This is one as many other dark nights in New York City, the streets are full of people and noises, the moon is hidden by the foggy and cloudy sky. The lights are all around and confused with the people movements, the words are lost, in the crowd, the thinking is taken before it's possible imagine something to explain.
Nights like this are like a strange nightmare for Alex.
She doesn't know what is it this time that makes her fill sick: drugs, overwhelming sense of missing, loneliness, hurts and scars on her body, the frozen cold of the night, sense of abandon, the abuses she has to go through every day from when she came in the country, the slavery, the addiction. She is obliged to sell her body to everyone who wants sex and has money to pay it. It's disgusting. She can never get used at this.
Clients are not all kind people, someone is violent and crosses the line more than one time with her, some of them try to hurt her, slapping or punching her face, someone bites her body and breast, some other is emotionally unstable, cries or shouts at her, insults her with no reasons. Some of them run away without paying so she has to explain to her torturers because she hasn't enough money that day and they end up with hurting her too.
This horrible kind of life is all that she has now, the only type of life she knows, after her family was killed on front of her, when she was a child, things went worse day after day until she was unable to escape from the situation. The criminals have lied to her and they have paid for her, and when she came in America from Russia they have taken her against her will and they have kept her in sex slavery and drugs addiction, they were the first have given her that poison, and she now can't live without it. And that drugs have a cost, an high cost, so they can threats her with deprivation of drugs and violence, so she has to do whatever they want.
She's really angry with herself, she has to find a way out of this living hell before it can be too late, but she can't now, not this night, not the night before or tomorrow night, so the days pass and she isn't able to find something better for her, and now every day her life is at risk, she can see that, but she has no one who cares about her, this is the cruel truth. This is the reason why she needs drugs, to forget the sufferance and the pain deep inside her.
She's a strong girl anyway, she tried to fight hard, at the beginning, but now she's feeling too tired, too hurt. It's like she is definitely broken inside.
When the night comes she reaches the sidewalks around the Red Toy Club, and she starts to walk slowly, like they teach her, to make people note her. She's young, more than it's believable, and she's beautiful. Tall, big green eyes, long wavy brown hair, black boots, and a miniskirt, a small jacket to make her sexy body more evident, an heavy makeup, red blood lipstick and a fake smile on the mouth.
She is just a mask like many others in the shadow of the night.
Suddenly a car comes, when the guy meets her eyes she is trembling.
But this guy is different, he's finding someone, he has blue icy eyes, he's name is Owen.
Owen Elliot has been a killer for a governative organization called Division, they ordered him to kill people who their agents fell in love with, he never asked the reasons in the past, he just did his job without give any problem. Then they made him a guardian, he had to keep safe a black box with the secrets of the organization undercover, nobody had to know about him. But something had changed, he had known a girl, Emily, a sweet and innocent girl, an artist, she created objects, like flowers and butterflies, she didn't know him or his mission, but she fell in love with him anyway and she trusted him. Then Division found out he had changed and he was in love, so they came and they shot her in the heart, right in front of him. From that fateful day he lives in order to obtain the revenge against the division at any cost. There is a woman, a strong warrior named Nikita that he is helping in the project of destruction of Division, she has lost everything she loved for their fault, and now she wants the revenge too.
He's on a mission this week, he has to find a bad man, a killer that was training by the Division, from his escape he did a lot of violence and murdered and so on. He has also a human traffic in the city, drugs, children and bitches. This is his territory, Owen knows. These are his girls. He wanted to try to approach one of them.
When the girl on the street hears the name of the bad man is searching for, she is visibly shocked, just the name seems to make real horrible memories.
"Do you know him?! I think so, he can be the boss here, can you give me information about him?! Where I can find him?!"
"I don't know and I can remain here longer to speak with you, unless you want something about me that give me money in return." She said just staring at him with no expression.
Owen just insists a little more, not only for finding a way to get close to the man he's searching for, but the reason is this girl, she is interesting, and really beautiful, but she seems lost and sad too. He notes a butterfly tattoo on her back, this immediately makes him remember about Emily, she was innocent, young and fragile, like this girl, she's really too sexy dressed and equally inappropriate, the makeup, so heavy, the image of her doesn't seems like her, and it is very strange thinking like this about someone he doesn't know. She is looking around scared now. He is worried about her way of life, it can be very dangerous for such a little girl like this. He doesn't think it can be her choice at all.
