To Have A Wandering Soul

Chapter 1

Murmurs of excitement filled the air...it was finally here.

The back lawn of the Yoski Auction House was packed with people; it was that time of year again. The country had spent the past week in celebration; the time of The Auction had arrived. People of all shapes and sizes filled the chairs on the lawn and even more stood behind this general area, waiting for a spot to open up, hoping that they would get the chance to buy a slave. Those sitting were the wealthiest of Seba, that was how the auction always worked, the richest hundred received invitations to be seated at The Auction, they could accept or decline the seat, when they chose to leave The Auction their seat would be given to the first person in line.

Caroline Tonik was standing on the side of the stage, taking photos of the masses before her, the employee badge she wore twisted with the neck strap of her professional grade DSLR camera. She took a couple additional pictures before waving to her father in the front row and descending the flight of stairs leading to the Yoski Auction House where the items to be sold were contained. Her father had been invited to The Auction every year and always purchased a single slave. Most of them worked to keep Tonik Manor looking pristine but there were six, soon to be seven slaves who belonged to a single master or mistress, being one of her parents or one of the eldest children. There were sixteen children in the Tonik family ranging from the age of three to twenty four. For each child's sixteenth birthday Benedict Tonik purchased them a slave from The Auction. This year would be Estella's turn, the girl was more excited to finally get a slave than any of her older siblings had been, including Caroline, she had even already picked a name for it.

Every slave was sold without an identity. During the months after The Offering they were completely stripped of everything that they once knew. They were reverted to animal state, everything that they would become depended on who they belonged to. The only thing that they thought they knew was that they were in the presence of the gods.

Caroline had been in charge of the advertisement for Yoski Auction House for less than a year, her big chance had been advertising The Auction. She had been at the Yoski House most days photographing the training and was finally able to photograph the outcome of her advertisement, being The Auction itself. She took a few more shots inside the house looking out across the barren faces that were chained in waiting. Each man, woman or child was afraid. They knew not what awaited them outside the great glass doors. They knew of The Auction what their governments and trainers told them of it.

They would be taken, one by one out the doors. They would stand on the stage in front of an audience of their betters, their features would be pointed out and their flaws diminished, they would be entirely exposed before their betters and the bidding would commence. This would continue until every person had been on the stage. Most would be purchased but if they were not, something that rarely happened, they would be severely beaten and resold at a later auction.

Caroline's camera caught the dread in their faces, she knew that the general public would love it, her photos would be plastered on billboards across the country. She was making sure she had what she needed when The Auction began. She hurried to the side of the stage and snapped a picture of the auctioneer. He was a tall man, almost appearing a giant due to the top hat that was perched upon his head. He wore a maroon red tuxedo jacket over a frilly white dress shirt and slacks. His black bangs wisped out from beneath the brim of the hat, the rest of his hair hidden under it. The auctioneer's smile was sly; he loved being in front of people, being in front of the camera even more. He gave Caroline the chance to shower him with flashes before starting to describe the first item for sale.

The girl standing on the stage was clothed in nothing more that a white strip of cloth across her breasts and a white cloth skirt. According to the auctioneer she was seventeen years old and quite compliant in her training, though Caroline knew otherwise. The girl had been beaten rather severely the day before; of course the Yoski family had all of the slaves healed at the end of each week, especially before The Auction.