Chapter Four

Were they even coming? Did her call get intercepted by someone on their payroll? The questions and doubts plagued her mind as she dutifully went on the hunt for mushrooms, trying to convince herself she hadn’t made a terrible mistake and blown her cover entirely for nothing. After five hours of clambering up and down the mountainside, avoiding the areas where annoyed men watched over mousey women digging in the dirt, she was starting to think they weren’t going to show.

She’d gone further up the mountain than normal, trying to stay away from the rare visitation of the villagers to the lower reaches. Her mouth was dry at the thought of being exposed the moment she returned to the village. Should she even go back? Looking at the animal path that led deeper into the depths, she considered if she could survive on her own. Could she get far enough away that they wouldn’t track her down?

The answer was… no. None of the women had ever managed to run away. She couldn’t use the river to escape, because that would just put her closer to the brigade. She’d already seen the results of that route. Maybe if she went deep enough… they wouldn’t bother? No. They were wary. They’d use the dogs to follow her as far as she went, and she’d have to worry about running into wild boars or tigers as well. They wouldn’t risk her getting away to contact the outside world.

Her thoughts filled with a thousand different ways she could die, she didn’t notice the man until too late. He’d already grabbed her, covering her mouth as he held her against a tree, her baskets falling to the ground. With wide eyes, she stared at her captor’s face with her heart beating a million miles a minute. And then, the panic began to fade, her muscles loosened and his grip on her was the only thing keeping her upright as she took in the military camo the man was wearing.

The scent of fresh pine invaded her nose as he stared her down, then asked softly, “You’re not going to scream if I let you go?” She quickly shook her head, and he slowly released her mouth, as if testing to make sure she would follow his instructions.

The second her lips were free, she asked, “Did you bring the drugs?”

He lifted a brow, and she couldn’t help but take a few extra seconds to stare, because well… despite the colors drawn on his face and his icy demeanor, he had the bearing of someone important. And handsome. Sometimes a girl could just tell. He took another careful step back, and without his support she slumped to the ground, sitting cross-legged as she stared up at him until he finally crouched down. “So, you are the one who called.”

“Obviously.” She quipped back in mild sarcasm, still trying to calm her racing heart.

“Do you have any proof of the things you said?” His voice was deep and mellow, and she spared half a thought that it was a pity he’d become a soldier instead of an actor. She could listen to him all…ahem. Wrangling her suddenly wayward thoughts, she nodded.

“First of all, I’m proof.” He raised one of those sculpted brows and… She coughed slightly, then muttered, “I’m telling you I was kidnapped here. Have you got pen and paper?” He was silently judging her, but still reached into his pocket to bring out a notebook and pen. She stared at the thing, but pens were basically eternal. Wasn’t enough information to go off of for what time period she was in.

She quickly took them from him and began sketching out the basic layout of the village, including little squares for each courtyard, drawing symbols inside each one as she explained. “A tick means male. Circle is an adult woman. Triangle is a child under fourteen. Checkmark is a kidnapped woman. X is a woman who was kidnapped but has adapted and become one of them.” She paused, then pointed an arrow at one of the boxes. “This house is likely to end up with the little boy brought in today, but I’m not sure where the new girl ended up because I’ve been up on the mountain since my call. These are the guardhouses. They’ve got two men in them at all times to watch the roads.”

Glaring at the sheet of paper, she then drew seven M’s on the paper as she said, “These are the dogs. Honestly, you should just kill them if you get the chance.” He looked a little taken aback at how bloodthirsty she sounded in that moment, but she was still going. “And if all of this isn’t proof enough…”

She raised her head, getting her bearings before pointing to her left. “If you head about a hundred meters that direction, you’ll find the pit where they throw all the dead.” She paused. “There are…a lot of them, so it’s best to prepare yourself before you look.”

He looked at her with concern before quietly ordering, “Stay here.” She nodded wearily and watched as he took off, somehow not seeming to make any noise as he moved like a panther through the woods.

Instead, she flipped to the next page of the notebook and began to make her best equivalent of police sketches. While Mr. Lee was a constant, the people with him weren’t. Every once in a while, there were two women who’d obviously been part of the group. She included them all, trying to note any identifying features that might help.

“Who are they?” Her heart almost jumped out of her chest as the quiet voice came from beside her, the man looking down at her latest sketch.

“Would you please make some noise when you’re sneaking up on people? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” After her little outburst, she took a deep breath and slowly let it out before informing him, “These are the actual ring of traffickers. The villagers are monsters who buy them, but that wouldn’t be possible if these ringleaders didn’t bring a constant supply.” She flipped back a few pages. “This Mr. Lee is the boss. He should currently be in Green River Brigade. They normally stay an extra day after their deals to attend the village celebrations. There should still be one van in our village right now.”

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“And what exactly was your plan here?” He was giving her a considering look, but she just rolled her eyes.

