Auction

At that moment, a guard patrol passes by. I sink down into the bushes, my mind whirling with sick disbelief. The auctioneer is talking about me. He's selling me.

There are pictures too. Pictures I didn't realize were being taken. Elias must have taken them. Or maybe there are cameras in the walls of the house where they kept me. There is one of me in the bath, my legs spread, my head back, my eyes closed as Matias strokes me to orgasm. And then there's one of me over his lap, my ass turning bright red from the strap.

They're being displayed on monitors that are about fifteen feet high and twenty feet wide. I see myself in all my glory, my nipples alone are as big as my head. They've managed to capture me looking sultry, my eyes half closed in a kittenish expression. I know what was happening when that picture was taken. Mattias' fingers were down between my thighs.

With each successive picture, the crowd gets more and more excited. They are shouting numbers out, baying for my body. I crouch up tight and small and wish I was anywhere on the planet besides here, listening to my fate being decided by people who see me as nothing but flesh to be used.

When the patrol passes, I make my move. Everybody is so focused on the images of me on display, they don't even notice the fact that I am passing by behind them.

I know it's going to be a long way out of the city, but getting out of this compound is the first step.

The bushes lead toward a gate. Not even I am so brazen as to think the gate guard will not notice me walking out in my bedsheet.

Fortunately, the bushes also line the lower part of the high wall. I decide to slip around that way, looking for a place where nobody will see me go up and over.

The sheriff lives like a king. This compound of his holds so many buildings, and I am sure, riches. Out beyond the city limits, life is brutal and rough and short. But it's also free.

I creep along through the undergrowth, hoping I'll find some opportunity for escape. A less well guarded stairway, maybe. Or perhaps an opportunity to scale the wall. If I can find some handholds, get high, I might be able to plot a route out of here that doesn't involve getting caught.

The wall is smooth to the touch, and too tall to make a leap up to. I am stuck, for the moment, though I am still more free than I was inside that house with Mattias and Elias.

They will notice my absence soon, I am sure, and then the entire compound will be in an uproar. The sheriff is selling my flesh to a horde of lustful, powerful men as I crouch here, stuck in this bush that offers shelter, but no further avenue to freedom.

"Trissa!"

"Trissa, come here now!"

I crouch down even more. Through the bushes, I can see him walking around. He seems to have some kind of idea where I am, but he can't see me.

He's getting closer and closer though, and there's only so far I can sink down before his keen dark eyes pick me out.

"There you are." There's relief in his voice. A lot of it.

"How did you find me?"

He holds up a slim piece of plastic with colored lights on a screen. "The collar around your neck tracks you."

"Oh."

"Oh," he echoes sternly. "Stay quiet and come with me. Quickly. If you're seen out here, it will not go well for any of us."

He and Elias bundle me back to the house. The relief at having me back seems to outweigh their anger at my attempted escape. I take the opportunity to plead my case. Mattias doesn't seem evil, not like the sheriff. Maybe he will listen to me.

"Please," I say. "If you have any humanity at all, let me go. I don't belong here. You said so yourself."

His expression softens, but not in the way I want it to. He speaks to me like I'm a silly little girl who is worried about something she shouldn't be.

"You need training, that is all. I am sure you will have found a suitable owner. You're too expensive to hurt, Trissa. You're going to have a good life."

I don't find his words reassuring.

"I had a good life. Yesterday. And I'm going to get out if you help me or not."

He fixes me with a stern look. "Rebellion won't help, Trissa. You have to learn to obey. Come here."