I nodded.
I’d already attempted escape and now knew the futility of such a thing.
I wouldn’t waste my energy trying again. Instead, I’d search for other ways to claim my freedom. Ways that might include bartering my heart in return for gaining the reluctant one in the chest of my enemy.
The rest of the ten-minute walk was silent, all while my mind tortured me with guesses of what my punishment would be. Plotted a seduction that I wasn’t brave enough to try. And did my best not to watch Sully’s sleek and powerful body, striding before me.
* * * * *
I’d had many experiences since being snatched from that backpacker’s kitchen. I’d endured more than I thought I’d ever have to face. Yet when we arrived at the home base of the staff who’d come to get us, I struggled to combine all those experiences and all those endurances into one cohesive existence.
I’d expected to be beaten, abused, and ultimately craving death by now. And yet…I drifted through a paradise. Not a paradise like the island Sully had created for girls he called goddesses but a paradise for creatures who’d suffered.
Tears sprang to my eyes as Sully and his staff strode faster, familiar with what they’d created here, unable to see the magic and compassion painting the very air within.
I stopped in the middle of a small city.
A small city hidden and protected by an island in the tropics. Huge pens made of bamboo and vine held animals of their same species. Dogs romped in one. Platforms with beds, tunnels, toys, freshwater, and food. The huge space encouraged the canines to form packs, friendships, and loll in happy contentment.
It could’ve been a scene from a Doctor Doolittle movie or some strange kind of zoo, if it weren’t for closer inspection. Each dog had something not quite perfect. A few had ears missing, a leg, a foot, a tail. Some were bald with cream smeared or bandages wrapped, some hopped, some ran—all recovered from some injury but all of them seemed so unbelievably happy. They glowed with joy. They were the epitome of grateful bliss.
Drifting forward, I peered into the next township. Skittles inched closer to my ear, almost as if aware that this place changed everything. That it broke the final chain preventing me from free-falling.
This one held rabbits. Just like the dog’s enclosure, this one housed hidey-holes, cubbies, and holes in the ground for warrens. Big piles of grass were nibbled happily by fluffy critters, their noses twitching, their bodies alert but calm. And just like the dogs, none of them were perfect. So many of them were missing an eye, an ear, and even a paw.
It broke my heart to see such bravery from such timid, vulnerable things. They didn’t ostracise each other for their disability. They didn’t let depression steal the joy of today. They were wise in their acceptance of whatever they’d endured.
Sully glanced back, noticing I wasn’t close by. He snapped his fingers, and I sprung into speed. Catching up to him, I noticed another large enclosure, this one full of mice. Wheels and tunnels, nesting boxes, and food bowls. The tiny rodents ranged from hairless to horribly scarred.
“What is this place?”
Sully grunted but didn’t reply.
His staff held no such qualms about talking to me, though. He didn’t question why I was there, where my clothes were, or how I came to be in Sully’s control, and was proud to show off his charges. “This is Serigala. It’s wolf in my language.” He beamed, waiting for Sully to pass him by to slip beside me. “Mr. Sinclair called it wolf because we have teeth to protect the weak and a pack to heal the sick.”
I gawked as we entered a modern-day structure. Thatched roof and sweeping beams but the inside spoke of technology and competence. Embarrassment filled me to be in such a place dressed only in a shirt and tie. My bare legs were visible. The silver-grey of Sully’s shirt barely hid my decency.
“Where do the creatures come from?” I asked quietly, awed and slightly frightened by the magnitude of empathy, the size of the heart required to build such a place.
Sully cleared his throat. “No need to answer all her questions, Andika.”
“Oh, I’m happy to inform her, sir.” His chest rose with pride. “All these animals have been liberated from labs around the world.”
“Labs?”
“Yes, you know. They were binatang coba…eh, guinea pigs.” He grinned. “We also have guinea pigs. We have otters and cats and fish and hamsters and pigs and—”
“Enough,” Sully interrupted. He turned and crossed his arms, his gaze navy with secrets.
“But…” I shrugged helplessly, looking around at the sanctuary this man had created. “How can you walk me through here and not give me answers?”
“This is not a school excursion, Jinx.” His face stayed remote and closed off. “You weren’t supposed to be here. This part of my life does not mingle with my main enterprise.”