by Kitty Thomas
Dmitri said something in Russian and the guard backed down. “Do you want to eat?” Dmitri asked Carmen.
She was silent. Umiko cried quietly in her bunk.
“I did everything the client wanted,” Umiko said.
“Silence!” Dmitri said. “Everyone but Umiko eats.”
Several men came in with food. Nothing fancy. Mostly sandwiches and things that had come out of cans. They put the food on the ground closest to the door. Then a few more came in with bottles of water.
Slowly the girls got up from their bunks and went to get food and water. There were whistles and taunting in Russian from the guards, but Julie couldn’t see how it would be any less horrible if they were still wearing lingerie. Either way, they were all meat to these men.
Julie stood out conspicuously as the only female in the room who wasn’t naked. She also didn’t make a move toward the food, afraid to call too much attention to herself. Besides, she’d eaten at work. It wasn’t as though she were starving.
Work. Dani’s already seemed like a lifetime and worlds away. It seemed impossible that that life and this one could exist at the same time on the same planet without some complete breakdown of all the laws of physics.
A gentle kind of shock had set in. It would be normal to scream or cry or be defiant, but she had the very strong sense that she wouldn’t survive long if she did any of those things. These guys didn’t need her breathing. They could just drag somebody else in off the street. And as had already been made plain to her by the other girls, nobody was going to be that excited by an American on the menu here.
Julie thought if she was quiet enough she could blend into the background and somehow put off the inevitable. She could barely allow the inevitable to form into words in her head. She tried to tamp down lost virginity and assault. Especially the combination of those two things. And that one ugly word that she couldn’t bring herself to contemplate that unified everything into one searing grisly thought.
But when she pushed away the words, what rushed in to replace them were images. And that was much worse.
Finally Dmitri’s eyes landed on her. “Who is this? Who brought her here?”
There was a long pause. Finally, Aleksei spoke. “I brought her. Her name is Julie. She got me kicked out of the bar she works at.”
Dmitri rounded on him, and suddenly any pretext of refinement dropped from his manner. He began to speak in fast, clipped Russian. Whatever he said was bad enough that the large terrifying man with the snake tattoo on his neck actually shrank back. Then Dmitri backhanded him across the face like a pimp might hit the woman he was abusing.
The other guards chuckled. Aleksei glared, but not at Dmitri. His glare instead landed on Julie.
“Feed her. After everyone eats, bring her upstairs to me.”
Now that she could no longer escape their notice anyway, Julie went to get food and water and took it back to her bunk. The guards watched them as they ate, but after a few minutes in this hellish tension, Julie noticed something strange. When the attention of the guards was turned away for a moment some of the others would hide a bit of food away in their blankets, different women making their move at different times as the guards’ focus swept back and forth over the room like security flood lights. Several girls were doing this. Julie did it, too. Because she was sure it was for the Japanese girl.
The little bits they could squirrel away and the risks no doubt taken, couldn’t keep Umiko well fed, even as tiny as she was, but it would keep her from starving. Carmen saw Julie hide a small bit of her food and smiled and nodded her approval.
Despite the mild arguments Julie had witnessed earlier, in the end, there was no us and them among the girls. It was them versus their captors. It was how they’d all survived this long, how any of them had maintained a semblance of a personality. It was the source of any sense of normality Julie had witnessed in this underground cave and the source of any normality she would know from this point onward.
When everyone had eaten, the guards started to file out of the room, one of them turning off the lights on his way out, casting them into total darkness. A flashlight came on, the circle of light growing larger and larger. Then someone she was sure was Aleksei grabbed her roughly off the lower bunk and dragged her out of the room while she struggled and stumbled to keep up.
Behind the steel door was a long hallway, still underground. The hallway was well lit and guarded. There weren’t just armed guards at the door. They lined the whole impossibly long hallway which led to the one way out—a wide set of concrete steps that went up into another kind of darkness.
