"Redheads are lightning – striking, rare and impossible to ignore from thousands of miles away…impossible to ignore…impossible to ignore." My mother's voice kept echoing in my mind as I fade in between consciousness.
The dull pain in my head was almost nonexistent at this point. I fought with all my strength trying to stop myself from slumbering, but yet still I was slipping into an unwelcome sleep.
My weak legs were getting dragged behind me as two pairs of strong hands held me up by the arms and moved with perfect ease; they were definitely used to doing this.
Dragging a 'disobedient' person was definitely in their job description; after all, they were bouncers.
A few minutes later, they came to an abrupt halt, and they released my arms.
With no more strength in my legs, I fell onto the floor, my head banging onto the floor – thankfully it was carpeted and there was less pain.
"I told you not to mess her up!" An ear-piercing shout rang out, causing my already irritated self to wince at the suddenness.
"Yup, that was definitely Madam Carly," I thought before I felt myself slip into slumber once more.
In my foggy state, I heard words like "upstairs…escape again…VIP". It wouldn't take a genius to figure out what she meant.
I felt weightless once more, and I immediately realised what they were up to.
I tried to scream and flail my arms about to no avail as my voice and body refused to listen to me – definitely too exhausted from the day's events and still not healed from these damn bouncers' 'education'.
A short while later, the sweet scent of lavender pervaded my senses, and before I could make sense of it, freezing cold water got poured on me. I could feel soft hands on my body, taking off my already torn and tattered bartender uniform.
A rush of panic washed through me, and my body finally decided to listen to me, pushing the person before me. I heard yelps and a loud scream and then…..a bubbling laughter.
"Relax, there are no men here; they've already left… but they surround this bathhouse," a soft and familiar voice whispered in my ears.
I relaxed a bit only to feel another ball of cold water getting splashed at me.
"Scarlett", I hissed, and another round of giggles filled the room.
"Sorry girl, but you need to wake up; like, you NEED to be alert." Scarlett's voice came from beside me.
She was right; I need to be conscious, and I need to survive this.
I need to run away from this place; I should never have stolen from a club owner… especially one this shady.
But it's not like she'll feel a pinch off it at all, but darn, she does not joke with her money.
I felt a shiver run down my spine when I think back to when I first fell into her hands; unfortunately or rather… fortunately, her biggest VIP has a 'thing' for redheads, which saved my poor life.
A sting bought me out of my thought; I look down at Scarlett and saw her stifle a giggle
"Sorry, girl, but your wound needs to be cleaned," she said after a few seconds.
I gave her a quick smile, thinking of my gruesome appearance; I know that I don't exactly look pleasing to the eye.
Heck, I might even look like hell.
But I can't tell from her face; she still has that soft smile on her face that she always does.
I don't know how she does it, especially since she worked in a place like this.
"I'm done." She spoke up a few minutes later and handed me a towel and shower bag.
"Madam Carly wants you cleaned up," she continued, this time avoiding eye contact as she focused on packing up the medical kit.
I fight back the instinct to throw everything across the room; that'll just get Scarlett into trouble. Instead, I just flash a quick smile and head to the closed-off shower.
I forewent the option of a warm shower and went for freezing cold options instead, making sure that my face didn't get wet.
The freezing cold water ran down my body, and black and reddish dirt followed; in a few minutes, I could finally see the water clean again.
Leaving the shower, I met Scarlett still seated in the same place as earlier.
"Here, take this." She said, handing me what looked like a dress.
"I'm not wearing that," I spoke, finality evident in my voice.
"Anna, Please" She sighed, finally getting up from her seat.
"Put it on; being mindlessly stubborn would only cost you more." She continued.
A flash of something crossed her eyes, but before I could catch it, she was back to normal.
I took the dress and put it on, allowing her to do whatever she wanted with my hair.
"Anna, bid your time, sweetie." She whisper as she was doing the finishing touches
"She's ready," Scarlett called out immediately after, not allowing me to get in another word.
Two very familiar bouncers walked in and literally dragged me out; to say I was pissed was an understatement.
A few short moments later, we arrived at one of the private rooms, and they pushed me in and tied me to the bedpost.
"You could've at least burnt incense in here; it stinks of foul behaviour." My voice came out before I could even process my thoughts.
"Be nice," one of them screamed into my face, as if that would work.
"Please, you couldn't scare a chicken," I spat back, a full smile blooming on my face.
"Dude, Madam Carp doesn't want another scratch on her." The other one spoke out, dragging him outside.
The sound of the doors clicking confirmed that they had indeed locked me in.
I looked around the room, searching for an escape route.
The heap of sheets used in decorating the room caught my attention. "Such fools."
"Why leave so much escape material for me? It's like they wanted me to run away."
I felt my hands behind me and located the tiny dagger Scarlett had placed in my dress.