Bill Cipher wants a new toy, and he finds it in Mabel Pines when he buys her at a slave auction.
Chapter One: Where'd You Go?
There was nothing strange about this. Nothing at all. Bill at least kept telling himself that. Though walking down a dark hallway with lights that flickered above, and with his nervous brother by his side, following just a half step behind him. How did he even end up here? There were so many better ways to go about this. Sure, he lived off the control, but did he really want to go and buy a person?
Yes, yes, he did.
"Bill, I don't like this…" Will really didn't want to be here, and actually whimpered as they passed through another hall where the sounds of someone crying came through. He walked just a little bit closer to Bill after that.
"Lighten up! It's not like we've had good moral standing before. Just relax." He stepped back from Will so they didn't walk so close together. "I'm just looking, geeze."
He shouldn't even be here. Even for a demon, he knew this was low moral standing, to be in one of the largest auction houses in the nation and thinking about buying a person. He was a demon, he no doubt could find someone just willing to sell themselves to him, but he wanted the extra sense of control. He could actually own this person, whoever he got, and they would have to do whatever he wanted.
Besides the sound of crying and chains, there was only the sound of Bill's cane on the tile. This was a bad idea, but Bill felt like he was in his element. There was sometimes a scream that would come out from the walls, and the cold, dank, floor made chills go down Will's spine. He was a demon, and Bill drank up the sounds of it, even the smell that he couldn't identify, more than likely mildew.
"Bill." Will whispered as they finally came across the last set of doors that would lead to the auction. The other's fingers went out to grab the sleeve of Bill's coat, but didn't try to tug him back. "Can we go? This isn't a good place to be."
Bill groaned, reaching over and prying Will off of him. "I'm going in there, if you like it or not. You could always walk back to the car by yourself."
Will squeaked a little bit, shaking his head before Bill had even finished talking. Bill laughed a little, heading for the doors and almost leaving Will there alone in the hallway.
"Then shut up. I'm not changing my mind about this."
After all, humans were allowed to have their own pets. Why couldn't he? Bill had big plans in store, and so what if he wanted a human to keep him company and pleasure. It was his time in the mortal realm, he could do as he wanted.
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How did she even get to this point? Mabel knew that answer very well, but she also knew that it was too painful to deal with, the memory too fresh, and too much to deal with. She knew exactly how she got to the place where she was, with her hands handcuffed in front of her and dressed in nothing but a silk bra and panties. They didn't allow the girls to wear anything else, and the few men were made to wear shorts that were almost as revealing as they could get.
She could still smell the smoke in her hair, she could feel the fire against her fingertips and feel the burns on her feet, and most of all she could hear the screams. The screams that caused her so much pain, that haunted her dreams and stayed with her when she was awake. How long had it been? She hadn't seen the sun since she was taken, but it had to have at least been a couple days. Though her stomach was shrunk in, her ribs showed easily, and there were scars on her back. Maybe Mabel had been there longer than she would care to admit.
The people were always around her, whispering. Some screamed, some cried, some stood silently beside Mabel. She herself didn't think too much of them, completely lost in her own world. It was about surviving, just like she had to survive the fire, and the burning, the screaming, and she needed to breathe through the smoke but she couldn't-.
"Mabel." The girl, no, this time it was a woman, hissed next to her. "He's coming, look sharp."
Mabel snapped out of her memories, and nodded slightly. It was all about surviving, it was about rules and making it out alive. Don't look up from the floor, don't speak out of turn. Find out what the person wants from you, give it, and then get away. Tonight was a big night, they were all lined up for the auction, and those who weren't sold to private buyers were kept as personal. Mabel had one goal in mind, to be one of the girls who was sold. She knew she could make no escape here.
"Alright girls and guys. You'll go on one at a time. Stand there, look pretty, and make us some money."
The host made it sound like they walked to be there. He was walking up to the stage as he passed Mabel, pausing before yanking her out of the line. She made a small noise, but otherwise remained silent.
"She goes last."
Mabel wanted to scream, but was simply hauled to the back of the line. By that time other buyers would have made their purchases, and left. It didn't take a genius to see what the host was doing, and Mabel immediately hated him more for it.
"Let's get this started!"
