Chapter 9

KAIDA'S POV...

I was almost stumped to the point of death as I lay curled on the floor, holding my hands above my head protectively.

This was it. Maybe I was born to face such a brutal fate. This was my end; maybe death was a better option for me; this world has nothing to offer me anyway. I close my eyes, expecting the worst to happen to me.

But surprisingly the flashlight man who announced my identity suddenly stopped the hyping men.

"Stop! Everyone, calm down!" The flashlight man ordered, silencing everyone inside the container.

I was left wondering why he had ordered everyone to leave me alone, I wouldn't be a fool to believe that he had taken pity on me and decided to let me go.

The silence after the initial excitement was deafening; it let the tension and curiosity brew heavily in the air.

I heard the man scoff lightly before he spoke. "We've just found ourselves a jackpot. We have to control ourselves and hands off from her," the man said.

"But, why?" One man asked from behind him.

"The Saint," The flashlight man replied mysteriously, causing the others to gasp in realization.

"That is why I urge you all to wait. We've all seen she is such a beauty, even with the dirt," The man chuckled and continued, "Presenting her to the Saint of District 7 as an offering would be more beneficial to us. It would bring us far greater rewards than just sharing her amongst ourselves. We would get nothing but just getting g our dicks wet," the man said, causing the others to burst out into demeaning laughter.

I have heard about the "Saint." And what I have learned about him was not something that would make me happy about these men's decisions. I would have even preferred they shared me amongst themselves and be done with me.

But the "Saint?" That was another torture for me.

The "Saint" was known to possess the most women in Ovivacia; he was notorious for collecting females from across the land and then selecting the finest of them to bring back and keep them for breeding purposes.

That thought filled me with disgust and rage.

Why did men have to be so savage and dirty? I couldn't imagine myself as one of those unlucky women who had unfortunately been captured and left at the mercy of the "Saint" to do with them as he so pleased.

As the men finally concluded me, the flashlight man moved closer to me and squatted in front of me, touching my hair with his filthy hands.

"It is a pity you didn't get to have some fun with us, girlie, but don't worry, you'll have lots of fun in the future," He said, chuckling evilly.

He suddenly stood and left my side dismissively.

"Lock her up in the cage!" He ordered and left.

I immediately felt both my arms roughly grabbed, and I was dragged outside. I tried struggling but they were greater in number and strength.

"Let me go! Let me go, you idiots!" I kicked and flailed my hands, but I ended up getting thrown into a rusted cage and locked inside it.

"Sleep tight, sweetcheeks," One of the men said before they left me standing under the chill night in the middle of nowhere.

I was boiling in anger and rage at myself for getting into such a situation and at these sadistic men for thinking they had the right to decide what to do with my life.

They guarded my cage, posting themselves in turns, waiting for when they would depart at dawn.

Defeated, I lay in the cage, staring at the sky in despair, the darkness in the sky portraying my fate, dark and unknown.

I tuned my ears and listened to the guards outside, hearing them hurling vulgar comments at me.

"What a shame; she would have been a good bitch," One guard said to the other other.

"She's a slut, she would know how to give a good head," The other replied.

They continued their vulgar assaults, laughing at their mean jokes.

I felt so disgusted; hearing their words made me imagine what it would be like with the "Saint," it would be a lot worse than what these men were saying or doing.

A depressing thought came to my mind: maybe I should just end my life; it seemed like a better option to me than letting these psychos deliver me to that monster.

I was still awake when the guards shifted posts, and a new guard came to replace the two guards who were standing in front of my cage; I had quit watching them a long time ago and had focused on the stars, wishing I was free like those celestial bodies.

Suddenly, I heard a tap on my cage, but I ignored it; I wasn't ready to entertain those bastards. But I heard the tap again and wondered what this new guard wanted from me, but as I turned, I heard him saying something to me.

"Take this," He whispered.

He was wearing a black hood which concealed his face, making me unable to see him. I watched in confusion as he slipped something into the cage for me, and when I heard the jiggling of metals, I knew immediately that he had given me the key to unlock the cage.

As he slipped the keys through the bars of my cage, he drew the hood lower to his face and spoke. "Unlock the door and head southeast," He said in a low voice.

Shocked, I look up at his hooded face, wondering why he was suddenly betraying his people and helping me.

"Why are you helping?" I asked in a whisper.

"I'll distract the others, hurry up and escape before they stop you," He said to me and left, not answering my question.

Without hesitating, I quickly retrieved the key from the floor of the cage, quietly unlocked the door, and sneakily crawled out.

I did a brief glance at the direction my mysterious helper had gone and then proceeded to run in the opposite direction.

However, I didn't make it far when the flashlight man suddenly emerged, trying to intercept my escape.

I increased my speed, running desperately toward the desert, hoping to outrun the man,

The winds picked up, picking up the dusty sands too and blowing harshly over my face, causing me to narrow my eyes as I ran to reduce the amount of gritty dust that entered my eyes; my legs felt the cold and fine desert sands beneath my foot and I was just about trying to leap over an area that looked like a quicksand when I suddenly fell to the floor, my legs getting stuck in the soft and fine yet gritty desert sand.

I looked back and felt helpless as the man approached me with unrepentant speed. Terrified, I quickly forced my leg out of the sand, I was lucky to to free myself just as the flashlight man almost got to me, and without wasting time, I ran.

As I ran, I heard the man's hyena growl behind me. In that instant, I knew it could only mean one thing: he was in the beastification as my escape got him angrier.

My heart picked up extra beats; I knew I would be in trouble if I didn't escape him before he was completely beastified.

But I didn't feel like I was going to make it; my legs felt like lead, and they were becoming difficult for me to place one after the other; I was already calculating in my head how many more steps I would take before I passed out.

But, suddenly, I felt something loom over me, before I had the chance to check what it was, a figure swung down from the shadows, scooping me up off the sandy floor and out of the hyena man's reach.

'I am saved!' Was the first thought that came to my head as I looked down at the angry and growling beastifying man.

My heart still panting, I apprehensively looked up and surprisingly found myself staring into Axton's mystifying green eyes!