"I can give you an advice. Give up with this man, don't looking for him. You can die if you'll meet him, I'm sure about this."
"I know he's a really dangerous man, but I have to find him and stop him, before others innocents die. I'm a quite strong man, I had a training to fight. I can kick his ass if I find that man, he will be who die. I assure you."
She is surprised about the answer, like Owen is some sort of mad, a quizzical look in her eyes. The moment is interrupted by a big black man in a suit, really angry at her, he runs and grabs her arms with violence, he begins to shout at her and to push her away towards the other side of the sidewalk, beating her face hard and slapping her more than one time. She doesn't react, even Owen can see the anguish inside her. He is really shocked about the man attitude, how dare he?!
Anger is growing inside him. He goes towards them and looks the man right in the face, he is holding a knife now, she is trembling. "Ehi guy, what's the matter?! We were just talking some moments" He says.
"She is not on the street to chatting with people, and lost her time. She's on the street to make money. If you don't want any problem, just stay away from here." He answers with a stronger tone of voice and a threat at Owen in the eyes.
"I can't. This girl here, she's the most sexy tonight, and I want to have sex with her. I have a lot of money,"
He says this changing strategy and taking the wallet out of his pocket, a lot of dollars immediately were showed to the other guy.
The expression of the bad guy changes, and he smiles sarcastically.
"Ok, ok, you can have her, if the things are like these. The boss doesn't love we waste our time here, we have to do money, you can understand. But she's not so good, I swear, I have tried her, just a broken doll like any other bitch here."And saying this he kisses her hardly just to showing to Owen his power on her.
She is sick now, she wants just to disappear, Owen can see her glassy eyes and her look hurts him more than a punch in the face. She is dramatically destroyed now. This is when he decides he has to save her.
She get on the car and Owen drives away from there as fast as he can, she doesn't say anything, she just looks out the window in the night, with empty eyes and no expression. He's worried about her. He wants to say a word to her, something to comfort her, but he can't find the words, so he stays silent too till the little apartment he has rent for the mission.
She enters the room without any hesitation, she sounds boring and disgusting, she feels like that was the same horrible ritual of every single day of her life, she just turn the back on him and begun to put off her dress, the jacket already on the chair and the belt on the bed, she was unzip her skirt when Owen took her arm in order to stop her, she has discovered her shoulders and part of her arms, he can see a lot of scars and sign of hurt all around there, he thinks about her body, he can't stop staring to her, she's so beautiful, he's like hypnotized by her beauty, but he has to stop this attitude, she's moving like a mechanical doll, like she has no choice in her life. She's so hurt, he can see the suffering's growing deep inside her. He feels really moved about this little girl, he doesn't know why, maybe it is about Emily, he remembers what happened to her, how she was innocent and scary, like this girl. She can't stop herself, she slips away from his taken and restarts to undress herself. She has cold, he can see she's trembling, so he tries another way to stop her, he just hugs her tight, with no space left to her to move. She sounds really surprised and looks in his face, like she doesn't understand what's happening.
"Please stop." He says with honest eyes, still hugging her.
"You don't want to have sex with me?" Strange question.
Only a fool doesn't want such kind of gorgeous girl, maybe he's crazy, but a slave is not what he wants.
"It's not what I want because is not what you want. It's not why you're here."
"What's the matter what I want?" She has a quizzical look in the face now.
"I know maybe you don't believe me ... but I want to help you."
"I don't understand what you mean"
"This doesn't is your destiny, you can change your life, it will be better, I promise"
She's angry at him now, still in his arms, she's fighting to free herself and she's looking at him with anger. She can't trust him.
"I don't want your help, I don't understand you, if you don't want me, I can go"
And saying this she's taking back her dress and walking towards the door.
"I don't say you can go, I'll pay. S et here on the bed on my side and just speak to me".
He knows she needs the money for her boss. She comes back sitting on the bad, and she's silent again now.
"I don't want to hurt you, I know what you're trough into, and I want to give you a hand, you can trust me."
"You can't know. You don't know anything about me".
"I know what is meant living with the pain, the loneliness, the violence, the slavery. There was a time when I also just have to follow command I hated to do".
"It's not so simple, I can't just escape. They don't let me leave and I have no place to go,"
"I know. But now I'm here and I can help. For start you can pass some hours here, just calm down and relax yourself, I'm a friend. I'd like you believe me, even if I know is hard for you to believe in people."
