The price
1398 Words
A cloth pressed tightly over my mouth and nose before I could scream louder.
It smelled sharp and bitter. I tried to turn my head away, but a strong arm locked around my shoulders.
“Mmm..!” My protest came out muffled.
My vision soon became blurry. I tried to claw the hand away from my face, but my fingers felt weak, like they didn’t belong to me anymore.
Then everything went dark.
When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I felt was cold.
Cold metal beneath my palms.
I pushed myself up slowly, my head throbbing. The room around me was dim, lit by a single bulb hanging from the ceiling. It swung slightly, casting shadows across the concrete floor.
For a moment I couldn’t remember where I was. Then it hit me.
I jerked to my feet too quickly and grabbed the metal bars in front of me.
I was inside a cage.
Panic rose so fast it made my chest ache. My fingers wrapped around the bars as I shook them hard.
“Hello?” My voice came out hoarse. “Is anyone there?”
The cage didn’t move. The metal only rattled weakly under my grip.
My eyes darted around the room.
That was when I saw several girls.
Some were lying on the floor to my left. Others were slumped against the wall on my right. They were motionless, their hair covering their faces, their bodies so still they looked lifeless.
My stomach dropped.
“What… what is this place?” I whispered.
I pressed my face closer to the bars, trying to see if there was a door or some way out. The walls were solid concrete. The only exit I could see was a heavy steel door across the room.
But everything was locked.
The realization settled over me slowly.
I wasn’t here by mistake.
Someone had put me here.
It felt like I was an animal waiting for its owner to come release it.
My heart pounded harder with every second.
Footsteps suddenly echoed from the hallway outside.
I froze.
The steel door creaked open.
A man stepped inside.
He was tall and broad-shouldered, his arms covered in dark tattoos that crawled up his neck. His face was hard, the kind of face that looked like it had never learned how to smile.
He stopped a few feet away from my cage and looked straight at me.
“I can see you’re awake,” he said calmly.
His voice made my skin crawl.
I stepped back instinctively.
He walked closer, pulled a key from his pocket, and unlocked the cage door.
The metal gate swung open with a sharp creak.
Before I could react, his hand shot out and grabbed my arm.
“Hey..!” I struggled immediately. “Let go!”
He dragged me out of the cage like I weighed nothing.
“Where are you taking me?” I demanded, twisting in his grip. “Let me go!”
He didn’t answer.
His fingers tightened painfully around my arm as he pulled me toward the door. I tried to dig my heels into the floor, but it didn’t slow him down at all.
The hallway outside was narrow and dim. The air smelled like smoke and something sour.
My heart hammered as he dragged me down the corridor.
We stopped in front of another door.
He shoved it open and pushed me inside.
The room was bigger than the last one but just as dark.
A desk stood near the center, lit by a small lamp. Cigarette smoke filled the air.
Behind the desk sat another man.
He looked older than the first one, maybe in his forties. His hair was slicked back, and he leaned comfortably in his chair like he owned everything in the room.
His eyes moved slowly over me.
A smile crept across his face.
“I heard you were looking for me,” he said.
I frowned, confused. “I wasn’t.”
The man chuckled softly.
“I loaned your father the money.”He said.
For a second I just stared at him.
So it was true.
They had been watching us.
Watching me.
My throat tightened.
“Please,” I said quickly. “Give me more time. I’ll find the money.”
He leaned back in his chair and laughed.
Not a friendly laugh.
The kind that made your stomach twist.
“Time,” he said slowly, shaking his head. “Time is not our friend.”
My fingers curled into fists.
“You gave him seventy-two hours,” I argued. “You said..”
“We gave him seventy-two hours,” he interrupted calmly, “to bring you.”
My mind went blank.
“…What? To bring… me?” I repeated.
He smiled wider.
“Yes.”
My stomach turned.
“Am I some kind of product?” I snapped. “Something you can trade like an item in a market?”
His crooked smile didn’t disappear.
In fact, he looked amused.
“I like you,” he said.
The way he said it made my skin crawl.
I wanted to throw up.
He stood from his chair slowly. He was taller than I expected, his shadow looming over as he approached me.
He dropped his piece of tobacco on a plate.
I stepped back instinctively.
My back soon hit the cold wall.
“Careful, little bird,” he said with a chuckle when he saw me flinch.
His hand reached out and brushed against my cheek.
My entire body stiffened.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said quietly. “I just need one thing from you. Then I’ll let you go.”
His fingers trailed along my jaw.
Before I could stop myself, my hand shot up.
The sound echoed sharply in the room.
I slapped his hand away.
“Do you think I’m some cheap girl?” I snapped.
For a second the room went silent.
Then he started laughing again.
Louder this time.
The kind of laugh that made my chest tighten with dread..
The door behind me burst open.
Two men dragged someone into the room.
My breath hitched.
“Dad!”
He looked terrible.
His face was bruised and bleeding, his shirt torn. His arms were held tightly by the two men forcing him forward.
My chest tightened as I rushed toward him.
“Dad..!”
Before I could reach him, another arm wrapped around my waist and yanked me back.
“No!” I struggled desperately. “Let me go!”
My father lifted his head weakly.
His eyes widened when he saw me.
“Serenity…” he whispered.
The sound of his voice nearly broke me.
“Please,” I begged the men holding him. “Let him go! He didn’t mean to..”
My words cut off when one of them shoved him down onto his knees.
He winced in pain.
Rage and fear flooded through me at the same time.
“This is between you and me!” I shouted at the man behind the desk. “Leave him alone!”
The man only watched calmly, like this was entertainment.
I felt my father’s eyes on me.
And for the first time since I had known him… he looked ashamed.
“Serenity,” he rasped. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t say that,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “Everything will be fine.”
Even as I said it, I knew it sounded like a lie.
The man behind the desk walked forward slowly.
He stopped beside me.
“So emotional,” he said lightly.
His gaze moved between me and my father.
“You see the problem,” he continued. “Your father owes me money. A lot of money.”
“I’ll pay it!” I blurted out.
He raised an eyebrow.
“With what?”
I opened my mouth.
No answer came.
He leaned closer to me.
“So here is what will happen,” he said softly.
My father tried to move, but the men holding him forced him down again.
“Don’t touch her,” my father growled weakly.
The man ignored him.
Instead, he leaned toward my ear.
“If you satisfy me,” he whispered, his breath warm against my skin, “your father might live.”
- Writer
