17 years ago, Jackson, Mississippi.

The looms were making so much noise that they had to shout to hear each other. Rabbit was trying to tell a story, but she could barely hear it over the noise.
She liked being by the machines, much more than in the ink rooms that gave her headaches and dizziness. Her friend was so distracted by her anecdote that she nearly caught her hand in the loom. She wouldn't be the first to lose a couple of fingers in the machine.
But Rogue pulled her hand away before the girl had an accident.

"Watch what you're doing Rabbit," she said in a reproachful tone. "If you stain the fabrics with blood, we'll all pay for it."

Suddenly a hand on her shoulder startled her. The man in charge of the spinning mill, Mr. Preston, nodded for her to follow him. Rogue wiped the grease from her hands on her dress and walked after the man. They made their way to the back door of the building. There, a very elegant man was waiting for them. He wore a hat and frock coat and leaned on a cane. He was an older man, about fifty years old.

"Here's the girl," said the manager, resting his hands on her shoulders.

"She's very pretty, even under all that dirt," said the man taking her chin in one hand and examining her as if she were a horse. " Does she have any parents who would ask about her?"

"She's one of the orphans," Mr. Preston said.

The man moved closer to her, his breath smelled bad, but he disguised it with a very strong perfume.

"Pull your arms away from your body, girl," he told her.

Rogue looked at Mr. Preston who instructed her to do so. The man placed his hands on her waist and touched her without any gentleness.

" She doesn't have any illness, does she?" he asked. The man slid his hands down her body. He touched her arms, her legs, her breasts. She wanted to push him off and run away, but Mr. Preston was a terrible man and it wouldn't be the first time he'd gotten out of hand with one of the girls.

"Does she have a name?" the man asked again once he got tired of groping her.

"We call her Rogue," The manager said stroking her hair. "She's always been a bit of a rebel. You'll have to tame her a bit."

"All right, I'll take her, she looks healthy," said the man. "Here's what we agreed."

He handed Mr. Preston a heavy-looking sack and his manager examined the contents.

"From now on you will live with this widower," he explained, looking at her for the last time, pushing her towards the old man. "You have to do everything he told you to do, okay?"

The man grabbed her hand and Rogue was unable to move. She was terrified, she heard stories of girls disappearing from one day to another. The others said they were sold to make sausages to feed the rich people of the city. She didn't like how that man looked at her. His smile was frightening.

"Come on girl, you're going to like my house," he said in a honeyed voice.

But Rogue didn't move. She didn't want to be separated from Rabbit or the other girls. She didn't want to go with that man. She looked at Mr. Preston with terrified eyes. But all he did was to give her a hard whack on the hand, which made her bleed.

"Obey," he said in an angry voice. "He is your master now."

The man pulled at her and she had no choice but to start walking. She felt two huge tears slide down her cheeks, as that guy dragged her through the streets. No one was looking at them as they passed, no one cared about a dirty little girl from the looms. She was invisible.

"Sir, excuse me, sir," said a female voice behind them.

The elegant man turned around. A very beautiful woman was approaching them. She had red hair and wore a beautiful blue dress, as blue as the sky, with embroidered flowers and a leather belt. A hat covered her head and part of her face.

"Excuse me, sir," she said pulling the parasol away from her eyes. Rogue had never seen eyes like that, they almost looked golden. " I am lost, and a lady shouldn't wander the streets alone. Would you accompany me to fetch my husband?"

"Of course, madam, on my honor as a gentleman I will escort you until you feel safe" the man replied with an awkward smile.

The woman smiled and grabbed him by the arm and they continued walking. She thought it was a good time to escape but the man was pulling her tightly.

" Is this pretty little girl your daughter?" the woman asked, looking at her with curiosity.

"No, my wife wants a white servant, she is an orphan of the looms," the man explained. Rogue didn't know why he was lying, but she felt more afraid than before. "Woman's whims."

The woman in blue smiled, but there was no truth in that smile. She stroked the man's arm and pressed her breasts against his hand. The guy tensed up and was so distracted by the contact with that woman that he didn't realize she was pulling him away from the crowd into an alley. Rogue decided to be very quiet, it was the best way to be safe. Not quite understanding how that guy didn't realize that everything the woman was doing was fake.

" Here we are, I think," said the woman, all trace of mellowness had disappeared in her voice, in her gestures, and in her gaze.

The man pulled away in fright, but before he could realize it the woman held a knife to his throat. It was a quick movement and blood covered everything. The man fell lifeless to the ground and that woman sneered at him before spitting and wiping her knife on the man's pristine shirt.

Rogue's heart was pounding. But she was still incapable of running away.

"Are you all right, Little One?" the woman asked, leaning down in front of her. "Did that man hurt you?"

Rogue shook her head unable to tear her eyes away from the corpse before her. The woman crouched down next to the body and snatched everything she found in his pockets.

"What's your name girl?" she asked coming back next to her.

"Ro... Rogue," she stammered frightened, fearing to meet the same fate as the man.

"I'm Raven, but everyone calls me Mystique," she said with a kind smile. "You're free to go wherever you want now, Rogue," she said.

"Why did you do that?" she asked finally mustering the little courage she had left.

"Because that man was bad, my dear, I saw what happened in the alley with that bastard Preston," Raven explained, placing a hand on her shoulder."You can't trust them, they're going to hurt you every time, dominate you, use you. You have to be faster, smarter, stronger."

