The past two days had been uneventful for Aera, apart from the ruckus yesterday afternoon when a neighbouring prisoner was dragged forcefully from her cell and removed from the dungeon. In all fairness, she’d been given the chance to leave quietly, but the halfwit refused to play nice.
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It was without question that she too would rather not be here, but she wasn’t going to fill her days with endless hope like the delusional idiots impounded with her. Her realist nature told her that if they were keeping her alive, then they were likely running some sort of trafficking ring.
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All she had to do was bide her time. And then kill the fucker that dared to buy her.
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Aera had lost all concept of time. Without windows, it was impossible to distinguish night from day. What she did know was that their daily feed was due soon because her irritability worsened every time her stomach protested. All she’d eaten since arriving was flavourless vegetable soup and her mouth watered at the thought of a slice of pizza and a can of soda.
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Using a tattered blanket as a pillow, Aera settled onto her back and waited for her delicious serving of slop. Passing the time was a ballache. It was easier to just switch off, and so closing her eyes, she allowed her mind to drift away to distract herself from the hunger.
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‘It’s okay, you soothe me just to torture me again,’ she sang, ‘oooh, I’m on a leash called you.’
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‘What the fuck are you doing?’
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Aera lifted her head, glaring at the fresh meat in the opposite cell. ‘Problem with my singing?’
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It was no surprise when the skinny spokeswoman of the group piped up, ‘Don’t listen to her. She’s fucked in the head.’
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Aera sat up and pushed her face against the bars. The angle was awkward, but she wanted to see the airhead who kept running her mouth. ‘How long have you been here, huh?’
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‘Long enough to see many of my friends disappear.’
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Aera faked a compassionate sigh. ‘Ah, yeah. It’s much quieter without Mi-Sun chirping into your “Let’s escape!” pep talks.’
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‘It’s Min-Jee, you wicked cow!’ The woman’s voice cracked with her reply, a painful sob for the fate of her friend who was taken yesterday.
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Aera ignored her comment, and cackled as the girl broke down into a weeping mess. ‘How about a game to pass the time?’ she asked, looking between the bars and catching the attention of the newbie who’d had the cheek to interrupt her ballad. ‘It’s called...who’s next.’
The room erupted with a flurry of outraged remarks that set Aera off in hysterical laughter.
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Taunting them was growing boring.
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‘Yes!’ Aera hissed, excited as to what would unfold when the prison door creaked open.
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The guards didn’t wander the aisles this time, though. Instead, they marched straight to her cell without sparing the other women a single glance. She half expected them to enter with a camera again, but Aera was surprised when they gestured for her to get her arse out.
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‘Lucky me,’ she muttered, raising her eyebrow at the men whilst strutting out of her enclosure. ‘Let me guess; one of you is taking me out for dinner tonight?’
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Seeing how they operate first hand, Aera wasn’t going to attempt to fight them.
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Not yet anyway.
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‘I can be a good girl too,’ she said, flashing them a flirtatious smile and offering each man an arm.
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The two scumbags led Aera away from the other captives. She looked in at each compartment as she passed by, now able to get a good glimpse at their miserable faces. Christ, each one looked more defeated than the last.
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Upon reaching the exit, Aera turned her head and hollered, ‘I’ll send you a postcard, ladies,’ before the arseholes cut her short and pushed her out of the dank prison.
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‘Freak!’ She heard one of them shout as they bound her hands together and slipped a blindfold on.
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‘Whoa!’ Aera giggled, unprepared as she was whisked off her feet and thrown over a sturdy shoulder. ‘Kinky.’
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Step by step, they ascended a set of stairs, and the man who secured her scoffed. ‘You’re really fucked up, lady.’
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‘Thanks!’ she cheeped, slapping his arse with her dangling hands.
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As the door opened, the breeze felt like a welcome relief after the stuffy, damp air she’d been subjected to for days.
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‘Hey, be careful with the goods!’ Aera warned when she was dismounted from his shoulder and dropped onto a steel surfaced floor.
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An engine burst to life, and the ground beneath her trembled as tyres crunched over gravel.
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Where the hell are they taking me now? she thought. They obviously didn’t run a first-come, first-served operation as some of those women looked to have been down there for months.
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Aera surmised that she was alone in the back of the vehicle and that the two goons were riding up front. Although it worked in her favour, she was dumbfounded that the dimwits had not tied her hands behind her back.
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Escaping tonight could be on the cards.
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The journey today was longer than her first. Once the vehicle stopped and the men climbed out, she slipped the blindfold off, tucked her face from view, and waited for them to come for her.
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Aera lay in a fetal position, listening carefully whilst trying to judge their whereabouts so that she could attack.
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‘You take the feet,’ a gruff voice called, giving her an inclination of where to strike first.
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Aera waited for her moment. When his hand wrapped around her ankle, she knew this was it. Flipping onto her back, she swung her free leg with such force that he stumbled back and hit the ground.
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Not bad considering she was weak due to lack of nutrients.
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She ducked and hopped out of the van, not giving the second guy enough time to register what had happened before taking off.
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As she ran, she scoped out where she was. Holy shit. This was someone’s home. Not just any home, though. The place was huge. A ridiculously colossal house looming over impressive grounds, decorated with tropical shrubs and fancy water features.
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Aera was unsure which direction to take, but she followed her instincts and took off on the stone path leading away from the property.
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No sooner had she made a dash for it, she felt a pair of solid arms tackling her to the floor.
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‘Fucking bitch,’ he growled as they grappled on the gravel that embedded into her skin.
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His strength was overpowering as he straddled her, making Aera unable to retaliate. Pinning her arms, she watched as the other man sprinted over with a syringe.
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Struggling was pointless. She was nailed to the ground under his weight, and all she could do was submit as the sedative liquid coursed through her veins. Within seconds, her limbs became numb, and her vision blurred as the lamps that lit the path faded in and out of focus.
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Aera didn’t know how long she was unconscious, but when she opened her eyes, everything was dark beneath the blindfold they’d slipped back on.
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A musky cologne lingered under her nostrils as she tried to gauge where she was. They’d moved her into that big house, and judging by the plush mattress beneath her and the aftershave that she rather liked, it was a man’s bedroom.
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At least it was a hell of a lot more comfortable than her last abode.
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Aera shimmied along the bed, finding a better position for her aching body. She was tied to the post, but her neck had been resting at the clumsy angle for God knows how long.
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So much for escaping, she thought, and where the fuck is my favourite baseball cap?
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‘Fuck it,’ she mumbled, nestling her head into the luxurious pillow, ‘at least I got an upgrade.’
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