PROLOGUE

"I'm telling you already it's going to be fun! Trust me!"

"But it's already exam week Remy. We're not supposed to go and have fun," Queenie said, and I silently agreed with her.

Of course, exam week's the most crucial moment for us students. There's no time for fun and stuff like that.

Remy rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on, it's only once in a life time experience! It's really hard getting this V.I.P tickets you know," Remy reasoned out and everyone looked at each other in contemplation

"Where's it anyway?" another one asked while grabbing the ticket from Remy's hand to inspect it.

I was silently watching them talk about their once in a lifetime experience escapade. Geez, these people doesn't even care that would happen if they ignored their studies. Anyhow, it's not like I could do anything about it. It's their life, not mine.

Finally, I looked away from them and continued reading the book I had.

"Cat's Crown? That's the name of the place?" Jessica asked and Remy nodded.

"Yeah! It's one of the biggest clubs here in town and everyone's dying to get a VIP pass for that bar. I heard that even Hollywood stars go there."

Cat's Crown? Why do I have the feeling I've heard of that from somewhere?

Howard nudged Remy's arm to make him look at him.

"It says here you have to take five people becfore you can enter the bar," he said.

Remy took the ticket and read it. He sighed as he counted his friends. There were only four of them

I ignored them once again to continue reading. I turned the next page of the book only to be stopped when Remy suddenly called me.

"Luke! Do you wanna go?" he asked with a huge smile on his face.

I just blinked at him, surprised that he actually invited me.

"Me?" I pointed to myself.

Remy nodded, still smiling.

"Yeah, you. Come on, you're interested too, right?" Remy urged but I shook my head to decline his offer.

I gave him a sad smile.

"Sorry but I still need to study," I said.

���Really?" Remy sighed and looked at our other classmates. "Guess we have to ask someone else."

"How about Wilson."

"Nope, he's gay."

"So what?!"

--

It was afternoon and everyone was busy getting ready to go home. I stayed behind since I still needed to return the books I borrowed from the library.

While walking through the corridor, I passed some students walking the opposite of me.

"Hey have you heard? Remy and his friends are going to the CC."

My ears perked at what the girl said.

"Yeah, I heard of that. Must be nice. Only the rich and famous can enter that bar."

They finally disappeared from the corner and I stood there, thinking about that CC bar. Everyone seemed to befamiliar with it, saying that only the rich and famous could enter that place

I rubbed my chin and thought about it.

"Oh come on, it's only once in a life time experience! It's really hard getting this V.I.P tickets you know."

I quickly turned around to go back to the classroom to talk to Remy. When I arrived, he was still there. He stopped putting his notebooks inside his bag when he saw me.

"Hey there Luke! What's wrong? Forgot something?"

I panted for a while before calming down down.

"I wanna go," I declared

He stared at me eyes widening in disbelief.

"Huh? You're coming with us?"

I nodded and said, "yes."

Remy grinned and tapped my shoulders in delight.

"Good thing I haven't asked Shirley yet! The spot is yours Lucas!"

He abruptly stopped and stared at me.

"But will it be alright? Your parents might get angry…"

I shook my head and smiled.

"It's once in a lifetime experience, right?"

--

We all gathered at a local restaurant downtown and everyone was wearing their best dresses. On the other hand, little 'ol me was wearing something more different - shirt and jeans.

No one was commenting on my dress because they perfectly knew that this was my style. For me, clothes and styles doesn't matter as long as you could wear something. Appearance doesn't mean anything as long as you look decent and fine. All my life, I never considered those things important.

"I'm so happy Lucas can come with us!" Jessica said while grinning wide at me.

I wasn't really known for being sociable. It's true that I hang out with some of my friends in class but other than that, I never attended any parties they hold.

Fine, I'm a boring person and I kind of hate that but whatever I do, I couldn't change myself.

That's how I am.

"Come on, let's go!"

Remy pulled us towards the huge modern-looking building with glistening tall windows. When we got there, it was really chaotic. Everyone was waiting outside of the club just to get inside and it was my first time to see a long line like that.

Four bouncers were guarding the door with some security guards roaming around. Remy grinned at us and walked to one of the bouncers. He held up the tickets and the man looked at all of us.

The bounce nodded his head and held his earpiece. He talked for a bit but I couldn't really hear what he was saing. He finally opened the door to let us in and everyone behind us groaned in complaint.

The inside of the building was much more different that the outside. Disco lights were blinding, the dance floor on the middle was huge and it was filled with people dancing their hearts out while grinding their body to the music.

Remy faced us and it was obvious that he's getting hyped.

"Isn't this amazing guys?!" he screamed and everyone agreed except me.

A random person approached us and it seemed like he was working here because of the uniform he's wearing. Remy gave the VIP tickets and the waiter nodded his head before leading us to one of the private rooms.

When the waiter left us in the room, everyone was awed by how big and luxurious it was. The floor was covered with red carpet, and the L-shaped leather sofa was amazing. There was a table on the middle and on top of it sat a bucket of cold beer. The girls rushed towards the sofa and they bounced before giggling.

The door closed and everyone settled in. I sat on the far side of the seat and stared at the bottle of beer.

My dad's so gonna kill me if he finds out I'm drinking. I told them I went to one of my classmate's house to do our project overnight. It wasn't my first time to lie but it's the first time I lied about something like this.

Well, what do they say anyway? There's a first time for everything.

My classmates grabbed the bottle of beer and drank it in a few gulps.

"How'd you even get the tickets for this, Remy?"

