The questions and thoughts stifled Maggie's ability to remain calm. She told herself to breathe. Her eyelids spontaneously blinked faster, as if flicking away her horrifying reality. She realized that she had brought this situation on herself by being outsmarted-by making one wrong decision. She had been so focused on saving Seth from Thelma that she hadn't seen Rock's true intent. He had played her for a fool. The enormity of her situation crushed against her ribs as the pain of regret surged through her body, ripping through her nerve endings like a tornado.

Several hours later, Maggie was startled by the sound of the deadbolt on her door sliding back. A white man in his mid-twenties stood staring down at her. His head was shaved, and his beard almost touched his chest. His eyes were black, and his small mouth was too tiny for his round, pudgy face.

"Let's go," the hideous man commanded.

Maggie slowly rose to her feet and hesitantly walked toward the door. She stole a glance in Joey's direction, but the young girl refused to make eye contact with her.

"Move it, slut!" the man screamed.

Maggie hurried to the door. The man snatched her up by the arm and pulled her along. Maggie didn't have to guess where the man was taking her. She already knew what would be expected as he led her back up the stairs to the upper floor of the dilapidated warehouse.

Maggie felt a heavy shroud of sorrow wrap around her soul for making the wrong decision. Once again, the urge to go back in time and recant a horrible decision consumed her, its broad tentacles latching deep inside her psyche. How could she have been so nave? Why did she ever trust Rock? What would happen to her now that she was back with sex traffickers? What would happen to Seth? Would she ever see Seth and Juju again?

Chapter Seventy-Nine.

The men who worked for the sex traffickers had stripped sixteen-year-old Maggie of all her clothes. She struggled in vain as they tied her arms and legs to the bedposts in a windowless room inside an abandoned warehouse.

"Please, you don't have to tie me up," Maggie pleaded. "I'll do whatever you want me to do."

Her begging was met with ugly laughter. The two men left the room, slamming the door behind them.

A few minutes later, four men in their early forties entered the room, which was illuminated by candles. Maggie strained to watch them through the eerie darkness. The men were whispering; they all carried beer bottles. She could tell by their staggering gaits that they were drunk.

"Well, look what we have here," Ernest, the most vocal of the pack, announced as he stepped closer to Maggie.

His friends, Ivan, Damon, and Conway, gathered around the bed where Maggie lay in bondage.

"Please," Maggie uttered.

"Oh, shit! It speaks," Ernest said, laughing.

"I'd suggest you shut the fuck up," Conway said, leaning into her. "Otherwise, we're gonna hurt you real bad."

Maggie was utterly helpless. She'd been through a lot, but being back in the hands of sex traffickers was more than she could comprehend.

"I wish they hadn't taken her clothes off," Ivan said, slurring his words. "These dudes really blow. We told 'em we wanted her dressed. Fuckin' bullshit."

"Did they put the bag in here?" Ernest grunted.

"Yeah, that's it over there," Damon said, pointing.

The four grown men had brought toys along with them.

Ernest carried the bag over and dropped it at the foot of the bed. After unzipping the bag, he reached in and pulled out nipple clamps. Maggie's eyes bulged as Ernest opened the clamps and placed them on her nipples. She resisted the urge to scream as the clamps dug deeply into her sensitive skin.

Ivan began to grunt and clap rapidly. He bent over Maggie, grabbed the chain that connected the clamps, and gave a quick yank. Maggie let out a yelp as pain shot through her breasts.

A moment later, Conway took a vibrator out of the bag and turned it on. Holding the vibrator against Maggie's lips, he ordered, "Suck it, bitch!"

Maggie hesitated for a brief moment, long enough to piss Conway off.

"You fucking whore. I said suck it," Conway yelled, shoving the vibrator into Maggie's mouth.

Maggie gagged when Conway pushed the device to the back of her throat. The four men watched in amusement as she tried her best to do what she was told. When Conway removed the vibrator and stepped away, Damon reached into the bag and then moved closer. Before Maggie knew what was happening, Damon had shoved a ball gag into her mouth.

"That's to keep you from distracting us with whatever whore bullshit comes out of that mouth of yours," Damon told her.

Maggie pleaded with her eyes and in return received a hard slap in the face from Damon.

