Worthless (Camren)

"Excuse me"

Lauren turned around slowly to see where the noise had come from, her heart sank. Now that the man in the suit had left, Lauren could see that the three men had been standing around a kneeling slave, thereby inadvertently shielding her from Lauren's view.

It was a girl. Lauren couldn't guess her age because her  head was lowered so far that her neck had to hurt. The matted dark curls on her head hadn't been brushed or washed in a while and looked awfully tangled and unclean. The girl was only wearing a pair of filthy old panties and a bra that looked as though they were going to fall apart at any minute. She was so gaunt that Lauren could see her ribs sticking out from her exposed upper body. Large, dark bruises shone through the layer of grime she was covered in.

The first man grabbed a handful of the girl's hair and yanked her head back.

"What was that, bitch?" He hissed. The girl whimpered, shaking her head as violently as the man's grip on her hair allowed.

"Answer me, whore," the man yelled in the girl's face. "You think you deserve to be fed, huh? Think you gonna find someone who still wants to fuck your diseased little holes? Is that what you think?"

"No, Sir", the girl whispered. Her voice was rough from disuse, she sounded entirely defeated.

Lauren felt as though she was going to be sick.

"Thought so", the man said. He used his grip on the slave's hair to shove her forward. The girl  landed face-down in the dirt at the two men's feet.

"One more sound from you," he emphasised the word 'sound' with a kick to the girl's side "and I'll personally drag you out of this town and put a bullet in your face." He took another swing at the girl's ribs before rubbing the hand he had used to yank at the girls hair on his trousers, as if to clear it of filth.

The other slave trader had watched with a disinterested look on his face, but he now pulled a syringe from his trouser pocket and uncapped the needle.

"You know what? Screw the boss and screw the city regulations, she's only taking up space and I ain't gonna drag her ass around another two days. I'll give her this. We'll put her back in the transporter and hide her there 'til we get out of the city, whataya think?"

The second man grunted in approval.

Lauren was in front of them in a heartbeat.

They looked up at her in confusion. Lauren managed to take a calming breath and put on a falsely polite smile before saying "Excuse me, hello! I was wondering if I could take a look at that slave." Her heart was racing.

The two traders exchanged baffled glances, but put on their pleasant salesperson masks and took a step backwards.

"Of course, Miss", said the shorter of the two men, while putting the cap back on the syringe's needle and pocketing it.

"But I gotta tell ya, she ain't no good merchandise, you might wanna have a look in the 93.75 section if your allowance is limited, kid." The taller one added. The slave, who was lying on the dirty ground between the trader's and Lauren's feet, was very still.

"I assure you, my allowance isn't that limited. I was actually looking for a trader to help me and my friend out in the "NEW MERCHANDISE" section, but I couldn't find anyone."

"Our bad, Miss", the first man apologized, suddenly in a much friendlier tone now that he had smelled money. "We can head over there right now, if you'd like."

"Gladly, but first I want to hear about this one. " Lauren said, with a look at the slave's direction.

"Very well, Miss." The man went to collect a stack of printed papers he had stored away on a desk nearby while the other one dragged the girl back onto her knees for Lauren to inspect. As the shorter man browsed through a few pages, Lauren looked down at the slave. The trader who was holding her up tilted her head back so Lauren could see her face. Lauren's eyes immediately landed on the girl's black eye as well as the dark handprint that was clearly visible around her throat. The only clean parts on the slave's body were the tracks on which her tears had washed away dirt on her face. Her lower lip was split open. The sickening feeling in Lauren stomach kept growing stronger.