It's been three days. Doesn't anyone notice I'm gone?
Doctor Rodgers stuck the torn piece of paper with her scrawled note inside the book with all the others. She wasn't sure why she had done it. She supposed she just wanted to leave a trace of her honest thoughts behind like Jenny had done. She wasn't just a random person off the street, Goddamn it! She was an in demand physician! A specialist! So where were the police? She mattered! Didn't she? She had to have been reported missing by now.
By the fourth day tempers were beginning to flare. They couldn't seem to get out of each other's way no matter how hard they tried. Food was running low and managing Jennys pain was becoming more and more difficult with supplies diminishing. Agatha had not returned to check on them. At first a blessing, but now with only half a Vomlet each, Carol was growing worried.
On the fifth day, when not a bite of food was left, Carol's temper had finally snapped. She had been changing Jenny's bandages when she had noticed a dried streak of fecal matter on the back of one of her legs. How many times had she told Eve she had to be thorough?! When she had pointed this out, the situation had escalated into a screaming match.
"Then you clean her up if you're so damn perfect! This whole time all you've done is complain!"
"That isn't my job!"
"So what, cleaning up shit is beneath you, is it?"
"This is literally what you're in school for! It's your fault we're in this mess to begin with! At least you can do is pull your damn weight!"
It took seeing Jenny break down in sobs and begin to incessantly apologize for them to see just how inappropriate their fighting was. She was the true victim in all of this.
"I'm sorry," Eve said softly to the girl.
"That was unprofessional of us." Carol muttered. "The confinement is getting to us all. Are you in pain?" Jenny nodded and buried her face into the blanket.
"It's my fault." She muttered into the blanket.
"It's not." Eve whispered. But it seemed no matter how many times they tried to convince her of it, Carol could see in her eyes she didn't believe them.
"Eve, do you still have that syringe?" Carol asked. She knew she did. She had caught her staring at it multiple times. "We might have to give it to Jenny in small doses."
"No! This is our only chance out of here!" Eve said.
"I'm running out of pain killers. It's getting more and more difficult to keep her pain level under a five with what's left."
"Then the next time she comes in here I'm jabbing her with it."
"Eve, she hasn't checked on us in two days. I don't even know if she's still here!"
"Then we draw her attention and-"
"You can always go out and check." Jenny said. "She could have gone to the cabin in the woods. She likes to practice her hammer throw out there."
Carol pursed her lips and thought about it. "How do you open the lock, Jenny? Do you use a credit card or something?"
"In my desk drawer, there's a magnet. You just need to catch the pin and slide it across." Jenny explained. Carol opened the drawer and dug around until she found the black rectangle. Ever so slowly, she did as Jenny said and disengaged the lock. She inched the door open and listened. She heard nothing. She turned back and eyed the others.
"I'm going to take a look downstairs." Carol whispered.
"No, let me." Eve said. "I've been downstairs before. I know where everything is."
"She keeps the MRE's in the basement." Jennifer said. Eve made a face.
"If the coast is clear our priority is getting out. If that's not an option, then we call for help. She must have connected the phone line by now."
Carol watched tentatively as Eve tipped toed down the stairs and poked her head around the corner before disappearing out of sight. She went back inside and waited. Her fists clenched by her side as she listened for a signal. She started as footsteps hurried up the stairs.
"No one's here. She's gone." Eve said in her normal speaking voice. Carol moved to shush her.
"We don't know if she's upstairs." Carol whispered.
"You have to see for yourself." Eve said as she motioned her out. Carol quietly followed. Could they really get out this easily? Could they just open the front door and run? No, Eve would have grabbed her daughter if that was the case. She came to a halt at the foot of the stairs. Her mouth went dry at the sight of the giant chain and padlock sealing the front door from the inside.
"Looks like she didn't want anyone getting out while she was gone." Eve mumbled. Carol pulled on the front door to no avail. Next she ran to the back, only to find the same thing. She needed to break a window. She grabbed a stool, ready to swing until she came face to face with the security bars. She dropped the stool. The phone! She ran to the kitchen counter and picked up the receiver. Nothing! She slammed the phone down.
"Let's focus on getting food." Eve said. "We don't know when she'll be back."
"What if we wait down here for her and-" Eve gave her a doubtful look. She was right. Even with the two of them combined they didn't stand a chance. They raided the fridge and cupboards, but there was little they could take that didn't need to be cooked first.
"Ugh, fine, but I'm picking the flavors, and not a damn one is going to have the word 'veggie' in it."
