Kidnapped for the Auction

Rowan - Brainwashed

Rowan woke up slowly, trying to burrow back under the covers before realising that she didn’t have any. Opening her eyes she realised that the disturbing dream that she had been having was actually real. Bolting upright, she looked around for the towering “creature” that had abducted her and was able to control her actions seemingly at will, but he was nowhere to be seen. Instead there was a blond woman sitting in an armchair across the room watching her.

“You’re awake!” the woman began, her warm tone of voice out of place in the current circumstance. “I’m Teresa. Anything you need, or any questions, you can ask me!” She seemed older than she looked; there was an eccentric grandmotherly vibe to her which Rowan immediately didn’t trust.

“There is one thing I need,” said Rowan, getting up from the couch. “I need to go home, right now. You can’t just abduct people to be s*x slaves, or whatever the hell it is you are doing here!” She began to stalk towards Teresa; surely she could overpower one older woman and get out of here!

Teresa continued to sit in the armchair, seemingly supremely unconcerned. “I do hope you aren’t going to get violent.” She said in a bored voice. “Else I shall have to call my husband in to command you not to.”

Pausing at that, Rowan realised the futility of trying to get past Teresa if all the other men in the building could just “command” her to come straight back here.

“So it’s true then?” she asked. “You’re a bunch of vampires or something?” She couldn’t hold back a grimace; the words just felt totally ridiculous coming out of her mouth.  

“Well,” replied Teresa, her voice going back to the saccharine tone of before. “I’m not, but my husband is. What did Perin tell you?”

So, his name is Perin. Rowan catalogued that in case she needed to recall it later, ideally in a police report.  “Perin told me that I was being taken to be a vampires wife” she said sarcastically. “Although the last thing I knew people didn’t buy their wives at auctions, I thought that was purely for slaves, and well over a century ago!”

Something else occurred to her. “Hang on, if you aren’t one of them, then why on earth are you helping them!?”

“Like I said, my husband is one, and I love him. I want to help others find the happiness that I have, and live better, more productive lives.” Teresa got a foolish, love-struck smile on her face that made Rowan want to slap her.

“You think that kidnapping people from their beds will bring them happiness?” Rowan was incredulous; this woman was either insane or completely brainwashed. Possibly both!

“It did for me,” she countered serenely. “I don’t know about you, but my life before I came here wasn’t all that great. Here I have a husband who loves me, a community that cares about me and keeps me safe, both of which I would never have had in my previous life. And both are worth far more than I have sacrificed by being here in the enclave.”

Rowan stayed silent for a moment whilst that sank in. Her life wasn’t that great; she had no money, no one who loved her, but she was working hard to change that. The sacrifice of her free will, and opportunity to build a life and career was too big a price to pay.

“Maybe that was fine for you, but not for me.”  Rowan vowed. She started to pace across the room, too agitated to stay still. What was she going to do now?!

“By the way,” said Teresa. “Perin left this for you.” She held up Rowan’s bag.

Rowan eyed it warily; she hadn’t brought her bag. Unless Perin could erase her memories as well as force her to behave however he felt like? What a horrendous thought.

“Anyway.” Said Teresa, getting up and crossing to the door, “If you don’t have any other questions then I will go and prepare your space in the dormitory where you will be staying ahead of the auction. I will be back in a short while to take you to meet the other girls.” With this, she left the room, and Rowan heard the distinct click of a lock being turned on the other side.

Even though it was obviously futile, Rowan still paced the room looking for a potential escape route. There were no windows, the door was indeed locked, and there was nothing that she could use to pick or break the lock. Sighing, she collapsed back down onto the sofa, her hand finding the strap of her bag. Her bag! It should have her mobile in it; she could call the police! She upended the bag, then stared at the contents in shock. No phone or purse, instead there was her MP3 player, the book that had been on her bedside table, her toiletries bag, the photo of her parents from her dressing table. When had Perin picked all this stuff up? And more importantly, why?

Before she realised what she was doing, she saw a tear splash down onto the photograph still clutched in her hand.  Then another, and another until she was sobbing silently against the cushions.

A short time later, feeling spent but more able to think clearly, Rowan repacked all of her things into the bag, and sat waiting for Teresa to return. When she heard the key in the lock she sat up a little straighter. She needed to know the layout of this place, and what the next few hours would bring in order to work out the best opportunity to escape.

“Are you feeling a little calmer now?” asked Teresa, once she had entered the room. “I don’t want you to upset the other girls.”

Rowan quelled the rising annoyance at being spoken to like she was an errant child, and managed to reply “I am feeling better. But I do have a lot of questions.”

