When we’re born, we’re told we can do anything, be anything. I grew up in the slums of Moscow, surrounded by gopniki, children of the slums who became Russian mobsters, but my parents told me I could be anything I wanted. I didn’t know anything better than the rundown streets and the iron fist of the mob until I was much, much older. Despite everything, I believed them for a long time.
How stupid I was to think that. Happiness and privilege are something you’re born into. If you draw a bad hand, then you have to play the cards you’re dealt. I was sixteen when the mobsters killed my mother and father. No doubt it had something to do with money, it always does, but they didn’t kill me. No, they kidnapped me instead. I was dressed up, shown off, and idolized by powerful men with nothing but time and money on their hands.
They wanted to sell me off to a scumbag who would abuse me and use me for his own personal pleasure. They dangled me like a carrot on a stick, taking orders that would go into effect when I was old enough to be sold to them. It disgusted me beyond words. The only thing that kept me going was hope that one day I would escape. One day, I would be free. Now that I was a fully grown woman, they would sell me off to the highest bidder again and again. I couldn’t wait any longer, that day was today.
I was dressed in high heels with a tight leather dress that clung tightly to my body from head to toe. I had grown into an attractive woman. I knew this by the way men looked at me. They required me to stay in shape for potential investors, but I went above and beyond to become stronger and faster. They looked at me and saw a frail woman, but underneath the snowy white skin and womanly curves burned a fire that would reduce them to ash.
It was night, the moon hung high in the Moscow sky. A large thug sat beside me in the backseat. I felt his eyes exploring my body. After years of moments like this, they still made me sick to my stomach. It wasn’t something I could ever get used to. The keys were still in the ignition and the engine was running. The driver said he would be back soon to get me. When he came back, I wouldn’t be here.
More so than strength, what I needed most was courage. Any attempt to escape from the clutches of these men would most likely result in my death. I had only one shot at this, and I couldn’t afford to mess it up. I kept the upper half of my body still as I slowly slid one of the heels off my foot.
I reached down to the shoe and felt the cool metal of a small knife across the surface of the heel, buried just beneath the fabric on the slope of the shoe.
“What’re you doing?” the thug asked.
I looked over and saw his eyes wandering down my backside where the dress revealed open skin in the center.
“I have an itch. Don’t worry, just enjoy the view,” I said, trying not to let my disgust come through.
The thug grunted and continued staring me down as I pried the hidden blade out of the shoe. When I had it in my hand I sat back up. My entire body pounded with each racing heartbeat as I clutched the knife beyond the thug’s view. It’s now or never.
I looked over to him and felt my stomach turn as I saw his thick and scarred face. He had uneven stubble, numerous slashes of scarred tissue through his face, and a nose that had been broken more times than it healed itself. He was mesmerized, which meant his guard was down.
“How long until the driver comes back?” I asked.
“Shouldn’t be much longer, why?” he replied.
“Oh I don’t know, I was just thinking that maybe we could have some fun while we wait?”
The thug’s beady eyes opened wide. I could see sweat building up on his brow as he eagerly licked his lips. Just wait for the right moment.
“Come here, and let me show you what you’re missing,” I whispered.
His grubby hands traced a line from my shoulders to my breasts as he leaned in closer. I smelled cigarettes and vodka on his breath as he awkwardly groped my body. I turned the knife around so the blade was facing outward just as his scraggly lips touched mine.
I gripped the handle and drove the blade deep into the left side of his neck until only the handle remained. The thug fell backward, choking on his own blood as he desperately reached for the knife. I dove out of the car door, kicked my heels away, and climbed into the driver’s seat. The engine was already running, so I put the car into drive and slammed the gas. I thought I could make out the horrified yelling of the driver behind us as we sped off.
The thug in the backseat soon stopped his struggles. As I sped through the deserted streets, I stole a glance in the rearview mirror to make sure he was down for the count. My eyes met his just as he wrapped his hands around my throat. His strength was waning, but he gripped me tight enough to make my vision start to blur.
The car swerved off the road and down into a ditch. We hit a tree during our descent and my head shot forward with the sudden stop. I slammed into the steering wheel and everything went black.
When I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital bed. White sheets surrounded me as I took in the wires that ran into my veins and into devices that were affixed to my body. The steady rhythm of the heart monitor beside the bed told me I was still alive. I wasn’t sure if that was a miracle, or if I would have been better off dead in the wreck.
I sat up and felt pain shoot through my head and down my side. It didn’t matter, if they found me here, I was done for. I had to get out and find a way out of this country. I grabbed the I.V. that they had running liquid into my arm and ripped it out. I pulled the clips off of my body and fingers, and threw the sheets over the side.
The door to the room I was in swung open. I froze in panic for a brief moment and then laid back into the bed, hoping and praying that it was simply a doctor or a nurse. Instead, I saw a businessman enter. He had a perfectly manicured haircut, a fine business suit, and a solid red tie.
The wrinkles on his face and the cold ice behind his gaze told me he wasn’t my type, but he was far more inviting than most of the men I had known in my life. Still, he could work for them, I couldn’t let my guard down.
He picked up the clipboard at the foot of my bed and looked it over.
“Jane Doe, that’s not your name, is it Natalia?” he asked.
My heart stopped. No one but my captors knew my name, he had to be one of them.
“Please, don’t kill me! I’ll go back, I promise!” I shouted.
The man raised one of his gloved hands and silenced me.
“I don’t know who you’re running from, and frankly I don’t care. I represent a powerful businessman who specializes in mail-order brides from around the world. I have reviewed the current options with him and he believes you will make an excellent wife. If you come with me now, I can not only promise your immediate safety, but also a life of luxury. I don’t have much time, so you must decide now.”
I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by “mail-order bride,” but if he wasn’t with my captors, he was a way out. By all accounts I should have been dead, so I wasn’t about to turn down a second chance.
“Yes, fine, I’ll come with you. When do we leave?”
The businessman reached over to the bag with my clothes in it and threw it onto the bed. “We leave now. Get dressed.”