Tears are streaming down my face, I look around the room no one can help me here, not even Troy whose eyes are on the hot branding iron shaking his head.
“Boss the girls are arriving today we should start preparing,” he says seriously, I know it’s just a way to help me.
“Don't worry Troy, I’ll leave soon just after she knows who she belongs to,” he says looking at the small branding iron in one of the men’s eyes. I cry shaking my head when he gives it to Marion and he starts to walk towards me like prey. My first instinct is to grab a gun from the floor he used to kill that man, I hold the gun tighter pointing at him with fidgeting hands, I can kill him right here, right now. He lets out a cold dry laugh.
“Put that down just look at you look horrible,” indeed I bet I do, I’m scared and sweating, I’ve been here for a long time and this is the most scared I have been, I try so hard to be strong for my mother.
“Do-n't come close,” I whisper stammering, between this gun and that brand iron, I’m more scared of the gun than I’ve ever been since the day my father and uncle were killed by this kind of weapon in my hands.
Bang
Bang. The boss doesn’t like anyone in his way. That voice was so deep and scary. I’ll never forget it.
I drop the gun even the sound it makes when it hits the floor causes me to jump, I feel so weak right now.
“Boss, please,” Troy whispers but he looks at him, scrutinizing him
“Hold her,” he orders, I look at Mario but he’s very serious no room for jokes. I shake my head and so does Troy, Marion raises his head a bit, and another huge man points a gun at Troy’s head before whispering something in his ear.
“No, please, Troy I’d rather you hold me,” I want him to be the one who does, makes it better when he’s here to comfort me, I go to Troy holding him for dear life. My face is in the crook of his neck.
“I want every time you look in the mirror you should always remember me and that you can never escape me, you’re always me mine Aviana Tasaro,” He says slowly making sure the words sink in but I don’t look as Troy said. He's holding my head against his neck. I’m so thankful he’s here with me now. I feel my dress being lifted and a cool breeze hits my exposed legs. But the pain that suddenly coarse through my skin is excruciating I scream at the top of my lungs and Troy tightens his hold on me.
“Shhhh,” he coos. But I scream again and the tears that fall are like rain. Everything burns and he takes it out. I can only imagine the smirk on his face for all the pain he's causing.
“Good,” I hear before darkness takes over.
….
I stir awake, I feel like I’m on fire and my side is killing me, I unconsciously go to touch where I feel pain but hiss at the pain. Memories of what happened come crashing down on me and I feel a hot tear run down.
That psycho branded me like an animal. I feel no better than cattle now. With some effort, I get off the bed but damn it hurts. I’m naked someone must have got me out of my clothes.
I go to my closet and stand in front of the mirror, my eyes look big, puffy, and dark, my long hair is all over the place and I feel like crap, lastly, I look on my left side where the burning pain is coming from, I look at the bandage slowly removing it, just on top of the hip bone there it is, a red M and a symbol of a gun next to it like a tattoo drawing
The gun is slightly bigger than the M, no one can miss it. Fresh tears fall on my face and I don’t try to wipe them.
“Ahem,” I don’t look behind, I can see him through the mirror. “ The doctor said you need more rest,” he says like he didn’t do this to me, how can he claim to love me when all he does is hit and abuse me, now this permanently scars me, his name and logo on me. I don’t bother hiding my nakedness, I just walk past him slowly since I can’t even walk fast or straight without feeling the burn. I lay on my other side taking a deep breath. It smells of roses in it, he must have ordered them knowing how much I liked them but now they just nauseate me, even my own body I hate it because he loves it.
He once said all he needed was to look at me and to get him hard. He comes to me standing and looking at his mark on me.
“I hate you so much,” I sneer, this man disgusts me I didn’t even think it would be possible to hate someone this much.
I suddenly hear noises outside, I struggle to get up, and gives me his hand but I ignore it going to the window. Outside is a truck, and big with big guns coming out of the truck is a group of girls of different ages.
Girls who look very scared, whimpering as they keep their heads down moving in a line
“ Shut up!” a guard yells making the girls jump. They are about twelve or fifteen
“Package has arrived,” Mario says ending the call, I turn to glare at him but he looks at me
“ How can you?! Don’t you people have hearts?” I look at him, upset as
I cry, how can people be this inhuman?
“They are not mine, you know this isn’t my line of work,” he says shrugging “They are Tai's,” I grab a vase next to throw it at him making me wince at the pain due to the force I used but he dodges it coming to grab my side that is still fresh, I feel warm and sticky liquid run down its blood.
“ Why do you always have to force my hand?” he says grabbing my hair now. Those girls looked scared, of course, they were kidnapped, and others were picked from the street to probably be used as prostitutes or drug mules.
Tai is as ruthless as he looks, with his red eyes and pale skin with red lips, just thinking about him gives me goosebumps. Mario is so close I can feel his breath on my face. I pull away swallowing thickly my side hurts so much but I push the pain away.
When he receives a phone call he leaves the room to have a meeting with Tai, I sit on the bed breathing then get up to check outside, watching as they take the girls to the small cottage surrounded by guards. I sigh looking at them, walking in a straight line. These girls and I are no different, the only difference is that Marion took a liking to me when Tai's men got me, he has always wanted me
I remember being so scared.
“I won’t harm you if you behave,” he said coming to me, I shook with fear. As he came close.
“Don’t come near me,” I kept backing away.
“Do you know where those men were going to take you?” he asks. “To hell,” he said sitting on his throne-like chair.
“let me go now,” I got a bottle of wine, and threw it at him and the rest of the plates.
“Fiesty, I like it but I won't harm you, you know me Aviana," he says softly looking at me with his dark brown eyes
"You have grown, how old are you now? eighteen right?" I didn't answer, all I wanted was to go back home, why did those men bring me here?
“Hey,” I am pulled away from my thoughts by Troy, grabbing a sheet I wrap it around me, I smile at my friend but he just frowns looking at my side.
“I’m sorry, I failed you,” he says I shake my head.
“I should have gotten you out of here ages ago, the boss is crazy and you’re his obsession,” he says shaking his head. Pointing to a big piece of paper on his bed.
“No isn’t your fault, sometimes I feel it’s better here than what Tai would have done to me,” Tai has always been interested in me but for business purposes, I can’t believe they even did a challenge, but Marion came out victorious but still paid Tai a lot of money to get me
“You are getting out tonight.”
