mentally and physically. Maybe I should have just crawled in bed and gone to sleep. Ev ery vent cover looked out into darkness A nerd like Brian probably got up with the roosters, eager as he was to start his work day, which meant he probably went to bed before ten.
This was pointless. Going down to Level A might have proved interesting. If anyone was awake right now it was Clifton, though he would be more likely to discover me in the walls than anyone. I didn't want to imagine what he would do to me.
Still, there was the Showcase Hall, and more importantly the room it wrapped around, where lab techs or nurses monitored the Favorite Girls in the display cases. I wanted to see that room. I'd caught a glimpse of it when Kate and I came upon Mr. Shriver's bloody and beaten son Jacob in the Frog Girl display window, the back wall of which was actually a door. I had yet to meet the employees who worked in that circular room. The ones who fed, bathed, dressed, and cared for the available Favorite Girls, the ones who arranged them in the display cases and removed them after a purchase.
For all I knew, they never left that station. True slaves to the company.
And Mr. Shriver's son had been one of them.
That was another story I wanted to know more about.
I decided to call it quits, except I'd been so lost in my thoughts that now I had no idea where I was. The first step was to back up until I reached the last intersection I'd come across, then do a turnabout, backing into the unexplored duct and going back the way I came.
When I reached the next intersection, I had to guess which way to go: left or right? Luckily I made the correct choice, then again at the next intersection. Up ahead I could hear the fan blowing.
And something else.
A breathy voice, directly to my left.
Without thinking, I shined my flashlight at the vent cover and my heart started pounding as I realized what I'd done. I turned the light off and stiffened up, afraid to move, waiting to hear the voice again, certain I'd given myself away.
"Yeah. Suck it baby."
Brian's voice.
He wasn't alone.
"Fuck yeah, that's it."
I breathed a sigh of relief. He was preoccupied. He hadn't seen the light.
"Slower . . . slower you dumb bitch. That's it. There you go."
In spite of my anxiety, I couldn't help but allow my hatred of him to resurface. Some poor girl--some poor employee --giving him head in the dark, and he didn't have the decency to be nice to her.
I would love to see this piece of shit out in the world, at a bar, maybe, trying to pick up women. I'd bet all of Ted's money the only girl Brian could land was one who had no other option.
"Come on, get your mouth around it," he said. "It's not like it's that big."
I covered my mouth to stifle a laugh. At least he was honest.
His breathing intensified.
"You know what to do, right? Don't fucking nod!"
I was going to lose it. I started to crawl away, but what he said next made me stop dead in my tracks.
"Tomorrow's a big day. Mr. Shriver will be gone. Slower. Slow down , Judy, damn it! Just because I don't say if for a while doesn't mean you should speed up. You're going to learn to do it the way I want, understand?" A pause. "See? You didn't nod. You're learning."
My heart was trying to be at its way out of my chest. I'd held my breath for so long my lungs were hurting. I blew the air out slowly, then inhaled open-mouthed so I wouldn't make any noise.
"Good girl. Good girl."
I imagined him stroking her hair as he said that and it made me nauseous. I was powerless to stop him. I couldn't even tell Patton without explaining how I knew, and that meant giving up Clifton's labyrinth.
I couldn't do it. It was too big a risk. I needed to explore the rest of the ducts, find out if they might possibly lead to escape. Some small part of me still held back one-hundred percent trust in Patton. I couldn't hand myself over to him
This was pointless. Going down to Level A might have proved interesting. If anyone was awake right now it was Clifton, though he would be more likely to discover me in the walls than anyone. I didn't want to imagine what he would do to me.
Still, there was the Showcase Hall, and more importantly the room it wrapped around, where lab techs or nurses monitored the Favorite Girls in the display cases. I wanted to see that room. I'd caught a glimpse of it when Kate and I came upon Mr. Shriver's bloody and beaten son Jacob in the Frog Girl display window, the back wall of which was actually a door. I had yet to meet the employees who worked in that circular room. The ones who fed, bathed, dressed, and cared for the available Favorite Girls, the ones who arranged them in the display cases and removed them after a purchase.
For all I knew, they never left that station. True slaves to the company.
And Mr. Shriver's son had been one of them.
That was another story I wanted to know more about.
I decided to call it quits, except I'd been so lost in my thoughts that now I had no idea where I was. The first step was to back up until I reached the last intersection I'd come across, then do a turnabout, backing into the unexplored duct and going back the way I came.
When I reached the next intersection, I had to guess which way to go: left or right? Luckily I made the correct choice, then again at the next intersection. Up ahead I could hear the fan blowing.
And something else.
A breathy voice, directly to my left.
Without thinking, I shined my flashlight at the vent cover and my heart started pounding as I realized what I'd done. I turned the light off and stiffened up, afraid to move, waiting to hear the voice again, certain I'd given myself away.
"Yeah. Suck it baby."
Brian's voice.
He wasn't alone.
"Fuck yeah, that's it."
I breathed a sigh of relief. He was preoccupied. He hadn't seen the light.
"Slower . . . slower you dumb bitch. That's it. There you go."
In spite of my anxiety, I couldn't help but allow my hatred of him to resurface. Some poor girl--some poor employee --giving him head in the dark, and he didn't have the decency to be nice to her.
I would love to see this piece of shit out in the world, at a bar, maybe, trying to pick up women. I'd bet all of Ted's money the only girl Brian could land was one who had no other option.
"Come on, get your mouth around it," he said. "It's not like it's that big."
I covered my mouth to stifle a laugh. At least he was honest.
His breathing intensified.
"You know what to do, right? Don't fucking nod!"
I was going to lose it. I started to crawl away, but what he said next made me stop dead in my tracks.
"Tomorrow's a big day. Mr. Shriver will be gone. Slower. Slow down , Judy, damn it! Just because I don't say if for a while doesn't mean you should speed up. You're going to learn to do it the way I want, understand?" A pause. "See? You didn't nod. You're learning."
My heart was trying to be at its way out of my chest. I'd held my breath for so long my lungs were hurting. I blew the air out slowly, then inhaled open-mouthed so I wouldn't make any noise.
"Good girl. Good girl."
I imagined him stroking her hair as he said that and it made me nauseous. I was powerless to stop him. I couldn't even tell Patton without explaining how I knew, and that meant giving up Clifton's labyrinth.
I couldn't do it. It was too big a risk. I needed to explore the rest of the ducts, find out if they might possibly lead to escape. Some small part of me still held back one-hundred percent trust in Patton. I couldn't hand myself over to him
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