Chapter 3 - Survival

Margot's POV

I just stood there.

Staring.

At the rows of dresses. At the neatly lined shoes. At the life that had seemingly been... prepared for me?

My nose wrinkled in disgust.

"This isn't real..." I muttered under my breath, shaking my head as if that alone could shake off the feeling crawling under my skin.

The feeling that this whole entire thing was intended as some cruel joke.

Was that it?

Let's take these girls from prison conditions to pristine? Give them a false hope of reality?

It felt like I'd stepped into something entirely staged...

Something I hadn't even agreed to be a part of...

My chest tightened, irritation bubbling up through the exhaustion as I turned sharply away from the wardrobe.

I didn't want to look at it any longer. Didn't want to think about why it was all put there.

Didn't want to think about who expected me to wear those clothes... to play whatever role they had written out for me.

Huffing under my breath, I crossed the landing quickly and pushed into the bathroom.

The bright white space almost blinded me.

Too clean.

Too polished.

Too perfect.

I moved straight to the sink, turning the tap on harder than necessary, the water rushing loudly into the silence as I braced my hands against the counter.

My reflection stared back at me.

Barely recognisable.

Hair a mess.

Eyes red and one particularly swollen. The smaller than expected bruise blooming out across my face...

My jaw clenched as I looked away. I didn't want to see how broken and ugly I looked...

I scrubbed my hands under the water, harder than I needed to, like I could wash the entire day off of me if I tried hard enough.

But I couldn't.

The way everything had been ripped away.

Gone.

Just... gone.

My throat tightened up again.

I reached for the pale pink hand towel, drying my hands quickly before-

Ding Dong!

I froze.

The sound cut through the house like a blade.

My head snapped toward the door.

The doorbell?

Who the hell...

Before I could even process it- the front door opened, then shut.

"Shit..." I whispered, dropping the towel as I rushed out of the bathroom, my pulse racing as I moved toward the top of the staircase.

"There you are! Please, come down!" A woman's voice, bright and cheerful came.

Completely out of place here...

I blinked down at her, confused.

Her face poked around the bottom of the staircase to look up at me, like this was just some casual visit.

Her smile was wide.

Too wide.

My head tilted slightly as I continued to stare down at her.

Who... was she?

Why did she look like she'd just walked out of a summer picnic while I felt like I'd just crawled out of hell?

Slowly, I started down the stairs.

Step by step.

Watching her.

Studying her.

Trying to figure out what game this was.

I reached the bottom, and that's when I saw him...

My breathing halted.

A soldier stood further down the hall, near the kitchen, his posture tall, a gun held loosely in his hands as he glanced in our direction.

Watching...

My body tensed instantly as I swallowed hard.

Crap... why is one of them is in here?!

"Margot, is it?" the woman chirped, pulling my attention back to her.

I nodded slowly, my eyes flicking between her and the soldier.

"Laura!" she introduced herself. "Come on, let's go sit..."

I shakily followed behind the bouncy black curls she had tied up into a high ponytail, seeing it sway as she walked.

She wore a pale purple floral dress and white flip flops... and dare I say, looked rather... relaxed?

Painfully put together, actually...

Like she belonged in a completely different world to the one I'd just been dragged from.

I followed her into the living area, my shoulders tightening as I passed the soldier.

He didn't move.

Didn't speak.

But his eyes tracked me.

Like a weight on my back.

Laura sat down on one of the sofas like this was the most natural thing in the world as I chose the one opposite.

"I can only begin to imagine the day you've had..." she said gently.

And a bitter laugh almost left me...

"Yeah, I guess being handcuffed and hit in the face wasn't on my bingo card!" I shot back, my voice sharper than I'd intended.

The words hung in the air.

Heavy.

But Laura just blinked. Caught off guard.

Good...

Because I was done pretending any of this was okay!

Out in the hall, I heard the soldier clear his throat loudly, as I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to calm down.

Not because I wanted to.

But because I had no choice.

I wasn't stupid...

"I...uh... yeah, I'm sorry about that," she said, smoothing her hands down her dress awkwardly.

I said nothing.

Just stared back at her.

"Anyway..." she rushed on, clearly uncomfortable now. "I live here, in town. I'm married to Tyler - the one out there." She points, as I stiffen.

Of course she was married to one of them!

"Each of us wives have been given a role to help make you all feel welcome while you're here."

Welcome?! That word alone sent my temper boiling again!

"Why? Are you trapped here too?" I asked before I could stop myself.

Her reaction was instant.

Eyes widening.

Body stiffening.

"No, not at all!" she said quickly, too quickly. "We're well looked after here... just like you will be."

Sure...

I just nodded slowly, even though every instinct in my body screamed that something about her response wasn't right.

"Anyway..." she continued, forcing the brightness back. "We thought it might be nice to host a dinner party tomorrow night. A little welcome event."

A damn dinner party?!

I blinked at her in horror.

"You'll get to mingle, see your friends again..." she added.

But my heart gave a small tug at that...

Cara...

"Dinner will be delivered here tonight," she went on. "You can eat, rest, freshen up, change clothes..."

Could she hear herself? Hear how insane this all sounded?! It was like they'd flipped a switch from brutality to... hospitality all of a sudden!

It didn't make sense...

"But my advice to you is... just please..." she lowered her tone slightly, "don't try to leave or run..."

There it was.

The truth beneath it all.

"Measures are put in place - punishments - and truth is, they obviously need you..." She added, as I held her gaze.

Need us?!

More like trapped us!

"I won't leave," I said simply, after thinking on it for a moment - also cautious of Mr military man hovering just outside the door... "I'm not an idiot."

But It was the truth.

I wouldn't leave Cara, and I knew better than to try and take on a whole damn military trained team... we have no idea where we are, no place to go, so what use would running be?

This was our lives going forward, and until we could walk free, survival was my only priority.

Survive...