Chapter 1

• A single tear rolled down my cheek as I walked slowly down the aisle.
• “The bidding starts at one hundred thousand dollars!’’ the man with the microphone said.
• “One hundred thousand and one dollar,’’ a woman said, holding up a paddle.
• “One hundred and fifty thousand dollars,’’ a man said.
• He and the woman argued back and forth for me, raising the auction bid to three hundred thousand dollars.
• “Why do you even want her? She is nothing but skin and bones,’’ the woman said. She wore full black, and there was even an angry-looking grey storm cloud hanging over her head.
• I wish I could see her face, but she had it hidden behind a black vail, no doubt she was a witch, and I wanted her to answer her own question.
• ‘What did she want with me?’
• I never knew witches would be interested in humans, maybe she wanted my bones to be dried and grounded up for her potions. Either way, I wanted to go nowhere with any of these creatures.
• “One million dollars!’’
• I looked around for where the voice came from, because this was the first time anyone had ever placed such a high bid.
• Though this was my first time at one of these, I have heard that the monies never passed four hundred thousand dollars. So, who was this person?
• My internal question was soon answered, when the crowd was parted for the man who was dressed in a crisp black, three-piece suit. He had on a top hat and walked with a golden cane.
• I couldn’t make out his face, but either way, I knew that he was one of them.
• “Going, once… going twice… this is the last chance… Sold!’’ the man yelled, causing me to jump.
• “Humph, I had no use for her either way. I just thought it would be nice to buy one of these things,’’ the woman said then got up to leave. “I don’t know why anyone would even waste so much money on one of them.’’
• Hot tears fell down my cheek faster as realization slowly set in.
• I have been sold; no longer will I see my family.
• “Come on up and claim your human!’’
• I began to cry harder, pleading with the man. Begging him not to take me, I was hoping to be one of the lucky ones who would be refused and sent back to the cellar to once again be with my people.
• Yet, here I was, about to be taken away to some unknown land.
• The man laughed as he stood over me. “You are a sight for sore eyes,’’ he said before grabbing my face.
• The force of his sheer strength he had, caused a tooth to come loose, and the more he held my face, I could feel as if my jaw was going to break.
• “You will be my most prized possession, a beauty fit for a king.’’
• But I knew I wouldn’t be this man’s prize, I would be whisked away to be his slave or blood whore, just like countless of others before me.
• That’s how it had been ever since these monsters exposed themselves.
• ….
• It had happened six years ago, but I remembered it as if it was just yesterday. I had just started junior high, when the world as we knew it was changed forever.
• A girl in my class came to school one morning saying that vampires were real, and she couldn’t wait to meet one, but because she had a worn-out copy of Twilight in the hand, we all laughed at her for believing a fictional story to be true.
• By the end of the day, it was all over social media that vampires, werewolves, and witches were real. But it had soon been called a hoax, because no one thought TikTok was a reliable source.
• In the following days, Fox news picked up on the story, but many at first brushed it off as nothing but a clever marketing ploy to promote a new movie or book.
• But as more and more evidence began to surfaced, it became clear to the world that it was no work of fiction. The supernatural creatures, and every teenage girls wet dreams were real.
• I won’t lie, I was one of them who went crazy at the new revelation. I would skip school in wanting to meet a vampire, me and my friends were hoping for that moment to happen so badly. So much so that on the weekends we would wander the forest until late at night, and even cut parts of our bodies to lure them in.
• Foolish we were, and soon had a rude awakening in learning that none of us were going to get our Twilight dream come through.
• The vampires weren’t Edward Collin, but more like James. Better yet, like the vampires from the movie Van Helsing.
• The werewolves weren’t any better, they would kidnap anyone and everyone, forcing people to not going out past five pm.
• That didn’t stop them though, because people started to go missing from their beds, causing the world leaders to call for piece, they agreed.
• It was a trick, and the president of the United States was killed on camera before some hundreds of millions of people.
• It was soon a blood bath on national tv, as all members who gathered for the UN emergency summit were massacred.
• The vampire who did it declared war on all humans, prompting us to never going outside, because we also learnt that not only witches, and wolves were out there with these vampires, but also trolls, leprechauns and things much worse.
• Of course we weren’t safe anywhere, and that’s when many had their wake-up call. Now realizing that we weren’t living in a world filled with rainbows and sunshine, but a hellish, dark and dangerous reality.
• The power shifted dramatically, leaving us who were once the dominated species on Earth, at the mercies of these creatures.
• Vampires ruled the night, werewolves roamed the forest, witches cast spells, and other creatures killed for the fun of it. We were no longer the masters of our own destiny.
• We were nothing but commodities, auctioned off, sold as slaves, and even used as a source of food. We quickly learnt our place, and many who wanted freedom gave up the fight.
• My father was one of them, being the general in the US army, but we all quickly learnt that our weapons; guns and bullets were no match for these creatures. Their skin couldn’t be pierced so easily, and nothing from the made-up stories stopped them either. We were weak, helpless and had no choice but to surrender.
• “Get up girl!’’ the man’s rough voice brought me back to the present, and I looked up at him, still not able to see his face.
• “Are you going to stay for the other prizes?’’ the auctioneer asked.
• “Yes, I need to add to the collection.’’
• I was thrown into a holding cell by myself and was told to wait until my new master came for me.
• They placed a tag around my neck, with the name Shamus on it. Under other circumstances I would have laughed at his name, but there were no humor or joy left in me.
• I could hear an up roar as werewolves, and vampires alike fought over the next person. Raising the bid to two hundred thousand dollars.
• I always found it odd that werewolves were the natural born enemies of vampires, and the enemies of vampires were witches. They hated each other, and would kill the other without hesitation, but when it came to taking over the world, they put their differences aside and worked together for us to become the lesser species.
• The worst part of it though, humans had joined them. Humans were selling other humans, humans were our greatest betrayers, selling intel about our hide outs and even turning into these things.
• I closed my eyes and went back to a happier time; it was the summer just before it all started. My friends and I were laughing down by the creek, trying to impress Jessie’s crush with her fishing skills even though she had no idea how.
• Looking back at it now, we were young and naïve. But what twelve-year-olds weren’t?