“What do you think the plan was? Are you really a soldier?” Hadn’t she made it pretty damn obvious what she intended to do?

Pulling out a bottle with white powder from one the bag she’d only finally noticed he was wearing on his back, he asked, “If I give you this, what’s your plan?” He looked down at the notebook she’d been filling out with details.

Letting out a long-suffering sigh, she glared at him as she replied, “Fine. Let me spell it out for you. You give me the powder. I put the powder in the bread. I feed everyone attending the village feast the bread. They pass out around sunset. Then, you and your people come in and arrest all of them and take us to the hospital because a lot of these women really need medical attention. Please tell me you’re capable of at least that much.”

“And what if not everyone eats your drugged bread?” He was still nitpicking, and she rolled her eyes again.

“Puh-leeeeeeeese. Everyone loves my mushroom rolls. They’re the highlight of the village feast and half the reason the village still insists on doing this when new people come in every month. No one here says no to free food, especially if it’s good.” The other villages clearly had the celebrations too, but Mr. Lee liked to stay in Clear Mist because of her rolls. It was clearly the ‘cushier’ spot to attend and also the reason why they got ‘better goods’. Ugh. The thought disgusted her, but it was what it was.

His voice held a dangerous note as he asked, “Then why haven’t you tried this before?”

Because I wasn’t here. She mentally responded, then quipped back, “You think I didn’t want to? It’s been SIX YEARS that I’ve been pretending to be an idiot. Earning their trust and making them let their guard down. I only had one shot to get things right, or I’m gonna end up the next body in that pit. Do you know how many women I’ve watched get raped and killed? Do you think if I had any ability to stop it before this, I wouldn’t have done it? You weren’t here. You don’t get to judge me. The only thing I need to know is if you’ll be able to help us or if I’m stealing a van and taking as many people with me as I can.”

Was there bitterness in her tone? Absolutely. He was still staring at her deeply though, and he finally muttered, “So you did have a backup plan.”

She scoffed. “Of course I have a backup plan. If you didn’t show up soon, I was going to start picking the poisonous mushrooms and kill as many of them as I could.” He looked a bit shocked at her candid admittance of murder, and she let out a soft, hoarse laugh. “What? Even if I killed them all, they deserve it. I’d rather die taking them out than live as a slave forever. At least that way there’d be less of them to hurt other people in the future.”

He reached out, patting her on the head softly as he said, “Good thing I’m here then, and you don’t have to get that blood on your hands.” He let out a soft sigh, seeming to give in as he said, “All right. The drug is yours. I’ll trust you to get it into their food, and then we’ll take care of the rest.”

She paused, then asked. “That’s it? You’re not going to tell me anything else?”

He considered her, then shook his head. “You don’t need to know more than that. Trust me. We’ll be there.” She gave him a hard look, then sighed and started pulling at her shirt. “Wait, what are you…?”

Letting out a small huff, she rolled her eyes at him as she shoved the bottle up the bottom of her shirt, adjusting it until it fit in the carrying pouch she’d sowed below her breastband.Thankfully it was large enough, and the bottle he’d provided was flattened instead of round. Once it was settled and she’d tucked her shirt back in, she looked at him and asked in a blank voice, “What, did you expect me to put it in the basket? Dream on, they always check what I brought back.”

“Right.” His voice sounded rougher and deeper than it had before, but she ignored that. He hesitated, then asked, “What’s your name?”

She gave him a hard stare, then finally answered, “They call me Vee.”

“They call you Vee? What does that….?” He seemed confused, which was honestly a little bit adorable.

“Yeah, between bashing me over the head and the fever I got when they brought me here, I only have a vague memory of my childhood. Once I leave this place, I’ll choose a new one. You know, new name, new beginning type of thing.”

“Oh.” His reply was soft, and she couldn’t help rolling her eyes again. He seemed to really inspire that response from her.

“Oh? That’s it? Whatever. I need to finish picking mushrooms and go back before they get suspicious.” She hesitated as she stood up, then asked, “What should I call you?” She understood that most soldiers used call signs when they were on missions.

His lips twitched up in a semblance of a smile as he replied, “Aiden Williams.” The foot that had just about to start walking away abruptly came down as she turned to give him a once-over. It wasn’t a code name. There wasn’t a rank. From the look on his face, he’d clearly given her his real name, and she didn’t understand why. Seeing her confusion, his smile seemed to grow as he murmured, “If what you said is the truth…it’s important.”

She sighed. She’d figure it out later, but right now she didn’t have the time. “All right then.” She turned to leave again, then hesitated again. “And the other villages?”

“What about them?” His voice was soft, dangerous.

She sighed. “Are you going to take them down too? If they find out what happened and run away…”

“They won’t.” It was a promise, and she chose to believe in it.

“All right then. Tomorrow.”

As she walked away, she could hear him echo her words. “See you tomorrow.”