What would you do to survive? Would you be the hero or the villain?
Sometimes life blurs the line, and you don't even know which side you belong to.
Be the selfless hero that dies, or the selfish villain that stays alive?
Kim's hair was pulled up in a bun, his eyes dropping down to the dark bags under them. His body stood still, hardly moving an inch as he stared blankly at her.
Bambi felt her throat run dry as her eyes traced the lines of his bare chest. She was used to seeing a man shirtless, but something about him made her uneasy.
"It's time for breakfast. Go downstairs with the other girls," he muttered, his voice striking her tummy with a deep, brassy morning tone.
A slight gasp left her lips. Her eyes widened at the strange feeling of goosebumps rippling all over her body. What the hell is wrong with me this morning? she thought, quickly composing herself to glare at him.
"What about the other girls? They haven't had anything for three days now," she replied, watching him let out a heavy sigh.
"They won't have any food for days. Not until she decides they can."
"That bitch is crazy, they'll starve to death!" she yelled, but he instantly palmed her mouth to muzzle the sound.
Bambi shoved his hand away, glaring at him as a sharp spark of electricity traveled from where his palm had touched her skin.
"Keep it down, someone might hear you," he whispered, pushing her slightly back against the wall. His eyes narrowed as he noticed a reddish palm mark bruising her cheek.
"Are you trying to punish me, or what?" she asked. She let out a dry chuckle when she noticed his own cheeks slightly reddening.
He let her go, burying the urge to ask how she got the mark as he peered into her eyes.
"You should stay away from her business if you care for yourself," he replied flatly, turning to leave her to her thoughts.
Bambi sighed, watching his retreating back.
His body had visibly shaken when he spoke of Lady Lake. It was almost like there was more to discover.
Something horrid.
She was confused by what he meant, but even more confused as to why she would even care about the others.
"It's just me in the world and no one else," she reminded herself, steeling her nerves as she walked toward the dining hall.
She walked into the same dining room she had been brought to on her first day, but the space felt smaller now. The table stretched to the very ends of the room, lined with more than a hundred seats on each side. A huge, golden-embroidered chair stood apart from the rest, anchoring the head of the line.
Bambi slowly scanned the room and noticed some of the girls sitting on the floor. She could see swollen wounds and purple bruises as they cowered closer to the walls. Her eyes widened when she noticed young guys among them, too. Seems like they got it worse than me last night.
She moved to sit with them, but froze in her tracks as Lady Lake swept into the room. She was dressed in a bright red satin nightgown that perfectly matched her amber hair, which was currently packed in rollers. Her guards flanked her like shadows.
"My goodness, a lovely lady like yourself shouldn't be crouching with these peasants.
Come with me." Lady Lake smiled, gesturing toward the head of the table.
Bambi followed, questions gnawing at her mind. What was this woman's reality? She watched Lady Lake slide into the golden chair and casually wave Miss Magdalene's quiet sister away from her seat.
Her sister and Miss Coco took the seats closest to Lady Lake on one side of the table, while Kim and his brother sat directly opposite them.
"I'll go get the breakfast, Lady Lake," Miss Coco mumbled quickly, handpicking some of the girls on the floor to go with her.
"Go on, sit." Lady Lake flashed Bambi a brilliant smile.
Bambi took the seat directly across from Kim.
"I hope you like it here, 'cause there's a lot of fun in my fun house," Lady Lake squealed, letting out a sharp laugh. "But there are some things I don't like. You want to know them?"
Bambi nodded numbly.
"In my fun house, you can't have more than three affairs with a client. You can't try to run away with a client. The last one was messy, believe me. You can't sleep with any of your colleagues here... though I'm sure you've noticed pretty boys like Kim here."
Bambi's eyes narrowed. Why would I even want to?
"You can't leave the premises unless it's bath time; I like to keep my eyes on my workers," Lady Lake continued seamlessly. "And you can't keep any baby you have with a client. If we can't get rid of it, we'll have to hand it over to a nice family far away."
Bambi let out a quiet sigh. I never even wanted to have a child. I don't deserve one.
"And finally... you can never go against me." The words rolled off Lady Lake's lips like a warning sealed in blood.
Bambi noticed everyone immediately drop their gaze to the table. She could have sworn the entire room felt the icy shivers running down her spine.
Then, just as quickly, Lady Lake burst into roaring laughter and clapped her hands.
"Well, that was scary! Oh, and finally, you can never, ever, ever... ever, ever, ever leave my fun house. This is where we'll all have fun for the rest of our lives. Isn't that great?" She giggled, clapping her hands again.
Oddly enough, everyone else in the room broke into forced smiles and clapped along. Puzzled and terrified, Bambi hesitantly tried to do the same.
"Do you know why we are here?" Lady Lake asked, leaning toward Bambi.
"No."
"The world out there isn't meant for people like you. They rejected you and treated you like trash. But here, you have a purpose. You can have all the things you want. What's better than sex, food, and money?"
"Nothing," Bambi replied, forcing a smile that didn't dare reach her eyes.
Lady Lake burst into delighted laughter. "I like you! But I also know your mother was in this line of business."
Bambi gasped, a violent rush of memories flashing through her mind.
"She exposed you to the horrors of this life from a very young age." Lady Lake reached out and palmed Bambi's cheeks, her eyes mirroring a manufactured sadness. "But I'll protect you. I'll take care of you so you never have to go back to that world. You will all belong to a world of your own!"
She stretched her arms wide, and the room erupted into cheers and applause.
"We belong in a world of our own raw and sinful desires!" Lady Lake cried out.
This bitch knows about my past? Bambi thought frantically, deliberately avoiding Kim's pitiful gaze from across the table.
"There is no escape," she muttered under her breath, gulping down the lump in her throat.
She could only watch as Lady Lake's twisted smile widened, the room echoing with the hollow cheers and laughter of the trapped