Twenty-seven: Gracelyn Sinclair

Temperance

The light shines through the holes in the roof of the treehouse. It hits my eye just right, pulling me out of my restless sleep.

With messy hair and a dirty dress, I bring myself to my feet, my face twisting at my bruised legs.

I know Alec is worried but I can't find myself caring. I need time for myself.

I walk towards the trap door and climb down. Throwing my shoes onto the ground below me.



I relax once both of my feet are on the cool, green grass below me. I pick up my shoes and make my way out of the forest.

I am a mess. A big mess. My hair is tangled, and my dress has dirt and rips all through it. My jacket is ripped at the bottom.

I look like I've escaped a kidnapping, especially with these fading wounds all over my face and legs.

I find my way back onto the road. I am in town. Walking barefoot on the sidewalks, my shoes in my hands.

Lots of people give me weird stares. Some have worried expressions written across their faces.

"Ma'am, are you ok?" A middle-aged woman asks me. Her hair is up in a nice bun, and she has red lipstick on. She looks like she is dressed for a job interview.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." I reply quietly, glancing at my feet. "Are you sure? I can call someone for you?"

I know she is just nice. But it gets on my nerves.

"I'm fine." With that, I brush her off.

After a few more minutes of walking and the lady jogs after me, grabbing hold of my wrist.

I let out a yelp and try to yank my arm out of hers.

"What are you doing?"I yell at her. Her skinny fingers are wrapped tightly around my wrist. Causing pain to shoot through them from the cuts.

"I can help you." She tells me while looking straight into my eyes.

"I don't think you can," I whisper. She lets go of my arm and gives me a slight smile.

After a few more minutes of her trying to convince me to follow her, I do.




We walk to a house. It is a small rundown-looking house. Like it's been abandoned before.

I follow her to the front door. She struggles to get the key into the door lock and then eventually turns it.

She has to push her shoulder against the door to get it to open. I go inside with her.

The house is obviously run down. The walls have dirt on them, and the paint is peeling off. There is a dirty, torn couch against a wall, and a table is filled with leftover cocaine, weed, and needles.

It smells like cigarettes and weed. The smell is so strong I feel like I am going to choke.

She closes the door behind me, and I put my heels back on. Walking in heels while it's tearing the skin off my feet is way better than stepping on the soggy carpet. Why is the carpet even soggy in the first place?

A girl with only a bra and a thong on exits from the dark hall across the room.

Her hair is a mess, and she has white powder in her black tangled hair. Her skin is tan, but you can still see where she inserted a needle into her arm.

"Roxanne, go get the other girls." The woman that has taken me here demands.

Then the girl named Roxanne stumbles out.

"I'm Gracelyn." The woman holds her hand out for me to take.

"Temperance." I awkwardly shake her cold hand.

Then standing in front of me are six girls.

Beside Roxanne stands a blue-haired girl. She has on a white shirt with holes in it. Under the white shirt, she has a black bra on. Her shorts are barely covering anything.

That's basically how the other girls look. But wearing less and with different hair colors.

I know what this is. I know what they do.

Gracelyn decides to be a "nice" woman and takes in girls on the street. She supplies them with drugs, food, and a place to sleep. And they do prostitution in return.

"Roxanne, Carly, Becca, Danny, Kathleen, and Vena." She points to each one of them, saying their names.

When she is done, a man comes out of one of the rooms. He hands one of the girls some money and stumbles out.

"This is Temperance. She's new. She will be staying here for a while." Gracelyn smiles.

I look at her and make a disgusted face.

"No, the hell I'm not."

She is NOT going to make me stay here. She turns to me with a questioning look.

"I want to help you. This will get you off the streets."

I look back at the other girls. There are two standing up straight while all the others are swaying back and forth, obviously having something in their systems.

"I don't sleep on the streets," I grumble.

I know I look like I do.

"Oh yeah? Where do you stay?" She asks. She doesn't believe me.

"With my friends," I reply.

She scoffs. "Friends can't provide support and protection."

I almost laugh.

"They provide more than you are. If someone would come in here and attempts to break in, then it's game over. While at my place... let's say. No one is getting in there alive." I glare at her, trying not to give out too much information, aside from Jared and his gang that one time.

Gracelyn quickly places her hand on my shoulder. I flinch.

She leans towards me and whispers in my ear. "Then get out."

She takes her hand off of my shoulder, and I open the door and leave.

After the house is out of view, I finally calm down to steady my breathing.

Even though I have nowhere else to go, I still don't want to go back to Alec's place. Too many questions I don't want to answer. So I know my next destination. My house.