The stench of damp mould, rusting metal and drying blood was what kicked her awake, the nausea beckoning her to stir and do something, what that something was, was a mystery to her. Lenette shifted where she was laying, her eyes flattering open to look at her surroundings only to be met with a deep darkness. Lenette tried focusing her eyes but to no avail, the darkness remained stagnant such that she had herself convinced that she was still unconscious. It was not until she heard faint voices mumbling away in what sounded like a distance.
Lenette made to move again and noticed how weak her body was, not to mention the fact that she was flat on what felt like hard concrete. She made another attempt to open her eyes this time her vision seemed to get a bit better, blurry though it was. She could faintly see some light and silhouettes that she figured were the source of the voices.
Soon the sounds of chatter rang out along with the clattering of keys then she heard the creak of what she could make out to be prison cell bars. Prison? She thought but soon dismissed the idea that she was in prison when she heard in full clarity the men speak, "They said the show is about to start bring the girls one at a time to get cleaned."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. What do you think I am doing?"
The words were soon drowned out by a scream, a cry for help that soon turned into pleas for mercy and begs to go home. Lenette could hear the sound of the girl being dragged away along the floor when it suddenly stopped. Then followed a resounding sound of skin colliding with skin, then there was a stilled silence. The young woman, Lenette gathered from the sound of her voice, started crying even louder than before.
"What are you doing?" one asked, "You are not supposed to damage the merchandise."
"What was I supposed to do? The bitch wouldn't stop crying."
"That is why we give them the drugs, you moron." The first one scolded, "Now look what you have done. Her cheek is all bruised up. Send her to the girls to fix her face up with some make up then pump her full of the drug to make her submissive."
"You like bossing me around. Why not do it yourself?"
"Because you clearly can not be trusted around the goods. Now go."
The other grumbled as he began dragging the young woman away.
Lenette tried to focus her mind, but that creaking sound broke that focus as yet another show of cries and begs began. This time however the man offered, "Hey listen, I may have the patience for you but the people out there do not. They will find ways to make you cry just so they could lick your tears. So, I will be kind enough to offer you two options, one, take the drug which will make this bearable. Or two, you brave those vicious bastards with a sober mind. So, what will it be missy?"
The woman spoke so soft that Lenette could not make out her response but judging by the praises that flowed from the man she could only assume that she chose the drug. A door sounded open, then closed and there was silence again.
Lenette stirred again but soon realised it was fruitless. She forced her eyes open, with intention to force them into focus. But much to her surprise there was no need. The earlier darkness she had experienced was a result of the light being off, which was not the case now. Though her vision still blurry and her eyes hurt with the sudden light assault, she could make out everything with clear enough sight.
Lenette was currently locked in what looked like an underground base with multiple cages, including the one holding her. The cages seemed big enough to hold two to three people, but each cage had one person. She glanced around hers and found nothing but her bound self, wearing a dress she was sure used to be red and long fitted. Now it was pretty much the sight of a rag and torn or ripped, she could not tell. However, she recognised the dress and thus could at the very least figure out an estimate of how much time had passed.
The red dress she was wearing was the same one she wore during her birthday celebration which, as fate would have it in some twisted way, was the day she watched her family get massacred. She had watched her last remaining family die before her eyes on a day that was supposed to be joyous.
The images of the blood pooling on the white rug that spread across their living room, which her mother had chosen herself. The picture of her father laying limp and lifeless on the floor. The sound of gunshots then her own screams filled her mind. Lenette felt an ache rushing to her head. It only got worse when a blurred image of a man standing hovered over her form as she cradled her dead father in her arms, popped into her head. He spoke to her but much like his face or features, she could not make out what he said.
Lenette wanted to clutch her head and cry out the pain but her hands and feet were bound so all she could do was close her eyes and try to make sense of all of this. She searched her brain for what could have happened after her father's death. Even as she tried, her mind betrayed her and showed nothing.
The young woman gave up on the endeavour and chose another. Figuring out where she was and how she could get out. Taking in what she heard and her surroundings the conclusion was pretty obvious. Lenette was caught up in a human trafficking ring and was to be sold.
