Prologue
Time had lost all meaning.
Days could have passed, weeks, months, maybe years, but he couldn't remember, he'd lost count of time so long ago that it no longer mattered to him.
He remembered a tree, a large oak tree, that stood towering over him and held in it's strong branches a club house where he would escape from time to time to enjoy the quietness that would surround him and the safety those strong branches offered him when he would climb up the thick wood he had nailed to it's tall frame and escape into the four wooden walls and rickety platform he had been so proud of when he had built it all on his own.
He could vaguely remember the smell of the roses that grew all around his home, the ones his mother worked so hard planting and carefully cared for everyday, nurturing them and loving them, encouraging each and everyone to grow, much in the way she had done with him.
They were happy together, just him and his mother, till HE came along. He knew the day his mother brought the man home to meet him that his happiness was over, things would change. He saw the evil behind the dark brown eyes, and when he smiled those same eyes would narrow with a warning directed only to him, telling him that time for him was ticking.
He remembered the day his mother married the man, making him his stepfather, and he remembered the day his stepfather began to beat him. At first it wasn't much, a few slaps here and there when he was angry, but those slaps turned to beatings, and those beating were happening everyday. He was 17 and he took it like a man, knowing that as long as those beatings were directed toward him, his mother would be safe, and as long as his mother was safe that was all that mattered.
The memory that haunted him the most, his last memory, was the night that everything took a turn for the worst, that night everything changed. He had stayed out late with some friends, too late, and he had missed his curfew by an hour and tried to sneak into the door without waking anyone. He had almost made it, was so close to reaching the top of the stairs, when the board creaked beneath his feet waking his stepfather, causing him to get out of bed in search of the source of the noise.
His stepfather was angry, more angry than he had ever seen him, and he remembered every blow that was given to him along with the blood that ran from the corner of his mouth and his nose, covering the front of his shirt. His mother tried to run to his rescue, begged his stepfather to let him be, but the angry man turned on his mother and the minute he heard the slap across her face he was filled with his own anger, and turned to grab the closest thing he could get his hands on.
To this day he couldn't remember what that object had been, but the years of beatings he had received from his stepfather swirled around in his mind and he returned each hit one right after the other, unleashing his anger, till the man laid at his feet, motionless, and covered in blood.
Something snapped in him that day, and he was never the same again, at least, that is what had been determined in the courts when they tried to sentence him with murder, and he was turned over to the mental ward being declared mentally unstable, and was locked away in a padded room for days the he couldn't even count, until the day a doctor came, swearing he was going to help him.
The room surrounding him was damp and cold and a single 40 watt light bulb swung from a long string coming from the ceiling creating just enough light to allow him to see his surroundings. A room that he had become so accustomed to, that no light at all was needed for him to be able to point out what was around him.
A cot sat against the back wall directly across from the door, covered with a thin blanket that barely kept him warm at night, and a metal toilet sat in the corner along the same wall as the door with a small sink just to the left of it from which was his only source of bathing and drinking.
This room was his home, had been his home for God knew how long, and it was this room where they tortured him and made him their guinea pig and performed every experiment possible on him.
The rattling of the padlock echoed through the room, indicating to him that they were there, that the time had come once again for the tortures to begin, and he climbed onto the bed pulling his knees up against him and wrapped his arms around them as his body rocked back and forth. This was the position he assumed whenever they entered, and this was the position he wished for whenever they left.
Chapter One
Emily sat in the hard wooden chair pulling her left leg up across her knee and pulled off her high heel shoe, rubbing at her tired, sore foot. The night was just begining and already she felt too tired to continue. The past few years had been a whirl wind for her and sometimes it was hard for her to believe everything that had occurred.
Growing up it had just been her and her father who had been an abusive alcoholic. Her mother gave birth to her at 16 and shortly after Emily was born her mother ran away, leaving her with her father to raise on his own. He reminded her daily what a mistake she was and some days his verbal abuse was too much to take, however, she was able to handle the verbal better than the physical abuse that stared when she reached her teens.
School had been another problem for her, seeing that her father spent all his money on liquor, she didn't have much, and the other kids made fun of her with her worn out clothes and shoes that barely had soles left to the bottom of them. She hated school, hated the kids for what they did to her, and most of the time she ended up hiding out behind her house instead of attending classes, that was, till she met him.
He was handsome, the star quarterback player on the football team, and he was in love with her. She never could understand why, why he would love someone like her, but he did, and she loved him back unconditionally and never missed spending one day with him. They were going to be together forever, until that dreadful night occurred, and she ran, just as he had instructed her to do, and never looked back.
