Little girl, big world. No, no. Little girl, big apartment. Little girl, big betrayal. Little girl, hard trial. Little girl, big escape. Now you're right. Little girl, big world.

                                 One Month Before Now

I was sleeping in a world of nightmares. I woke up when I heard a scream, sweating. My covers were kicked off, on the floor, and I was on the ground, all curled up. I heard footsteps in the hall. I checked. Nothing. When I walked back into my room, I realized I was thirsty. I grabbed my water bottle and filled it up when I was in the kitchen. In my sleep, I had kicked my water bottle over. I drank some. When I entered my room, half of my right foot had stepped into the wet spot, where my water had spilt.

I lived with my dad because a dad said mom was on a trip, for a job. But that was seven months ago, and I don't believe him. He changes the subject every time I mention her. And every time it has to do with something he hates. I released the breath I just realized I was holding. I heard men talking outside. One of the voices was my father's. It was probably business. I tried not to eavesdrop until I heard my name.

“-Emily, your daughter.” I didn't recognize that voice. I kept listening.

“What do I get? What kind of pay are you talking?” Money. Sell. Father. Me… Father. Selling. Me. I heard another voice. A different one.

“Oh, enough bills to fill the back of a truck!”

“Ah. She's in there.” I couldn't! I wouldn't! I can't! I opened the door and quickly looked on both sides. On one side was my father, and two men on the other, in weird suits, with weird masks. I ran my dad's way. he grabbed my left arm and thrust me toward the men. Hard. My arm hurt now. I stopped myself. I stopped right in the middle. I looked back, and the two men grabbed me. The man on the left held my arm hard right where my dad had like he knew how badly it hurt. The other man held my right arm even tighter. It felt like it kept tightening. “Help! Dad! Please help me! HELP!” I screamed. My brother ran out of his room. The door was just behind my dad. “Emi!” He pushed through my dad, but dad held his arm like dad had held mine, and pushed him backwards. “Andrew!” I yelled at my brother. The man on the right put a wet rag over my mouth.  I could tell it was some kind of drug, and I tried to shake it off, but the man held it over my mouth. I tried to close my mouth, but it was too late. The last word I heard before I fell asleep was, “NO!”

                                            Now

I woke up in the cell. It had white walls, an uncomfortable bed (which I was used to), a broken clock, a TV, a speaker, and cold metal floors. I stood up and tried to walk to the open door, forgetting the chain around my neck, and my wrists. It pulled me back, and I hit the hard wall. “I hate this place…” I muttered to myself. I looked at my arm, which had a scratch from the guy taking me on the right. I was hard to believe I'd only been here for a month, when it felt like ten years. I had also cried a lot. I was done crying. I was going by the number 0482. They said it was my ‘new name.’ No, it wasn't. My name is Emily. Emily Smith. Emily Annie Smith. Not 0482. I heard it from the speaker. “0482.” I didn't move a muscle. They were gonna get mad at me, but I didn't care. No, I don't know who ‘they’ is either. For right now, ‘they’ are just voices. “0482!” It was louder that time. Why would I ever listen to that ‘name?' “0482! NOW! YOU KNOW WHAT'LL HAPPEN!” I could feel the pain in my neck as the ‘collar’ tightened and shot tiny jolts of electricity. Tighter. Tighter. Zap. ZAP ZAP ZAP. It got harder and harder. I didn't know it could hurt this much. I stood up. The chain unlatched from my wrist and neck. The ‘collar’ was still on my neck, but chains connecting on my wrists completely unlatched. The tight collar untightened little by little, definitely slower than the speed it had tightened. I walked very, very slowly and in a few seconds I got out the door. A hand behind me pushed my back. Hard. Why was it that everything hurt here? I fell, and quickly got up. I forced myself to walk a little faster. I searched for an exit with my eyes. There were a lot of white walls. I saw a door. A door. Should I run for it? There are risks. It could be locked, it could be some experimenting room, there could be people, or it could be a punishment room. Yes. No. Yes. No. Yes. No! Yes! NO! YES! Yes. Yes. I ran towards the for and turned the knob. Locked. Someone was pulling me back from the door. I hung on. The know broke off, sending me stumbling back from the door into the persons strong arms. I kicked and punched, but failed to get the person off of my. Ah! Why is it always my right arm? They picked me up and I heard a door open. Fast. The person threw me into a dark and cold room. I heard a laugh.