Chapter 1

It was unusually dark in the forest that night. The moon normally shined through the trees, but that night was cloudy. Every night I took a walk through the forest, and that night was no exception.

It was quite warm, even with the cloud cover. I was wearing a short pleated black skirt, an emerald-green shirt, and combat boots. I had my headphones in, listening to my favorite rock band. I looked down at my iPod screen and saw that it was a few minutes past midnight. The most opportune time for vampires to come out, I thought to myself. I was obsessed with vampires, and dreamed that they were real. Maybe that was why I took a walk so late every night; I hoped that I would come face to face with one.

I was still walking, looking down at my feet; when I ran into something rock hard. The force was so great that it knocked me down to the forest floor. I looked up, and that there were three amazingly attractive middle-aged men staring down at me. One had blonde hair, while the other two had brown hair. They all had red eyes.

I scrambled to my feet and ran as fast as I could, my wavy blonde hair flying wildly around me. Even though those men were the creatures I dreamed of, I was still scared for my life. I didn't get but ten feet when I bumped into the blonde one again.

"Where do you think your going, Little One?" he asked in a tone that was meant for two-year olds.

I turned around to run again, but was faced by the other two, one of which was holding a white cloth. The one with the cloth advanced toward me, and I back up until I hit the blonde. He gripped my arms in a vice-like grip, and I struggled to get away, but it was no use.

The one with the rag finally reached me and put it against my face. I started to see spots. Just before I lost consciousness, I heard the blonde whisper in my ear, "Sweet dreams, Little one."

I woke up on the floor in a cell-like room. There was nothing in it, not even a bed. There were also no windows, only a single black door.

"Oh my god, where the hell am I?" I asked aloud in a voice no louder than a whisper. I got to my feet and walked towards the door. I reached for the door knob and tried to twist it, but it was locked. I groaned, "Of course." I walked to the wall facing opposite the door, and sank to the ground. I buried my head in my hands, trying not to sob.

Just then, the door opened and in walked a woman who looked to be in her early thirties, holding a clipboard. She had pin straight black hair and bangs. She was skinny, but not too skinny. She had high cheekbones, red lips, and the same colored eyes as the men that brought me there. I jumped to my feet, shock and fear etched all over my face.

"Are you Misery Collins?" she asked.

"Yes, and you are?" I replied.

"That is none of your business, young lady," she said, her tone laced poison.

"Well," I whispered, offended.

"Just follow me and quite talking," the woman ordered.

I obeyed silently and followed her into a cement walled hallway, black doors on either side of us. She led me into a large room with no door at the end of the hall. Inside there about twenty people, all of which were women. The girls were sitting at their own vanity table, with the women doing the girls' hair and makeup. No one paid us any attention.

"Sit," she commanded, pointing to a chair in front of a vacant table. I complied, and she immediately began attacking my tangled hair.

"So, what the hell is going on, and why am I here?" I asked, ignoring her earlier instructions.

"I thought that I told you to be quiet," she said.

"You did, but I feel as if I have a right to know what is happening to me," I replied, defending myself. She sighed, but told me anyway.

"We are all getting ready for the auction, and you are to be sold to the highest bidder," she said like it was perfectly normal to sell young women to the 'highest bidder'. I gazed around the room and saw that the girls looked terrified.

"Wait, I'm being sold?" I questioned disbelieving.

"Yes, to vampires," she replied simply. I had guessed that the 'highest bidder' was going to be a vampire, and now my guess was confirmed.

"When does the auction start?" I asked.

"At three A.M., which is about an hour away. Now will you please stop talking like I asked?!" she roared. I fell silent and didn't say another word, until twenty minutes later when the lady announced that she was done.

"Here, go put this on," she demanded, thrusting a black, strapless mid-thigh-length dress at me. "You can wear the shoes you have on," she said. I looked down at my worn black combat boots and smiled in relief. I really didn't want to lose those.

"Where do I put this on at?" I asked, "And wouldn't you be able to see my bra straps?"

"Oh, right. I forgot. Here, you can wear this. The dressing rooms are over there," she said while handing me a strapless black bra and pointing in the direction on the dressing rooms.

"Thanks," I mumbled and began walking in the direction that she pointed out. I found the dressing rooms after searching for them for a long time. I walked into an empty one and stripped of my clothes. I left them in a pile on the floor, like the lady had told me while she was doing my make-up. I got the dress on and looked in the floor length mirror. I gasped. I hardly recognized the person staring back at me. My eyelashes were caked with mascara, my eyelids smeared with black eye shadow, my bottoms lids were decorated in black eyeliner, and my usually pink lips were now painted a blood-red color. The make-up was border line tacky, but it somehow still looked really good. My hair was flat-ironed, and my side bangs nearly covered the whole of my left eye.

I tore my eyes away from the reflection and tugged on my combat boots. I walked out of the dressing room, searching for the lady whose name I still don't know. I finally found her and made my way towards her. All the girls were wearing different color dresses. Mine was the only one that was black.

"Hurry up, Misery! We have to get to the auction!" she called

"Okay, I'm coming!" I shouted back.

"Let's go, we have to get to the auction room," she said as soon as I reached her.

"Alright," I muttered. She walked out of the make-up room and I followed. So did everyone else. It took us five minutes to reach the 'auction room.' I could hear the excited murmurs from behind the curtain.

We waited ten minutes for the auction to start. My body was wracked with nerves. The announcer called the first name.

"First up, we have Misery Collins!"