“Stop,” growled an officer. His flashlight caught them, held them.
Lydia looked for a way out. She backed up against Heidi and Abby, shielding them from the police officers. If she could find a hole for them to elude the cops, Heidi would get Abby to the sewer. The wall behind them was solid with no breaks. The cops closed in. She wanted to run, she wanted to fight but knew it would be worse if she did.
“What do we do,” Nic whispered. At fifteen, she’d been on the street long enough to know she wouldn’t be safe from rape or a beating if that’s what the cops planned for their group.
Lydia lunged at the officer nearest her, she came out swinging at him. Heidi and Abby tried to run but other cops scooped them up, off their feet. Lydia fought the officer with her fists but he overpowered her. Dani and Rachel tried running dragging Hannah with them but other officers grabbed them. Nic attacked the officer restraining Lydia and an officer grabbed her from behind.
“Damn little street bitch,” the officer with the light said. He slapped Lydia hard driving her to her knees. She fell, saw her girls, her family being taken. She’d failed them. She came up hard, punching the cop but he hit her again.
The cop with Nic in his arms struggled as she kicked and elbowed him. Throwing her head back, she tried to butt her head against his head hard enough to make him let her go. Two more officers helped drag her to the ground, force her face down. They dragged her arms behind her back, restrained them with straps around her wrists. The cop she fought growled, “I’ll teach you a lesson you damn little hellion.” He kicked her. Nic fought harder.
One of the other officers pulled him off her. “Not this group,” he said. “Remember our orders.” He shoved the angry cop away from the girl. Two of them lifted her to her feet, bruised, battered but not raped.
The large cop gripped Lydia’s wrists in his hand as he slipped the restraints over them. “You’re lucky we got orders or I’d let my men take you,” he whispered in her ear. His hands dragged her upright, rubbed down her body. She kicked him in the shin. He slapped the back of her head. They carried and dragged the girls to the wagon.
Lydia said nothing as they sat in the back of the wagon. If they took them to the station, it would be a bad night for all of them, though maybe the younger ones might escape being raped. It wouldn’t matter, if they ended up in a home some asshole would rape them there. Men weren’t to be trusted.
“Lydia,” Nic said softly. “You okay?”
All the girls had their hands pulled behind their backs in restraints. The two younger ones didn’t seem to have any bruising or damage but the others all received new injuries. Heidi had a black eye, Dani a bloody nose, Rachel a split lip.
“I’m fine,” Lydia said though her face stung from the blows. Her head ached so much she thought it would fall off. “We’ll have to see where they take us.”
“One of them tried to,” Nic said tears coming to her eyes but she swallowed hard and let it go. “But another one said not this group. Why?”
There were no windows in the wagon. Just benches for the prisoners to sit on. Abby curled into Lydia whimpering. Lydia struggled to free her hands. Unsuccessful at getting free, the only comfort she could offer was allowing Abby to lean on her. “I don’t know. But they aren’t taking us to the nearest station. We’ve been in here too long already,” Lydia said.
“The brothels?” Nic asked with a shudder of fear.
“Maybe,” Lydia said but she doubted it.
***
Lydia lost track of time as the wagon bumped along the streets. The streets got smoother, nicer. She feared worse was in store for them. Is it possible they were being sold? She’d heard of it, seen it happen. She hadn’t seen the cops do it though. Fear grew in her but she choked it back, kept it at bay to keep her girls calm. Abby dozed next to her, laying her head on her lap. Rachel and Dani leaned on each other with Hannah between them. Heidi leaned on Nic. They all dozed except Lydia.
Lydia ran options through her head. If she rushed them when they opened the door would that win their freedom or cause more injuries. Fighting was fine but only when it won their freedom.
“What do you think,” Nic asked softly. “Do we fight?”
“Gotta see where we end up,” Lydia said. “It won’t do any good to get more injured. We have to stay strong.”
“You want us to spread our legs and hope they let us go,” Nic said blunt as always.
