Elaina groaned as her headache became more evident. Her groggy eyes slowly opened and she took in a deep breath as her oxygen supply was blocked due to her hair on her face. She tried to move but a pair of arms held her in place.
"She's awake, master," she heard a voice and her eyes widened as she recalled the most recent events. She looked up to see the butler carrying her in his arms.
"Lovely," the man who bought Elaina, Mr. Villian, chirped. He turned around to see his new slave while the butler increased his pace so he wouldn't keep him waiting as he had been walking ahead of them.
The man's eyes shone in delight when he saw his beautiful slave while Elaina's heart rate spiked when the man came into her view. "Don't worry, you are home now," he smiled at her, a smile intended to ease her worries, but only did the opposite.
Elaina looked at the ceiling of her supposed home. The ceiling was decorated with chandeliers and lights giving it a golden tinge, this wasn't her home!
The man took a bunch of her hair feeling the smooth texture in his hand. He raised his hand, letting it slip out between his fingers but a small crease made its way to his forehead when he noticed how her hair covered her face.
"You always have hair covering your beautiful face," he moved his hand to clear her hair away from her face and his eyes narrowed when he saw her closed eyes, she was still afraid of him. "Take her to the room," he ordered his butler who responded with a small bow.
°°°
Elaina opened her left eye slowly to peek at the butler then to the number of steps that was slowly increasing as he went up. She had a plan. It was a reckless one but she had no other option.
They were almost halfway through the stairs when she started to struggle against the butler. She swung her legs and shook her body violently, but her movements did not affect him.
The butler looked down at the struggling slave in his arms, "You shouldn't struggle, miss. You might fall," he told her. His voice was devoid of any emotion.
"Wait- my... arms," she struggled to adjust her arms that were tied behind her. Because of her struggle they had moved into a weird position that went against their range of movement. She retired with an annoyed huff. The butler looked old so she wondered how he had that much strength.
The butler, suspicious of how she went still, tightened his hold around her body, increasing the pain in her shoulders.
"Argh... my-" Elaina frowned in pain as she tried to adjust herself but at the same time the butler suddenly dropped her and so began her journey downward.
Pain seared through every inch of her body as she hit each stair with a bump. Her tied hands prevented her from protecting herself in any way leaving her exposed to the surface. The last step was the most painful as it had quite a distance to the floor. Her knees hit the floor with a loud thud followed by the rest of her body.
Elaina lay unmoving on the floor as the blinding pain registered in every part of her body. Her shoulders shook as the tears burst out of her eyes and unto the floor. She didn't know what she did to deserve all of this.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" the master of the mansion's voice boomed through the hall, snapping the butler out of his trance. He rushed to where she was and pulled her up gently while the butler rushed down the stairs.
"Are you alright, child?" he asked her gently. He couldn't imagine the kind of pain she was in. Humans were so fragile after all.
He saw the tears flowing down her face and he drew her to his chest. "You poor thing," he caressed her back gently as she sobbed into his chest.
It took a minute for Elaina to realize what was happening and when she did, she quickly pushed herself away from the man. Her body, especially her knees throbbed as she tried to shift away from him.
The man frowned, she was still stubborn even after all that happened. "Don't run away, child," he tried to draw her back into his embrace but she leaned away from him.
"Tch," his jaw ticked impatiently. He had gone for an unbranded slave for a change, but who knew it would be this troublesome? He sighed and grabbed her chin forcing her to look at him and that was when he saw it.
The girl always had hair covering her face so he hadn't noticed and now that he thought about it, he had only ever seen her full face and that was in the booth. She had two different eye colors, the left was black while the right was a flaming red color mixed with gold. The intensity of the color resembled that of a raging fire capable of incinerating anything in its path to ashes. The color of the phoenixes.
Realization hit Elaina late, she had been careless with her eyes. Taking advantage of his stunned state, she pulled her face out of his grip and gathered all the strength left in her body to stand. A piercing pain shot through her knees when she tried to place her weight on them and she fell back to the ground.
Mr. Villian snapped out of his trance when he saw that the slave was trying to escape. He grabbed her face and pulled her to him, his fingernails digging into her skin.
He fixed his eyes on hers and she noticed that his black eyes were now crimson. Her heart stopped, he was a pure-blooded vampire. The very creature her father had warned her to stay away from.
She struggled to escape from his grip in panic, but the longer she stared into his eyes, the more she lost her will to move. She ought to look away but she couldn't, his eyes drew her in, and soon all her movements stopped. The light in her eyes dimmed and her thoughts disappeared, rendering her into a trance-like state.
"What's your name?" the man asked after his compulsion took effect.
"Elaina," she answered mindlessly.
"What are you, Elaina?" he asked.
"I don't know," she answered and he frowned.
"What are you, Elaina?" he asked again.
"I don't know," came her mindless answer.
The man's eyes narrowed, it seemed she was just an oblivious little thing. He placed his other hand on his chin as his mind raced with different possibilities. Those at the slave market couldn't have known that she was a phoenix else they wouldn't have sold her but the gods have to be on his side for him to have run into a phoenix this easy.
No, there was a way to check. He turned to his butler who stood behind him and ordered, "Bring me a silver knife," to which he bowed and left. He returned shortly after with the knife on a tray.
The man stretched his free hand out to the butler who understood the assignment. He dropped the tray on the ground and picked up the knife. He ran the sharp edge of the knife over his master's palm and blood immediately gushed out after finding a route of escape.
The man waved the butler away without looking at him, spreading his blood in the process. He dug his fingernails deeper into Elaina's skin, forming tears in her eyes, and placed his injured hand where the tears were likely to fall.
This was all for confirmation. The answer was staring right at him but he found it hard to believe, that was how unbelievable it was to find a phoenix. The cut was a deep one made from silver so the healing process would be slow. If the girl truly was a phoenix, her tears should heal him.
A tear drop slipped out from the corner of her eye and the man watched it roll down her face and then hang on her chin, where it took its own sweet time before dropping directly on the cut in his hand. A second passed but nothing happened.
"Of course, a tear must not be enough to-" he didn't finish his sentence because the cut closed and disappeared in the blink of an eye. His eyes widened in surprise, that fast with just a drop? The rate of healing was even faster than that of the pure-bloods.
A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he stared at his healed hand then his joy erupted into a sinister laugh. To think he had bought such a treasure for a mere seven million. The gods were truly on his side, he ought to host a party to celebrate this achievement.
He placed his hand over her face and slammed her head on the ground, forcefully rendering her unconscious. He picked her up in his arms and turned to his butler who had his head hung low.
"Master, I..." he started but his master's next words silenced him,
"Gouge your eye out,"