Ducking, I threw my arms over my head, trying to protect, but it was no use.

Leather Jacket threw me to the ground and kicked. His steel-capped boots cracked a rib as I collapsed under his abuse; the snap resonated, making me scream and curl into a ball.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. I couldn't even cry, the pain was insurmountable. Kick after kick. My breasts, stomach, thigh, ankle. Each blow exploded with heat worse than the last one.

Another scream erupted as one kick caught my solar plexus, causing the towel to unravel. I was beyond simple agony. I was in hell.

He raged something in his native tongue, fisting a hand in my hair, pulling me upright. My skin puckered in terror as he pulled back, gaining momentum to slam my head into the wall.

"Basta!"

I knew that word. Enough.

Leather Jacket released me; I slumped to the floor. Every inch wailed with pain. The chill of wood against bare skin reminded me I was beaten and naked. So stupid, Tess. So, so stupid. You can't win. Just give them what they want. I was worse off by disobeying: a shivering mess on the floor, incapable of anything but weakness.

Brax. How I wished Brax was here. He'd know what to do. How to keep me safe. I was such an ignoramus to think I could stand up to these men.

Who were they anyway?

I latched onto a word: trafficker. It blared like an angry hurricane, hurling me further into terror. As much as I wanted to deny the realization, I knew.

I was being trafficked. Me and these women were about to disappear around the world, exchanged for money, no regard for us as people-we were belongings.

I'd read enough horrible news to know the window of saving a smuggled woman was very short-only a few days before they were never seen again.

No one but my parents and Brax knew I was in Mexico. My parents wouldn't know I'd ever gone missing-they never called or texted. It would be months before they noticed my absence. And Brax. My heart choked. Brax might be dead for all I knew. Dead and cold and blue under a urinal.

The man with the scar shoved Leather Jacket away, reclaiming my leash. He tugged the rope, twinging my neck. "Get up."

I wanted to laugh. He expected me to stand when my body was cracked and broken? The beating taught me something, though. Obedience was paramount. Nothing wrong in following orders if it meant I survived another day. So, even though it killed me, I fumbled to my feet.

Breathing hard, my entire body wanted to weep, but my eyes remained dry. These men didn't deserve my tears.

Jagged Scar wrapped fingers around my bicep, holding some of the weight. He gave a lopsided grin, shrugging. "You can make this easy. It's only temporary. Keep your fight for your new owner."

My mind blanked with shock; I blinked. He confirmed my suspicions and I wished I was wrong.

Jagged Scar pulled me forward, both by his grip and the rope. Injuries screamed, especially the cracked rib, but together we shuffled down the corridor. The line behind started up again, each woman taken into a different room. Would I ever see them again?

Leather Jacket smirked as he opened a door, and Jagged Scar guided me inside. Just like the cell we lived in: a windowless room with only one door.

The lock clicking closed set off panic in my chest like an atomic bomb.

Everything about the space was non-descript, apart from the torture contraption in the centre of the room, half dentist chair, half gynaecologist table with stirrups and levers.

Beside it rested a stainless steel table full of instruments from my nightmares, all glinting wicked sharp under the huge spotlight hanging above.

My mouth snapped shut, and I huddled, trying to become invisible. Switch off, Tess. Disappear from this hell.

Needles, scalpels, glass vials full of crystal liquid, and leather straps heralded my doom as Jagged Scar pushed forward. I had no energy, zapped with pain, but I spun away. I couldn't get on that chair. I couldn't.

The rope around my neck squeezed tight, and I clawed at my throat with broken nails and anxious fingers. "No!"

Another set of hands from an unknown person wrapped around my nakedness and half-dragged, half-carried me to the chair. Together, they threw me on the squeaky, blood-stained leather and Jagged Scar went behind, jerking the rope, making me lie down or choke.

Skin stuck to the leather, making sucking sounds along with my panicked breathing.

The person who'd helped throw me on the chair appeared above.

My heart squeezed with indignation. A woman-young, cruel, with a glossy curtain of black hair framing her face. Her lips lined with early smoker creases, black eyes as vacant as the men. A surgical mask hung from one ear, and rubber gloves sheathed her fingers.

