"Life is a mystery, every day is a revelation."

-Kingsley Nwoke

_______

Sampurnaa's pov :

Indrayan left after I promised him. The day was just beginning here in the brothel. I had no idea what I was supposed to do, so I stayed put in the room.
It was around 7.30 that a girl who looked about 20 came into my room. She smiled mildly and asked me to freshen up and changed into a new dress. I was given another Saree to wear; it was a net Saree and had a very deep blouse to go with it. I hesitated but took a shower and then changed. I attached the camera to the gold chain around my neck. It seemed to be a pendant. The camera was hidden underneath my Saree's drape. Then I wore the bracelet-like recorder and hid the earpiece behind my own hair. I activated both.
The girl was still waiting for me.
I looked at her inquisitively.
She spoke in Hindi,
"I am Pritha. I am 16 years old. I have been working here as an escort since I was 12."
My eyes widened at that.
She continued, "You are much older than me. At least you had a childhood. I was sold here as a toddler. I don't remember much of it but I always worked as a house help till I was 10. They started injecting me with something that made me grow bigger. I just grew older in appearance and also physically. I know you thought I would be around 20, hence I am telling you. "

I was at a loss of words. She smiled weakly before getting back her voice and a neutral expression, "Come with me now! There's a lot of work to be done. Firstly, you need to clean your own room. Change the bedsheets, wash the old ones and then sweep and mop the floor. Once you are done with all this, come down to have breakfast. After that, there's more work that is to be done. I shall tell you later. For now, just get going!"

I could hardly manage to nod.
A girl younger than me came and shouted orders at me like I was some low-down house help!
Alas, I had to overlook all that. She must have been through pain so immense, that she lost that little ounce of humanitarian feeling and trust in her.
I simply obliged all that she asked me to do. But I was careful enough to leave the bloodstain on the floor and the broken earring.
I changed the sheets of that sinful bed and washed the old sheets.
My word! Household work is so tiring! Especially on an empty stomach.
It had taken me an entire hour to get all this done. Thankfully, 4 years abroad had gotten me used to doing housework.
.........

I locked the room carefully behind me and then went down trying to find my way to the kitchen.
The kitchen was a heavily cramped room with women of different sizes, ethnicities, and types engrossed either in making food or eating. I could even identify several foreign nationals whose missing reports had been lodged with the police. I myself had run a few of them on the television.

Some younger girls were scrubbing away the scullery. They seemed to be like Pritha.
It was a weird combination of women, yet one common string kept them bound to this hell; forced prostitution and circumstances induced by criminals.

I was given a plate by someone who had similarities to a hostel warden. Devouring the poor fair put together for all the women, I was given the work to clean up the corridor and the rooms on the ground floor.
I had a good opportunity to sneak into Frieda's room and gather evidence of any suspicious or illegal activity.
...

I had succeeded in cleaning 2 rooms and an entire corridor. Two more rooms remained. One of them was where Mr. Sequira and Freida had been in a meeting.

I decided to enter the other room first.
The room was another barely furnished one which seemed to be for the same purpose as the other rooms.
I started mopping the floor.

While mopping, my thoughts started running hither tither.

A Columbia graduate! A qualified journalist! A properly educated woman living here in the disguise of a prostitute!
My parents must have come to know about my decision to be here all alone. I couldn't even imagine the anxiety they must have been going through since the time I last contacted them.

Sigh! Life had to go on like this!

I had mopped a good portion of the room. The bedsheet unlike the other rooms I had been to clean, was used and unchanged.
There was some weird white powdery substance lying on the bed.
I took some on my palm and tried to inspect it. I tried to take in its odor.
It was not some makeup or talcum powder.

This was most definitely some drug!

I decided to brush some of the substance on my clothes so they can be tested later.

I continued cleaning the room when I heard a shrill shriek!
..........

I hurried out into the corridor clueless. One of the girls was crying while sitting on the stairs while Freida was pacing around angrily. The scenario was not one I could decode, so I wait for someone to say something.
Many people had gathered around, but no one spoke up, the atmosphere solemn and eerily silent.

Freida simply exploded on the poor girl who had been weeping,
"How the hell could the three of them escape? I had assigned you the duty of standing on guard. We're you sleeping? Is this what you are here for? "

The girl couldn't even form a clear sentence. She seemed really shaken.

Her words ran into one another, "Ma'am, I was outside the room the entire...hiccup... N...n.... ight.... I... Did... Not... Know... Hiccup! "

Freida seemed unfazed. She caught hold of the girl's hair and held her up while burning holes into her through her gaze,
"You lost me, three new women! You expect me to let you go? Never!!"
She let out a sadistic laugh and then continued, "You, my dear, have a lot of work to do tonight! Get ready to warm a few people's beds tonight! You have to spread your legs for all the customers I've lost! Do you get that? "

The girl collapsed on her knees, holding onto the witch's legs, begging her for mercy.
The other women looked on helplessly!

My hands were tied so I couldn't do anything either, but I had to ensure that the girl remains safe tonight.
Zeenat dragged the weeping girl to a room and locked the door; the others looked on before the crown dissipated, almost like nothing had happened.

How can a woman be so oblivious to another woman's broken and vulnerable state?

We were asked to get back to our own work soon after this.

