If you want to read my excuse on why I haven't updated earlier, please go to my new blog. The link is now in my profile.

She didn't know how long she had been sat there. It could have been hours, days, even months. She kept trying to convince herself she would wake up at any minute but the painful hunger, thirst and fear made sure that she remained in reality. John hadn't came to check up on her since she first arrived, at least she could be thankful for that. The many crumbling holes let the cold air pass through and hit her thin body, reminding her that the outside world was only a few feet away. Freedom was on the other side.

A creak of a door made her startle. Then she heard the sound of heavy footsteps, three sets. Quiet voices joined them and Yumi trembled, knowing exactly what was going to happen.

John cleared his throat, "So here she is." He gestured to Yumi.

She looked up and saw his face and two that were unknown to her. One was tall, heavily muscled with short black hair and almost as dark eyes. The other was shorter, thinner and covered in tattoos. They all wore a sly smile, making Yumi feel sick inside.

The tall one nodded, "You were right," he stood closer to Yumi and reached out, cupping her chin. Yumi tried to flinch away but he held a strong grip, "she is a beauty. How much did you say again?"

The shorter one came forward as well, hovering above her, "As it's both of us, will that make a difference to her price?"

John gave a short laugh, "Don't worry about that, we'll sort out the money after," he stared down at Yumi, "I don't want you gentlemen to pay good money for something that doesn't live up to you expectations."

The two men glanced at each other, then at John, nodding.

"Come on then," John grabbed Yumi by her arm, harshly pulling her up from the floor, "You two lead the way to the room I showed you earlier."

Yumi wanted to pull away, try to fight but she knew it was no use. No matter how hard she tried, they would be to strong for her, they always were. John dragged her out of the dark room and up a wooden staircase to fast for her to take a look around. The two men went through an open door and Yumi felt herself being pushed inside it and straight onto a bed. She looked up at the three men and felt tears building at their expressions. John mumbled something to them and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

The tall man instructed the shorter one to make sure she didn't try and attempt anything, then proceeded to start to undress. When he was finished, it was the turn of the shorter man to undress but this time the taller one came over to her and started to take of her clothes, kissing her bare skin that was slowly being uncovered. Yumi closed her eyes tight, silent tears falling down her cheeks. Her thoughts turned to Ulrich, how much she wanted him to come running through that door, throw the men off of her and wrap her in his strong arms. But he didn't come.

Ulrich paced up and down his bedroom, wishing there was something he could do to try and find Yumi. It had been almost two days since Yumi had gone missing and the police telling him that there was nothing he could do but wait, that they would contact him if they found out anything. It was killing him. He wanted to run out there, call her name and by some miracle, hear her beautiful voice call his back. But he knew that the disappointment of not hearing her would hurt him even more. All he could do was stay where he was and pray that he would get a call saying that they had found her, that she was safe.

Odd, Jeremy and Aelita were all sat in his room. Odd and Aelita had wrapped their arms around each other, neither could begin to imagine how they would feel if either were missing. Jeremy had placed himself on Ulrich's desk chair, trying to find something to say to Ulrich, anything to make his friend feel better.

It was Aelita who broke the silence, "She's a strong girl, Ulrich."

Ulrich turned slowly to look at her, "what?"

"I know we didn't know her as well as you did but she's strong. A lot stronger than anyone I know. To go through all that and come out the other side, I don't know if I could do that," she took a deep breath, "they'll find her. And if he did take her," Ulrich winced, trying not to imagine what was happening to her if he did have her, "it'll be hard for her recover, but she will."

Ulrich gave her a small smile, the first in two days, "I know she is." He felt tears beginning to form just thinking about her.

Odd looked at his best friend in worry, "If you want to be left alone, we'll understand." he said softly,

Ulrich gave a slight nod, "Yeah, I need to think."

The others nodded and stood up, walking to the door. After they all said a quiet goodbye and left his room, Ulrich walked over to his bed and fell down onto it in tears. He wanted to save her, to bring her home, to just hold her in his arms and know she was safe.

Yumi lay there, bruised physically and emotionally. After they finished with her, they just left her there, bare and alone. She made out the faint conversation downstairs between them and John, and winced as she heard them agree on a figure. Is that was she was now? Just a way to make a bit of extra money? She felt worthless, dirty and disgusted with herself. All she wanted was to have a better life and she found that, now it had all been ripped away from under her feet, taking her back to square one. A place that was too real.

She felt her eyes start to close due to exhaustion. All of her energy was taken away from her and her body craved sleep. As she felt herself slip into unconsciousness, she heard the bedroom door open and John's voice filled the air.

"You'll need all the rest you can get for the next few days, Yumi. You're going make me a lot of money."