“That’s only to be expected.” Teresa said benevolently. “What would you like to know?”

“My husband,” began Rowan, trying to keep the disgust from her voice. “How will he know what I’m like before he buys me?”

“Well, you will displayed before the auction starts, and there are already details about you in the auction catalogue.” She smiled reassuringly, but all Rowan could do was frown.

“I mean, how will he know that we will get on? You know, that our personalities match, that we won’t despise each other?” Rowan was struggling to keep the tone questioning instead of aggressive; if Teresa thought she was about to go off on one she would undoubtedly call her husband and then there would be no chance of getting away.

“It may take a little time, but you will get used to one another.” Teresa’s smile was slipping a little.

Great, thought Rowan; Nothing matters to these people except how I look in a brochure. And they are still trying to tell me that I’m to be a “wife” and not a slave! She had to get out of here.

“And what will he expect? What will he want from me?” It had suddenly occurred to her that if they were vampires then they might use their slave/wives that too.

“What does any man expect from his wife?” said Teresa with a small chuckle that made Rowan want to vomit. This woman was essentially laughing about her being raped.

“I mean,” said Rowan, realising that she would have to spell it out, “will he want to suck my blood?”

Teresa gave her a wry smile, like the question amused her. “He will expect to feed from you. But before you start saying it’s disgusting or immoral in some way, it’s actually a very intimate and enjoyable process.”

These people are insane, concluded Rowan, and you can’t reason with crazy.

“I had better tell you what is going to happen tomorrow. It’s getting late and you need to get some sleep, else you won’t be looking your best! Late afternoon tomorrow I will come and fetch you, along with the other girls to have your hair and make-up done. Once you are ready I will take you to the viewing balcony so that prospective husbands can see you. They won’t be able to touch you or talk to you, so no need to worry about that. After about half an hour, you will all be taken to a holding room whilst the bidding goes on. Once it’s concluded, you will be presented to your husband in a small ceremony from where he will take you home to begin your lives together!” She smiled the happy smile of one who completely believes in what they are saying.

So, Rowan decided, she had to get away before she was handed over to whoever bought her and did goodness knew what to her. As far as she could work out, she had three possible chances for escape; the trip to the beauty parlour, and the journeys to and from the “viewing area”. She discounted the movement between the holding room to the ceremony that would bind her to one of these things as any “husband” worth his salt would surely be watching her, ready to command her if she tried to run.

Lost in her thoughts, Rowan was surprised when to see that she hadn’t noticed someone else enter the room.

“Ah, this is my husband, Jareth.” Said Teresa, almost running to his side.

“Hello Rowan.” He said. “It’s good to have you with us.” He smiled at her, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Hello.” Said Rowan, trying to keep up the illusion of compliance in the hope that it would make them more complacent around her. Jareth was quite normal looking; about 5’10” with mousey brown hair, cut short. He could have easily passed her in the street and she wouldn’t have looked twice at him, at least until he moved. There was something not quite right with his movements, they were somehow too fluid, and the only indication that he could be different.

“If you would follow me, I will take you to the dormitory so that you can meet the other girls and get some rest.” Jareth extended his arm to the door, and Rowan picked up her bag and moved towards the hallway. She realised that Jareth’s presence would put a real dampener on her escape plans if he was going to be escorting her everywhere.

Trying to pay attention to her surroundings in attempt to find something that may be a way out, Rowan followed the couple down endless corridors, not once seeing anything that she thought would help her.

“Well, here we are.” Said Teresa, stopping outside a heavy wooden door. As she unlocked it Rowan could hear quiet chattering coming from inside.

“Hello Girls!” she trilled cheerfully, pushing the door open and ushering Rowan inside. The room itself was set out like an old-fashioned dormitory with a row of single beds on either side. Rowan forced herself to smile as Teresa started introducing the other captives to her.

There was Sarah, a tall and beautiful blond. She had big blue eyes and was very softly spoken. Liza, a curvy brunette with sleek blobbed hair and a wide beguiling smile.  Hannah was tiny and fragile looking, her black hair in a short pixie style and she appeared to be younger than the rest of them. Tamsin had lovely olive skin, straight black hair hanging half way down her back and the kind of figure people paid a lot of money for. Finally, there was Jess, another blond. She was full-figured with rosy cheeks, making Rowan think of “ye olde milkmaid” stereotypes.

They were all looking at her curiously when Teresa stepped aside saying, “Well, I’ll leave you all to get some sleep before the big day tomorrow!” She let herself out, and Rowan heard the lock turn once again.