I returned to the room I was cleaning earlier and decided to change the bedsheets.
While changing them, a sudden thought struck me.

The women who were compelled to live here barely got enough to survive on... How on earth could they afford drugs?
This had to belong to someone with money, influence, and connections.

I decided to do some snooping around.
The first thing I did was enter the washroom. There were used up sachets of drugs and even used syringes in the bin. I quickly adjusted my camera's focus to get a clearer picture of my discovery.
I opened the flush tank of the commode only to find drugs, medicines, and sedatives stored in a waterproof yet transparent wrap.
I heard some noise outside in the bedroom so I hurried out after keeping everything in place.

Someone was taking out clothes from the closet. I pretended to be focused on cleaning the floor while keeping an eye on the man who was in the same room as I was in a brothel.
The man eventually turned to face me and I knew at one glance at his face, he was Mr. Sequira!
He had put on a simple disguise that made his face still unrecognizable.

I hid my shock and surprise and continued mopping the floor and the window sills.
His gaze seemed to be on me but I ignored it.
I simply continued with my work.

"Are you new here?" he asked me in Hindi.

I nodded lowering my gaze. The clothes I had on were exposing me more to him than the clothes I normally wear. But what else would you expect at a brothel?

"You are not as lean as you are supposed to be!" he simply stated not even caring that his comment could offend a woman.

I clenched my jaw and my fists behind my back. How dare he body-shame me!

I nodded again to keep my helpless girl facade on.

"Have you been with any of the men yet? "

I nodded again.

"Tonight, get ready for a group of my friends! I shall speak to Freida of course. And yes, limit the amount of food you eat. I want every girl here to maintain a body fit for men to enjoy themselves with," he said.

I felt my blood boiling. I had an immense urge to wring this man's neck.

How could he speak like this? How could he, an educated and influential businessman who was renowned worldwide for a women's clothing label have such a narrow mind with lowly thinking?
He spoke of women like they were objects!

I had to dig my nails into my palms hard to control my anger. I needed water immediately! Before I burst out.

I nodded again before exiting the room.
I went straight to the kitchen and poured myself some water. I drank the entire glass in one gulp and proceeded to refill it.
After around 3 glasses of water, my breathing was back to normal.

In my rational and reasonable mind now, I realized what the man had said.
He had asked me to be ready for a group of men! He wanted me to warm their beds!
I could feel the tears at the corner of my eyes as the reality of the situation sunk in.

This was an unfeeling place! No one would bother to help me. They were deaf to the helpless cries of mercy and blind to see the vulnerability of a forced woman in captivity.

The men and women were sadistic and barbaric alike!

I had no means of direct communication with anyone! I had limited ways and options to escape.
I had to think of something quick!
...

I had spent a long time in the kitchen pondering over my situation. I had mentally analyzed ways of escaping and ways of communicating with someone.

A girl came and advised me to clean the last room on the ground floor before I got punished or told off by that witch.

I heeded her advice as I needed to move freely if I had to escape.
I made my way to the last room.
This as I had expected was better furnished on with a sofa set, a day bed, a study table with a laptop, and a portable Wi-Fi router. There were files on the study table.

I tiptoed my way to the laptop and contemplated typing an SOS email to someone. But after thinking, I decided against doing something like that.
There was no way I could send for help without being caught if I used digital means. For a building and area with limited internet access and deliberately blocked servers and networks, the cyber team assigned must be very alert and competent.

I cleaned the room for about 10 minutes and then decided to inspect the files on the desk.
I went and picked up one on which Sourire's logo was there (Mr. Sequira's company).
I was going through the contents.
They were lists of customers, with personal details, photographs, and every possible detail had been written!

God! Someone had been spying on customers for some reason! Stalkers had definitely been involved and even social media accounts had been hacked!
The names were not just Indian. There were several people whose names and details suggested they were from Europe and the United States of America.

Some customers had participated in lucky draws and several other contests in malls and Sourire showrooms that had apparently won them a chance to visit India and shoot for a commercial.
This was a big scam we had run into!

Sourire was definitely not just a fashion label. It had a totally different side to it!
Women and customers were trapped and then involved in all rings of prostitution and human trafficking.

This was big.
This was something shocking...

My thoughts were broken by the click of the room's door. Someone was entering!
I dropped the file back on the desk in hurriedness!

I couldn't get back near the bucket of water kept for mopping on time so I pretended to lean over the desk and peeking into the file curiously!

The witch, Freida entered.
She was speaking to someone over the phone in English.
She disconnected the call hurriedly as soon as she saw me.

She called out in Hindi, "You! What are you doing here?"

I lowered my head and replied meekly, "I was just cleaning ma'am."

She looked at me hard, and then enquired a bit specifically, "What are you doing near the files?"

I racked my brains to think of a convincing answer and found one!
"Ma'am, I had learned ABCD... on my own. I wanted to see if I knew any of the alphabet. "

She nodded as if half convinced and instructed me to complete my work quickly and leave.

I resumed cleaning while Freida texted someone. As I was about to exit, someone rapped the door.

...

To be continued...

Who is it?
Who can it be?
Can Sampurnaa escape?
You've gotta keep reading and of course tapping the small star at the end of each chapter.😉 and commenting once in a while of course!

Till next time... 😊😊
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