Page 74 of Pushed

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Page 74 of Pushed

Chapter Nineteen

Imperial

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The silk dress clungto my damp body, my hair was still dripping at the ends, spotting the front of the dress in dark circles.

Machi stood in front of me, gently rubbing my hand as he watched the woman on the stage get whipped and the crowd cheer it on like it was the damn Super Bowl.

My chest hurt, it was tight and stiff, and I couldn't breath as the thick air swelled inside, filling my lungs like water.

This is it. I'm being sold, I'll never see my family, my friends. . . Him.

It's all over.

The two of us stood in the backroom of the stage, but we weren't alone. There were others, more girls being put on a pedestal for the gain of wealth and the sick thrill of owning a human sex slave.

I kept my head down the best I could, trying not to shift my eyes too much. Running my hand up and down my leg, I watched my toes as I lifted and curled them off the floor.

Behind me, delicate sniffles turned into heavy sobs. A dominant voice huffed with annoyance, speaking harsh and firm. “That's enough. I don't want to see one more fucking tear, understand?”

Glancing over my shoulder, a small woman rubbed her nose and nodded yes, then cupped her hands in front of her waist. Grunting, the man leaned down, speaking through thinned lips. “One more, if I see one more—” Holding up his finger, he tapped the end of her nose. “You'll leave here blind.”

It wasn't just an empty threat, he was serious. The state of her body was all I needed to know he meant what he said. She had been beaten, underfed, and was barely alive as it was.

Even in the shadows her bruises were visible, painting her skin like the scars of a disease. One of her eyes were black and blue, swelled up to the point it was almost completely shut. Her hips were protruding, poking out like spikes under the dress that hung loosely off her frame.

Straightening his spine, the man glared over my head and onto the stage. His eyes flashed with power, a sick satisfaction that he was in control and she could do nothing about it.

Slowly her eyes shifted up, connecting with mine. Forcing my lips to curl, I smiled at her.

I don't know why, I guess it was just muscle memory, a learned reaction for when two people looked at each other. It wasn't like I expected her to return the motion, but I never thought I'd see another person vanish before my eyes.

She didn't smile, she didn't nod or move to show that she had seen me. Her eyes dulled, dropping down to the floor as her shoulders rolled forward and the last piece of her that was human expelled from her body.

I watched whoever she was disappear just like that; gone, lost to a world that she had no control over.

She doesn't deserve this, she doesn't deserve a man who's only going to see her as a pet.

Whoever she had been, whatever part of her that had clung to an existence, dissolved as this sick world broke her down into nothing than more than a walking skeleton with a faint heartbeat.

“Alright, who's ready?” The announcer's voice cut in, forcing my eyes to snap up to the stage. “Did you guys even hear me? I said who's ready?” Holding a hand to his ear, he cupped it and leaned closer to the crowd.

The room erupted in cheers and yells, barks and grunts. “That's better,” he said, pushing the microphone to his lips. “Let me introduce you all to the gorgeous and completely available women we have tonight.” Fanning out his arm in our direction, he smirked wildly.

Machi pulled me to his side, scooping his hand into the small of my back. “Everything will be okay, Pixie, I promise.” Guiding me forward, he edged me onto the stage.

Okay? How is this okay?

Pleading with my eyes, I dug my toes into the wood and tried to cling desperately to the thin splinters cutting into my feet. I wasn't ready for this, I didn't want it at all.

All I wanted from the beginning was to go home, that was it. But where I found myself was as far away from home as you could get.

How could you do this to me?My eyes begged him to stop, to just take me away and not make me go out there.Please, don't. . . Don't do this!

“Time to go, Pixie.” Machi nodded, tipping his head with a quick jerk. “Go, trust me.”

Trust you! This is bullshit! We can run, we can run and flee and no one would ever find us!