February thirteen
Short moments after the trunk closed, loud engine noise reached Leah. Her heartbeats held fast and concern grew more with each tossing of her body. She groped her pants pockets, realizing she put her phone into her backpack and that remained in Cassie's car when she climbed from the vehicle.
"Lily," she whispered, moving her hand against the cold metal flooring of the truck. Leah's eyes slowly adjusted to the dark, and she could see her friend more clearly. "Lily." She shook Lily's body.
Leah put her finger under Lily's jawline, trying to feel her pulse. The beats felt slow but steady. Leah rummaged through Lily's pants, apprehending that Lily also didn't have her phone. Soon she leaned on her knees and hands, trying to examine the space. Walking on all fours for a few minutes and not finding anything useful, she sat down beside her friend.
"Lily." She nudged her friend again.
After a few moments, Lily finally responded. "What?" Lily's voice sounded like a moan. "Where are we?" She yawned.
"Can you sit down?" Leah took the chilled girl's hand.
"I think so." Lily slowly lifted herself into seating positions. She moved her head, observing the new surroundings. "Leah, where are we?"
"We are at the back of the truck."
"Wait. Where is Cassie?" Lily looked around once more.
"Who the fuck knows where she is," Leah sighed. "We have been moving for a while now."
"Where are we?" Lily asked in a shaky voice.
"Like I said in some sort of truck. Are you feeling alright?"
"My head is spinning, but I'm fine." Lily inhaled deeply. "How did we get here?"
"Well, the guy carried you. The other guy forced me to climb into the truck." Leah looked around, trying to find a solution to a current problem.
"Okay." Lily drawled. "Forced how?"
"Another guy said he would shoot me if I didn't get into the truck, so I did." Leah whimpered. "What are we going to do?" She sniffled.
The fear seemed to sink in for Leah. She felt like having a bad dream before Lily woke up. Recalling the way she got here and telling the story to her friend made everything more real. Her cheeks felt strained, but not for long as tears kept pouring down toward her neck. She sniffled, wiping tears with the sweater sleeve.
"First, you need to calm down and tell me everything you know." Lily hugged Leah by her shoulders.
"Why?" Leah bent her head down as teardrops stained her blue jeans.
"So I can assess the situation." Lily stroked Leah's hair.
"Lily." Leah broke out into a sob.
"Leah!" Lily's harsh tone echoed through the metal space. "You have to calm down. We need to figure out what exactly happened. What do you remember?"
"I woke up, and the car wasn't moving." Leah sniffled. "I tried to wake you up, but I couldn't." She shook her head. "Cassie stood in front of the car with some tall guy—I climbed from the car and then this bulky guy grabbed me from behind."
"How many guys are there?"
"Two. At least that is how many of them I saw." Leah rubbed her palms just as a slight warmth rose from the action.
"What about Cassie?" Lily questioned, removing her hand from Leah's shoulder.
"When she saw me she took a bag from the guy, I think there was money in it because she said it was time to pay up."
"And then?"
"She left, and the guys closed the trunk." Leah glanced at her friend.
Lily nodded. "Okay, so everything is clear."
"Clear? Nothing is clear to me, Lily." Leah's voice echoed against the metal space.
"Calm down. Cassie sold us to the guys," Lily said, and Leah slowly nodded. "They are probably transporting us to a distorted location. Now there is just one question: are they the middleman or management?" Lily scraped her chin.
"What?" Leah furrowed her eyebrows.
"Okay, so I am not an expert, but I am following the drug selling path just in reverse." Lily looked at the metal ceiling.
"What?"
Lily groaned loudly. "Sometimes I forget, you had a wonderful life until now. Okay," she said, inhaling dusty air. "So there is a drug lord, which was some powerful guy in Columbia, and then there is a middleman, which was my ex-boyfriend, and then there is a seller, which was me. Is it clear so far?"
"Let's say yes," Leah agreed, trying to remember all of Lily's stories from the past.
"So in reverse, Cassie would be the seller and these guys, probably the middle man. We are the product in this case. So there are two options: either these men are just starting out or they will sell us, again."
"Why would she do this to us?" Tears streamed down Leah's face, her nose felt clogged, and it felt difficult to breathe.
"Money. Selling humans is very profitable,"
"How do you know that?"