"Don't even look at us, bitch. You're not good enough to breathe the same air, you understand?" Damon seethed.

Maggie nodded but went into a state of panic. Are these guys going to kill me?

As the hours wore on, Ernst, Ivan, Damon, and Conway became more aggressive with Maggie. At first, they took turns having sex with her.

Maggie lay still after they'd finished. Then Ernest grinned.

"Time for some fisting. How about it, boys? Who wants this one?" Ernest asked.

"Me!" Ivan called, moving quickly to Maggie's side.

Maggie watched as Ivan slathered gel on his hand. Then he inserted his fist inside of her. She arched her back, fearing that he was tearing her insides apart as he moved his fist in a circular motion. When Ivan finished, they used toys on her. The men took turns having sex with her again, and to Maggie's disbelief, Conway gave Damon a blow job. These middle-aged men were harsh and kinky.

During the torturous hours, Maggie tried to think about Seth and Juju, but the things the men were putting her through made it hard to focus on anything but her immediate pain.

After five hours of sexual assault, Maggie hoped she would die. But instead, the four men stopped, packed their bag of toys, and left her tied to the bed, bloodied and bruised. Maggie's body was limp and broken.

To ease her sorrow, she thought about Seth and Juju, and hoped they were wondering where she was. As she remained still, staring up at the ceiling, a man named Brute entered the room.

"Damn, girl, those fuckers are nuts. You gotta be beat," Brute said jovially.

Maggie's eyes followed him as he cut away her bonds. Her arms and legs were exhausted from being tied for so long, and she was barely able to move them.

Brute reached his hand out, and Maggie grabbed it. After Brute steadied her, he threw a blanket around her shoulders.

"You'll need a shower before your next client," he sang, as if he was doing her a favor.

Maggie hung her head. The thought of more torment was unbearable. She began to wobble. Brute put his arm around her shoulders to steady her, and Maggie began to cry.

"None of that, now. You've got work to do, missy," Brute stated as he led her to a bathroom with shower stalls.

As Maggie let the warm water wash over her, she yearned for the bony fingers of death to take her away from her hell on earth.

Chapter Eighty.

For the next month, Maggie's nightmare continued. She no longer thought about getting away or going back to her old life. She preferred to think about death. But she couldn't figure out how to kill herself. The traffickers were always around, always looking in on the kids or having sex with them between clients.

Six weeks after Maggie was left at the warehouse, the traffickers told her to put on the clothes she'd been wearing when she arrived. Brute stood in the doorway of her room while she changed, and when she finished, he led her up a different set of stairs.

Maggie looked around as she entered a large, dimly lit room.

"Sit over there," Brute instructed, pointing to a chair in the corner.

As Maggie sat waiting and no one came, her anxiety grew. She hadn't been in this room before, and she worried about what that meant. In the middle of the room, there was a bed, and at its foot was a tripod with a camera attached. She looked at the camera, remembering the first day of her captivity. The memories filled her mouth with sour bile.

Forty-five minutes later, the door opened. Maggie held her breath. She gawked as Rock strutted into the room and gazed at her.

"Ya like your new home?" Rock asked.

"No," Maggie said, starting to cry. "I want to go back with you."

"Oh yeah? Now all of a sudden ya like bein' wit' Rock, don't ya?"

Maggie nodded. "Please, Rock. Don't leave me here. Take me out of here," she pleaded.

Rock rubbed his chin as he considered what she was asking. "I'm not sure. Ya might need a little more time to think 'bout what ya really want. I mean, ya haven't been here that long, and well, I got me a couple new girls since ya been away."

What Maggie didn't know was that Rock had negotiated a deal with Julius. In order to buy Joey for ten grand instead of twenty, Rock agreed to leave both girls there for six weeks to make up the difference. Rock believed it would serve two purposes: pay for the new kid for Thelma and tame Maggie. It had worked.

Maggie stood and walked to Rock. When she was in front of him, she tilted her head and looked into his eyes. Then she slowly leaned in and kissed Rock. He responded as he parted her lips and drove his tongue to the back of her throat. Resisting the urge to vomit, Maggie willed herself not to pull away. When their kiss ended, Rock watched Maggie closely.