She was only 16 when it happened and she was scared to death, but she took what few clothes she could manage to shove into a backpack and hit the streets hitchhiking till she ended up in Hollywood, home of the bright lights, big city, and millionaires. To this day, not a day went by that she didn't think of him or wonder how he was doing, but she knew those were questions that would always go unanswered. Too many things had occurred and she could never go back to find him.
She had spent a few years living on the streets under the bright lights of the city, and it was on those streets that she met a girl not much older than herself named Nikki. Nikki had allowed her to move into her small one bedroom apartment with her and got her a job at Dazzled, a swanky little strip club she stripped in, as a waitress. Emilys uniform, of too short tight black shorts and hot pink mid drift tank top, didn't leave much to the imagination, but she was dressed and didn't have to perform as a stripper and that was all that mattered.
The money she made there was good, and the clientele, for the most part, was upper class, that much she couldn't complain about, but Emily wanted something better, and she was afraid her something better wasn't going to be found inside that club, but she continued on, every night, serving drinks to horny drunk men, and pocketed her tips, saving every penny she made.
"Get yourself together Emily. You're working VIP lounge tonight and we've got some very special guest who rented out the room. They have already begun to arrive."
She sighed, slipping her heel back onto her foot, and stood from the chair pulling at the bottom of her shirt as she looked up to the 6'2" tall, 350 pound black man who stood towering over her. Marty could be intimidating at times, but underneath those tough scarry looks he was nothing but a big teddy bear and Emily knew she was lucky to have him as a boss. He always kept his eye on "his girls" as he called them, and made sure that none of the clientele got too carried away with their groping. She was sure that Marty would never let any harm come to any of them.
"So tell me Mart, who do I get to tease tonight?"
He laughed, slipping his arm around her shoulder, and led her down the smokey hallway to a large black door labeled VIP. Marty was very careful about who he rented the room out to and knew that the men who were allowed behind those closed door tipped very well.
Emily had become his favorite the instant he hired her, and her shy, yet spunky personality along with her long brunette hair, small frame, and big blue eyes made her a favorite to the regulars as well. Marty always let her work the VIP rooms knowing she could use the extra money and hoping secretly that she could get away from the club and make a better future for herself.
She was a bright girl, and with a GHD and a shove in the right direction she could really become something big.
"Some big time lawyers and their doctor friends, you might recognise them from the papers and tv when you see them. They are celebrating some achievement in an experiment they were doing. I got Bobby sitting in the back corner watching over you, but be careful, you know these men get carried away sometimes. If you need me, just scream."
She nodded and took a deep breath looking up to him with a smile as he gave her a light squeeze and reached turning the door handle, shoving the door open for her.
"Remember, I'm just a scream away."
She laughed and stepped into the soft lit room, closing the door behind her.
*******
The room was quite large with plush purple velvet couches lining the walls and the plum carpeting and plum painted walls made the room seem darker than it actually was. A private bar sat just to the left as you walked through the door and directly in the center of the room was a small platform with a pole running from floor to ceiling, allowing the guest their own private dancer should they request.
Ten men had already filled the room when she stepped inside and she looked to each one of them, recognising three of them instantly.
Lance Bass was a top lawyer and well known for winning top cases all around the world. He mostly handled cases for the rich and famous, but he had been known on occasion to handle smaller cases of the common folk. He was liked by all who knew him. Christopher Kirkpatrick was another one she had seen on tv. He was a doctor, internal doctor, but could handle anything from the common cold to plastic surgery, and had also been known for dipping his hand into experimental drugs with Joey Fatone, who also stood in that very room. Joey was a scientist who had been recognised for discovering medicine that cured diseases that were otherwise known as incurable.
All three men were wealthy, very wealthy, and Emily could only hope that the tips she received tonight would help her checking account out a lot. The other men she didn't recognise, but assumed they were colleagues of the three men, for they looked to be well off as well, but she pushed her guessing aside and made her way through the small crowd with her fake smile plastered to her face and introduced herself to the men, fixing their drink orders when requested.
*********
Lance watched her from a distance and couldn't help but smile at the way she was able to work a room. She was graceful when she moved, and the smile never left her face, not even when one of the men got brave enough to grope her in places they never should have been reaching for.
She had a light shyness about her, but she never failed to falter in a conversation when one was struck up with her. He had been watching her for a few weeks now, and had called ahead requesting her as their waitress for the night.
He reached for the papers shoved deep inside his suit pocket and pulled them out, letting his eyes scan over the words one last time. With one signature all his plans would fall into place and his troubles from the past five years would be over. Convincing her wouldn't be tough....keeping her would.
