22 Months Ago:

Many of the girls around me cried quietly as we stepped into our designated lines, waiting to be chained before we were to be shown.

They had a good reason to be.

All of the girls here had reached the age of sixteen and a half within the past month, an age that our Pet Mistress deemed old enough for us to be sold as pets.

We all knew that the odds of us being purchased were very high. Only rarely had there been any remaining pets after a showing.

My eyes turned up towards the back door as it opened. Four of the Pet Mistress' workers walked in carrying the shackles that we were going to wear.

The room immediately quieted as they did.

My line was towards the back, so we were going to be shackled and taken out last.

I took in a deep breath, wiping the tear that was running down my cheek.

Of course, I knew this day was coming, but now that it was actually here, I was scared.

This whole process made me wish that I had been transported to any other regular pet shop.

At least there I would have had the protection of at least some metal bars between me and any vampire that was interested in buying me.

But no, my Pet Mistress did things differently, which is one of the reasons she is so well known and respected amongst the vampire community.

Instead of having her shop open every day, she only opens it once a month, which tends to build up quite a crowd. She puts us on full display, having us stand in an orderly fashion so that the buyers can get a full glimpse of us.

Not to mention how she had us all in clothes that pretty much resembled a bikini to show off how flawless and free our skin was from injury.

She claims to have the healthiest and most untouched pets on the market.

Which, from what I could tell, was reasonably true.

We always had enough food to fill our stomachs, bi—monthly checkups, and well, anyone who acted out enough to deserve any physical punishment was sent automatically to the slaughterhouse.

So of course, most of us stayed on our best behavior at all times.

I stood straighter as the worker approached us.

My line consisted of just two other girls, both of whom were too my right.

The lines were organized by blood type, and I guess not a lot of people had AB positive.

Which pretty much guaranteed my purchase...

Which was no matter. I guess that will just make me an even greater pet.

Since there was no use trying to deny the fact that all I'm going to be in my life is a pet, I figured I may as well try to be a good one.

I had even already accepted the fact of my short life.

I extended my hands as the worker stood in front of me.

The shackles closed tight around my wrists, ensuring that I couldn't slip them off and escape.

A chain then connected my shackles to the other girl's shackles, having all three of us chained together in a line.

The back door was opened once again by the Pet Mistress.

She clapped twice, gaining everyone's attention.

"Doors open in five minutes. Are we set?" She asked.

"All pets are bound Miss." the vampire in front of me replied.

"Perfect." She said with a fanged grin.

All of us kept our eyes set on her as she walked towards the middle of the room, her long black hair bouncing gently against her back.

She looked us all over a couple times from where we stood, a proud smirk resting peacefully on her face.

She was obviously proud of this group that she's put together, as she was with most of them.

We were like her dolls that she had spent so much time on and that she could now show everyone who was anxiously waiting to see what she had in stock.

She knew that her business was a great one.

"Alright darlings," She began with the quiet, gentle voice she always talked to us with. The kind of quiet voice that always sounded like a warning, "Today's the day I've prepared you all for. There's already a decent crowd outside waiting anxiously to see you all so I hope you're ready."

Many girls readied themselves before we were taken into the next room. Some fixing some tangles in their hair with their fingers, while others wiped their tears with their arms, trying to ready themselves.

Cryers were not tolerated during show day.

The Pet Mistress held a prideful look on her face as she watched them ready themselves with last—minute preparations.

She knew she had trained us well.

I for one felt like I was ready.

To me, this was just the next step in my life.

Although I was terrified, I was prepared.

If my new Master or Mistress is anything like my Pet Mistress then I don't think I have much to worry about.

The worst—case scenario is that I die during the next blood moon.

Once she saw that we were in fact ready, she spoke up.

"Recite the three rules that all of you are expected to follow." She commanded loud and strong.

We all spoke in perfect unison, having gone through this many times before.

"Do not speak unless spoken to. Do not move unless ordered to. Keep your eyes straight ahead until a purchase has been made."

"Fantastic." She told us before turning to her workers.

"They're ready. Take them in and line them up. I'll go greet the crowd."

She didn't wait for a response before leaving out the front of the room.

Immediately the first line was taken out the door she left in, followed by the next three lines after.

I took in a very long breath before dragging out my exhale, trying to calm my rushing nerves as the line in front of us was taken.

The worker approached the girl on the other side of my line, grabbing the chain between her wrists and leading us into the showing room.

I tried to get a good look at it before I would have to stand still.

This was the first time any of us pets had ever stepped foot in this room.

I was surprised to see that it wasn't very well lit.

Many light bulbs shined down onto the floor where the pets were lined, but besides that, there were just dim bulbs lighting up the rest of the very large room.

