Chapter 45
brIELLE
I’ve lost track of time. Completely unsure of when I first got here and now. I haven’t seen Susie or Peter. Not even the guard who watched me shower. The only people I see are the ones who bring the food and water.
That’s it.
Some of the other women leave and come back hours later, shaking and sobbing.
Sometimes bent over as they vomit on the floor.
Others return with glassy eyes, barely able to stand, their words slurring as they mumble to themselves.
At night the halls fill with screams and voices as they beg the guards for another hit.
No one comes to my cell and no one speaks to me.
My stomach sinks when the familiar sound of keys clanking sounds right outside my cell. I scramble back as far as I can go, trying to put as much distance between us as I can.
The guard towers over me, but I won’t go willingly. Not this time. The man wraps his hand around my arm and yanks me up from the floor, but I fight him every step of the way.
“Would you fucking stop—” he begins, but I kick out with my foot, making contact with whatever I can. A sharp pain hits my cheek, and my head swings to the side.
I openly glare at him, but I stop fighting. He drags me out of the cell and down the hall. I should be paying attention so I have a better chance at getting the hell out of here, but it’s hard when I’m terrified of what’s coming next.
When we get into the room, which is different from any room I’ve been in thus far, I see girls on cots lining the walls. Draped fabric separates each one, giving them an illusion of privacy as men take their turn with whatever girl they want.
I wrap my hands around my stomach, trying to keep everything down, but seeing everything going on here makes me sick. The women are so high that they have no idea what’s even happening to them, and the men don’t care if this is wrong or not, only using them for a warm hole.
Is this what’s going to happen to me?
My eyes land on Susie who’s standing near an empty cot at the end of the row, her hands on her hips.
The guard I arrived with drags me further into the room until I’m standing where Susie wants me. He shoves me forward and I fall onto the worn, dirty cot.
My head is still throbbing from when the man hit me with his gun.
The sound of skin slapping mixed with the grunts of nasty fucking men getting off solidifies my choice of not letting whatever is going to happen, happen.
I shoot up and make a run for the door. Susie starts yelling at the guards to grab me. I’m able to dodge one of them, but then an arm wraps around my waist and I cry out as he tightens his hold—but not before I manage to kick him as hard as I can in the dick.
Damn, I’m getting good at that.
He lets go of me and falls to the floor, cupping his junk.
I should’ve seen the other man sneak up behind me, but my focus was on the piece of shit in front of me.
I’m picked up and tossed down on the cot a lot harder this time, my head bouncing. My wrists and ankles are secured to the metal frame so tight I can’t even move an inch.
“Let me go!” I fight against them, and Susie only rolls her eyes, turning away from me and grabbing a small metal box from under the cot just as Peter strolls in.
“My favorite girl!” he says with a clap of his hands.
“Are you ready to get started? Susie here will get these clothes off of you! Let’s see everything under them.
” His eyes gleam with lust and all that’s going through my head is all the ways I want to end him.
“Then the nurse here will confirm whether or not you’re a virgin. ”
“What? Of course I’m not a fucking virgin!” I shout. “Why are you doing this?” I glare at him.
“Because you’re the prettiest one here. You’re going to make me a very, very rich man, Brielle.
” He smiles as if he’s doing hero work. “I’m so grateful for our dear Susie.
Without her, I wouldn’t have you right now.
” He looks between us before landing on me again, his eyes roaming up and down my body and stopping where my shirt has ridden up my stomach.
“She mentioned you one night. Told me how pretty you were, and her owing me money isn’t an option.
So getting the pretty girls was her job.
After scoring you, her debt is now paid in full.
” I look over at Susie and the feeling of betrayal runs deep inside me.
She looks at Peter like he’s a god, like he has all the answers she’s looking for.
Like I’m nothing compared to dirt under her shoe.
“I was so happy when Susie and Troy brought you in. If only your little boyfriend made it. He had so much potential.” Peter shakes his head in fake sadness. Meanwhile, my whole chest caves in.
“What?” My voice is barely there. “What do you mean?” I stutter, my breath scraping hard against my lungs.
Emris… No. No, no, no. My mind rejects the thought outright. There’s no way. I can’t—I don’t—
“He didn’t make it, my sweet Brielle. But he tried,” he says softly, way too softly. “He tried really hard to fight through it.” His words slam into me.
“D-don’t lie to m-me!” I thrash against the restraints, tears streaming down my face. “H-he’s fine! Emris is f-fine! H-he’s not dead!” The word feels like fucking poison.
I haven’t even had the chance to love him yet. Not really. Heat floods my body, blazing through my veins. The room closes in, pressing against me and the voices stacking on top of each other until there’s nothing but noise.
Peter keeps talking but I don’t know what he’s saying.
My chest heaves, every breath is a fight and every sob rips out of me like something has torn loose. I can’t stop shaking, can’t stop crying, can’t stop breaking.
Nothing can stop it.
Susie’s shrill voice is enough to bring me back in time to see Peter hand Troy a needle. “Peter! No! You said that it was mine!”
Where the fuck did Troy come from?
“I’ll make it feel better, Brielle. I promise,” Troy says, kneeling next to the cot. The tip of the needle enters a vein in my inner elbow and I can feel the effects instantly. My body stops shaking, and my head rolls to the side.
Maybe this is what I deserve. Maybe this was my path all along.
The fight I mentioned about wanting to live or die?
I choose death.