Prologue
It was a prison
like none other. With boarded windows and a tall fence, I’d almost forgotten
what it looked like outside. The bars that caged me in were strong, but not as
strong as the bars I’d put up around my heart. They could hurt me until I
thought I was going to die…but they could never make me cry. Those bars around
my heart made sure of that.
How long has it been
now that I’ve been here? Too long for me to keep track. I was only fourteen
when I was brought here. But for such a young age, I work long hours in this
prison cell. Day and night. The few hours that I would get to rest and just be
completely alone were almost filled with more torment than my working hours.
Because it was in those hours of solidarity that memories would flash through
my head. Memories of my life before this hell-like prison. Memories of days
when I was young, free and innocent. And then they’ll be interrupted with a
recent memory. My bright eyes turned dull and empty…my vibrant smile turned
upside down…my olive colored skin turned bruised and dirty. Would I ever escape and become that carefree
girl again? I’ve given up hope for that.
I slowly open my eyes
and glance around at the other girls in this room. Girls just like me. We all
come from different backgrounds and have different stories, but we’ve
reluctantly resigned ourselves to the fact that we all have one thing in
common. And that’s our bondage to this prison that we’ve been forced to call
our home. I hadn’t meant for my life to turn out this way. Neither did any of
the other girls that I live with. Our lives don’t always turn out the way we
want though…but I’d rather die than continue living the way I’ve been forced to
live.
There’s something else
you must know about these prison bars. They don’t confine thieves and murderers,
or law-breakers and criminals. No, not one of us has committed any sort of
heinous crime. That’s the job of our captors. They are the criminals. Nevertheless, they are free and we are
bound, forced into a life none would choose for themselves.
Welcome to life in a
brothel.
Is there anyone who can save me?
Chapter One
“If
I have to tell you to get down here one more time…”
Caryn cringed at the
tone of annoyance in her mother’s voice. “I’m coming!” she called back quickly.
“That’s what you said
ten minutes ago, Caryn!”
With an irritated sigh,
Caryn dropped the ribbon she was trying to place in her hair and just allowed
her golden curls to fall to her shoulders. She stood up and stared at herself
in the mirror, her chocolate brown eyes scrutinizing every inch of the
reflection.
“Sorry, Mom,” Caryn
mumbled as she hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen.
“Let me see you,” Kathy
Hampton instructed her daughter. As Caryn turned around so her mother could see
her, Kathy got tears in her eyes. “You look beautiful, sweetheart,” she
whispered, kissing her daughter’s forehead.
Caryn smiled and
stepped forward to give her mother a hug. “Mom, I’m so nervous,” she whispered
into the woman’s hair. Her tone was low and she sort of hoped that Kathy hadn’t
heard her.
Kathy pulled back from
their hug and took her daughter’s face between both her hands. “I was nervous
my first day of high school too. But don’t worry. You are going to be just
fine. Come home and tell me all about it, okay?”
Caryn nodded and
readjusted her backpack on her shoulder.
Honk, honk!
“That would be your
sister waiting on you.” Kathy blew the young teenager a kiss as she walked
towards the door.
Caryn glanced back over
her shoulder at her mom and waved. Despite her mother’s comforting words, she
still had butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. I wish I didn’t have to do this.
“Hurry up, slow poke!”
Avery called in a huff to her sister from the open window of her new Honda.
Caryn opened the
passenger door and flung her backpack into the backseat before sliding in. She
barely had her seatbelt secured before Avery was flying down the driveway and
out onto the main road.
“Next time you’re
totally taking the bus,” Avery grumbled, looking in her rearview mirror as she
steered the car through traffic.
“You know Mom and Dad
don’t want me to take the bus as long as you have your license and can drive
the both of us,” Caryn reminded her, leaning her head back against the seat and
closing her eyes.
Avery rolled her eyes
and smacked her glossy lips together. The seventeen year old checked her
reflection in the mirror quickly before turning her sky blue eyes back to the
road and the traffic jam that they were stuck in.
Caryn slowly opened one
eye to peer at her older sister. The two blondes looked a lot alike, but they
were complete opposites in everything else. They used to be close when they
were younger, but had drifted apart as they grew older. Caryn certainly would’ve
rather taken the bus than put up with her sister this early in the morning, but
her parents had strict rules about that. They were to only take the bus if
necessary and they were to never walk
to school alone.
