Chapter 04

ALICE'S POV

My first instinct was to run for the door from where I came in, but Alder grabbed my wrist and turned me around abruptly.

“ Leave me! I don't want to do this. I can't die. I can't die just yet. ” I whisper yelled hysterically, trying to jerk his hand away from my wrist. But who was I kidding? Alder was whole lot stronger than me. Even if I tried for the rest of my life, I still will not be able to get myself free from his grip.

All of a sudden, Alder started dragging me to the right corner of the dark room we were currently in. I wanted to scream, but my voice was struck in my throat. My mind was fixed on only two words ' She died '. Well. I should have asked Alder if they were going to transfer the money to my family if I died.

It was all about money to begin with. If they transferred all the money to my family, then it would be okay to die early. I was not sure if my death was going to be an easy one though.

I hated to admit it, but I was scared.

I was so scared, that my whole body was trembling and my mind was frozen in time.

I was so scared, that I felt like throwing up but then I remembered that I have not eaten anything for almost one and a half day now.

I was so scared, that I felt like curling up and then crying until the whole world disappeared.

Alder dragged me to the corner and opened some kind of metal bar door in the dark. Almost feeling blind in the darkness surrounding us, I wondered how Alder was able to even see where he was going or what he was doing.

In a motion, he pushed me and I fell inside on some metal - cold floor. I turned around to scream at him or to protest, but the bar door closed on my face. When I realized what it was, my face turned pale and my lips started to quiver.

A cage.

It was a metal cage.

And Alder had locked me inside it.

“ Follow the rules and nothing will happen to you. ” The usual flat voice of Alder's, sent chills down my spine and my inability to see him in the dark, made me feel completely and utterly helpless.

“ Remember. You have already signed the consent papers. ” He added, making my body turn colder than it already was, due to fear.

I was stupid. There was no limit to how stupid I really was.

When Melissa had asked me in the lobby to sign some papers earlier, telling me that it was necessary paperwork, I signed them without reading them. I was just too desperate that the thought of reading those papers never crossed my mind. Or maybe, I simply did not care enough about the consequences. I did not have anything to lose.

Now, when I was locked up in this cage feeling helpless, everything felt more real than ever.

“ Please, Alder. Please let me out. I don't want to do it now. ” I pleaded once more hoping with all my heart, that Alder would listen, but as a reply to my pleads, a cloth fell down on the cage, covering it as a whole.

What was happening? I grabbed the bars and touched the silk cloth surrounding the cage. “ Follow the rules and nothing will happen to you. ” Alder's distant voice barely made its way to my ears and I fell down on my knees.

What did I do?

What did I do to myself?

Leaving the bars, I wrapped my arms around myself and begin moving back and forth to dull down the fear that was clutching my heart and mind.

The darkness around me was suffocating me, but I was helpless.

Maybe, Helplessness had latched itself to me and it refused to leave me now.

Heaving a heavy breath, I rested my head on my knee and closed my eyes to calm myself down.

If I have landed myself into this shitty auction thing, then I have to go through this now.

And for that...

I needed courage.

Hell lots of it.

*********

It felt like I have been sitting in the same position for years. My back hurted alot and my legs were numb.

Out of the blue, I sensed the cage I was locked in, moving. I was unable to see anything due to the cloth over the cage though, so I kept sitting there, curled up in myself. I was tired. The emotional fatigue was much more than the physical one.

The cage stopped moving and I heard several voices. Light gradually started to seep through the red colored cloth over the cage. I was surprised that I have not died with suffocation in here yet.

“ And now it is time for the thing everyone have been waiting for. ” A loud male voice boomed in my ears and I held my breath back instinctively.

Was he talking about me?

The cloth was lifted off the cage instantly and light blinded me for a moment. Guided by instincts, I pushed myself to stand up on my numb legs and almost fell down, before grabbing the bars to balance myself on my feet.

The first thing I noticed was the cage I was locked inside. It was sparkling Golden which looked pretty much like real Gold. My light brown orbs moved to the place in front of me. I could see silhouttes of people. A lot of people. Sitting like a huge audience. A crowd. But I was not able to see their faces. I was at a disadvantage, because I was in the spotlight, yet they all were hidden in the dark.

“ We have named her kitten. She is a virgin and she is willingly selling herself off for one night. Completely at your service. ” Hearing the words of the announcer, bile rose up in my throat and my heart dropped down to the pit of my stomach.

“ The starting bid is one Million. ” The announcer announced from somewhere in the dark and my wide eyes went to the huge screen beside me.

The close up videos of my figure were showing up on it, along with an amount written in huge digits. It was one million which changed to one and a half million, as I kept watching it. There was a timer of one minute beside that amount, which was reset just as one million changed to one and a half.

My eyes were frozen on the screen. I did not know what I felt at this moment or what I was even supposed to feel. Needles were pricking my body and I was numb along with freezing cold.

It was stupid, but I wanted to know what I was worth for one night. I wondered if I went completely mad at this point to have such absurd thoughts.

The numbers on the screen begin to increase, just like my heart beat. With all my heart, I prayed that atleast I was worth five million, so I could make something out of this night.

Something to look back to and not regret doing this shitty thing. Even if it was something idiotic as this.

The amount on the screen, froze on four million with the timer almost coming to a zero and my shoulders slumped down in defeat.

Doing everything to the point you end up losing yourself and still falling short. This was the worst thing that could happen to anyone.

Just as the timer reached the last one second, the amount on the screen went several digits up and my breath hitched.

It was ten million.

Gulping, I turned to stare at the silhouttes that moved once in a while, clearing my that doubt that they were really humans and not dummies.

A sigh escaped my lips and I felt my knees go weak. It was worth it right?

If I did something so horrible, atleast I gained enough money to pay for my father's operation.

Who was I fooling with this bullshit?

No excuse would ever be enough to justify what I did tonight or what I was going to do further.

A beep sound resonated in the hall and several groans were heard, but I was too caught up in my own bitter sweet emotions.

“ The bid is closing on Ten million! ” The announcer announced and the cage started to move once again.

I was relieved though, that I did not break the first rule.

' Rule number one. Do not talk during the auction no matter what happens. '

The world began to spin in front of my eyes all of a sudden and black dots started to appear in my sight. The next moment I have fell down on the metal, that was more likely to be pure Gold.

*********

When I blinked my eyes open, darkness surrounded me once again. I was suffocating. When I tried to move my hands, they did not move. I pulled at them and realized that they were restrained.

My breathing went shallow, as I thrashed harder to get myself out of the handcuffs holding me down. I was panicking now. Cold sweat was coating my forehead and cold air hit my exposed body. Gulping, I threw my head back, taking notice of all other things around me.

I was laying on a soft bed. I have not laid down on a soft bed for so long, that I have begin to forget what it felt like.

My hands were handcuffed. Those leather handcuffs were definitely attached to different posts of the bed. Not too tight or stretched to hurt me. Just enough to restrain me.

A blindfold was pulled over my eyes, which rendered me unable to see anything, that was happening around me.

My heart beat picked its pace, realizing the graveness of my situation.

Melissa had told me about all of this earlier. But it exceeded my imagination. The realness of my state right now, was making my nerves tick with nervousness.

' Think about those ten million and keep your mouth shut ' My rational - evil mind screamed at me and I inhaled deeply, before exhaling it through my nose.

I was trying my best to calm myself down and I was almost succeeding in it, when I felt someone's fingers grazing the soft skin of my right ankle and a scream left my lips without my notice.