Reaping of the Wives

FADING TO BLACK

My consciousness woke before my body but I remained cloaked in darkness. My eyelids refused to open as every single part of me felt too heavy to move.

What the hell happened?

I laid on the incredibly uncomfortable.. ground? I struggled, but managed to crack open one eye and confusion washed over me from being unable to recognize my surroundings.

My heartbeat quickened, and with that little spike of adrenaline, suddenly everything came rushing back. The memories bury me like an avalanche and that freezing feeling envelopes my entire body again. I tried to keep my breathing even in case someone was watching me, but after a few moments, I discreetly opened my eyes once more. Not seeing anyone, I slowly sat up and took in every detail I could.

I was in a barn. There were wooden walls, a vaulted ceiling with wide exposed beams. The cracks of the walls let in no light so I assumed it was nightfall. Wherever I was, I had to have been there for hours.

Mama is going to be so worried.

I saw horse tacks, hay, and saddles. I smelled manure. I felt dirt beneath my hands and something heavy on my leg. Glancing down, I realized there was a large metal cuff latched onto my ankle that connected to a thick chain. My eyes followed it's trail as it wound behind me and I let out a strangled gasp.

There was roughly 10 feet of chain that was secured with a padlock. It was wrapped around a large metal pole that was over 8 feet in height and deeply imbedded into the ground. The impossibility of detaching myself from it wasn't what made me gasp. It was the sight of two other girls who were also chained up, lying on the dirt, unmoving and with closed eyes, that made me lose my breath.

I slowly crawled over to the closest girl, praying to God she wasn't dead. She had trails of dried blood on her forehead that intertwined with the deep red lowlights in her disheveled auburn hair. My hands were trembling as I reached out to her. I gently touched her arm and her eyes immediately snapped open. My heart leapt into my throat and I quickly jerked my hand away.

"Are.. are you okay?" I asked her so quietly, I wasn't even sure if she heard me.

She stared at me with bulging, terrified eyes. Unshed tears coated her large brown irises as she slowly nodded. I looked to the other girl; her dark hair was in a tangled heap partially covering her face. She was still in the same position, the only things that had moved were her eyelids. She also stared up at me with the wild look of a trapped animal.

We're all trapped animals here.

I moved to stand, but the girl quickly grabbed my wrist and gave me the slightest shake of her head. I was about to ask her if she knew what was going on when the barn doors swung open.

My insides twisted and I felt bile rise up the back of my throat. Every part of me began to shake violently from the nearly crippling need to run as five figures stepped into the barn. I sat unable to move, completely frozen in my fear while I roamed the faces of each person.

I immediately recognized Thomas. My eyes narrowed slightly at the sick son of a bitch and I swore right then and there that I'd never forget his face.

My eyes fell to a female standing off to the left. She was shorter than Thomas, maybe 5'7. A shapely woman in her late 50's with greying chestnut hair. A younger boy was beside her. He had dark scraggly locks, and was roughly 5'10, the same height as Thomas. He was thin, and I could tell by his baby face and patchy facial hair that he was young, 16 at the most.

There were two men on either side of Thomas. Broad shouldered and with strong builds, they were both taller than him, standing over 6 feet. They had black bags over their heads and held their hands clasped together in front of them as if they stood in respectful attention.