“Please. Help me,” I pleaded, mouth dry as hell as I licked my lips and took a deep breath. “I don’t know what Skully offered you, but . . . I know people too. People that would be willing to negotiate with you.”
“Is that so?” Saleh queried, reaching out and stroking some loose strands of my hair from my face.
“Please,” I begged.
“We don’t negotiate here, beautiful. You pay the price or you forfeit the property.”
“Property?” I repeated, lip quivering as my stomach knotted.
“I get a percentage of every single girl auctioned off here tonight. If you are a virgin like Skully says, they are going to pay top dollar for you. Don’t worry, we’ll get you cleaned up real nice. I know the perfect dress for you. The doctor will be in shortly to examine you along with a nurse and my hair and makeup team. Be a good girl and don’t give them any trouble,” he warned before backing away from the bed.
My eyes drifted around the room.Doctor. Auction. Property. All words that kept cycling through my head. Struggling to sit up, my heart pounded against my ribcage. I had to place a hand on each side of me to keep from swaying back and forth. The door to the room was straight ahead. When I attempted to stand,I immediately crumbled at the foot of the bed. I’m not sure how long I laid there. The next time my eyes flickered open, I found myself hooked to an IV and everything was hazy.
Several voices spoke softly nearby, and I rolled my head against the pillow. That man, Saleh, stood with an older gentleman in a white coat, arms tucked across his chest with a serious expression.
“We are rehydrating her and giving her nutrients. Her nose is not broken, and we were able to clean it up. As for her hymen, it is fully intact. It would appear she is, in fact, a virgin.”
“Very well, that’s all I needed. You may exit.” Saleh nodded toward the door.
A broad smile stretched over his lips when he moved closer to me.
“Looks like you are ready to make your entrance. Michelle, Taryn, get her ready. It’s almost time.”
“Yes sir,” a very timid woman’s voice responded from the corner.
I didn’t realize either of them was in the room. The two of them lingered in the corner like a piece of art on the walls, trying not to be seen. From their rigid posture and the way their hands were clasped together, I knew they weren’t here under their own free will. It was obvious from the fear bouncing through their wide eyes. Maybe I could play on that. Saleh moved closer to the door.
“You have thirty minutes,” he instructed, shutting the door tight behind him when he left.
“You have to get me out of here,” I mumbled.
“No, we have to get you ready. Michelle, help me get her over to the vanity so we can put her makeup on and do her hair,” the one with the blonde hair, who I assumed was now Taryn, voiced.
Michelle nodded in agreement, and they paused on opposite sides of the bed to grab my arms.
“Just bring the IV over too. She needs to stay hooked to it until the bag is empty,” Taryn advised.
I had to wonder if I was also drugged. When they helped me sit up and get on my feet, I was instantly dizzy, and my legs wouldn’t budge on their own. We finally made it to the vanity, and Michelle helped me sit on the edge of the little settee. Staring up at my reflection in the mirror, I expected to see something horrific, but I just looked tired. My top lip was a little more plump than normal, and there were some little scars against the tip of my nose, but the doctor had indeed cleaned me up good. It was nothing a little foundation wouldn’t cover.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because we get paid, and we get to live.” Taryn picked up a bottle of setting spray and splashed my face a few times with it while Michelle pulled my hair out of the bun it was in and ran her fingers through it.
“I can get you paid. I know people.” I looked at them through the mirror, and they both paused before glancing at each other.
“Not from what we hear. Most of the girls that come through here are all coming from the same places. Very rarely do we get anybody that means something to somebody. Trust me. We’ve seen it all.” Taryn started on my beat. “It’s best to just go with it around here and hope that you end up with someone that treats you decent.”
“Don’t go feeding her dreams, Taryn. There isn’t one decent man or woman in that room up there. If there was, we wouldn’t be here,” Michelle muttered, taking a wide-toothed comb and raking it through my hair.
“Maybe. It’s kind of like the lesser of two evils around here in most cases.” Taryn shrugged.
The way they talked about things was so casual, like they weren’t involved in bartering humans like a piece of furniture or art. My head spun the entire time, trying to figure out how Iwas going to escape. Brick and his voice, his face, his laugh, it was all I kept hearing. I regret like hell walking away from him tonight. I wished I’d let him explain himself and not go running off, throwing a tantrum. Did he think I had just taken off? Did he have any idea what was happening to me? Haunted by those thoughts, I sat stiffly as Taryn worked meticulously on my face and Michelle flat ironed my weave, giving me a middle part style that was sleek and sexy.
“You have amazing cheekbones,” Taryn complimented.
I didn’t know how to respond to that. Instead, I sat back quietly with the wheels turning in my head, trying to plan an escape. I had no idea where I was or the lay of the land, but I was determined not to be auctioned off to who knows where with who knows who. I’d been a victim to many things in my life, but I refused to become someone’s possession. All these years hearing about this type of thing happening, and I never imagined slipping into this world.
Time moved quickly down here. I stood in a full-length mirror, eyes drifting over my appearance in the soft, silk, gold, mermaid-style gown with spaghetti straps. My hair swung past my shoulders, and Taryn had perfected a natural glam beat, making me even more innocent looking.
