AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Look up.”
As I turned my attention to the guard, my head reared back as the red light from his handheld scanner flashed in my eyes.
“She’s good. Take her to Master Nine-hundred-ninety-nine. He’s waiting in the lobby.”
The guard at the door stepped forward, signaling me to follow. I could barely move through the trembling. So many questions filtered through. I knew what was happening, but I needed more answers. More clarification so that I could make this all make sense.
“Wait. What of my son? I supply his milk. Will he be okay? What’s happening with him? With me?”
The main guard who seemed to be in charge didn’t look up as he went back to entering numbers into the computer.
“You’ve done what you needed to with him. He’s not your concern anymore. You had your first period. That’s why you’re here.”
“I don’t understand. What does that mean?”
He glanced my way but didn’t keep his focus on me long.
“It means that enough time has gone by that you can be bred again. You’re moving on to the next…if either of you make it. You’d be smart to obey everything this Master says. Don’t forget to address him properly or you’ll be off to a bad start.”
The guard mumbled the last, leaving my lips parting. A hand clamped on to my bicep, pulling me towards the door before I could think to speak another word. I was in shock. Sick to my stomach at the continued reminders to obey. How was this happening?
I’d had months to go over everything. The rumors from other breeders hadn’t felt right to me, but I listened when they spoke of trafficking and murdering Masters. From what the main guard said, I knew the Master part was real, but what about the other? Breeding didn’t mean murder. Hadn’t one of the girls mentioned overhearing the guards talk about tours and preparation for this night? Training, even? We’d got nothing aside from being told that this night was going to happen, and we’d be smart to listen and go along with what we’re told. That could have meant anything. All we knew was the room we’d been mostly confined to, our title, and our duties. That was supplying our milk to the children who’d been taken from a good amount of us. Not everyone in the large room we were kept in had been pregnant, but a lot of us had.
“Please, should I be worried? Could I die?”
The guard gave me a look but stayed quiet as we continued down the hall. I was no fool. His expression was enough confirmation to have my brain scheming what-ifs, and what I should do to best save myself.
“Can’t you help me?”
He didn’t say a word until we entered a large open room with black sofas. The place was dim with splashes of colors from the lights projecting on gold paintings. The entire area appeared ominous, and the torture in the pictures were terrifying. So many people in fancy suits were either walking around or sitting down. With the hum of chatter mixing with an announcer, I felt myself nearly stumble from the culture shock. It was so loud. So busy. Even the colors appeared to be too much from what I was used to: white medical gowns, soft pale blue walls. Occasional television, but I never spent time watching it. I preferred to read the books we’d been supplied with. Fiction helped me escape. It helped me cope with the horror I’d gone through in those underground tunnels that led us here. It didn’t help my mental state when they took my son. I was barely hanging on.
“Master-Nine-hundred-ninety-nine.”
“That’s me.”
I blinked through the familiar voice, turning to glance behind me at the giant of a man I’d seen before. Hadn’t I been so sure he wasn’t interested? He didn’t view me for as long as the other Master. That one seemed extremely invested in my condition, even going as far as to come up and weigh my breast with his hand. If it hadn’t been for the guard stepping in to stand behind me to make sure I was safe, I probably would have run away instead of crashing back into him. That was the good thing about us breeders, we were never allowed to be alone with any males. Not the guards. Not even the doctors. We were very well protected from something bad happening. Maybe I had taken that for granted. I sure felt afraid now. This Master…he wanted me for one thing, and it was the only thing I didn’t think I’d be able to give away freely.
“The slave is programmed with your code and is ready for you if you’re finished for the night. If not, we can have her delivered back to your apartment.”
There were apartments here? I’d given birth inside what looked like a hospital, but I’d been so medicated, I barely remembered any of it at all. Where the hell was I at?
“I’m finished. I got it from here.”
The man’s arm came out. For a moment, I wasn’t sure what he wanted.
“Don’t be afraid. Take it, slave.”
Slave. Yes, that’s what I was to him. Bought. Sold. Soon-to-be-used.
I hesitated but reached out and held to the inside, just above his elbow. He was so tall, I felt as small as a child as I followed him out of the room. Maybe I appeared as one too. Scared. Prepared to be hurt at any moment. Murdered?
Tears stung my eyes while my mind raced on what to do. There were so many people walking through the halls and coming through doors as we continued down a long corridor. Sequins and diamonds glittered in the light. Jovial laughter rang out in the distance. I quickly witnessed there was more to slaves than I realized. While I wore black, I quickly saw other robes of white and even a blue. They looked just as afraid as I felt as we all connected eyes in our passing. When my Master and I entered a main hallway, I felt myself jerk to a stop in disbelief.
“Slave?”
“I…” I blinked through the hesitation, mumbling an apology as we continued toward an elevator in the distance. I kept looking over as we passed, not able to stop myself from trying to make sense of what I was seeing. Mario Divache. Mario Divache, famous composer. Here? With these sickos who were buying people? Was that Pete Fitzgerald heading through the far door;the child movie star?
My head shook, only to turn so I could glare over my shoulder at the sudden betrayal I felt towards the strangers. Mario’s stung the worst. I didn’t know him apart from playing and studying his music, but what I did know was there was such passion in the pieces. I’d poured my heart out while playing his notes on my violin. I had even chosen ‘Bright Again’ to play to my unborn son on nights where I needed comfort from the fears that lay ahead at being a single mother. It gave me hope. Courage. And, for what?For this?
