Sarah notices that there is something more beneath the blanket, something that creates volume. Refusing to believe her imagination, she approaches and begins to lift the white fabric slightly.

  Her legs tremble as she collapses to her knees.

  Her eyes fill with tears without her consent.

  She covers her mouth with her hand, not because she wants to scream, but to have something she can bite so hard that her teeth slightly tear the skin between the thumb and index finger of her right hand. And with her other hand clenched, she strikes a punch against the floor.

  In front of her, now bathed in the weak light, golden strands gently gleam as they spread over a shoulder and fall down the back turned toward her. Pale skin bears purple bruises and scratches. A frail body, barely covered by a small, thin white cloth, shapes itself with subtlety. Slowly, the body tilts to its side, and soon the face of a young girl stares at her.

  “Huh? Who are you?” the girl asks in a weak, sleepy voice.

  Sarah cannot remove her hand from her mouth.

  “Miss, are you alright?” the girl asks again.

  Sarah removes her hand from her mouth, clenches her right fist, and punches the floor while lowering her head.

  “UNFORGIVABLE!” With her eyes closed, Sarah restrains herself from letting out a scream of fury.

  “Who are you?” the girl asks once more.

  Sarah raises her head, wiping away her tears, and looks directly into her eyes.

  “My name is Sarah,” she says with a hoarse, faltering voice.

  The child gives a faint smile.

  “Nice to meet you, Sophie!” After a brief pause to breathe. “Did you come to bathe me? The new lady said it would be a different woman today. But the water is strange, I do not want to bathe.”

  “No… I mean. What are you doing here?” Even knowing the answer, Sarah forces herself to ask.

  “Well… one day I was at the amusement park with my parents. When I realized it, I was holding the hand of a strange man. I tried to pull away, but he picked me up and put a cloth over my mouth.” With a distant gaze she continues. “When I woke up, everything was dark and tight. Then I ended up here, and those men come and go.”

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  To Sarah’s surprise, the girl understands what is happening.

  After forcing herself to calm down, Sarah remains silent for a few seconds.

  “Miss, it is better if you hide under the bed. Whenever the men leave, someone comes to ask how I am and then they lock the door,” Sophie explains.

  Suddenly, she hears a noise outside.

  “Damned…” a male voice from outside.

  Quickly, Sarah throws herself to the floor and rolls beneath the bed.

  The door opens.

  “Everything alright, D thirty five?” asks the ordinary voice of an adult man.

  “Yes!” Sophie answers.

  He then turns off the light and closes the door. Sarah hears the sound of the lock being secured from the outside, only then does she realize.

  “They could at least turn off the lights,” the man mutters as he walks away.

  Her gaze now calm, she stares at the wall beneath the bed.

  “Sophie, right?”

  “Sophie with a ‘ph’ and not an ‘f’,” she replies, already lying down, looking at the same wall as Sarah.

  The air seems to have grown lighter with the last remark. For a moment, the weight Sarah carried on her shoulders fades, leaving a smile in its place.

  “You are smiling, right? Everyone used to smile when I said that.” Sophie gently strokes the wall with the palm of her hand in a downward motion. “May I see your smile?”

  Sarah rolls out, turns the light back on, and kneels in front of her. Then she forms a wide smile with her eyes closed. Sophie, infected by it, also breaks into a wide smile after making a small expression of admiration.

  “Wow… how beautiful!” With her smile slowly softening, Sophie becomes fascinated by Sarah’s appearance. “Your hair looks like long petals of a black rose.”

  For some reason, Sarah moves closer to Sophie and embraces her tightly. Not understanding anything, yet returning the gesture, the girl wraps her arms around Sarah. And for the first time in years, she relaxes and begins to cry as she grips Sarah’s clothes.

  “Thank you… that was the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me.” With tears in her eyes, Sarah thanks the little girl, tightening the embrace slightly more.

  “Even in the deepest darkness, if you plant a smile, you may harvest the rarest of flowers.”

  Sarah walks toward the sink, thinking about how to escape the situation and what to do to help Sophie. Resting her left hand against the wall, she wonders if it is possible to help her. After opening the faucet and filling her hand with a handful of liquid, a strong odor and an intense pain from the wound rise at once.

  With a subtle expression of disgust, she leans her face closer to the faucet. After smelling it more closely, she realizes that it is not water. The odor resembles something alcoholic.

  “Why is this coming out of here?” Sarah wonders as she stares at the faucet.

  Meanwhile, at the central pillar. Interior of the 3rd floor.

  A blond, blue eyed man, dressed in red formal pants and a matching shirt, looks at a large screen divided into many smaller ones. He adjusts his tie of the same color while focusing his gaze on one specific small screen.

  That screen, like the others, bears a tiny number and letter in its upper right corner. Around him are eight other men displayed on similar screens. However, one among them wears white clothing instead of red, only the black tie and shoes remain consistent.

  The blond man picks up his radio communicator. After moistening his lips, he begins to speak.

  “D thirty five!”