Sara groaned and peeled open her eyes only to shut them again as a bright light enveloped her. "Ah, so you're finally awake? That's good news." A deep voice mumbled from beside her. Instantly, she shot up, ignoring the throbbing pain in her head.
"W-where the hell a-am I?" Sara rasped, taking in her surroundings. "Our infirmary. Hunter brought you here after you passed out from blood loss."
Sara nodded slowly and tried to remember anything from that night and who this Hunter person was. She turned to the brunette clad in a white coat, "How long have I been asleep? I have school today."
The man raised an amused eyebrow at her, putting down his phone. "Two weeks."
"Two fucking weeks?!" She yelled in surprise. The man chuckled and walked over to her. "I'm just pulling your leg darling. It's only been two days. And I've never seen a teen so eager to go to school as you are. Despite being bullied?"
Sara notably flinched at the mention of bullying, "I'm not being bullied."
"Oh, really?" The man questioned, "So who carved the words 'worthless slave' on your back? That sounds like racism and bullying if you asked me." Sara looked away from the man towering over her.
"So what if it is? As long as they don't go too far-". "Branding you a worthless slave isn't far enough?" He prodded even further, successfully hitting a nerve. "Shut UP! It's none of your business and as long as they don't go too far then I'm okay with it." She yelled and then burst into a coughing fit.
The man barely seemed fazed by her outburst and handed her a cup of water instead. Sara hesitantly took the water from him, opting to send him a grateful look.
"Whatever you say, Sara."
"When can I go home? My parents would be so worried if they ever found out I went missing." She muttered. "You sure about that?"
"Mhm, I'm sure."
"If the boss allows it, he'll let you go back home." The man explained, writing something down in a notebook. "What do you mean 'if the boss allows it'?"
She nearly missed the faint smirk on his face, "As in, the boss doesn't want to let you go. He wants to own you." Sara let out a surprised noise. "Own me? Bitch I ain't no fucking plunger you can get at a grocery store!"
The man chuckled, unable to hide his amusement, "Of all things to compare yourself to, you chose a plunger? Anyway, it's as I said. You'll be able to leave soon but you'd have to see the boss first. Your freedom depends on him."
"You know this is kidnapping right?" The man shrugged and walked towards the door, "As long as nobody finds out, was there really a crime?" and then left.
~
Sara didn't know when she slept off again but when she woke up, a tall man was towering over her with a dark look on his face. Immediately, she shot up and tried to get off the bed only to fall to the ground. The man's expression softened as he lifted her and put her on the bed.
"Who are you?"
"You'll find out soon enough, Sara. But first things first, I was told that you wanted to leave. Why would you want to go back to the hell you came from?"
Sara bit her lip and looked away from the man. Why *did* she want to return to her personal hell?
Fear?
Of what exactly?
Was she afraid her parents would beat her up for skipping school?
Was she afraid that her *punishments* in school would double if they eventually found her?
She wasn't sure how to answer.
Seeing as she was just going to stay quiet, the man sighed, "I'll give you a week." Sara snapped her head up at him.
"What?"
"I'm giving you a week. A week to think about whether it's worth staying in that hell and being abused for as long as life wants to fuck with you or you come with me. You come with me and you'll never have to go through whatever they put you through ever again. Deal? "
The man held his hand in front of her which she reluctantly shook, "D-deal." She watched as the man pulled a phone out of his pocket and placed it next to her.
"Use this to contact me when you're ready to leave and we'll come get you. Hide that from your parents though. My driver will drop you off so get ready to leave. I'll be looking forward to our next meeting, Sara." And with that, he left.
~
Sara muttered a thank you as she got out of the car. The driver smiled at her and drove off, leaving Sara to stand in front of her home nervously.
She walked around the house to her bedroom window, too scared to use the front door and pushed it open. As quietly as possible, she climbed inside, hoping she didn't get the attention of her parents who were probably in the living room.
Once she made it inside, she collapsed on her bed, nearly drifting into sleep when she remembered today was a school day and she was already thirty minutes late. Groaning, she changed out of her bloody clothes and hid them in her laundry basket. Then she put the phone he gave her under one of the loose floorboards under her bed.
She climbed back out the window and ran to school.