Taken

by Sarah Jayne Harry

  "I want to go back to my cell." I tell him, with as strong a voice as possible. I don't want to be alone with him, not when I’m vulnerable like this.

  He just smirks again, and I watch in horror as he unfastens the button on his trousers and kicks them off, along with his boxers. His hands grip my thighs tightly as he pushes my knees apart further. I begin to struggle, trying to get out of the restraints.

  "NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME! DON’T TOUCH ME!" I scream at him and I try to kick my legs at him.

  I let out a deafening scream as he invades my opening, pushing himself inside me. The pain is unbearable as my walls are stretched apart for the first time. Tears roll down my face.

  "Please." I whisper, "Stop." he doesn't listen.

  My body writhes as the pain grows, my voice cracks from my cries, my throat raw from my screams.

  He grunts and groans as he continues to move inside me. I beg and beg for him to stop as his hands roam over my body. He mutters a few words as he quickens his pace.

  He lays there for a moment when he's finished. I watch as he puts his trousers on.

  "Why?" I ask him, my voice weak.

  He stands with his back towards me and then without a single glance, he walks out the door. I stare at where he had been just seconds ago.

  When the door opens again, my body freezes in fear, but it's not him, it's just the nurse. I let out a sigh of relief. She quietly comes over to my side and removes the straps from around my wrists and ankles and then tells me to get dressed. I wonder if she had left before because Damien had told her to. On wobbly legs, I do as I'm told and quickly get dressed.

  Outside the door I find Scarface leaning against the wall. If he knows what just happened inside that room, he doesn't show it, instead he takes me back to my cell. My body is sore and tired so it takes a bit longer.

  Once there, my mind replays what happened over and over. I look up at the window and make a mark on the wall. I have only been here four days but it feels like so much longer.

  That night I don't sleep, instead I listen to the girls sleeping, almost soundlessly, and think about my family. Mum would be at home, baking, she does that when she's scared and upset. Dad would be shouting at someone, demanding answers about what is being done to find me. Karen? I know she will be hurting and I hope she's OK, I know she will be worrying until I'm home again, so will Josh. Josh. I sigh. How I miss him. I dream of being in his warm embrace.

  I send another prayer up to the heavens as I sit back in the corner of my new home, watching the guards and listening to the nights noise until the sun comes up.

  CHAPTER 11

  The next morning, my whole body aches and I can barely move my neck without a burst of pain. My bones protest at any slight movement and I see I have large purple bruises on my legs and my hips in the shape of handprints, thanks to Damien’s visit. I stay in the corner, hoping no one will see, but of course, luck isn't on my side.

  "What happened to your legs?" Laura asks me sometime after lunch is delivered. My stomach growls and I quickly finish up whatever was in the bowl. It tasted disgusting and looked like roadkill but my body is weak so I finish it all.

  I notice Laura still looking at me from her cell and I remember she asked me a question.

  "What did you say?" I ask her.

  "What happened to your legs?" my face pales slightly at revealing the truth. Has it happened to them? I look over at Susan to find her watching me too, she looks at me then a look of sadness and understanding flashes across her face. Do they know?

  "It's OK." Susan calls over, "They've done it to all of us." she tells me and I see a single tear slide down her cheek.

  “Who was it?” one of girls nearby asks. I tell them it was Damien and she in turn tells me that Damien hasn’t done that before to anyone here. It makes me wonder why he chose me, again.

  “Did they take you to see her?” Susan asks. I realise she means the Russian lady. My hand instinctively goes up to my neck and I wince in pain as my fingers brush against my new mark.

  “Have you seen her too?” I ask. She simply turns her head then and lifts her hair off her shoulders. And there, just below her hairline, close to her ear, I see the same mark that, what I assume, is on my own neck. I look closer and see it’s the letter ‘D' in cursive lettering with a number below it.

  “We all have one.” she tells me, “It’s how he keeps track of us all.”

