Imperial

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The silk dress clung to my damp body, my hair was still dripping at the ends, spotting the front of the dress in dark circles.

Machi stood in front of me, gently rubbing my hand as he watched the woman on the stage get whipped and the crowd cheer it on like it was the damn Super Bowl.

My chest hurt, it was tight and stiff, and I couldn't breath as the thick air swelled inside, filling my lungs like water.

This is it. I'm being sold, I'll never see my family, my friends. . . Him.

It's all over.

The two of us stood in the backroom of the stage, but we weren't alone. There were others, more girls being put on a pedestal for the gain of wealth and the sick thrill of owning a human sex slave.

I kept my head down the best I could, trying not to shift my eyes too much. Running my hand up and down my leg, I watched my toes as I lifted and curled them off the floor.

Behind me, delicate sniffles turned into heavy sobs. A dominant voice huffed with annoyance, speaking harsh and firm. “That's enough. I don't want to see one more fucking tear, understand?”

Glancing over my shoulder, a small woman rubbed her nose and nodded yes, then cupped her hands in front of her waist. Grunting, the man leaned down, speaking through thinned lips. “One more, if I see one more—” Holding up his finger, he tapped the end of her nose. “You'll leave here blind.”

It wasn't just an empty threat, he was serious. The state of her body was all I needed to know he meant what he said. She had been beaten, underfed, and was barely alive as it was.

Even in the shadows her bruises were visible, painting her skin like the scars of a disease. One of her eyes were black and blue, swelled up to the point it was almost completely shut. Her hips were protruding, poking out like spikes under the dress that hung loosely off her frame.

Straightening his spine, the man glared over my head and onto the stage. His eyes flashed with power, a sick satisfaction that he was in control and she could do nothing about it.

Slowly her eyes shifted up, connecting with mine. Forcing my lips to curl, I smiled at her.

I don't know why, I guess it was just muscle memory, a learned reaction for when two people looked at each other. It wasn't like I expected her to return the motion, but I never thought I'd see another person vanish before my eyes.

She didn't smile, she didn't nod or move to show that she had seen me. Her eyes dulled, dropping down to the floor as her shoulders rolled forward and the last piece of her that was human expelled from her body.

I watched whoever she was disappear just like that; gone, lost to a world that she had no control over.

She doesn't deserve this, she doesn't deserve a man who's only going to see her as a pet.

Whoever she had been, whatever part of her that had clung to an existence, dissolved as this sick world broke her down into nothing than more than a walking skeleton with a faint heartbeat.

“Alright, who's ready?” The announcer's voice cut in, forcing my eyes to snap up to the stage. “Did you guys even hear me? I said who's ready?” Holding a hand to his ear, he cupped it and leaned closer to the crowd.

The room erupted in cheers and yells, barks and grunts. “That's better,” he said, pushing the microphone to his lips. “Let me introduce you all to the gorgeous and completely available women we have tonight.” Fanning out his arm in our direction, he smirked wildly.

Machi pulled me to his side, scooping his hand into the small of my back. “Everything will be okay, Pixie, I promise.” Guiding me forward, he edged me onto the stage.

Okay? How is this okay?

Pleading with my eyes, I dug my toes into the wood and tried to cling desperately to the thin splinters cutting into my feet. I wasn't ready for this, I didn't want it at all.

All I wanted from the beginning was to go home, that was it. But where I found myself was as far away from home as you could get.

How could you do this to me? My eyes begged him to stop, to just take me away and not make me go out there. Please, don't. . . Don't do this!

“Time to go, Pixie.” Machi nodded, tipping his head with a quick jerk. “Go, trust me.”

Trust you! This is bullshit! We can run, we can run and flee and no one would ever find us!

Swallowing hard, he took a firm step back and ticked his head forward, telling me to go. My heart dissolved inside my chest, bleeding into my body and filling my core with angry coals.

I wanted to run right off the stage, dive into the crowd and sprint away. I could do it, I could charge forward and take off into the pitch black room. No one would see me in the darkness, no one would be able to catch me if they couldn't even see where I went.

