"Miss?" Timothy asked when I didn't move.

"Why isn't anyone helping?" I questioned as I turned to face him with wide eyes full of shock.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

I raised my hand and pointed at the horrible scene. "Why is everyone just ignoring that! She could kill him!"

"Ah..." he looked at me astonished. "It's none of their business. She can do as she pleases with him."

"What? So everyone's just going to act like someone isn't beating a naked man to death!" I questioned, outraged at his response.

"Miss, that's her husband. The black bands across his neck and her wrist indicate that she has done the bonding ceremony with him. They are soul bound. She wouldn't kill him, that would inconvenience her too much."

"Soul bound?"

I looked towards the three people and saw that the man being whipped along with the man standing beside him both had thin black bands that looked like tattoos encircling their necks above where their collars loosely lay. I then looked at the woman's wrist as she continued to rain down blows and found she also had a black band encircling it, but hers was much thicker.

A ringing sound echoed in the car drawing our attention. Timothy pulled out a black phone from his pocket.

"Yes, Lord Jax," he answered. He paused while the person on the other end spoke before replying. "I have just dropped the Miss off nearby, I can make it there by the time you are done," he replied before hanging up.

"Miss, I need to get going," he said, looking at me with a bit of guilt and concern.

I nodded my head and opened the door onto the lively street. When I put one bare, bloodied foot onto the cobblestone street, Timothy spoke once more.

"Miss, please do not interfere. It would not end well for you," he warned.

I looked back towards him and reluctantly nodded. I knew I wouldn't interfere, I simply couldn't. I wouldn't be able to muster up the amount of courage that would be needed to interfere, especially since the subject matter revolved around violence and abuse. My mind screamed at me to help him, but my inner demons held me back. Luckily, by the time I was fully out of the car and standing on the street, the woman had dragged the two men away. I turned to close the car door and watched as Timothy drove away.

I turned around and made my way through the crowd aimlessly, not having enough courage to ask someone for help or information. Hopefully, I'd be able to see something while wandering that would help indicate where I was. Continuing forward trying to look around, I couldn't see what direction I was headed in. Everyone surrounding me was taller or wider than me, blocking my line of sight.

After wandering aimlessly and being pushed around for what felt like hours, I finally broke away from the dense crowd. Now that I was able to see more than the chests and backs of men and women, I noticed that many of the women had black bands tattooed around their wrists like the woman earlier, but they were in varying thicknesses. Many of the men also had identical yet thin black bands tattooed around their necks, a collar, or both.

I noticed some women giving me weird looks that held some form of disgust or displeasure after they look me over. I consciously looked down at my filthy clothes. The grey shirt I wore was so filthy it was difficult to see the various fluids that stranded it. The pants were no better. My clothing could hid the evidence of my poor state, but my bare feet and tangled hair couldn't.

I tried to smooth down my hair and rub away any dirt, grime, or blood that may have been on my face with my sleeves. It helped reduce the number of women that eyed me like a dirty sewer rat, but not by a whole lot. Most of the men kept their eyes on the ground, but there were a few dressed in high-end clothing that kept their heads up. Some of their cold, emotionless eyes briefly flicker up and down my body before meeting mine, but instead of cold indifference like mere seconds before, they held hints of curiosity. A few of them that didn't have a black band or collar around their necks even proceed to scan my wrists as the corners of their mouths lifted into small smirks and their gazes turned calculating.

I unconsciously took a step back, feeling wary.

"Excuse me, Miss," a man behind me suddenly said, causing me to jump.

I turned around and looked up to see a handsome, black-haired man that appeared to be slightly older than me. He was wearing a navy blue suit and had his eyes focused on the ground. He didn't have anything around his neck and he appeared more lively than most of the men that were walking by.

"Sorry," I quietly said while stepping to the side thinking that I was blocking his way.

His eyes suddenly darted up and met mine before I quickly avert my gaze to the ground. After a few awkward seconds where he made no move to pass by, I glance back up at him. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes were round with disbelief as he stared at me.

"Uh..." I didn't know what to do as I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

He must have noticed my discomfort because he snaped out of his shocked state. His mouth closed and transformed into a large toothy grin while his eyes lite up like a child's on Christmas morning.

"I am Maximus Flores, son of Lady Flores," he introduced himself, placing his right hand over his heart and slightly bowing. "I was hoping you would do me the honour of accompanying me for tea," he asked, surprising me.

"Ah, um," I began, stuttering and flustered at the sudden invitation. I'd never been in this kind of situation before so I had no idea how to react. "S-sorry, but I, ah, need to get going," I rushed out before turning and scurrying away, not giving him a chance to speak further.

I was not expecting that. My face felt hot and I'm positive that my light brown skin was flushed a dark shade of red. Just replaying the encounter and my panicked rely in my head caused my face to heat even more as more blood rushed into my cheeks.

I handled that so well.

As the heat that filled my face slowly decreased I continued to scan the crowded street unsure of what to do next. I knew I needed to find out where I was, but what would I do after that? I had no home so where would I even go? I had no friends, and I would never risk leading him back to my family. They probably thought I was dead anyways, he probably made sure of that.

I shake my head trying to stop the memories that were threatening to flood in. I didn't want to remember anything that had to do with him.