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Surprisingly, the seats in the audience weren't hard, fold out chairs, but nice plush ones that they could sit in for a while. When the announcer came out on stage, they were told they had a long list of 'clients' to see, so they were in for a long auction. That was okay with Bill, he didn't have anything better to do during the night.
Will fidgeted awkwardly in his seat, uncomfortable but not enough to go out and venture on his own and away from Bill. Said blond was sitting comfortably in his own seat, cane between his knees and a martini in hand. They had a lot of waitresses, and though the place they were holding these auctions in was deplorable, the people running it were obviously well off.
"I-I don't understand why we're here." Will let out a small 'eep' as a waitress bent down in front of him to offer a drink. He awkwardly shook his head and declined her offer.
"Because I want to." Bill kept his eyes on the small stage, which had a thick, red curtain in front of it.
"Why d-do you need a-a human?" Will's stutter tended to get worse the more uncomfortable he got. Bill didn't care for it.
"Reasons."
"Bill…"
"If you don't shut up, I'm leaving you here and you'll have to walk home."
Truth me told, he did have plans, but buying a human wasn't necessary. It was just refreshing to get away from his home and back into the place where humans were at their worse. He lived off this depravity, the feeling of sickness and death.
He wanted a play thing, he wanted a toy. No one was going to find whoever Bill bought, he wasn't concerned about their wellbeing. Why was he so concerned over this? Why did he suddenly have it in his head that he needed a pet?
Bill didn't really have time to think about it too much before the curtain was pulled back and a voice sounded. The stage itself wasn't very impressive, nothing more than a small platform barely three feet above the ground. There were two doors, one to lead the people on the stage and another to lead them back out of the stage. The host was nowhere to be seen, but they could still hear his voice.
"Welcome. Tonight we have a wide variety, of males and females who are of all different ages. They'll come on stage, bidding will commence, and then you may come backstage to collect your property. If there is any outbreaks, or harsh words, this will end. We like to have a civil auction, folks."
Bill wanted to scoff, because they wanted to have a civil auction when what they were auctioning off were humans. He had never met anyone from another dimension that did such a thing, but then again he didn't travel a lot. This dimension was his favorite.
"You're not-not really going to buy someone, are you?" Will whispered as the first person walked on stage. Well, they didn't walk so much as they were dragged. For the prices they were offering, he thought they should really be treating them better.
"Will, shut up."
The other huffed but settled back down next to Bill, and watched as the auctions took place. Some people got into six digits, bidding over other humans, while others. Bill bid on a couple to simply raise prices, but didn't really see anything he liked, at least, not anything that he was willing to bid over.
By the time the last person came up on stage, most of the other bidders had bought what they liked and left. He had managed to convince Will to bid on someone just for the heck of it, even though it made the other freak out and stutter an apology.
It seemed he was going to be leaving with nothing, and that made Will relax into the seat. The blond really had no problems with leaving with nothing, and the sobbing messes that had been dragged on stage didn't have any appeal to the demon.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we do have one final item up for auction. Bidding starts at ten thousand."
There wasn't any sound for a moment, and then there was a rattling of chains and the sound of heels clicking. Mabel winced at the harsh lights they had for the stage, but didn't back down. As she walked on the stage, everything was silent, with the host trying to coax someone to bid for her.
"Ten thousand, anyone for ten thousand?"
It was amazing to Mabel that he could sound so genuine about trying to get someone to bid, when in reality she knew he wanted this. He wanted no one to bid for her. Mabel had felt anger rise in her, pent up from being abused and used and now to be someone's play thing. She wouldn't cry, she wouldn't sob and beg, she would fight, and she would be free.
Bill leaned forward in his chair, watching with interest of this girl who stood tall, who didn't cry. Oh, how he wanted to take that from her. How he wanted to take her and break her and make her absolutely perfect.
"Well, ten thousand going once, going tw-."
"Ten thousand."
Bill raised his hand, and Will was shaking like a leaf as some attention flew to them. Instantly, the eyes of the girl were on him, boring holes into him, but Bill stared right back, a small smirk on his lips. She was perfect.
"Sold to the blond man. Well, that's our auction. Come back next month for a new selection."
Will covered his face with his hands as Bill's newest toy was lead backstage. The blond gave a smirk that was all teeth and no lips, almost looking feral as he rose, looking down at Will and wondering if he should leave the shaking demon there to be collected later.
"Are you coming? I have property to go and collect."