The Monster's Child :.Book 1 in the Delfunie Trilogy.:

2

When I woke up the next morning, everyone was being corralled. Well the humans were anyway. The Delfunies were going into homes and pulling everyone out. There weren't many of us left, only seven. So it didn't take long to get everyone out. Once everyone was outside and everything had settled down, we were told to basically shut up. As we stood waiting, several Delfunies walked up and down the line that we formed. No one dared to speak out of fear. We had no idea what was going on or what was going to happen.

Suddenly, they stopped and went to sit down. I looked over at Ross and I could tell he was terrified. Not for himself but for Lily. Something was happening but no one was telling us anything as we were set back to our homes. The only thing we knew what that we weren't allowed to leave today. We had to stay in our houses and wait to be told when we can leave again. I was beyond terrified, and Lida didn't help. She wouldn't tell me what was going on. I wanted to call Ross or Jaime but all phone calls were monitored.

The waiting was awful. I found myself pacing in my room to the point where Lida came in to yell at me. Quickly, I started cleaning my room and when I was finished, I went to the bathroom. I was almost finished when Lida called me downstairs. She seemed a little irritated as i slowly made my way into the living room. It's been two hours since we were told to go home and hopefully I was about to find out why.

"Mavis Ericson, this is Ragnar. He's going to be transporting you." Lida explained. What? No. This wasn't happening. I wasn't about to leave my home. No, I wasn't leaving.

"Transporting? Where?" I asked, slowly backing away.

"You're being moved elsewhere. You'll be living with another Delfunie across town." Ragnar explained. I felt the tears fall and I continued backing away. No, I don't want to leave. They couldn't make me leave could they? Ragnar quickly stepped in and stopped me.

"You don't have a choice. Let's go." He yelled. Even though he was short, he was still strong and I was afraid of him.

"Please, just let me grab a few of my things. Some clothes, a book or two. Please?" He looked back at Lida and she shrugged.

"Five minutes. You have five minutes." I nodded and ran upstairs. I ran to my room and grabbed a bag from my closet to pack my things in. I started packing my clothes. I just grabbed a handful at a time of shirts and pants, underwear and socks. I then went back to my closet and grabbed David's favorite hoodie. I stuffed that in the bag and ran to my bookcase. I grabbed a few books, all of my favorites and ran out to my bathroom. I grabbed everything I would need.

I walked out to the bedroom next to mine, Daisy's nursery. I went in and grabbed a few things that were supposed to be hers. A blanket, a small bear David's mom knitted when we found out I was pregnant and her ultrasound photo that David had framed when we found out she was a girl.

"Hurry up, human. I said five minutes." Ragnar yelled up the stairs. I put the stuff in the bag and walked down to see Ragnar standing impatiently at the bottom of the stairs.

"One more thing." I walked into the living room and walked over to the mantle. I grabbed the one thing that has been there since we moved into this house. Our wedding photo.

Once Ragnar got me in the car, which had a human chauffeur seems Delfunies were too short to drive, I huddled as close as I could to the door as I could to keep away from Ragnar.

"Alright, human. You are going to be living with a Delfunie named Lucian. He paid Lida a good some of money for you and he expects the same cooperation you gave to her. If not more."

"I was bought? Like someone's property? That's what all that was this morning?" This wasn't happening. Was I the only one bought? Did Lily get separated from Ross? What about Alex and Jaime? And what of their baby? And Ethel? This could not be my life.

"Lucian is the richest Delfunie in town and he needed someone to...help him." I didn't say anymore. I just went into my bag and found my book. I silently read the rest of the trip.

When we pulled up to the house, I was in awe. This couldn't be where I was living, could it?

"Let's go, human."

"You know I have a name." I said. Ragnar ignored me and pulled me out of the car. I pulled the strap of my bag over my shoulder and grabbed my purse that I grabbed before leaving the house.

"Follow me. And remember, the same cooperation you gave Lida. He paid a lot of money. Just do as you're told no matter how extreme and everyone will be happy."

"Everyone except me, right?" He stopped and turned in front of me. He was human once, he had a mark from when he was changed.

"First of all, get rid of the attitude. That will not make anyone happy. And second, if he's happy, you're happy. End of story. Let's go." He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the house.

"Ragnar, it's about time you showed up. I only sent you out an hour ago." I heard someone say from a chair by the door. The chair turned and there was Lucian. He was a little taller than the other Delfunies I have met but his eyes were just as black. His teeth were sharp, but his nails were filed down. His skin was wrinkled but it was a little less gray then the others.

"Sorry, sir. But Lida was reluctant to sell. It took some persuading but here she is. The human you wanted." Wow, this was surreal. I'm still thinking that this is a dream. Delfunies never bought humans before. This wasn't happening.

"Alright, what is your name, human?" Lucian asked me. Finally, someone that actually cared what my name was.

"Mavis Ericson." I answered. He nodded. He seemed almost bored having to talk to me. He seemed to be looking me up and down, sizing me up.

"And how old are you?"

"Twenty-four." He nodded. Then he began circling me. I just tensed up.

"Good. Ragnar get her upstairs and make sure she's dressed nice for dinner." Lucian said, walking away. Ragnar just did as he was told and started pulling me up the stairs.

After I was shown my room, I was told to shower. Once I had done that, Ragnar insisted on helping me get dressed. Talk about embarrassing. At least Lida gave me some privacy.

Once I was finished getting dressed, I pulled my hair into a simple ponytail. Ragnar stepped out to tell Lucian I was almost ready. I stood up and walked over to a full length mirror in the corner of my huge room.

I was stunned to see how pretty I actually looked. I was dressed in a simple gray blouse with sleeves that only went down to my elbows and a flowing black skirt. I had a few fly aways in my hair which I simply fixed with hairspray.

"Are you finished, human? Lucian isn't exactly known for his patience." Ragnar said, coming back into the room.

"Yes, I'm ready and my name is Mavis. Not human." He just rolled his eyes and ushered me out of the room. He was unbelievably rude, even for a Delfunie.

Once we were downstairs, we took a ridiculous number of turns before we actually reached the dinning room. By the time we found it, my head was spinning. I'm pretty sure I'll need an escort back to anywhere when dinner was over.

"So glad you could join me. Please, sit." He was unbelievably polite for a Delfunie.

"Uh, thank you, Lucian. You...um...you have a beautiful home." I said, trying to be as polite as possible. He nodded as our plates arrived. Mine was set in front of me and it smelled wonderful. I looked down to see lasagna. I watched Lucian as he picked up his fork. I did as he did, being careful not to make him mad.

"Thank you, Mavis. I pride myself on keeping a good household." He said. I smiled politely and continued eating. "Are you enjoying your lasagna?" I swallowed my food and nodded.

"Yes sir. It's very delicious." I answered. He smiled back before continuing his meal. I suddenly felt extremely tired and I yawned as I cut another piece of lasagna.

"Are you alright, Mavis?" He asked.

"Yes, sir. Just tired."

"Let Ragnar take you back to your room so you can sleep." That was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.