p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3623aaaa522f50b2b781e1fbc1cb52db"I couldn't think straight. What on earth is happening to me? Why am I on a stage inside a bird cage like some sort of animal? Why are there people just sitting on the stage in front of me but not helping me? And why are they looking at me with eyes that either showed amusement, disinterest, pity or something so disgusting and revolting that it scared me just to even think about it?/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1d8e1ba08cc89ee500c0c4b47fc3a70a"Yes, they said I was going to be sold at an auction to the highest bidder but that couldn't be true, could it? I had probably just translated my Japanese wrong amidst all the confusion. After all, how can they sell a human at an auction? I mean, that was human trafficking! I really can't believe I'm here right now./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c69842add0a1924d34d6af79417e1e8e"[ - earlier in the day - ]/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="33cb73eb459c191bb7de8db7d91cff3d"I had arrived in Tokyo just yesterday and had decided to check out the city with the only free time I would have for the foreseeable future before it went back to working and studying again. I had just graduated from medical school in Britain less than a month ago and had been matched with a hospital in Japan to do my 7 years of internship before I could finally achieve my lifelong dream which I had done practically everything humanly possible for; becoming a doctor../p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b338ce43e70582d04c8e72915e3cd20c"The jet I had had this morning when I got out of my bed really made me want to climb right back in but I had just two weeks to enjoy myself with before my internship begun at Ebisu General Hospital and I wanted to make the most of these 2 weeks./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3b6f8dc81c5d1a7f9eb4cedfda798b56"(( Yes, I used the name of the hospital from Voltage's other game, Kiss of Revenge, because I didn't have any idea what Japanese hospitals are called. ))/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="994dd41e99945be7e290aff1a6f71152"Coming out of the Tourist Information Centre, I flicked through the 500 million leaflets I had been handed by the receptionist until I found one that looked interesting. It had a picture of a beautiful building in it with the words 'Tres Spades Hotel and Casino' written on the front cover. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"It looks amazing ... /emI thought, wondering what kinda of money you'd need to stay at this place. Obviously, it wasn't the type of place I could ever even think to afford to stay in but it wouldn't hurt to have a look around the place, would it? After all, in a few years' time, maybe they'll even set a prize for just looking at the place. With that thought in mind and the leaflet in my hand, I approached the nearest friendly looking citizen and asked for directions towards the hotel. There was an address on it, of course, but I hadn't got every nook and cranny of Tokyo tattooed into my brain just yet./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0aa70dba2a33765d19fe6d721a331aed"After asking a few more people for directions and getting shouted at for crossing the road without looking, I finally arrived at the hotel. And boy, did it live up to everything I had heard about it and more. I rummaged in my bag for my new wireless Beats headphones which I had received as one of my presents for graduating med school and put them on before scrolling through my iTunes playlist and putting on the first song that came up when I put it on shuffle. After sorting out my need to have some music playing, I looked down once again at the leaflet in my hands and looked at the map of the hotel started to work out where I wanted to go first./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ff3879c020585771c17a4b15c38f68e5"I decided to go see the art museum first since it seemed to be the closest to the entrance but then realized the photo opportunity the hotel offered. Smiling to myself, I dropped my bag - which was getting far too heavy for its own good now - on the nearest bench I could find inside the hotel, assuming that it would be safe there since this place was said to have excellent security and switched on the camera hanging on my neck before walking back outside to the entrance. I lifted the camera up to my eye so I could see what it was focusing on and walked backwards trying to get the whole of the hotel in the shot when I suddenly backed up into something that felt surprisingly warm. My whole body froze in shock before something, or someone to be precise, grabbed me by the arm and pulled me away about a meter from whatever it was that was warm./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ea7bbd90f91b788494d20cdf590998ea""How dare you touch our Eisuke!?" screamed the woman who had grabbed me in a high pitched, girly voice at me as soon as she let me go of my arm./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="63fea46db859b434e6f633cab1cd1ab1""I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to ..." I apologized to the scary woman who was now glaring at me angrily and then looked towards the place where she had dragged me away from. Sure enough, there was