Chapter 2

From now on, you'll be Red Fox.

......

The realization only struck us when we couldn't get what we wanted, killing our hope and forcing us to adapt. 

Out of nowhere, two men came; without words, they grabbed my stiff arms and dragged my almost lifeless body like a sack of trash. I was in no condition to fight or even survey the surroundings. My eyes remained shut from the injuries I earned mere minutes ago. 

Though, a weird smell lingered in my nose: a mixture of damp earth, molds, and freshly cut grass.

The dragging took time for me. It felt like an hour-long, but it could also be minutes. I couldn't be so sure; my world turned upside down in a sluggish motion that I hadn't noticed of their sudden stopping. A sound of a metal knob, turned followed by a grunting from one of the men. I was lifted much higher to the ground then spontaneously dropped on a hard mattress. 

"She'll do fine. Let's get out of here. There's more to contain, common now, dude," one of the two said.

"Okay," the other replied in a resigned voice.

The brief conversation followed a beeping sound from a keypad, the same sound you make with those old-fashioned cellphones before touchscreens came. Then there was the clicking of a closing door, and lastly, it was a quietness that stayed long.

It was overbearing; after being left alone and once quietness took over. The ringing will soon haunt you, deafened you into insanity.

Slowly I peered my eyes open, wide enough for me to check my prison. It was a cubicle sized cell; the walls were painted white like hospital rooms. There was no other furniture, just the mattress and a small urinary on the left. Then the door was being locked from the outside. There was no knob on the inside, only two small openings, the same one you see in psychiatric wards.

The sight was all torturing, and I never felt that isolated before. A fear inside me was brewing immensely, making me want to explode. The thing was, I couldn't handle small spaces, and my heart wanted to give up on me. I wanted to give up.

I sighed heavily to calm myself. I crouched into a ball and contemplated hard the situation I stumbled in, finding a way of escape. It was like a cruel nightmare I badly wanted to wake up from, I was in too much pain, and it was killing me. They were everywhere, gnawing me to pieces. I didn't want to think about all the succeeding hours, though I couldn't possibly do that, not in my state of mind. 

The more time I would spend with the people who abducted me and the place where I was in, the louder death's voice would grow in my ears-- whispering horrors to of unseen future.

I dozed off, thinking that it might be the last day I would be breathing air. I didn't dream; everything was pitch black as if darkness was still haunting me even from there.

Ugh. Water splashed my face. It was cold, too cold, and it stung. 

I slowly pried my eyes open. 

"Ah!" I shrieked in surprise, though no sound came-- only in my head. I was naked; it dawned on me. Some women were forcibly bathing me; one held my body to keep me from the pull of gravity, while another a shower over to my head.  

Struggling was of no use. I was drugged, or I could easily be traumatized from the horrible experience: pain was still all over the place. I felt it through the scabs in my skin. But my body wouldn't cooperate, it wouldn't budge from my endless shout of, move!

And so, I let them bathe me: soaped, scrubbed, and rinsed every single nook of my body. 

Nothing was registering in my brain, and I grew disconnected from the world. I was a train wreck, not able to do anything about the situation. 

Involuntary tears run down the side of my eyes. I haven't been naked in front of a doctor, and there I was with strangers exploiting my willing body. Move! I yelled at my brain once more but just like before, nothing happened. I felt so weak with their gripping and prodding hands. 

It shouldn't be happening to me! 

I tried to steady my heart as I took in my surroundings. It was like a school's shower room: stalls were lined on one side with bowls on the other, and everything was bear open, no doors for separation.

It must be an eternity, and it felt like it. After the murderous bath that I suffered from, the two women dressed me in a plain white shirt and black shorts. Then two men once again came to drag me back to my cell and onto the hard mattress. It was a process I wouldn't be fond of at all. 

I laid widely awake in the cell after the men left. I didn't even know if it were the same men from before; my mind was clogging with too much emotion: dread, longing, helplessness, and more that I couldn't even comprehend anymore. My brain refused to shut down, unlike the other time that I dozed off. 

I didn't know how long I just lay there looking up at the ceiling while tears flowed down my face. I kept wishing to wake up for the nightmare to be over. It was too surreal to be real; of all the girls in the club, why should it be me? Why the most ordinary girl be the one? I was being trespassed with hundreds of questions, questions that I too couldn't afford to answer.

