The compound, as told to them by Molly, was a honeycomb of rooms. Most of the rooms were filled with the machines the company used to make their legal products, ran by their illegal imports. Some of the rooms were dining halls and others rooms for the workers to sleep.
Molly said that the only way into the place was through a garage-like entrance on the north side. The initial building was completely under ground, or under sand, which meant that their entryway was most-likely hidden under the same substance. However, according to Molly's sources, now that they had what they're were looking for, there would be guards positioned all over top-side, especially by the door.
So that's where they found themselves, inching along across the desert to the rock face around the perimeter of the underground structure. There was a large mansion not even an isle away, so guessing it was part of the compound, they'd tried to stay out of it's eerie line of vision at all times.
Millie wiped her sweating brow, sighing heavily while leaning against a large boulder. They had made it unnoticed, thankfully and know Molly, Vash, and Wolfwood were devising a plan to distract the guards and get inside.
"We can't kill anyone." Vash said adamantly. Wolfwood and Molly gave him a sour look before shaking their heads.
"Fine, no killing. But whether you like it or not we might have to shoot to immobilize. I think our best chances of getting in unnoticed is when the lackeys change shifts. For a five minute period there won't be anyone top-side. If we start to make our way over to the entrance a little before then I'm positive we can get in without any trouble. Then we don't have to risk alerting anyone. If that happens, they'll kill her immediately and ask questions later."
"Why do they want to kill Meryl? She didn't do anything to them!" Millie wasn't looking at any certain object or person, her cerulean eyes unfocused and staring sadly into the sky. She was through crying instead forcing herself into a steely determination that Vash and Wolfwood hadn't seen before. She wanted to know. Hell they both wanted to know. Wolfwood followed Millie's example, lighting another cigarette, and leaning against a rock.
"Yeah, maybe now would be a good time to explain."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The night that her life shattered around her had been burned into her memory. It still smouldered inside her head, still searing deeper and deeper inside her mind.
It had been dark. Rosemary shut off the saloon lights, indoor and outdoor, locked the back door, the windows, everything except the front door because Molly was still outside. She'd ushered Meryl up the stairs to their bedrooms. Closing the door behind them, they'd climbed quietly up the stairs and were just about to enter their rooms when they heard the front door slam open.
Rosemary all but shoved Meryl into their bedroom. She'd closed and bolted the door shut then ran over to the top drawer of her bureau. Meryl remembered being more frightened than she'd ever been, whimpering and crying, stopping at the harshness in Rosemary's usually kind voice as she told her younger sibling to stop. Heavy footsteps were heard on the old stairs. They weren't Molly's bare feet. No, they were leather boots, with steel-toes and knives concealed inside. She could picture them in her head.
They hid under the bed, Rosemary's shaking hand on the silver Derringer. Meryl wanted so badly to question her sister as to why she had one of Molly's guns stored in her dresser but she couldn't bring herself to. She couldn't speak. The look in Rosemary's ever-calm eyes, that look of blind terror, drained her throat from any words.
They'd entered the room, the door slamming open. They watched the boots make a few rounds around the room, a second pair going past the doorway, down the hall, and opening Molly's bedroom door. Underneath the full size bed, Rosemary and Meryl didn't even breath let alone move. After a few minutes of searching, The pairs of boots finally left the rooms. They heard the footfalls on the steps again and finally exhaled. Rosemary told Meryl to stay where she was and scooted out from underneath the mattress. Meryl watched scared as Rosemary inched closer to the open door, her bare feet not making a sound on the carpeted floor. She'd just made it to the door when suddenly she'd stop dead in her tracks.
Meryl remembered her small shriek chiming with Rosemary's as the Big Boots popped out from behind the doorframe. He wrapped his big arms around Rosemary, one large hand clamping over her mouth. She kicked and struggled as hard as she could before finally hanging limp in his strong hold.
"Where's your little sister, doll?" He'd asked, removing his hand from her mouth to hear her speak.
"She's not here! I sent her away!" Meryl had gasped at Rosemary's claim of sending her away. Somehow her young mind came to understand that Rosemary was still trying to protect her and so she kept silent.
