Unnamed (VIXX Fanfiction) [Rare Updates]

Chapter 1 - First Meeting

Chapter 1

I stood on the platform, looking down at the people below. At least, I tried looking at them, but the bright spotlight marred my vision so I saw only the outlines of bodies; no faces.

"This pretty little thing is our only foreigner. Up close you will see that she has... unique green eyes. She is seventeen years old and is in charge of cleaning the younger sectors. She is a good cook - can make something out of anything - and takes care of the laundry for everyone in her own sector. Despite her delicate appearance," I laughed in my head as the voice continued, "She is very healthy and able to do manual labor as well."

There were whispers in the crowd, and I fidgeted with the side of my dress, training my eyes on a nail sticking up at the edge of the platform. No one had ever spoken so highly of me; they always said quite the opposite, in fact. Ugly, useless. What the Carer was saying now was strange. I didn't want to hear it. The rest of the Carer's words went in one ear and out the other, though occasionally some got caught in between: quiet, obedient, no background information.

I looked up slightly as the Carer turned to what the other kids sometimes called the "Auctioneer". It wasn't far from the mark. He was stocky, wrinkly, and had a sour look on his face, as if he salivated lemon juice.

As the Auctioneer gathered his papers and trotted over to the stand beside the platform, I looked around at the large room again, squinting slightly against the harsh light. There were many more people than I had expected. I had only known about the "auction" from hearing it through the thin walls every now and then, and from what the other kids whispered during breakfast when the Carers had stepped away. Of course, I was never told anything first hand. No one ever talked to me. I merely observed.

When children turned seventeen, they began to go missing. They would be brought to the big room at the end of the complex and the man at the front would describe them, his voice muffled by the walls, then another voice would yell out numbers. There was a bang, and the child would usually never be seen again. There were times, however, when a kid would come back, but when that happened, they stayed only briefly and were kicked out the door with merely the clothes on their backs, as if they had been fired from a job. I had seen it. This place worked like a business.

The Auctioneer began to call out numbers, and I saw hands raise around the room. There were a lot of them. The numbers got higher, and the count of hands gradually lowered until it was a battle between two hands in the back. The number was raised, and the hands stayed steady. The number rose again, and neither hand moved. The number rose once more, and the rest of the audience turned to look at the two contesting buyers. I squinted at the light, trying to peer past it into the back of the room where the two hands jutted up from the crowd.

There was a shout from the back, "Four thousand." The hand on the left wavered, as if stunned, then fell.

The Auctioneer took a mallet and tapped it on the stand in front of him. "Four thousand for the gentleman with the red hair," he announced, gathering his papers.

There were murmurs in the crowd* as I was led off the platform by the man who had described me in the beginning. He took me behind the stage to a dimly lit area that looked almost like a waiting room. I heard the scratch of pen on paper as I looked at my bare feet. I didn't like to look at new people. I listened instead. Besides, my eyes hadn't yet adjusted from the unpleasant stage lighting.

"There you go," someone said, and I was surprised; the voice was that of a young man. I looked up for a peek, but ended up raising my head in a trance. My eyes adjusted fully to focus on six intimidating young men. Each of them was wearing a different colored tie, but they all had on sleek black suits, as if they were attending a wedding or a fancy business meeting. I suddenly felt very under-dressed in my worn out white frock.