Life in the warehouse was a twisted nightmare, but I quickly learned the rules. I wasn't just another broken women waiting to be traded of to someone else or cut open for organs.
I had to be stronger, smarter and most of all, watchful.
Cara, the girl whom I met on the boat became my responsibility. She was just so young and scared, the men wasted no time punishing here for the smallest mistakes. I took all the beatings that was meant for her without hesitation.
I don't want her to be mentally scarred for life and let them take any more of her childhood away. Protecting her gave me a purpose, something to hold onto in the crushing darkness.
James was clearly different from the others and always had a valid excuse to come and check in on me knowing that he doesn't have clearance to enter this territory yet. His hazel green eyes watched me more often now, studying me like I was some puzzle that he had yet to solve.
Quietly he began helping wherever he could, whenever he was around which was barely. He did make sure I knew the warehouse routines, telling me how to avoid trouble and how to gain favor without losing myself.
Slowly I began to grow from the lowliest job of sorting packages to earning my way to positions where I was trusted to supervise parts of the packaging line and with that came privileges. Better clothes, access to a room of my own but these privileges came with a price and my room was not the sanctuary I dreamed it would be.
Sometime in the middle of random nights while I was fast asleep I would be woken up by unwelcomed visitors, men with leering smiles and dark intentions. I endured, knowing James was watching me. When these men took it too far James made sure that I was allowed to put a lock on my door and that no one could enter my room without permission.
For 2 years, I played their game, growing stronger while hiding the plan that burned inside me. My plan was to escape. Everything I gained was another tool for me to my freedom and when the time is right I would break free.
I studied every guard's routines and made sure that I knew the layout of the warehouse well. I learnt how the tracking wristbands worked.
The moment finally came when I slipped the wristband from my wrist, carefully not to trigger the alarms. My heat pounded in my chest as I moved through the shadows, using every advantage my position gave me.
Freedom was no longer a dream, it was within my grasp.