The Prince's Choice

Chapter 2: Auction

Arabella's P.O.V

My arms ache as they're bound behind my back tightly, and the constant sharp turns that the truck's making, sends me flying into the hard metal beside me.

The men grabbed each girl on my floor, tied our wrists together, and shipped us off in large trucks like cattle.

Georgina's beside me and I notice that she's visibly shaking with fear, tears are welled up in her eyes and all I want to do is give her a hug but these barbarians won't even allow me to do that.

"Hey, it's okay Georgina. We all knew this day was coming and now we just have to get through these next two weeks." The strong reassuring front I was putting on was starting to c***k.

"How can you say that? I mean, maybe it will be okay for you but not for me. In the last test I barely got a five and apparently there's problems with my ability to conceive children. I'm scared Arabella. I'm going to end up in the labs, I just know it." A small sob came out of her mouth, as she began to silently cry and all I could do was watch her break.

The truck came to a sudden halt, making all the girls jerk forward. I try to stifle the small laugh that comes out of my mouth as Ivy tumbles onto the floor.

"My hair," She cries and it baffles how she can think of such trivial matters at  this time.

Unfortunately for me, Lilia was placed in a separate truck. Her last words to me were we will meet again, and at this moment I'm not too sure about that.

The steel doors to the trucks swing open, revealing a very muscular bearded man and a tall lanky bald man, complete opposites to each other.

"Girls move!" The bearded one's deep voice boomed, echoing throughout the truck. The girls began to squeal and scream as they were forced off the truck and thrown outside.

My turn came fast and the bald man grabbed ahold of my bare arm with his sweaty palm, and threw me towards the hard ground, but before I could fall Carly grabbed me.

I was so thankful that I had a friend with me in this moment and she took my hand in hears, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

She was always the mother of the group, despite being one of the youngest. She just has that maternal aura around her and she always made sure everyone was alright. In fact, she couldn't sleep until the rest of us already were.

"It's okay Ari," She whispered softly, wiping a fallen tear off my cheek. In all the commotion, I didn't even realise I was crying.

The whole thing was beginning to register in my mind. I was going to be sold. Sold or become a human incubator, either one was a horrible fate.

"Let's go!" Another man shouted, making the the two men from before push us into what looked liked, a black crate. We were told to stand in a line formation and Carly was standing in front of me, her hand still tightly gripping mine.

A few minutes passed and eventually it was Carly's turn. She walked up to the spindly woman sitting behind a wooden desk. She was wearing thin narrow glasses, a pastel blue cardigan over her sky blue dress and had a bleak expression on her face.

They exchanged a few words, before the woman pointed to the right. A guard, leaning against the wall, came forward and grabbed her arm taking her away.

She looked back at me one last time and gave me a half-hearted smile, before disappearing into the darkness. I moved to take a step forward, when a guard placed his hand in-front of me.

"Wait." He ordered, making me freeze in my steps. His whole face was plain and cold, showing no sign of emotion whatsoever.

Now that I was standing at the front, I could see their entire set up.

The woman and her desk were stationed right in the middle, of the room I had previously mistaken for as a crate, guards were lined on either side of us, preventing any chance of escape, but what was behind the woman was the most interesting part.

There was a clear sheet hung behind her, making everything seem blurred but the sheet only covered the area behind the woman, the only part we could see, so the uncovered parts seemed to lead to total darkness, making me even more terrified since every girl who's talked to this woman has ended up walking into it.

"Next," Her nasally voice rang in my ears loudly, making me cringe.

"Name." She stated, without even glancing up at me.

"Arabella." My voice was timid and shy, unusual considering how loud and abrupt I usually am, but right now I feel like I may burst into tears anytime now.

"Dorm number."

"10." I whispered and she nodded absentmindedly. It looked as though she found my name as she highlighted something .

"Room 9, walk to the right please." I was shocked that she actually had manners. She seemed so insensitive to the situation right now, but I'm guessing she's been through this process a number of times, so it doesn't faze her anymore.

That's wrong though, it should. It should bother her that she's helping girls be auctioned off.

A guard grabbed my arm and began leading me into the darkness. I closed my eyes, not knowing what to expect next, when suddenly bright lights shone down on me. I peeked through my semi open eyelids and slowly began to relax, as I took it all in.

It wasn't scary at all. In fact, it seemed like... a doctor's waiting room.

To the left there were five doors, each with the numbers 1-5 on them, and to my right, were four with the numbers 6-9 stuck on. There was a chair outside each door, and a girl patiently sitting on each one, except number nine.

"Wait here. Don't try to run, don't speak and only get up when the doctor opens the door. Understood." I nodded, wanting the scary man to leave now.

I let out a breath of relief, when he left, thinking that I'm slightly safer now, considering the only people around me are the girls. Each one is silent, a couple playing with their fingers, some plainly staring at the floor.

I glanced to my right and saw Carly, two seats down, gnawing on her nails, like she always did when she was scared and anxious

Suddenly the door next to me swung open, sending a gush of wind to hit me. A man wearing a pair for oval glasses and a stethoscope around his neck, popped his head out.

"Come in." My legs worked on their own as I got up, out of my seat, and walked into his office.

