Awoken by the sound of thunder and rain, Penny tried her best to see past her heavy eyelids until she could barely make out the shape of metal bars in front of her. She blinked once, then twice before pushing her torso up from the wet floor. The little window in the wall allowed the rain to pass through and form a puddle in the room.
Confused as to where she was, she stood up and looked around. She was in an enclosed room with three walls made of stone, metal bars for the fourth wall, and a single-window with metal bars that prevented anyone from coming in or going out. The room was much smaller than her room at her aunt's place.
There was no light source in the room, but ahead of her, she noticed light spilling through the bars from a lantern that must have been placed on the ground.
Going to the railing, she searched for a way out. When she found a door, she pulled and pushed as hard as she could, but the iron gate was locked.
She tried to remember how she got here, but the last thing she could recall was hurrying back home only to run into Mr. Joseph on the way before being knocked out.
"Is anyone out there? Hellooo!" Penny shouted, not knowing whether she would prefer hearing a response or not. She wanted to know where she was and why they brought her here, but she knew none of the answers would ease her mind. "Hello! Anyon-"
"Stop screaming," came an annoyed voice from behind her, nearly making Penny jump in surprise. She had not expected another person was here as well. "Are you trying to put me in trouble?"
Penny's head jerked to a corner of the room where the frame of a woman emerged from the shadows.
The woman had fiery, red hair that had been tied into a braid similar to hers. Only Penny's hair was well-groomed and her dress wet, yet neat. In contrast, this woman's entire appearance could only be described as ragged, the color of her clothes a dirty, faded white. Aside from her hair, the strange woman was average looking in all aspects.
Penny looked around the room to ensure no one else was here before turning back to the woman for answers.
"Miss, where am I? There must be some misunderstand—" The woman's sudden and unrestrained laughter interrupted her.
"Miss? Miss!"
She sighed.
"How long has it been since someone addressed me in such a way…?"
The woman gauged the young girl who had been imprisoned alongside her. It had been a long time since the woman had company. The last one had been a boy that kept yapping until he was moved to another level.
"What's your name, girl?"
"It's Penelope…but most call me Penny."
The woman gestured to the room imprisoning them.
"I am Caitlin, and this beautiful place you see here belongs to the slave establishment. You are in one of the many cell rooms that are allotted to us slaves."
Penny frowned upon hearing this.
It was impossible. She was not a slave, so how could she be in the slave establishment? Did her kidnapper sell her off immediately after capturing her?
"Miss Caitlin, this is all a misunderstanding. You see, I am not supposed to be here." From what she knew, slaves were usually sold for money as a trade. It was one of the easiest and quickest means to make money. Though it would not make one rich, it did help the slave establishment keep running as a middle man along with receiving a sizable commission from the buyers.
The woman went to walk back to the darkened corner, and now that Penny's eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she saw the woman lying on the ground.
"None of us are supposed to be here. At least, most of us aren't, but people can't be trusted. Going by your reaction, you don't know who sold you, do you?"
"I do!"
How could Penny forget that wretched man's face and name?
She was incensed.
Caitlin looked at her approvingly. For a little girl who had been thrown into the slave establishment without warning, she was a better spirit than the rest who entered this place. Either the girl was a sheltered child who was truly ignorant of what went on here, or she was trying to keep her own spirits up.
"It was a man with a scar on his face. His name was Mr. Jose—no, Joseph. He was supposed to buy a sack of vegetables from my family but because he was late to pick them up and it was raining, my uncle and aunt went to look for him."
"Let me finish your story for you. This uncle and aunt of yours didn't return even after a good time had passed, but the man whose name you think is Joseph arrived."
Even in the darkness, Penny discerned the blatantly bored look on Caitlin's face.
With a sigh, she continued, "What happened to you is not uncommon. Congratulations! You were sold by your relatives." Her satirical tone was unenthusiastic and detached.
"They would never do that!" Penny was deeply offended that the woman would accuse the relatives who had taken her in after her mother had passed away. "It was that man Joseph or whatever his name is who should be caught and hanged for bringing me here!"
How many girls and boys had cried out similar words, hoping their words could save them from this place? It was always the young ones who cried and wailed. Screaming for the same people who had sold them off, begging to be saved, promising to change their behaviors, sometimes lacing their words with curses.
This place had not affected Penny yet, but her spirit would be broken eventually, of this, Caitlin was certain. She would not waste her breath explaining further. Reality would hit her eventually even if she did not help it along.
"Miss Caitlin," Penny crawled over and sat next to her, "Is there a way to escape from here?"
When Penny asked this simple question, Caitlin began coughing uncontrollably before transitioning to laughter. With one hand holding her stomach and the other covering her eyes, a good ten seconds had passed before she could regain control of herself. She sat up straight, back against the wall, and cleared her throat, prompting Penny to lean in with anticipation.
