Chapter 181 Lady Of The Night (5)

(Northern Region- New Atlantic City)

(Inner District- Unovan Auction House)

Mary opened her eyes and groaned in pain since it hurt to even take a single breath. Her ribs had clearly been bruised... or even cracked.

What has happened? Where was she? This place...

The last thing that she remembered was falling unconscious after trying to crawl towards the open van door.

No matter how hard she tried, Mary could not recall how she had managed to end up in this unfamiliar place.

Mary looked around her surroundings and felt her heart drop as she realised that she had not managed to be saved.

But the hunters were right there... why would they let a vampire go?

Did she overestimate their determination and drive to kill rouge vampires?

Truthfully the young girl's mind was a bit of a mess, but she forced herself to calm down and take stock of the situation.

There was no use in panicking.

Right now, she had to determine where she was and how to escape as quickly as possible. Mary sat up from the ground and glanced around the room.

She was currently held inside a cage with thick iron bars and large padlock. It was a set-up similar to what one would usually see in a zoo.

Except this time, she was the animal trapped inside...

There were a few other humans inside the room, and they appeared to be in various states of health and wellness.

Some wore nothing but rags to cover up their unwashed bodies while others were dressed in fancy dresses and suits.

The neck portion of their outfits had been intentionally cut open exposing their pale skin to the outside world.

Mary glanced down and saw that she was wearing the same clothes that she had on in the van.

Okay good... at least no one had taken off her clothes...

Despite the differences in appearances, every single human was locked up a tiny cage that barely had enough space for them to move around.

They were being treated as livestock.

In the minds of the vampires who lived in the northern region, the treaty meant little to creatures who had always seen humans as prey.

How could a wolf sign a peace treaty agreement with a sheep?

Mary heard the steady beating of her heart as she stretched out her hand and attempted to touch the padlock outside her cage.

She lightly touched its cold metal surface but quickly withdrew her hand as she noticed a large spike embedded in its side.

A trap and a warning...

It would be a death sentence to get a cut in a place like this. The scent of blood would cause every lesser vampire within a two-hundred-meter distance to go insane.

Mary sat down on the ground and placed her head in her palms. Fuck... was she going to die just as the mission had begun?

What did the 'system' say?

If she died prematurely in the mission planes, then there was a possibility that her soul could be trapped inside the world?

Mary honestly couldn't remember what exactly the 'system' had said and the constant whimpers and frightened prayers coming from the other humans trapped inside the cages was getting on her nerves.

"Father god... please protect me..."

"This is just a dream. This is just a dream. This is just a dream."

"Fuck! Let me out of here! Do you know who I am?!"

Mary covered her ears using her hands as the noises got louder and louder. Suddenly there was an unexpected moment of silence.

The young teenage girl looked up and saw a handsome young man with a friendly smile on his face walking inside the room.

He wore a plain white shirt, had a mop of dirty blonde hair, and generally looked like a boy you would typically find in a frat house.

Except for those crimson red eyes and sharpened fangs that gleamed eerily under the light. He was holding two large white plastic bags and shook them gently as he walked.

Mary felt goosebumps rise up along her arms as the vampire walked closer and closer. The instinctive fear that prey felt towards predators was hard to ignore.

The mysterious vampire reached into the white bags and placed down two bowls in front of a frightened elderly woman.

She was the human in the cage closest to the door, so it made sense that the vampire approached her first.

The content of the bowls remained a mystery, but the elderly woman remained frozen in place and made no attempt to reach for them.

Mary furrowed her brows as she leaned closer in the direction of the old woman and tried to get a good look at what was inside.

She could not see since a large iron bar was blocking her view.

The vampire continued the process of reaching into the bags and placing two bowls in front of each cage.

Eventually he arrived in front of Mary's cage, and he lightly placed the two bowls on the ground.

His nose wrinkled up in disgust as if he smelled something foul.

Mary did not dare to move even a single muscle as the monster's terrible crimson eyes swept up and down the length of her body.

There was no trace of lust in his gaze.

He looked at her just as how one would look at a piece of meat in a butcher's shop.

It was terrifying to see a reflection of herself in those inhuman eyes...

The vampire walked away, and Mary silently let out a sigh of relief. A few minutes passed and eventually the bags that the vampire was holding became empty.

"In a few hours... you will all be sold to your new masters..." the vampire suddenly spoke as he walked towards the door.

"I would advise eating otherwise your price will be affected."

Eating?

Mary looked down at the bowls and discovered that one had been filled with water and the other had been filled with...

Dog food?

A brown mushy sludge was present in one of the bowls and it made her gag in disgust as a revolting smell entered her nostrils.

A terrible hatred surfaced in Mary's heart as she glanced at the retreating back of the vampire until he disappeared behind a corner.

These vampires... monsters... they were all monsters...

Mary grabbed her stomach in pain as she felt a stab of hunger. She had not eaten since god knows how long and the auction would apparently be in a few hours.

How could she eat this disgusting food and was the water even safe to drink?

But the cold reality was... did she even have a choice?

Mary could only assume that she was now in the northern region of the country aka vampire-controlled territory.

Even if she could escape by some miracle... how the hell would she be able to travel across the region undetected?

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The bowls of food sat on the ground and Mary could see that no other human had bothered to reach for them.

She gritted her teeth and stretched out her hands. It was impossible to take the bowls inside the cage, so Mary scooped up the water using her palms and then hurriedly drank.

It seemed unlikely that she would be able to escape but... Mary was not going to give up so easily.

And any escape attempt would certainly end in failure if she fainted halfway through due to hunger or thirst.

She needed to keep up her energy.

No matter the price.

A determined expression flashed across Mary's face and her right palm reached for the bowl filled with the brown sludge.