King of My Heart

32. "Turn around quietly."

(879 words)

The corpse being dragged in front of my eyes was dragging my soul out of my body. The blood stains, the deep flesh wounds made me sick to my stomach.

You can't throw up here, Ana. You can't throw up here. Get a hold over yourself.

What the hell is going on here?

When I thought my life just couldn't get anymore horrendous and unbelievable, I ended up becoming a witness to such a bone-chilling situation.

Why would Ethan come here?

I had been there for about two hours and had seen enough gory and blood-curdling scenes. I felt helpless, hopeless and weak as I could only watch the brutality people were facing there, especially girls and young women. I couldn't figure out anything though. What the place was, why and what was going on. What could the death of those innocent people bring anyone?

Trafficked. They're being trafficked. And if they don't behave the way they want them to, they're tortured.

But who is doing this? Caleb?

Probably Caleb. A guy like him would have vast networks and connections; being behind bars won't be much of a hindrance for him, right?

It has to be him. Who else could be responsible for such a disgusting racket? He was literally running a prostitution ring before.

It had definitely been a stroke of luck that I was still safe and undiscovered in the giant, dark villa.

Just as I was starting to believe my luck, I heard footsteps behind me.

I felt an object at the back of my head, and judging by the place and situation I was in, I didn't need to turn around to know that it was a gun and that my presence wasn't a secret anymore.

"Turn around quietly." The voice was low and deep, and belonged to a female. I swallowed, taking a deep breath, vowing silently to keep calm and not be afraid of some scumbag.

Turning around slowly, my eyes met with certain familiar ones. My mouth gaped open as her eyes went wide, her hands instantly dropping the gun to the ground.

"What the hell is going on? What are you doing here?" My voice came out more urgent and shrill than it should have, given the shock I had just received.

"Ana, how did you get here? You shouldn't have. Leave while you can. You're pregnant."

I noticed the bruise on her forehead that seemed recent, her hair was messy as if it hadn't been combed for days.

My eyes watered at the sight of how miserable she looked. How could she end up falling into the clutches of a trafficking gang?

"You? H-here? How, Elsa?" My voice broke.

She swallowed, tearing up herself. "They kidnapped me about a week ago from the park near my house. I was brought to this miserable hell. They do terrible things here. They sell girls, use some of them as live drug smuggling agents by operating them and legit hiding drugs inside their body. Organ smuggling too. The ones that try to rebel meet a horrifying fate. A spine-chilling death."

I could not believe my ears. I had never imagined that such evilness existed in the world. That such terrible acts were actually being performed. Was humanity really dead? Could someone actually stoop that low?

"They plan on selling me in the next couple days too. I managed to escape from the room they kept me in a while ago and found this gun for self defence."

"Elsa, I'm so sorry all of this happened to you. I know a way out. Getting in here wasn't exactly easy, but I think I can manage to get you out of here."

"Really?" Her eyes sparkled a bit with hope. Hope of freedom and salvation.

"Yes, come with me." I extended my hand to her, which she took with a short pause. I was anxious about finding Ethan, but I had to get my best friend out of there first. However, everything she had told me, had me fearing more for Ethan's well-being.

No, no, nothing can happen to him. He's fine. Ethan is strong and brave. He can overcome anything.

I briskly walked her up to the corner I had snuck in through, even though it hadn't been easy. On the way, we had to hide behind walls from the people of the gang walking around, and thank God we didn't attract their attention.

We managed to reach the corner at one end of the villa, going unnoticed by them all as if we were invisible. "Elsa, run! Go before someone finds out!" I gave her a small push toward the window in the corner.

"What do you mean? You're not coming?" She frowned.

"No, I can't. I need to find Ethan." I asserted.

She seemed to pause for about a minute. "Ethan? What do you mean?"

"He's here."

"How? I haven't seen him." She said.

"He's here somewhere. I need to look for him. Elsa, please go. Save yourself." I urged, quickly turning on my heels.

A blow on my head made me stumble forward and fall onto my knees, one of my hands instinctively wrapping around my my baby bump, my mouth gaping open at the shock.