Page 10 of Grand Master

CAPTURED PIECE IN HIS GAME

It was cold when I woke back up, icebox cold.

I took note that during the day the room felt like a sauna, and at night it felt like it dropped below zero.

The coldness sunk into my bones and stayed there as the pitch-black walls seemed to breathe, or maybe it was my eyes and mind playing tricks on me.

I noticed a light shine on the floor next to the floor to ceiling mural of a chess board. Reality hit me that it was a secret door when I saw a shadow of feet. A way out… I swallowed down my hopefulness then started to rock back and forth so I wouldn’t freeze to death.

My body ached, and each time I moved I became disgusted with the stench that reeked from my pores.

I needed a shower; I wanted to get clean desperately and have a real meal.

The strong urge to have the baggie that I lost the night that I was kidnapped tugged at my heartstrings.

I desperately wanted to get high. I didn’t have a physical escape right now, so I damn sure needed a mental break from what was my current reality.

Seconds later the door opened, followed by the lights flickering on.

I expected to see his pitch-black eyes, instead it was his friend.

The one who grabbed me in the alley. Behind him was a tall woman with beautiful dark skin and long lashes.

Her lips were glossed up, hair freshly braided back in stitch braids.

Her baby hair was laid on her forehead, I had to admit she looked good.

The two of them stood by the door talking in hushed tones. It sounded like bickering; I ignored them and just looked up at the glass ceiling and was in shock that most of the owls weren’t in sight.

Where the hell did they go? I wondered. I pushed myself up letting my back rest against the couch. The man looked over at me with disgust; he jerked his chin upward.

“Get the fuck up.” He said just as I heard the door behind them automatically close.

The way he stared at me made my skin crawl.

His skin was the color of sand. He was handsome with waves all over the top of his head and a full beard.

His cologne smelled good as well, it mixed well with the woman’s perfume that stood behind him.

By the clothes that they wore and the way that they smelled, told me that these people were living good while I was being held captive by a fucking maniac.

“I said get the fuck up.” His voice echoed against the walls.

I shook my head no, then brought my knees up to my chest.

“Girl don’t do that; you smell like ass. I’m here to help you shower so you can eat and go play for Grand and his guest.” The woman stepped in front of the man and squatted right in front of me.

“Please, help me. Let me out of here.” I whispered the words, feeling weak.

She looked at me with a look of disbelief, seconds later her mouth fell open, and she laughed lightly.

“Let you go?” She repeated, tilting her head to the side. “Baby, get that kidnapped shit out of yo head. You ain’t been kidnapped, you’ve been saved.” She smiled.

“Saved?” I hissed. “From what? My life? My freedom? I didn’t ask to be snatched in a alley and brought here with fucking owls!” I cleared my throat.

“What will you go back to if Grand released you from here?” The angry shorty of a man stepped to the side of the woman with a twisted scowl covering his handsome face.

“Tone, shut the fuck up. I’m not trying to upset Grand tonight. In time, he will reveal whatever he wants to her. That’s not our job.” The woman stood and gave him a stern eye.

She rolled her eyes at him and looked back at me.

“My name is Staress, I live in the lower building. Tonight is going to be fun. First, I got to get you clean, dressed, and some food, that’ll make you feel good, will it?” She smiled.

“It won’t, I just want to leave and—” I gasped as Tone pulled his gun from the front of his jeans.

“I haven’t pistol whipped an ungrateful bitch in a minute. I’m sick of all the?—”

“Tone!” Staress yelled at him.

“I don’t need the extras from you. I can handle her.” She looked over at me and sized me up.

“Things will be fine… You’ll see.” She straightened her posture and stepped back.

“Get your ass up, before I have Tone here drag you to the shower.” Her tone turned sinister.

She had a switch to her, from what I observed, she had a sweet and evil side.

The threat was evident in her tone. I sized her up as well, although I was weak, I could hang with her.

If need be, I’ll give it all I got to beat her ass if I could, just for a chance at freedom.

