You Know What They Do To Girls Like Us

“Did you get the book?” April asks me ask soon as she opens the door.

Oh man. Crossing the threshold I groan. I slide down against the wall.

“I forgot,” I rub my face.

“How could you forget?” April startles me with the volume of her voice. “That book is our only chance and you –”

“Calm down!” I throw my hands up and yell. “I got distracted and I just didn’t, okay? I’ll just get it next time. Sometimes shit happens and we can’t…”

I sigh and fold up my knees so I can lay my forehead on them.

“What happened?” Sara is suddenly sitting beside me. Her soft voice encompasses me.

“Well,” I take a breath. “So I went to Harry’s and… usual things ensued. So then I went to Louis’ and we got kind of close to… kissing.”

Sara and April look at me with wide eyes. April beckons me to go on.

I explain the rest of the events.

“So he and Harry are best mates?” April is visibly shocked. “There’s no way. I mean, they’re complete opposites!”

“I know,” I bite my lip in frustration.

“You need to be careful, Robin,” one of the most sympathetic looks I have ever seen crosses Sara’s face. “I know you really care about him, but you have to remember that he’s one of them too.”

“But he’s so genuine. Just how could he be one of them?” my head can’t wrap around the feelings inside me.

“We’re not saying you should stop seeing him, but…” April kneels to get back to my eye level. “You need to be careful. We care about you and we don’t want to see anything bad happen to you too.”

“To me too?” I look up abruptly to see their solemn faces. “Wait, what? Why me too?”

“Girls?” a voice slightly crackles through the intercom. I rush to press the respond button.

“Yes?” I whisper into the com.

“It’s Paula,” her voice is strained as she speaks. “All of you are to report to the basement level of the building immediately. I’ll see you there.”

I turn to face the girls. Sara’s lip is quivering and April is wiping away tears frantically as she pushes past me to rush out the door.

Sara and I follow her as she starts running down a stairwell.

“April! What is it!” my yell echoes throughout the stairwell. We’re right on her heels as she bursts through a door and we are faced with a room that I cannot even begin to describe.

The walls and floor are cement. Pipes run along the walls and ceiling to feed into a massive water tank with plexi-glass walls. Water completely fills the tank and there is no top ceiling to it. The tank takes up about three quarters of the room. The quarter that isn’t occupied by the tanks has seats in which all five of the boys are seated in. I trace the gazes of their eyes to a sort of opening to the tank at the top. Squinting my eyes I can see – oh my God.

“Amelia!” I scream.

All of the boys turn to finally notice us. Eliza is nowhere in sight. I keep my eyes on Amelia as two men force Sara, April, and I to stand in front of the group of boys. Amelia is in clear sight now.

“Let her go! Amelia!” I look around at everyone, begging for anyone to do anything. Sara is crying and April is spewing profanities at the burly man holding her back.

“Learn your lessons, ladies,” a middle aged man stands to the side of us and gives some sort of signal to the man holding Amelia above the tank. “Do not disobey your masters.”

The man at the top with Amelia fastens weights to her hands and feet. She is motionless throughout the whole process. The man steps back and pulls a lever. She is dropped into the tank.

I jump forward and start pounding on the glass.

“AMELIA NO” I scream.

She starts struggling in the water, but her fragile limbs give in to the iron weights. Her body is dragged down to the bottom.

A man starts pulling me away and forcing me back.

“Let me go, let her go!” I yell as tears flow down my face.

A barely audible thud is heard as the weights hit the bottom of the tank. I struggle with the man’s arms, but never take my eyes off of Amelia.

I stop resisting when she stops struggling. The air is completely still.

Her red hair gracefully flows all around her face as numerous bubbles train out of her mouth. Her body starts floating up but is abruptly stopped by the weight of the iron. She floats there; lifeless. She looks like a ghost suspended in the water. Like a beautiful and innocent puppet being held by the strings of an ugly master.

The water slowly drains from the tank and all senses slowly drain from my body.

I feel a hand touch my arm, but all I can feel is cold. The cold from the cement floor, the cold from the clear water, the cold from the metal chair I am seated on. The cold from the voice that whispers in my ear.

“Such a shame for such a beautiful girl.”

Notes

Thank you for waiting! Update on time as planned, so I'm kind of proud of myself. :P Hope you liked the chapter and are on the edge of your seats. Comment your thoughts and thank you for reading, gems!
~christi ellie