2. Sold At The Auction

EVIANNA:

I opened my eyes to meet nothing but darkness and I wondered if I was dead, but the thought was ridiculous cause I could still feel my body and mind intact. I couldn't see a thing, anything at all.

I thought I was alone, till I suddenly heard someone sniff beside me "Hello?" I spoke out but got no response.

I heard the person sniff again "Please is anyone here?" I said once again, this time with fear already seeping through my soul and gripping my insides. I didn't get a response again for a while before someone finally answered.

"Yes, we are all here," the female voice said. We? Are there others, I wondered.

"What's happening?" I asked

"We would be sold at the market" she paused.

"Just abide by rules if you want to survive out of here" I heard the voice say again, her words had my mind blown off as I was still yet to understand.

One moment I went to buy drugs and the next moment I'm in an unknown place. Trembling with uncertainty, my fingers instinctively sought solace in the star-shaped locket that faithfully hung around my neck. Clasping it tightly, I sought refuge in its familiar presence, desperately seeking comfort amidst the rising tide of fear.

Mother Lisa's words echoed in my mind, reminding me that the locket had always been part of me. From the moment I was left at the orphanage's doorstep at the tender age of five. It had served as a constant companion, a silent guardian of my mysterious past, an anchor that connected me to an unknown origin.

As I traced my fingers over its surface, my name, 'EVIANNA' inscribed on the front, offered a glimpse into my identity, a reminder of the person I was, and the unanswered questions that lingered.

My attention is drawn to the right when a door was opened, and someone walked in and switched on the light. I closed my eyes for a while before opening them again, slowly, cause the light was too bright.

I gasped out loud in shock when my eyes scanned around my surrounding, it was a large place, and when I say large, I mean very large, and I wasn't alone. I saw girls of probably my age, also children who looked to be in their early teens, women, some pregnant, and some young, others old, I also saw a few men, we looked to be more than a hundred in the large space and they all had their faces down, had me wondering if they are tired of life, just like me. My heart raced at the sight "Traffickers" I muttered slowly.

I have always heard about people suddenly going missing back when I was at the orphanage home, it wasn't just a rumor and I believed it, reminds me of one of the girls of my age who lived opposite the orphanage home, she was suddenly declared missing after one night and ever since two years ago, no one ever heard about her again. I never would have thought that one day I'd be part of them.

"All of you get up, it's time for your bath" I heard the man who entered roar to the hearing of all, he had a long gun in his hand and he wore a mask to cover his face.

Everyone in the room started standing up and walking out of the room, with their heads down, they all had their hands tied with a rope, I looked down to realize that mine was the same. They all walked out of the large room and I wondered if they were a herd of sheep with no direction.

I didn't understand what was happening till the man glanced at me and saw me still seated "Are you deaf? Get up before I blow up your head" he said to me in a very loud voice

"You better get up and just follow the rules" I heard the young girl of my age who sat beside me say, I stood up and followed her out as they all walked slowly.

Everyone walked out of the large room in a straight line with their heads down, looking all hopeless, I couldn't help but look up to see the surrounding of the place. The vicinity was so big, it had five short but wide buildings, with a small one at the other edge. The walls that surrounded the place were built extremely tall as if they didn't want someone outside to see whatever was happening inside.

The urge to scream for help gripped me but I wasn't that stupid to do so when we were surrounded by masked men who either had guns or long whips in their hands. I looked ahead and saw the long line of people entering another building with wide-opened windows which could help you see what was inside.

"YOU! Look down" a loud voice thundered and I felt something being lashed painfully in my neck as one of the masked men used his long whip on my neck and then my back. I seethed my tongue at the pain I felt, and like the others, I also looked down. I would have never imagined that there was a place where humans treated fellow humans this way.

After we were stashed in the building like fishes in a net. I looked up at the ceiling of the room and I saw the shower heads. I felt a water droplet hit my face and soon water poured down our heads.

It didn't take long for our bodies to get soaked with water, and just like everyone else, my shirt became soaked also, as my white lower knee-length shirt that I wore glued to my skin, I felt exposed.

A few minutes later, we were all led out of the place, I saw big trucks arranged in the yard and they ushered us into them, the truck was big enough to take up to thirty people to the back, it was a huge truck. When it came to my turn to enter I heard someone say with a tone of authority "Stop!" And just like that, everyone came to a halt.

I looked up to see who it was and at that moment I realized I'd made a grave mistake as my action attracted him to me, he walked up to me in particular "When did this one come in?" I heard him ask as he rubbed his filthy hands on my hair and patted my head.

"Last night, sir" someone answered, I glanced up and looked back down immediately. The man who was touching me wasn't wearing a mask, which made me wonder if he owned this place with the way he was referred to as SIR, he had a very long mark on his face, it traveled from his cheek to his left ear.

I felt disgusted when he lowered his hands down to my chest, he gripped my left breast and I couldn't help but cry out in pain as he pressed it tightly "I would have loved to keep this one" NO! I don't know what he wanted to do by keeping me back here but I was sure I didn't want to be left back in there.

"She is still new here, why are you taking her out?" he asked

"Cause she is something we can bargain at a very high price, sir" the same voice which had answered a question the first time, responded again.

"True, true," the man said in approval, he moved his hand to my other breast and pressed it again, very fondly, I couldn't stop the helpless tear that rolled down my eyes. I didn't know who these people were, nor do I know what they intended to do. I was just out to buy drugs for Daniel when someone hit my head with something heavy as I was on my way home, only to find myself in an unknown place the moment I regained consciousness.

