Chapter 13

"Shh, it's okay, everything's gonna be alright. You don't have to cry"

A gentle quiet voice echoed around me, but I didn't want to be quiet because nothing was alright with what had happened. Oscar was probably dead, and it was all because of me. He'd tried to rescue me and protect me and for what. For him to be shot at.

"Girl, I don't mean to sound harsh but if you don't stop sobbing and crying, they'll knock you out again"

Knock me out again. Was I hearing right? I felt arms go around me and smelt the vague scent of vanilla. Someone was with me, and they were telling me to pull myself together. I was so close to asking her what the point of doing that was. Maybe being made to sleep was better than the guilt that was ripping my soul apart. I focused on my breathing, taking deep breaths before blowing out until eventually all that remained were the occasional hiccups and a few tears running down my cheeks. My eyes felt puffy, and my nose was blocked which meant that I probably looked how I felt.

"I brought you something to eat and drink. I know you probably don't feel like doing that, but you have to keep up your strength"

Blinking to clear my eyes all I could see of the woman with me was her long straight dark hair. Beyond her I was looking at a painted wall that had cupboards running across and up to the ceiling. The woman holding me pushed away from me and with her hands still on my shoulders gave me an assessing look. She was more a girl than a woman with pale hazel colored eyes and perfect skin. She drew my attention as she looked at me.

"Better. I was told to keep an eye on you until you woke up. You've been asleep for hours and I was beginning to get worried. I'm Rachel"

The distance between us allowed me to take a look around at where I was. There was a simple night stand next to the bed that I was laid on and then a chair, but neither had anything on them. Beyond was a door with a robe hanging from the hooks and then another door in the wall opposite me.

"Where am I?"

Now totally confused with what had happened to me.

"The Manor. They look after us here"

I looked down to where she was sat and felt the blood drain away from my head, making me momentarily light headed. She looked pregnant to me which could only mean one thing. Somehow, I'd ended up inside the big house that Mrs. Holland had eluded to. But why? I wasn't pregnant, no, definitely not pregnant. Apart from the fact that I hadn't had sex with anyone in months there was also the knowledge that I'd had a birth control shot just before coming to Boston. You might think those two points contradicted each other. If I wasn't sleeping with anyone, then why have the shot. Simple, I made the decision to continue having it so that my periods would be less intense. Okay, if I happened to find a very sexy, irresistible man and we ended up in bed then I was covered. Very few people knew that I had the shot and for some reason I put that down to not totally trusting Joe, I always made him wear a condom. Yeah, Ranger as well.

"How did you end up here?"

Curious as to Rachel's circumstances that she felt that she needed to be here. My question had her looking down at her stomach and bringing her hands to cover the bump.

"Where I come from, well it's not acceptable to even engage with someone of the opposite sex, let alone, you know, if you aren't married. I would have been banned from the settlement anyway, but a friend suggested coming here"

Settlement, what a strange word to say. Why not neighborhood or even village? Then it struck me where I'd heard that phrase being used before. Hadn't Jex mentioned that where Banning's mother lived used to be a settlement for Amish?

"Amish?"

Damn, I didn't mean to just blurt it out, but it was out in the open now, so I wasn't about to apologize.

"Yes. So maybe you can understand my dilemma"

I probably could but it didn't make it feel right to me. Her family should love and accept her whatever happened not ban her from her home and the people that she'd grown up with.

"Will you be able to go back home to your family?"

Wondering what would become of her and the baby.

"My family believe that I'm staying with another Amish family during my Rumspringa. Once the baby is born, I'll return and be an adult within the settlement"

I purposefully went quiet after she'd said that. From what I understood she wasn't going to be taking the baby back with her. So, what would happen to it? Did this place arrange adoptions for any unwanted babies?

"Now you have to eat"

Rachel removed herself from the bed and went to a small table that I hadn't noticed. She returned carrying a tray that held some juice and what I could swear smelt like a pasta bake. Sitting up was when I realized that I couldn't move my left arm. Looking down I saw that there was a sling and a band around the arm and my chest, basically immobilizing me. Maybe I'd hurt my shoulder worse than I realized. What the hell was I wearing? Certainly not my cargos and T-shirt. Looking at Rachel I could see that I was dressed in a similar outfit. A smock with a high collar and long sleeves, only where Rachel's was a light shade of pink, mine was white.

