Heart of Darkness

“Where are you taking me?” Angelica asked.

“I am sure you know since you tried to run away.” Said the man sitting to her left and holding the dagger.

“I don’t want to.” She said.

The man nodded. “I can see that. It is hard to accept but you will get used to it.”

Used to it?

The man sitting across from her studied her face and let his gaze rake her body. “You would make a lot of money.” He said as if that should be some kind of consolation.

“A lot.” The other one emphasized.

The one with the dagger nodded again. “You will do well, Angelica. You won’t even have to try. In no time you will be able to pay back Lord Green.” He told her.

These men…she couldn’t believe it. They were talking so casually about it as if she was just going to do any other kind of work. Perhaps it was any other kind of work for them.

Angelica shook her head, feeling the tears burn her eyes. She was not going to cry in front of these men. No!

But the tears fought against her and one fell slowly down her stinging cheek as if taking its time to caress her.

“Oh no. Don’t cry.” Said the one sitting in front of her. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. “Here.”

Angelica looked at him confused but didn’t take the handkerchief from him. He waited patiently and then dropped his hand with a sigh.

“I heard you have a younger brother from Lord Green,” he said. “All his inheritance is taken away from him. Think about your brother. Doing this will allow you to earn a lot of money, pay off your debt and even save something for yourself and your brother. We have a lot of rich men coming to us, ready to throw away their money for a little entertainment. For you, they would empty their pockets.”

This confused her only more. Why were these men trying to make her feel better and see the positive things about what she may become soon? This was not how she expected them to act.

The man with the dagger nodded in agreement as usual.

“I still don’t want to.” She said feeling like she was whining.

“You better convince yourself to want it because there is no way out for you.”

More tears fell down her cheeks and the men became quiet and stayed so for the rest of the journey. When the carriage stopped it stopped with her heart. The men opened the doors and stepped outside but Angelica remained seated.

“Come on. I don’t want to have to drag you.” The dagger man told her.

Angelica stepped out of the carriage with wobbling legs and a stomachache. She looked around her surroundings. They seemed to be at the back of a house. Two ladies sat in the backyard wearing a dress where the corset forced half of their breasts to stick out of the neckline. They were chattering and laughing before they took notice of them.

Their eyes widened as the dagger man grabbed her arm and led her inside the backyard.

“Oh, who do we have here? A new member it seems.” One lady said.

“Indeed. This is Angelica and this is Tereza and Mina.” He introduced them.

“Angelica? Are you perhaps… the traitor’s daughter?” Mina asked.

So they also knew her? Had to be the red hair. Now they would treat her badly on top of what she was going to become.

“Oh, don’t worry. We don’t care about such things.” She waved her dismissively.

Tereza smiled in assurance.

Angelica didn’t expect this.

“Most of these beautiful ladies have worked here for a long time and learned to be family. I am sure you will get along with many of them.” The dagger man explained.

“Except for the jealous ones. You are truly a beauty.” Mina said eyeing her.

The dagger man pulled her gently and led her inside. The ladies followed them.

As soon as she entered Angelica smelled the faint scent of alcohol and heard instruments playing somewhere in the background. They passed by a few women dressed like Mina and Tereza and some even in more revealing clothes. The women looked her way with curiosity as the dagger man dragged her down the hall.

At the end of the hall, there were two rooms on each side and the dagger man dragged her into one of them. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​

The room was filled with dressers and women sitting in front of them, looking at themselves in the mirror while putting some paint on their faces or making their hair.

“Good afternoon, Simu.” One woman greeted the dagger man while fanning herself.

So that was his name.

Now the other women caught sight of her and stared curiously.

“Oh. It seems like you caught some good fish in your net today.” Another woman spoke.

“I wasn’t fishing,” Simu said. “But yes, she is a beauty. Don’t be jealous ladies.”

“And what is the beauty’s name?” the woman asked.

“This is Angelica.”

When they looked at each other questioningly, “yes. She is Lady Davis.”

“Who would have thought. From a noble lady to a prostitute.”

Angelica lost her breath. She felt her head spin and her vision became blurry.

“She is fainting.” She heard someone say before everything became dark.

When she opened her eyes again a pair of metal grey eyes stared back at her. “You are back.” A dark-haired woman smiled.

Angelica blinked a few times before looking at the stunning woman in front of her. She had the most beautiful smile and the whitest teeth.

“How are you feeling?” The woman asked.

Angelica pushed herself up to sit. She found herself in a small room with two other beds except for the one she was sitting on.

“I am Valeria.” The woman introduced herself. “I take care of the ladies here and I’ll be taking care of you as well.” She smiled.

Suddenly Angelica felt a burning in her arm near her wrist. She looked at her arm and found the mark she had heard about in stories. Slaves and prostitutes got different marks so they would be recognized if they escaped.

“The burn is not deep. It will go away after some time. They have to do it now so you don’t escape.”

Angelica shook her head. No! This couldn’t be happening.

She began to rub the mark, and it hurt so much. Valeria grabbed her hands to stop her. “Don’t do it, my dear. If you remove it you will get another one and the pain will start all over.”

Angelica looked into the woman’s grey eyes. They looked at her gently.

“I don’t want this,” Angelica said feeling the wetness of her tears on her cheeks. “What did I do wrong to deserve this?”

Valeria sat beside her and put one arm around her shoulders. “Life is unfair, my dear.” She said rubbing her arm.

Angelica looked at the mark again. There was truly no escaping her fate now.

“Please help me. I don’t want this.” She cried tired of being strong. Tired of always trying to find a solution and tired of being scared all the time.

“I will help you,” Valeria promised. “It won’t be the kind of help you want right now but it will be the kind of help you need.”

Angelica shook her head unable to speak because of the lump in her throat. Her whole face was wet with tears and she had a runny nose which she kept wiping with the back of her hand.

Valeria stroked her back in a calming gesture and for some odd reason Angelica calmed down when she should be running around in panic.

What would that serve her? What could she do now?

This was the end. This was how her life ended. All the fighting she did was for nothing. In the end, she lost. In the end. Her fate was sealed with a little mark on her wrist.