some man in a dark suit and purple shirt standing there looking at me with a cold expression and with god know how many women surrounding him./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f0b637da8ddb27280f42101cb4d2b6fb""Hmph. Peasant. I really hate people who don't know where they belong." she replied turning away from me and walking towards the man with the cold expression but not forgetting to flick back her long blonde hair so that the ends hit my face before she goes back to join the group./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="038a4bfb61050bcf02e9d6fa4f1e9f98"Still slightly in shock, I watched the women's backs as they surround the man wearing the dark suit once again and walk inside the hotel in one massive group. I had crashed into some person on my first proper day here ... And some very important person by the looks of it too. I swear to god, I'm the biggest clutz this world will ever know. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Good one, Grace./em I thought sarcastically before walking inside the hotel once again. It was strange, you know. How my parents named me Grace and then I turned out to the exact opposite of graceful. It was almost funny, to be honest. A quiet, bitter laugh escapes my lips as I walked back inside the hotel./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="921d143b44c3d0ea1250ddcade6fca96"Trying to shake away the depressing thoughts clouding my brain, I approached the bench where I had left my bag only to find that it was nowhere to be soon. Various thoughts were running through my head and I could feel a panic attack starting to brew. After therapy and medication, my panic disorder had gotten significantly better and it was nearly 6 years since I had my last panic attack However, that bag had everything in it. My passport, driving licence, the USB drives which had all my coursework in it, all of it was in there. But I really couldn't afford to have a panic attack now. There was no-one I knew here and going outside wasn't really an option since the streets were probably more crowded than the inside of the hotel. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Breathe, Grace, breathe. /emI told myself, again and again, whilst pulling my headphones down so they were on my neck since they weren't being much help, blaring Ellie Goulding down my ears./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1cdd431e9838285be4d9106e96655668"Amazingly, a few minutes later, I started to feel calm again which meant that whatever I had done had obviously worked. I decided to take things slowly because I knew well enough what would happen if I got myself stressed out again./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e6cdc00de41df847f87dd16802459467"The best option was probably to ask one of the staff for help so without wasting any more time, I clambered up to the reception and started desperately speaking in English to the woman there. All the, while she stared at me with a blank look on her face as if she had no idea what I was saying. But who could blame her? I was speaking in English in Japan. However, my brain wasn't in the mood for translating my words into Japanese at the moment and all that came out was English. She said something to me which I roughly translated to 'excuse me' before disappearing off for a few minutes and reappearing with a pleasant looking man./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="227db72051049b1646628c2e73640fd0""My name is Yoshiro Kenzaki, the general manager. How may I be of assistance, Miss?" he said, speaking in perfect English with little or no accent at all. I quickly explained what had just happened and he simply listened to me with a look that showed genuine sympathy as I reached the end of my story. He asked me a few more questions concerning whether I had any reservation at the hotel or not and the appearance of my bag and contact details if anyone found it and brought it back./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1f76ad57b545ede22121799057254f7b""I'm very sorry about the inconvenience, Miss. I'll make sure to tell all the staff to keep an eye out for it." he replied./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3e3289c6e52e19bb411493c74cc2211b""But, sir, it had my passport and everything in it! I'm practically dead without it!" I said, failing to keep my composure any longer./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="abde88bbca2030402b0ac6c6dcac87d4""Oh dear... I'll see what I can do. Excuse me." said Mr. Kenzaki, before bowing politely and leaving me standing behind at the reception feeling extremely worried. What on earth would I do if it didn't turn up somewhere? I was done for without it.../p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="84fa3340b613b2baddfd90ed317a10d4"Absent mindedly I leave the hotel and head out on to the street, not entirely sure where I'm going, when I pass by a convenience store. My tummy rumbled a lot louder than it was considered embarrassing to and only then did I realize the fact that I was still yet to eat anything today. I quickly walked inside and picked out the cheapest thing that also looked somewhat appealing - because I had very little money on me - before going to the till to pay for it./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="fd13122f62cc4cfea8129c99033b587f"The clerk rang my purchase before handing me one of the roses from the bouquets. I looked at him in surprise as if to say 'For me?' to which he smirked and nodded his head. "Of course. For the pretty lady."