The worker situated us where we needed to stand, signaling to one of the others when he was done.

I set my eyes straight to where the entrance was.

This was it.

In probably less than an hour, my life is going to change.

I didn't even have one last second to prepare myself before the door was opened as the Pet Mistress stepped back in.

"Please enjoy!" She sang as vampires rushed in one by one.

I kept my eyes straight as I was ordered to, but took in as much as I could through my peripheral.

Within seconds the room was swarming with vampires, looking over us and touching us.

The first pets to go were usually the ones with a more unusual blood type.

The girl to my far right had been bought within a matter of minutes.

The entire row of AB negatives were gone as well.

This whole ordeal has been making me more and more nervous.

Still, I held still and kept my eyes on the door, analyzing every vampire that came in.

Well, that was the case until one particular vampire tripped on the small step that led into the room and I had to force myself to stifle a laugh.

I had never seen a vampire trip before.

The vampire behind him, luckily grabbed the back of his shirt, preventing him from completely falling.

"Dumbass," The black—haired vampire that caught him said as he pulled the blonde one back up.

The blonde one took a second to regain his composure as the other one stepped past him.

"It's not my fault no one warned me about the step there." He tried to defend.

The black—haired one just rolled his eyes as they began walking around the pets. He really didn't seem like he wanted to be here.

I kept track of them the best I could while still looking forward.

"Whatever," The black—haired one began again, "You made me wait outside this place for over an hour so hurry up and pick one"

The blonde laughed a bit at the other one's disdain.

"Lighten up Nico, I'll let you use this against me the next time you need a favor."

The black—haired one, Nico, let out a fake laugh, "Yeah ok. If some tragedy that's ever somehow bad enough for me to have to ask you for a favor, I'll let you know."

The blonde seemed content with Nico's response.

I continued to keep watch on them and listen in on their conversation as they did serpentines around the pets little by little making their way closer to me.

I eventually figured out that the blonde one's name was Xander and eventually came to my own conclusion that they were brothers.

There was no way that they were just friends judging by Nico's attitude towards Xander.

Eventually, they reached where I was, walking in front of my line.

Nico stopped right in front of me, turning to face Xander.

"Do you even know what you're looking for?" He questioned.

Nico was too tall for me to be able to see his face in my peripherals, and I could only barely make out that Xander pursed his lips out as he thought about his answer.

"No, not really, I've just kinda been hoping you've been picking out a couple for me to choose from." He responded.

Nico let out a long sigh.

"You know you can go pet shopping without me, right?" Nico Informed.

Xander's eyes widened a bit.

"What? But you're mister doctor man and know what a healthy capable human looks like!" He replied.

What he said kind of surprised me.

I didn't know that Vampires could be human doctors.

An annoying sound came from Nico's throat.

Yet Xander continued, "Plus we both know I've never actually been pet shopping so I don't know what I'm doing in general."

"I'm not gonna analyze every single one of these girls just—" He cut himself off, sighing in an act to calm himself down, "What blood type do you want?"

Xander thought for a couple seconds.

"Either O negative or one of the ABs"

My breath hitched at his response before his brother spoke out the exact words that were running through my head.

"Well, the AB negative and O negative's are gone and the only AB positives are right here," Nico said before pointing a thumb directly at me.

Xander's eyes then fell directly onto me before switching to the other girl to my right.

"Okay well, which one's better?" He asked Nico.

"It doesn't matter they both look fine, just pick one." He answered, crossing his arms.

Xander let out a short "hm" as he stepped up to the other girl, moving moving enough out of my periphery to see what he was doing.

I did however hear her let out an audible whine.

She was scared.

Which spread to me awfully quickly right before he stepped right in front of me.

Seemingly every muscle in my body tightened as he set his hand on my head, turning it up to face him.

I was forced to meet his mossy green eyes, curiously looking me over.

My fear couldn't help but grow in uncertainty as the seconds passed of him silently looking over every inch of me.

I've never had anyone pay such close attention to me, and I guess it was making me extremely uncomfortable given the circumstances.

His clumsy and jokey demeanor was completely gone, his eyes narrowed and showing serious thought.

I swallowed hard as I tried to keep myself calm.

He smirked as he noticed my action, releasing me and grabbing the chain between my wrists.

He pulled me forward, causing me to stumble and snap out of my apparent stupor.

"Hey! I'll take this one!" He yelled to one of the workers.

"Really?" Nico asked as the worker came over to unlock my shackles, "Why her?"

Xander pulled out a light green collar and matching leash from his pocket.

"Dunno," He replied as he attached the collar around my neck. it was tight but not too tight, "I've just got a good feeling about this one."