I wondered how long the man would keep me, exactly how long my father had gambled my life away for and if I would ever see my little sister again.
Pavel led me into a large room that looked like a library. I loved books, so the sight of them made me feel slightly better.
But then the man's voice came from behind me. And one word brought my world crashing down.
"Strip."
I turned to him and watched as he locked the double sliding doors. There's no way out. And he's asking me to take off my clothes.
"N-no," I stammered, shivering. I couldn't stop shaking.
Pavel produced a knife from his pocket, flicking the blade out and pointing it towards me. "Strip.Now," he commanded.
Shaking my head, I backed away from him. "No!" I spat at him.
"This isn't a game, girl," he growled. "Do you want to lose a finger or an ear tonight?" He played with the knife in his hands, moving the sharp blade over the pad of his beefy thumb.
Tears filled my eyes as I weighed my options, which were next to none. I didn't want to be hurt, but I also didn't want him looking at my naked body. It waswrong.
Shaking my head, I took another step back, almost toppling over a small table. "Please. Please," I begged. "I'll do anything you want, but not this. I'm a v-virgin," I confessed.
"I know that, girl. That's the only reason I allowed your father to put you up as a pawn. He bragged to everybody at the card game that he had valuable collateral — a pretty, virgin daughter."
His words sickened me, and I stared at him in disbelief. My father was a drunk and a gambler, but I never thought he could stoop so low…until now.
"Now, Katerina," he said, spitting out my name like a curse. "Are you going to comply, or do I have to make you comply?"
I stood my ground and glared at him. If he was going to take something from me, I wasn't going to give it to him willingly, without a fight.
"Have it your way then," he said slowly, setting the knife down on the large oak desk at his side. His fingers then went to his belt, the leather whispering through the fabric loops as he pulled it loose.
He wrapped the leather strap around one hand, leaving the belt buckle exposed on the other end dangling towards the ground. He came towards me, and before I could even think to move or defend myself, the belt buckle was slashing against my upper thigh.
The metal cut straight through the fabric and into my tender flesh below. Blood blossomed onto my pants, and I immediately felt lightheaded at the sight. My father had hit me before, but he rarely drew blood — only left bruises.
The next strike from Pavel came right after, getting me on my side, cutting into my skin and ripping through me as he pulled it back out.
I cried out in agony, my knees threatening to buckle as I tried to run away, tried to escape him.
But he just kept coming after me, the belt biting into my skin time and again until I was a sobbing, screaming mess.
I gasped, sucking air into my lungs, coughing and sputtering as I curled into a ball, defenseless and in total agony.
"Help!" I screamed for someone, anyone.
I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed with all my might for a white knight to come bursting through the doors, just like in the books I read to Senga every night when I tucked her into bed.
We had so many fairy tales about princesses and princes and far off lands where the white knight always swooped in at the last second and saved the girl. And I wanted to be that girl in that moment. I wanted to be saved.
I thought about those stories at that moment, completely tuning out the sound of Pavel's belt slicing through the air…my sobs piercing my ears…the pain wracking my body…
But my Prince Charming never came to save me.
Not that night.
And not any night after that.
CHAPTER 1
