You Are Mine Little Sister (by Syra Tucker) novel Chapter 155

RALI

They didn't let me get treated.

I was left to rot in the worst ways a body can be broken. Tied through the night, whipped until skin split, abused until I felt less like flesh and more like trash tossed into a corner. And when they were finally finished, they told Blayne not to let me near a doctor. They wanted me broken. They needed me bleeding.

By dawn, I didn't think I'd still be breathing. My mind kept flashing scenes from my life. Death flashes, I called them. The cruelest kind of slideshow, the one you only get when your body thinks it's shutting down.

At one point, I prayed for death to come. For it to wrap me up, carry me off. I was ready to welcome it if it meant release from this hell. But even that 'help' didn't come. It left me writhing and drowning in pain until morning.

Thankfully, Blayne showed me the mercy of food. I was given enough to eat and drink and trick my body back into motion.

As strength returned, so did clarity. The weekend was tomorrow.

Come tomorrow night, the Ash Twins would come get me. I'll be completely theirs for two years. That was a death sentence.

But I tried.

I did try to fight it. God, I tried.

I cried until my throat was raw. The evening found me shaking with sobs I couldn't stop. That was when Josephine came.

Her visits weren't unusual. But the look in her eyes tonight was. She came with an information that electrified me to the bone.

"Some of the girls and I, we've been planning an escape."

My heart tripped out of my chest, stumbled midair, then crashed back inside me.

What?

"The plan's been in motion for weeks." Her face faltered. "I didn't tell you about it 'cause the girls didn't want me to. They felt you'd be a problem since you're Blayne's favorite girl. They were afraid he'd put in more effort to find you. But last night, I managed to convince them. You can tag along."

I went numb. My eyes twitched, wet with sweat and tears all the same. Her words struck me like a bucket of knives tipped over my skin.

An escape.

It was something I'd never dared to think of. And that was because in this place, it was near impossible. Blayne had too many men watching the place. Nobody had attempted an escape since I came here.

Josephine once told me about the last girls who did a year ago. They were gunned down before they even reached the gates.

"I—Isn't it risky?" The words quivered on their way out.

"Being here is riskier. Especially for you."

My lips parted, but no sound came. My eyes dropped to my legs.

"Look, Blayne is never letting us out of here. He keeps saying we'll leave once we've paid our dues. Miranda's thirty-one, Rali. Thirty-one! She's been here since she was seventeen. Fourteen years and she still hasn't bought her freedom. Tell me, how much longer does she owe? And you—" She laughed. "You're never escaping him, Rali. You'll keep working here until your bones start showing through. Who knows the next set of people he'd rent you off to after the Ash Twins are done?"

Her words wrapped around my throat and squeezed. She was right. God, I knew she was.

"Wh—What are we doing?"

She reached for my hand. With the way her expression settled into something grave, I knew whatever she was about to say wasn't going to be easy to swallow.

"Rali, what we have to do is going to be risky. Another reason the girls didn't want you in on the plan was because they believed you didn't have the spine for it. But I wanted to give you a try. I mean, I couldn't just go away and leave my girl here."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, tears dripping hot and fast. "I just... I can't."

"Then, you'll die here, Rali!" Her head jerked up, her voice splitting on the edge of anger. "How long do you think you'd last with the Ash Twins? You barely survive your nights with them!" Her hand gestured at the map of bruises across my skin.

"Those cleaners are just as guilty as Blayne! They see everything. They know what happens here and they stay quiet. Why won't you use them to buy your freedom?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing my head against the wall by my bed. It was starting to hurt again. My chest.

She stood up.

"Josephine...."

"The girls were right when they told me you didn't have the spine for it. But what was I supposed to do? I only wanted to help my girl!"

"Josephine..."

"It'll kill me to walk out of here knowing you're rotting in this place! And even now, with you saying no… how do you expect me to feel? I can't leave without you, Rali!"

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying and failing to control the storm rising in my chest. My breaths came too fast, shallow gasps that scraped my throat. My hands clawed at the sheets, but nothing worked. My chest rose and fell like it wanted to explode.

I started wheezing, choking on my own breath.

Josephine, pacing with her back to me, didn't notice at first. Then she froze at the sound. She turned and her face blanched.

"Oh, my God! Rali!" Her arms caught me, pulling me onto her lap. "Okay. Okay. You can do this. We've done it before. You're safe, okay? It's all in your head. Just your head."

I tried to believe her, but it was hard when it felt like I was drowning inside my own skin.