Chapter 1

Sluggishly I dragged my feet upwards struggling to withhold the heavy wind that came with the heavy downpour, I know I have to stop and wait for the rain to stop, or perhaps decrease but the more I waited the deeper the night went, the road was, of course, lonely but the shining light from the street light kept me company.

Soon a fleet of cars zoomed past me, they were so fast I couldn't even take a proper look, where on earth could they be rushing to in this rain, those are the reasons for a road accident, I dragged myself further to the side just in case while continuing my journey.

My shoes which I have been managing almost giving up on me, if only I knew that rainy days were coming I would have invested in footwear, just when I thought I would never get home, I caught a glimpse of the high mansion which signifies I was near home, "Home Alas" I muttered with relieve.

On several occasions, my home is the reason for my sadness but on nights like this when am overly tired from working overtime at the salon, a glimpse of my house makes me so happy because of the thought of lying down on the mattress.

As I got closer, I noticed black cars packed near my home, quite a rare occurrence, on getting to the front porch and seeing the lights on, my face immediately turned into a deep frown, which means one thing, my deadbeat father remembered he has a daughter in a small town, he is probably broke again and has come to live off me till he gets back on his feet, with furry and anguish I pushed the door open ready to leach out on him but I immediately went quiet, dumbfounded on the sight I was seeing.

My very own father tied up, with his hands behind him and a strand of blood tackling from his head, my heart went straight to my stomach as my breath hastened, I thought I hated him, and I never want to see him again but not him like this, I guess I can't bare to see him hurt.

"Look who we have here," A man with full breaded face said with a smile that was not genuine

"Please let my daughter out of these" my father cried out holding the man from approaching me

"What is going on here" stupid of me to ask but here we are I guess, the more I looked the more faces appeared, they were scattered all over our living room with weapons and some holding guns, the very first time I set my eyes on a gun

"Move" I was nudged from behind, I turned immediately to see the bearer of the voice with a gun in his hand as he nudged me once again to move, and before I knew it, I was kneeling close to my father who was crying his eyes out.

"You had such a beautiful daughter and yet you acted like you had nothing to lose, or were you that confident in hiding your tracks" the huge man with a face full of beard who I assume is the gang leader

"Do you know what your father did to end up in this condition?" he asked me, I slowly shook my head to signify I have no idea if course I suspect he owe them money

"Your father stole my money," he said of course I was right

"I didn't steal your money, Macho" my father cried out

"What is the difference," the man asked with a vexed expression

"you refused to pay back what I loaned you for years now, and you have been hiding, running from me like the thief that you are"  the pity I felt for my father initially vanished with only anger to replace I turned to him with disgust

All this man has ever done for me was bring problems to me,

"Please leave my daughter out of this, take me if you have to, take the house if possible just let her go she is too young for all of these"

"Did you perhaps think of the possibility of being caught while coming here?" I let out in frustration as I felt tears threatening to fall from my eyes, he knew

"This is the first time I am seeing you this year and look what you brought home with you!" I shouted from my guts gaining a handful of silence then followed by a giggle to a loud laugh from the huge man soon the others joined

"So you are not even a good father to your daughter?" he said to my father before he went down to my level with a gun in his hand, I began to fidget as I felt the gun in my face, he used the tip to trace every bit of my face while my father continued to plead

"What is your name?" he asked me with a sly smile, his breath heavy with the smell of tobacco

"My name is Luna," I said trembling with fear that I might be shut died

"Hmmm, how old are you?" he asked again

"Macho she is too young, please"

"I am tur...ning 23" I stuttered struggling to organize my breathe

"Good, old enough," he said before raising from his initial position, I immediately breathed a sigh of relief to have the gun away from my face

"Just take the house, Macho" my father begged grabbing the leg of the man,

The house was mine not his, why does he keep saying that, I will end up homeless too if that happens, the only inheritance left for me by my grandmother.

"it still won't cover what you owe me, Josh," he said to my father

"Take her away" I heard his words loud and clear and that is when I realized why my father was pleading

"What? No, no No!" I screamed as I was picked from the ground while I hear my father pleading with tears

Like a light feather, I was carried to one of the cars packed outside while I kicked and pushed but to no avail, I sat in between to abled man

"save your energy for later, take the advice," one of them said soon I heard gun shoot coming from inside, and my heart dropped, soon the huge man and the rest of his men came out, no matter how hard I tried to say something nothing was forthcoming, did my father just die.

For the rest of the ride, I was quiet and still processing how my day went, it just went from bad to worst, how do I recover from this now?

