The Dawn Breaking Over Our Horizon

Untitled Part 17 (unedited)

The sounds of a large mass of fabrics and bodies moving around a small room coupled with the uninterested din of small talk slowly brings me out of the drug induced sleep and I struggle to blink my eyes open. Soon enough, the feeling of a silk blind fold tied tightly around my head leads to the discovery that my wrists are also bound with rope. I huff in annoyance and focus on what else I hear in the room. There are at least 35-50 people in this room, and I can hear someone walking on a wooden stage beside me so I can assume I am also on the stage.

Any further analysis is put on hold as Alester's voice rings out loud and clear, completely silencing the gathered crowd, "And now what you've all been waiting for, tonight's crown jewel." With my eyes still covered someone removes a burlap bag from my head, the motion of it creating a wind that caresses my exposed ears. I hold back the instinctual shiver of fear as the realization that people can see my secret so clearly and set my mind to gathering as much information as possible.

"I'm sure she'd make a lovely decoration, or a sweet little pet. You can keep her whole and healthy or sell her for parts if you'd like. She has dog ears as opposed to human ones but for the discerning collector, that will add to her unique attraction." Scoffing at his outrageous claim I don't hear his assistant moving to remove the silken blind fold from my face before it is too late. The next thing I know is blinding stage lights consuming my vision and the small roar of the crowd at finally seeing my whole face. The full package they are paying to own a small fraction of.

My vision adjusts to the bright light of the room and I stare down into the well-dressed crowd of black-market buyers. I stop myself from rolling my eyes in vague disgust as I note that every face is covered by a mask for a masquerade ball, as if this were only a show for those with a dark sense of humor. A step on the wooden stage to my left forces my attention to the Viscount Alester Chambers, "The bidding shall begin momentarily."

Someone in the crowd remarks about how the lights from the stage makes my eyes mimic the English seaside on a clear day and I notice the Viscount smirk, clearly pleased with the crowds response to me, "We'll start at 1,000 ginnies."

"2,000." Something doesn't make sense; he hasn't mentioned anything about selling me for parts aside from the one comment about his possible customers doing so.

"3,000." It is possible that there is some sort of unspoken or normal order of sale that he keeps to for security reasons. But that would contradict his earlier statement.

"3,500." I glance around my surroundings again, this time taking note of the iron bird cage that contains me. I cannot get out of this on my own at this point. I could possibly wait until they try to give me to the buyer, but I don't particularly feel like being bought by anyone at all. That leaves me with only one option. One I'd rather pull out my own fingernails than do, but I find myself out of both time and options. Can I perhaps bend the bars behind me?

The cold metal greets my palms and I am once again reminded of the itchy rope forcing my wrists together and stopping any attempts of bending a feather let alone iron. "5,000," I sigh in tortured desperation and lean my head back against the bars.

"Damnit," Soft murmurs of shock respond to my cursing, but not everyone seems to have heard me. "I truly wish I didn't need to do this. Sebastian, be a dear and help me out of this cage, will you?"

This time, everyone in the room goes silent as my words sink in. Some chuckle and others express their wariness about buying a broken product, "What's this y-" Alester is cut off as the gas lights in the room simultaneously go out. The women in the room cry out in fear at the sudden darkness and the men grumble in outrage, but all go silent in moments as the sounds of blows landing over takes the unsuspecting congregation. My own heartbeat picks up speed, the thought of the real Jack the Ripper coming to steal me away to mutilate my body taking over my mind. However,the warm scent of autumn spices roasting over an open flame drifts across theroom and settles my nerves. I know exactly who is here.