Hearts And Daggers: His Bleeding Obsession

SOLD

Reflexively, I bit the hand and hit the person in the abdomen. The person's grip on me loosened, and I turned to see the person's crouched figure. It was a man.

I wanted to hit him again, but I froze when he raised his head.

A smile tugged at his lips.

"I knew you'd recognize me; it's me, your cousin, Lovian; you remember me, right," he said, standing up but still holding his abdomen.

"Lovian?..how did you get in here? How did you know where I live? How did you.."

" Calm down, Ava, one question at a time. You know I'm a street guy; I asked around and was told you live here; I came here and met your roommate; she let me in before she left", he said with a smile.

I stared at him, still shocked. I've not seen him since he visited me seven years ago, but it was good to see him. We used to be buddies in crime back then.

"I've missed you." I wrapped my hands around him, and he hugged back with a chuckle.

"Though, next time you come, tell me first. What brings you around anyway? I know there has to be something else", I asked when I pulled away.

His expression subtly became more serious.

"When last did you hear from your parents?" he queried, and the question almost threw me into the panic cause, truth be told, it's been a while.

"What's wrong? Is anything wrong with them?" I asked, grabbing his hand.

He looked at me sympathetically; I knew something was wrong.

"Why haven't they called me yet?"

"Your dad is dying, Vee. Your parents sold all they had to deal with his ailment, but he's still only getting worse. They wanted to call you but didn't want to cause they said they didn't want to disturb you. I think it's trash; he needs to see his daughter before he dies. Come see how horrible he looks", Lovian said, pulling out his phone.

The pictures he showed me caused my heart to bleed. I couldn't believe my parents were going through all this and refused to tell me. Though I had a fault too, not calling them, but it was cause I've been really busy recently.

"I'll write to my school, take some time off. Does Aunty know about this?" I said weakly and tried to locate a chair, so I don't collapse to the floor. The tears were already begging to fall.

"She doesn't, and there's no time for that. Already got a flight ready for us, leaving in an hour; your pops is going anytime soon", he said hurriedly, and my head snapped in his direction.

"What?"

"Yeah, you can call your friend, tell her you gotta go for about a week; they can fill in for you or whatever; no one would know you're gone," he reasoned, but I shook my head. It was too sudden.

"Do this for him. He'd be so happy to see you; I wanted to surprise him", he said softly, a crack in his voice, and I felt touched by his concern.

"Okay, let me call Aunty first."

"No time for that; you can call her on the plane; call your friend instead," he pinned, and I nodded. I didn't understand the rush, but I complied.

When I dialed Chandra's number, I heard her phone ring in the room. She forgot her phone here.

"Damn it, well.. write to her instead then, and pack up, no time", he commanded impatiently.

I looked around for pen and paper and began writing a letter for her; she'd meet it here. When I was done, I began packing up. Lovian helped, and when I was done, he helped me out of the apartment to a car waiting for us.

I wondered when he ordered a taxi; maybe I didn't see him when he did. On our way to the airport, we engaged in a hearty discussion. I had to lie to him about my work cause I was too ashamed to say what I did to earn money.

We got to the airport and were soon on our way to Russia. Several gruesome hours later, we finally arrived, and I couldn't be any happier; my bones were already crying.

A friend of Lovian's was already waiting to pick us up upon our arrival. As we drove through the country, I tried to call up my memories of home but couldn't. I've been away for so long that I almost don't remember anything anymore.

After a few more hours of driving, we finally arrived home. I looked around the dark neighborhood, soaking it all in. I never got to know the environment cause I had to flee almost as soon as I got here.

I made my way into the house, but as soon as I did, I froze in fear and confusion.

Some men were holding both my parents at gunpoint. My dad looked healthy but, at the moment, oddly pale from fear. So did my mum, who was already shedding tears.

My eyes searched around for Lovian, and I saw him sitting on our chairs, cross-legged. His eyes held something wicked, purely evil.

"Lovian what's going on? I thought you said Dad was sick. You lied to me? But the pictures?" I queried, unsure if my eyes were deceiving me or not.

"Well, look what we have here, so you kept to your word and managed to lure her here," a voice said, and my gaze was directed to a short, elderly-looking man walking in with some goons behind him.

"What is going on? Who are you?" I asked and turned to face my parents, "Mom, Dad, do you know him?.. Lovian?"

A disgusting chuckle escaped Lovian's lips, capturing my attention.

" Isn't it obvious? You fell into my trap. I used your parents to lure you here so I can sell you off and make money. He's hosting an auction, and he's a little low on girls this year, so I told him I'd get him one. Isn't that right, Don?" Lovian replied, making his way to stand in front of me.

" Indeed, and I think I made quite a beautiful bargain; you'll fetch me a lot of money at the auction; bring her along," he said, touching my face and turning to go, but Lovian's men prevented the other men from touching me.

"Not so fast, don my money," Lovian said, obstructing the short man's path.

The short man didn't look too pleased.

"Of course..you, give him what he wants." the man pointed to a man beside him, and they placed two huge bags filled with money in front of Lovian. I could see the greed in Lovian's eyes dance for joy; in that instant, I hated him. I can't believe he could do this to me.

"You're horrible, Lovian, utterly despicable. How can you do this to your cousin, family?" my mum cried out, but Lovian only rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, we both know Ava is adopted, so technically, she has no family," Lovian said, then turned to me, "Bye, cousin," he picked up the bags and proceeded towards the door. His words pierced through me sharper than any knife could, so he knew all this while. Maybe that's why he could do this to me; I'm not family.