Rogue nodded, but she was still terrified. Now she was free, she wouldn't have to go back to the factory, she wouldn't have to obey orders. No one would ever hit her again. But she would never see her friends again. Nor to sleep with them for warmth on cold nights. Nor tell scary stories that made them laugh and be scared. And she began to cry her heart out.

"Don't cry, child, you can go wherever you want or come with me and I'll teach you to take care of yourself," the woman said walking away from the alley. "It's your choice."

She watched Raven walk away from her and perhaps driven by fear, Rogue ran after her.

Now:

They rode through the village entrance when the sun was shining high in the sky. Rogue was exhausted after barely any sleep since Remy had taken her prisoner three days before. She hadn't eaten either and felt weak from the wound in her leg. But at least now she could ride alone. Remy rode by, humming. With a cigarette dangling from his lips. He took off his hat and his tousled brown hair fell over his shoulders. He fanned himself with the hat, it was so hot. He turned his gaze toward her and after staring at her for a long time saying nothing, he pulled on the horse's reins bringing it to a halt.

"Let's pull over and rest," he said jumping off the horse. " I'm hungry."

Remy pulled his stallion closer to a watering trough so he could drink. She got off hers and did the same. Remy stroked the animal's back while taking off the saddle, he was so sweet to the animals. Always making sure they didn't over-exert themselves, whispering soothing words and giving them treats. Not only with horses, but the passion he had for his puppy also was mesmerizing and something inside her said that leaving the dog with the sheriff had broken his heart a little. Remy moved to the Inn's front door and ran his hand over the head of a cat snoozing in the sun. Rogue chuckled and walked behind him.

There was a group of girls sunbathing by the door, wearing their dresses tucked up and showing their legs. Most of them were barefoot and their open necklines made it clear who they were.
They broke out in laughter and cussing. Remy walked over and one of them stood up.

"Hello, sweetheart, I'm on my break but I might make an exception for you," she said running her hand across his chest.

" Sorry, chère, I don't pay for that sort of thing," he replied with a smile as he gently pushed her hand away.

"Too bad," she said sitting back down next to her companions.

"Rogue?" said one of the girls suddenly. "I can't believe it, Rogue, you're alive!".

"Rabbit?"

The woman grinned from ear to ear and the two front teeth lighting up her smile reminded Rogue why they called her by that name.

"I can't believe it, I thought you were dead. So many things were said about you..." Rabbit said placing a hand on her hip. "But you look great, look at you."

Rabbit smiled and she didn't know what to say. Her friend was very thin and her pretty blonde hair looked faded. She had a huge burn on her face, from her ear, and all the way down her cheek.

"Did you kill that old man?" she asked suddenly. "They found him dead in an alley and you disappeared."

"I didn't do anything," she whispered. "Someone saved me that day."

"Oh, wow," Rabbit said and almost sounded disappointed. "It was quite a revolution, they blamed Mr. Preston and took him away from the spinning mill. The new manager never sold another girl. And he never beat us, either."

"I'm so glad, Sugah," Rogue said looking at her friend. "But how ... ?"

Rogue didn't know how to proceed. She couldn't imagine why life had brought her old friend to that town in the middle of nowhere, in that way.

"How did I end up a whore?" Rabbit said brashly. The woman held up her right hand, three fingers missing. "You weren't there to take care of my clumsiness. I was no longer fit to work with the machines and they kicked me out onto the street. And a girl doesn't have much choice." Rabbit smiled, there was a deep sadness in his gaze and Rogue felt her heart break.

"I'm so sorry, Sugah," she replied with sadness.

"Don't worry, are you married?" Rabbit said, blinking briskly to keep the tears from her eyes. He looked at Remy who had been silent all this time. "He seems like a good catch."

"No, he's my...

"Partner," Remy replied taking Rabbit's hand and bowing slightly before her. Her friend burst out laughing.

" Do you treat all hookers like princesses, Sweetie?" said Rabbit looking at her companions who laughed as well.

" I treat people the way they deserve, chère" he replied with a huge grin and winked at her.

" I stand by my offer, cowboy" repeated the girl from before. "And you can treat me like Cleopatra if you want."

"I stand by my principles, but I'll be glad to buy you all lunch, I'm sure you hear a lot of things and I have a few questions," he leaned against the wall of the inn, and pulling out the tobacco pouch he rolled a cigarette, for himself and one for Rabbit. "I'm sure a lot of people pass through this town."

"Boy, tell Dove to kill a lamb!" yelled one of the women to a little boy playing across the street. " Cute cowboy is paying!"

Remy laughed and the women got up from where they were sitting and walked inside the tavern. Rabbit stood next to her and hugged her tightly.

" I'm glad you're okay, Rogue. We all mourned your death," she said warmly. " It's so nice to know that someone took care of you."

" I am so glad to see you again," she whispered clinging tightly to her friend. Trying to hold on to one of the few happy memories of her childhood. The hours she spent with her friends when they could afford to be just girls. Rabbit broke away from her and went with the others.

Rogue stood at the door and didn't realize she was shaking until she felt a hand on her back.

"Are you okay, chère?" asked Remy in barely a whisper. He smiled kindly and something stirred inside her.

"Yes," she replied stepping away from him. "What do you pretend with all this?"

"A bounty hunter has to feed his sources of information," Remy replied and gave her a teasing smirk before tapping her forehead with his fingers. Still laughing, Remy went into the inn and she stood in the doorway. She glanced toward the horses and snorted in frustration before stepping inside herself as well.