The car approaches the place, it is a big and dark old building. Not exactly a building, more like a castle. We got inside and there was not a single noise. Everything super clean and lustrous. The floor was a dark grey and the wall white. It had some sculptures along the hallway.
"I'm going to show you your room.", we kept walking until we were in front of a door and she opens it. Inside there was this one girl. "meet your roommate Hanna Gildorff". I look at her and she didn't look back, why?
The director list me the rules and the rest Hanna should tell me. I follow with my eyes when the director is about to open the door. She opens it and then she closes the door, but this is not just it. She locked the door. The old metal keys were the only noise that it could be heard in the entire castle.
"Hey, what is your name", the girl asks me. I answer and I notice she must be about my age. She is so quiet, and her head is always down. "nice to meet you", he lifts her head to give me a welcoming smile but instead I receive a sad one, along with a red mark on her left cheek, like the one I've been given. "they already did this to you?" , she asks me, pointing her finger at the bruises.
"No", I answer in a low voice. I shake my head, "that was my....", it was hard to admit that my father has done this to me. "It was my dad", I lower my head in shame. Now, at this very moment, I know why her head was bowed. It might be because of discipline but this is not the main reason. The main reason for us to be bowing our heads is common: we feel embarrassed. "They beat you here?"
"They do worst things. Things just the ones that have been through know how it feels. From casual slaps to electrical shocks and being deeply drugged", as she kept explaining how things really worked here, I felt nauseous by the things and methods they used.
"But why do these? Why not be an old fashion school for girls?"
"Because who buy us at the end filled complains about their product: us, saying we couldn't do this and that". Hanna explained to me and now I was afraid. I want more than anything to be out but to be out means to get bought and marriage. Which one is worst? This is a tough question. "just follow the rules and they will let you continue doing your task. If you disobey, or if they think your way of doing things aren't good enough you will be punished"
"Punish with what?", I ask, afraid of the answer.
"Well, it depends on how they see how you are doing things inside here. The slightest punishment is the easiest one: starvation."
" WHAT?", how could they do that? "but like for a meal or what?"
"Nope, more like a day. And please keep it quiet. We are not allowed to scream or talk out loud". I node my head and murmur a sorry. " so, that is basically it. Try to do everything by the book, otherwise we, you and I, will be punish. You by doing things wrong and me just because I'll be sharing a room with you. There is not much logic but just follow the roles". she pleads me repeatedly to be in the line.
"We don't have permission to talk, therefore we may not direct ourselves to any superior and that is how they prepare us to treat our futures owners."
"By owners you mean husbands?", she nods her head.
"They will give you the rules for how to act around your owner tomorrow but that is what we must and must not do", she hands me a paper: OWNERxOWNED
1. When the owner is not present in the room the owned may leave, but if the owner is in the room the owned must ask for permission to leave or do anything else.
2. The owned must obey to every single command the owner makes. This includes sex wishes and whatever he wants and desire.
3. Obedience is the highly virtue an owned must have.
4. The owned must never raise her voice and only speak when spoken to.
5. The owned head must stay low, looking at the floor but remaining a glamorous pose and figured.
6. The owned must eat only have half a portion of what is served. Must not get drunk.
7. The owner will declare what kind of clothes the owned will be wearing, what she will eat, drink, what perfume that will be using and where she should/can go. In case the owned doesn't like the food or drink chosen by the owner she can refuses to eat, but then, she may not eat until the owner offers her food.
8. The owner has the right to have extra conjugal relations, while the owned has not the same right and she has no say in his decisions.
9. The owned must stay faithful.
10. The owned must be pure.
I finish reading it and I felt the urge to vomit. "This disgusting. And how can I not refuse to eat something?"
"Well you can refuse to eat"
"Yeah but then I have to wait for whoever is buying me offer me food". I roll my eyes and she shushed me and remind me that speaking out loud is extremely prohibit. "And by pure they mean being a virgin?", she nods her head, "well then lets just find someone to, you know, have some fun and we are out of here"
" Yeah, a few had the same thought but once we are useless to them, well, we become priceless, in a bad way and they get rid of us. We vanish forever", she says without explicit words, but I get what she is thinking and trying to say, "you mean they will kill us?"
"Well, yeah, but they can also sell you to some brothel or something like that.", she sighs. "just follow the roles please. And now goodnight. We must be asleep by 9pm and awaken by 6am, so we cannot talk anymore."
Hearing her say this, makes me feel like I'm living with a robot. She has rules, right time to do things and she must do everything perfect. This is so weird and different from the outside world.