Chapter 19 #2
“Hey! I was sleeping here!” another girl called out to me, but I didn’t want to listen to them.
I would have felt sorry for them, I would have wanted to do something about these girls, but right then, all I cared about was getting out.
I wanted to know what had happened to Gunner, if they’d killed him or if he was still alive.
“Viper!” I screamed again as my fists slowed down banging on the door. Nothing was working. I leaned my forehead against the cold metal door and cried, tears flowing freely down my cheeks.
“This is a mistake. Let me out!” I cried, but nobody could hear me. Even though I was in a room full of other girls, to me it felt like I was completely alone in the dark.
I still had my forehead against the door when it began to open. I heard the bolt being pulled, and I stepped away from the door. This was going to be my chance to get out of this place and figure out what the hell was going on.
The door slid open, and a woman stepped in, promptly shutting the door behind her. I heard someone outside bolting the door shut again. All my plans of slipping out through that door were now ruined.
“Who are you? I want to speak to Viper or Pike!” I thundered at her. The woman had dark empty eyes; she seemed like she was older than the rest of us. She was dressed in the same way as them, though.
“You can speak to me. My name is Nancy,” she said while I glared at her. She had an expressionless face, like she didn’t care how much I screamed or cried or yelled.
“There’s been some mistake…I want…” I began to say, but she interrupted me.
“We heard you screaming. You need to stop and do what you’re told,” she said then grabbed me by my arms. She wasn’t being aggressive, but her grip on my arms was strong.
I tried to wriggle out of her grasp, but she wasn’t about to let me go.
She was looking at me from top to bottom, assessing my face and body, measuring me for size with her expert eyes.
“This will have to do for tonight. Tomorrow we’ll have to get you a skirt or something.
You need to put those legs on display,” she said and let my arms go.
I noticed that she was carrying a bag on the crook of her arm, and she bent down to the floor and unzipped it.
She started rummaging through it, which seemed like it consisted of rags, cloth and makeup.
“What are you talking about? What is going on? I need to go home,” I said and placed my hands on my hips in protest. I still thought I could talk my way out of this place!
“You need to look presentable for tonight, honey. The less you resist, the easier it’ll be. The clients don’t like to see us putting up a fight, do they?” Nancy said as she threw Candy a look.
I knew what was going on. I knew it from the moment I’d woken up.
A room full of girls, all dressed in that particular cheap “sexy” way…
I knew it. Gunner’s words rang cold in my ears.
I just hadn’t wanted to accept it. I just couldn’t accept that Viper or Pike, or anybody from the Dragon Knights would ever use me for prostitution. They wouldn’t do that to Luke’s sister!
Nancy stood up, leveling her face with me, with a damp cotton cloth in her hands. She brought it closer to my face, but I jerked away from her.
“Just cleaning you up, honey,” she said in an oddly kind voice. I stood there shivering as she wiped the grime and dirt from my face. I wasn’t crying anymore. I was angry and furious, and the truth of my situation was beginning to sink in.
“Nancy, please, if you let me speak with someone from the Dragon Knights…just let me speak to someone. It’s all a huge, big misunderstanding,” I pleaded with her as she wiped my face and my neck. Nancy stopped and turned a blank expression to me.
“Who do you think put you here?” she said. I felt more fat tears roll down my cheeks. This couldn’t be my reality. This couldn’t actually be happening to me!
Nancy put the cloth away and brought out a makeup bag. She unzipped it and seemed to be picking colors. Garishly pink lipsticks, orange and blue eyeshadow…she rummaged through them till she found the ones she was looking for.
“Pucker up those gorgeous lips, honey,” she said emotionlessly, like she was doing my makeup for my wedding day. I kept my mouth firmly shut.
“No, I can’t do this. This can’t be happening to me…” I cried, my voice drowning away in my own sobs.
“You have to earn your stay here, honey. That is the only way to stay safe,” she said, that hint of kindness entering her voice again.
Our eyes met, and I could see that the strength and the matter-of-factness that Nancy displayed was only a facade.
Deep inside, she could still remember the day she had felt exactly like this.
“I don’t want to stay here. I don’t want to earn my right to stay!” I cried, and this time, she gave me a smile. It was a sad, helpless smile that filled me with fear.
“You don’t have a choice, Brooklyn,” she said, and hearing my name had a destabilizing effect on me.
I felt crippled again and crashed to the ground.
I wanted Gunner. I wanted to see him again.
I covered my face with my hands and sobbed wildly, hoping against hope that he was still alive.
That he might find me. If only I could see him again…
“It’s time for you to pick a name, honey. We can’t call you Brooklyn anymore,” I heard Nancy say. I looked up at her with my foggy, watery eyes. She bent over me, bringing the cheap plastic lipstick case close to my lips.
“I think you look like a Scarlet. What do you think girls?” she said, trying to get the others involved. I pressed my lips together, resisting as much as I could against her efforts to try and put makeup on my face.
“My name is Brooklyn Jenson,” I said, narrowing my eyes at her, but Nancy just smiled. My resistance wasn’t going to affect her. She had a job to do, and she was going to do it whether I liked it or not.