Chapter 73: The Auction
Rose’s first instinct was to run in any direction that would take her out of here, but she didn’t get a chance to even figure out her environment before someone grabbed her arm and pulled her. They got in front of the open cage and pushed her in.
Rose landed on her front, only managing to protect her face in time. However, it didn’t stop it from hurting as she had hit her sore head. The bump was down but the pain wasn’t any less. She lay still for a bit as she waited for the pain to subside before she lifted her head.
The cage clanged shut, and Rose was faced with the three men looking into the cage with her in it. One of them was smiling while the other two just stared down at her. Rose couldn’t read their expressions, but she could tell that if she were a box in here, it wouldn’t make much difference to them.
The cage was huge; even if she stood on her feet, her head would touch the top. She also noticed a few strange things about the cage. There were strands of hair—or was it fur?—and a little bit of blood. It looked like it had been cleaned, but whoever had been in charge of cleaning it hadn’t done a very good job.
The cage was locked shut, and one of the men said, "Pull her up!"
Rose’s eyes widened, and she instinctively looked up. The cage lifted off the ground, and she yelled as she lost her footing and fell. She scrambled to one side of the cage and held onto the bars. It was either that or she would be tossed all over the cage as she was pulled up.
The man with the lamp grinned and waved at her. Rose turned her face away as she gripped the bars tighter. She was really about to be auctioned off. The pull didn’t take too long. Rose couldn’t see through the top of the cage, as—like the bottom—it was a flat square piece of metal. However, she knew she wouldn’t have to wait long before she would see what was going on.
Suddenly, she could see something. Rose wasn’t sure if she should call it a roof or a floor. She was being pulled through the hole of this, and some light came from this hole. It was enough to brighten the space below her, and Rose winced as the light got brighter with each pull.
The rope attached to the cage suddenly came undone, and Rose felt the cage start to fall, but before she could panic, the cage landed on the wooden floor with a soft bounce. The hole had been closed.
Rose slowly moved to a kneeling position. The cage drop had caused her to lose her balance on the bars. The place was bright, but she couldn’t see anything except a man in a fancy hat. She couldn’t see his face, only his smile. There was a mask across his face and a long red curtain behind his back. However, the noise she could hear told her she was facing the wrong direction.
It wasn’t a loud noise, just enough to let her know a number of people were in the venue. Rose swallowed and slowly turned around. What she saw was enough to make her faint.