Chapter 1

TW (Trigger Warning)

"Dad, who are those men? Dad! Please! Please! Stop this! Don't hurt him!" I scream at them from behind the torn couch as these two pale men storm into our small home. they wear no masks on their terrifying faces. They are burned into my mind as they stare with crimson eyes. My father hadn't paid them back a large loan, he tried but he couldn't, there wasn't enough time. I watch as one smiles at me, sickeningly amused, at my distress as the other backs my father into a corner. Every move my father made was countered with unrecognizable speed and the sound of his anguish. I watched his bones break as if of their own accord. I knew the man was doing it somehow but I couldn't make out the blurring movement. The guy who stares, who smiles, at me takes three steps backward- never leaving my gaze as he stands before my broken father. He lifts his finger, he shows it to me as if I should marvel to it and then, slow enough for me to see every little movement, cut my father's throat with his fingernail. Behind him, I can see my father's blood is taken by the other pale monster, I couldn't watch so I turned my attention to the bloodthirsty eyes of the man walking towards me. His bloodied hand reaches for me, that smile still on his face.

ETW (End of Trigger Warning)

I gasp myself awake, the moans and whimpers of others beside me. I can see my breath in the chill of the morning. The dampness of our cell reeks of blood and sweat. The small brick-sized hole at the very top, too high for any of us to reach and too small to get out of, mocks us as birds chirp beyond it. I haven't had that nightmare in a long time, It's been years since I was kidnapped by those lifeless monsters. They were cruel but easily bored, they sold me to friends, and then I was sold from those friends to other friends over and over. I was traded for money, other slaves, things of desire like a baseball card. I hate them all. Vampires, shapeshifters, humans- anyone who does this is a monster. I'm weak and short-lived compared to most of my masters so I'm sold down a lot. I'm best used as entertainment, blood, or sexual pleasure. Tonight I'll be sold again to a new master, though it hardly matters to me.

My current master deals in us, we are his business. He conducts trades for other vampires, for a higher price he can match specific desires such as traits, looks, the number of previous owners. He also sells to the human scum, their sex slave industry is booming. He gets new entertainment for the vampires over their long repetitive existence, the humans get slaves of extreme talent and discipline. We don't need to be drugged- our masters never need drug us or make us weaker because no matter how strong we are- it will never be enough to rival them. Many of us sing, dance, perform magic tricks, anything to make us worth selling or keeping. If you are average you probably won't make it long enough to have cuts, one must be exceptional.

Some of the girls next to me are new, recently bought by my master. I can tell this is their first time serving under a vampire and they will need to learn much more here before being sold to one. Their wrists are bare, no cuts- rope burns and bruises but no cuts. Cuts are like our symbol. To feed our masters our blood, we must be careful to not be too close. We cut and bleed into glasses to serve them. If we are too reckless or close their frenzy may be the end of you- rather they intended it to be or not. These girls will learn different forms of performance, endurance, slave-like respect, how to properly bleed, and those who survive that process will be on the market. I have traveled down to him, it was quite the leap actually. I've typically bounced around in the vampiric society from a friend to friend- rarely through a seller. My master prior to him ran into some trouble with the Volturi, human slave-owning is illegal (despite them having human receptionists and people begging to be turned, which is sorta the same thing but anyway...) The hypocrites heard he may be possessing human slaves after he was involved in some large revolt (very convenient that the Volturi felt rivaled and then just happen to come across an illegal suspicion of that man, despite him having been a known owner for centuries...) so he had to sell me quickly and there is a no faster and least traceable method than a trader. I hear he is now on the run from them, but not for long. A trader never deals face to face so he is safe from the memory reader (which means we are also safe from them for now) but I have no doubt my previous master will die. I have learned much about their history from my service, the Volturi is the most feared coven in their sick society. Although, their existence of laws and lawmakers- regardless of hypocrisy- makes me question what the law-abiding ones are like. I don't think on it too much though, to think I got the shit end of fates coin toss twice, in both societies, is the gateway to a very negative mind space that I can't afford to fall into.

Tonight I will meet my buyer but for now, I just sit and listen to the birds as best I can. Their chirps mixing with the cries of my cellmates.