Chapter 1

My breathing was heavy as I ran through the forest, I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, as if someone had ripped it from my chest and were holding it to my head. My feet hurt... I stepped on twigs, roots, anything that was on the forest floor, but I had to keep running. My feet were bleeding though... I knew that was bad... they would catch my scent much easier. Tears began to stream down from my eyes as I dodged trees and ducked tree branches... remembering every horrible detail of how they invaded the village and killed almost everyone... even my parents. They seemed to spare the children, but were collecting them and putting them in chains like cattle. I knew at that point I had to run; I couldn't let them catch me.

I let out a startled scream when someone appeared in front of me out of thin air... No... They found me. I turned around quickly, trying to run in the opposite direction, but someone was there to block my way as well. They were wolf demons... I should have given up hope of running away from the beginning, they are master hunters... But my survival instincts wouldn't let me give up so easily. I tried to run past them, but one of them chuckled in amusement and grabbed onto my hair, causing me to gasp and reach up to scratch at their hands... wanting them to just let me go.

"Don't be afraid little one..." The one whom had my hair chuckled, pulling me closer towards him. "We won't hurt you... You're much too valuable for us to kill."

I began to struggle and scream as the demon that had me by the hair began to remove my kimono... This couldn't be happening... Why was this happening...?

"Would you stop it Raiko... You're going to damage her and lower her value." The other demon said. He sounded bored, like he would rather be doing something else.

"What? We have to remove the rags she's wearing anyway." The demon who held me scoffed, "When did you become such a wet sack."

"Whatever... It's been a long night's hunt; I just want to get back to my pups for the night."

I couldn't help but start sobbing when he said that... He had a family, but didn't bat an eye about demolishing dozens of families tonight... They were monsters... But what did I really expect, they were demons after all. I screamed as the demon that captured me picked me up and threw me across his shoulder, starting to head back to the village with me. I kicked and screamed and beat on his back with my fists... But I seemed to be nothing but a bug to him. He merely laughed at me and continued his walk to the village, talking to his friend casually and ignoring me completely... I had given up all hope; I might be some demon family's dinner after tonight.

XXX

I closed my eyes tight in horror as I listened to the demons beat some of the older kids, the teenagers mostly. The teenagers were the only ones being defiant... while us little kids knew if we said anything or protested, we would be beaten, or eaten alive. Why couldn't they just shut up... wasn't being alive enough for them? Why did they have to test the demons patience like that? By the end of the night... there were at least four dead bodies of human boys in the wolf den. I huddled myself in the corner, watching as wolves began to fight over and eat the dead bodies of the boys... I knew a few of them. I thought I might go insane if I watched any longer... I closed my eyes tightly, pulling my knees closely to my chest, hiding my face in them as I shuddered in fear. We were going to be food, food for this wolf demon tribe.

Day by day... fewer and fewer kids were killed, I became unsure of what the demon's plan for us was... I couldn't think straight anymore anyway... they never fed us, or gave any of us water, I soon began to think they were playing a sick game with us, seeing which one of us would starve to death first. The cave dripped water though, that was good for me, I could drink water off the cave floor just to keep myself alive... even though I didn't know why I should even be trying to prolong my life.

I noticed after a while there were six of us left. Six children who withstood the beatings and malnutrition... I began to play my own game to see which one of us would die next until...

"Get up!" Someone screamed at me, grabbing my hair and pulling me to my feet.

I whimpered, not really having a choice in the matter. The rest of the children were met with the same treatment as we were drug out of the wolf den and escorted through the forest. The wolf demons seemed excited, laughing and grinning as they talked about their big pay day today and how they would be able to feed their families for years to come. Whatever they were doing... I just wished they would put me out of my misery already...

Soon we came to a small village, though this was no ordinary village for me... It was full of demons. I could feel them gazing at us, snickering, making jokes. The young demons pointing at us and looking up at their parents to ask what we were... I envied them... I wished I could cling to my mother one more time, to see her one last time before I died as well...

The demons stopped in a clearing in the village, holding onto us as they lined up. The demon who held me by my hair seemed to be first in line, he walked out and stood in front of a large crowd of the demon villagers.

"We have a new bunch of human slaves as we have promised! Only the best of the best have been weeded through and brought to you fair villagers today!" The demon that held me by my hair announced, earning himself excited shouts and applause. "As you can see this one is fairly attractive, midnight black hair," He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look forward, "Seductive brown eyes. I would say she is around eleven or twelve years old. She can be a bed servant, household servant, and she is fairly tough so she can be used for farming as well. The bidding starts at 10 gold."

"10 gold!" A demon in the crowd quickly shouted.

"10 gold, anyone want to try 15?" The demon who held onto me shouted out to the crowd.

This went on for a surprisingly long time... until...

"Sold! For 200 gold!" The demon that held me seemed so very excited.

My vision was still blurred from malnourishment; I could only make out a few details of the demon who had bought me. His eyes were the first thing i noticed, they were blood red... He had thick black hair that he held up into a pony tail and wore a dark blue kimono. The man seemed to smile at me as he looked me over, reaching out to lift me into his arms bridal style. My body suddenly stopped shuddering, the warmth he gave off warming my naked body. My eye lids began to feel heavy, feeling myself pass out for the first time in days since my hell had begun.