Reaping of the Wives

INTO THE ROOM

Night. Day. Day. Night.

I had no idea which it was. All I knew was that each time I heard the sound of metal on metal, it indicated one of my sister wives, as we jokingly called ourselves because without humor we were sure we would die, was receiving a visit from their 'husband'.

Over time I learned the schedule. The men would all visit us at the same time, and every time Noah came in to the room, he brought one bowl of soapy water to clean my wound and one bowl of food with a small cup of water.

I didn't know how frequently he came. If it was once a day. Twice. Once every other day. In the end, it didn't really matter. Each time was the same. Noah would watch me react to the sounds of Camilla and Ava being abused and jerked around by their chains. Their cries would carry throughout the room and leave me on the verge of tears while he calmly cleaned and fed me.

As I heard Camilla's door open, I stared directly ahead, waiting for Noah. Just as expected, my door unlocked and he entered, except this time, he didn't bring the bowl of soapy water. My guts entangled at the thought of how my wound must have healed enough, and therefore at least several days had past.

He handed me my bowl of food with the same order to eat. All this time and he had yet to say more than a single word at a time to me. I did my best to ignore the other girls' cries as I ate and drank all of the water as quickly as I could so he could leave. As soon as I finished, I immediately stood and extended the bowl out to him, lifting my chin to look him in the eyes so he could examine my face as he always did. To my surprise and utter relief, this time he took the bowl and left.

I blew out the breath I held every time he came close to me. A ghost of a smile brushed my lips briefly. It felt like a small victory to have him out of the room sooner. I moved to lay down only to quickly stand back up as Noah reentered the room.

He gestured to the bucket that I had been using to relieve myself in. I slowly walked over to it and stood beside it, unsure of what it was he wanted.

Noah opened his mouth to speak, but Caleb's shrilling voice screamed over him, "PICK IT UP!"

Not needing to be told, I quickly scrambled to do the same. I honestly couldn't wait to get it out of the room, its stench was putrid. I lifted the bucket and found it to be excruciatingly heavy. My fingers felt like the thin plastic handle was going to slice right down to the bone. I stood there holding it while Noah walked over to the bed and unlocked the chain. He looped it in his hand as he walked to me so there wouldn't be much slack.

"Come," he said as he started walking toward the door.

My heart began to pound even harder in my chest. We were leaving the room. I could escape. I could try to escape. No. No, I couldn't. Not with him holding that damn chain.

I could at least make a plan for an escape.

We passed the threshold and I took note of how we stood in a rather small hallway. It extended slightly to the right to accommodate the room beside me, and further at the end on the left, there was a single door. Within moments, Caleb and Jonah brought out Camilla and Ava.

I sucked in a breath at the sight of them. It was hard pressed to find a place on their exposed skin that wasn't tainted. Different stages of healing and bruising littered their bodies. They stood on trembling legs, struggling to hold their buckets and I felt sweat run down the side of my cheek as I struggled with my own.

The door at the end of the hall opened and Thomas' disgusting face appeared.

"Bring them this way, boys."

Noah and I walked in silence as Caleb and Jonah repeatedly tugged on the girls' chains. Telling them to walk faster, or warning them not to spill a single drop of their filth on the floor.