Sarah notices that there is something more under the blanket that creates volume. Refusing to believe in her imagination, she approaches and begins to lift the white fabric a little.
Her legs tremble as she collapses to her knees.
Her eyes tear up without her consent.
She covers her mouth with her hand, not because she wants to scream, but to have something she can bite so hard that her teeth slightly tear the skin between the thumb and the index finger of her right hand. And with the other hand closed she strikes a punch on the ground.
In front of her, now bathed by the weak light, golden strands shine lightly as they spread over the shoulder and fall down the back turned toward her. The white skin displays purple marks and scratches. A frail body, barely covered by a small white and thin fabric, shapes itself subtly. Gradually the body falls to its side, and soon the face of a girl looks at her.
"Huh? Who are you?" The girl asks with a weak and sleepy voice.
Sarah cannot remove her hand from her mouth.
"Miss, are you okay?" The girl asks again.
Sarah removes her hand from her mouth, closes her right fist and punches the ground while lowering her head.
""UNFORGIVABLE!"" With her eyes closed, Sarah holds herself back from letting out a scream of fury.
"Who are you?" The girl asks again.
Sarah raises her head wiping her tears and looks directly into her eyes.
"My name is Sarah." With a hoarse and broken voice.
The child gives a slight smile.
"Nice to meet you, Sophie!" After a brief pause to breathe. "Did you come to give me a bath? The new lady said it would be a different woman today. But the water is strange, I do not want to take a bath."
"No... I mean. What are you doing here?" Even knowing the answer, Sarah forces herself to ask.
"Well... one day I was at the amusement park with my parents, when I realized I was holding the hand of a strange man. I tried to let go, but he picked me up and put a cloth over my mouth." With a distant gaze she continues. "When I woke up everything was dark and tight. Then I ended up here, and these men come and go."
To Sarah's surprise, the girl understands what is happening.
After forcing herself to calm down, Sarah remains silent for a few seconds.
"Miss, you better hide under the bed, whenever the men leave, someone comes to ask me how I am and then locks the door." Sophie explains.
Suddenly she hears a noise from outside.
"Dammit..." A male voice coming from outside.
Quickly Sarah throws herself to the ground and rolls under the bed.
The door opens.
"All right D thirty-five?" He asks in a common adult male voice.
"Yes!" Sophie answers.
Then he turns off the light and closes the door. Sarah hears the sound of the lock being turned from the outside, only then she realizes.
"They could at least turn off the lights." The man moves away murmuring.
Her now calm gaze faces the wall under the bed.
"Sophie right?"
"Sophie with 'ph' and not 'f'." She answers already lying down looking at the same wall as Sarah.
The air seems to have become lighter with the last line. For a moment the weight that Sarah placed on her shoulders fades away and leaves a smile in its place.
"You are smiling, right. Everyone used to smile when I said that." Sophie caresses the wall with the palm of her hand in an up and down motion. "Can I see your smile?"
Sarah rolls out, turns the light on again and kneels in front of her. Then she forms a big smile with her eyes closed. Sophie, infected, also opens a big smile after making a face of admiration.
"Wow! So beautiful!" With the smile slowly fading. Sophie becomes fascinated with Sarah's beauty. "Your hair looks like long petals of a black rose."
For some reason, Sarah approaches Sophie and gives her a tight hug. Without understanding anything, but returning it, the girl also closes her arms. And for the first time in years, she relaxes and begins to cry while gripping Sarah's clothes.
"Thank you, it was the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me." With tears in her eyes, Sarah thanks the little one, while tightening the hug a little more and biting her own teeth.
"Even in the deepest darkness, if you plant a smile, you will be able to harvest the rarest of flowers."
Sarah walks toward the sink while thinking about how to get out of this situation, and what to do to help Sophie. Leaning her left hand on the wall, she wonders if it is possible to help her. After opening the faucet and filling her hand with a handful of liquid, a strong odor and a tremendous pain in the wound come to the surface.
With a soft expression of disgust on her face, she brings her face closer to the faucet. After smelling it more closely, she realizes that it is not water, the odor resembles something more alcoholic.
"Why is this coming out of here?" Sarah asks herself while looking at the faucet.
Meanwhile in the central pillar. Interior of the 3rd floor.
A blonde man with blue eyes, dressed in pants and a social shirt, both red in color. He is looking at a large screen divided into several smaller ones. He adjusts his tie of the same color while fixing his gaze specifically on one of the small screens.
This screen, like the others, has a number and a letter very small in its upper right corner. Around him there are eight other men on eight other screens like this. However, there is one among them who has his shirt and pants in white, only the tie and shoes in black are repeated. The blonde man in question picks up his communicator radio and after moistening his lips, begins to speak.
"D thirty-five!"