She could not allow that. Not when she was the last remaining member of her family. Not when her father needed her to avenge him. Lenette tried struggling out of the cuffs on her hands but only managed to scrape her skin raw. She struggled some more ignoring the sting that came from the cutting metal. When that too ultimately failed, she let out a shaky breath, then felt hot tears run down her face. What am I to do now? Tell me father, how am I…she broke down, the tears now traveling at full speed like tidal waves. But surprisingly no sound came from her, not even a muffled whimper.
"You know you are quite smart, but you have little patience and tend to rush things. If you take the time to step back and look at things from a distance maybe you might be able to notice the light at the end of the tunnel." Her father's voice resonated out in her head as she was midway through her break down causing the falling tears to stop abruptly.
She thought about that time. She was in the home office with her father, and he was teaching her some of the business trades. She, at the time, had in fact made a rush decision out of frustration of not being able to figure it out. It ended up costing her, the theoretical investments she had been practicing with. After, her father had spoken those words to her, she asked him to give her time to figure out where she went wrong and what she could do to fix it. It had taken her a week before she was knocking on her father's office door with a revised version of the business plan which did have a higher chance of investment. In essence, lack of patience had always been her weakness. Such was the case in the situation she had found herself in.
She knew she had to change that to survive this and find the person who had her father killed.
The door opened again and closed, a man emerged from it then walked to the next cage and took another young woman out. She too had the same routine tears, and he too gave her the same option as the girl before. The result was repeat. Soon the process started to move a lot faster, the door opening and closing after every ten minutes or so.
Lenette felt that she needed something, anything, a lifeline. But before she could think of any such, the door to her cage was opened. Instead of one, both the men who had been working in tandem stood one at the door of the cage and the other next to him.
"This is the last one for the night." the one outside the cage spoke with a yawn.
"Yeah. This one must be the main event." The one at the cage door responded shining a torch on her face. "Man, I can see why. This one is a beauty."
"Too bad we could never afford her."
"Yep, truly a shame." The man moved to uncuff her and probably to drag her to be sold. The truth of her reality sat on her head like a heavy weight. Lenette thought for a minute that she could try and fight and make a run after they uncuff her. But she felt how little her strength was, not to mention that her fighting skills were self defence level at best. She also had to register the fact that she had no idea where she was and how to get out. So, she voted against that idea.
Once the last metal clung down on the floor, she felt a hand grab on her scraped wrists. Then dragged out of the cage. Her knees and legs dragged along the concrete floor peeling her skin. Lenette frowned in frustration, Was I not supposed to be the main event. Why am I being dragged? She could not help the thought as it filled her mind. "Stop." She spoke with much difficulty, her throat feeling like it was getting chafed raw in its dryness.
She heard a sigh of clear annoyance. "Listen sweetheart, much like the others, I will tell you fighting this is pointless. As such you have two options one –"
"I know." She forced through the pain, sounding raspy. "I just wanted to say, that I can walk for myself. No need to drag me." The two looked at her with confused amusement. None of the girls they had worked on had said such words, ever. None have ever wanted to accept such a cruel fate. She tried to clear her throat then swallowed to wet the dryness. "Also, it would be nice to get something to drink. My throat is parched."
The one that Lenette had interrupted looked at her, and spoke mockingly, "Anything else I can do for you Your Royal Highness?" they shared a chuckle, but she simply looked at them with unbothered eyes.
"Well, since you asked. A glass of scotch would definitely be nice. After all, I cannot brave those vicious bastards sober." She retorted.
She definitely enjoyed the frown that settled on the man's face when she quoted his own words.
He let go of her arm and waited for her to stand. Lenette was confident she could walk on her own, however her brain failed to give her body the memo, because her legs refused to listen. They starred at her with very mocking eyes and an air of waning patience. She hated the looked in their eyes, the one that told her she could not do it, she was helpless and that she should give up. So, with just her sheer force of will, she commanded her body to listen. And it did. Then she strode right past them straight to the door she had seen open and close far too many times.
A newfound sense of cause flooded her brain with such a simple act of defiance, it seemed to fuel her. Though that welling feeling did not last when she was pulled to a room with a couple of women wearing masks. Then one of the men spoke, "Here is the last one, the star of tonight's show. Prep her." He spoke as the two men made their way to another door at the opposite end of the room, he paused for a second to warn, "Oh and be careful ladies, this one has teeth and she will bite."