After what seemed like hours the car pulled over, and I was made to come down from the car, I immediately tried to take in the environment I was in, it was dark but I could see the high walls surrounding us

"Move!" I was shoved, and slowly I followed inside

"Where is she?" their leader said immediately after we were inside he stared at me with a smile

"She didn't cry?" he asked looking at his man

"Not even once" they replied and for some reason, he found that amusing

"I like this one but sadly I don't take in females in my squad but don't worry I have the perfect job for you," he said brushing his hand on my face

His phone suddenly began to buzz making him take a step back

"Hello" he answered inpatiently with his face turned into a frown

"what do you mean by she escaped!" he shouted pacing to and fro

"How can she escape, you know how important this deal is to me right, we must find her but before that, we need a replacement," he said before turning around to stare at me, he ended the call and approached me

"if you want to live and not end up like your father you have to listen and do exactly what you are told," he said

"What happened to my father? I asked holding myself from breaking down

"Trust me you wouldn't want to know, just follow the rules and you won't end up like him okay?" he said while I remained quiet

"Take her in to join the rest" he commanded,

I was led into a room, where I saw other girls few girls were dressed provocatively, they paused to look at me before some of them went back to their business, while some were undressing to retire to bed, and some were dressing to head out.

"Here change into this, you look cold," A girl near my age said handing me a dry cloth

"Thank you,"

"Come with me, there is a spare bed," she said and immediately led the way while I followed her closely, she led me to a bunk bed and said I can use it

"change first or you would catch a cold and I doubt you would be offered any medications if that happens," she said and I immediately began to disrobe to change into the outfit, she stared at me strangely making me uncomfortable

"Normally others find it hard to change with a lot of eyes when they arrived" she tried to explain

" It's nothing to me, I have been in and out of the orphanage so it's okay"

"What brought you here?" she asked me, immediately I was done changing

"I mean you look too out of place to be here, did you come willingly or are you owing them?" she asked me, so people were coming here willingly in the first place.

"my father is owing them," I said while she nodded immediately my stomach rumbled signifying hunger, she left immediately and returned with bread and jam

"Hope you can manage," I wasn't a fan of jam but do I really have a choice right now

"Thank you again" I whispered before going ahead to eat the bread, she gave me a bottle of water while still staring at me, she is the first kind person I have come across since after my grandmother.

"You know the girl who was in this bed before was also in here because of her father," she said looking into space as if remembering something

"What happened to her?" I found myself asking

"This morning she was taken away, I heard from the girls that she would be sold," she said nonchalantly while I stared at her speechless at the information I just received, what if I am next, will I also be sold too

"How long have you been here?" I asked her maybe to know how long it takes to be sold out

"I have been here for almost a year," she said with a smile

"How long does it usually take to be sold?" I found myself asking

"It doesn't work like that, she was here for two months and she was sold, some only spend two minutes, and still get sold, I luckily haven't been sold but like the rest of the girls I go out and serve as a bed warmer to their client," she said nonchalantly yet again, so, either way, I was going to be sold off to a slave trade for sex workers or I remain here to serve as a sex worker.

"Has anybody ever refused to work?" I asked I needed to know every possibility if there was an alternative

"They take me away and we never hear a thing about the person again," she said and immediately my mind went to the warning I received earlier, it's either I do their bidding, or I end up like my father

"let's talk tomorrow, have a nice sleep for they might give you a task as early as tomorrow morning," she said before walking away, I wanted to ask her what her name was, maybe befriend her but my tongues were tied as I sat down looking at the other girls retiring to bed, soon the door was opened and those that we're dressed left and the doors closed back.

I lay down in bed taking in every piece of information I just received, maybe this is the end for me, how do I explain my predicament right now, never in my wildest nightmares did I see this coming, I have heard of situations like this where girls are kidnapped and held into a slave trade or a sex scheme, but never knew I would be at the receiving end one day, and there is a probability that my father is in the pool of his own blood back home, even if he hadn't died from the shot he is probably gone now...

"Get up!" a loud voice pierced into my ears as I was splashed with a bowl of water, I opened my eyes to see an angry girl holding a bowl, and standing beside her was the girl who helped me the previous

"She just got here" the girl from last night tried to calm down the angry girl

"And so? This is not a place to sleep and get comfortable," she barked while I stood up to know what I have down to deserve being poured water but at the same time I wasn't ready for any fight, I have had enough drama in my life adding more is not exactly what I went right now.

"Look at the time, do you plan on sleeping till night?" she asked me harshly pointing at the wall clock, to my surprise it was 2 pm, the longest I have ever slept in my life, for some reason it felt like the best sleep as well.

A loud bang came and thankfully it took their attention away from me.

"Are you okay?" the girl from last night said while I nodded, the man banging at the door not even minding that some girls were rushing to put their clothes on, entered and walked exactly to where I was seated, I immediately recognized him as one of the men who took me last night.

"Come with me" he ordered while I looked at the girl beside me, she looked at me with a panicked look, maybe because of her eyes I became terrified as well, am I going to be sold too, not that I want to remain here and serve men sexually but at the same time you never know how worst outside might be, maybe sold to organ harvesters.

"Move!" he nudged me with force, for some reason he always seems impatient, I took a final look at the girl who was kind to me before he locked them behind still shoving me to move

"Easy with Your hand, I do not want any single scar on her" Macho said smiling immediately after he saw me

"You must be starving right? go fetch her something good to eat" he said

"No thanks, am not hungry," I said defensively

"you better be" he snarled