Maybe I Can...

I stumbled upon the steps of the stage with blank indifference. My tangled, dry hair rubbed irritably against my face, so I was trying to blow it away without any real success. My eyes drifted downward to my feet which were once a sweet caramel color, only to be coated with debris and stains of dirt. Or so I hoped it was dirt. My ripped jeans were hanging loosely against my waist. I ran my tongue over my teeth, watching as I breathed in, the ribs protruding from the sides as a sign of an eating neglect. I lifted my head up barely making out the features of a red headed girl who had just been sold.

Black tears.

Shallow cries.

Meaningless chances of survival.

The shackles around my feet were pinching me to the point where walking wasn’t as fun anymore, but when Kravalic, the guard dude that herded us like a bunch of cows, shoved me forward. I figured walking slow wasn’t an option I was granted. I made my way up the steps as easily as I could so the stupid guard-guy (whatever) wouldn’t have to shove anymore.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, last item for today is a rare one. Though she is not much to look at now, this creature is one of the best. Not a peep from her; Guarantee. A well behaved girl, and not just at her chores, men.” There was a roar of second meaningful laughs.

I contemplated on the idea of staring one of the onlookers in the eyes. I am a very curious person and when curiosity wins, well… there’s no stopping any of that. My eyes traveled to one pair immediately. Light skinned, yellow slit eyes like a cat. A small scar was the only blemish that flawed her face. She gasped and took a step back from the stage. To put fear in their eyes was a challenge not many were willing to take on, but I was. I was always ready to see what these Under Worlder's would do.

“As the Teller shows, she is a rare breed. Eyes of a Dragon - form of a human. We scarcely have half breeds for sell, so bidding will begin at $5,000.000.”

A heavy wave of bargaining erupted from the crowd like eager kids waiting to enter a toy store. My mind drifted elsewhere when the shouts were mixing together so much that I couldn’t put together if someone said ‘$70,000.00’ or ‘$700,000.00’. All I know is they were soaring. I could be happy about this or disappointed. Rich demons in this world were not all that nice. Heck, even the scummy ones who had nothing to their name bossed around human slaves like me. But I had some good bosses before their businesses ran dry. This is why I’m here again on the Black Market. I focused back on the crowd below me, picking out potential out bidders.

Though most of the demons would rather die than turn away from my gaze in fear, a lot of them did in fact. Demons down here are called Serans. A mixture of pure blood socializing with half breeds and lower classed pure breeds. There are 5 dimensions of class, and each consisted of a new rule and way of living. The first dimension was Arculee. The world was known for the breed ‘Nerans’, who specialize in trades, money, business and power. They are top class and are not easily associated with. Trivial means were a death threat, even in demon cases. In the old days it was more like Monarchs. Kings and Queens of the sort were heavily used. Now these days there are just the rich, but there are still the Monarchs. One per dimension.

Second ruling down the list is this one; Recuron. Serans do the business for Nerans. Where there is a slave to be bought for business purposes or just to feel like they are better than leading partners and enemies, that’s what these demons do. Think of them as an army for upper class. This is also where the Black Market happens. No other world has this unless they are ready for Hunters to break it down.

After that, the third (middle classed) level is Lashius. Down there is where the Perans work. They maintain structures of the demons worlds and tend to the needs of other upper class demons. They are workers back in the human world who were paid just as good as they worked. They caught the slaves and handed them over to Nerans and also worked on new connections to the human world. Though they were not as needed as Nerans, Perans were useful in the art of technology and modern equipment.

Dimension four is partly dead. Home of the Cerans, Clatius’s level was wiped out ages ago from a plague. Only rogues and useless demons lay low there, waiting for a meal to be given to them by a semi-heartful Peran. No Neran or Seran dare step into the world of a Ceran. It was scum and dirty, only opened when someone was exiled for a crime even a demon would be cruel enough to pull. And yes, there are exceptions about how nasty and vicious you can be in Demon realms.

And lastly, there’s the fifth level; A. 'A' was secretive, withheld, forbidden. Down there no one but the Elite knew how to get access to it. No one, not even the Serans in Arculee knew anything about it. It’s said there are experiments concealed from the rest of the underworld so no one will know who is next, what is next. Even I had to admit that my curiousness wasn’t meant for that world. Level A was unnamed because people were scared. What name should be given to one that none knew about? The only fact known about Level A was that people or demons there called themselves Vitalrians. Rumor has it years ago a demon, powerful and hidden behind shadows, made it heard. They considered themselves unique. And necessary to all demon dimensions. Whatever the case, no one questioned it.

A shuffle in the crowd drew my attention from my mind. Blinking slowly, I was looking up at what could possibly be the dumbest, and oddly smartest, human I’ve ever laid eyes on. I am pretty shocked to be honest. My eyes widen at the skill of his scent being closed off. Why did no one else seem to notice his presence? But something hit me. He had weapons. Killing weapons that ended lives within minutes. Seconds even. His bullets shined as the double sun hit from both angles. They were most likely filled with Holy water or some poison that’ll shred a demon to pieces from inside to out. I scanned around to see if anyone else had noticed yet. Apparently not. But this could be my chance at freedom…

Or better, death.

I waited and watched to see his target. He's slow and cautious; I gave him that, though his choice in targeting could have been someone much less dangerous. Narrowing my eyes at his persistence, I know he is going to go for one of the best slave catchers there was in Recuron. Ac’ail. Well, Prince Ac’ail to be correct. The only leading monarch here in charge of Nerans. He was slightly off to the right side, away from all the chaos. To me, it seemed he didn’t have the slightest clue that someone was about to end his life. In a matter of seconds, there would be no blood line ruler left. I didn’t care about that. What I care about is being able to leave this world before all of that happened.

I sprang forward, shocking the people around me and ran towards the prince. His eyes locked with mine and words were being yelled, but I didn’t hear much. I pounced off the stage before their hands could touch me when I heard the click. There was a small crack and I felt like fire was piercing my skin. The thin fabric that surrounded my body tore away under the bullet. I coughed as I hit the floor, my body shaking and convulsing. I closed my eyes and smiled widely before darkness over took my mind. Before all the screams were heard. Before the enraged confusion happened. Before the bloodshed.

Author's Note

Comments welcomed :) More than welcomed, really. I'm embarrassed about grammar and spelling mistakes, so if you find any, please tell me? :D

Reviews

[Francesca]

I really like your whole idea and I think you could go far with this story. I like how you made us able to sympathize with the main character by describing her thoughts so well.
The only thing you could improve on is maybe spreading out how you reveal their class system to us. I got confused because at first I thought it was in the normal human world, and then I saw words like Seran and Arculee and it really threw me off for while. So I think you can maybe spread out how you reveal these things and maybe have an event at the beginning that shows that they're not human and more spread out so it's not just a blast of information that's hard to remember (e.g. if this was about witches, you could have them doing magic at the beginning and then explain their world throughout the story, and slowly, so it's easier to take in and remember). This is only if you're planning to make it longer. If it's just a short story, then it's fine :)
You asked for us to point out grammar errors.
Here, the word would be irritatingly "My tangled, dry hair rubbed irritably against my face," instead of irritably.
Also there's some places where you could add commas.
It's definitely a great start to an interesting, dramatic story :)

[DeviousSiddy]

The whole world behind the story is explained so clearly. normally I would get lost and stop reading but I really got it. And what was happening in the scene where this girl was in was also so clear. Well as clear as she saw it. really felt like you were in her shoes... I mean dirt.

[SparksLC]

WOW, Niiko! this was really good =) its REALLY detailed and interesting and it pulls the reader in. Good job, I can't wait to read more =).