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“I found out later that the guy who brought me to the club was a recruiter – they called him a ‘buffer’, which is a fucking ridiculous name. Basically, he would get young girls from the street, bring them to the club, and Alex would play the hero, rescuing them from the dangerous situation they were in. He and his gang made it seem as though they were the safe haven, and by the time people realised the truth, it was too late to leave. Alex was in his thirties, and I wasn’t the first girl he had done this to.

He went for messed up teenagers, with parents who either didn’t care, or who gave up when they were too much trouble.

When they went missing, the police gave it a half assed attempt to look into it, but those girls were trouble.

They were always listed as runaways, and the case would grow cold.

Alex either had them murdered when he had enough of them, or just discarded of them and left them to the streets.

” Another drink. I was almost tempted to take the bottle away from her, knowing her small frame couldn’t handle this amount of alcohol in this amount of time, but I was too scared that she would button up, and I’d never find out what had happened to her back then.

“But that wasn’t the Alex I knew,” she continued.

“I know now he groomed me, but obviously it didn’t feel that way at the time.

I relished getting so much attention from this older man.

He piled me with cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs.

I would brag about my older boyfriend, who took me to parties and who treated me as though I was his equal, not a child.

I willingly slept with him, and he was so happy that he got to take my virginity.

He took the sheets and pinned them to the wall of the club,” her cheeks coloured with embarrassment at the memory.

“It didn’t even occur to me to be mad about that.

He said it showed everyone I belonged to him, and it was proof that I wanted to be there.

I gave him the ultimate gift. Sick, I know. ”

My stomach flipped at the thought of the humiliation she must have gone through. And flipped once again as I remembered Rachel’s earlier words about how I would react if anyone dared treat Bee the same way.

“My parents knew there was a change. My style changed. I dyed my hair black and pierced my ears a bunch of times. When I came back unable to speak due to my tongue piercing, they called me a mess and said I needed to sort my act out. Alex laughed and gave me my first hit of cocaine that night and said if my parents wanted to complain, let’s give them something to complain about.

I went back home a complete mess. My parents rang the police, but they couldn’t do much as I refused to give up the names of the people who had supplied me with the drugs.

They took pity on me and issued me a caution, but said I was well on my way to a young offenders' institute.” She took another drink, her eyes watering at the burn in her throat.

The harsh liquor only intensified the hoarseness in her throat, and once more my stomach flipped.

I had caused that, and now I was causing her such misery as she relived her horrific adolescence.

“Alex loved that. He was so proud of me, and kept his arm around me the entire night, showing me off to everyone. I wanted to keep that happy light in his eyes. He was the only one who was ever proud of me – even before I rebelled, my parents were always disappointed. Nothing I did was ever good enough. Alex wasn’t like that.

He lavished praise on me. He would always whisper how much he loved me.

He said he would kill anyone who tried to take me away from him.

As a sixteen-year-old who read one too many romances, this was music to my ears.

I didn’t realise he was love bombing me, and essentially emotionally abusing me.

I would have done anything for him. Which is why, the first time he hit me, I didn’t do a thing about it.

He told me I deserved it, and I accepted it.

He had wanted me to steal money from my parents and I had refused.

Once he hit me, I went and stole a couple hundred, and he went on his knees apologising.

But the line had been crossed, and so the next time he hit me, he didn’t feel as bad.

” She went to take a drink, but then seemed to think for a moment, pushing the bottle away from her.

“Over the next year or so, Alex hit me for various reasons. I stopped going home during the worst of it. I didn’t want my parents to see me like that.

They worried enough as it was. I couldn’t imagine what it would do to them to see me with black eyes, or burn marks, or whip marks.

At one point, I even had a shoe print on my back from where one of Alex’s friends had stomped on me.

All the friends I had before Alex were long gone.

They had been rebellious, but in a ‘testing the boundaries’ sort of way that all teenagers do.

They didn’t want to get involved in anything hardcore.

I had no one other than Alex, and he made sure I knew it.

He stopped apologising for hurting me, and instead spat all the reasons why I deserved it.

He had officially moved on from stage one – love bombing to earn my trust and had now turned to stage two.

He wanted to make me feel worthless, as though I should be grateful for the tiniest bit of attention he threw my way.

And I was. I’m embarrassed by some of the things I did to earn his affection. ”

I stayed silent, waiting for her to continue.

She looked at me, a defiant light in her eyes, as though challenging me to be disgusted by her next admission.

“He said I needed training and stood by and watched as I fucked his friends. They were not gentle, yet if I cried, I was punished for it. I learnt to act as a sex doll, letting them do whatever they wanted to me. The girls would help clean me up afterwards, but they weren’t exactly kind either. ”

“Jesus,” I muttered. That’s where the blank look came from. It was training, but not the type I had expected. Rachel gave me a wry grin.

“Be grateful you’re only getting the cliff notes version.”

“What happened next?”

“One of the guys made an offhand suggestion one day that I would suck dick much better if I had no teeth. He said it jokingly, but Alex latched onto the idea. For weeks, he tried to persuade me to have my teeth removed and said he would pay for the best dentures out there. I laughed to start with, but when I realised he was serious, I stood my ground for the first time ever. He was mad and said no one would even know. It would be our secret. He went back to phase one Alex, being nice to me, stroking my hair to get me to sleep, washing it for me, cooking for me. He was so lovely; I was almost convinced to do it. I stopped fighting as much, and he took that as agreement. He told me he had me booked in with a dentist friend of his, and that they were going to make a pretty penny from me, as there was always a market for teeth. I told him I wanted to go home for the night and see my parents, since I was obviously not going to be able to see them for a while whilst they made my dentures and whatnot. He agreed and dropped me off at home, arguing with my parents. He was no longer bothered about them seeing him. He knew I was well under his control. He actually enjoyed mocking them. He gave me the biggest kiss in front of them, groping my ass and tits as he did so. When he left, I went straight to my room. My parents followed, and we had a huge argument. For the first time in years, I looked at them and saw the damage I was really doing. My dad looked older than ever. He almost appeared ill. My mother wasn’t much better, although she had the luxury of makeup to hide the bags under her eyes, and she dyed away all the grey hair.

” She paused, and this time I pushed the bottle at her.

She fucking needed it. She took a long swig and gave me a grateful, sad smile.

“Guilt ate at me and made me lash out. I ran away, telling them I would never be back. I went back to the club that was now my home. I didn’t let Alex know I was coming – how could I when he didn’t even allow me to own a phone?

But when I arrived, I heard them all. They were laughing about me; about how desperate I was and how easy I was to manipulate.

Alex said I was perfect, and that there wasn’t a thing I wouldn’t agree to.

A model student. One of them even laughed that they could break my arms and legs so I couldn’t fight back.

I’d be the perfect little submissive then.

They were talking about advertising me, selling my entire body for whatever man was interested.

My heart shattered. Despite all the abuse, I genuinely believed he loved me.

It was a reality check. I carried on listening and heard their plans for their new victim.

They wanted me to get a new girl for them, to help train.

They said it wouldn’t be so difficult if it was me doing the recruiting.

I was still only seventeen, and it should be easy for me to get the trust of a younger girl.

I would seem exciting. Thanks to the internet, girls were getting more wary of being approached by men, and they were finding it difficult with their current recruiters, but they had never tried a female before.

Instead of showing a sexual interest, they wanted me to become their best friend. ”

“Rachel… I’m so sorry.”