I couldn't react. I couldn't scream. My head felt dizzy and my eyesight was blurry. My face had gone numb. I could hear my breathing, but I couldn't hear anything else.

I felt paralysed.

And I don't know for how long I have been like this.

I woke up by a bright light on my face and my hands tied on a chair.

Help me!

I tried to pull my hands in vain.

Help me!

I was shaking in fear as I tried to look around me. I felt my ears getting pierced when I heard a very sharp sound and I tried to blink a couple of times.

Was...was that a mic getting adjusted? Someone's here! Help me!

Slowly, I found my strength coming back to me when I felt a ray of hope in me and I could hear many voices in front of me.

There are people here!

My eyes widened in surprise when I heard a man saying something on the mic. I tried to open my mouth to scream for help but only few gurgling and moaning sounds came from it. My tongue had gone numb too.

HELP ME!

Then suddenly the bright light on my face dimmed and that's when I saw it.

People having their faces covered in masks, sitting in chairs and staring at me, but nobody coming to help me.

What's going on here?

I tried to struggle more. My eyes started to sting as tears rolled down on my face. I could hear a person speaking on the mic but I couldn't process what he was saying. I could see people raising some sort of banner but nobody coming to save me.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. I wanted to wake up from this nightmare and curl into my mother's lap and feel her fingers running on my hair.

"H–Hel..."

The person on the mic kept shouting and panic started consuming me as my eyes went on banners and the people who were raising it.

Then they landed on one person.

He was wearing a red mask and he was just staring at me. Not raising any banner nor caring about the person who was shouting on the mic. His whole face was covered but I could see the grey outlines on his hair and his hazel eyes.

This place screamed danger and I had to get out of here.

"H-Help..." My throat went dry and head started spinning.

"H-Help...m-me..."

The man slightly tilted his head and raised a banner. At the same time, I finally screamed. "HELP ME!"

Then a strong smelling cloth covered my mouth again and I passed out.

*****

I woke up in a bed.

And it was soft. So, so soft. It reminded me of my own bed which had so many pillows that I used to make a mountain of it when I was kid.

But I knew that this wasn't my bed.

What happened to me? I tried to remember it.

Me, going to Maria's place, met a creepy sunglass man, tried to run from him, got outnumbered by another man and fainted.

Holy shit.

I winced as I tried to move my legs. Surprisingly, they were bandaged and my clothes were changed into a pure white nightgown. My head still feels heavy but it is better than before.

I squinted my eyes as they got adjusted to my surroundings. Grey walls, a window which was covered in thick metal railing, another bed across the window accompanied by a small nightstand and a cupboard.

Where the hell am I?

I tried to get up when suddenly the wooden door on my right opened and a girl entered then she stopped when she saw me.

Her brown doe eyes widened in shock and she scurried out of the room.

That was not weird at all.

I took a deep breath and in a flash, I stood up. I winced in pain and supported myself against the wall.

I felt like my knees were on fire and they wobbled as I took a step.

"Oh mio Dio! What are you doing?!" My head snapped in the direction of a lady who was in her mid forties and the girl who came here earlier. Both of them were wearing same clothes but the lady was wearing an apron too.

"Who... Who are you?" I asked groggily. My tongue still felt a little numb.

"Signorina, please sit down. You are not well." The lady said in a heavy accent.

"Signorina?" I blurted. "I'm sorry, but my name is Amelia not Signorina."

The lady sighed and approached me very carefully. "We know. I simply called you 'Miss' in Italian. Please sit down and let me explain."

I laughed nervously when I felt something dreadful and heavy settling at the pit of my stomach. "Italian? Don't you think that you are showing off your multilingual skills to me?"

"Why would I show off my native language in my own country?"

All of my blood drained from my face and my heart started beating loudly.

"C-Country? Where...where am I? Where are my p-parents?  What–What is going on? I want to go home!" Panic started to seize me and I lost my balance, but the lady caught me before I kissed the floor.

"Miss, please. You have to be on bed." The lady begged as she helped me sit on the bed.

"What have you done to me?" I cried. "What do you want from me?"

"Calm down, Amelia and let me explain. Let me introduce ourselves." The lady said very carefully as she watches my every reaction. "My name is Louisa and I am the head housekeeper." As if on cue, the girl stepped forward and waved at me shyly. "This is your roommate Rylie. She has been taking care of you for the past few hours."

"Few hours?" I whispered in shock. "How long was I out?"

"Almost eighteen hours, give or take." The lady revealed which made my head spin.

Eighteen hours? Shit, shit, shit. My parents and Maria, they must be worried sick about me.

"I-I have to leave. Thank you for taking care of me." I gave her a small smile and tried to get up but the girl, Rylie motioned me to stop.

"I am not finished yet, Signorina. Nobody is going anywhere."

I frowned. "W-Why? My parents, they must be searching for me! I have to go back."

"Please let me finish first." The lady said. "You can't go back home. You belong to them."

I scoffed. "I don't belong to anybody. This is America. We don't have slaves!"

"Who said that you are in the States?" Louisa asked.

I swear I stopped breathing after that and my lips started quivering. "P-Please don't..."

"You are in Italia, Miss Amelia and you belong to people who brought you here just like us."

My chest started heaving up and down as I felt getting my breath shorter and shorter and I didn't know how to react in this situation.

"You were brought here by the boss himself and he left you to us."

"T–Th–That is illegal. You...you can't just go buying people like you are shopping for clothes!" I screamed. "There are laws against this!"

"The law doesn't work here, Amelia. Please calm down." Louisa pleaded.

Fury raged in me. "The hell I will! I am a citizen of America and I have my rights! I am leaving."

Louisa sighed in exhaustion. "You can't just walk away from this mansion. The people here won't let you do that. They will harm you!"

"And keeping me away from my parents, my country is not harming me, right?" I asked sarcastically. "Maybe I should just change my name and adopt a Siamese cat."

Rylie chuckled and I shot her a glare which made her shut up.

Louisa shook her head. "Amelia, this is no joke. You cannot leave now. The people here are very dangerous and they won't hesitate to harm you in every way possible. If you just follow a few rules then you will be safe."

I scoffed. "I have my whole family looking for me! And who are these people that you are talking about?!"

"They are very dangerous, Amelia. That's all you should know. They do bigger illegal things so bringing you here from America is nothing to them." Louisa explained.

Many possible scenarios ran on my mind as Louisa's words finally processed in me and I gulped.

"And here is where?" I asked warily.

Louisa sighed and gave me a sympathetic look which clearly meant that I am already doomed.

"Welcome to the house of Agostini, Amelia."

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