Both of them spin in their seats, looking at me like I’ve got two heads but I keep my composure, locking my gaze onto both of them. The one on the left seems to cower in his seat, his body sinking lower as I keep my hand out in between them both, the other one who started the conversation puffs out his chest.
“And what the fuck has it gotta do with you, Mr Blackwood?” He spits out with disgust and flicks his gaze to my outstretched hand. I see, we’re gonna play it that way are we?
Curling my fingers in on themselves, I pull my hand away and sit back in my seat, letting my jacket fall open to show the guns I’m carrying. The one on the right begins to open his mouth but I quickly cut him off.
“No fucking talking whilst I speak, you hear me?” I say with a harsh tone. “Now you’re gonna tell me who the fuck this woman is you’re talking about, and if you don’t, when this is over I’ll blow your fucking brains out.”
Crossing my leg over the other, I rest my ankle on my knee waiting for their answer. The both of them look at each other,probably waiting for the other to speak first.
“Reckon they’ll ever speak?” Eli says with a chuckle at the side of me and I dip my head to check my watch. “Apparently not and I don’t have the time to wait either. They’ve got five seconds.”
I begin the countdown on my watch and the one on the left quickly opens his mouth to speak.
“Wait, I’ll tell you alright.”
“Good man, and you.” I point to the gobby one on the right. “Keep your fucking mouth shut before I staple it shut.”
His eyes bug wide and he clamps his mouth shut, allowing the other man to speak.
“There’s a girl.. a woman.” He stutters, his eyes bouncing around the room. “She’s at every Selection Day, always the last to come out. No one ever wins her and most of the time, people don’t even bother to bid. Something about her husband, Ricky, you know him?”
“Yeah. I know him.” I reply, my jaw ticking. “Heard he’s got a bit of a reputation.”
“A pretty big one too. There’s rumours going round that he bit this woman’s ear off but you can never be too sure about these things.” He says, keeping his voice low, probably afraid that someone will hear him and question how he knows this, just like I’m doing now. I don’t bother to ask him though because the only thought in my mind right now is that Ricky has hurt the woman I love, my fucking property, fuckingmine.
Inhaling a sharp breath, I keep silent for a moment when Eli speaks up. “What does this woman look like?” The question peaks my interest.
“Uh. Last time I saw her at Selection Day she wasn’t looking too good, skinny ya know, long black hair, blue eyes.”
I clock Eli in my periphery, turning to face me and I make eye contact with him, a silent conversation passes between us, confirming the woman the guy is speaking about is definitely Ana. I know it is, it has to be because I refuse to believe it isn’t.
Clearing my throat just in time for the auctioneer to arrive on stage again, I send the two guys spinning back around. Both of them quickly turn in their seats and I never see their faces again, but I’ll remember them.
The night flows on as more women are sold off to men with disgusting hands and even darker minds, and the brick that’s settling in my stomach seems to get heavier and heavier the longer I wait for Ana to arrive on stage.
“And now, we’re onto our last group!” The auctioneer shouts with excitement that has the audience clapping loudly.
My head flies up from my lap, my gaze burning onto the stage as the last lot of women are guided out, each of them looking worse than the first one.
And.. there she is. The last woman to arrive on the stage is the woman that’s been missing from my life for just over three months now. Someone might as well crack my head open with a brick, it’d hurt less than how I’m feeling right now. Seeing her standing there barely hanging on makes me want to rip myself apart.
My soul recognises hers but my eyes don’t, she’s lost all her light. Her once plump body that moulded perfectly in my hands is now frail and skeletal, her skin is gray and void of life. Even the blackness of her hair has dulled. A broken butterfly.
Anger like I’ve never ever felt before courses through my veins, it burns as it spreads over me like a wildfire, scalding and wrecking everything in its wake. So much so that it causes my hands to shake in my lap.
“I’m not sure I can fucking sit here Eli. I need to get to hernow.” I grit out, not giving a single fuck who can hear me now. She’s there, right in front of me and the urge to barrel through the ocean of people in front of me, to take her in my arms and carry her to safety is enough to kill me off.
Eli places his hand on my knee to stop me from rising out of my seat. “Not yet. If we go barging in there now, we’ll fuck this up and she could die.”
“She’s already fucking dying, look at her. Look at what the fuck he’s done to her.”
“I know Dean, I know. But we have to do this right, you know we do.” He says with a stern tone.
I know Eli is right, if I go striding up onto that stage now, I’ll ruin everything and people could die because of my careless actions. Inhaling a sharp breath, I sink back into the chair again and grab the numbered plaque that was placed on my seat previously and wait.
The auctioneer flies through the first couple of women, numbers flying in the air to add to the grand total. Thousands, probably millions of dollars made in a single evening. All of it spent by sleezy fucking men.
“Up last, gentlemen, we have our diamond. Now who wants a piece of her?”