Feeling awkward, Rowan went over to the nearest unclaimed bed and set down her bag, unsure of what to say to the others. Jess immediately came over to speak to her. “Hello!” she said brightly, “How are you doing? You look rather shell-shocked!”

Amazed that she would even feel the need to ask such a question, Rowan bit back her sharp answer. These girls could well prove to be important allies in her escape plans. “Hi.” She said. “It’s all a bit much, I think.”

Sarah came over to join them. “Don’t worry,” she said softly. “When you get your husband you’ll feel better.”

Rowan just stared in disbelief; they had been completely brainwashed!

“It’s alright for you!” said Jess, nudging Sarah with her elbow. “Sarah has already found her husband” she explained, whilst Sarah stood blushing next to her.

“I met him the first month I was here,” said Sarah, taking Rowan’s stunned silence as an invitation to keep talking. “I had been taken to the pool so I could swim, and Niko was there. He watched me the whole time I was there, but the men aren’t allowed to talk to us. After that, it seemed like he was there every time I went, but it wasn’t until Teresa left for a moment to get me a towel that he managed to speak to me. Then he approached Jareth and asked if he could have an audience with me, and we have been seeing each other ever since!”

Although Rowan was appalled at the total acceptance of being sold as chattel, she was curious about how a relationship with one of “them” worked in this society.

“What do you mean by an audience?” she asked.

“We’re not allowed to be alone before the auction, so we are supervised when me meet.” Answered Sarah.

“You mean like how it was in the 18th Century?” Rowan just couldn’t believe that these girls were not protesting their imprisonment, or the outmoded concept of being granted “an audience” to speak to someone of the opposite s*x. “How do you know that he’s not going to be a total arsehole when you are finally alone with him, and have been purchased by him?”

“It’s practically unheard of for a male to treat his wife badly” said Jess, “They aren’t like our men, women are thought of a precious here.”

Another person telling her how wonderful her future “husband” was going to be. If these men were so great, why were they kidnapping and buying people instead of going and meeting them out in the world like everyone else!?

“Well, I guess I had better get some rest,” she said, wanting to end the crazy conversation before she said something that would cause upset. She turned back to her bed, and realised that she had nothing that she could wear to sleep in. She turned back to Jess, who had begun to wander away back to her own bed. “I don’t suppose that you have any nightclothes I could borrow do you? I don’t have any of my stuff.”

“I do,” said Jess, “but I think something of Sarah’s will fit you better.”

“Here,” said Sarah, tossing a long nightshirt to her. “Don’t worry about giving it back; I won’t need it after tomorrow anyway!”

Rowan couldn’t disguise her look of distaste, and Sarah began to laugh.  “Not like that!” She said. “When we go to live with our husbands we don’t take anything with us, they provide us with everything we need to symbolise our new lives!”

Rowan actually managed a real smile at the misunderstanding. “Thanks, that’s good to know.”

Realising that she could learn an awful lot from these girls, she decided to be a little friendlier. “Can I ask something that may sound stupid?” Jess immediately snapped to attention, obviously eager to share her knowledge. “Ok,” continued Rowan.  “These people are vampires, so if they bite us, won’t we turn into vampires ourselves? Or possibly die?”

“Firstly, the turning into vampires thing is a total myth; you are either one or you’re not. Secondly, we don’t suffer any ill effects provided that we have enough iron and vitamin supplements. The men only have to feed every 10 to 14 days, and only need a pint or so. So anaemia can be an issue, but they are really aware of it, we were all put on iron tablets the moment we arrived. They don’t even really damage the skin because there is an agent in their saliva that seals the wound and promotes healing.” Sarah was smiling and nodding along to Jess’s explanation, and Rowan wondered how much of that was actually true, or if they were just parroting the party line.

“Why are they kidnapping people?” She asked.

“Well, there are very few of their own women, so they…” Started Jess, but Rowan quickly cut her off.

“I mean, why are they kidnapping women instead of going out and meeting them and building relationships with them normally?”

“What would you do if you met this lovely guy, went out with him for a while, and one night he turns round and tells you that he’s a vampire? You would think he was crazy, and call the police or get him committed or something!”

“That’s a good point,” conceded Rowan. It was a very good point actually. Stop it! Rowan told herself. No giving in to brain washing or developing Stockholm syndrome.

“Plus,” Jess went on, “they can’t risk exposing themselves to humans. Can you imagine how crazy everyone would go? They would all get rounded up to be experimented on, or people would try to exterminate them as a danger to society!”

Another valid point. It seemed the more she was finding out the more confusing it was becoming.

