The Donor House: Blake: A Human Auction
Blake looked around the room. There were twelve other people, all of whom were sat silently with their eyes locked on the door. Every one of them had been in there for longer than him and they were all patiently waiting for something to happen. It was the only thing they could do because the room was windowless, so the smell of sweating bodies was beginning to get overwhelming, and the door was guarded by two vampires. One of the two would enter the room if there was any noise at all, which was never good. The girl who had entered the room with Blake hadn’t wanted to be quiet. She had been taken away by one of the guards and hadn’t returned. Blake thought she was probably dead so, even though he wasn’t exactly happy about being some vampire’s blood slave, he kept quiet like everyone else.
When the door opened again a group of vampires entered the room. Blake recognised one of them as the vampire who had grabbed him. Each vampire took the arms of two of the humans in the room and pulled them out of the room. The male vampire who was holding Blake’s arm was gentle because he didn’t need to be forceful. It was obvious that no one in the room wanted to die so they all went where the vampires wanted them to. After a short journey through corridors that Blake had been through before they were pushed through a door.
The room Blake found himself in was full of shower heads and other men. Some he recognised from the room that they had been in before and others were strangers. His eyes met with those of a couple of the men he knew. He was sure that the fear in their eyes was mirrored in his because he was terrified. Another two people entered the room from the door that Blake had and then someone walked in from a door on the other side of the room, which he hadn’t noticed before.
“Good evening,” the person said, as Blake realised that it was another vampire because he could see the fangs. “Tonight is the night of the auction, so what we need you to do is shower and then come through into the next room to dress in the clothes that have been chosen for you. The water will be on for half an hour so don’t waste time.”
When the vampire left the room all the shower heads went on. Seconds later Blake was soaked though. Sighing, he started stripping because there was nothing else he could do. When he looked around the room he realised that everyone else in the room was doing the same thing. Running for it did cross his mind for a second but he knew that it was a stupid thing to do. He knew that there would be a vampire outside the door, waiting for someone to make a run for it. Once he was naked he picked up one of the many bottles of shower gel and started washing.
Moments later someone did make a run for it. Blake saw a flash of something out of the corner of his eye and knew without a doubt what it was. A scream thirty seconds later made him wince as he scrubbed his body, grateful for the hot water and shower gel. The runner had made a different choice to the one that Blake had made and he couldn’t work out which was the best of the two. He stared at the wall, trying not to think about what was going to happen to him or the what might have happened to the runner.
He stayed under the water until the time was up and when it stopped he walked naked, dripping water as he went, into the other room. The first thing Blake noticed was the pile of towels. It wasn’t until he’d taken a step towards them that he realised there was a vampire stood next to them. All the other men seemed to have also taken that step because they were all in a line and the vampire was looking at each of them in turn. Blake stared at the floor but he could still feel the vampire’s eyes on him.
“When I point at you,” the vampire said, “I want you to step forwards, give me your name and then take a towel. Once you have a towel I will give you a number. Each pile of clothes had a number on. Dress before going through the door in front of you.”
Breathing deeply, Blake looked up at the vampire. The first man walked forwards, said his name, picked up a towel, and shivered as he waited to be given a number. Blake couldn’t tell if it was because of fear or because of the cold. Finally the man walked towards a pile of clothes and the next man was pointed at. All Blake could do was watch until he was pointed at, shivering with cold. He took the three steps he had to take to be in front of the pile of towers.
“Blake Wright,” he said, picking up a towel and wrapping it around his waist.
“How do you spell Wright?”
“W R I G H T.”
“Number twelve, Mr. Wright.”
Still shivering, Blake walked over to pile of clothes number twelve. He took the number off the top so he could look at the clothing he’d been given. On the top of the pile was a pair of boxers, which filled him with relief. There wasn’t much point in using the towel because he’d already shivered himself dry but he rubbed himself over with it any way. It warmed him up slightly. Finally he dropped the towel and pulled the boxers on, before looking through the rest of the pile. The t-shirt wasn’t too bad. Normally he wouldn’t wear a v-neck but that didn’t really bother him. It was the leather trousers that made him uncomfortable. He knew he didn’t have a choice what he wore so dressed and then walked through the next door.
In that room there was another vampire. He smiled at Blake, showing off his fangs, and then stepped towards Blake. It took all his will power to stay still, but he managed it even when the vampire walked around him. Having a vampire behind him was almost more than he could cope with so there was no doubt in his mind that someone hadn’t been able to cope with it. When the vampire was finally stood in front of him again, smiling even wider than before, Blake couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief.
“Congratulations, you have the honor of going through the right hand door. When you step through it you will be on stage and we expect your behaviour to be the same as it has been ever since your arrival.” The vampire patted him on the shoulder. “You are a very special human, so you will be treated as such. Please walk through the door.”
As Blake walked towards the door he heard something going on behind him, which he thought was probably someone else entering the room, but he didn’t turn his head to find out what was going on. It was easier that way. When he stepped through the right hand door he did find himself on a stage, stood next to a couple of other men, and watched as someone he’d never seen before was sold the one of the vampires that filled the floor. To begin with all he could do was stare at the other humans with him, because he didn’t want to look at the vampires. Finally he forced himself to look.
There were a lot less vampires there than he thought there would be. Blake knew it was because he was ‘a very special human’ and he dreaded to think what it would be like in the other room. Slowly he looked at each of the fourteen vampires, trying not to pay excessive attention to any one of them. Most of them were engrossed in the sale so it wasn’t a problem with them but there were two vampires who were staring at him. The first was a dark haired male, who was watching him like he was an interesting insect under glass. It made him uncomfortable but not as uncomfotable as the stare of the second vampire, a woman with obviously dyed red hair. She was staring at him with no emotion in her eyes at all and Blake knew without a doubt that he didn’t want to be bought by her.
Much sooner than he liked he was stood on the cross that meant he was the man for sale. He found himself staring at the dark haired male, hoping that it would be him rather than the emotionless red head. The bidding started slowly. Blake didn’t pay any attention to the values because he really didn’t want to know how much he was going to sell for. It wasn’t until the two vampires he’d seen staring at him started bidding that the price increased rapidly. Neither seemed willing to give in and Blake couldn’t help wondering where they’d got the money from. There was a terrifying moment when it seemed like the woman would win the war, but in the end it was the male who won which was only slightly less terrifying.
“Sold,” the auctioneer called, “to number 9.”
A hand grabbed hold of Blake’s arm and he found himself being led over to the winner of the auction. For the first time he actually really wanted to run for his life, but he knew that he wouldn’t get far away so he pushed the urge to the back of his mind. Dying when he had got through the auction safely was stupid. At that moment he truly believed that if he could get through the auction then he could get through anything. Then he found himself stood in front of the vampire who had bought him.
“Good evening, Blake,” he said, and looped a rope around Blake’s wrist. Pulling it tight, the vampire continued, “I’m Jonas.” Blake didn’t know what to say so he stayed silent, keeping his gaze on the floor until Jonas used a hand to lift his chin. “I understand that you’ve been through a huge upheaval but when I talk to you I want you to reply.”
Nodding, Blake said, “Good evening, Jonas.”
“Good boy.” Jonas patted him on the head. “It’s time to go home now.”
That was when Blake realised that Jonas held onto another rope. Trying not to make it too obvious Blake followed the rope with his eyes to see who else Jonas had bought. A girl was stood at the end of it, who couldn’t have been more than thirteen-years-old, and all Blake wanted to do was give her a hug. Their eyes met so he could see the fear within them, as well as the knowledge that her life was over before it had really begun.
Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.