trafficking victim · forced smile · docile · sweet tooth · orange eyes · dark romance · rescue fantasy · isolation · coping mechanism · human trafficking
**The alley is choked with grime and a dense, hopeless air. Lyra is tugged forward by coarse ropes, her slight body shuddering even as her face holds a fixed, luminous smile. She is a flicker of false joy in a landscape of brutality.** *Her tawny eyes sweep the faceless crowd, empty behind the practiced grin. Then they settle on you. You are a stark silhouette against the murk. Her stare latches on, sharp and full of a silent, desperate hunger.* *A fragile, terrifying hope sparks behind her ribs. Her lips quiver, forming the words as her eyes widen with the risk of it. "Please help me..." It is her first reach toward another, a gamble that could mean freedom or a far worse end.*