Cecilia’s eyes fluttered open as she slowly began to wake up.
“Ugh. Who opened my window?” she groaned as she covered her eyes and rolled over onto her stomach.
Cecilia opened her eyes to see that she was lying face down on the cold hard floor.?
In confusion, Cecilia tried to stand up and slammed her head hard into something above her.
“Ow,” she groaned as the pain intensified her headache, “what was that? Did I fall asleep under the table?
As her vision began to clear, Cecilia noticed bars in front of her.
Where am I? Did I go to jail? she thought and said, “I am never drinking with Angie and Donna again. The couch fire should have been enough for me.”
As Cecilia’s eyes finally focused and adjusted to the light, she realized that she was not in jail.
She was in a cage!
She crawled to the bars noticing that her cage was elevated off the ground.
What is going on? Cecilia thought as she backed away from the bars.
She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Cecilia couldn’t remember anything about the night before other than drinking with Angie and Donna and going to the restroom because she felt sick.
“Hello? Hello?! There must be a mistake! Someone let me out of here,” Cecilia yelled as she gripped the bars and tried to free herself.
“Ssssh, you’re going to get yourself in trouble with Mother,” A woman said. Cecilia looked to her right and there was another cage suspended in the air by a chain. A woman peeked out from underneath a blanket to look at her. She placed her finger over her lips and shushed her again. “There will be time to talk later. It’s almost opening time.”
“What do you mean? We’ve been kidnapped!” Cecilia exclaimed.
Footsteps could be heard approaching and Cecilia began yelling again, “Hey! Who’s there? Can you help me?” The woman ducked back down under her blanket and faked as if she was still sleeping.
A well-dressed woman walked into view. The woman opened a panel on the window and began pressing buttons. The cage that Cecilia was in lowered to the ground. The woman said nothing as she began unlocking Cecilia’s cage.
“Thank you so much. Like I said there seems to be a misunderstanding. I…”
Before she could finish, the woman snatched Cecilia out of the cage by her hair. Cecilia screamed in pain as the woman slung her across the room like a rag doll.
“Why does Abigail always get me the unruly ones?” the woman complained as she pulled a whip off one of the racks in her shop.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Cecilia yelled as she stood up from being tossed across the floor, “And where the hell are my clothes?
The woman sneered at her as she walked up to Cecilia, “Perhaps Abigail hit you harder than she thought.”
The woman slapped Cecilia across the face and said, “Listen well girl because I won’t repeat myself. You will refer to me as Mother. You do not speak until you’re spoken to. Do you understand me?
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Cecilia yelled back and attempted to punch her. The woman who called ‘Mother’ stepped out of the way causing Cecilia to stumble past her and almost fall.
“Pathetic. Did you think you could hit me? How ridiculous,” Mother said mockingly.
“Look you crazy b****. I don’t care who you are. You are going to let me out or I will…”
The whip connected with Cecilia’s face causing her to fall backward as she screamed out in pain.
“What now? What are you going to tell me, you worthless human?” Mother asked as she began whipping Cecilia.
Cecilia rolled over to run away, but the whip connected with her back causing her to scream out.
The blows continue coming causing Cecilia to flail on the ground as she tried to block her face.
“Mother! Mother! Please, Mother, stop!” the girl in the other cage cried out, “Please have mercy on her, Mother!”
“Who said you could talk? Do you want some of this as well?” Mother snapped and the woman grew quiet as she continued to whip Cecilia. Each blow felt as if her body was on fire, and she continued to scream until her throat was sore.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Cecilia cried out.
Cecilia curled up on the ground gasping for air as she sobbed. Mother grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up to her eye level.
“Who am I?” Mother asked.
“M.. mother,” Cecilia stammered.
“Good. Hopefully, you have learned your lesson,” Mother said before placing a collar around her neck, “Now, go back to your cage like a good girl.”
She dropped Cecilia to the floor and Cecilia barely manage to drag herself back into the cage. Mother tossed in a bottle before locking the cage again.
“Make sure you apply the cream to your face. No one will buy you if you are scarred up,” Mother instructed as she used the panel to raise the cage up in the air again.
Cecilia fainted from fear, and she awoke to pain in her back and someone touching her. She wanted to move away but she was too weak.
“It’s okay, it’s me,” a familiar voice said. It was dark and Cecilia couldn’t see who was talking to her. As her eyes adjusted, Cecilia realized it was the woman she had seen in the other cage.
The woman, like her, was only clad in a black bra and panties. She was skinny but not underfed. She was much younger than Cecilia which made Cecilia upset.?This girl was just a baby, barely 18,?she thought.
“Who are you and what are you doing in my…in here with me?” Cecilia asked. She could not bring herself to say, “her cage.” It was not her choice to be in a cage.
“I’m Terri and Mother allowed us to share a cage to tend to your wounds,” Terri responded, “We can talk freely now because the store is closed for the day.”
“I’m Cecilia. Terri, what is going on? Why did they kidnap us?” Cecilia asked.
“What do you mean? It has always been this way,” Terri answered.
“No, it’s not normal to be kidnapped and treated like animals,” Cecilia retorted.
“That’s our status. We’re pets,” Terri said as if it was obvious.
“Pets? Humans can’t be pets. Dogs and cats are pets. Humans aren’t pets,” Cecilia said.
“Well, to the Vampires, we are,”
“Come again?"
“We’re pets to be sold to vampires for their amusement. That is the way it has been for centuries,” Terri explained.
“Have you lost your mind? Vampires don’t exist,” Cecilia said.
“Maybe Mother hit you too hard,” Terri muttered before saying, “We can talk about this later. Eat some food and try to go back to sleep.”