  Just then, Laura grabs my hand through the bars and squeezes. That small gesture restores a little bit of hope in my heart and I know, without a doubt, that these girls have my back. I smile weakly at both girls and they spend the rest of the day cheering me up.

  I never thought I'd say this but in the small amount of time I have been here, these girls have become like family.

  ✽✽✽

  Weeks pass. We spend every day talking about our lives, hopes and future dreams, because we will get out of here.

  "Alright, ladies." I startle as a voice booms from the door. I notice the other girls scrambling to the backs of their cells.

  The man, who I've never seen before, is huge, nothing but muscle. His dark hair falls just below his ears and he has dark eyes that skim over us all.

  He motions to the guards to unlock the doors of our cells as more men enter the room. They each take a cell and grab each of us by the arm before dragging us out the door.

  I frantically search for Laura or Susan but don't see them. I turn to the girl next to me. Amber, I think her name is.

  "What's going on?" I ask her.

  "Shower time." she says but somehow, from the look on her face, I know it's not a good thing.

  The shower room turns out to be a wide-open locker space, like you see in prisons. Showerheads line the walls, no stalls and no doors blocking us from the men's view.

  "You know the drill ladies!" another voice shouts, "You have 20 minutes. Get to it." he turns and leaves but another guard replaces him and stands watch.

  I eventually find Laura, making my way over to her, I ask what's happening.

  "Just before the men come in and take one of us," she starts, "we take a shower to clean ourselves up, while they clean our cells. We have to look taken care of so someone wants us." she tells me and I suddenly get a bad feeling. Are we being sold off to old men and used for their pleasure?

  Now it all makes sense. We were kidnapped and are being sold into human trafficking. I know it happens and I always prayed for those girls who were taken from their families when I saw their picture on the news. Now I am one of those pictures too. We have to do something. We can't let another girl get taken. I use my shower time to think of a plan.

  I watch as all the girls grab a bag from a shelf and find a showerhead, then they start to undress. A few minutes later, I grab a bag for myself and find a free showerhead, one that’s furthest from the door, I swallow the lump in my throat and remove my clothes. I don't miss the whistles and comments the guards make when they look in at us. I feel queasy.

  A look inside the bag reveals a small bottle of coconut shampoo, a small bottle of strawberry body wash, a rough sponge and a razor.

  I put some body wash on the sponge and scrub it over my body until I'm red raw. It feels good to be clean. Next, I squeeze some shampoo into my hand and work it into my hair, massaging my scalp. When I am all clean and I have washed all the suds from my body, I pull out the razor; for a moment the world stops, the thought of ending all of this crosses my mind. One long swipe, just deep enough, and it will all be over, but then I think of my family, I can’t do that to them, I must fight. Instead, I clear my mind of all bad thoughts and quickly shave my legs and underarms. When I have finished, I stand under the warm spray of water for a few more minutes before turning off the water and grabbing a towel from a cabinet and drying off. Then, once everyone has finished showering and our time is up, I huddle close to the girls as we are led around the corner to another room.

  Inside looks like a salon. On one side of the room there are sta
tions with hairdryers, creams, sprays and drawers full of makeup. On the other side of the room, there are rails of clothes and stands of jewellery.

  I'm pushed towards the hair and makeup section first and when I'm in a chair, women surround me with all kinds of beauty tools.

  Afterwards, I'm directed to the clothes and I turn my nose up at what I see. Nothing but dresses to pimp us out. It’s looks like we don’t get to pick what we wear either, because each hanger has a name on. I scroll through the fabric and pull out the hanger with my name on, a sparkling, dark blue, halter neck dress that stops just above the knee, with a corset bodice and a flowing trail that comes to my ankles. With no other choice, I put on the dress and then wait.

  CHAPTER 12

  I'm standing back in my cell now.

  My hair has been swept up into a messy bun with strands of hair framing my face, I have a little make up on, just a bit of concealer and lip gloss. If the circumstances where different, I would feel glamorous, instead, I feel sick to my stomach.

