“No! Don’t hurt him,” I cry out, not thinking about what this means for me. But I can’t watch Victor die. I’ll die in his place, I’ll offer myself to them, but I can’t see the man who’s stolen not only my body, but my heart, fall down in death.
The dark, manic eyes of the man I used to trust fall to me. The corner of his mouth twists into an evil grin. “I want the girl.”
“Is that it?” Victor challenges.
Rodrigo nods. “Give me the girl and I’ll move out of Colombia. I hear Mexico is quite nice this time of the year,” he chuckles, as if it’s the most amusing thing he’s thought of.
I’m shaking my head, pushing off the ground and coming to stop beside Victor. “Please, don’t do this.” I touch his arm, but he flinches away from me. “Please, Victor, think about what we spoke about, think about what we said.”
He finally turns his dark eyes on me, and I see it—resignation. He doesn’t believe me anymore. He thinks that I’m working with the man who’s bartering me like I’m an animal being sent to the slaughter.
“Fine,” he says the word, responding to Rodrigo, but he’s looking directly at me. “Take her and get out of my country. If you ever return, I’ll kill you both.”
“No! No!” My voice bounces around us in the dark as two men walk forward and grip my shoulders and hold me steady. “No! Victor, I love you!” I scream, but it’s no use. He’s not listening to me anymore.
I did this.
I should’ve been honest from the beginning.
In an attempt to kick out, I make contact with one of the men’s knees, causing him to buckle to the ground. The other one grips my neck, squeezing it, and then I feel the pinprick in my neck, and slowly, my world turns to black, and the last thing I see is Victor’s sneer before my eyes close.
30
Sofía
Darkness holds me in a tight grip. The cold has seeped through me, right down to my soul, and I shiver when I think of men looking at me. I can feel their eyes on me, and I don’t know how to hide from their gazes.
I can’t roll over. My hands are bound to either side of the headboard, and my ankles are chained to the bottom of the bed. I’m splayed, and the tears that form on my lashes spill when a touch feathers over my exposed flesh. A light flickers on, causing my eyes to shut at the sudden illumination.
“He took your purity, puta,” the deep rumbling tone of Rodrigo spits as he trails his thick fingers up and down my entrance. I pray to a God I’m not sure can help me for him not to push inside me. I’m not wet like I was with Victor, and I know it’s going to hurt if Rodrigo decides to penetrate me.
“Please, Rodrigo,” I beg. “Please don’t do this.”
His hand fists my long hair, tugging my head back painfully. The agony that shoots through my neck causes me to cry out and all he does is laugh it off. I always thought that Victor was the Devil, but he’s so far from it. The man who’s now holding me hostage is pure evil.
“Your cunt is no longer of value to me, Sofía,” the man I used to trust grits the words at me, and then he spits on my face as if I was nothing more than a piece of garbage to him. “But I don’t think the men will care. As long as you’re not completely broken, we’ll take care of you until your boyfriend tries to save you.”
“He’s not—”
“Don’t fucking lie to me, puta,” Rodrigo growls in my ear. “He’s the one who sold you to me for a measly country who doesn’t love him like you do. I wonder if he even realizes how much he fucked up. As much as he denies it, I know better. And you want to know what I think?” he speaks, but I don’t respond quick enough, because he continues, “he’s in love with your whore cunt.”
“No.”
“He wanted to bring you to me anyway; this way, I get you sooner than I expected. He told me I could have you any way I want. He’s done with you, no longer the pure virgin.”
“Fuck you,” I bite out, anger and fear mingling into the violent mix of betrayal.
“He did, but I won’t. I don’t stick my dick in used cunts,” he sneers. “He didn’t want you anyway, had no use for you after you bled.”
“You’re lying.”
“Am I? I have proof he confirmed the trade.”
The words sink into my mind, down to my heart, and evidently, right into my soul, and for a moment, I think about how Victor changed over the past couple of weeks. Now I’m here, without my medication, and I don’t know if I’ll be alive long enough for Victor to find me.