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6a292a27187bd9cdafa2a449a6629660""T-thank you ... " I reply before turning around and leaving the store, still not sure why this random guy was giving me flowers. For one, he didn't look like the type of person who would be working convenience store in the first place. His nearly shoulder-length brown hair and pale red-ish brown eyes, for some reason, gave off an air that he belonged in a place like the Tres Spades. Not working at a counter in a convenience store./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="51fbf5f2ba0076c6015df61822012439"Soon, I was done satisfying my incredibly persistent tummy and walked back towards the Tres Spades because after all, that's what I was meant to be doing; looking around it. Trying not to let the unfortunate disappearance of my bag get my mood down, I march into the hotel and walk towards the art museum as I had originally intended to. I spent about 20 minutes there and am just about to leave when I spot a beautifully drawing of a mermaid just surfacing through the water. I'm so mesmerized by it that I don't even realize that my feet have started moving towards it. I come to a halt right in front of it and just stare at it./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4e4c5be4153e6d866e24f0bcd77432cd""Like what you see?" asks a musically sweet voice behind me and a spin around in surprise to find myself face to face with a gorgeous looking man with blonde hair and matching eyes with a wicked little smirk plastered on his face./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8f414a90456508af8b0b63880a06e8cd""Erm, y-yes. It looks wonderful! I wonder who the artist is ... " I say glancing back to look the painting to see if it has any credits on it but finding out that there was nothing./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d91728af7ed386f1ef1de9a6ca9d8dba""What if I said you were looking at him?" asked the man, his smirk growing. My eyes widen at this and I open my mouth to speak but shut it again because no words come out and I don't want to look like a gaping fish. I could feel my face burning by now and I was pretty sure that I looked redder than a tomato./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="45a3f2e3c47206be0e42cb7ebe36e2e4""I-I-I... Um .. " I stammer, too embarrassed to speak./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="14af04b77592356bb6e727b82c5b92d5""Looks like Alice fell down the rabbit hole." he said with a wink, and I wasn't sure if that was intended for himself or for me. Was he comparing me to Alice in Alice in wonderland? Certainly sounded like something an artist would say. However, before I had time to ask him he was gone and where he was before, was just an empty space now. How on earth did he manage to just appear out of the blue and then disappear out the blue as quickly as he had arrived?/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8bb18512d542081ecd45bcabba88e095"Shaking my head a little as if it would shake away the thoughts about him that didn't seem to want to leave, I glance back at the painting for a little while longer before leaving the museum and heading towards the shopping malls. I walked through the massive corridor with all the boutiques lined one after the other at its sides but didn't go in because one, all of them seemed to be full to the brim which was not good news for me as being in massive crowds would probably end up giving me a panic attack and two, all the merchandise in them were ridiculously expensive and not the type I could ever even think about wearing. Even the salons and spas looked close to bursting with god knows how many beautiful women waiting to have their hair cut or nails done./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7ff85ed7e260250544b42191b6ec2aff"I soon had enough of the window shopping and decided to head down to the casino since the leaflets said it was the highlight of the hotel. For me, all of it was a highlight so I was very curious about how much better this place could get. I hopped into the elevator and soon enough its doors opened at the bottom floor where the casino was./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="13ebc33d5e1ea00e66dc7938f59b244a"From the little I had seen and heard about casinos they were basically like an adults' version of an amusement park. I myself preferred amusement parks thought and failed to see the big deal and fuss made about them. However, what the opening elevator doors revealed blew me away, all the way to cloud nine. The place was bussing with excitement and all sorts of attractions and various different gambling games were being played around the place. Men and women in formal wear who obviously had enough money to waste on useless stuff sat at the tables playing their hearts out. For some strange reason though, I felt absolutely no envy towards any off them./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="aa4e97799d53d28f9e4fc8d8f2b122bb"I weaved my way through the large groups of people clustered together whilst trying not to crash into anyone, though that attempt ended up being