We All Started Somewhere [pg13]

[elle]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/mtqyde.png] Whatever happened to get her into this predicament? She did nothing to deserve this. Had she really been such a bad person? She was a little *****y at times, sure, but everyone had their moments. Maybe she had been some really horrible person in a past life, or maybe God had some sick, twisted sense of humor. Or maybe none of that. Maybe there were just some really terrible people in this world and they just wanted to see some pain and suffering. Her pain and suffering. And suffer she had. Although, so far she hadn't yet been forced to deal with physical pain. Strangely enough, her captors seemed reluctant to touch her at all. They treated her, she thought, much like a very expensive, exotic dog. If one hair was left out of place, she might not be worth as much. No, the physical suffering wasn't a problem; it was the mental pain she dealt with. She knew exactly what she was. After that fateful night, she had been reluctant to utter that word, though she knew what it was. She always knew. Slave. She was a slave. She was meant to be sold to someone else and thus become their slave. And perhaps they would then sell her to yet another person and she would become their slave, or perhaps they would be merciful and kill her now. No, of course they wouldn't. She was like the magnum opus of slaves. In all the documentaries she'd watched or in all the stories she'd read, she had never seen a slave that looked like her. She was gorgeous. Even now, with her hair matted and her tattered clothes hanging loosely to her small body, she still managed to appear gorgeous. Perhaps that was why she had been targeted. She couldn't remember much - it must have been a self-defense mechanism, really - but she could remember that she was yelling at her mother. Yet another fight. After which, she stormed out of the house and... then what? Maybe she was hit with something? Everything seemed to fade to black after that. When she came to, she was lying in a crate of sorts, feeling the floor rock and sway beneath her. She was on a boat to some godforsaken island that she'd never heard of full of horrible monsters the likes of which nightmares were made of. Still, she carried on, unable or unwilling to face the truth that she may never escape. In her mind there still rested one small spec of hope, and that was enough to inspire her to keep fighting. As of now, she still didn't have much of an idea where she was. They had come through a town and entered a strange, old-looking building, though she couldn't be certain about what it was used for or who used it. The shackles around her arms restricted her movement a bit, though she was still able to hug her mid section tightly as she shivered. However, it wasn't the cold that caused her to shiver. There was a feeling growing inside of her. A feeling that something truly terrible was going to happen.

[Я Є Đ WOLF]

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[bg=332929] White never really got into the slave trade. Sure, he did it. He did a lot of things mom wouldn’t be proud of, but hell, it was good money. And that’s why he’d even bothered with the slave business. Money. There was a lot of it in selling someone – never knew why. Maybe people liked being all superior around other people? He didn’t give a crap, and it'd had been legal for all most his life anyways, so it wasn’t anything like selling guns – which everyone hated you for – or selling liquor – which was considered a damn sin no matter where you went. Kinda a happy medium. Oh, and it helped to have people around when you had the diet he had. Not sofun stalking around like some goddamn animal looking for food, especially on an island where people were scarce enough. Much easier to skim off the top of shipments and make up for the losses in sales. Less work, still payed. Everyone won. Except maybe the slaves, but he didn’t really notice them much. Slaves were like kids. Not as important as everyone else, but worth something, so it didn’t hurt to be decent. Still people. Hell, humans were more people to him than any of the freaks that pretended to walk on two legs around here. But they weren’t customers, and they weren’t interesting, so for the most part he didn’t strike up conversation and they didn’t screw around with him. Which was funny, considering. "Hmmm, well..." White thought to himself, staring at the girl the two men had brought in. Not his "men" though. His "men" were sleeping right now - middle of the goddamn day. Price you paid for doing business with humans, but it wasn't so bright an idea to send a couple of vampires out looking for a specific slave. That's how you lose shipments. Damn weak excuses for it, too. "This better be the one," the man on the left said. "I'm not coming down here anymore. What are those holes in the walls anyways?" White chuckled a bit. People nowdays really were out of touch, but he guessed they wouldn't come down here if they knew. "Ever heard of a catacomb?" "Like where bees put their honey?" White, taking the time to light himself a cigarette, just shrugged. Sure. Honeycomb. That worked too. His wandering thoughts going back to the girl, he took a deep draw of smoke and thought. And thought. "...is this one of those vampire things?" White shook his head, mutely. The hell kind of people did he hire to do this again? Weren't patient enough to let him even finish a thought. No wonder it took this long to make any progress. ****ers barely knew up from down. Oh well. In the end it all panned out. "Right, she'll do." "Finally," the man said. "Now when do we get paid?" Oh. So that's why he hired them. Taking in the calming smell of the smoke, White weighed the pros and cons of actually committing to this. The cinder crackled just above silence at the end of the cigarette... before he dropped it and stamped it out. "Tell you what," he said, "Drop the leash and run, and I might not crush your skulls in." You can always tell the slow ones from the quick ones. They're the ones that think it's a joke first. Then, after it sinks in, they gawk for a few seconds before fully getting it. And then they run. White waited until he couldn't hear the footsteps to take out another cigarette and turn to the girl. "Weird how easy that's getting." A hundred years ago, and they'd have at least brought a cross...

