Twelve
Paisley
I didn’t make any trouble until the plane landed. By the time the flight was over, all of the other girls were awake, too. I couldn’t even warn them about what would happen if they disobeyed like I had. I could only watch as some of them were shown the same treatment I got. Nobody resisted after the first time. They managed to silence us, and by the time the plane’s wheels touched the ground, all of us were waiting meekly to be escorted off the aircraft.
I wondered briefly whether any of the other girls would make a run for it. I kept glancing at the blonde, trying not to be obvious. Her connection to my boyfriend plagued me. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it, but how could my brain concoct such a sick fantasy on its own? The other woman, my boyfriend’s lover, right here, in this situation with me.
I followed the rest of the girls off the plane in an orderly line, interspersed with guards. We walked out into a stairway, carefully descending the steps as the shackles clanged. It was raining, colder than it had been in Sicily, but besides the weather, I had no clue of my location. The landscape stretched before us, flat and barren, with not one building in sight.
My fear formed a lump in my throat as I reached the tarmac. Where would I get help? The whole area was deserted, and if I took off running, one bullet would end my life. And even if they weren’t going to sacrifice my life for one escape attempt, I’d already found out what these monsters were capable of.
Several grey vans pulled up by the road, and we were marched into them, five girls per vehicle. The blonde was led into a different one, and I nearly wept at the sight. She was my only connection to the real world, and tears blurred my vision as I watched her get into an unmarked car.
“Get a fucking move on,” one of the guards snarled at me, pushing me inside a different van. “Goddamned distracted bitches. I’ll give you something to focus on, whore.”
I managed to sit down between two other girls. It was dark inside the van, and I didn’t want to risk another punishment, so I kept my eyes trained on the seat in front of me. The van filled up quickly, and then screeched off down the asphalt.
I didn’t know where we were going, but the ride felt hours long. By the time the van pulled up in front of a concrete building, my bladder was ready to burst, and I could tell by the other girls’ groans of discomfort they were feeling the journey, too.
They marched us to the shrubbery next to the building, and a guard roughly ripped a girl’s panties off. She shivered in the cold as he pointed to the ground. “Piss.”
Shame burned my cheeks as the girls gave in one by one. I was desperate to relieve myself, but the guards self-righteous expressions, their evil fucking smirks, pissed me off too much. Until one of them got up, and lifted my lace cover-up off my skin. I was freezing, too, still wearing the beach outfit from… God , how long had it been since they’d taken me?
“You’re really gonna resist me, huh?” the guard asked, sniffing my hair as I recoiled. “You smell like a day at the beach, darling. Now fucking crouch and piss.”
He pushed me back, and I stumbled. Humiliated, I did as I was told, and groaned when I finally relieved the pressure on my poor bladder.
Once everyone was done, they kept marching us into the building. It had concrete, thick walls and was one floor only, though I could see stairs leading into the basement. The floor was segmented into half-closed off cells. Each of the girls was marched into one of them, and my heart sank when I realized they were going to isolate us completely.
I’d go mad on my own.
Still, I allowed them to force me into the cell, because I knew what would happen if I didn’t. It had no windows, and a small partition where there was a dingy toilet and sink. I had some privacy, at least, even though there were no doors. Better than pissing on the ground while those perverts watched, laughing.
I watched as one of them connected my shackles to a bolt in the concrete. I had enough moving room, but not enough to get out of the cell. Like a fucking dog, chained, submitted to the mercy of a cruel Master.
As if on cue, my stomach rumbled. I was hungry, and one of the guards laughed, tossing a bottle of water at me. I unscrewed the cap and drank, sating my parched throat.
Once I was done, I tossed the bottle away, and the guard glared at me. They all looked the same. Muscular, stocky, inked, with dark hair gelled back. They all wore black clothes and carried those guns. Most of them had shaved hair, and they spoke English with an Italian accent.I didn’t want to look at him for too long, so I wouldn’t encourage him.
“I bet you’re hungry as well, huh?” he smirked. “You’ll have to pay for your stay first. Earn your meals one bite at a time. I can teach you how to swallow, cunt.”
