Chapter 18
Mylah
My back aches from where I was beaten with the belt. It burns, and there is nothing I can do about it except lie here on my stomach and pray the pain stops.
I haven’t eaten in days. I won’t do his workouts that require us to do. I defy him at every turn, and I’m punished for it. I’ve been cuffed to this table for days, only let off long enough to use the bathroom and him to order me around. I still don’t do what he says.
My body aches. It hurts from being stretched out on this table and I can’t seem to get comfortable at all.
I hear the door creak, and I know that someone is coming.
I close my eyes and pray that this doesn’t end in another beating because I don’t know how much more I can take.
I refuse to do what he wants me to do, though.
I turn my head, and I can see the other girl sitting quietly on the floor where she’s chained and naked. She hasn’t moved much in the time that I’ve been down here. She lies down and sleeps, but that’s it. It makes me wonder what he’s done to her.
“We have a buyer,” Padgett says as he comes to sit near my head. I refuse to look at him. “Did you hear what I said?” I still ignore him until he presses his hand down on my cheek. Pain shoots through my face as I finally move my eyes to meet his.
“Who?”
“Does it matter? This man, well, he may be worse than I am.” No one could be worse than him.
No one. But what if there is someone worse?
What more could they do to me? I’ve been beaten and abused.
I shiver from the thought of someone worse than this asshole, but at the same time, maybe I can find a way out of there easier than I did here.
Maybe I won’t be cuffed to a table there.
“Whatever you’re thinking, don’t. The man that's purchasing you likes the fighters. He likes the ones that are hard to break,” he tells me as my skin crawls. This is bad, isn’t it? My heart beats a little faster now that I think about it.
“I still won’t do what he wants me to do.” Now Padgett chuckles and stares at me.
“You will, or things will be much worse for you. You know, a fighter like you is worth a pretty penny to some.” I don’t say a word. I won’t give him the satisfaction of it. So I lay here.
“Hector,” the asshole calls to his man once again.
Hector walks over and uncuffs my hands and feet.
I immediately sit up and wiggle them around to get some feeling back in them when I’m ripped off the table and forced to stand.
I refuse yet again. I let my body relax and drop to the floor, not making this easier on any of them.
Hector growls and bends over and hoists me over his shoulder before walking toward the stairs.
Padgett isn’t far behind us as we step back into the main part of the house.
Hector stands me on my feet once more, and this time I allow it. That’s when I notice it. Someone is standing there with a mask over their face and their arms crossed over their chest.
“This her?” The man asks, looking to Padgett.
“This is her. You’ll have to excuse the blood and such, as this one isn’t very cooperative,” he says as the masked man walks toward me.
I feel uneasy. My stomach sinks as I think about everything.
Why is he wearing a mask? What’s he going to do to me?
I won’t let him win either. I will fight this. I will fight him.
The man walks around me, noting the mess on my back but not commenting on it. He comes to stand in front of me and rests a hand on my shoulder.
“Kneel.” It’s a demand and one I’m not willing to take. I shake my head and listen as the man chuckles. Then he shoves me roughly to my knees in front of him. My knees hurt from hitting the floor but I won’t let them see the pain in me. Not anymore.
“As I said. This one isn’t very cooperative. Are you sure you wouldn’t like one that is a little more trained? She is new after all.”
“No. I like the ones that won’t break.”
“Well, then this is the right choice,” Padgett says. I cringe. I’m being sold again. To whom? This strange man in a mask? What’s he going to do with me?
“She’ll do just fine,” the man says as he snaps his fingers. Other men in masks move in and yank me off the floor before dragging my kicking and screaming body across the room and out the front door. The warm outside air hits me hard, but I continue to fight.
“Calm down,” one of them says when we’re close to a van. Fuck him. I will not calm down. I will fight harder. I try to jerk my arms away from them, kicking at them until they have to grab my ankles and carry my naked body the rest of the way.
The back of the van opens, and I’m placed gently inside before it’s slammed shut.
“Mylah?” His voice. It’s him. I jerk my head around to see Tide moving toward me. Instantly, I leap from the floor and throw myself into his waiting arms and cry. How is he here? What’s he doing here? Where did he come from?
“You’re here,” I cry into his shoulder.
“I’m here, baby. I’m here.”
“How are you here? Who bought me?”
“Patch did. Everything’s gonna be okay now.”
“I can’t believe that you’re here,” I cry harder as I hold onto him. Tide wraps his arms around me, ready to hold me when I cry out from the pain. He instantly pulls away and spins me around to look at me.
“He did this to you?”
“I wouldn’t do what he wanted me to do. I wouldn’t be his victim.”
“Fuck, Mylah.”
“I couldn’t do it, or I would have broken, Tide. I refused to let him do that to me.” He pulls me back into him, careful where he puts his hands this time.
“I’ll kill him.”
“You can’t do that. You can’t leave me alone,” I beg him. He’ll go to prison if they find out. He can’t do that. He can’t leave me now.
“I’m not leavin’ you. I’m never leavin’ you,” he whispers near my ear. I nuzzle my face into his neck and sigh when I hear the others getting in the van. It doesn’t take but a second before we’re taking off and away from that place.
“There are other girls,” I whisper.
“I know but we can’t get them right now.”
“He beats them, Tide.”
“We’re gonna get them out, Mylah, but first I need to take care of you.” His words mean everything to me. I know Tide will do exactly what he said he’ll do.
I let him hold me the rest of the ride. I don’t say a word because I don’t know what to say.
I don’t know how he’s here. I don’t know how he got away from the assholes that took us to begin with.
I have so many questions, but none of them matter right now.
All that matters is that I’m here, breathing and safe in his arms.
“You’re okay,” he whispers as tears fall down my cheeks, wetting his shirt. I hold on for dear life. I don’t think I can let him go after this. I don’t want to.
“You’re gonna be okay,” he says once more. And I believe him. I’m going to be okay now.