Dark and Light | J.JK *COMPLETED*

Sold

The painful sting of the strike is what wakes me. My eyes open drowsily to see two men leaning over my weak form, their hot, suffocating breath tickling my nose.

I almost gag.

When I flinch away from them, one of them explodes into laughter, filled with scorn and blame. He is a tall, battle-hardened man, and by that I mean he can kill better than me. Anyone can kill better than me.

"She has some fight in her, doesn't she? The Light finally awakes from her beauty sleep!"

Even though I'm a naturally softhearted person, I can't stand it if someone is in this of a close range to me. I can smell the violent stench of his clothes— he probably hasn't washed them in a year.

"What do you want?" Tilting my head up defiantly, I curl my fingers into a fist. When I realize something's blocking me from doing so, the man crumples into a heap of mocking laughter again.

There's chains around my wrists. My ankles, my neck. How could I have not noticed them before?

"You're not very observant of your surroundings, are you?" He chuckles and then pulls harshly on my neck chain. I can't help the gasp that rips out of me when my head jerks roughly to the front.

"I'll take her. How much?"

My heart stops.

How much?

A sudden chill runs through me as I look around, trying not to make the chains clank over each other. From my left to the right, rows and rows of ragged, bloody girls—are getting bartered and sold off to the men of Gens Dark.

No. This couldn't be happening. Please tell me this is a dream.

"Five Dollars."

My life and my soul— just five dollars. My heart and my body—nothing but five dollars.

A shiver rushes up my spine, chilling my body with the reality, my fate that I couldn't escape. I was going to get sold as a slave to a Dark, whether I liked it or not.

The man hands the other five glistening coins, and jerks me up to my feet. "You're coming with me, little Light girl. We'll see how long you can last—"

"Stop."

The voice that suddenly cuts through the air like a knife is deadly soft, but I'm certain that anyone in the range of five miles had heard that one word. Colder than snow, and darker than night. One single word was enough to make a normal person freeze up like a sculptured ice statue.

When I turn, I see a Dark. He's the same kind as the man that is still gripping my wrist, but he has something else. It's like there's a deadly aura of ice and blood surrounding his every move, mirroring his every gaze.

And even though I'd never admit it, there's another thing I notice the minute I lay my eyes upon his tall figure.

He is the most good looking Dark I have ever seen in my entire life.

His eyes, which are narrowed into dark slits, actually glimmer a faint color of stormy blue if you looked closer. They are set deep into his pale skin, half covered with his raven hair that dances like a wildflower in the brewing wind.

How could anybody be so perfect? I'd seen many Darks and Lights— and none of them could ever even come close to his stunning features.

"I will be taking her."

At the boy's words, the man's eyes immediately scrunch into annoyed slits. Even though the Dark is taller than the man, he looks considerably younger. He couldn't possibly be more than seventeen or eighteen, give or take.

"I already bought her. You cannot—"

He never finishes the sentence.

In a flash, I see the dangerous glint of glittering silver. Before I can comprehend what it is, something splatters on the side of my cheek. It's wet. Red. Like...

The man is dead on the ground, his head sliced clean off of his neck. His grip loosens on my frozen figure, already cold and still. My eyes go wide as the Dark returns his sword and grabs my collar in one swift movement.

Still drenched in the man's blood, I jerk towards the direction he roughly pulls me into. Usually, I'd be struggling with all my might. But right now....

Right now, I'm too shocked. He'd killed a man— beheaded him, all because he'd contradicted him. Couldn't they have worked it out? Couldn't he have negotiated, or at least be more courteous?

He throws a couple hundreds over his shoulder, the gold coins landing without fail into the ceramic jar. My mouth drops open at the sight of the sterling silver engravings on the coins.

The cost of my life had just gone from five dollars to five thousand.

"Focus, slave."

With a disgusted click of his tongue, he pulls the collar encircled around my neck, so roughly that for a second, I think I might have broken my neck from the sudden, violent snap.

Rude.

As we walk, I can't help but to fix my eyes on his back. I would much rather plunge a knife into it than to stare at it, but that would be out of the question. One thing that I vowed never to do was to kill, and I wasn't about to break the oath just because I was a bit pissed off at the Dark.

My hatred only grows as he snaps the collar so hard that I crumple to the ground like a rag doll. The packed snow is icy cold underneath the torn piece of clothing I have on, and I growl at the shocking contact.

"Get up."

Okay, I was a very nice girl, but I wasn't about to take insults from an arrogant, heartless Dark who thought he was destined to rule the world or something.

"Damn you."

I regret it the moment I say it.

His fist connects with the side of my face, colliding against my cheek like a fifty ton rock. It might as well be heavier because the strike was the most painful thing I'd ever felt before. A short gasp rips out of my throat as I crash into the snow underneath.

My blood mixes with the man's as I wince on the ground. Everything is spinning, and I barely refrain from throwing up in the sudden overwhelming nausea. I would not embarrass myself in front of this stupid idiot.

"Look. I'm only refraining from tearing your heart out of your chest because you returned my brother." His elbow pushes deeper into my ribs, and I'm sure if he goes an inch more, he'll snap it in half. And I'm dead certain he knows it as well.

"So don't get cocky, Light. Things won't be pretty for you if you act a single step out of line. You don't want that pretty face all smashed up, don't you?"

His voice drips venom as he pulls me up to my feet, and I almost tilt to the side because of the aftereffects of the first blow. Apparently he doesn't give a damn about my welfare because he walks, in long, smooth strides, and he's expecting me to keep up.

Well, damn him and his long legs.