Chapter 4
1742 Words
The compartment was dark, stuffy, and cold. Emily slowly regained consciousness and felt a splitting headache as she opened her eyes and wondered where she was.
“Where am I? Am I in a van?” She felt around the floor of the vehicle and heard the roaring of the engine and bumping of the tires as it ran over some potholes.
“This must be some kind of van,” Emily mumbled to herself as she tried to feel her way around in the darkness. The moving vehicle made it all the more difficult for her to steady herself. She was careful not to bump into the sides of the van so as not to alert whoever was driving it.
She then felt a large heavy rod that appeared to be a crowbar. She carefully inserted it in a gap and began to pry it open.
This was a very old van and its doors had seen better days. Emily used whatever strength she had to pry the doors and she soon managed to make a dent large enough for her small hands to reach out.
She heaved a sigh of relief and stuck her hand out to open the latch. The doors were unlocked and before she could push them open and escape, the van suddenly screeched to a stop. Emily was through back into the compartment and she quickly slid the crowbar under the seats. She then lay down and pretended to be unconscious.
The driver’s door opened with a loud creak and the driver exited. He stretched his back and then lit a cigarette before walking to the back of the van.
“f**k! How did the door open on its own?” he exclaimed and quickly looked into the compartment to check if Emily was still inside.
“This piece of s**t almost caused me to lose my good stuff!” he said with a chuckle.
It was a moonless night and the surroundings were equally dark as it was inside the compartment. The glowing ambers from his cigarette were barely sufficient for him to approach Emily and put a black sack over her head. He then grabbed her shoulders and shook vigorously. “Wake up. We’ve arrived. Come down with me.”
Emily frowned and stumbled as the man pushed her along. Her sensitive ears picked up the noise of people around her. The clatter of the dice being tossed, the shoosh of the cards as they were dealt, and delicate women’s laughter.
It was obvious at this point that wherever she was being led to was not going to be pleasant. The man who had kidn*pped her seemed to be greeting his companions happily. From the trivial conversational pleasantries, Emily knew that she had been taken to an auction house. Except that the items being auctioned were not valuable antiques or precious jewelry. Young females were being auctioned off to rich clientele with unique needs. A young and beautiful “specimen” like her was one of the highest-priced commodities there.
Soon, a man named Bobby took Emily to a place where he chained Emily’s hands and legs and placed her into a metal cage. Her hood was removed and she was now able to see that there were other cages that each contained a girl. A sense of dread came over her and she knew that this was a bad situation that she had to quickly find a way out of.
“This next lot is a beautiful, petite, angelic doll with a hot and seductive body. Please put your hands together and welcome our Miss 177!”
Two topless muscular men pushed Emily’s cage to the middle of the stage. A blinding spotlight shone on her. She was for sale, just like a piece of meat being sold at the supermarket.
A group of customers with varying s****l inclinations, who had elaborate face masks on, began to howl and whistle rowdily when they saw such a beautiful girl appear on the auction stage.
“The starting bid for No. 177 is twenty thousand dollars with increments of five thousand dollars. Please be attentive and don’t miss your chance to own such a lovely lady!” The lewd auctioneer in the tuxedo said as he yanked Emily’s blouse and revealed one of her snow-white breasts.
“Such a pure, tender, and beautiful specimen doesn’t come easily. Honored guests, you mustn’t miss it!”
Emily was overwhelmed by emotions to find herself in such a place where they traded a woman regardless of her background and aspirations. They could trade and sell a woman, not bothering if she ended up as a servant, slave, or p********e. A person could be owned for thousands of dollars. Emily, finally saw, for the first time, how cheap a human life could be.
She began to shiver as she sat in the cage and felt that she had completely lost her dignity as a human being. All of them were showcased like animals at a trading house.
“Eighty-two thousand dollars once, Eighty-two thousand dollars twice, Eighty-two thousand dollars thrice...”
“A hundred thousand dollars!” A man with a strange mask said in a deep voice.