[elle]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/mtqyde.png] She stood there waiting, the desire to run rising with each passing second. If only she hadn't been smart enough to know that there was no way she could have escaped, she might have actually tried it. Now, she just stood where they had stopped, her arms tightening around her waist, trying to keep herself from shivering. This was getting to be too much. She was frightened, her arms and legs were sore, and she was too tired to even want to stand there any longer. By the time someone did come to meet them - it could have been minutes or hours later for all she knew - she had to wonder whether she should keep quiet and just watch, or if she should already complain about the conditions she'd been kept in. She decided to bite her tongue and settled on staring daggers at the man instead. Evidently, it was a good plan. For one, she got to find out what kind of creatures she was dealing with here. Vampires. Great. Not that that knowledge really did much for her. She didn't have a cross or garlic or anything. As he frightened the men who had brought her into leaving without their money, she watched them go with a slight smile on her face. They weren't the nicest people, and she didn't feel a shred of sympathy for them. Then again, they were human. And now she had just been left in a building that was apparently infested with vampires. Vampires sucked blood, right? Human blood? Suddenly very wary of her surrounding and curious as to what this man could possibly want with her, she swallowed hard and turned back to him just as he muttered something about how easy it was getting. Blinking, she fought the desire to step back, even as her mind raced with horrible thoughts of what he could want with her. Was she just going to be fodder for the vampires? Or maybe she was just going to be another sex slave. Could vampires even have sex? Different mythologies said different things. Maybe she'd get lucky and just end up as a house slave. Wait... no. This was ridiculous. Hoping and praying about the type of slave she'd become? What was wrong with her? "What are you going to do with me?" Finally, she couldn't take waiting any longer. She needed to know what was going to happen to her. Then maybe she could start thinking about how she could get away... no, that was no good. Maybe it was best to sit and wait. For now.

[Я Є Đ WOLF]

[atrb=width,470,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][bg=332929] So tired... It really was a pain to get up this early. What the hell time was it, three? He used to like afternoons too. Now it was like he had some kinda hangover or something; and nothin' he knew about cured this one. Sure, he'd cheered up for the two morons, but you weren't really threatening if you yawned halfway through the actual threat part. ...or maybe he didn't need to be so threatening. White breathed in some of the smoke, shaking his head. No real grasp of the spooky these days. Flash a gun, and there's a fight everyone's sure they can win. Snarl out something scary and suddenly you're invincible, tired or not. Funny thing is, it didn't used to be that way. A fancy looking sword could top any vampire way back when, and there was some sense in it too. Swords were long and sharp and hurt when you got run through with them. Vampires ran from garlic. Seemed like an easy choice. "What?" An' that's another thing about this light stuff... People thought so damn fast during the day. He wasn't the same sharp nail now as he was at night. And still, all these questions. "What's that?" "Where's my money?" "What's happening?" He really didn't care enough to figure any of them out. Not usually, and sure as hell not now. So with a shrug, he tried to come up with something that at least made sense if he said it out loud. "Right now? You're coming with me." Okay, that sounded decent enough. He'd avoided upstairs because he was convinced the lower in the ground he got, the less the headache hurt, but where he needed to go now was upstairs. There were enough rooms up there. He was sure he could throw her in one of them until it got dark, then figure things through more. And that's exactly what he did. "Right. Let's go," he said, but he left the chains on the ground, ignored.

