Chapter 1: The Sounds of Darkness

Mariana Adams' Point of View 

There seemed to be a hard rock stuck in my mouth. As cold tears streamed down my cheeks, I hugged my cold body while crying silently in the corner of the room.

I vaguely remember that my grandmother often saves me whenever I am in the dark because she knows I don’t like being in it. But she could no longer get me out of this strange, and locked room right now.

Several separate railway tracks of thought formed in my head. Knowing I was sold to a man I don't know has left me unable to breathe easily and unable to buy basic necessities.

At this point, all I care about is getting back to my house. I'd like to have a place of my own, longing for my grandmother but I’m unable to do anything right now.

My sobbing moment ceased when I heard the door creak, and a man who was tall and had a huge tummy came in and grabbed my hand as if I were a beggar down in the streets.

"Where are you going to take me?" I recoiled, attempting to wrench my body away from him.

The man’s face showed me he was irritated. As his hold tightened, I shrieked and whimpered in protest.

"You better behave or I’ll kill you right now, woman."

His words penetrated my soul. I don’t want to die yet, but the reason I’m alive is already gone. He was forcefully pushing me until we successfully came out of the room. A long, passive entryway greeted me, and the abundance of candles and solid architecture gave me the impression like I'd entered a castle.

I grunted when the man pulled my hair as he was holding my hand.

"You’re hurting me!" I groaned.

I thought that he would kill me or even bait me as food for hungry animals out there, but I was wrong. My fascination was piqued when a door opened and led me in the direction of what revealed out to be an office, the office of the person I've seen since the day I was bought and thrown in a cell like a lowly animal.

In that spot, a man was patiently waiting. He was standing and facing the table. He wasn’t wearing his coat, and his long sleeves were folded up to his elbow, causing his tattoos to show.

The man just pushed me inward and left, revealing his domineering, frigid yet handsome face. As he sat down at his desk, he dropped a few papers upon the surface.

"Mariana Adams, was it?" he asked, seeking an answer to his question.

Instead of answering his question, I diverted the topic to something else. "Please let me go…" I pleaded with a broken voice.

"Come here," he asked me to.

I was just standing; my knees and fingers were trembling. His cold, vicious eyes were making me want to go out and run away from him, but my body is stiff. 

"Don’t make me repeat it, Mariana. You won’t like it," he stated, his voice now rigid and full of authority.

Slowly, I walked toward where he was and halted only a few meters away from him whilst looking down. He handed me the papers he was holding, which I accepted deliberately as my hands were pretty trembling and unable to move quickly.

He was tall and had a massive frame. He's a hunk; his face is clean, but he has dark circles under his eyes. Nonetheless, such a fact did not influence my view of him as an ugly person.

"These are the things you need to follow while you’re in my territory. Read it; your roles are stated down; as well as the things you must know," he said casually, using his deep, resonant baritone voice.

My gaze wandered to the paper he handed me; it was when I saw the rules and regulations—especially the word—that I stopped reading.

"S-Slave?" I read aloud what I had read.

He turned around and stood up. He walked toward where the bottle of wine was and deliberately poured a small portion of it into his glass.

"Yes. You read it right…” 

My eyes drifted back to the paper. I had read the paragraph once again until I saw a keyboard which says I will be doing what he asked me to do, even if it means having sex with him.

My jaw clenched. It sounds absurd!

I flung the documents on his table in a fit of rage, gathered all the courage I could muster, and looked at him with pure confidence in my eyes while beneath it was anger, fear, and frustration.

"There's no way this is happening! I won’t be your slave!” I shouted. "Neither do things that involve sex!"

The handsome man scoffed; he smirked at me and then spoke. "Unfortunately, I bought you, and now I own you. You can’t do anything about it, Mariana."

I craned my neck, clenched my fist, and then spoke. "Dream on, jerk! I won’t bow down to someone like you! I'd rather have chains around my neck and be dragged through the mud while being tortured!"

The man craned his neck, a bit amused by what I said. He clicked his tongue and licked his lower lips before speaking.

"How feisty," he enunciated. "I like it…" 

I didn't like his facial expressions. The man seemed perverted, but why is my brain saying he's hot when he did that? The man began to walk deliberately to where I was, pinning me to the wall before leaning his face closer.

Wake up, Mariana!

"I kill people, sweetheart. And if you try to defy me one more time, then I should do something else to make you follow."

Like the way his sudden actions had me dumbfounded, just as he makes my heart thump fast. All I care about right now is getting out of here. I shoved him aside and bolted towards the exit, but before the door could swing open, the man caught my arms and pulled me close, so that I could smell profoundly of his manly alluring scent.

My body's first reaction was something I didn't expect. His large calloused palms were wrapped around it, and I could hear his breath in my ears.

A smirk formed on his lips as my eyes met his.

"Got ya," he whispered huskily through my ears. "I see. They are right; you’re a bold one. The descriptions on the papers were right."

I took his arms, which were unfortunately hugging my waist. "Pervert!" I spat it out.

His eyebrows arched. "Don’t call me such names, woman. I don’t like it when my people talk back. Haven’t you seen the punishment for a pawn like you who refuses to obey me, hmm?" he stated. 

His chilly voice sent shivers down my spine. As the man commenced to walk accordingly, I began to move backward, but not until I felt the wall behind my back for the second time.

His facial expression changed; it became darker than earlier.

"I'm not afraid to hurt people, Mariana," he whispered through my small ears. "And if you kept misbehaving like that, you would be harmed regardless of the money I took out just to have you. Did your little brain understand, woman?"

His last paragraph put a fear inside me. Tears rolled down my cheeks as his scorching eyes remained fixed on me.

The man took his body away, calling the guards outside quickly. As expected, they came immediately and held both of my arms.

Put her back in her room. "Don't give her food; keep your eyes on her, and don’t let this woman come out until I say so."

As expected, I was dragged back into the dark room again. Two men pushed me, causing my body to fall to the ground, and here I am, crying and repenting of the things I failed to do before they caught me.

The dim room turned my thoughts back a couple of days ago, reminiscing about my memories of why I got here and why I ended up here. After all, life is really unfair. Not being able to produce money is one of the reasons why I was forced to be a slave and had nothing to do but obey this unknown devil, who I will soon serve.