My plan to escape had tanked much worse than I anticipated.
The car sped away, forcing me to take one last glance at the house that had been my prison for eighteen years. Despite the horrors I had endured, it was still home. And I knew I might never see it again.
But there was no time to sulk. The car was moving too fast, a blur of darkness swallowing the road beneath us. I couldn't even hope for a police checkpoint to slow them down—there was no law here. They could shoot me in broad daylight in front of an officer, and it would still be ruled a suicide. My only option was to act fast. If I ended up at their headquarters, I was as good as dead.
"Pedro, are we still stopping by Hulio for the other one?" Enrique's voice was casual, like we were discussing groceries instead of human trafficking.
"Yes," Pedro answered. "After that, straight to HQ. Copy that, D2?"
"Yes, Boss," a different man—presumably the driver—replied, his voice eerily calm.
Silence followed, save for the rhythmic tapping of fingers on a keyboard. I pressed my back against the cold metal floor of the trunk, my mind racing. The lock was automated, accessible only from the driver's end. I couldn't hack it. I could only wait.
The other one.
That meant another girl was being taken. My stomach twisted. If they were tossing her in the trunk with me, it was my best chance. When they opened it, I had to be ready.
I steadied my breathing, tracking our journey through the change in scenery. Less concrete, more greenery. The houses grew sparse, the roads rougher. We had entered Hulio—a farming town far worse off than Cantana. Here, desperation reigned. Families sold their daughters just to survive. Some as young as nine.
The car finally slowed as we veered off the main road. It didn't take long before we stopped in front of a dilapidated hut. My fingers wrapped around the hilt of the knife hidden beneath my dress, my heartbeat loud in my ears.
Then I saw it.
A second black SUV had been following us. I had been too distracted to notice. My stomach sank.
Its driver met my gaze through the windshield, his stare cold, unyielding. A warning. Stay put.
The doors of the other car opened, and two men stepped out, walking toward us with the precision of trained soldiers. Pedro and Enrique got out as well, the air shifting with tension.
"Boss!" the two men greeted Pedro.
"Liam, stay with the girl," Pedro instructed. "The rest of us will handle the one inside. I hear she's feisty. Might need some convincing."
I barely heard the rest. My pulse hammered in my ears as Liam, a towering figure armed with an AK-47, circled the vehicle. The moment he pressed a button to pop the trunk, I was ready.
His sharp gaze met mine, scrutinizing. "Do not try anything funny."
I nodded, feigning obedience, my fingers tightening around the blade beneath my dress.
He looked around, scanning the perimeter for threats. And then, for the first time, I felt it—
A miracle.
"You feisty bitch!" Pedro's voice erupted from the house. My head snapped toward the scene unfolding outside.
A girl, barely sixteen, was being dragged from the house, clawing at her mother in a desperate bid for freedom. Her baby-blue eyes brimmed with terror, her black hair wild from the struggle. Her mother, a woman who looked far too young to have a daughter this age, sobbed, clinging to her child.
But it was the man standing beside them that caught my attention.
Her father.
His expression was void of remorse. Not even when his daughter wrenched free from Pedro's grip and dropped to her knees before him, pleading.
"Please, Daddy! Please don't let them take me!"
He didn't move. Didn't speak. Just shifted slightly, as though the very touch of his daughter repulsed him.
That sealed her fate.
Pedro yanked her back, gripping her hair with enough force to make her scream. But the girl was a fighter. With all her strength, she twisted out of his grasp and bolted, her mother's cries trailing behind her.
"Run! Run!" her mother screamed.
Her father, however, finally moved—but not to help. He lunged after her, his face contorted with fury.
Pedro swore, signaling his men. "Catch her! Dead or alive!"
The moment Liam turned toward the commotion, I struck.
I drove my knife forward with all my might. He twisted at the last second, but not fast enough. The blade sank into his chest, dangerously close to his heart.
Liam staggered back, clutching the wound. His scream was guttural, raw.
I didn't stay to watch. I ripped the knife free and leapt from the trunk, my bare feet hitting the dirt. Then, I ran.
"Hernandez! The girl!" Liam's voice rang out behind me, hoarse with pain.
I didn't stop.
I sprinted toward the bushes, their dark expanse my only hope. Behind me, the roar of engines ignited. A chase was coming. I pushed forward, the dense foliage swallowing me whole.
Branches clawed at my skin. Roots threatened to trip me. But I kept going, lungs burning, heart slamming against my ribs.
And then, the ground disappeared beneath me.
My body plunged forward, rolling violently down an unseen slope. Sharp stones and thick branches battered me from all sides. I hit the ground hard, the final impact against a jagged rock stealing my consciousness.
—
Pain woke me.
Sharp, searing pain radiated through my arms, my legs, my ribs. I tried to move but found resistance. My wrists burned, swollen and raw from the thick ropes suspending me in the air.
I was tied up.
I looked down, horror washing over me like ice. I was naked.
A single light flickered above, illuminating my bruised, battered body. Beyond that—darkness. Endless, suffocating darkness.
"I see you're finally awake."
Pedro.
He stepped into the light, his expression calm. But it wasn't his presence that terrified me. It was the men behind him, emerging from the shadows like wolves scenting blood.
Their faces blurred together, but their eyes—
Their eyes held hunger.
I trembled, my breath hitching. I wasn't ready for this. I would never be ready for this.
Pedro pulled something from the waistband of his trousers. A glint of silver caught the light.
My knife.
"You're one daring girl," he mused, flipping it in his hand. "How dare a lowlife like you take the life of my comrade?"
He moved closer. I didn't flinch. There was no point.
Then, without warning, he pressed the blade against my thigh and began to cut.
He pressed the blade against my thigh, making sure to deepen the cut as he began circling my leg. Pain shot through me instantly, my body trembling with shock.
"Please—"
"Begging makes it fun, so shut up!" Pedro snapped.
I bit my tongue, forcing myself to bear through the agony. But when he deepened the cut, I couldn't stop the scream that tore from my lips.
Pedro's smile was slow, almost admiring. "You're tenacious. But tell me, how does it feel to have your first kill?"
I blinked. "But you said Liam—"
Pedro stepped closer, his gaze dark with something unreadable. "I'm not talking about Liam."
My breath hitched.
Memories crashed over me like a wave, confirming the truth in his words.
I had killed someone.