As I ate, we chatted, well I asked questions which Rachel was all too happy to elaborate from. She was only 21 years old and had been brought up within a loving family of brothers and sisters. Her life was simple, following the customs that all members of the settlement adhered to. I didn't make a comment because I was sure that I would never have been able to survive within such a restrictive environment. I suppose the lack of outside information was in a way liberating. What you didn't know meant that you wouldn't miss it.

The only time that Rachel became coy with her answers was when I asked her about her friend. I had the feeling that this friend wasn't a part of the settlement, yet had some connection. When my plate was empty, and I'd drunk the apple juice that was when I realized that I didn't feel as down hearted as I had done. Don't get me wrong, knowing that Oscar had been shot still tore at me, but I'd get my own back, somehow, on the people responsible. I still had no idea why I'd been brought here but wasn't naive enough to assume that it was good for my health. Something very wrong was happening here and I got the sense that I was going to find out very quickly.

I wanted to explore where I was, but Rachel told me.

"All in good time"

A clicking sound from the door and then it opening led me to believe that it had been locked. In walked an older woman who was wearing a white dress and white flat trainers that I associated with a nurse. She smiled at Rachel as she stood by the door, a smile that to me looked false, but hey, what did I know.

"Rachel. It's a lovely evening, go out in the fresh air while I talk with Annie"

Interesting that she knew the name that I was using here in Boston. I wondered if she knew exactly who I was. After Rachel left, she sat down in the chair next to my bed, her whole demeanor seeming to change. Gone was the smile and instead her rounded face became very serious.

"I need to check you over to make sure that you are healthy"

She needed to do what? I knew that I was healthy, well apart from the external bruises that I had. Why would she need to check me over?

"I am healthy, thank you very much. So I don't see the need for you to check me over"

Okay, so I didn't like what she was saying but no way was she going to be doing anything with me. I wasn't sure why but at that moment another nurse walked into the room. This one was younger but with the same severe hairstyle as the other woman, hair scraped back from her face into a bun at the nape of her neck. Both were wearing makeup, a layer of foundation caked over their skin and eyebrows that were thick and black.

"Now, now. A medical check is necessary, and it can be done with your cooperation or without"

Seeing the bag that she was carrying I was pretty sure that she was serious but there was no way that I would willingly let either of these two women anywhere near me.

"Let's start with some basic questions. We know your age, and yes you do look as though you look after yourself. So, will you be needing any sanitary products?"

What kind of question was that? As it happened, I didn't, so simply shook my head.

"When was your last period?"

Okay, now she was going too far. It was none of her business, so I pursed my lips together in a defiant gesture. I wasn't going to be answering her questions. I watched as nurse one looked over to nurse two as if they were silently communicating with each other. That nurse two suddenly grabbed my arm took me by surprise. My God she was fast because before I knew it my right wrist was handcuffed to the metal of the bedhead. Seeing as my left arm was totally immobilized, I began to move my legs. That resulted in her sitting across my knees, which let me tell you was damned painful.

"We need some blood to run some tests"

Was all that nurse one said as she came at me with a tourniquet. I hated needles and that wasn't about to change, but the second nurse was very adept at using her huge body and strength to hold me down. To be honest I was more worried when nurse one began to insert the needle that she could burst a vein or even the needle. I stayed still for that procedure to happen and was so relieved when the handcuff was unfastened.

"What the hell is going on here. You have no right to treat me like this"

I vented some of my anger, but it didn't seem to have any effect on either one of the women.

"I'd like to go outside"

Yeah, like that was about to happen if the expressions on their faces were anything to go by.

"I want you to take your temperature each evening and in the morning provide me with a urine sample"

I watched as nurse one put a digital thermometer and a plastic container down next to me. I looked back up at her trying to be sure from my expression that I wouldn't be doing that.

"Annie. You will be staying in this room until we have assessed your medical status. You will eat the food provided and you will do as instructed"

With that nurse one walked over to the door. She used what must have been a key fob to open the door. Did I make a move for the door, damn right I did. The problem was that nurse two must have been prepared for me to do that because the next thing that I knew she was stabbing me with a hypodermic needle.

