Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Chapter 17: Living in Secrecy


As promised, the man who offered to help me escape came by in the early afternoon of the same day I had talked to Sebastian. Leo was still sleeping, like he enjoyed doing most days, and since the brothel was busier at night, he let us hookers do whatever we wanted in the mornings and afternoons. Sometimes we had client appointments during the day, and Leo expected us to go to those because he didn't want to hear about a client not getting the service he paid for. As for the brothel itself, he left the bar open for anyone who might wander in for a drink, and usually had Piper or I bartend. Since I had gotten up early today and was outside, Piper took over the bar. The man, whose name was Everett, met me in the back of the brothel to avoid the possibility of anyone seeing us leave. I didn't take anything with me except my wedding ring, my pile of cash I'd made, and the pair of earrings I happened to be wearing. Everett gave me some sweats to put over my hooker clothes, more comfortable shoes, and a handkerchief to cover my hair.


Everett told me that I needed to lay low for a while in case Leo decided to search for me, and he said he had just the place. When he led me to this abandoned building, I was confused at first because I had never seen anyone in here at all, and I wondered if I had made a bad decision. Was Everett just some creep who wanted to murder me or something? I gave myself a silent pep talk in my head, trying to convince myself that I needed to trust Everett somewhat because he hadn't tried to hurt me at all so far. I continued following Everett down the hallways until we got to a trapdoor in the floor. Everett pulled it open and motioned for me to go down the ladder to the ground below. 


As I crouched down, I saw another man in a brown coat standing down in the opening. He had his hands crossed over his chest, with a symbol of something on his sleeve. I could see that there wasn't much light down below and I panicked a little bit, but I bit my lip and thought, I'd made it this far, I should at least see what lay in store for me. I climbed down the ladder, and the man below greeted me. His name was Stanley.


Stanley took me to a door that led to a room with two chairs in it. The floors were cobblestone and bumpy under my feet. He motioned for me to sit in the chair that was in the middle of the room while he grabbed the other chair and pulled it over to me. I was still nervous about this escape, but I was comforted that neither Everett nor Stanley had made any sudden movements towards me. I realized Stanley had me in this room for an interrogation of sorts, as they probably couldn't trust anyone really, seeing as nothing was what it appeared to be anymore.


"So, you said your name is Iliana? Everett said he found you working at the brothel, and that you ended up there because you were taken?

"Yes, I was. A few nights after the chemical attack, looters came into my house, shot my husband, raped me, and took me to the brothel."

"I'm so sorry that happened to you. This place is called The Underground. We do research under the radar of the military. What that means is we don't trust the military at all, or whoever might be controlling the military, so we're very secretive about what we do."

"You're a bunch of conspiracy theorists? So... do you live underground? Away from the rest of society?"

Great. I just went from one group of crazy people to another. Stop it, Iliana, these men offered to help you, the least you could do is not pass judgment on them. Stanley seemed nice just like Everett was.


"No. We all have homes in society, and regular jobs. This is just our research facility, but we do have some beds too for when we're working down here and need a nap. That's where we can let you stay till you figure out what you want to do. We have resources, we can help you with whatever you need."

I was relieved that Stanley seemed to be fairly normal, despite my first impression of what he had told me. I wasn't really sure what I needed, other than to stop selling my body for sex.

"Um, thank you... for offering me your hospitality. What is it that you do down here?"

"You're welcome. We have been trying to grow food again. Just one more thing before we leave this room. Please don't tell anyone about the location of this place. The military will for sure shut it down and destroy all our research if they get a hold of it. We've been sending some people with the task of trying to test the ground above to see if soil can be volatile in it again, but every time we try, the person gets thrown in jail for a while. For some reason, the powers that be don't want to even think about the possibility of the ground being useful again."


I nodded, not wanting to overthrow what I thought was good work these people seemed to be doing. I would love to have a fresh fruit or vegetable again, as I hadn't been eating anything but the mediocre microwave meals for over a month now.

"All right, I can give you a tour of the facility now, if you're interested, or I can let you sleep and we can take the tour later? Which would you prefer?"

"I'd like the tour."

