara inside the house.
"Annie, keep an eye on your mom. Don't let her get away," Brody ordered.
Left alone, I instinctively curled up into a ball, trying to make myself as small and invisible as possible.
I could feel Ciara's eyes on me, just like Grace's used to be. They were dark, cold, and watching me like a venomous snake.
"You know what?" Ciara spoke suddenly. "You're the reason Grace is dead.
"If it weren't for you, she would've never stayed, and she definitely wouldn't be dead now."
I snapped my head up and looked at Ciara.
She continued, "Do you even realize it? You're just helping them hurt people.
"Do you seriously not know what you're doing?"
What was I doing? I was just helping those women find a home.
As long as I kept doing this, I wouldn't end up like them.