They each returned with armfuls of ready to eat meals and jugs of water. After their last day and a half had consisted of Vomlets, their haul was bound to taste like a ribeye steak. But only if they couldn't find a way out of here first. They tried all the doors and windows but nothing. They were both in the living room when one of the side doors began to rattle.
"RUN!" Carol yelled. Eve sprinted down the hall, past the rattling door knob and back up the stairs. Carol knew she could never make it in time. She froze where she was as the once locked door shoved open.
"YOU! HOW DID YOU GET OUT!" Agatha bellowed.
"Let us go, please." Carol said. "We've done all we can for her."
"Why? So you can run to the police?"
"We won't-" Carol started to say, but even she knew it reeked of bullshit.
"You think I'm stupid? Is that it?"
"N-no."
"Think I'm all brawn and no brain? Well let me tell you, my brain's just as big as these biceps."
"You can't just keep us here forever!"
"I'll keep you until I have no further use for you!" A large hand grabbed Carol by the wrist and yanked her forward as if she was a child.
"And then what? What will you do when you have no further use for us?" Carol demanded as she was forcefully dragged back up the stairs.
The giant was about to answer when the bedroom door sprung open. Out charged Eve, syringe in hand. Before Agatha could process what was happening, Eve lept on her. In one swift motion, she jabbed the syringe into her neck, but before she could push the plunger, the Trunchbull plucked her off and tossed her. Carol watched as Eve toppled down the staircase and crashed to the bottom in a crumpled heap.
"Evelyn!" Carol screamed, fighting against the log of an arm that held her in place. The Trunchbull yanked the needle out of her neck with a growl. "No, don't!" her words fell on deaf ears as she pushed the plunger, sending the last of their much needed opiate supply squirting out and onto the carpet.
"You!" The Trunchbull hissed. "This was your idea, wasn't it?" Carol tried to twist and see if Eve was getting back up, but a large hand grabbed her by the hair and pulled her forward. With an almighty shove, she went sprawling to the ground inside the bedroom. "You'll never see the outside of this room again! I'll make sure of it!" Before Carol could get her bearings, the Trunchbull reappeared carrying Eve in her arms. She let her fall onto the ground with an unceremonious thunk and slammed the door behind her.
"Evelyn!" Carol said, jumping to her feet and making her way over. The woman on the ground groaned in pain. "What hurts?"
"My back." She hissed. Carol stood and went to the pile of diminished supplies. She shook one of the few pain pills left into her hand before grabbing the jug of water.
"Can you sit up?" Eve shook her head. She handed her the pill. "I can only afford to give you one." Eve swallowed it down with a cough and wince.
"Mommy, are you okay? Why are you on the floor?" Hortensia said, coming to sit beside her.
"I'm okay, honey, mommy just fell and got the wind knocked out of her." Eve said weakly. Carol bit her lip. She knew it was more serious than that.
"If I broke that window, do you think Hortensia could run for help?" Carol asked.
"From the second story? How do you expect her to get down? She's four."
"She'd be in here faster than she could get away." Jenny said. They sat in silence for a moment. "If you want to get out you'll have to speak her language."
"And how do we do that? Through violence? We tried that." Carol said before standing and checking on their haul. She opened a box labeled jalapeno pepper jack beef and dug in. Compared to the Vomlets, it was heaven.
"No, " Jenny said softly. "You need to talk money."
"Money, psh," Carol said. "Where are we supposed to get money from?"
"What if I gave the money back?" Eve asked weakly.
"No, you got it backwards." Jenny said. "I think you should demand it from her."
"We're not exactly in a place to be making demands." Carol said.
"Saying you'll stay quiet won't do you any good." Jenny explained. "She'll never believe you. There's no incentive."
"Jenny, are you saying we should threaten to black mail her?" Eve asked doubtfully. "That sounds dangerous, especially when she can just pick us up with one hand and toss us down staircases."
"And illegal." Carol mumbled to herself. "Although if we did something just as illegal as kidnapping…"
"We couldn't go to the police." Eve said with a wince as she sat up. "Maybe if she bought our silence, she wouldn't feel the need to..." She mimed shooting herself in the head while Hortensia was distracted with lunch.
"But even if it worked, how could we explain your injuries? It's obvious someone did that to you. Not to mention where we've been." And she'd have a lot of explaining to do about the missing drug supplies. Jenny gave her a sad smile. "No, we are not leaving you here!" Carol growled.
"I'll be okay." Jenny whispered.
"No!" Eve and Carol both said in unison.
"We're not leaving you behind." Carol said before looking at Eve, propped against the bed. "I could at least try and negotiate your release though." Carol said to Eve.
"It-It's not that I'm not willing to stay," Eve said slowly.
