Chapter 21

Batty's POV
"Are you sure it's her?" Black asked, somewhat hesitantly. "But she doesn't look anything like the girl from this morning."
　　"What?"
　　I held up the candle and moved closer to the woman lying on the bed.
　　"No, it's not her." I said with certainty. "But she's prettier!"
　　"So are we going to take her or not? Or do we go back the way we came?"
　　Black asked, not quite sure.
　　"Of course we should take her away! You don't see many beautiful women like this, not even all the women in the Wind Pack combined are as pretty as her!" I said to Black.
　　My heart was filled with unsuppressed excitement, and my hands were trembling.
　　"This kind of woman, she can be sold at a much higher price!" Black rubbed his hands together and got the twine and cloth bag ready.
　　I tied the girl with rope five times with force, "Hahaha, even if she is a witch, there is no way to untie!"
　　Black threw the girl into the cloth bag and used a dagger to pierce a few holes. This would allow the person inside to breathe and not be smothered to death.
　　The place where Black and I hid the kidnapped girl was not within the downtown area of Wind Pack. Instead, it was in a log cabin deep in the border forest.
　　The road leading there was not smooth and the way was full of mud and bumps.
　　"Oh my God! This road is really bad!" Black complained.
　　"After we sell this woman for a good price, we won't have to hide in such a remote place."
　　"Yeah. This woman is so beautiful, someone will definitely be willing to pay a high price."
　　Black poured a large sip of brandy into his mouth and said in a slurred voice, "Why hasn't this woman moved at all? I'm afraid she's dead so we can't make any money."
　　"Batty, you're not going to poison her silly, are you?" Black said.
　　"No way, I've always been very accurate with my drugging measurements. Even if this woman turns out to be a fool, someone will buy her."
　　I said with confidence.
　　"Why?" Black asked.
　　"Because her beauty is rare in this world. Even if she is a sex slave, it will be worth it, Black! You stupid bastard. You should be thinking about how to sell this guy for a good price now!"
Charlotte's pov
I was put into a sack by Batty in a violent way. They carried me on top of their shoulders and quietly slid me down a pipe in the wall.
I heard them talking in an excited tone. "Hey! How much money do you think we'd make if we sold this woman secretly?"
Batty said triumphantly, "At least for the rest of our lives we could buy all the fine brandy in Wind Pack!"
Batty and Black laughed together. "This operation is a lot easier than the previous ones, isn't it?" I heard what should have been Batty's voice speaking at this point.
"Indeed, at least we don't have to put in the effort to deal with the damn bodies!" I listened intently in the sack as they talked about the murders that had happened the other day.
"It can be a real pain in the ass to set up that old woman. But I heard Thomas say that her daughter can be very stubborn. Got taken back for a few days and only drank some water."
　　It sounded like they had killed a lot of women at Wind Pack, and I was becoming more and more certain that they were the ones who killed Amy and John.
　　A wave of anger filled my entire brain. I wanted to kill these two men.
　　Barry snatched the brandy from Black's hand and swallowed it in his mouth in one big gulp.
　　"It's none of our business. We're only responsible for getting the women back, or capturing them. We'll leave the buying and selling to Thomas. we've captured a high-class slave this time, and we'll definitely get a good share of the money."
　　I heard an unfamiliar name and always thought it sounded familiar.
　　This Thomas sounded like their boss, and the one who paid Batty's salary.
　　He might be the organizer of the whole kidnapping plan.
　　"Hurry the wagon up some! Stupid!" Batty sounded fierce as if he might eat Black alive at any moment.
　　"I'll say it again! Don't yell at me!" Black slammed the bottle down hard on the trunk of a tree on the side of the road.
　　I silently counted the time in my mind, and after about half an hour, the carriage came to a steady stop after a quick descent.
　　Finally, we are here! I exclaimed in my heart.
　　I don't know how many kidnapped people this sack contained, it was full of the smell of blood. I almost threw up.
　　"Why is this chick still dizzy, Batty?" Black shook my shoulder hard, and there was something worrying in his tone.
　　"Could she be dead?" He said.
　　Because I hadn't received the effects of the ecstasy, I was conscious all the time.
　　I didn't know when I was supposed to come out of the coma. It seems that my act of staying unconscious made Batty and Black mistakenly think I was dead.
　　"First, move her inside the cell! Don't be seen by anyone passing by! I've contacted Thomas, and he'll come over later to handpick the slave."
　　"Okay."
　　I felt my surroundings begin to grow cold and damp, and then I was thrown heavily onto the sharp and rough straw.
　　"Come see your newest member!" Batty shouted triumphantly.
　　It seemed I wasn't the only one here.
　　A basin of cold water was poured over my body, soaking me all over.
　　"It's time to open my eyes." I thought.
　　I slowly propped myself up and pretended I had just woken up from a coma.
