15. Ally

15

Ally

I didn’t expect to have so much anxiety when they left. Boogie argued about staying to protect me, but King said they had to leave, and they would be back tonight. He looked at me to help him calm Boogie down. It felt wrong, but I lied saying I would be ok and to come back quickly.

Kris didn’t come see me like I thought he would, which made me feel even more nervous. I knew he was going to kick my ass or worse, let the men have me and drug me up again. I shivered at the thought, praying that they saved me before that happened.

I showered and changed for the day. Once I was in my elf outfit, I grabbed breakfast for the girls and checked in on them. It hurt my heart to see fear in their eyes every time I came into their room. This was a life I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

There was still no sign of Kris or Dale, his right hand. I cleaned the photo station and pulled out what I needed. The town was coming alive as people arrived for work. Most of these people had no clue what was going on behind closed doors and if they did, Kris always took care of them. We had a handful of people who worked the front and the back end of the business. Kris kept it like that to ensure we didn’t have people running their mouths to the wrong person.

I shivered, wondering if I was next. After last night, I didn’t know how he could have believed that King was Daryl. I wasn’t going to think about it because honestly, I just needed him to believe it until tonight.

My nerves made me nauseous all day, each loud noise made me jump and when we were getting ready to close there still was no sign of Kris or his lackey. He usually kept tabs on me and the town, occasionally walking around.

Once the last person had left, I was not feeling well. The sense of dread had been intensifying throughout the day and I had a weird sense of foreboding. This night needed to end quickly. I finished cleaning and putting away everything. I walked around the town watching shops close up and our vendors pack up.

I knew the moment I got back, it might get violent, and I didn’t know what sick punishment he had in store for me this time. My body grew hot the moment I stepped into the building, walking to my room. Maybe I should have gone with Boogie and King.

The hallways were fairly empty as I made my way to my room. I showered and changed into a large shirt with leggings. Both had seen better days. I threw my hair in a messy bun before going to check on the girls. I opened Ari’s door, but it was empty.

No… No… No…

I rushed to the other girl's room to find all of them empty. Did he sell them? Did he kill them? Vomit burned my throat wondering if I had sealed their fate last night. Tears gathered in my eyes as I fell to my knees. I tried to get my shit together. I couldn’t panic, those girls relied on me.

Taking a deep breath I stood up, walking to the packaging room. Maybe he told them to help. The room was empty when I looked in and I knew this was bad or that something had happened last night. I walked around aimlessly trying to decide what to do.

Should I run? I didn’t have time to decide when someone covered my mouth and pulled me backwards. I kicked and screamed, but I was no match for whoever it was. There was a reason Kris liked small women, we couldn’t fight back, and even if we could, we’d be no match for men almost twice our size.

I was dragged to the main room that held most of the meetings, and where Kris liked to play king. He had let power go to his head, and these last few years he had become more and more ruthless, but also very sloppy. I was thrown on the floor in front of Kris, who was sitting on some big obnoxious chair.

I sat up looking around to see most of his guys here. My throat was dry, my heart was racing, and this was probably the end of my time here on earth. Kris and I stared at each other until I heard the girls being dragged in.

They had been beaten and one of them was unconscious. My heart constricted, failure ran through me, and I let out a cry. I stood up, ready to go to them when a gun was pressed to my head. This wasn’t the first time this had happened and as brave as I wanted to be, dying didn’t help them.

They were all forced to kneel in front of me. Ari was trembling, Fatima was crying uncontrollably and Jo was just glaring at the men. Sera was dumped on the floor, I prayed she was not dead already.

“I believed your story yesterday, until a little birdy told me that those men you were with were none other than King and Boogie.” He sat forward, clasping his hands together. “Did you spread your legs open for them so that they would help you?”

I stared at him, there was no point in giving him an answer, he had already made his conclusion.

“Is that where you went on Halloween?” He stood up, walking towards me. “Thought you could hire them to kill me? Why were they here if they didn’t finish the job or take you?”

He walked around me.

“Answer me!” he shouted, slapping me across the face, making the girls yell.

“I went because I wanted some freedom, I didn’t know who they were,” I said, trying to sound confused and innocent.

“You knew that wasn’t Daryl last night.” He grabbed a fistful of my hair making me look up at him.

“I told them?—”

“Don’t fucking lie to me!” He pulled out a gun and shot Sera.

The girls screamed as he shot her again. I clenched my jaw, watching her bleed out, feeling like a failure again.

“Tell me everything you told them, or I’ll kill another one of them,” he snarled.

I studied him. He was going to kill them no matter what, just to teach me a lesson, and then probably kill me. My fate had already been sealed when they kidnapped me. I was fucking done, if tonight was my last night, then I would go down fighting till my last dying breath.

“Hurt me, asshole,” I snarled, hitting his chest.

“Oh, I fucking plan to.” He leaned down so we were face to face. “I don’t even know why I kept you around.”

“You’re pathetic.” I spit at him. “This place isn’t even secure, and they waltzed right in ready to take me. I didn’t have to tell them anything. You’re a pathetic excuse of a boss.”

I pushed him as hard as I could, making him step back.

“You’ve been running a shit organization, taking little girls because the drugs weren’t enough and because it makes you feel powerful!” I screamed.

“You are mine; I gave you a life. I could have given you to some drunk old man so that he would use you every night.” He slapped me.

“You gave me a life? You think this is life?!” I yelled “Let me fuck you every day without lube, and force you to be fucked by every man here. While we are at it, let's get you addicted to drugs as a punishment.”

“You fucking little bitch,” he snarled, lunging at me.

We fell on the floor, and he landed on top of me. His gun went scattering on the floor. He went for my throat, choking me as I scratched his face. When that wasn’t working, I kneed him in the balls. I took a lung full of air, lunging to grab the gun. Dale grabbed me by my waist before I could reach it.

“Stupid girl,” he snarled, spinning me around and punching me.

My vision spotted for a minute as I heard two shots fired.

I looked over to see which girl he had shot, but one of the men fell to the floor. Two more shots and two men fell down. The remaining men looked around with their guns raised.

Please let it be King and Boogie. Please let it be my monsters.

I ran to the girls as two more shots were fired and the men started to panic, unable to find the sniper. I slid towards them, untying Jo first. She was the most resilient out of the girls and if I told her to run, she would take the girls.

“Ally!” Fatima yelled, as my hair was pulled back.

“Go!” I yelled at them

“Keep shooting and she dies!” Kris yelled, wrapping his forearm around my neck with a gun against my temple, tightening his hold until it was hard to breathe.

The shots stopped. Only a few men were left standing, walking backwards towards Kris.

The girls were nowhere to be found, and I sagged in relief.

“Let her go,” King said, but I couldn’t see where he was.

“I’ll let her go if you come out,” he said, tightening his hold on me.

“Last chance, asshole,” King growled.

“Say goodbye, King, I’m sure your whore is going to hell.” Kris laughed and the sound of a gunshot rang through the air.