Hello, friends! Sorry it took me so long to update. I hope the extra length on the chapter will make up for that. I didn't have much time to edit this chapter, so please feel free to send me your comments and suggestions on how to make it better. I love your reviews and hope you continue to read my story.
P.S I don't own the darkest powers characters or story. My work comes nowhere near the quality of the original.
Our carriages pulled up to an old mansion known as the Edison house. The house was connected to the science department at the university and hosted an elite men's club. I felt a pang of shame in remembering how I had once aspired to be its first female member.
Dr. Davidoff shifted in his seat with excitement and hastily straightened out his jacket collar. A well dressed servant came over to open our carriage door and escort us in. Dr. Davidoff and Derek exited first. I was alone in the carriage and contemplated my chances of opening the adjacent door and making a run for it. As exciting as it sounded I knew there was no way I'd be able to outrun them in my outfit.
I had often thought that the clothes assigned to woman served an evil ulterior motive and now I knew what it was. Similar to how primitive people would trap their mates in a cave while they went out hunting, modern woman were subjected to the constraints of debilitating shoes, heavy cumbersome dresses and painful corsets. Men have the nerve to call us week and stupid, but were the ones who are chained down by their perception of vanity.
Derek's open palm reached into the carriage as if he had been waiting for me to take it. I was tempted to slap it away and climb down on my own, but just like escaping, I probably wouldn't be able to manage in this dress. Instead I took his hand with a falsely gracious smile and made sure to land my heal on the toe of his shoe as I stepped down. His eyes winced with pain, but he managed to keep his composure.
Looking up I noticed the doorway as well as the windows here crowded with men trying to get a look. As the other girls were being unloaded from the carriage Dr. Davidoff started in on a grandiose introduction about how glad we were to be here. I thought he was speaking sarcastically, but when I looked at the faces of the other girls they were all lighten up with smiles. The outspoken dark haired girl from earlier came up behind me as if to swipe a loose strand of hair from my shoulder, but instead grabbed onto the lock and pulled me toward her. "Now listen here you little skank. I've been waiting months to get out, so don't think you're special just because you're Dr. Davidoff's new play thing" she hissed.
The whole incident must have been masked as an innocent friendly gesture to the crowd, but she made a point of keeping my gaze until she had moved back into line. The smiles on the other girl's faces seemed strained as they watched the girl rejoin their ranks. Dr. Davidoff began ushering us into the building. Dazed and confused, I had no other option then to follow him. I felt a light touch on my elbow and jumped. I hadn't been paying attention to what was going on behind me and I was afraid it was the girl from before.
Instead it was a blonde girl with a kind smile, dressed in a powdery blue gown.
"Don't worry about Victoria", she said gesturing towards the dark haired girl. "She's just jealous that she's not going to be the main showcase".
"Why?" I blurted out as she turned to go. Turning quickly on her heals "Oh! Well you see", she began with a devilish grin and pulled me in closer for a mock sense of privacy. "In order to be in the main showcase you need to be well….ugh, pure" she giggled.
Pure? I thought. What does that have to do with anything?
I must have looked confused, because she tried clarifying by saying "you know, Puuure". She used a few exaggerating hand gestures to make her point and then started rambling on about how they were originally going to just put her up for sale on the main stage anyway and hoped nobody noticed, but….
"It's none of her business!", Victoria shot in. "Let's go!" she said while pulling the other girl along and shooting me a sideways glare.
The blonde girl stopped suddenly and turned on her heals towards me. "Elizabeth" she called. "My name is Elizabeth" she said, "but you can call me Liz" with a blaring smile. One final tug from Victoria and they were off.
Her happiness surprised me. How could anyone be so cheerful in such a horrible situation? Looking around, all the girls were trying very hard to look presentable. Despite the absurdity of where we were, it all looked so familiar. It occurred to me that this was like the brothel of debutant balls.
I had gone to plenty of parties where I was expected to meet men and settled down. I had even had a few marriage proposals, which I found completely ridicules considering I barely knew any of them. My father had insisted that it was important I get married so that I would be taken care of, but I never took the opportunity seriously. To me marriage was just another form of prostitution. Men would pay for a nice wedding band, ensure that she had a decent living and then were entitled to sex with her whenever they wanted. He always scoffed at the comparison but it sounded a lot like prostitution to me.
Thinking about my father broke my composure and I had to struggle at keeping my face neutral. Most of the men were still drinking and finishing up their card games, but a few had started meandering over towards us. I saw mostly younger men, many of which I recognized from my University, being the first ones to approach the other girls. The older men who had taken notice that there were females in the room were leaned back in chairs as if to scrutinize the products laid out before them.
I noticed quite a few stares had landed on me and I cringed when I realized what their expressions were conveying as their eyes traveled up my body. As more of the men came forward to get a better look at us, I heard Dr. Davidoff and another man call their attention away and remind them that the auction wouldn't start for another thirty minutes.
I saw Derek from the corner of my eye begin herding the other girls into another room and I decided that this might be the only chance I'd have to escape. I began slowly detaching myself from the group and looking around the room for a possible escape plan. I noted a stair case on the opposite end of the room and started casually moving towards it. Of course my plan probably would have gone over better if I wasn't a big pink beacon of lace and fabric moving across the floor. I did however manage to reach the begging of the stair case before someone finally stopped me. It was an attractive young man about my age with dark blonde hair and almond shaped eyes. I had never seen someone who was another ethnicity and was really taken back by it.
" Excuse me" he said. "Are you alright? I thought all the girls were getting ready in the back". His smile was charming and innocent which stood out amongst the other men. I swallowed hard and tried to pry my senses back.
"Yes that's right" I said " but I uh…need to umm…" I pointed up the stairs shyly as if to indicate that I was too embarrassed to say bathroom.
"Oh! I'm sorry" he said. "I shall let you be on your way then. My name is Simon by the way". He gave me another award winning smile. "I guess I'll see you at the auction", he called in a mockingly suggestive voice. Hoping that wouldn't be true I climbed the rest of the stairs without incident.
Now that someone knew where I was I had to find a way out of the house as quickly as possible. I searched all the rooms on the way to the bathroom, but all of them were either locked or didn't have windows which could open. Coming out from one bedroom I spotted a man who gave me a questioning look. My heart thudded in my chest as I said in my best innocent girl voice "well, that's not the bathroom". Thankfully the man chuckled and had no problem accepting my excuse. He pointed me in the direction of the bath room, which was unfortunately a way I had already come. With him watching me I was stuck having to actually go into the wash room. The only window in the room was too small to allow me through.
I sunk down in the resting chair in a near panic until I saw that there was another door tucked away at the end of the room. I got up hurriedly and found that it led to a linen closet with a large window. I began tugging at the latch with all of my strength until it finally cracked open enough for me to pull the window open. As I laid my hand on the window sill my feet were swept up from under me and I found myself in a familiar vice grip.
"What are you trying to do; kill yourself?" Derek asked. Obviously he didn't see the brilliance of my escape plan like I did. Instead of answering I squirmed and kicked as much as I could trying to release myself from his arms. I managed to get a hold on the window frame and pull myself closer, but it was no use. I slumped in his arms with defeat and he deposited me on the floor like a disobedient child.
"You could have killed yourself!" he exclaimed."That's at least a twenty foot drop onto cobblestone. What were you thinking?".
"What was I thinking? Really? What I was thinking was that it might be nice not to be sold off and raped tonight! I can't believe I trusted you! I should have known that all of that necromancer nonsense was just a lie".
He crouched down to my level and lifted my chin to meet his eyes. "It's not what it looks like" he assured me. I almost sputtered a laugh at that. "Oh, it must be my puny brain again. Do enlighten me Dr. Souza. How exactly am I misinterpreting being sold off like a piece of meat?
Derek took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't really work for Dr. Davidoff. I've been investigating him for the last few months".
"You're an investigator?" I asked hopefully. "No, not exactly..." he said. "I had just noticed some strange patterns while researching the hospitals policies on the mentally ill and started looking into it"
My heart sunk to my stomach as my last shred of hope vanished. "So, you're pretty much powerless? Why haven't you brought this to the police?" I yelled.
"Half of the men down there are police. The local authorities have had a heavy hand in expanding these activities. I don't think they know about the supernatural side of the operation though. There are a few of us, who are trying to take it down from the inside" he told me.
"What about me?" I asked. "Am I just supposed to play the happy sex slave until you figure things out?"
His eyes darted away as he said that he'd figure something out. "For now though, we need to get you back down stairs".
I could tell this was non-negotiable and followed him back down the stairs.