Voices, I was hearing voices, not close to me but clear enough for me to understand what they were saying. I wanted to open my eyes and see who was close to me, but I didn't want them to stop talking. Whatever I'd been injected with wasn't like anything I'd experienced before. I felt clear headed with sharp memories of where I was and what had happened, and my memory was serving me well when one of the voices sounded like one of those nurses. The second voice was also a woman, but I was sure that I didn't recognize it. Concentrating on remaining as still as possible I focused in on their conversation.

"The test results indicate that she must have had increased levels of the hormone progestogen. Madame thinks that she must have been administered with a contraceptive injection. She's a totally unacceptable candidate for the procedure"

They were right there because I had been given the shot, but what the hell did they mean by me being an unacceptable candidate? What had they planned for me if I hadn't had the shot? Was it a good thing or not that I wouldn't be having a procedure. Definitely good because no way was anyone doing anything to me.

"What if we gave her a couple of months?"

"No. Too risky. She might not ovulate for a long time, depending on how long she's been on that form of contraceptive. Besides Madame has decided that she'll be moved"

Ovulate! I knew what that meant. It was when my ovaries produced eggs that could be fertilized. What Mrs. Holland had told me came back to me. She had said that she was sure that she'd seen a couple of girls during a second pregnancy. What the hell. Were they considering getting me pregnant? No, no, no. I did not want to be pregnant. How could someone take that choice away from a woman? Did that mean that their procedure included rape?

From what I understood, these two women were saying that I wasn't a good candidate for that. Whew, went through my mind, but then I was wondering what it meant for me to be moved. I was damned sure that they wouldn't just open the front door and say goodbye, enjoy the rest of your life. So where was I going to be moved? That thought had a surge of panic twisting in my gut. I had to escape, somehow, and then I'd contact the authorities because I was sure that what was happening here was far from being legal. What happened to the mother and baby afterwards? Adoption was what Mrs. Holland had said. Did they sell the babies? But what of the mothers?

My thoughts were brought to an abrupt end when I felt a hand on my forehead. Did I continue to pretend to be asleep, would I learn anything new if I did?

"She'll be waking up soon. Have the clothes here for her to change into. She'll be with the others until transport is ready"

That did not sound good to me. Neither did it give any room for me to come up with an escape plan. Yeah, okay, so I never planned an escape. I took an opportunity as it arose, so I was hoping that would be the case here. Hearing the door open and then close I wasn't sure if I still had someone with me, but I decided that it was time for me to wake up. Besides I was desperate to use the bathroom.

I let out a soft moan and moved as though I needed to be in a more comfortable position. Then very slowly opened my eyes, blinking a few times for effect.

"Ah, good. You're awake. I'm sure that you'd like a shower and a change of clothes before breakfast"

Yep, nurse one was sat on the chair watching me. As I pretended to wake up, she came over to the bed and helped me to sit up.

"Let's remove this. Hopefully that shoulder of yours has had a chance to settle down by now. Badly bruised. You're lucky nothing was broken"

Yes, I was lucky but why was she being so nice to me this morning? As the wrapping came off followed by the sling, I was reticent to move my arm just in case it was still painful. Very slowly I tested out my arm, it felt stiff but nowhere near as painful as it had been. Which begged the question of how long had I been here for.

The nurse moved over to the second door and was holding it open for me. I sure hoped that she didn't think that she was going to stay and watch me. As soon as the door was closed, I lifted the dress over my head, okay, the shoulder wasn't happy about that movement. Leaving the dress on the floor along with the panties I'd been wearing I was soon absorbing the feel of the hot water as it pounded down onto my skin. The only sound was as the water hit the walls and floor. So many questions were going through my head but even as I washed my hair I couldn't come up with any reasonable answers.

Rachel was here voluntarily but I was almost sure that she'd had to give up her baby. Were there other women here like me, who'd been kidnapped but then forced to conceive a baby. I wasn't sure how I would have coped if that had happened to me. Washing down my skin I was aware of the bruises from the car accident and had a sleuth of other questions hitting me. The most obvious one was why me? I'd be missed and people would look for me and if Oscar disappeared as well then, I was sure Jonas would call in help. How had I been targeted?

