Page 106 of Anywhere

Marching for the door, I spotted a flat wooden stick like the kids would play with to hit rocks. I pulled it off the rack and discovered a comfortable leather strap that went around my hand. I decided that I was taking this one as a weapon. No one was going to torture me in that room.

When I reached the end of the hallway, I was unsure which way to turn when humming reached my ears, so I followed the delicate sound. The pretty voice that could’ve been made by a rare songbird led me to a room with the door half open. Poking my head inside, I spotted Mari standing in the middle of the room, holding a pretty blue dress up to herself as she stared into a looking glass. Mari twirled in a circle like she was dancing when her eyes spotted me, and she stopped.

“Oh, hi.” She blushed and immediately walked towards the room that I learned was a closet and held clothes. So many new words to learn.

“Sowry, I’za just bein’ silly. Sometimes it be nice to pretend dat I’m still a girl without any worries.”

“I’za dinnie know wat dat be like.. Whatza like ta no’ ‘ave any worries?” I asked, genuinely curious.

I remembered digging in the dirt for bugs and picking berries. Stealing pieces of meat left over from an animal kill so I could chew on the bone for something with more to it than the leaves and nuts. You had to get to it fresh, though. Once the little white bugs started crawling on it, my stomach would roll. I remembered standing in the cold water and learning to be quick as snake to strike and catch a fish.

I never danced until I’d been with the coven for a few years, but that was different. We all stood around an open fire and sang to the spirits for a good harvest of fruits and vegetables. Sometimes we would pray to the different spirits about the weather or give thanks for what we had, but to dance just simply dance…This was new to me. No worries was new. Not having to think about how to divide up one chunk of bread for three days was new.

Mari walked out of the closet and leaned against the door to look at me. “What da ya mean, ya dinnie know what it be like?”

“Ya dinnie need to speak wit da accent if ya no wanna. Hangin’ around Rook so much, I’za startin’ to pick it up, and me like da challenge. It be helpin’ me ta learn fasta’.”

Mari smiled. “Okay, then. Tell me what you mean by, you don’t know what it’s like to be a carefree kid.”

Stepping into her room, I glanced around at the pretty way she’d decorated. Everything was a soft shade of blue or grey, it reminded me of stormy skies, but it wasn’t depressing. It felt like the ocean, and the clouds were meeting in the middle of her room. There were little splashes of colour, and an image of Mari with her mother hung over the bed.

“I dinnie know what ta say. Da coven took me when I’za bout eight. Before dat, I dinnie remember much otha den scroungin’ fir food like a littlin’ animal.”

Mari pushed away from the closet and came to stand in front of me. She gave me a smile, then her eyes flicked down to my weapon. Reaching out, her finger gently travelled down my hand to the wooden piece I was carrying.

“Why are you walking around with this?”

“Ta protect meself. It be me weapon.” I pointed out the door. “Dere be a whole room dedicated ta torture down da hall,” I said.

Mari smiled wider and then began to laugh. She laughed so hard that tears rolled down her cheeks, and she had to stumble away and lean against the wall.

“Me dinnie understand. Dis be serious business. How cannie ya stand ta live ‘ere knowin’ what dey do ta prisoners?”

Mari laughed even harder and sank to the ground, holding her stomach. “Oh, dear spirits.”

“Mari, dis be serious. I’ma no gonna let dem chain me up in dere an’ beat me wit da strange cut-off peens. I cannie even imagine been strapped ta dat tall X or forced ta sit on dat peen in dat chair. Such horrors. Why would dey even create such wickedness?”

“Stop! Just stop talking.” Mari tried to stop laughing and then burst out in laughter again. It was contagious. I covered my mouth but it did no good and soon, we were both laughing hard, yet I had no idea why. It felt good to laugh and smile just to do so. Keeva and I would make up games and laugh or when I tickled her she would laugh, but the moments were rare with so many other things that needed to be done before the sun set.

“Okay, okay, I’m good,” she said and then snorted and covered her mouth as she composed herself. “It’s not a torture room, it’s a sex dungeon. It’s where people will go for pleasure and sometimes some pain, but mostly pleasure.”

“I dinnie understand,” I said. “How cannie dungeon be pleasurable?”

Mari pushed herself to her feet and walked over, holding out her hand. “I’ll show you, but I need that,” she said, pointing at my weapon, and I bit my lip.

Mari didn’t act like someone I should be afraid of and had given me a weapon outside, yet I still felt nervous giving her my only weapon. Sliding the leather off my hand, I handed it over, and she held it out to show me.

“This is called a paddle. The person using it holds it like this.” She demonstrated by putting her hand through the leather and holding it like I had. “The person on the other end would get spanked, but only to the level they are comfortable with.”

“Sp…aaaan…ked. Me no’ know wha’ dis word mean.”

“Well, you can be spanked because you were naughty or because you were a very good girl. Depending on which you were, will dictate how hard you’re hit.”

I took a small step back. “So ya do hit people wit it?”

“Yes, but not for the reason you’re thinking.” Mari was quiet for a minute as she tapped her bottom lip. “Okay, look. Do you trust me enough to demonstrate on you?”

“Demonstrate?”