His touches on me made me feel disgusted, and as if what he had done wasn't okay, he groped and released my boobs saying "Give me five minutes with this one" I wasn't given a moment to think about what he wanted to do to me before he pulled me out of there, by holding the end of the rope used in tying my hands together, he led me into a building which was the smallest out of the other ones. When we got to the place, I saw that it looked like an office.

He sat down on a chair and pulled me closer to him "Please let me go" I pleaded in despair, but my helplessness and pleading only earned a dirty grin from him.

With me standing between his legs as he sat down on a chair, he used his hands to grope my boobs and I cried out at the immense pain I felt when he pressed them tightly with his two hands.

He did the same thing again and again before moving his filthy hands to my backside, he gripped it and pressed it hard, tears already rolling out of my eyes.

My eyes were on the bowl of water which was close to the wall, at the back of the table. I had nowhere else to keep my eyes. I couldn't look at him nor could I look down at what he was doing to me.

Something unusual happened suddenly that grabbed my attention, I don't know whether it was because of the despair I felt that I began to hallucinate, but I could swear that it looked real as if the bowl of water felt my pains also, the water slowly rose itself and coiled into a ball, it made a star shape in the air, I closed my eyes tight and opened it again to see if I was hallucinating, by the time I opened my eyes the water was back in place, it felt like nothing at all happened, I guess I've started making up things with my mind, I thought in my head.

My attention went back to the man whose hands were still on me, I was pushing in the urge to bite his fingers as he moved his hands to touch my face "I hope they don't end up selling you, so we can continue from where we stopped later" He said, how disgusting, I thought hoping I don't return to this place.

He stood up and slapped my butt hard, I closed my eyes shut at his actions, I wanted to puke and I might as well vomit on him soon.

He led me out of the office a while later and then I was made to enter the first truck where the others were kept, there were two trucks in total, with at least, thirty people in each. It appeared that several people had been led back inside, I thought.

Two masked men stood in the truck while we were made to sit "MOVE" one of the men said out loud and with that, the gates were opened widely before the trucks moved out, the one I was inside first while the other followed behind closely.

The masked men used a very large cloth to cover our heads, and with that, I couldn't see a thing again.

The truck moved, climbing stones which had us jump on our sits before it finally climbed into a smooth road.

It felt like hours of misery before the truck finally stopped, I couldn't see where we were but it appeared to be a very noisy place, the cloth was pulled out of our heads and we were ushered down the truck before they led us into a building, I couldn't raise my head to see where we were right now but it was very noisy, like a market.

"Bring out the fleshy ones first, the young ladies" I heard someone say, my head was down so I couldn't see him. One of the masked men started picking out some people, and just like others, I was pulled out also.

We were led outside to a very large crowd, and in a line, we stood facing them, I rose my head up to look at the variety of people there. They looked like people from the upper class, men with potbellies who were drooling at us as if they were getting ready to howl at any lady they get out of here, they looked like hungry creatures, even women were there also, waiting.

It was at this moment it dawned on me that indeed we were taken to a market to be sold to people who needed slaves or needed a toy to take home and sleep with.

I felt like breaking down to my knees— it was just last week I had visited the tailor shop beside the orphanage home with Daniel. I remember promising him to get him and myself new clothes if I earned money at the end of the month from the store where I assisted in selling clothes and other things, but here I was, yet to fulfill that promise and also about to be sold out.

The auction started as the pot-bellied auctioneer dragged one of us out.

"Here is a very beautiful virgin, she would assist you on nights when you are tired, see she looks so fresh and young" he moved his hands to the lady that he pulled out, he was rubbing his hands on her so fondly and she couldn't do a thing.

"The price starts from 5000," the auctioneer said and almost immediately someone shouted

"6000," a male voice said out loud.

"7000," another said

Silence ensued, no other person said a thing after that.

"Is that all?" The auctioneer asked, he pressed the girl's breast which made her moan out loud in pain, the sight was enough to entice the audience, as the price started increasing.

"10,000," a female voice was heard saying.

"15,000," a man screamed.

"Going going going, in 1, 2, 3" the auctioneer sang

"And bidder 15 has the girl, thanks for patronizing us, please take her after payment at the back of the building," the auctioneer said, and just like that, one of us had been sold.

He came to the line we stood and unexpectedly pulled me out, bringing me to the front of the hungry-looking audience, I couldn't do anything as I was pulled to their front. Some of the men looked like they would climb into the stage as they tried to touch me. The sight made my insides churn.

"Another beautiful virgin, fleshy and delectable for you," he said as he ran his hands over my exposed skin.

"The pricing starts from 10,000," he said, and I wondered why the start price was different from the girl's earlier, but that was the least of my worries, as tears started making their way to my eyes, threatening to fall out

"15,000" someone shouted and immediately another shouted.

"30,000" a female voice.

The price kept increasing as they added their worth, it felt like they were showing off their money "50,000" someone shouted and that was where the price stopped. No one would want to pay anything more than that for a slave.

"Is that all?" The host's words echoed through the place, his voice brimming with anticipation "Going, going, going" he chanted, his hands poised to make contact with my chest, a calculated move to rouse the crowd and spur them to bid higher.

My heart raced in response, apprehensions seizing my every fiber. But just as his fingers came closer to my chest, a commanding voice, rich with authority, pierced through the air, instantly commanding the crowd's collective attention.

"One million."