A Year and 365 Days

Chapter 15

8 weeks later

November 16th

It's been too long. Today marks exactly two months that I've been gone...eight weeks of enduring this hell. Damien and Alex had made it known that Niklas, the bright blonde with brown eyes and the stubble, who was the first man that I had "serviced" was now a regular who often requested me when he called in Damien or Alex.

That night going into town went downhill after Niklas had taken me to a house party. Niklas had explained to me that he needed someone to show up with and that I'd "enjoy" the night either way, whether or not I really liked whatever he would do to me. The town car had taken us to a bigger house than Damien and Alex's. Niklas exited the car linking his arm into mine and we entered into loud dance music and lights. Drunk people stumbled past us bumping into Niklas and I. After standing by Niklas' side for a solid hour in heels while he talked to some mysterious man in German, a drunk man had stumbled into the man that Niklas had been talking to. The man that Niklas was conversing with spilled his beer cup all over me, soiling my yellow dress with a dark yellow stain that rested on the pastel yellow.

After that, Niklas had said to the man he'd help me take care of it after the man said his apologies to me. The mysterious man had commented at me, saying that I was very beautiful. Niklas took me upstairs to an empty room where he struggled to walk with the alcohol affecting his speech and actions. He forced me onto the bed and took his pants off. Niklas was too wrapped up in his drunkenness to notice me not resisting. I had learned not to. Feeling degraded and senseless I had continued to look up at the blank ceiling. Absolutely no emotion on my face, all my emotions had been hidden and locked away .

I had just laid there letting Niklas assault me. The drunkenness didn't allow him to identify consensual sex and forced sex, either way didnt care. The night was over with after that and he sent me home alone back to the hell house.

That was a nearly a month ago, at least a month after my first encounter with him and I had to continue seeing Niklas again. Throughout the nights and weeks without Niklas, Damien had given me to different out callers. Men of different ages and attitudes. Some nights I'd wake up with Amber not in the room, and sometimes I'd wake up to Alex in the room. Now I knew why Amber wasn't in the room at times. She was with Damien while I was with Alex.

Those next mornings we'd meet again in our room, having shared the experiences we endured that night, trying to comfort each other. Two broken souls trying to heal each other. Alex had forced himself on me again, and Amber had to do services for Damien. She'd gotten accustomed to the night visits to and from Damien. For me, I feared Alex.

The fear instilled by Alex towards me made me think to myself. I had become scared of a man who had power over me. Many men had power over me but never in a way Alex used it. All the men who used their power to take advantage of women were the stories I heard from my mother, or the crimes I had investigated. Their power was uncontrollable by those who were forced upon. It was hard to have this continuously go on and finally submit to the power. The power I couldn't control or get away from, the power that finally overtook me.

My thoughts shifted to the squad. I wondered what they were doing, or if they were even looking for me. They were probably lost at where we had finally crossed the Canadian border. Everyone searching for me could only think of me being in the United States. If they ever found me , they wouldn't believe I had been dragged across the world and put into a prostitution/escort service, and held captive with seven other women from around the world. It would be hard to believe that their Olivia Benson was a victim--yes a victim. She'd finally have her worst nightmare come true, becoming a victim like her mother. 

Now, being the eighth week of being here in Croatia, I had kept the silence with the other girls except Amber whom I had gotten to know better. I had learned about her past back in Monaco, France. She had told me she had a younger brother and father. Her mother had died when she was young. Amber told me she had been on a celebratory excursion to Paris with friends after having gotten a job. Damien and her had ran into each other there where Amber was seduced by him by his charm and way of words. Her friends saw that she had a liking to him and soon met up with Damien more often. One day she was told to meet Damien at his hotel where he finally drugged her and swifted her off to Croatia.

Amber sat on her regular window sill looking out at the world. The world that was free while she was trapped inside this hell hole. I laid down on my back putting my hands on top of my stomach while my thoughts overtook my mind. I worried that the squad would give up on finding me. I worried I'd end up dead before they found out where I was.