knees in front of us, and I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from crying, to stop myself from telling him to stop.
“Get up and strip, you dumb bitch,” Luca yells at the sobbing girl on the floor. When she doesn’t get up, he raises the stick again, as if he’s going to zap her. That’s when something inside of me snaps. I can’t stand here and do nothing. I can’t watch them hurt her.
“Stop!” I lunge forward and try to slap the stick out of Luca’s hand, but he is quicker and turns the stick on me instead, hitting me with the metal tips right in the arm. My skin burns, and it feels as if I’ve been electrocuted. Pain ripples through my entire body, locking up every muscle. Unable to control my movements and my breath, I fall to the ground just like the other girl had a moment ago.
I lift my head and my eyes collide with the other girl’s. She’s looking at me like I’m her hero, but she has no idea how wrong she is. “It’s okay, just do what they say,” I whisper breathlessly, desperately wanting to offer her my hand and help her up off the cold floor. She nods, and slowly shoves off the floor.
“Get the fuck up!” Another voice fills the air, making my body shake.
I try to push myself up but apparently, I’m not fast enough. I hear heavy footsteps coming in my direction, and when I see the boots in front of me, I know who they belong to. Before I can even look up to meet Ivan’s gaze, he grabs me by one arm. His normally gentle touch is rough and cold as he yanks me harshly to my feet, releasing me with a shove. I cling to the wall behind me for support.
“Strip,” Ivan orders without missing a beat, and I continue taking my clothes off while keeping eye contact with the girl beside me. I might not be able to hug her or even hold her hand, but at least I can let her know that I see her pain, that I am here with her and that she isn’t alone.
When every one of the girls, including me, are completely naked, Luca comes around and hands each of us a bar of soap while Ivan and the other guy grab two hoses from the wall behind them and turn the water on. When Luca is done, he takes one of the hoses from Ivan and they start hosing us off with water while Ivan just stands there with his arms crossed over his muscled chest overseeing the entire event.
The water is ice cold, and I immediately shiver when the first spray lands against my skin.
“Start washing yourself with the soap,” Luca yells over the noise of the water splashing against the walls and floor. “Make sure those pussies are all nice and clean for tomorrow. We don’t like getting complaints from customers about smelly pussy, and if you don’t get sold then… well, you don’t want to know what happens to you,” he laughs, spraying us all with a blast of ice cold water.
I grit my teeth, trying to push down the anger and hate growing inside me. I’ve never hated anyone this much in my life. I’ve never thought about killing someone until this day. If I had the chance right now, I would kill Luca, and I’d do it without a second thought.
After a few minutes, the water is turned off and we are left standing shivering in the center of the room. The sound of teeth chattering fills the air, and a minute later, Luca gets some old dirty towels from the corner of the room and tosses one at each of us.
The towels smell like mold, and I nearly barf into the fabric.
“Dry off, and then we’ll be bringing you back to the cells,” he yells.
I gaze down at the piles of wet clothing on the floor in front of each of us.
Are we supposed to stay naked until tomorrow?
“Time’s up,” Luca yells again, and they start hauling girls out of the room one by one. I lift my gaze from the floor and up to Ivan, who is standing in the room, most likely making sure none of us make even an attempt to run. I’m angry, so angry, that I want to slap him, tell him that I hate him, even when I don’t. I could never