"Now, now. I don't believe any of that. Hey, Ern! Come back up here and check the bed!" From downstairs there came a chorus of bottles breaking and tables and chairs being flung every which way.
"Man, I hope she doesn't kill us for this." Meryl heard as Ern climbed the stairs. She inched back into the darkest area of the floor beneath the bed, against the wall, curling up into such a tiny ball that she seemed like a pile of black cloth to anyone.
But Ern must have had a sharp eye, either that or wasn't an easily fooled man. A harsh hand reached out and grabbed her collar, roughly yanking her away from the wall and out under the bed. She screamed, kicking, biting, punching, fighting her captor like a wildcat. Before she knew what was happening, The man had backhanded her across her face. The sting brough tears to eyes and they leaked out along with a few sobs.
"Don't touch her you bastard! Keep you damn filthly hands off her!"
"Such language for a young'un like yourself, don't you think?" The man holding Rosemary sniggered, his grip loosening in his mirth. With an accurate and hard kick, Rosemary had fallen free from the prison of his arms while the big man grabbed at his crotch area. Meryl knew that Rosemary hated referring to violence, especially such crudes methods, but the girl had no choice. Derringer loaded, safety off, she aimed for Ern's forehead and shot.
Meryl's eyes widened as Ern's head exploded in front of her. One minute his ugly, pug-like face was sneering at Rosemary and the next a few pieces of it was on her person, another few pieces were sprayed on the bed, a couple others were hanging limply off what was left of his face, and the rest was somewhere behind them.
Ern's accomplice roared with anger, ripping the spent Derringer from her hands, and slamming it into her temple. Rosemary flew across the room into the nightstand. Her body and the lamp fell to the floor, broken and limp.
Meryl didn't fight as the one remaining intruder came around the bed to pick her up. He had already slung Rosemary over his shoulder, giving his buddy one last look at Ern's torn face.
"Sorry pal. Sorry I can't take you too." And they were gone.
The next two years had been hell, for both of them. Thankfully, they were able to stay with each other. At least they had been able to comfort each other. They were both thankful for that. They were led into the slave compound into a line where hundreds of other children waited to be inspected and given their duties. There was so much sadness in the room, so many hopeless faces that it scared Meryl more than the boots on their bedroom floor.
Because they were girls, They were checked over by an official of sorts to see if they would be better workers or better cortisans. They had been stripped of their clothing and looked over head to toe, poked, prodded, violated by the officials before they finally decided to add the two to the company's personal harem.
Meryl didn't understand what was going on but she had a feeling Rosemary did and Rosemary, whenever asked to explain, only looked at her with sad eyes and enveloped here in a big hug. Maybe it would have been better if Rosemary had just come right out with it and told her what was going to happen. Maybe she wouldn't have had to learn the hard way.
The first time it happened was when the president of the company had a bachelor party upstairs in one of their expensive suites. Three other girls besides Meryl were led up to the room where the men picked them out. Later, Meryl had learned all of them were innocents in the bedroom area, a special treat for the president's guests. She'd cried for hours for Rosemary as they did horrible things to her body. They created such pain and such humiliation that afterwords, when they had all been returned to their rooms that she'd cried herself to sleep in Rosemary's lap.
That had only been the beginning. They'd both been raped and violated repeatedly, sometimes as much as four times a day. It was beginning to wear on Meryl, though Rosemary never showed her pain in front of her. She never cried, only looked upon on her with sad, tainted eyes. Meryl didn't understand how Rosemary did it. Her 10 year old body wasn't met for that kind of activity but it adapted as she grew. Her body wasn't the only thing that was hardened. Her mind, once innocent and naive, became cold and cunning. One day, she'd tell herself, me and Rosemary are going to leave this place, and we're going to kill all the bastards that ever touched us.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She didn't go back to sleep after they'd both left the room. She just laid there on the cold, dirty cell floor, remembering her own days cooped in the bitter areas. Just because they were slaves used for pleasure purposes didn't mean they received any special favors. Sure whenever they'd go to do their 'duty' they'd be dressed up and made up to look like fragile little dolls. Little did the men know they were actually getting little dolls instead of little girls.
