UNKNOWN (LATER THAT NIGHT)

I drove down the street searching for the warehouse. It had been an insanely long and stressful past couple of weeks and I just wanted to be at home playing with my pet. However, my sister had just reminded me today that my brother's birthday was tomorrow and I hadn't gotten him anything yet, which is why I was out at nearly midnight doing some last minute shopping.

Why am I shopping at midnight? You ask. Well, it's the time when people start selling the item that I'm looking for. It's too much of a risk to do it during the day. The wrong person might catch us and then we'd all be in trouble. So we had to wait until almost all human activity ceased, which was alright, considering we didn't need any sleep.

I was heading to a human auction—something that was outlawed a long time ago. The people who outlawed it were dead now, though, so it really didn't matter. Personally, I thought kidnapping humans and selling them as slaves to our kind was the most brilliant idea in the world. We needed something to keep us fed and entertained, didn't we? Those were the only things humans were good for after all.

I smiled as I spotted the warehouse about fifty feet in front of me. I pulled carefully into the back parking lot, making sure that no humans were around to see me then I headed inside. The slaves at the door opened them and bowed my inside. I didn't even spare either of them a look. Why should I even bother? They were worthless, after all.

I hadn't been to one in a couple of weeks. The pet that I had purchased three weeks ago, Amy, was still entertaining me a great deal more than the others had. It still wasn't very good at listening and that was what made them so fun. I loved the ones that talked back and defied me. It gave me a reason to punish them.

Punishing them was the best part, especially when they screamed. I loved to watch them wither and scream and beg for me to stop. It was honestly the best part of my day. Listening to their pain allowed me to forget my own.

I probably wouldn't have come on this particular night, but I knew my brother had been searching for a new girl. The last one he had kept trying to run away, so he had to have it put to sleep. He and my other brother kept trying to find new ones, but nothing really caught his interest.

My gift was a great advantage because I was able to use it to see exactly what it was he wanted. I was going to give him the perfect pet for his birthday-one that would obey, serve him well, and would last for longer than a month or two for him.

I was in a large room with several rows of metal folding chairs and no windows—a safety precaution—and two vampires standing guard inside the door. There was a podium and the front. There were rich and powerful vampires conversing in groups around the room. I didn't make conversation with any of them as I walked through the room.

They shot quick and fearful glances in my direction, but no one said anything to me either. That was perfectly fine with me. I wasn't here for them, after all, just the merchandise.

Speaking of merchandise, it was being brought in through a back entrance of the room. I turned when I heard a door open and the shuffling of human feet.

A good vampire friend of mine, Dimitri, was ushering a line of at least twenty girls who were shackled together into the room. They varied in ages ranging from eight all the way to fifteen. They were wearing only underclothing in varying degrees of shabbiness. While they all looked very different, every one of them had the same look of horror on their face. I could even see some of them were shaking. I smiled and suddenly remember why I enjoyed coming to these in the first place. The level of fear in the place brought a wonderful sense of satisfaction.

The girls were led to the front of the room and Dimitri told us that we had an hour to look over the merchandise before the bidding began. The only rule being that we couldn't touch. I, of course, was an exception to that rule. I was allowed to touch any of them whenever and wherever I wanted. It was one of the many perks of having my status. Another was I did not having to wait in line.

No one else in the room dared go near the girls before I had a chance to look them over. This was by far the best part of the auction. I, of course, took every advantage I could with the girls, even if I wasn't interested. It was their job to pleasure and entertain me, after all. I may as well have a little fun while I was looking, right.

I made it a point to stop at every girl and allow my hands to touch them in their most intimate places. If any of them objected or tried to pull away, I slapped them, which pretty much knocked the stupid out of them.

Even though, I was having my fun, I never forgot why I was there. I was looking for a present for my brother. I was trying to find him his perfect pet. I kept replaying everything that I had seen in his mind, but nothing I saw here fit the bill.

I was about to give up and go home when I reached the fifteenth girl in line. She was small and young. I was sure she was the youngest here today. She had waist length curly brown hair and a very pale complexion. Her body was just starting to develop.

She was staring down at the floor. Smart girl. It looked as though she already knew her place. I made a mental note of that then dipped into her thoughts to find out what was going on.

It was utter chaos. One second she was thinking about how scared she was and wondering what was going to happen to her. The next she was thinking about how much she wished some girl called Kari was with her. At the thought of Kari's name, her fears took off again. Only they weren't fears for herself, but for this Kari. She was afraid of what her father would do to Kari when he realized that she was gone. She tried very hard to block out the possibilities, but the images kept cropping up.

