Chapter 5
"I was among the few that were controlled births, in Midnight." Maia said, staring at a spot somewhere above my head instead of meeting my eyes.
"Controlled births?" This concept wasn't new to me, I had heard of it before, but never had anyone explained to me in length as to what it was.
"Two slaves, chosen for their beauty and their down-trodden manner, taken and bred like animals, like dogs. Surely, easily broken slaves would produce easily broken children." Maia said with sarcastic innocence. "But they were wrong. I was a defect. The other controlled births worked, but it backfired with me." She smirked triumphantly, but there was a bitter trace to her words. "My mother tried to shield me as long as she could, but it wasn't in her nature. She was easily broken, and easily yielded to what the leeches said, even without their mind control. She saw what happened to those around her, to those who disobeyed, to those who were difficult. She knew that it would one day happen to me, and she tried, she tried so hard, to break me gently of my habit of wanting to be an individual. I was exactly what vampires around Midnight loved, even more than those who were meek, and did what they were told. I had spirit, and it was to be broken along with many bones in my body. And so I was taken from my mother, when I was around 7 years old. From that time until I turned 13, I was passed from trainer to trainer. Each tried, and failed miserably, to break, and train me to be the perfect servant, or anything resembling a down-trodden mouse at all. They could only try to beat the life out of me; mind control had no effect on me whatsoever. I was finally given up on, sent to an auction, to see if they could get anything for me, any reimbursement for all the years they had spent, wasted, on me." Maia paused, deep in memory.
I was one of the last to be auctioned off; the adults went first, sad looking bunch that they had been, their brains and eyes empty of life. I stood silently in line while the auction continued, waiting for my turn.
We were all in a dark, cramped cellar under the platform that was used to show the humans, arranged by size and approximate age. I knew that more than half the children here didn't know their age; such things weren't important in the vampire world. All that mattered was if you had blood running in your veins.
Although the cellar smelled like mildew and wet earth, none but I seemed to notice this unpleasant odor. The children around me, ranging from what looked like 3 or 4 to 15 or so, were a tattered looking group. Clothes with faded colors and patches hung off the gaunt limbs of nearly everyone. Watery eyes were widened with fear of what was to come. Skin was already grubby.
They went through all the trouble of having us washed up, and clothed in new garments, and then they shoved us in a root cellar, expecting us to stay clean, when some of us may be down here for hours? I thought, amazed. My skin was raw from the hasty scrubbing that had been administered to the younger kids, whether they were dirty or not. I shuddered with disgust; only the older kids were allowed to wash themselves, and no amount of my protesting would persuade the women who cleansed us that I was 13, and not 9. I was small for my age, scrawny by nature, but like a skeleton once a few weeks of near starvation had settled around me. I don't know when the last time I had a full meal was. No meal was a punishment dealt often to me at my former master's manor.
Some of the teens were attempting to comfort the young kids, trying unsuccessfully to take on the appearance of a maternal unit to those who were wailing for their real mothers. A bunch of ragged looking 7 and 8 year olds were huddled together in the corner, trying to act brave, but at the same time hiding their shameful tears. We were a sad bunch, myself included. I stood staring blankly at the wall, somewhere in between reality and a dream-like state. Not because I was nervous though. I knew that so-called "mind control" had no effect on me. I had nothing to worry about. Whatever awaited me couldn't be much different from what I had already experienced, already gone through. Not like the others, the children who were too young to understand what was happening. They would be bought, and grow up, becoming one of 2 things: either a slave, or a snack for their master. They would never escape the life of a slave, of vampires and mind-control. I only knew what mind control was because a few people tried to explain it to me, and still I couldn't quite grasp the concept of someone being in someone else's mind, forcing them to do something.
I was bored, waiting for what was to come. It's not like I could miss my mother or anything; I hadn't had a maternal unit in my life for 6 years and I wasn't about to become attached to one now. People had tried to take me under their wing, probably because they felt sorry for me, but I rejected them. Scorning was the only way to deal with loneliness. Pretend that you don't like others around you and you look better than if you were trying to get friends and they reject you.
It's either reject or get rejected. Play or get played. Kill or get killed. I thought with a hostile sneer. No one was about to own me, mentally that is. Physically, I had been owned as long as I could remember, but no one could own me mentally. And they never would, if I had anything to do about it.