"Two minutes Annie"

The shout had me jumping at how close it was. The sneaky woman had come into the bathroom. Finishing I slid the screen open sufficient to look out into the room. Empty, except for a pile of neatly folded clothes that were laid on the floor. Using the towel, which was too small and very rough, I quickly dried myself and then my hair. Once dressed I looked down at what I was wearing. A short skirt that barely covered my arse and a T-shirt that didn't reach the top of the skirt. I felt underdressed and annoyed at what I had been provided. I slipped on a pair of flat canvas ballet shoes before exiting the bathroom.

"These are far too small for me. Do have something that's more appropriate?"

Yeah, I said that as I stood in front of the nurse with my hands on my hips. Her eyes moved from my feet to my head before she smiled at me.

"Oh, those are perfect"

Perfect! Perfect for what? The whole attire was more revealing than the outfits that I wore when I did a distraction for Rangeman. And let me tell you they were pretty revealing in order to attract the attention of an FTA that we were after.

"Let's be going"

I looked at the door as she said that and even though I would be leaving this room I had an awful feeling come over me. I would have preferred to be able to stay in the room and avoid walking out into the unknown. Suck it up, I said to myself, this is an opportunity to see what's out there and could even give me the chance to run. The nurse didn't look as though she could stop me. So, with a renewed sense of bravery, I opened the door and then stopped suddenly. Stood on the opposite side of the hallway were two burly men, one of which I was sure that I recognized. Tall and muscle bound with dark greasy hair slicked back from his face. Not easy to forget what he looked like because he was the one who had shot Oscar.

Instead of pointing a gun at me he was holding onto a taser. I knew how they worked. I'd never used one or been unfortunate enough to experience what they could do but I'd seen one being used. Eddie, my friend who was married to my cousin, had used it. Seeing as he was a cop, he had the right to use it and let me tell you it wasn't a pretty sight. Barbs shot out of the gun and pierced the skin which might not sound so bad if those barbs weren't connected by wires back to the gun. The user then sent an electric current through the wires and into the victim. Tasers were much worse than stun guns and once the barbs were attached to you then you could receive numerous shocks from them.

A look down the corridor showed that my exit was blocked by a closed door and that the knob was glowing red. I resigned myself to cooperating not wanting to be hurt when there didn't seem a cat in hells chance of escaping. I had one man in front of me and the tasering man behind me when we reached the door. A fob was produced which had the light change to green before man number one opened the door. Now where had I seen something like that before. The nightclub. Was that the connection that I was looking for. Had I been targeted because I'd mistakenly wandered into their domain? It made sense.

There was no way to escape from those two men with how the doors were controlled so I had no choice but to let them take me to wherever we were going. Going down stone steps didn't bode well as far as I was concerned. Nope, down meant basement, basement meant cold and damp with fewer escape routes. After going through the last door, I was stood there with my eyes wide and mouth open in shock. I was seeing metal bars on either side of me.

"In there"

Came from behind me as I was pushed roughly through an open gate. Turning quickly, I was faced with the metal bars of a door and that damned red light flickering on the outside of the locking mechanism. Holding onto the bars I watched as the two men walked out. It was like a prison. No, it was a prison. Turning I surveilled my cell. It was maybe ten feet square with a bed to one side and a single chair sat next to it. One corner was curtained off which to be honest I didn't want to look in, but I did. A white toilet and a sink were against the wall with a small towel and what looked like a bar of soap hung up from a nail in the wall. That might come in handy. Back in the cell I noted that at least the sheets looked to have been washed even if they did look very thin. The floor was covered in a thin carpet of indescribable color, threadbare of course. No windows.

Back at the bars I dared to look at where I was, realizing that there were a lot more cells than I would have imagined. Were there other people down here? A look up toward the ceiling gave me the source of light, several round white globes that were giving out a soft yet subdued light. I suppose what I was looking for were cameras which of course were there. The ones set inside a grey metal circular ball at regular intervals down the center of the ceiling. We were being watched.

"Hello, is there anyone there?"

I shouted, hoping to reach out to someone else. I waited and listened unsure whether I would get a response or if I was alone down here.

"Hi. You must be new. Are you number eleven?"

That had me frowning because I had no idea what the woman was asking me.

"Yeah, I'm new down here but what do you mean with the number?"

"Are you next to the door, on the right hand side?"

I suppose that I was, but what was the significance of that?

"Yes. What do the numbers mean?"

