TW: Child abuse, sexual assault, human trafficking, murder, emotional damage
Alyssa
"Aly, Logan...stay in my office. You know the drill. Don't come out until one of us says so," Daddy orders.
"Okay, Daddy." I spin around in his big chair, the leather all soft and smooth under my fingers.
"Fine. Whatever," Logan mumbles as Daddy closes the door. Rolling his eyes, he slumps into the chair across from me.
Logan's kind of my friend. He comes to the clubhouse sometimes with his Uncle Sal, who's mean and always yelling at him. He has short brown hair, and his eyes are a pretty grey color. Mama says she thinks he has a crush on me, but I don't really get what that means. I just like that he plays games with me that make me feel safe-not like Daddy's games.
"I heard my Daddy say there were other girls downstairs. Have you ever seen them?" I ask, already feeling bored. I always feel bored when we're not allowed to leave the office.
Logan just shakes his head, a little frown on his face. "I wouldn't go down there if I were you. You'll get in trouble."
He always gets in trouble when his uncle catches him doing anything fun. I don't like when his uncle hits him. Logan tries to hide it, but I see the bruises on his arms and his face. He's always sore somewhere.
I sigh. "What do you want to do, then?"
He shrugs, and then his expression brightens a little. "Wanna play with the DS's?"
"Sure!" I reach into my purse, pulling out my green Nintendo DS and the new Pokémon game I got. I also grab Logan's DS and hand it to him. His uncle says Logan needs to focus on becoming a man, not playing stupid games, but I asked Daddy for a second DS so that we can play together when he comes over.
I sit down next to him, leaning against him, feeling warm and safe. Lately, I haven't seen my big brother Gray much, and Logan feels almost like a brother.
"I like being here more than I like being at home," Logan mutters, his voice dropping to almost a whisper, like he's worried his uncle might hear. "At home, it's too noisy in my head. When I'm next to you, it's like...they all go quiet."
Waiting to see if the Starly I've just caught actually stays in the Pokéball, I answer, "Are you ever going to tell your uncle about the voices?"
He's told me about the voices, how it's like another person living in his head, telling him what to do. And I promised him I would never tell anyone else, even Gray.
Logan just shakes his head. "No way. He already thinks I'm a freak."
I hate that his uncle calls him that. It's so mean.
Logan looks over at my screen and scrunches his nose. "Why do you always catch the weakest Pokémon? You know there are stronger ones, right?"
"Because they're cute," I say, poking his shoulder. "And one day, they'll evolve and be strong. I can wait for that."
He stares at me for a moment and then actually smiles. I don't see him do that much, but it makes me happy seeing him happy. We go back to playing, and after a while, he starts to yawn, then closes his eyes and falls asleep with the DS still in his hands.
Now, I'm alone, and I start thinking about what I heard Daddy say a while ago, about the girls downstairs. I wonder if the girls are like me. Maybe they're ready to play with us. I know Logan said not to, but I just want to see.
Quietly, I slip out of the room, checking to make sure nobody's around, and tiptoe towards the basement. As I pass Daddy's meeting room, I hear Daddy and Logan's uncle talking. I freeze, pressing myself against the wall.
"When is Rafe bringing the other girls?" Daddy asks.
"In two days," Logan's uncle says. There are two of them, sisters. Snatched them while they were walking home from school."
Daddy hums like he's thinking. "That's not good enough. We need more, and we need them sooner."
Logan's uncle laughs. "You're getting greedy, Jax. But you could always sell your daughter. Someone would pay big for her."
My breath catches, my heart pounding. Sell me?
"Alyssa's not for sale right now," Daddy says, sounding calm. "Her mother needs her. But when she's older, we'll talk."
Logan's uncle makes a sound of agreement. "Fine by me. How's Gray doing?"
Daddy answers, "Good, though he's too soft, too much like his mother. But Ace is manning him up. Kid's on track to take over the MC one day. What about Logan?"
