Max couldn't get the image of that red burn out of her mind. Even after she forced herself to look away it stayed in her sight, taunting her with a past she did not know. Several hours had past since Kay was thrown in the cell and she still hadn't moved. Max's stomach growled. They hadn't been fed yet either.
The door opened. Max smelled soup. "Eat up." Scar Face growled as he set the platter of food down.
"Hey!" Gazzy shouted as Scar Face started to leave, "we can't reach it all the way over there."
Scar Face grunted. "Not my problem," he said and slammed the door.
"Great," Gazzy said, "Now what."
"Kay could bring it to us if she was awake," Angel said.
"I'm awake."
Everyone jumped.
"It was hard to stay asleep with all that shouting." She said starting to sit up. She cried out and lay back on the ground. "Why?" Kay asked looking down then drew in a quick breath and let it out as a low grown. Her eyes closed again and Max saw something glisten down her cheek.
A black shirt landed next to Kay. Max glanced over, Fang was now bare-chested. Kay glanced up and pulled the shirt to her. She put it on, gritting her teeth against the pain as she did. "Thanks."
Fang grunted in return.
"Hey," said Gazzy, "Could you bring us the food?"
"Yeah, of course," Kay said. She started to stand but cried out and settled for sitting up. The shirt came to her mid-thigh and accented her legs nicely. At least it would have if her legs weren't covered with bruises.
"Sorry," Kay said and started scooting her way toward the food. She cringed with each movement but kept going.
Eventually Kay brought the food over to the Flock and they distributed it. The soup was mostly water and it wasn't even close to hot. But it smelled good and tasted all right. The bisects that came with it was dry, but not moldy or anything. After they had been eating a few minutes Max turned to Kay.
"It's time you tell us why we're here. Who are those men and why do you look as if you've been tenderized like a slab of steak?"
Kay sighed. She wrapped her arms around herself and curled into a ball. "I owe you that much I suppose." She sighed again and a tear ran down her cheek then took a deep breath. "Two years ago I was kidnapped by those men. They had taken two dozen girls before they caught me. I was the last one for that trip. I was fourteen at the time." Kay started rubbing one hand against the other. "Some of the girls fought against them - rebelled. They were…. crushed." Kay took some long deep breaths. She was silent for a few minutes then continued "They would beat them senseless, sometimes with their fists sometimes with… tools." Kay closed her eyes and breathed through her mouth. No one interrupted. "They were always careful not to scar them though. We were their merchandise, how they made their living. If they scarred us then Malic would scar them."
Max wondered if that's how Scar Face had received his Scar.
"Then, a few days before we were to be handed off to the buyer Malic…. decided he liked me." Kay cringed and pulled the shirt lower on her legs. "He decided not to sell me and took me and…" Kay choked, sobbing. The Flock remained silent. "And… raped me. I fought him. He beat me. Over and over again. I lost count of how many times he used me." Kay grimaced and was silent for a while. For a moment Max wasn't sure she would go on. "Then… Malic decided he didn't want to do the job anymore. He valued me and wouldn't let anyone else touch me, until he got bored. Then he made me open property to the crew." Kay sped up, as if she couldn't stop now that she had gotten this far in the story. "All of the men used me, they weren't allowed to use the other girls. They would beat me when I resisted and so soon I stopped. I would just lie there and wait for the pain." Kay drew in a deep breath, tears started cascading down her face." Then Malic started wondering how far he could push my body before it broke completely. And so I was tortured again. Whips, racks, nails, fire, screws they didn't care. They just had fun watching me scream and twist in pain. Then one day Malic's voice started talking in my head." Kay glanced at Angel then quickly away. "He called me worthless. Scum. Whore. Adulterer. Prostitute." Kay spat out each word like it was a curse. "Shameless. I came to believe him. His voice pounded in my head every day telling me these things. One day they strapped me up to a wall, just as they had done dozens of times before, I was expecting more beatings but that's not what came. They brought out a branding iron, red from the flames, and came towards me. As they brought it towards me and I fought in my chains again. I was scared." The Flock's attention was immovable from Kate's story. "Then Malic's voice pounded in my head, "It's useless," he said, "That S marks your life. Shameful. Worthless. It's going to say on the outside what you are in the inside." The iron pressed into my skin, burning it and scalding away what little dignity I had left. When they took it away I was branded, as if I was his cattle. That's what this burn was from." Kay said, pulling the color of the shirt down so the Flock could see it again. "It still hurts."
Kay took a deep breath. She wasn't crying anymore and was looking at the Flock. "After that I lost all love of life. They beat me and used me but I didn't care anymore. I wanted to be dead. I knew one thing though," Kay's face set in a determined line, "I didn't want to die in that building. I wanted to escape. I wouldn't let them see me break. One night a guard was careless after he used me. Everyone had gone away. He closed the jail's door but forgot to lock it. Maybe he thought I was too badly injured to move or was just forgetful, either way, it was the only chance I had ever had. When I was sure everyone was gone I got up and snuck out of the building. I hadn't been outside for two whole years and the pale moonlight fell on my skin like a calming balm. I started running. There was a gate surrounding the property. I used a rock to break the lock and an alarm went off. I ran hard out the gate but I didn't have much stamina, I needed to disappear. I came to a cliff and decided better to jump now than to risk getting caught again. So I jumped. That was where you found me. You know the rest."
Nudge was crying and reached out toward Kay. Kay smiled at her but didn't move toward her hand.
"So, this was your version of the School," Iggy said his voice had an unusual husky quality to it, "but worse."
"That doesn't explain why we are here now," Max said. Kay's story had struck her to the very marrow, but she wasn't about to show it.
"I guess Malic's been searching for me the whole time," Kay said, "I suppose because you guys have wings he decided to keep you. You would fetch a good price on the black market after all."
"She's right," Fang said. He reached over and put his hand on Max's shoulder. He must have noticed how upset she really was.
"So…" said Iggy, "How can we get out of here before we all become sex toys and are sold for an evil man's profit?"
Kay stiffened at his words.
"Iggy!" Nudge said.
"It's true, though," Angel said, "We need to get out of here."
"Your right," Kay said, "You do, but I don't know how yet." She took a deep breath and looked each member of the Flock in the eyes. "I promise though, I will not let you get used. You will not experience what I went though. I promise you."
