This is late. My phone is about to die, so if I get eliminated, I totally understand. ️ Silent tears stream down her face even as she dabs them away, her mind was racing and her chest heaved, but she continued walking, her hand gripping her husbands arm tightly. "Honey." He says, but she pretends she doesn't hear him. In fact, she had been ignoring him for the last few minutes. He had been trying to calm her down, but she couldn't stop the tears, her heart was broken, her mind was confused, she was surprised she had even made it this far. He pulls her arm slightly just before they can step up inside the building, she stops and turns toward him, hopelessly dabbing at her eyes. He takes a deep breath and she see's now how this has been weighing on her husband's shoulders. His eyes have dark bags under them, and his face is grim, and under it all it, is the sadness they both feel. She looks down at her feet guiltily, her face heating up. Too busy worrying about her own feelings and needs, she forgot to make sure the person she loved was ok. "Darling, if you need to...to stay in the car, I understand" He says to her, while reaching up to touch her cheek. She considers jerking back from him and acting offended, but she realizes that would do no good for neither of them, plus she needed all the comfort she could get at the moment, both of them did. So she allows him to cup her cheek and even leans into it, closing her eyes. "No, I can do it, plus we should be going in there together, we need each other more than we realize." She mutters to him. He nods, and they stay like that for another moment, before he drops his hand, and she turns toward the doors. Before she can open the door, he reaches down and grips her hands, giving her a small squeeze. In that one gesture, she finds the courage to turn the knob and walk inside. Noises flow over her and her husband almost instantly. The sound of ringing telephones on wooden desk, and people everywhere. Most picking up phones and answering them quickly before rushing to answer another one, others sitting down, having a normal conversation as if her life wasn't falling apart right in front of her. Not to mention the smell of coffee that almost makes her burst into tears right then and there. But her husband nudges her slightly from behind and she's reminded that she isn't the only one, that's she's not alone. Her eyes search for the help station through the cluster of desks and papers and she inhales a raged breath when she see's it. She takes hesitant, careful steps around the many desks, scared to touch anything, as if she'll see something that will make her burst back into tears. Her husbands hand was lightly touching her back, leading her forward, and she sighs. It was nice to know that at least one of them could be strong in this situation. Finally she reaches the desk, her steps light as she approaches it. A man with thick glasses and a thick mustache turns away from the conversation he was having, something involving a chicken apparently, and shifts toward them. He looks at them over his glasses and pulls up a sheet of paper and pen. "What may I help ya'll with today?" He says, a country accent covering his words, and a toothpick sticking out his mouth. She shivers, a cold chill sweeping through her body, even though it was very warm inside the building. Never had she ever felt so out of place, her brain was trying to get words to form but she was paralyzed. "I-I, we-" she mutters quietly. "We are here to fill out a missing person report." Her husband said from behind her, and he stepped forward. His hand still resting on her back, he shoots her a reassuring smile before facing the cop. The man looks at them, he rolls his toothpick around in his mouth for a few seconds, before he stands up. "Let me guess. You guys have just recently lost a a female victim?" He says, glancing at them like he expected it to happen. She has the urge to hit him for saying it like that but her husband nods with enthusiasm before she could. "Yes, her name was Victoria, brown hair and brown eyes, almost like mud and she's skinny. She's a track girl, and we have a picture actually." He says, and the hope was so painfully visible in his voice. "She didn't run away. " She says with finality to the man, leaving no room for arguing. Both her husband and the policeman look at her in surprise. She glances at her husband then at the man. "Our daughter was happy, we were all so close, she would have, never run away." She says offhandedly, tears threatening to spill, and her husband rubs her back, muttering comforting words to her. The policeman runs a hand through his hair. "Goddang it." He mutters, while rubbing his mustache. "Excuse me?" She says to him, looking taken back. The man sighs, and takes off his glasses, he rubs his face then looks back at them. "You would be the 5th report this week for a missing child, all female." He says, and she looks at him in bewilderment. "5-5?" She says trembling, and even her husband looks surprised. The man sighs before nodding then he waves at short young man who comes over and instantly. "Kane, these people need to fill out a missing person report, please help them out." The man says. Kane lifts an eyebrow and looks at them in astonishment. "Another one?" He whispers to the policeman, and the man shoots him a strict look in which the Kane nods and straightens up. Kane walks over to an office door and grabs the knob and pulls, just for the door to not budge, Kane grabs the doorknob with both hands and starts pulling wildly. Taking her opportunity, she turns back to the policeman who's watching Kane with a weird face. "I didn't get your name...?" She says to him, lifting an eyebrow. He blinks and gives her a stunned look before looking down. "Sorry ma'am, William, my name is William." He says to her, while extending his hand to meet hers. "Mary, and my husband Tony." She gives him a soft smile, while gripping his hand tightly. He nods, and rights this on a piece of paper, her husband squeezes her hand, and she turns to see that Zane has the door open giving them a smile. Even though to everyone else, the door was just a door, but to her, it was the gateway to hell. Once they go in there and file the report, it's official. Her daughter will be classified as a missing person, so she closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath. When she opens them, she knows what she has to do, and she steps into the room. Later, as they exited the Police Office, in the same manner they came in, they get into their car. The husband on the driver side and the wife on the passenger side. They hadn't said a word the whole trip back to the car, but now, she turned to him at the same he turns to her, and they embrace. Hot warm tears come out of both of their eyes because as of know, they have both physically and mentally lost of person. ... She hits her leg for about the 100th time, and she shutters, tears streaming down her face, and she doesn't even bother to whip them away. When you lose hope, you don't really care about things anymore. She had been here for about two days and she had already lost hope. Fleas and rats cover the floor, and she's filthy. The only clothes she has is a pair of dance shorts, and a tank-top, and they were all dirty when they handed it