Taken by E.M. Leya

CHAPTER TWO

He was going to throw up. Trenton rolled to his side and fought to keep the contents of his stomach down, but lost the struggle as he hunched over and vomited on the floor. At least he assumed it was the floor. He couldn't be sure of anything right now other than his stomach was revolting and his head pounded like someone was hitting him with a sledgehammer.

He hated the smell of vomit.

He wiped his hand against his mouth then fell back, lying on something hard and cold as he tried to open his eyes and figure out where he was.

He couldn't think. He couldn't remember.

He tried to sit up but found he didn't have the strength.

"Give it time. It will wear off." A voice beside him was nothing more than a faint whisper.

Trenton turned his head toward the sound, but couldn't open his eyes to see who spoke to him.

"They drugged you. Probably a few times with different stuff. It'll take time to wear off." The voice came again.

Trenton's chest tightened. Drugged?

He faded back to sleep only to be woken up by another wave of nausea. This time he didn't vomit, but he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Fuck, he felt like shit.

"You okay?"

Trenton managed to open his eyes to find a young man sitting a few feet to his side. He blinked, trying to force away the haze that glossed his vision. "I don't know. I hurt everywhere and my head feels like it's going to explode." Slowly, memories started coming back to him. The bar. The woman. The dance. Then nothing. A wave of unease and panic swept through him and he tried to sit up only to find himself doubled over again with dry heaves.

"Take it easy until the drugs wear off. They probably hit you with GHB first, then gave you something else to keep you unconscious while they moved you. It's what they usually do. We haven't been able to figure out what they use." The man pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

It was then Trenton realized the man was naked. It took only a second longer for him to figure out he was naked too. He shivered. "My clothes?"

"Gone. They keep us naked all the time."

"Where are we?"

"No idea. I think I've been here two days, but it could be longer. There's no way of telling time."

Trenton breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth several times, trying to clear his mind. He needed to think. Needed to move. He had to figure out what was going on. If his head didn't hurt so badly, maybe he could understand.

"They come in to check on us every few hours, but don't speak to us at all. There used to be five of us here, but they've moved three of the other guys out today. Don't know where they took them."

Trenton looked around, seeing another man curled up in the corner of the room. "Is he okay?"

"I think so. He tried to rush one of the guards when they came in earlier and they worked him over pretty bad. I've checked on him, but I'm not a doctor. I think they broke a couple of his ribs."

"Who are you?" Trenton looked back at the man.

"Ian Thomas," the man told him. "They take you from a club?"

Trenton blinked, trying to remember everything that happened. "I stopped by the bar for a beer. I only had two. Wasn't drunk." He wished he had something to wash the foul taste from his mouth. "I don't remember much."

"It's the same for all of us. We were at a club or bar and ended up waking up here. I'd been out dancing Friday night with a few friends. I remember dancing with this girl, then suddenly I was here. I can't remember anything in between. I have no idea where we are or what they want with us." Ian sighed. "As I said, they came in and took three of the others out of here today. Walked them out naked."

Trenton's headache made it hard to think straight, but he had a pretty good idea of what they wanted them for and the thought made him sick. If he could just focus. He ran his hand over his face. "How long have I been here?"

"Maybe an hour or two," Ian told him. "It's hard to know time."

Trenton rolled to his side, away from the vomit. "We have to find a way out."

Ian huffed. "You don't think we've all looked? The guys they took away earlier said they'd tried to find a way. There isn't one."

"Has to be a way." Trenton looked around the room the best he could, still too weak to push up into a sitting position. The room was empty other than the three of them and a metal toilet and sink combo in the far corner, much like the ones they used in jail cells so parts couldn't be pulled free from them to use as weapons. The walls were white, the floor cement with a single drain in the middle. He figured that was to clean the vomit and other fluids off the floor. He doubted he was the first to get sick upon arrival. There were no windows. The only light came from a single bulb in the ceiling above his head that was inside a thick wire cage, probably so they couldn't use the glass from the bulb as a weapon.

"We've looked. Tim tried to rush them, push past them to get out the door, but he didn't have a chance. The three guys who came in beat him after he tried. I'm sure there are more men waiting outside the door. If we managed to get past the ones who come in here, we'd probably get shot out there."

Trenton glanced over at Tim again. It was impossible to tell how injured he was because of the way he was curled up. Not that Trenton could do much to help even if he knew what injuries he had. He didn't know shit about medical stuff. He left all that to Beau.

He closed his eyes as he thought about Beau and the team he worked with. He'd told Xander where he was going. They'd look for him. They'd find him and save him. The team hunted pedophiles for a living. Surely, they could find him.

Though he didn't want to admit it to himself, the clearer his mind became, the surer he was that he'd been kidnapped by what was probably a sex trafficking ring. He'd seen enough working online to have an idea how these rings worked. Most people thought of women and children when it came to trafficking, but it was just as common for men to be taken as well. It all added up. Being drugged at the bar, being held naked. He couldn't imagine what else this could be unless he'd been taken by some pervert who abducted groups of men. If three had been taken out of the room today, that made six of them who'd been kidnapped. That was a lot of men to feed one man's desires. The trafficking made a lot more sense.

"How long were the others here before they took them out?" Trenton asked.

"They thought it had been five days."

"They feed us?"

"Very little, but yes. Twice a day. Just sandwiches mostly. They don't bring us stuff to drink. We have to use the sink for water."

Trenton closed his eyes again, trying to resist the urge to go back to sleep. Despite how weak and tired he was, he needed to clear his head and figure out a way to get out of here or at least get help.

"What's your name?" Ian asked.

"Trenton." He didn't bother with more info. It wouldn't do any good. Names wouldn't mean much here if he was right about why he was being held. How the hell had he let this happen? He knew to be careful, knew what to watch for. He'd never let his beer out of his sight. He'd been paying attention and alert to everything around him.

He thought of Janice and wondered if she'd somehow drugged him, but other than dancing, she hadn't gotten close enough to put anything in his drink. Had she shot him with something while they danced? He didn't remember any sudden sting or jab of a needle.

He was too tired to figure it all out now. He needed a clear head, and that wasn't going to happen until the effects of the drugs wore off. Unable to fight it anymore, he gave in and drifted back to sleep, wondering how long it would be before anyone noticed him missing.