"Up next: selection 3." the attendant shouted and Alice felt the chains, connecting her hands to her feet, being roughy pulled. The hood on her head prevented her from seeing but her naked skin felt the chill of the room. She made the effort not to trip and embarrass herself any further. She was already naked and chained, the last thing she needed was for the monsters to laugh at her.
She hated their laughter, ever since they laughed at poor little Alice who could not fathom why her own parents had sold her to the slavers.
"Let's look at their faces." one of them growled and the bag was roughy pulled from around her head and the dim light annoyed Alice's eyes.
A bespectacled man with a greasy haircut, dressed in a toxedo looked at her with a perverted glint in his eyes. He took microphone and addressed the screen:
"Vampire lords and ladies, welcome to Joshua's online auction house. I am Joshua and tonight I have some brand new merchandise for you. Look at this."
Alice glanced at the spot he was pointing at and saw that he was presenting the person next to her. Said merchandise was in fact a 12 year old boy, who looked terrified. His eyes were puffy with tears and there were burn marks on his torso. 'What have they done to you, little one?'
"He is the perfect bid for you pain lovers, who want nothing more than to torment your human pets. After all, aren't they just the perfect little things? Look at him, look at his innocence and imagine just how fun it would be to beat, drain and rape it out of him!"
Something in Alice broke. She was not sure what, but she could stand this no longer. Suddenly all that passiveness, which she had tried to enforce on herself, shattered and she punched Joshua straight through his ugly glasses.
For a moment, there was shock and panic. Who would have thought something like this would happen?
"Lot 34," the greasy man snarled as he rose to his feet. "How dare you?"
"How dare you do this to a child, you fucking animal?!" Alice bellowed, knowing full well that this may very well doom her. 'Who cares anyway? At least my end would be epic.' "He is twelve and you would do this to him? To a child? How-"
Alice did not managed to finish her sentence, because of the slap that forced her to the ground. The pain was almost unbearable. Her jaw was broken and heavily bled. She looked upwards to face her attacker, trying with all her will not to look afraid. Instead of the perverted glint, his glasses now revealed only eyes filled with malice. "How dare we do this to you ask? You are all our inferiors, human scum. All you can be is our food and entertainment. Satisfying our desires is the only thing your puny lives are good for. Michael, remove lot 34 from the bidding list. I will teach her and all the others a lesson right here and now. She won't be good for anything once I am done."
When reality hit her, Alice braced herself. 'Let me die.' she prayed to a God, no longer worshipped by anyone. 'Let me die and sleep forever.'
She was torn from her mind by the shouting of Michael. "Boss, don't."
'What? Was this vampire....trying to save her?'
"What do you mean 'don't'? She is mine to do with as I please."
"Sir, we have a bid for her. A very large one, just now."
"I don't care who-" This...Michael whispered something into Joshua's ear and the vampire froze. Alice had seen that look enough times to relish at it now. That look had graced the faces of all humans she knew at least once.
Fear.
Michael got her to her feet and fed her some of his disgusting blood, which had the ironic effect of healing her injuries. Her jaw was back in its place, unbroken, her mouth no longer bled and all tiredness from her body vanished in an instant.
Joshua looked dazed and angry, yet said nothing for a few moments.
"It was specified that she be brought immediately and in pristine condition. The payment has already been made." Michael added.
"And you are sure that this is-"
"Yes, sir. So please, control your temper. We were given explicit instructions not to damage the merchandise."
Joshua glanced at her, spite and fury in his eyes, and addressed her again. "Congratulations, lot 34. You are now the property of a vampire queen."