My Most Precious Human novel Chapter 14

Instantly, the murmurs filled the audience hall. As the commotion increased, I could see the evil sparks in the eyes of those who were invited to the auction. Their gazes were filled with a horrifying desire to devour me. They made me uncontrollably shudder. The fear paralyzed me to the point I couldn't breathe, and I could barely hear the distorted sound of their laughter that sometimes overpowered the auctioneer's voice through the microphone.

The numbers they bid on grew fast. I could hear the auctioneer calling for one million dollars, two million, three… Those bidders were standing up, fighting each other, and I kept wondering why. I used to read once about rich, old people giving themselves blood transfusions of younger ones just to prolong their lives. Was that what it was about? Seriously, I couldn't let myself think of anything else, although my mind kept wandering around with strange thoughts, ones I was unable to come to terms with…

I learned about the existence of werewolves when I was a child. I grew up with that secret knowledge. Even though normal humans often treated shapeshifters as creatures appearing solely in books and movies, they were a part of a normal world for me. At the same time, I had never imagined that any other supernatural beings I read in fantasy books could have been real as well. Perhaps I should have been called ignorant, but still didn't want to face the possibility that there were other inhuman creatures out there. Certainly, there was only one type of creatures that I knew that longed for human blood, but I couldn't even force myself to pronounce that name in my thoughts.

"One hundred million dollars!" some bidder called.

The crowd went silent. I looked ahead and saw a brown-haired, masked man, standing in the royal theatre box with his auction plate raised high. I could hear the auctioneer gulp, then a soft commotion began.

"Is this the Duke's aid?! It cannot be!" a terrified voice whispered.

"He can't be a buyer! This must be a raid! Let's get out of here!" I heard other voices calling out in panic.

I heard the brown-haired man chuckle. Then suddenly all the lights went out. I didn't know what was going on. I couldn't see a single thing. I began to hear screams, groans, and gruesome moaning coming from every side. I knew there was some sort of fight going on. There were no bullet sounds; instead, I heard something like an attack by a pack of enraged animals. I curled up in the middle of my cage as if it could make me disappear, and prayed that the attackers wouldn't choose me as their next victim.

Suddenly, I felt a strong, man's hand with sharp claw-like nails reaching between the bars of my cage, and desperately trying to grasp any part of my body. I screamed, then grabbed that someone's writs and forcefully punched his forearm with a side of my palm. He wailed and moved his hand away. I stood up in a fighting stance, raising my guard. Suddenly, I heard someone running towards me. I clenched my fists ready to protect myself, but then… something splashed all over my face and body. I couldn't see its color, but I immediately recognized the smell of blood. It was the blood of the one who tried to run towards me…

I trembled in fear, not knowing what kinds of danger could be lurking around me in the dark. While being locked in the cage, I could only wait for someone to approach me, praying that it wouldn't be anyone trying to hurt me…

Suddenly, I saw a dimmed light coming from one side of the stage, then I recognized the auctioneer running from that light towards my cage. I stepped back away.

He used a key-card to unlock my cage, then opened it, roaring angrily, "You are coming with me!"

Then he bent his head down to enter the cage. I knew I had to attack him to protect myself, and this moment was the only chance I had. I raised my arms and swiftly threw the chain from the cuffs around his neck. I clenched the chain around his throat. He growled, grabbing the chain and trying to move it away from his neck, but my moves were quicker than his. I pushed him down to the ground, tightening the chain until the air deficiency made him admit his defeat. I took the chain off of his neck and ran out of the cage.

The lights were still out, and I could merely see the faint silhouettes of people, but I knew I was in the middle of a horrifying fight. I figured that those who attacked people at the auction must have had some night vision devices. At that moment, I wished I had something like that for myself since I couldn't even find my way out of this battle. I only knew I should escape before I would find out that they were planning to kill me as well…

I wasn't aware who was fighting who. Someone mentioned something about the raid, but wouldn't it be a case where the police should show up? Judging by the cruelty of the attackers, this had nothing to do with the legal forces. Furthermore, I kept wondering who was that man with brown hair whom people called "the Duke's aid", and who the hell was this Duke?! I guessed that whoever he was, he must have been an incredibly vicious person because trusting the sounds coming from each side, I was now in the center of dreadful, bloody slaughter.

I prayed that I could sneak out unnoticed or that those people chose to ignore me while fighting each other. I didn't know where to run, but I figured I had to get to a place where I could at least see something. I ran towards the backstage, where a weak light was. The light turned out to be a small, battery-operated LED lamp, but standing beside it was still far better than moving in absolute darkness. Fortunately, there was no one backstage. I sighed in relief, and looked around, hoping to find a way downstairs. I knew I had to get back to the basement to free those girls taken somewhere behind a metal door, and I had to do it fast…

Finally, I saw narrow, wooden stairs. I ran down nervously, hoping that they would lead me where I wanted. I managed to escape from the bloody battle and got to a basement corridor. Luckily, despite the complete lack of power in the theatre hall, there was still an emergency light down there. All the lights were red. I had to adjust my sight before I was able to take a single step. I only prayed that no one would follow me.