Aleksei didn’t speak to her until they were halfway up the stairs. She was sure he was leaving a bruise on her arm from the tight grip he had on her. When he finally spoke, he said, “You should have taken me up on my offer and gone on a date with me. I would have been very good to you.”
Julie didn’t believe that crap for a minute. She doubted he knew how to be truly good to anyone. Particularly anyone female. But she was smart enough to know that the best thing to say to him was nothing. It was the choice that might keep her alive the longest.
And yet, with the unending nightmare that lay ahead and the near certainty of an ignoble death at the end of it, she wondered if it might not be better to fight and rebel... go out in a blaze of glory. If they were so quick to kill these girls, maybe that would be the best option to take. But stupidly, she focused on the idea Carmen had planted in her head that there could be some authorities out there who suspected Dmitri’s crimes... people who were putting together a case, who might find and rescue her.
For some absurd reason, Julie had expected to be taken up to a fancy office or a conference room. In a twisted way it made sense. Dmitri was the boss. So he must have a nice office. Maybe he liked to make threats or lay down the law from there. But she wasn’t taken to an office or conference room. Instead, she was led to a large, ornate bedroom. Two scary looking guards with guns stood outside the room. They didn’t glance her way. Their eyes were focused straight ahead as if there were something particularly interesting on the wall of the other side of the hallway.
Inside, Dmitri sat on the edge of a large king-sized bed in a plush black bathrobe. “Leave us,” he said.
Aleksei released Julie’s arm and gave her a long dark look that was half lascivious intent and half pure murderous rage. He bent and whispered in her ear, “Don’t get it in your head that you will sleep tonight. When he’s through with you... it’s my turn.”
He pulled back and looked into her eyes, a satisfied smirk curving his lips as he enjoyed her terror at the prospect. This... thing... this... inevitability she’d thought she could put off was happening tonight. And though she definitely didn’t want to lose her virginity right now to Dmitri, she didn’t want to ever be alone with Aleksei under any circumstances. There was something in him that was deeply not right—far beyond the criminality of this enterprise he was engaged in.
She thought of Gabe suddenly, and she didn’t know how she knew, but she knew there was something about Aleksei that was like that thing she’d seen inside Gabe, the thing that had scared her. Except she was sure Aleksei was far worse. Given the choice between them, she knew she would have run to Gabe. No question.
Dmitri said something sharp in Russian which was probably a repetition of the order to leave because Aleksei gave him a dirty look and then sauntered out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
A couple of moments later a bang of gunfire sounded out in the hallway, and Julie heard the sound of a body dropping onto the ground outside the door. She released a startled scream and then rushed to cover her mouth, trying her hardest to be quiet. Her gaze slid to Dmitri on the edge of the bed. He hadn’t moved the slightest inch. He wasn’t ruffled or disturbed or surprised. Instead, he smiled mildly in her direction.
“That has been coming for a long time. Aleksei was never one of my best. It was well past time to retire him.” Dmitri patted the spot beside h
im on the bed.
Julie couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe or speak or think. The only sign of life coming from her were the relentless tears racing down her cheeks.
“Do not make me raise my voice.”
Behind the door she heard movement, then it faded away. What if both of the guards had dragged Aleksei’s body off? What if there was no one guarding it? Rationally she was sure the safest choice would be to go to Dmitri and do whatever he said, try to appease him. But the gnawing certainty that she might have a chance to get out of this place wouldn’t let her make that choice.
Instead, she bolted for the door and flung it open. Her hunch was right, the hallway was empty for now. A large pool of blood soaked into the carpet outside the door, and a trail of gruesome red went down the hall in one direction. If she followed that trail, she’d get outside, but she might run straight into the guards. She turned and ran the other way.
She’d half-expected Dmitri to come tearing out of the bedroom after her, but there was no sound of a door opening and slamming. No shouting. No footsteps pounding after her. She found a small, unassuming staircase on the back end of the hallway.
