Brothel

Elmira laid on the floor as the man who was at least four times her age hovered over her naked body. The man wasn’t nice with her, in fact he was rather rough, but she was used to it by now. It didn’t phase her as it once did. When the man finished, he spat on her, put his pants back on, and left. Elmira stayed in her spot on the filthy ground for a few minutes, not wanting to move, but also knowing that the next guy would be in in no time, and she needed to be ready for him or else she would have to face the consequences. Eventually she got up and ran her fingers through her hair to try and smooth it down, then she found her underwear and slid those back on. She grabbed the tube of red lipstick that had been on the floor and tried to reapply it as best as she could, but it was hard without a mirror. Elmira knew she looked a mess, she didn’t need a mirror to tell her that. Desperately she wanted to cover her body up, bruises, cut marks, and burns covered her body, she felt disgusting but there was nothing she could do.
It was a long time before the door to Elmira’s room opened. It was odd, and when it opened she knew something was off. Instead of the usual middle aged man with an unshaven face in a ratty t-shirt , there was a little girl with matted hair and snot dripping from her nose. The little girl was shoved in the room, and the door was shut quickly behind her. Elmira stared at the shaking girl, she wanted to comfort her, but she was too scared to move. Eventually, Elmira gathered the courage to stand up, and take slow, cautious steps towards the young girl. The girl backed away as fast as she could manage and cowered in the corner.
“What’s your name?” Elmira asked. After a few minutes of awkward silence she realised that she wasn’t going to get a response, the little girl just stayed in the corner, shaking.
“I promise, I’m not going to hurt you,” Elmira said timidly, taking small steps towards the girl.
“My name is Elmira,” She said as the girl looked up at her.
“Eliza,” The little girl responded in a shaky voice.
“That’s a really pretty name,” she smiled. “How old are you, Eliza?”
Eliza held up eight of her fingers for Elmira to see. “How old are you?” Eliza asked through her sniffles.
“Sixteen.”
“That’s old,” Eliza giggled.
“Not that old, besides, you’re halfway there,” She teased back.
Eliza stopped laughing immediately. “Where are we?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
Elmira just forced a smile and looked at the little girl with pity, saying nothing. She didn’t have the heart to tell her.
“Where are you from, Eliza?” The little girl frowned, noticing that Elmira was dodging her question. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could reply the door swung open and two men appeared. The men grabbed both girls by their hair and started dragging them out of the room. Screams filled the air as they were drug through the hallway and into another room, this one bigger than the previous one. The men pushed the two girls down onto a bed that was in the middle of the room and left. Eliza started crying immediately, and Elmira wrapped her arms around the small girl. For hours the girls sat there in each others arms until the door opened once again. A single man in a nice suit entered the room carrying a briefcase, and a baseball bat. The door shut behind him and the man walked towards the two girls and studied them intently. Eventually he pointed towards Eliza and whispered, “You.” Elmira shook her head and begged the man to choose her instead but he wouldn’t have it. The man told Elmira to get off of the bed, and then grabbed the baseball bat. “This is in case one of you decides not to listen.” He said as a dry laugh fell from his lips. He then sat the bat beside the bed and grabbed Eliza by her arms. He started to hit her, and she screamed. Elmira clenched her eyes shut, the scene so familiar to her. And then, the man unbuckled his pants and Elmira lost it. Lunging for the bat, she grabbed the cool aluminum and swung it over her head, hitting the guy in his head, a loud crunch filling the room. He crumpled to the ground. Eliza screamed, loud enough to alert another man who entered the room and saw the scene. Elmira didn’t waste any time, she swung the bat and hit the man in his jaw, giving her just enough time to grab Eliza’s hand and run through the open door. The building wasn’t hard to navigate, it was one big rectangle with one exit on each end. They just had to run down the hallway fast enough to make it. Elmira scooped Eliza up into her arms and sprinted down the hallway. She made it a few feet before she heard footsteps behind her and she knew she wouldn’t make it. She cluched Eliza tightly and dropped to the floor suddenly causing the man to trip over her body. Scrambling to her feet she hit him in the head with the bat until she saw blood. And then, they ran for the exit. As soon as the door opened and the cool air touched her skin, she felt free for the first time in years.