Aria didn't know what was going to happen to her now that she was in this retched place. All these people, here only to bought and sold like cattle. She had heard rumors already about how the 'upper-class' would buy slaves to torture them, or worse. As she looked around, she took in the people she was placed with. Most were dressed in tattered clothing and covered in filth. Looking down at her own clothing, she realized her clothes weren't much better. At least her mother gave her a through cleaning to ensure a quick sale. But she still wore the same old dull grey sweatshirt and shorts. She looked around some more, and noticed everyone lining up. Then, someone grabbed her and put her at the front of the line.
The auctioneer spoke, "This girl is 18 years old, silent and completely obedient. Lets have the bidding begin at $500." Aria breathed a sigh of relief when no one raised a bid. Once again, the auctioneer spoke, "She is also a virgin."
Aria froze when everyone in the crowd started bidding at once.

Evelyn stood in silence, gazing across the selection of young women and young men, and even children, who had been selected to stand at the auction today. He watched through ice-chip blue eyes, running his long fingers thoughtfully through the midnight waves of his hair. None of them seemed quite right to him. He had come here determined to choose a companion, someone to stand in his company and do his bidding. Someone pretty, who would not ask too many questions. Who would sit there and keep Evelyn from feeling alone without needing very much in return. He needed nothing more than a servant and companion - not even a bed partner. For years his studies and his business had been his only form of pleasure, and that did not need to change now.

But these rats... they would not do. Scrawny, nobbly-kneed creatures without souls in their eyes or hope in their hearts. Barely even human.

Shaking his head in disgust, he turned from the crowds... and that was when he saw her, standing frightened at the end of the line. A girl more perfect than he could ever have dreamed...

He watched as she was dragged up to the front of the line, put up for sale, introduced. No one bid. Evelyn didn't, either - he would see where the sales went before he tried anything...

"She is also a virgin."

The crowds went wild, but Evelyn's brow furrowed in irritation. Why did virginity make anything better? All that meant - to those who cared about those sorts of things, which he did not - was that she would have to be taught...
Shaking his head slightly, he began to slip through the crowds, journeying up closer to the stage. He listened in silence as her price rose... waiting for the right opportunity, when the bidders fell silent. It took a while, but Evelyn was not short on cash.

He waited until the very last instant. And then he bid. He bid higher, he was sure, than anyone else here could afford. After all... they were all aiming for multiple "toys". He only wanted the one. He could use all his money on this single piece of merchandise... this girl.

Save her from the lecherous hands that cared about virginity.

Aria stared in disbelief at the man. Why would he bid such a high price on her? Surely she wasn't worth it. She began to think again, of all the rumors she heard in this place. She stood completely still, waiting for the next bid, only it never came. The auctioneer called out a bellowing, "Sold, to the man in the front!" She was quickly ushered off stage and into the waiting room. Along the way she could here the others whispering about her in low tones so she couldn't understand them. But she could tell that they knew who bought her, and that they felt sorry for her.

As she sat in her cell, she twiddled her thumbs and hummed a soft tune she remembered from childhood, before things went too far south between her and her mother. She tried to recall all the good memories she could, and relished in their comfort. She smiled, and almost laughed at a memory, until she heard footsteps coming towards her.

Evelyn waited for a time, watching the chaos of the auction, before he went to collect her. Only when he grew bored of the repetitive process, watching innocent human souls being bought and sold, did he turn and wander down to the waiting rooms where his girl would be waiting in her cell. His heels clicked against the stone floor as he walked, scanning the cells...

... There she was. He stopped in front of her, glancing around and fixing a staff member with his ice-cold stare. The man rushed to help him, putting the key in the lock and heaving the door open for Evelyn, who turned his frigid eyes to the girl.

"Come," he commanded, his tone flat and utterly uncaring.

Aria looked up at the man. He was tall, and she had to admit, he was the most handsome man she had ever met. He seemed distant, like he was distracted. His voice was cold, but she would prefer cold over anger any day. 'Just do what he asks,' she thought to herself, 'just behave, stay alive.' With that, she rose from her seat, and followed the man.

Of course, her being ever-so-slightly clumsy, she tripped. Right in-front-of everyone, she had tripped, and landed right on her face. While the upper-class laughed, she brought herself up off the floor, dully noting her bloody nose. 'Yep. How else ya gonna embarrass yourself tonight Aria?' she scolded herself in her mind.