Rage consumed me. She was a woman involved with trafficking women-a traitor to her own sex. "How can you, bitch? How can you be a part of this?"

Jagged Scar reached from behind, tapping my cheek in warning. The woman didn't answer, but averted her eyes. Not from embarrassment, but to secure the leather straps around my forearms. Once secure, she spread my legs into the stirrups and secured my ankles, buckling them so tight the leather bit into my skin like fangs.

Mortification painted my cheeks at being so exposed, so defenceless. I hadn't even fought.

Through the walls, a scream ripped fast and high, but shut off as quickly as it came. My eyes popped wide. Oh, my God, what was happening?

My breath rasped in the small space, rushed and ragged. The woman secured the mask around her mouth and tore open a sterile packet.

My eyes wanted to close, to avoid knowing what was in the plastic, but I couldn't look away. I stared with sick fascination as she attached the needle to a pen-like contraption, adding a vial of black liquid.

What was that thing?

Jagged Scar grabbed another bottle and doused the underside of my wrist, pushing Brax's bracelet further up my arm. My heart squeezed in painful loss. Brax. The bracelet was the only thing I had of him. They'd allowed me to keep it. Misplaced thankfulness overwhelmed, at least these bastards hadn't stolen that, too.

Using a white piece of cotton, Jagged Scar dried my wrist, before nodding at the woman.

She bent over my arm, placing a carbon transfer she plucked from the table, sticking it to damp flesh. She smoothed it against my skin, making sure the image adhered before ripping it off, leaving a purplish outline of a barcode.

Discarding the transfer, she picked up the pen with the black vial and pressed a button. Whirring mechanical noise vibrated.

Shit, they were going to tattoo me! I'd never been inked before, never fell in love with an image enough to want it permanently on my skin, and I definitely didn't want a barcode.

"Stop!"

Jagged Scar pressed his face close as the sharp nick of the tattoo gun tore into my flesh. Teeny, tiny teeth nipped and sawed.

"Accept that you are no longer a woman. You are merchandise. And merchandise must have a barcode for sale."

I wanted to spit at him, but refrained. As degrading as it was to be treated like stock, I bit my lip and bore through it. I would get it lasered off as soon as I escaped.

The burn grew fiery hot as seconds turned into minutes.

I was no longer Tess. I was dollar signs.

Finally, the tattoo pen cut off with a snarl. I gasped as the woman smeared some sort of gel over it and wrapped my wrist in plastic.

The black lines looked obscene against my red, swollen skin. My first tattoo and it demoted me from dog to shelf produce. A disposable thing. An item. No more. No less.

My fight deflated, leaving under an avalanche of unhappiness. Every part hurt: my heart, body, and soul. I was sucked deep into the pit where snakes and monsters lived, wallowing in self-pity.

The woman pulled off her gloves and snapped a fresh pair on. She moved to the end of the table, positioning herself between my legs. She turned from tattoo artist to gynaecologist.

Oh, hell, this is too much.

I squeezed my eyes, rolling my head to the side. I willed myself to leave this place, to float and disappear, but her fingers touched and kept me anchored in despair.

She inspected between my legs for an eternity before finally patting my thigh like the good dog I was. I hadn't barked or nipped. I'd let them own me with not so much as a whimper.

The woman unbuckled my legs, and I scissored them tight, locking my knees together.

Jagged Scar chuckled. "Keeping your legs together won't save you. There are plenty of other places to violate."

I gulped, and the clatter of the leather straps hitting the metal table sent goosebumps skittering.

Please, let this humiliating and degrading inspection be over.

I opened my mouth to ask to be released, but the crackle of another sterile packet sky-rocketed my panic.

The woman fumbled with something small before facing me with a cruel smile. The syringe glinted under the spot light. My heart raced. "No. I'll behave. You don't have to drug me. Please."

The thought of living a permanent life in a drug haze terrified me more than the rest of it. The woman didn't answer and I jerked, trying to get free from the restraints.

I couldn't look away from the syringe, expecting her to inject whatever it was into my arm, but she didn't go for that part of my body.

