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Were these women really outcasts the Ivory family chose to rehabilitate?
My mind spun while I waited in the hallway. Nothing made sense.
Bradley came out and the door silently shut behind him. “Good job, Demi. Let’s finish the rest of the hall, and then we will be done. See, it’s not so bad.” He shrugged and started to walk to the next room.
“This is it? This is what I have to clean? The Ossis wing and then the formal wing?” I questioned in a low voice.
“Yes.” Bradley pushed his own cart that had identical meal trays lining the top. One bowl of plain white rice and one cup of plain yogurt.
“Who cleans the rest of the house?”
“Maids who don’t live here. Maids who never go into any other parts of the estate,” he answered and paused in front of the next door.
“Why did they choose me?” I froze before the next door, already dreading what laid behind it.
“Because you have nothing.” Bradley’s words stung, but it wasn’t because he said it so matter-of-factly, but more so because it was the truth.
“Let’s go. Don’t look at her, don’t speak.”
The door opened and I immediately looked down. My eyes were already burning and sensitive from the shocking visual adjustment in and out of the first room. I pushed my cart in and this time, the girl in the bed wasn’t wearing the blindfold, only the headphones. She was staring off at the wall, without blinking a single time.
I didn’t feel like I was even in the room; I felt like this was some kind of prank, and there had to be a reason this was happening. But I did as I was told because suddenly, I realized if the Ivory family was dangerous enough to do this, then what would they do to me if I didn’t obey?
I carefully mopped until the white floor glistened and then grabbed the dusting cloth. Bradley quietly walked around the small cot and tugged a white bucket from the floor. I hadn’t seen it in the other room, or maybe I had missed it?
Oh no. I was probably supposed to clean it.
He closed his eyes and scrunched his nose as he carried it to my cart. My eyes widened from the pungent odor that emitted from it as soon as he grew closer. Pointing to the bottom of my cart, he slid out a concealed tray-like compartment and dumped the contents of the bucket into it.
I gagged at the urine and feces in the concealed compartment. Bradley’s face grew pale as soon as the noises rose from my mouth came out. Shaking his head quickly, I knew I had to be quiet, but I couldn’t stop. But then I caught a glimpse over his shoulder, and the girl on the cot had sat up on her knees. Tilting her head, she watched me choking on my own saliva.
Her lips parted as my heart pounded against my chest.
Say something. Please, I thought to myself.
“Run.” The word wasn’t audible; she mouthed it as soon as Bradley had turned away to push our carts out. “Save him.”
Him? Who?
An arm grabbed me from behind, tugging me out before the door slid shut.
“What was that?” Bradley hissed, pushing me against the opposing wall.
“Bradley, tell me what the hell this is or I’m going to scream,” I panted with anger and dug my nails into his skin, prying his hands off me.
“Finish the rest of the rooms and then we will talk,” Bradley huffed with distressed eyes.
“No.”
“Demi, they’ll put you in one of these. They are watching. So, slap a fucking smile on your face and go.”
My eyes shot up to the ceiling, looking in every direction. I felt paranoid. I couldn’t see someone watching me, but I could feel them observing me. My skin was crawling as my anxiety coursed through my body.
I tried to compose myself, and I gripped the cart, pushing it down the hall with Bradley behind me. We went into the rest of the rooms, and one by one, I saw a new girl. No hair, thin, and void of any emotion. All of the girls had green eyes with the whites streaked with red.
I was going to call the police tonight. There was no way I was going to let these lunatics do whatever it was they were doing. I could save these girls. Bradley mentioned I’d be getting a cell phone soon, but until then, I’d have to use the landline. I saw one in the kitchen and the drawing room. Relief began to spread over me. A few more hours and then the police would be swarming this estate, and I’d pack a bag of things and run as far as I could from this madness. I’m sure Raina would help me out with a night or two until I figured out my next move.
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