Evelyn gazed off down the hall, distracted, thoughtful, so he was not looking when the girl tripped and fell. He heard the impact, however, and turned to gaze down at the child on the ground at his feet, one thin, dark eyebrow lifting in what almost seemed to be... amusement.
"Follow me," he commanded, making no comment on her accident, or on the blood flowing from her nose. That could be seen to later. He simply turned on one heel and walked away, making a gap in the crowd merely by moving towards them. It was though his presence repelled all people - they could not stand to be within two feet of him for any length of time, so they avoided him.

The sea of the people always parted before Evelyn Marcelle.

Aria followed him down the hall, ignoring the nasty comments. She just wanted this night to be over with. As they walked through the halls, she thought about her past, and how her future could change for better...or for worse. She tried to make herself believe that this man would be a very kind, and gentle master. Alas, she knew that was probably not the case.

A man came and asked the man to do some final paperwork, so Aria decided to keep herself busy be doing funny faces in a window.




OOC: I'll post again about 4pm tomorrow

Evelyn gave the man with the paperwork a frigid look, and then his lips slipped up into a smile that, on anyone else, might have been pretty. Pleasant. Reassuring.
But it did not transfer to his eyes, and so the expression was more horrifying even than the emotionless look he had worn before.

"My subordinates will sign for me," he answered. "They know my signature better than their own."

And he just turned and walked away, leaving the man in the dust, not checking to see that Aria could keep up. He did not slow until they had passed out of the crowd, through a door, into a hallway leading to the outside.
"What is your name, girl?" Evelyn demanded, turning to gaze down at her, uncaring. His brow furrowed slightly, as though confused or annoyed by something - the only sign of emotion flawing his perfect, mask-like face.

"My name is Aria, sir." Aria replied with her head down, eyes locked on the floor. She wondered why her named mattered to him, as it never had any meaning in her past. She stayed absolutely still, resisting the urge to look at him. She had to remind herself over and over again, to act as a proper slave. She needed to assure that she live, and the only way of doing that was to make her master like her.

Aria spoke again, "What shall I call you sir?"

"Aria..." Evelyn paused for a moment, pensive. "You will call me Master, or Marcelle. Take your pick."

He turned a scrutinizing eye on Aria, examining her from head to toe. "You will need new clothing... and someone will have to get you cleaned up. I won't have you in rags in my house."

There was a moment of silence, and then he reached out, seizing her hand and leading her on.

(OOC: Shall we skip to their arrival at the mansion~?)

(OOC: Yes please, I just got off work so my mind is still a little frazzled ^^)
S
When they arrived at Marcelle's mansion, Aria was shown her room. It contained a bed, a dresser and a floor length mirror, along with a few dresses and some make-up. She assumed it was left over from a previous slave, and luckily, the dresses fit her.

After hanging all of the dresses up except for one, she went in search of the washroom. Moving quickly and silently, so not to disturb her master, she found it in little time. After turning on the shower, she undressed and climbed in, sighing at how great the hot water felt against her skin. After thoroughly washing her hair and her body, she just stood in streaming water. She came to terms with the fact that this was her life and that somehow she would be happy.

Grabbing a towel and drying off, Aria reached for the light grey dress she had chosen from her room and put it on. It fit her like a glove, and accentuated her eyes. She returned to her room for some light make-up. She chose natural colors, since she wish to impress anyone, she only wanted to look her best.

Only after checking herself in the mirror once more did she go to the main room of the mansion to await her master.

Evelyn paid no mind to the new girl, did not bother to show her around the mansion. His attendants would do that for him, or she would find her way on her own. Which one, he really did not care. He wandered in silence to his study, taking a seat behind his desk, ignoring the servant who cowered in the corner waiting for instruction.

"Bring her to me," Evelyn ordered in a voice without the slightest infliction. With a squeak, the servant turned and fled. He ran through the hallways in search of that girl who had returned home with the Master, and gasped in relief when he finally spotted her.

"M-miss!" he cried, stumbling into the main room and calling out to her. "Miss, the Master calls for you."

Aria stood when the servant spoke to her, and asked him politely to show her where she was supposed to go. "He wants you in his study. Go down the hall and take a right. Its the very last door on the left." Nodding to the man, she started walking down the halls.

