Prologue
Sophia
7 Months Ago
Somewhere in Garden City
“Up against the wall!” a man dressed in all black fatigues barks loudly while motioning impatiently with the automatic rifle gripped in his hands.
My friend Amanda clings to my side as we’re quickly herded into an empty warehouse room. Herded just like animals being led to slaughter with a group of other shivering, naked women.
No, not animals. Pets. Isn’t that what that Russian man called us after he killed Lindsey?
His pets.
But we’re not even that in the eyes of these men.
Since the night my friends and I were brazenly grabbed out of a parking lot and shoved into the back of a van, I’ve learned we are simply flesh.
Warm flesh that is easily forced to move, bend, and break.
And just as easily discarded.
“Move it! Keep it moving!” another man yells from behind us, and without warning I’m pushed forward.
My toes bump into the heels of the red-haired woman in front of me and we both nearly go down in a heap of naked limbs.
Only Amanda’s death grip on me keeps me from dropping to the concrete floor.
Catching my balance, I quickly grab the elbow of the woman in front of me to help steady her, and then suddenly Amanda bumps into me with a yelp as we’re both pushed forward again.
“Backs against the wall! Get ‘em up against the wall!” the guy with the rifle yells, his words cracking like thunder over the small, fearful whimpers echoing around me.
Then he shoves the woman closest to him to show he means business.
The other women in front of me scramble to obey the order as the armed man works his way down the line, pushing and shoving. But I can’t move with the way Amanda’s fingers are digging into the flesh above my hips.
“Amanda,” I whisper urgently and reach down, trying to loosen her grip, but it’s hopeless.
Looking back into her eyes, it’s clear she’s gone. The lights are on, but she’s so terrified and traumatized, no one’s home.
She completely checked out earlier when the men grabbed us from the concrete cell they’ve been keeping us in to bring us here.
And, god help me, I don’t know if she’s ever coming back.
She’s been crying ever since we were first taken. Crying so much, at times it’s been annoying.
But this is different.
This is…
I don’t even know what this is.
We’ve only been separated once during this whole ordeal. Once, and she came back…
Broken.
Something must have happened to her when she was separated from Beth and me. Something so awful, she couldn’t bear to do it again.
Something so terrible, it took two men to carry her out this time, kicking and screaming.
I thought for sure they were going to kill her, just like they killed Lindsey when she put up a fight and resisted.
Until one of the men grabbed Amanda’s hand, pressed it against his groin, and whispered in her ear.
Then she went limp.
She’s been completely out of it since then, and I don’t know how to fix her.
The only thing I know with any certainty is that if we don’t do what these evil men say, they will kill us.
“What the fuck is going on here?” the armed man asks as he reaches Amanda and me.
His lip curls with disgust as his hard eyes roam down my body and lock on Amanda’s white-knuckled grip.
“I said backs against the wall, you stupid bitches! Not to grab each other’s asses!”
Still holding his rifle with both hands, he uses it to shove me backward, sending both Amanda and me into the wall.
My right shoulder bangs and scrapes against the rough brick as I stumble back, and Amanda’s fingers clench so hard her nails pierce my skin.
The pain barely registers though over my panic.
If she doesn’t let go, this could be the fucking end for the both of us.
Reaching down, I frantically try to pry her fingers off me again, but nothing I do seems to move her. Nothing until the armed man takes a step in her direction and reaches out like he’s going to grab her.
Throwing her hands up, Amanda quickly jumps away from me.
With tears streaming down her face, she begs, “No, no, no… please…”
Holding my breath, I watch the man with the rifle pause, and pray that he decides to move on and leave her alone now that we’re separated.
But God must be ignoring my prayers again.
A gleam of wicked realization fills the man’s eyes.
My heart sinks to my stomach as the man takes another step toward Amanda, his mouth curving with amusement.
Amanda tries to make herself as small as possible, nearly bending in half as she wraps her arms around herself.
For a split-second, I’m paralyzed as I relive the exact moment I watched another man lift a gun and kill my friend Lindsey before I had a chance to stop it.
I remember all the thoughts that have been looping through my brain ever since it happened.
The thoughts of what I would do different if I could go back in time to save her.
Forgetting the very pleas I whispered in Amanda’s ear earlier, pleas to do as they say and not to give them a reason to hurt us, I stick my arm out and step in front of her.
Though I intended for them to come out bold and strong, the words, “Leave her alone,” crackle weakly past my lips.
The man’s head swings in my direction and that wicked gleam dims with anger and indignation.
“Who the fuck do you think you are telling me what to do?” the man snarls before he brutally thrusts his rifle back into my chest.
He thrusts and pushes the gun into me until he has me up against the wall, choking for air and my spine trying to push through the brick.
“Huh? Huh?! Who the fuck do you think you are, you stupid bitch?” he snaps, his eyes boring into my eyes as I reach up, clawing at the thing choking the life out of me.
Maybe if I had the breath, I’d tell him exactly who I am.
I’d tell him I’m the one and only beloved daughter of Garden City’s Police Chief.
Maybe I’d even tell him he’s not going to get away with this. That he’ll pay for what he’s doing to us.
That’s just how the world works. You can’t mess with people like me and my friends and not expect to suffer the consequences in the end.
But I don’t have the breath, and he’s showing no signs of stopping.
The cold metal of the rifle continues to dig and dig into my throat, and my head starts to feel light and fuzzy.
“You’re nothing,” he snarls at me as my lungs burn and ache for a taste of oxygen.
Even with all that’s happened, up until this point, I haven’t truly felt or believed those words.
Nothing? How am I nothing?
I’m someone. I’m somebody!
Not only do I matter, I’m important.
There are people who care about me. Powerful people. People that are probably looking for me at this very second…
I watch his nostrils flare as he takes a deep breath then exhales, “You’re no one.”
And god help me, I never thought I’d be jealous of another person breathing.
But fuck, I just want to take a breath.
And where are the people that are looking for me?