"You have Anastasia, I understand." Jenny said. She looked around the room before asking for a pen and paper. She looked at them thoughtfully for a minute before jotting down a few paragraphs and signing her name. She handed it to Eve, who read it and went ghost white.
"Oh, sweetheart," Eve said softly. Carol saw her wipe her eyes before she handed it to her. Carol read it and felt the anger rise inside her once again. She would get Jenny out if it was the last thing she did.
"In case you need proof." Jenny said with a shrug.
"Did she really…?" her voice trailed off as Jenny nodded her head and wiped at her tear streaked face.
Carol took in a shaky breath. "Let's focus on this later. For right now, let me change out your bandages and get you cleaned up." Eve looked like she was going to try and push herself up but Carol stopped her. "I got this. You're in no shape." She unwound the ace bandages and removed the gauze. "You're going in the right direction at least, Jenny. The infection is gone, and you haven't had any bouts of diarrhea today."
"That's because I haven't eaten any of those today." Jenny mumbled, and pointed over to the pile of MRE's. Carol looked over and forced a smile. They had given them all the runs. That closet needed to be condemned.
"You aren't the only one." Carol muttered. The first thing she'd do after getting out of here was buy Jenny a new wardrobe. The clothes currently hanging needed to be burned in a pit. "Speaking of, would you like to try going before I start? Now would be the most convenient time before I wash you."
"I-i'm okay," she mumbled into her blanket. She felt it get pulled away and frowned.
"How about you try for a few minutes? Since I've already got you in position." Jennifer looked over and frowned. Carol peeked behind her and noticed Hortensia sitting on the bench trying to read from a book. It was amazing how much kids could learn out of boredom. With nothing better to do, Hortensia had been eagerly accepting reading lessons from Jenny. Even Carol had to admit she was picking it up remarkably fast. She was pretty sure Eve had Jenny sold on the teacher idea. Carol could see it in the way Jenny's face lit up when Hortensia managed to sound out a word by herself. It was joy, Carol realized. She was a little jealous. Even in such a dark situation, she still managed to find something that brought her joy. Carol struggled to find it even in the best of times.
"She's alright, she's focused on the book." Carol said before whispering. "Don't make her go in there, it's bad." Jenny grimaced before nodding. "Call me when you're ready." She sat on the bench next to Hortensia. "Are you reading or just staring?"
"Reading." Hortensia said through gritted teeth.
"Which word are you having trouble with?" She turned the book towards her.
"Ta-"
"Table!"
"Yes, very good!" Carol said. Hortensia beamed, and in the blink of an eye, stood up and ran over the other side of the room.
"Mommy, look what I can rea-"
"Hortensia, no!" Both adults shouted, but it was too late. Hortensia turned her head and froze. The book fell out of her hand and fell to the ground with a soft thunk. Her face screwed up. She leaned over and vomited on the carpet before letting out an ear piercing scream.
"Hey, hey, sweetheart, come here." Eve said, nudging Hortensia to join her on the ground. "It's okay. It's okay." Hortensia began sobbing incoherent things into Eve's shoulder. "I think she's just scared."
"Wh-what's going on?" Jenny asked.
"It-it's nothing." Carol said before turning her attention down to the empty pad. "No luck?"
"Why is she screaming like that?" Jenny asked. "Anna, are you okay?"
"She's okay, she just threw up." Carol said. She watched as Hortensia pulled her head out of her mothers shoulder and looked up at Jenny.
"Anna, are-" Jenny froze as Hortensia buried her shoulder into her moms neck and bawled. "Why is she afraid of me?" She asked in a robotic tone.
"She saw."
"Wh-what? Y-y-you said it wasn't that bad!"
"She's only four, Jenny. She'll cry if she sees someone bleed from a paper cut." Eve said, rocking her daughter in her arms. "Shoot, she's wet."
"Does she wet herself and throw up after seeing a paper cut too?" Jenny asked in a voice about to crack.
Carol turned herself away and took a deep breath. She heard something rattle before another ear piercing scream, but this time it wasn't coming from the toddler. Carol spun around to find Jenny, out of the stirrups and into the fetal position as she screamed and sobbed into her pillow. A handheld mirror rested by her waist. Carol put two and two together.
"What did she do to me?" She shrieked.
"Hey, it's okay. It just looks a lot worse than it is." Carol lied. "It's just got all the old medicine on it. If you want to see what it looks like when it's cleaned you can have another look." Jenny shook her head, body heaving from sobs.
"I-t-t's n-n-not th-that!" Jenny wailed. "I understand now! She -she did it-o-to t-t-take away the th-thing I wanted m-most!"
