Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 17648 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 88(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17648 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 88(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
There, just feet from the entrance, was a raised platform. An auction block. Many of the women screamed and pulled at their chains, which caused the rest of us to sway and some to fall since we were linked together. The monsters barked words at us, sounds we didn’t understand as we were shoved toward the platform.
I stood on that platform in a line with the other human women and stared into a sea of…hell.
The crowd around me howled and roared, their twisted, monstrous faces contorted with hunger and madness, their glowing eyes fixed on the captives that would soon be sold off. That would soon be theirs.
I felt my knees give out but not from fear but because we were pushed down. The crowd surged closer, their voices a chaotic, bloodthirsty roar as their excitement grew.
I was going to hell, and it was the devil's minions who were taking me there.
3
KATRINA
The air around me was thick with the stench of sweat, blood, and fear. The platform beneath my knees was slick with pungent grime, the old and scarred wood digging into my flesh.
My wrists throbbed, the shackles clanking together because none of the women could be still, not when they shook from pure terror.
My head swam, my pulse a frantic, erratic drumbeat in my ears. The roar of the monstrous crowd surrounded me in a deafening, chaotic wave.
I tried to steady my breath, but my chest heaved as I forced myself to look out over the sea of twisted, snarling and grotesque faces. Eyes glowing, their fixed gazes on us filled with a hunger I’d never seen before.
It was horrifying.
My heart raced even harder, and my body trembled. My thin nightgown offered little protection against the cold, damp air that hung around me like an oppression.
One by one, the women prisoners were hauled up and pushed forward, presented before the crowd. I couldn’t understand the language, but the way the females were touched and mauled, stripped bare to show their nudity, it was clear we were pieces of meat being displayed for a buyer.
The screams echoed off the jagged stone walls. The chains rattled, and pleas for help fell on deaf, twisted ears.
A few younger human men were brought in and had the same fate as the human woman.
I watched as a young man was yanked forward, his pale, gaunt face twisted in terror as a hulking, green fur-covered beast with beady black eyes and gnarled, twisted horns claimed him.
They did this repeatedly, and all I could do was kneel and wait. I swallowed, my throat dry, the bitter taste of fear coating my tongue. My turn was coming, the line shrinking as each human was sold off, their fates sealed by the exchange of money.
Finally, I felt rough, clawed hands close around my upper arms, yanking me up to my feet. I stumbled forward, the chains clanging together, my heartbeat drowning out everything else as it pounded in my ears.
My knees felt weak, my bare feet raw and sore from walking on the rough terrain. I was all but dragged onto the center of the platform and pushed forward, my toes touching the edge.
Sweat and dirt covered my face, and my hair stuck to my temples. I forced my head up, hating that I probably looked like a wild, terrified animal about to get slaughtered.
Twisted faces leered up at me, sharp teeth glinting, glowing eyes ravenous, and bodies so huge and beastly that I couldn’t have imagined them if I tried. The slave auctioneer started speaking in those strange, garbled words as he lifted my arms, tore at my gown, and displayed me like a piece of meat.
And then a hush fell over the crowd. A hulking figure stepped forward, its massive form hunched, a disgusting and dirty pelt covering its shoulders. I held my breath as I stared into its small, beady eyes—those twin orbs… soulless.
And when it grinned, twisted, yellowed teeth flashed in double rows on the top and bottom. I felt instantly sickened as it came forward and eyed me up and down.
My heart stuttered in my chest, my breath catching as the heavy, oppressive weight of what was happening to me finally sunk in and strangled me. The yellow-fanged beast said something to the auctioneer and nodded toward me. I was jerked backward, my gown hanging from me in tatters as I was ushered down the steps and toward the towering monster.
The creature reached for me, its long, gnarled fingers curling around my arms and pulling me forward. He smelled like death.
“No,” I finally said, feeling my voice for the first time since being thrust on that auction block. I jerked back, my arms straining against his iron hold, his claws digging into my skin and tearing it easily. But nothing was as painful as the pure, unadulterated terror that ran through my veins.