futile; I'd lost count of the number of people I had managed to crash into by six. The place was starting to make me feel slightly nauseous and I was starting to get that feeling I always got when a panic attack wasn't too far away. The jetlag from the flight yesterday seriously wasn't helping either./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5e8b3b8a4f3144b1336813872f723341"Turning around, I made my way back to the elevator and pressed the "" button on it and waited for the lift to come. It arrived soon enough but just as I tried to make my way inside it, something wrapped itself around my waist and pulled me away./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b5cacf92877cebf38442d580c6330bd3""Hello there, darling." said the short, stocky looking man with flashy jewellery who had just pulled me from the elevator. He had a disgusting grin plastered on his face which made me cringe away just at the sight of him. Not wanting to be rude, I give him a tight smile muttering something along the lines of 'excuse me' before untangling my waist from his arm and heading back towards the elevator./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="477f7fa3153325219f68ae5726acb984"I got about two steps away from him before he appeared in front of me once again but this time, he was grabbing my left with his sweaty hand. "Sir, please, let go of my arm." I say, starting to get scared now. This man looked more than twice as old as me and I had no intention of being a victim of paedophilia./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ddb439cf8f6a710734d4a4fa3ea4c250""Awww, honey, don't be like that. Come up to my room and I'll show you a great time." he replies, leering at me with a look that made my skin crawl. Before I could get another word out, his arm wrapped around my waist once more and he pulled me into the elevator. He presses one of the buttons and the elevator starts going even lower down the building./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f6bcb0af39b4f0f2f9d486de9da39321""Sir, I said, let go of me! I don't want to go with you anywhere." I say, trying to squirm away from him only making him grip my waist tighter. The elevator doors open and he leads me into a lavish party./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5b4d1383109d3920484dab53d2a44c24""There's no need to be so rude, Princess. If you are, I'll have to-" he starts./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="cf824292bfdabd0399e7cb4e725d70be""NO! Don't touch me. Just get away from me, you -" I interrupt, not wanting to know what he would do when, in turn, I get interrupted./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="bc33ffbfd46a41dc99339932083841b5""Just shut up and come with me you stupid girl." he says with a frown, dragging me away from the people and into some secluded area. "Look, my net worth is over $500 million. You should be honoured." he said with a smirk, opening the door to some random room and shoved me inside./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="987322ea602c693b16bdddcec5cfa9e6"However, something inside the room catches itself on my foot and I stumble down, taking whatever it was that had got caught on my foot down with me. The room was dark but the light from outside was flooding in and I could roughly see what was going on. The good news was that whatever it was had fallen in the opposite direction and not on me. The bad news was that it was now in shmittens and scattered all over the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3064c2ca5e47202580e5656484d08dad""What the hell?!" I hear a voice behind me and still lying on the floor where I fell, I swing my head around to see where it came from. I fail to spot anything in the darkness except the outlines of a shadow that looked like a person getting closer. I spin my head back around to look at the doorway where the greasy old man was standing but where he stood before, was just thin air now. Realizing this was probably my only chance of escape, I clamber to my feet awkwardly and try to run out when a pair of strong hands grab me./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="41a4647c755596eef4d9a2c8faade688""Oh no, you don't." says a male voice, pinning my arms behind my back, as I continued struggling./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d383c965d1a79c0b15b5094fb649ea0c""Oww!" I cried out in pain. "Let me go!" I shout, desperately trying to break free./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f760d50fd39df022ac64ef0c03d2e160""Be quiet!" shouted the voice behind me as another approaches us and sees the ground where millions of little pieces are scattered around. "Damn it, she's broken the Statue of Venus!" shouted the angry voice pointing at the remains of what I guessed was a statue. The man behind me tightens his grip on my arms as he says, "You're gonna have to pay for that, kid."