Page 1 of Invincible
PROLOGUE
Mia sat down on the steps in front of the old walk-up brownstone with a huff.Why did her dad always think he knew what was best for her?It wasn’t like she wanted to go to a rave in Brentwood.She just wanted to go with her friend to a party at one of the fraternity houses near Georgetown University.
She was almost sixteen, what could possibly go wrong?She bet if her mother was still alive, she would understand.Of course, that didn’t mean she would necessarily let her go either.
Life really sucked since her mom died.Her mom had at least listened to her before deciding if she could do something.It seemed like her dad’s answer was always no.Sometimes all they seemed to do was fight.That’s if he wasn’t too busy working to even notice her.
Maybe she would just go crash at her uncle’s tonight.He would call her dad to let him know where she was, but at least it would give them both time to blow off a little steam.
She reached for the bracelets she always wore on her left arm, scowling when she realized that, in her indignation, she had stomped out of the house without them.Her mom had given them to her the last Christmas she had been with them.Each one had a special meaning that just her and her mom shared.She never left the house without them.It was just one more reason to be pissed at her dad.If he hadn’t been so unreasonable, she would never have forgotten them.
Standing, she scowled more as she looked up the street for the nearest metro station.She had walked a long time and was just a little turned around.There wasn’t too much of her neighborhood she didn’t know, but this was no longer her neighborhood.
She looked at the street signs, but they didn’t ring even one bell in her memory.Great.Now she not only didn’t have her bracelets, she was lost.
She was reaching for her cell phone when a van pulled up next to her.Deciding it was more important to move away from the sketchy van than hunt for a station, she left her phone in her back pocket as she started walking down the sidewalk.
Watching the van out of the corner of her eye, she picked up her pace to a brisk stride.The van simply sped up to match her.Remembering everything she had learned about just such a situation, she took off running.Why was this area so deserted at only seven in the evening?The van sped up again, catching her at the corner.
Mia turned to run down the next street when the van slid to a stop and the doors flew open.Two men jumped out and grabbed her before she could react.A scream ripped from her lungs briefly before a leather glove clamped over her mouth.
The last thing she remembered, as she slipped into all-encompassing darkness, was being thrown in the back of the van and a sharp pinch in her neck.
She fought to crawl out of the thick mental fog that surrounded her body.She lay on the dirty floor of a wood-paneled room.With a moan, she pushed into a sitting position, struggling to hold the nausea back that rolled through her stomach.After a couple of deep breaths, she looked around the room.It was some kind of closet, if she had to guess, with no windows and only one door.
“Here, this will help with the nausea,” someone said from behind, making her jump.A dirty girl who looked to be about her age scooted in front of her, holding out a gallon jug.“Don’t worry, it’s just water,” she added, wiggling the bottle.
With trepidation, Mia took it.She held it up to her nose, sniffing carefully.She knew she shouldn’t drink anything if she didn’t know where it had come from, but her mouth felt like cotton.Sipping at the opening, she soon began to drink it in big gulps when it truly was only water.
“Easy, you’ll just throw it right back up,” another voice said.Mia handed the jug back to the girl before slowly turning around.She gasped to find at least ten other women of various ages sitting against the wall.
“Where are we?”she asked.
The women looked at each other, shrugging.
“Do you know who the men are who put us in here?”
Still no answer.Mia knew her disappearance wouldn’t go unnoticed for long.When she didn’t show back up at home, her dad would call her uncle looking for her.He, in turn, would not waste a single second before sounding the alarm.At least she hoped he would anyway.She didn’t know what the men had in mind, but she was hoping to not be around when they came back.
Rising to her feet unsteadily, she tried the door.It was locked, but she hadn’t really expected it not to be.She debated pounding on it and yelling.But what if that only brought the men back?Maybe, if they worked together, they could overwhelm the men the next time they opened the door.
Before she could think any more about forming a plan, she heard a key rattle on the other side.She jumped back to stand against the wall as the door slowly scraped open.
Two men dragged another unconscious woman through the door while a third held a gun on the women inside.They laid the new woman in the middle of the room, where Mia had only just woken up.A fourth man walked into the room and began counting the women.After a few minutes, they began to file back out of the room.Pulling on every ounce of courage she had, Mia stepped forward.
“Wait, what do you want with us?Just let us go.I promise we’ll keep our mouths shut.”
She thought they would just ignore her, but the man who had counted them stopped.Turning around, he took a slow perusal of Mia, making her shiver in revulsion.The man was at least her dad’s age and had a large scar that ran from his forehead, through his eyebrow, ending at his cheek.She could almost feel the malice pouring off of him and she stepped back in fear.He looked at the other men before laughing.Before Mia knew what happened, he wrapped his large, thick hand around her neck.
“I don’t answer to you, puta,” he said with a scowl.Snaking his hand around to the back of her neck, he pulled her to within an inch of him.Jerking her head back using her hair, he glared down at her.She could feel her legs begin to shake.
“If you weren’t worth so much, I’d let my men rip you apart, starting with myself, of course.”With a shove, he sent her sprawling onto the floor at the other end of the room.The men roared with laughter as they slammed the door closed.
Mia picked herself up from the floor, dusting herself off.Her palms were raw, having taken the brunt of her fall.She wanted to curl up into a ball and cry herself to sleep, but that hadn’t ever solved anything.
All things considered, she had come away with her first attempt at defiance relatively unscathed.She needed to be smarter, though.The next time might not go so well.They just needed to survive until her uncle could rally the troops.
Looking up from examining her palms, she found the other women looking at her in concern.
