Beasts and Savages (The Beastly Series Book 1) (26 page)

“Hey. Do you know her name?” I put my hand on her knee.

She jerked away from me before she met my eyes. “Lea?”

I nodded. “They brought me here to help. Do you remember her? What’s her name?”

The twin shook her head. “She wasn’t in our class. I don’t know her.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re clean and healthy. Are you working with these savages?”

I showed her the yellowed bruises on my cheek and ribs. “I didn’t do this to myself. They kept me locked up in a basement, too. But they said there was a girl here who needed me.”

She looked from the unconscious girl to me. “I don’t believe you. Not until you get us out of here.”

I leaned in and whispered, “I’m going to try. I promise. And to do that I have to play nice with the men, do what they say until we’re strong enough to escape.”

The twin spit in my face. I didn’t blame her for being angry. I decided to do whatever I could to help them.

I stood to go back to my patient when I heard a raspy voice call me. I turned to a very dark corner and saw Beth. She looked frail, wan.  One of the straps to her top had been torn and was hanging loosely over her breast. Her blonde hair was so full of mud it looked brown.  She had yellowed bruises on her face and arms.

I rushed over to her. “Beth! Beth!” I hugged her gently.

“Lea. I need water.” Beth panted as she spoke. I went to a jug on the floor. It was almost empty and looked a little dirty. I sniffed the water inside before I took it over to her.

She took the jug from my hand and gulped greedily. I yanked it away from her.

“Small sips, Beth. You’ll make yourself sick.” I gave it back to her and she took a sip.

A thin, dirty hand reached out for the water. Its owner had hair matted with dirt and blood. She looked at me with pleading eyes. Beth clutched the jug and began to lift it to her lips. I pulled the jug from Beth and she made a low sound, almost a growl.

I pushed the water to the other girl and stroked Beth's hair. “Shh. It's okay. I'm going to get you more water.”

Her growl softened. More and more voices called out. The girl with the jug gulped loudly. I pulled it from her and stood.  I went from girl to girl, giving each a sip of water. By the time Tanner returned, the jug was empty and only half of them had gotten to drink.

I crouched next to the items he had laid out. “Tanner, we need help. They need food and water. They’re all dying.” I tried to keep my voice low so no one else wouldn’t hear me. “You can’t keep them down here like this. I can’t let you.”

Tanner gave me a sharp look. “You can’t
let
me
?” His voice was low and angry. “You think I like seeing this? This is Anderson’s house, Anderson’s girls. He makes the decisions. Even my father can’t do anything about this.” He looked around the room. “He barely treats his own sons any better.”

I slammed the empty jug into his chest. “Well I’m
not
Anderson’s girl and I intend to do something about this. Go get some more water. And some help. There have to be some boys up there curious enough to come. Bring them back with you.”

“Fine.” There was exasperation in Tanner’s voice, but the look in his eye was one of admiration. He took the jug and climbed back up the stairs.

I washed the unconscious girl the best I could. She had deep cuts up the insides of both of her legs. All of them were infected, and a few were black and green. The bleeding had slowed and I wondered if the cuts had anything to do with her miscarriage. Fever had set in and I was sure it was from her infected cuts. She needed antibiotics, the kind that come in a bag of liquid and ran through an IV. I knew they didn’t have anything like that here.

She was still and took raspy breaths. I talked to her as I cleaned her, though I doubted she could hear me. Once I wrapped towels around and in between her legs, I covered her back up with the blanket. I placed a folded towel under her head and fished around for another to wash her face.

As I finished doing everything I could for her, Tanner came back down the stair with a handful of boys behind him. He gave me the jug. The boys stood behind him, arms crossed, watching and waiting.

“Thanks.” I addressed them, “These girls need our help. They need food and water. They need cleaned up and injuries cared for. Mostly, they need out-”

Tanner sent me a warning with his eyes and shook his head.

I continued, “-out of their cold, wet clothes.”

A boy of about fifteen snorted. “You’re a hunter and a killer too. You should be locked up just like they are. I just came to see the vicious animals stripped of their power.”

Tanner spoke up before I had a chance to respond. “She didn’t hunt. Or kill. I’m still here remember?”

Angry boy didn’t answer.

I took a deep breath and gave out orders. I asked the two youngest boys to give each girl some water. I handed the bowl to another boy and asked him to get some fresh water and more towels. I gave the task of making some broth and finding more blankets to the eldest.

