THE DEMON COMES BY MILLY TAIDEN, CELESTE KING – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: Milly Taiden
- Language: English
- Genre: Paranormal / Sci-Fi
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 4.5 MB
- Price: Free
CAMILLE
“Twenty-five riel! Do I hear thirty for the tall brunette? She’s of perfect
breeding age and obeys your every whim!”
The throaty voice of the auctioneer echoes off the hard rock
walls, every moment punctuated by the steady drip of water. The dim
sconces barely brighten the cells around me, my every movement disturbed
by the clinking shackles bound to my feet. In the shadows, I see the
silhouette of the auctioneer’s cloak entering from the other room. The
woman beside him stands perfectly still, flanked by guards.
My back is wet from the damp rock I’m leaning against, watching as I
do every day, waiting for my turn on the auction block. Waiting is the most
difficult part.
There has to be a way out of this. A small flame burns in me still, unlike
the other captives huddled around me. I can remember the days I watched
that light leave them as they resigned themselves to their fates. Many of
their personalities have eroded away until all they are left with is a vacant
stare like that of an animal.
Beside me, an elderly woman slinks against the wall, quietly muttering
prayers to elven deities. She has grown weak and frail from deprivation, her
eyes gaunt and ringed. I imagine becoming her, waiting out all of my days
tossed between buyers like a common piece of livestock.
I shiver at the thought, my cold flesh coated with the slimy dampness of
the cavern wall. The guard’s cruel, vacant stare never leaves me, his own
body obscuring the events in the other room, which I hear perfectly. I feel
him daring me to move against him, and it almost dissuades me from what I
know must be done.
“That’s twenty-five riel for this perfect specimen! Thank you for your
purchase, Mr. Aleric!”
The crowd’s complicit applause echoes. Our lives are little more than a
sporting event to them, deriving the same amount of enthusiasm.
Occasionally, I turn my head, sensing motion in the corner of my eye. I
think it might be another prisoner moving to escape, or perhaps an old
figure from my past life coming to rescue me. Out of desperation, my
imagination grows stranger and stranger.
But every time, I’m disappointed to see that it’s just the dancing flames
casting shadows that play tricks on my mind.
A rodent slinks across my feet, and I try to keep myself from squealing
as it darts along the wall, settling next to a carcass.
Rattling their chains with every exhalation, the prisoners around me
exude a foul odor of sweat and decay. The cold, slimy walls reek of mold. I
have to scrunch my nose just to endure these conditions, keeping my mind
focused.
If I don’t want to be up there soon, I have to escape.
The guard approaches my cell, joined by another guard from the other
room. As they walk toward me, their eyes align with mine, and I fear I may
be next on the block. But instead, they move toward the elderly woman at
my side, gripping her by the wrists and standing her up.
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