Page 60 of Brutal Empire

Location: Chicago

I didn’t know it was possible to be starving yet not have any appetite to eat. I mean, how could I eat in these conditions? My cheek still stung from where that man had hit me. The sandwich they’d brought me lay untouched next to me. It wasn’t like I didn’t try to eat, but the moment the food touched my mouth, I felt sick to my stomach.

My begging only stopped because it hurt to speak. Crying for help also led to pain. My eyes were dry and worn-out. I was tired but afraid to close my eyes for too long.

The people here might not have violated me, but they sure had manhandled me, and the bruises proved it. I was at the point where I didn’t even feel humiliated by the doctor who had checked me over. His touch had been clinical, but I knew the next one I felt would not be.

My parents had to know I was gone by now, right? I hugged myself a little tighter, trying to give myself some warmth. Would they think I had run away? That would make no sense to them since they had seen me go to bed after my birthday dinner. We had not fought; I loved my parents, and they loved me. I was their only daughter, and perhaps my biggest downfall had been being too spoiled. I was an idiot, thinking I was so cool because I had an older boyfriend. I got off on the fact that my friends would all be jealous of me when they found out who my boyfriend was. The bad boy everyone had a crush on wanted me. I thought I had been exceptional, but now I wished I would have stayed unseen. Most of all, I wished I had confided in my friends and told them who my boyfriend was.

Sure, we hear about people disappearing all the time. The news is a constant source of unfortunate events, but that’s what it is—someone else’s tragedies that never hits home because no one goes out and thinks that they will be the next victim.

Jason just lay there, drugged out of his mind, and he didn’t lift a finger to help me. My throat burned with all the anger I felt toward him. My only hope was that he would go to the police after he sobered up, and they would find me and make this nightmare stop. It had been my grand idea to keep our relationship a secret because I knew my parents would have made us break up. Now, I wished they had.

Everyone wanted to stand out, to be unique or extortionary, until the things you wanted the most brought pain.

The moment I heard voices, I sat straighter. I knew my virginity offered me some sort of protection for the moment, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think it would last forever.

“I want the oil prince watched, and no matter how much he bids, don’t let him win any of the merchandise tonight. No one changes that much overnight.”

The voice was harsh with a heavy accent, bringing me chills. The steps got closer until I saw two sets of feet by my holding room.

The man wore nice leather boots, a dark navy suit, and a gray suede jacket. He didn’t look anything like the rest of the men in here. He had pale skin and dark hair, and he was handsome but in a cruel way.

I was about to open my mouth when his smirk terrified me. His eyes raked over my body, and I had never wished to be a boy more than I prayed for at this moment.

“Prepare her. My associate will love her. She will make a lovely gift.” He continued to speak as if I wasn’t even there—as if I was not even human.

“A gift?” The other man voiced the same thing I was thinking.

“Rumor has it he has something that belongs to me.”

I watched them walk away with the bit of hope I had starting to fade. Before it completely went away, I got on my knees, even though the flooring in the warehouse was dirty and cold, and I began to pray. My hands clasped each other tightly because it was the only comfort I could give myself. The more time I spent here, the more I began to lose faith. I wasn’t a bad person; I didn’t deserve this.

I stayed on my knees until I heard voices again. My strength was leaving me because when I tried to get up, I wasn’t fast enough.

“Look, she’s already on her knees,” one of the guards joked. He was big and round with a goatee and bushy brows. The other one was tall, with tan skin and dark hair.

He stood in front of me. His hand came to the back of my neck, gripping my hair so I would be forced to look up at him. A whimper left my lips, and even that hurt to do.

“I know we are supposed to leave them untouched, but they won’t mind if I take her mouth for a test drive.”

Bile worked its way to my mouth. I knew I had been lucky so far, if you could even call it that. The tears that I thought had left me stung the corners of my eyes. The tan guy put his hands on the one holding on to me.

“They find out you laid a hand on their precious merchandise and they won’t hesitate to kill you,” he told him, but it sounded like a threat. The guard who was holding me immediately let me go.

My body sagged, and I would have landed face-first into the cement if it wasn’t for the other guard who held on to me. I tried to look at him, but something pricked my neck, and then I couldn’t see anymore.

* * *

When I woke up again,I was in another room. This was again like a holding cell, except there were other girls across from me. They had on beautiful white dresses, and their hair had been blow-dried to perfection. I could see them whispering among themselves. Slowly, I sat up. They had just thrown me in here, so I was right by the bars, and I used them to lift myself since whatever they had injected me with had not fully worn off.

“Are you a virgin too?” a redhead girl asked me. There was that same look in her eyes, the one I was sure mirrored mine. Fear and regret. I wondered if she blamed herself for being here as well.

My only answer was to nod.

“Then why aren’t you with us? The show is tomorrow, but they need us tonight.”

I had never feared the future as much as I did now. What would tomorrow bring? I didn’t get a chance to answer them because, one by one, they started to get taken away. My head was leaning against the bars, my eyes closed, when I heard rushed footsteps come my way. There was a tall, slim man who appeared to have stumbled to this side, or maybe he was looking for something—or someone. One of the lights illuminated him. His hair was dark, and it gleamed like a raven’s feathers. I could see a small dimple on his side as he bit his lip, trying to work something out in his mind.

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