There was one in particular that caught my attention. A naked red headed teenager chained to a wall in what looked like a basement. The girl was curled on the floor crying with her head in her knees. I couldn't see the girl's face but I found myself sympathizing with the girl.

Wow. Where'd that come from? I don't sympathize with humans. They were nasty worthless vermin who were nothing more than food and entertainment. That was it. They were mere pets and toys for us, nothing more. They didn't deserve pity.

I pulled out of the girl's thoughts and grabbed her roughly by the chin. She stumbled forward not expecting me to be so rough, but quickly caught her balance and made herself look at my face. I smiled when I saw the fear that was trying to hide behind the big brown eyes.

I dipped into her thoughts again, wondering why she was trying so hard to not be afraid.

"I have to be brave and strong, just like Kari. I can't let them see how much they're scaring me. Just like Kari never lets dad see how much he hurts her. God, I hope he doesn't hurt her too much for this."

It was the most interesting internal conversation that I've ever heard. It was odd to me that this girl would be more concerned with her sister, I assumed, than herself. She obviously had no idea what she had just gotten into. A few days in the hands of my kind and she would forget all about whatever's been happening to Kari.

Still, though, she seemed like everything that my brother was looking for. She looked quiet and obedient. She seemed to already know that it would be foolish to try to fight and defy us. A plus was that she was the age he liked. He liked them at a young age when they were easier to train and put up less of a fight.

She could possibly be the one for him. I examined her face and body a little more closely. She seemed almost perfect for him. But I had to put this to the test first.

"Name?" I barked.

"Kenzi." she said and actually succeeded in sounding like she wasn't scared. I would've bought it if I hadn't been looking her in the eye. "Sir." she added at the end, unsure of how to address me and scared to sound disrespectful. I smile slightly.

"That's an interesting name. Is it short for anything?" I ask out of mere curiosity.

"No, sir." she stated not even trying to pull her face out of my grasp.

"And how old are you Kenzi?"

"I just turned eight, sir."

"I see." I released her face and brush some of her hair behind her eye. She shivered slightly as my cold skin brushed the back of her neck. "Well, Kenzi, you're going to make a wonderful gift for my brother. I'm sure he'll love you. I'll see you later."

I moved on to the next girl. Not that I needed to, of course. I knew Kenzi would be perfect for him. I was just having way too much fun to stop now. A half hour later, I took my seat and the bidding began.

I didn't bother bidding on any of the other girls that were brought through. I could see the relief on every one of their faces when they realized that I wasn't going to be their new owner. Then it was Kenzi's turn.

She looked like a decent pet so I was prepared to spend a decent amount of money on her. My brother, like myself and our other brother, deserved nothing but the best money could buy and I was sure she would be worth it. That's why I let the others bid as high as they wanted. I knew, however, that the minute I put in a bid, whether or not it matched the previous one, the girl would be mine. One of the other perks of my status.

I could bid anywhere from a dollar to a million dollars for any one of the girls and they'd be mine just like that. I decided to allow the others to bid themselves out, just for the fun of it. I enjoyed letting the others think they were winning.

When a vampire I didn't recognize with bleach blonde hair and a grim sneer, bid 4,500 dollars nobody was willing to bid higher. I decided it was time to step in.

"Four thousand dollars, Dimitri." I stated. I figured if I was gonna have some fun why not piss somebody off in the process.

Everyone recognized my voice, so no one objected to my bid. I noticed the blond, however, looked like he wanted to say something. I just shrugged because he would be sentenced to death if he opened his mouth.

"Going once. Going twice. Sold for 4,000 dollars to the man in the second seat of the first row." Dimitri stated with a smirk in my direction.

I stood up and pulled the cash out of my pocket, handed it to the guard and stepped up to claim my prize. She was still staring at the floor and I noticed her shoulders shaking like she had been crying. I briefly wondered what happened to all of the bravery from earlier.

I grabbed her chin and forced her to look at me again. Sure enough, there were tear tracks running down her cheeks and her brown eyes were bloodshot. I took another look into her mind.

"I'm sorry Kari. I can't be brave like you. I'm so scared. What's going to happen to me? Is he going to hurt me?"

"Don't worry, dear. We'll take really good care of you." I said in a tone that caused the girl to shiver violently.