"It doesn't matter. What matters now, is how we are going to get free. You said the guy had a gun?" Lily asked and Leah nodded. "How many guns?"
"I saw just one." Leah wiped her nose on her damped sleeve.
"They probably have more. So, for now, our plan is to be compliant—"
"There is no way I'm going to do that."
"You will if you want to live. These guys don't joke around, Leah." Lily grabbed Leah's bicep. "Listen to me when I say that. Those guys do not joke around."
Girls forcefully bent to the front when the truck stopped moving. Leah's breathing became hectic when she heard murmurs outside; a burst of loud laughter appeared just when the enormous gates of the truck lifted.
Leah inhaled deeply when fresh winter air reached her. Blinking four times, she realized it remained early morning hours. A flock of birds flew behind the guys, tall birch trees swayed with the wind. Their naked branches made a thudding sound, overshadowing the whistling of the wind.
"Get out," the tall guy, Tiny, said, wiggling his gun.
Lily took Leah's hand, looked into her eyes, and nodded. Both girls slid from the back of the truck. Lily tottered while standing up, Leah caught her friend's shoulder, holding her steady.
"Here are the rules, ladies. As you can see, we are in the middle of nowhere." Tiny motioned to the view of the woods in front of the girls. "So don't bother with screaming, it will just piss me off. Don't talk unless you are answering our questions." He motioned between himself and the other man.
"Enough with this stupid shit," the bulky guy spoke. "Look at them." Both girls shivered uncontrollably. "Get them inside before they get sick."
Tiny nodded, looking at his companion. "You heard the man move ladies."
Girls moved to the side, and Tiny went behind them, pointing his gun at their backs. Lily stumbled, dragging her legs, Leah, still holding her friend by her shoulders, helped her walk.
"Don't worry, we will come up with the plan later," Lily whispered. "Try to remember everything." Leah nodded at her friend's words.
Tiny grabbed Lily's black hair and yanked her head back, Lily whimpered from the sudden pain. Leah tried to hold on to her friend but felt her slipping away from her grip.
"I told you not to speak," Tiny said through his gritted teeth.
Tiny pushed Lily and she fell on her knees. The mixture of mud and snow stained her black jeans. Leah kneeled and helped her friend to stand again. She barely felt the damped surface touching her knee. The walk felt quick and soon the wooden cabin came into view.
The porch floorboards creaked as the girls stepped on them. The doors of the hut looked old, metal parts seemed rusty, and the wood warned out. The girls stopped in front of the door as the bulky guy went past the group and unlocked the door. He jiggled the lock a few times until the entrance seemed clear.
"Ladies first," the bulky man said, bowing down, and motioning toward the open door.
Girls stepped inside, men stayed close behind them. The entrance had a big threshold, and it remained hard for Lily to step through it. Men patiently waited while Leah helped Lily to step inside. The inside felt a little unusual. Leah bit her teeth together and her body still shivered from the cold.
Leah looked around the space, trying to observe every detail. The inside of the cabin seemed dark, just murky lights flickered through little windows. The left side of the room had a brick fireplace, a tiny shovel, and a poker hung near it. In front of the furnace stood an old couch and two armchairs, and in front of it a brown wooden table. The wooden floors appeared splintered, the brown coloring almost scuffed away.
"I'm going to take this one," Tiny said, grabbing Lily by her shoulders, and pushed her in front of him.
The bulky man grabbed Leah's arm; she winced from the pressure. He dragged her after Tiny and Lily as they walked in front of them. They reached the end of the living room and went through a narrow corridor.
The passageway had two doors on each side of the space. Tiny opened the door on the right side and pushed Lily inside the room. Leah stepped behind them, but the bulky guy stood in her way.
"I don't think so," he said with a twisted smile on his face.
Leah's eyes got wide when the guy motioned to the door on the other side of the passageway.
"I want to go with her," Leah said, looking into his evil eyes.
The man slapped Leah's face, forcing her to turn her head to the side. "I don't care what you want." He grabbed Leah's hair, drawing her close. "Don't speak." His face held inches away from Leah's; she shrank from his spit reaching her face. "Go inside." He pushed Leah into the other room.
Tears streamed down Leah's face; she put her chilly palm on her right cheek. "No, Lily," Leah's cry came out in a whisper.