-Chapter 31-
Sang Sorenson's POV:
I woke up freaking naked.
As if it wasn't bad enough waking up in total fucking darkness handcuffed to what I thought was a radiator.
I was freezing and was torn between trying to cover myself and sitting down. My knees felt weak as I slumped to my bottom. There was carpet beneath me and I could make out a few dark shapes using the light that I now realized was pooling under what was probably the exit.
I huffed.
How long had I been here?
Luke would have tried to call me by now, wouldn't he? He would notice I was missing. Mother would have. She had to have called someone, Father at least. He would get me back if she wouldn't.
And today was Monday.
If I didn't show up at school on Tuesday, there were nine new men in my life who would notice. All I had to do was survive less than 24 hours.
I could do that.
I took a deep breath.
You know, it was probably already morning. In a couple hours, they would start tracking me somehow. I bet Dr. Green would call in some people from this Academy they're a part of and get me out of here.
They had to find me.
I jerked to my feet as I heard movement on the other side of the room. A sliver of light pierced the darkness as a door was pushed open.
I squinted, trying to shield my body from the tall man standing in the doorway.
With the light pooling behind him, I could see nothing more than a silhouette until he stepped forward.
He took another step and I dropped my face. I couldn't look at him; my cheeks burned with embarrassment and shame.
"Look at me," he ordered.
I didn't and felt rough fingers touch my cheek gently before tilting my chin up.
The man was young, barely older than Mr. Blackbourne or Dr. Green.
His hair was a deep red, nearly black with serious eyes to match. Stubble ran across his jaw and I detected the faintest scent of gasoline and sawdust coming off his leather jacket. A small 'A' was stitched onto the corner pocket.
His smile was slight, not cruel, but not kind either. "You're new."
I said nothing as my bottom lip started to tremble. Who was he? Where was I? The panic was starting to settle in. Why was he acting like this was normal? I'm naked, chained to a freaking wall!
"Don't show fear now. They'll be coming for you soon enough." The man did not so much as glance at my nakedness. "Did they bring anyone else here with you? Do you remember?"
I thought back to the moments before I had been tazed. "I...think they were going to pick up another girl. I don't know. Who are you? Can you let me out?"
The young man tilted his head slightly at the same moment I heard footsteps start down the hall.
"Someone's coming," he said, rising. "I promise I'll come back for you. Don't fight them, girl. They'll only hurt you worse, do you understand?"
My eyes were wide, and I know he saw the confusion there as he hesitated at the door.
"I promise I'll come back for you," he said again, and then the man closed the door, shutting me back into darkness.
I cringed.
I wanted the weird guy to come back because I was fairly certain he intended to rescue me, but when the door to my cell opened again, it wasn't the weird guy.
It was a thin man with light hair and a crooked smile. He carried a pail of water in one hand and a washcloth in the other.
I was stunned silent as he sank to his knees in front of me. Slowly he wet the cloth, using his other hand to pull me into a sitting position. I tried to cringe away, but couldn't.
My hands were trapped over my head. My breasts were exposed to his gaze...and his hands.
He cupped one breast, squeezing harder and harder until I cried out in pain. He seemed satisfied with the sound and began to tend to my chest with the washcloth.
I felt myself crying asking him to stop as I found the man moving the cloth across my skin, lower and lower still.
My breath caught as his hand dipped past my hips. I tore at my chains trying to free myself, bloodying my wrists. "No!" I cried.
The man moved the cloth up, back to my breasts squeezing each of them until the nipples peaked and my skin was bruised there. Why was he doing this? I couldn't fight back my broken sob.
He threw his washcloth in the bucket then, before pushing himself to his feet. "You were good, whore. Nice, small tits. You don't hardly cry. Virgin, yes?"
Was he really asking if I was a virgin?
"Ah, those eyes will get you nowhere here, well except fucked harder. Punishment. Bondage. I see it now, though we'll set you up with a gentle lover to take you the first time." His half smile was wicked. "No point of having a man destroy you down there your first go."
What the hell was I supposed to say to this? I was trying to pull my hands away from the radiator, but my wrists had been handcuffed and there was no escape.
"I'll send someone to move you into a bedroom for tonight."
The man left me in the darkness of my cell, and I wished I could curl into a ball. Some fucking stranger had touched me. People would be coming to rape me...and the fact that I had been taken from my home led me to believe that my mother knew what was happening.
She sold me.
She had threatened it, but I hadn't seen the signs.
My skin burned, yet my insides felt empty and cold.
I should have screamed.
I should have screamed and fought and cursed and killed.
I should have done whatever I could have to protect myself.
I had fought some kid over a cat. I fought North. I fought that crazy person living in my attic. I defended my own honor, and next time...the next time I'd be ready.
***
Victor Morgan's POV:
My laptop was open on my lap as I tracked the path of Sang's cellphone.
Without that phone, Sang would have been lost to us forever. Now, we had a good lead. Her phone had traveled 148 miles west, across state boarders; a very clever move for kidnappers.
Police jurisdiction ended at county lines, and State Troopers' jurisdiction ended at state boarders, so unless the CIA or FBI were involved, many missing persons remained as such once they had crossed into another state.
But Sang had her phone, and I had my computer and we had tracked her to an abandoned warehouse out past Savanah, Georgia.
All nine of us were packed into a black 2016 NV Passenger, hurtling down the highway, and we would not stop until Sang was safe.
***
Sang Sorenson's POV:
A man with a goatee had to drag me down the hall kicking and screaming. "Let me go!" I shrieked as he grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking me hard to my feet. I tried to fall like dead weight to the floor; pieces of my hair tore away from my scalp and tears formed in the corners of my eyes.
