Chapter 7

I woke up the next morning and got dressed. It was time to pick up the package.

“Let’s head out.” Kana said.

We left the apartment and rode the elevator down to the street. We took the metro across town and arrived at the location Wakako had specified. It was an empty lot and a car was sitting in the middle.

“This is the right place?” Kana asked.

“Apparently. It looks like a car is running. Maybe someone’s in it.”

“Be careful.”

“I always am.” I put my hand on my gun.

“Uh huh,” She said and crossed her arms.

I stepped towards the car and saw a figure sitting in the front seat. I tapped on the window and the door opened. A man in a business suit stepped out.

“You must be the delivery boy,” He said.

“That’s me.”

“Here’s the keys. You never saw me.” He tossed the keys at me and walked off.

“Alright, then.” I said and got into the car.

Kana walked up after the man left and got into the passenger seat.

“We good?” She asked.

“I think so. Keys, a car, a destination. Looks like we have everything.”

“So let’s go.”

I put the car in gear and we headed out.

“I could play some music if you want,” I said we our journey started

“No. No, no. No music. You’ll just sing along and make a fool of yourself.”

“That’s hurtful. I’m a great singer.”

“Right, sure you are. And I’m a corpo bitch.” She laughed.

We drove for another 20 minutes before reaching our destination. Rocky Ridge was a ghost town. There was an abandoned gas station, an old church and a few other buildings. The street was empty and the whole place had an eerie feel to it.

“I can see why no one wants to live here. It’s in the middle of nowhere.” Kana said.

“And it looks abandoned. I wonder who owns the land.”

“Who cares, let’s just drop off the package and get out of here.”

“We can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I have to hold the package until morning.”

“What? You mean we’re gonna have to spend the night in this creepy ass town?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Ugh, fine.” Kana rolled her eyes.

“There’s a motel, maybe we can rent a room.”

“Sure, I’m sure the people that own the place would just love to have us in their motel.”

“Only one way to find out.”

“Let’s just hope they don’t shoot us on sight.” She muttered.

We pulled up in front of the motel and parked the car. The building was old and run down, the paint was chipping and the sign above the entrance was barely legible.

“Looks like it’s seen better days. Not much better though,” Kana said.

“Looks can be deceiving. Let’s see if we can rent a room.”

We got out of the car and walked up to the entrance. The door was open and we stepped inside. The lobby was dark and the lights were dim. There was no one around.

“Hello?” I called out.

There was no response.

“Hello? Is anyone here?”

There was still no response.

“This place gives me the creeps.” Kana said.

“Well if no one is here I’ll just grab some keys from behind the desk.”

I walked behind the counter and looked around. There were a few sets of keys hanging on a rack, most keys were missing though.

“Bingo.” I grabbed a set and examined the tags.

“Which room is it?” Kana asked.

“Uh, Room 3.”

“Let’s go.”

We left the lobby and walked down the hall to Room 3. I unlocked the door and we stepped inside.

The room was small and dark. There was a small washroom, a bed, and a dresser, and not much else.

“Wow, this place is a dump.” Kana said.

“Yup. Let’s get the package and bring it inside.”

“Why do we have to bring it inside? It’s safe, locked in the trunk.”

“I don’t know. I’m just doing what Wakako told me.”

“Fine.” She sighed.

We left the room and walked through the empty lobby back to the car. I popped the trunk and lifted the lid.

“Holy shit it’s a girl.” Kana gasped.

I looked inside and there was a naked girl tied up with a gag in her mouth.

“Oh my god.” I said.

The girl’s eyes widened as she saw us. She started struggling and making muffled noises.

“Shit, what do we do?” Kana asked.

“We get her out.”

I reached in and lifted her up with one arm under her head and the other under her legs. She struggled but I held on so she wouldn’t fall. I carried her into the motel room and set her down on the bed.

“Let’s untie her.” Kana said and began working on the rope.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Mmm, Mmm, Mm, Mmm!”

“Oh right, the gag.” I removed the gag and she immediately started screaming.

“Help! Help! Somebody help me!”

“Calm down. We’re not gonna hurt you.” Kana said.

“Let me go! I’m gonna keep screaming for help!”

“You can scream all you want, but there’s no one here but us.” I said.

“Oh my god. What are you gonna do to me?”

“We’re not gonna hurt you. We just found you tied up in the trunk of the car.”

“What? Why would you tie me up and lock me in the trunk of the car?”

“We didn’t. We were delivering the package. We thought the package was some kind of drugs or weapons. Not a human.” I said as I leaned against the wall.

“What’s your name?” Kana asked.

“Lily. My name is Lily.”

“Okay, Lily. Do you know why you were in the trunk of that car?”

