ELENORA

"Shoot me down, but I get up I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose

Fire away, fire away

Ricochet, you take your aim

Fire away, fire away You shoot me down, but I won't fall"

I jump at the loud banging at the door. "Cállate!" The guard pounds on the door again as if that will make me want to follow his order more. (Shut up!)

His footsteps begin to retreat and I look up through the small window of the door.

"Idiota." (idiot)

"Psst! Psst!"

I sit up at the sound and lean away from the wall.

"Who's there?" I whisper, wondering if I'm hearing things.

"Hey, what's your name?" I don't say anything, contemplating if I should give my real name or not. "I'm down here."

I glance down at the hole cut out at the bottom of the wall with a metal-looking grate covering it. I dig my fingers around the edges and pry it open, certain I'm going to break a nail, but it finally pops off.

I set the cover aside and crouch down, peering through the hole. When I don't see anything, I start thinking I made up the voice in my head.

Curiosity takes over as I reach inside, but scream when a hand grabs mine.

"Shhh! Holy Hell! Cover the hole! They're going to come check on you now!" The voice whisper-yells at me. Running footsteps thunder from the hallway along with sound of keys jangling. The cover fumbles in my shaking hands but I push it in place, sitting in front of it as the door opens.

"Ques pasa? Ok?" (what's going on?)

"Eh...uh spider." I use hand gestures to make a spider, attempting to make it run along the floor.

The guards' bushy eyebrows come together. "Araña?" (spider)

"Si."

He rolls his eyes and waves me off before shutting the door, locking it up again.

"I should have known you have a set of lungs on you with all the singing you've been doing." The unknown voice tells me. "But it's better than hearing you talk to yourself nonstop. I thought it would end when you finally fell asleep but you do it then, too."

"I've been told."

"I'm Sandra, what's your name?"

"Nora."

"Are you a singer? Did you get picked up at a club?" The girl's voice sounds young and I'm too afraid to ask her age, not wanting to face the reality of the situation I find myself in now.

"No, I was picked up outside the reception hall on my wedding day...after I shot my fake husband, after we had a fake marriage. The whole thing was fake. Everything was fake. He wasn't real."

"Rico?"

"You know him?" I swear his reputation has no limits.

"No, but you say his name while you're crying yourself to sleep."

I clear my throat. "Oh. Do you know where we are?"

"If I had to guess, somewhere in Brooklyn, you can hear the train at night. I was picked up at the subway station, two weeks ago, I think? It's hard to keep track of time."

"Two weeks ago?" I repeat in shock. "I think I've only been here four days but it feels like a lifetime."

"You've been here six days actually. They must have dosed you with something to knock you out," She tells me. "I'd hear you mumbling and assumed you were a tweeker, but now that I know how much you talk to yourself, you were definitely unconscious the first couple of days."

I roll my eyes at her confident assessment of me.

"You may want to reign in that crazy talk; there was a girl before you, who would cry and constantly scream. They kept coming in to give her something to quiet her, at least I figure that's what they were doing because she would scream, 'no more, please no more'!"

"They gave her too much the last time, because she stopped." She stays quiet while I absorb the information she's sharing.

" I...I was out late the night they got me because I was tired of hearing my mom and her boyfriend fighting. Neighbors would pound on our walls and tell us to keep it down. But that night, he was hurting her." She sighs. "I should have just stayed in my room and called the cops."

I hold my hand over my heart not believing what I'm hearing. "How old are you, Sandra?"

"Sixteen, you?"

"Twenty three."

"I probably won't make it to my seventeenth birthday. You do know what we are here for, don't you?"

"I have a pretty good guess," I respond, looking around in the small room that's probably more like a storage closet. The stained single mattress on the floor with the soiled and dirty blanket tells of its heavy use. There's no windows and the lock on the door is reversed.

"Are you scared?" Her quiet voice pulls me back.

"No."

"Liar."

"In this exact moment, I can honestly tell you I'm not scared, but that can easily change." I lean my head back. "I don't know how to explain it so it makes sense, but I've learned being scared is useless. It does nothing in times of danger or in times of sadness."

"I think it depends," Sandra replies.

We sit in silence for a few moments. "Do you like school?"

Sandra snorts. "Nope!"

I smile. "I struggled in school, too but I pushed myself to get good grades and finished early and then I went on to college and got into photography."

"What do you take pictures of?"

"I specialize in commercial photoshoots, but do everything from graduations, weddings, baby's, family photo shoots, even nature or landscapes when I travel."

