Secretly Mine

The man with the keys managed to let out a small surprised shout before falling to the ground like the rest of them.

I let out a sigh of relief. It was a real gamble to rely on the mystery serum inside the syringe to knock them out immediately, but thankfully, it paid off.

Without wasting more time, I ran up to the cell in front of me and turned the key to unlock the door fully.

"Hurry! Everyone, run to the very end of the hall! You'll see a ladder, start climbing it!" I ordered, waving my hand for them to hurry.

The people inside scrambled off the floor, running out of the cell as fast as they could. One of the people inside was someone I recognized from the stager earlier, one of the first women.

Her movements were a lot slower than the rest, and if it weren't for the others in the cell with her, she would most likely have stayed sitting on the cold floor.

They must be drugging them just before they're pulled on stage.

The woman's eyes were still hollow, but she let herself get dragged around with relative ease.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure she makes it out in time," another woman said as they ran past me.

I nodded and walked over to the next cell, unlocking it before moving to the next cell. Soon, all of the cells were open, and everyone was frantically running to the ladder at the end of the hall. I took one last look around to make sure I didn't forget anyone, and joined them at the end of the hall.

Any moment now, the guards upstairs should notice that something was wrong. I was sure that the auction for the previous person was over, and they were waiting on the new person to show up to begin the next round.

By the time I reached the ladder, the group of people had already mostly made it up the ladder. I waited for my turn, then climbed up and looked around the dark room.

"Everyone, we're going to need to walk to the other side of this room. It's going to be very dark and difficult to see after I close the hatch. Take a second to try and mentally memorize the path over," I instructed as I bent over to cover the hatch with the heavy stone.

Another man beside me walked over to help me, and we quickly covered the only source of light, causing the already dark storage room to turn pitch black.

The others had already started making their way over to the other side of the room, creating something akin to a daisy chain.

I waited until most of them cleared out the area around the hatch before I pushed the large box over the top of it. My goal was to leave as few traces of us being here behind in case they were already searching for us.

Okay, that looks about right.

Just as I began to follow the line of people through the obstacle course of boxes and crates, I heard a small thud ahead of me.

As I walked closer, I noticed a figure of a person on the floor.

"Sorry, she's not quite there mentally right now, so it's been challenging to guide her through these tight spaces," another woman whispered.

I nodded, "It's okay, let me help."

I lifted the woman up on one side, while the other woman held her up by her other arm. We both walked sideways to shimmy through the tight spaces until we finally reached the base of the spiral stairwell.

The others were waiting for me in the narrow corridor, and another man walked up to take my place in helping carry the woman.

"Okay, just up this hall is the action house. I'm going to sneak you all into a VIP ward for now, but be mindful that the people below will be able to hear you if you make any noise. It's imperative that you stay very quiet."

I heard a few whispers confirming that everyone understood, so I walked to the front of the group and began making my way up the spiral walkway. It didn't take long before I made it up to the hidden door that hid behind the painting.

It was still lightly pushed open from when I entered it on the way down, making it easier to exit.

I waved my hand and motioned for everyone to follow me as quietly as possible, and led them a short way down the hall. The VIP ward we ended up in was the same one I was in earlier. I motioned for everyone to take a seat on the floor and remain quiet.

"You guys just need to sit here and stay quiet. They won't look for you up here. After all of the guests leave tonight, I'll send someone to take you away. Please be patient for a little while longer."

The man that I whispered to was the one who helped me earlier. He seemed to be the most mentally clear of the group and seemed to look out for the rest.

"Okay. And thank you, sir. We owe you our lives," he replied, full of gratitude.

I shook my head. What I did didn't warrant anyone owing me anything. They shouldn't have been placed into this situation in the first place.

"You don't owe me anything."

Neither of us said anything afterwards. I walked over to the balcony railing and retrieved my recording device that I had placed earlier, and peeked down to see what was going on.

Things didn't look good. Even the MC had an awkward smile on his face.

"Sorry for the hold up, we seem to have run into a small issue."

The guests below were starting to get rowdy.

"Hey! I didn't bid on the last guy because I thought you said there were more coming! I demand to see another one!" a man roared.

Others chimed in, voicing their discontent.

"Please, please. Everything is under control. Please give us a few minutes to sort things out," the MC announced, trying his best to pacify the audience.

Unfortunately for him, the majority of the guests were drunk or high from the 'special' drinks, and couldn't control their emotions well. They got so angry that some people even tried climbing up on stage to demand the next auction.

The small group of guards that was left in the hall couldn't control the chaos, so things went out of hand very quickly.

"Where is leader Karl? Why isn't here here?" some of the guards shouted below, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

Karl left?

A few minutes later, a whole group of armed guards came from behind the stage, turning the tide. Seeing this, the MC lifted his microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the auction has ended. We will send out invitations to come back and pick up your purchase another day. We ask that everyone leave the building calmly."

Instead of achieving order, his words only caused even more chaos.

"What do you mean we won't be getting another auction?" a person shouted.

"Yeah?! And when do I get to pick up my purchase?! I spent over fifty million today!" Another one joined in.

One after another, people continued to riot. The guards didn't have much of a choice and began to push the guests out of the hall forcefully.

This is my moment to slip out.

I looked at the man beside me, "This is my chance to slip out. Remember, stay here and remain silent. My people will arrive a few hours later, after most of the guards have left. Hang tight."

As the man nodded, I slipped out of the room and quickly made my way down the hall, down to the main hallway.

It didn't take long before I ran into the angry crowd. Since everyone present was considered a VIP, the guards didn't dare use too much force and simply continued to push them along.

"Hey! You! That's not the way to the exit!" a guard yelled at me.

I flashed him a dirty look but joined the others in the main hallway, allowing myself to get pushed out.

The entire process went by fairly quickly. Once everyone was outside, the majority of them realized that no matter how much they shouted and demanded their 'goods', they weren't going to get them.

Everyone scattered to their cars and drove away angrily.

As soon as I got into my car, I pulled out my phone and called Zach.

"Hey, man. How is it? Are you okay?" he asked after picking up immediately.

"Yes, I'm good. I have the footage, but there's another matter I need your help with. I managed to sneak out the people being trafficked. We need to get them out of the building safely."

Zach's voice turned serious, "Tell me what I need to do."