When Maggie reached the top of the ladder, it opened into the attic. She gasped at her surroundings. The wooden rafters were exposed. The walls were the original wooden sheathing of the house. They were water stained where rain had leaked through the battered roof. A small lamp on a desk at the other end of the attic cast an eerie glow, throwing shadows across the room. The dust-covered floor creaked as Maggie walked toward Myles.
Several men stood around the desk where Myles was sitting. He peered over at her, his black mood penetrating her entire being. She could hear the sound of her heart in her ears—boom, boom, boom. Her legs went limp, and she fell to the floor. She didn’t want to live, yet the thought of death made her more afraid.
“Take a bow, Maggie. You’ve managed to put our entire operation in jeopardy,” Myles said. He stood and moved around the desk. “You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?”
Maggie shook her head, unable to utter a word. It was as if her tongue was glued to the roof of her mouth. She looked up at Myles, her eyes begging for mercy. Myles was wearing a white wife-beater; his tanned arms and shoulders looked as if they were chiseled from stone. His muscles were tense, and his jaw was taut.
“Please, I’m so sorry,” Maggie pleaded in a quiet voice.
“Sorry isn’t enough, Maggie. What you’ve done can’t be excused. When you do bad things, you’ll always be punished. That’s what you’re about to learn. You’re nothing but a rotten kid, and from now on, you’ll be treated just like all the others.”
Myles’s bitter, seething voice had the impact he had intended.
Thoughts of Shana flashed through Maggie’s mind. Shana had sustained ruthless brutality. Maggie shuffled across the floor on her hands and knees in a feeble attempt to get away from Myles. But there was nowhere to run.
“That’s right, go on and slither into the corner, you little fucking snake. There’s nothing that’s going to protect you,” Myles said, confirming her mounting fear.
Myles turned on his heel and addressed the other men in the room. “Let’s go,” he told them. “John William, you know what I expect you to do.”
The men followed Myles down the ladder and left Maggie alone in the attic with John William. He approached and towered over her. His breath came out in bull-like puffs. His hands dangled at his sides as if they were dead weight. He leaned into Maggie, his demonic eyes alive with craziness. He purposely unbuckled his belt and slid it out of each pant loop slowly to give her the full effect. Then he lifted the belt and brought it down hard on her. The slap of leather stung her skin. The buckle ripped holes in her cheap, thin T-shirt. Maggie curled into a ball and covered her head with her hands. But it was no use. Nothing would prevent the punishment that awaited her.
Three days later, John William delivered her back to the kennel. Cali and Max stood as he roughly carried her in and practically threw her on the thin mattress. She was naked. Her body was covered in bruises, welts, and angry red marks that looked like circles of blood. Maggie never opened her eyes, and the others, with the exception of Shana, hoped that she wasn’t dead or near death.
“John William, please let me help her,” Cali begged.
“You can’t even help yourself, bitch. Be quiet or you’ll be next,” John William barked. Then he locked Maggie’s kennel and trudged up the stairs, shutting off the light before slamming the door. In the blackness of their homemade dungeon, Cali tried to get Maggie to speak.
“Mags? Are you OK? Mags? Can you hear me? Come on, baby, answer me. Let me know you’re alive. Sweetie, give us a sign. Tell us about one of the books you’ve read. Come on, Mags, please,” Cali begged. Then she sat against the chain link fence of her own kennel, unable to stop the flood of tears. Feeling helpless and frustrated, Cali allowed herself to let the heavy sobs control her. Cali ached to hold Maggie and willed her to be alive.
Eventually, even Shana began to worry whether Maggie would be OK. After all, Maggie had healed her many times, and she never really wanted her to die. On the other side of the room, Max was consumed with consternation. He tried to be strong for all of them and fill them with an optimism he didn’t feel.
“She’s going to be fine,” he said. “As soon as John William comes back, we’ll ask him to let us help her. Maggie is strong. She’s a survivor.”
But no one believed him any more than he believed himself.