"When we get to twelve then they move us"

Twelve? Did that mean that there were ten other people down here with me? Were we all being moved together? That had me worried with where we would be moved. Was I being stupid or something? Yeah stupid. They were probably going to be getting rid of us. That thought sent a shiver down my spine because for the life of me I couldn't see a way out of this.

"I'm Charlene but everyone calls me Charlie. I'm number five and number six is Piper"

Well, at least someone was talking to me so with a bit of luck I might find out more about who it was that was responsible for holding us captive here.

"Charlie. Why are we here?"

Getting straight to the point.

"Different reasons. Rose, number three, she gave birth to a beautiful boy, but they took him from her. Sara, seems that she can't have kids. Annie, we're all here because we've outlived our usefulness. They want babies. Seems that potential parents bid on a surrogate mother"

I sat down on the floor with my back to the bars as I processed what Charlie had told me. This was a baby factory. The mothers were obtained for how they looked and then potential parents would bid for them hoping for a baby that best met what they wanted. Did the father come here and have sex with the woman that they'd successfully bid on? Surely not. For some stupid reason my mind went to a TV series that I'd seen, well the first few series anyway. The Handmaid's Tale, a futuristic dystopian drama, was the story of women who were given to a couple who couldn't conceive. The woman was made to have sex with the husband while the wife watched. Was that what was happening here?

"How do you know so much?"

Suddenly aware that I'd learnt more from Charlie in that two minutes than I had since I'd been kidnapped.

"I was trying to find my sister. I'm a journalist so I did a lot of background research looking for her. Tricia was a wild child, clubbing and partying. Anyway, after talking to her friends, it turns out that she was pregnant. Apparently, she knew somewhere that could help take care of her. Somehow, she managed to get a message to me, only it wasn't from her. That led me here. Seems that I have a polyps, so in some bitches words, I'm an unacceptable candidate"

I almost laughed as she said those words because those were the words that I'd heard said about me.

"Your sister?"

I asked hesitantly because I was worried that she had never found out what had happened to her.

"I don't know. She came here twelve months ago"

Which meant that her sister could very well have met the same fate that we were facing now. That thought sat heavily on me and I didn't have the heart to ask any more questions.

Over the next three days I had no choice but to follow the routines that we were inflicted with. Food was pushed through on a tray underneath the bars three times a day. Not exactly tasty but surprisingly healthy. That confused me because it meant that they wanted us alive and well. Lights were switched off I suppose during the night and came back on in the morning. The only people that I ever saw were the two men who had brought me down here, so I had no idea who was actually running things.

Eventually I learnt who the other women were but they were very reticent to say how or why they'd ended up here. Poor Sara had been down here for nearly a month and was definitely close to giving up. Surprisingly I filled in my time by exercising. Sit ups with my feet held underneath the bars to my cell. Pushups, which I still hated to do and squat thrusts. Charlie and I chatted the most, though I never revealed my true identity for fear that there were microphones along with the cameras.

By the fourth day I was feeling claustrophobic and extremely agitated. To be locked up like this was having a real effect on my mood. I'd gone to sleep the night before in tears, so the feeling of agitation and craziness was a complete turnaround. Maybe it was because something felt different, a change in the atmosphere as though something was about to happen. Happen it did. The two goons didn't bring us anything to eat in the morning, but they did turn up. I was straining to see what they were doing and the sound of the other women cursing and crying out wasn't doing my nerves any good.

"See you on the other side Annie"

Came from Charlie before the sobbing and wailing of the woman next to me drowned out any other noises. Then I watched as the two goons opened her cell door and went inside. Her scream followed by silence was worse than her sobbing and I watched horrified as she was carried out of her cell like a sack of potatoes over one man's shoulder. Then it was my turn. I knew that whatever I did I would never be able to outrun a taser. I wanted to be conscious and to see where I was going to be taken. No words were spoken as the door to my cell opened so I stepped out like a good prisoner. I was so close to attacking goon one when he smiled at me. I was led down past the other cells and through a door that I didn't know existed.

Where did it lead? Well, that was what was confusing because in front of me was a large metal container with a smaller door at the end. I was pushed through that door when it was opened, landing heavily on my hands and knees. That was the first time that I'd seen the faces of my cell mates, all of them sat against the outside wall, all of them watching and I suppose waiting for what would happen next.