Marietta's POV
I looked up to see who it was and my jaw dropped in astonishment.
"Mata," I exclaimed. She rushed towards me and we embraced each other. It has been a week since I saw someone from my pack. Seeing her made me feel at home.
"It is so good to see you," I said.
"I am glad to know you are alive and well," Mata replied.
"How did you get here? "I asked her
"She moved her lips close to my ears and said silently "Well, to be honest, I am more surprised to see you here" We both chuckled.
We both walked back to the long wooden bar and took our seats. We face each other with our plates of food sitting before us.
I got caught up basking in the euphoria of her company that for a moment I forgot all my worries.
Words can not express how happy I was to see her. We talked about a lot of things.
She told me how Gabriel, a member of our pack who was also a close friend of hers, rescued her from the courtroom.
Gabriel was taking her to a spot where our pack members were taken for safety when he was struck to death by some traffickers. Shabby-looking men who had crude weapons were how she described them.
"Gabriel slumped and before I knew it he was lying in a pool of blood. I screamed for help but no one came. My hands and legs were bound by a rope and I was dragged into a carriage. Before we went far Gabriel's body had already started transforming into his wolf form." Her voice was sober as she narrated her ordeal and I felt sorry for her. I knew Mata had developed a soft spot for Gabriel even though she never told me.
" I am so sorry Mata" I wished I could make her pain vanish.
"I loved him Marietta" she confessed now sobbing softly. "I was going to tell you about it but I wanted things to go well first"
"I know," I said softly, patting her shoulder gently. "I have always known. Everything will be fine okay? You still have me" I said trying to make her feel better.
She nodded and wiped the tears off her face.
For the next few minutes we were in silence, each of us focusing on our plate of food.
I looked at her arm and saw a red band.
"A red band?" I asked, breaking the silence.
"I see you are ripe and ready too," She said with a smile.
"What do you mean?" I asked not sure what she meant.
"Once you are given a red band, it means you are ripe and ready to be sold off. On the day of the auction, everyone with a red band is lined up in a row on the clearing and put up for sale.
Not everyone gets bought but many are usually sold off." I felt horrible at her explanation. The way she said sell like we are some commodities.
"But I just got here, how come I am already ripe?"
"Ripe means when you are obedient and follow their rules. You can be captured today and still be sold off the same day as long as you do not prove to be a problem to the buyer." Mata explained. She seemed to know so much. Maybe because she had spent a long time here.
But how come you are still here? " I asked her wondering how she was still yet to be sold off.
She looked at me and chuckled." It's a long story she said".
"Where will I go? " I replied.
"Okay then. When I was first brought here,
I was still so upset about Gabriel so I was overreacting. I rejected their food and refused to do most of the things we were asked to do even with the severe punishment. I wanted to just die.
So I was given a black band. The black band is for those who are considered crude or untamed. They need to be tamed before they can be sold out. Those with the black band are not taken anywhere near the auctioning ground.
After a month of undergoing serious tutored, I yielded. I was brought out and given a blue band.
The blue band is for fairly tamed people. The fairly tamed ones may be put up for sale when those with the red band are not many.
There was a time I was put up for sale when I still had my blue band. A fat and ugly man picked interest in buying me.
I was already disgusted at the sight of him then he provoked me further by smacking my face. I bit his ear hard until he bled.
The blue band was stripped off my arm and replaced with a black band. I was put in a small cage for days with only a handful of food and water.
My joints hurt as I could not walk around. There were times I thought I was going to die. At last, I was let out of the cage.
I decided from that day on that I will conduct myself. I will take my time to study the environment and see if I can find a way to escape.
I held the black band for almost a year before I was given the blue band again. The red band was given to me last month. "
By the time she finished narrating her story, I was done eating my food.
"I know how strong-hearted you can be Alyssa but please don't be like me," she begged.
You will not survive in that cage" she said. She was smiling but I knew her words held wisdom.
I need not be told that these people are ruthless. I decided there and then that I would channel my energy toward escaping from this place.
Wisdom is more useful in a place like this than violence.
All these happened eight months ago and my father had not shown up. Right now I am more focused on my escape plane with Mata.
Ever since we reunited eight months ago we have been planning on how to escape. We made acquaintances with some of the guards. There has been an issue which reduced the number of auctioning days and that was good for our plan.
To be fair Mata has been the one doing most of the work. She is such a smart and manipulative woman. She seems to know her ways. Over the month we have been gathering some things we would be needing for our escape.
Some of the things we have gathered so far are two pairs of trousers and a shirt, two pairs of long boots, a worn-out backpack, and some food we have been saving out of the one we are given.
Mata was even able to get a sleeping potion. She had manipulated one of the guards into getting it for her. She lied that she was suffering from anxiety and needed a sleeping potion to be able to sleep.
She amazed me most of the time. It's like she was born for this kind of game.
We finally decided on a day to escape. I don't know how she was able to find out but she got information that there will be an auction in the coming week.
A day before auctioning day. Many of the guards are sent out to bring home the new captives so the number of guards is reduced drastically.
This will make it easier to escape using the night as cover.
The day came and as usual, guards were sent out to bring in new captives. We first noticed it from the number of guards in n the kitchen. Mata looked at me with a mischievous smile and I smiled back.
Everything was going according to plan and now it was just a matter of time.
I tried to stay as calm as possible to avoid suspicion. I know this plan was our only shot at escaping. It has to work, or else we are doomed.