Chained by Tessa Escalera Read Free Book Online Page A

Kept silent and subservient by some unknown and invisible chains.  It was the only explanation that made any sort of sense.
     
    Then again, I didn't have a lot of experience with evil, or depths of darkness that existed in some souls.
     
    After eating the food, I returned to my cot with the notebook and pens.  For a long while I stared at the first blank page.  I wanted to pour my soul out on those pages.  I wanted to fill them with the thoughts that my brain didn't know how to process.
     
    Finally I decided.  I had never been good at journal writing.  I had also never been held captive by crazy evil men. 
     
    Much of my memories of my captivity come from my journals.  After a while, with no clock or other ways to tell time apart from the lightening and darkening of the tiny window in the wall, the days start to blur together.
     
    So, I pulled the package of pens open and set one to the paper.  I couldn't remember what day it was, so instead I put the day of my captivity, based on the light and dark I had seen from my window.
     
    Day 2:
     
    I don't know where to start.  I don't know what to say.  I don't know where I am.  I don't even know what day it is. 
     
    I want to go home.  I want to wake up from this nightmare.  I want to feel the sun and the sky, something other than this faint basement light and this constant cold.  I am so tired of being cold.  The bruises ache as if his hands were still on me.  I hurt in a place I didn't know I could hurt.
     
    Please .God, let it be the last time.  Please God let him leave me alone.  I don't know if I can survive that again.
     
    ***
     
    “Wake up.”  I opened my eyes and immediately shrunk back against the wall when I saw the tall figure looming over me, silhouetted in the light from the hallway.  He moved to the side, and I realized it was Travis.  There was a strange noise coming from the hall.
     
    “What's going on?”
     
    “Come on.”  Travis took my hand and led me from the cot, out into the hall.  I blinked in the sudden increase of light.  Had he changed his mind?  Was he going to help me escape after all?
     
    No such luck.  Without any explanation, Travis put a hand on my shoulder and pushed me through the door into Jenny's cell.  I turned around to ask him what was going on, only to see the door close and lock behind me. 
     
    I turned back to see Jenny lying on her cot, clutching her belly.  She groaned, and I realized that was the sound I had heard.  I rushed to her side.  Her cell was set up the same as mine, but she had hand-painted pictures taped to her wall, a calendar and a clock, as well as a couple rugs, and a much larger collection of movies as well as some books piled on her desk.
     
    “Jenny?  What's wrong?”
     
    Jenny's face was pale, and beads of sweat stood out on her forehead.  “The baby...”  she trailed off into a moan of pain.  I gasped as I realized I could see her belly contracting.  I laid a hand gently on the fabric of her nightgown, feeling the skin hard as a rock beneath my palm.
     
    “The baby's coming?”
     
    Jenny just nodded.  After a moment the contraction eased and she relaxed.  “Yes.”
     
    “Do you need to go to the hospital?”
     
    Jenny laughed bitterly.  “The Master would rather I die here than be seen at a hospital.  No, the baby will be born here.  Just like the others.”
     
    I couldn't speak for a moment.  “The others?”
     
    She nodded.  “This babe is my third.”
     
    “What happened to the others?”
     
    “Gone.  Ahh!”  she tensed and grabbed my hand as another contraction washed over her.
     
    I held her hand until the pain had passed and she lay there panting.  “They died?”
     
    “No.  Not dead, gone.”  Jenny's eyes were closed, but she opened them and held my gaze.  “I need you to help me.”
     
    “Help with the baby?  But I've never...”
     
    “That part is simple.  The birth will go as births always go.  No, the