her family.
A thought comes into my head.
A confession. I could make her sign a confession, of her own free will. Owning up to everything that her family did that displeased me, including Anna’s death.
That would be fun.
After I’ve stripped her of her will to live, she will beg me for the release that death brings. Just like the others did.
And then I’ll choke her, slowly. I will be the one to see the light leave her eyes, see her entire being flicker out of existence.
That moment… that moment will be so, so sweet.
Across the room, the dull brunette slave currently being auctioned off collapses. No one overreacts, which is kind of strange. The auctioneer just calls the last bidder the winner, while another burly man in a mask comes and gathers the girl up, throwing her over his shoulder almost carelessly.
“Katherine is our next girl,” the auctioneer buzzes. “Bring out Katherine.”
I sit up a little straighter. A petite blonde is guided out onto the platform, her delicate features enhanced by her white dress. She leans her head back to look around, her head wobbling.
It’s her.
She’s pretty, in a delicate sort of way. Large expressive eyes, a full mouth, high cheekbones. What is so striking to me is that she looks like Anna, my favorite whore in New Orleans. There is a similarity around the eyes, and a sort of wisdom that is out of place on someone her age.
It makes me wonder what Katherine has seen. It makes me wonder too what Anna saw, in her brief years on this planet. That thought makes me tense up and makes me grit my teeth. I feel the impressions of my nails biting into the palms of my hands as I clench my fists. Denis nods to her with a questioning look, and I nod back.
That’s the girl we came here for. That’s the girl we’re going to be leaving with, no matter what.
She’s very young. I study her. Her frail arms, her small tits. Her face, sort of elven in quality, with big blue eyes, an upturned nose, full wide lips.
Oh, the things I plan to have those lips do. She surveys the room with those blue eyes of hers, but her face gives nothing away.
I realize with a start that she’s not terrible looking, not even standing front and center in that hand-me-down dress. That doesn’t really matter to me, but it doesn’t hurt, either.
Fuck, I am a man, after all.
The man holding her up is doing a shitty job, letting her fall halfway over. Clearly, she’s on the same drug as the rest of the girls. She’d better not fucking pass out, not before I buy her.
I want her to remember the feeling of being treated like a piece of property.
“Young Katherine is still a virgin,” the auctioneer calls. His words hit me like a ton of bricks. A virgin? That will likely double her price. “She belonged to Sal Carolla. Now she can belong to you.”
Several men cheer, ready to claim their prize. But those men don’t realize that I am in the audience, or that I am who I am, or that I’m here for her.
I start to move forward, cupping my hands around my mouth. “One million. One million, and we’re done.”
Everyone turns and looks at me, some seeming surprised.
“One million, from this gentleman,” says the auctioneer. “Do I hear—”
“One and a quarter,” calls a man across the way. He smirks at me.
“One and a half,” I say.
“Two million!” says the man. “Two million dollars.”
“Three,” I growl.
The man hesitates, looking at the two men who are with him. One of them nods to him, and he grins. “Three point five.”
“Four million,” I call out, even though it is a stunning amount of money.
Money is no object, not today.
The other man pulls out his gun, though what he plans to do with it I’m not certain. He makes the deadly mistake of looking as though he might be aiming at me, and the next thing I know, I have my gun drawn.
Instinct takes over, slowing things down for me. Everyone ducks for cover. Soon there is a bullet hole neatly between his eyes. My gun smokes just a little.
Everyone else begins to move. The sound of dozens of guns being cocked rings loudly in the still air. Denis and Roget are at my side, though obviously, I don’t need them.
“Call it,” I command the auctioneer. “Call it now, and we can leave.”
The auctioneer puts his hands up, though I’m not pointing my gun at him. “Sold?” he squeaks uncertainly.
The masked man that holds Katherine upright pulls her down off the platform, heading toward a back room with her trailing limply. I gesture for Denis to go get her, excitement welling up in my chest.
Everyone is on tenterhooks, watching my every movement, guns at the ready. But I’m not concerned with any of them.
No, I’m concerned with my new purchase, who Denis rips away from her guard. As he leads her over to me, I realize just how small she is beside my enforcer. She can’t be much more than five feet tall.
They reach the spot where I’m standing, and I look at her wide, desperate eyes, her blonde hair, her hands knotted in her white dress. It’s all much more than I dreamt of. More real, more vivid.
I cock my head and give her a considering glance. “You belong to me. I am your master now.”
There is a faraway echo of terror in those big blue eyes, but whatever drug she’s been given prevents her fear from rising to the surface.
Not for long, though. When I get her back to my compound, there will be no substances, nothing between us. Nothing to stop her from feeling the kind of terror that Anna felt in her last hours.
I feel like I should warn her, let her know what sort of master I will be. I dig in my pocket for my switchblade, popping its shining blade open.
Her eyes fill with a distinct note of fear as I brandish it, stepping closer to her. I grab her by the shoulder, enjoying her pathetic attempts to struggle. Denis steps forward and grabs both of her hands, pulling them behind her back.
I look her right in the eyes as I slowly slice the letter A into her collarbone, about an inch by a half an inch. I get hard when she lets out a plaintive wail. My fingers shake with pent-up excitement as her blood trickles out over my knife.
Nothing has ever felt so good, I swear.
“This is to remind you that you belong to me,” I tell her, wiping the blood off of my blade on her perfect white dress, right on her right breast. The blood spreads and seeps immediately,
