The door to the cage rattled opened, making Freya raise her head up from her crouched position. A man stood in front of the cage, fumbling with the padlock. It was the same man that have been coming to grab the girls from their cage to God knows where.
Freya had guessed it'd soon be her turn and she was right, the man was here for her. He grabbed her arm, yanking her frail body up.
She tripped on her own legs as the man dragged her off, not even giving her time to let her sore legs recover from the cramps she had developed, staying in one position for a long time.
Soon she heard loud voices coming from a room they were approaching and before she could even prepare herself for whatever was in there, she was harshly pushed in my the guard.
The door slammed behind her, and a blinding wave of light hit her like a punch to the face. She flinched, instinctively raising her bounded hands to shield her eyes. The roar of voices swelled around her...cheers, murmurs and whistles, so many that it overwhelmed her. Her chest tightened. The sound was too much...too sudden for her silent heart .
She blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the brightness, and when her vision cleared, the sight before her made her stomach churn.
A vast hall stretched out, filled with people or beastmen : some in their human forms and some in their beast form —reptiles, wolves, bear, dragon and so much more she could not even identify . Their eyes were all on her. Some looked curious, some intrigued while some intrusives. The weight of their gaze pressed on her skin making goosebumps rise on the outer layer of it.
She had never felt this violated before.
Her breath caught as she turned slightly and saw the others girls like her around her age, huddled together at the far side of the stage. Their wrists were bound too, just like hers.
Some were trembling and some stared blankly ahead as if their souls had long since escaped their bodies. The realization struck her like hard in the chest.
They were being sold. To these monsters.
" Ah....this one is the highlight of the day, I see". A blonde haired man who stood at the center of the stage said, erupting cheers from the crowd.
The men...and very few women who were sitted with a very uninterested look in their eyes before, now leaned to the front with hunger in their eyes, making Freya want to shrink back.
" She's is....what's that word for it again?". The host put his finger to the left side of it head, making it look like he was really think hard for the word to describe her.
" Beautiful?". Someone from the audience threw.
" No, no. That's not it"....
" Captivating".
" That is close but not quite it".
" Oh I know, Alluring. Tempting and ravenous". A very enthusiastic fat man at the center of the audience said, his eyes greedily eyeing Freya's figure as he sprew those words out.
And he was not the only one eyeing the eccentric white haired girl on the stage. It was safe to say that every creature eyes in the room were on her. They all wanted to have fun with the little proclein like human until she breaks.
Once the host could see that the excitement had build up, he began drawing the board.
A large table was sitted in the middle of the room where different colors of cards were placed on it. Each card has its own value, varying from Red, green, white, pink, yellow, purple, blue and lastly gold.
However, the gold card was safely tucked away from the rest because it has the highest value and was mostly not used. No one have used it in about a hundred years now since the trade began.
" The auction is about to start. I know we are all excited but I'll implore you, gentleman and women, to please stay still while the workers go around to fetch you the card. You know how this works — write the price you're willing to pay to the limit of the card you choose. And of course, the highest bidder takes the price".
The highest bidder takes the price. The price which is her. She wasn't even treated as human at all...or maybe she was. After all,this was how these beasts treats humans.
It was ironic though. They were all seated there, trying to imitate human like-minded and culture and yet they think they are ' superior '
She watched in dread and horror as the red uniformed workers picked some cards in a tray before maneuvering between the audience, letting the greedy looking men..and women...and beasts picked their preferred card. They scribbled something at the back of it with a black ink they came with the tray before folding it and placing it back on the tray.
The exercise disgusted her and she would've churn out her stomach if it wasn't completely empty. Her eyes scanned the entire area of the room and she noticed there was a small door adjacent to where she was.
If it was an exit, she wondered how fast she can reach it before this monsters catch up to her but she knew it was impossible. Not in a room filled with different creatures and definitely not when she was tied up like this.
" Hmmn...this is a lot". The host voice brought her attention back to the board and she noticed all the collected cards had been sorted out by color.
She stared intensely at the cards that seems to hold her fate in hand. This was one of the time where she wished she had powers to burn with her eyes. She'd burn the cards if she had... she'd burn the whole damn building and watch all of them roast till golden brown.
However, the reminder that not all wish came through in form of he host voice " Ok. We have our highest bidder here...anyone who wants to bid before I announce the name?". His beaded eyes scanned the area before continuing " And the highest bidder is—
" I'll bid". A cold voice came from the corner of the stage, making the entire room freeze, including Freya " Gold card".