Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
When I come to again, I don’t know how much time has passed. Or where I am.
And I can’t feel my legs.
Everything is fuzzy—not just my head but my sight too.
“What … what’s happening?” I mutter, but my speech slurs.
A man laughs. “Enjoying the little trip, princess?”
Who is that?
And what does he mean by trip?
Memories of a gun flash through my mind, followed by hands shoving me into a van, the darkness surrounding me, the images all blurring into one jumbled mess. But the one thing I remember is the sharp object piercing my skin near my neck.
“What did you do to me?” I ask with a raspy voice.
“Gave you a li’l something so you’d stop fighting,” he replies. “Don’t worry, it’ll wear off soon enough.” He grips my cheeks and smushes them together. “And then you’ll be able to fully enjoy all your fucking cell has to offer.”
My … cell?
I can hear footsteps along with a door squeaking before being shuttered, metal against metal, and my eyes open wide.
The room I’m in is large enough to fit maybe one or two people, the walls and ceiling encased with tiles that look bloated. Soundproofing.
Oh God.
I jerk my hands, but they’re tied to the wall with a chain, just like my ankles.
Oh no, no, no!
“Let me out!” I shriek. “Please, let me out!”
Panic bubbles to the surface as I fight the chains, to no avail.
Every sound I make falls on deaf ears.
Every inch I try to move, I’m blocked.
Nothing works.
Nothing at all.
And slowly but surely, I’m starting to lose my mind.
Like a prisoner inside my own body, I cease to exist.
I don’t know how much time has passed since the door last opened.
I barely hear anything beyond these walls.
My mind spins in circles, drifting in and out of consciousness as time slips away.
Seconds. Minutes. Hours.
It’s all blending into one giant scream.
But no matter how much I exert my voice, no one comes to save me.
My cell is not just a prison of the body but also a prison of the mind.
There is nothing except my own thoughts to keep me company, and I am lost within them.
When the doors finally open again, I scream for help.
“Please, let me out. I didn’t do anything,” I say.
“Unlock her,” someone beyond the doors says.
A woman?
I hold my breath and wait until the man steps forward and shoves a key into the locks. My ankles are released, and the weight of the metal around them lifts, but I can barely stand.
He unhooks the metal around my wrists, and I nearly fall, but he grabs my waist and chucks me over his shoulder.
“Take her to the main hall. I’m not going to give this one to the Bones Brotherhood. This one could fetch a far bigger prize.”
Prize?
“Wait!” I shriek. “Where are we going?”
There are no answers to my questions.
Nothing but laughter and smug smiles as men force me through a bunch of grimy-looking hallways. But each door we pass strikes fear into my heart.
There are cells just like mine, all lined up, one after the other. Fifty, maybe a hundred.
And the more shrieks I hear, the less I feel like I can breathe.
“Put her with the others,” the woman says.
“Who?” I ask. “Please, just let me go. I promise, I won’t tell anyone.”
“Shut your damn mouth,” the man carrying me barks.
He throws me down in a bigger room with five other people, girls, boys, most my age. But I don’t recognize any of them.
“Don’t make a sound,” the guard warns before closing the door.
Behind it, gunfire erupts.
I immediately crawl to the door to listen while the others huddle in the back of the room.
What is going on?
What’s going to happen to me?
Panic fills my veins as I slam my fists onto the door, desperate to get out. “Let us go!”
“It won’t work,” a girl in the back says.
I turn my head to look at her, her face hiding behind a curtain of messy hair.
“Neither of us is getting out. Once you’re in here, you’re in here until you’re sold to the highest bidder.”
My skin begins to crawl.
This place … it’s a human auction.
And I’m going to be sold.
CRYSTAL
Several guards step into the cell, and I crawl back against the wall, their guns pointed at our faces.
“Out. All of you.”
I can’t let them do this to us.
I have to fight, just like how Blaine taught me. Even if you don’t have a knife, use whatever you can find.
One by one, we move to the door, but when I pass the guard, I lunge at his weapon.
Everyone shrieks as I grasp it.
BANG!
A shot is fired into the floor, making me tiptoe, but I refuse to let go.
“Motherf—”
SLAP!
I’m knocked to the floor, a harsh handprint on my face, and I touch my skin where he hit me.
“You fucking bitch,” the guard growls as he grabs me by the hair and drags me off the floor.