Chapter Five: Losing a Life To Stay Alive

“Um…” I cleared my throat, a few minutes after the man left the room. The pale blond didn’t seem to want to talk to me at all. “Um, I’m Alex.”

Her back remained firmly unturned.

“Ah… can I ask why did you guys, you know, ah, capture me?” I was starting to be intimidated by the silence. Didn’t anyone in this horrible place talk, other than the dumb guy and the two perverts?
A sudden irritated moan issued from the girl. My gaze snapped up to rest on her.

“Why?” She groaned, turning around to look at me, her eyes flashing with annoyance.

“Huh?” Was she asking me?

“Why do they always dump the sacrifices on me?” She demanded.
I blinked. Did she say… sacrifices?

“Why? Do they think I’m gonna console and take care of you people?” She continued her tirade, as if I was to blame for her misery.
“What is the bloody point? Why do I always get the dirty job, huh? Why am I always the one consoling silly girls like you who whine non-stop?” She screeched.

I blinked again. Um… whine non-stop? Surely she wasn’t referring to me…

“Yes, people like you!” She barked.

I winced.

“Although… you have been pretty quiet.” She added as an afterthought. “So, what’s your name?”

Well, it seemed like she didn’t hear me the first time round.

“Ah…” I said tentatively “My name is Alex.”

“Alex.” She acknowledged. “I knew that.”

“You did?”

She sighed loudly, then went to sit by the mattress on the floor. She pulled a half full glass bottle from the tangled sheets, and took a drink.

“Um…” I cleared my throats again. I felt a tinge of annoyance despite my fear. “Why did you say…sacrifice just now?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Would you rather I said the doomed?”

So she wasn’t going to make things easy.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

She laughed. “Guess.”

I felt like screaming. How the hell do you guess a name?

“What will I get if I guessed that?” I probed.

“Nothing.” She shrugged, and then drank from the bottle again.

I guess it was some kind of alcoholic drink, seeing that her voice was beginning to slur. I could outwit a drunk.

“I bet you don’t know anything about me.” I said in the most snobbish voice I could manage. “You didn’t even know my name just now.”

“I do.” She looked at me now.

Yes, I’ve got her attention. “Well, it’s no wonder you get the dirty job if you don’t know anything.” I continued as if I didn’t hear her.

“I do, I do!” She said angrily, banging the bottle on the floor like a child.

“You don’t know why they’ve caught me, and you don’t know anything.” I declared, and turned my back to her.

“I do too!”

“You don’t. You’re just saying that.” I bit my lip and hoped she wouldn’t see through my pretense.

“I do too. Listen. You’ve went to ballad school at six, dropped out at eight, went to some posh English elementary school called Saint Josephs.” She paused to take another drink.

I swallowed. How did they know all that?

“You’re studying at Edinburg’s now, you got a filthy rich dad who owns the Corporation of Global Tech, and you’re name’s Alexia Wingman.”

My jaw dropped.

Wrong.

A sinking feeling hit me. Alexia Wingman? I’m not a Wingman and my dad’s not the president of Global what?

The pale blond smiled smugly at my shell-shocked expression.

“And, you know what? We’re gonna get 5 billion off your daddy and half the company’s stocks. And he’s going to relent because you’re his favourite daughter and after we get the cash and the company we’re gonna sell you to Pennsylvania. And then you’ll be fucking the ugliest and oldest men for cash you won’t even get to spend!”

She finished spitefully. “There.”

I was so horrified I couldn’t speak. What?

“Why?” I rasped.
The blond shrugged and turned away from me. “I don’t usually do that to you girls, you know. You just got on my nerves.”

I swallowed and remained silent for a while.

“You’re a girl yourself. Why do you join them?” I managed after a long pause.

She laughed. It was a cold mirthless laugh.

“A girl’s gota fight to stay in this world. The porn industry holds diamonds for those who dare venture.” She said in a matter-of-fact way, “And it’s not us and them.”She added, “It’s us and you.”

Something bitter in her voice chilled me. Somehow, i got the impression that she had had to learn the lessons the hard way.

I nodded mutely.

What would they do if they realized they’ve got the wrong person? The thought was terrifying. Would they let me go... or would they kill me straight away?

“Since I’m doomed anyway,” I ventured, unable to hold my anxiety, “Could you tell me if there’s any way you’d let me go?”

“No way.” Her reply was curt.

“Not even if...” I couldn’t bring myself to suggest the possibility. What if she caught on? She wasn’t stupid like the guy the other time.

“So I’m dead anyway.” I concluded my question.

She shrugged.

