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“What the hell does that mean?” I asked, softly tracing the smooth edge of the makeshift knife under the mattress.

He smiled again as he took a step into the room. Only he wasn't alone. Two more men stood behind him. Their faces were shadowed. They were like two demons rising from the ground. Death walking behind my executioner.

“What is this? Who are they?” I asked, my voice rattling with disdain as my eyes darted between all three men.

“Them?” Vega glanced over his shoulder. “They're here to help me.”

“Help you with what?” My fingers carefully stretched under the edge of the mattress to grip the broken plate.

“Well, you won't eat on your own. So, you leave me no other choice.”

The other two men came to his side. They both had something in their hands, but I was too freaked out to see what it was. All I could do was react. My nerves kicked in full force. I yanked the shard out of its hiding place and jumped to my feet.

Instantly, I felt woozy. I was dehydrated and weak from having nothing to eat or drink. The room spun, and my head pounded with a terrible headache, but I didn't let it stop me. I lunged forward as I screamed, “Get the fuck away from me!”

The jagged edge of the broken plate cut into my palm as I flailed my arm in Vega's direction. I struck him with it, sliding the blade down his cheek. Vega grunted, but he never yelled or cursed in pain. He didn't flinch. He didn't even try to move. He stood there motionless.

Vega grabbed my wrist and twisted it hard, forcing me to drop the shard. His mouth went crooked as he said, “Nice try. Unfortunately, you lost this battle.” He manipulated my body as easily as gum on a hot sidewalk.

My arms were suddenly pinned behind my back, and he was walking me back to the cot. The other two men moved around like bees, shuffling and pushing blurred objects. I tried to fight him. I jerked my body and dug my heels into the floor.

“Fuck you! Let me go! You can't do this, you fucking asshole!”

It was useless. Vega was too strong. He threw me onto the cot. My arms and legs were strapped down before I had a chance to protect myself. A belt was put across my stomach and yanked tight, keeping me flat. I was hot all over, as if the room was on fire and I was sitting in the center of it. My skin burned. My insides were melting like wax.

I frantically looked around. The two new faces were over me, but they weren't paying any attention to me at all. One man was wearing small, round glasses that kept sliding down the bridge of his nose when he tilted his head. He'd shove them back up with a knuckle. His hair was gray, and he wore a long white lab coat like a doctor.

The other man had smooth tan skin, shaggy brown hair, and a similar white coat. They were both wearing blue latex gloves and were handling thin plastic tubes as they talked to each other quietly.

The man with shaggy hair grabbed my arm and held it firmly at the elbow. I felt a sharp pain as the other man stuck a needle under the skin.

“What are you doing? Stop! Let me go!” I screamed. I yelled at the top of my lungs, yet it felt like no one heard me. “No! Don't do this! Let me go!”

The men didn't glance at me. Their eyes didn't shift with concern or empathy. The two men, holding me down andviolating my veins, paid as much attention to me as a butcher to the meat they were filleting.

The needle pinched as they taped it down and hooked it up to a machine. A bag full of fluid dangled, dripping slowly into the tube that was now attached. My eyes were wild. I looked at the men, at the ceiling, and to my left and right. I even tried to arch my neck to look behind me.

The two men whispered back and forth. I could hear single words, but they were foreign to me. The words didn't make sense.

“Lidocaine.”

“Lubricant.”

“NG tube.”

The shaggy-haired man passed things to the man with glasses. The man with glasses took the items and set them on a metal tray beside him. The man with glasses looked at me for the first time and said, “Do not move. If you move, I could kill you.”

I looked at him wide-eyed. “Why are you doing this to me?” I asked.

He didn't answer as he inserted the tip of a small bottle into my nose. I tried not to breathe, but I was so afraid I couldn't control my body. My lungs rapidly expanded and collapsed as my nostrils stung with the sweet scent of banana.

“Please. You don't have to do this. Just let me go. My father will give you whatever you want. Name your price.”

“Don't move,” the man demanded as he looked back and nodded at Vega.

Vega stepped around the men and came to stand by my head. “The sooner you learn to follow directions, the easier it will be for you. You're just making things more difficult for yourself. It doesn't have to be this way.”

“Please,” I begged as tears streamed down my cheeks. “I swear to you, my father will give you anything you want. All you have to do is let me go.”