Highest Bidder

I went to my special private store room, my hands shaking as I dug through my little wooden box of potions.

My long silver hair was so unique, so obvious would give me away instantly when I went out. I couldn’t risk it.

I uncorked the small bottle with trembling fingers and drank the hair‑and‑eye changing potion in a single gulp. It burned down my throat, hot and metallic, and within seconds I watched my reflection shift:

silver turning into deep, rich purple, and my eyes darkening from blue‑soft to green.

I pulled on the plainest clothes I owned, nothing like the elegant dresses Ryan used to force me into.

Then I left.

I walked far, past the shops I knew, past the familiar paths, past anyone who might recognize me. Finally I reached a small, run‑down clinic.

I stepped inside, voice barely steady as I asked the doctor, “C‑could you check me out, please… just basic tests.”

Minutes felt like hours. My hands were cold. I couldn’t stop bouncing my leg.

Then the doctor walked back in with wide eyes.

“There’s a high amount of wolfsbane in your system…” he said quietly, studying me like I was some miracle. “If you’d left this untreated for even one more week, you would’ve died. I’m… genuinely surprised you’re still this strong. You shouldn’t even be able to stand.”

My breath caught.

One more week.

They were that close to finishing me.

I thanked him quickly and walked out before he could ask questions I had no strength left to answer. I didn’t ask him to check whether I’d truly lost the ability to conceive.

I couldn’t.

If it was true… if Ryan and Aria had stolen that from me… I just didn’t want to think about that right now.

I stepped back into the street, hugging myself, drowning in thoughts that felt heavier than my own body. My sister… Aria…

Why?

Why did she hate me enough to kill me?

The question kept circling my mind like a tightening noose, squeezing, constricting, refusing to let me breathe. I couldn’t understand it. I had loved and protected her. I had given and given until it hurt.

So why… why was that not enough?

I was still drowning in that spiraling storm when someone slammed into me from the side so hard I stumbled, my balance slipping like water between my fingers.

I blinked up, dazed.

We had the same height and build.

Suddenly, she leaned in close, her breath shaking, her eyes red with fear or guilt — I couldn’t tell.

“I’m really… really sorry,” she whispered.

“S-sorry? For wha..”

Before I could finish, something cold misted over my neck.

The droplets hit my skin and sizzled, a soft, whispering burn that spread like icy fire beneath my flesh. The numbness crawled over my shoulders, down my spine, tingling, smothering me from the inside.

“What… what did you… do?” My voice staggered, each word thick, heavy, slipping away from my tongue.

My vision started to warp.

The world… melted.

Colors bent and stretched in slow, impossible waves.

Her face smudged into purple streaks like my mind couldn’t hold her shape anymore.

I reached forward, my fingers brushing nothing, reaching for her, for balance, for answers, for… anything..

And then the ground opened beneath me.

Everything went dark.

**

I woke up slowly.

Painfully.

My head throbbed in dull, pounding waves. My throat felt dry. My limbs… gods, they felt foreign, heavy, like they didn’t belong to me anymore. My wrists burned in sharp, raw lines, and when I tried to move, some ropes dug deeper, cutting into my skin.

The air was cold.

I blinked, forcing my blurry eyes to adjust, very confused as to what was happening.

I looked around and some girls were tied beside me — young, trembling, their faces filled with tears.

Their sobs blended with the darkness, muffled and fragile.

““W-where… where am I…? What’s… happening?”

My voice cracked apart like something fragile dropped on stone. It hurt just to hear myself.

The girl beside me flinched at the sound, her wrists tugging against her own ropes.

She turned her face slightly toward me, just enough that I could see the terror shining in her eyes like wet glass.

“Shh… please…” she whispered, her voice thin and shaking. “Don’t talk too loud. Don’t… don’t make the guards angry.”

Her warning only made the panic spike harder in my chest. My breath hitched, and I blinked at her rapidly, my confusion flooding through me so fast it felt like drowning.

“Guards?” I whispered harshly. “What… guards? What are you talking about? What is this place? Why? why am I tied up here?”

She looked at me with so much pity.

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and then she leaned in, voice barely a breath.

“Didn’t your master tell you before he brought you here!”

I stared.

“My master?”

Her eyes dropped to the filthy floor, her lashes trembling.

“You… you really don’t know?” she whispered softly. “You didn’t hear anything before you were brought here?”

I shook my head frantically, strands of purple hair sticking to my cheeks. The last thing I remembered was something liquid being sprayed on my neck and me suddenly losing consciousness.

She bit her lip, then said, “They brought us here to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. This is an auction house… for human...”

Her eyes flicked to the metal door. “Property to be sold.”

I stopped breathing. She continued, her voice trembling:

“Just… just hope a good master buys you.”

“Buys… me?” I repeated it, as if the second time would make it less monstrous. She nodded miserably.

My stomach dropped. My hands shook. My heart lurched violently.

“No… no no no! This isn’t… this isn’t right!” I screamed loudly. “I’m not… I’m not a slave! This is some mistake! I’m not supposed to be here...”

The guards outside screamed in unison, a harsh, chilling command that froze the air in the room. “SHUT UP! Stop making so much noise, you bitch!”

I flinched, my chest tightening as panic clawed its way up my throat.

I dug my nails into the ropes, tugging, straining, trying to test if I could get free but the knots held firm. My mind raced, trying to find a way out.

And then I heard the sounds of footsteps, guards were moving toward us.

One of them said, “Time to transport them to the main hall, the auction is about to start.”

I was shoved forward until we got to another place entirely, it was a very grand hall filled with high up sits above, my body was stiff and trembling, every pair of eyes felt like they were burning into me.

The girls were sold one by one.

Finally, it was my turn. My stomach twisted into knots, and I could feel the heat crawling up my neck. “I’m not supposed to be here!” I said, feeling very angry, at the bullshit day I’ve had. “This is a mistake… a huge, terrible mistake.”

The men around me laughed, low and cruel. “What a feisty one,” one of them muttered. “She seems delusional.”

“Begin your bid!” the auctioneer’s voice boomed.

I froze, my hands clenching, and then the first number rolled over the crowd:

“100 million dollars,” a voice spoke, cold and measured.

The entire venue inhaled, a collective gasp that made my chest ache. 100 million. Dollars? I didn't know it was possible for one to even have such an astronomical figure.

I swallowed, my throat dry, and spoke, trying to sound steadier than I felt. “Sir… you’re making a huge mistake buying me. My father… he would come for me… and this would be a waste of your money at the end of the day.”

He didn’t respond to me. The man in the middle raised a hand, and the room seemed to hold its breath. “Anyone still bidding?”