Page 71 of Stolen

It was hours before we would finally learn of our futures.

“Listen up, slaves!” shouted one of the guards, catching everyone’s attention. A bitter taste assaulted my tongue as I recognized the guard, the same one who resembled Jared. Had he officially replaced him? Had I killed him? Holy fuck, what if I had? There was no way I’d still be alive. No possible way. “The time has come for you to meet your new masters. So, we’re going to let you out one at a time, and you’ll line up against the wall. You will not say one fucking word! If anyone puts up any kind of resistance, Iwillkill you where you stand!”

My heart rate suddenly jolted as I watched him and the other guards open each cage and let out the girls. One by one, they all lined up against the wall as they had been told, each one of them crying with fear. I turned to Kayla before they reached us.

“Keep breathing, Kayla,” I whispered. “We’re gonna get through this.”

“I know.” She nodded.

When our cages were opened, we crawled out and joined the rest of the girls against the wall. There were only nine of us now. I kept my breathing regulated as I took long slow breaths in through my nose and exhaled through my mouth. I started rolling my neck and stood on my tiptoes to stretch my feet and hamstrings. I needed to be ready for anything.

“Follow me,” the guard said at the head of the line. “If anyone steps out of line or says one fucking word, you’re done.”

With that, he turned around and headed for the door. The girls followed him down the hall while the rest of the guards flanked either side of us, rifles in hand and at the ready. Kayla was ahead of me, clearly struggling to keep herself calm as her body shivered with every step.

“Breathe, Kayla,” I whispered so only she would hear. She took one more big breath and released it slowly before finally squaring her shoulders and straightening her spine. But I knew it wouldn’t be enough.

All I could hear as we made our way to meet our fates was the sound of tears as they fell from tired, prettied eyes. The unfairness of this entire operation had my blood racing with fury, but it still wasn’t enough to clear the hopelessness that had cemented itself inside my heart. I hated standing idle, too used to taking immediate action when something was being problematic for me, and now, the idea of taking action felt so heavy I wasn’t sure if I even had the strength to carry it out. What more could I honestly do now?

Eventually, we came to a set of steel doors, and after punching in a code on the door, the guard held one open, and we all stepped in. The room was just big enough to accommodate all of us. It looked like a simple waiting room minus any chairs or anything remotely familiar. Once locked in, they lined us up against a door to my left and made us wait. This was it.

My senses were running wild as I concentrated on everything around me. “Once it’s your turn,” the guard suddenly said, “you’ll walk inside, stand on top of the center platform, and remove your dress. You will stand quietly with your arms at your side and wait until the door to your left opens. Keep your head up so they can see your pretty faces and do not give us a reason to come in there. You will not like what happens next.”

And then, one by one, the girls were shoved through the door. My heart was pounding with anxiety as each session took less than five minutes. Then they were gone. Maybe once or twice, the guards would have to enter the room, but they always came back out thirty seconds later, the sound of crying coming from the room before it was silenced by the lock of the door.

It killed me to know each of these girls was lost to me once they closed the door behind them, and I wanted to cry for each one of them, knowing they were likely disappearing forever.

Finally, it was Kayla’s turn, and her body trembled in fear ahead of me. “It’s okay,” I whispered so only she could hear. She nodded, turning back to look at me briefly, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she sniffed them away. It broke my heart to let her go. Even though we had both been trapped in this hellish nightmare, we came out with something stronger—a friendship, one that I was not about to let go to waste.

“I won’t forget you,” she whispered to me and then stepped away, breaking my fucking heart in half.

I knew it was outside of my control as I watched her step forward into the room beyond us, light framing the doorway as she disappeared from my sight forever. My heart rate accelerated, and tears threatened to spill at the thought of losing her, but I vowed I would find her. I would find everyone if I could. I took my breaths slow and eased my body, flexing my muscles to make sure they were ready for what I was about to do.

I whispered my good-bye to Kayla and stepped forward, ready for my turn to rock, but just as I moved, the guard leading us grabbed my arm and yanked me out of line, dragging me to the very back.

“You’ve been requested to go last,” he said, releasing me as I shrugged him off.

“What? Why?” I asked as all the other girls pretended not to notice.

“Did I tell you to speak?” he shouted at me.

“No, sir,” I said and turned my head back into line.

“That’s right. Now shut the fuck up and wait your turn like everybody else.”

Yeah, because everyone is so eager, ya know…

Why the fuck was I going last? What was this, save the best for last bullshit? I laughed internally at the idea, but I had a feeling I knew who was behind it, but it didn’t matter when I went. It didn’t change my plans one single bit, just continued the torture of the anxiety as I watched the remainder of the girls walk through the door. Maybe that was it. If I went first, then the anxiety would be over, and I wouldn’t have to watch anyone else get sold, but if I was last, then I would have to endure everyone’s sale. Whatever. Fuck him and fuck the buyers.

At long last, the door opened again, and the now empty room ahead of me waited anxiously for my presence. My heart dropped to my stomach as I realized it was now finally my turn to be sold. Sold. Like the fucking object that I was. With my head held high, I silently said good-bye to my life and walked forward, the door slamming with a loud and final thud behind me.

Taking in my surroundings, I was in some kind of observation room. It was stark white, circular in shape, and just cold enough to make my nipples perk. There was another door ahead of me, and I figured that was my exit once this was over. Long horizontal mirrors curved along the wall to my right and I was sure they were two-way mirrors. In the center of the room was a large octagonal platform with steps leading up to it. The platform slowly turned to allow the buyers to see every side of the slave on display.

How convenient for them.

With more determination than I thought I possessed, I walked up the stairs with my head held high. Standing front and center, I kept my dress on and stared straight into the mirrors, glaring at the fucks who I knew were waiting on the other side, watching me, bidding against each other for their chance to own me. Fuck them.

As I turned on the moving platform, I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned on my right hip. “You want a piece of this, you motherfuckers!” I shouted at the mirrors, stretching my arms out and flipping the mirrors off. “Well, good fucking luck with that!”

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