Page 30 of Burning Souls

I’ve lost any sense of what the outside world is, how it would feel to breathe from the outside into my lungs, or how touching some grass would feel, even just doing simple things like going out with my friends.

I know they think I'm dead, or my dad told everyone I was. I would do anything to feel the cold breeze of the air on my skin or how my hair would stick to the clear lip gloss I would wear for school, but no matter how many times my hair stuck, I still kept wearing it.

Jessie kneels to my level, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“You haven’t been down here. Maybe it was a dream,” Jessie tells me, and he’s probably right. If they say I wasn’t down here, then they are right.

I would argue with him if my life weren’t such a mess right now.

I don’t trust Jessie. I met him after I had been here a few years.

He’s sketchy, but told me he’s going to get me out of here. Whether that happens or not, I’m still waiting.

I have been here since I was fifteen, and now, I’m twenty-eight. I have been in this hellhole for twelve years. I have been beaten, raped, chased, and watched people be sacrificed just like my mother was.

My father is yet to be seen. He’s around here.

I know he is. I found out he runs this whole place, and when he was always busy in his office, it wasn’t to do with the business our mother went through.

He is the leader of one of the world’s largest human trafficking rings. He never wanted kids; all he wanted was for us to get old enough so he could make money off us.

You would think this is only in the UK, but it’s worldwide.

The horrors I have seen through these walls are things no person should have to live with.

“Look, Ash, when, and I mean when, Jessie is told to claim you in front of everyone, I need you to understand he has no other choice unless you want to die in this place.” What he means is he has to take my virginity, fuck me rough and make it look like hard-core rape because those sick bastards get off on it.

The bitter taste roams around my touch.

“I know and I’m ready,” I breathe, my body shaking. What else could I say? If this is what I have to do to leave this hellhole place, then I will.

I’m tired and brought back to my room, where Killian stays outside. I sit on my bed drawing a shape letter with my finger for hours.

The door is slammed open, and the man returns. Fear coats my eyes, knowing what’s going to happen.

“I have missed you. I hope you’re ready for what I have planned,” the man's crude voice echoes as he walks closer to me, sitting on the edge of my half-broken, ripped bed. -

I shuffle back, ensuring he can’t touch me, but it’s useless.

I’m not in control, no matter how much I want to be. I will never be.

“Stand up and undress for me. Slowly,” he demands I get up from my bed standing up straight, removing the straps from my vest top, slowly moving it down my body to reveal my tits. Next, I’m told to take off my sweatpants, leaving me bare. They don’t give us underwear.

My body is twitching from the emotionlessness within me. I stand naked in front of the man, waiting for his next instruction.

He looks deep into my eyes like he’s looking for my soul.

A soul I’m not sure I still have.

His heavy footsteps jerk my body forward before he grips my arms, pinching my skin. He throws me on the bed face down, back slightly arched.

The sound of his zipper opening and jeans coming down has my eyes filling with trepidation, tears form at the back waiting to spill, but I don't let them escape.

I know what’s about to happen.

I'min the same position every time the man leaves me. Face down on the bed, unable to move, too numb to try, and Killian comes in and cleans me up.

He carries me to the bathroom, placing my body in the hot, steamy water.

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