  The cells have indeed been cleaned. The floor now s and smells of lemon and a very strong air freshener has been sprayed around. It smells of fresh air.

  A couple of hours later, once all the girls are back in the cells, a man walks in. He's short with aged skin and greying hair that’s swept back to one side. His eyes are alert as he looks around the room.

  Behind him, stand four guards, two of which I recognise, Scarface and... Damien. My body recoils at the sight of him, I see him staring at me and smirking. I divert my eyes and strain to listen to what this man has to say.

  "Hello, ladies." he speaks in a deep, loud and clear voice. "For those of you who don't know me," he looks at me then since I'm the only new girl. "my name is Dante and I'm in charge around here." he looks at each and every one of us and shivers run up my spine as our eyes meet. So, this is Dante.

  "You sick bastard." I say it without thinking but I don’t regret it. I put all the hatred I feel inside me and pour it into my eyes as I glare at him.

  "Now, now, Tayla. There's no need for name calling." he says with an ugly smile on his face. He then carries on with his speech. "As I was saying. You all know by now what's about to happen. When my business associates enter, you will not speak unless spoken to. You will not leave your cell until directed and you will not try anything unless you want to take a trip to the infirmary." He stares us down and I see some of the girls cower in fear. The infirmary, I learn, also works as the morgue.

  He indicates to the door and a guard opens it up. A moment later about ten men walk in, all wearing business suits, all from different backgrounds and ethnicities, all looking serious, like this is a very important business deal.

  "Enjoy gentleman and I will see you shortly." Dante tells them, he whispers something to the guard at the door then disappears. The men don't respond in any way, instead they walk around the room, stopping at one cell and then moving to the next. It makes me sick, they are basically shopping for sex slaves.

  A man stops in front of my door and leers at me. My eyes stay glued to the floor, but I still feel his eyes as they roam over my face and body, then he moves to look inside the next cell, Laura's cell. She looks absolutely beautiful. She's wearing a black floor length gown and her dark hair curls around her shoulders. I pray the man moves on.

  About 15 minutes later and the guards open our cell doors and we all step out into a line. The escape plan I have is almost in motion. Laura told me during the shower earlier what to expect on these days. For ten minutes, we are let out of our cages so the men can grab and fondle us. We aren’t restrained or anything.

  We had three hours to think of a plan and make sure everyone knew and were ready to put it in action. Our plan is simple, we use whatever weapons we could find, mostly the bigger rocks that we found on the floor and our fists, and when we are let out, we attack, try to injure as many as we can, then we bolt up the stairs. It’s not far to the entrance that I came in when I first arrived. I'm sure I would have no problem finding it again.

  Laura told me that the men who come to see us don’t carry any weapons, and the guards only carry stun guns, nothing that can actually kill us. Guess it’s so they don’t have to go through the difficult process of getting rid of our bodies. This makes our plan only a little bit easier. There are only five guards in the room, it will still be extremely difficult to put them down but I have hope.

  As a man lingers and touches my body, it takes everything I have not to punch him in the face, I close my eyes and count to ten. I catch the eye of a few of the other girls and give a slight nod, then we act.

  Screams of surprise fill the air as we move against the guards. The men are not much of a threat at this point so we will deal with them after. Punches are thrown and rocks are smashed against heads. I dodge the chaos that goes on around me and make my way over to the guard by the door. He is the one we need to get rid of if this plan is going to work.

  He's surprised when I jump out in front of him, and with the adrenaline rushing through my body, I waste no time in driving my fist into his nose as hard as I can, I wince as pain radiates through my hand. The guard is stunned and I use that moment to knee him in the groin, he falls to the floor in pain.

  A moment later, I scream in agony as something sharp pierces my side, I see the same guard holding a knife, now covered in my blood. I quickly grab a fist sized rock off the floor and smash it into the back of his head, he goes down instantly. I ignore the pain as I turn around to search for another guard.

