A Dangerous Union

Olivia POV

I was used to loneliness now. I had been homeless for months, with no way of getting a job or paying for anything. Towns, villages, jobs and people had been wiped out. I had survived. The war between nations was over and now the rich prospered and the poor had to struggle on.

Food banks were full, soup kitchens had little to offer, and begging didn’t get you far. There was one thing I could do, something my Nana would have died if she knew what I had to do.

I stood and waited for a car, a car with hopefully a wealthy man who would offer me money for one night, or maybe they wouldn’t want me for the whole night. It was dirty work, and it was seedy, but it was all I had left. Nothing else to sell.

The street was cold as I leaned against the window of the adult film store, which was one of the only places open in this town. I waited. Thankfully, Hazel, a girl I knew, had been kind enough to let me shower and get myself looking less like I had some disease.

The light breeze was causing my copper-coloured hair to move and flow effortlessly with it. I felt my chapped lips were visible under the bright red lipstick that I had borrowed, and I knew the sparkle I once had in my green eyes was long gone.

My dress was a deep blue satin number, something else Hazel had loaned me. The spaghetti straps did little to warm me, and neither did the fact the dress came to the top of my thighs.

I watched as cars passed me by, and I watched other girls get in and out of cars I stood and waited for my turn as much as I hated it, I had to. Or I starved.

“Hello?” I looked at an elegant sports car that pulled up, I walked seductively towards the car. The driver was a woman with dark hair and a dark complexion.

“I charge double for women,” I confessed as I walked towards the clearly well-off lady and her brand-new car.

“What’s your name?” The woman asked me.

“Are you a cop? Because if you are, my name is Jane Doe.” I stepped back a little, not trusting this woman, and she laughed a little.

“Oh, sweetie, I’m not a cop. I’m Lyra, Lyra Smyth and I have a proposition for you.”

“Go on.” I never stepped closer to her instead, I remained my safe distance from her just in case I think I could outrun her, easily.

“My husband has a place, a safe place for people like you. He wants to look after people who need to be looked after. Us women are treated like goddesses. Look at the car I drive.” The woman gestured to her very nice car.

“What kind of place?” I asked if I didn’t trust anyone who promised a happy ever after.

“Well, it is safe and away from the hardship you are living in now. The men work for the company my husband runs, and we women, well, we reap the rewards of the men.” She explained.

I wanted to believe that I could live somewhere and be safe, but it didn’t seem real none of this did.

“What have you got to lose? You could stay here and suck a guy for a fiver or come with me and be safe and possibly happier than you ever thought you could be.”

I looked around at the streets I had stood on for months. I thought of the men who had forced me, hurt me just at the idea of getting a couple of pounds to buy some food or rent a dirty hotel room for a good night’s sleep. Then her sleep was never good. She would always have regretful dreams of what she had done to earn the bed where she slept.

“You are going to murder me. I can feel it.” I walked around the two-seater car and got into the passenger side.

“I’m not going to kill you. I wouldn’t risk ruining my manicure by burying you.” Lyra scoffed as she sped away from the hellhole I was living in.

We sat in silence as her little car sped through the streets, she was a confident driver, and she seemed to love the power of the car.

“Where are we going?” I asked finally.

“Tell me your name first, just a first name. Your second name is redundant once you start living with us.” Lyra explained as her eyes stayed laser-focused on the road ahead.

“Olivia, my name is Olivia, but most call me Liv.” I sighed. She smiled at me for a second before focusing back on the road.

“Well, Liv, we are going to the halfway house. Where we wash you up, feed you and then we decide where you will live within our Village.”

This sounded so strange, but the idea of warmth, food and possibly new clothes didn’t have me concerned I was desperate to eat.

The halfway house was a manor in the middle of nowhere. There was a huge driveway that Lyra drove up, and all the lights inside the home were on.

“Do you live here?” I asked as I admired the old building. Lyra chuckled lightly beside me.

“No, this is where my husband works. I live in a house in our Village.” Lyra explained as she turned the car off and got out of the car. I followed her.

Lyra walked with confidence up the stone steps to the huge house. The door was a set of double doors with a keypad on the wall beside it where Lyra tapped in the numbers.

This was crazy; I was utterly mad I had chosen to calmly go with this stranger. My heart was pounding in my chest as the doors buzzed open, and Lyra led the way into the grand entrance of the house.

The floor was all marble, and chandeliers hung from the high ceiling. A red-carpeted staircase dominated the room. It reminded me of the Titanic staircase in the film; it had a painting of a man with Lyra. The staircase split to the left and the right.

“That is me and my husband, Noel, at our wedding.” Lyra beamed as we walked to the middle of the staircase and admired the painting.

I looked at Noel. He was older than Lyra, who was a little older than me, maybe in her thirties. Noel had striking blue eyes and white hair, but he was stunningly handsome.

“Lyra! My darling!” I looked up at the right staircase where the suited man appeared.

“Noel, this is Olivia. I found her tonight.” Lyra gestured to me as Noel approached with a smile and a warm handshake to match.

“Let me have a look at you, Olivia.” Noel looked me up and down as if he was making a decision about me.

“I think she would be great at the Village.” Lyra beamed as she put her around her husband’s midriff. He put his arm around her as she tucked into him.

I stood waiting for Noel to say something as he seemed to eye me up and down.

“What did you do before Lyra found you?” Noel asked me.

I sighed as I knew I had to be honest; I had to make him feel sorry for me and possibly give me something to eat and a home, maybe.

“I fucked men for a living and I hated every second of it,” I admitted. Noel nodded and looked down at Lyra and then back at me.

“Then I assume you had a life prior to that?” He asked me. I nodded.

“Of course, I was training to be a lawyer, but with what happened, everything collapsed I couldn’t get loans, so I had to do what I had to do to stay alive and fed.”

I was upset that I had missed my calling, but life had destroyed so many, and I just had to get on with it like everyone else.

“Your family, where are they?” Noel asked me.

“My parents died, and my sister is... I have no idea where and that is all I have.”

Noel nodded as if he understood. The world had changed, and the war had created so much loss and destruction.

“Lyra, take Olivia to the right side of the house and get her fed and watered. I will get her movement to the Village organised.” Noel smiled at both me and Lyra.

I was happy, and so was Lyra. She jumped up and kissed her husband’s cheek before taking my hand and leading me up to the right staircase.

“I’m going to the Village?” I asked Lyra nodded as she led me to a dining room where there was a cold buffet ready to be devoured.

“Yes, everything will be organised for you. Now, eat. I’m going to get you something warm to wear.” Lyra left by the door to the left of the room.

The dining room was just as grand as the rest of the house. The long windows had deep burgundy drapes. A large fireplace gave the room the warmth of the roaring fire. I sat at the long banquet table and ate the food that was laid out.

I knew this could be a trap, a trick, but in my eyes, this was better than the streets I had been living in.