Chapter Five
I was raised to protectmyself.
When the sheriff and Mattias leave, I make preparations to do just that. There are no weapons in the house, of course. No guns, but my father taught me to be resourceful. The sheriff used his fingers to take me to climax, but the cocks are coming. I have to be ready.
A vase next to the bed shatters when I push it over. Shards of ceramic cover the floor.
It takes a minute for Elias to run in, but in that minute, I have secreted the longest piece away in the bedding.
“What are you doing? Get away from that, you’ll cut yourself,” he chides me, swatting my butt to get me away from the broken bits. I let him shoo me away. I already have what I need.
Elias begins cleaning up, while I sit there on the bed and watch him, wondering why he does this. Why do any of these men allow the sheriff to rule over them? Don’t they also want to be free?
“What happened here?” Mattias asks the question as he enters the room.
“Vase fell over.”
He quirks a brow at me. “Vases don’t just fall over, Trissa.”
“This one did.”
“Mhm.” I can tell he doesn’t believe me, but that is fine. He thinks I pushed it over in a fit of anger. He doesn’t suspect what I have in mind. “You’re looking very defiant,” he notes.
I try to compose my features. I don’t want to give anything away. I am going to get revenge on the men who bought me. Those who buy flesh should be sent to hell. Those who use women to spawn new life, only to use it for their own ends should be sent there too.
“When are they going to come for me? The men who bought me, I mean?”
Mattias gives me a keen look. He is intelligent, I can sense that about him. And not just in a way that might make him good at reading books, or adding numbers together. He’s intelligent in the way he sees through a person.
“They will come soon,” he says. “They are all going to meet you later tonight. You will be provided a dress for the occasion. They will not touch you tonight,” he reassures me. “They wish to make your acquaintance.”
“Everyone touches me,” I say. “Since I was caught, I have been nothing but touched.”
“Tonight is a more elegant affair,” he says. “You will meet the men who own you. It will be an opportunity for them to get to know you, and to decide among themselves what the order of taking shall be.”
“The order of taking, you mean, who is going to breed me like an old house cow?”
“You’re a long way from a cow, young lady.”
Not that far. I am going to be used and fucked like an animal. I know it. They know it. No matter how they dress me up, it’s the same thing.
“I don’t want this.”
He gives me a look that might be sympathetic. “We are all prisoners in this world. But some prisoners have it better than others. You will be well cared for. The sheriff did not hurt you, did he? You seemed to enjoy his touch?”
Is that what I did? Enjoyed it? That doesn’t seem to be the right word. I came, yes, but enjoy...
“It felt good, but...”
“Let it feel good, Trissa. Don’t fight your instincts. This might not be fair, or what you wanted, but it is what life has in store for you. And it’s what you’re needed to do. There’s more to this than payment and men taking you. These men are the best of the best. You will bear strong, smart offspring with them. Your genes will help rebuild the world.”
“But seven... I mean... nine or more... with the sheriff and you and...”
“Not I,” Mattias corrects me.
“Not you?”
“Not I, and not Elias. Not ever.”