[elle]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/mtqyde.png] She didn't dare ignore his orders, so she followed as he led her up the stairs, though her arms were crossed over her chest and she scowled at the ground all the way. She was still scared, sure, but she was also upset and annoyed over being made into a slave, and that annoyance was beginning to show. It wasn't right. People didn't make beautiful people into slaves. Wherever she was staying had better be nice, at least. It would be a travesty to treat someone like her so poorly. Hopefully, he already knew that. After all, she hadn't yet been threatened or anything like she assumed a typical slave owner would do. Also, she began to wonder about what kind of a vampire this guy was. Wasn't there something about them not being able to go out in the sunlight? Or maybe that was a myth. She hadn't really met many vampires in the past. Not that she knew of, at least. Although, she had read plenty of vampire literature, and they all seemed adamant about that sunlight thing. "Shouldn't you be catching fire or blowing up or something." She muttered it mostly to herself, as she was still unwilling to act so confrontational towards him just yet. After all, he hadn't done anything to her yet and she didn't want to risk anything like that happening. However, she was still curious, and she had no one to ask her questions to aside from him. She had plenty more questions to ask too, such as where the hell she was and what, if anything, could kill her while she was here. And an actual answer to what the hell he wanted with her would be nice. Maybe he didn't even know what he wanted. That thought made her scowl even more at the ground. If you're looking for slave as good looking as her, you should really think things through before you commit to anything. Or maybe she would just be for show, which wouldn't be so bad, all things considered.

[Я Є Đ WOLF]

[atrb=width,470,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][bg=332929] Three and a half months now. Is that how long it was since he'd seen Crane around? ****, and that was a long time for him to go on without whining too. Always had something to ***** about. But considering what Crane looked like the last they met... He'd just lost his castle, his little kingdom of a freakshow, and Mike. From what White picked up, that was all Crane cared about. Especially Mike. And White'd been around soon after that'd happened too. People start pointing guns at him and he starts figuring out what the hell happened. He was told no one knew about Crane's little kids, and yet there he was with the damn military breathing down his neck. White snorted, annoyed. So much for "safe." The hell was he supposed to run a business if he was picked up by human police? Much less the nasty crawlers down at mythical central. Got a lot of fun threats and warnings from those guys, but they didn't find anything, else they'd bring out the firepower. The island move helped some too. One good thing about the island: no one cared as long as you kept your business away from people. But Crane wasn't any help. He disappeared as soon as they landed, probably in his girly tree city or something. Sure, he was alive enough to pile on some more of those threats when White went looking for him, but other than that... He wasn't dying. He was fine. But he wasn't doing much to settle everyone into this god forsaken place. Damn creatures mauling people, and near anarchy compared to the school setting. He wasn't dying. He was fine. And that was why White had to move fast, before he decided to check back into the real world with his "order" and "neutrality." Just because Crane found the island didn't mean he got to keep it. ...White rubbed his eyes, pulling open a room and squinting at the light glaring in from an open window. "Dammit," he sighed, then caught on to what the girl was saying. See? No one understood how it worked. "No," he said, taking another look at the window. How likely was it that she'd try to jump four stories? No one wanted to die, and he was sure most people didn't know you could live if ya jumped from that high. But... you never knew. People got desperate. Not that she needed to be desperate, but she didn't know that, and he wasn't going to explain it. Doubted she'd even believe him if he did. So there's the problem. He scratched his head, trying to get at the pain burning right underneath his skin. Failing that, he looked her up and down. She was pretty damn young. Hadn't noticed that before. Hot too. On that last once-over, his eyes trailed off some, but he eventually managed to look her in the eyes again. "Doesn't hurt, but that doesn't mean I like it. How about you close the window, and I'll get the chains off." It wasn't a question, but it sounded a lot like one. White stood by the door, away from the light with his arms folded so he wouldn't fidget and look half as nauseated as he felt. The rest of the tower was all boarded up nice like, but sure enough these top windows were open because no one went up this high at day. They were all smart enough to be sleeping. He never did make the smart move...

[elle]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/mtqyde.png] Should've just listened to them. If she had she wouldn't be here right now. What the hell did she really think she was going to do anyway? She couldn't really have survived long on her own, wandering around at night with little money and a killer body. It was just asking for trouble. Sure, she understood that now when she couldn't do a damn thing about it. All she had now was her guilt and self pity, so she made use of it, cursing her stubbornness and wishing she'd been just a little nicer to her family. When they stopped at a room, she noticed his dislike of the light, though much to her disappointment, he refused to die. Looking past him into the room, she wondered if it would be at all possible for her to escape. It was daylight, so maybe she'd be able to attract some attention. That was of course assuming that she wanted help from anyone in that town. She rolled her eyes when he turned to glance at her, though when she realized where he was looking, she turned away, scowling, with her arms crossed over her chest. True, she hadn't been here long at all, but she was already sick of the place. She was young and very attractive, and back home she had never minded when someone stopped to admire her. She had come to expect and enjoy it, actually. However, her feeling changed significantly now. Perhaps it was the slavery that made her bitter. So, already tired of her entire predicament that she could only think of one suitable response to his order/request/whatever. "**** off." The words were mumbled, but nonetheless, she turned her head away from him, refusing to acknowledge him or the room he meant to put her in, just like the spoiled brat she was.