I wasn't about to be brought to any place with a bed. Not while I was a naked prisoner of this fucking place.
My heart was thundering so loudly I could barely hear the dirty words the goatee man was hissing my way.
He caught me by the chain connecting my handcuffs and this time I was forced to my feet for good.
The steel cuffs dug into my wrists.
No, no, no, no!
I wasn't going to go with this guy! Hell, no! Mother had told me I would be kidnapped one day. She said it was because I put it out there...Well, fuck you, Mother! You sold me in!
She said once I was kidnapped, they would rape me. Having my breasts touched was bad enough. I couldn't imagine if they were to...
I squeezed my eyes closed, letting free a squeal of rage as the man marched me forward through a long corridor.
"Let me go, you sonofabitch!" I screamed, leaning back on my heels so the man had to drag me along, my bare feet scuffing along the smooth tile floor.
We passed several unmarked doors. I heard cries behind some; the sounds were barely human.
Mother said after the men raped me, they would kill me.
They would throw my body in a lake or a field and that would be the end.
I swallowed hard, stumbling as I was dragged forward. I didn't want to die.
Hell, I wouldn't die!
"Stop your blubbering, bitch," the goatee man growled, jerking my chain.
Pain cut across my wrists and I swore. I didn't want to die. This was not the end for me.
"This is your room. Byron said you have nice tits. Tonight we will find out if your pussy is just as nice--"
I threw myself forward in one final attempt to free myself, slamming into the man full force. He wasn't expecting it, and collided with the wall. His head hit, hard. Harder than I expected.
And there was blood.
I stumbled back before the blood touched my feet.
His neck was at an odd angle.
I was pretty sure I killed him.
And then I was running.
I flew down the maze of hallways, up a staircase, down a staircase, silencing my footsteps to that of a ninja, my blonde hair like a ribbon behind me.
Don't believe what they tell you. Running naked is awkward as hell. I had one arm trying to hold my breasts still, and the other wrapped around my middle, trying to hide away all that bare skin.
I broke out into a long corridor lined with dark steel doors. There were numbers on them ranging from 1 to...well I couldn't see past 15 and I knew better than to turn down that way.
Where was the exit? There had to be an exit!
I tried to take a deep breath, but it was like I couldn't get enough air. I was spinning. I couldn't focus.
Breathe, dammit Sang! I innerly screamed at myself, and the next inhale came shakily.
I took another, quieting myself enough that I heard footsteps coming my way.
There was a closet at the left end of the next hall. I ran for it, closing myself in darkness once more.
The sound of my own breathing was terribly loud. I needed to calm down. They wouldn't come to the closet. They didn't know I killed that guy.
Oh, dear god, I killed someone.
My stomach clenched.
The footsteps were growing closer.
I heard them pause outside the closet door.
I glanced around the darkness for a weapon, there was nothing. I stepped back deeper into the shadows as the door quickly opened and closed.
The hell?
I heard someone breathing in here with me. I quieted my breaths all the more.
A sea of footfalls raced past the closet door and I heard the other person let their breath out in a rush.
Was I in danger if this person was hiding too?
The scent of gasoline and wood shavings tickled my nose...and I sneezed.
I fucking sneezed.
And then the person was on me, so fast I could scarce react. I made a teeny peep before a knife was at my throat.
I recognized the edge of the man's jaw. His dark eyes were barely visible in the light trickling under the closet door.
"You." The word sounded both confused and surprised leaving his lips. He keep the knife on my throat. "How did you get out here?"
"I...pushed the man who had me and his head...it..."
I couldn't get the words out under the intensity of the man's gaze, or maybe it was that his body was pressed against mine. I could feel the soft, worn leather of his jacket against my skin.
"His head what?"
"...smacked into the wall, and there was...a lot of blood. I think I killed him."
"Serves the pig right," the man muttered, tucking his knife away. "You're tougher than I gave you credit for." He exhaled deeply. "A dead body would definitely account for the army of men after me."
"Who are you?"
"Does it matter? I'm not going to hurt you. Quiet." He took a step towards the door and I could hear the sound of footsteps going by. "If you've really killed someone then you've blown your chances for escaping tonight."
"What?"
"Everyone is going to be looking for you since you're not in your room, and everyone is going to be on the lookout for me as well, due to the corpse situation. That's a lot of men on patrol."
"So, I can just hide out here until everything dies down..."
"Yeah, if you want to be caught."
I huffed. "Then what do we do?"
"We? There is no we. You will be returning to whatever bedroom they wanted to put you in, and I will not be sharing my plan with you."
"Why not?" I took a step deeper into the closet. I didn't like the idea of parting ways with this guy. If anything, he seemed capable as in capable enough to get me out of here without being raped.
"Because you seem like a squealer. The last thing I need is you giving away my intentions."
"Well, I am not going back into one of those bedrooms to be locked up again. Fuck that. You know what they'll do to me." I crossed my arms.
"Well, you didn't leave us much of a choice. I'm working to shut down the sex ring, and when I do, you'll be free again."
"Yeah, and pregnant, filled with STDs, and traumatized," I shot back.
The stranger seemed amused. "So, what, I'm just supposed to take you with me in all your naked glory?"
I shrugged. "Or we'll just go our own ways. I can handle myself."
"I can see that." He paused. "Understand that if you come with me rather than going back, you probably won't make it out of here alive. They have guns and would rather kill you than let you escape."
"I don't care," I said. "I won't let them touch me."
He nodded then. "Suit yourself, but don't say I didn't warn you."