Bound By Desire

Chapter 4: The Auction

Rosalia’s POV:

When I wake up, the first thing I notice is the pain in my head. Wincing against the bright light in the room, my vision solidifies and I notice the other people in the room. Each sat in silence. Puzzled, I consider speaking but some unknown instinct keeps me silent. In one corner, one girl is crying softly into her knees. A broken sound that stabs at my heart. Pulling my arms, I hear the distinct rattle of chains and look to see my hands chained in front of me to whatever I was leaning against. Yanking the chain once, it rattles emptily in the silent room. One girl looks over to me, a resigned expression on her face.

“Don’t bother, it doesn't work.” The owner of the voice had sandy brown hair and hazel brown eyes that looked kind. “I already tried to get them out and nearly broke my wrist in the process.” She sighs and looks away, lapsing back into silence for a moment before her eyes flick back to me and she speaks. “The name’s Mara by the way. Mara Harper.”

“Rosalia Mallory,” I answer, looking around the room. There had to be at least 25 if not 50 girls crammed into this small room. Hugging my knees to my chest, a sudden gust of arctic wind comes through a small window near the ceiling and I shiver. “Where are we? What’s happening?” I look over to Mara and she shrugs.

“Beats me. I was walking home when some random person grabbed me and attacked me.” She shivers, hinting that she didn’t want to talk about what had happened. Instead, she continues to fix her eyes on me. “What about you? What happened to you?”

I pause, thinking. “I was leaving a party when I saw someone follow me, so I ran. I got lost and then...” My voice trails off as the image of the man’s golden eyes fill my vision, causing the pain in my neck to surface. Disturbed by my memory, I place my hand on the right side of my neck to feel something thickly crusted over the area I touch. Scraping it off with my nail, the underside came away full of flakes of a rusty reddish colour. Blood. Momentarily panicking, I check the area for damage but, aside from a few bruises, no marks are left from the attack.

“Then what?” Mara sounds intrigued and I shake off the memory. Noticing my silence, she shoots me a concerned look. “Hey, you okay, Rosalia?”

“Yeah, just checking for injuries” I reply, because I'm pretty sure I felt him bite me yet there are no marks. I think to myself, sighing. Oh well, maybe I imagined that. I didn't know. I sigh to myself softly. I had always been told I had an overactive imagination and this latest crazy episode proves it. Either that or I’m finally going mad. Great.

Mara smiles hesitantly in my direction. “I wonder what’s going to happen to us?” She asks as silence settles over the room again. I notice some of the girls are asleep and motion to Mara to quieten down a little. She nods and over the next few hours, we develop a form of sign language we both understand. Where did you come from? I ask, my curiosity reawakened.

A shrug. Lischase Hills, she replies. When I question her she shrugs again before signing to me that it's a small town about 20 miles from Moonwoods. What about you? She asks me and I smile.

Fairport, north of Moonwoods. I reply, showing her it was a small town near the sea. Mara smiles and we lapse back into silence. I stare towards the window, seeing the moon through the clouds.

Time passes and the silence stretches. I close my eyes and rest my head against the post, trying to block out the memories I had run away from. Sighing quietly, I keep my eyes closed for a while, listening to the silence that had replaced the quiet crying from earlier. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I heard a door bang open and my eyes shot up towards it. Scanning the room around me, my eyes focus on the north wall, behind Mara. Standing in an old doorway, a young woman in an old-fashioned black maid’s uniform stands silently before her voice rings through the room.

“Mara Harper. Isobel Hemlock. Chalice Silver.” She stops, momentarily consulting the list in her hands before the last names are called. “Belladonna Emerson. Clove Landis and Rosalia Mallory.” A momentary silence fills the room when the names are read out before a group of women stream in and split off towards the posts where the six of us that were called out were chained. When one reaches me, I notice she refuses to look at me but rather focuses on a spot just above my left shoulder to fix her gaze. Bewildered, I could have sworn I saw a degree of sympathy rooted in her gaze that left me puzzled.

Hearing the shackles click open, I massage my wrists, seeing the raised red lines where they had been too tightly bolted shut. Flexing my fingers, I feel the blood flow return to my fingertips as I’m hauled upright and marched out of the room, my left wrist clamped firmly in the grasp of the woman who freed me from the post. Each of the six of us are ushered silently along a corridor until we reach a large room. Once we arrive, the women who escorted us bow silently towards another woman and leave. Staying quiet, I stand near Mara and wait until a lady appears. She appraises us one at a time and leads us off. I open my mouth to speak only to be hushed and my wrist gripped tighter when she leads me off down a corridor.