I looked away as the other prick joined him after ensuring I couldn’t escape.
Another man walked into the room, pushing past the other two. “Is she safe, Tox?”
“Just brought her in,” prick #1 muttered, cocking his gun at me. With a sinking feeling, I realized he was one of the guys who’d raped me on the plane. “Pretty one, isn’t she? Feisty, too.”
“Good enough for me,” the new guy hissed. He pulled a syringe out of his pocket, flicking away the cap. I flinched as he approached me.
“Get that away from me,” I hissed, and a sharp slap greeted me in response. “Fuck! Get off!”
“Shut the fuck up and stay still.”
Dreams of escaping filled my head as he emptied the needle into my neck. The sore spot burned. It was getting inflamed.
My skull hit the concrete, missing the mattress by a few inches. I felt blood trickling down my temples, helplessly watching a guard unbuckle.
D ays passed.
Most of the time, they left me alone. Those were the good hours.
I had no way to tell time in my cell, and it passed excruciatingly with every second.
When the men came, they weren’t always alone.
When they left, I was sometimes left bleeding, or, more humiliatingly, crying. I forgot about my dignity in that cell. I became the raw, unfiltered, vulnerable little girl I’d hid from the world for as long as I’d been alive.
Foster care wasn’t easy, but compared to this, it was nothing. A piece of cake.
Still, I clung to the good memories. Not of Travis, or living with him. I thought of my favorite spots in the apartment sometimes, the ones he’d let me decorate for myself. I thought of my favorite foster home, of Sarah and my many, many foster siblings, and of course, of Rubi. My old foster sister. My best friend.
More than ever, I wished I knew where she was. In those inescapable moments, she crossed my mind often. I even dreamed of her, jagged, broken pieces of our memories intersecting with pure fantasy. Often, my dreams would turn into sickening nightmares that had me waking up in cold sweat, screaming. I’d bit my lip open, and the guards ensured it stayed split when they took turns on me. I couldn’t forget the sight of one of them licking my blood off his fingertips.
In the darkness, I shuddered at the memory.
I heard footsteps echoing down the concrete hallway, and soon enough, those steel-capped boots came into view. They all wore them, and didn’t hesitate to kick us with the metal caps.
Two men stopped in front of my mattress, and I warily lifted my eyes. I never knew what they were coming for. Sometimes, they’d toss me food and water, and other times, they raped me until I bled.
“Get up,” one of them snarled at me, tossing me a tattered shirt. “Put that on.”
It was the first time they’d offered me a shred of decency.
The other guard unshackled me completely. Trembling, I put the T-shirt on while the one who’d spoken kept his gun trained on me.
While I’d been in my windowless cell, I’d heard gunshots going off a few times. It was okay once the crying started. Even the howls of pain, I could handle.
But when there was only silence, I knew what was at the end of their barrel.
A promise of death was enough to scare me into submission, and the lingering memory of my punishment prevented me from misbehaving again. Not until I knew for sure I would succeed. Until then, it was pointless to fight them.
I pulled the shirt down as far as I could stretch the fabric while they marched me down the hallway. I was rarely unshackled, and the new freedom felt exhilarating. My mood lightened when I saw the other girls, being led by guards into a large hall with stone tables and benches.
A buffet-style food spread was laid out. Despite everything, my stomach rumbled at the sight and smell of warm food.
The guards escorted me to the food, and I ladled my plate full of everything. There were roasted vegetables, freshly baked jacket potatoes with steam coming off them, fresh bread, and butter. I bypassed the meat and put so much on my plate, the guard pulled me away impatiently.
That day, I ate like a queen for the first time in days.
It still didn’t change what happened next.
After the men left, I lay curled up on the mattress, hugging my knees to my chest and feeling sick to my stomach. They never stopped themselves in time. So many times, I’d been fucked against my will, and worse than that, they forced their filthy cum inside me, too.
I fell asleep to the horrible thought of one of them knocking me up. My nightmares raged all night.
They were still better than the pain of the real world.