Our driver is parked across the road at the curb, and upon spotting me, he gets out and rushes over to help me with Mom.
“We’ve been roofied,” I explain as we each take one of Mom’s arms.
He cusses in Spanish, glancing all around as we walk Mom over to the car. Her head is lolling from side to side, she’s moaning, and little beads of sweat have formed on her brow. My legs almost give out when I’m helping her into the back seat. Pain is pummeling my skull, and alcohol sloshes uncomfortably in my stomach as I climb in beside her.
My fingers fumble as I try to buckle Mom in. She’s fully passed out now, and my panic has reached coronary-inducing territory. Our driver wastes no time hanging around, quickly taking off. When I get Mom secured, I buckle my belt and drop my head against the window. I’m seeing two of the driver as he talks rapidly in Spanish into his phone, in a clearly aggravated, high-pitched tone, while his eyes constantly scan his mirrors and the back window.
I can’t even lift my head to look, and I’m struggling to keep my eyes open. I doze in and out, and I’m only vaguely aware of being jostled forward when our car slams to a halt. The driver is screaming, and I try to focus my vision, but my eyes won’t cooperate. Two loud popping sounds barely reach my eardrums. My heart is pounding so fast, and I know this is bad, but I can’t do anything to stop whatever is happening because I have no control over my body right now.
I almost hit the asphalt when my car door is suddenly yanked open. Large hands grip my shoulders, and then I’m hauled against a warm body. I open my mouth to scream, but nothing comes out, and then everything turns dark.
When I wake, I’m on a plane, surrounded by unfamiliar men. I’m confused until it starts to come back to me. I don’t see Mom. Panic crawls up my throat, and my body reacts instinctively, my legs flailing and my arms thrashing around. A tall, broad figure looms over me. A sharp pinch in my neck stings before I succumb to nothingness again.
When I wake the next time, the first thing I register is the crying. My head hurts as I move it toward the sound. Mom is lying beside me on a bed propped against a wall covered with peeling paint. She’s sobbing and staring at me with terror evident in her eyes. “Mom.” My throat scrapes as the word leaves my lips, and my mouth is as dry as the Sahara. My arm feels like a dead weight as I attempt to touch her.
“You’re awake,” a strange man says. “Good.”
A tight pain spreads across my chest as fear has a chokehold on me. Callused fingers grip my ankle, and I’m tugged down the dirty mattress. My heart slams against my rib cage as I stare in horror at the five men standing around the bed in the small, windowless room. All are armed, coated with a myriad of ink and piercings, and sporting similar dark, lust-filled glints in their eyes.
“No,” I croak as the man holding my ankle starts moving his hand up my bare leg. It’s only then I realize I’m completely naked and totally vulnerable. Adrenaline supercharges my veins, and I kick out, trying to wrench my leg free.
“Leave her alone!” Mom cries, crawling to my side and wrapping her fingers around the man’s wrist, trying to force him off me. She’s naked too, and the full horror of our new reality is only now dawning on me.
Another man backhands her, sending her flying back. Her head hits the wall with a loud crack.
“Mom!” I scream, continuing to kick at the monster feeling me up while I arch my neck and look back at my mother. She’s cradling her head in her hands and softly moaning. I cry out when fingers touch my pussy, and tears automatically leak out of my eyes.
“You leave her alone!” Mom shouts, clambering off the bed and swaying on her feet. She rounds on the man, slapping him across the face before pummeling her fists on his chest. The hand leaves my body to wrap around Mom’s throat.
“Bitch, you dare to attack me?” he snarls in heavily accented English.
Mom’s fingers claw at his hand as he exerts more pressure on her neck.
“Please, stop.” I sit up, wrapping my arms around myself as if that will stop the vicious trembling that’s seized my body. A strangled sob rips from my lips as the other men ogle me like I’m their next meal. I stand on shaky limbs. “Let her go. I’ll do what you want if you don’t harm her.” His meaty hand eases his grip on Mom’s throat a little. “Please. She’s my mom.”
“Aw.” The asshole reaches out with his free hand, cupping my bare breast and squeezing it. “That’s cute, but no bitch gets to disrespect me without punishment.” He tweaks my nipple hard, and it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to react. Bile fills my mouth, and acid churns in my gut. “AndMomhas bigger tits.” He makes fun of my voice, releasing me to paw at my mother instead.
“Don’t be too hasty,” one of the other men says. He grabs both my boobs in his hands and fondles me. I want the ground to swallow me. “They may be small, but they’re perky.” I close my eyes as his mouth lowers over my tits. Tears stream down my face, and inside, I’m dying.
“Take me,” Mom pleads, and my eyes pop open. She’s rubbing at her neck while the main asshole gropes her everywhere. “I’ll take my punishment. Just leave my daughter alone. Do what you want to me, but don’t touch her.”
“You don’t get to call the shots, slut,” the man says, roughly shoving his fingers inside her.
Mom is shaking as badly as I am.
“I’m sorry,” I mouth as tears continue to fall freely down my face.
This is all my fault.
She didn’t want to leave the resort, but she wouldn’t let me go on a date with Thiago alone. She didn’t want to stay at the bar after he canceled, and I should have listened to her. If I had, our drinks wouldn’t have been spiked, and we wouldn’t have been kidnapped. I ignored her fears and safety concerns, downplaying them when she was right. Mom is only in this mess because of me, and if I could die to save her, I would.
“I love you,” she mouths back, silently crying while the man violates her.
Hands paw at my body while different hands grope hers. I can’t watch, so I stare blankly ahead, trying to numb myself to everything happening.
Mom screams, and I drag my gaze around in time to see her being pushed down over a table. The main monster kicks her legs apart before lowering his zipper.
“Don’t, please don’t! Fuck me, not her,” I cry out. “Please.”