Is it just like that? Was my life that worthless for someone with a twisted mind to play? Am I worthy of such a thing? What have I done so wrong in my life to deserve this kind of fate? 

By the time the drug was finally wearing off, the door open. A strange man came into the cell. I couldn't tell if he was the same one who beat me though I thought he was much capable of doing it too. He looked like that Russian wrestler my fucktard of a dad love to watch: bald, shiny head with bulging muscles and a dragon tattoo in his right arm. 

"It's time the drug should be wearing off now, so stand up!" he said, yelling the last part. He was making the cell smaller as it was. Impatience overpowered his facial expression. He seemed annoyed. I couldn't do as he said my body wouldn't allow me: being stubborn as a bull.

The man leaned down and pulled my ear, touching his lips to it. His tongue was slightly licking my earlobes. "I thought Marshall already initiated you. Do you need another beating? I would very much appreciate to give you another only if I am not running out of time. So, stand! Now!" Once more, he punctuated the last part by imposing a threat. 

He wasn't the same man. 

It was fear and dominance; that he was instilling in me. He was doing a great job about it. I was too afraid to move, even just a single strand of my hair. And when I still didn't budge, the man pulled me harder by my ear, forcing my body to a stand-up position. A gut-wrenching pain shot through my spine. Simultaneously, I stood forcibly on my own, inches away from the man, near enough that I could smell his foul breath. 

"Good." The man paused. He seemed satisfied seeing me standing that he gifted me with a smirk. "Now remember this and carve it in that brain of yours. Understand? As long as you are here, my words are the rules. Got it?" he said in a dominating voice.

No one would have disagreed if they were me if their life was the one threatened. Of course, no one would have dared to, their instinct would always tell them to agree, and so I nodded my head strenuously. 

"What's your name pretty?" the man asked furthermore as he caressed my face. It sent chills everywhere through my already cold body. 

"Jo-Jo-Jodi..." I said stuttering, with my words. 

The man tilted his head to the side, thinking. "Ah. That won't do here. From now on, you'll be Red Fox. It suits your hair. Now come on and follow me."

Like a model kid, I followed his words with a robotic motion. We got out of the cell into the corridors where dozens of similar-looking doors; were lined up, all closed. And there were numbers posted on each of the doors. Mine was five hundred twenty-three. A voice inside my head was saying, it wasn't a random numbering but an account of us girls they have imprisoned.

I shook my head and followed behind the man quietly. We walked through the corridors to a series of stairs and doors all going down. Almost fifteen minutes, until we came to a stop in front of a big wooden double door.

The man opened it, giving way to a large gym. All sorts of exercise mechanisms were, spread around the spacious room: barbels and dumbbells of all kinds and three boxing arenas at the corner. 

I was dumbstruck. What kind of hell was it? I waited for the cameras to appear and appease me that everything was just a cruel joke. Though nothing popped out and as expected, it was a sad reality.

I was shoved forcefully inside the room, almost tripping in the process as the door closed behind me. 

There were about eight girls inside training somehow, and six men were watching over them. There were guns on their hands, ready to aim at any given moment. They were all --the girls-- the same age as me or if not much older.

"Nick!" the man yelled in one of the boxing arenas where two girls are in a sparring match while a man stood in the corner, possibly Nick.

Nick signed for the girls to stop the sparring, then he whistled, making a man-- one of the guards--appear to take the two girls with him. Nick then hovered to us. 

"What's up, Craig?" Nick asked as he climbed off the arena.

So, the man with me was called Craig.

"This is Red Fox, one of the ten newbies. Train her. She'll be needing it tonight." Without further ado, Craig walked out. He left me with Nick; his retreating back disappeared to the door entered.

"How old are you?" Nick eyed me suspiciously; a glint flashed in his eyes. 

I tried not to squirm and composed myself. I gulped the build-up of saliva in my mouth. "Seventeen," I answered, looking down the floor. At the same time, I resigned myself. I was capable of doing anything to survive, to see my mom once more.

"You're young. Why the fuck are you in a club?" I looked at his face, bewildered about his reactions. He was scolding me, and he was infuriated.

I stood on my spot stoically.

"Get up!" he commanded, pointing a finger to the arena. 

"Why? Why would I need to train for?" I started tearing up. I already knew what was happening. I wasn't any fool. But I needed someone to confirm it for me. 

I was hopeless.

"So, you could punch. You'll be fighting in the arena tonight and, those tears would do you no good. Stop wasting my time and get your arse up."

Fight?