Logan's uncle scoffs in disgust. "Still a freak. I don't know what the fuck's wrong with him, but I'll keep beating it out of him if I need to."
My chest aches. How can he say that about Logan?
Suddenly, Daddy's heavy footsteps thud from the other side of the door, and my heart pounds like thunder. I hold my breath, hoping he doesn't hear me. Then, I tiptoe past the door, glancing back to make sure they're not coming out.
When I reach the basement, I flick on the light switch, feeling my stomach drop. There are girls in cages along the walls, each one with tape over their mouths, looking terrified.
What's going on?
I step over to the smallest girl. She has black hair and blue eyes and looks about five, like she should be in Kindergarten, not here. Her dress is dirty, and she's shaking, her eyes wide with fear.
"Hi," I whisper. "Are you okay? Why are you in here?"
She just looks at me with tears in her eyes. I reach for the latch, hoping I can find a way to open it and set her free, but then a voice makes me freeze.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" Logan's uncle sneers. The look in his eyes scares me, and I stumble back against a cage.
He grabs my arm, squeezing too tight, his fingers biting into my skin.
"Please," I whimper. "Don't tell my daddy. I didn't mean to-"
He smirks, pushing me against the cage. Tears sting my eyes as he spreads my legs apart with his knee, his hand gripping my thigh so hard it hurts. I feel helpless as his other hand moves up my shirt.
"You're a little fucking tease, aren't you? Your daddy's been parading you around, not letting anyone touch you." His smile is scary. "Looks like I'll be the first one."
I try to push him away. "Daddy!" I scream, but he slaps a sweaty hand over my mouth.
"Shut the fuck up," he hisses, and then he touches my panties.
Suddenly, I hear Logan's voice, but it's different-deeper and stronger than what an eight year old should sound like. "Leave her alone!"
Logan lunges at his uncle, his fists clenched tightly, moving fast, like he's not scared of anything. His face looks different too, like someone else is controlling his body.
I watch, frozen in shock-scared for Logan, but also confused about what's happening to him.
"You don't get to hurt her!" Logan shouts.
I scurry back towards the stairs, but I can't just leave him. His uncle keeps hitting and kicking him over and over, and Logan's voice starts to crack, going from that strong, strange tone back to usual shaky voice, pleading for him to stop.
I need to help him.
I run back to Daddy's office, reaching into his drawer. I know Daddy says to never touch his gun, but when he isn't here, Nina teaches me how to shoot. She says one day I might need it for protection, and right now, I want to protect Logan.
My hands are shaking as I check the bullets, then run back to the basement, gripping the gun like Nina taught me. Logan's uncle is still hurting him, even when Logan's curled up, his arms over his head, one of his eyes swollen shut.
Logan watches me silently as I aim the gun at the back of his uncle's head. I don't close my eyes. I just hold the gun tight in both hands and squeeze the trigger. When it bangs, my ears hurt, but I don't let go.
The bullet hits his uncle, and he falls face-first. Just to make sure he never hurts Logan again, I pull the trigger a second time.
Logan looks up at me, covered in his own blood, his one eye wide open. "Aly, what did you do?" he whispers.
I try to say something, but all that comes out is a cry. I drop the gun and run to him, wrapping my arms around him as we sit on the floor in the middle of his uncle's blood. It feels like us, and the little girls in the cages around us, are all crying together.
"What the fuck?" Daddy thunders from behind me.
I look up to see that his face is bright red.
Oh no. He's mad at me.
His eyes flicker to the gun and then back at me. "What the fuck did you do, Aly?" he roars. "You just ruined everything!"
He grabs my arm, dragging me away from Logan. I want to tell him that I did it to save Logan, but before I can, his hand smacks my face, hard.
I clutch my cheek, fresh tears filling my eyes.
Daddy just hit me like Logan's uncle.
As he pulls me upstairs, barking orders to the men in the doorway, I glance back at Logan. He's still lying on the floor and he looks sad.
"I'm sorry," I mouth to him. But deep down, I know that nothing I say can make it right.