"My parents!" I yelled. "Where are they? I’ll pay, but I need to ensure their safety first.” I retreated step by step and slipped my hand quietly into my pocket to call for help.
However, the crew member saw through my ploy. She slapped me hard across the face, her sharp nails scratching my skin.
She snatched my phone from my hand, threw it to the ground and stomped on it repeatedly. Then she snarled, "You've really got some nerve, huh? How dare you pull a stunt on us!"
She ordered, "Take her to the island and make her a slave!”
She patted my cheek and smiled coldly, "Freeloader, good luck surviving here. As for your parents? That depends on whether they’re willing to pay or not."
A black cloth was thrown over my head and plugged me into darkness. I struggled wildly as I tried to tear the cloth away, but a swift kick landed on my arm. A sickening crack echoed; it was the sound of my bone breaking.
I screamed in agony, the pain making me lose control of my body. They tied me up with ropes and I could only gasp in shallow breaths to cope with the torment.
Locked inside a cage, I shouted and begged for mercy, but no one responded to my plea and the only sound I could hear were the sound of the crashing waves and my own breathing. This fact chilled my body and made me falling into despair.
Time dragged on. Faintly, I heard someone singing, using my own voice. It sounded like someone was playing one of my songs, or perhaps it was from TikStar LIVE. However, when I tried to listen more closely, the sound vanished, leaving me unsure if it had been real or just a hallucination.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, footsteps approached. It was the same crew member.
Desperate, I begged, “I’ll pay the money! Give me a phone and I’ll transfer the one hundred and thirty-two thousand dollars, right now! I have the money! Please, let me pay!”
Silence fell around us and from above us came the voice of the crew, like evil spirits. "Too late! That one hundred and thirty-two thousand dollars isn’t enough anymore.”
“I’ll pay whatever you want!” I pleaded.
She sneered, “Too bad. You’re already on the island. From now on, you’ll stay here as a slave to repay your debt.”
At the next second someone ripped away the black cloth over my head. I gasped for air like someone who had just pulled from drowning, each breath sharp and desperate.