A Year and 365 Days

Chapter 12

The idea of a connecting flight to Croatia was put out of the picture. Damien and Alex figured that if anybody had saw us, especially being from Canada and that close to the US border, that some way they would be found. My body sunk into the cushion of the seat next to Damien. The train found its way through Italy finally getting to Ancona, Italy where a ferry was waiting off the coast.

"Welcome to our way out of Italy" Alex whispered to my ear as he held his hand out for me to step down from the train

Not taking his hand I walked down the steps in the heels and dress I was in. Damien took my hand in his as we walked to the port. Alex trailed behind us. A building was next to the port where people waited to be called upon by class. I sat down on a bench crossing one leg over the other. From the sun in Italy during September, I had gotten a slightly darker skin shade. Damien and Alex stood quite a few feet away while waiting for names to be called over the intercom. Ten minutes had passed and a man in his thirties or so with a suit on sat next to me. He took a few glances at me noticing the wedding ring I was wearing. He uttered a sentence

"Sei molto bella" the man had said

From my years as a detective translating and trying to get victims and suspects to talk, and from the multitude of different diversity in New York, I had learned Italian quite well. I slightly blushed a bit from his comment. "You are very beautiful" he had said, probably the only comment I had been given from someone that wasn't a jackass I had been dating.

"Grazie" I responded thanking the man

A name was called over the intercom when Damien and Alex came over. The man next to be got up and mentioned something to Damien who wore a matching wedding band, thus the disguise as a wedded couple.

"Sei un uomo fortunato." The man said winking at me
"Grazie" Damien responded in very italian accent as he walked away

Apparently he spoke Italian just as good as me. It sickened me he had gone with the comment.

"You are a lucky man" the mysterious man had said.

"Damien Arsov, Alex Gurevich, and guest for the Ancona-Zara ferry."

I heard the names, and was thankful to finally get their last names if I would ever get out of here. They were probably fake, but I still memorized them moment after moment. Damien put his hand out in front of me, I knew this as a drill now, if I would I would pay for it later. I grabbed his hand and stood walking arm in arm with him with Alex holding the tickets. A private employee walked us to the ferry. The ferry didn't look like the small tourist filled ships from New York, these just looked like a smaller version of a cruise ship. Stepping onto the medal bridge that connected from land to the craft, we stepped inside a lobby that greeted us with seats and stairs leading to an open deck and private balconies.

Damien, Alex and I made our way to a private cabin. I was thankful there were no beds, only a television, chairs and a desk along with a bathroom. Behind a glass sliding door was a balcony with two chairs.

"Make yourself comfortable Olivia." Damien said putting his tickets on the work desk
Alex placed himself on a chair and turned on the tv.
"Damn, all this shit is in Italian." He said turning off the tv
"Don't be impatient, go find something to do out in the ship." Damien said
Alex had left the room to only us. It made me uncomfortable. I stood there listening to the background noise of the Italian news. Damien stared at me.
"Get comfortable." He said walking away into the bathroom

The moment Damien was gone I opened the glass door to the balcony. Looking over the edge, I saw people pouring into the ship. I made my way to a chair the faced out to the city. The balcony had a gorgeous view of Italy I had to admit. The ship had about ten floors to it and we were somewhere around the seventh floor or so. I took a deep breath and thought how far I'd come in the past week. From New York City to Rome Italy, then across Italy and now I was finally on my way to Croatia. The thoughts were chased away by the presence of Damien walking onto the balcony.

"Enjoying the view Olivia?" He asked
My mind didn't come with a response.
"Don't be like that, enjoy it while it lasts." He said sitting down into the chair across from me

I ignored him again.

"There is no time here, no time to spare anymore, these are the moments in which we'll share together, the peaceful ones at least, there isn't any time left so forget the last because this isn't lasting forever."
My silence fell upon him.
"Listen to what I said. Come upstairs whenever you want, if you speak to anybody except Alex and I , just remembered there are four hundred passengers on board...I can get rid of every single one of them."

My mind didn't doubt his words. I wasn't coming out of the room anytime at all. I didn't want to move. Damien stepped out of the room. The boat started towing out
Six and a half hours later

"Welcome to Zagreb, Croatia Olivia." Damien said as he opened the car door in front of a home with several stories to it

We had driven another three hours in a private car they had picked up from the port in Croatia. My eyes were tired when I got out of the car. Alex took my arm and led me to the door of the home unlocking the door with a key. The house had a big stair case in front it. Damien went a different direction while Alex held my arm tightly as he walked me up the stairs to the second story.

The hallway was littered with two doors on each side of the hallway where heads poked out of the doors. Two girls per door stared at me. They started whispered things in different languages to each other, I though I head French, Italian, Russian, and maybe even some English in there. My brief view of the girls eyed each one with lots of make up on and expensive dresses on.

"Get back in your rooms, you'll meet each other later." Alex said with an angry voice

The doors closed quickly when Alex finally opened a door at the end of the hallway. I stood on the other side of the hallway when he walked back downstairs. Guided by the closed doors down the hallway and the faint conversations I walked through the open doorway met by a woman sitting on the window sill. The girl looked around twenty eight or so with long brown hair. She wore a dark blue dress that barely covered her legs.

"You can close the door, lock it while your at it." She said

I immediately noticed she had a French accent. She turned towards me and I noticed her cheekbones and hazel colored eyes. She got up from the window and walked towards the two beds against the wall in the room. The room had two beds in it and a bathroom in the corner, along with a closet. Two windows decorated the room. The walls were bare with light purple paint on it.

"Whichever bed you want, I don't mind." She said

My confused expression made her speak up more. She seemed to speak English fairly well

"My name is Amber, you are?"
"Olivia." I said sitting down on the bed
"Where are you from?" I asked curiously
"I'm from Monaco, France." She responded
"You don't sound like any of the girls I've heard that stay here, where are you from?"
"I'm from the United States." I responded
"Wow, your from far away, all the other girls are from England, France, Germany, Croatia, Italy and Russia, some other countries too but your the only one from the United States."

I stared at the dresses hanging from the closet door.

"Your wondering why your here aren't you?" She asked reading my mind
I nodded slightly.

"I've been here for two and a half years, they pick up innocent girls visiting or even in their home country and force us into prostitution. More like an escort service, but all the money we make goes to them. It isn't what any of us want, every night we go out and are forced to sell ourselves. Sometimes Damien and Alex even bring their "business" here and they force themselves on us."