Isolation room

CAMILLA

I had lost count of the number of days, I had been locked up in here.

I was beginning to wish Dante had ordered his men to kill me. Death would have been better than this.

I was given just a glass of water and a loaf of bread daily. There was no toilet in here, I had to pee and defecate in a corner of the room. I had quickly gotten used to the smell.

I hadn't had a shower in days.

The worst part of being here was the silence and loneliness. The room was soundproof, I couldn't even hear the noise from outside.

My food was slid inside by a hole in the door.

I was alone with my thoughts and I hated it. I had a lot of nightmares at night now, I kept seeing my parents dying. I dreamt that Luciano had been killed by Sebastiano. I had woken up screaming when I had that nightmare.

I made a mental note to myself that if I survived this, I wouldn't piss off Dante ever again. I knew my place now, I had no right in his home. I was just his plaything. If I got out of here, I would remain quiet and docile until I got the chance to flee.

The days blurred into each other, I was going crazy, I knew it. I had hallucinations which felt so real. I talked with my dead parents and brother as if they were in the room with me.

And the cold.... The air conditioner was always on blasting cool hair into the room. I was so cold.

One day when they brought my food to me, I managed to crawl to the door.

"Please, tell Dante I am sorry. I was wrong to slap him, I had no right to do so." I begged. All of my pride was forgotten now, I just wanted to leave this room.

For days, I stayed by the door, begging and crying till my voice went hoarse. I even begged them to kill me so I could be free of this torment.

I don't know how long I stayed by the door until it was opened one day and Maria stepped in. I was so happy to see that I clung to her tightly and cried.

She stroked my hair. "Oh, you poor thing. I am here to save you." she said.

"What about Dante?" I asked.

"Don't worry, he authorized me to be here." she said as she helped me up.

I cleaned my eyes and stood up and she took me out of the room.

I squinted as the rays of sun hit my eyes.

"Look down dear, so the sun doesn't hurt your eyes." she told me.

I shook my head in refusal and looked up at the sun basking in the warmth.

As we went towards the main house, I could feel a lot of eyes on me. I was aware that I was very dirty and stank. But I didn't care, I was out of that dreadful room and that was all that mattered.

"Maria, how long was I in that room?" I asked her.

"A week and five days." she replied.

"Wow! It felt even longer." I replied.

She looked at me sadly and shook her head at me in sympathy before helping into the house.

She took me to my room and helped me take my bath. She helped me dry and brush my hair as well.

Afterwards she gave me food to eat, I ate the food with relish, I was so hungry.

Then I started dozing off and she tucked me into bed.

"Sleep well my dear." she told me.

I drifted off to sleep. It wasn't a peaceful sleep. I tossed and turned throughout. My nightmares plagued my sleep.

Maria was there when I woke up with a scream. She gave me a drink and I slept off again.

I woke up in the middle of the night and she was sitting down by my side.

"Are you hungry?" she asked me.

"Not really."

"You are really strong, a lot of people would have killed themselves locked up in that room."

"Really?"

"Yes, most of the inmates there banged their heads against the wall and killed themselves."

"Did Dante want me to do that?" I asked.

"It's hard to know what Dante wants. He was furious that you slapped him."

"He made me look like a fool. I thought he was spending time with me genuinely but he turned out to be playing me like a fool."

"You have no rights in this house or even as a human. He bought you, you belong to him and he is free to use you as he wishes."

"but that is illegal, surely they are laws against human trafficking. I could involve the police."

She looked at me like I was stupid.

"You do realize that the mafia run this town right, the police will only bring you back here and apologize to him for all the trouble you caused." she told me.

"So this is how my life will be for the rest of my life." I said sadly.

"It could be worse Camilla, As far as you don't disrespect him that way again, he won't punish you." she told me.

"how long have you been here?" I asked her curiously.

"For a couple of years, I was just Thirteen when I was kidnapped from my village and sold to my master. Those were the worst days of my life. My master then told me I was a scrawny thing and once I grew up, he would fuck me. I starved myself so I wouldn't grow."

I gasped,"That is horrible."

"Then Dante saved me, he and my Master had a long bloody battle which he won and he took me away from there. He was going to let me go like the rest of the girls but I had no home to go to, my parents had died of heartbreak of losing me. He saved my life and I will forever be grateful to him for it."

"It was terrible in that room, the loneliness was crushing." I told her.

She squeezed my hand. "Don't think about it anymore Camilla, you are out of there now." she told me.

I smiled at her, "You called me by my name, you didn't use any title."

She paled immediately, "I am so sorry, I got carried away." she apologized.

I held her hands. "No, that's okay Maria, I don't need those titles, I would rather just be your friend, can I be your friend?" I gave her my best pleading face.

"Of course, we can be friends Camilla." she replied as she stroked my hair.

I laid down and relaxed under her touch. She had totally believed me and taken all my words, hook, line and sinker.

The next person I needed to convince that I had changed was Dante. I needed them to trust me, it was only after I had gotten their full trust that I would be able to escape from this place.