Dominate Me

Prologue

*Please be advised that this chapter contains depictions of child abuse and human trafficking.*

~ Avery's POV ~

~ 6 years old ~

"D-Daddy, please stop! You're hurting me!" His hand on my upper arm tightened as he dragged me up the stairs, my knees skimming each step as I lost my footing.

"Shut the fuck up!" He bellowed, his voice bouncing off of the walls, no furniture in sight to muffle the sound.

"I just asked if I could have a sandwich. I'm-"

He yanked me in front of him, his palm slapping my cheek. The familiar, bitter smell of stale beer radiated from his mouth as his hot breath wafted around my face.

"You're what? Hungry? Guess what, you little shit. If you hadn't been so fucked up, your mother wouldn't have left us from the start. And we'd have food. But you can never do anything right, so she's gone! And I'm the one that's fucking stuck with you!"

His fingers wrapped around my arm once more, throwing me to the top of the stairs.

"All you're good for is a fucking tax write-off. Remember that. Now go the fuck to your room and stay there."

I rubbed at my arm, swallowing, wincing against the dry scratch in my throat as I walked into my room.

I bit at my lips, the skin cracking and peeling, desperately aching for water that I was never able to get quickly enough without being caught.

I blinked slowly, my breathing even as I stared at my closed bedroom door. Pushing the empty ache in my stomach away, I heard my dad dump his pills out onto the glass living room table.

With any luck, he'd pass out long enough for me to get some water and find a snack.

____________________

~ 15 years old ~

"I don't have the money!" My closed door did nothing to harness the boom of my father's scream as it echoed off of the walls and up the stairs.

"Come on, Tex. You know I lost my job, and-"

"Look, I literally fucking couldn't care less. You want your shit, you pay for it."

"But I don't..." He cut himself off, clearing his throat. "Avery! Come here!"

I blinked, the unfamiliar sound of my name on my father's lips making me instantly on edge.

He never calls me by my name.

"Avery!" The anger returned to his voice, a flinch almost pulled from me as I stood from the floor, padding over to the door and down the stairs.

"This is my daughter." He proceeded to tell his dealer as I stepped into view.

The stranger sneered at me, though interest piqued in his eyes as he undressed me with them.

"What exactly are you showing this little number off for, Wayne?" The stranger's voice grated over coals as he spoke to my father, who had a devilish look in his eye as he shrugged.

"You can have her. Do what you want. But I want my pills. She outta buy at least a year or two worth."

"Wait, what? No! I-"

He raced over, backhanding me as hard as he could, effectively shutting me up as I fell to the dingy, neglected carpet beneath my feet.

The dealer laughed, a sadistic twinkle in his eye as blood dripped from my brow. He nodded at my father as he walked back over, chucking him a bottle of pills.

"I'll see what the boss says, but I don't see why you shouldn't be in his better graces now. Let's go, sexy." He held his hand out to me, waiting for me to stand back up. Irritated when I didn't budge, he growled, gritting his teeth as he stomped over and yanked me up by my hair.

"I said, let's fucking go."

I yelped as he kept ahold of my head, his grip pulling countless strands of hair from my scalp as he half dragged me to his car, throwing me into the backseat. To my surprise, he climbed in behind me, his gun to my head.

"Damn, Tex. Boss' gonna be happy with you today." The driver up front smirked, glancing at us in his rear view.

I clenched my jaw as he pressed his gun tighter to my temple, reminding me that he held the power and control.

____________________

~ Three months later ~

I blinked slowly, desperately trying to stay awake as I heard incoherent shouting down the hall. My arms ached as the chains held them to the headboard, my dozens of escapes from the overused, dry-rotted ropes solidifying their anger, chaining me like a trapped dog until they could gather enough girls for their shipment.

The noise outside had me shaking with the last of my energy, assuming that it would be time to ship us all out.

Gunshots echoed through the building, curses and screams to follow as the fight ended quickly.

My breathing shallowed as two voices appeared closer suddenly, the curtain 'door' our only separation.

"Hawk, they're all de-"

"No! We can't assume that. We have to check them. All of them. They deserve that much." Their harsh whispers waved through the darkness, their deep voices coating my mind as the curtain speared open.

I flinched.

"Jesus Christ, they have her chained up like a fucking animal..." One of them ran closer, touching my cheek softly, another flinch shaking me at the contact.

"She's alive! Hawk, holy fuck, she's alive! She's-" His voice broke as he glanced down at me, then to the chains. His breathing picked up as he jerked on them, trying to break me free.

"We're gonna get you home, okay? I'm sure your parents miss you like hell." He promised, accepting the bolt cutters that the other man had run to get.

I tried to tell him that my father was the reason I was there, but there was nothing left. With a strange sense of calm rushing through me in their combined presence, my eyelids fluttered closed as my body gave in to its exhaustion and overwhelming exertion.