How long is a lifetime?
To Luc, it is eternal. Endless and excruciatingly meaningless. His existence on Earth serves as a punishment for the sins he has committed. Immortality is his shackle.
It would forever be that way if Luc didn't stumble upon...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
They were divided into two groups and the next part of their journey began.
It was a short way from the warehouse to the slave market. Aida didn't have time or energy to look around before the wagon stopped.
They got pulled down and, once again, dragged like animals onto a wooden platform in the middle of the market, where their worth would be determined. Young women like Aida were always in demand but not as much as the men who could do hard labor. Industrialism had become the new way of life, and the war was looming on some distant horizon. Factories and plantations needed more workers than ever before, and their owners preferred the ones who could be put to work indefinitely for free.
Everyone in Aida's group was stripped down butt naked so the buyers could see their 'potential'. Aida didn't feel she was in this world anymore. Her mind tried to cope with the pain and humiliation by drifting hundreds of thousands of miles away to the sea of white and purple desert wildflowers.
Some of them she knew the names, some she didn't. She and Rabia would dry and crush them up to use as color for their lips and nails. Sometimes, they would eat the flowers too, despite how tasteless they were.
The flowers had always been there, obvious and simple like Aida and her sister...
"I'll pay forty-five hundred for all ten gals. Bessie won't be happy if I pay more than that."
"Goddamn it, you're cheap, Tim! Throw in an extra three hundred and I'll give you this one."
The auctioneer dragged Aida forward and lifted her face for Tim to see.
"Nah...What would I need a redhead for? Don't we have enough of them here already? I can find one like this in any village down Dumbarton, Pirn, or Calmarnock...This one looks like she's about to croak too!"
"No, no, no! She's fine, I can guarantee you that! Don't you see how pretty she is? Just need some food in her belly, a bath, maybe, and she's as good as new..."
The stocky auctioneer leaned down from the platform and whispered to Tom, "She's a virgin. Most of them are, so you got them dirt cheap! Think of what Bessie would say if you come back with this bonnie lot. This one is off the book for you, old friend! Because you always bring me the business."
He winked and pointed at Tim with his pipe. The crowd, on the other hand, was getting impatient with their exchange, so the auctioneer turned back to them and signaled his men to bring out more slaves.
It steadily got rowdier. Aida noticed the man, Tim, was still staring at her. The barely contained excitement in his eyes made her skin crawl. She wanted to pull back and sink into the wall behind, but Aida knew it was only a pipe dream.
The auction seemed to go on forever. It was getting late into the evening. Aida and the group of girls who caught Tim's eyes were ushered off to one side of the platform. No one bid on them, even when they were not officially sold.
Tim cleaned his pipe and stuffed it in his coat's pocket. No one wanted to get on Bessie's bad side in this town. The power he represented made Tim feel like a god.
"Hey Garrick, I'll take them. All ten of them."
Tim pulled out a chequebook and a bag of coins, then followed Garrick to settle the payment. After a while, Garrick came out and yelled at his men.
"Load 'em up, boys!”
All the girls were put on a wagon Tim had prepared. Its sides were enforced with iron so no one could escape.
Inside, it was even colder than outside.
The girls huddled together for warmth in their metal prison and prayed they would reach wherever they needed to be fast enough before they all froze to death. Aida wanted to talk, but her teeth chattered, and her throat was on fire. She might not be able to speak any time soon.
None of the girls made a sound. Inside, they were all dead even as their hearts still beat. Out of nowhere, one started to hum.
It was a simple tune of her homeland that mimicked the sounds of nature. The winds, the river, the animals. Everyone started to cry. Their eyes filled with salty tears while they bit down their lips to hold back any sound that might get to their captors' ears. It was the only thing they still had control over.
The road was smooth. Exhaustion and the repetitive sound of horse hooves slowly lured the girls into a restless nap. Aida tried to stay awake, but her eyelids were heavy. Her body was at its limit. She felt it would break down any second. In the back of her mind, Tim's crooked face with his lustful eyes was still there. Aida shivered at the image, but she knew there was nothing she could do.
She leaned back on the wagon's icy metal wall and shut her eyes.