“No. I’m saying wait and see,” Lydia said. “If I could get free, I’d fight like hell but I can’t.” She turned to show Nic her wrists which were bloody from her trying.
“I don’t know if I can just lay back and let someone bang me,” Nic said.
“I’m not gonna and I don’t want you to either,” Lydia said. “We have to be smart about it though. If you see an escape, you take it and as many of them as you can.”
“Lydia,” Nic said. “You can’t sacrifice yourself.”
“If they run our DNA they’ll know I’m the only legal one they can fuck,” she said looking straight into Nic’s dark brown eyes. “I’ll do what I have to. You look for a way to escape.”
“We can all,” Nic said.
“No. We may not,” Lydia said. “I want your promise.”
Swallowing hard, Nic knew she was right. She nodded once giving her promise.
***
When the doors swung open, no one moved. The girls waited to see what the cops did. But no cops. Aliens, dark aliens. Nic looked sharply at Lydia who shrugged.
Gregor said, “I’m sorry for your discomfort. Please come out.”
Lydia stepped forward first. She wanted to see what their situation was. Gregor’s hand steadied her as she stepped down from the wagon. She pulled away from him, suspicious. “Please allow me to release your hands,” Gregor said. Two of his men held back the police officer who drove them there, escorting him back to the driver’s seat.
Lydia looked around. A mansion stood in front of her, the wagon parked in a circular drive. With an assessing look, Lydia took in the tall alien. His dark hair, dark eyes were very human like but they stood out. All his men were tall, dark haired and dark eyes. Distrust and fear flooded her. She choked back the fear. “What do you want? Who are you? Why have you brought us here?”
“I am Gregor,” he said bowing slightly. “My lord, Mycos of the Hylatia family, has brought you here. He will explain all. Will you allow me to release your hands?” He kept his hands at his side letting her make the move.
Hands free gave her a lot more options. Nodding she turned slightly to allow him access to her wrists. One of his men handed him snippers to cut the restraints away. He growled when his hands came away bloody. “You weren’t supposed to be harmed,” Gregor said.
“Did you really think we’d come willingly,” Lydia snapped at him.
Gregor reached for Abby who cringed away from him. Lydia pushed him aside. “She doesn’t like men,” she said lifting the small girl down. Holding her close to her body, Lydia hid Abby’s face from seeing Gregor as he snipped her hands free.
“We do not harm children,” Gregor said firmly. He hated seeing the child frightened.
“Yeah, right,” Nic said as she stepped down from the wagon. “That’s why we’ve been hauled down here so willingly.”
The girls stepped down one by one to have their hands released. “You may go inside,” Gregor said.
“We stay together,” Nic said.
The six younger ones huddled near Lydia. Lydia tried to shield them while she sought an escape but she couldn’t even see the road from where they stood.
“Please, my lord awaits,” Gregor said once they all huddled together outside the wagon. Nic brought up the rear. Lydia carried Abby up to the tall doors. Double doors, giant doors large enough to let the wagon drive right inside.
Lydia walked into the mansion, fearful they would never escape it, worried what would happen to them once they went inside. She didn’t see an option other than to go inside. S
tairs led up one side of the enormous entryway. Corridors led off to the left and right. Large windows, no French doors, Lydia realized, lined the opposite side of the entryway. Gregor led them to the right, down a corridor. “This is a med room,” he said. “Justinian is our healer.”
Justinian bowed to the seven as they entered the large room. Tile on the floor, cabinets along the walls, and beds in a row across the room. “Please come in,” Justinian said. “I’d like each of you to lay on this scanner.”
“Why,” demanded Lydia. The aliens arrived three months ago bringing advances in technology, particularly healing devices. People begged for their treatments but the government was slow to negotiate with them.
“It is to assess the damage done,” Gregor said. “It won’t hurt. You simply lay still for a few minutes and then you can get off the table.” He demonstrated by doing exactly as he described. Nic grabbed Lydia’s sleeve. Green eyes clashed with brown.
Lydia set Abby down. Abby started to whimper which brought Hannah nearer. “I’ll go first,” Lydia said to Nic. “We’ll see what they do.”