[Я Є Đ WOLF]

[atrb=width,470,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][bg=332929] White glared at the window. He didn't get angry too often. Not like he was angry now, but it was real easy to be nasty under certain circumstances, and daylight was one of those special ones. Kinda strange that something that didn't even give him a tan could feel so suffocating. Something that was way past burning him could make his skin boil. Didn't need to breathe or worry about fire, an' yet that ray of light steaming through the open window was driving him crazy. And she finally didn't want to listen to him. She'd made it pretty far, being fair and all. But the thing about being bought is you didn't get to make it petty far. You had to make it just as far as you were supposed to. Well, he wasn't mad, and that was a good thing. He laughed, more because she turned away from him and less because she gave him attitude. Then, tapping the ashes from his cigarette, he went and closed the window. On his way back to the other end of the room, he grabbed her, dragging her with him and forcing her against the wall as he let a lungful of smoke drift out and mingle with the nice dark air. "That's the last thing I'm gonna do for you," he searched a moment, then found it "...Alexandra." He stopped, considering that name. "Pretty. Alex, I'm White, an' that's a very pretty name you have there. A lot like you are. Y'know, you're gonna be doing one thing, Alex, and that's everything I say." He had held her by the arm, which is why she couldn't move much from where she was. That left him with one hand free, which he used to reach into his jacket and pull out a simple black handun. He didn't point it, but he tossed it in his hand like he was weighing it in front of her. "Not an option. An' if you try to make it one, there're a lot of things I can do to you. You're not gonna die, but there are some worse things than that, especially because you're so ****ing pretty." He didn't explain as calmly as he usually did. There was some quiet laughter to what he was saying, and at that last part, he smiled at her. It wasn't so much sinister as it was patronizing, though. White didn't have much faith in women. They did a lot of stupid ****, and most of it was "complicated." But then he didn't have any problems with them in general. Hell, he really liked 'em. They just didn't do things in a real productive or even logical way. Until you scared them, of course. Most people did much better under pressure, but especially women. All that bull**** and over-thinking things just kinda went away when you actually had something to worry abut. Alex was barely a woman herself, but she looked old enough to at least understand that last part. ...and while he was here, he might as well see what he'd be putting up with. He tapped the gun against one cheekbone and then the other, moving her face so he could take a look at it more clearly. The rest of her body was like that - prodded carefully with the barrel of the gun from the top and slowly down, until he was satisfied he knew enough about her. Then he tucked the gun back in his jacket and tore the chains off of her. "Stay here," he said, simply. It was one order he was pretty sure she'd get right. And now he could finally get some ****ing sleep.

[elle]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/mtqyde.png] When she spoke, she hadn't been worried about what would happen to her. She was already a slave, so what more could he do? She supposed she didn't really fear death now either. Sure, she didn't want to die, but given the choice between slavery and death, the latter would almost seem like a blessing to her. Still, she was just a little startled when he grabbed her and forced her against the wall. Despite her struggles, she was unable to free herself from his grip. If she hadn't been so focused on trying to escape and to not appear frightened, she might have found it strange that he somehow knew her name, but instead, she continued scowling and struggling against him. Then he pulled the gun. It was kind of funny how people like her would react to a gun. She may be thousands of miles from home; she may be on an island infested with all manner of creatures that should only exist in your nightmares; she may have just been sold into slavery to a vampire in a town filled with yet more vampires. And yet, it took until just now for things to begin to feel really real. Maybe it was because she had never interacted with actual mythical creatures before, so maybe she was acting as if it were just a dream. Guns, however, were familiar to her. She had handled them before, but she still felt uncomfortable when someone else held one near her. It was at this moment that she decided that she didn't want to die, or worse, like he said. She stood still against the wall, visibly shaken. She was pretty sure that she had meant to nod, but she didn't think her body did as she said. Instead, she was rooted to the ground in terror, her hands attempting to tremble, but the chains preventing that. Even her breathing was irregular, so she decided to stop breathing altogether until he finally left her after having taken the chains off. Though she was no longer held against the wall, she still didn't move, barely breathing, though her entire body trembled slightly. Whatever plans for escape she may have been thinking up were gone. She knew she wasn't going to escape now, but still she wanted nothing more than to be home, surrounded by all those morons that made up her friends and family. After several more minutes, she finally sank down against the wall, bringing her knees up against her chest and burying her face in her arms. The sound of her breathing filled the room, and she still trembled, though she shed no tears. Never in her teen life could she remember crying for the sake of crying. If she was going to do that, it would be because it'd be beneficial to her in the end.