Synopsis: Vampires make a fortune in the human selling business. Just capture a bunch of mortals, clean their bodies up a bit, and you'll have customers lining up to buy your products. Lucas has been on the shelves for months, and has managed to make it this long, but which is more important to him: love or life?

Warnings: This is a story of enslavement with a very brief molestation(one sentence) reference/implication. There's also a couple mild curse words. Other than that and the inhumane treatment, it's clean.

Quick Author's note: I've recieved mixed feedback on this story. I've recieved some very postive reviews as well as a negative review as well, so I would really appreciate thoughts on this. ^^ It's a short story/one shot, so this is the only chapter.



Deadlock



I lay curled up in the fetal position on the ice cold metal of my prison. My left arm lay sprawled out from the rest of my body limp and numb from the numerous vampire bites that covered the skin like a tattoo. You start to get used to the pain after the twentieth bite. Or, perhaps it was the thirtieth bite. I lost count ages ago. I was cradling my other arm in a protective embrace to my chest to give myself a sense of false security.

My chocolate eyes drifted around the room dully. My gaze shifted along several huddled forms, each in their own blood-stained cages. Some of the bodies lay motionless. Others shook and shivered from fear. Every now and then, there would be a rebel who would attempt to stir up trouble by yelling and making a racket. Those individuals, however, were quickly disposed of by the jailers.

I was about to be pulled under by sleep, but something caught my attention. I lazily glanced from the corner of my eye. It was a girl I had never seen before. She must of been a new arrival. Curious, I sat up into a sitting position and turned my body towards her. Normally, a girl would never have interested me, but this one was different. She had hair the color of flames that cork-screwed in gorgeous rivulets around her shoulders. Her eyes were a stunning gold that reminded me of the shiny tinsel that you always see around Christmas. Her lips were a soft bright pink, and for some odd reason, I had an overwhelming urge to kiss them. Her only negative feature was her translucent skin. She almost appeared to be transparent. Nonetheless, I had a deep attraction for her.

The young girl was twirling a lock of hair between her fingers, and was quietly humming to herself. I strained to make out her lovely voice, but she was singing so softly I couldn't hear. I moved myself to the edge of the cage, and grabbed the bars firmly between my bony fingers. I cautiously looked side-to-side making sure the coast was clear, then quietly called out,

"Hey! You, girl." My voice was barely above a whisper. The girl must not have heard me because she continued to play with her hair and hum. Nervously, I bit my lip and searched again to make sure no one would hear me. I raised the volume of my voice a tad bit more and called again,

"Girl, listen to me!" This time she heard me and raised her delicate head to the sound of my voice. She searched for the source of the noise, and her eyes eventually fell on me. She pointed at herself and mouthed the word, 'Me?' I nodded and gave her a heart-melting grin.

I was once famous for my smile. No lady was a match for my charming personality. Although, none of that really mattered now of course considering I was an item to be bought and sold. I was no longer the hot-blooded king of romance that I used to be. Ever since I had been tossed in this nightmarish hell-hole, I had become an emotionless husk. At first, I felt anger and misery for the first few months, but overtime, even my fury and despair faded. Even when those revolting blood-thirsty leeches came to drain my body, I felt nothing. It had become a routine after all. That is, until now.

After seven months of confinement and being treated like a slab of meat, a spark of sentiment had stirred me from my extended slumber. However, it wasn't just any regular emotion, it was love. This girl was filling me with a sense of hope, and giving me a purpose to live.

"Hi, my name is Lucas! Forgive me for bothering you, but I couldn't resist chatting with such a lovely flower. May I ask your name?" I said rather smoothly. A red blush covered her cheeks and she darted her eyes away from mine and squirmed uneasily under my stare. Without even realizing it, I had licked my lips. She was absolutely mouth-watering! Oh how I longed to touch her.

"Um... My name is... Leah..." She murmured under her breath.

"Leah... Oh what a stunning name. It suits you perfectly. Leah, I know we have just met, but you have my word that I will shield you from those monsters with all my power." I promised with enthusiasm. She gasped at my words, and gawked at me as if I was a lunatic, yet she still held onto a glimmer of hope that maybe just maybe I could do as I say.

"Why would you do that...? There's no reason for you to help me... You don't even know me, yet you say that you'll protect me? Even if you could, how are you going to save me from my cell when you yourself are locked up in a cage?" She said doubtfully.