“No. All I remember is being raped. I was kept in a room and fucked by different men 24 hours a day. I wasn’t allowed to sleep. Barely allowed to eat. I was so fucking hungry and thirsty. I was only given food and water after they came. I was their sex toy. A piece of flesh to use as they pleased. I wanted to fight back. But if I fought, I was punished. I was beaten. Raped harder. Tied up and starved. For weeks I was tortured. The men were animals. Fucking me, fucking me. Every orifice. Every hole. They didn’t care. They didn’t care if I lived or died. And then one day I was drugged. I don’t know what it was, but I woke up in that car. With no memory of how I got there. I remember the trunk opening and you two standing there. Then the next thing I knew, I was here. You guys are gonna fuck me, right? Just like those men. Fuck me. Use me. I’m a piece of meat. I’m nothing. Please, please don’t rape me.”

“We’re not going to rape you. We’re gonna help you. I promise.” Kana said and put her hand on Lily’s shoulder.

“Sounds like you were sold to human traffickers.” I said.

“What?” Lily asked, confused.

“They’re selling you, Lily.”

“Selling me? I can’t be sold. I’m not an object.”

“No, you’re not.” I tried to calm her.

“I can’t be sold. I have a life. My life.”

“It’s okay, Lily. You’re safe now.” Kana said.

“Safe?”

“We’re not gonna let anything happen to you.”

“Oh god. Oh god. I was gonna be sold. To who? Where? Oh god.”

“Lily, it’s okay.” Kana tried to calm her down.

“No, it’s not. I was kidnapped and I was gonna be sold. My body was used for weeks and now I’ll be sold off and used again.”

“Lily, calm down. Take deep breaths.”

“Oh god. What am I gonna do? Where do I go? I can’t go home. My family is dead. I have no friends. Oh god.”

“Lily, Lily. You’re not alone.”

“No, no, no. I’m all alone. I have no one.”

“We’ll help you.”

“How? How can you help me?”

“Let me make a call,” I chimed in.

I walked into the hall and called Wakako on the holo.

“Yes, Cell?” Wakako answered.

“Wakako, this is the package? The girl.”

“Yes, she is. Did you not read the instructions?”

“There were no instructions. You just gave me the location of a car.”

“I gave you instructions on the holo. Did you not read them?”

“No. You just said pick up the package at the location and wait in Rocky Ridge until morning.”

“I’m sorry. That’s my mistake.”

“Wakako, the package is a girl.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

“Yes, of course. You were supposed to get her out of the trunk and keep her safe overnight. She is the package.”

“What? Why didn’t you just say that?”

“I thought it was clear.”

“Well it wasn’t.”

“My mistake. But I need you to continue with the delivery.”

“The delivery? The girl is in bad shape.”

“She’ll be fine. Take her to the client. Then you can come back to Night City and await your payment.”

“What about her? Who’s gonna take care of her?”

“The client will take care of her. She’s been paid for. She’ll be fine.”

“Wakako, I can’t just give a girl to a complete stranger. I don’t know the client. The client doesn’t even know the girl.”

There was a pause before Wakako spoke.

“Cell. This is how things work normally. I give you the gig. You choose to take the gig. You complete the gig--”

“Wakako, it’s a scared girl.” I cut her off.

“Let me finish.” She cleared her throat. “Typically I am the in between for a client to a merc. You two are never to meet. You don’t know them, they don’t know you.”

“Wakako, the girl has been raped. She has no home, no family, no friends. You’re telling me to deliver her to some stranger and just leave her?”

“It’s not a stranger.”

“Who is it then?”

“The client is her Aunt from Atlanta. Her aunt hired me to locate her. Lily was taken from a club while she was drunk. Her aunt is a wealthy woman and was desperate to get her niece back. She contacted me and I located her. Lily is not being sold off randomly. She has been bought by her family.”

“And the Aunt is the one that’s paying me?”

“Paying me to pay you, Yes. You were hired to transport her safely and you have. Her aunt has paid for you to drive her the rest of the way and bring her niece to her. I trust you can do that.”

“So that’s it?”

“That’s it. If you ever bring up that I reveal information about a client, our relationship will change drastically.”

“Wakako--”

“Are we clear?” She interrupted.

“Yeah. Clear.”

I hung up the call and walked into the doorway of the motel room.

“What did she say?” Kana asked.

“Let’s talk in the hall.” I motioned for Kana to follow.

We stepped into the hallway and I closed the door.

“What the fuck, Cell.” Kana said.

“Apparently the girl is the package. I was hired to transport her to her Aunt.”

“And Wakako is just telling us this now?”

“Yeah, she’s not happy about it.”