Page 4 of Cardinal

Bang!

No! Shit! Wait! Why was the girl next to me leaving the stage!? No!

Bang!

My heart exploded with the sound of the gavel banging. I felt like a criminal on trial who just got sentenced—might as well have been the case here. Every fiber of my being fell away from me as the severity of my situation stripped my freedom. Each breath scratched at my throat, burned my lungs, and every inhale and exhale felt shorter than the last.

My mind severed itself from my body as I numbingly watched the guards come up to the stage and retrieve me, and my body reacted instinctively to the touch of the men, instantly kicking into fight mode. Unfortunately, no one twitched an eyebrow in my direction when the men dragged me off, kicking and screaming.

Heartless bastards, every single one of them!

A sharp chill of fear straightened my spine at the sight of the room filled with men when the guards hauling me kicked open some doors and shoved me in. "There she is, boys. Better be sure to get our money's worth tonight." Some middle-aged man with thinning hair and dead gray eyes grinned at me with a dark glint as his lanky form approached my crumpled one on the floor.

Swallowing the nervous lump in my throat, I slowly scanned the rest of the men, instantly regretting it when their presence made me feel pathetic. "What's going on? Why are there so many of you in here?" Why were there so many men in here? And why were they looking at me so wickedly like I was some meal to be torn into?

The man ignored my question as he reached down and grabbed a fistful of my hair. "Look at her, so terrified, fuck, it's going to be so fun breaking you." His alcohol-laced breath burned my face like warm acid when it hit me from how close he lowered his head down to me. "You belong to me for the next three hours to do and use however I want, and I decided to be nice to my men for being loyal to me and share you after I make you bleed."

"No, please, please don't, please, I don't want to, I don't want it, please." I hated how pathetic I sounded and felt with my pointless pleading. Did I want to shed tears and feed that evil burning fire in his eyes more? No, I didn't, but I couldn't control my reactions as the situation fully sank into me.

Sobbing, I tried to lean away from the man when he leaned in close and sniffed the length of my neck, but his grip held me firm. Then, instinctively, my hand lashed across the man's face when he suddenly licked my tears off my cheek with a chuckle. His hand reacted to the impact by returning a slap that rattled my brain in my head. "Go ahead and fight. Makes it more fun." Tightening his grip on my hair, he dragged me over and onto the ratty-looking bed.

Even when my limbs felt like they would pop out of their sockets from my violent struggle, I didn't let up one bit. Pretty sure I dislocated a shoulder from jerking my body against the man who joined and held my arm down.

Fucking cowards, assholes, bastards.

At least the fact that this pathetic man needed four of his helpers to subdue a girl like me gave me some pride.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long. I thought I could remain strong and keep whatever dignity I had left intact, but everything shattered like glass when his disgusting hands touched my bare and exposed body. "No, no, no! Please don't, please! Please!"

Pain. Pure pain and torture for the next. Well, I don't know how long it actually was, but it felt like an eternity in Hell for me with what my body was put through. I thought having my innocence ripped away by the disgusting bastard was bad, but he was the least painful. The other men jerked my broken body around like I was a ragdoll, not caring one bit about leaving marks or hurting me as long as they could get their disgusting dicks in any hole they could.

I honestly thought it would be over the moment they were done, but if only it were just physical.

Psychologically, they broke me as well.

My mind and body didn't feel like my own after they were done and left. I was so disconnected that I barely registered my body moving.

Deep down, I knew trying to run away would be pointless; they would find me sooner rather than later and drag me back to the hell hole until my sentence was served. Yet, the moment the men left and stupidly left the door ajar, the last of my fight spurred my body forward. There wasn't a single thought behind my actions when I grabbed my tattered dress haphazardly, pulled it onto my body, and forced my pained body through the hallways and out some backdoor.

I was alive; the freezing night air hitting my shivering body as I mindlessly dragged myself into the streets was a good indicator of my live body. Yet, I felt empty, void of everything. I felt like a shell.

My wobbly legs threatened to give out any second as my body continued to push itself forward with no certain direction in mind. I needed help. But where?

Where do I go from here? Where can I go?

Like a broken dam, my once-empty mind flooded with endless trains of erratic thoughts. Between trying to figure out what to do and where to go, there was a constant and unconscious thought to keep on moving. No matter how much my shaky legs ached, my body pushed my limbs out of a basal need to survive.

My choppy steps continued until a hard impact threw my body to the ground.

Thankfully, I was so out of it that I barely felt the car.

Chapter 3

Luciano

THUD!

It was impossible to discard the sound of a body hitting a car after all these years in my line of work. Well, at least it wasn't my fault since I wasn't driving.

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