Silent, angry tears leaked from the corners of her darkened eyes. She had escaped it all but Rosemary never again saw the light of the suns or the brillance of the midnight moons. That hurt her more than any of the scars on her body, including the brand on her left shoulder. Sometimes she could swear that it was still raw.
Why did she make it out alive? Why her? She didn't deserve it. She'd been so weak, such a child. But Rosemary..Rosemary was like a goddess to her, silent, surreal, strong. And yet so sad, so longing.
'I don't care if they kill me.' Meryl though, surprising herself slightly. Once she had been so hell-bent on surviving, on getting through all her problems, but now it all seemed so trivial. She had no idea how Vash did what he did, living his painful past every single day. She had no clue as to how he went about doing it but all she knew was that Vash was just like her sister. He bore his cross in silence. She'd never be able to do it. She wasn't that strong. She was still so weak.
'It's better if I just die. I'll save everyone the trouble. That girl was right, whoever she was. I'll be happier and everyone will be happier if I just fade away.' Meryl closed her eyes and curled into a tighter ball in the corner. She hoped Vash, Millie, and Molly weren't coming for her. She didn't want to see them before she died. She didn't want to see the look in their eyes, because she knew she'd never be able to allow herself to go.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Anthony shifted the car into third gear, eyeing the slick attorney sitting calmy in the backseat. He didn't like the haughty look in his eye and wasn't it his father who had once told him that attorneys and lawyers couldn't ever be trusted?
They still had a few isles to go until getting to the compound but it woudn't be long. He was going pretty fast for it being such an old car. But it flew over the bothersome sand as if it were nothing. And that was always a good thing.
"Are you sure that the girl is the one in your grandfather's will?" The attorney spoke. His voice was smooth but cocky. Damn cocky attorney. Anthony bit back a sneer and smiled placidly.
"Yes, absolutely. All we need now is your official word."
"Very well. Can this car go any faster? I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible. I have a very important meeting soon." The attorney went back to looking out the window, his hands drumming on the briefcase in front of him. It drove Anthony crazy but he didn't want to piss the attorney off yet. Little did the bastard know he wasn't going to make it to his very important meeting. Anthony was sure after they money had been transferred into their accounts that she'd let him kill the damn man.
He approached the doorway, signaling to the cloaked guards standing rigidly at the control panel. One of them waved back and strolled over to the panel, pressed a few buttons, then stepped back as the mouth of the entrance opened wide into downward tunnel. Anthony gave them an appreciative nod then drove into the dark abyss. As the door closed, lights flickered on either side of the tunnel, lighting the way for Anthony as he kept driving.
"Restarting the family business, eh?" The attorney commented. Anthony's grip on the steering wheel tightened but he forced a smile and a pleasant tone.
"Yes, well, it does bring in a lot of our income. And I guess we were raised to continue it, we just took a little vacation."
"I see." After that there was no more conversation. Anthony finally pulled into a large area filled with different kinds of cars, motorcycles, and other modes of transportation. He parked it in an empty slot, smiling as he glanced over at the doorway into the sitting room overlooking the factory. There stood Ebony, dolled up like before, looking very much the part of an unknowing seductress. That was his sister.
"Good afternoon, Mister.." She paused, holding out her hand to the attorney. He gratefully accepted it, planting a kiss on the back of her hand.
"Samuel L. Baker, at your service Miss Songbird."
"Ah yes, Mr. Baker. This way, my good sir, let's talk a little of the procedure before going through with the process." She offered her arm to Mr. Baker, smiling with her ruby red lips as he took it with hesitation. They began to walk towards the sitting room, chatting animatedly.
Anthony left Ebony to spin her magic on Mr. Baker, leaving to go talk with his rats about any sort of trouble they might expect. He passed through a few rooms until finally coming to a dark tunnelway. He walked through it without hesitation, knowing his way around the place quite well. It was time he talk with them about their own customized procedure.
