scraped against a rickety wooden staircase, and she whimpered with every step. Darker and deeper, she exhaled a small sigh of relief when the descent came to an end, and she basked in the feel of walking on flat ground. But any comfort left her as a horrible room came into view.
Oh my God… no…
The place was awash in bound and blindfolded girls, all of them shackled to the walls. Some cried and screamed at the sound of Silas and Tim drawing nearer. Other seemed to sink deeper into the floor, resigned to their fate. Lauren didn’t want to turn into that; she wanted to get out while she still knew what it was to be alive.
“No!” Lauren screamed. “You’re not putting me here! I want–”
Ignoring her cries, Silas slammed her to the ground and chained her again. Reaching into his pocket, he produced a crimson bandana and tied it around her head. As soon as the light left her, Lauren flailed and kicked. Silas stilled her with a pull to her nipple, and she retreated to the place where she could stay silent and simply hope to survive.
“Just shut up,” he said. “And don’t cry.” He pressed his hands under her chin. “Not a bad face,” he said. “But I’ll slash your cheeks if you fuck this up for me.”
Abandoning her, she started to pull at her blindfold when a soft hand met her arm.
“Don’t do it, kid.”
The voice that hit her ears was raspy, gnarled, and Lauren twisted her head in the direction of the sound. “What is this place?” she begged.
“They sell us,” she started. “Trade us when they get bored. I know it seems bad at first.”
Lauren’s soul erupted into a scream. “At first? No! I’m not supposed to be here. I want to go home. Why–?”
“Not happening, honey,” the invisible woman said. “Best you just let all of that go.”
She pressed her hands to her ears, not wanting to hear the truth of her new situation. If she wished hard enough, she was home and safe. If Drew could find her now, he would beg forgiveness for his harsh words and simply rejoice in her return. She wanted to go back, but as the room of girls wept all around her, that seemed like a dream that would never come to pass.
“You scared?” the woman asked.
Nodding, and then realizing that her new friend couldn’t see the fear in her eyes, Lauren spoke up. “What are they going to do to us?” Lauren asked.
“Sell us off,” she said. “Some masters are kinder than others. You best just hope for a sweet sir.”
Lauren remembered all the nights, so many nights, when she had pleaded with Drew to break from their routine. She had wanted to be on her knees and feel his cock pressing into her from behind. One time, she had even asked for a blindfold. Kicking herself now, she pulled at her bonds, and she was only stilled by the feel of the woman’s hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t try to fight it,” she said. “No one ever gets out.”
Lauren was not about to resign herself to this awful fate. But she had to keep her facts straight. A sweet sir? Maybe she could survive that. But… “Who are the Night Riders?” she asked in a shaking voice.
The woman started to back away, but Lauren gripped her wrist and kept her close.
“What does it–?”
“One of the biker club around these parts,” she started. “You can’t walk after a night with Eric.”
Lauren cringed. She knew that Tim and Silas intended to sell her to these men. Those men.
A horn blared, and she listened hard as one of the other girls was dragged from her side. In the near distance, she could hear quoted figures and bids for flesh. A strange voice called time at twenty-five thousand dollars, and the unknown girl’s scream dissipated as she was led into some untold hell.
“How do I get out of it?” Lauren asked through her blindfold.
“What do you mean?”
“We’re for sale. Right?” Lauren asked. Just saying it
Eleanor Coerr, Ronald Himler