Chapter 131 – The start of the main event
When they got close to the entrance they were spotted by the servants and were quickly beckoned to the side entrance of an auction house, where a man dressed in an elegant butler suit met them.
As they were led into the cargo door of an auction mansion, Noah noticed that the owner peered at them with displeasure, clicking through his teeth, but then a smile immediately returned to his face as soon as the new guest came over to greet him.
His wife threw a quick glance in their direction without any interest and turned away smiling at the guests.
*****
A man with a face half-covered with a cloth walked through the crowd, avoiding people with such fine dexterity that he moved between people on a tightly packed dungeon market road like river water flowing around the stones. Many people did not even notice him walking by barely brushing shoulders with him.
No matter how many people he avoided on the road, his eyes peered at the man a few dozen steps ahead of him, without losing sight of him for even a second.
The richly dressed man looking like a novice merchant didn't even notice being stalked, unaware that he became a target for a thief guild.
Sand and small pebbles suddenly hit the head of the thief, dozing him in the dust. The man jumped away in surprise, looking up with worry, before dusting himself with a questioning look on his face. People around him turned to look at him with strange faces seeing him dozed in dust, then turned to gaze upward as well, but saw nothing but the dungeon's ceiling.
When the thief dusted himself he suddenly remembered his target and looked around with a quick motion but the merchant he was stalking had disappeared in the crowd.
"Damn it." Said the thief quickly moving through the crowd, searching for the merchant.
*****
A warrior with blood smears all over his armor raised his hands up with the bloodied sword in his hand, posing before the screaming crowd while a leopard-like big bi-pedal monster with a huge gush on its shoulder dropped to his knees in the center of the arena.
The crowd watching their battle cheered with a chorus, happy to see the blood and the warrior's imminent victory.
A trickle of sand and small stones hit the warrior's head all of sudden, startling him greatly. For a split moment, man forgot where he stood gazing at the ceiling in surprise, at that moment the monster at his feet jumped with flash-like movement, slashing its razor-sharp claws and tearing apart the warrior's unprotected neck.
Warrior grabbed at his throat with fear and shock in his eyes, gurgling from the blood that flowed through his fingers in streams.
The cheering crowd went dead silent from shock with people inhaling loudly. Then an earth-tearing roar of the crowd cheering a lot louder than before hung over an area. No one cared for the man's death. If anything, people like this outcome even more.
*****
The grating sound of the lock turning open sounded in the dark room that was barely lit by the magical lantern on the walls.
As the thick metal door of a safe room slid open bringing a gust of fresh air into the room, two guards standing inside the safe room stood at attention with their hands on the sword handles.
When the door opened four servants came into the room pulling a cart with two bound women laying in it, while being guarded by a group of guards.
Another servant walked in front of them nodding at the guards standing inside the safe room as he walked by.
The safe room looked like a huge basement with separate rooms on both sides of the long hall.
Once they reached one of the rooms the servant stopped checking the papers in his hands once again.
"It's here. Lot 30066. Cage 6. Put them inside." He said in a business-like voice.
Two guards walked over to the door, opening it after checking another occupant of the room and making sure she was still locked in her bounds.
After they unlocked the cage, servants brought the two bound women into the cage and locked their handcuffs to the chains on the wall.
Once this task was completed, they walked out of the cell locking the door.
"Alright, the first five lots will be 25490, 37897, 11689, and 45988. Let's go." Said the servant checking the papers while leading the group further into the safe where they started to gather the lots for the auction that would start soon.
As the servants walked away, Samantha opened her eyes looking around.
"Danny!" She whispered with worry seeing her friend locked in chains near her. "Danny? Danny, can you hear me?" She asked but her friend had strange vacant eyes that stared into the floor and ignored her friends.
"Kate, what's wrong with her?" Whispered Samantha coming over to Danny and hugging her while looking at Kate with worry.
"I am not sure. I don't feel any spell on her."
"Don't bother." Said a rough voice from the darkness of a nearby cell. A figure of a lizard-like monster came into view when the two scally hands grabbed the bars between their cells.
"She's been this way ever since she was brought here. I've seen such people before. Usually after torture. She's broken." Said the lizardman.
Samantha bit her lips with tears in her eyes and kept calling her friend trying to wake her up from her daze.
"Sam…?" Whispered Danny a few minutes later, finally moving her gaze slowly from the spot she was staring at this whole time.
"Yes, yes. It's me. I came here for you, Danny."
"Why…" muttered Daniella, barely audible.
"HEY! NO TALKING!" Screamed a guard hitting the bars of their cell with a stick as they walked with the servants pulling a cart with a few objects on it. One of the objects was a transparent cube with water where a woman with long hair, a naked torso, and a fish-like tail instead of legs struggled against the chains bounding her by the neck. The cube was barely enough to fit the woman.
"Fuck! Stop splashing water, bitch." Said the guard turning away from Samantha's cell and putting his stick into the water where a spark of electricity flashed and the woman spasmed for a few moments with a muffled by the water scream before sinking weakly to the bottom of the cube.
"Don't harm the lot!" Said the servant with the papers in his hands at the head of the group.
"Beasts!" Said the melodic voice of a woman from one of the cells from across Samantha's cell.
"Wait for your turn, slut. Your time will come too. We'll finally find a good master for you today too." Said the guard gazing at the elf woman chained to the wall in the cell, smirking at her before walking away.