Bang! “Congratulations to this gentleman. No. 177 will go to the distinguished customer with the highest bid for the night! From today onward, this petite beauty will be yours!” The auctioneer grinned and congratulated the buyer on the stage.
Emily watched on helplessly as her cage was pushed by the two muscular men toward a specially designed suite.
The door to the suite closed, and Emily began to struggle violently, without any concern over the lacerations she was causing to her arms and legs. The chains dug into her skin and the wounds began to bleed. The masked man turned around and stood in front of her. He looked at her condescendingly and finally sighed as he noticed the blood oozing from the wounds.
The man crouched down, opened her cage, and gently unshackled her. Although he did not say a word nor behaved inappropriately, Emily remained very wary of him.
After the last shackle dropped to the ground with a clunk, Emily grasped the opportunity to break free and swiftly scampered out of the cage. The man seemed to be surprised by her overly agile movements and tried to grab her arm but missed.
Emily ran frantically toward the door but now she was grabbed by his strong hands. Reflexively, she spun around and slapped the man’s face. Not only did she knock off his mask, but she also left a long wound on the side of his face.
“Emily, easy now...” the man said.
Emily snapped her head around and looked blankly at the man. He was tall with scars on his forehead and a long gash that she just caused.
She froze when she saw the shape of the scar and began to realize...
“Dylan? Is that you? Dylan?” Emily asked meekly as her voice quivered.
The man heaved a long sigh of relief and said with a painful smile, “I’ve finally found you...”
She stared in disbelief at him as tears began to steam down her cheeks. “Dylan? Am I dreaming? Are you really my brother?”
“Emily, it’s me. I’ve finally found you,” he said reassuringly.
Emily sobbed painfully as all her childhood memories came flooding back. Dylan reached out to pat her head but she instinctively avoided his hand.
Emily looked up and saw Dylan’s dismayed expression. “I... I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Emily. I’ll never allow anything like this to happen to you ever again!” He said reassuringly which made her feel so secure and safe.
“How have you been all these years?”
Dylan sat next to Emily and told her about what he had gone through. When they were separated, Emily was adopted while he remained on the streets. He was eventually picked up by a kind and righteous man. He taught Dylan to read and took very good care of him. The man had no children and his businesses spanned casinos, bars, and auction houses. All these were inherited by Dylan after his death.
Dylan took over the businesses and quickly expanded them. Now he was the veritable king of Jones City organized crime. He owned the entire city’s bars and casinos, as well as the underground auction house. Other than the rich and powerful of the city, few dared to offend him.
After Dylan finished speaking, he used a handkerchief to wipe away the tears on Emily’s face and patted her head again. “Everything’s alright now. Emily, what happened back then is all in the past. I’m here and now you will never be alone.”
“But did you have a lot of injuries when you started?” Emily asked as she sobbed.
Dylan smiled, pointed to his biceps, and said, “That’s nothing, Emily. I’m now the most powerful person in Jones City. All the sufferings in the past were worth it! You will live with me in the future and you will never be bullied again!”
Emily gritted her teeth and asked, “Your work must be very complicated. How can I help you?” Emily was simple and untainted by the strives of life.
On hearing Emily’s words, Dylan raised his eyebrows, “Duke, get me the positions that we are trying to hire. Since my sister wants to work, then I must make sure she gets what she wants.”
A stack of documents was handed to Emily.
She looked down at the job description and it included translation of documents, handling formal reviews, and content revision of documents. She also needed to account for the casino’s profits and arrange for new workers. All these were jobs that Emily could understand.
She then saw a sentence written in red: “Hearing acuity rated at six stars.”
“What’s this training for, brother?”
Dylan explained. “Since you grew up with a keen sense of hearing, I believe that your talents should not be wasted. I hired two excellent trainers to explore how you can enhance your abilities and one day you can work directly for my group.”
Emily nodded obediently and replied, “Okay. I will definitely try to do a good job!”
- Writer
