[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: THE UNIVERSE~ KWON JIN AH]
"Hello?" Lily's voice echoed in the dark, "can anyone hear me?" Her own voice reverberated, startling her.
Lily tried to breathe in and out, so that her situation wouldn't add too much pressure to her already pressured life. She moved her hand mindlessly in the dark, trying to find something, maybe a wall or even better, a human, but there was nothing but darkness, which was now engulfing Lily's senses by the second.
She dragged her feet and finally sat down, bringing her knees close with her face buried between her legs. The girl sobbed quietly. "Where did everything go wrong? What happened to my life?" Lily cried, sadness taking over her emotions. She wished she could go back in time and change the day she went to the clubhouse with Victoria. No, that wouldn't change anything. She wished she had never accepted to work under her boss because he was the cause of all this.
No, hold on. Lily paused, her life was already shitty before she started working with her boss. Her family was never at peace, with her mother leaving them behind, and she, losing all memories about her mother, and her father always hitting them after he was wasted with alcohol. It was not her boss; it was just her ill luck, Lily thought to herself as she started another episode of tears.
Lily sniffled back her tears when she heard a shuffling sound in the dark room. She couldn't dictate where it was coming from because the sound echoed in the dark. She had thought she was the only one in the room, but it appeared that someone else was with her. Lily waited for the sound, but it stopped. Her hope died down; maybe it was just the rats. She nodded, but then a voice startled her, almost causing her to almost jump out of her skin.
"Rule 71, there is not I, only we, Rule 72, the one who bought you is your master...Rule 7...7...74? Wait...Rule number 1."
Lily listened to the frail voice try to repeat the rules over and over again, only to mix up numbers and start from the beginning. This action made Lily wonder just how long this person had been made to stay here and read out rules. She didn't want to end up like the person; she prayed in her heart for someone to come and help her.
The rest of the day, Lily listened as the person repeated the rules over and over again. The room was very dark, so she was not able to tell if it was day or night. Lily waited for the men who put her there to finally come and get her out, but no one came for her. Slowly she lost track of time and was almost losing her mind.
Staying in a room filled with endless darkness, with no sense of time, and lack of awareness of the people around you. The only voice Lily heard was the one of the person reading out the rules, but she wasn't able to tell apart whether it was male or female. No food or water.
Lily could remember vividly the last food she ate; it was the spinach and cheese from her date with Jeffrey.
The girl sighed, "If I knew I was going to end up like this, I would have ordered a fully dressed chicken and eaten it all to myself." Lily gulped, imagining the well-sauced chicken in front of her while her stomach rumbled. She was hungry, tired, frustrated, and sad.
Minutes turned to hours, and soon, hours became days. Finally, on the third day, the door to the abyss was opened.
"New product, green eyes. Step out!" A man holding a thick register ordered in a loud, hard voice as he read from his book, but nobody answered. The man looked up from his book and frowned, repeating his words again in a louder voice he said,
"New product, green eyes, step out!" His own voice echoed as a response; the man's lips set themselves in a thin line as anger consumed him.
"I see that one doesn't want to learn her lessons, bring the light. We can just dispose of her this night." The man ordered, and soon, his minions returned with light flashing it inside the cell room.
"There she is," the man pointed out when he saw the peculiar cow-coloured dress the girl was wearing.
One of the men with the torch light ran towards Lily and nudged her, but the girl did not move. "She's not moving, sir," he relayed to the man.
"Check her pulse." The man who appeared to be in charge ordered.
The man who was now sitting on his heels near Lily felt her neck. "Her temperature is running high, I think she fainted," the man informed.
The one in charge huffed, "Acting all tough and she can't even survive three days in the abyss? Take her to the doctor; we need her standing on the black market trade fair. Also, tell the doctor to give her black eye contacts. We can just sell her off at a cheaper price," the man remarked and stepped out of the room.
The one close to Lily carried her up as if she weighed less than feathers. As he was about to step out, someone held his leg firmly.
"Please let me out too, I have learned my lesson. I promise not to look at the customer in his eyes," the person begged.
The man carrying Lily wriggled his leg free. "Get off me, you lowly bug," he kicked away the person's hand and stepped out of the room; soon darkness engulfed the room again.
Lily found herself in a peaceful domain; everywhere was white and calm. All around were flowers of different colours that harmonized with each other.
"Is this heaven?" Lily muttered to herself, "Finally, my pain has ended; I can now live here in heaven," she nodded her head, walking around the place also touching the flowers in the process.
Lily stopped in front of a particular flower, "Lupin," she said in a small voice, reaching out to hold it, but something stung her, causing her to take a step back.
Soon, the flowers disappeared and were replaced with a man dressed in white, with a stethoscope round his neck.
"Can you hear me? Do you remember your name?" The man asked Lily.
Lily blinked her eyes again; finally, she recognized where she was. Shit, Lily cursed under her breath. She was not in heaven after all; she had left heaven only to return to hell.