"Ah, well." I held up a bobby pin and inserted it into the lock. I jiggled it for a moment and the door snapped open.

"Let's just say that I have my methods." I shrugged my shoulders dismissively. Leah covered her mouth with her delicate hand. Her giant innocent eyes were taking up most of her face. I had successfully left her awe-struck. I could have escaped ages ago, but I chose not to. I had no motivation whatsoever to leave. I was no different than a corpse; my emotions had been depleted along with my precious blood. I was a nobody. So it confused me that this one girl had filled me with so much passion and inner drive.

"Now, let's see if we can't do the same for you, my dear." I made sure to be as stealthy as possible. The vampires weren't the only danger I had to be on toes for. If the other feeders caught wind of our escape, they'd start a riot! As I was about to start working on her own confines, a noise pricked my ears and every sense and nerve in my body was instantly on red alert. I leaped back into my prison and hastily re-locked the door. The jailer strolled into the room with a large salesmen grin plastered onto his face.

"Allow me to show you our newest item on the menu..." He said in a sing-song sales pitch. It was a tone I was all too familiar with. His overly excited chatter made me want to vomit.

The undead businessman escorted his client, a filthy rich aristocrat by the look of him, along the rows of 'merchandise' as we were referred to as. The ancient noble looked rather bored. His crimson eyes dull with indifference as the jailer rattled on and on about each feeder. The vampire scanned over each human in the room until his demonic gaze rested upon none other than Leah. She quivered in his presence and whimpered helplessly with tears pooling in her eyes. He grinned maliciously with his intentions clear in his ravenous arrogant eyes.

"Ah, that’s an excellent choice my good man. Just got this one this morning. So, how does 10,000 dollars sound?" He bargained.

"Wait!" I hollered. "You don't want her. I mean, just look at that little {word meaning one who engages in sexual acts for financial compensation has been redacted}. No meat, pale, thin as paper, and she's probably got some incurable disease. I heard her coughing up her lungs earlier. Are you sure you want that piece of garbage when you could do so much better..." I lay out like I was a dessert platter, and as challenging as it was, I gave the aristocrat my most seductive smile. I even tilted up my head to show off the popping veins in my neck. I almost gagged as the old pervert drooled, and looked my whole body up and down. His gaze was lingering on certain areas a bit too long for my liking.

"Mmmm, this one has spunk. I'll take him instead. Here's 40,000 dollars. Now, take him out." The elder vampire handed the jailer the cash, and rubbed his hands together in anticipation. You could almost see the dollar signs in the greedy bastard's eyes the moment he was handed the money.

"Right away sir! Fine choice!" He unlocked the door and snatched me by my hair. He proceeded to throw me straight into the arms of my lecherous new owner. The vampire licked his lips and chuckled deep in his throat.

Leah stared paralyzed. As much as she wanted to sob her eyes out and scream in protest, all she could manage to do was stare like a deer in headlights. I ignored the inappropriate groping and the despicable things the man was whispering into my ear as I gave Leah one more award-winning smile, and tossed the bobby pin straight into her cage. The pin landed right in front of her feet. She looked at it as if it were a cockroach. Tears finally swelled in her eyes and ran down her soft cheek. She sobbed uncontrollably and reached through the bars screaming,

"Lucas no! Please don't go! No!" Instead of feeling depressed and upset that I would never again get to see her large golden eyes, nor would I ever get to graze her lips with my own, I was happy. I was overjoyed that I had fulfilled my promise and rescued her. She was free. She could now escape, and would no longer be under slavery to these repulsive tyrants. Leah would get to hold onto her emotions, and her sanity. Nothing could have made me happier.

As I was being dragged out the door by my hair, the dirty pervert came to halt. He bared his long razor-sharp fangs and took a large chunk of flesh out of my neck, then threw my carcass over his shoulder. My blood splattered across the wall and onto the floor. A few drops had even managed to splash across Leah's face. In my last breath, I weakly glanced up at Leah and said,

"Farewell, my dear. Although our time was brief, I loved you, nonetheless." With that, I was carried out of the cruel unforgiving storage room, and the steel door was pulled to a close leaving little Leah alone. She held the pin tightly in her balled up fist with tears of anger and sorrow dripping down the side of her face.