Arriving at the next room, I’m instructed to remove my clothes and step into the nearest shower. Silently obeying, I stand under the icy water, feeling shivers wrack me from head to toe. Numb inside, I wait until I’m pulled out and handed a rough, threadbare towel to dry myself with. When I still don’t move, she huffs and begins rubbing my arms until my skin goes red. Taking the towel off her, I rub down and dry off before she hands me a bathrobe and directs me silently to the next room where a kinder looking lady waits for me.

“This one’s ready.” The lady who had brought me so far stops and hands me over to the next one. “I’ll have the last one brought over shortly, Anastasia.”

The woman named Anastaisa smiles softly. “Thank you, Hesperia. I’ll take this one from here. What’s her name?”

“Rosalia. Rosalia Mallory. She’s the fifth of this group. I’ll send the last one in a moment when I’ve prepared her for you.” Hesperia’s voice is flat, lacking emotion. She nods once more before leaving me with Anastasia. Anastaisa’s face is kind but I see the same sympathy in her gaze. She stays quiet and leads me to sit on a chair.

“What’s happening to me?” I ask quietly, seeing Anastaisa’s head turn in my direction at the back of the mirror. She sighs and I lapse back into silence. Anastasia shoots me a sympathetic glance as she disappears into one of the large closets dotted around the room.

Glancing down at my lap, I wait until I hear Anastasia step behind me. Placing a hand on my shoulder, I turn to see her holding a short black dress over her arm. Handing it to me I move to a closed-off space and shed the bathrobe, sliding the dress over my head. It was tight, hugging every curve down to my mid-thigh where it stopped. Draping the bathrobe on the back of the single chair, I walk back out to where Anastasia stands still waiting for me. She leads me back to the chair where I can see a curling iron plugged in heating next to a range of cosmetics.

Sitting back on the chair, I notice Mara coming in, led by Hesperia, who nodded once and left silently. I make eye contact with Mara and her eyes widen. Anastasia disappears for a few moments before returning with another woman who goes over to Mara and begins prepping her as Anastasia was doing to me.

Sitting still, I watch Anastaisa curl my hair so it falls in soft waves down my spine. Simple makeup enhanced my natural features with black mascara to lengthen my lashes, smoky eye shadow and dark lipstick to finish it off. Taking a jewelled hair comb, she pulls some of my front curls behind my head and ties them loosely. Sliding the hair comb into the loose twist, showing the black opals and amber jewels that complimented my hair. On closer inspection, my dress had an orange lily on the left hip that matched with the ambers in my hair comb. Lastly, Anastaisa hands me a pair of black high heels with an orange lily design on the heel. Slipping them on, I let Anastasia guide me back to a full-length mirror. When Anastasia finishes with me she sighs quietly. “I’m sorry, Rosa.”

Blinking with confusion, I risk looking at her, despite some buried instinct telling me to keep my eyes to the floor. “Why? Do you know what’s happening to me?” I see pain flash across her eyes and she looks away for a second before turning back to me. Emotionless eyes meeting mine.

“I know but I cannot say.” she seems upset at the thought. “I cannot help you and for that, I am truly sorry.” She sighs again before Hesperia enters and ushers me and Mara out to join the other girls. Made to walk in a line, we are corralled into a small room where close to fifty girls were standing waiting, all dressed like me and Mara. The earlier banter that had existed between us disappears in the face of fear. I huddle close to Mara and the other girls who have been called with us, getting to know them better.

Isobel, or Izzy as she preferred to be called, was the daughter of a rich businessman and his trophy wife who didn’t care for her and neglected to care for her basic needs. Sometimes not even coming home to see her. She had a younger sister named Brenna who she feels guilty for leaving with her absent parents and wants to go home to look after her. She was quiet after her story, staring into space with her lost, haunted eyes that seemed too pained to be human, but I could see the humanity rooted in her eyes. The compassion. Next to Izzy was Chalice.

Blonde and popular Chalice immediately gets on my nerves with her attitude until she starts talking and I learn that it was a defense mechanism. A mechanism born from years of dealing with her abusive father. Drunk every night, he beat Chalice’s mother until Chalice learnt to defend her, meaning Chalice ended up with more bruises than her mother. She has a cruel older brother who liked to bully Chalice and her younger sister when their father wasn’t around. Chalice also has a younger sister who idolises her and who she needs to protect her from her brother and father. She wants to go home to protect her mother and sister from her father’s rage and drunken attacks.

Clove is quiet. With her red hair and nervous blue-grey eyes, I take one look at her and feel an overwhelming urge to protect her. With a quiet voice, she explains how she was the youngest of eight children in a poor family. Her father lost a business deal that went south and resulted in her family going bankrupt. Her father turned to drugs and died of an overdose a year earlier. Her mother then started to work eight-hour shifts to try to keep the family above water but it was too much and she fell ill. Clove tried to help but she ended up walking back from school and getting attacked. Ending up here.

