Amira walked through the front door of the small Kuala Lumpur salon, which had a relatively new sign in the front window. 'Tawaran Sekarang: Pedikur Putih!', it displayed, which in English meant 'Now Offering: White Pedicures!' She heard through the grapevine that this place bought whites at a pretty good price with no questions asked about how or where they were acquired. She approached the front counter where a fellow Malaysian woman was standing.
“Pelantikan?” the woman asked.
Appointment?
“Oh tidak. Saya mempunyai beberapa putih untuk dijual.” Amira replied, lifting the box to show it to the woman.
Oh no. I have some whites for sale.
“Ah, berapa banyak?” the woman inquired as she motioned for Amira to hand her the box.
Ah, how many?
“Empat.” Amira obeyed and placed the box on the counter, which the woman then slid closer to her.
Four.
Meanwhile, Luke and the others were blinded by the sudden bright light after being in darkness for hours. When their vision recovered, they noticed an unfamiliar face looming above them. A massive Asian woman in a headscarf eyed them all thoroughly as if inspecting produce. The four whites could only shake in fear, wondering who this woman was and what had happened to Amira.
“Baik mereka pasti kelihatan sihat. Umur sempurna juga. Saya boleh memberi anda empat ratus ringgit untuk setiap satu. Mana-mana yang lebih tinggi dan saya perlu mendapatkan pengurus saya.” The woman's voice boomed over the box of four whites as she spoke to herself and then to Amira.
Well they sure look healthy. Perfect age too. I can give you four hundred ringgit for each one. Any higher and I'll need to get my manager.
Amira pondered the offer for a few seconds, then decided to take it. “Berurusan.”
Deal.
The woman collected the money and traded it to Amira, who happily took it and hurried out of the store. Luke and the others tried to process what they had just heard. They refused to believe that Amira would sell them so easily after all the kindness she had shown them over the past few months. There had to be more to the story than that or some strange misunderstanding. Luke reasoned that she had probably sold them to a care facility for shrunken whites. At least, that was what he wanted to believe.
“Yara!” the woman’s voice shouted out, seemingly calling for someone.
“Ya, ibu?” A much younger girl approached.
Yes, mother?
“Letakkan putih ini dengan yang lain.” the woman ordered as she handed off the box to her daughter.
Put these whites with the others.
Luke and the others only caught a brief glimpse of the younger girl, who bore a similar resemblance to the other woman and was also wearing a headscarf. After that, they could only stare at the ceiling as she carried them off to who knows where.
The woman's daughter, apparently known as Yara, carried them to the back of the salon, where there was a large fish tank. Inside, however, there weren't any fish. She slid the opening at the top of the tank to lower the box in, then tilted the box on its side to dump the contents. Luke and the others were helpless against gravity, and they fell out onto the sandy floor of the tank. As they regained themselves, the massive girl lifted the box out and closed the top of the aquarium before leaving.
Luke looked around his sand-filled environment. They weren't alone, as dozens of other shrunken whites were trapped with them. Looking around, he realized that he was in an aquarium filled with sand and rocks, surrounded by glass walls. There were troughs filled with water, but otherwise, the place was barren.
“Where are we?” Stanley asked his former roommates.
“Beats me. You think Amira’s coming back?” Gavin responded.
“I hope so…” Stanley answered, hopelessly praying that she would eventually come to save them. Deep down, the others felt the same way, especially after seeing the condition of the others trapped with them.
The tens of other whites in the aquarium all looked defeated. Some were curled up in a ball, while others sat in silence. They had barely acknowledged the presence of Luke and his roommates, except for a quick glance from a few of them. It was frightening. What could they have possibly been through to behave this way? It didn’t bode well for Luke and the rest.
“Go talk to them.” Jon broke the awkward silence as the four of them stared at the other whites.
“Y-you talk to them.” Stanley responded.
The silence continued as the four of them stood awkwardly near the front of the tank, seemingly clinging to the wall. Muffled voices sounded in the distance behind them as Luke turned to see. The same woman from before entered the room, accompanied by
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