2
I wake to the sound of footsteps and the faster the footsteps become, the faster my heart races. I hear the first lock, then the second, then the third. The door slowly opens and I see him again. This time he’s wearing navy joggers with a matching sweatshirt that’s rolled up mid-arm showing off his tattoos. My eyes trail up into his as he hands me my plate. My mouth parts as I stare down at the McDonald’s hamburger. I unwrap it faster than I care to admit. The moment my mouth sinks into the juicy burger my eyes slowly shut as I take in the amazing taste.
“Thank you,” I say with a mouth-full of food. He says nothing, but smiles.
“What are —”
“I mean, why are you here?” I finally get out.
“I can’t explain everything to you right now, but I’m just going to need you to trust me, okay?” he says and I nod.
“Does my family know where I am?”
“No, and it’s in their best interests that they don’t know,”
I watch as he sits cross-legged on the cold and damp floor next to me. I don’t know why or how he’s here, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a little comforting.
“I’m going to need that wrapper back.” He points to the McDonald’s wrapper.
“I don’t need anyone suspecting anything,” he says as he takes the wrapper from me and I nod.
“Lina, do you trust me?” he says and my eyes widen hearing my name come out of his mouth. Lina. For a moment I forgot who I was. I forgot my name. I forgot I even existed.
“Yes,” I say as my voice breaks away.
“Okay, good. My name is Emerson,” He says, putting his hand out to mine. I take it and give it a gentle squeeze.
“Where am I, Emerson?”
“New York for now,”
“For now?” I say and I watch as he swallows hard.
“I’ve just gotten word that —” he pauses.
“I’ve just gotten word that you’ve been sold to a very wealthy man in Dubai,” he says. I feel my pulse in my ears as I sit there trying to process what he’s just told me.
“Who?”
“That’s what I’m waiting to find out,” He says and tears quickly fill my eyes. The stinging lump in my throat makes it hard to breathe.
“They said that you're pure, so —” He exhales hard.
“We know he’s going to be paying good money for you and once we can find out who he is and where exactly you're going to be taken then we can — execute the rescue,” he hesitates with the last bit of that sentence.
“We?”
“FBI — I’ve been undercover for a while,” he says and my face falls with confusion.
“And, why can’t you just take me now?”
“For one, there are a dozen men outside this building,” he says and my body goes numb. Well, there goes my glorious plan of trying to make a run for it.
“And two, if I took you now they would have you and your family hunted down within an hour,” he says and tears stream down my face.
“We’re dealing with a lot of people here and they are pretty smart, Lina,” he says quietly as he eyes the doorway.
“So once you find out who bought me, then what?”
“Then we’ll have all of the evidence we need. This thing goes pretty high up from what we’re gathering. But if we stop now before the transaction, they would be charged with a basic kidnapping and since you're over eighteen— my guess is they would be out within a few years’ tops,” he says as his jawline clenches. I don't say anything as I process his statement and neither does he. We both sit there quietly in each other's company. I need to be sold in order to be free if that isn’t ironic. My reality sets in and it sets in hard. I try my hardest to hold back the tears, but I explode. Quiet sobs fill the room as we both sit there in our fucked up situations.
“I’m twenty-three,” I say with tears flowing down my face.
“I know.” He smiles at me.
“Only a few years younger than me,” he swallows hard as he stands.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Lina.” I watch as he opens the steel door. “Hopefully,” I say under my breath before I curl back into the corner. I hear the three locks turn and softly close my eyes. “ Lord please save me from this, save me from them. Do everything in Your power to help me get out of here, please. If Your real, I need you to show me.” I whisper to myself as the tears stream slowly down my face.
────
Later that day, I flashback again to the night I was taken. I danced with my two friends, Alex and Grace. We were smart. We didn’t leave our drinks unattended or even talk to anyone we didn’t know. I shake my head as I try my hardest to see where we went wrong. Where I went wrong. However, I can’t find any possible mistakes from that night. The last thing I remember is the three of us dancing, it still doesn’t make sense to me. I exhale loudly as I stand and make my way over towards the door. I press my head up against it, but I don’t hear anything.
“Hello,” I whisper, but no reply. I continue to pace back and forth around this dark room. A single light bulb now flickers above me. I pray that it doesn't go out. I don’t think I could sit here in complete and utter darkness.
