Astor
“Put this on,” Vincent says, tossing yet another skimpy outfit in my direction. We’re in a motel this time, and a questionable one, with mold on the window sills and stains on the carpet. “We’re going live in ten minutes.”
I don’t pick up the outfit, and I don’t move an inch. “Live?”
Vincent grins. “You’re a star, baby. Your auction is getting more hits than any other girl before you. We’re gonna sweeten the pot by having a live feed, where guys can ask you to turn certain ways or bend in others. The men go fucking crazy for that shit. Now go.” He flicks his hand toward the bathroom door. “Change your clothes.”
I bend forward and snag the outfit off the ground, but before turning to go into the bathroom, I meet Vincent’s gaze and stare brazenly back at him. “Cory will find me, you know.” Vincent’s jaw ticks, but he doesn’t answer. “He’s going to find me, and he’s going to kill you.”
I don’t really know what Cory will do if he finds us, or if he’s even still looking for me, but given Vincent’s reaction, I’ve said the right thing. Fear is often masked by anger. He storms toward me, grabbing me by the upper arm and shoving me inside the bathroom. “Change your fucking clothes.” And with that, he slams the door shut.
I stand in the bathroom, holding the teeny little dress—if it could be called that—in my hands and think about what Vincent wants me to do. A live feed? He wants me to pose and bend over for a bunch of horny men that are willing to pay to rape away my virginity. I can’t. There’s no way I can bring myself to do it. Vincent will have to shoot me before I put on this outfit and go out there in front of the camera.
The gentle chirp of a song bird sounds from my left, and I pull back the shower curtain to discover a small window, set high in the wall. My eyes dart to the door and my ears strain to hear any sounds from the main room. Vincent and Javier are talking, getting the website ready to go.
My gaze slides back to the window. It’s too small for a grown woman to crawl through. Luckily, I’m smaller than the average grown woman. Stepping up on the edge of the tub, I stretch my arms and slide the window up. It’s filthy and covered in watered-down dust, but thankfully, the moisture from the shower makes it go up without a sound.
I’m going to have to jump to get my body on the edge to hoist myself up and out, and if I miss, it’s going to make more noise than I can afford. Vincent will hear it for sure. I only have one shot at this.
Balancing on the edge of the tub, I bend my knees and raise my arms, ready to scramble my way up and over the lip of the window. My knees shake and my heart thrums inside my chest. I take a deep breath, and then I jump.
My chin hits the track of the window at the same time my fingers do. Pain shoots through my jaw, and as I hang from the window by my fingertips, I feel the blood trickling down my neck, but I don’t waste a single second.
Using every ounce of strength I can muster, I pull and heave, using my feet on the wall to push my body up and over the edge of the window. When half of me is outside, I look down at the ground below. Lucky for me, we’re on the first floor, but the window is still really high.
A knock on the door startles me, nearly sending me headfirst out the window. “Two minutes, Astor. Get a move on.”
I lean back into the room as far as I can and call back, “Almost done.” I screw my eyes shut and wait, sure that the high tone in my voice has given me away. When it’s clear that Vincent has gone back to his chat with Javier, I go back to my current situation.
Squeezing my leg into the window with my shoulders is nearly impossible. It’s an act of contortion, and I force it through until I have a leg on either side, and am able to sit up a little. Slowly and carefully, I ease my other leg out and lower my body from the window, until I’m dangling above the brown grass that surrounds the motel.
Finally, I let go, and my knees buckle as my feet hit the ground, but I roll with it, tumbling a little until I come to a stop. I’m out. Rejuvenated by adrenaline, my heart races as I jump to my feet and scan the area around me. There are more woods to the right, and a convenience store to the left. Directly behind the motel is a freeway.
I glance down at my feet that had already been torn up during my run through the woods the other night and weigh my options. I don’t think my feet can handle another trek into the wilderness. The convenience store is likely the first place Vincent and his cronies will search. That leaves the freeway.
Running as fast as my legs will carry me, I take off for the fence line separating the freeway from the motel property line. I make it over easily and glance back, just as Javier’s head pops out the window I’d just escaped from. I watch in terror as he looks from side to side, but it’s not until his searching gaze finds me that the scream rips from my throat.
He’s gone in an instant, back inside the room, and I know they’ll be out here in a matter of seconds. Sticking out my thumb, I stand at the side of the road, one eye on the motel at all times as my heart thrashes inside my aching chest.
Vincent is the first one around the side of the motel, heading in my direction. He’s followed by Javier and two other men, all of them with guns in their hands.
I should have chosen the woods. I’m a sitting duck here. The road cuts me off on one side and they’re on the other. I’m trapped. Screeching tires sound from behind me, and I turn to see an older model, grey sedan, pulled to the side of the road, the driver waving me over through the open window.
My captors are closer now, so I don’t hesitate. Running to the car, I rip the door open and climb inside. “Go!” I cry to the driver, my eyes on the men coming full steam ahead behind us.
The car starts moving and I lean forward in my seat, watching in the side mirror as Vincent and his boys get smaller and smaller. It’s not until they’re out of sight that I turn to my new savior.
“Thank you,” I say, my hand on my chest as I try to catch my breath.
“Not a problem, darlin’.”
The relief I was feeling at my last second rescue melts away as I take in the man beside me. He’s tall and broad, his face scruffy with an unkempt beard, and his eyes are devouring me like I’m a burger and he hasn’t eaten in a week. I swallow back my fear and force my voice to keep from quivering as I look him dead in the eyes. “May I please use your phone?”
The man chuckles, and the sound is cold enough to send shivers down my spine. “Sure thing, gorgeous. Trouble is, my phone is at home. Guess you’ll have to come with me.”