wooden platform until a hand rests on my shoulder, and I nearly jump out of my skin. I didn’t even hear anyone step close to me.
“The humans are delicious this time, don’t you think, everyone?” Merethe shouts, and the vampires, as bloodthirsty and insane as they are, cheer back with delight. I feel so many of their eyes on me, like their gaze is ripping me apart. I pull my shoulder from her hand, and she smiles at me, her eyes crinkling in annoyance. “Do sit down, and don’t be an ungrateful bitch. I helped you stand out so you won’t become some whore. You will be sold last, and I want them to stare at you for a long time, so do smile.”
“Why does it matter? Won’t they just bite and kill me? Why would I thank you for that?” I counter.
“Watching you will make them desperate,” she replies, mostly ignoring my questions, and pushes my shoulder down until I fall to my knees. She turns away from me. “This one is not only beautiful, but a virgin! Virgin blood is so tasty after all.”
My cheeks burn red as Merethe walks away, and Eachann brings another girl out from the door. This girl must be about the same age as me with dark brown hair cut into a bob, a white tatty dress and worn-out black shoes. Her eyes meet mine, and I gulp from the sheer terror in them. Then I witness how a human is sold on this island.
Merethe grabs the girl, and with a knife in her other hand, she makes a small cut across the girl’s wrist. The crowd goes silent as the girl’s blood drips onto the wooden platform.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
“One hundred dollars!” a man shouts out. Another shouts to outbid him, and it goes on for a while until they get to five hundred dollars and Merethe announces the winner. Five hundred for a human life. The vampires here really do think we are nothing more than food. Assholes.
The vampire man, a fat man with a big belly and a giant, bald, round head jumps onto the stage and grabs the girl. She screams and fights him as he hands Merethe the money from his pocket. “Don’t kill this one right away, won’t you? Or you’ll always be back here paying me. Make sure you mark her when you’re home.”
“Of course,” the man replies with a grin that makes me feel sick. He nods once before he moves in that vampire way, and they both disappear. The next person is a guy, and the next another girl. The auction goes on and on, and each of them screams as they are bought. The endless horror never stops, and I try to switch off, to pretend I am anywhere other than right here.
Anywhere.
“Ria?” a familiar voice whispers, and I shoot my head up, staring as the next guy is dragged onto the stage. Arlo.
“No!” I harshly whisper, seeing the many bites covering his bare chest and the dried blood marking his skin. His cool green eyes find mine as he fights Eachann’s hold on him. I rush to my feet and try to run to him, but two vampires appear at my sides and grab my arms. Merethe pauses, looking between us.
“It seems our virgin blood has a friend she wants to save, how sweet,” she calls out, but I ignore her and the cheering crowd, looking at Arlo.
“I will get you out of here, Ria! I promise you that!” he shouts at me, struggling to escape with every moment. My heart pounds in my chest as I cry out and struggle to get to him.
“Please let him go! Please!” I scream at Merethe. “Please!”
She coldly looks down at me as I’m forced to my knees once more, held in place this time. “Love has no place in The Onyx.”
“NO!” I yell as she grabs Arlo’s hair, arching his head up, and rather than cutting his wrist, she bites into his neck. Arlo grunts, but he doesn’t show how much pain he is in other than how his hands tighten into fists. I struggle and scream until my arms feel numb from how tight the vampires hold me, but I don’t give in. I won’t.
“Delicious, and a stunning example of a human,” Merethe claims, licking her lips free of Arlo’s blood. Arlo slumps down in Eachann’s grip, and I can only stare at his back, tears falling down my cheeks. “Bids start at a