I smirked down at her. I was soon brought a carrier. It was simply a cage big enough for her to crawl into, but small enough for me to carry without much effort.

She was still sobbing when I placed the carrier in the trunk of my car and drove off.

KARI (JUST AFTER THE POLICE LEAVE FROM INVESTIGATING KENZI'S "KIDNAPPING")

I stood in the living room tears still running down my cheeks. I had just spent the last three hours talking to the police. I told them everything that I could remember about what happened just before Kenzi was taken.

They didn't believe me when I told them I hadn't even been out of the room for more than five seconds before Kenzi was gone. The said there was no way anyone could be that fast. I insisted that was what happened. They took the statement but were extremely skeptical about it.

They asked me tons of questions and I tried to answer them to the best of my ability. I even explained the two men Kenzi heard talking about her in the school the day before. I didn't have a description for them, because all Kenzi told me was that they had been scary.

It was finally over, though, and Father was outside saying goodbye and thanking them for all of their help. I knew I was going to be in trouble when he came back in. He would blame me for this and there was absolutely no doubt this time. This one was all my fault and I'd take whatever punishment he was going to give me for it. I deserved it this time. I let Kenzi down because I was unable to protect her. I hated myself and part of me hoped that father would be angry enough to kill me this time. It'd be less than what I deserved for this. God only knew what was happening to my baby sister now because of me.

"I'm so sorry, Kenz." I whispered to nothing choking on a sob. "I wasn't there for you when you needed me the most."

Father walked back in the house, sooner than I would've like, but I just stood there looking at him waiting for the blow to fall. I had only ever seen him look that angry once, and that was the day mom died. The day he stopped looking at me like I was his daughter. I gulped, because I knew it was going to be bad.

"So you couldn't stand the fact that I loved you sister, more than you?" he snarled. "You had to go get rid of her too, just like you did with your mother!"

"I didn't do this on purpose, father." I growled back.

"Then why the hell did you leave her alone in that room?" he questioned. "You knew there was something wrong!"

"No, dad, I thought that she just had a nightmare. I was trying to show her that she didn't need to be afraid of anything, because there was nothing there. If I had even thought that something was out there or going to hurt her, I would've made sure that she didn't go back in there alone. I love Kenzi and I would do anything for her!" I yelled back. If I was going to get it, I may as well make it good for one of us.

"Don't you dare say that, you little bitch!" he replied. "If you loved her, you would've made sure they got you instead of her!"

"Why don't you just say it, dad! You wish that it was me and not her."

"Maybe I do!"

"Good, because I do too!"

"Yeah, because that's all you'll ever be good for being someone's whore."

"Yeah, well, anything's better than living with you!"

"Then maybe you should just leave."

"Maybe, I will!"

I started for the door but he reached out and grabbed my wrist tightly. I could feel a bruise forming already.

"I don't think so." he growled.

"You just told me to go!" I yelled trying to rip my wrist away from him.

"That was before I realized that if you left, there wouldn't be anyone left to cook and clean for me." He yanked back pulling me to his chest.

"Why don't you learn to do it yourself?" I asked. I knew the minute that I said it, it was the wrong thing.

He released my wrist and shoved me to the floor. I hit my head and was dazed for a minute. Before I could even get things straightened out in my head, I felt his barefoot connecting with every part of my body that he could reach. I cried out in pain flailing my arms and trying to block him.

"You ungrateful worthless bitch!" He yelled between kicks.

It stopped just as suddenly as it had started, though and he walked away. I chanced a peek up in his direction and saw that he was making his way to the kitchen. I gulped and tried to crawl to the door, because I knew what he was getting and didn't think I could deal with another one tonight.

I was almost there when I felt something stomp down on my ankle. I let out a cry of pain as I felt and heard the bone snap. I then felt father's hands grip my hair and yank my head back.

"Going somewhere?" he growled.

"No, sir." I stuttered.

"That's what I thought."

He proceeded to drag me, by my hair, up to my bedroom where he threw me down onto my bed. I was in too much pain to really focus on what was going on and before I knew it, I was tied face down and shirtless to my bedpost.

The first lash across my back made me forget about the pain in the other parts of my body. I screamed out begging for him to just leave me alone and let me go. He just laughed and continued to whip me harder and harder with each lash. I felt tears rolling down my cheeks as I continued to beg. I wasn't sure how long he went at it, but he was still going strong when I gave into the wonderful black oblivion that had come for me.