The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a grimy, metal ceiling. The first thing she felt was the cold floor dotted with unforgiving bolt heads, pressing into her thigh. The first thing she smelled was the overwhelming stench of sweat and stale urine. The first thing she heard was the jarring of wheels on gravel.
She opened her eyes fully and slowed her breathing down. She tried to sit up but found that her bruised wrists were chained to the floor. Twisting her head frantically, she realised that she had company. The container was filled with unconscious girls, lying prostrate, dirty on the floor. Their clothes were ragged and their chests were heaving jerkily. She glanced down at her own body and saw a similar picture. She was smeared with grease and caked in dried blood, hiding her burns. Her clothes were hanging off her in tatters and her small, prepubescent breasts were exposed. She contorted her body in a futile attempt to cover herself up and preserve her already breached modesty. She twisted and writhed for a few moments before accepting defeat and relaxing her exhausted muscles.
She allowed her eyes to shut but the blackness quickly caught fire and she was surrounded by a burning blaze. She coughed, choking and unable to breathe, the chilling scream caught in her parched throat, her parents trapped in the inferno. Her eyes snapped open and she returned to the claustrophobic container, soothing her tormented mind by providing her with an environment so at odds with the blazing fury trapped in her dreams. Her mind clouded over and she was lunged once more into interminable blackness.
She did not open her eyes the second time she recovered her senses, but kept still and listened. The clanking of the wheels had been replaced by a much more sinister sound; the grating of a metal door being wrenched open. Light flooded the metal container and drenched the soiled girls in its bathing glow. Alex blinked, her eyes unaccustomed to harsh sunlight after days hiding in an alley. She stretched her back and craned her neck to see what was happening. Other girls had regained consciousness and pitiful wails filled the cage. Nothing appeared in the opened doorway so Alex turned her attention to her fellow captives. The frail girl whose leg was pressed up against Alex's was moaning weakly into her fist. On her other side, two wide, blue eyes were staring at her. Alex squirmed, uncomfortable with the unrelenting scrutiny but was unable to lower her gaze from the determined gaze. She was grateful for the interruption of men entering the container, even though the unsympathetic noise pounded through her head.
They worked their way through the container, unchaining the girls and passing them roughly down to waiting thugs. When they came to her, Alex struggled in their firm grasp, desperate to escape and flee the impending nightmares. But they were too strong for her, and she was thrust into the back of a waiting van along with the rest of the submissive girls. Alex could feel the other girls' breath against her neck and smell the dirt caking their wretched bodies. The cramped quarters in the back of the van was too much for her and the fire overwhelmed her once more.
The first thing she saw when she awoke from her stupor for the third time was a large, overbearing man leering at her. Her body was shivering and, when she let her eyes leave the menacing figure filling her view, she saw that she was completely naked. She froze and tensed all her muscles to stop the shivering. Her eyes returned to the man and a scream finally made its way out of her dry mouth and deafened him. His hand clamped down on her open mouth and quenched the sound. When he was satisfied that she got the message, he straightened up and pulled his clothes off. She watched in horror as he lowered his weight onto her.
