1 Down The Rabbit Hole
The evening was beginning to fade into the darkness of night.
Amidst the air of joy and laughter, there was a girl who shared neither of those emotions. Her eyes were tired and a little lost in their own thoughts.
Anna was a small florist in the capital, too busy and exhausted from her day to feel joy within the city which shackled her into a dirt poor life simply because of her blood.
That’s just how the demons were, shoving the humans at the very bottom ever since they conquered old kingdoms and brought in their wicked laws.
The sky remained the same, the same stars shone and the same soothing breeze whispered but when Anna stepped out from the city walls, the golden lights gradually faded into the darkness of a forgotten land.
A sigh left her and a small smile spread over her lips.
Her eyes were grim as she inhaled the calming scent of the land untainted by demons.
Their cities were always too bright for her, too suffocating.She left the abandoned path and ventured deeper inside the woods. She had to get back home as soon as possible.
Her thoughts wandered to her mother as her grip around her thin coat tightened. She can not afford any surprise visit from the bandits.
Her mother’s health had worsened in recent weeks and the medicines were not easy to find when they had to live secluded from society.
The price left a hole in Anna's pockets but this was one of the few occasions where she didn’t care about the money.
She only wished her mother to be well, to be as bright and joyous as before. No matter how unlikely it seemed.
Anna paused.
A strange scent lingered in the air, it was faint but she always had a sharp sense of smell. It took her a while to notice the faint stench of blood, mixed with smoke and something weird…cheap beer?
She hesitated before taking a few steps towards the direction of the stench, and it grew immensely. Her fingers were cold as she cursed under her breath.
Someone must be hurt.
Her pace quickened and it was soon that she stumbled across the place. There was a dim light shrouded behind some bushes.
A faint warm glow made her slow down. The scent was coming from that direction, but there were also some voices that made her cautious.
She slipped within the shadows of trees and peered at the two people from behind the bushes.
There was a campfire flickering weakly, casting shadows upon two drunken men. They were both exhausted, and one of them had a concerning wound on the side of his neck. A copper band on their wrist marked them as slave traders.
Anna cautiously took a step back.
Behind them, there was a cage that trapped a raven. It seemed to be sleeping peacefully but the feathers were soaked in so much blood that it was hard to tell where it even came from. The small eyes slightly opened, as if sensing her presence.
One of the men burst out laughing, “Why the long face? We’re going to be rich!”
His companion with a literally long face groaned in annoyance, “That crow almost ripped my neck!”
"Which ordinary crow can do this? It's a raven. They are such a rarity!"
Anna’s eyes widened in shock and she glanced at the bird. It looked back at her with grief evident in those dark small eyes as if pleading her for help.
The grinning man shook his head and continued with a proud smile.
"In the old lores, they say ravens are magical. We can sell it to some witch―"
Long face deadpanned, “You will be burned along with her.”
“Oh come on, someone will definitely pay big for it!”
"Do you really think that this is worth—”
The man trailed off when he glanced at the cage. It was empty and the door was still slightly swinging.
The two men were too stunned to speak.
Anna sprinted through the hurdled path. She had wrapped the raven in her scarf and held it close to her in order to ensure its safety. If anything happened to it, she wouldn’t be able to get a good price.
As for what happened after she sold it, well, that was in the hands of gods.
She let out a breath of relief as a dimly lit cottage came into her view. It was worn down and shabby, with a tendency of always carrying some inextinguishable cold. But her home has always been like that.
Those thoughts had barely entered her mind when she noticed a strong scent of alcohol in the air. She turned around and something flickered in the darkness between those trees.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as Anna took a step back. She spun around, ready to run, but a hand roughly gripped her arm, the other clasped around her mouth.
Her eyes widened in terror as she tried to struggle and free herself with her clammy hands.
But she couldn't even breathe, everything happened too quickly. Her screams of help were suffocated into silence as the darkness engulfed her in a cold, frightening embrace.
* * *
Anna was shackled in chains of cold rusted iron. Her body was sore, and the dull ache of her head throbbed every time she tried to move.
A shaky breath left her lips as she clenched her cold fingers tightly.
It was hard to tell how much time passed but she was woken up with a splash of cold water, and then she was forced to wear a plain but clean gown. Her hair was properly combed and she was made 'presentable'.
As Anna glanced at the iron chains around her wrist, tears of raw fear and anger glistened in her eyes.
The humans that somehow managed to live away from the wickedness of demons, would often be brought down by the cruelty of their kind.
She was in an auction house.
Where her dark cell ended, a vast stage spread out.
The auctioneer, Makrov, stood proudly in the center as he addressed his customers. Most of them were humans who were tasked to buy slaves and goods for their demon masters, but a few demons of lower hierarchy could also be seen.
"And now, my dear ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present our new slave! She is from the capital and knows all the ins and outs of the city. This slave is in her ripe age and most importantly, she is an untouched virgin!"
Anna was pushed on the stage, wearing nothing but a thin gown. The gazes of buyers took her in a scrutinizing way that made her feel as if she was bared.
She had a decent build, with curves that were neither too slender nor too curvy. Her skin was devoid of any scar and her long wavy hair was in an uncommon shade of blonde. They seemed to be kissed by the soft hues of autumn.
It was not a sight normally seen and thus the interest of the buyers was piqued.
Anna kept her gaze lowered like an obedient slave as she walked slowly to the front of the stage. The auctioneer had said something that caused whispers of anticipation to rise within the crowd.
Walking alone across the broad stage made her feel small and vulnerable. The eyes of bidders watched her every step, there was curiosity and some interest in those eyes but there were also those that had already undressed her with their disgusting gazes.
Anna finally stopped in front of Makrov, there was a small pause, and then she lifted her eyes as blue as the vast ocean, with the hints of a mystic green.
A gush of silence swept through the hall.
She stood tall and looked at the crowd with a straight face and her crossed eyes.
The auction came to an early end that evening, five of the remaining slaves weren’t sold. They all had one thing in common with Anna, they had shared hushed words and they all carried some form of wickedness in their nature.
Makrov can not understand what exactly happened, but he had been in the market for enough time and he had met all kinds of slaves. The stubborn ones, the ones that won't stop whimpering, as well as those that were sly.
His lips twitched as he furiously counted his earnings. There was a loss of three hundred gold!
The strange incidents have only started after that certain girl was brought up.
‘That girl!’
Makrov cackled up as he found his answer, shaking from laughter that burst out from him as his gaze landed upon Anna making her fight a shudder. A wide grin stretched upon his lips as he approached her.
Emma, a fellow unsold slave whispered to her, “And here I thought you were the crazy one.”
Anna muttered an unholy curse as she took a step back.
But then his whip ripped through the air, lashing down on her lower back like a sharp blade as it brought Anna to her knees. The pain flared hot against her skin, making her eyes barely hold back tears.
Makrov bellowed, "You need to be disciplined!"