Lovian's men holding me captive gave me over to the short man's men and began heading towards the door thereafter, but in the blink of an eye, Lovian collapsed to the ground.

His men followed suit, one after the other, and then I understood what was happening. The don double-crossed them; he shot them down before they could leave with the money. I don't even know if I should be glad that this happened to him or not.

"Ah...it's a pity it had to be this way, such a cunning boy, loved doing business with him, but I guess it ends today", the short man said before turning to face me.

"Don't worry, your parents will live," he stated before walking out of the living room that was now full of dead bodies.

I was again in a position where I had no power over my circumstances. My eyes caught a glimpse of my parents. My mum was still crying, but unfortunately, they couldn't do anything. If they did, they'd be killed, and I'd still be taken away; there's no point, so I couldn't blame them.

"We'll be praying for you," my mum shouted; then I felt something being pulled over my face, followed by a choking smell.

Slowly but surely, my consciousness slipped out of my grip, and I felt myself being whisked away. Darkness was all I could see a while later.

****************

At first, all my senses could process was the chilly air that bit hard on my skin. Then, slowly, my memories rushed to me, and I held back tears, having processed them all. I've been sold.

I tried sitting up and removing some strands of my hair plastered to my face, and that's when a realization hit me. I've been stripped of every article of clothing, and I'm lying on the cold, bare floor naked.

Petrified, I tried standing, but my leg brushed over a warm leg, and then I sensed a presence in the room; I wasn't alone.

Abruptly, I heard a metal door creaking, followed by a flood of light that streamed into the dark room, piercing my sight. Standing at the door were several heavily built men, and they rushed into the room, dragging some people up the floor, women.

One grabbed me by the hand and helped me to my feet before pushing me forward to join a line of ladies walking in front of me.

What petrified me the most was the fact that all of us were nude, but we were being escorted to God knows where, by men!

We slowly moved through a dimly illuminated hallway into a very bright and busy room. Several people were running around, making the place look rowdy and disorganized.

Some women were wearing clothes, if I could call it that. It was made of a transparent fabric I knew too well; it hid nothing when worn. A few men and women were helping them with their hair and makeup, making them look like whores, and I guess I would soon too.

"This is the special batch; they're all tested and proven to still have their hymen intact," one of the men leading us said out loud.

My knees became wobbly when I heard that they had carried out virginity tests on us while we were unconscious. That means...I shook my head to dislodge the thought; I don't think my heart can take it.

"Fabulous! Don't worry, gentlemen, I'll take it from here", a crossdresser said to us. He reminded me of John, the man Madame Belle employed to teach us pole dancing.

The heavily built men walked away one after the other, the last one closing the door behind him and leaving us with this man.

"Come along, ladies, take a seat; my boys will attend to you," he led us further into the very large dressing room.

I looked back to see if I could possibly find a way to escape, but standing on either side of the door were large men armed with guns, so I thought against it.

Facing forward, a man grabbed my hand and led me to a corner; then, he tossed the transparent dress at me. From the look on his face, I knew he expected me to wear it, and I did so wordlessly.

Oddly, I noticed that I didn't see any man look lustfully upon any of the women around me, and they were all beautiful women. It was like they were used to seeing it, unmoved.

When I was done, he rolled over a chair to face me, and I sat down obediently. He straightened my hair with an iron comb and quickly helped me with my makeup.

"Done," he waved, and when I looked at who he waved at, I saw another buffed man walking up to me. He grabbed my arm roughly and led me to a line of women.

The line moved slowly, but soon enough, I was behind a huge curtain, and I could hear some voices behind it, like roaring, drunk men.

Everything playing out in front of me reminded me of the strip club, though then, I had my own free will, kinda.

"Bring in number one hundred and nine," a voice boomed from in front of me. The goon beside me pushed me through the curtain, leading me to a wide podium.

A man wearing a green suit stood, waiting for me with a wide smile. I had expected to see the short man who killed Lovian, but I saw this stranger instead. The goon pushed me forward, his grip still firm on my arm.

I looked around the lavish hall only to meet more unfamiliar faces; no more than about fifty people were present.

They all looked like distinguished men, drunk maybe but of no mean status, regardless.

"Now let's begin with this one, an American citizen but of Russian heritage. Twenty-five years old", the man said in a disembodied voice.

I wondered how the man knew all that about me. When I turned to face him, I noticed a tiny chip in his ear; someone must have told him all that. That made sense.

"There's an added; she's untouched, so her worth is increased," he said, causing goosebumps on my skin and the crowd to cheer.

Chatter and whistles filled my ears, increasing my anxiety. Virgins seemed to be given a higher preference in gatherings like this.

"We start at 1 million dollars."

With the announcement of the host, people started bidding.

"Five million"

"Ten million"

As the people bid up, I became more and more nervous. My eyes stung with tears, and I could feel a trace of stoic resentment rise inside of me.

"50 million," the auction fell silent.

"Anyone with a higher bid?" the auctioneer called, but the entire hall maintained its pin-drop silence.

"Fifty million. Going once. Going twice. Sold to Lord Ronov Zladimir", the auctioneer announced. My breath hung in my lungs when I heard that name. Wasn't that the name of the man at the club?

My eyes rummaged through the hall, searching for him, and then they caught a television screen to my right. When I looked at it, I saw him. Seated regally with a proud smile on his face.