Tormented: Day 2

Word Count: 12,023

Summary of Events:

Riel researched everything he could on the disappearance from the paper and then told his father about it, but his father thought he was being paranoid and ridiculous. Esperanza was taken to an English lesson and was pleased to have done so well at it that she finished first. Having been disturbed by nightmares, Riel snuck into Estefanía's room, but didn't really find it helped his restlessness much. Esperanza wasn't sleeping well in her cell, too disturbed by the other girls she'd met now that she was being allowed to roam a little bit. Riel went to visit the Police Commissioner of Mar del Plata, but was directed to the Deputy Commissioner, who happened to be an old law school classmate; he asked about the disappearance, and tossed around some probabilities with the Deputy Commissioner, but didn't really come up with any theories.

Excerpt of the Day:

"The more time Esperanza spent here, the more she was certain that their plans were not to make her an actress. They were to make her a robot. They wanted to destroy the hope and fight she had. They'd get her out of the villas miserias, but they would get her into a rut that was very much the same.

It terrified Esperanza, but more than anything, it infuriated her. Why would they do such terrible and monstrous things? Why were they getting away with it? She had to get out of here and get help for all of these women and girls before they withered away and died — or were shot by the guards, something she'd been fortunate enough not to witness so far.

The biggest problem was, though, that she was locked in a cell when she wasn't attended, and when she was attended, it was by a man who had the power to kill her in his hands. The worst part was the lack of a way out. She was trapped. There was no way she could escape.

Sitting cross-legged on the concrete floor, Esperanza sighed. There had to be some way, somehow, that she could get out of here. She'd been thinking about it for several days, but she had no ideas. She didn't even know how all the girls from the other levels got down to the ground level for their English lessons and salon visits. If she could get up to the top floor, then surely she could climb onto the roof and find a way to get down.

A strange sound startled her and she quickly crawled toward the food slit to see. Several bright lights mounted on the roof of the top floor were shining down on the middle of the grassy area, which was ringed by many of the guards.

Wind seemed to be whipping the trees, and soon Esperanza could see a helicopter slowly descending. It landed and the rotors slowed down, the whirring noise she'd been hearing faded.

Once the rotors had stopped the side door opened and a man came out carrying a girl. Esperanza watched as three girls were brought out in the same fashion, and carried along to cells not far from Esperanza's own.

Was that how she'd come into this place? Was that the only way out?

She watched as the men who'd carried the girls went into the helicopter, along with several of the men who'd been standing around watching the helicopter. Then the rotors started spinning again and after an exceedingly long time the helicopter lifted off and the bright lights turned off, leaving everything in darkness.

There was no way she would be able to get out of her cell — or evade going into it — when the helicopters came in, and it wasn't like she could fly one to make her escape effective anyways. There had to be another way out, and the sooner she found it, the better."