“Emris,” I gasp, trailing behind Susie.
“Emris is gone, you dumb bitch!” Susie snaps, spit hitting my cheek, but I don’t wipe it off. “He’s been dead since the day we took you from his house. Troy killed him and put him in the car. We tied weights to his legs and dropped him into the middle of a lake. There’s no coming back from that, Brielle. Whatever you think you saw or heard was your little mind playing tricks on you. Well, and the drugs,” she adds with a shrug. “You’ve been way too much trouble than you’re worth.” Susie turns, and we keep moving.
My heart squeezes at the reminder of him being dead. He-he can’t be. He was there. I refuse to believe he’s gone.
I’m dragged into a room with a handful of other women. They all look away when we enter, like they’re afraid of me being here. Maybe they should be. I’ve managed to piss a lot of people off today.
My legs wobble from the drugs, but at least this time it wasn’t enough to knock me out, and after Peter pressed that hot brand to my side, the haziness from the drugs wore off faster than usual.
The spot still burns, but I can handle it now.
All the women are seated on chairs as they get their hair and makeup done, followed by skimpy outfits. At least I won’t be completely naked anymore. Susie motions to an empty chair, and the guard tosses me down into it with more force than necessary, and I almost topple over.
The room is dead quiet, like the darkness is all looming over us. The calm before the storm.
Susie begins to brush out my hair more gently than I thought she would, but I keep my eyes trained on the ground. At some point today, I’m going to be sold off to the highest bidder, and who knows if the man who buys me will be worse than Peter? A worse life than I’ve lived—however long I’ve been here—isn’t something I want to do. I’ll find a way to end my life before I endure more of this.
The way Susie is brushing my hair reminds me of my mom. She used to do the same thing before bed every night while humming a tune. She’d remind me how pretty I was and that it was the two of us against the world. I’d do anything to have her back for just one more day, to feel her arms wrapped around me and tell me everything will be okay.
I didn’t even know I was crying until Susie stood in front of me, sighing. Silent tears leak down my cheeks, but I don’t wipe them away. I let the pain of being completely alone wash over me. My heart squeezes in my chest, and I rub my hand over it, hoping to dull the ache even a little.
Something soft dabs at the wetness on my face, then it’s replaced with a makeup brush. Susie brushes something on my cheeks, blush probably. I don’t know. I don’t care. Keeping myeyes locked on the ground, I let Susie do whatever she needs. There isn’t any point in fighting it anymore. I know that now.
I’ll be sold to someone who will use and abuse me until I can’t take it, and I’ll be just another person whose body won’t be found. I’ll kill myself, and no one will come looking. No one will mourn me, but then I’ll be with Emris again, and that alone brings a small smile to my face.
I don’t remember getting dressed, and I don’t remember lining up against the wall with all the other women until we are being led out of the room and into another area. I can hear music coming from somewhere close by and the laughter of men and women, but I don’t see anyone.
Susie walks down the line, moving us into a different order, with me one of the last ones in line before handing us some kind of pill.
“Take this. It’ll make you calm down,” she tells all of us as some of the girls tremble with fear.
I don’t take the pill. I don’t trust her or anyone else, here for that matter, but Susie keeps her eyes on me until I listen. This can’t be worse than the shit they inject us with, right?
But the second the first girl is dragged out from the back and onto a big stage, my stomach turns.
Rows and rows of men and women sit in chairs, and then Peter’s voice booms over the speakers as the bidding starts. She sells for 1.2 million. I stand there with my mouth hanging open. I can’t go up there. No way. I take a few steps back, but I stop when my back collides with a guard. His hand wraps around my arms, and he forces me back in line as the next girl goes onto the stage. Whatever Susie gave us kicks in, and I can’t feel my body. My thoughts blur, then thin out until there’s nothing left, completely blank as woman after woman is led out and sold.
Then it’s my turn.
The guard behind me tightens his grip, like he already knows I’d bolt if I could. When they call me forward, he shoves me into motion.
The light hits hard as I step out onto the stage. I can’t see anyone in the crowd because of the light, and for that I’m grateful.
Then the bidding starts, voices rising and overlapping, my knees threaten to give out from under me.
Any second now I think I might pass out.
52
EMRIS
This whole eventis making me fucking sick. There are hundreds of people. A mix of men and women alike. It’s a black-tie event, so of course all the rich fucks here are dressed in designer clothing, and perfect black, red, and white masquerade masks cover their faces to help hide their identity.
There’s a single stage in the middle of the room, surrounded by many cubicles. Jasper tried to explain what it was like, but this wasn’t what I expected. Not at all. If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume this was something like a charity gala. Archer hosts a few of those at the hotel occasionally, and this is similar. Aside from the smell of musk and a faint smell of mildew, it all looks the same. People walk around with champagne glasses in their hands and talk about the latest gossip.
That’s until Peter’s voice filters through the speakers, announcing that the bidding will start soon.
With how things played out earlier during his ‘celebration,’ it made him not trust me. I’m not sure where he thought he could in the first place, but I know it was just a mind game for him. He knew I wouldn’t bend and break unless it was because of Brielle, and I was okay with playing the part if it helped get us out ofhere, but what he did earlier was my tipping point, and he knows he can’t trust me now.