The vampire came down the stairs, opened the door, and started ushering the next group up the stairs and into a separate room right off the stage. My heart flipped involuntarily, and started to pound in my throat. I forced my breathing to stay normal, controlled, as I was hustled along, being shoved into other people as we were herded up the stairs. Panic and pure hopelessness were interlaced in the air, thick in and about our heads.
We were brought into another room, to wait to be called on. One by one the girls and boys were led onto the stage, to their doom. The rest of us could hear what was happening, could hear the prices that were being shouted out for the human flesh that occupied the stage in a meek bundle of terror. It was like they were selling animals, they way the vampire at the podium forced our mouths open to show our teeth, had us walk, then run around the platform a couple times, to show how our posture was, and to make sure that we didn't limp.
At last it was my turn. A vampire grabbed my arm in an iron grip and hauled me out onto the stage, and over to the middle, where a vampire in a gray business suit with shiny, slicked-back brown hair and a cold sneer was waiting. I glared at him. He arched an eyebrow and a cruel smile curled at his lips. His arm clamped down on my shoulder, squeezing painfully as he pulled me into place beside him, facing the crowd of his kind. I tried to wrench my arm out of the greasy vampire's hand, but I couldn't succeed in getting loose. Laughter rippled through the crowd as I struggled. The slimeball pried my mouth open with his hands to show my teeth, then dragged me around the stage, forcing me to walk, then run. I didn't give up the opportunity to kick him as hard as I could while he was towing me around. He merely smiled at me as if I'd only given him a little love tap, and continued to haul on my arm. Finally he pulled me to a stop in front of the podium again. Deciding to stand still and regaining my dignity, I planted my feet apart and crossed my arms over my chest, staring defiantly out into the crowd.
"Alright then, let's start the bidding at $50. Do I hear 50? Yes, you there, in the red shirt..."
The bidding went on and on until most dropped out when the price got too high. I was actually surprised when the betting passed $1000. I was clearly no perfect catch, and I didn't intend to be so ever. I had been regarded as angelic more than once, with my pale blonde hair, fair skin and clear, bright blue eyes
How ironic, I thought sarcastically, an angel among demons.
At last the bidding was down to two opponents. With spiked, dark brown hair, and eyes as deep and dark as the empty night, the vampire with the dark red shirt didn't look like he was about to give in. As the price for my flesh climbed higher and higher, the vampire with short red hair in tight spirals flying out in all directions faltered and finally fell silent, no longer in the running for me. "$2000! Do I hear $2100?.No? Going once.twice.sold to the charming gentleman in the maroon shirt!" Greasy called out. I was led over to the side of the stage as another teen was led onto the stage.
Charming Gentleman would be the last thing that I would've called my new owner, I thought as I was tugged over to meet my fate. Although I was a human, I was fairly perceptive when it came to being a judge of character, and bad was written all over this vampire's slyly smiling face.
I sat silently as Maia finished her story. She yawned widely, and I looked at my watch; it was well past midnight.
"So now you know." Maia stated. "That was the day that Adham bought me. That was 25 years ago." Seeing my confused look, she elaborated. "I'd lived here for about 4 years when I was blood-bonded. Said I was already part vampire, and that he might as well make it official. I never figured out what he meant." She paused, the continued in a hushed voice. "Listen, Kala, and listen well-"
I looked around, then leaned toward her, "What are you whispering for?"
She hushed me with a finger to her lips, then leaned further toward me until we were merely inches away from each other. She met my eyes with an intense gaze. "Listen, Kala. They are everywhere. He is everywhere. He may be listening in at this moment. It's dangerous here, Kala. Get away, as fast as you can. Danger is brewing; I can feel it in the air. Do not trust anyone. First chance you get, run, and run hard. Return to your family, they can protect you."
Maia stood up, stretching. She headed for the door.
"Wait," I called, "I'm confused."
Maia paused at the door, her hand on the doorknob. "Remember how I said that mind control had no effect on me?"
I nodded slowly, still not understanding.
"That wasn't how it was with Adham. He.has a power that I can't quite discern. We're connected in some way, but I don't know how. He did what no other trainer could do. He broke me, and turned me into the submissive creature I swore I'd never be."
If you haven't reviewed yet...anytime now...anywho, e-mail me w/ any questions or comments...
