The Bidder

CHAPTER 2: THE BIDDER

Sam’s POV

I’ve seen prison documentaries scarier than this. But none of them prepared me for what the underground of The Biden felt like.

The moment the cold metal door creaked open and the guards barked for us to move, Eli straightened beside me. His eyes,always too calm for someone held captive, narrowed like he was preparing for a fight he wouldn’t win.

“This is it,” he muttered.

I didn’t have to ask what he meant. I could feel it in the air,something was happening tonight.

The hallway we were herded into was unlike the holding area. No rust, no mold, no smell of sweat and blood. This place was clean, lavish even. Polished obsidian floors. Black chandeliers with glowing crimson crystals. The scent of cigar smoke, leather, and too much cologne.

“This is called The Bidder,” Eli whispered as we shuffled forward. “Where the elites of The Biden pick their toys, soldiers, or slaves. It’s not a ceremony. It’s a hunt dressed in velvet.”

I glanced at him. “And who are the elites?”

“Teddy Vietnam. Max Riel. Delilah Cross,” he said, keeping his eyes ahead. “Top of the food chain.”

That name… Teddy Vietnam. It sounded like a myth. I’d heard it whispered on news channels my father swore I shouldn’t watch. “Leader of shadows,” one report called him. The mastermind behind several unsolved assassinations, global arms trades, and entire networks of chaos.

Now, I was about to meet him.

We were forced into a narrow line. Each of us freshly cleaned, a sick contradiction after being starved and bruised for days. I didn’t want to know who gave me the clean white shirt I was wearing or why it still smelled of bleach.

The chamber we were led into was shaped like a theater. A domed ceiling glimmered with artificial stars, and a red carpet cut across the floor like a trail of spilled blood. Along the upper platform sat three thrones.

On the first was a man with slicked-back blonde hair and tattoos creeping down his throat — Max Riel, no doubt. He looked bored already.

Beside him, a woman with jet-black curls and blood-red lips: Delilah Cross. Regal. Dangerous. Her legs were crossed, one heel dangling lazily off her foot as she sipped something from a tall crystal flute.

And then Teddy.

He sat in the center.

You know power when you see it. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t move. It just exists, and forces the room to kneel. Teddy wore a black velvet suit, a gold ring on each finger, and a slow smirk that never quite reached his eyes. Eyes that now locked directly with mine.

I didn’t blink.

“Rebels get killed first,” Eli warned under his breath.

I didn’t care.

The hostages before me bowed, were paraded like pets, given numbers. Each time a snap of the finger echoed, a name was assigned, and someone was claimed.

Max pointed at a tall, muscular recruit who flinched under his gaze. “That one.”

Delilah chose two ,both pale, fragile-looking. She smirked and whispered something to her guard, who marked their numbers.

Then Teddy leaned forward.

I didn’t realize how close I was to the center until his voice cut the air.

“That one,” he said, his finger lazily pointing toward me.

Silence fell.

Max’s eyebrows lifted. Delilah turned her head.

I didn’t bow.

I didn’t kneel.

“Bold,” Teddy murmured. “Blue eyes like a storm. What’s your name, pretty boy?”

I didn’t answer.

One of the guards shoved the back of my head, forcing me to bend slightly. I clenched my fists.

Teddy chuckled. “Send him to my study. I want to… evaluate his potential myself.”

The guards moved quickly, dragging me out of line. I didn’t resist, but my eyes never left his. I saw something flicker there, curiosity, amusement… maybe something darker.

As we were pulled away, I glanced back. Eli looked at me with something close to pity.

“You just became a magnet for hell,” he said under his breath. “Congratulations.”

They locked me back in the cramped room with Eli until further orders came. My shirt was wrinkled now, one sleeve ripped from where the guard yanked me too hard.

“Was that supposed to be a privilege?” I asked, pacing.

Eli sat on his bunk, arms folded. “Depends on what he wants from you.”

“And if I don’t give it?”

“They’ll break you… or worse, find someone you care about and break them.”

“I don’t care about anyone.”

He looked up at me with those solemn eyes. “Then you’re lucky.”

I didn’t say anything.

The room was quiet for a while. My body ached from the earlier labor, from the weight of uncertainty. My father didn’t know I was here. Or maybe he did, and wasn’t doing anything. Either way, no one was coming.

“You shouldn’t have looked him in the eye,” Eli said softly. “You poked a wolf.”

“He looked first.”

“That’s what wolves do before they bite.”

We sat in silence, but I knew it was just the calm before something worse.

There was a knock at the metal door, followed by a voice. “Number Thirty-Nine. The boss is ready.”

Eli stood. “That’s you.”

I exhaled and rose, rolling my shoulders.

“Any last advice?” I asked.

“Don’t lie. Don’t beg. And whatever you do,” he said, locking eyes with me, “don’t fall for his charm.”

I raised a brow. “You think I’m that stupid?”

“I think everyone’s stupid when it comes to Teddy Vietnam.”

The guards grabbed me again, but this time with something else in their grip, caution.

I was no longer just another hostage.

Now, I was Teddy’s interest.

And that might be worse.

As they pulled me away,I noticed they were taking me to a different direction from the hallway which leads to the master's chambers.

“Where are you taking me?” I managed to ask but a kick to my stomach shut me up as they pulled me to a stop at a secluded corner.

“Listen and listen good,any cozying up with the Master will get you killed and death in the BIDEN is a child's play. I hope you get that into your thick skull.”

They hit me with a bat as I lost balance.