AN: Well, we didn't get eight reviews last chapter, only seven, but I figgured that I'd post this next chapter for all the people who are faithfully reading and reviewing. So this chapter is for you, and thank you for your faithfulness! Let's try for eight again, and this time, I'm not posting until I get all of them!

We traveled for hours after the sun went down, since we hadn't started until almost dusk. I slept most of the ride, and the man in the front didn't say anything to me. I did, however, see him turn his head around a couple of times to look at the rags around my wrists. But, I ignored him, and continued to dwell in my own thoughts.

I was awoken from a restless sleep when the wagon bumped to a sudden stop, and the man got out of the front seat. I looked around, blinking my eyes, and trying to make out my surroundings in the inky blackness, but I couldn't see anything further out than ten feet. He climbed into the wagon, and bent low over me, his face right next to my ear as he untied the chain from the wood.

'Welcome home, Desirae.' The way he said it made me shiver in fear, and he said my name with a little too much sweetness on his tongue for my liking. He jerked the chain, indicating that I was to follow, and I was glad for the rags around my wrists, for it stopped the blunt of the jerk.

I followed the man unsteadily, my legs feeling like jelly after laying so awkwardly for so long. I was hurried into a little building, nothing like I was accustomed to. We entered through a kitchen, with a wood floor, iron wood stove, and a wooden table. But we didn't stop here; I was led through a connecting door and into a room, maybe 10 feet by 12. The floor was dirt, and a pile of straw lay in the corner. There was no door, except the one that we had come through, and the small window towards the ceiling did not give much light, so the corners were in shadows.

The man abruptly stopped, and, grabbing my shoulders, swung me around so he was between me and the door. He dug his hand deep into his pocked and emerged with a key. Unlocking my wrists, he pushed me backwards, so I stumbled, trying to catch myself from falling. Without a word he left the little room, and I heard a bolt being slid across the door.

I didn't have any energy left, and I just dropped to the floor where I had been standing. I cradled my wrists, and winced when I touched the bruises on them. I just sat there, not moving, for a long time. But, something startled me out of my little world.

Someone was talking to me. I tried to focus on what they were saying, and I looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. For all I knew I had finally been driven to the brink, and I was now imagining things. But the voice kept talking, in a soothing way, and soon I was able to understand what it was saying.

'Don't be frightened. Your safe. At least for now.'

My attention was drawn to the corners of the room, where, squinting, I could just see the shapes of people. There weren't many, maybe four or five, but I was surprised that I hadn't noticed them. Boy, I must really be out of it. Hardly anything ever escaped my notice.

A girl, the one who had been talking, moved towards me, and I let her take my wrists and examine them.

'May I…' she asked, not waiting for me to answer. She unwrapped my wrists, and started to rebind them with clean fabric.

'I'm Tracy. The others are Meg, Ginny, Anna, and Tina.'

The four other figures emerged from the shadows; two seemed in their mid-to-late twenties, (Meg and Tina), Ginny was no older than fifteen, and Anna was in her late thirties. Tracy looked to be about my age, her red hair chopped short against her neck.

When she finished re-wrapping my wrists, Tracy sat back on her heels and looked at me, as though waiting for me to speak.

Opening my mouth, surprised at how dry it was, I managed to croak, 'Where are we?'

'Hell.'

The voice was Tina's. She had gone to a wall and sat leaning against it.

'Tina.' She was firmly scolded by Anna, and Tracy was the one who answered my question.

'We are in Troy's holding room. This is where he keeps us until he…' but she was cut off by Anna in that same scolding voice she had used with Tina.

'I don't think this is the time, Tracy. Can't you see the poor girl needs some rest? And very probably some food and water, although I can't do anything about that just now.' Anna took my hand and helped draw me to my feet, leading me over to the straw pile. 'We'll let you sleep here tonight, but you are going to have to share with Ginny, because I can't stand to see her sleeping on dirt.'

I let myself be gently but firmly sat down on the makeshift 'bed'. But I knew that I wasn't going to be able to sleep. Not before I found out where I was and what was going to happen to me.

'Please. I want to know what's going on. Who is Troy? And why did he lock us all in this room?'

I saw a look pass between the three older women, and Tracy was the first to speak.

'Troy is a… merchant, in a sense. He buys, or finds, people who no one is going to miss. He takes us to markets and…' she trailed off, but I knew the rest of what she was going to say. Slave trader. I dropped my head into my hands, shaking it in disbelief. How could Adrian have sold me to a slave trader?!

'Now you've done it Tracy. Just look at the poor girl's face. She's gone white as a ghost. There, there dear…' Anna came over and sat with me, rubbing my back soothingly. 'So, tell us about yourself. Let's start off with your name.'

'Desirae.' I didn't offer any more information, and Anna seemed to sense that I wasn't going to.

