3. Auction

Iris

It has been three months since Joella was taken away. I knew this cause I spent most of my time counting days since she was taken. The cell beside me was empty,no slaves had been brought there.

With Joella gone,there was no one to stop me from speaking defiantly. I was always getting into trouble. The sound of a whistle was heard and all the slaves immediately rose up. The guards went to each cell to open them.

One approached my cell and unlocked it, he shouted at me to move fast. I shot a glare at him and I regretted it immediately,he had seen me. He fished out a horse whip from his waist and whipped my back.

“Ahhh!!!” I shrieked in pain. I didn't need to be told twice to move. I joined the long train of slaves currently moving to the bath arena where we had out bath.

“Walk faster wretched slaves!!” A guard bellowed and I cringed at this.

The older ones could not walk faster and the guards did not hesitate to lash on their barks with the whips. Their groans filled the hall. My eyes stung with tears as I watched this.I wondered if the guards didn't have mothers for them to be so heartless treating elderly ones like that.

A middle aged woman beside me was walking slowly as a result of the beatings, I feared for her. She was going to get beaten again, I wanted to do something. The girl at my back noticed me and dragged me back before I could do anything.

“Don't do that!” She cautioned in a low voice.

“You will only put the woman and yourself in more trouble.”

I gritted my teeth in anger but listened to her eventually.

We soon got to the bathing arena, a large space with a few buckets of water.

“How are we all going to bathe with this little amount of water?” I asked the blonde girl who had stopped me earlier in shock.

She shrugged, “It's the survival of the fittest here. If  you don't manage to wash even a  little,there would be severe consequences.

The guards started a countdown of thirty seconds. The whole place was in disarray as slaves rushed to get water on their bodies. I was hit in the midst of this chaos.

I ran as fast as I could to a bucket of water and quickly poured it on my body. When thirty seconds was over, those who had managed to get water on their bodies were asked to match to the Slaves diner while those who weren't able to do so were dragged away by the guards.

As I walked to the Slaves diner,my eyes roamed the hall looking for the blonde girl. I felt a tap on my shoulder, “Hey it's me, don't. Don't look back. My name is Carla, what's yours? She whispered.

“Iris.” I whispered back.

At the slave diner, a meal of rotten potatoes and water was already served. The guards started another count down,this time twenty seconds. We all started to rush the food, I almost puked.

As we walked back to our cells, Carla was yet again behind me.

“I heard the grand auction will take place tomorrow.” A woman beside me whispered to the person at her front.

“Really?” The person asked.

The conversation caught my interest as I leaned a bit towards her while walking.

“This auction is quite different from the others,it is for the highest elites of the society.” She whispered again. Other slaves looked at her obviously interested in her whisper tales.

Before I could hear more,she was already pushed into her cell. Carla had been taken to her cell too. As I was pushed into my cell, the thought of the grand auction filled my head and I prayed I wouldn't be picked tomorrow.

I sat up for some hours, before drifting to sleep.

I was awoken from my sleep by some voices,I sat up and looked around. I could hear the sounds of cells unlocking. The guards were here and they were picking slaves. Today was the grand auction.

I moved to a corner in my cell and sat down, while praying to not be picked. Unfortunately,my prayers were not answered. I was shaking with fear when the guards reached my cell and unlocked it.

“Pretty one isn't it?” I heard one of the guards say.

“Yeah, especially her eyes. She would definitely fetch a lot of money.” Another said.

“Get her.” Their leader commanded.

No no no,this can't be it, I thought.

They grabbed the chain on my neck and pulled me, dragging me along with the others they had picked. They stopped in front of a carriage, the guards exchanged glances before bringing out handkerchiefs from their pockets.

The handkerchiefs were pressed on my nose along with the others, forcing me to inhale a strong substance. I kicked and struggled till I finally blacked out.

I didn't know how much time had passed since I blacked out. I tried to open my eyes but I could feel a resistance, I was blind folded. Then I noticed something was off,I couldn't feel the slave's uniform on my body.

That was when it dawned on me as a cool breeze hit my skin, I was naked.

Tears flowed from my eyes but the blind fold absorbed it. I could hear the voices of people chattering endlessly.

“Push them out!” A voice bellowed.

I heard whimpers as we were soon pushed out of the carriage. I was dragged by someone despite the fact that I was naked. My skin was burning and tearing,I was sure I was bleeding.

The dragging stopped and the blind fold was removed. I looked around and saw we were in a small room, I saw the young boys and girls from earlier. Some were crying their eyes out while others looked broken.

Like me,they were all bleeding from the drag. Soon a guard came inside with a whip and dragged a timid looking girl,her brown eyes darted back and forth as the guard took her.

From the room,I could hear a man’s voice shouting “fifty thousand dollars going once!!”

“Going twice,gone!!”

“Sold to Mr Beckett!!”

After that, I could hear people applauding. The guard came inside the room again,he walked towards me. He dragged me out,he pushed me towards the stage.

I could see the hall filled with men and even women,looking at me like I was a prey. I closed my legs and tried to cover my br**sts with my hands,but a guard pushed my arms away. I covered it again which resulted in a whip landing on my back.

I screamed in pain,but the people were clearly enjoying it. I saw a bald headed man, dressed in a jumpsuit move towards me.

“Look at her!!”. I heard him say,his voice was very loud.

“The perfect slave whore for any elite, her seductive blue eyes which can make any one high. Her soft milky skin is very pleasing to touch.” His voice boomed as he spoke, advertising me like I was a product.

I looked at them all with disgust and hatred in my eyes.

“Looking at her luscious lips, imagine what these lips can go as they go down on you….”he drawled, taking satisfaction at the lecherous and lust-filled looks the crowd of elites were giving me.

Then he started the bidding.

“As she is such a beautiful slave,the most beautiful of all the slaves today. Do you agree?” He asked and I could see them shamelessly nod.

“We will start from…” He paused. Then his voice boomed again.

“Thirty thousand gold coins,we shall start from that.” He continued.

“ Five hundred thousand gold coins!” A man shouted,and the crowd applauded.

“Five hundred thousand gold coins going once!!”

“Going twice.” His voice boomed.

“ Eight hundred thousand gold coins!!” A woman said with pride.

Rich people are crazy, I muttered despite my condition.

The bald man was smiling as he said:

“Eight hundred thousand going once.”

“Going twice.”

“Three hundred million gold coins.” A deep voice said calmly.