"Please, Rock," she whispered. "Please take me back home. These men are nothing like you. They're vile and nasty. I'll make you feel really good if you just take me out of here."

"OK, baby, Rock will take ya home," he said.

Rock took Maggie's hand and led her out of the room. A few minutes later, they met with Julius in another part of the warehouse.

"Where's the kid?" Rock asked Julius.

"Waiting down by the door. You can grab her on your way out," Julius said.

The two degenerates shook hands, and Rock led Maggie toward the exit, where they saw Joey waiting with one of the guards. As they approached, Maggie gave Joey a smile. Joey moved deliberately toward Maggie and stood next to her. Then the girl reached out and took Maggie's hand.

Rock watched them closely. Little bitch better cozy up to Thelma like she is with Maggie, he thought.

Joey had light-brown, wavy hair that hung to her shoulders. Her eyes were the palest green Rock had ever seen. Beyond the intriguing color, he saw a fire there that made it impossible for him not to be drawn to her. She was as pretty as Maggie was, just a whole lot younger. He hoped Thelma would love her; otherwise the kid was in for some hard days.

Oh well, Rock thought, that's the kid's problem. If Thelma doesn't like her, Joey will just have to deal with it.

Chapter Eighty-One.

Outside the warehouse, Maggie and Joey quickly climbed into the backseat of Rock's car. Once they were inside, Rock walked away from the car to talk to two men who were standing outside the door of the building.

Relief washed over Maggie, and she began to relax. The thought of returning to Kensington thrilled her. She was determined to obey Rock and do whatever he wanted so he would never send her back to the sex traffickers again. At least being a prostitute in Kensington gave her some freedom. Besides, hooking on the streets was far less violent than anything she'd experienced in the last six weeks.

Maggie looked over at Joey, knowing their time alone was limited.

"Joey, we only have a minute to talk, so I want you to listen. You're going to live with a woman named Thelma. You have to be strong and do what she tells you to do. Make sure you're polite and offer to help her around the house. They're going to send you to school. I'll be there every morning before school to meet you. No matter what, you can't let the guy that bought you-or his nasty wife-know that I come to see you. OK?" Maggie said in a rush.

"Do you promise to meet me?" Joey asked, feeling a bond with Maggie.

"Of course I promise. I'm even going to bring two friends with me, Seth and Juju. You're going to love them. Just remember, I'm going to do my best to watch out for you. All three of us will," Maggie stopped talking as Rock opened the car door.

Rock threw two T-shirts into the backseat, "Cover your eyes," he instructed. Maggie put Joey's blindfold on and then her own. Rock started the car, and they drove off. Joey held on to Maggie for dear life. Her experiences with the sex traffickers left her hardened, yet she was still a frightened nine-year-old girl.

A while later, Rock parked in front of his house. "Take the blindfolds off," he told the two girls.

Joey stretched to see out of the car window. She looked at Maggie. "Are we here?"

"What's this 'we' shit? Maggie, get your ass out of the car and get back to your house," Rock barked, as he left the car.

Maggie gave Joey a quick squeeze and whispered, "Be brave. That's why I picked you; because you were the bravest girl in that shit hole."

Rock swung the back door open and waited while the girls got out. "Let's go," he told Joey.

Joey was pouting when she walked into the house where Thelma was waiting. "Well, ain't she just the prettiest thing you've ever seen?" Thelma squealed. "Come over here and let me get a better look at you," she said to Joey.

Remembering what Maggie had told her, Joey walked over to the sofa and stood in front of Thelma. She wondered if there was something wrong with the lady. Thelma's eyes were red and glassy. "Come on over here and give your mama a hug," Thelma said, opening her arms.

Joey was repulsed by Thelma's metallic breath, a mixture of drugs, cigarettes, and lack of dental hygiene. Just do what Thelma tells you, she reminded herself. Joey leaned in, put her small arms around Thelma's thick neck, and gave her a hug.

"Aww, look at that Rock, the girl already loves her mama. Now, why don't you be a good little girl and go into the kitchen through that door and fetch your mama a cold beer from the refrigerator?" Thelma said.

Joey fumbled her way around the back of the house and found the kitchen. She pulled out a cold beer and returned to the living room. Joey handed the beer to Thelma.