Prologue

*Whenever I close my eyes, the same scene plays in my mind over and over. But this nightmare never ends.

Waking up is the true nightmare. I am stuck in a series of harrowing encounters. One that will never end.

Lenard’s Den

My name is Piper. As far as I remember, I was a happy-go-lucky twenty-three-year-old working at Lin Corporation, a corporation that does everything from production to sales and deliveries. But one day, because of defending my best friend Sherry from her attacker, I fell into his trap. I was abducted, abused, and broken in cold blood.

I lost count of how many days had passed since they kept me in an icy prison. Perhaps it was thirty. Or it could be forty. I counted days, which turned into months. With everything torn from me, I was lost, broken, and confused. Nobody came for me. It is futile for me to even think of leaving this place.

I, who once had a positive mind and a smiling face. Smooth dark hair that cascaded like waves down my back. Now, I was reduced to a cripple with a mop of unkempt hair. Nobody cared about how I look, and only see me as an object for their enjoyment.

They had crushed my dreams and destroyed me. I could never ever do what I used to do. No martial arts. No dancing. Every movement of my limbs resulted in pain. But that wasn’t all. I knew I had to stay alive. Even if it meant succumbing to their demands and playing a fool. To the point of being taken for a toy, to serve as a master and his lackeys.

Once, I was a silly girl in love. I dreamed of marrying a man who loved me more than he loved himself and bearing him a big family. I told myself I would also be the greatest karate master in Australasia. And now, I could never do that again.

I heard my name being called, and a man turned a key in the door of my cell. My limbs are rigid when the man, a different one this time, brings me a tray of food while hovering over me with a domineering attitude. I direct my gaze away from his arrogant narrow eyes. He had a face that would work extremely well as the main villain of a drama. Knowing he is one of them makes me unable to look at him a minute longer.

“Eat up. You know what will happen if you disobey the words of the Master,” he breathes over me.

I do, and I don’t want to think of it. The Master referred to by the man was no other than the leader of them all. He is the cruellest I had ever seen and was the one to start my ordeal. It was by his orders that they break me and victimise me each day until I submit to him.

He thrusted the tray before me without a single care. I ignored him, looking down at my feet. With my limbs locked in chains and the pain of my disability, there was no way I could have escaped.

“What’s with you? Gone deaf? Or are you seeking your doom?” the man roared. He cracked his whip against the wall of my cell. I flinched as he seized my chin with his left hand and began shoving mouthfuls of rice and vegetables down my throat with the other. The food tasted rancid and I coughed out morsels of food, raining them down on the rough floor.

He was getting angry with my non-confirmation. I felt the urge to break down and cry, but I didn’t allow myself to. As weak as I am right now, I don’t beg.

I heard the thundering of his whip again, but this time, a sharp agony that radiated through my thigh accompanied it. I already lost my ability to fight. I couldn’t let them cripple me further.

I reluctantly swallowed, much to the man’s amusement. He continued pushing the rest of the food into my mouth. As horrible as the food tastes, I would rather have that than for them to flog me like a defenceless animal. My tormentor let out a few vicious laughs. I quivered, clutching my rags closer to my weak body. Finally, he stopped when the plate was empty.

But the man didn’t leave. He looked me up and down, as if inspecting broken goods. I closed my eyes, praying that they would spare me. Since he was probably a newbie and I have never seen him before, I hoped he would not treat me as the past wardens had. Thus, I heaved a sigh of relief when he finally walked away.

I turned out to be wrong. Opening the door of my cage, he announced in a clear voice, “Guys, we’ll have some fun today.”

I heard my own screams. But the men's vicious laughter drowned any sound I made. The noises swirl inside my head, reverberating in loud echoes. But my cries reach no one. No God. No soul. They ignore my tears and cries of pain, binding and gagging me up so that they can have me any way they like. They were like monsters, ripping me apart.

The torture seems endless as they took turns to ravage me heartlessly. Nobody came to my rescue. I was as good as dead.

Ropes cut into my hands, reminding me of my need to survive. In my heart I asked, What have I done to deserve this? Just because I hurt one person, did it warrant this inhumane treatment? I was like them all, a human being, not their enemy. Would they have avenged their sister or family member, had she suffered the same fate?

Their fun was the deepest torture of my life. And years from now, I would come to relive the worst of my nightmares, those memories embedded deep in my soul, with no hope for release.

My eternal prison.

**