Beloved

Chapter five: Bite Me

Chapter five

Bite Me

"Get in." 43 shoved me into a metal cage and removed my restraints. "Just keep quiet, and Finch won't punish you for that little stunt early." He locked the door. "You have a lot to learn, savage." He left me there and disappeared through the door at the end of the hall. 

I glanced down the aisle. Other boys sat in cages. They were all different shapes and colors. One even had blue skin and white hair. Fitting my arm through the bars, I ran my fingers along the metal panel on the outside. I traced the number; it was the same as the one on my chain.

The roof was too low to stand, so I crawled to the corner. I didn't know what it meant for someone to buy me. Wrapping my arms around my knees, I tried to generate some warmth. I never expected hell to be so cold all the time. 

I sat there for hours trying to conserve body heat. It was hard to sleep when I couldn't stop shivering. Footsteps echoed against the hard floor. Crawling to the front of the cage, I saw Mrs. Finch and a man, walking down the row pointing at different boys. She stop in front of me. I curled into a ball and covered my lower region with my hands. 

"This one goes to exotic."

"Why?" A man leaned down and looked me over. "He doesn't look like much." He reached through the bars and tried to grab my chin. 

I snatched his fist and yanked him against the bars. 

He jerked his hand free. "What the hell!"

"A savage from sector 31." She raised an eyebrows. "He'll be fun to train."

"Looks like such an angelic thing too." The man shook his head. "Probably should put a sign to warn people to keep their hands away from the bars." He leaned over the top of the cage and peered down at me.

I hated this man. He could stare all he wanted, but I wouldn't look at him.

"If he had lighter skin, I'd buy him for my clients."

I hugged my arms around me, examining my skin. I didn't see what was wrong. My family's skin was tanner than mine.

"With the dark hair, he'd be stunning."

"Hmmm... anyways," said Mrs. Finch. "Put him in the exotic section." She glanced down at a girl who wore a familiar collar. 

"Yes Ma'ma." She wrote something down. 

"Now," Mrs. Finch walked closer. "You're going to be a good boy, because you really don't want to sit around my warehouse for another week. So I'd start praying now to whatever god your kind believe in that someone buys you tomorrow."

I glared at her. No demon was going to tell me what to do. I made a pledged to Zev, and I was going to get back to him so we could be a family.

"You're going to be trouble; I can already tell." Mrs. Finch simple smiled and walked off down the line. 

***

My back was aching when I opened my eyes and saw the first signs of day through a small window near the ceiling. Sitting up, I rubbed my shoulder. Between fighting to stay warm and laying on bars, I had barely gotten any sleep. 

Two large doors flew open. I crawled to the back of my cage as a herd of people wearing metal collars entered and started moving the cages on wheeled chart. Boys started to be rolled away, one by one down the line. 

"This one goes to exotics," said a man motioning to me. "Keep your hands away from the bars. It's a savage and has shown aggressive behaviors." He walked over to my cage and fastened a metal plate to the door.