There are very few things I dislike in life. Fewer are the things I despise. Yet I tend to use the word hate far more than need be and often for the simplest things due to irritation.

However, it's not every day that you wake up with the knowledge that an unknown being is stalking your every move. It's not every day you wake up knowing your life belongs in the hands of others and that you have lost complete control over yourself.

Yes, I have accepted the cataclysmic reality of never returning home. It's a terrible truth, but a truth I have compelled myself to face. Even though I have unwilling accepted such a tormenting reality, I hate the fact that this is what our modern society still deals with.

The trading of human beings.

Technology and science have evolved so drastically over the years, yet our mentality remains the exact same. We speak of peace and equality, yet rage war upon innocents and make sexist remarks against those who outshine, challenge or simply annoy us. The planet we live on is far from perfect. Far from complete.

Evil will always be around, lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce on innocent bystanders. I guess we never truly realize how messed up our world is until the reality of it all is staring us right in our face.

"Vacations over so get done," Steven announces as the door flies open and smacks against the wall. 

I wonder if I'll ever get used to Steven's placid tone... Jess voices and I begin to wonder the same.

I roll out of bed after breaking eye contact with him and placing my breakfast tray aside. I walk over to the closet and grab whatever tank top and shorts my hands come across, not bothering with shoes since I won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

-----

"Why do you want me to call you the man in the wall? That's a tad bit creepy don't you think?" I ask looking up towards the camera.

"Well, what I think is that it fits this situation best."

My eyebrows knit together in confusion and a deep frown causes a powerful wifi signal to appear on my forehead. Mom always scold me whenever I frowned, 'It'll cause you to age faster!' she warned.

"And what situation would that exactly be?"

-----

I walk over to my dresser for some underwear before heading to the bathroom to change. "There's no time to take a shower. Just get changed. We have to go," Steven speaks up.

Yeah, she's pretty aware of that!... Thank you, Jess. Even though he cannot hear you.

I refrain from responding to Steven and simply continue to walk. Once I'm in the bathroom, I slip off my nightwear and change into my provided daywear. I change regardless of the camera being there and Steven being able to see me through the glass panels of the bathroom door.

Those days of insecurities are long gone. Besides, both men have seen me naked before. There's no use in denying it.

-----

"The situation, dear Vivian, where I can see you, but you can't see me."

"Well that much is obvious." I retort while rolling my eyes.

"Then why ask?"

I climb off of the bed and collect the tray of food on the dresser. Then climb onto it again while sitting with my back straight up against the wall, using a pillow behind me for comfort. I decide to ignore his question and replace it with one of my own.

"How come you know my name, but I cannot know yours? It's not like you'll get into trouble or anything." 

"That much isn't true. Trust me," he says rather honestly. Well, as honest as one could possibly sound.

-----

After changing, I leave my nightwear in the corner of the bathroom and urinate first before I leave.

"Finally! Let's go."

I stop mid-way as a certain realization hits me. I didn't brush my hair. The dresser is luckily not far behind me, so I turn around rather gracefully as if I had all the time in the world, then eventually open one of the drawers.

"Oh for fuck sakes! What now!?"

Choosing to ignore Steven's outburst, I run the brush through my tangled hair until each and every strand dances freely on their own. My hair is still a bit damp from last nights shower, but there's nothing I can do about it.

I wish they'd at least give me a hairdryer... I ponder off.

Why yes of course. Cause that makes complete sense! Let's kidnap civilians against their will only to place them in a five-star resort. Honestly Vivian... Okay! Enough Jess, I get it. It's simply a thought.

After freeing my knotted hair from the birds' nest it created, I place the brush back in the drawer and walk out of the room. Steven slams the door shut and grabs my upper arm with an unnecessary force, yet I remain silent.

There are four bodyguards out in the hallway today.

Odd.

I know that Peggy informed me since day one that they'll always be here, it's just that I've never encountered all four at the exact same time before. Without giving me a chance to get a look at all of their faces, Steven pushes me forward and we hastily make our way through the passages.

-----

"Why is that so?" I question after finding myself yet again deeply puzzled. If my suspicions of him are correct, then he cannot get into trouble. There's no possible way.

"I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to speak to you right now." is all he answers.

What on earth is he talking about? Speak to me, don't speak to me. I'm pretty sure he has a choice. In fact, here are 15 other girls. He must be having fun with each and every one of us. There's no possible way that I'm the only one he speaks to.

"Then why are you?" I ask as I plop a few hot chips in my mouth.

I haven't had a chip roll in a really long time and I couldn't be more grateful. Whoever's in charge of choosing our meals deserves a raise. That's if they're even on a payroll.

"Curiosity I presume." I remain silent, hoping he realizes just how bland his response was. 

"I guess I just noticed something different about you and it caught my attention." he continues and honestly his remark catches me by surprise.

"Different? How?"

