Page 3 of Taint My Soul

Instincts kick in. I jerk upright and scramble for the door before the room can close in on me.

This can’t be real, right? I could be in a very horrifying dream and only needed to wake up.

I squeeze my eyes and clench my fists at my sides, then open them back only to realize I’m trapped.

Fuck!

Where am I? Where did those men take me?

My body trembles as I grip the handle and pull aggressively. To my dismay, the door’s locked, and the reality steals every bit of hope inside me piece by piece.

I push back and run my hand through my thick coils of hair, pacing the room as I try to come up with a plan. Then I hear voices outside the door. I move closer, steps as quiet as possible, as I press my head against the polished wood, hoping to make out the words of the men on the other side.

Then footsteps approach in my direction, pressing closer. My heart hammers against my chest so hard it rattles my ribs. Fingers clenching into fists, I try to come up with something. I can fight whoever’s on the other side. But what if they’re armed?

What if I get hurt? Worse, I get killed.

Quick, hot breaths break through my lungs.

Click. Click.

The door slides open, and a tall man whom I have never seen in my life enters the room. He stands barely an inch from the door, dark, intense eyes picking me apart as he watches me.

“You have no reason to worry. After tonight, your life will change.” His lips curl into a soft smile, voice laced with sick admiration.

I know exactly what that smile means.

I can’t trust it.

It’s the type of smile that pulls you in and makes you feel safe. It gives you hope, then steals it right from your hands while the horror unfolds in your reality.

He grips the door and opens it, and two hefty men move toward me, snatching me up and pulling me out of the room.

Fighting now is pointless. I have to figure out where I am and how I can escape.

The men force me down a dark hall that seems almost endless until we appear behind thick, dark red curtains. The curtains open onto a well-lit stage opposite a house filled with a throng of people. An intense, blinding light comes off the battens overhead. I can’t see anyone sitting opposite me. I can’t see anything at all.

Then, the high-pitched crack of a microphone slices the silence, and a deep, controlled voice shatters through my thoughts, and the truth crashes over me all at once.

Cold, suffocating, and undeniable.

I’m being auctioned off to the highest bidder.

“Five hundred thousand. Five hundred thousand.” The man with the microphone repeats.

My heart swells with fear, shattering through every nerve ending in my body. My eyes squint, and I try to make out the occupants of the seating area of the auditorium, but the light is too bright for my vision.

“Six hundred thousand.” The man’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts. Panic sits on my chest, forcing half-breaths through my parted lips. My hands tremble, and I force it to my side.

“Stay strong, Mason. Stay strong.” My words come out broken, and tears roll down my cheeks. Silent and trailing hot.

“Sold!”

The bell tolls, and my heart sinks.

“Sold for six hundred thousand.”

I inhale sharply, chest rising rapidly, feet trembling against the stage as I try to find my balance. Before I can say a word, the same men who had brought me out to the auction block steal me back into the suffocating darkness.