"Are you okay?" Lena asks.
"I'm fine." I says, same question same lie every time.
"What's going on in that pretty head of yours?" Stef asks and I can feel her looking at me. I don't know what to say. So I decide to just blurt it out.
"I was involved in human trafficking and prostitution." I say. Both Lena and Stef look shocked.
"You're save now love." Stef says and she put her arm around my shoulder.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Lena asks.
"When I lived on the streets for 2 years and at that time I got into it. After I got bought many times there was a man that bought me. Once he got me, he said he was LAPD. He was. He got me out and asked me if I wanted to go back in. I didn't have any family or anyone that would miss mee so he trained me and I went back in. I helped them get the organisation, well most of it. Emilio, the boss of the organisation, escaped. Steve just told me Emilio has a new organisation. Since Emilio doesn't know I helped the LAPD." Before I could say anything else Stef interrupted.
"No, no. I do not like where this is going. You're not going back in." She says.
"I am, I'm going back in 2 days. They are gonna sell me back. I just have to look at how many people we are dealing with. They will catch them. I- I get it if you don't want me anymore. I'll leave if you want me to." I say quickly. Lena was sitting with her hands massaging her temple and Stef looked shocked.
"We're not sending you back, but you can't do this. It's dangerous." Stef says.
"I'm going to do this." I say more confident than I feel.
Lena turns me around and give me a hug. I'm kind of surprised but then I relax. It's nice having people care about you. I put my hands around her and burry my face in her neck.

The next morning I wake up around 6am and go downstairs to get something to drink since I can't sleep anyways. Tomorrow I'd go back. I sit down at the kitchen table staring into space when Stef walks in. "Good morning." She says with sleepy head.
"I'm sorry did I wake you?" I ask guilty.
"No I can't sleep, I was already awake. I called in a favor last night. They put me on your case, only if you want to of course." Stef says.
"Sure." I say and I give her a smile.
"Can you hand me an apple? I'm starving." she asks me. I get an apple and give it to her. My sleeve pulls up and my scars show. Stef gets my arm and gently runs her fingertips over them. Tears form in my eyes but I blink them away quickly. Stef looks up to me.
I pull back my arm and look outside. I don't want to tell her, I don't want her to think I'm weak or damaged. She comes towards me and places her hands on my shoulders from behind.
'You don't owe anyone, you don't have to do this.' she says. I know she's talking about tomorrow and the organisation. I don't reply. She leaves the room and goes back upstairs. I follow a moment later. Apparently I fell asleep again. At 9 am Mariana wakes up and since I'm a light sleeper, so do I.
'Good morning.' I say.
'Good morning.' she says and she opens her closet. 'I have nothing to wear.' she complains. I look at her closet. It's filled with clothes. In the end she takes out a jeans with a blouse and she leaves to change. I roll myself out of bed and get the first clothes I can see. Not caring so much like Mariana. When I get back she's painting her nails. 'Can I do yours too?' she asks excited. 'Sure' I say. I sit down on her bed. She paints my nails a dark red color. 'How long is your hair?' She asks. I look at her a bit confused. 'Since you got here, you've been wearing a bun.' She explains. 'About.. This length.' I say. I say and I point to where it comes. 'I want that too,' she says. 'How long did it take?' before I can answer we're called downstairs for breakfast.

