Beep ... beep ... beep...

Denae’s head hurt so bad that the quiet beeping of the heart monitor was like a droning drill pounding away at her. Her memory was fuzzy, she remembered Hammer holding her like she was on auction.

Except then she had barely thought of herself as Denae, the name hadn’t been a practice a habit, then again her balls didn’t ache like she thought they should have if Snake, the mean and ugly fucker who had introduced himself to her by squeezing them ‘til she passed out had really done the last thing she remembered.

No, that couldn’t be right, she remembered that day, it was fuzzy, like she was walking through a sort of fog. Beep, beep, beep, the monitor sped up and Denae felt her heart race. Nothing was right. She almost never remembered her first days on the street except as a sort of sad reminder that she had become Hammer’s slave for a while, and that had turned her into a prostitute who sold blowjobs on the corner in cheapside.

Beepbeepbeep! Denae’s heart raced. “Easy now Denae,” a kind voice said, man? woman? Denae couldn’t be sure as she realized she was sort of floating in a grey darkness. Not completely dark, but she couldn’t see the person who had spoken to her.

Then the fuzz increased. Drugs! Denae thought, Why am I on drugs and in a hospital? Hammer will be so mad! For a moment the fear of her pimp almost overcame even the dose of whatever had gone into the IV that she was dimly aware of in her arm. But it didn’t. She almost thought she heard Hammer ask, “How long?” before the darkness reached out and enfolded her in tentacled arms.