new york

Chapter 10

3 weeks. It's been three weeks since the day we were dragged from my friends, my family. At first, I cried a lot (I still do but in secret), only Tommy knows. I've gotten used to this place though. I haven't looked in a mirror, but if I did I know you wouldn't be able to recognize me. I barely recognized Tommy. Every day was the same mostly. Wake up, do whatever they need you to do, then go to sleep. It doesn't sound too bad. Except for the fact that about 80% of the time these people want to beat the life out of me and Tommy. They use us as their personal punching bags to get their anger out. Otherwise, they make us do continuous work, to the point where at night we can barely move. I feel like a slave.

I miss the stars. I miss the sky, my friends. What I would do to read a book again. I just miss everything. I'd rather be living with my father than here. Which is saying a lot since that man is almost as worse as Ian.

Tommy was sleeping in the other bed, but I couldn't sleep. All of a sudden I heard the door open slowly. I saw a boy I had seen a few times but never talked to. He walked up to me, shushing me, and taking me out of the room. We walked down the silent hallway to another room. No one was inside. Once he closed the door he went over to me. He looked a little older than Bryan.

"I've seen you around. I'm Hunter by the way."

"D-Dallas."

He sat down on the bed in the room, motioning me over. I sat down slowly. He looked at me with a smile. He started talking about random things, and he was actually nice. I hadn't met someone nice yet. I knew there had to be someone. For the first time, I felt there was someone nice here. But as he was talking he started to get kind of close to me, to the point he was basically on top of me.

"U-Um Hunter..."

"Shhh," he said, putting a finger to his lips. The next thing I knew, he put his lips on mine. I tried to pull away, but he held me against him. My breathing started to increase. He kept kissing me, and he started kissing my neck. My brain was whirling. I knew what was happening, I wasn't stupid. I had seen lots of things. But this was wrong so wrong. He pulled away, and I saw the lust in his eyes. I wanted to run, but he had me pinned. I felt my breathing increase as I felt more and more trapped. I'll never forget that night.

I woke up the next morning in the room, with Hunter beside me. I felt sick, and I tried to stay quiet. I did see something I hadn't seen in this place, a mirror. I stood up and grabbed my clothes, putting them on. I walked to the mirror, and what I saw almost made me scream. My hair was a mess, my face covered in dried blood and scars, and my eyes looked so dull. I saw some hickeys on my chest, luckily not on my neck. I didn't want Tommy questioning it. I looked at myself, and a few tears fell down my face. I felt nothing but at the same time everything. I quietly left. Once I was back in my room, I saw Tommy was still asleep. I laid in bed thinking over everything that happened. I was shaking just thinking about it, about him.

I didn't sleep the rest of the night.

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The next week I spent the nights with Hunter. At least not every night he does... that. But it still is uncomfortable and torture. No one else knows what he is doing that I know of, and I didn't tell Tommy. I knew he would be angry, I knew he would try and stop Hunter and then hurt himself. I started acting differently, and Tommy could tell. Whenever I saw Hunter he just gave a smile, but I knew what that smile meant. I started to feel numb, and Hunter took advantage of that. I just wanted all of this to be over, to go back home. Away from that monster.

I hadn't seen Ian barely, but I didn't expect to. I did see him once talking to a younger girl, who was still older than me. She looked kind of like him, but I don't know. That was the last time I saw him. Today my job was to clean off knives. Could I steal one and try to escape? Sure. If I did I wouldn't make it very far though. There are two people watching me clean them right now, and the amount of security here, I would never make it. As I was cleaning, I heard the guys watching me stand up. I continued cleaning not paying attention.

"Really focused on those knives huh?"

I looked up to Ian. He still looked the same, intimidating. I was silent.

"You're not a talker. You've been doing good work. So has your friend. Your friends haven't entered our territory. You might get to leave soon."

That made me feel good. To go back to watching the stars with Tommy on my bed. Even stealing sounded good right now.

"But for now, you keep working. I do have a new job for you. I know you used to steal with the Blades, and we could use some younger assets. How bout that?"

Of course, I didn't want to steal, but to be able to see the sky. To be outside, that sounds nice. And if I do this then maybe he will let us go sooner. Not like I have a choice either. I nodded.

"You'll start in an hour. Marcus will come get you."

He left me, and I continued to clean. The other guys came back in, and soon enough I was done. I went back to my room and saw Tommy wasn't there. We were normally split up for jobs, so I wasn't surprised. I sat on my bed until someone entered. Hunter. He closed the door and sat beside me.

"Heard Ian offered you a job. Wish I could go with."

He made me lean on him, and he cuddled me. I hated every second of it. Soon I knew it was time for me to leave, and he let me. I left the room, finally able to breathe with him gone. I saw Ian and walked up to him. Me, him, and three other guys headed outside. The first thing I did was look at the sky. I smiled. Next thing I knew I was dragged inside the van. I sat in the back, silent the entire time. We stopped in front of a small store I had never seen. Ian turned towards me.

"Go in there and get what's on this list. If you try to run, you won't make it far. So best be on good behavior. See how good you are kid."

He handed me a piece of paper, a dollar, and they were about to let me out. I walked inside and smiled at the lady at the register. She looked nice. I walked through the aisles, getting the stuff on the paper. Since I was short, you couldn't see me over the aisles really. I hid stuff in my jacket, moving quickly, and soon I had gotten everything. I saw a candy bar and picked it up. I walked to the register and started to pay for it. I could tell this lady I was basically kidnapped. But then the police would find out about me running away from home, returning me to my father, which would not be great. As the lady is ringing me up she looks at me. She didn't comment about my looks, and soon she was done. I walked out and to Ian's van. I got inside, taking the stuff out of my jacket.

"Good job kid."

He threw me the candy bar I had bought back, and I started eating it. They gave us food here, but it wasn't great. Just enough.

I thought after that, things would change. I would get treated better. But I wasn't. I was still beat, still forced to work, and still spending nights with the devil.