Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
His presence was impossible to ignore, and I wasn’t so innocent that I was oblivious to the way he looked at me. His eyes held a dangerous desire that both unsettled and—loathe as I was to admit—intrigued. But that didn’t change my circumstances. My captivity hung over me like a dark, suffocating cloud.
I rolled onto my side and stared at the wall. Each minute stretched into an eternity. The stagnant silence had returned, interrupted only by my troubled thoughts.
I dozed off at some point, waking when soft whispers penetrated my dreamless state. I immediately sat up and looked towards the door. Two unfamiliar faces greeted me, both smiling warmly. One dark haired and the other a honey blonde, they couldn’t have been much older than I was.
The way they were dressed instantly caught my attention. I could tell right away they weren’t like the woman that had spit in my food not just from their clothing, but how they carried themselves.
“Hello! I’m Esther and this is Nicolette,” the one with dark hair exclaimed with a bright smile, gesturing towards her friend, who was a dead ringer for Jessica Alba.
“You can call me Nikki,” Nicolette added, her demeanor more reserved but no less good-natured.
“I’m so glad I can finally meet you!” Esther gushed as she fully entered the room.
I found her bubbly exuberance somewhat disarming. So was her uncanny resemblance to Mr. Hawthorne. The classy black evening gown that she wore hugged her curvy figure in all the right places. Her hair was loosely braided and adorned with a thinly jeweled headpiece that screamed money.
“Esther, calm down. We just talked about this,” Nicolette reprimanded with playful exasperation.
She was taller than both of us and built like a runway model, wearing a similar black evening gown that mirrored her quiet and steady charm. Her hair was styled the same but lacked any adornments.
"We've been assigned as your—”
“We’re here to help you get ready,” Nicolette cut her off with a clear warning in her tone.
Esther kept speaking, her enthusiasm undeterred.
“We’re going to make you look stunning! Not that you aren’t beautiful already."
“And why do I need to be made up?”
“Because tonight is special,” Esther replied matter-of-factly.
Nicolette’s gaze met mine, her expression calm and understanding. "We were sent here with strict instructions to make sure you’re expertly prepared. Failure is not an option.”
I frowned as her underlying meaning became clear. She’d just given a warning, but it wasn’t for my wellbeing. It was for theirs. I took a quiet breath and looked around the room. I didn’t know either of these girls from a stranger on the street, but if something happened to them because of me, I would feel guilty.
I hadn’t forgotten about the woman who spit in my food. What she’d done was disgusting and unwarranted, but her fear when being dragged off had been palpable.
Even if these two were on different levels than her, they could possibly suffer because of me.
“So, Lolita, are you ready for a night you’ll never forget?” Esther asked. Her voice held a gentle warmth.
I nodded hesitantly, the urge to refuse bubbling beneath the surface.
“Yes!” Esther surged forward and quickly removed the chain from my ankle.
I wasn’t sure where or when she’d gotten a key all of a sudden, seeing as her dress had no visible pockets. But before I could question it too much, the chain was off and I was being helped out of bed.
“Please don’t run,” Esther murmured to me as I was steered towards the door, and for the first time I heard a hint of uncertainty beneath her cheerfulness.
“I won’t run,” I answered loud enough for them both to hear. I meant it too. I’d already made that mistake once.
The next time I ran I would make sure I had a plan, or at the very least knew a clear-cut path for safely getting away from this place.
They guided me out of the room and down a corridor that felt both familiar and foreign since seeing it earlier. As we walked, Esther continued to talk a mile a minute. I noticed her words were careful, chosen with a sense of discretion. I wasn’t to know what was happening. That didn’t sit right with me at all. I’d agreed to behave for their sakes, but I had wound up in this very situation doing something similar for Shana.
“Can one of you tell me what’s going to happen to me?”
Esther stopped mid-sentence and looked over. “Nothing bad. Tonight is going to be a celebration. It’s a new chapter for all of us."
Nicolette nodded in silent agreement as we arrived at a door relatively close to the bedroom that I was being kept in.
Esther opened it to reveal a large bathroom illuminated in a soft glow.
"Here we are," she announced with a renewed pep in her tone. "This is where the transformation begins."