"That sounds amazing. Do you think if we make it out of here, you can show me your work?"

"Of course." Though as soon as the words leave my mouth, I know it's not likely.

"I like to write and draw," She tells me.

"What do you write?"

"Short stories mostly, and some poetry."

"Maybe I'll get a chance to read something of yours, I love reading."

"What do you read?"

My face flushes, and I clear my throat. "Oh, um, mostly romance, new adult books."

"Oh, I gotcha, you like the naughty books," She giggles.

I chuckle, but the memories of Rico reading my books out loud while we were in bed or sometimes in the bath come to mind; it would usually lead to us making love. I squeeze my eyes shut and sniffle.

"You miss him, don't you?"

"I don't want to."

"Can you look into the hole?"

I bend down and press my face on the cement floor, looking through the opening. I see a pair of feet and then her young pretty face and dark eyes stare back at me. She sticks her hand through the vent and I hold her hand. "I'm sorry," She offers and my heart warms at her kindness. "You said you shot him, did you kill him?"

"I have no idea. They took me when I was trying to yell for help." I picture Rico's face again when the bullet pierced through him and the sound of him exhaling as he hit the ground replays loud in my ears.

A door slams shut and she lets go of my hand. We move away from the vent. "They're probably taking you to see the boss."

"What will happen?"

"They'll strip you and a woman comes in to take your measurements then they'll give you a large T-shirt to wear. At least that's what happened to me. I heard them talking about an auction, maybe they're moving us both."

"Now, I'm scared." I confess.

"Me, too."

Keys jingle outside my door and I rush to cover the vent. I place myself in front of it and hold my knees, trying to slow down my racing heart.

"Levantate." The guard walks into the room. I conclude he means to stand up from the hand gestures he makes. (Stand up)

I rise to my feet and he pulls me forward. He doesn't say anything as he guides me through a narrow hallway. "Where are you taking me?"

Coughing and sniffling echo around me, but the worst sounds are those of grunting and moaning as well as crying. A shudder rolls through me and I stumble forward due to the harsh shove from the guard.

"Where are we?" I know he's not going to answer me, but my need to drown out the awful sounds outweighs the dangers of asking too many questions.

"What's your name?" He gives me a side glance but keeps walking without answering.

"My name is Nora. I'm twenty three years old. Do you have any kids? A wife? Dog?"

He mutters something in Spanish and then knocks on the door we come to. I'm surprised to find a woman answers the door but then Sandra's words come back to me. They talk to one another in Spanish before she focuses on me. Her eyes travel over my dirty and torn wedding dress.

He pulls me toward him then shoves me into the room. "You don't have to push and shove so much, you know?"

"Men have no manners, querida." (dear)

"Tell me about it."

A smile pulls at her painted red lips. "My name is Valeria. And you are?"

"Elenora Borelli."

"Italian?" I nod and then she walks around me, sizing me up.

"The dress must have been lovely before it got ruined." She runs her fingers over the lace down the front. "I'm sorry this happened to you."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I was once in your position. If you're smart, keep your eyes open and your mouth shut, you could survive like me."

"I'll probably die then."

"You won't die, mi hija, but you'll probably wish you could." (my child)

"I'm already there; looks like I'm winning at this already."

Valeria laughs. "You're funny. That might help you."

"Hasn't done much for me so far." She chuckles and begins pulling at the sleeves of my dress.

"Hey!"

"Easy, easy." She holds her hands up. "I need to see the goods and report to the boss. Trust me, better me than one of them; they're not going to wait to show you your new role from this point on."

Valeria moves behind me and pulls the zipper down as I still hold the dress up against myself, but she pulls at it and I eventually let go.

"Underwear, too. Come on." She snaps her fingers at me. "Boss doesn't like us to be late."

"Good to know he has high standards," I state. Valeria laughs again and then pulls my hands away from myself and I gasp as she cups my breasts.

"Hmm. Not too big, but not too small either, good size, firm, real?"

"Yes, they're real," I say through my teeth, feeling completely violated. She uses a tape measure on several parts of my body and writes in a small notebook.

She looks over the rest of me and her fingers move over the tattoo down my ribcage and again reminding me of Rico.

She hands me a robe. "Don't I get a shirt?"

"After."

"After what?"

"Boss wants to see you first."

"But I thought you report what you see."

"He specifically asked to see you, after I finished measuring," She tells me as she pulls the robe over me and shoves my arms in the sleeves and tightens the sash.

