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I shiver and close my eyes, trying to stop the influx of images that shoot through my mind like a movie reel.

I couldn’t remember how long I’d been here now; locked in this small room with Lindsey and Kay. I was only here because my dad gave me to these people to cover his debts. Honestly though, I think I’m better off here at the moment than at home.

All I ever did at home was look after my dad, clean up his puke, made sure he had something to eat and go and buy his drugs.

Here though, I didn’t have it as bad as Lindsey and Kay.

Kay had been beaten really bad and Lindsey had been taken from our little cell, we didn’t know what was happening to her.

Wherever she was, I knew it wasn’t good. I’d been taken this morning and paraded in front of a line of men as they stared, assessing every part of me. Black eyes had kept his hands on me the whole time.

I hadn’t been back in the cell with Kay for long before Max, her ex, came in and took her away; leaving me on my own.

I sat and stared at the door, willing one of them to come back and when black eyes opened the door and threw Lindsey back in, I breathed the biggest sigh of relief.

“Ava!” Lindsey shouted and threw her arms around me. I clung onto her, glad that I wasn’t alone now.

“Are you okay?” I asked, pulling back and scanning her body; checking her over.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Where’s Kay?”

“They came and took her,” I said, averting my eyes.

We sat and waited for a while, huddled up in the corner against the concrete wall. The room was freezing cold and as they had stripped us of our clothes, leaving us in just our underwear, we felt the chill even more.

We both turned to the door when it was flung open and Kay was thrown inside, landing on her hands and knees. The bang of the door as it closed vibrated through the walls and I gritted my teeth from the sensations it sent up my spine.

My breath caught in my throat as she showed us the key card that she’d stole off one of the men.

It was our ticket out of here.

Kay showed us some self-defense moves to help us get out of here and by the time the door opened, at the same time it did each day to provide us with that crappy cup of water, we were ready.

We managed to get out of the cell with the help of Kay grabbing the guy’s gun and then we were running down the hallway, following Kay who said she knew the way out.

After going through several doors in the hallway, Kay finally stopped and opened up the door to our salvation.

Lindsey went through first as Kay held it open.

Just as I was about to go through, I was grabbed from behind, an arm wrapping around my waist and pulling my back against their chest. “You’re not going anywhere,” he sneers in my ear and I instantly know it’s him, black eyes.

My eyes are panicked as they meet Kay’s.

“Go,” I whispered. They needed to go and get help, if she didn’t go then none of us would get out of this place.

“Ava-”

“Hmmm, I wonder what she’ll do,” he said, leaning down and trailing his tongue up the side of my neck.

I shivered and gagged at the sensation.

I watched as Kay’s hand twitched with the gun and she hesitated. She’d never be able to get a clean shot because he’d held me in just the right position so that I covered him.

“Go get help,” I pleaded.

The faster she got out of here, the faster I could leave.