Chapter 20. Tangled up with a stranger
***
Ihedia had been working at the stables with Aurora for a while, getting to know her well enough to feel comfortable talking freely.
Whenever Ihedia saw Aurora, who was always smiling at her, she felt like she had a cute little sister.
"Sister, do you want to make a bet today and whoever loses will clean the trough?"
"No, I'll just do it."
"Oh, come on. You're such a sourpuss."
Aurora shook her head.
The sun was setting inside the stables, and they were nearing the end of their cleanup.
"Hmph, you’re still not awake, and what if you don't bring them water before nightfall? You’re going to have to stop fooling around and get moving!"
The stablehand, who had been absent the entire time, swooped in, glanced around, and barked an order.
"Thirty, you come over here and take this."
"I'll do it myself. You're the only human subject here with nothing better to do."
At the call of the stableman, Aurora ventriloquized and went to get the hay.
Ihedia, left behind, casually picked up the empty bucket and headed for the well.
As soon as she stepped outside, a bone-chilling wind greeted her.
When she was far away from the stables, the fingers holding the bucket went numb, as if paralyzed.
Ihedia set the bucket down for a moment and blew white breath to thaw her hands.
When will I ever get used to this weather?
The dizzying cold of Anut was like a grumpy demon, making every minute of her life miserable.
As if testing her to see how much she could endure.
'Just like him........'
Ihedia secretly thought of Kayan Bayate, and she was angry with herself.
All the while, the wind, which resembled the claws of a beast, tirelessly clawed at her skin, mercilessly.
Now she was beginning to miss the vigorous heat of Kayan's embrace.
She let out a long breath and was about to start walking again.
"Aah!"
A woman's voice, seemingly gasping in pain, came faintly from somewhere.
Ihedia's eyes widened and she stopped dead in her tracks.
The source of the sound seemed to be a small, plank-built shed to her right.
'Why would anyone be in a place like this........'
Although it was called a warehouse, it was more like an abandoned building that was used to store piles of garbage.
The fact that it was unattended and uninhabited made it even more suspicious.
The woman's violent moans reached a fever pitch as she cautiously stepped toward the sound.
"Ha, ha, ha, hmmm."
When she then peeked through the crack in the door to see who was inside the warehouse, Ihedia almost screamed.
‘Monica.’
Monica was tangled up, naked, with a red-eyed stranger.
The sound of flesh pounding against flesh, the ragged breathing of the man and the woman, the heat wafted through the doorway to where Ihedia stood.
Then the man's red eyes met hers.
So startled was Ihedia that she dropped the bucket of water she was carrying, and the heated exchange came to a screeching halt.
The man's eyes, alive with color, stared directly into Ihedia's green eyes on the other side of the door.
Sensing danger, Ihedia immediately took off running at full speed.
Thankfully, he didn't follow her, perhaps because he couldn't go outside naked.
Still, the eerie glare of the mysterious man's eyes lingered in her mind for a long time afterward.
"Sister, what's wrong, you don't look well ever since you went to the well......."
"Oh, no."
Aurora asked, concerned for the bloodless Ihedia, but she could only remain silent about what she had seen.
Judging by how different the clothes on the floor was from that of the other workers, the man must have been a high ranking Anut warrior, not a lowly guard.
It seemed like Monica was determined to get out of her situation somehow.
It was just that no one in the outbuildings took her seriously, given her tendency to grumble and complain.
'Maybe.......'
Maybe Monica was planning to use her relationship with the man to get out of here.
She didn’t know how close the two of them were, but she doubted the man would be able to go against the wishes of Netira, the owner of family, and save her.
She had heard that it wasn't uncommon for lustful Anuts to lure female slaves in this way, to play with them for a while, only to abandon them at a crucial moment.
Ihedia had an eerie premonition about today's events, but she shook her head to clear it away.
That night, as soon as Ihedia and Aurora entered their room after work, they were greeted by the sound of nervous voices.
"I can't believe we’re in the same room as the stable hands. It would be nice if you didn't mind eating and sleeping there."
Monica scrunched up her nose in open displeasure, and 5 punched her in the arm.
"I'm sorry, but no amount of washing can get rid of the smell of the stables. Maybe you shouldn't have come in unwashed if you were going to be like this anyway."
Aurora rolled her eyes and replied pointedly.
"That's a mouthful!"
"Did I say something wrong?”
"Forget it. I'm done with this shitty life, so I'll put up with it, eh?"
Monica muttered in a faint, almost inaudible whisper as she turned to shoot Aurora another look.
In her naturally virtuous demeanor, she didn't seem to realize that just a few hours earlier, her intimate life had been revealed to her rooming companion.
5 sent a good-natured smile towards Ihedia and Aurora, as she always did.
"You've both been through a lot today, and we're all in a tough spot together, we should understand that."
Monica clicked her tongue in frustration.
For some reason, Ihedia couldn't look her in the eye.
Every time she heard Monica's voice, it seemed to be overlaid with her high moans from the warehouse.
And then the creepy red eyes, like those of a rising killer.
The unpleasant memory, which never ceased to disturb her mind, ate at her until the hours when everyone else was asleep.
It was only when she tossed and turned on her bed for a long time that she finally fell asleep.
Creak.
The sound of the door opening, cutting through the stale air and letting in th cold air.
Had the gale reached the hallways of the building?
Ihedia wanted to turn her head to check, but her fatigue finally overcame her and she fell into a fiendish slumber.
***
"Uh-oh, there's no 3. Maybe she's already crossed over to the main house."
The next morning, looking at Monica's empty bed, Aurora shook her head.
Ihedia looked at it, too, questioningly.
Her bed was devoid of any human warmth, as if she had been gone for a very long time.
"Where's 3?"
"Me, I don't know."
Aurora asked 5, and she replied in an uncharacteristically chilly voice.
5 walked out of the room without a word, avoiding Ihedia and Aurora's eyes.
"Come on."
Aurora asked, her voice filled with wonder as she watched 5's rapidly disappearing back.
Ihedia and Aurora were about to head out the door to go to work.
"Gah!"
"Ahhh!"
The piercing screams and gagging sounds of the women erupted here and there.
The ear-splitting screams grew louder as everyone in the outbuilding rushed outside to see what was causing them, sending panic through the air.
Ihedia had to clasp her hands over her mouth when she saw what was happening outside.
Six bodies lay in a row in the yard, their flesh stained red with blood.
Ihedia's heart sank as soon as she spotted the severed head from the torso.
"Monica.”
Monica, who was alive before her eyes just yesterday, was lying in pieces in the yard of the outbuilding this morning.
Ellie, who had watched in silence, cried out.
"All right, quiet. Everyone forms a line."
At Ellie’s urgent command, everyone moved to the front of the line.
"Earlier today, there was an unsavory incident. 3 was caught trying to escape from the mansion, and I hope this serves as a reminder of the consequences of fooling around in this place."
Everyone in the room shivered with unspeakable fear at Ellie’s calm demeanor, as if this was nothing.
***
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Write a comment
Iona (Wednesday, 03 January 2024 08:11)
Oh no,,, that escalated quite quickly - thank you so much for the chapter and happy new year!
Emmanuel801 (Thursday, 04 January 2024 01:42)
Oh, how can Ihedia escape such a terrible place???