Tormented: Day 8

Word Count: 48,032

Summary of Events:

Riel met Mr. Bello Arechovaleto, who was incredibly drunk, and after not really learning much from him, took him home, where Riel was disheartened by Mrs. Bello Arechovaleto's abject denial of her husband's inebriation. Esperanza was feeling bored, so she got one of the other girls, known as Athena, to come to her room and visit with her. After returning to Buenos Aires again, Riel had to wait for his father's board meeting to let out before talking to him — a quickly soured conversation, as usual. Esperanza was woken up and served breakfast in her room, the thing she'd been fearing the most since talking with Athena.

Excerpt of the Day:

""What happened to the last one?" Esperanza asked, worried.

"She hid in the bathroom for two weeks after the boss' last visit, having stockpiled food there, and wouldn't let the Argonauts in there to clean her out," Athena replied. "They caught her when she snuck out to get more food and then sent her to Thanatos."

"What's Thanatos?" Esperanza asked.

"I don't really know what it is," Athena replied. "But there's a small house over there, and Thanatos lives in there. Any girl who makes the boss mad is sent there and never comes out again."

Esperanza looked over her shoulder at the wall Athena had pointed to and shuddered slightly. It sounded scary.

"Why didn't Gaia become the new Aphrodite?" she asked.

"That's not how it works," Athena replied. "There's several times, if that would've been the case, I ought to have become Gaia, and even Aphrodite myself, but once we're assigned a position, that's the position we remain in, no matter what."

"So I'll never be anything other than an Aphrodite," Esperanza said.

"No," Athena replied.

Esperanza looked at the fireplace with its face logs waiting to be in flame. She didn't know how to turn the fireplace on, not that she saw any need for it. The idea of fire would be chilling at a time like this, a reminder that this place had to be a lake of burning sulphur, and not a paradise. The more she was hearing, the more Esperanza was sure she had to get away.

She looked back at Athena. "Have you seen the boss?"

"Yes," Athena replied, not returning her gaze. "Too many times."
"Does he come often?" Esperanza asked.

"Not necessarily, usually more in the winter than the summer," Athena replied.

"So he should be coming more soon then, right?" Esperanza asked.

"No," Athena said. "We're above the equator here, the seasons are the other way around, winter's ending and summer's beginning here."

"Oh," Esperanza said. "What does he look like?"

"He's not terribly handsome, and not as muscular as the Argonauts," Athena replied.

"But he's not fat," Esperanza said.

"No," Athena replied.

"How do you tell when he's arrived?" Esperanza asked.

"Whoever Aphrodite is has been served breakfast in her room," Athena replied.

Esperanza shifted uncomfortably.

"Aphrodite is his favourite, so he always goes to her first, and usually spends a full day with her before he moves on to anyone else, but I think he sees all of us before leaving again, usually," Athena replied.

"And when he's gone everything is the usual routine?" Esperanza asked.

"If there is a routine to it," Athena replied. "There's usually more routine when the boss is here than when he isn't."

"Oh," Esperanza said.

She looked at Athena, staring blankly at the table, her face and eyes devoid of any emotion. She looked hollowed out, just like those women and girls back at the Compound, but yet in some ways worse. It was like she was dead, but yet still kept walking around and functioning."