Caryn felt her cell
phone buzz in her pocket so she fished it out and opened the text message. It
was from her oldest sister, Haley:
Good luck today! You’ll be fine J
The message brought a
smile to her face. She quickly closed her eyes and imagined Haley’s smiling
face. Haley had beautiful auburn hair that really brought out her green eyes. She had a smile that could light up any town
and those green eyes always seemed to sparkle. Caryn sighed deeply. She missed
her twenty-one year old sister who was attending college somewhere out west.
Caryn could never remember exactly which state her sister was in; she just knew
that it was a long way from New York. Even though she missed Haley greatly,
Caryn was proud of how well her sister was doing in school. The young college
student was training to become a law enforcement officer. Ever since she was
little she had wanted to major in criminal justice, so Caryn was happy that her
older sister was following her dreams…even if it took her so far away.
“Hello?” Avery snapped
her perfectly manicured fingers in front of her sister’s nose. “Earth to
Caryn.”
Caryn rolled her eyes
and pushed Avery’s hand away. “What?” she asked rudely.
Avery pointed out the
window. “We’re here,” she replied, quickly exiting the vehicle. “But if you
want to be late for class, that’s not my problem.”
Caryn groaned and
slammed the car door closed behind her. After the dirty look she got from her
sister, she didn’t even bother saying goodbye as she hurried in the opposite
direction of Avery.
Caryn quickly pulled
out her cell phone to type a message back to Haley before she walked inside.
Wish you were here. This is going
to be a long day…
_____________________________
“What
are you looking at?”
Haley whipped her head
around to see a young man standing over her shoulder. “Oh hey, Jake, I didn’t
even see you there,” she smiled up at him as she lifted up her cell phone, “I
was texting my sister,” she explained, continuing down the college hallway
towards her dorm room.
“Ah, you never told me
you have a sister,” Jake noted, stepping in front of her and leaning his tall
figure against the doorframe with a heart-melting grin.
“Well, you never
asked,” Haley teased, reaching past him to unlock the door.
“How old is she?” Jake
prodded.
“Fourteen,” Haley
answered slowly, giving him a sideways glance.
“So does your family
live far from here?” Jake asked curiously as Haley sorted through her mail on
the kitchen counter just inside the dorm room.
“Boy, being nosy today, aren’t we?” Haley
walked back over to the doorway and crossed her arms as she smiled and raised
an eyebrow at the young man standing before her.
Jake shrugged. “I just
want to get to know more about you, Haley,” he flashed that award-winning smile
and added, “So how about we go out sometime?”
Haley laughed, “Still
trying to get me to go on a date with you?” She pretended to punch his arm.
“I’ll think about it and text you later, okay?”
“Okay, but don’t make
me wait too long,” Jake called over his shoulder as he disappeared down the
hallway.
Haley rolled her eyes. She
hadn’t known Jake very long; they had just met at the beginning of this
semester. But even still he could make her heart race with just one word. He
was such a nice guy, and she blushed at the thought that he seemed genuinely
interested in her.
Haley shook her head.
She couldn’t think about Jake right now. She was too busy with her studies and
couldn’t possibly consider a relationship on top of all that. School would just
have to come first.
“Was that Jake?” Anna,
Haley’s roommate, asked curiously.
Haley nodded
absentmindedly as she pretended to sort through the mail again.
“You need to give the
poor guy a chance, girl. Get a social life,” Anna instructed her as if reading
her previous thoughts.
Haley
sighed. “I don’t have time for that.”
“Make time,” Anna
commanded, “You’re in college now. You’re supposed to have fun and party in
college. Once you graduate and go to work full time, then you won’t have time for anything. Have fun while you’re in
school.”
Haley grinned at her
friend. “Are those words of wisdom supposed to impress me?” she teased.
Anna nodded. “Oh yeah,
I worked hard on that speech.”
Haley threw her head
back and laughed. “Take your own advice, girl.” She grabbed a bag of potato
chips and opened them, popping one into her mouth. “You haven’t gone on a date
since last semester.”
Anna grinned. “I prefer
to give the speech instead of taking the advice.”
Haley laughed again and
pulled her cell phone out of her pocket to glance at the last text message her
little sister had sent to her. She sighed and looked up to gaze out the window
of her small dorm room. She wished she could be back in New York with her
family. Colorado was so far away…the miles were too long.
Maybe by the middle of
the semester the homesickness would ease down. But somehow Haley wasn’t so sure
about that.
_____________________________
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