Stanley put his chair back in the corner of the room, and opened the door. I followed him as he showed me the sleeping quarters, the plant room, the research stations, and finally the infirmary. After the tour, we went back to the plant room because I wanted to admire the beautiful foliage that I hadn't seen for so long. As I stood in front of a vase of the most beautiful pink flowers, I allowed myself to enjoy the smell of them.


"Stanley, how did you get all these to grow again?"

"While most people went to the grocery stores to loot, we went to the gardening stores and took the bags of dirt and fertilizer. We have them in a stockpile down here, and we filter our own water to water the plants."

"That's so smart."

I was in awe of the progress that the people down here were making, and suddenly I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to make a difference. Before I had been taken to the brothel, I was a woman who didn't do much with herself. I didn't really have any goals, nothing I was working towards. I felt like I had everything I needed and wanted, the perfect husband, the perfect house, I never suffered financially. I felt like this was a chance for me to start over, at least until I felt like enough time had passed for Leo to give up looking for me.


"How can I help? I love the thought of one day restoring good food to the world above."

"Does tending the plants sound good to you? We've got people above who do the more risky stuff like the testing of the ground and experimenting with trying to get small streams started again, but that wouldn't be good for you since someone is looking for you."

"Tending the plants sounds wonderful. It'll be good for me to live in secrecy for a while."

26 comments:

  1. Ahhh, so that's where that trap door leads to... Interesting! It's so cool they're trying to grow plants again!

    That's the spirit, Iliana! Way to go! I'm so happy for her right now, and I'm glad she's so eager to make herself useful.

    Oh, and I liked how the children could be seen in the background in one of the pics. Nice! :-D

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    1. Haha, yes. Not everyone in this society is settling for the bullshit that's going on up above. Iliana's personal growth is making progress, she's realizing her faults, and she's being proactive. In a strange, twisted way, her getting kidnapped jarred her out of her perfect life and she's becoming a stronger person. I'm glad you're happy for her. LOL, yeah, with these combined chapters, I like to do that one picture with the view from the other side. XD Glad you liked that too! :)

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  2. UGHHH! I'm mad and happy at the same time! It's really good that she wants to restore the world right now, but does she realize that her husband is looking for her!?!?

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    1. LOL, mixed emotions? :)
      She has no idea Gerard is even alive. The last thing she remembers is that he was shot and then she was carried out of her house with a bag over her head, in Chapter 4. He's looking for her because he's hoping she's still alive, but they both don't actually know. Leonardo catching her is her first priority right now because if he does catch her, he's not going to be happy, and he'll make her regret it. That's why she needs to "disappear" from the above for some time, and she just wanted to make the most of her days down below. :)

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  3. Wait a second... Wasn't there was a dead guy upstairs? All is not as it seems...?

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    1. Yeah, you're right, there's a dead guy upstairs. This building they are in has been abandoned since the chemical attack. It used to be a prison, and that dead guy was an inmate who didn't make it out when chaos happened and everyone else escaped. He was killed by some other inmates. The Underground members use the building because it's abandoned and the military doesn't give a crap about it, so they don't think anyone's there. Leaving the dead guy up there only adds to the "abandoned" nature of the building. The Underground people didn't kill him or anything like that, but in this story, it's true that nothing is ever as it seems.

      Thanks for commenting and reading, swedishcookie. :D

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  4. Yayyyy I'm glad Everett turned out to be a good guy and he upheld to his word on helping her escape. I feel like it's going to take Leo a ton of work to find her since they brought her to such a good hiding spot. >:D
    It's good that she can finally feel happiness again and I'm glad she found something to do in order to see that she still does good and feels a sense of worth now that she's tending to the plants.
    Awww, Sebastian and Dmitry.. So cute >_<

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    1. Yes, Everett is a good guy. He used to be a firefighter, he likes helping people like Francis does. LOL, yeah, Leo has his work cut out for him. Iliana was lucky to be helped by someone who is part of the most secretive organization in society. She just has to be smart and not fuck it up. XD
      Iliana is quickly learning that she needs to not take things for granted and be more active with her life instead of just "being comfortable." Some good came out of the tragedy of her being kidnapped.
      Eeee, lol, I loved putting the boys in the chapter. XD
      Thanks for reading. :D

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  5. I'm SO glad that he kept his word and helped her escape, and hopefully Leo wont ever be able to find her so she can stop living a life where she has to use her body for sex and the pleasure of others.

