“For the next item, I have to inform everyone that there’s a little treat or should I say catch to it as that’s the correct term to use here,” The auctioneer said and the other bidders groaned in confusion as complaints flew everywhereUsually, all the rules are given at the start of the auction so why was the auctioneer trying to bring something new now? The bidders wondered and weren’t appreciative of what was happening.“What exactly do you mean by that?” One of the other bidders asked just as the worker with the item to be auctioned stepped forward.“First of all Master Xavier, I know that this is very unconventional but the client that provided us with this item explicitly instructed that we should start the bidding price at ten million dollars. The second thing they requested is that we give it to the first person who makes a bid for it which means that there isn’t going to be a competition for who can pay the most as whoever raises their paddle first wins the item. We are also

The auctioneer wasted no time to open the box but when he tried to do it, he realized that he couldn’t.“What the?” He asked himself, grimacing with confusion. “Maybe I didn’t do it right. Let me try again” He tried to open the box again but like before the lid wouldn’t budge and the auctioneer started to get annoyed.“What’s going on here? Didn’t they say that it wasn’t going to be locked so why can’t I open it?” He complained in a low voice, making sure the microphone attached to his ear couldn’t pick up what he was saying, then he looked at the bidders who were starting to have concerned expressions.The auctioneer could see the bidders' already minimal interest in the mystery item gradually vanish, which lit a spark in him to fix the situation as quickly as possible.“Hey,” the auctioneer turned his head to the left and called to the staff who had given him the box. “Yes, sir?” The staff shifted closer to the auctioneer."I remember vividly being told that the freaking box would

Hearing the murmurs being made about the Black card made the auction staff who Jeremiah had handed it to become conscious of the fact that he was holding such an important and valuable item. “Holy shit! I’m holding the Sentry Bank Black card in my hand right now,” the staff member said internally, doing his best to maintain composure.However, it proved to be quite a challenge, as his hand trembled from the nerves acting up.“Hello?” Jeremiah snapped his finger in front of the staff’s face, bringing him back to reality after he seemed to have been lost in his own world for some seconds“Any time today please” Jeremiah grimaced, then shifted his gaze to the card payment machine in the staff’s hand as a silent way of telling him to process the payment he was there for.“I’m terribly sorry about that, sir.” the staff said hurriedly then started preparing the transaction. He keyed in ten million dollars into the card payment machine and then inserted Jeremiah’s debit card inside.All th

“Thank you all for coming. We promise to get even better items and invite you guys for an even better experience in the near future. As for those who won the auctioned items, your items will be ready for you when you leave so be sure to get them on your way out.” The auctioneer took a deep breath and sighed— happy with the turnout of the day’s auction as it was the most successful one he had ever hosted.“I have been Evans Nelson, your auctioneer for today and I’ll be seeing you guys really soon,” The auctioneer said, bowed in respect, and walked away while the bidders clapped for him.Since they had accomplished their purpose for being there, everyone started getting up from their seats but instead of leaving like they normally would, they hung around. They talked to each other, discussing the experience they had with that particular auction, while their eyes were discretely on Jeremiah, waiting for the perfect moment to talk to him. They had been planning their approach ever since

Reliving his memories of the auction, Jeremiah started to notice some strange inconsistencies with them like a veil was being lifted off his mind. To be specific, his memories of Andrews and Martha took on a different and clearer light and he realized the truth which was that there was nobody like Martha in the entire auction. However, that didn’t make sense because not only him but the auctioneer and everyone else in the auction house interacted with her so what was going on?Jeremiah was confused and the more his memories of the auction cleared, the more he understood until finally he realized what happened— Martha was never real and was created by an illusion spell to trick not just him but everyone else in the auction. Just as he figured that out and the false memories were cleared off his mind, leaving only the real one, Jeremiah realized that he had figured out the truth before but back when he did, something— the veil as he termed it— covered his mind and made him forget unt