"Do you think I'm here to enjoy the scenery? If I knew a way to leave, I would not still be here, rotting in this stinky, little shit hole."
Penny gave it some thought, undeterred by her response. She pressed her lips into a thin line and gave Caitlin a resolute look. "Is there an escape from here?"
The older woman stared hard at the little girl before returning a single nod.
"If you are asking about an exit, then, yes. Doesn't every building have an entrance? This one has a single door where they bring slaves in and out, usually with two guards stationed at the entrance."
Penny's shoulders slumped. This was the same thing as saying there was no escape.
That night, Penelope could not sleep. She pondered over her situation and the name of this place: the slave establishment—a place of slaves. Slaves! The very word filled her with dread, forcefully shutting her eyes.
She did not wish to be here and end up like this woman, whose back faced her as she slept on the cold, hard ground without a worry, having accepted this fate. No one wanted to be a slave!
Penny vaguely knew the slave establishment was located far away from her uncle and aunt. Her relatives did not have children of their own, so her aunt had taken her in to fill that void in their life which was why Penny refused to entertain the thought that they had sold her into slavery. At least, she tried for the first few hours, but, over time, Caitlin's words echoed over and over again in her head.
Penny was not a naive, little girl.
She had the ability to haggle with street vendors and, when necessary, she also had the ability to steal from them with none being the wiser. More importantly, she was usually very good at reading people. Due to her limited options for entertainment, she would pass time scrutinizing any passerby as they walked past the front of the little house her uncle and aunt owned.
Because of this skill, she had grown wary of Joseph before he even grabbed her wrist. But her Uncle and Aunt…
She had heard stories of how one's own family would sell their children to the slave establishment so that they could obtain a good amount of silver coins, but never had she expected her own family would do such a thing.
When did they plan for it?! Why didn't she notice!?
Penny stared at the opposite wall in anger.
The house was small, consisting of a kitchen, a hall and a storage room to keep the vegetables they harvested. She was always there with at least one of them. The walls were too thin to hide even their whispers, let alone their conspiracy of selling her off.
Was a little silver worth more than her freedom?
The anger that had peaked slowly came down as sadness and betrayal engulfed her.
Hugging her knees tightly, she looked up at the barred window that was so far up, she would be unable to reach it even if she stood on Caitlin's shoulders. It gave her a small glimpse of the outside sky.
She thought about her mother and missed her dearly. Her mother would never have sold her!
When she saw her dead mother being carried in a coffin to the village cemetery, Penny shed countless tears, wailing the entire time. Remembering now brought tears to the rim of her eyes, but not a single drop fell as she blinked them back.
Her mother raised her all alone. Her heartless father had left them one day when she was a baby, never to return.
Lost in her memories, Penny rested her chin on her knees. While staring off into space, she heard a scream outside. Startled and scared, she raised her head, eyebrows furrowing.
Getting up, she walked towards the iron bars without grabbing them.
The bars were old and rusted to the extent that they had turned patchy, orange in color. Red films from the bar of rods that looked peeled away from the many months and years that passed by.
Stepping a little closer, her heart trembled when another scream was heard. It was a shrill, painful cry that made her extremely uncomfortable. The woman had cried out as if she was being tortured in an excruciating manner.
"She's a slave..."
Turning around, she saw Caitlin had stopped sleeping on her side and was now lying on her back with her hands resting on top of her stomach. She frowned at her response before looking back at the empty corridor in front of her.
Penny could not help but ask in a whisper, "What are they doing to her?"
She squinted her eyes to see the end of the hall, but her vision was incapable of passing through the darkness. Based on the visibility of the night sky and the fact that no one had walked by to check on them, Penny assumed the hour was long past midnight. Why would someone be tortured at this hour?
"They're torturing the ones who misbehave. Slaves here are nothing less than animals raised by a farmer for the purpose of selling for a decent price. What you've heard about the slave establishment outside does not come close to scratching the surface," the woman's voice was solemn as a dispirited sigh left her lips. "You cannot imagine the things that go on in here…the slave traders here are much worse than those who brought us here. What you are hearing right now is a normal, daily thing. There is always one or two of us who are defiant and unyielding…" the woman paused to contemplate whether she should say the next part, "...it is always the new slaves that undergo the special treatment. So you think twice before you think about escaping, girl."
Penny narrowed her eyes this time, dejected from what she just learned. "What will happen if I get caught?" She held her breath waiting for Caitlin to answer. The screams that were heard from outside had filled up the silence in the little cell they were in.
"You will wish the thought had never entered your head in the first place."
Slavery in the four lands, especially here where the pureblooded vampires were in control, was a legal and thriving business. The entire industry took place in the presence of the law which was maintained by the Council.
When people went missing, the blame was often placed on the notorious black witches, rightfully so. They usually kidnapped men, women, and children for their witchcraft and other personal needs.
Even though her relatives had traded her, Penny had decided she would not stay here too long.
She would escape, and she would do it soon.