It seemed like a standard doctors office with a patient bed in the corner, a desk opposite and a couple of drawers probably holding his equipment.

He gestured for me to sit on the bed and once I was he came over holding a small flashlight between his fingers.

"Eyes wide," I followed his orders and he began checking my pupils, then he measured me, recorded my weight and did a few more routine tests that we usually did back at the school.

He checked my cervix and made sure that I was fertile. I pray that I am otherwise, I'm screwed.

He kept inputting information into his computer and then wrote down a number on a large piece of paper. He stood up and took several strides over to me. Giving me a tight lipped smile, he spun me around and taped the paper to my back.

"Don't look. You'll find out your score later." He ordered but I was curious as to what the number was.

You know what they say though, curiosity killed the cat, and I definitely prefer to be breathing than dead with a bullet between my eyes.

I'm well aware of the consequences for disobeying orders from staff, having witnessed them first hand last year when Molly, one of my close friends, decided to try and escape on one of our morning runs.

It didn't take long for a guard to catch her and she was executed in front of all of us as a reminder of what happens when you try to escape.

"You're done. Head out through that door and there should be a woman there. She'll tell you what to do next." He gave me a pat on the back and he gently pushed me out the door, wishing me luck. Sick bastard.

I was now in a small box room, barely big enough to fit four people in. There were racks of underwear on either side of the room and pairs of heels standing under it, in perfectly neat lines. 

"Turn." The woman in front of me looked and sounded  just as cruel as the first one. I heard a scoff when she looked at my number, instantly making me paranoid and anxious.

"Dress." She threw a pair of lace panties and a matching bra, into my arms. She continued to just stare at me, arms crossed and her foot tapping on the floor impatiently.

"Quick." This woman wanted me to strip in front of her, a total complete stranger. I mean sure, I used to get dressed in front of the girls at the school all the time, but they were my friends. The only form of family I've ever known.

After a minute of not moving she sighed, rolled her eyes and finally turned around, giving me a drop of privacy and dignity. I quickly pulled my blue dress over my head and dropped it onto the floor.

I unhooked my bra and quickly put the other one, on in its place. I dropped my panties and slipped on the other pair, which was more like a thong really.

"Done." My voice sounded feeble and the woman spun on her heels and grabbed my old clothes. She eyed my necklace, so I placed my hand over it to keep it from view. Throwing them into a basket, she gave me a look of disgust and washed her hands with sanitiser.

I'm not gonna lie and say I didn't feel a little offended. Sure I'm from the academy  but it's not like I've got a disease or anything. Jeez.

"You girls really need to learn to just suck it up and strip. I don't really want to look at your body anyway, and if you think it's hard stripping in front of me, god wait until the auctions." She cackled to herself and I chose to ignore her rude comment.

"Okay, I'm going to write down your score on this piece of paper. When you walk through that door, hand it over to the guard and then follow his instructions." She scribbled my score down onto a small piece of paper and then practically forced it into my hands.

"Congratulations, you have one of the highest scores this year." My eyes widened when I took in the numbers.

9.3, woah. I can't believe I got a score that high. Wait a minute, the doors. Each one had a number and mine had nine, that must have been what each girl scored.

Oh crap, I feel bad for for those girls who sat opposite me. Especially Zoey, she was sat outside door number one.

She was always the sweetest girl and I never saw a frown on her face until today. God, I curse whoever made up this stupid auction house.

The woman grabbed my arm, digging her sharp nails into me, piercing the skin, and opened the door that was behind her.

Bright lights hit my eyes, blinding me for a moment, until I was pushed inside the next room. It was definitely larger than the last one and there was a line of girls, all wearing the same lingerie as me, with black hoods over their heads.

"Paper." The guard next to me said bluntly and I passed him the paper that was now crumpled up. He read the number and then waved another guard over.

He took ahold of my arm with his gloved hand and pulled towards the start of the line. He pushed two of the girls aside, to make room for me, and forced me stand in between them.

Pulling a black hood out of his pocket, he covered my head with it. My vision was officially gone and all I could do now was stand and wait in the dark.

I could feel the girl next to me shaking, as if she'd just seen a ghost, and the other was standing straight, not moving a muscle.

Loud footsteps was all I heard, walking back and forth until they finally stopped. I felt a cold hand on my shoulder and by instinct I flinch but then quickly recovered and stood still. It was better to take it, than fight.

Suddenly, the hood was yanked off my head and I saw that the same thing was happening to all the other girls.

There was man stood watching us all carefully. It was clear that he different from the other guards. He seemed more prestige and wealthy, in his clean crisp suit and shiny black loafers.

He walked up and down a couple more times, his scrutinising gaze lingering on me for a few more seconds than the rest. His hand was rubbing his chin, as if he was deep in thought and he continued to stare at us all for a little while longer.

Finally, he walked away to the main guard and whispered something in his ear. Their eyes both landed on me, making me gulp in fear.

Was this it? Was this the man who was going to be my husband? The man who bought me?

The smartly dressed man made his way over to me, within a couple of strides, and bent down so he was my height.

"Congratulations, you've been selected to take part in the coming of age competition." Oh s**t, were my last thoughts, before someone pressed something against my mouth causing me to black out.