the good sir lied?

Adeline stared wide eyed at the other children of which were all girls seated in the back of the van, they all at most looked around her age and below.

The man that carried her dropped her in the back of the van and ruffled her hair, "be good and seat here quietly okay?" The man told her

Adeline nodded reluctantly before sitting. Of all of them she looked the most shrivelled and thin to the bone. The little girl opposite Adeline sniffed and it caught Adeline's attention

Adeline waved at her, "hi"

The little girl stayed silent and watched Adeline. She held her legs close to her self and buried her chin there

"My name is Adeline how about you?" Adeline asked her

"Marley" the little girl whispered a reply

"Do you know where we're going?" She whispered again

Adeline shook her head.

The rest of the trip was silent.

The long trip caused some of the girls to fall asleep while Adeline and some others struggled to keep their eyes opened.

Soon, the van stopped moving and the back door opened. A short chubby man came to view, his appearance scared the girls a bit

He had a wide smile on his face while looking at each of them one after the other. He rubbed his hands together "good" he mumbled under his breath.....

"Okay kids you can call me uncle Joe alright?" He smiled even wider

The girls weren't comfortable with his demeanor, his appearance and his smile frightened them.

Seeing that none of them responded to him, joe snapped his finger and a tray was handed over to him.

The tray had some of the girls including Adeline peering into it.

"See..." He tilted the tray and showed them his collection of different candies of various flavors.

"Follow uncle Joe and you can have one and if you're really good you can have two" he said

The girls one after the other made their way out of the van on their own to get their share of the candy they wanted. Adeline was reluctant, her mother had always warned her not to accept treats from strange people

And this man here looked very strange and was holding sweets too. Adeline hesitated and was soon the only one left in the van.

Joe looked inside, "common out, common there are still more candies" he said to entice her.

He reached out into the van hoping that Adeline would come out using his help.

She placed her hand on his and came out. Once she came down, the poorly illuminated surrounding shone on her body.

He frowned upon seeing her closely and clearly. He snapped his finger and the man from earlier who carried Adeline walked over

"What's this?" Joe asked and looked at Adeline like he was looking at a pile of trash

"Sir?"

"Why is this one so thin and skinny?" He asked with creased brows and a face full of disgust

"Um sir the seller said she would do" the man replied

'Seller' Adeline thought as she looked in between the two men, the other girls had been taken inside already leaving her alone with the two.

"She better" joe replied. He popped out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. He pulled Adeline by the collar of her dress, "move it skinny" he said and she moved along.

She straightened her dress while walking, she didn't want it to get ruined after all it was the good man who gave it to her.

Her heart beat quicky as she walked in front of the man. The light was green and some of the corners were very dark. Her body flinched at the sight of a woman covered in tattoos

The woman waved at her but Adeline was too scared to make any reaction.

She ended up in an elevator alongside the chubby man Joe.

She was a bit confused, the people her good sir had told her about that were going to take care of her where were they?

Summoning up courage, she decided to ask the chubby man who's smoke filled the elevator to the brim

"The good sir told me there will be good people who'll take care of me, are they here?" She innocently asked

The man almost chocked on his cigarette and began coughing, he cleared his throat

"Don't worry kiddo they will take real good care of you" he smiled

But Adeline wasn't convinced with that smile.

Once the elevator opened up, she started hearing voices, loud voices. A loud voice shouted "10 thousand!" and another shouted louder "11 thousand!"

The chubby man Joe grabbed her by her hand and led her to the stage where the other girls were. She stood in a line along the with the rest and many more girls were there.

She didn't understand what was happening but she was brought along side another girl that looked her age.

They both were brought to stand in front of everyone.

Adeline noticed that they were all men and no lady was in sight. She didn't work well with crowds and had developed stage fright.

She looked tired and weary and her blue dress was already all crumpled up.

Upon seeing them, the crowd began to whisper..

"Twenty for the one in green" someone shouted from the crowd

Adeline looked to her left, the girl beside her was wearing a green shirt only, it was a big one so it covered up to her knees. She wasn't doing anything in particular, just stood there.

Twenty five for the one in green" another man shouted

"Thirty, one in green" another shouted

"Fourty five for the one in green" another man shouted and the crowds chatter increased

The man at the short podium with a microphone spoke, "no more bidding, sold to the bidder of fourty five thousand dollars"

The crowd roared and applauded.

Adeline and the girl were taken off the stage but she was taken to a different place than the girl in green. They both exchanged glances before they were separated.

Adeline was taken to the chubby man by the one behind the podium, "what are we going to do about this?" He asked in reference to Adeline

Adeline looked at the both of them, she was frightened to the core and hungry.

"I knew that shrivelled thing wouldn't sell, just keep her somewhere" he instructed and she was taken away.

Where were the good people she was promised? The good sir told her they would take good care of her, where were they?...