Carol hid her face and pinched her eyes shut. She wasn't going to get emotional in front of a patient. Damn these hormones. Remember, professional distance. Professional distance.
But the woman burned her not just to cause her pain, but to take away her chance at a normal happy future with a family of her own? Ruining her childhood wasn't enough? Had to rob her of her future too? It was obvious what Jenny wanted more than anything. Kids.
"If you're worried about fertility, we can get to it later."
"Can I still…?"
"Later." Carol insisted. She couldn't have this conversation right now. Neither could she. She took a deep breath and spun back around. She grabbed Jenny's hand and gave it a soft squeeze. " When you're ready, I'll finish with your bandages." She let go and turned to leave, but stopped when she realized Jenny was still gripping her hand in a firm grip. Carol stood in place, unsure of what to do, before she finally settled on sitting on the edge of her bed. She had never been in this sort of situation with a patient before. She usually just looked up their cooter and sent them on their way.
Carol tentatively stuck a hand out and placed it on the girl's shoulder. She looked to Eve for help, but she was busy trying to settle her own daughter. Carol swallowed as arms wrapped around her waist as Jenny desperately clung to her. She was no good with this sort of thing, but it was clear the teen was starved for affection and needed this. Fighting against every flashing red warning light in her head about professional distance, she repositioned the both of them so that Jenny was securely wrapped in her arms.
"We'll get you out of here." Carol whispered before sighing. She had broken all the rules anyway, what was one more. How could she not care about this girl who had suffered so much?
She waited patiently for Jenny to calm down before getting her cleaned up and changed. She locked eyes with Eve.
"Should we try?" Carol asked. It seemed risky. Their captor was belligerent, bad tempered, and as Carol learned more and more about her, sadistic.
"What do we have to lose at this point?" Eve asked. A lot, Carol thought. She looked at Hortensia, still wrapped in her mothers arms, still looking every bit as traumatized as everyone felt.
"Jenny?" Carol asked. The girl opened her eyes and gave her a questioning look. "This affects you the most." Carol frowned as Jenny shrugged. She didn't like the look on her face. The anger and fight in Jenny's eyes seemed to be replaced with a look of resignation. "What's her name?"
"Agatha Trunchbull." Jenny looked at her with sad eyes. "Even if you tell someone, they won't believe you, and even if they do…" She shrugged again. "The police are fond of her."
"Fond of her?" Carol's brows knitted in confusion. "She's a monster. Why would they be fond of her?"
"She's the headmistress of Crunchem Hall."
"Isn't that the school where all the bad kids go?" Eve asked.
"It's just a rumor, it's just a regular school, although now, I'm not so sure. She's made a name for herself as a harsh disciplinarian. When troubled kids are sent there, they become so scared of her they come out reformed.
"Did you go there?"
"Yes. I hated it." Jenny shivered. "She'd throw me in the chokey if I didn't do my chores fast enough or if I…refused her."
"What's the chokey?" Carol asked.
"Wait, are those rumors true?" Eve asked.
"Yes." Jenny whispered.
"What rumors?"
"That there's a metal box the kids get thrown in when they misbehave."
"It's worse than that." Jenny said. "There's these nine inch nails hammered into the door so if you don't stand perfectly still, they'll cut you. The bigger you are, the worse it is."
"Are you serious? And she'd lock you in there?"
"At least once a week." Jenny said. "Although I haven't been there in a few years, I still don't like small spaces."
Carol blew out her held breath in a long exaggerated sigh. "And the police let her do this?"
"All they see is results. They don't ask "how" or "why." I'm pretty sure they know; they just look the other way."
Carol looked her up and down as she debated what to do. She had already taken the Iv. out this morning. Just in case anything happened to her while she tried to argue their demands, she decided to take the catheter out as well. The last thing Jenny needed was someone inexperienced to pull it out just in case. Her hopes weren't very high that this would work, but Jenny knew her best.
"Are you ready?" Carol asked. They all nodded their heads. Carol used the magnet and opened the door. "AGATHA!" She yelled into the hallway. "LET'S MAKE A DEAL!"
..,
Carol sat frozen in place on the couch. It was working. It was actually working. She couldn't believe it. At first, the woman's face had gone red. Then purple. Then finally pale ghost white before she beckoned Carol and Eve downstairs.
She swung a portrait out, revealing a safe behind the wall before stacks of hundred pound notes were tossed onto the coffee table.
"How much?" She growled. Carol began to sweat. She couldn't mess this up. If she went too high, she might end their negotiation right here and now, but if she went too low, she'd assume they weren't being serious. It wasn't that the Trunchbull's language was money. It was dirty money.
"5, 000 pounds." Eve blurted out. The Trunchbull scoffed.