“We really should get some sleep.” Said Sarah, going back over to her bed. Rowan followed suit, turning her back to the room and quickly changing into the borrowed nightshirt. Getting into bed, she expected to lie awake the rest of the night thinking about what she had learnt, but fell asleep almost as soon as the lights went out.

She was woken the next morning by Teresa’s shrill, upbeat voice. “Good morning Girls!” Rowan could hear the other girls getting up and moving around, and was tempted to just stay in bed and hope they forgot about her. Heaving herself upright with a sigh, she reached for her clothes; it would be difficult to escape if she just stayed in this room.

“Morning,” said Teresa, coming over to where Rowan was getting dressed. “Are you feeling better this morning?” her smile was saccharine, and Rowan couldn’t bring herself to return it.

“I’m ok.” She managed to reply, and Teresa seemed satisfied. Once they were all dressed, Teresa brought in the breakfast trays, assisted by Jareth, whom Rowan could see on guard outside the door. There was toast and a boiled egg, some orange juice and a paper cup with a couple of tablets in it. Rowan eyed them warily.

“It’s just some vitamin supplements,” said Teresa breezily as she handed over the tray,  but Rowan waited until Teresa turned her back and slid the tablets under a corner of her blanket. She wasn’t going to trust anything these people gave her; she wouldn’t be surprised if one was a sedative of some sort judging by how calm and compliant the other girls were. She ate and drank in silence, not knowing when she would get the opportunity again.

“Alright!” Teresa said once they had all finished. “First we will go to the wardrobe, and find your outfits for tonight. After that it will be the spa so you can get pampered and beautiful, then to hair and make-up so you will be looking your best for your husbands! We only have six hours, so we best get going!”

The other girls were twittering excitedly at this announcement, and quickly lined up at the door in a practiced fashion. Rowan joined on the end wondering how that could possibly take up six hours. Still, if they were moving around a lot there may be an opportunity to get away.

The wardrobe was impressive, and Rowan’s hope of wearing something frumpy and boring to appear as unattractive as possible was quickly squashed. The woman in the wardrobe (another human, Rowan assumed) quickly seized on Rowan’s colouring and chose some pretty dresses for her to wear. Rowan was half expecting them to be dressed in revealing stripper type clothes, but the dress that was finally settled on was actually nice. It was a pale blue, knee-length, sleeveless A-line dress, and it accentuated her figure and looked good against her bright copper toned hair. The other girls were equally well-dressed; the wardrobe woman certainly knew her job. 

Next they went to the “spa” which looked exactly like one would expect an upmarket spa to look. The only difference was the security guard that was stationed outside as they filed through the door. He looked stern and professional, but Rowan could see him watching them. The masseuses that she saw inside were all female, dressed in olive green tunics and were human, as far as she could tell. Were they all prisoners here? Did they know that the people they were giving treatments to had been kidnapped or was this just their job and they were oblivious?

Rowan was bathed and massaged then rubbed with scented oils, and she had never felt more like a piece of meat in her life. She still hadn’t managed to find a window to make her escape, they were herded from place to place by Jareth and Teresa, and there seemed to be males on guard at the doors to every place they went. By the time she was having her hair set into loose curls by the hairdresser Rowan was getting desperate.   

When they had all been styled, and had changed into their auction outfits, Jareth flanked by Teresa appeared in the doorway. “You all look lovely!” Teresa trilled, then clasped her hands in front of herself with an expression of glee.  “Time to go, there is a crowd growing already!”

Rowan felt her stomach drop in horror, and looked around at the others to see if they felt the same. All she could see from them was nerves and excitement, no sign of fear or disgust that they were about to be sold like cattle. Teresa motioned for the girls to follow, and they filed out into the hallway. Once again, Rowan hung back and was last through the door, trying frantically to think of something that would get her out of the situation.

This could be my last chance, she thought, and decided that she would make a break for it at a branch in the corridor that was coming up ahead. Heart in her mouth, she waited until the others had disappeared around the corner just in front of her, then ducked into the branch and began to run. Within seconds, she heard a gentle “stop” being uttered and nearly fell over with how quickly her feet obeyed. She hadn’t realised that Jareth was following a little way behind; she just assumed that he was up front with his wife.

“Follow the other girls to the viewing.” He said, and her body turned back and followed the corridor round to where the others had gone. Fighting the command enough to at least speak, she hissed “You bastard! How can you justify kidnapping girls to become…”

“Silence,” came the command, cutting her off mid-tirade. Blood boiling, she was forced to walk along sedately in silence. She was frightened, she realised, really frightened. She was about to be given to some “creature” and there was literally nothing she could do about it!