38.

                                    

                                          
Have you ever heard something that made your stomach drop down to your feet? Have you ever felt your heart stop beating for a good second, not because your happy, but because of what you heard? 



                          
My back was pressed against the wall, my feet slowly sliding against the tiled hallway as I let myself fall to the floor. 



                          
"Tell her. I won't let you hurt her more than you already have." Michael said with a demanding voice. 



                          
I force myself up from where I was sitting on the floor and trudge my legs into the room they were in, my heart at the heels of my feet. I walk in and Luke's head is the first to snap in my direction, his eyes full of fear. 



                          
I stare coldly back into his eyes before crossing my arms in front of my chest. "I'm a mission?" I say and watch as his whole body becomes rigid, his eyes widening in the process. 



                          
Ashton immediately stands up along with Michael, leaving the room and closing the door behind them. They already know I want to be alone with Luke for this. 



                          
"Estelle-" 


                          
"Please, Luke." I plead, my voice cracking as I spoke. 



                          
"You have to promise me not to go anywhere after I tell you." He says from his spot on the floor. 



                          
"I can't promise anything." I whisper. 



                          
"Alright - Well, I don't know where to start." 



                          
"Start from the beginning. I want to hear everything you said to Michael and Ashton. I want to hear the truth." I let out a shaky breath before sitting down on the floor. 



                          
"I just want you to know that I love you and-



                          
"Stop."  



                          
He sighs before moving his hands down his thighs and resting them on his knees, "I'm in a group - more like a gang - and we... we don't sell drugs. What we do is a completely different thing that your ordinary gang," 



                          
"What do you do?" I hesitantly ask him, swallowing the bile in my throat that was threatening to come out of my mouth. 



                          
"Girls. We do girls that are underage." 



                          
He must've seen the look of confusion on my face so he decided to continue, "I wasn't always in this gang. This all happened when I was walking down the street of my fucked up neighborhood at three in the morning. A man approached me and started asking me a whole bunch of questions but I didn't dare answer them. But one of them caught my attention: Are you interested in messing around with girls?" 



                          
"Before that all happened, I was dating someone and fuck, she made me so happy. Every time I looked at her I saw a star in front of me - because that's what she was. My little star. I did everything in my will to make her happy but apparently it wasn't enough for her. She left me for some other guy. I was heartbroken, I was shattered, I was killed. Not literally but I felt as if I was," 



                          
I shifted in place and crossed my legs indian-style, my shaky hands resting on my knees just like his. Hearing about this girl made me uncomfortable. 




                          
"So when that guy asked me that question - a year after I lost her - I quickly accepted it. It was stupid, of course. I shouldn't have payed attention to the stranger. I didn't exactly know what he meant by messing with girls so I asked him about it and he explained everything. He and his men would look for a girl - they would choose her and then send a guy to be with her. They would only choose girls who were under the age of eighteen, though."