She drags me out of the room and we walk down another long hallway and then she comes to another door and knocks three times.

"Come in." I'm pulled in behind Valeria and come face to face with who I assume is the boss.

"Diego?"

"Buenos dias, hermosa," Diego smiles as he lights up a cigar behind the desk he's sitting in. Joaquin is also in here and winks back at me. There are several other men in the room I don't recognize. (good morning, gorgeous)

"What? Why? I thought..." I stammer, unable to form a sentence.

"You thought I was the good guy?" He leans forward as a dark smile crosses his face. "There are no good guys in this world. You found that out recently, didn't you? Your beloved esposo turned out to be something he wasn't. I tried to warn you." He clicks his tongue before he takes a drag of the cigar. (Husband)

"Why me?"

"Because you're his."

"I belong to no one."

"You will soon, preciosa," He tells me. "Though I have no doubt he will try to come for you." A small glimmer of hope grows within me. He's alive. Rico's alive. (precious)

"Any normal man would come after the woman they love." Diego stands, walking around the desk.

"Sure, any normal man would, but you know Rico's not normal. You and Joaquin are both walking dead men."

Joaquin chuckles tilting his head to the side. "You think we're afraid of him?" Joaquin questions, dripping with arrogance.

"I don't give a shit if you're afraid or not, it doesn't change the fact that he's going to slaughter you and anyone else that's involved. Considering the history you have with him, you know he'll destroy you. There will be nothing left, it will be like you never existed."

"You think so?"

"I've seen him do it."

Diego leans back against the desk and set's the cigar down on the ashtray and crosses his arms and ankles as he looks back at me. "And you still married him, knowing what he's capable of?"

"He did it for me."

Diego does a poor job of hiding his surprise. He stands and begins circling me. "So, tell me, what do you think he'll do to me?" I try to control my breathing, even though my heart is racing.

"It depends."

Diego chuckles. He stands in front of me again and pulls on the sash of the robe. I fight the instinct to close it, holding his gaze as he looks back at me but then nods his head at Valeria; she removes the robe completely.

I keep my head up and meet his lust filled eyes. "Rico's going to gouge out your eyes for looking at his wife. Yours, your brothers and all the others in this room." I glance around the room and notice one man in particular has his head down, whereas everyone else is ogling me.

"Do you want to know what he did to the man who raped me?"

This gets his and everyone's else's attention in the room. Diego doesn't say anything but the small head movement he makes has Valeria covering me up again and he backs away.

"No? I'll tell you anyway." I walk towards him until I'm face to face with him. "He cut off the guy's dick and left him to bleed out, but that's not what killed him. It was the rats who chewed and ate his balls that accelerated the whole thing."

Obviously I'm lying, but Diego doesn't know that.

"Seems like a fitting consequence, don't you think? It was nice knowing you Diego. Joaquin." I hold up my fingers in a square and look at Diego through it then Joaquin.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Joaquin leans away from the wall.

"Just taking a mental picture of what you look like, since Rico will leave you unrecognizable."

"He won't know we're involved. You've already been bought by an associate and then they will auction you. From there, who knows where you'll be. Mexico, Albania, Russia. The possibilities are endless." Diego grins at me.

I laugh. "You think I care what happens to me?" I shake my head. "If I die, I still have the comforting thought that Rico is coming for you. He already had you in his sights and you know it, but this is the fuel he needed to end you permanently."

"You're fucking crazy." Diego chuckles, but the cockiness in his eyes is gone as well as Joaquins.

I shrug. "Are we done? I need my beauty rest. Gotta look my best for the auction; you know what they say, you don't get a second chance at a first impression." I walk towards the door.

"You coming Val? Or am I allowed to walk back alone?"

Valeria stares at me then back at Diego. She hurries behind me as I open the door and make my way back to the room.

"He's right; you're fucking crazy." Valeria side-eyes me.

The adrenaline is depleting out of me and if I don't rest, I will pass out soon. I just need to hold on until I get to the room. The guard opens the door and shuts it behind me.

"Are you okay?" Sandra whispers through the vent.

"No." My body is shaking now. "I need to rest."

"Did they hurt you?"

"No, but I know him..the boss. I met him at a club once. We danced..." My eyes are feeling heavy as I lay on the cold floor of the room. "Rico...Rico's going...to kill him." I slip into a slumber and dream about Rico's brown eyes and the fire behind them.

He's going to kill them all.

***