Page 16

Throwing on an old pair of leggings and a grungy t-shirt, I made a quick sandwich and ate it as fast as I could.

My room wasn't much, about the size of a really small dorm. I had a bathroom and a raggedy old couch, a small hotel sized fridge and a closet full of clothes I didn't pick out. There were bars on my windows, and locks on the outside of my door. Everything was brought to me; food, clothes, hygiene stuff; the bare essentials to keep me alive.

I was as much a prisoner as any other criminal, except my crime was just being alive.

Slipping my feet into a pair of sandals, I made my way back downstairs. A few of the girls were already gathered at the bottom, waiting for Virgo to come tell us we could head into the club.

My eyes connected with a couple of the girls I saw regularly, so I smiled faintly, giving them a little hello. They didn't smile back.

Because they know better!

Just like you should!

I was past thinking about what would happen if I broke the rules. What could he do to me that I didn't beg him for already? I wasn't afraid to die, I welcomed it with open arms. My only weakness was not being able to do it myself, otherwise I'd have been gone a long time ago.

“Everyone's here,” Virgo said, strolling through the group of girls with his arms knitted behind his back. As he stepped past me, he whispered under his breath. “Even you.”

He was dressed in a fitted black suit, with shiny jet black shoes to match. The only pop of color in his entire outfit was a small yellow handkerchief he had tucked into his back pocket.

The color yellow signified who he was. Boss of the Berchello family, Virgo used the sun tinted hue as a way of stature, a way to separate him and his men from the rest of the world.

The club was just a front for all the illegal shit he had his fingers in. Illegal gambling, stolen goods, racketeering. And then there was his favorite, what he was well known for; selling sex.

On the outside it was just a typical strip club. Men flocked to the club to get a taste of his girls. And if those men had money, well, there wasn't anything they couldn't buy.

But, cross him the wrong way—and no one will ever find you.

Virgo's feet led him beyond the front of the group of ten. Keeping his back to us, he spoke up towards the ceiling. “I expect you all to put on a show like your lives depend on it.” Cocking his head over his shoulder, his eyes connected with mine. “Because for some of you, it does.”

A shiver scaled my spine as his lids lowered and pupils expanded, glowing in a hellish fire of brimstone. His tone was slick as snake's skin, layered in a subtle threat that we could all see. But, his threat was only meant for me.

Leading us all down the hall, he unlocked the door that connected to the club and opened it wide. “Doors open in thirty minutes.” As I walked by, Virgo threw his hand out and snatched my wrist. “No bullshit tonight, Berlin, I'm warning you.”

Fuck you.

Peering at him from the corner of my eyes, I nodded. Loosening his fingers from my wrist, I started forward again, my pace quick and steady.

Sitting down at the small table and mirror, I painted my lids in deep blue eye-shadow and a thick coating of jet black mascara. The tiny, form fitting outfit I pulled off the rack had pops of blue and gold, matching my makeup perfectly.

This was the only thing I actually enjoyed about being there. Putting on that makeup made me feel like a different person, like I was just a normal girl, getting ready for a date or a party. In the club I could be whoever I wanted to be.

I could smile, I could make up fake stories about who I was. I could act as though I chose to be there and this was the life I desired.

It wasn't anything like that, but a girl could play pretend. That's what all this shit was anyway, just a big game of pretend.

Pulling my hair over my shoulder, I started braiding the long thick locks. Staring at myself in the mirror as I folded one long section over the other, memories began to play in my head; ones I tried desperately to hold onto and other times I wanted nothing more than to forget them all.

'No, not like that, you're knotting your hair. Like this.' My mother stood behind me, taking my hair and pulling it into three equal parts. 'Over, under, over, under. You want to pull in from the outside and lift over from the middle. Try again.'

My hands copied her movements, but at a much slower and sloppier pace. 'Like this?' I asked, my small fingers creating pulls in the strands as they wrapped over each other.

'Just like that.' She smiled as she placed her hands on my shoulders and dipped her chin down onto the crook of my neck. 'You're so beautiful, my flower.'

I could see her face in the mirror, a ghostly apparition that hovered behind me. My lips curled into a slight smile as tears threatened to bubble over the surface.

Shaking my head, I tied the end with a thin black elastic and blinked rapidly to dry my eyes before the water could take over, and there would be nothing I could do to stop it.

I hated my memories. Because they brought more pain than the life I was living.