    I loved seeing Dmitry and Bash in the picture. I think its cool how these two story lines overlap. :)

    She's going to have such a better time tending to the plants and feeling useful then um...tending to the horny. I just wonder how her husband will be able to find her now, since she'll pretty much just be hidden away and in hiding.

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    1. Iliana hopes so too, that Leo won't find her. Everett is a good guy. XD
      Haha, thanks, I enjoy merging these two story lines, I feel like it makes it more realistic.
      LOL, She will have a much more dignified work position than she did before, and yeah, she will feel much more useful. Well, life has a funny way of dropping things in your lap, so something will happen that will help him find her.
      Thanks for reading. :D

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  6. Hahaha! Love how the last two chapters tied into each other!

    So glad that Iliana is in a better place now! I'm worried about Leo though. I'm guessing it's a good thing that she's going to be underground. . .

    It's good that Everett and Stanley are trying to help people. I also like that their going against the government and trying new things. It's interesting that the government doesn't doesn't want people to try to grow things. . .Hmmm.

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    1. LOL, thanks, I enjoy merging story lines.
      >:D You have a good instinct being worried about Leo, he's not going to be happy when he finds out she's gone.
      The government is quite shady in this society... haha, yeah it is curious they seem to be trying to halt progress instead of embracing it. Everett and Stanley are suspicious of how the government seems to not have the citizens' best interests at heart, so they've had to hide their activities, sadly.

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  7. I see you! I was on a roll last week! I'm so glad she escaped (since I've been harping about this forever) but at the same time, I'm sad because it means her husband will have just missed her if he comes to get her now.

    Rats&Bananas!

    I hope she gets away clear and free, although what about that dead body upstairs? Feels like a Norman Bates/Pyscho situation to me...also, what about her "sickness"? How is that going to work?

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    1. Heehee! Hello! :)
      Yeah, I know you wanted her to escape right away, but I didn't want to do that so early on in the story, I think it would have not given me the effect I wanted the story to have. This story is supposed to be about hardships, and learning from them, so Iliana needed to be there for a little while. She's getting braver, and I tried to show that in this chapter with her deciding to embrace her new environment. Yeah, it will take longer now for her husband to find her, they're all going to have their own adventures in the meantime.

      The dead body upstairs was an inmate who didn't make it out when the other people escaped from the prison. He got caught in the mass exodus. Stanley and Everett didn't murder him, if that's what you were wondering. :D I'm happy it gave you a creepy feeling though, LOL, in a good way. I'm discussing her sickness in a later chapter, this one took place in the afternoon of the day she talked to Sebastian, so if you remember, this is the day she woke up feeling healthy again. She always has a few days of feeling okay before her illness shows symptoms again.

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  8. Oh my gosh!! I absolutely love how you've tied everything together in such inconspicuous, yet still meaningful, ways. It makes each chapter that much more interesting, oh man this story keeps getting better and better!! Can't wait for the next update. :D

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    1. Haha, :) I like the subtlety of the story line too, sometimes things don't need to be in people's faces. XD I'm happy you're enjoying it.

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  9. I'm glad that he was a good guy and helped Iliana escape from the brothel. Tending plants for the operation Stanley's working for is much better then being forced to be a hooker for the horrible kidnappers' operation. I'm excited to see what happens next! :)

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    1. Yeah, Everett is one of the few good guys left in this world, trying to restore a sense of normalcy. LOL, gardener is definitely better than hooker. Thanks for reading and commenting! :)

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  10. Yay I've finished .... wait a second ... NOOOO I've finished!!! Hurry up and post again! Great story :)

    My suspicions were correct. I guessed it was Iliana simply because of the distance from the brothel. It sounds like this is the fresh start Iliana needs to get over what has been done to her.

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    1. Speak of the devil, bookabet! LOL, just as I received this comment, I had decided that I finally figured out the middle and end of the next chapter for this story. XD I had been away from it for a few weeks, working on my legacy because I'd gotten to a point in the legacy that I had been building up to, and the baby was born, so I was all excited. LOL. I was also having some issue with the next chapter, I only had a beginning figured out, and being away from it helped me to hash it out in my head. XD Thanks for the compliments.

