It is 10 o'clock in the evening when a girl named Lily is awakened by a horrific blast of the opening roll-up door at the back of the bar. The car engine turns off and is followed by the slamming of the vehicle door. The distinct yapping of familiar voices is heard. Figures of bulged bodies are seen as they continue to tell tales about their great manhood.
The curiosity of this fragile little girl reaches its peak as she hears the conspicuous weeping of young girls and the constant screaming of women probably in their early twenties. The place where she’s been held is similar to a matchbox, a four-cornered room without any window. So her only way to see is through the peephole. She grabs the wooden chair and uses it as her foothold.
She tries to keep her balance and tries to find the right angle to clearly see what’s happening outside. She starts to blink and gets closer to the peephole and this is what she sees, both hands and feet are tied with a rope.
The young ones were carried like pigs on both Don's men’s shoulders. Most of them seem younger than her and few of them are of the same age as hers. Then, the vile scenes soon welcome this girl. Women in their twenties, full of bruises, are dragged on the floor like rugs.
The drum-like beating of the girl’s heart turns wild, sweat comes out of her face, neck, and palms. The traumatic pictures on her head make her lose her balance, causing her to fall from the wooden chair.
Blag!
A loud sound that echoes inside the room catches the attention of the bulge-looking men. Heavy footsteps approach her room. Her heart beats even faster. The sound of the door clicking brings her to climb up the bed. She hugs the pillow and buries her face into it, "As if this pillow would help”, she questions herself.
The creaking of the metal door is heard, followed by the giggling and keys clanking, "Well, aren’t you curious, little princess?" mocks the first man who comes in.
“Or excited to meet her new friends, Diego!” answers the other man, then they laugh sinisterly and talk in a foreign language.
Their laugh and different language make the girl even more afraid, she clenches her fists and holds out her tears.
“It has been a year now since Don and his men abducted me. It was after that night…” she quivers, “I lost… my family.” The fragile girl gallops herself with tormented memories from that night. “Then I found out a week after how Don burned our house down. The investigators concluded the faulty electric wire did the deed.” She snickers while her face still buries to the pillow, “Everyone knew better. Don did it.” She whimpers, “That night, I truly died!”
Her mind comes back to the present when Diego mockingly calls her, “Hey, princess! What are you murmuring about?”
"Do not call me princess," she says in a stern voice and sends a deadly look to them.
"Don’t call me princess," Joe mockingly repeats what she said and they both laugh maniacally. One of the men grabs her tiny arm but she resists, "I can walk by myself. Do you really think I could outrun you in this hell?" she doesn’t give them a chance to rebut but instead goes straight to the door. Confused as they are, the men follow her.
Staying in this hellish place for a year taught this girl that being strong is what she needs to survive. Being invincible is what it takes to continue living despite everything that happened. There is no room for weakness in front of these scoundrels, especially in front of Don.
As brave as she seems, this moment unveils that she is still a teenage girl who couldn’t find a single person to save her. She starts walking nervously in this dark hallway. She tries to muster her courage before reaching the dim light at the end of the hallway. The closer she gets, the clearer she could hear the nonstop wailing.
She momentarily stops and gulps, slightly leans on the carpeted wall with her right arm. She calms herself and takes a few deep breaths. The was standing behind my back,
"What's the matter tough one, are you chickening out?" The man continues with his mockery.
Irritated by what the man said, the girl kicks his balls with all her might while saying, "Not at all, are you?" then she approaches where the commotion is coming from.
As her footstep gets nearer, some eyes lay on her. She can clearly see the rage in Joe's eyes, but he knows more than anyone that this girl is invincible, especially in front of their boss, Don, the king of this place.
She turns her gaze away from Don and quietly observes the gruesome scene in the corner, "Son of a demon", she murmurs to herself. The place is filled with young innocent girls and women probably in their twenties. Most of them are covered in bruises and ripped and dirty clothes. Fear, confusion, rage, and drastic emotions display on their faces. The unwavering cries of the young kids echo as Don’s men forcibly line them up in front of Don.
“Don, the man of the hour, the devil himself”, so she thought, wondering in what ways would these girls suffer under his hands. Don meticulously scrutinizes each and every one of these girls, dividing them into two groups: the showgirls and the labor girls.
One of the girls refuses to take a step forward and instead begins to cry so Don’s men drag her and make her kneel in front of Don. The girl whimpers in a very weak voice, “Please, let me go. I want my mom and dad. Let me go, please.” She continues to beg and grabs Don’s right leg.
Without a word, Don lifts the girl’s face and holds her chin up, “Oh don’t cry little girl. I’ll take care of you. I’ll buy you anything you want, but you need to be good. Got it?”
The girl answers, “But… I want my mom and...” before she can even finish her remarks, Don’s eyes enrage and he squeezes the girl’s small face, “I say you need to be good! That means you will only do as you are told!” His voice settles the whimpering and wailing inside the place. Indeed, no one is as frightening as he is.
Lily who is watching from a distance takes a step back as she hears Don’s frightening voice. All the bad memories once again rush in. Her body starts to shiver despite her massive effort to look brave in front of them. She bumps into Joe’s muscular body.