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5e5bbc9b400b4e4c625819aefa121175""P-Pay!? Bu-"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="153a96b0c2dfdfaa78e16186f6705e25""Idiot! Does she look like someone who could pay for that kinda of thing, you moron!?" shouts a third man. All three stare at me for a while before the second man to approach the scene spoke. "Well, then there's only one thing for it." He nods to the man behind me and who then drags me towards something that I can only identify as a giant bird cage./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="04ce8fef47f1bca551f3891b0bc8996c"I begin to shout in a mix of English and Japanese as the third man searches my pockets and pulls out ID card. He takes a look at it as the man behind me puts his hand over my mouth. "Be quiet." he hisses in my ear but I don't listen and keep shouting. "Maybe she needs a little persuasion." says that second man with a scary look on his face when I hear the sound of a gun cocking and feel something cold and hard pressed against my back. I don't need to turn around to know what it was and immediately go quiet. "That's better." says the second man, smirking at me while the third guy pays no attention to us as he tries to translate the English on my identity card./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="84991937eeee8ff3b9ba13a94455066d""British, 24 years old ..." he translates,".. she'll do." he continues after a short pause. Looking up from my ID card he looks at the two other men and speaks. "Right, it's decided then. We'll auction her off her instead of the statue."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e3ee6f4f9dde1a5675d213655d03ea78""WHAT-!?" I begin to shout when I feel a jab in my back and go meek once again. Just then, I'm shoved inside the bird cage which is lifted onto a trolley and is wheeled by the men towards god knows what. Every single nerve inside me is screaming to shout for help but I bite down on my lip, knowing that the man with the gun couldn't be too far away and it was just too much of a risk./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e56875f5be20ef8825bc8ca4d60751e2"I hear a few hushed voices speaking around me on the outside of the cage and feel myself moving again for a short while before the moving comes to a stop. I hear a few voices speaking in god know how many languages but almost all of it is drowned out by the hammering of my heart./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4af92994e6c67f6f74f58f21e5af83f6""Ladies and Gentleman, our last item up for auction for the first time ever, is a healthy twenty-four year old woman!" said a booming voice as the curtains in front of me lifted up, revealing a large audience of masked men and women. All I could do was to bite my tongue harder so that I wouldn't scream for help and watch, wide-eyed as my knees buckled underneath me and I dropped down on to the cage floor./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0ec74bc896318280fc5d7dcbf18bdd9f""Keep her as your pet, keep her as your toy, whatever you want! Without any further ago, ladies and gentleman, let's start the bidding!" he shouted. "I have $500,000 from seat #5! I have $1 million from seat #34!" he continued and before I knew it, the numbers started rolling off his tongue like a water fall. It was much too fast for me to translate to English in my panicked state but I was pretty sure I'd heard the word 'million' too many times than I wanted to by now./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="641bd05843d360c02ae9cde223f0cd0b""I have $5 million from seat #5! Are there any more bids!? Going once, going twice..."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="36f5fe11bc9a3a6e2587d383ea193346"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Not even a mask can hide that disgusting man's face. /emI think, staring in horror at the sleazy man./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="334c1d2a23791de6214b41a099d84b05""Whoa, hold up, folks! The bid goes up by a landslide to $50 millionem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emfrom seat #100 in the balcony!" shouts the auctioneer and I hear a few gasps from the audience. Well more than a few gasps, practically everyone is staring at the balcony where the auctioneer is looking at. Everyone including myself./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="cbd6664df49f64eb8b65772f7cd6d627""Going once ... !"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5ba392ab132c8663793e732e0048a5ec"he says, but it's silence throughout. No-one offers a higher price./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="faded95a643a6c14fa59fcd5788e8501""Going twice ... !"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0cbef35016baa766f49e79aa3b51a15c"Again it's silence. Not even that revolting creep seems to be willing to go above that./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="80227bc65bca8ad9c3eb7c575237b8f9""And sold to bidder #100 for fifty million dollars!" shouts the auctioneer. "Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for coming. Winning bidders, please go back stage to collect your prizes." he continues, ending the auctions as I am carried off back stage by the same men who put me in here./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="82d2482e2569c9174f3d0d1901f0346b"At this point, I'm not even really sure if I should be worrying about who just bought me or the fact that there was no way I could ever pay them back. Even if I did manage to get a job as a doctor and then worked my whole lifetime, $50 million didn't necessarily seem like the sort of price I could ever even think about paying off./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8869ddaa4f1c2e3686446d7ade32e08f"Ever./p