“Your food will be ready once you shower. The chef made your favorite; you just have to eat it fast enough because Grandis very impatient. Always remember that we are on his time. Time is of the essence.” She said over her shoulder stopping at the last door in the hallway.
“How does he know my sizes, and what my favorite foods are?” I swallowed down hard and stared at her back intently waiting for her to answer me.
She turned slowly and smirked.
“Darius informed him. Is all I will say.” She chuckled dryly, then opened the door.
I shut my eyes for a couple of seconds as a wave of nauseousness hit me.Did Darius set me up with Grand? What the fuck was really going on?
“Try not to think too deep into it. Nothing is ever what it appears to be in your head when it comes to Grand. Now go ahead and enjoy your shower, you have about an hour to shower, dress then eat. It’s not a good thing if he comes looking for you. That would normally come with a punishment.” She smiled sincerely then stepped to the side to let me inside of the bathroom.
“The same way you entered; is the same way you exit. I’ll be waiting for you once you are done. Enjoy.” She walked down the hall leaving me standing there with a million thoughts crossing my mind.
I shut my eyes for a few seconds before my bare feet pressed against the cold black marble floor. For a moment I just stood frozen, like my body forgot how to move. With the weight of the world on my weak shoulders my arms hung limp at my sides.Darius name was mentioned… How the hell did he know Darius?
I let out a frustrated sigh then squinted my eyes trying to take in the dimly lit bathroom. I took two more steps and the lights brightened. For a couple of seconds, I forgot how to breathe. The bathroom was something I never seen before. Everything insidewas unapologetically black. The walls were paneled with glossy obsidian tiles that stretched up to a vaulted ceiling, that shined like mirrors.
The room swallowed me whole, sealing me inside a nightmare dressed in luxury. It was breathtaking. Gothic arches curved into the high ceiling which looked like it was carved from black stones with touches of silver. The air inside was just as cold as the room that I had been locked in for days.
I looked around in amazement, then my eyes landed on the owls. Dozens of them, each one was carefully engraved into the marble walls, some of the owls held scrolls in their claws, while others clutched chess pieces, their beaks locked around black kings and queens chess pieces. My stomach twisted as I took in the entire floor. It was a chess board.
White and jet-black marble tiles stretched beneath my feet; the floor was polished so good it served as a mirror. Small blood-red painted pawns were scattered across the floor like discarded sacrifices. Chills crept up my spine as I came to a sick revelation. My eyes snapped over to my reflection, and automatically I felt like I didn’t belong in here. The countertops were jet black granite with gold figurines of owls lined up in a neat row like guardians. Some of them had ruby eyes with their wings behind their backs, while others had their wings stretched frozen midair.
I looked up at the ceiling, and the chandelier wasn’t dainty with bright crystals. It was carved from black metal with fake owls perched on every branch staring down from the ceiling like they were judging me. Through their eyes shined bright lights. I looked down at the marble floor, and the owls’ wings cast a darker shadow against it.
It was all beautiful, twisted, and sort of hypnotic.
I looked at the far side of the wall at a massive mirror that stretched across the sink framed in gold with small chess piecesengraved at the corners.This is his bathroom; he’s obsessed with chess and owls…It’s all a fucking game to his sick ass…I frowned, at my own fucked-up reflection.He thinks, I’m Alice, lost in his wonderland…
My stomach twisted again in knots.How the hell will I ever get free?My eyes landed on the massive clawfoot tub. There was another chandelier shaped like a cage. Inside of it was a mechanical owl that rotated slowly, its eyes glowed red. I was officially spooked out, it felt like I was being watched as I drifted further inside. Each loud breath I took echoed off the walls.
I wrapped my arms around myself as my throat tightened. My eyes traced every detail of the bathroom over and over. This couldn’t be real, the owls, the chessboard, down to the petals painted perfectly on the marble floors, which wasn’t real. I didn’t have to be told that he designed this place. Grand didn’t just play the game…he owned it, and everyone here was at his mercy. I was nothing more but a captured piece in his game that would be forced to play until time revealed why.
THE BIGGER THE BITCH, THE HARDER SHE FALLS.
I could almost still feelthe steam from the shower that clung to my skin. I stood in front of the mirror afterward wanting to stay inside of the bathroom all night to avoid going in front of Grand. The windows were too high, walls too slick to even attempt to break free. I was sure more than an hour passed by, and someone would be coming to get me soon, yet no one came.
That made me even more nervous. I combed through my soaked tresses then wrapped the towel tightly around my body. The lavender scent that rose from my skin relaxed me a bit. Normally if I was home, I’d take pride in my night-time routine. I loved sitting in front of my bathroom mirror lotioning myskin while listening to music. I even enjoyed doing my skin care regimen then sipping a little bit of wine to ease my nerves.
Here I stood in a luxurious gothic styled bathroom with all of the amenities that I used at home but better and couldn’t bring myself to lotion my skin nor grease my soon-to-be dry scalp. I didn’t know how harsh his water was but the water that came out of my shower back home was harsher than harsh. If I didn’t lotion my skin, I’d be sure to become ashy within the next hour after my damp skin absorbed all of the water.
Good, I don’t want to look an ounce of appealing to this man!It was no telling what he had planned for me. Being taken against my will wasn’t something that I could ever imagine. I thought about it a time or two but quickly discarded it. I always ended those type of thoughts with who would want a fat chick like me, and what would my captor actually do with me.
It was foolish thinking to even think that a kidnapper would ever want a big girl to hold. I just thought it would be easier to snatch someone else up that was small and easy to drag away. I was proved wrong and wished like hell I could rewind time and take my friend up on her offer to give me a ride home after work. I just didn’t want to wait until five in the morning when my relationship with Darius was ending. That night my mind played awful tricks on me. I planned on going back home and talking to Darius again. A part of me felt like he was lying and just trying to hurt me. I wanted to fix our relationship; too much time was put in to just throw it all away.
If none of what I planned to do worked when I got home. I would have ended up at home, crying my heart out while playing my mother’s violin. I desperately wanted to count out the tips I made that night as well to save my apartment. My apartment was all I had; it wasn’t much but it meant something to me. Although Darius did me so wrong, that was something right he did do, and I would forever be grateful for that.
I ended up taking slow steps out of the cold bathroom until I found myself back in the long hallway. I practically tiptoed, holding my breath as I made my way back into the closet to put on the clothes that I decided to wear. When I walked inside, I was grateful for the warmth that wrapped around my skin. I quickly dropped the towel and slipped the black Nike dress that clung to my skin over my head. I didn’t put on any panties, nor a bra because I felt too weak to do so.
I wish I could stay in here, it’s so warm…
My stomach growled viciously reminding me again that all I’ve had was cucumbers and vinegar. I needed something hefty to hold me over, but I probably ruined that with staying in the shower forever. I left the closet space and stood outside of the door for another five minutes. I sighed roughly then finally picked my feet up to walk to the end of the hallway.
The smell of bleach mixed with other cleaning supplies drifted up my nose. I took in a deep breath then stepped back into the room that wasn’t dark this time. Staress sat with her legs crossed on the huge bed that I refused to sleep on to make myself comfortable.
My eyes shifted towards the area that I remained cooped up at. To my surprise the big black velvet couch was gone. Maybe they got rid of it because I had cried, pissed, and spilled vinegar from the cucumbers I ate.
“Mira, I understand that you are distraught and have not adjusted yet. But making Grand wait is something you just don’t do around here.” Staress’ pretty brown face frowned up.
