"Mama! Mama!" I screamed as one of the men grabbed my arm and tried to wrench me away from her.
"Katya!" my little sister cried out, and I could hear the pure terror in her voice.
She ran for me, but the other man kept her at bay.
"Please! Let me say goodbye to my sister!" I begged as the man pulled me out of the room. I fought against his hold as a million questions swirled in my mind.
What would happen to Senga? Who would make sure she wasn't bullied at school? Who would protect her?
My mother had become a lifeless shell of a woman over the years due to my father's abuse and neglect. I basically had become Senga's mother, taking care of her, making sure she had food and went to bed at a decent hour.Igot her up in the morning for school.Iwas the one who brushed her hair.
"Senga!" I cried, clawing at the man's arms wrapped around me.
"She's going to live with her new family now," I could hear my father telling my little sister in the next room. "She doesn't want us anymore."
"You lie! You liar!" I screamed as the man dragged me outside and towards a fancy, black car. A man was waiting at the back door, and he quickly opened it, so the other man could push me inside.
Once I landed on my back on the plush, leather seat, the man slammed the door shut, sealing me inside what felt like a dark, fancy coffin.
Quickly, I sat up in the seat, my pulse racing and my breaths stuttering as my heart pounded in my chest.
I wanted to lash out. I wanted to scream.
But then my father's words came back to me.
What's done is done.
He gambled and lost. And I was the pawn in the game, the consolation prize.
But what did my fate hold? What could this man possibly want me for? Would he turn me into a servant…a slave?
I swallowed hard, forcing myself not to cry until I actually learned my fate and how dire it truly would be. I tried to tell myself that maybe it wouldn't be so bad. That maybe everything would be all right.
But when the rich, older man climbed into the back of the car and sat across from me, I knew everything wasn't going to be all right. The way he looked at me, like I was good enough to eat and that he couldn’t wait for a taste, sent shivers up and down my spine.
I wrapped my arms around myself, trembling under his stare as the car started moving, carrying me further and further away from my family…from my little sister.
The silence in the back of the car was thick with tension. And finally, I was the one who broke it.
"What are you going to do with me?" I asked, fearing the answer more than anything I'd ever feared in my entire life.
"Anything I want," the man simply said. "You're mine now. I own you."
"I'll never be yours," I said defiantly, folding my arms across my chest.
Pavel chuckled. "Your father told me how headstrong you were." And what he said next chilled me to the very bone. "I can't wait to beat that defiance right out of you."
The rest of the car ride was quiet, too quiet, and I felt like I was drowning in a sea of silence. I had so many questions and not nearly enough answers.
My father clearly sold me to someone powerful, someone in charge…and someone who was going to hurt me. That much I knew, and it was difficult to try to let it all sink in. I didn't want it to sink in or be true. I just wanted to go home. To Senga.
When we finally reached his sprawling mansion late that night, I was trembling in fear and anticipation of what would happen next. Horrible thoughts ran through my mind, and I had no way to stop them.
The door opened, and Pavel stepped out first, looking back and motioning for me to follow him.
I thought at the moment that maybe if I obeyed, he would take it easy on me. So, I complied and climbed out on my own, following behind him to the entrance as the gravel below dug into my bare feet. My eyes darted everywhere along the way, looking for an escape route, a way out somehow, but there were guards all over the place…along with tall gates and guard dogs.
There was no escaping here. And that realization sent a new wave of tremors through me.