-----

All the while walking, I can feel Steven's eyes flickering onto my face every few seconds. It's as if something is eating at him to say speak to me, but he cannot bring himself to say it. With a guy like Steven, it's easy to tell when they're bottling up heavy emotions and trying to suppress it.

When we turn into the big room with the little ones inside of it, I notice that there are now bodyguards placed at the steel doors aswell. They really have increased security.

Once we reach the evaluation room, Steven opens the door and all but shoves me inside before slamming the door shut. He seems to have an overly aggressive temper towards the doors today.

"Good morning,  Vivian. Please have a seat," Peggy speaks up and I turn around just in time to catch a side glimpse of her puffy eyes.

She has been crying.

Not knowing what to say, I make my way over to the bed and sit down. Even the word 'good morning' refused to roll off of my tongue. This morning is anything but good. Peggy scrambles about like a tourist searching for directions. She probably doesn't want to see me today. Not that I blame her. I wouldn't want to see me either.

-----

"I've been watching you since the very first day of your arrival."

Okay, you creep, that much I already know.

"At first you resented everything and everyone. You never cooperated, always feisty, you made things difficult for a lot of people here... Now you seem to have accepted this as your new life. Why is that?"

Someone has really been paying an extensive amount of attention towards me. I know that it's his job to, but somehow it still surprises me.

I plop a few more perfectly seasoned hot chips into my mouth before responding to mystery man's question. "Well... Out of all people that go missing, how often do you hear them making their way back home? Hundreds of people disappear on a daily basis, yet only a handful are found in return. Nevermind being found alive."

At first, I saw myself being one of the handfuls. I saw myself opening the front door of my house and leaping into the loving arms of my parents where they'd shelter me from the horrors of the world I had yet to face.

But those three days spent in that horrific room taught me otherwise. I'll always be stuck here. I plop a few more sizzling hot chips into my mouth before putting the tray aside and hopping out of bed. "So let's be honest, what are the chances that I'll be one of the lucky few to actually make it out alive?" I scoff and shake my head at my ridiculous query.

One could only dream to return home and embark a new way of life with sharpened perspectives and greater understandings. Those odds, however, are most certainly not in my favor. I walk over to my closet to collect some pjs. Not that my explanation has ended. I'm just really good at multitasking.

"The thing is, there's nothing special about me. Nothing intriguing or worth drooling over. So, I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I've come to realise that this is the pinnacle point of my existence."

After collecting my pjs and underwear, I head to the bathroom to take a shower. I place my nightwear down on the toilet lid before stripping off my clothing. "From here on it all goes downhill. So either I drown in my sorrows or accept reality and make the most out of what I can. The rest is rather self-explanatory."

"So that's it. You've given up just like that?" he speaks after realizing that my explanation has come to an end.

"I wouldn't exactly call it giving up," I say as I hop into the shower. Not that I've given it thought into so much depth before. It's just that when I take the time to analyze certain situations, my mind always finds a way of breaking it down and giving it perspective.

"Then what exactly would you call it?" he questions.

"I call it moving on."

With that said, I turn to open the shower taps and the water cascades tranquilly over my entire body.

-----

Eventually, Peggy removes my file from one of the drawers and makes her way over to me. I open my mouth to say something, anything to her but close it as soon as her eyes find mine. Her eyes, as gray as thick, prowling clouds in a thunderstorm, possess an unplaced sadness in them that pulls on the strings of my heart.

To see someone so adamant and enlivening so cheerless and glum is agonizing. The shift in emotion and character is so potent that it could even cause a callous barbarian's joyous mood to crumble. "I'm sorry..." I manage to breathe out, but I cannot bring myself to continue staring into her sterling grey eyes. No matter how captivating they are.

"There's no need for an apology Vivian. It's not-" she begins, but knowing what she was going to say, I cut her off. "No, it is. It is my fault. I blamed you for something you had no say in and instead of finding out the truth, I believed my own perception of what was and wasn't true. I should never have listened to him and for that I'm sorry." A single tear runs down her cheek and she hastily brushes it away.

Her posture suddenly changes to that of authority as something clicks in her head. She opens my file and begins with the 'Triple E'. So that's it? She's not going to respond to me. Not going to talk about it any further. We just going to leave it at that?

I stare at her in confusion as she just continues to speak all these medical terms. Or at least they sound like medical terms. I blanked out as soon as she mentioned 'laser treatment'.

Wait, what?!

"Laser treatment?" I question.

"So you haven't been listening this entire time. I mentioned that in the beginning Vivian," she says as she begins to massage her temples. 

Does my presence really annoy her that much?

"I'm sorry. I just can't get past the fact that you won't talk about it. At least yell at me or something." I mumble, hoping she would somehow hear what I'm saying.

"I'm not angry at you Vivian. It's just... Marcus... There are new rules in place," she says not meeting my eyes as mine searches for hers.

"And they're in place because of you."

Both Peggy and I rip our heads out of our dreary states and look towards the now open door. Only to see Steven standing in the doorway. He has a nasty habit of doing that.

However, there's only one question that lingers on my mind.

What new rules?...