Her latex covered fingers swiped tangled hair off my neck, and stabbed the thick needle into soft flesh behind my ear.

I screamed as a hard bullet shot from the needle, stretching, maiming.

Withdrawing, she giggled, saying something in Spanish to Jagged Scar. She threw the syringe into a bin and picked up an iPhone-looking thing. Handing it to Jagged Scar, he waved it over the latest injury. My skin wouldn't stop throbbing.

A sharp series of beeps filled the room.

"Working, and linked to the barcode," Jagged Scar muttered.

No! They didn't. All my courage and hope for escape was ruined. They'd not only branded me, they'd tagged me, too. Even if I did escape, they could fucking track me.

Tears rushed, desperate to be shed. I didn't realize how much the thought of escape kept me going. Now, even that had been taken.

I gulped hard, trying to keep my eyes dry. Jagged Scar released my arms, went behind me, and dragged the rope from around my neck.

It took a while to understand I was free, and even longer for my sore body to move.

Jagged Scar helped me upright. I grimaced, holding my ribs, not caring my breasts were exposed.

I sniffed and tried to sit straighter, but settled for huddling with my eyes down cast. This was the worst day of my life. No, that was wrong. The worst day was the day they took me. When Brax was beaten and left to his fate. A sob bubbled but I swallowed it back. I couldn't think about Brax, or the nightmare I lived now.

A brown paper bag appeared on my lap. Jagged Scar captured my chin, guiding me to look into his eyes. "Good girl. You give in to your future. Easier, yes?" He caressed my cheek-the first kind touch since I arrived in this hell. After the abuse from Leather Jacket, I wanted to be hugged, tended to. But that would never happen.

Keep fighting, Tess. Never stop fighting.

Heat seeped into my limbs, dispelling aches and bruises. Fighting was all I had left. I wouldn't give in.

I glared at the woman who'd trapped me so completely with a brand and tag. "I hate you. One day, you will suffer as your victims suffer. One day, Karma will come and bite your ass." I had no idea if my promise would come true, but I'd make it a life's mission to bring the wrath of the law on their heads and save innocent women.

I hated them. I hated everything.

Jagged Scar huffed and stole the paper bag from my hands. Opening it, he grabbed the clothes and threw them at me. "Get dressed."

I caught the items and slid gingerly off the chair. I pulled the brown sweater over my head, wincing and gasping. The white knickers were next, followed by a pair of thigh-high socks. Nothing else.

They effectively dressed me as a doll. A broken doll with no worth.

But I was past caring about superficial things like wardrobes. The clothing offered protection, even if the thigh-high socks itched and the jumper wasn't warm; at least I wasn't nude.

The woman forced a hairbrush into my palm and I took it hesitantly. Was this it? Was I being moved?

I worked through my messy tangles before handing the brush back. My skin smelled of cheap soap and my hair was brittle with no conditioner, but I felt better. More prepared to face whatever came next.

My new tattoo itched beneath the bandage, and I wanted to rip it off to see the barcode in more detail. Could they scan me now? What details were imbedded in the mark?

They hadn't asked any personal information. They didn't care who I was. Only what I was becoming.

Something to be sold.

Chapter Six.

Owl *

Three days ticked past.

Our little cell, the routine of food twice a day, and hushed conversations helped numb me into some sort of acceptance. My body was bruised in places I'd never seen and my rib ached. After everything we'd been through, I loathed just sitting there.

Every passing hour, I grew angrier. Sitting on the moth-riddled bunk bed, I welcomed the heat of temper. I wanted something to happen. Regardless of what it was, waiting silently killed me. Boredom itched worse than the new tattoo.

The flickering bulb clicked off, and I stared into blackness. A lot of my roommates drifted into vacancy-conversations few and desolate. I refused to partake. I didn't want to reminisce about the situation; I wanted to focus on a future less bleak. To try and keep hope alive in my heart, even as it was suffocated by anger and rage.

The moment I found a situation where I could run, I would. No hesitation. No second thoughts. I'd shoot and stab. I'd kill to escape, and the knowledge I was ready to spill blood, shed a life, filled me with power.