Julie raced down the darkened staircase, sensing each step below her rather than seeing it. The bottom of the stairs opened out into a large, industrial kitchen. Empty. Could it be possible that all of Dmitri’s men were either guarding the basement or disposing of Aleksei’s body?
She opened a door in the kitchen that led outside. The night was calm and quiet with a cold nip in the air. Her breath came out in puffs of white cloud in front of her. Brilliant stars sparkled overhead. In the distance, she heard an owl. The contrast between this and the basement she’d woken up in was so dramatic that it took a moment to orient herself to the peaceful beautiful reality outside Dmitri’s house.
The property was vast and seemed to stretch on forever, but in the distance was a huge patch of trees that might offer a temporary safety. She started to run for the cover of those trees when seemingly out of nowhere guards converged on her from three different directions, blocking her escape.
“Back to the house,” one of them said, his accent so thick and harsh, she barely understood him.
They were all large and armed. Another of the guards put his finger in the air and revolved it to indicate she must turn around now. It seemed probable that some of them didn’t understand English. Deflated, she turned and went back, the guards in a tight formation around her. Oddly, they didn’t manhandle her as Aleksei had—maybe under direct orders from the top. But they also didn’t give her the smallest shred of hope that she could slip past them and escape, either.
They escorted her back to Dmitri’s room, and this time she knew guards would stay in the hall outside. Dmitri seemed not to have moved from his perch on the edge of the bed during all this, like time from his perspective had paused and resumed when she was returned to him. His expression was still mild. He patted the spot beside him again, this time with only a fraction more impatience.
“Julie, let us be civil.”
Of course, the calm-psychopath-to-normal-person translation of that was, be a compliant good girl so I don’t have to become violent. Play this charade with me where you are the one making the problems for yourself, and I am the one doing you a favor.
Having run out of options, Julie sat on the edge of the bed next to him, her hands trembling on her lap. She cringed when he stroked her hair and moved a strand of it behind her ear. He had impossibly long, elegant fingers—like a concert pianist. Without the stark evidence of armed guards in the house, she might not have been able to bring herself to believe Dmitri was a bad man.
If one only looked at his hands, they would assume a genteel respectability. But the cold, hard glint in his eyes told the rest of the story, which was why she couldn’t bring herself to look into his eyes.
Dmitri sighed. “If I had been a better judge of character, Aleksei would have never been in my employ, and you would not be in this house. Unfortunately, we cannot set you free, and I am a businessman. You will make me money. If you don’t make me money there is plenty of room in the ground next to Aleksei. Am I being clear?”
“Y-yes.”
“Good. You’ll start work tomorrow night. Can I assume that you are fully schooled in how to please a man?”
Julie gaped at him, her vocal chords having given up the attempt at speech.
Dmitri chuckled. “You’re an American bartender in your early twenties. I expect you’ve been... what’s that charming American saying? Around the block a few times?”
He was assuming she was a slut. Remembering what Carmen had said downstairs she nodded quickly. It was better that he thought she knew what was what. It was better if she didn’t stand out as anything startlingly unique here.
“Do you have any tattoos?” he asked.
“No.”
“Any unusual or unattractive scars?”
“No.”
“Undress. I want to see for myself. So many American college girls are simply riddled with tattoos and piercings these days. I find it grotesque.”
“Please, I swear I don’t have any.”
“Don’t create problems for me, Julie. I’m already angry that Aleksei brought you here. It is a kindness that I’m considering letting you stay with us.”
Why had the guards brought her back in the first place? If Dmitri felt this way, why not let them gun her down outside and be done with it? He was playing with her, squeezing the smallest amount of amusement he could manage out of the situation at hand.
“And if I refuse?” she asked.
“I can tell you are a smart girl. I’m sure you’ve figured out that I won’t hesitate to remove problems from my house.”