“Why should we take orders from a beast? You may not have hunted, but you are still one of them!” It was Angry Boy.

“I’m not a beast. And if you don’t want to be here, leave.” I was getting impatient.

He reached for the collar of my jacket. Tanner stepped in front of him and pushed his arm down. “Creech. She’s Locke’s daughter. Think wisely before you touch her.”

Hatred flashed across Creech’s eyes. He made a show of bowing. “Forgive me, your highness. I had no idea you were royalty.” The fake sweetness in his voice made my stomach turn.

He turned to Tanner. “Why do you care if these other girls live or die? They all hunted and killed before we caught them.”

I spoke up. “If they’ve all hunted, then they’re carrying your sons. If you let them die, your sons die with them.” I glanced at Tanner.

He turned to the others. “She’s right.” All the boys began to move, carrying out the tasks. I went from girl to girl, checked them for injuries, did my best to clean them up, and helped feed them.

Tanner followed alongside me, fetching things and aiding me any way he could. The twin would spit toward me any time I got near. I let the others take care of her and asked Tanner to clean her up.

While Tanner was with the twin, I brought Beth a blanket and sat with her. She thanked me and snuggled into it.

“You certainly have someone’s attention,” Beth noted. She nodded over to Tanner.

“Yeah. He’s our ticket out of here.  I’m still working on him, though. But as soon as I can, I’m getting you out.” I wanted to hug her and cry, insist she come back to Locke’s room with me, but I knew that would cause a scene. I needed to stay calm if I wanted these new boys to trust me.

“I heard him say you didn’t kill. Is that true?”

“It’s true.”

“Is that why you’re getting better treatment?” The bitterness in Beth’s voice made me shudder.

“No. Well, not entirely. I was tied up in a basement for a few days. They fixed my injuries and moved me to a room. Still keep me locked up, though, until today.” I felt a pang of guilt. Compared to what Beth had gone through, my time here was like a day trip for a picnic.

“So why did they move you? How are you going to get us out? I can’t stay here.” Beth looked around frantically.

I hugged her and stroked her hair while I talked. “Shh, Beth. It’s all right. The man who runs the house I’m in, he’s my father. I’m going to talk to him, make him get you out of here, okay?”

“You can do that? Just talk to him and get what you want?” Beth settled her head on my lap and yawned. She was so thin, so weak. She was not the Beth I remembered, this girl was broken.

“I’m going to try.” I tightened the blanket around her. She was shivering. “Do you know if any of you are pregnant?”

“As far as I know, we all are.”

“How do you know?”

Beth looked at me questioningly. “You just know. You feel it. You aren’t?”

I shook my head. “Started my period this morning. They captured me before anything happened.”

She told me that the unconscious girl had gone crazy and was cutting herself with rocks she had found. The girl had gone on and on about how she refused to have a baby here. She was trying to cut it out.

As if on cue, the girl in the middle of the room began to shake violently. Tanner and I rushed to her side. I knelt down and put her head on my lap. I knew what was happening, but I couldn’t place the word.

Tanner put his hands on her shoulders to hold her still. I grabbed his arm. “Stop it! You’ll make it worse. Let her go, she’s having a seizure.” The word popped into my head at the same moment it left my mouth. We waited in agony for her to stop moving. I tried to count seconds but I kept losing count. Finally, she stopped thrashing.

I leaned down to check her breath. “She’s still alive. Barely.”

“Is there anything else we can do?” Tanner’s eyes were wide, face pale. I’d never seen him so terrified.

“No. She needs a hospital.” I shook my head. “I’m not even a nurse. She’s not going to get better.”  

I sat with the girl’s head on my lap, listening to wheezing breaths. They were getting further and further apart. Soon, she seized again for a very long time. When she stopped, she was no longer breathing.

My eyes flashed to Tanner’s. “She’s dead.” I wanted to scream or cry out, yet all I could do was sit there in silent shock, and stroke the dead girl’s hair.

“Tanner! Lea! Time to go!” Locke’s voice called from the top of the stairs. I could have been holding the girl’s head for ten minutes or ten hours. Time had lost all meaning.

Tanner tugged my arm. “We have to leave.” He pulled my hand, and lifted me off the floor.

“What about her? We can’t just leave her here.” I gulped air, trying to swallow a sob.

Tanner put his arm around my shoulders. His emerald eyes were glossed with tears. “Don’t worry. I’ll ask the boys to take her from here. Give her a proper burial in the woods.” I didn’t understand proper burial, but it sounded respectful.