Chapter Three

It had been two days since I arrived at the auction house, and I hadn’t spoken a word to the girls with me. When they first confined me to this cell, I spent the entire night weeping and pleading to the moon goddess for aid, but no help came. Then I resorted to pounding my hands against the bars.

The girls merely observed. They were young, like me, sharing a similar age range and an air of wretchedness and abandonment mingled with a hint of beauty. Leaning against the cold wall, they remained mute, their eyes fixed on me. Within the frigid and unforgiving cell, the girls huddled together, shivering not only from the chill in the air but also from the deep-rooted fear filling the room. Their frail figures trembled, as if attempting to ward off the harsh reality enveloping them.

I somehow noticed that each girl possessed her own distinctive features, mirroring a blend of vulnerability and concealed strength. Their countenances, once touched by innocence, now bore the weight of their circumstances. Their eyes now held a glimmer of despair mixed with fear.

After some time, I surrendered and silently settled into a corner. Rats scurried past, and food was delivered, but I couldn’t find the strength to eat.

“You’ll be given new clothes to wear, matching the shade of your hair. Obey, or you’ll be killed. Attempt to escape, and you’ll be killed. Just sit there and look pretty,” the guard sneered, joined by others in a raucous laughter.

They handed us what seemed to be dresses, but they were constructed from poor fabrics that left parts of our bodies exposed. I shielded my chest with my hands as the guards stared at us with lustful gazes. Once we had all finished changing, they opened the cell doors.

“Come along, lovely girls. We have people waiting,” they declared, roughly seizing us from our cells.

Filled with hesitation, I surveyed my surroundings as they led us into a large room.

One of the girls spoke up, her voice trembling with fear as tears welled up in her eyes.

“What will they do to us?” she inquired, and some girls shook their heads, their gazes fixed on the door, as if expecting someone to enter at any moment.

“Perhaps they’re taking us back home,” ventured another girl, seemingly younger than me, possessing red curls and a pretty face.

“Home?” scoffed another girl, capturing everyone’s attention. She had shared my cell but had never engaged in conversation.

“What do you mean?” queried a thin, but equally beautiful girl.

“Do you genuinely believe they will make us look beautiful and dress us like this to return home?” the girl who’d shared my cell responded, stepping away from the line. I observed her in silence; she appeared older than the rest of us.

“So, what are you saying? Where are they taking us?” the girl with red curls asked.

The older girl sneered. “You’re all young and innocent. I admire that. I wish I still possessed such innocence, but mine was ripped away. We aren’t all headed to the same destination. Once we pass through those doors, we’ll confront our own destinies, our individual fates. And the moon goddess will watch as her children are purchased one by one.” She concluded, leaving everyone gasping.

“Purchased?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t understand.”

The girls all asked simultaneously.

“What do you mean by ‘purchased?’ Do you mean we’re going to be sold like livestock?” I interjected, stepping forward as the girl turned to face me.

“How old are you?” she inquired, wearing a dark smirk, and I averted my eyes.

“Twenty.” I responded firmly, still avoiding her searching gaze.

“You’re young,” she remarked, and I began to nod. “Yet foolish.” She uttered.

Some of the girls chuckled softly and a thread of anger ran through me.

“You’ll be sold off as breeders.”

“What are you saying?” I asked, irritated by her attitude now.

“A breeder is someone whose sole purpose is to bear children. We are going to be sold as breeding machines,” she stated, a sinister chuckle escaping her lips.

“What?” I stammered, shaking my head.

“I’m saying we’re being auctioned off and forced to bear offspring. Are you as foolish as you are deaf?” she snapped at me. I shook my head and stumbled backward.

My heart felt as though it were being torn from my chest as tears welled up in my eyes. This couldn’t be real. I couldn’t be sold like this. I was supposed to be a free spirit. I couldn’t be auctioned and used as a mere vessel for breeding. I started to cry, as did the other girls.

As I looked up, I noticed that some girls displayed no fear. It was as if they had already embraced their destiny. But I couldn’t shake it off; I was terrified. I was weary, and all I yearned for was to return home. I didn’t want to be sold like some cheap object to men and reduced to the role of a birthing machine.

Tears blurred my vision as I staggered toward the wall, clutching it tightly while I began to sob uncontrollably. I wept softly, without little concern for any consequences. They couldn’t inflict any more pain upon me; I was already shattered beyond repair, I thought.

Thoughts clouded my mind. Would they kill us after we breed for them? Would we be sold off again? What awaited us next? I lacked the answers to these questions, yet I asked them continuously in my mind, and they tore me apart from within.

“And that isn’t even the worst part. We’re being sold to Alphas,” the girl concluded, as if adding salt to our wounds.

Suddenly, some men entered through the doors. Armed with whips and canes, they began herding us toward a place referred to as the backstage, while a resounding voice boomed from an unknown source.

“Attention, gentlemen! Please take your seats. The event is about to commence!”