Remy grinned at us.

"The Internet!" he said.

We all stared at him and he innocently shrugged his shoulders.

"What?!"

I took one of the bottles and stared at it. Okay, first time drinking. I closed my eyes and drank the beer.

Everyone was staring at me, probably waiting for my reaction.

I put the bottle down and stared at them.

"This taste good," I said while grinning.

They all laughed out loud.

Hours passed and everyone was drunk. Remy and the others said that they're going to dance on the dance floor. I was left there while still drinking the beer.

I sighed and leaned on the seat. Tonight was amazing. For the first time in my life, I felt that I'm an adult already. Not literally of course but still, the feeling of doing these forbidden things sets fire inside me.

I wasn't rebellious. I just wanted know how it feels to be a teenager.

I clicked my tongue and stood up because I really need to take a leak. I walked to the door and opened it only to be greeted by three men in front.

I looked up to them and blinked. Wait, don't tell me they have time limit here.

"Where are your friends?" They asked and I raised my brows when I noticed that they got Russian accent.

"They're…" I gasped when they pushed me inside the room. One of them locked the door and stood there as if he's guarding it.

Uh oh, I can feel something bad is gonna happen. No, something bad is definitelygonna happen.

"W-who are you?" I asked.

The one who pushed me took out his phone. "Yes, we got one of them." He looked over to me and I gulped. "Yeah, okay." He put his phone down and nodded his head to the man beside him.

"Well boy, isn't this your lucky night." He said with a smirk before bowing down to reach me. I quickly moved away from but failed because they were much stronger than I am.

He pulled my arms and forced me to lie down on the floor.

"W-what're you gonna do…" He further held me down and I cried in pain. I tried to look at him but gasped out loud when I saw that he was holding some kind of injection in his hand.

I started to thrash my feet but the other man pinned me down in all fours. I couldn't move my body and it was getting hard for me to breathe.

Where the hell was Remy and the others?!!

"No…please…don't. NOOOOOO!!!"

--

When I woke up, I couldn't see anything but darkness.

No, wait, what happened?

I remember I was in a club with my friends and everything turned black.

I tried standing up but it was futile. I was bounded into something but I couldn't see it because of the darkness. I wanted to move but I realized my body was too sore to even do it.

I flinched when I heard people talking somewhere. I can hear their whispers and I can't understand any of what they were saying. I tried concentrating to guess what language they were speaking but it was too hard to focus because of the pain.

A heavy metal door screeched open and soon I found a light coming from the opened doorway to my front. Three people came inside and I looked up to see who they were. Unfortunately, my sight was still blurry so I couldn't recognize them.

"онодин[Is he the one]?"

"Да. онодин[Yes. He's the one]."

Their heads glanced at my way and I gulped. I wanted to ask who they were or what they want or where I am but no words came out of my mouth.

"приехатьсюдамальчика[Come here boy]."

One of the men unlocked my chains and I dropped down on the floor. The pain in my body was so immense it felt like I'm gonna pass out any time.

They forced me to get up and held me to make me walk. They dragged me out of what it seems like a cellar and on to the narrow corridor lighted up by dim bulbs.

I fought myself to stay awake. Who knows what will happen if I black out again.

I was dragged out of the prison and into a new room. It was all painted in black and I couldn't see anything. The men tied me down again on what seems to be a pole. I couldn't see it so I wasn't sure.

They moved down to chain my legs on the floor and I tried kicking them but they managed to evade my attack. They continued tying me and when they were finished, they stood up and left me there all alone.

I repeatedly open and close my eyes to see if I was dreaming. Oh God, please let it just be a dream. Let me get back to the club where my friends and I were all having fun.

I gasped when I can hear something from somewhere. It sounded like someone was talking on a microphone.

I can feel my heart pounding out of my chest.

Suddenly, a light shone above me and I squinted my eyes because it almost blinded me. I adjusted to the brightness and looked around the room.

It looked like I was inside an octagonal room and there were window glasses on every corner of the wall. I blinked and blinked again to get my focus right.

What the fuck?

"The last item for this night."

I flinched after hearing someone talking. I tried to pull away from the pole but it was futile. My hands and feet were bounded and I couldn't move.

What the fuck is happening?

I looked around with fear in my eyes. No, please, let this be a dream.

"Untrained and still fresh from the black market.A mixed race of Japanese and Spanish."

I looked up to see who it was talking but saw nothing.

My body felt so light and the pain I was feeling a while ago was being replaced by fear and anxiety.

No way. There's no way this is happening to me.

"Roughing from between 16 to 18 years old. The bidding will begin at 100,000 dollars."

My eyes widened at what I heard. What bid? 100,000 dollars?! NO!

I forced myself to break away from the pole.

"One fifty. Two fifty. We have two fifty. Three fifty. Four hundred.Four hundred fifty thousand."

I wanted to cover my ears and stopped what I'm hearing. This was not supposed to happen. Why is this happening? No.

Tears started to flow down my cheeks and I bit my lips to stop myself from crying even more.

"Five hundred thousand.Five hundred and fifty thousand."

Please stop this. Stop. I don't want to hear anymore

"Six hundred. We have six hundred. Six hundred thousand.SOLD."

I dropped my head low and sobbed even harder.

"That concludes our sales for tonight gentlemen. You can directly collect your purchases. Good night."

One man came out from the dark and forced me to stand up.

My head was buzzing with confusion and I don't think I can't keep up with what's happening anymore.

Please.

Let this be a dream.

--