In the dreadful silence that followed, she took a few more mouthfuls of the drink. The bottle was almost empty now.

She stared at my legs for a few moments, then she emptied the bottle and tossed it aside. The bottle knocked into another two more glass bottles, and they skidded across the floor.

“I’m going to sleep now. You can do whatever you want.” She slurred, gesturing to the thin mattress beside hers.

“Just one moment.” I blurted.

She looked at me, her eyes hazy.

“How did you survive? How come you weren’t sold or killed?” I persisted into her glazed eyes.

She laid down on the bed and turned to smile an empty smile at me.

“I sacrificed my life to stay alive. Does that make any sense to you?” Her eyes fluttered close and she fell asleep.

I walked around her to sit on the mattress meant for me. Even when she was determined to end my life, I felt sorry for her in a weird way. A more pressing worry gnawed at me. How long would it take for them to contact Mr. Wingman? How long would it take for them to realize I’m the wrong girl? What would happen to me then?

I had to find a way to escape.

One thing I knew for sure was that if I didn’t escape before they discover I’m the wrong person, then I won’t ever be able to escape.

Early next morning, the blond pulled me out of bed and shoved me down the dingy corridors to a larger hall of sorts.

My head spun and my eyes burned from the lack of sleep. I haven’t been able to sleep for the entire of last night and yet I still didn’t have a solid plan.

As I stumbled into the hall, I realized we were alone.

“Why are we here?” I asked her.

“We have to be earlier than Mercer. Now shut up.” She snapped.

I looked around the hall. A single large armchair carved from mahogany sat at the far end of the hall, like a throne of sorts. The hall was empty save for a few pieces of sparse furniture: an antique looking chandelier hanging from the ceiling, with a few broken crystals and coated with dirt, a small table next to the chair. A few handcuffs and whips hanged on the walls. It looked like a torture chamber designed by a sicko.

The blond groaned, and dug her hands in her pockets and drew out two white sweets. She held out her palm towards me.

“Want one?” she offered

I was hungry and a sweet sounded nice. Something was strange about the way she looked at me, but hell to that. I was going to die if I don’t come up with a plan, let’s not let myself starve to death before time’s up.

I began to reach for it, before another hand shot towards her arm and slapped the pills to the dusty floor.

Both of us jerked around to see the guy from yesterday standing there as if he’d been there all along.

I was more shocked by his ability to move so fast and soundlessly than I was outraged at him for denying me of the sweets.

The blond however, was incensed. She flew at him like a cat, her hand stretched out to slap him across his face.

He caught her wrist with brilliant accuracy and speed.

“How dare you!” she spat, “You don’t know how difficult it was for me to get that from Mercer!”

He just glared at her, wordlessly.

“So what if it was meth?” She seethed, “A little addiction wouldn’t hurt her if she’s going to die anyway!”

I recoiled in horror. Meth? Wasn’t that... an illegal drug? People died from abusing it...

“Gabriel you always ruin everything!” then she started screaming. It was a dreadful, shrill cry spiralling out of control.

I clapped my palms over my ears.

When she finally calmed and stopped screaming, Gabriel released her wrist and she cradled it to her bosom, glaring at him vehemently.

Gabriel retreated backward, almost as if he was resuming position.

I turned to look at him, curious as to why he would mind the blond feeding me poison. He kidnapped me, so why didn’t he want my life as much as the others? Why didn’t he tell the others the day I attempted escape? Why didn’t he want me to die of thirst the first day? Why didn’t he want me addicted to meth?

He did not look up to meet my gaze, almost guiltily.

Hey guys!

I'm so glad so many of you like this story! That's why i've made this chapter even longer than all the others!:D
I'm starting to love this story more and more too, and I bet all of you still can't figure out a lot of things yet, but you will, ah~~

Special thanks to:

XxSiennaxX :Ah, well now you know why Alex was kidnapped, it might seem a little cliche, but I assure you what happens next in the story is gonna be real exciting! Anyway, personally I love half-cliches. I absolutely adore them33

Darkest Fantasy :I'm glad you appreciate the cliff-hangers! I'm a big fan of them and so it shows in my stories;)

G.:Haha, yeah, but as an author, I am impartial towards all of my characters. Maybe nearly all. Maybe not really. Hahahaha wait and see!

Rio's Desire : Hmm, you'll find out soon!

And last but not least,

HelgaBertoni and ANewDayWillCome !!! Thank you guys sooo much for reviewing every chapter! Your encouragements mean a lot to me, really!! And it really makes me feel special and loved(:

~~Thanks so much to all you guys for reviewing!