'Well, Tracy said, I'm Anna. This is my daughter, Ginny. We're originally from up north, but we've been shifted from household to household since she was three. Tina, over there, was brought in by Troy, oh, maybe two months ago?' she looked at Tina for confirmation, but she didn't give any. Shaking her head slightly, she continued. 'Tracy has been with us for a couple of weeks, and Meg was brought in the day before last. Unfortunately, she can't talk, so we're still trying to figure out a way to understand her. But she understands us, don't you dear?' Meg nodded, smiling a little.

Before Anna started talking again, Tracy broke in. 'It's late, you really should try to sleep, Desirae. We haven't slept much either, so we all should get some shut-eye before morning.'

Everyone found a place to curl up, and I lay back on the straw, which was hard and poked roughly into my back. After a while, I heard everyone's breathing grow steady, and Ginny sighed and rolled in her sleep next to me. But I couldn't sleep. I just lay there, thinking and staring up at the wooded ceiling. I thought about Crystal. Was this what had happened to her? Was she sitting in a dark, damp place, with strangers, not knowing what the next day, hours, would bring?

I didn't actually make it to sleep, I just laid there, watching the small light in the window grow brighter, and listening to the sounds of the others sleeping. About the time the sky had turned from a gray to blue, the bar on the other side of the door slid open, and Tony came bursting into the room. Everyone was instantly awake, apparently after enough practice they were used to waking instantly. But he ignored everyone else and came right to me, grabbing me around the wrists, causing shooting pains to run through the swollen bruises. He yanked me after him through the door and after shutting and locking it, he shoved me towards another room towards the back of the house.

Pushing me into the room, causing me to stumble, he said, icily, 'Clean yourself up. You've got ten minutes.'

I looked around and saw a toilet, sink and a mirror in the small room I was now confined in. A new dress (well, shabby, but new compared to what I was wearing) sat on the sinks edge, and a comb and hair ribbon sat on top of it. The very first thing I did was rush to the sink, and turn on the cold water, cupping it in my hands and drinking as much of it as I could. The water felt soothing on my scratchy throat. How long had it been since I had anything to eat or drink?

Next, I scrubbed my face with the water, and unwrapping my wrists, washed the bruises; then my arms and feet. I couldn't do too much about my hair, but wetting it, I used the comb to detangle the utter chaos it had been. I tied it back tightly behind my head in a bun, and used the ribbon to keep it in place. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. It certainly left something to be desired. But my eyes were directed towards something hanging around my neck. The golden chain and red rose petal sat against my pale skin, causing my head to spin. How had I not noticed that it was there? Stupid, stupid, stupid! I couldn't believe that after all the fuss I had put into not wearing it, the thing had slipped out of my mind. I grabbed the clasp and pulled it roughly off of my neck. There was no way I was going to wear that after what that monster had done to me. I flung it across the room, and it landed in the far corner. Turning away from it, still perplexed, I continued to fuss with the dress, a simple maid's outfit, until Tony came loudly back into the room and grabbed me. He stood me to face him, and looked me up and down, as though evaluating whether I had done a good enough job. I hated the way he seemed to appraise me, but I just stood there submissively, eyes downcast, color rushing to my cheeks.

Just when I thought we were about to leave the room, Tony froze, staring at my neck. A look of horror crossed over his face and his eyes clouded over angerly. 'Where is it?' he growled, staring at me with such a look that I just wanted to get as far away from him as I could.

'Wh..what...' I had no clue what he was talking about. Where was what?

'The necklace. Where did you put it?' he seemed to be growing angrier by the minute, and I couldn't stop my eyes from flicking involuntarily towards the corner where the gold lay. He let me go roughly, and stormed over to the corner, bending down to grab the necklace. My mind flashed to the open door, and I took my chance. I didn't think, I just darted for the door, making it through into the kitchen. The outside door stood not even ten feet away. It wasn't completely shut, but it stood pushed just up against the doorway. I raced across the wood floor, reaching the door. My hand was curled around the handle, but an enormous bang shook the walls of the cabin as Tony's hand reached beside my head and slammed it shut. I froze, my hand still on the handle. I was breathing hard and I could feel Tony's body heat just behind me. But he didn't move, or say anything. He just stood there behind me, breathing deeply, his hand resting on the door just beside my head.

We stood this way for an entire minute, neither of us moving. I was petrified with fear; what was he going to do...

I felt him lean closer, and I jumped when I felt his cold mouth moving against my neck. I could feel the tips of his fangs against my skin as he talked.

'Do not, ever, try that again.' His tone was calm and smooth, but I could hear the definite threat in the voice. 'Now, you are going to leave this necklace on. Do you understand me? And if you ever try that again, I will not be as forgiving. Understood?'

I could barely manage a nod. But Tony didn't seem to care whether I answered him or not. I felt the cold of the necklace back around my neck as he put it on, clasping it behind my bare neck. His hand stayed on the back of my neck, gripping painfully, as he led me back to the door into the room with the other girls. Opening it, he shoved me in, and the door was closed and locked behind me as I sank to the floor in despair.