to her. She was in a cage, with no bathroom except for a bucket. It was like she was an animal, put on display and she hated it. When they had got here, she had a bag over her head and a gun in a her back, leading her forward till they stepped inside. The smell was horrible, and she dry heaved inside the bag for a few minutes until she managed to get herself under control. She could hear laughter around her, and she shivered, trying to image what was in front of her. When they took the bag off, she gasped, causing every head in there to swivel toward her. Not even her imagination could have prepared her for this. It was a hospital, but not the usual white walls and crisp air, but instead, it was filthy, the floor was covered with so much dirt that you could no longer see it, and the walls were soiled, with mold coming down from the ceilings. But worst of all were the 25 cages lined against the wall with women inside, each of then wearing barely any clothing and all staring up at her. Some had on dresses, some had on shorts and a tank-tops, and some had on almost nothing. But there they were, lined against the wall, all watching her. The man behind her pushes her forward and she starts walking. Numbly she walks, almost tripping over her own feet from fear that the man would shoot her, or do something worst that men liked yo do. She shuttered again and some of the women chuckled. They were all dirty, and some looked almost crazy and she tried not to look any of them in the eye. She used her brown hair as a shield and just focused on walking forward and controlling her pounding heart. Suddenly the guard grabbed her shoulder, hard and rough to pull her to a stop in front of a cage. A cage with a dead rat and molded bread. Suddenly it all hits her, she's been taken, threaten and now forced to get into a cage. So naturally her body did one of two things. Flight or Fight right? She turned and start thrashing at the guy, screaming and crying all at the same time. Her body was filled with fear and she could hear the women cheering as she fought, until she was being lifted into the air, screaming at the top of her lungs. Later that day, she received my first punishment. Stepping into a dark room and being instructed to pull down her pants, to get hit multiple times with a wooden paddle. She couldn't tell if her punisher was a women or a man, and she didn't want to know, after that she was given clothes and was sent back to her cage. So that's how she's here. Her stomach growls again and the women next to her glances up to see what the noise was. She's toothless, with blond hair and crazy eyes that always appear to be watching you. She decides to hide behind her hair again, it seems like the only privacy she'll get. Then someone rants on her cage, and she looks up. A man with a strong jawline and a sharp suit stands in front of her, and she shutters, wondering if she was gonna receive another paddle. He motions to the soldier and the soldier steps up to unlock the cage. She watches as the man opens it and waits. She realizes then that he's waiting for her, so she diligently climbs out, hitting her head at the top, but continuing out of the cage until she stands by the man. He starts walking immediately, and she follows a second later, she glances at the women around her, and she shivers at some of the looks they give her. Soon they walk out of the hall, and make several turns into they stand in front of a wooden floor. While they walk she can't help but study him, the board shoulders, perfect posture, messy black hair, and dark Michael Kors glasses. He turns to her then, making her jump back at his suddenly closeness. He flashes her a smile before grabbing the knob and pushing it open. She steps inside and her mind A dance studio. A huge dance studio The walls were stained, and the floor was worn out, but it was still a dance studio. She hesitantly stepped into it, her feet felt the rough but stable feel of the dance floor and she almost cried. She goes over to the wall where the bars are attached, and runs her hands along the bar, slowly she lifts her leg up and places it against the bar. The man walked in behind her, grinning, then he stops to stand in the middle of the room, his hands folded in front of him. "Welcome to my studio Victoria" She stops what she's doing and the studio no longer feels warm and comforting, instead it's cold and devious. She slowly takes her leg down. "We've been watching you Victoria. You are an exquisite dancer. The best I've ever seen actually, and we are collectors of fine things." He says, his voice genuine, as if they're old friends catching up. She grips the barre softly, her legs moving on their own to her own song, a very nervous song. "My name is Blade. And I...collect fierce, ravishing women with gifts that can be used for the good of the people. In fact, you will be in our upcoming show." "Show?" She says, turning around instantly, her heart speeding up a little, completely forgetting where she was, dancing was her thing, and a show sounded fabulous. When she had turned around, she didn't realize he had gotten so close, now he's towering over her, he reached up and ran his hands through her hair. "Yes a show, and you, my diamond, my beauty, my...star, will be the main prize." He says with so much tenderness that she almost believes him. She freezes cause she realizes that she has control, she has complete control, she has gained the love of the boss. And she has a flash of what could happen, she could yell and run away, earning her another paddle, and losing her chance at ever escaping or she can smile and hug Blade, and possibly become his #1 girl just to escape when he least expect it. So she smiles, her show smile and she leans into him till she's hugging him. "Thank you, you've saved me." She says, her voice soft and sugarcoated. He rubs her back and she resist the urge to shutter in disgust, thinking of her parents and hugging him tighter. Suddenly the door to the studio swings open and she jumps out of his arms, scared to be violating something. A man in a cop uniform steps in, a frown on his face and he walks in and crosses his arms. Blade stands up taller, and adjusts his tie. His presence screaming powerful and she shrinks back, stepping back till her back touches the wall. "Yes William?" Blade says, his voice filled with annoyance. She looks up at the man named William and she notices that he's tall, very tall, and kind of lanky, he has a thick mustache and green eyes. William tilts his head to the side also in annoyance. "You've kidnapped, 5 more women, including a 17 year old?" William says with a thick country accent and I wink, knowing the 17 year old he's talking about, considering she's standing right in this room. Blade sighs and takes off his glasses, he folds them slowly and places them softly in his pocket then he looks at William. "This business is expanding, every since most of our girls got away, we've had to make...adjustments..." And both men continued talking, speaking about their plan, and the future while she stood there. Wondering what her life would become, wondering how her parents and her friends were taking it. And while they all stood there, close by, way closer then they think, a couple sat in a house, wondering if their daughter was even alive.