The more I tried not to think about them the more the memories fought against the confines of the prison I built for them in the back of my mind. Tears started to fill my eyes indicating that I was moments away from a full-on breakdown.

I stumbled through the crowd needing to find a place where I'd have enough space to calm myself down. The women I bump into snapped at me in annoyance while the men apologized in fear even though it wasn't their fault. I made my way to a narrow alley between an older looking brick building and a modern-looking, white, concrete building. Staying near the entrance, I supported myself against the wall while bending over with my hands on my knees. I took deep breaths while going over multiplication tables in my head. I hated math, but over the years I learned it was a good systematic way to distract myself from unwanted thoughts by giving me something else to focus on.

Six times four equals twenty-four six times five equals thirty, six times six equals thirty-six...

Just when I got my thoughts under control I was startled by a desperate, pained cry.

I peered into the alley, squinting my eyes. I could make out four distinct figures. There were three girls around the age of 15 or 16. Two had brown hair while one had blond. They surrounded a small boy who looked around the age of eleven, or twelve. He had electric blue hair and was on the ground lying on his side, curled into a ball. He had his head covered with his arms while the blond and one of the brown-haired girl's kick him. The other girl with brown hair was standing off to the side, laughing at the boy.

"When we tell you to do something you do it, whore," she said in a nasally, high pitched voice.

"I-I'm not a wh-whore!" the boy stuttered out defiantly in anger.

The girls laughed mockingly at his words. "Not now, but you will be in a months time. We'll make sure to be the first ones to break you in, see if you actually learned anything in school," the same girl who spoke earlier said, throwing her head back as she belted out a laugh that twisted my stomach.

I didn't know if it was the guilt from being unable to help the man being whipped earlier, or if it was the extra courage I had because I was older than the three girls, but something led me to open my mouth and intervene. My inner demons couldn't even keep me silent this time.

"Hey!" I called, drawing their attention as I moved closer. "Leave him a-alone!" I said, stuttering at the end when the three girls turned and leveled me with intense glares.

"Fuck off," the blond said, scanning my body with judgmental eyes.

"No," I replied, crossing my arms and raising my chin into the air. If I appeared more confident than I actually was, maybe I could convince them not to mess with me.

"I said, fuck off," the blond repeated while walking towards me threateningly.

From the other end of the alley, they looked to be around my height, but as the girl got closer to me I realized that they towered over my 5'3 height. I gulped and took a step back as she took another forward. I darted my eyes behind her when I saw that the other two girls were also stepping closer to me. Smug smirks adorned their faces when they noticed my farce of confidence slipping.

I saw the redhead slowly bring himself up into a sitting position behind the girls once he noticed their attention was no longer on him. My eyes briefly met his wide eyes filled with disbelief and shock before I avert mine. I didn't want the girls to notice my line of sight and focus back on the boy again.

"He belongs to my mother's brothel, we can do whatever we want with him," the brown-haired girl who hadn't spoken yet said, looking at me with disgust.

My eyes widened at her words. Brothel? That boy was only a child! As they took another step forward, I mirrored their action by taking another step back. I looked behind them and caught the boy's eyes again. He was still seated on the ground in shock, not making a move to escape. I needed him to leave so I could escape myself.

I looked into his eyes before pointedly directing mine to the other end of the alley that seemed to open onto another street filled with people. I darted my eyes between his and the end of the alley a few times, hoping that if the girls noticed that they think that I'm looking between the blond one in front and then to the brunettes behind her.

After darting my eyes back and forth a few times the boy turned to look at his only escape route, finally understanding what I was silently conveying. He turned back around and looked at me with his still wide eyes that held hesitation. I give him a quick, small nod as his eyes glaze over with unshed tears. He returned my nod with a nearly unnoticeable one of his own before quietly getting up onto his feet and limping down the alley as quickly and quietly as he could.

Once the boy disappeared to the right of the opening into the crowded street, I wasted no time in turning around and making a run for it.

"Hey! Get back here you fucking pathetic excuse of a woman!" I heard one of them yell from behind me.

I could hear the sounds of their heavy footsteps following behind me. I reached the opening of the alley that I entered through and slightly paused to glance back. The three girls ere right behind me, closing the distance at an incredible rate with their longer strides. They'd catch up to me in no time.

I turned back around and decided to use the crowd and my shorter height to my advantage. I beelined straight towards the most congested area. I ran as fast as I could manage, shoving people while throwing short apologizes at them. I ran in a zig-zagged pattern trying to throw the girls off my trail. When I neared an area where the street connected to a wider, better-maintained street that was lined with more modern buildings, I turn onto it. I looked back around the corner once again and smiled when I found the girls struggling to find me in the horde of people. Not wanting to risk being seen again, I turned back around to put more distance between myself and the girls.

The moment I turned I collide face-first into a hard toned chest covered in an expensive grey suit. The force caused me to stumble back and land on my butt. I rubbed my aching nose with one hand while I fixed my glasses with the other. I peered up the well-built figure of the man I crashed into with watery eyes from the pain radiating from my nose. My dark brown eyes passed over the man's smirking, pink lips and met with his conniving grey eyes.

"Hello, Kitten. I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon."