Beneath a tight canopy of treetops, sitting peacefully on the stump of a tree he’d felled himself, a large, burly mountain man sits and waits for his companion to wake up. Patience was a gift, really, it was, and up here in the mountains, where time could slow down to a crawl, patience was a friend he’d made long, long ago. Curled up on the ground by his feet was a young woman, a tiny thing, sleeping away the precious daylight. He glanced over at her as he adjusted the tension on his crossbow, looking for any sign that she was beginning to stir. Little did he know, she’d been awake for several minutes now.
‘...He’s humming to himself. He’s fiddling with something too, something metal by the sound of it....’
Kaori Saionji; 19. Japanese. Fluffy short brown hair. Possibly cursed. Several hours ago she’d been bought at some sort of underground auction for people. Several hours before that she’d been minding her own business and making her way hurriedly through the crowded city streets. She’d h a t e d it; hated the claustrophobic feeling of being surrounded on all sides by strangers with their leering, judging eyes. It wasn’t supposed to be a long trip into the city either, just a check-up at the hospital that she’d been putting off for literal years. It had taken a lot of nagging from her best friend to pressure her into going, but she’d eventually caved.
“For your health!” Tsumiki had insisted. “You never know what could happen!”
It was after Kaori had left the hospital, clean bill of health in hand and was on her way to the bus that she’d been grabbed by a stranger while passing by an alley. It was tremendously rotten luck for sure. But it wasn’t exactly the first or even second stupidly awful thing that had happened to her, so she could hardly claim to be surprised that it was time to confront yet another challenge.
But back to the present.
Several hours had passed between her time in the Auction House and now. She’d been asleep for most of those hours, thanks to being drugged, so she didn’t know how far away from her house she was. She’d woken up maybe ten minutes ago, and managed to remain still enough that the man who’d bought her hadn’t realized she was awake just yet. It gave her time to get her bearings at least.
Her face and her hands were cold; the mid-November air picking up now and then to nip at whatever skin was still exposed. She can tell that she wasn’t wearing her dress anymore, and was instead in some sort of pants, and maybe a jacket? They were nice and warm at least. Her hands were tied behind her back. She’d been placed on the ground and was lying on the grass. Outside. Thank God. She’d been right that the man who’d bought her was probably the one asking about camping. How deep into the woods were they? Were they up in the mountains? If only she didn’t have this stupid blindfold over her eyes.
.....
Deciding she was awake enough to be able to use her brain effectively, she took a deep breath and rolled onto her back, hinting that she’d finally begun to wake.
“Oh!” He said immediately. He sounded very close as he stood up. “Lookit you, already awake.” He nudged her in the side with his booted foot and she turned to look in his direction despite the blindfold. Tch. After a few more seconds of silence, he continued. “Looks like yer about ready, eh?” His heavy footsteps circled her body. She could feel him looking her over, making the judgment for himself that he was satisfied with what he saw. “Now, I’ll be takin’ the blindfold off. Stand up.” Despite her arms being bound, she rolled onto her stomach and moved so that she was on her knees. She was a little wobbly from being on the ground for so long, but she succeeded in standing up. He stepped even closer, looming over her. This close, she could feel some of his body heat. She hated this. “Mmhm. That’s better.” He gripped her blindfold and yanked it off in one motion.
There was a ton of information to take in at once as her eyes adjusted to the drastic increase of light. She took a few steps back, blinking and shutting her eyes a few times until she could see properly. Now, she could get a better look at him.
“....” Well, he certainly matched his voice didn’t he? This man was h u g e! He towered over her by at least a whole foot and was wide and stocky. He looked strong too. Okay. Right. Well, this wasn’t the first time she’d gone up against someone physically intimidating...She just needed space and time. Looking up into his green eyes, Kaori noted a distinct sort of...Offness, in the way he was looking at her. It was gross, but she could think about it later. Keeping him in her periphery, she looked at the area around him. They were in a heavily wooded area. Behind him on the ground was a little pack and some sort of weapon. He was mostly blocking it from view, but she was already putting together ideas. Nobody goes through the trouble of spending a ton of money on someone in a human auction just to have a nice peaceful time with them. So, that was obviously to use on her. He was already her enemy from the moment he’d placed the opening bid, but now, it was obvious that only one of them was leaving this mountain.
“Now then. The suits told me they couldn’t find any I.D. on ya.” Oh? She’d probably dropped it at some point when she’d been grabbed. After staring at her in silence for a moment or two, he continued, “Don’t matter to me either way, just thought I’d ask in case ya wanted ta share.” Share what? Her name? She thought about it for a moment, and, realizing that she certainly didn’t care to know his name, she decided to keep quiet.
Besides, she hated talking to people she didn’t like.
They stared at each other for a full minute, nothing but the sounds of nature to fill the silence before he shrugged.
“Suit yerself.” He said, and got back to business. After untying her hands, the man reached down and snatched up the little backpack. “Take it. You’ll need it.” She did take it, without a word even, and slid her arms through the straps. He made another noise of approval. “Yer job is to survive. Mountain’s a dangerous place. So I put together some supplies for ya.” Kaori nodded, feeling suddenly like she needed to be ready to move at any second. There was something about this guy that made her feel like she was staring down a wolf or a bear or some other hungry animal. With one more look over, he nodded to himself, seemingly pleased. “Alright.” He started to turn around, presumably to grab whatever weapon he had back there, and that’s when she made her move. Turning around swiftly, Kaori bolted away from the freak as quickly as she could. She heard him howl with laughter behind her as she sprinted away.
“Now that’s the spirit!!” He bellowed, and soon after she heard the sound of something piercing through the air. She felt it hit her backpack, but when he didn’t shoot another (it was probably an arrow), she figured he’d just been trying to scare her. Despite being small, Kaori was fast on her feet, and the boots he must have put on her made running through the forest pretty easy. Eventually, when she needed a breather, she kept walking, taking random lefts and rights to make herself less easy to track. She looked back down behind her, mindful of potential footprints, and purposefully messing them up if she left any.
Eventually, Kaori found herself in a clearing. Hating the idea of being so exposed, she hurried back into the cover of the trees. Mindful of the forest floor, she finally slowed her pace, using a large oak as cover while she caught her breath.
Okay...Okay...
Looking up at the tree, she realized that she could reach the lowest branch, and had an idea. Once her heart rate was back to normal, she made her way up into the welcoming branches of the oak and hid herself within the leaves. When she was fairly confident that she was hidden, she rested her body against the trunk of the oak and let herself recover from the burst of adrenaline.
After a few minutes of keeping an ear out for the sound of his footsteps, she removed her backpack and looked through the contents. She had the arrow he’d shot at her, might come in handy. She had a little baggy of trail mix. A fire starter, and a pencil and paper. It wasn’t a lot, but she could make due with it. The fire starter was surprisingly generous of him, though she’d have to be careful about when and how long she had her fires roaring... The pencil and paper took her a little by surprise. Did he want her to draw a map? Considering everything in her bag, and the fact that he’d bothered to change her clothes-
....
He’d...Changed her clothes...
At first, she hadn’t really put it together, but it finally dawned on her that the creepy mountain pervert had had to undress her in order to put her in this little outfit.
She hated this a lot.
UGH. AnyWAY. The fact that he’d given her all of this, made her realize that he was probably hoping she would stay alive as long as possible. More than just buying her to kill her, this was a full and proper game of cat and mouse.
Alright. She could play.
Peaking through the leaves, Kaori took note of how high up she was. She could see...A little cabin! Probably his. Taking out the pencil and paper, she began to sketch what she could see, including this big and wonderful tree she’d found. She noted ‘good hiding spot’ next to it, with a little heart, and then paused when she heard what sounded like footsteps. Looking down, she could just barely make him out, hunting her. He had that weapon with him at the ready, and she could just about tell that it was a crossbow. Huh. She didn’t dare move until he’d left the area entirely. Once she was fairly certain he’d gone, she finally climbed down.
Judging by how low the sun was already getting, Kaori decided she needed to work on this little map of hers while she still had daylight. First, though, she squatted down, stuffing as much kindling as she good into her backpack, just in case.
For the most part, Celia Lede’s attention was rapt; taking in the details of the presentation and immediately identifying any flaws that needed to be worked on before the proposal could even consider being moved into the next stage of development. She wasn’t writing any notes herself. Instead, the sound of a pen moving deftly across a notepad was a constant source of reassurance for Celia that her personal assistant was jotting down every word with the speed and precision of a seasoned court stenographer. Celia’s body language was that of a calm, confident professional, breezing through another day in the corporate kingdom she’d helped nurture into what it was today. Deep inside of her heart, however, there was a thunderstorm brewing. It had been two weeks since Celia’s visit to the Auction House that was owned by her favorite ‘Midnight Streamer’. A trip that had ultimately ended in failure for her, despite the months of effort it had taken to secure her slot in the first place. It took concentrated effort for her to keep her thoughts on something other than that little blue booth and everything that connected her to it.
Three years ago...Three years since the first ‘little incident’. Her first foray into truly forbidden territory. After years of pent up frustrations and declining sanity, she’d finally gone for it. She’d taken a life. It had been disgustingly simple to do, all things considered. Asking a naive, doe-eyed intern to follow her inside to help her move something. Taking him through the building via a route that missed the eyes of any cameras. Bringing him into a building that no one used anymore and making up some bullshit about how the delivery men made a mistake and were too lazy to come back for the packages. Bashing him over the head with a hidden fire extinguisher and climbing on top of him with a knife in her hand while he convulsed in pain. Stabbing him over and over and over and over again. Wrecking his body until parts of his flesh resembled little more than pulp. Being more aroused than she’d ever been before in her entire life. Bringing herself to orgasm over his mangled corpse. Collapsing next to what was left of him and feeling truly content for the first time in a very long time.
She could not possibly have stopped herself after that first euphoric experience. Two more people were added to her tally before the police started sniffing around and she had to reign herself in. She had to be more careful. More meticulous. She bought an abandoned building on the other side of the city, and was almost grateful when her husband Harold gave her an odd look but otherwise let it go (initially). Her plan had been to take the link she’d gotten from her favorite red room streamer and secure a spot as one of the bidders. She’d secure a new ‘toy’ completely unaffiliated with her company, and have her way with them for as long as they lasted. The plan was perfect, and she would be plotting out things to do with her new mouse if she’d actually been able to buy someone. In a way, she’d lucked out. There were two women up for auction on November 13th. The first winner had bid an astronomical amount of money so casually that even the annoying brat in the red booth beside Celia’s had been shocked into silence. The second winner had been the brat himself, which he’d only managed because Celia had enjoyed the pleasure of seeing him squirm and having to pay an amount he was clearly sweating over. Now that it was all said and done, however, it was clear that she should have just swallowed the amount herself. Sure, she’d be out an absurd amount of money, but she’d be able to take out the resulting stress by viciously stabbing her new toy until she felt better about it.
Speaking of the fallout of the auction, the link to the host site was dead, which meant she was going to have to luck into another link drop during her favorite stream, or stalk his streams religiously until the auction was ready for another show. And THEN she’d have to be quick enough and aggressive enough to make it in again. On top of all of this, despite initially leaving his wife to her weird purchases, Harold had started snooping around her private building and absolutely hounding her phone as soon as they were both out of work; often demanding that she come right home. She felt like a grounded teenager being harassed by her father. Frankly, she was sick of it. She’d been ignoring his flagrant infidelity for nearly a decade, the absolute LEAST he could do was shut up about what she was doing on her own time with her own disposable income.
Just yesterday, in fact, Harold had forced his way inside the building, claiming that he wanted to see what she’d done with it. Since she hadn’t actually gotten it cleaned or anything, not planning for it to be anything more than a prison for her new toy and a hideaway for herself, Harold had plenty to lecture her about. Celia followed behind him, feeling frustrated and small and increasingly resentful. There was one room she wouldn’t let him into. It was a special room in the basement, where she had a secret office set up, stashed with alcohol and a poster of him that she liked to throw darts at. When he told her to open it she made a show of having no idea where the key was. Though he clearly didn’t believe her, he let it go, and instead she found herself placidly agreeing to turn the place from a death trap into something resembling an actual building. Get this fixed. Get that fixed. What are you even doing with all this if you aren’t going to use it? Blah blah blah. She wondered, not for the first time, if he suspected her as the culprit behind the disappearances of those interns. With that thought in mind, she’d become even more tense, and started to become a bit defensive.
“Yes, Harold!” She cut him off with a bit too much force. “I heard you the first AND the second time. You don’t have to repeat yourself. I’m not a child.” To that, he had the absolute gall to look at her disbelievingly.
“I’d have a much easier time believing that if you stopped acting like one.”
“!!!” Before she could open her mouth he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Suggesting they go home for now, he led the way out, leaving his wife to follow behind him in a fit of frustration, hatred, and shame. Though she’d met him when she was a young adult, and married him at twenty-four, she was thirty-two now, with a string of accomplishments under her belt most people could only dream of! Still, little comments like this, that hinted at the fact that he still thought of her as young and foolish would crop up from time to time. What had he seen in her back then? When she was twenty-four and he was forty-three? She’d seen an opportunity to advance her career and achieve her corporate goals. He’d certainly seen what she’d been intending for him to see; a gorgeous, young, sharp-witted woman with a natural flair for business. But what had he seen for himself that had appealed to him then, but seemed to irritate him now? Following after him, Celia seethed, having several potential answers to the question bouncing around in her brain.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Don’t grab the extinguisher. Don’t bash his brains in. You have an important meeting with the president of Fiona & Lewis Co. tomorrow and it’ll be a whole thing if the COO of your company is missing from it. Besides, what will you do afterwards? You don’t have a plan of action for afterwards. If you do kill him, and you really do want to, you have to do it p e r f e c t l y.
You can’t make any mistakes. Not now.
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Annalisa Bellingham; 30; curly, medium-length black hair; big brown eyes and light brown skin; curvy; personal assistant to one Mrs. Celia Lede. Currently taking notes for the presentation, whenever there is a pause in the speech, Annalisa’s gaze breaks away from her notepad and she glances over at her boss to gauge how she’s feeling. Having worked at the company, and, more specifically and directly, for Celia, for five years now, Annalisa was good at reading between the lines. Everyone had their twitches and quirks. A subtle twitch of the eye, a taping of the finger against their lap, etc... As elegant and regal as she was, even Celia had her tells and cues if you knew what to look for. That said, though she outwardly looked very calm, to Anna, she looked tense. There was a tightness in her shoulders; and an extra rigidness in her posture. Occasionally, she would subtly clench and unclench her left hand too, which gave Anna all the clues she needed to make some special preparations for after work.
Stealthily, she slipped her phone out of her pocket, only looking down when she was able to pause in her notetaking. She opened an app used for making reservations at fancy restaurants, and made a quick decision on which to make. Something fun, but not too fatty. Something that could be worked off after a fun workout at the gym~ Aaaand, there. The reservation was set for six pm~
After the meeting let out, Celia led the way to the copy room, where the fax machines, copy machines, and large printers were kept. As her notes were always easy to read, she set to making several copies to be passed around to the various board members. Celia stopped walking just beside the water cooler and got herself something to drink. The conversation between the two women was light, just Annalisa probing gently for what Celia thought of the presentation so far. Celia mulled it over, and was answering positively when trouble walked into the open shared office space.
Jennifer Handler, 21. Big green eyes and beautiful (bleached) blonde hair. A nasty little snake of a woman. Jennifer had a talent for kissing ass, usually making workplace friendships with flattery and gifts. She tended to pawn her work off on her male coworkers; the mindless little dogs never stood a chance against her pouty lips and fluttering eyelashes. She was good. Good enough to flirt her way around Harold whenever he graced Celia’s department with his presence. Honestly, they were probably fucking. They way Harold tended to get antsy whenever he heard Celia mention Jennifer by name, and then handwaved any complaints about her from his own wife. Just last week Jennifer had brought Celia a box of donuts as a ‘gift’. Not being an idiot, Celia saw the donuts for what they were; an attempted sabotage. Taking them with a smile, she’d left them out for her maids instead. Not out of affection, mind you. If they ended up being drugged with a laxative or something, it would be terribly funny for the effects to start while Harold was trying to feel one of them up. Heh.
Upon entering the fourth floor cube farm, Jennifer glanced over at Celia and offered her a cheerful smile before looking away. Immediately finding her group of friends, Jennifer hurried over and started talking excitedly about having news. Annalisa glanced over her shoulder, taking stock of Jennifer and noting if anything was new about her. She spotted the engagement ring before Jennifer had started gushing about it. The girls were all chattering excitedly; congratulating her and asking all the right follow-up questions. She’d only just begun, but just listening to her talk was quickly starting to grate on Celia’s nerves.
Jennifer had had plenty to say in regards to Nathan from the begining, but despite their friendly smiles and encouraging nods, everyone in the room, from Jennifer's actual friends, to those who barely interacted with her, had heard about fucking Nathan Ackerman to a nauseating degree. From their first date, to the gifts she'd gotten from him, Jennifer loved to talk about her boyfriend. After a month of this, Celia had caved and finally looked the man up on Facebook. He was a lawyer heading his own firm, Ackerman Law Offices, and he was decently attractive, though Jennifer had definitely exaggerated his good looks. It had taken her two years, but apparently she'd finally succeeded in tricking the poor man into proposing to her. Once they were married, she continued, he wanted her to retire early so she could focus on staying ‘stress-free and gorgeous’. Blegh.
“I’m just relieved I found love so young~” She said wistfully, only half-whispering. “I’d hate to wind up old and bitter, married to a fat old pervert that can’t stand me.” The other women giggled nervously, though one made the mistake of glancing ever-so-slightly in Celia’s direction before having the decency to look embarrassed and try to focus back on her work.
“.....Annalisa.” Celia’s tone was low and dangerous. Though she couldn’t pick the fight herself without damaging her reputation, there was something else she could, and often did resort to when it came to office warfare. “Engage.”
Stepping away from the copy machine, Annalisa turned to face Jennifer’s little group, making her way over to them casually.
“Jenn-i-fer~! Congrats on your engagement!” Immediately, the atmosphere in the group began to tense up. Annalisa showing up to talk to them out of nowhere never meant anything good, especially considering Celia Lede was with her. “Anyone I know~?”
“Yes~ Thank you.” Jennifer couldn’t completely hide the look of discomfort in her eyes, though she mostly recovered with a pretty smile. “My fiancé is Nathan Ackerman. You know, of-”
“Ackerman Law Offices! Yes of course! He’s in the middle of defending Harlan Thompson, right?” One of the women made the mistake of looking curious, which Annalisa took as an opening. “You know, don’t you, Megan? Harlan Thompson? He was a Professor at All Hearts University. He was in the news recently because when his pregnant girlfriend went to his wife about how he extorts sex from his students for good grades and she confronted him, he shot her and then kidnapped his girlfriend and held her captive for six months. Crazy that you didn’t know about it.” Anna’s tone was that of a chatty coworker oversharing details, but that was on purpose. A few of the women side-eyed Jennifer as if to ask if this was true. Jennifer tucked a bit of hair behind her ear and responded a little too defensively.
“...Allegedly. Don’t you know you can’t go around labeling people as guilty until all the facts are out.”
“Oo~ I didn’t know video evidence of the kidnapping in question counted as hearsay~! How interesting~” Jennifer frowned and opened her mouth to rebuttal, but Annalisa wasn’t quite done ruining her good mood. “Anyway, though, my sincere congratulations, and really-” She clapped her hands together joyfully, regarding Jennifer with such an earnest look of respect and awe it made the woman cringe. “You’re such an inspiration!”
“E-Excuse me?”
“Your ring!”
“Oh! Yes, it’s gorgeous, isn’t it?”
“Oh it is! And it’s so good of you to be taking a stand against the Diamond industry too~”
“What are you talking about now?”
“Your ring! It’s the prettiest Moissanite ring I’ve ever seen!” The word ‘moissanite’ was the beginning of the end. Jennifer was in immediate denial. Her ring was genuine diamond, obviously. Cheerfully, Annalisa explained how one could tell and at what angle to hold it up into the light. From over by the copy machine, Celia sipped her water with a subtle malicious grin hidden behind her cup. She watched as Jennifer went from in denial, to shock, and then to barely contained anger. She excused herself from the group, probably to call her fiancé and start up an argument. As for the rest of the women, they went back to work as Annalisa excused herself back to the copy machine and Celia, who was in a much better mood than before. Humming, Anna collected her copies and started stapling them into little packets.
“Starting a marriage with a lie is just what she deserves~”
“Looks like it! Though I dunno while she’s so upset, Miss Celia! With her fake breasts, fake ass, fake brand name handbags, and fake personality, you’d think a fake diamond would be perfect for her.” Celia chuckled.
The restaurant Anna had chosen was a high tier sushi restaurant in the center of the city. Often fully booked for weeks, they tended to keep a few VIP tables open in case someone with a notable name or a sizable bank account wanted to dine in on short notice. The ladies were seated by a big window that had a gorgeous view of the city. By now the sun had already set, and the city was lit up by millions of lights. Beautiful~ Anna took a moment to stretch her arms out over her head, before picking up her menu.
“Got any cravings~?”
“Alcohol~ As soon as our server comes, tell her I want a full bottle of sake and a martini. You’re drinking too.” They were off the clock now, so even though it was inappropriate for her boss to be pressuring her to drink, Anna didn’t feel the need to bring it up. After work, they were closer to friends than co-workers, especially on the weekends with a few drinks in~ After a moment to mull it over, Celia added in a low voice. “Do they have any dessert?” They did! They had fancy ice creams, of course, but most notably, a delicious looking chocolate mousse. One look at it made Celia drool, and she casually suggested that Annalisa order it after they had dinner.
“I’ll pay for it, so order whatever you like...But make sure to ask if that mousse comes with any optional toppings.”
“Of course~”
Aside from the sake, the ladies ordered salad, a side of steamed broccoli, and two mixed sushi platters. With a bit of alcohol in her, Celia loosened up a little. Quickly, the subject went from what sort of work they needed to keep in mind for Monday, as well as marking appointments in Anna's calendar for later, to airing out the day's grievances.
"She's actually crazy. She thinks because she's young and pretty that she has the world wrapped around her finger. She thinks that because she’s getting married to a man with money, life is going to be easy.”
“And she’s quitting her job too, can’t forget that part.”
“How could I? When she’s shouting it to anyone within earshot.” She shuddered. “I couldn't imagine a life as nothing more than being someone's trophy wife. Where's her pride?" Celia huffed quietly, but internally she was fuming at the thought that J e n n i f e r H a n d l e r actually thought that SHE was somehow beneath her in any way at all.
In the lesser known streets of Sunset Valley, in a non-descript and presumably vacant office building, a shady group of criminals have set up shop underground. Their business would only remain in this building for the next few months to avoid being easily traced. Though inconvenient, this was a necessary precaution, lest the men behind the operation be imprisoned for innumerable counts of human trafficking and murder.
“This one’s real pretty, boss. She’ll go for a high price.” Reaching down with a hand clad in leather, ‘Cygnus’, a tall, lanky man dressed all in black, takes hold of a young woman’s chin so he can turn her face from side to side and get a better look at her. There are three other men in this room beside Cygnus, and one other woman, currently bound in rope and drugged into a dreamless slumber on the couch. Of the three other men, the one being referred to as ‘Boss’, glanced over at his henchman and chuckled.
“Yes. Both of them are beautiful. You and Aquila did a wonderful job~” Cygnus didn’t look away from the unconscious woman he was admiring, but he did smile at the compliment. On the other hand, ‘Aquilla’, a slightly older man, but still very visibly strong and fierce, raised his glass of bourbon from his place beside the door in thanks. Despite being the shortest man in the room, no one would look at Boss and mistake him as being anything but the one running the operation. A showman’s smile. Intelligent and fiery eyes. Boss had an air of confidence about him that made you yield to his authority. He adjusted the cuff of his sleeve and smoothed out his suit jacket to perfection. Boss was standing behind the chair of another man, ‘Canis’, who was monitoring the active camera feeds as they broadcasted video from their myriad security cameras. For most of the night, the only things of note to come up on the cameras had been the movements of Boss’ crew. However, very soon, there would be three new guests arriving at the Auction House. “Canis,” Boss began. Canis, the largest man in the room by far, made a noise of acknowledgement, not wanting to take his eyes away from the screens. “When our guests arrive, I want you to escort them to their rooms.”
“Yeah, no problem. You know who’s comin’?”
“Two regulars. The Prodigal Son, and the Man That Doesn’t Exist.” Cygnus finally looked away from the woman who’s face he’d been staring a new hole into and grimaced in response to the first nickname. He knew exactly who they were talking about, even if they only came in contact with him once every twelve months. That particular customer had been coming around once a year for several years now and he had never, not once, not been a rude little shit to everyone he spoke to at the Auction House. Every year around the same time his father paid for his son to have a guaranteed spot as a customer. The money was well worth it to be annoyed by some trust fund baby for an hour at most. As for the other man, he was only noteworthy because their cyber digging into him hadn’t turned up any results. There was no social security number, no ID, no birth certificate, no nothing. It had set off about a million red flags when he’d first reached out to them. The only reason he’d been allowed in and back again, was because Canis had been able to track his computer’s I.P. to the mountains, where they’d sent someone to spy and make sure this weirdo actually existed, and wasn’t some undercover cop. “As for the third, they’re a newcomer. I’m excited to meet them~”
“Heh~” Canis chuckled, pleased whenever Boss was clearly having a good time. Catching sight of a car pulling up to the first security checkpoint, Canis stood up. ”Looks like it’s showtime.” Leaning down, he whispered something into Boss’ ear. Whatever it was, the shorter man barely bit back another chuckle and a genuine smile, before motioning that Canis get a move on. Stepping forward and resting his hands on the desk, Boss eyed the cameras and watched as Canis made his way down to the security checkpoint and went through the steps of processing the customers and leading them into the main showroom one by one....
The curtains rise to reveal an unassuming slate gray room. There is a chair in the center of the room. It’s fancy black leather, with arm and leg restraints built right in. Facing the chair are three walls, with the two outer walls angled inward. On each wall is a window framed with curtains and behind each window is a little booth with its own distinct color pallet: red, blue, and green. This room, with its odd little booths and its odd little chair. This is the main showroom for tonight’s events.
Pushing eagerly past the security guard and into the red booth is Derek Goffard. Oldest son and heir to his father’s billion dollar company. A constantly ticking time bomb full of rage and a lust for violence. After nearly three decades of being his father’s son, of failing to be ‘his father’s son’, he’s more likely to wind up imprisoned for life before he ever inherits the company. Raised under a heavy fist and even heavier expectations, Derek’s already off the deep end. Needing to take his hatred out on others, he’s resorted to violence an innumerable amount of times before ever hearing about this place. Fed up with paying for his son’s sins to be covered up, Mr. Goffard himself set Derek up with an outlet for his violence. A way to ‘purge’ his urges and release the inner monster enough that he could keep a lid on his tendencies back home.
Derek Goffard, bidder number one. He’s about to enthusiastically make the biggest mistake of his life.
Stepping elegantly into the blue booth is Celia Lede; businesswoman. Multi millionaire. Beautiful. Intelligent. Cruel. She's teetering at the upper edge of her emotional and mental limits after spending years playing the role of an immaculate, high class, untouchable woman. A woman without fault and without peer. Always one step ahead of her enemies. Painfully aware that if she makes a single mistake, everything she's worked herself to the bone to achieve will be ripped away. Stress and hatred have festered inside of her, threatening to crack apart her perfect corporate mask. She’s felt the relief that sliding a blade into the body of a living, breathing human can bring her. Inflicting pain onto others frees her, even if temporarily, from the Hell of her everyday. But she can’t keep killing so sloppily. Can’t keep playing with fire so close to home. She’s purchased a secret place to release her anger, dodged her husband’s questions about such a bizarre purchase, and now...She needs a body to fill it.
Celia Lede, bidder number two. She's here looking for a bit of release before the dam breaks.
Last but not least, the large and imposing Mason Heiral, shuffles into the green booth. He’s been here before, speaking as little as possible to the other people involved in this process. Curt nods to the suits in black that lead him to the main showroom. Polite if gruff bids if the item in question peaks his interest. Legally, he doesn’t exist. His birth was never recorded; his existence never tracked by the powers that be. His mysterious wealth is what allows him to participate in these auctions, allows him to indulge in his primal needs; his animalistic urges to hunt and kill. Prey has gotten a bit sparse back home. It had only been a matter of time before people stopped visiting his mountain when their kind kept disappearing on it over the years. It made sense. But still, what was a hunter without his prey? And if they wouldn’t come to him, he’d have to bring them home himself.
Mason Heiral, bidder number three. He’s mere days away from glimpsing death down the barrel of a handgun.
With all of the bidders in place behind their color-coded one way windows, a man encased in shadows makes his presence known high above his three guests. Boss, known to his customer’s as ‘The Announcer’ greets them all jovially, giving them a cheerful rundown of the rules as Aquila and Cygnus carry an unconscious woman into the room. She’s injected with something to wake her up slowly as he speaks. While she stirs, the bidders get a good look at her. She’s a short woman, no taller than five feet, with dark brown, curly hair that stops about an inch from her shoulders. It’s a little hard to tell at first, until a big bright spotlight is turned to her and she opens her eyes, but she’s of Asian descent, specifically Japanese. Once she’s awake, her eyes take a moment to adjust.
While she’s quite pretty, the most notable thing about her appearance turns out to be her eyes. It’s hard to see exactly what color they are, even with the spotlight, but looking into them reminds one of looking into a sunset. When the announcer greets her, she looks in the direction of his voice, but doesn’t answer, instead getting a good look at her surroundings. She tugs experimentally on her restraints, which, even if they weren’t rock solid, there were two large men standing to her left and right. The announcer, unbothered by being ignored, launches into the program with gusto and flair. He asks her a series of questions, all submitted by his customers ahead of time.
"What are you doing here?" He asks, as if he had nothing to do with it. Unamused, the woman doesn’t answer.
“....” To her slight surprise, a gruff voice from the rightmost window speaks up from a green colored window.
“Hundred ‘n’ ten.” He says. Eh...? Ah!! There’s muted realization in her eyes as it finally dawns on her that she’s in some sort of degenerate human auction. With a soft sigh to steel herself, she shuts her eyes and listens to the bidders as they comment on this or that.
"Now...do you consider yourself to be athletic?" No answer. "Are you scared?" No answer.
“Pfft. Look at her! She’s obviously so scared she can’t even speak.” That was a man to her left, from the red window. His tone becomes teasing. “You thinkin’ about what sort of nasty stuff we’re gonna do to you~?” The woman opens an eye to look at his window, already not a fan of him. Whatever it was he took from her expression must have entertained him, cause he ups the bid. “Good~ You should be. One-twenty.” From the blue room, a female voice scoffs. “You got somethin’ on your mind, you old cow?”
“Yes, actually. I’m thinking about how much I’d love it if it were you in that chair.” Her voice was silky smooth, a contrast to the hyper aggression of the man who’d jumped to insulting her seemingly out of nowhere. The announcer pressed on.
"How much money do you make?" No answer. "How well do you follow instructions?" No answer. Seeing as they weren’t getting anywhere asking their questions, it was a relief when someone had a good idea.
“Hm...Young lady, look at me, would you?” Bidder number two spoke directly to the tied up woman, and she obliged with a neutral expression on her face. A small sound of intrigue was the response. “Aha~ That’s better. There’s nothing wrong with silence if they can follow simple instructions. One-thirty.”
“She’d be more fun if she was crying! One-fourty.”
“Tsk. If she’s too quiet for you, why are you raising the bet? One-fifty.”
“‘Cause making quiet bitches scream is a talent of mine~! One-sixty.” Above them, the announcer chuckled to himself. Ew.
"Are you a virgin?" The next question made her pull a face, though she managed to get it back under control. If the man in the red window hadn’t more or less confirmed it before, a question like that made it crystal clear that this was a room full of degenerates and perverts.
"..." This seriously sucked.
"Heh. We’re almost done. You’re doing great! How about this? Do you enjoy camping?"
To his credit, this was the only question he’d asked so far that made her consider answering. Camping? Why? Did one of these creeps live in the woods? If that was true then maybe...Maybe there was a path for her other than death.
"..." Looking up in the direction of the announcer’s voice, she nodded with a determined affirmative. It was the man in green that answered this time.
“Two hundred ‘n’ ten.” Fifty more dollars or whatever they were betting with! That question was probably his then.
"Ooho~ A firm response! Alright, wonderful! And now, our final question. Who would you like to go home with?" To this, she rolled her eyes, sitting silently, though she did think about it for a bit. She glanced over at the green window, wondering if her hunch that he’d asked the camping question was worth the risk. Even though all she could make out of his form was a shadowy outline, she could tell that he was looking back at her. Suddenly, the man in red spoke up again.
“Hah! You like the quiet weirdo? Not the best taste, girlie.” He teased. “At least you didn’t go for the bitch in blue.”
“Jesus.” The bitch in blue scoffed. “You really can’t keep your mouth shut can you?”
“Why don’t you come on over here and say that to my face?”
“In your dreams, little boy.” Before the man in red could bite back, the man in green spoke up.
“Seven hundred ‘n’ ten.” He growled. Both of his fellow bidders went silent. The announcer as well, took a few seconds to recover from the shock of such a drastic increase. Pleased, he continued. “No more bids then?” Silence. “Good.”
“I hear seven hundred and ten! Wow! ...Anyone else?” He wasn’t expecting anyone to actually respond, and, up against such a shocking number, both blue and red kept their mouths shut tight. “Haha! Sold! To my robust friend in the green! We’ll prepare the shipment to be sent out with you right away! Thank you very much for coming!” As soon as he began talking about ‘shipping’ her out, the woman in the chair braced herself for another hit of drugs, and only flinched a little when one of the men guarding her jabbed a needle into her leg. The pain was temporary, though the effects were almost immediate. She blacked out in the chair and was swiftly unshackled, scooped up and carried out of the room.
As for bidder number three, the sound of the door behind him being opened was the cue he was waiting for. A large man in a black mask escorted him out of the green booth and down the hall towards the exit where he would meet with someone else to discuss his payment.
[Hunter’s Prey | Swamp Monster’s Bride]
Back in the main showroom, bidders one and two waited for their doors to be opened. They were in dramatically different moods. While bidder number two was primarily disappointed, bidder number one was stressed.
“Fuck fuck fuck where do I get someone now...” He muttered to himself.
“My esteemed guests, don’t look so down! You’ve joined me today for a rather special auction.” Oh? Special how? “We’ve not one, but two items for sale tonight. Perhaps this lovely lady will catch your interest~?” Both bidders perked up hopefully as the two henchmen brought out a different woman.
This woman, taller than the last, looked like she might have been plucked from a penthouse in the city. Smooth white skin, a killer figure, and voluptuous red hair that framed her beautiful face. She too was restrained, and a shot to wake her up was administered. In the red booth, bidder number one was surprisingly silent as he stared at her. It wasn’t so much that he’d been overcome with her beauty, but there was definitely something about her that made his breathing start to speed up and his heart start to pound.
“Oh my fucking gOD!? YES.” He barked with laughter, which made bidder number two raise a questioning brow, even though he couldn’t see her. The woman, jolted by his outburst, quickly woke up. Stunned and confused by her surroundings, she was much more animated and open about her fear.
“Oh...What?? Wh-Where am I?” From her accent, it was immediately clear that she’d at least been raised in a French speaking household. She turned to look behind her, only to be met with the emotionless, masked figures watching over her. Panic was already flooding in. She shut her eyes and did her deep breathing exercises until she could focus.
“Alright~! Welcome, welcome. I’ve got a few questions for you to get us started. Like before, the bidding starts at one hundred!” The announcer spoke, making her look in his direction. Was this the man in charge? "What are you doing-"
“One ten!” Shouted bidder number one. Everyone was a little surprised by his outburst, not even waiting until the question had been answered. The woman in the chair looked at the red window confused. That voice...No, no...It was probably the drugs confusing her.
“Seriously? How rude can you be?” Said bidder number two, already completely fed up with him.
“Shove a sock in it, bitch! She’s mine!”
“Pfft. Desperate to get your hands on anything with a pulse now that the first girl slipped through your grasp? You wouldn’t even know what to do with her. One-twenty.”
“Oi oi, fuck off! One-thirty! I know exactly what I’m gonna do with her!” He was staring right at her as he spoke, and he just about oooozed horniness. The woman in the chair squirmed, looking distinctly uncomfortable, but not just for the obvious reason. The announcer continued after a pause to see if they were done arguing.
"Now...do you consider yourself to be athletic?"
“Ah...I do go to ze gym...” She groaned as a drug induced dizzy spell hit her.
“Are you scared?”
“....Is zhere a reason to not be?” She asked, her tone incredulous.
“One-fourty.” Said the woman in blue.
“Fuck you! One-seventy!”
"How much money do you make?" Asked the announcer, a hint of amusement in his voice now.
“....Iz zhat what zhis iz? Blackmail?” There was a snicker coming from the red booth, followed by,
“Yeah you fuckin’ wish~” She did wish. She very much did.
"How well do you follow instructions?"
“Well enough.”
“Oo~ One-eigh-”
“One-ninety!”
“You impossible little BRAT! Two-twenty.” To that, the man seethed.
“Oh COME ON! Two-thirty!”
As they argued, and the man’s voice became more and more clear to the bound woman’s foggy mind, a disgusting truth made itself more and more clear to her. She could hardly believe this was happening...
"Are you a virgin~?" Asked the announcer. She blushed, and scoffed quietly, only to realize the room had gone totally silent. From the red window, she felt herself being pressured to answer.
“Well??” He insisted. She shook her head stubbornly. “God you’re always likE THIS! Answer the fucking question, Sca-” He caught himself in time before saying her name, but it was too late. Her eyes widened in horror from the confirmation that they knew each other, and, more specifically, that she knew exactly who this was. From the blue window, the woman laughed cruelly.
“Ah~ I get it now. This is something personal for you, isn’t it~?” The ball back in her court, she could just feel the tension coming from the other booth. “Wouldn’t it be lovely if I walked out of here with her then~? Three hundred.” It was a massive blow.
“I?? You?? What the FUCK??!”
“Oooh~? What’s the matter? Daddy not give you enough allowance to play in the big leagues~?” She was clearly enjoying herself now as he tried to figure out a way to get what he wanted.
“Sh-Shut the hell up...Th...” His father was going to eat him alive for this. “...Three-ten...”
How much were they bidding with?? Hundreds of thousands?
“Really~? How close am I to your limit, hm~? Three-thirty.” She was killing him and everyone in the room knew it.
“Seriously, could you chill??”
“Oh~? ‘Chill’, he says!” She laughed again, louder this time. “Are you quitting~? She’ll be going home with me if you don’t come up with more money!” There was silence on his end as he seethed with rage. Finally, the announcer spoke up again.
“Alright~! Three hundred and thirty! Going once, going twice-”
“AAGH, FUCK! THREE-FORTY!” He slammed on the window, wishing with every cell in his body that he could beat the bitch until she was black and blue. To this, she cackled, pleased as punch to have broken him.
“Three hundred and forty! Do I hear three hundred and fifty~?”
“Ah...Hahaha~ No, no, let him have her. At that price too~? Goodness~”
Despite feeling humiliated, eventually, it occurred to bidder number one that he had, in fact, won the bidding. For this, he was ecstatic. He could deal with the consequences when he got back home~ Once he was declared the winner, and his prize was knocked out and carried out of the showroom, he impatiently waited to be let out. He practically dashed past Canis, who rolled his eyes under his mask and followed after him.
[Scarlette Fever]
Left in the room alone with her host, bidder number two let out a long suffering sigh of defeat.
“I don’t suppose you have a third person back there, do you?”
“Not on this day! But~ Might I say, you fought a fierce battle~”
“...Hm~” She hummed in acknowledgement, but inside, she was just the teensiest bit happy to hear him, specifically him, give her that sort of praise. When it was her turn to be escorted out, she walked silently beside the guard, deep in thought. She was a little surprised when he spoke to her, though, since he was polite about it, she decided that she didn’t mind.
“Yer first time here, right? Never seen ya before.”
“Yes it is.”
“Did ya have fun? Despite that idiot yappin the whole time?”
“Yes~ Despite him, I had a good time.”
“Think you’ll come back?” He asked, hoping to see someone with her brand of spiciness back on the showroom floor. To this, she sighed.
“I fully plan on coming back. The question is if it’ll be a matter of two months, half a year, or a full year. This is a surprisingly hard party to get an invite to.” They reached the front door. “Well then, have a good night.” She said, and walked herself to her car, with Canis keeping an eye out for her until she’d driven out of sight.
Back in the security office, Canis found the boss up at the computer station, watching the cameras like he’d expected him to be. Since Aquila and Cygnus were still getting the items shipped out, Canis could take a moment to drop the mask. After locking the door, he wrapped his arms around Boss from behind, chuckling to himself.
“Damn, we made fuckin’ bank today didn’t we~?” As soon as 'Canis' locked the door, Boss, or, rather, Ren, relaxed and grins at him, and lets out a little laugh.
"Sure did. Damn, I can't remember the last time we got a bid that high. Guess he really wanted them to shut up, huh~? And that second one...."
Vince nuzzled his nose against the top of Ren’s head, feeling relaxed now that it's just them.
"I mean, I'd love to shut that little bitch up myself~ I've got plenty of ways. Yeah the second one tho! Fuck me, that little man would be the worst at poker!"
"Ha! I was thinking the same thing. If he wasn't such a reliable source of annual income, I'd join you in that. But boy did that woman play him."
"Best part of the night, hands down~ You heard us talkin' on camera, right~? I hope she comes back hehehe.” Vince paused, content, and then added, "We should plan a vacation soon~ Take Rose somewhere nice~"
"I did~ She's right though, it is a hard party to get an invite for." Ren perked up at Vince’s suggestion. "Yeah? You have a place in mind~?"
"Greece maybe? We had a blast last time."
"Oh, I'd love to go back there. Santorini beach in particular." Already, he was imagining their wife, Rosie, in a swimsuit, and was loving the visual~ "Well, it's all fair game now~"
"Exactly~" With his advanced hearing, Vince heard someone coming up the stairs, probably Altair, their guard on the street. Leaning down, he pressed a quick but passionate kiss against Ren's lips. "We'll talk about it more when we get home. Love ya~" Ren kissed him back with equal fervor, giving him a loving look. Even now, every time he heard Vince or anyone say that, it made his stomach flutter a little.
