Stranger No Danger

Escaping, Part 2

The stranger tapped quietly on the door, and I saw a middle-aged couple jump up in shock from watching TV on their bed. Please please please don't make a ruckus, I begged silently. 

As if to answer my prayers the stranger put a finger to his mouth and gestured for the couple to stay quiet. He then mouthed as clearly as he could, "Help us." The couple glanced uneasily at each other but eventually made their way over to the door, cracking it open just enough so we could speak to them.

My stranger was brief with introductions. 

"Hey, so sorry to bother you," he murmured. "But this girl has been trafficked and was trapped in a room upstairs." 

The couples' eyes widened and they stared at me in disbelief. 

"Can you let us out through your door and call the cops?" he asked urgently. "It should be Room number... 905. Don't go upstairs to check, there may be armed men."

The couple opened their mouths, likely to bombard him with questions, but he stopped them with a sharp hush. "Please, can you just let us through?"

They obviously wanted to interrogate us but almost begrudgingly opened their door. My stranger grabbed my hand and we ran out through their room; I glanced back as we left to see them picking up the hotel phone and dialing. We rushed towards the nearest fire escape exit and climbed down what felt like an eternity's worth of stairs.

When we got to the first floor, I nearly collapsed on the ground, my lungs heaving from the amount of exercise I had just exerted on my already-panicking body. I bent over with my hands on my knees and gasped for breath while simultaneously starting to cry.

"Hey, hey, are you alright?" My stranger rubbed my back and kneeled down to look up at my face. "You're doing so well. We need to get you out of this building, you're not safe here. I think there's a lot of those men around."

I couldn't speak due to the panic attack I was having at this point. He looked up at me, concern in his deep brown eyes, and guided me back to the stairs so I could sit and catch my breath.

"Deep breaths," he murmured. "You're going to be okay. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

Despite the fact that it felt as though my chest was actively constricting I tried my best to breathe, closing my eyes and focusing on the inhale-exhale. After a few minutes, my heart slowed and I stopped crying. It was only then that my stranger noticed the large bruises covering my arms and legs, exposed for viewing due to me wearing only a tank top and shorts.

He pointed at a large one spread over my left knee and asked quietly, "Did they do this to you?" When I nodded he let out a long sigh and a solemn "Jesus fucking christ."

The stranger then took off his jacket and placed it over my shoulders, explaining, "I don't want those men recognizing you by these... injuries." 

I shuddered at the possibility and decided to pull the hood of the jacket over my head.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked tentatively.

My stranger gave me a look of indignation. 

"Are you kidding? There's no way I wasn't gonna help you," he replied. "I'm actually a paramedic, but even if I wasn't I'd be a horrible person to just leave you out there on the balcony."

I mustered a strained smile.

"What's your name?" he asked.

I replied, "Michelle."

"Okay Michelle, are you feeling good enough to walk?"

I nodded, and we stood up and exited out into the first floor.

I was met with a lavish hallway that didn't at all match the small dingy room I had just escaped from. Shiny marble floors reflected the light beaming from a large crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The stranger took my hand again and walked through the hallway past the elevators and into what was likely a wing separate from the main foyer of the hotel.

A few fancy conference rooms surrounded this area, with another hallway branching off to my right. I glanced over and saw some people clustered in a conference room at the far end of the expansive hallway. Through the glass window, I saw a woman's lean face move out from behind a shoulder, and froze in terror. It was my captor.