Belladonna was last to speak. She was the oldest of three children and wore her entitlement like a crown on her head. Platinum blonde wavy hair is complemented with fair skin and emerald green eyes that cut into me like daggers. Ice cold and cruel, she reminds me of an old bully at one of my previous foster homes who liked to attack the younger kids where the bruises didn’t show. At least she did until I learnt of it and started protecting the others from her. Belladonna irked me from the moment I laid eyes on her and her lack of compassion didn’t help ease my anger. Instead, I turn away from her and speak with Mara.

Time passes and Mara and I drift away from the others into a quiet corner. The earlier humour and defiance I had seen in Mara drained out of her the longer we remained corralled together in the small room until the two of us sat silently on the floor, my arm around Mara’s shoulders. She sniffs quietly into my shoulder, hiding her face from view. After a few minutes she speaks, her voice slightly muffled behind the thick curtain of my hair.

“Rosa, what’s going to happen to us?” Her voice is thick with tears and I look over to see a lone tear slide down her cheeks, all her earlier bravado vanishing. “What’s going on? I’m scared. I’m really f*****g scared.”

“Shh.” I rub small circles on her back and she sobs into my shoulder. “It’ll be okay. Everything will work out.” Eventually. I finish in my head, not wanting to show her how afraid I was. “Shh, it’ll work out, Mara. Don’t worry.” I have to look away for a moment as I blink back a sudden haze of tears blurring my vision. Pulling each other closer, Mara and I stay huddled together as the first woman comes to the door and starts calling names. Numb to my situation, I hear more names called out. Six at a time.

After a while, I hear Mara’s name ring through the half-empty room. Mara raises a tearstained face towards me and I smooth away a few tears, eliciting a small smile from her. I squeeze her hand once before rough hands grasp Mara by the shoulder and haul her away from me, Mara’s muted screams ringing in my ears as she’s dragged across the room. Raising my head, I see the woman slap Mara hard across the face, causing her to fall to her knees. Turning a fraction towards me, I see her fear in her eyes. Clenching my muscles involuntarily, I move to help Mara before I hear another name. My own.

“Rosalia Mallory.” The cold, emotionless voice belongs to Hesperia, who moves to yank me off the floor, twisting my arms in front of me. Silver shackles clamp back around my wrists and a chain is looped around an extra loop on them. Once all six of us are chained in a line, Hespira moves to pull us along a maze of dark corridors that all look so similar that I soon forget trying to map where I’m going. A crushing sense of hopelessness crashes over me for a moment as I try to deal with my current situation before I take a deep breath and centre myself. Steeling myself for the horror to come.

Eventually, we come to a narrow corridor that leads to a small door. From behind the door, I can hear muted conversations of hundreds, maybe thousands, of people gathered behind the door. Soft yellow light shines down the corridor, illuminating the pale, scared faces of the others gathered with me. Hespira moves down the line, removing the chains and shackles from each of us. Once we’re all free, she moves down the line, appraising us once more. Silent and compliant from fear, we let her move us around, so we stood in a line but a different order. Feeling her clamp a hand on my left elbow, she leads me towards the back of the line before leaving me.

Standing silently, we’re led out one at a time when our name is called. I quickly recognise a pattern. Once the name is called, the girl is led out of the corridor and down to the room where she is obscured by the light. I hear a monotone voice for a few moments before loud shouting. Next, a loud bang is heard and then silence as Hespira returns for the next girl. With each girl who leaves, those of us left become a little more terrified of what awaits us on the other side of the yellow light and the loud noise.

The hours pass and the number of girls left slowly dwindles, leaving those of us who were left standing in silence. With each girl who goes, I can hear the stakes get higher in whatever game they’re playing with our lives. Keeping as calm as possible by the time it’s down to the last 20 of us, I can feel my hands trembling from trying to keep the fear inside. Below the surface. I lean against the wall and count the girls left. Ten. Five. Two. Eventually, I’m the last one left bar one other girl who stands in front of me. When Hesperia comes for her, I give her a sympathetic smile and watch as she’s led away from the corridor, out into the light. I slide down the wall until I’m sitting on the floor, my legs folded to the side. Closing my eyes, I lean my head against the wall and relax as best as I can. Lost in my mind for a moment, I smile, the hazy memory of a summer’s day filling my mind before cold hands grip my wrists and pull me upright.

Snapped out of my daze, I feel Hesperia drag me down the corridor towards the bright light through the open doorway. However, the closer we got to the door, the more a sudden feeling of trepidation gripped me. To an outsider, my demeanour didn’t change, I remained submissive and compliant, letting Hesperia guide me towards the source of my unabating terror. Internally, however, I was screaming and pulling away from Hesperia’s iron grip. When we arrive at the door, I stand still for a moment, hearing the clicks of my heels disappear into the silence. Stopping by the door, Hesperia assesses me once more before looking at someone hidden behind the light. A nod and Hesperia turns back to me with a frown on her face.

