Fragile

Chapter 14

Despite my ultimatum, we drove back to the dorms silently. When Noah pulled into the parking lot and turned off the car, neither of us made any move to get out of the car. We sat in silence, and I wasn't sure who was supposed to break that. Apparently, it was going to be me. 

"Who were those guys?" I finally blurted. "Why are they talking about you?" 

He ran his hand over his face and reluctantly turned to face me. "Have you ever heard of the Mercenaries?" 

I blinked. "Like the term?" 

"Like the organization." 

I shook my head slowly. Was this a normal thing people were supposed to know? At this point, I was barely even concerned with keeping up the 'normal girl' act around Noah. Something told me this was more serious than outer appearances. 

He sighed. "The night you were drugged... how much of it do you remember?" 

"What does that have to do with-" 

"Fay." 

His voice was stern, and I found myself obeying without hesitation. "I don't remember anything after I was dragged outside... You hit the guy that was holding me... that's all I remember before the hospital." 

He nodded. "When you asked me why I hit the lacrosse guys, what did I tell you?" 

I frowned. "Noah, why are we-" 

"Just humor me, please?" 

I sighed. "you said there was more to the story. Is this somehow connected?" 

He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't even know where to start, honestly." 

"Are the lacrosse guys somehow involved with those... thugs?" 

"Fay, the lacrosse guys are the thugs." 

I cocked my head. "I-I don't understand." 

"You know how colleges have fraternities, right? And the lacrosse team has their own too, Alpha-phi- whatever the fuck, right?" I nodded slowly, chewing on my lower lip. "inside that fraternity, there are a group of players that are apart of this organization." 

"Organization?" 

"The organization is called the Mercenaries," Noah explained, analyzing me thoroughly for any reaction. "On the outside, it's a student outreach program." 

"But..." 

"In reality, it's a base for human trafficking." 

Noah paused to let it sink in, which was probably for the best since I was not processing the information at all. I vaguely knew about trafficking since I saw brochures and pamphlets in the hospitals. Truthfully, though, I didn't expect them to be... real. "Like... slavery?" 

Noah's eyes widened. "You don't know about human trafficking?" 

I felt my cheeks burn in humiliation. "I do! I just... never realized it was still a thing?" 

"Have you lived under a rock your whole life?" 

I flinched. Yes, I wanted to say, but refrained. "They take people and force them into labor, right?" 

"In general terms, yes," he said. "To be more specific and relevant to the mercenaries, their base is for sex trafficking primarily." 

"Oh." Oh. 

Noah eyed me. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" 

My eyes widened. "T-then that night..." 

Kiera had mentioned there was a scandal about date rape in colleges. She used to say that a lot of girls would drop out of school suddenly without explanation. Other girls...