Chapter 21 Hope

The time was exactly 2:00 p.m. when Muriel silently made her way to Ruth's room. As usual, she pushed a trailer with covered bowls on it. She pressed her lips together and kept her eyes down in her hopeless attempt to keep calm.

When she agreed to help Ruth, she didn't imagine that she would be as nervous as she was. She came across two men and swallowed hard. With her hand, she wiped the sweat off her forehead. Luckily, Muriel's timid self was nothing new—it was basically the norm to see her all afraid and uneasy.

Even though she was invisible to them, she couldn't help but fear that someone had caught onto what she was up to. Muriel shuddered at the thought of the consequences her actions were going to bring. She thought about Ruth and a faint smile lingered its way to her thick lips. It widened and revealed yellowish teeth.

In as much as helping Ruth escape brought great fear to the depths of her soul, it also brought a feeling she wasn't quite used to—excitement. Her adrenaline rushed. She gripped the trailer handle tighter. The thrill of it all made her feel so alive but yet already dead at the same time. Muriel didn't care much about the strangeness of it. She was helping Ruth and that's all that mattered.

Ruth was the second friend she ever had. She was kind and good to her like her first friend, Fiona. After the loss of Fiona, Muriel felt all alone. She spent the rest of her days wallowing in guilt at having failed to save her. The beatings, scolding and sexual assaults she endured after didn't compare to the grief.

Muriel resolved that because she couldn't save Fiona, she would at least make up for it by assisting Ruth. She truly believed that no one deserved a fate like the one been shoved down Ruth's throat over a covenant she did not agree to.

Muriel finally arrived at Ruth's door and wiped her sweaty palms on her apron. Her lord was surely going to kill her for this but so be it. With one turn, the door was opened. Ruth hastily fluffed a pillow and stuffed it under the blanket with the rest.

Muriel stood amazed at the illusion that someone was sleeping there. Never had she ever seen or heard of such trickery before. Muriel smiled widely at Ruth who giggled back. Ruth suddenly felt her stomach churn. She pulled out a bucket from underneath the bed.

Muriel faced away as Ruth's breakfast poured out quick. After a few minutes, Ruth huffed and puffed. She weakly sat back and wiped her mouth. With the corner of her eye, she caught Muriel furrowing at her with her head low. Ruth gave her a thumb up to which Muriel's shoulders relaxed a little.

'Pregnancy issues,' Ruth lazily waved her hands. She took a look at the trailer and stretched her lips. 'That's bigger than your usual one.' she remarked.

Muriel nodded her head. 'I had to break the other one so that I could have an excuse to use this one.' she explained.

'Why so?' Ruth got up with a soft cough.

Muriel lifted the maroon cloth covering the trailer and it exposed an open space. 'You are small enough to fit here. I can push you out of here and once we are outside, you run.'

Ruth's face brightened up, and she squeaked in excitement. 'Muriel you are a genius.' a thought crossed her mind and her brows narrowed close. 'What do you mean by I should run? I was under the impression that we are escaping together. You can't honestly stay here after I'm gone. They will kill you.'

Muriel shook her head softly, 'Do not worry about me. I'll be at peace once you are free from here. Now come on, get in quick.'

'But,'

'We don't have much time.'

As soon as they were set, Muriel rolled the trailer out of the room. Her heart thumped away. Her sweaty palms made it difficult for her to grip the handle properly. Muriel's biggest fear was that someone was going to notice how slow she pushed the trailer due to Ruth's weight.

Underneath the solace of the cloth, Ruth squeezed her eyes closed and covered her mouth. She would be damned if her anxious breathing got them caught.

Muriel walked past more men and none of them looked at her suspiciously. The sudden sight of Hendricks froze Muriel in her tracks. Ruth tucked her lips with her eyes wide as she wondered what Muriel was doing. The silence was suffocating but at that point, she had no choice but to go with it.

Hendricks glanced at the trailer in surprise and Muriel swallowed hard. 'I was looking for this. Why haven't you used the one I gave you?' he motioned with a scowl intimidating as the presence of a lion.

'It's broken, Father. I thought I'd use this one to give food to our Lord's maiden and later bring it back to the kitchen. I'm actually on my way back.' Muriel responded as calmly as she could.

Hendricks moved closer and Ruth covered her mouth to the agonizing sound of his footsteps. He bent over and pinched the cloth to the horror of both women. Hendricks lifted it up and Muriel took two shaky steps back. He straightened his back with the cloth still firmly gripped in between his fingers.

Ruth was completely exposed. She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her mouth.

'This cloth is filthy. Be sure to wash it.' Hendricks tossed it and it fell back in place. Once again, Ruth was safe.

Muriel couldn't believe their luck. Had Hendricks peeped, he would have seen Ruth and that would have been the end of it all. Her heart leaped with relief at having escaped the lion's mouth. Muriel quickly nodded in submission and Hendricks left her alone. Without wasting any more time, she rolled all the way to the kitchen.