“Stay quiet. You hear me. Silent.” She glares at me and I stay silent when she turns away and drags me into the light. Blinking against the bright light, my eyes adjust to take in a cavernous room. At the back, a high stage rises and blocks out some of the light. Woodenly following Hesperia, I walk up the stairs silently, hearing the clicking sound of my heels causing the room to fall silent. Once upon the stage, I notice several pairs of brightly glowing eyes shining out from the darkness facing me. Hardly daring to breathe, I stand in silence for a moment before a phantom hand presses between my shoulder blades with such force that I end up on my knees, eyes facing the floor. The sounds of the room around me quieten when a strange buzzing fills my ears. Taking a few deep breaths, I keep my eyes on the ground as my surroundings gain clarity.

“This is Rosalia Mallory. She is young and impressionable as she is new to the system. She is tall, curvy and has beautiful features designed to capture the attention of any man. Being new and untrained, she may take a while to be trained but has yet to show any signs of rebelliousness. She is a beautiful and rare commodity for any of you eager to show off, but also for those with a sweet taste.” She continues, but my mind latches on to two words: sweet taste? Sweet taste for what? My mind spins as the woman’s voice regains clarity. “Rosalia is also a virgin and one of the most unusual girls we have seen in a long time. Can I hear a starting bid of 100,000?”

Those who are left began shouting over one another to be heard in the raucous noise that fills the large room. The numbers change but surprisingly, they don’t shoot as high as I was expecting. It stays in the realm of under 500,000 but doesn’t seem to be climbing any higher. Several people eventually lose interest and the room thins out. Staring at the stage floor, tears blur my vision as I hear these strange people bartering with my life like I’m a rare jewel to be coveted and prized. Returning to the words that had captured my attention earlier, I feel a fragment of concealed memory shake loose from inside my head. A word.

Vampire.

Keeping my calm, I take a few deep breaths and keep my gaze fixed on the polished wooden floor, my buried instincts telling me to do so when a clear voice rings out over all the noise.

“550,000” The voice is clear and authoritative, silencing the other noise in the room around me. Holding my breath, the silence stretches until the woman next to me speaks up.

“550,000 going once.” She pauses. “Going twice.” Another, longer pause. “Sold for 550,000.” Her voice rings through the room and over my head. Numbly, I stand and follow the woman down from the stage and along another dark corridor to a cave-like room where all the girls from before waited stood in groups. Glancing around, I noticed Mara stood in a corner, her mascara smudged around her eyes from tears. My compassion flares when she turns and fixes her eyes on me. Walking as fast as I dare, I move across the room and take her into my arms for a hug.

“You okay?” I ask quietly when the room falls silent. She sniffs again and I hug her closer as small groups of girls drift together and talk quietly, throwing furtive glances towards where Hesperia stood consulting a large black book. Angling my vision, I could make out a looping cursive spelling a list but not what it says. Mara catches my eye and smiles forlornly at me. “What?” I ask, seeing her lopsided smile.

“That’s a list of all our names, who we’ve been sold to and for how much.” She’s silent again and I rest my head on top of hers, closing my eyes and sitting in silence until Hesperia’s voice starts to ring through the room. Keeping my eyes closed, I hear her calling the girls by surname. Opening my eyes, I see the girls she had called scurrying forward from the back of the room, their eyes drawn towards the floor. When Hesperia sees them, she divides them and leads them off down a hall to the right of the little cave room we had all been herded into.

“I wonder where that leads to,” I mumble to myself, seeing Mara’s eyes open and following mine. She glances at the dark corridor and shivers, shrinking back into me. “What?” A shake of her head. “Mara, what’s wrong? Do you know something about that tunnel?” Another shake before I hear a resigned sigh. “You do, don’t you?” A nod. “What is it?”

“It’s where we get taken to our new Masters.” She replies, shivering again, her eyes pinned on that doorway and the darkness lurking beyond it. “That’s what’s happening to those girls when they get called. They’re being taken to their Masters.” She sobs the last sentence quietly and I pull my arms tighter around her. “That’s what’s going to happen to us, Rosalia. We’ve been sold and taken to…” Mara’s voice is cut off when Hesperia’s voice rings out.

“Harper, Hemlock, Silver.” A pause comes before Hesperia speaks again. “Landis, Emerson and Mallory.” The six of us whose names had been called stand and follow Hesperia. She appraises us before splitting me, Mara and Chalice into one group and Clove, Isobel and Belladonna into the other.

She glances at the three of us, checking her list one last time before clamping cuffs around our wrists and looping chains between us so we’re chained in a line. Once secure, Mara and Chalice and I are led out of the room and down the corridor.

To be taken to our new Master.