"A month." Carol threw in. Eve shot her a panicked look. The Trunchbull's eyes narrowed. "I'm a doctor. It will take a lot more than one 5,000 pound payment to buy my silence. I think a five thousand payment each out the door for our trouble would be a good place to start." She could feel Eve trembling beside her, but Carol kept a calm and calculated composure. Agatha sat stone still, except for her fingers which drummed noisily on the coffee table. Finally, just when Carol thought she wasn't going to say anything, she slid a handful of stacks across the table.
"The key, please." Carol said. "And if you miss a payment, we have a witness statement that goes straight to the police."
"How will I know you won't do that anyway?" The Trunchbull sneered. Carol had thought of that. She pulled a piece of paper with the handwritten note signed by them.
"Just as we have proof of your misdoings, you will have proof of ours." She slid the signed note across. The Trunchbull read it over before tearing it up.
"I'll make one." She scrawled a couple of paragraphs before sliding it over. Carol read it.
"No, she's coming with us."
"Like hell she is. The whore's staying put."
Carol could feel her blood boiling. No! They had to take Jenny with them! She promised! Eve grabbed her arm and shook her head. Carol gritted her teeth. She read the note again and again for their terms of release. Finally an idea struck her. She picked up a pen and wrote an additional paragraph. She slid the note back over. The Trunchbull read it before looking up and glared at her.
"What good will it do her?"
"You work at a school, don't you? I don't care how you make it work, just put her in charge of the bottom form."
"And what If I already have a suitable bottom form teacher?"
"Then split the class. I don't care, just do it. Those are my terms."
"Fine." She hissed. She signed the note and slid it back across the table. Carol signed it next, and after looking over it, Eve signed it last. "Now get out of my sight!"
"I need to get my daughter." Eve bolted up the stairs. Carol stood to return upstairs as well but Agatha stopped her.
"Not you. You're not leaving my sight."
"I want to say goodbye and explain."
"No!" She said firmly. "No more demands! Take your bloody money and GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"
"As you wish." Carol scooped up the money off the table and walked to the front door as Agatha unlocked it. "But If I ever hear you've laid another hand on her…" She leaned over and whispered in her ear. "I'll kill you."
She walked out the front door before Eve came bounding down the stairs with Hortensia in tow. The door slammed shut behind them as they ran toward the car.
"What took you so long?" Carol asked.
"I told her what happened." Eve explained breathlessly once they were in the car. I also stopped to empty the bucket."
"Okay."
"In Agatha's bed."
"You what?!"
"I was afraid if I threw it on her directly she wouldn't let us leave." Carol threw a panicked look up to the second story window. "She'll be okay, she's tough. Just two more years and she'll be 18."
"I guess." Carol whispered. The guilt of leaving was already starting to eat at her insides. "I hope she doesn't think I abandoned her."
"I liked your idea about sending her to college as a stipulation." Eve said as they pulled away from the house. "She'll make a good teacher."
…
It had been two very long years of court cases, arbitration, and finally the loss of her medical license. With no real explanation she could give of where she had been and what she had done with all of the pain medication she had taken, she had been fired before being reported to the medical board. She had planned to appeal it. She even had all the paperwork filled out and ready to be mailed, but something caught her eye.
There, riding past her on the opposite end of the street on a bike, was a face Carol hadn't been able to remove from her head no matter how much she drank.
"Jenny." Carol said to herself, stunned. She watched her in her rearview mirror as the young woman peddled down the street balancing a large cardboard box on her handlebars. Intrigued, she started her car and pulled out. Where was she going with all that stuff? She slowly followed her down the busy main street and out into the fields as she tried to think of what to say. No apology could ever make what she did okay. Everything she thought of sounded lame and full of excuses.
Carol pulled over as Jenny got off her bike and walked it down and into a row of hedges. Where on earth was she going? Carol slowly followed until she came to a shack in the middle of a field. Carol peeked her head around to find Jenny standing in the garden with the biggest smile Carol had ever seen.
"I did it, you crazy bitch!" She yelled into the sky. "I got away from you! I'm free!" Carol looked at the decrepit shack and frowned. Don't tell me she planned on living here, Carol thought. She turned back and watched for a few more minutes before slowly making her way back to her car. She didn't have the heart to take this moment away from her.
Just as Carol was about to put her paperwork in the mailbox, something on the ground caught her attention. The classified section of a crumpled up newspaper. The same thing that had started this whole ordeal. She was about to ignore it when she noticed the words, "Crunchem Hall" She bent and picked it up. "Looking for a school nurse, are we." She smiled. It was about time she checked in on her dear friend, Agatha.