Anna cuts a hole in the back of the sweater, which she puts her knife hand through.
It rests against Sid's skin, ready to be used at any moment.
Anna looks at Sid with a gaze that means try something and you're dead. Sid looks away from her, annoyed, still trying to hold on to the little bits of her arrogance.
'Anything else you've got to warn me about?' Anna asks Sid, ready to leave.
Sid thinks for a bit, and something does come to mind, but she hides it from Anna.
'No, nothing,' she mutters, her dubious intent hidden.
'How long will it take to get to both of them, and when will that stupid parade outside end?' Anna questions.
Sid, still looking away from her, answers, 'About thirty minutes to get to both of them. And the music downstairs stays on all the time. Anyone that leaves just does it whenever they want to.'
A glint of annoyance flashes across Anna's face.
'Idiots,' she mutters.
As Anna leads Sid to the exit, a sudden question pops into her mind.
'Why did you kidnap us in the first place, and even now why are you the one who came to talk to me? There are a lot more people on the ship, so why you of all of them?'
Sid, clearly trying to hide something, tries to ignore the question, acting like she didn't hear anything.
But Anna notices this and stops walking. She pushes Sid against the cell door with the knife to her back and warns her sternly.
'Sloozy as you are, how many times do I have to warn you not to play dumb with me? Talk when I ask you to and shut up when I don't.'
Under the pressure, Sid finally begins to speak.
'I am the person who receives benefits depending on how valuable you end up being to the gang, me alongside the three others who were there with me.'
'I see, so it's some kind of commission-based system, and you idiot want to mooch off as many people as you can to climb the ladder.'
Anna pushes Sid forward and they stand still by the exit.
They remain silent for a while before Anna breaks the silence with a huge breath.
'From now on, don't try anything stupid. If I feel the slightest bit of hesitation from you, I'll kill you straight up.'
They remain silent again for a bit as Anna gathers up her courage, then she chants,
'Alright.'
Before opening the door and walking out.
They both begin walking down the stairs towards the party.
'Take me to the shortest and emptiest route to Quin. I don't want to run into any more thugs than I have to.'
Sid changes her direction upon receiving the command and takes the path leading to a darker and more secluded section of the ship.
Along the way, she stops as she notices the approach of two men. One face is one that Anna is familiar with. It was the guy in charge of the group that kidnapped them.
Unlike Anna, Sid seemed to be very familiar with both of them.
'Hey there, neighbor,' he calls out as he approaches in their direction.
Sid reluctantly waves back silently, hoping for him not to stick around too long.
'Isn't that the one we captured yesterday?' He notices Anna standing behind Sid. He sees something off about the way they are standing together and questions it. 'She was a prisoner just yesterday, why are you playing around with her now?'
Damn it, of all people, why did we have to run into this guy? He is one of the only people on this ship who recognizes me. Anyone else would have brushed off the scene, so why him?
Anna looks at Sid worriedly, afraid she is going to rat her out.
Unexpectedly, Sid doesn't do that. Instead, being the smooth liar she is, she easily finds a way to worm herself out of the predicament.
'Oh, well you see, we got really lucky with this one. The boss ended up really liking her, and she was relatively easy to break in, so I'm giving her a tour of the ship now.'
Anna looks bewildered about the fact that Sid didn't sell her out.
'Is that right?' he continues, dawning a perverted grin. 'It's a shame the boss was the one to do that. I wanted to be the one to get a taste of her first.'
He leans in close to both of them, and Sid whispers to Anna, telling her not to react. He gets in close and groopes Sid's breast.
With his face by Sid's neck, he whispers to both of them, 'That doesn't mean we can't still have fun. Both of you, why don't you come to my room this night? I'll show you things the boss you never hope to do.'
Sid puts on a fake smile as she responds, 'Oh really, hehe—can't wait.' She strokes her hand along his face, playing into his nonsense.
He gets excited.
'See you tonight then, ladies,' he reminds them, backing off to leave, not before smacking Anna's bum first.
He starts walking away, and the guy who was beside him smacks Anna's bum ass well.
She tenses up in irritation.
'See you around, good stuff,' he gives Anna a playful wink as he walks away.
A wave of disgust, fear and irritation washes over Anna as the realization that this could be her life if she doesn't escape from this ship flashes through her. This serves to strengthen her resolve to leave even more.
Once the guys are out of sight, Anna questions Sid on some of the things she said.
'Why did those guys call you neighbor?'
'Do you really need to know?' she questions Anna, reluctant to say the reason.
'Yes, I do.'
'Just as dogs are man's best friend, the animal considered to be man's neighbor is... the rat.'
Anna quickly gets the reference.
'I see. To be fair, it is a fitting reference. Maybe I should start calling you that as well.'
Sid looks unimpressed by the mere suggestion.
They continue on their way towards Quin's cell, but as they walk, a lingering question can't get out of Anna's mind.
'Hey, sloozzy, why didn't you just rat me out when you had the chance?'
Sid notices the faint expression simmering on Anna's face and rushes to turn it down immediately.
'Don't misunderstand. Being saved by those guys would have only resulted in a worse fate than I have now.'
Anna scoffs at the response.
Still the same Sid as usual. For a moment there, I thought she was doing something good.
I almost let my guard down for a second. That could have been dangerous.
What was I expecting anyways?
People don't just change overnight.