Page 22 of Freeing Souls

“That’s two fucking weeks away,” Noah says.

“Yeah. It gets worse. Once you enter in all your information, it gives you an option to rent, buy, or trade. We selected buy—” Nerds says as he turns his laptop screen around to face the room so they can all see what comes next.

“What the fuck!” Ryker shouts and paces the back of the room. Everyone in the room announces how disgusted they are, and they end up looking away.

Not Harley, though. Her eyes stay glued to the screen, and she inches forward slowly, like she is afraid the screen is going to attack her. When she finally bends down in front of the laptop, she hoovers her hand over the down arrow and glances at me. I nod and watch as she starts scrolling, staring at countless terrified faces of people being trafficked.

There is a box for each person showing their picture, age, race, a number instead of a name, and then aclick for morebutton. When you click on it, it shows more images, descriptions—things I wish I could unsee. Tears gather in the corners of my eyes, but I do my best to blink them away and focus on Harley, who is still scrolling.

Luckily, she hasn’t clicked on any of them to see more information. Rage, noticing how silent his daughter is, moves towards her and places a hand on her shoulder. “Harley, maybe you shouldn’t–”

She’s already shaking her head. “I have to. I need to see all of them.”

“What happens next?” Sugar questions in a hoarse voice, his face devoid of any emotion.

“You select your top three options, then you pay your fees on the next page. After that, it gives you a passcode. You have to come back three days prior to the ball for more information accessed by entering your given code.”

“What can we do? How can we save all these people?” Ryker asks.

Rage looks at Nerds. “I’m assuming you and Grayson have some kind of plan?”

He nods. “We have some ideas about getting a few people in as buyers. But we’d need unknown people we can trust. Without knowing who is running this whole thing or who may be there, we can’t risk any of us going in.”

“I can help,” a soft voice says from the doorway. Everyone’s heads swivel to stare at Oakley, who looks like she wants to run with all our eyes on her. “So–sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop–okay, not at first. But I was coming to look for Nerds and heard you mention the ball and listened. Sorry.” She grimaces.

“It’s alright, Oakley. You can come in,” Rage tells her, and she steps into the room, her eyes immediately locking on Nerds. “How do you think you can help?”

“If you find people to go in as buyers, that helps with getting in the door. But having someone to trade as well—”

“No,” Nerds barks before she can even finish.

“Let her finish speakin’.” Sugar glares at Nerds, who clenches his fists at his side and stares down Sugar.

“I’ve been to these before. If you have someone to trade, you go in through a separate entrance. It would give us access to the whole backside of the ball. Until your trade is complete, you are responsible for your slave. But slaves aren’t allowed in the ballroom, only the auction and display rooms.”

“How many have you been to?” I ask gently, fearing the answer based on how much she seems to know.

“Four,” she tells us, keeping her composure. “It may always be in an unknown place, but it’s always set up the same way. It’s how I can remember it. I was never blindfolded or restrained because my owners would just give me my pills prior, and I would behave.” Tears gather in her eyes, and her body begins to tremble.

Nerds walks over to her and gently pulls her into his arms before glaring at Rage. “No. The answer is no. Don’t even think about getting her involved in this shit again. She has been working her ass off to heal from it. No.”

Rage stares at Oakley with the same look he has given Harley before: Fear, protectiveness, admiration, and the one thing we all know for sure. If Oakley decides she wants to be involved, there will be no stopping her.

“I don’t like it, Nerds. Not at all. It’s something that has to be decided on in church, but ultimately, it has to be her choice. If she wants to help get revenge, we will do everything in our power to make sure she is safe.”

Oakley pulls away from Nerds before she meets his furious gaze. “I can do this. Ineedto do this.”

Nerds narrows his eyes, and, without saying a word, he leaves the room.

“I’d say that went well,” Ryker retorts.

Harley elbows him in the gut and mutters, “Shut up.”

“Alright, Grayson, is there anything else we need to know right now?”

Thinking it over for a second, I shake my head. “No, I don’t think so. We just have to form a plan as soon as possible and prepare ourselves.”

“And then burn those fuckers to the ground,” Harley adds, causing Ryker to grin at her, but I can see the inner turmoil working behind her eyes.

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