She took note of how delicate everything looked, from the paintings on the walls to the trim around the door frames. Lost in her thoughts about the mansion,
she didn't notice the older lady standing in her path. And proceeded to run right into her.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry Ma'am!" Aria exclaimed, helping the elderly woman up. The woman smiled at her and said, "Its alright dear. You seem lost, can I help you?"
Aria nodded, and asked the woman if she was near the master's study. "Why yes dear," the lady smiled, "Its right through this door," the woman left abruptly after saying this, leaving Aria to walk in all alone.

Evelyn, leaning back in the chair at his desk with a book in his long hands, looked up as Aria entered. He gave her a cursory glance and returned to his text.
"Sit," he murmured, not bothering to gesture. The only other chair in the room rested against the far wall, a full ten feet away from his desk. He did not look up again, waiting for her to take her seat, absorbed in his own thoughts.

Aria took her seat as her master commanded. She kept her head down while she waiting for her master to speak. They sat in silence for a while, Aria becoming more anxious with each passing minute. She looked around, and noticed that he had a large inventory of books, perhaps he would let read a few sometime.

The silence was becoming unbearable. She just wanted to know what she had to do and get it done and over with. Aria spoke in a low voice, "Master, may I ask what is needed of me?"

Evelyn's expression hardly changed, but his tone did. It went from uncaring to harsh, cold.
"You are to do exactly as I tell you, when I tell you," he answered. "Nothing more."
He closed his book with a resounding snap and came to his feet, pacing across the room towards her.

"What talents do you have, Aria?" he asked. Through anyone else's lips that might have sounded a friendly inquiry. He just sounded cruel.

Aria stood up, but kept her head down as she responded, "I can cook and clean. Mending fabrics and alternating clothing have become a hobby of mine." She looked up at her master and stared into his cold eyes, "I can paint and draw almost anything, and I've been told that I can sing. Anything else you require of me can be learned, I'm a quick learner." Of course her voice sounded weak, she didn't usually talk that much. "I hope that I can prove myself to you, Master." She thought she only thought the words, but realized she had said them out loud, though she couldn't tell if he heard them with his emotionless expression.

Something in Evelyn's expression twitched when she spoke those words. "I hope that I can prove myself to you, Master." What a foolish thing to say. There was no-one in the world who could prove themselves to him. His faith in humanity was gone, and all emotion, it seemed, along with it.

"There is no need for that," he answered shortly, gazing down at her. In an instant the mask of cold had re-formed across his eyes. "It will be your duty on most days to help the other servants around the house. Unless I call you. Do you understand me? If I have not called, you are not to disturb me. Under any circumstances."

So he did hear her. By his tone she could tell that he was unimpressed, and she mentally smacked herself so saying such a thing. She looked up at him and nodded, muttering an apology.

"Pardon me, Master, but I think I should take my leave now. I should go see what I can do to help with dinner."

She left without another word.

(time skip?)

(OOC: If you'd like to)

(we should skip to dinner~?)

It had been 2 weeks since Aria arrived at Marcelle's mansion. She mostly kept to her room, unless she was doing chores. She saw Marcelle on few occasions, mainly at meals or rare run in in the halls.

Today found Aria outside in a garden she had brought back to life, after finding it almost dead a week ago. Every time she saw it, she would smile, it was one of the few things that brought her happiness these days. She knew she probably wasn't supposed to be outside, but she felt like she just had to work on the little patch of flowers.

She was to absorbed in her work to notice the shadow watching her.

Evelyn had risen early, as he did each and every day, wandering about the mansion many hours before the rest of the staff was awake. On most days he retreated once more to his study, before anyone could realize that he was up and about...
But today was different. He hid in the garden, absorbed in thought. Nervous, somehow. Something in the air was different today, and this - this place that Aria had resurrected - was the only place where that nervousness died down.

He had not expected her to come out so early. He was caught now, not wishing to be seen with a crack in his emotionless mask, unable to tuck his anxiety away, for there was a very real cause for it.

And so he hovered in the background, watching her through bleak, nearly glowing eyes. Waiting for her to leave.

Aria stood up and stretched. She had a strange feeling, like she was forgetting something, but she couldn't think of what it was. Shrugging it off, she reached for the small shovel that she used for the weeds and started to go inside. Then it rang, a loud bell, reminding her that she forgot to make breakfast this morning.

She quickly put her tools away and ran inside. Getting all of the ingredients together, she made a fantastic meal. Scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, french toast and hashbrowns. To her, it looked like a meal that would last until dinner, and she would know. Her only friend at her mother's would make the same meal on this date. Remembering her friend brought tears to her eyes.

Wiping away the tears, she announced on the intercom that breakfast was ready.