The kitchen smelt of guts and blood— a scent Muriel was well accustomed to unlike Ruth who tried her best not to throw-up.

Muriel went back out to check and when she saw that no one was coming, she rushed back to the trailer and pulled the cloth off. Ruth made her way out and was met with surprise by the cleanliness of the kitchen.

It looked like an ordinary kitchen with a built-in table, cabinets and gas stove. The tiled floor was so clean that one would eat off of it. Lime green curtains enveloping the window were without dirt or stains. Even the silver sink was spotless and without any dirty dishes.

If it wasn't for; buckets of blood, bowls of intestines and the chopped up limbs of a woman on the table, one wouldn't have been able to tell that heinous things happened there.

It puzzled Ruth so much that the cannibalistic cult actually paid attention to the importance of hygiene. The black plastic underneath the body parts further emphasized it. Ruth took note of the bullet hole on the side of the female severed head.

'At least she had a quick death.' she sympathized.

'If only you knew.' Muriel remarked.

The soreness she still felt from the beating she took painfully reminded her of what happened. She took hold of Ruth's hand and led her outside. It was a little cold and the clouds were forming in the sky. Muriel nodded her head at them.

'It is going to start raining soon. None of the men will be outside when that happens. I know it's not advisable for you to be in the rain in your condition but this is the best cover you've got.' Muriel explained to Ruth.

Ruth threw her an emotional hug. Her tears fell with the first drops of rain and Muriel's followed after. She pulled away and wiped Ruth's tears. 'Go now.'

'Thank you so much. I will never forget you.' Ruth turned away and with a heavy heart, she ran.

Muriel watched Ruth run like there was no tomorrow. She was happy and sad to see her go. Missing her was, however, going to be a better feeling than watching her suffer. Muriel raised her head to the rain. Her death was so close that she could feel it. At least now, she wasn't afraid.

'Let it come.' She thought and turned to see Ruth disappear into the trees. 'I, too, have suffered enough.'

****

Ruth ran past the trees whilst using her hands to block away the branches. Her running days made it easy for her to sprint through the forest. She was still weak from the starvation she went through but it was good enough to get her out of there. Ruth didn't know where she was going but it didn't matter. Anywhere was better than the torturous prison she was forced to spend weeks in.

A tight and sharp pain pulled in her abdomen. Ruth whimpered and placed her hand on her belly. The cramps forced her to slow down, but she kept on going. She had to get out of there. She just had to.

Ruth stepped on a leaf pile. In a split second she was thrown up into the air. She screamed whilst helplessly dangling on one leg. Ruth moved her hands upwards to reach her ankle but it was pointless.

Bushes around her shook vigorously. Spearheads popped out from above and soon, Ruth was surrounded by men of an Amazonian tribe. One of the men threw his spear at her and the rope cut. Ruth fell to the wet ground with a thud.

She cried at the painful cramps the fall caused. The men circulated around her; each checking to see if she had any weapons on her. As soon as they were satisfied that she didn't, two of them grabbed her.

Ruth's wrists and ankles were bound to a bamboo stick. The next thing she knew, two men carried her on their shoulders. Ruth tuned out their strange language and screamed at them.

"Let me go!" she demanded with harshness but none of them paid heed to her.

Her screaming got so annoying that a dirty cloth was tied tight around her jaw to silence her. All that was left for Ruth was to cry. She agonized at the naked male bottom in her face. There was no telling where they were taking her, but she knew it in her gut that it wasn't going to be in her favor.

Ruth whimpered and moaned at the tagging pain she felt in her belly. The tight ropes bruising her wrists and ankles made no difference when compared to it. Rain that kept getting in her face made it difficult for her to breath. The men sang to themselves completely ignoring Ruth's agony.

After what felt like forever, Ruth was set on the ground. She rubbed her wrists as soon as she was cut free. Ruth raised her head only to meet the sheer sadness in Muriel's eyes. She stretched her eyes wide at Muriel who closed hers. Ruth’s heart dropped at the sight of the mansion.

Hendricks dashed out through the door and eyeballed her, "Take her inside!" he roared.

Ruth was gently picked off the ground by two cult men. She flinched at her abdominal pains but kept her eyes away from Muriel so as not to draw suspicion to her.

A futile attempt.

Before the door even closed behind her, Hendricks punched Muriel to the ground. He pulled her collar up and sent her falling to the ground again with a bleeding mouth. Hendricks lifted his robe up and kicked Muriel in the stomach over and over again. She took it all silently.

"I should have killed you that day instead of taking away your hearing!" he screamed at her in fury.

Muriel dropped her throbbing head down and opened her mouth. Blood trickled out of it, and she breathed out with her nose. She cringed at the tightness of her rib cage. Her insides felt torn. More blood found its way out through her nostrils.

Hendricks stared down at her hyperventilating in fury. Muriel smirked at his anger through her hair and Hendricks’ eyes stretched in surprise. The lack of remorse on Muriel’s battered face astonished him. It was a sight so atrocious that he clenched his fists and screamed in anger.

"Throw her to the dogs!" he commanded.