𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑 || 𝐉.𝐉𝐊 ✓

⊘ • ❸❻ • ⊘

𓆩・༺ ꔫ ༻・𓆪

I close the letter and place it beside me while shutting my eyes for a brief moment. I press my index finger and thumb against my nose, exhaling quietly as exhaustion lingers primarily in my cloudy mind.

I won't lie down and sleep at all. I wait for the others to make sure everyone makes it through.

As I sit silently on the bed, I hear people down the stairs going back and forth. I realize they're bringing them in once the first girl calls out loud to anyone. I don't recognize her voice, but I call out to her anyway.

"I'm upstairs," I let my voice carry through the large room and down below into her awaiting ears. If not for the sunlight casting down from the high windows on the other side of the wall, I wouldn't be able to see anything since they have the lights turned off in here.

"You're Vee, right? Is this really happening to us?" I wish I could lie to help her calm down but lying wouldn't do her any good.

"I am, and yes, it's happening. I know this is a lot to take in, but if you can, try to follow their rules, I promise it will protect you here. Some of the others, like Twix, won't give in to me. They'll continue to cause trouble, but for the sake of your life, I'm urging you to ignore your emotions and listen to them. I would rather survive this place and live another day than end up dead in here with them laughing over my corpse. These cops aren't good, so don't ever trust them." I admit, standing from the bed to come closer to the bars.

"The cop who lead me here was nice. She said she would look out for us. What about her?" I wait to answer her question for a moment, rolling the idea over in my head before saying a word.

"I don't know about her yet, but I think having her on our side would benefit us. If she's really here to help, then we need it. I'm going to be watching her, but I just want you to be nice. Don't talk to her about anything, not yet at least. I need to be sure she's safe to trust first." I shut up when the door opens into the room, and the sound of black boots hit the icy floor as the person walks further inside.

Walking up the stairs are Barbie and the cop who gave me the letter earlier. She, keeping her word, brings Barbie to my cell and unlocks the door before letting her walk in on her own.

"I made sure they didn't search her. I couldn't promise anything else, but I made sure of that. I'm going to switch out with one of the guards in the examination room to make sure they aren't mean to the girls. I can't promise the guys since they're bringing in male guards for them, but I will do what I can to keep every one of you safe. I have to go, but I'll be back soon—"

"Wait," I reach out and grab her sleeve, pausing her steps and then I release my grip and remove my hand from her.

"What's your name? You know mine, and if we're going to trust each other, it's only fair." I tried searching for a name tag earlier to give me a clue to her identity, but the guards here don't wear them it seems.

"My name's Claire. Now, I can explain more later, but right now—"

"Yes, go make sure the others are safe, and thank you, Claire," with a simple nod, she hurries down the stairs and out of the room. She's young to be a guard; she's probably only a few years older than me.

When I turn around, I see Barbie on the bottom bunk curled up and facing the wall.

"Hey Barbie," my voice is gentle when I come next to her and pat her leg comfortably. I notice the envelope under her leg and grab the note while placing it underneath the pillow on the top bunk for now. "They didn't hurt you, did they?" I watch the way her eyes stare at the wall. I glance at her head, noticing how they didn't cut her hair; they shaved it all off.