　　"Where is this?" I whispered as I surveyed my surroundings.
　　"Ah! Who are you?" I pretended to be startled by them, and I shouted out in what I thought was my most frightened tone of voice.
　　"You're awake?" Batty crouched down in front of me, his face already his truest expression. It was a cold, cruel smile.
　　"Stupid, you've done us a big favor." He ran his hand over my face and muttered something I couldn't hear.
　　"Batty! You're practically a liar!" I shrank back in feigned horror. And I accused Batty very angrily.
　　Batty laughed triumphantly, "I put a lot of ecstasy in all the Margaritas I sent you."
　　Yes, I know. But I couldn't just say it. I pretended to be surprised and angry at his answer.
"Bastard! You go to hell! Go to hell!" I shouted frantically.
　　I abused him with every dirty word I knew, but he was not affected by my emotions at all.
　　"You betrayed my trust arbitrarily! You will get what's coming to you!" I tried to squeeze two lines of tears out of the corners of my eyes. It would make me look even more innocent.
　　"You will receive your punishment! Damn you Batty!"
　　Batty slammed me hard against the wall. I shrank into a ball at first, which also caused my back to collide with the hard wall.
"Stupid woman! A woman is supposed to be a tool for lust!" Batty spat at me as he finished.
　　A huge pain came from my back and blood penetrated the clothes on my back.
　　I started to smell blood, so I pressed my hand against the spot.
　　"Damn you Batty!" I cursed under my breath, if I wasn't locked in this small, unfamiliar space. I would have ruthlessly plunged my dagger tightly into Batty's heart.
　　There was a clear burst of pain in my back, and I breathed heavily, trying to shift my attention elsewhere.
　　Batty patted the dust off his clothes dismissively as he turned and slammed the cell door shut.
　　He pulled out a smile and said to me, "Soon you'll know that all this struggle of yours is useless. I'll give you a piece of advice, now you should learn to please others like a slave."
　　I was now the only one left in the gloomy cell, and there were many straws piled up in the corner of the room.
　　That should have been the place provided for slaves to sleep. A large bowl filled with murky water was placed at the door.
　　There was only a small window surrounded by iron spikes on the wall, about the size of my two palms combined.
　　I leaned in close and called out for help at the top of my voice.
　　"Somebody! Help me!" I shouted repeatedly. But the only answer I got was a few distant dog barks.
　　"Stop barking, it's no use."
　　A frail voice came from the straw.
　　I alertly pulled out my grip on the dagger and my eyes fell on the pile of straw.
　　A pair of slender hands reached out, and it plucked the straw covering around it to the sides. Then a blood-stained body slowly emerged from the straw.
　　"Who are you?" I asked the guy cautiously.
　　"Are you...Dr. Ally?" This mysterious person asked me in a soft voice.
　　"Coco?" I realized that this person was familiar to me. I rushed forward to hug her. She was Lily's sister who had disappeared a few days before.
　　"You're not wrong! It's me! Miss Ally!" Coco almost cried out. "I heard your voice, and I thought it was my hallucination!"
　　She gripped my hand hard and I saw that her hand had many neat cuts, "Did you get your hand cut by an iron spike?" I asked her worriedly.
　　"I tried to escape from here so many times, but I was finally caught back. This is the evidence that they punished me!"
　Coco rolled up her sleeve, revealing the red wound on her arm that had festered.
　　"Oh my God! For God's sake, what have you been through?"
　　I felt pain for Coco's wound. I took out two bottles of anti-inflammatory medicine from the compartment of my clothes.
　　"Take the medicine quickly. This bottle is an anti-inflammatory capsule. This bottle is a pain-relieving solvent. Put it on your wound, your injury will heal faster."
　　Coco's hands were already shaking so much that she couldn't grasp anything, and I hurriedly helped her with her wounds.
　　"I was kidnapped here." Coco said to me.
　　"I guessed it, Lily came over to me . I went to your house and checked the scene. Unfortunately, your mother..."
　　Two lines of tears fell from Coco's eyes at the sight of me mentioning my mother.
　　"They broke into my house during the night and tried to kidnap me. My mother tried to protect us by using her body to block the knife that was stabbed at me..."
　　Coco said, clenching her fists.
　　"I didn't think that the killer would be Batty from the flower store!"
　　I hugged Coco and said to her, "I couldn't believe it either when I learned the truth. But as far as I can see, they are organized. And Batty is just the person who executes the plan at the bottom."
　　"Yes, their leader is called Thomas. he is the mastermind of all the operations!"
　　I asked Coco: "What else do you know that you can tell me all about!"
　　"They sort the girls they capture and give them to different people. Now only I am left here because I..."
　　Before Coco could finish, my keen ears caught the sound of stray footsteps coming from the corridor.
　　"Shh, don't make a sound!" I covered Coco's mouth.