      Haha, yup. :) The people were Iliana and Everett. Lucky for her, this new hiding place is close enough to the brothel so she wouldn't get caught roaming the streets while running away... but yet so far away because Leo doesn't have a clue about the secret basement within the building. She has a purpose now, and that will definitely help her start to heal. :)

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  11. Iliana finally realizes her worth :) I'm a little upset about what she said about her life before the checmical attack....it sounds like she might not want to be with Gerard anymore :( I'm probably wrong though lol but Stanley and Everett have a really nice hiding spot there I hope they don't get busted especially since they're trying to grow plants...This is going to be interesting especially since Everett knows about all this...I wonder if he will tell Gerard....I'm sure Gerard has probably told him about his wife and it was kind of off how when he first met Iliana he asked her if she was kidnapped or married before....How would he even know where that brother was? And why was he even there in the first place if he's such a 'good guy' lol I need to read more :)

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    1. Oh, haha, Iliana's description about her life before the chemical attack was her saying how she was happy, and that she had an easy life because Gerard made it easy for her. She does hope to see Gerard again someday, and she's holding faith that he's still alive, even though she has no idea.

      Everett and Stanley feel strongly that they need to start something good to counteract all the military and government corruption, so that they can overthrow it someday. It might not be those two specifically who overthrow it, but they hoped that the collective group of The Underground would be able to do it eventually. They need to be very secretive about everything, that's why they did that interrogation of Iliana before trusting her with the tour. They're smart, and so they won't just randomly get busted. XD

      I'm a bit confused about why you were wondering whether Everett will tell Gerard anything since Everett doesn't know Gerard, but was it because you switched Gerard and Francis' names again? :) If you did mean Francis, XD then Everett and Francis are just co-workers, and neither of them really trust people unless they really get to know them, so Everett's not going to just talk about that stuff at work. That's a great way for The Underground to get busted, LOL, if one of their members just talked about it randomly.

      The Underground has many functions, since they want to restore normal society, a non-corrupt society. One of their functions, you learned here, where they're trying to grow food because they believe the military/government is purposely trying to prohibit food from growing. Another one of their functions is to go around society trying to help people. The brothel is across the street from the building The Underground is in, but other than that, members of The Underground wander around town looking for suspicious activity, so that's another way Everett knew where the brothel was. Everett posed as a customer so he could get Iliana away from Leo so he could ask her if she needed help. Sometimes when you are trying to infiltrate something, you have to pose as a "sleaze" or a "bad guy" to get the real bad guys to ignore you, sort of like how undercover police officers pretend they're drug dealers in order to bust the drug dealers.

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    2. Oh I also wanted to add Everett and Iliana were strangers when they met, that's why he asked her those questions. :)

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  13. I really love how each chapter intertwines with the next to the point where you even see the other characters in the backgrounds of photos as they play out their stories. For instance, seeing the two exploring boys in the background of Iliana's escape photos and vise versa. I noticed you did this in earlier chapters too, but as I've noticed it's an ongoing technique I just had to comment on it because it's so cool! A lot of planning and forethought must go into these chapters, which I really admire :)

    As for Iliana, thank goodness she got away! Tending the plants sounds like an excellent venture for her, but I wonder how long she'll stay safe. I also wonder now how her husband will find her since she's currently hiding out underground! I was right about things getting more complicated, lol.

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    1. Aww thank you, LOL, those types of pictures are things I've started experimenting with in this story because I was trying to mesh some of the characters story lines, even if they're not going through the same stuff. It made sense to do it this time with Sebastian and Iliana because they live next door to each other. As the story goes on, I'm going to try to do that with whichever characters happen to be in close proximity at the time. I'm glad you like it, I think it gives a very interesting vibe to the chapters, and raises curiosity of the readers. Thank you for the compliments. ^_^ I appreciate them a lot.

      Yes, Iliana has caught a break, and she can start feeling more like a person again instead of a sex toy. Haha, well, things happen that can make paths cross, so something will give in order for Gerard to find her. :D Yup, never a dull moment in my story. LOL.

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