────
I wake to the locks of my door clicking open. The light still flickers above me as I lay there crouched in the corner against the damp brick. When the door swings open I see Emerson standing in the doorway. His face once again falls as he takes me in.
“Hi,” he says standing in the doorway. He's wearing tan cargo pants, a black shirt, and a bullet-proof vest. Hope somehow fills me as I stare up at him wearing that vest. I watch as he whips his head back and forth, making sure no one else sees him. One thing about this place is that it's quiet. You can hear footsteps well before you get a glimpse of anyone in sight.
“Hi,” I say as I stand up and brush myself off. He towers over my petite body.
“Um, some things are going to happen today —” He pauses as he hears footsteps coming down the hall. I swallow hard as my mind races.
“Just trust me, okay?” He says and I nod slightly.
“Lina, I need to hear you say you trust me,”
“I trust you,” I whisper as my eyes gaze straight into his. Within seconds two other men come into sight. One is tall and skinny as he stares down at a clipboard. His hair is buzzed short, showing off his oddly shaped head. The other man looks like his bodyguard; he's tall and muscular like Emerson. He gives Emerson a quick nod. I wonder if he's undercover too. I look between them.
“This the —” The man with the clipboard pauses as he looks me up and down. He steps into my room slowly as his dark-brown eyes hold mine.
“Too bad I can't touch this one,” He sucks hard on his bottom lip as his eyes continue to trail up and down my body. My eyes bounce to Emerson, who now stares blankly at me.
“Sir, I’m sorry, but we really need —” Emerson tries to say, but is quickly interrupted by the man with the clipboard holding his hand up.
“I know, I know,” He says as he flips through the papers.
“She needs to get cleaned up and ready for pictures,” he says as he writes something down. Emerson and the other bodyguard both nod.
“Elias, you take the girl,” he says, still staring down at the clipboard. Elias?
“If you would follow me, Miss,” Emerson insists, holding his arm out. My heart pounds as I walk past the doorway. I’ve been behind this door for what feels like an eternity. My eyes take in the old industrial building as I make my way out. We walk down the quiet halls and my breath quivers as I follow him, uncertain where we’re going.
We finally make our way to a different part of the building. A cleaner part. The lights almost blind me as we walk through the doors. The floors are still concrete, but polished. We come up to a group of four men staring at their phones. One of the men glances up and nudges the man sitting next to him.
“This the one?” He asks over to Emerson and he nods.
“Better clean her up good, she’s going to be richer than all of us have ever dreamed of being.” He laughs over to his friends.
“Ain’t that the truth.” Another man snickers. What the hell are they talking about? Emerson and I continue to walk down the hallway until we reach the double-doors. I watch as he knocks twice. Moments later another tall and lanky man opens the door. He looks like the clipboard guy, but with longer slicked-back hair.
“I’ve got it from here,” He swings the door open and ushers me inside.
“He said I —” Emerson tries to say, but is interrupted.
“I said I take it from here!” The man slams the door shut behind us. His accent is thick and definitely Arabic. His dark eyes look me up and down and I swallow hard. My heart pounds against my chest as I stand there.
“Take off clothes,” he says quickly before he goes into another room. I hear him turn a shower on before he comes back into sight.
“I said take off clothes!” He hisses at me. I quickly slide my dress down, then my panties, and then unhook my bra. Before I can cup them, the man glances at my breasts then points to the other room. I walk around the corner feeling his heated gaze still on me. I’m naked and humiliated. As I walk straight into the bathroom, I see the steam from the shower rise to the moldy ceiling. The white tile is stained with dark residue, but I don’t care. I walk straight in and let the warm water beat down on my weak and malnourished body. This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. I close my eyes as I let the water swallow me whole. Hoping that when I do indeed open them back up, this will all have been just a bad dream.
────
“Oh, Lina, come on!” I flashback to Alex and I in my bedroom.
“You never have any fun anymore, you're too wrapped up in college. You need to live a little…” Her words fade as my eyes peer open. The warm water still runs down my body as I savor every second.
“Out! Out!” The man comes walking into the bathroom with his arms swinging all over the place. He throws a towel at me then ushers me into the next room. My mouth unintentionally parts as I see the long dresses hanging on hangers with matching hijabs placed next to them.
