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Chapter1
Belle
The darkness in the room didn’t bother me. My eyes had adjusted to the small amount of light that came in from the crack under the door, so I wasn’t completely unable to see. Hell, even the steel cage around me wasn’t my biggest concern. I was used to being confined by now.
It was the cold that was really getting to me. It was winter, and my captors obviously didn’t care enough to turn up the heat. I was wearing a paper-thin white gown with narrow straps at the shoulders, that barely covered my ass. It provided no protection from the cool air in the room.
I shivered, bringing my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around my legs, trying desperately to keep what little warmth my body produced. It didn’t really help, and I wondered how much longer I would be here.
I couldn’t even guess how much time had passed since they had brought me to this place. I was somewhere just outside of London, but the location didn’t really matter. The thing I had to worry about was what would happen here.
I was being auctioned off.
I had been a part of a sex trafficking ring for three years, and this wasn’t my first time going through this process. I was a possession of these people. The men paid big money to use my body for their pleasure, abusing and violating me. When they grew tired of me, I always ended up in another cage, waiting for the next man to come along and take whatever he wanted.
There was a sniffle nearby, and I glanced in the sound's direction. It was another girl, locked in her own steel cage next to me. I saw her huddled on the concrete floor, shivering.
I wanted to say something to her, to offer some kind of comfort, but it wouldn’t do any good. We were property and our fate was grim. What words could make that any better?
I heard talking coming from outside of this dark room, the deep timbre of men’s voices drawing closer until the door opened. I flinched as bright light from the hallway washed over us, hurting my eyes after so long in this windowless room.
For a moment, I allowed myself to think that they were coming in to feed us. We only got food twice a day, and even then, it was usually just bread, old pasta, and water. Sometimes they threw in some vegetables. It was just enough to keep us alive.
It had only been a few hours since the last meal, so I knew it was unlikely that the men would feel especially generous and had brought up more food.
Sure enough, the two burly men went right to the other girl’s cage, unlocking it and dragging her out. I felt numb as I watched, listening to her plead with them not to take her. As bad as these cages were, she knew what awaited her was far worse.
She sounded so scared, and I wished I could help her, but it was impossible. Besides, I knew I was next. If they were taking her, that meant that the auction was being held tonight, and in a few hours we both would be bound to a monstrous man, our bodies no longer our own, and our existence shriveled up to nothing more than what lay between our legs.
The silence closed in on me when I was left alone again in the dark room. It was oppressive, and I fought to keep myself from panicking. I’d learned a long time ago that freaking out or fighting at the wrong moment would just get me hurt.
I wasn’t sure how much time passed before they came for me, but I heard their heavy footsteps in the hall as they approached. I took a deep breath just before the door opened, pushing all the anxiety I had deep down until it sat like a stone in my belly.
The men were rough with me, even though I didn’t fight them. I had plenty of resistance left in me, even after all this time, but I knew I couldn’t get away from these two. It would be foolish to try, and I wasn’t a foolish woman.
I had to wait for an opportunity. It had been a while since one had presented itself and back then, I hadn’t tried to get away because it would have meant leaving my sister behind. They held us in the same location for a long time, and we tried to help each other get through the horror of our situation.
My captors ripped Fiona away from me months ago and they refused to tell me where she went. She was just…gone.
Without her, I had nothing to keep me docile. I just needed an opportunity.
The men stood on the sides of me, each one holding my arm in a bruising grip as they led me down a hallway. They were in a hurry, so I didn’t have time to take in much of my surroundings before they dragged me into a room full of men.
There were dozens of them leering at me as I headed toward the stage. I stumbled up the steps and one man tightened his hold until I gasped in pain.
“Clumsy slut,” he muttered.
Then, I was released. I turned to face the crowd of men. I was no longer cold, but I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. My shoulders drew in and I ducked my head, wishing a hole would open up beneath my feet and swallow me whole.
How many men had used me in the last three years?
Too many to keep count. The only one that I remembered vividly was the first, the stranger that ripped away my innocence the day after my eighteenth birthday. That was the moment they introduced me to the true horrors of this world, and it stuck with me.
Now, I was going to become another man’s plaything. Just the thought of it made a fresh wave of panic wash over me. I couldn’t do it again. I justcouldn’t.
This life was destroying me.
There was talking that I barely noticed. I was too busy silently begging any deity that would listen for a miracle. I had to get out of this situation.