Lenette felt eyes, hidden behind masks fall on her then a couple of snickers followed as one of the girls walked over to her and ripped her dress off. Then she was striped down to her birthday suit. Laid bare for all those masked eyes to eat her up. The whole thing had her feeling humiliated and embarrassed.
And just as she figured that it probably would not get any worse from then moving forward, she was dragged to what she supposed was a shower that was turned on the moment her legs hit the drain below. The ice-cold water shocked through to her bones making her shiver. A couple of the masked women began pulling and tugging away at her. Some scrubbed her body, pulling at any exposed skin, the scrub rough and done with out care. Another was pulling at her hair, the rough combing made her wonder if they planned to tear her hair off or wash it, with the way her scalp was burning, Lenette figured it was the former.
After that excruciating wash, they pulled her out of the water, dried her as best they could, or at least attempted to. Then the hands that were on her all left, giving her a moment to wrap her head around what ever this was. Minute though it was. Before she could form a thought, they were back to working on her; her body was oiled, then dressed in what she assumed was supposed to be lingerie but was instead a bunch of strings and pieces of cloth. The only cover they gave her was a matching very transparent lace gown. They did her face and hair just as they worked her body. Lenette really could not help but wonder if their goal was to prep the 'goods' or torture them.
The one of the men from earlier returned, it was the one who had made the warning comment about her. He eyed her, his gaze predatory and hungry. It made her sick to her stomach. "Get used to it sweetheart. You are about to experience that, but worse." He spoke noticing the visible disgust she failed to hide, no, chose not to hide. He placed a glass with ice, then pulled out a bottle of scotch, opening it as he was about to pour. She grabbed the ice and chewed on it then motioned for him to pour. He gave an impressed snicker as he poured. He eyed her waiting for her motion to stop, but Lenette just stared at glass, only called to him to stop when the glass was almost at the brim.
Lenette picked up the glass and began downing it as though it were water. Then slammed the glass on the table, with a slight head shake as she felt her throat ease from the wet liquor and her chest burn with in a way that was too familiar.
"Okay. Let us get this over and done with." She mumbled to herself. The alcohol slowly setting in and doing its job to numb her nerves.
Then man led her to the other door he had come from. Lenette heard a mechanical voice speaking, "Ladies and gentlemen. What we have now, is our last item for the night. She is a rare beauty with a bit of exotic air about her, but in an elegant way. You are sure to be blown away."
Lenette fought the edge to curse out at the way they made her sound like she was some priced car or diamond or piece of meat. She was a person, not an item. That stupid introduction had made her mood far worse than already was. "Oh, and I heard that she is a feisty one." Chatter broke through along the audience, "Would it not be fun to watch her break." The chatter grew excited but soon felt into a heavy silence when she was pushed on what thought to be a stage.
Lenette stumbled on to the stage. She turned to try and look out at those vultures but was blinded by the spotlights facing her. All she could make out were dark silhouettes. She chose to focus her eyes on the floor, avoiding the assault of the lights. The moment her mind settled from the whiplash that whole experience gave her, she could feel their eyes on her. Predatory, hungry, vile and intense. She felt her skin crawl, her face dawning utter disgust to mask her fear and the threatening tears.
"Wow. What a find." The conductor commented, "This item has stunned the audience to silence with her beauty." She heard that his words sounded near to her then she felt him stand behind her and a sense of foreboding fell wash over her. As if on cue, he pulled the gown from her and let it fall to the floor. It was see-through lace but for her it felt like a security blanket, and he took that from her. She felt bare and vulnerable. "Look at that my dear honourable guests, not only is her face a beauty but she has a body match." he moved to whisper in her ears, "Do a 360 doll and smile." Her eyes widened with anger and an overwhelming sadness. His words were spoken through his microphone, heard by everyone, "Show everyone that nice piece of ass." His last comment was what triggered her anger to win over her sadness and fear.
"Screw you." Lenette spat strangely calm for someone who was on the verge of breaking. But hell, she would be damned before she let them see her break. Thinking back to that man's words. They will find ways to make you cry just so they could lick your tears.Fuck that, she thought. She bent down to pick up the discarded gown. And gracefully put it on. And lifted her eyes up from the floor and challenged them directly to those vile pieces of shits. As if to say, 'Try all you like but you will never break me."