I found myself sitting in a Yellow Taxi. Never once have I ever been in a public Taxi before. Even the thought disgusts me out. I was always in limos or expensive cars.

But here I am in one anyway. I needed to get back to Giovanni's house somehow. Going to Giovanni's place was my only option in a desperate time.

I tried not to touch anything as much as I could. Bc

"Where to?" The Taxi driver asked me. I looked out of the window and told him Giovanni's address.

That was the last place I wanted to be, but I had nowhere else to go.

The Taxi driver nodded his head and drove off. I tried to stay as still as possible, but I felt exhausted from all the events today.

I slowly started to lean against the door of the car and felt my eyelids become heavy.

My eyes fluttered open, and I looked out the Taxi window to see where we were. I rubbed my tired eyes and noticed the Taxi driver was still driving. He gave me a creepy smile in the mirror, and I shivered.

I looked at the time and realized we were driving for a while now. We were going for almost two hours longer than it took to get to the mansion.

I suddenly wished I haven't taken a cab. I tried to cover my revealing dress with my black trench coat. I regretted getting in the Taxi. It was starting to freak me out. My heart pumped in my chest, and I felt an uneasy feeling settle in my stomach. I pushed it down.

The cab driver suddenly pulled to the side of the road. We were in the middle of nowhere; I spotted multiple trees at a far glance. Everything looked so unfamiliar to my eye.

My palms started to get sweaty, and I swallowed a hard gulp of nerves.

"What are you doing?" I spoke up. He just locked all the doors with a click and turned to look at me.

"Nothing, just thought we could stop to talk," he shot me a toothy grin. I shuddered. I wanted nothing but to get out of this ride.

He wore a red flannel and ripped jeans, which looked like they had dried-up mud on them. His hair was long, and he had stubble growing on his chin.

After all the encounters I've had with strangers and finding out who they indeed are, I didn't want to follow the same mistakes that specifically got me to where I am now. My actions in trusting the wrong people are exactly how I got myself raped.

Why did I have to come off as so easy to people?

"I don't want to talk," I shot back. I tried not to sound scared. It seemed to make everything worse. But my voice did come out shaky. My fingers grabbed onto the seat belt, and I squeezed my knuckles tightly until they turned white.

"Well, you don't have a choice now, do you, " he chuckled. He asked a question, but the way he expressed it made it seems like it was a fact rather than a decision.

I began to panic and vastly tried to open the back door, but no matter his hard I tried, it wouldn't budge. "Let me out!" I cried. I didn't want to be in here for another second.

He didn't answer, only tried to get into the backseat with me. "Be quiet, would you?" He growled. I shook my head. I felt frozen, not again.

He grabbed ahold of my coat, and I tried to get away from him. The force of the pull tugged at the surface and caused a tear to seam through it. It was a thousand dollar coat.

He continued to force himself into the backseat, and once he succeeded, he yanked at my dress strap. I trembled from his touch and wanted his hands away from me.

I let out a screech hoping anyone would hear me, but it was no use. We were in the middle of nowhere. The taxi driver jerked the dress away from my body, and it ripped off my body. I was fully undressed, and he saw that. I tried to pull the coat closer to my body, but he grabbed hold of my fragile wrists.

"Stop," I whimpered. It felt like I could finally use my voice after staying silent for so long. "No, get off of me!"

Why does no one listen to me? Why does no one take me seriously? It's like I have a target on my back, which allows people to feel free to do whatever they wanted with me, and I would not care. But I do care. I didn't want this. I didn't ask for any of it.

I wanted to be back at Giovanni's villa; I wanted to be cooped up in my bed and feel warm and safe. The opposite of what I am feeling right now. I wanted to be back in my mother's arms by the fireplace as she reads me a storybook. I wished my life never turned out like this.

But it's all my fault it had.

It was in the past, but I can't change the past. I can change the present. I wasn't going to let this low life take advantage of me. I felt the liquor coursing through my veins, and I pushed him to say from me.

He stumbled in surprise. He didn't think I had it in me to defend myself. He let out a groan when his head hit the top of the Taxi.

That seemed to anger him more. His face turned red. I could see a vein pop out of his forehead. I couldn't breathe. I was panicking, and the food that was once in my stomach, I felt at the back of my throat.

He came towards me and pushed himself against me. He was quickly trying to undress, and I acted quickly. I brought my knee to his groin, and he let out a strangled moan and grabbed hold of the pain.

I fumbled over the seat and pressed the button to unlock the doors. Once I opened the doors, it took all of my willpower to get out of the car. He reached to grab me one last time, but I slammed the door on his fingers—a crack noise is sickening through the silent night.

I didn't look back. I took off running. My careless feet are pattering on the hard gravel road, the sharp rocks slicing through the bottom of my feet, but I suffered through it. I needed to find my way back.

I felt the cool air on my naked body. I tried to cover myself up more, but the tear in the coat left room for wind gushes.

I shook from the cold night. I ran and ran until I couldn't anymore. My body collapsed, and I let out a heart-wrenching sob. Why couldn't people understand the meaning of no?

I didn't want to suffer this way anymore. I didn't want to be scared of every single man out there, but now I can't help but wonder if they're all the same. I've been trying to give everyone a chance, and look where that got me. I'm always going to end up hurt, so maybe it's best if I give them what they wanted to begin with, then they wouldn't feel the need to force it out of me.

I didn't realize I had fallen to the ground when I saw the blood oozed from my knees. The stones jabbed into my skin, making it break the skin. I didn't feel it; I didn't feel anything. I felt numb.

