The Auction

MIA

I groaned, opening my eyes as a wave of pain hit me.

“Ugh!” I moaned in pain, massaging my temples.

My mouth tasted sour and my throat was dry. I desperately needed water. I squinted to see where I was but the place was pitch dark.

I reached out to the empty air and the sounds of chains echoed in the dark room. My heartbeat increased as panic gripped my chest.

“Hello?! Is anybody out there?” I screamed out loudly.

I tried to move and I realized I was confined to a metal place. I was also chained to my wrists and ankles.

“Anybody?! Help me! What is going on?” I cried out.

The door made a loud creaking sound before the room was flooded with light and my worst fear was confirmed.

I was inside a large empty warehouse with different sizes of metal cages but they were all empty. I was in one of the metal cages and I was chained up like an animal.

“Good. You’re awake just in time for the final auction.”

I blinked as I focused on the petite woman who entered the warehouse. She was dressed in a black long dress and her hair was pulled into a tight bun. She had a smile on her face as she regarded me with appreciative eyes.

“What auction?” I asked, my heart racing.

“Relax, child, I can hear your heartbeat from here,” she laughed at me.

I frowned, still raising an eyebrow at her and waiting for the answer to the question I asked.

She nodded, “Ah, the auction is where I sell you off to the highest bidder.”

My heartbeat increased as my throat felt scratchy.

“May I have a glass of water?” I croaked out.

She gave me a bottle of water and I gulped it down, gasping at the sweet relief it provided me.

“I can't be auctioned off. There's got to be a mistake,” I rambled, “Last time I was with my uncle in the hospital. I was supposed to be a surrogate and get money for my mom’s surgery.”

The woman stared at me with sympathy and then she burst into laughter.

“I don't care, girl, get your act together you'll be on stage soon.”

“What do you mean? How dare you kidnap me against my will and then sell me off?!” I yelled at her.

She laughed, “You signed a contract and your uncle sold you off so shut up and quit yapping no one is coming to rescue you.”

“But if you want you can still keep screaming. I'm sure the bidders will love an untamed slave.”

My throat clamped up immediately as I struggled to breathe, gasping for air. The panic was spreading and the woman made no effort to help me.

“I can think of worse fates for you than death, love, don't waste my money,” she said in an eerily calm voice.

“You can't do this!” I finally screamed out, tears streaming down my cheeks, “My uncle would never sell me!”

The woman tsked, “I suppose you don't know your uncle well enough, dear child.”

Then she walked briskly away from me, leaving the door shut as I kept screaming in the dark until my throat was hoarse and my voice faint.

“Please… help me,” I cried, sitting down dejectedly in the cage.

After what felt like an eternity, the door swung open and two muscular men entered the warehouse.

“Please, help me,” I cried to them, scrambling to my feet and hoping I would be able to appeal to their soft spot.

They didn't spare me a glance before they each carried the sides of the cage and took it out of the warehouse while I kept screaming.

They brought me to a stage and I saw multiple men all sitting down with hungry eyes and malicious sneers.

“Please, help me! Let me go!! Somebody, anybody. Please help me!!!” I kept screaming as I latched to the bars of the cage.

The room was a bit dark but I could see various faces. I have never seen their faces before nor do I even know where I was.

“We’ve got a rebel on our hands, gentlemen,” the woman laughed, standing beside my cage.

“I will make sure you rot in jail, let me out right now!” I threatened, trying to act tough.

Begging hadn't worked perhaps threats will work but all it did was make the woman and the men guffaw at me.

“I like her, I'll take her for a hundred dollars,” one man in the crowd raised his paddle.

The woman pointed at him and smiled, “We have a hundred dollars, do I hear two hundred?”

“I’ll take her for five hundred dollars.”

I strained my eyes to see who had placed the bid but all I could see was his paddle number. His voice was so husky and for some strange reason, it gave me flutters in my stomach.

“We have five hundred dollars, should I conclude the bid?” the woman asked.

I was mortified. The fact that men were placing bids on me like I was an object and the thought that my uncle had been so wicked as to sell me off to human traffickers.

What will happen to my mother? By now the doctor must have removed her from life support or maybe she would be dead by now. That thought made my blood fill with fury.

“Let me out this instant!” I screamed, grabbing the woman’s dress as she was close to me.

The woman was taken by surprise and didn't have time to react so I successfully managed to rip off one side of her dress which sent her stumbling down the stage.

Everyone in the auction room gasped before the woman stood up and glared at me, her lips split from the fall.

“You little minx,” she snarled at me, coming toward me with fury.

“I’ll take her for one hundred thousand dollars,” someone in the crowd said, raising his paddle.

My lips parted slightly in shock as the woman stopped dead in her tracks, equally surprised. Then her face widened in a smile.

“Going for a hundred thousand dollars?”

“Five hundred thousand dollars,” the same husky voice said, raising his paddle.

“Eight hundred thousand dollars,” the other man said.

“One million dollars,” the husky voice said.

The room went silent with shock before the woman cleared her throat.

“Sir, you would have to sign your name on the cheque so we would cash it before you leave with her, that's quite a huge amount,” she explained.

The man in the dark side of the room hesitated a bit before he scoffed, “Never mind, I’ll bid on someone else.”

“That’s a wrap, this little rogue has been sold for eight hundred thousand dollars,” the woman cheered.

She came towards me with an evil smirk.

“Please,” I whispered.

“You’re so tough, dear child, your new master will enjoy taming you,” she grinned before I felt a prick in my neck.

“Ow! What did…” I didn't finish my question before a wave of dizziness hit me and I passed out.

***

I woke up with a start as I looked around my surroundings and a startled cry escaped my lips when I realized I was in another cage, chained, and gagged.

“Hmmp!” I managed to scream through the gag.

“You’re awake just at the right time,” a voice said behind me.

I whirled around in the cage and saw the man from the auction house. I was in a room that was poorly lit and not furnished.

He walked up to me and opened the cage then took off my gag and smiled.

“My name is Leo but you will call me Master,” he said in a demanding voice.

The man looked to be in his early forties. He had a cruel smirk on his lips and he was holding a poker stick.

“Please, let me go. This is all a misunderstanding,” I cried.

He laughed, “I just spent almost a million dollars to buy you, slave, I'm not just going to let you go.”

“My name is Mia, I'm not a…”

My words were cut off when he smacked me hard across my cheeks, causing my lips to split.

“You will speak only when I ask you to and you have no identity here. You will only be known as my slave, you are here to do my bidding. Do you understand?”

My lips quivered as I nodded my head fearfully.

“Good Girl,” he grinned, “Now, I need to heat this poker stick so I can brand you.”

My eyes widened in fear, he was going to burn my skin!

Just then I heard a thud behind him and before he could turn around something heavy hit him on his head and he fell.

I gasped before I saw a very handsome man smiling at me.

“Hi, I’m Javier and I’m your Knight in shining armor,” he grinned.