Cold.  That was all my mind could process as I kept slipping in and out of consciousness. How long has it been?

I whimpered at the unexpected brightness as my eyes fluttered open. I had expected the place to be dark because of the coldness of the floor, but it wasn't and that instantly debunked the thought that I was back in the old room.

There was no possibility for light to seep in, in the old room and this one was a poorly lit room. It took my eyes a while to adjust to the horrible lightning. And once they did, I immediately sat up and regretted it instantly when I felt a sharp pain in my head.

I hissed and cradled my head with my palm. I waited till the pain subsided a little, once it did, I began looking around the room. "Where have they brought me to this time?" I mumbled under my breath. I took note of everything in the room, trying to figure out where I was. It looked like an old storage room, the high window, where rays of the sun were coming in from, the stench of varieties of goods and foods was faint in the air but not non-existent.

The door wasn't locked. I could tell from the small gap that allowed sunlight into the room and that confirmed that the chain around my ankle wasn't a facade like the last time. I couldn't tell what or who I was chained to, but I knew I was chained if they dared to leave the door open or maybe it was their confidence that I wouldn't know my way around.  Whichever it was, I couldn't bring myself to care. I knew everything would work out just fine, I have Yeshua.

I closed my eyes and rested my head gently against the wall. "Thank you, Yeshua" I whispered with a smile on my face, and I began humming. I undoubtedly felt His presence heavy in the room as I began humming, and it filled me with peace, but that soon began to dwindle when my mind travelled to the thought of Zadkiel. I didn't even get to see him before I left. "Please keep him safe and protect him, Lord, guide his path" I whispered and released a deep breath.

"He'd be fine" His soft voice whispered. My lips tugged up in a smile and I began humming songs of praise to him, enjoying the bliss and the quietness of the room and our alone time till it was interrupted.

The last two people I wanted to lay my eyes on walked into the room the next second with sly smiles on their faces. "Look who is finally awake, sleeping beauty" Jezel exclaimed as she walked into the room. David stood behind her as always, a smirk graced his face. "You look like you enjoyed your nap, seeing how beautiful and at peace you look"

"That's what finding the Lord does to you," I said and she scoffed before a condescending smile graced her face.

She crossed her hands at her back and walked over to me with slow, calculated steps till she was right in front of me and she squatted before me. "Are you really at peace because you believe in an imaginary creature you made up, or because you brought this with you?" She raised a black GPS tracker. My eyes immediately widened and my hands flew to my chest in search of the tracker we had so carefully put, but it was gone. She let out a small laugh at the look on my face and before I knew it, she was full-on cackling. "Ah," she flicked away a teardrop and stood to her feet, "what a funny child. We've been with you for years, Isadora and we've been in this business longer. You can't outsmart us"

"My name is Jophiel" I retorted, trying to stay as calm as possible.

"No, that's the name you gave yourself to avoid your reality. Your name is Isadora and the faster you get used to it, the better. Our ship leaves in exactly 20 minutes, it's time for you to join the others. I hope you don't like the room" She smiled widely at me again and turned to leave.

"How can a mother be so cruel to her child, Jezel?" I asked and she immediately halted. "I've always wondered that, and now that you are shipping me away I might as well get an answer to my question. I might overlook David's abuse because he didn't have me growing inside him for 9 months but you, Jezel. You carried me for 9 months, I was practically a part of you, so how..." My voice cracked and I immediately cleared my throat. I'd rather die than cry for them again, "how could you treat your child this way? How?" My throat burned the more I spoke and I whimpered.

She turned fully towards me and for the first time since I'd known Jezel, her dark smokey eyes were glossy. "Sometimes, Isadora, things aren't black and white. You and I were born into this life, and we have to live in it"

I scoffed and shook my head, "I was hoping for a better excuse. A better reason you treated me this way. I was really hoping you'd at least say you weren't my mother" I paused and let out a laugh, "turns out you are just as pathetic as I thought"

"How dare you!?" She raised her hand to strike me but the police siren in the background made her freeze. I watched with satisfaction as her eyes widened and were filled with fear, "what have you done, Isadora?" Her voice shook and I smiled.

"I outsmarted you, with my God" I dug out the tracker I'd hidden in my ear, it was a very risky thing but I had no choice. She released a shaky breath and stood straight. A bright smile immediately covered her face and she nodded.

"I was disappointed when you came back here with us." She started and my eyes widened. "I expected you to fight to stay there but now, I couldn't be more proud. Some of us, like me, have no other option than to live the life we've been handed but there are always people like you and I'm glad I birthed you, Jophiel" She raised both her hands and waited for the police to barge in, "thank you for saving me and yourself"

I felt like laughing at her face, her words bounced off my ear as soon as I heard her. She never made an effort to save herself or let me out of there, she never tried. Her words were just to make all that she had been doing sound like she had no other option, but she did. She had lots of options to save me, but she let not one man, not two, but hundreds of them have their way with me. She killed me while I was still living.

"How dare you say those words to me, Jezel!?" I all but screamed and she flinched, "How dare you?!" I yelled and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Forgive her" the familiar voice whispered at the exact moment the door was broken down and the police rushed in. "Forgive her, Jophiel" I shook my head as the tears streamed down my face. I can't. Anybody but her.

Once the police had her and David in handcuffs, I was immediately set free from the chain and Miss Gloria ran inside with her arms stretched out, "Thank God you're safe!" She pulled me into her arms and placed a kiss on my forehead, "thank God! Thank God it worked" I leaned into her hug and let myself sob into her shoulders.

"Forgive her, little one" Yeshua whispered again. I wanted to protest, tell him I couldn't do it but when I raised my head and saw them dragging her away, I sprang up and rushed after them.

"Please wait!" I called out as I rushed to them and they immediately stopped, I placed my hands on my knees to catch my breath. "Just a moment" I stared at Jezel, who had a genuine smile on her face despite being in cuffs, "sometimes I wondered if you were truly my mum and I'm still sincerely praying that you aren't even though you say you are. But I forgive you, Jezel. Don't get me wrong, I'm not over the things you did to me, I hate the things you put me through. I'll probably have to take therapy sessions later on but I forgive you." Her lips quivered as she tried to keep the tears in. "And it's not because I want to but because my God asked me to, therefore I choose to forgive you. Hopefully, you'll encounter him too. It'll be in jail though"

She laughed and nodded her head, "Definitely in jail. Thank you, Jophiel" She blew me a kiss and they dragged her off. I stood at the spot and watched as the officers rescued a lot more girls from the ship. Most of them were in tatters, all were bruised and visibly shaking.

My heart broke at the sight and I immediately hid my face in Miss Gloria's body, and she held me close. "That was really brave Jophiel. Thank you for putting yourself out there for this to happen" she said and I just hugged her tighter.

Once the officers were done rescuing the girls, the one in charge headed over to us. "Everyone has been cleared, but some officers are still on patrol in case anyone escaped. We are grateful for the information and your cooperation, but for security and documentation reasons we'd need information on how this happened" Miss Gloria and I immediately exchanged glances.

"She'd let you know all you need to" The officer stared at me and I bobbed my head. I could still remember clearly all that happened and how this plan was birthed.

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