I took a deep breath and let out a ragged one. I got up from the ground and continued to walk. My feet felt weightless. My hair was all knotty, and my complexion probably looked horrible. My mascara was all messed up and runny from my wet tears.

I didn't care anymore. I couldn't be affected by anything that happens in my life because I don't have the energy for it.

I was lost, lost in my thoughts, lost in directions, lost in myself. I don't know who I am anymore, and I now think I never did.

I thought back to the million-dollar dress. How was I supposed to explain that to Giovanni? He wouldn't want me anymore.

I don't think I can be strong anymore. I want to give up. I never get any choices to make my life my own; everyone either decides for me or takes it from me.

I didn't want to get let down again. I didn't want to depend on one person so that they could let me down also. That was the exact reason why I don't let anyone in. But Giovanni found a way to break its walls down. I wasn't going to make that mistake again. I was sure of it.

I had walled up my heart, to begin with, but now I'm building a whole castle.

I'm not letting anyone in, especially men. I'm back at square one. When I first got raped, I wouldn't talk to anyone; I wouldn't leave my room. My mother had to drag me to therapy.

I wouldn't let anyone touch me, but I was slowly starting to grow out of that now; I don't think that will help me anymore. I needed to block myself off from the world to protect myself again. If that's what I had to do, then I will.

I fumbled through the torn pocket in the coat and sighed in relief. I still had it. It was a phone Giovanni had gotten me.

I decided to call Valeria. I've never seen or talked to her in a while. I missed her. She seemed to fall off the face of the earth. She hasn't spoken to me in a bit.

I dialled her number on the phone and placed it in my ear. It rang a couple of times before she answered.

"Hello?" Valeria spoke on the line over the phone.

"Chanel?"

"Can you come to pick me up?" I asked her. I could hear her sign from the phone. She seemed annoyed.

"Why would I do that?" She asked. She sounded irritated.

"Who is it, babe?" A deep voice asked Valeria. He had a Russian accent of some sort. Did Valeria have a boyfriend and didn't tell me? I know we fell out of a friendship, but I thought she would say something big like that?

"No one," Valeria snapped at the stranger. She closed her and took a deep breath before talking on the phone at me again. "What did you want again, Chanel?"

"I need you to pick me up," I told her. I then remembered the guy on the phone. "Who was that?" I asked curiously.

"No one," she seethed out from her teeth. She felt frustrated.

"Something terrible almost happened to me," I admitted. My heart sped up, thinking about it. "I need to get out of here. I'm in the middle of nowhere."

"Why don't you call Giovanni?" Valeria suggested. She sounded like she was in the middle of something and didn't want to be bothered.

"I don't want to be around him right now," I mumbled quietly. "I don't want to be near any of them."

"Fine, then I'll be right there," she groaned in the phone. She acted like she didn't even want to talk to me at all. Did I bother her that much? "Where are you?"

"I don't know," I stuttered. "I'm in the middle of nowhere."

"Tell me your surroundings," she instructed me over the phone.

"There are many trees and a stoplight, oh and a street sign that says Papeland Ave. That's all I can make out," I informed her.

"I think I know where you are; I'm on my way," Valeria hung up the phone and Chanel was met with the noise of the telephone line beeping.

"Okay, thank you," I muttered; my voice came out shaky and ragged as I looked into the murky sky. I hung up the phone and placed it back in my coat.

When Valeria arrived, I saw an unfamiliar guy in the car with her. His hair was as white as snow, and he had multiple tattoos on his body.

"What happened to your clothes?" Valeria gasped once she took in my state.

"It's a long story," I grumbled. I felt sick to my stomach. Why does this always happen to me?

"Who did this to you?" she asked, baffled. She sounded worried, but when I called her, she didn't care.

"No one," I told her. I felt ashamed. Embarrassed and mortified that I almost let it happen again.

Valeria looked like she didn't believe me but didn't force me to answer any more questions. I felt thankful for that.

"Come, I'll drive you to Giovanni's," Valeria offered. She pointed to the black Audi behind her. I felt anxious about getting into the car. There was a man I hardly know in there.

I felt my hands start to tremble, and I looked at Valeria pleadingly. "I don't want to go in there with him," I gulped.

"Why not, Chanel? He won't hurt you," Valeria assured me. That didn't seem to calm me down. I just looked down at the little stones on the ground.

"Please," I begged. My heart started to pump rapidly; I could begin to hear my heartbeat. "I don't want to."

All of a sudden, he got out of the car and approached us. I felt exposed. He gave me a nod in acknowledgement with his head, but I looked away. I didn't know who he was. I felt uneasy.

"What's going on?" he asked, his Russian accent strong.

"Aleksei, go wait in the car," Valeria advised him to do.

"You telling me what to do?" He warned. His voice was sharp and sent shivers down my spine. Even though he didn't direct at me, I feared for Valeria. What has she been doing?

"Don't forget who's boss?" Valeria reminded him. Bee voice coming off like venom. She sounded like a whole different person. Cold and collective, not dense and witty as she usually was.

Aleksei gave her one last glare and grunted back to the Audi. I looked back at Valeria; her eyes held irritation. What was with her?

I gulped down a ball of saliva and glanced in the far distance behind Valeria. The moon was almost setting, and I still couldn't decide whether I wanted to go back to Giovanni's.

"I have nowhere to go, Val," I admitted sadly. My eyes filled with tears. "I have no clothes."

"Okay, what do you want me to do?" Valeria asked. I shrugged my bony shoulders.

She looked me in the eyes as she sighed. She took out her black phone from her blur jean pocket and dialled a number. I had no idea who it was, I was confused.

"I need a favour. . ."