Valentina (one direction au)

Valentina - Chapter 3 - Debts to be Repaid

"Sir, please," I start, getting slightly exasperated. He is not relenting, and I have guests to entertain, as well as little Aria, who looks terrified behind me. 

"Now." He says, his voice remaining cold and low. It is less a command and more a threat. I swallow and step out, beckoning only my family to follow me. My mother and father have sobered up considerably, and Aria cries silently, hanging onto my mama for dear life.

We ride the large, grimy elevator down and they usher us outside, yelling 'move it!' more times than I could count, and hitting us in the back with their guns. At one point, little Aria was pushed so hard she fell to the ground, making me suck in my breath, but I had to keep walking. 

 My heels crunched softly on the dry ground, the cicadas singing their never-ending one note song. If I closed my eyes and kept them closed, I could almost pretend I was alone. Truly alone. I kept walking.  

"Faster," Said a gruff voice behind me, prodding me with his gun. I stumbled, my long dress catching on my shoe. I heard a sickening ripping sound and knew the dress was ruined. A laugh from behind me. My cheeks flushed, I ripped off the torn section and threw it to the ground.  

"Kneel." Came a voice, softer than the first, but there was still a hardness to it, hinting at a rough past. I knelt slowly. 

"Valentina Coletti, your family owes severe debts to Sir Clemens Styles. The last possible date to repay those debts has 3 months past, and your family is being offered a choice, which is now bestowed upon you, as the eldest child. You can either submit yourself willingly to be the slave of Sir Styles's son, Harry Styles, or die."

The gravity of the situation hit me, and I heard my mama gasp.

"I'll go with you." I said quietly after a moment, and my mama whimpered.

"Mia bella ragazza." My papa whispered.

"Very well," The first voice said again. "Get up." 

And so I went.

                                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

They took me to a sleek black Mercedes, the back door already propped open like they knew I was coming with them. Take nothing, remember nothing, they said. My life was already gone. Who knew in a few short hours I would go from a respected maid to a slave? I didn't want to get in that car. I think the men could sense my hesitation because one of them snickered.

'You try to run away and we'll shoot. Your life means nothing, now." He said gruffly. 

"Then again," added another, "It would be a shame to waste something so pretty." He said, raising a hand to stroke my face, his eyes staring at me hungrily. His touch sickened me and I tried to slap his hand away. They all roared with laughter, and one shoved me int the car, slamming the door behind me. 

It locked on contact, and I was left to bang on the windows and scream.

"It's sound-proof, sweetie," Started one of the guards. "We can't hear you." I said, gesturing to his ears and shaking his head like I was a child. I was furious now. I made an obscene hand gesture towards him and sat back.

"Ooh, tough girl." One laughed, and they walked away, into some other car. I waited for the engine to start, a sort of purr that I loved hearing around my dad's shop, but we seemed to be stuck, waiting for something. 

"I'm really sorry about this." Came a voice from behind me. It was so soft that I jumped, attempting to spin around, but the world had gone dark.

"What the hell?" I asked. 

"It's a blindfold." The voice said apologetically. It was definitely masculine. 

"Why?" I asked, bewildered. "Next are you going to knock me out?"

"No, why would we need to do that?" Now it was his turn to sound shocked. I snorted.

"Isn't that what you do? Pluck innocent girls from their homes and off the streets? Tell them that 'resistance is futile'? Blindfold and gag them, then make them breath in chloroform and knock them out, just for good measure? Or are all the girls guilty of something?" I say hotly, done with this ignorant stranger.

"And boys." He almost whispers. My voice loses its hard quality. So he is a slave as well. What sick, sick person would kidnap boys too? They have a full life of privilege and freedom ahead of them, while girls are bad luck from day 1.

"You're a slave too?" I ask, sure I know the answer. 

"It was 17 when I was taken. I was out one night drinking when some guys cornered me and stuffed me into a Benz, just like this one. I didn't know what was happening or where I was going-and I could have run. At one point, the Benz swerved off a corner and came to a crashing halt," he said, his tone hot, furious with himself. "I just sat here. Like a fucking idiot. As people ran screaming around me and left me unaccompanied in the car, I just chilled. I even asked the air for more liquor."

"I'm sorry." Was all I could manage to whisper. There were no words for him. 

"I'm 22 now. 5 years of hell, but we're lucky. We could have ended up at an auction house instead of being taken straight to a mansion. At auction houses they strip you down to nothing and expose you, letting possible buyers look you over and touch you, getting to know the merchandise." He spat. He sounded so hateful, even though just minutes ago he himself had blindfolded me. 

"Then help me escape." I whispered, my tone wobbly. I didn't have to hear him speak to know his expression had hardened. 

"No." He said firmly. "You're property of Master Styles now. And he paid a pretty price for you, too. He now has to convince his dear old dad that you are, in fact, dead." At the last word I sucked in my breath.

So I'm dead. 

Officially and totally.

My blue collar family are the only people that can speak against that-and who's going to take a mechanic's word over a senator's?

No one, that's who. I sat back, taking in everything. The boy behind me tried to talk some more, but he would get nothing out of me. Simply to endure is to triumph. I kept saying that over and over again. It's what I must do, what I always must do.

I sit the rest of the ride in complete silence. 

ASDFGHJKL IM GETTING EXCITED JUST READING MY OWN CHAPTER. I feel like tbh never written anything I'm very proud of soo this is kind of nice. I'm aiming for over 1400 words per chapter so kind of screwed up this one but oH WELL. BY THE WAY-- the next chapter or maybe the next next will have POV changes. Sorry if that's overwhelming but it increases length and depth to the plot.  DEDICATED YET AGAIN TO @MADDDIEFREE BC YOU DONT UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH I LOVE HER. Beautiful image of Valentina in her party dress to the right ((: ily all

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bye!! <3 -megan