  That’s when I come face to face with Damien. Instead of being scared however, I let out all the anger I have built up inside me and attack him. I punch and kick but he doesn't seem fazed, so I go with option number two, I knee him hard in the groin as well. I'd be surprised if he could still have kids after this. He groans in pain and slowly falls to his knees. I hold the rock firmly in my hand and as hard as I can, I hit him over the head.

  I turn to check on the other girls. A few are on the ground, their bodies spasm from being tasered, but they quickly recover. The others, however, are doing well, I watch as a few fight with the guards in what seems to be some kind of martial arts combat. I can’t help but be impressed. I wonder how many of them know how to fight.

  Sometime later, once all the men are unconscious, I motion for the girls to be quiet and slowly open the door. I make my way to the top of the stairs, when I see the coast is clear, I motion for them to follow. I carefully lead them around a few corners and eventually down the corridor I came down that day.

  "HEY! STOP!" I hear behind us, we look and see two guards running towards us.

  "RUN!" I scream at the girls and we bolt down the corridor just as we hear more guards coming towards us. Just in front of me I can see the large doors that lead outside and we quicken our pace.

  Surprisingly, the doors are unlocked and we waste not time in going through them, not thinking about what could be on the other side.

  We all fall outside into the sunlight.

  My eyes sting from the sudden brightness and my eyes begin to water. I see the girls shielding their own eyes from the onslaught of light. When we can see clearly, we run.

  ✽✽✽

  Opposite the warehouse is a forest and we all run towards it, the guards are closing in on us and we move fast. The thick trees shield us from the sun, hiding us in shadows as we move deeper through the forest.

  BANG!

  The noise stops me cold. The guards have got real guns now. I hear one of the girls gasp and then she's on the floor, blood appearing on the fabric on her back. My heart races and my breath gets caught. I look at her lifeless body, horrified. The other girls fall down next to her, sobbing.

  I think her name was Mia. We had never spoken to each other, her cell was on the opposite side of the room from mine. It still hurts though, knowing she won't ever make it back home

  "We have to move." I shout at them, wiping the tears from my own eyes. Nobody moves. "Come on, we have to go." they slowly
get back to their feet, then we continue to move forward.

  BANG!

  BANG!

  Two more girls go down. I hear the terrified screams of the others, then everyone scatters in all directions. I try to keep us all together, but it's no use, they're gone.

  BANG!

  I run as fast as I can, moving quickly between the trees. I stop to catch my breath. Pain shoots through my body and I remember the knife wound, I wince as I try and stop the bleeding.

  As I bolt through the forest, everything is silent and I worry about the girls, I haven't seen anyone for at least ten minutes. I haven't heard anything either, no more gunshots or screams, so I pray they are OK.

  I get further into the trees and I start to believe that freedom is close but I only get a few more steps and then that belief vanishes.

  "Tayla." a voice shouts out from the darkness, and I know they’re close. "Give up, Tayla, you can't escape us." I watch over my shoulder as Damien steps out of the shadows.

  I hear him switch the safety off on his gun and soon I'm surrounded by men, all of them pointing a gun at my head.

  They step closer and then someone hits me over the head with his weapon.

  CHAPTER 13

  I wake up to a pounding in my head. When my eyes adjust to the light, I find myself back in my cell. I bolt upright, ignoring the wave of dizziness and look in the other cells. All accounted for except for four. My heart breaks.

  A stab of pain in my side reminds me of my injuries. I notice I have been changed out of the dress I was wearing and into another pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I check the wound on my stomach only to find it has been cleaned and stitched up. They must have done it after they knocked me out and brought me back here. I test the limit of my movements, I can’t fully lift my hands above my head but I don’t see why I would need to do that anyway.

  I take another look at the empty cells, particularly the one on my left. Susan's cell. The tears fall freely now as I weep. They died for nothing. We couldn't escape Dante's men.