I stir and try to move, but the hard surface I'm lying on gives me a pause. Still too sleepy to care, I decide I'm not completely out of my dream. I shift to sink my head deeper into the pillow, but as I press down, it's only the rough metal.

Confusion cuts through my foggy brain.

The iron underneath me comes into focus as I run my fingers on it. My entire body aches. Eyelids barely opening, I prop myself up and force myself to take in my surrounding.

I gasp and sit upright. The air knocks out of my lungs. Frantically I look around the dimly lit place.

Bars surround me, I blink a few times. My heart drums in my chest. It's like I'm in a cage. The realization hits me a second later.

That guy kidnapped me.

My body trembles as I struggle to stop myself from hyperventilating.

The humidity presses down on me. Goosebumps rise all over my skin. The sound of water dripping from somewhere is the only disruption in this eerily quiet area. Wet stone's scent mixed with other awful smells I can't distinguish rubs on the back of my throat.

I grip the metal bars, cold and harsh under my touch before peering around.

Circular cages, similar to mine, are lined up. Some are empty, the others are occupied by one or two girls. A bone-deep chill settles in me.

Tears gather and sting my eyes. I bite my trembling lip to keep in a sob.

"Where is here?" I choke out.

The girl leaning to the bars of her cage on my left straightens. The movement catches my attention as she moves closer.

My eyes widen. Her face is swollen, a fresh cut is slashed above an eyebrow and her dark skin has a sickly paleness to it.

"You're new," she says as if stating a fact.

Nevertheless, I nod.

She sighs and presses her forehead to a bar. Her hair falls over and covers half of her face.

I crawl the tiny distance and plant myself in front of her, studying her through two sets of iron bars separating us.

"What is this place?" I ask.

She draws her gaze to me. "Hell."

I stare at her with a vacant mind. I don't know what to make of her word, so I wait for her to continue.

"You won't believe it if I tell you," she speaks, her voice barely above a whisper. A side of her mouth tugs upwards. "I didn't either, not until I saw it myself."

Dread churns my stomach like acid, burning it away. I hold my breath.

"We've all been kidnapped to be sold. No one gets out of this world. The world of shadows."

"What are you talking about?" I mumble, my voice shakes. My body trembles, the skin on my scalp feels like it's stretching.

She looks me dead in the eye, disgust taints her features. "The underworld. He's going to sell us to vampires."

My mouth falls open.

Vampires!

I shake my head.

A breathy laugh tumbles out of her chapped lips. "Told you, you won't believe me."

"That's impossible." I lean away from the bars and watch her with wide eyes. What is she saying? This is not the time to mess with people's heads. Vampires don't exist. Doesn't she realize this is not the best situation for joking?

But her grim face says something else entirely. 

"I know. Sounds unbelievable. I didn't accept it until I saw it for myself. Tell me, how did you end up here?" she tilts her head to the side.

I gape at her and she huffs.

"Was it the guy with brown eyes and a Southern accent?" she asks. When my eyebrows jump higher and I gawk at her, she nods. "It was the same person for me. He owns this business, I think."

"I-I don't understand." I shove my hand into my tangled hair as once again panic sinks its claws into me.

"He targets girls that are most nights out of their houses. I hardly ever stayed at home, always going from one club to another." She glances down at her lap. "I wanted to run away, but I was underage and didn't want to be forced into the system or anything. My mom wasn't the kindest, especially when she was drunk," she sighs and looks back up. "One night he came forward and offered his place. He didn't look like a kidnapper, so I agreed, happy that I have somewhere to spend my night, like the fool I am. The next day I woke up here."

Just like me.

Appearances cannot be trusted. How could I be so stupid? Why was I convinced so easily? Desperation leaves little space for thinking rationally. But now I'm stuck here. By the looks of it, I'll be paying a huge price for this one decision. This is way worse than getting pregnant with a one-night stand. Never in my wildest dreams did I think of being kidnapped and thrown into the horrors of human trafficking.

"Is there a way to get out of here?"

She shakes her head grimly. "No, they're too strong and there's too much of them. We can't outrun or overpower them."

They... does she really mean vampires?

"What's going to happen to us?" I quaver.

"If you're lucky, he'll soon sell you to a vampire and that creature will drain you in one go. If not." She shudders. "Every day you'll wish for it to be your last." She tucks a strand of thick black hair behind her ear. "But until he finds a buyer, we have to clean this place on rounds. And trust me, this hellhole is no small house, it's a fucking mansion."

"How long..." my voice trails down, unable to put the notion that's clouding my head into words.

"We stay here?" she sighs. "It depends. For some, buyers show up in under a week. Sometimes, it's a special request, so the girl barely stays over a day. But some of us have been here for over a month. There are clients you would rather rot in here than spend a second with them. None of them are good, it's just about which one is worse than the other. At the end of the day, we're nothing more than a source of food. Sometimes, somebody to clean their houses and do whatever they want from us."

I stare at her blankly as I struggle to wrap my head around it.

Buyer, seller, vampires! What the hell is going on!

I pull my knees to my chest and hug myself tightly.

This is worse than a nightmare.

I wish I could wake up from it. I squeeze my eyes shut.

Please make it go away. I don't know to who I plead, but this just can't be my reality. A day ago, I was busy surviving high school and Dad. The hope of running away was my only fuel while entertaining the prospect of building a life for myself.

I don't want to be a vampire's walking snack.

I rock back and forth. There is no way to escape.

The word vampire goes around in my head.

A deep part in me tingles with intrigue and curiosity. How many people know about them? For how long have they been living among us? Do they even live with us? Or have a special area in the country hidden from everyone's sight? How do they look? Are they similar to what the media has portrayed them?

I shake my head and push aside these questions, they are ridiculous. This is insane! I'm about to die- no, that's the best-case scenario, I haven't ever met anyone unluckier than me, so I'm probably going to be living as a walking blood bank for a blood-sucking creature. It'll buy me. Own me. Do whatever it wants to do with me. I shouldn't be thinking about other stuff.

I shudder.

Fear and trepidation's icy nails draw down my spine.

I'll be a victim for the rest of my life.

A slave.

I'll never know what being free feels like. How it will be to just live.

I tighten my arms around myself, digging my fingers into the flesh of my legs.

I don't want this life.

Hot tears burn my eyes. A single drop rolls down my face and falls on my knee.

I'm trapped.

Thank you for reading this chapter, hope you enjoyed it ^.^