Death now or death later? Short of an unlikely rescue mission, survival wasn’t an option. Julie didn’t know how long Dmitri had been running this game, but he wasn’t going to keep any whores past their sell-by date. That meant at some point she’d die here. Shouldn’t that point be now? Wouldn’t it spare her unnecessary and pointless suffering and trauma?
But the girls downstairs had found a way to survive this, not just physically but mentally. And Umiko had been like her. If she could hang on, maybe rescue would come.
“My patience is at an end. Strip and show me you have no tattoos or piercings, or I’m afraid we can’t give you the job.” He said this like she’d filled out an application to work in his brothel.
Julie glanced around the room, looking for some kind of weapon, but Dmitri wasn’t new at this, and he had to know the trail her thoughts might go down. There was this idea hanging out inside her mind that if she could leave some permanent scar on him at least, she would somehow win. Even if she died in the commission of that task. He would always carry the mark she’d left.
Dmitri sighed again. “Very well. If that’s your decision.”
“No. Wait.”
He seemed bored. “I’m finished waiting.”
Julie stood and slowly removed her clothes. She closed her eyes, pretending that as long as she couldn’t see Dmitri, he couldn’t see her. And maybe if he didn’t make her look in his eyes while she did this, she could do this. It was just the human body. There was nothing wrong with the human body. And yet all that religious nonsense swirling through her brain made the act of nudity seem like the worst violation and shame—though she knew more and far worse things were coming.
“Good. Turn all the way around slowly.”
She turned.
“I’m satisfied. You are on probation. Do not disappoint me.” He said this as if prostituting her out to strangers was the greatest favor to her. “You can go back downstairs with the other girls now. Leave your clothes. You won’t be needing them.”
She’d expected Dmitri to do much more than look at her. She’d been sure in a very short time, he’d know her secret and Carmen’s laundry plan would be dead before it was off the ground.
Julie didn’t have time to feel relief at the brief reprieve. She
was too painfully aware of her nudity and the guards outside the door. But though they made comments, and stared, they took her back downstairs according to their orders without touching her.
When they reached the door to the giant cell the others were being kept in, one of the guards said: “Dmitri does not like us to sample new girls before the clients. But... soon.”
Julie flinched and jerked away and stumbled back into the cell when he grabbed at her exposed breast. In response, he only laughed.
Inside, a guard with a flashlight led her back to her bunk and then went away. The room had gone quiet but not everyone was sleeping. Julie was sure she heard crying—the occasional quiet sniffle. She wanted to pretend someone or several someones had a cold or allergies. No one acknowledged the crying. None of it was really happening.
Julie didn’t want to sleep. If she slept, morning would come faster which would lead into the following night where she knew bad things would happen.
She tried desperately to pretend that this was something she’d chosen. She tried to play along with Dmitri’s framing of things. It was a job. She tried to pretend that she was a high-end escort making a ridiculous amount of money, and that it was no big deal. She told herself imaginary stories about the vast experience she had with men to the point that it was all casual and nothing to her.
In the bunk next to hers, she heard Carmen praying in Spanish. Carmen was so quiet and so quick with her words that Julie couldn’t pick out anything, but the fervent focus that came from that bunk convinced her that these exact words were spoken each night with this same sharp intensity. And for minutes at a time, Julie could will herself to believe that the virgin Mary heard these prayers and that plans were being made on some other plane of existence to bring down bloody vengeance upon these monsters.
But when Julie closed her eyes, she didn’t see Mary or angels. She saw Gabe. She imagined that fierce intensity and strength she’d been afraid of only a couple of weeks ago being aimed at the men here. She made up a story in her head where he somehow found her and rescued her from Dmitri and his gang. She imagined he would take her away somewhere and take care of her, and somehow everything would be okay. She replayed the story over and over, adding more details each time until, without realizing it, she’d lulled herself off to sleep. The fantasy of Gabe merged smoothly into a dream of him that was only lightly sprinkled with disembodied angry Spanish curses.