“Boss”, he shouts excitedly and waves his arm. At this moment, Lily gulps. She knows she has to meet this demon once again. Joe and the other guy push her towards Don.
Upon seeing his precious cargo, Don’s eyes sparkle, “Lily, Lily Lily!" he says with excitement as he always does. He motions the beautiful Lily to come to him. So, she does as she is told. Even if she doesn't like to, she can’t disobey the master of this mansion, the owner of this place, the owner of herself. She hesitantly walks to him, the closer she is, the more her heart pounds louder, strong enough to hear it with her naked ears. As far as Lily could remember, you wouldn't want to see him angry or even pissed in the slightest, or hell will break loose.
The picture is still fresh in everyone’s mind how Lily tested the waters and it didn’t turn out so well. Despite being his favorite toy, she almost died of his hands. That circumstance serves as the ultimate warning to anyone who would even dare to disobey him. This man in front of them has no conscience.
He has no soul, at all.
At the age of fifteen, he abducted Lily from her own house and in front of her dearest family. Even then, nobody dared to stop him. A few months after, she tried to escape, and because of that a lot of people lost their lives. People who tried to help her then were inhumanely punished and killed by this man.
She is brought out of her reverie when Don carries her fragile body on his lap like a child. He smells and strokes her hair, pecks her neck, and rubs his large hands against her thighs. She closes her eyes trying to calm her nervous self.
Not long, Don whispers to her ear, "I brought you gifts, my beautiful Lily. I brought you some friends you can play with", then he points at these children and women while laughing like a mad man. Everyone’s eyes widened. Lily can’t believe what he just said. So the fate of these women and children in front of me has been decided.
The girls, Lily, and even his own men couldn't bring themselves to be amused by the big news he just bombarded. Lily remains calm and says nothing, while these poor people are still confused about what the hell is happening. Then one brave red-headed woman, despite being tied with ropes, speaks up,
"Why are you doing this to us? The agency said that we will be working in a restaurant, not for you, scumbag." Don's eyes fixate on her. “Oh no! Somebody stop her please, or she will end up dead.”, Lily thought. Lily tries to warn her but she doesn’t falter. She rants, "Who the hell are you? And why did you even tie us up? And these kids, what the hell is wrong with you people?"
Instead of being pissed, he puts me down on the chair and stands up, claps his hands in amusement, "Bravo! Nice work, woman. Those are good questions, but I can't answer all of them for you right now. However, since you are a genius, let me give you a reward." he imitates the sound of a drum roll and gestures playing it, "Ta-da. You are my sex workers. Got it? You will work for me. Do good, and you will earn big. Escape, you and your family will die. Simple rules, right?"
Then he walks beside me, "Any other questions? Because I want to be with my Lily as soon as possible." Lily couldn’t hide the disgust on her face and she snickers.
Then, Don's men enter carrying a woman in her formal attire, breaking the tension between Don and the red-haired woman. They release her and remove her blindfold. Her eyes roam around and are disturbed by what she sees.
Joe hands her portfolio over to Don. Don scans it and fancies whatever is written there.
"Hmmm, Ms. Pearl, it says here that you are one of the best in your class. I can see you have a lot of experience as a counselor, a trainer in your previous company and as for your hobbies, you like to travel and you like shopping." He closes the portfolio and throws it on the floor which makes Ms. Pearl twitch her lips.
Don approaches her nonchalantly, "It seems you know a lot about this thing called fashion. Based on that portfolio, I am confident you can train my girls intellectually and academically. I also want you to teach them good manners on how to deal with the corporate world: businessmen per se. That's all you have to do. Make them presentable, smart, and beautiful." He offers his hand and asks, "So do we have a deal?"
Ms. Pearl smirks at him and shakes her head. She then crosses her arms displaying disinterest, "Mr. Don, the ever mighty Don. I am sorry but I have to turn it down. I believe that education should be done in a nice place, not here."
Ms. Pearl’s words bring grim to Don’s face, "That could be arranged, Ms. Pearl. What else do you need? Name your price." Then Don wraps his arms around the fragile body of Lily and pulls her like a doll.
Ms. Pearl lets out a sigh. "I also believe that forcing these kids to learn something they don't want to, cannot be called education."
"Very well, Ms. Pearl," he answers and guides Lily’s hands to pull something out of his waist. Lily’s breathing gets faster, her hand that holds the gun shakes nonstop. Her eyes plead with Don’s to stop but the monster just wouldn’t listen. She has no other choice but to close her eyes and pray that she’s wrong.
But the scenario didn’t stop the brave Ms. Pearl, she bravely utters, "One last thing Don. I won't associate with the likes of you and train these poor girls to be your sex slaves. Never." Then she spits and steps on it showing her resentment to Don.
Not letting the woman take any further step, a loud sound silences the whole area.
Bang!
A gunshot is fired, without any hesitation.
The next thing Lily sees is Ms. Pearl's body on the ground covered with blood. She starts hyperventilating and wants to grasp her chest. But all she sees now is the gun in her hand: a gun that killed Ms. Pearl.
