Her mother pa.s.sed away early and she had to work in the plant. Though work was hard, she could keep up with it. The guards would whip the other slaves if they found them lazing around, but they turned a blind eye to her behaviors. She was sixteen when the manager of the farm pa.s.sed after away being poisoned.

The first thing the manager's wife did after finis.h.i.+ng her mourning was to sell away the illegitimate child of her late husband. In her view, she was nothing but a disgrace to him. A result of a momentary lapse of self control.

Alba was scared when she was taken away from the farm where she had spent her entire life. Girls of similar age sat beside her in the carriage. More girls would get on the carriage every time it stopped. Alba thought about running away but the sight of armed escorts dissuaded her from doing so. The number of girls in the carriage started dropping with each town they pa.s.sed by. When they reached the town of Opal, it was finally her and two other girls turn to disembark.

The girls were taken to the red light district and locked up in a room. Alba had heard about the red light district and what happened there. She was scared of what fate had in store for her. One of the girls was taken away by a man who handed some money to the manager of the brothel. The girl resisted with all her might but the only thing the struggle led to was more pain for the girl. The man slapped her and dragged her by away.

The girl returned an hour later with swollen eyes and red cheeks. She sobbed while crouching down at the corner of the room. Her hands hugged her abdomen and she appeared to be in great pain. Looking at her terrible state terrified Alba.

It was the other girl who was chosen the next day. The girl was frightened out of her wits and she bawled while flailing her limbs. A guard tried to calm her down but was. .h.i.t in the face by her stray arm. The guard turned red with anger. The whip that he only kept in his arms as a deterrent flew through the air and hit the girl. Successive whip cracks resounded and the girl lay twitching on the floor. The girl looked miserable but she wasn't spared. The customer returned with the girl and left her on the room. Her condition was much worse than the previous girls'.

Alba decided that she wouldn't resist. If causing more pain was the only thing that resisting did, then she would rather let them have their way with her. Making up her mind, she was prepared for the time when it would finally be her turn.

A fat man dressed luxuriously came by with two guards whose gear sparkled as if to boast about their superior quality. The manager of the brothel fawned over the man and spoke, "Sir Robert, I have reserved the most beautiful girl of the batch for you. She is still a virgin. Most importantly, she seems very submissive. I am sure you will enjoy yourself."

The fat man nodded and handed a gold coins to the manager. The manager's smile turned radiant and he brought out Alba. She looked at the man named Robert and gazed at the floor. Robert seemed satisfied with the girl and took her to a room upstairs. He had her sit on the bed and took off his clothes. His big belly jiggled with each step he took and soon he was standing in front of her. His eyes were full of l.u.s.t as he started undressing her.

Alba closed her eyes and decided she would remain in that state until it was all over. She was expecting pain from her crotch but nothing happened even after some time. She opened her eyes to look at what the man was doing when a palm grew larger and larger until it covered her entire vision. Her cheeks burned as she tried to figure out what was happening. She was scared of pain. She had decided that she wouldn't resist if doing so spared her from pain.

She couldn't understand why the man still slapped her when she hadn't even tried to resist. She was thinking hard when another slap landed on her face. Her right ear started ringing and more blows landed on her face.

"Your face is so pretty. I really like the sound it makes when I hit it as well. Awwww, why are you crying? Don't cry. It makes me feel like I shouldn't hit you." Robert spoke as if he was speaking to a child. The blows didn't stop even after he said those words and tears started flowing down her temples. Seeing the tears fanned the flames of l.u.s.t in him even more as he began hitting her harder.

Alba put her arms above her head to cover her face. Robert grabber her wrist and pulled her arms apart. Her wrist hurt from the rough hold. "Bit*h don't put your arms up. I hate it when you do that. Next time you do that, I will break your arm."

Despite the threat, her arm went up on its own as the blows to her face got heavier. A look of immense anger came over his face as he grabbed her arm and twisted it hard. A crack resounded followed by her agonized screams. Things got worse from that point as he started a.s.saulting other parts of her body as well. She fainted midway from the abuse.

***************************************************

When Alba opened her eyes, she saw a young man. A smile bloomed on his face as he saw her awake. He gently asked her, "What's your name? What is the last thing you remember?" She wanted to speak but a thought popped in her mind, 'Is he with the people from the brothel?'

She kept her mouth shut and just sat there like a stone. He took a few steps towards her and her body started trembling on its own. Images of the horrible time flashed through her mind and her heart felt cold. She tried to shoo the terrible memories away from her mind when a warm palm landed on her forehead.

"Are you cold? You are s.h.i.+vering really badly." The young man spoke just as gently as he had before. She had just relaxed a little when the memories of the palm that hit her repeatedly played in her mind. Her trembling worsened, the young man backed off.

"It's okay. You are safe now. I am a doctor. I treated you. You don't have to be scared, I won't hurt you." He continued trying to soothe her. Alba didn't trust the young man, but she didn't think that he was with the bad people anymore.

The next day, she finally told him her name. He asked if she remembered what happened to her. Recalling the incident, tears welled up in her eyes. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me. You are still mentally exhausted. Just rest." He spoke patiently and headed out the door to the main room of the shop.

Alba heard loud knocks followed by a rough voice. The owner of the voice started speaking with the young man who had saved her. She peeked through the door to see what was going on when her body turned stiff. She saw the two guards of the man who hurt her. They were trying to trick the young man and take her away. She was about to close the door when her eyes met one of the guards. He smiled at her and the smile sent chills down her spine. Her free arm which wasn't immobilized by a splint started shaking and even closing the door seemed impossibly difficult.

The guard stood up and walked to the door. He held the doork.n.o.b and pulled it with great force. The doork.n.o.b which she held slipped out of her hand because of the sweat that had acc.u.mulated on her hand without her knowing. Her body froze and she couldn't muster any strength to move it.

The young man who had saved turned around to look at what was happening when the other guard rushed at him. She wanted to warn him about it but her throat refused to work. She watched powerlessly as the guard hit him with a sword's pommel and he fell down face first.

Tears welled up in her eyes as thoughts about what would happen to her popped in her mind. Her legs felt weak and she fell on her b.u.t.t. She had lost all hope when suddenly, the doctor got up with great momentum. He tackled the guy who had hit him to the ground and took out a dagger from his belt. He stabbed repeatedly at the guard's abdomen. Blood flowed out of the wounds but the guard refused to give up. He made a fist and hammered at the doctor's face repeatedly.