I’ve had to protect and fight all of my life; I even hung with the best of them surprising myself. For now, I had to go with the flow.

“None of y’all scare me. You need a gun to force me to do whatever you tell me.” I said lowly.

“And a gun is what I have, so I guess that means you need to get your funky ass up and do what Staress says before you taste metal.” Tone took a step forward, he grilled me. The deranged look in his eyes said more than he had to speak with words.

I stood slowly, I felt itchy all over. I did need a shower and some damn food.

My mind needed to be clear to plot my next best move.

If they wanted to kill me, it probably would have already been done by now.

It was Grand, that they worked for and feared probably.

I just couldn’t figure out why the fuck did he kidnap me.

“You got a mouth; I’ll give you that. Just don’t get shit twisted. You belong to the Grand Master now. Even when you feel like you don’t, you always will.” Tone chuckled evilly.

I glared at him and forced my tears back. My body shook at his words, suddenly I wanted to collapse back down on the couch. Keep fighting, Mira. I started to chant those words in my head before saying…

“Fuck you!” I spat with spit flying out my mouth. I silently wished that it would have landed all over his face just for being such an asshole.

The sadistic smirk on his face was quickly replaced with something cold, and dark. He quickly reached out and pinched the bottom of my chin with his index finger; his thumb nail dug into my skin.

“You better fix that mouth while you clean that pussy before seeing him tonight.” He growled out.

His hands slid to my jaws; he squeezed so tight I was sure his fingerprints bruised my face. Staress stepped up and slapped his hand away.

“Go get the food. Let me handle her, you know damn well Grand wouldn’t want you up here scaring her!” She snapped.

“Handle her and do it good before I do.” He stepped back, eyes never leaving mine.

“Grand wants you to play tonight, and you better play like your life depends on it.” His voice softened. He seemed worried for Grand; his voice carried a weight like he was in charge of making sure Grand was okay.

He turned and walked towards the chess painted wall.

I zoomed in on him placing his entire hand on one small part of the wall.

It made a beeping sound then slid open. I had a strong urge to run out; I envisioned myself socking Staress in the eye then running up behind Tone to kick him from the back in the balls.

My vision was short lived when Staress brushed the tears away from my cheeks.

“Tone is not as mean as he appears to be. When it comes to Grand, he is overly protective. Come on, let me get you in the shower.” She walked off.

I let her lead me, my legs moved even though I didn’t want them to.

The room that they kept me in was huge. It seemed Gothic themed with nothing but black everything.

Black curtains, couches, there was even a huge round king-sized bed next to the floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the streets of L.A.

The storm was still going strong, and it would probably go down in history as the worse storm to ever hit California. The streets were flooded, disappointment coursed throughout me. I wished like hell that I could be home, with some hot chocolate and a good book to read on my own couch.

I looked up and noticed a white owl watching me from the rafter, it blinked with a look of judgement as it tilted its head and continued to stare.

“Where are the rest of them?” I asked lowly.

Staress turned and immediately looked up at the owl that was on the rafter close to the glass ceiling.

“All over, Grand sometimes opens the roof and let them roam. He loves his owls, they’re probably with him eyeing the rest of the men counting up his money.” She chuckled.

“Who is he?” I asked as I watched her turn toward a huge chess piece statue.

She pulled on it like a lever and waited until it opened up.

“Long story short, he’s the king of L.A.” She stepped inside of a dark hallway.

She tapped the wall and the lights came on.

I gasped at how beautiful the hallway looked even though it was still dark themed, it looked to be something created from medieval times.

The walls on both sides were basically a beautiful mural of different species of owls.

Small black crystal chandeliers hung every couple of inches down the hallway.

There were four black doors. Staress opened the first door that was a room turned into a closet.

“All of your clothes are inside of here, panties, bra, shoes, jewelry. Tonight, he wants you to dress elegantly. You can undress and then I can lead you to your bathroom. I’ll stand outside and wait for you.” Staress smiled and stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind her.