This strange guy speaks ad he knows her inside from years, for the first time she feels herself out of guard, she feels she can cry in front of him, before she can retrains them, tears begun to rolling over her cheeks. He put his jacket on her shoulders and hugs her again, then he speaks softly near her ear "It will be better, you know. It' all will be ok. I promise. You will be free. Just try to calm down now. I'll take you a hot chocolate, you can turn on the tv and watch some stupid programme, sometimes it's really useful."
He's going but she's stopping him now, grabbing his shirt with her hands and looking straight in his eyes "Do you really want to help me?"
"Sure, I have promised. I have some plans. But you have to be careful and follow my line"
"Ok, I want to believe you, even if I still think you are mad!". And saying this a little smile appears on her lips behind the tears.
He smiles back and caresses tenderly her head, "Now I have a chocolate to make" and saying this he goes to the little kitchen.
He comes back after a few minutes with a hot chocolate for her and sit again on the bed beside her, she has turn on the tv and sounds distracts.
"Here it is, it's really good, do you want some biscuits?"
She seems still surprised about his kindness. "Yes, thanks" she says still watching some cartoons and smiling a little about it. He's watching at her, she's just like a baby, he feels really sorry and angry inside for what happened to her, and some other innocent girls like her. But the reign of that bastard is ending, it's question of time."
After a pair of hours he knows she has to go if they don't want to create any suspicions, he's really sad and he doesn't know how to say it to her. She sounds more quite and she's sleeping quietly on his couch now. He has to wakes up her and say to come back on the street, he feels like a monster himself.
"Ehi, sweetheart, I'm sorry but we have to go ... I mean, you have to go, sadly ..."
She looks him like she can understand perfectly what he's meaning.
"Ok, let me put on my jacket, I'll come".
"She's going towards the car very silent and a little bit confused maybe, about everything".
He barely looks at her, she seems really anxious about the next future, he wishes he could make her calm down but he know what she's worried about, and he understand exactly what she can thinks about in that moment.
"I'll come back, I mean, for you! You know, I don't want to abandon you in this situation"
She stares to him, with big glassy sweet eyes, quietly. Then suddenly she comes near his face with hers and put a light but affectionate kiss on his cheek, just a millimetre from his lips, he turns his face a little, just to barely touch the flavour of her lips with his, it was just an instant, but he can feel what he doesn't feel in years, and he knows she's shocked too. He can read the power of her troubled feelings in her eyes. After some briefs minutes she turns around in order to go away, but a moment later she turns again her face to him.
"I trust you. I can't know the reason myself, but I really trust in what you said to me. This afternoon with you was the best time I could have in years, so, I'll waiting for you, please don't forget what you have promised to me."
He takes her hand in his for some moments, touching her cold and smooth skin with his "I'll be back soon, and you'll be free. It's a promise".
She feels her street boss eyes looking at her with anger and no more patient because she's losing time in his opinion, so she feels like she has to go immediately, looking this beautiful and good guy for an istant more like it can be the last time he sees him, she lies to herself too about the possibility he can sees him again. "See you soon Owen" she said, then she's gone very far, in what seems like a minute to him.
She says his name as if it were a lie or a little goodbye, he can see.
"She doesn't believe me." He says to himself in a whisper. She is used to being left by anyone. She is used to being betrayed every time. This understanding of her feelings upsets and saddens his heart once again. This girl really touches his soul. Something must be done as soon as possible, in order to save her and the other girls are into sex and slavery of drugs in the city.
She needs drugs, and all these bad people can give that to her, it was just a stupid and good tale the Owen's thing, and surely he never comes back to her, people never come back to her, people she loved died because of her, she's an horrible person, and she hates him for making her feel better just some hours and then she has to come back to what she really have and what she really is, some moments after that. She's a drugs addicted and a bitch, no more, no less. No one can save her. No one can make her better. It was a lie and a dream she can forget with the drugs inside her, for a lot of hours. Laying on the old bed they put her on, after they have given her drugs, she can close her eyes and forget every pain, every mistakes she's made, every person she has loved that has died, she can just lose herself, she can just die a little inside, have her heart a little more broken, the tears rolling down this day, because she's missing him, and all she can see, in that dark and dirty little prison, are his eyes, and the sound of his voice promising to her a better life, a better place, a better world. She wants to believe him, in a dream, when the sun comes, she let herself to hope she can truly see him again.