Ivy Gates || PJM || Ivy Book One || ✔

2.

As the guards advanced towards me, I lashed out without thinking. I caught the first guard on the nose, and he stepped back with a curse as blood splattered around him.

"Little bitch!" One of the other guards swore, reaching out and grabbing my by my hair. I yelped in pain, lashing out again and catching him in the stomach with my knee. He grunted and doubled over in pain, releasing my hair from his grip. I reached up, tearing at the chain on my throat, trying to get free so I could escape the room, but the third guard grabbed my wrists and pinned me to the wall, a furious look on his face.

"I'm going to kill you, bitch," He said, "After we all have our way with you,"

However, he screeched in pain when my knee connected to the juncture between his thighs, and like the second guard, he doubled over in pain.

I didn't realised I was crying until I felt the drops of water on my hands as I once again tugged at the collar around my neck.

I would be put to death for this. I knew this, but I wanted to get out. I couldn't be in the room with these men anymore.

I had almost worked the chain free when the door to the room opened, and a man walked in. He was taller than me, which wasn't a surprise; I wasn't vertically blessed. He had dusty blonde hair and brown eyes with a beautiful, yet stern face. He was only a few years older than me, I expected, but the uniform he was wearing contrasted heavily with his face. 

He was dressed in the navy coloured uniform of the General; The ruler of the army and the one who controlled everything that happened within the city boundaries. 

I had never seen him before, but of course I had heard of this man. He was merciless and cruel, as well as powerful and intelligent. And the last woman he had owned had died within a few weeks of becoming his property.

"What is going on?" He asked calmly, his brown eyes cold as he surveyed the room.

"She was resisting!" One of the guards cried, "She refused to go out to the auction stage,"

The General tutted and shook his head, "I don't believe that, officer. You didn't try to relieve another girl of her virginity illegally, did you? I told you last time that if you did that again I'd have to banish you,"

The remaining colour on the guards face drained, "General, we didn't I promise! We were bringing her out and she went crazy so we had to chain her to the wall but before we could get help she attacked us.

I was in shock from the lies coming from the guards mouth. When the other two guards agreed with him, I decided to speak up. I was already in trouble, so standing up for myself wasn't going to do much extra.

"They're lying!" I exclaimed, "I was behaving like I should, but they told me to strip and I said I wasn't allowed. Then they tried to force me,"

The Generals eyes flickered to me in annoyance, "Did I tell you to speak, girl?"

I frowned, "No, but I won't accept their lies!"

My mother had warned me about keeping my attitude in check. I had been away from her for one day, and I was already misbehaving.

The General moved to me quickly and grabbed my throat, bringing me towards him. He didn't squeeze at all; in fact it didn't even hurt, but it was obvious that if he flexed his fingers even slightly, I would suffocate in an instant.

"This is your last warning. Hold your tongue before I cut it out,"

I grit my teeth and glared at him. He returned my glare calmly with his cold eyes, before I finally lowered mine in submission. He let me go and unclipped the chain from the wall.

"I'll deal with you three later," He said, before tugging on the chain. I obediently began to walk, as I was so used to walking on a lead.

He led me out through the door I had come in through the previous night, and I could see that in the huge square that was empty the day before, there was a wooden stage, with men stood in front of it. In the middle of the stage was a small podium, where the man who had checked me in was standing, holding a pile of paperwork. On the other side of the stage, there were a group of girls all my age attached by their chains to a thick metal pole. They look as terrified as I felt. Some were even crying.

The General tugged my chain onto the stage and headed for the centre where the podium was.

"Why is she so late, Sir?" The man asked respectfully.

"We'll discuss it later. You need to put this one up with a red warning. She laid three guards flat. Only to experienced handlers,"

"That's a shame," The man said, fixing me with a stare, "She would have sold for hundreds. I'll have to lower her price," He turned to the guard by his side, "Take her to the others,"

The General handed the chain to the man and left the stage, and the guard pulled me to where the other girls were stood and hooked the chain to the pole, where I was told to stand in silence until I was taken to the centre stage.

---

JIMIN

"What happened, Jimin?" My friend and colleague Taehyung asked me as I stepped off the stage and to the side.

"Scumbag guards tried to rape her," I snorted, not feeling sorry for them at all. They knew it was against the law, but this was the second time they did it, "I got in there and she'd caused some damage on them, though,"

"Oh," Taehyung said, "Red warning?" 

I nodded. The girl was one of the most spirited females I had seen in a long time, after Daisy. She had obviously grown up in a tough part of the town, and despite her defiance, she obviously knew the rules. It was a shame she reacted so violently, though, there were quite a few good men in the crowd today. If she was gentle, Namjoon would have brought her; he liked blondes. Namjoon was a good and honorable man. 

But she reacted the wrong way, and it was going to get her a hard life for a while. It was no wonder society had changed in favour of keeping the women locked up. They were clearly not on the level of intelligence as men, and didn't know how to behave properly to ensure a decent future. Treat them kindly, and they stab you in the back.

Women in the Red zone were usually purchased by a temporary owner, retrained and then sold on. Not many men were licensed to keep a Red Zone woman, as they were not allowed to take her virginity; they were only a temporary owner. They also had to go under training on how to punish a woman without leaving any permanent physical damage. The women did not start their new lives very well.

"Why don't you buy her?" Taehyung said, snapping me out of my thoughts, "You've had experience with Red Zone women. You need a woman, anyway,"

I snorted, crossing my arms over my chest as I surveyed the crowd, "I don't think so. I want someone who doesn't need any work. I have enough to think about, I don't want to have to worry about my food being poisoned by some woman who doesn't like how I run things,"

That's how my "Father" had died. He was a strong, brave man in his prime. But his woman poisoned him in one huge dose because she didn't like his rules. He had watched her be put to death with no sadness at all.

"Yeah, I guess," Taehyung said, also crossing his arms, "Not to mention having to lock your knives up again,"

I rested my hand over my chest, where the huge scar was. Women were not to be trusted.