My Most Precious Human

We all put down our trays, mostly still filled with food, on the big metal table standing in the kitchen area, and wondered if our work was over. Suddenly, we became surrounded by the casino workers. "Is the event now over? Do you want us to do anything else?" Carla asked someone who looked like the staff's manager.

I could see that she was trying to stay composed, but at the same time, she kept clenching her fists just to prevent them from shaking. I stood right beside her, trying to help her keep calm, but I was trembling inside as well.

The manager looked Carla up and down and smirked.

"You all have done an amazing job. Now, we need you to go through the door on the other side of the room," he said casually.

"And what is it behind that door?" Carla inquired nervously.

"Your only way out," he stated, grinning.

That smile of his was soaked in pretended courtesy. His eyes were cunning and cold, and those other casino employees that surrounded us looked just as vicious as him. They were all gazing at us like predators, and we were their prey. I had known these kinds of gazes well. Those wolves that were chasing me had often looked at me with eyes as vicious as those. Right now, it was clear that whatever they were planning, it couldn't be anything good for us...

The casino crew opened the door that the manager mentioned. There was no light in the room in which this door led. Nonetheless, the manager stood right by the entrance and smiled, pointing his hand towards the darkness.

"Now, walk inside," he ordered, suddenly changing his tone to a harsh one.

I grabbed Carla's hand, preventing her from going anywhere.

"Go inside!" he repeated loudly and more spitefully.

"No!" I opposed while glaring at him.

The rest of the girls crowded behind me and Carla. They all looked horrified. Our situation looked close to hopeless. I could bet that except for me, none of those girls had ever practiced martial arts nor knew how to defend themselves. That was leaving me standing against fifteen men. Even if I used to fight werewolves, and they turned out to be untrained humans, I only knew how to protect myself, and not the group of twenty vulnerable females.

The manager chuckled wickedly then called out gazing at his people, "Throw all of them inside!"

I clenched my fists then moved my left foot in high-heels to the front, standing in a fighting stance. Evidently, all those men found my will to fight amusing. I could hear their malicious snickering all around the

room.

"You want to fight us?" the manager asked, snorting, then he took off his jacket and stepped closer to me. "Show me what you got, Queen of Hearts," he challenged me, staring straight into my eyes.

I gritted my teeth and threw a fast kick at him, aiming at his ribs. I hit him, but I barely managed to slightly push him away. I hit him again, this time using my fists. He didn't even block me, he only stared at me with a cold smirk on his face. At the same time, his men started pushing the girls into that dark room one by one. They were all screaming. They tried to resist, but none of them stood a chance against those men. The way they were tossing these girls as if they were light as a feather, seemed like their strength was almost inhuman.

"No!" I shouted desperately, watching one of them throwing Carla into that room as well.

I got distracted. The manager punched me in the stomach. It felt like his fists were made of iron. The power of the hit was enough to make me fall on the floor. I was desperately biting air while trying to force my diaphragm to cooperate with my lungs again. The manager snorted, watching me struggle, then crouched down beside me.

"Do you have enough yet?" he whispered, leaning over my ear.

"No..." I clenched my teeth and tried to get up.

He waited until I lifted myself just to hit me in the stomach one more time. I collapsed. This time, the level of pain made my head spin. I could hear that man snapping his fingers. A few seconds later, two of his men grabbed my arms and threw me into that dark room, just like they already did with the rest of Carla's team. As soon as they did, the door closed and locked...

"Hey! Let us out of here!" I could hear Carla's voice shouting while pulling the door handle and banging on the door.

"Look... for the light switch..." I mumbled while lying on the floor and struggling to breathe.

"Ok... I'm stepping towards the door," Carla explained her movements, "and now, I'm trying to feel the wall on the left..."

I could hear her slowly moving her hands, looking for the switch.

"Got it!" she called happily, turning the lights on.

Only then did all of us see that we were in an empty, white room, with strange small holes on the ceiling and on the floor level. Suddenly, some sort of gas started to get in through those holes. The girls started screaming in fear. I tried covering my mouth not to breathe the gas in, but it was filling the room quickly. I got up and ran straight to the door. I banged on it. I punched the door using as much power as I could, praying that I would break the lock and let us out, but the gas was soon everywhere. I held my breath and kept struggling to open the door, but I had no chance alone. I looked at the rest of us. Most of the girls were already unconscious, lying on the floor. The rest tried holding their breaths, just like I did, but it was obvious that we were going to lose this battle in less than a minute. There was no one to help me with the door, and I couldn't hold my breath any longer. I gave up...