The ladies turned to face Regia, eyes projecting disbelief. Regia raised a brow at them,awaiting their response.
"I don't know Regia,I think I would agree with Evelyn on this one,we would be attempting to murder ourselves", Olivia said,causing Regia to face palm herself.
" It is worth a try at least,isn't it, how would we know if we never try",she prodded, trying to get a positive reaction from them.
They pressed their lips together tightly, looking at the mat beneath them. Regia looked at them,her eyes flicking between the two friends.
Nayu broke the wait with a sigh, before lifting her gaze to Regia's.
"You are right,it is worth a try, as long as long as we don't do anything irrational, right Olly", she said, nudging her friend by the shoulder.
Olivia lifted her gaze to that of her friend who held a pleading look. She rolled her eyes and sighed.
" Alright,fine,we would give it a try", she replied and Nayu smiled.
At that same moment,Evelyn shifted on her mat,letting out a groan and they all turned to look at her. When that saw that she didn't move again, they turned to face each other.
Regia began with her curious inquiries.
"How does this place work,do you stay in here all day", she questioned, her gaze suddenly serious.
Olivia shook her head,
" No we don't, we tend to the counter in the evening,we don't really get to move around much,when we are done,we come back here",she replied subtly.
Regia remained silent for a long time,thinking of how she could fit in the information and plot their escape.
She finally lifted her gaze and was about to continue their discourse when they heard the door click and fly open. The girls scurried to get up and hide in the corner again, but Evelyn was fast asleep. Regia stood up but didn't run as they did.
Mara stepped in,her hand crossed in front of her and her gaze expressionless as earlier. She didn't utter a word but signalled to them with a swipe of her hand to follow her and with that,she stepped outside.
Nayu rushed to wake Evelyn, who let out a grunt when she was tapped. She peered through her half opened eyes,but threw it wide open when she saw the door unlocked.
She jumped to her feet to follow the ladies out of the room, excited to be leaving the room again.
The walk down the hall was silent,no one uttering a word,only the sounds of footsteps hitting the hard floor bounced off the wall.
Regia walked closely behind Olivia, her eyes and senses peeled in order to pick the simplest bit of information to assist them plot their escape.
They walked into the more illuminated part of the building and stopped by a door. Mara opened the door for them and they walked into the room. Regia looked around the room,it was obviously an observatory and when she looked around some more,she saw some clothes were hung on a chair for them.
The girls without a minute to waste proceeded to take off their clothes leaving Regia staring at them, clueless. She however later got the message and began removing her clothes as well.
The observatory was very large with enough space to go around for even more girls. It looked like it had been functional for a very long time, causing her to wonder how long this operation had been in place.
She had her bath as quickly as she could and stepped out to meet the other girls already drying themselves. That reminded her of the time when she changed alongside her friends in Miss Rosa's classes as they were preparing to take dance lessons.
She dried herself silently, looking at Mara who sat on a chair watching them silently. They all picked a gown to wear and quickly put it on.
They dried their wet hair and not knowing what to do with it, packed into a bun.
When they were all done,they lifted their gaze to Mara who was still sitting idly on the chair watching them. As soon as she noticed their gaze had shifted to her,she stood up and left the room,silently telling them to follow her.
They all silently walked through the hall watching as the light ahead slowly became brighter.
They hadn't expected Mara to take a turn to the path that led to the second part of the building. Silent gazes were exchanged as they wondered why they were suddenly lead there.
Bright lights opposite to what they had been exposed to all evening greeted them as they followed Mara through a door. The three young women's eyes widened and fell almost at the same time.
The room was nothing that they had earlier anticipated, instead it looked like a large living room with two beds at the extreme ends. It wasn't overly decorated as well,very simple.
Realisation slapped each of them I. the face as they looked around the room. What they had thought earlier was out of the bargain. Madame Lettie wasn't running an underground brothel, she was operating a bed and breakfast business.
All their hopes to ever find a mean of escape sunk down into the ground, but Regia still held on to a little. She still didn't know what was going on, why were they all here.
Madame Lettie seemed to be old in whatever business she was doing that involved recruiting young ladies, but if she did, where were they all.
They broke out of their daze almost simultaneously to see that Mara had left the room. They didn't know what they were to do in that place so they all silently decided to go have a seat of the chair.
Not long after they did, Mara returned and stood by the side of the door. A few seconds later, Madame Lettie entered the room as well,grinning from ear to ear.
The look on her face made Regia highly suspicious, she never wanted let her senses fail in picking up whatsoever information she needed.
The plump woman looked at them, her grin still in place, with a look that made them seem like a merchandise.
A man stepped into the room, another one closely behind him. They looked hefty and with a physique that could strike fear into the hearts of anyone who beheld them.
They cleared the path to the door and everyone's eyes was fixed at that spot. Regia followed their line of sight, also curious to know who it was.