Just breathe

Filza

"Let's meet!"

We had been talking online for months, and a few months ago we even exchanged phone numbers. Sometimes we'd call each other, via video or direct, depending on the situation. And then he proposed to me.

He was perfect; he was a little older than me and worked part-time at a multinational company along with his studies. He had a younger brother, and they lived in a fairly large house. Hence, my answer was obvious. However, we didn't know anything about each other's families, which is essential to know before marriage. So when I saw his message agreeing to meet at last, I was excited.

He was to pick me up from college, and we would have lunch at some fancy restaurant near his house before meeting his parents. Little did I know that my Disney fantasy was coming to an end.

"Is that him?" one of my friends pointed out.

"Oh my god, Fliza, look at his car!" The other one shrieked.

"Girl, you are so lucky!"

He was standing outside my college in a dress shirt, a pair of shades covering his eyes from the sunlight as he leaned against his black car. He smiled and waved as he saw me.

"You look even more pretty in real life," he whispered, holding open the door of his car.

One moment I was feeling like a passenger princess, fantasizing about the life I'd get by marrying this guy, and the next, there was a cloth gagging me and a smirk on his face as everything just suddenly blacked out.

When my eyes opened, I was in a large room, probably in some abandoned factory, with other people lying unconscious. That's when it hit me—I had been kidnapped by a bunch of human traffickers.