"I was among the few that were controlled births, in Midnight." Maia said, staring at a spot somewhere above my head instead of meeting my eyes.
"Controlled births?" This concept wasn't new to me, I had heard of it before, but never had anyone explained to me in length as to what it was.
"Two slaves, chosen for their beauty and their down-trodden manner, taken and bred like animals, like dogs. Surely, easily broken slaves would produce easily broken children." Maia said with sarcastic innocence. "But they were wrong. I was a defect. The other controlled births worked, but it backfired with me." She smirked triumphantly, but there was a bitter trace to her words. "My mother tried to shield me as long as she could, but it wasn't in her nature. She was easily broken, and easily yielded to what the leeches said, even without their mind control. She saw what happened to those around her, to those who disobeyed, to those who were difficult. She knew that it would one day happen to me, and she tried, she tried so hard, to break me gently of my habit of wanting to be an individual. I was exactly what vampires around Midnight loved, even more than those who were meek, and did what they were told. I had spirit, and it was to be broken along with many bones in my body. And so I was taken from my mother, when I was around 7 years old. From that time until I turned 13, I was passed from trainer to trainer. Each tried, and failed miserably, to break, and train me to be the perfect servant, or anything resembling a down-trodden mouse at all. They could only try to beat the life out of me; mind control had no effect on me whatsoever. I was finally given up on, sent to an auction, to see if they could get anything for me, any reimbursement for all the years they had spent, wasted, on me." Maia paused, deep in memory.
I was one of the last to be auctioned off; the adults went first, sad looking bunch that they had been, their brains and eyes empty of life. I stood silently in line while the auction continued, waiting for my turn.
We were all in a dark, cramped cellar under the platform that was used to show the humans, arranged by size and approximate age. I knew that more than half the children here didn't know their age; such things weren't important in the vampire world. All that mattered was if you had blood running in your veins.
Although the cellar smelled like mildew and wet earth, none but I seemed to notice this unpleasant odor. The children around me, ranging from what looked like 3 or 4 to 15 or so, were a tattered looking group. Clothes with faded colors and patches hung off the gaunt limbs of nearly everyone. Watery eyes were widened with fear of what was to come. Skin was already grubby.
They went through all the trouble of having us washed up, and clothed in new garments, and then they shoved us in a root cellar, expecting us to stay clean, when some of us may be down here for hours? I thought, amazed. My skin was raw from the hasty scrubbing that had been administered to the younger kids, whether they were dirty or not. I shuddered with disgust; only the older kids were allowed to wash themselves, and no amount of my protesting would persuade the women who cleansed us that I was 13, and not 9. I was small for my age, scrawny by nature, but like a skeleton once a few weeks of near starvation had settled around me. I don't know when the last time I had a full meal was. No meal was a punishment dealt often to me at my former master's manor.
Some of the teens were attempting to comfort the young kids, trying unsuccessfully to take on the appearance of a maternal unit to those who were wailing for their real mothers. A bunch of ragged looking 7 and 8 year olds were huddled together in the corner, trying to act brave, but at the same time hiding their shameful tears. We were a sad bunch, myself included. I stood staring blankly at the wall, somewhere in between reality and a dream-like state. Not because I was nervous though. I knew that so-called "mind control" had no effect on me. I had nothing to worry about. Whatever awaited me couldn't be much different from what I had already experienced, already gone through. Not like the others, the children who were too young to understand what was happening. They would be bought, and grow up, becoming one of 2 things: either a slave, or a snack for their master. They would never escape the life of a slave, of vampires and mind-control. I only knew what mind control was because a few people tried to explain it to me, and still I couldn't quite grasp the concept of someone being in someone else's mind, forcing them to do something.
I was bored, waiting for what was to come. It's not like I could miss my mother or anything; I hadn't had a maternal unit in my life for 6 years and I wasn't about to become attached to one now. People had tried to take me under their wing, probably because they felt sorry for me, but I rejected them. Scorning was the only way to deal with loneliness. Pretend that you don't like others around you and you look better than if you were trying to get friends and they reject you.
It's either reject or get rejected. Play or get played. Kill or get killed. I thought with a hostile sneer. No one was about to own me, mentally that is. Physically, I had been owned as long as I could remember, but no one could own me mentally. And they never would, if I had anything to do about it.