'Any plans for today?' Lena asks. 'working on some songs I think.' Brandon says.
'Jude and I are going to the beach.' Callie says. Since the rest doesn't say anything I assume they don't have plans.
After breakfast they all go. So I follow and go upstairs. 'Does Brandon make songs?' I ask Mariana who is flipping through magazines. 'Yeah he has a band. If you go to the garage you can check him out.' She says. I go downstairs and go to the garage. He's playing a song. When he is done he looks up. 'Sorry, I just wanted to hear you. Mariana said you're in a band so.' 'it's okay, do you play?' He asks.
'A bit.' I say. He stands up so I can sit down. I start playing a song I know.
'That's good.' he says when I'm done. I spend the morning making music with him until lunch. We all sit down to the kitchen table.
'Did I hear you play?' lena asks me. She's talking about the piano.
'Yeah.'
'She's pretty good.' Brandon says. The whole afternoon I spend in my room with Mariana. She's telling me stories about people I don't know but I'm guessing go to school with her. After diner Lena asks me to stay. The three of us sit down.
'You don't have to do this. I know you want to but you can say no.'
'I'm doing it.'
'Okay, I'll be right here when you get back.' she says and she squeezes my hand. With that she leaves the room.
The next morning everyone is gone to school when I wake up. I decide to dress up for it already. I put on some underwear which hardly covered it up. I take out a red dress with sparkles which is way too short, I steal some makeup from Mariana and I take my high heels. Then I put down my hair and brush it. I don't know why I kept the outfit but I'm glad I did. Otherwise I would have to borrow something. I walk downstairs and into the kitchen. Stef looks up. 'Can you zip me up?' I ask since I couldn't get it. Stef zips me all the way up and then turns me around. She takes my head in between her hands and says. 'It will be okay. I will get you out.' She assures me. I give her a smile and start breakfast as she walks upstairs to get changed. When I'm done she comes back down. Together we go to the precinct. Steve McCarthy and his team have set up everything in a room.
'Ashley, hi'
'Hi' I say back.
'I'm Steve' He says to Stef.
'Stef.' She says and she shakes his hand.
'let's get right into it. Here's the earpiece.' he says and I put it in my ear.
'Here's the microphone.' he gives me an ankle bracelet and I put that on as well. Stef asks why it's an ankle bracelet. I tell her because it's one of the only pieces of jewlery I can keep once I'm in. He explains what were gonna do and how. When it's done a woman starts messing up my hair and making it look like I have been with him for a few years.
I say bye to Stef and Steve drives me to a parking lot.
'Ready?'
'Yeah.' I say and I get out. I don't have to fake being scared. That feeling was genuine. Steve grabs me by my arm. I know he had to do it to make it seem real. He gets a briefcase and Emilio gets me. There was no turning back now. He puts me in the back of the van and drives off. When we stop he forces me out. We walking into a building and I see some girls on the ground in cages.
He puts me in a cage with 2 others.
'Ashley?' I hear a voice behind me.
'Kim?' I hug her tightly. 'How long have you been here?'
'I never left. What about you. We didn't see you so we thought you were dead.' .
'Still alive.' I say.
She then notices the ankle bracelet. Before she can say anything a man comes and takes the other girl with her.
'Are you in for them again?' She asks as she nods to the bracelet.
'Yeah.' I admit.
'Can I help?'
'How many girls are there?'
'About 90 I think. There are 50 on the ground floor and 30 in the basement.' She says.
'What about men?'
'Wednesday is the best day. Everyone is here at 9am because they change swifts.'
'We will make a plan for Wednesday. Hang in there.' I hear Steve say in my ear.
The rest of the day is quiet. No one came for any of us. In the evening they shove some food in our cage. I see Kim is hungry and until now had to share her food. 'Take it' I say. She looks at me thankfully.
The next morning they wake us and tell us to get ready for the day. 15 of us are taken upstairs. We stand in a line. 10 men come walking towards us. They look at us, touch us and choose one of us. They choose Kim but not me. The 5 of us who didn't get chosen went back to our cage. Once I knew the men were gone, I asked Steve for an update.
'Ashley? They're not here. They will be back in 5.' I hear Stef say in my ear.
'have you been here all night?' I ask her.
'almost. I went home around 4 am and got back at 7. Steve's coming.'
'Are you okay?' I hear Steve ask.
'I'm fine.' I whisper.
'tomorrow at 9 we will surround and move in. We'll take the ground floor first. Then the basement. After that we will move up to the second floor. Tell us your position every time you move. Okay?'
'Okay.' I say.
Around dinner Kim comes back. I hug her tightly and we sit in silence together. Later on I tell her the plan.
The next morning they wake us at 7am. A muscular man comes towards me and I follow him upstairs. He locks the door and orders me to sit on the bed. He gets some rope and ties me to the bed frame. He walks into the bathroom and turns on the shower. I bring my feet up to my head as far as possible and say. 'I'm on the second floor.'
'Got it. We're right outside the building' I hear Stef say in my ear.
The man comes back. He is still wet and naked. He walks over to me. He places his hand on my cheek. He gets a scarf and puts it in my mouth. He then places a piece of duct tape over it. He runs his hands down my body and pulls up my dress. I try to get away but that is rewarded with a blow in my face.
'Just hang in there love, we're coming in right now.' I hear Stef say in my ear. A few more minutes. I could handle that. I thought. I could hear them coming up but the man on top of me didn't. 'Ashley focus on my voice.' Stef says in my ear. He keeeps going and starts licking my body. 'I know it's hard but hang in there. I'll be right there love.' Stef says. I try to free my hands but it would take some time. Just when he is about to fully undress me the door swings open. Stef comes in and orders the man on his knees. When she wants to cuff him he turns around and she hits the ground. I almost freed my hands. Stef gets up but the man kicks her in the ribs and she falls back down. I free my hands, get the gag out of my mouth and pull my dress down. I walk to the man and he doesn't see me. I get Stef's gun and when he was about to hit Stef again I hit him on his head with the back of the gun. He falls down and I walk over to Stef.
''Are you okay?'' I ask.
''Yeah I'm fine.'' She says as she stands up. Her face shows that she is in pain but I decide not to say anything. Steve comes in.
''We're clear. You okay?'' He asks us.
''I'm good.'' I say. Together we walk out. I see Kim standing outside talking to one of the officers.
''Thank you.'' She says when she hugs me.
''I'm glad you're safe.'' I say.
Stef and I had to give our statements and we both got check out my paramedics. After that we went home.
''I'm sorry.'' I say as we pull up to the driveway.
''You have nothing to be sorry for.'' Stef says.
''You got hurt because of me.''
''I'll be fine.''Staf starts. ''This was not your fault alright? You did good in there.'' She continues when she sees I do not believe her.

Once we're inside all the kids are in the kitchen with Lena. I realize it is already 4am.
''Are you okay?'' Lena asks worried as she give me a hug.
''I'm fine.'' I say and I sit down next to Jesus and Jude. ''Just exhausted.''
''I'm going to take a shower.'' Stef says. She give Lena a kiss and walks upstairs. The kids follow her.
''You can talk about it if you want.'' Lena says as she places a glass of water in front me.
''Nothing really happened. They took me to a building and locked me up until today. This morning I got chosen by a man and I followed him up to a room. Nothing happened. Really.'' I try to assure her.
''Honey did he rape you?'' Lena asks quiet.
''No, Stef came in before he could do anything.''
''Did he hurt you?'' Lena asks nodding to my head.
''He just hit me once, it's nothing. I swear.''
Stef came back down. ''Jesus and Mariana are fighting again. Could you go up? I really can't deal with them now. I'm too tired.'' She asks Lena. Lena leaves and Stef turns towards me.
''You were amazing today.'' She says
''Thank you. For coming in time.'' I say. Tears fill my eyes.
''Come here.'' She says and she hugs me. Tears leave my eyes and I break down.
''It's okay, you're safe.'' She whispers. I realize I finally have people that genuinely care about me. I finally have a home.

A/n: I'm sorry if for the typos, obviously English is not my first language but I'll try my best. If you have any other idea's for stories, feel free to share them. I hope you liked this story! x