Nervously, she lay on the table, folding her hands across her stomach. Justinian reached for her hand and she jerked away from him. “Forgive me,” he said. “Please put your arms at your side.”
As it had before, the scanner lit up, readings in a language none of the girls understood flowed across the screen. Justinian frowned at them but did nothing to Lydia. This process was repeated with each of the others.
When Justinian finished scanning them, Gregor led them down the hall further. “This is a large bathing room,” he said. “There are clean clothes, warm clothes for you to change into.”
“We’re to strip while all of you watch,” Lydia demanded.
“Of course not,” Gregor said. He sent half his men away. “We will wait here for you to finish.”
“Why,” Lydia asked.
“My lord, Mycos will explain. Please. We offer you comfort,” Gregor said. He opened the door. Inside a tub large enough all seven of them could wade in it. Clothes lay on the vanity in all their sizes. “You may lock the door to ensure you’re uninterrupted.”
Lydia pushed the girls in ahead of her. “I want my questions answered,” she demanded.
“My lord will attend you shortly,” Gregor said. “In the meanwhile, please, bathe. We have food once you have bathed.”
“Food laced with drugs,” Lydia asked suspiciously.
“No,” Gregor said. “I’ll eat anything you want me to if it will prove we mean you no harm.”
Lydia didn’t know what to think. She closed the door. Nic looked at the clothes. Pajama pants and shirts for all six of the younger girls. A silk nightgown for Lydia. “I think they have different plans for you than us,” Nic said. “Do we bathe?”
Lydia searched the room. No windows or vents offered a way out except the door they entered through. “I guess we do.”
A jar of liquid sat on the edge of the tub. Heidi took off the lid and smelled. “What’s this?” She asked frowning at the bottle.
“I think it’s bubble bath,” Lydia said remembered taking bubble baths when she was little.
Lydia stripped off her layers of clothes. Folding them neatly, they were torn, dirty and falling apart but they were hers. Starting the water in the nearly pool size tub, she dumped in a large amount of the liquid.
The others followed her example warily uncertain what this would lead to. Lydia walked into the tub, wincing as the water and soap hit her injuries. She dunked under the water, getting her hair wet. “Come in,” she encouraged. “It feels great.”
They scrubbed their bodies clean, washed their hair, splashed each other with water. Abby clung to Lydia but Lydia made her let go. “You’re safe here with all of us around you. Look. See how we're all here for you,” Lydia told Abby as she started to whimper again.
Abby looked around her, turning slowly to see all her sisters in a circle around her. Slowly she smiled, splashed Hannah. Hannah laughed and splashed her back.
Warm fluffy towels waited for them as they got out of the tub, clean for the first time in a long time. Lydia brushed their hair, dried their bodies and helped them dress in clean pajamas. Robes all the right size for them hung waiting for them and slippers to slide on their feet. Lydia wondered how the aliens knew their sizes. Fear came back as she tended her sisters. Blood didn’t relate them but experience forged their relationship.
***
Mycos looked down the list of injuries. “This is unacceptable,” he growled at the police officer who brought the girls to him. “You were told not to injure them.”
“They didn’t exactly come willingly,” the man said. “They resisted.”
“So your officers felt it necessary to kick a fifteen-year-old who weighs all of ninety pounds in the ribs,” Mycos scoffed.
“You weren’t there,” the man defended.
“I was,” Gregor said. “They fought but your men were out of control.”
“You got them, didn’t you? You got them so now you can fuck them all to your heart’s content,” the man snarled at the two aliens.
Gregor grabbed the man, backed him up against the wall. Lifting him nearly off his feet, Gregor growled, “We do not rape children.”
“Then why you wanna be saddled with a bunch of street rats,” he demanded choking as Gregor tightened his grip on his shirt.
“Gregor, let the sergeant go,” Mycos said. “I trust there will be nothing in the reports on this incident.”
“We picked up others in the sweep,” the man straightened his clothes as Gregor let him down. “I’ll keep this off the books, provided you stick to the agreement.”