Outside the safe room, another two guards stood at the side of the door in a similar manner to the two inside the safe room and as the group of servants and guards exited from the safe, they locked the massive metal door behind them, leaving the two guards inside the room guarding the "lots" in a dim safe room.
As they were left alone, Samantha looked at her friend and noticed red marks on her hands. She rolled Daniella's sleeve and saw her whole hand was marked in the bite barks that recently healed leaving scar-like red marks. She then carefully pulled Danny's clothes and saw similar marks all over her body.
"No! No, please! No!" Screamed Daniella struggling in Samantha's hands trying to break free.
"Shh, it's ok! It's ok!" Sad Samantha, hugging her friend once again trying to calm her down.
Kate stood nearby gazing at her friend with tears in her eyes while biting her lips so hard she could feel the taste of blood in her mouth.
She was fed on. For the last few days that their friend was in those monsters' captivity, Danny was most likely used as food, by a whole bunch of vampires. They called it a feast when a group of vampires would feed on the same person all at once.
Unlike the usual prickles that a vampire would leave on their servitors, the wounds that Danny had were from heavy bites with the full strength of the jaws as if they tried to tear her apart. This was the vampire's way to indulge in their food. Instead of careful prickling, they would bite with slobber into the flesh tearing the skin and muscles to make their "food" bleed severely bringing maximum pain. This way, not only would they suck the blood with their fangs but a stream of blood would pour all over their mouths and chins letting them feel the heat of their prey all over their skin bringing them joy and exhilaration from feeling their prey's pain, fear and despair. Normally their prey would die from this, however, Danny's wounds were healed with a weak potion that did not allow her to die and healed her over time. Once she barely healed they repeated it over and over again until there was not a single spot on her body that they did not tear apart.
"I will kill them!" Hissed Kate. "I will kill them all!" She swore, squeezing the words through the clenched teeth.
*****
As the servants pulled the carriage through the tunnel leading to the backstage of the auction hall they were stopped by the wife of the auction house boss.
"Move these lots to the waiting room and go fetch a few potions. Hubby decided to go with alchemy as an opening and ending, as today's theme is alchemy mastery. This bitch will go in the end. There are many master crafters today. She will be sought after more like an ingredient than a slave today."
"Yes madam!" Answered the servant bowing, before turning to his group and beckoning them to hurry. "Hurry up fellas, the auction is starting soon!"
"What are you glaring at?" Asked the madam of the house looking at a mermaid that peered at her with hatred through the glass. "Here. Eat this." She said throwing some crumbs into the aquarium. "This might be your last dinner, sea whore, enjoy it." She said laughing and walking away.
*****
"Huh? I can swear it was in this pocket just a moment ago!" Said the man with a shocked face patting at his pockets.
"Sorry, sir. No ticket, no entry." Said the guard at the door of the auction house.
"I had it! Seat 10, row 12, damn it. I swear!"
"Sir, I can't let you in without it." Answered the guard.
"Do you know who I am, damn it? I paid for the seat, go check it!"
"Sir the venue is packed. I can't help you right now."
"God damn it! My seat was already paid for, just check your damn papers."
"Back off, idiot!" Said the person behind him pushing the unfortunate man away and presenting his own ticket to the guards before being let in.
"So of a bitch! Do you know who you are pushing?!" Screamed the man without a ticket trying to jump at the man that pushed him away, but was caught by the guards and pushed away once more.
"Yeah, an idiot!" Laughed the man and walked into the house.
"I remembered you! You son of a bitch!" Screamed the guy seething with anger then glared at the guards. "Seat 10, row 12, damn it, just check it!" Screamed the man at the guards that just rolled their eyes and ignored him.
As the last guest finally entered the house one of the guards walked into the house before returning a few minutes later and glanced at the other guards shaking his head with a smile on his lips and started to close the door to the mansion.
"Hey, what about me? Check my seat!"
"I did." Said the guard that was closing the door. "All the seats are taken."
"What? That's not possible, my seat should be empty! Row 12, seat 10."
"Yeah, some woman sat there. Sexy as hell I might say."
"What? Who?"
"How should I know? Everyone's in masks. This is an anonymous gathering friend, have you forgotten?"
"What the fuck? Did you check her ticket?"
"Yeah. She had a ticket, pal, so back away now. I am closing the door."
"Wha…wait…but….fuck! She stole it! She stole my ticket! That bitch stole it!"
"Yeah, right." Said the guard before slamming the door.
"STOP! I AM TELLING THE TRUTH!" Screamed the man jumping at the closed door but two other guards standing there grabbed him by the hands and legs before carrying him to the fence and throwing him away from the auction house's garden.
*****
As the doors to the auction hall closed the light in the room dimmed. This brought an end to the noise and chatter.
Brianna was dressed in a gorgeous dress very similar to the one she wore at the ball a few days ago, but unlike the ball, her face has been covered with a black wail that hid her face to the chin.
She sat watching as the master of the house came to the scene and made a small opening speech before introducing a young sexy girl that would be holding the auction. The girl smiled with a dazzling smile before walking to the center of the scene.
As the auction began, Brianna clenched her fist holding a stick with a number in her hand.
The number was 1210 which represented 12th row, seat number 10 that she sat on.