I get the whole name, Carpe Diem. Sure, live for the moment. I might get the Doll House too if I weren’t a doll inside it and didn’t see the truth behind the mask.
The truth of which is this: I’m a whore in a brothel.
That’s what I was turned into.
Lucca can call us whatever he wants, but that is what we are here. Both the girls who work here and get paid and the one’s he’s taken for debt repayment.
Dollhouse though… nothing could be further from the truth. It’s a raggedy piece of shit dorm-like place with bunk beds where we sleep when we aren’t in the brothel. The brothel which looks like some five-star hotel fit for the president himself.
There are fifteen of us now, but when I got here three months ago there were sixteen girls, including me in this dorm. Of the sixteen, ten were girls that were bought or sold to Lucca Marchesi.
I heard Emma did something, but no one ever told me what that was. I remember seeing her one day, and that was it. She was gone by the next. I wasn’t given any more details and all the other girls were afraid to talk about her.
Gina walks up to me and rests a hand on my shoulder. At twenty-five, she’s a year older than me, but she looks older. I would be the last person to be a bitch, however, and say such a thing to a girl I could consider a friend, but it’s true. They all look like that here. They have a damned appearance I’ll get eventually. It will come with time.
“Please… don’t try to escape again,” Gina says. Her large brown eyes plead with me. “You might die next time. He won’t hesitate to kill you with that temper of his.”
I know she’s right, but I wonder… wouldn’t death be better than this?
I sigh and press my lips together. I haven’t spoken to anyone since I came out of the dungeon. The girls are either afraid Lucca might think they’re plotting with me to escape, or planning some sort of scheme.
Gina is the only one brave enough to push the limits but even she knows when to take heed.
“I’ll try,” I answer, mainly to show my appreciation for her care. That’s all. I’m not answering for any other reason.
"I mean it, Megan. He’ll kill you. The same way he…” her voice trails off and she glances over her shoulder to see if anyone’s listening.
They aren’t.
Belinda, the bitch who preps us for fucking isn’t anywhere in sight and the guard is at the other end of the room.
It’s just us down here near the wardrobes. Gina didn’t have to say anything else. I knew what she meant, and who she was talking about. Emma.
That was who she meant and I always believed she knew more than what she said and what she was willing to share. I think she saw it happen. Lucca killing Emma. The terror in her eyes every time Emma’s name is dropped also makes me think she was made to watch.
“I know,” I answer with a nod. My voice quivers from crying. Crying and screaming in the dungeon as I was whipped and left to starve.
“Okay, so if you know, don’t do it. Please… don’t try it again. You can’t escape here. You can’t escape the Dollhouse, Megan. The only way out is if he says so, or… death.”
“Okay…”
She thinks I must have a death wish. I think I do.
Ten days ago when I tried one of my many escape attempts and failed I thought if I didn’t make it, I’d do the only other thing I could do. Allow Lucca to kill me. The bastard knew it too. I make him too much money though.
I’m the whore here who makes him a good fortune. I’m fresh meat for the men. They like new ones. It adds to the fantasy of this seedy hell I now call home.
Jesus… I can’t believe this is me.
“Chin up for tonight,” she encourages and saunters away.
It’s time to go out now. Time to go to work.
I walk in the opposite direction to where Gina went. I’m on the VIP floor. The place where the important men come for the night.
It’s just me and the two other girls Lucca considers the favorites that work that floor.
r /> I step out of the Doll’s House and the guards look at me, giving a special eye because they know I’m trouble. Of anyone else here I’m the one who’s tried to escape the most.