La Buena Vida 7

[WP] You've spent the last 10 years living 2 different lives, one during your waking hours, and one in your dreams. You're beginning to lose track of which life is the real one.

******

I had always had dreams since my mother left. Dreams in which I was the daughter of wealthy parents, my siblings and I went to school and enjoyed happy lavish family outings. That my dad was still alive and that mom never left.

As I became older, the dreams became less of mindless fantasies and more mature I guess, due to experiences that had hardened me. But they still remained there, an alternate universe that came to life between the hours of 11 pm and 4 am; a reality where all was good.

During my time in Silva’s club, I had dreams of the existence of absurd emotions like hope, joy, freedom, and happiness. Those things were new to me; I had never experienced such for ten years, but it felt happy; I was ecstatic to imagine living a normal life.

As I looked at the objects the strange lady was giving me, I began to ponder on my mental state. It appeared that the dream world was leaking into the real, terrible life I was living at the moment.

“Let me get this straight. Of your own accord, against your employer and potentially to your own detriment, you’re willing to help me?”

“As impossible as it sounds, yes.”

I couldn’t believe that. “Who are you? What is your name?”

“Katrina. You’re Mariela, I suppose?”

“Yes. Katrina, I don’t know what games Silva is using to play, but I’m not falling for it. I’m not in the mood for more pain and torture, so if you excuse me, I’ll be…”

“Fear.”

I whipped around to face her. “What did you say?”

“Fear is the greatest weapon one can use to tame a wild soul and break the strongest of wills. You are a testament to that fact. Fear has clouded your reasoning. Let me ask you one thing, Mariela. If you try to escape, what will Silva do to you?”

“Are you brain dead? Of course, he’ll torture me. He’ll use pain - which is the modus operandi of everyone here, I see – to break my body and he’ll remind me so painfully why I should never think of trying that again.”

“Good. I see he’s made his point. But tell me, how different is that pain from the pain of remaining in this shithole for the rest of your miserable life?”

I stood, dumbfounded. Somehow, she was right. It wasn’t pain – I was used to that. Fear…Silva had used fear to tame me.

“Your silence is testament to the fact that your brain has finally caught on with what’s happening here. I have no reason to want to help you or Silva. I’m actually really doing this for myself. I’m living the life I’ve always wanted to live – the life of a liberator – through you now. A win for you is satisfaction and fulfillment for me. I’m not asking you to trust me; that’d be pushing my luck. I’m asking you to trust your gut instinct and do what is best for you. And for those you love.”

******

I lay with my back to the security camera; despite its being disguised as a smoke detector, Katrina told me what it really was. I was looking at the camera in my hand and the hairpin in my head. These two were apparently my lifelines as far as escaping this place was concerned, and yet I didn’t even know what I was supposed to use them for.

The door opened and I discreetly hid the camera under the bed.

“Boss wants you in the main room, now.”

I did not look at the owner of the voice, but I just stood up and stretched as the door closed. Thinking a little, I grabbed the camera and hid it in my shorts as I walked out of the room. The camera was quite small, really portable, so I held it in my hands as I walked across the hallway, pointing it in every open door and discreetly taking pictures.

Thankfully, there was no shutter sound.

I couldn’t see what I was supposed to be viewing, but I knew I had good shots of all the rooms. Hopefully, when I looked at the pictures later, they would provide me with a few details that might facilitate my escape.

“Mariela! Welcome. Join your… colleagues,” Silva said, his voice heavy laden with sarcasm that overshadowed his patronizing smile and tone. “You must be wondering why I called you.”

“Actually, no,” I said, glancing briefly at my mother before looking away. The camera was still in my shorts, but for this, I would not need any shots. My photographic memory was taking in every detail of the room as I looked around. My mother cast a brief glance at me before averting her gaze, rubbing Silva’s back while the fool grinned sheepishly.

“I’ll be having a big party here tomorrow night; I believe I have already said it, but I like to say things twice, just to make sure my actions are justified when I deal with you for not performing as required. Not that I need any justification anyway, since I f*cking own you b!tches!” he said, laughing loudly.

It was our cue to laugh, so we laughed as well.

“Yes, yes. Poles will be set up, you’ll be acting as waitresses, strippers, and dancers. You’ll switch duties every 30 minutes or so. You’ll be dressed to seduce, and you’ll need to act the part as well. I want those suckers to be signing deals and cheques like bastards, and you are the people who’ll make that happen, got it?”

“Yes,” we all echoed.

“Good. Of course, you know that in this situation, men will act like octopuses and have their slobbery hands all over you. You are to patronize them as they wish, and you are to ask them for pay, and you are to hand over every damn cent to me. Clear?”

“Yes.”

“If you so much as keep a penny to yourself, I will pull out your fingernails one by one. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Mariela, you will be in the VIP lounge alongside Carol and Denise. Your skills are top-notch. Understood?”

“Yes…” we said.

“Yes, what?”

I stifled a sob.

“Yes, we are delighted to be of service to you.”

“Good, you should thank me for giving your worthless lives any meaning. Now be gone.”

******

Getting back to my room, I sighed as I breezed through the pictures. Food Storage room. Utility Storage room. Surveillance room…

What?

I glanced back at that surveillance room photo again, unable to believe my luck. I managed to get a shot of the surveillance room, and I could see most of it. There were about six screens in total, which means not all the rooms were monitored.

Most likely only the ones that contained the girls.

I needed to get into that room, as well as the other storage rooms. I was hatching a plan, and somehow I knew it would work. It had to. Quickly, I hid the camera, turned, and began banging the door, screaming that I was hungry.

As soon as I heard feet running down the hall, I crashed to the ground and acted as though I was unconscious.

“Why the hell is this broad making noise>” I heard a masculine voice say as the door was forced open.

“What? Luis, s-she’s dead?”

“No, you retard. She’s unconscious. But how? Damn, boss ain’t gonna like this, the other guy said, lifting me up as they carried me out of the room.”

Phase one was a go. My two lives were beginning to merge. And it seemed the dream world was soon going to take over.

******

@Leo_kitti, @Hanzell, @Gwenie, @gertu13 I’m slowly bringing it to an end.