Seraphine woke with a start. The warmth of the fire was gone, replaced by a chilling cold that seeped into her bones. The room was dark, and the comforting presence of Lira was nowhere to be seen.
Her instincts screamed that something was wrong.
She tried to stand, but her legs gave out beneath her. The weakness in her body had grown worse overnight, and her head swam with dizziness. As she struggled to get up, the door to the cabin creaked open, and Lira stepped inside.
But she wasn't alone.
Behind her were three men, their eyes gleaming with a predatory hunger. They were dressed in tattered clothing, their faces hidden by hoods, but Seraphine could feel the danger emanating from them.
"What's going on?" Seraphine asked, her voice trembling.
Lira's face twisted into a cruel smile—nothing like the kind expression from the night before. "Did you really think someone like you could escape so easily? You're worth a lot of money, you know."
Seraphine's blood ran cold. She had been betrayed. Lira had never intended to help her. All the kindness had been a ruse.
Before Seraphine could react, the men grabbed her, binding her hands and gagging her mouth. She struggled, but she was too weak, her body still broken from the years of abuse. Tears streamed down her face as she realized the horrifying truth—she had traded one prison for another.
"You'll fetch a fine price at the auction," Lira said, her voice laced with venom. "Slaves like you are always in demand."
She leaned in closer, her tone dripping with mockery. "All those talks about being 'powerful' inside? That you're 'stronger than you think'? It was all just a ruse. Stupid witches—can't even teach their own properly." Lira scoffed, her eyes narrowing. "What nonsense about witches turning evil? They barely let anyone outside their little enclave, and it's not out of malice. It's because their numbers are so pitifully small, they are afraid of we vampire so they shut themselves out."
She spat on the ground, her lip curling in disdain. "I've never even set foot in their so-called city."
"I lied" Lira cackled loudly as they dragged Seraphine from the cabin, she felt her heart shatter once again. The world had betrayed her, and now, she was being sold to a fate she feared more than death itself.
In truth, the witches Union had always been one little city, they traded with special vampire merchants through messenger birds, not bats, these birds could fly for days without rest and deliver messages easily, they were birds altered by the witches magic and were also used as trades. Witches also never let anyone into their abode and even the merchants couldn't tell why, trades were done outside the city and there weren't schools in the witch union, every witch is to be taught by her parents as they had little population and unfortunately for Seraphine, she had no parents.
Seraphine's mind raced as the cart bumped and jostled along the uneven dirt road. The reality of her situation was beginning to sink in. She was a prisoner once more, trapped in a cage like an animal, bound for a future even darker than the one she had escaped. The other captives in the cart were eerily silent, their eyes hollow and defeated. It was as if their very souls had already been sold.
Lira's words echoed in her mind: *"You'll fetch a fine price."*
Seraphine clenched her fists, the metal cuffs biting into her skin. She could still hear the cruelty in Lira's voice, the way she had so casually betrayed her. How could she have been so naïve? How could she have trusted someone again after everything she had endured?
As the cart rumbled on, Seraphine's eyes drifted to the other slaves. They were all vampire's she guessed, all of them looking as though they had long ago given up hope. They didn't move, didn't speak—just sat, broken and silent, awaiting whatever fate had in store for them.
The air was thick with despair, and we could see dawn within reach.
After what felt like hours, the cart finally slowed to a stop. Seraphine's heart pounded in her chest as heavy footsteps approached. She caught a glimpse of torchlight flickering through the bars of her cage and heard rough voices shouting orders. The door to the cage creaked open, and a burly man with a cruel grin stepped forward, yanking Seraphine to her feet by her chain.
"Move," he growled, dragging her out of the cart and into the night.
Seraphine stumbled, her legs weak from the hours of confinement. The cold morning air bit at her skin, and her heart raced as she was pulled toward a large wooden structure in the middle of the clearing. It was a slave market, she realized with horror. A makeshift auction house, surprisingly out in the open, it was like a thing in the outside world. This was where her fate would be sealed.
As she was forced inside, the noise of the auction hit her like a wave. People—vampires, she didn't know if to hate Lira or the race itself—crowded around the auction block, their eyes gleaming with interest as they examined the captives being paraded before them.
Seraphine's stomach churned as she was pushed forward, forced to stand before the crowd.
Lira's voice cut through the noise. "Here's a rare one for you, ladies and gentlemen," she called out, her voice smooth and commanding. "A witch, Who knows what she might be capable of if handled properly?"
The crowd murmured in interest, and Seraphine's heart sank further. She felt exposed, vulnerable, as eyes roamed over her, assessing her worth like she was nothing more than an object.
"Shall we start the bidding?" Lira's voice rang out, and Seraphine's pulse quickened.
A vampire in the crowd raised his hand. "Five hundred crowns," he said, his voice gruff.
"Six hundred!" shouted another, a woman with cold eyes.
The numbers climbed higher and higher, each bid sending Seraphine deeper into despair. She could feel herself slipping away, her spirit crushed under the weight of the crowd's greed and cruelty.
*This can't be happening,* she thought, her breaths coming in shallow gasps. *I can't go back to being someone's slave. I won't survive it.*
The bidding continued, each new offer making her feel more like a piece of meat being fought over by predators.
As the bidding reached its peak, the crowd suddenly fell silent. Seraphine looked up, confused, and saw a fat figure stepping forward from the shadows. The air seemed to grow colder as he approached, his presence filled with naked greed. He was dressed in black, his eyes gleaming red in the dim light of the auction house.
"I'll pay double the highest bid," the man said, his voice low and smooth, cutting through the crowd's whispers like a blade. "No need to compete."
The auctioneer faltered, glancing at Lira, who seemed momentarily taken aback. But then a greedy smile spread across her face.
"Sold," she said, her voice dripping with satisfaction. "To the gentleman in black."
Seraphine's heart pounded in her chest as the man's gaze locked onto hers. There was something terrifying about him, something that made her blood run cold.
She was yanked toward him, her chains rattling as she was handed over like a possession. As she stood before him, her body trembling, he smiled—a dark, dangerous smile that sent shivers down her spine.
"Bundle up witch, I'll be sending you to my master" Duke Thales Rexhard Gravesend, Lord of Adinburgh. he said harshly, his red eyes gleaming with something unreadable.
Seraphine wanted to recoil, whispers about a rumor ran rampant around her in the auction that Duke Thales of Adinburgh had been cursed by a witch, and any witch who entered the castle never came out.
Intense fear gripped Seraphine as the magnitude of her fate settled in. As the butler was about to drag her into the cage of the cart, she fainted from sheer terror. But the butler was merciless. He dragged her unconscious body to the back of the carriage, chaining her before throwing her into another cage.
Seraphine woke up, feeling the soreness all over her body. She wondered how she was still alive with all her injuries. "I just want to die," she thought. "It was bad enough living a life surrounded by people who always hated me and then hated me even more after my parents died. Now, I'm going to die at the hands of strangers." The cold metal around her neck and the hard floor beneath her felt suffocating. "I might as well just die," she thought, as the world began to blur, her thoughts becoming less coherent. She couldn't feel anything anymore, and as she closed her eyes, she thought " I just wanted to sleep".