“I’ll give you the full payment, sergeant but if any of this gets out, you will be seeing him again,” Mycos threatened softly handing the man a package of money.
Gregor pushed the man out the door. On his return he asked, “How much damage?”
“The young woman we followed, she has bruises and lacerations,” Mycos said. He didn’t like that other men had touched her. Anger broiled in his gut but he fought it back. “The next oldest has bruised ribs and a wrenched arm. The rest are bruised and battered. They’re all malnourished. Are they bathing?”
“Yes, rather reluctantly,” Gregor smiled. “They locked the door. I wouldn’t be surprised if they shoved something against the door.”
“Wary,” Mycos said. “It will take time to gain their trust.”
“But we must,” he said.
“Yes,” Mycos said. “We must.”
“The little one,” Gregor said. “She’s full of fear.”
“We have their names, their ages but not their stories,” Mycos said. “Living on the streets on this world is difficult to say the least. For one so young, it must be terrifying.”
“If you take the oldest,” Gregor said. “It will be difficult for the youngest.”
“We will find our way through this,” Mycos assured.
***
Nic opened the door. Gregor’s men stood waiting for them. One of them said something in a language the girls didn’t understand. Gregor hurried down the hall towards them as the girls filed out of the bathing room. “Did you enjoy your bath,” Gregor asked.
“Yes, thank you,” Lydia said still distrusting him. “When do we…”
Gregor cut her off. “If you will come this way,” he directed her deeper into the mansion. “We have food waiting for you.”
Abby held Lydia’s hand but stared hard at the tall dark man. He squatted down to look at her eye to eye. “Would you like to eat,” he said.
Abby hid her face in Lydia’s robe, peaking at the large man. Her blue eyes suspicious, her white blond hair curling around her face.
Hannah stepped in front of the big man. “Leave her alone,” she ordered.
“No one will harm her,” Gregor said shifting his gaze to the older girl. Her green eyes sparkled with fear and protectiveness.
“Like the cops,” Hann
ah bit out.
“No. Never,” Gregor said. “We won’t touch or force you to do anything.”
“But you forced us to come here,” Lydia said putting an arm around Hannah. “Where do you want us now?”
“There were reasons for you to come to us as you did,” Gregor said as he escorted them to the dining room. Double doors opened to reveal a table long enough to seat fifty people. It was ridiculously ornate with crystal chandeliers overhead and long buffets lining the walls.
The girls said nothing, exclaimed at nothing, as they walked in still huddling around Nic and Lydia. “The cook has prepared food,” Gregor said. “None of it is drugged.”
Gregor signaled for his men to step out. Lydia turned to him. “You and your men will join us,” she insisted.
“We do not need food,” he said.
“Neither do we,” Nic said even as her stomach growled as the smells assaulted her.
“You will not trust the food is safe,” Gregor said sadly.
Lydia turned to leave the room behind. She hated denying the girls food but if the men weren’t eating, she didn’t trust it was safe for the girls. Dani and Rachel put their heads together to whisper and point.
“Your girls want the food,” Gregor said.
“At what cost,” Lydia said. When she stood in the doorway, all the girls followed her huddling around her. Heidi swallowed hard wishing the men would eat so she could have food. Nic squeezed her hand, reassuring her.
With a wave, Gregor’s men returned to the room and sat. The girls sat on one side staring at the large dark men. Lydia waited for the men to eat. Taking small portions so the girls would have more food, the men ate. No dish was touched until one of the men ate from it with no ill affect. Abby crawled into Lydia’s lap curled into the woman and drifted to sleep. Her body clean, her stomach full for the first time she could remember. She clung to the only person who made her feel safe.
With the girl on her lap, Lydia stopped eating. Abby took up too much space for her to eat around her. She sat back and watched as the girls gobbled down the food. Bowls emptied, stomachs filled. The trauma, the food, all worked to make them sleepy. Hannah struggled to keep her eyes open. She leaned against Lydia.
Seven Sisters Page 2