Glancing back over my shoulder, Machi's lids thinned as he shook his head no and pointed for me to keep going.

Swallowing hard, I lifted my feet and walked with heavy steps into the spotlight. A row of women had already formed, standing shoulder to shoulder. Brushing against the last girl on the end, I took my place beside her.

If I had the tears to cry, I would have, but I was bone dry and numb. There was nothing left inside me, it was all gone as the girl I used to know shriveled up and crumbled into dust.

My blood had dried up, my lungs had stopped working, my heart had stopped beating. On that stage I was a cavern, an empty shell that only mirrored who I used to be. 

Imperial was gone.

The announcer chuckled loudly, holding out his arm to the line of women. I tried to look into the crowd, but the light was too bright, creating a glare over the faces staring back at us.

“Well, it looks to me like the first runner up tonight has taken it upon herself to get noticed.” The crowd laughed and yelped, grunting in wild tones. “Gentlemen, let me introduce you to Pixie!”

Wait. . . What?

Why me? Why am I first?

I twisted quickly to look at Machi, hoping he would bolt onto the stage and save me. I wanted him to rush out and not allow some other man to buy me.

Tucking his arms around his chest, his lips turned down into a knowing frown.

Shit. I fucked up already.

I didn't need him to tell me, I realized it instantly. I had been the only girl looking up, I hadn't followed the rules, and that set me apart from the rest, singling myself out to go first.

“Don't be shy, Love, step forward, let these guys have a good look at you.”

Swallowing hard, I took a long step out. But I still didn't drop my head, I refused to let them have that.

I had already fucked up, so what difference did it make anymore?

Let the room decide for themselves if they wanted to take on a challenge, let them question my abilities to follow orders.

Because the man that bought me was going to have his hands full. I didn't plan on playing nice, I didn't plan on just laying down and giving up. I might not have been Imperial anymore, but that didn't mean I wouldn't still fight for myself.

Tipping my chin up, I squared my shoulders, holding my head high.

“We have a feisty one tonight, this should be good. Do I hear A thousand?”

The room exploded with barks and hoots as paddles jumped in every direction, forcing the bidding higher and higher.

His numbers kept climbing by the thousand until the bidding trickled down to two men. Their faces were blank to me, I could hear them yelling numbers, I could hear the deep tones jump between both men.

“Forty!”

“Fifty!”

“Sixty!”

Everything slowed down around me. Staring up at the spotlight, I let the heat off the single flame warm my muscles as I said goodbye to everything I used to know.

I'm sorry, Mom, I love you, don't worry, I'll be okay. Cassie, take care of Velcro, I miss you guys. Goodbye for now, I'll be home one day.

“Eighty, do I hear ninety?” Pausing, he pointed out into the sea of men. “Eighty! Going once, going twice, sold!”

Eighty thousand dollars. . .

That's my worth.

What should you feel when you actually have a value placed on your body? What should flow through your veins when you hear the amount that someone is willing to pay for you?

I had gone from a woman into a retail object meant for sexual destruction and emotional distress.

There was no feeling, only hatred.

And as a man I had never seen before came to the edge of the stage, he held his hand out towards me, wiggling his fingers. His hair was dusk red, his eyes dull and moss green as his lips formed a tortured smile and his cheeks blushed cherry red.

“Go on, Love, meet your new master,” The announcer said as he waved me away. “Next up. . .” His words trailed off as the room went silent around me.

I couldn't hear any more voices or sounds as a vortex opened up and swallowed me whole. Change was all around me as I stared at the man who was willing to pay for a slave, willing to allow the devil to claim his soul as he claimed mine.

Walking towards him, I took one last look at where Machi had been standing, but he was gone. There was black air where he stood, his figure a mere presence in my mind.

I had lost everything in that moment; myself, my life, and the man that made me feel more human than I had ever felt before.

He was a ghost, a shadow in my memories. He was a face that would always be there when my eyes closed, he was a touch that would always wrap my skin, he was a voice that would always play in my ear.

And he would always own a piece of my heart.