The vampire came down the stairs, opened the door, and started ushering the next group up the stairs and into a separate room right off the stage. My heart flipped involuntarily, and started to pound in my throat. I forced my breathing to stay normal, controlled, as I was hustled along, being shoved into other people as we were herded up the stairs. Panic and pure hopelessness were interlaced in the air, thick in and about our heads.
We were brought into another room, to wait to be called on. One by one the girls and boys were led onto the stage, to their doom. The rest of us could hear what was happening, could hear the prices that were being shouted out for the human flesh that occupied the stage in a meek bundle of terror. It was like they were selling animals, they way the vampire at the podium forced our mouths open to show our teeth, had us walk, then run around the platform a couple times, to show how our posture was, and to make sure that we didn't limp.
At last it was my turn. A vampire grabbed my arm in an iron grip and hauled me out onto the stage, and over to the middle, where a vampire in a gray business suit with shiny, slicked-back brown hair and a cold sneer was waiting. I glared at him. He arched an eyebrow and a cruel smile curled at his lips. His arm clamped down on my shoulder, squeezing painfully as he pulled me into place beside him, facing the crowd of his kind. I tried to wrench my arm out of the greasy vampire's hand, but I couldn't succeed in getting loose. Laughter rippled through the crowd as I struggled. The slimeball pried my mouth open with his hands to show my teeth, then dragged me around the stage, forcing me to walk, then run. I didn't give up the opportunity to kick him as hard as I could while he was towing me around. He merely smiled at me as if I'd only given him a little love tap, and continued to haul on my arm. Finally he pulled me to a stop in front of the podium again. Deciding to stand still and regaining my dignity, I planted my feet apart and crossed my arms over my chest, staring defiantly out into the crowd.
"Alright then, let's start the bidding at $50. Do I hear 50? Yes, you there, in the red shirt..."
The bidding went on and on until most dropped out when the price got too high. I was actually surprised when the betting passed $1000. I was clearly no perfect catch, and I didn't intend to be so ever. I had been regarded as angelic more than once, with my pale blonde hair, fair skin and clear, bright blue eyes
How ironic, I thought sarcastically, an angel among demons.
At last the bidding was down to two opponents. With spiked, dark brown hair, and eyes as deep and dark as the empty night, the vampire with the dark red shirt didn't look like he was about to give in. As the price for my flesh climbed higher and higher, the vampire with short red hair in tight spirals flying out in all directions faltered and finally fell silent, no longer in the running for me. "$2000! Do I hear $2100?.No? Going once.twice.sold to the charming gentleman in the maroon shirt!" Greasy called out. I was led over to the side of the stage as another teen was led onto the stage.
Charming Gentleman would be the last thing that I would've called my new owner, I thought as I was tugged over to meet my fate. Although I was a human, I was fairly perceptive when it came to being a judge of character, and bad was written all over this vampire's slyly smiling face.
I sat silently as Maia finished her story. She yawned widely, and I looked at my watch; it was well past midnight.
"So now you know." Maia stated. "That was the day that Adham bought me. That was 25 years ago." Seeing my confused look, she elaborated. "I'd lived here for about 4 years when I was blood-bonded. Said I was already part vampire, and that he might as well make it official. I never figured out what he meant." She paused, the continued in a hushed voice. "Listen, Kala, and listen well-"
I looked around, then leaned toward her, "What are you whispering for?"
She hushed me with a finger to her lips, then leaned further toward me until we were merely inches away from each other. She met my eyes with an intense gaze. "Listen, Kala. They are everywhere. He is everywhere. He may be listening in at this moment. It's dangerous here, Kala. Get away, as fast as you can. Danger is brewing; I can feel it in the air. Do not trust anyone. First chance you get, run, and run hard. Return to your family, they can protect you."
Maia stood up, stretching. She headed for the door.
"Wait," I called, "I'm confused."
Maia paused at the door, her hand on the doorknob. "Remember how I said that mind control had no effect on me?"
I nodded slowly, still not understanding.
"That wasn't how it was with Adham. He.has a power that I can't quite discern. We're connected in some way, but I don't know how. He did what no other trainer could do. He broke me, and turned me into the submissive creature I swore I'd never be."
If you haven't reviewed yet...anytime now...anywho, e-mail me w/ any questions or comments...