Tyler

I figured I could pick Mallory up early. She'd been working too hard, and I knew she was doing overtime. I also knew she wasn't getting payed for it. I hung around the bar area, wondering where she was. Girls were offering me drinks and I had to decline, knowing that one sip would make me want more. I wasn't addicted, just stressed out. During the day I worked in the library and I had a lot on my mind. My job was busy work. It wasn't hard, so it gave me a lot of time to think about things. To think about Mallory. She stayed at the apartment during the day, hanging out with Aidan if he didn't have classes. I wasn't worried about those two being together. Aidan knew his limits better than I knew mine.

Angel, one of the strippers, told me Mallory was upstairs talking to her boss. I'd missed her by a few minutes. I was getting antsy, so I said fuck it and ordered a beer. It couldn't hurt. The crowd was getting larger and larger in the club. I stood to let a customer take my seat. Impatient, I killed my beer and set it on the bar. I worked my way through the crowd to find a creaky, red-carpeted staircase. I climbed it, holding onto the railing just in case the floor fell in. I spotted a man at the top. His stomach protruded from his waist, and his hairline was receding. I recognized him as Paul, Mallory's boss—pimp, whatever. We'd discussed him once a few days ago. Mallory described him as an asshole, but the only one who would employ her because of her age. I flagged him down.

"Hey!" I walked towards him. "Have you seen Mallory?"

"Mallory...," he said, pretending to be in deep thought like he didn't know who she was.

"Yeah."

A beat. "She's busy right now."

I groaned. I didn't feel like waiting any longer. "Do you know when she'll be done?" Paul was getting annoyed by my questioning.

"Depends. Her customer could take a while."

Just what I feared- -that she was with a customer. That someone was taking advantage of her, a child. That some man's greasy fingers were touching her soft skin, leaving marks. The hardest part about imagining the scene was knowing that she'd have to pretend to enjoy it, that she'd have to continue to lie to herself. Anger rose inside me. Jealousy, too, was in my thoughts. I clenched my fists. "Where the fuck is she?" I tried to contain my outburst, but it wasn't working.

"I can't tell ya that. Customer confidentiality." He held his hands up. He scooted around me with what tiny room he had in the slim hallway. He left me standing up there while he descended downstairs. I started finding her quickly, banging on the doors that lined the hallway until I heard a response. I heard squeals of other girls, grunts of other men, but none of them were Mallory's.

"God fucking dammit!" I cursed, moving on to the next door. I heard screams, but they weren't of pleasure. They were of fear, pain.

They were Mallory's.

I tried turning the door knob, but it was locked. I jiggled it fiercely, begging it to unlock. It was no use to I lifted my foot up and slammed it against the door. The trimming cracked, and I pushed it open. I was right—it was Mallory. She was sprawled out on the floor with bruises forming on her neck, her hair in a wild, tangled mess. On top of her was a large man. His hands were making his way under her black bra. I lost it, running to kick the man in his side. He fell over, letting Mallory free. She was knocked unconscious. I tried to move her, but the man was quick for his size. He shot up off the ground and I got a clear look at his face. It was the same one from the fight last week. His face somehow was still bruised around the nose and a scab was healing on his face. I must of really got him good.

And I'll do it again.

I attempted to pull my fist back, but he caught it, twisting it. I almost felt my bones crack until his grip loosened when I grabbed his hair and slammed his head on the drywall. I heard a snapping sound; I ignored it, remembering someone more important. I bent down to pick up Mallory. She was skin and bones so it wasn't a feat. She didn't even squirm when she was lifted off of the floor. I instinctively put two fingers to her neck and checked her pulse. She wasn't dead, but she wasn't fine. Not again, I told myself. She couldn't get hurt again. Mallory had no one. I knew what that was like. When I was her age, I was rebellious like her. I got into deep shit. Fights, cigarettes, parties. It all started when I seventeen. She was already heading down the same hill I tumbled down. She was reaching rock bottom. When she did—it was inevitable—she would need someone to soften the blow. I'd be the parachute, there to make sure she landed in the safest manner possible. It was all I could do to pacify the situation.

I brought her out to the hallway, setting her down carefully against a wall. Some of the girls had heard the noise of the fight. Angel, the dark-skinned dancer I was seeing more and more often, ran through the girls who surrounded the unconscious Mallory. "Is the okay?"

"I think she'll be fine. For now." I bent down next to Mallory. Angel soon followed. "Did someone get the manager? That fucker needs to go." I gestured with disgust towards the open door where you could see the man's large form passed out on the floor. I tucked the loose strands of hair behind Mallory's hair to get them out of her face, grazing my thumb on her cheek.

"I- -,"Angel cleared her throat. "We've been told not to tell the boss about any trouble. He said he doesn't wanna hear about it."

"Jesus fucking Christ," I spat. "Why the hell would anyone work here?" I exclaimed. Angel got a solemn look on her face. I apologized swiftly.

"Not a problem. For some of us, it's all we have. It's all she has." Angel took Mallory's limp hand.

"No," I told Angel, looking at the beautiful, broken girl before me. "Not anymore." It felt right to say it. To finally get it out. Mallory didn't have to be alone anymore. She should know that. None of this was her fault, and I'd be the one there who would eventually get her to step out of her rut.

Not anymore, I repeated in my head.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Leave me love!