Blue stopped short, knocking on one of the doors. There was movement inside, I could hear rustling and the sound of someone walking around. My heart was beating in my throat and my chest was swelling like a hot air balloon.The door opened slowly, exposing a sweaty and flushed Virgo. b.u.t.toning up his shirt, he glanced between Blue and myself. "Is it time?" he asked, running his fingers through his hair to fix it.
"You said he would be here at eleven, it"s ten of."
"Mm," Virgo grunted, checking his watch. "Well, perfect timing then. I"m done here anyway." Looking over his shoulder, he spoke to someone else. "Now you"re ready." His eyes moved back to me, his smile bold and sinister. "Give the new girl a nice smile, Jessie, she"s just been inducted as one of our own."
Virgo turned sideways, allowing me to see inside. There was a young girl curled up in a ball on the bed, her tears fresh and streaming down her cheeks like roaring rapids. Her gaze was wide and full of sadness as our eyes connected.
Another one. Another poor girl who will have to suffer until she is bought or worse.
This was his ritual, it was how he showed his power and authority, letting you know he was in charge. Virgo always had the first turn with a new girl. He got her before anyone else, and he liked to joke at times about the men in club getting his sloppy seconds.
It made me sick, it filled me with so much disgust, and my experience was no different than hers. Except I fought. I fought and I didn"t stop fighting until everything went black.
And I was thankful for that.
But the memory of what happened before everything shut down, burned me from the inside out. I felt so disgusting after, so violated and ruined.
Shadowed fingers traced my shoulder, causing me to look at my arm. Flashes of that night began to pop into my head, taking me back in time, to that single moment where a monster stole my innocence.
* * * *
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"You know what day it is, my sweet child?" Virgo asked, gently closing the bas.e.m.e.nt door. "It"s your birthday, the day I took you in, the day I decided you belonged to me."
"It"s not my birthday, my birthday—"
Cutting me off, Virgo laughed out loud. "When will you learn, Jessie? Your life before doesn"t exist, not anymore. You were nine when you came into my hands, a small frightened girl, so lost and alone. Today you"re eighteen, you"re. . ." Pausing, his smile glistened with excitement as if he had been waiting for this day for years. "A woman," he finally said as his feet hit the bas.e.m.e.nt floor.
Climbing off my cot, I kept my eyes on him as I walked backwards. "What"s your point?" I asked, trying to search around in the dimly lit room for anything I could use as protection.
He had gloated about this day for the last two years, talking about it like it was Genesis, a day of reckoning, as if a whole new world was about to open up. I guess I could thank that man, Machi, for allowing me to keep my virginity for this long.
His threat was heard, it was enforced, it was the only time I had seen Virgo show a hint of fear.
"How many times have I warned you about that att.i.tude?" Virgo took gingerly steps in my direction, slowly unb.u.t.toning his shirt with each stride. "Today things change, today you start your new beginning."
"Stop right there!" I yelled, knowing exactly what he meant. "Stay away from me!"
"Or what?" he asked, his smile thickening as moved like a snake across the floor. He stepped with power, making it clear that what I wanted didn"t matter. "You"ve known this day was coming, stop acting like a f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h."
Moving against the back wall, I felt around with my hands, praying that something would jump out for me to grab. "I"m warning you, don"t come any closer!"
His chuckle sent shivers down my spine as his eyes twinkled in the shadows. "The more you fight, the more it"s going to hurt."
"I don"t care, I won"t let you f.u.c.king touch me. You"ll never f.u.c.king touch me. I"ve done what you asked. I"ve been quiet, I"ve followed the rules, but this! I won"t let you!"
Stopping a few feet away, he gripped his belt and unbuckled it, pulling it out of the loops with ease. "You"re being very disrespectful right now, I don"t like it." Folding the belt over his hand, he clutched it firmly. "Come here."
"No!"
"I won"t tell you again."
"f.u.c.k you!"
"I warned you about that, you sound like a cheap wh.o.r.e. And cheap wh.o.r.es get punished for talking with filthy mouths." Throwing his arm out, he whipped me across the top of my thighs with the leather belt.