“Pick one,” he orders. With my hands clenching tightly to the towel wrapped around my chest, I walk towards the dresses. Tears fill my eyes as I look between each dress. Is this my future? Long dresses covering every inch of my skin, hiding my true identity?
I stare at my reflection through blurred vision. The man standing behind me fixes my hijab so every strand of my dark hair is hidden. So I am hidden.
“Good choice,” he says in his thick accent.
“Your life will be a lot better than it would have been if you stayed here. You're one of the lucky ones,” He grabs my arm and pulls me into another brightly lit room. Against a white backdrop, he begins taking pictures of me. Within seconds, I hear a printer begin to print from behind us. I watch as he casually walks towards the printer. He takes out a pair of scissors from a drawer behind him. With his back facing towards me, I watch as he sets the scissors down on the printer. My heart races at an unknown pace as I stare at the sharp end of the scissors. How hard would I have to push those in his neck to kill him? Could I hit the carotid artery on my first stab? I imagine myself piercing those through his skin and the blood gushing out of his neck. I think I could do it, I really do. I’m at that point where I just don’t have a care in the world anymore.
I slowly step closer to the desk as my eyes stay glued on him. His back is still facing me and he’s mumbling something under his breath. I can’t tell exactly what he’s saying, but he seems upset. I take another few steps towards him. I reach my hand towards the scissors and just as I do, the door swings open and Emerson’s eyes widen in horror. I quickly take a few steps back with my eyes still on the scissors. Emerson looks at the shiny scissors on the printer then back at me.
“There, got it,” The man turns around and eyes Emerson in the doorway.
“What are you doing?” He asks, however, before either of us can say anything he beats us to it.
“She’s ready,” He says proudly as he hands Emerson a passport with Arabic writing. He opens it and I can tell he’s memorizing what it says.
“Good, eh?” He raises his eyebrows feeling proud of himself.
“Tell them she’s ready,” the man says and Emerson’s face quickly falls.
“I thought her flight wasn't supposed to leave until tomorrow night,” Emerson snaps back.
“I was told she needed to be ready today.” The man tilts his head as he stares up at Emerson. I watch as Emerson nods then takes my arm forcefully in his large hands. He leads us through another door which shoots us out into an empty hallway.
“I’m sorry,” he takes his hands off of me. I watch as he pinches the bridge of his nose and tilts his head back.
“It’s okay,” I whisper.
“No, none of this is okay, Lina. Or should I say —” He opens the passport and stares down at it.
“Zara Fadel,” he hands me the passport and my mouth drops as I look at the picture of me taken just minutes ago. My eyes swell with tears. For the life of me, I cannot break my gaze from this passport.
“No. No. No. No. No.” I break out into a quiet sob. I put my hand over my mouth as the tears come crashing down.
“I will find you, Lina. Plans have changed, but I need you to still trust me, okay?” He says and I watch as he swallows hard looking in all directions.
“Okay,” I nod.
“I need to hear you say it, Lina,”
“I trust you,” I swallow hard. I watch him turn back towards me and give me a sympathetic smile. We walk down the empty hallway, side by side. Neither of us said a word. We approach a bright red door and I see the sunlight bursting from behind it.
“You ready?” Emerson asks as we stand in front of the door.
“No,” I say with no hesitation.
“Just do as they say and you should be fine. Once the transaction is complete it might take a while for us to get to you, but we will.” I feel his rather large and warm hand take mine. My eyes trail up into his light-brown eyes and I swallow hard. The red door swings open, startling us both. The sunshine blinds me as my eyes try to adjust. I can’t see who now has my hand, but I know it’s not Emerson. Whoever it is, they’ve got a death-grip on my wrist. The sun beats down on my face as my eyes finally adjust to the sunlight, I see a long black limo ahead of me and three men standing guard around it. Each of the men are holding automatic rifles. When I turn my head back around, I see Emerson standing in front of the red door. His hands are clasped together and his jaw is clenched as he grits his teeth. His eyes hold mine until I’m thrown into the limo. The limo door slams shut as I lose sight of Emerson. My heart pounds hard against my chest as I sit there quietly still trying to look out the window.
“Hello Lina,” I hear a gentleman across from me say. I jump and begin to nervously shake as I hold his stare. He’s Middle- Eastern-looking too and is wearing a black suit. His light-brown eyes hold mine as the limo pulls away from the old building.
“I’m Xavier.”