She began crying and Kristen gathered her into her arms. As Kristen stroked her hair Sarah gazed up at the small barred window, harsh sunset light filtering through. A small blackbird with a bright orange beak landed on the window ledge outside. It peered inside at Sarah and then flew away. Oh, how she wished she was that bird. Her eyes fell to the floor. She spotted the colorful paper folded carefully into a braided bracelet sticking out slightly from under the thin mattress. She’d found the origami bracelet wedged in between the wall and the stack of towels the first day, left behind by one of the girls before her. Once they were each given a mattress she’d stashed it under hers for safe keeping. She took it out from time to time, rubbing her fingers over the ridges whenever she felt desperate and hopeless. She pulled herself from Kristen’s grip and reached for it, clutching it to her chest as she lay down on her bed.

She heard Kristen shift onto her own mattress across the room and the two of them lay in silence. Sarah undid the buttons going up her throat, exhaling loudly now that she could breathe better. She was so sick of these restrictive dresses that offered little in the way of warmth. She’d give anything to have her comfy hot pink velour Ed Hardy tracksuit back. She hadn’t seen it since he took it from her that first night after her cleansing. She wondered what he’d done with it. Thrown it in the trash, probably.

Sarah thought about the person who had made the origami bracelet now gripped in her fist. She wasn’t stupid, she knew where this was all headed. They would meet the same fate as the rest and losing a tooth was the least of her problems. From the moment they got here she understood they would probably never get out. Sure, she’d held onto a sliver of hope in the beginning that someone would save them. But as time carried on her hope drifted away like the blackbird and was replaced with sad acceptance.