Sheep to be Slaughtered

~Chapter Three~

            There had been very few times in which I wanted to hurl myself into the woods to be food for the Venge... this was one of those times. I knew others that reached my age had faced the same fate and been forced to replenish the population. I had known this was coming but the shock of the day finally arriving was much more horrid than I could have imagined. The choice of who the young women of the village were to pair with was of course a decision made by Founder Marco... perhaps the vilest part about that power he had was that he frequently selected himself  to be that second person. Yes, becoming a meal for the Venge was sounding better and better.

            Mother stood quietly, uncomfortably... she rocked side to side on her feet, waiting for me to say something further. She would get no such response. She must have realized that too for she broke the silence between us. "Founder Marco has asked for you to come see him tonight... he requested that you..."

          I glared at her. Whatever else she had to tell me could not make me more upset than I already was. Did she not stand up for me? Did she even try to buy me more time? "Founder Marco has requested that I what, Mother?"

          Her eyes avoided mine. What could be harder to tell me than relaying the message Founder Marco was going to force me to become pregnant and carry a baby that may later become a sacrifice to the Venge? What could be harder to say than solidifying and confirming the idea that the greatest ability I had to contribute to the village was my ability to bear children? How was I any different than the sheep I could hear in the distance?

          "He requested that you... bathe thoroughly and wear something... appropriate for lovemaking."

          "What?" I was shocked. My jaw went slack as I stared at her in astonishment. Had she really just said that? Had I misheard? No... no, I hadn't... What did that mean? What could that possibly mean? Was Founder Marco intending to be the one to... it physically hurt to think the word... but was he intending to be the one to impregnate me? I didn't feel well. The room began to behave rather strangely. Was it spinning? Or was that me? I felt hot... sweaty... what was happening? I stumbled forward, my hands grasping the back of a chair. I collapsed into it, my vision was splotchy now... everything seemed so far away... I could hear my heartbeat and my breathing was unbelievably loud in my head.

          "I understand this is difficult..." I heard mother's voice.

           Despite my weakened state, I could feel the anger still surging within me. "Difficult?" I practically yelled as I turned my head towards her. The room was still spinning. I knew this was the way of the village... I knew this was coming... but I still felt blindsided... perhaps because I always pushed this moment to the back of my mind. If I ignored it, perhaps it would go away... I had tried time and time again to tell myself this was how the village survives... how we continue... but why was it so unfair?

          "We all have roles within the village, Eleyah," mother's voice sounded firm now, hardened and cold. "Be humbled by the fact you have the gift to create life from within you and that you are able to bring that life into the village."

           Humbled? She needed to stop talking. If that was all that Founder Marco had to say, there was no need for any more words to come out of her mouth. I sent her another glare, my rage and hurt having no other outlet than her in that moment. "And what a gift that is," I spat. "Another life to be sacrificed... another life Founder Marco can throw away and feed to Venge when the mood strikes... and when I am spent and can no longer bear children? Will Founder Marco then toss me to the Venge as well?"

          In a few swift steps, she was before me, her hand striking my face and snapping my neck to the side. "I will not tolerate you speaking in such a way about Founder Marco, you foolish girl!" Mother was fuming. "It is because of Founder Marco that we still live and thrive within the village. You will do as he says, and you will do so gratefully."

           She called this thriving? I wasn't sure if we were in the same village... she looked at her life within the village and thought she was thriving? I raised a hand to gently touch the stinging skin of my cheek. It was surely red... it was then I finally processed the fact that my own mother had just struck me. Everything had become so overwhelming so quickly, I was speechless. Mother struck me?

          "Momma?" Leanna's quiet, nervous voice caused both of us to look in her direction.

          Had she seen all that? Heard our conversation?

          "Oh, Leanna!" Mother went to her immediately and crouched before her. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here last night to tuck you in. Did Eleyah take good care of you while I was gone?"

          "Why... why did you hit, Eleyah?" Leanna asked, her wide eyes telling me that she had at least seen mother strike me... I hoped desperately that she hadn't heard the rest of our conversation... she was so young yet, there was no need for her to know of the fate that awaited her... the fate that had come for me now...

          Mother looked back at me, shooting me a look of warning. "She was being disobedient," she said. "She was just off to attend to her chores, and she said something bad about Founder Marco."

          Ah, the way she had emphasized that I was about to do chores told me she wanted me out of the house. She would explain everything to Leanna from her perspective only. Of course. I stood and rubbed my cheek once more as though I could maybe rub away the burning, stinging sensation that wouldn't go away.

          Leanna glanced at me, a fearful look in her eyes. "Why did you say something bad about Founder Marco?" she asked.

          Mother looked at me again. I froze. There was so much I wanted to say... but I dare not speak a word of it... "I just thought the amount of chores he gave me was a bit much," I replied. There was truth to that statement... "He just gave me another big one and I thought it would be fair for someone to take one of my chores away to make it even... you know I'd give up slopping the pigs the first chance I get." My voice was light and teasing as I attempted to lift the mood and ease Leanna's concern.

          It worked and she giggled. I did tend to complain about feeding the pigs quite often.

           "Stupid pigs," Leanna laughed, repeating the phrase I muttered quite often.

           "Yeah, stupid pigs," I smiled at her softly, feeling a bit guilty for lying... for pretending like this life we led was okay... that no one should dare question Founder Marco or say anything remotely bad about him... it felt so wrong... but why? I had nothing to compare it to... and as far as I knew, there was no other life to have outside the village.

           Right now though, I had much bigger problems than dreaming about what might be passed the Venge... passed the woods... what might exist far, far away from the village... right now, I wished for the night to never come... 

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So like, I realize now that I kind of created a Negan with this Founder Marco character, looooool! Totally by accident but with him being the leader of this culty village and the fact he can just choose whoever he wants to have the smexy times with... I realize now, he's literally Negan but worse 'cuz like... at least Negan is funny... Anywayyy, hope you enjoyed this chapter!!! Poor Eleyah is having a rough start to her day for sure... and what the heck is she going to do about having to see Founder Marco later? Does she even have anything decent to wear? It's gotta be rough making clothes without a sewing machine... let alone anything suitable for smexy times... ;) Thanks for reading!!!!! <3