Page 25 of Grand Master

THE LABORATORY…

“We’re going back down?” I asked as the elevator kept sinking past levels that should’ve been the bottom. The numbers stopped all together from flashing at the top to indicate which level we were on.

When we first stepped on, Grand made me turn around and face the wall of the elevator as he put in a special code on the panel. He ignored my question on the way down then finally told me to turn around.

When the doors slid open, the air that hit me was warm and sweet laced with something floral. We walked side by side through a corridor. Grand stopped and looked down at me with an intense look.

“You ever think about using, while you’ve been here?” His raspy voice sliced through the air controlled and calm.

My eyes widened from his random question.

I felt my fingers twitch at my sides as I got lost in his dark orbs thinking about my answer.

He didn’t ask with judgement or disgust, but the question itself knocked the wind out of me.

I looked up at him, my chest felt tight as I fought to steady my breathing.

After taking in a deep breath, I found it hard to swallow down.

That’s what the truth did to most people, they refused to taste the bitter truth of their lives…

after Darius, and spending time confined in a room left me with nothing but time to think.

I thought of everything, down to my newfound twisted attraction to the robotic handsome man standing right in front of me.

I realized that in life, you could either fake the funk…

or keep it real with yourself first so that you could proceed to do the same with others.

“No and yes,” I said as I sighed roughly.

“I’d be lying straight to your face if I said that the thought of using didn’t sneak into my mind when I was kidnapped.

The night that you had your men snatch me up…

I was eager to get back home to escape the reality of Darius falling out of love with me, and also the possibility of getting ready to be evicted from our so-called apartment,” I chuckled dryly.

“I will say that before all of this…I didn’t want to feel shit.

Not the weight of my situation with Darius, nor the stress that came with carrying our financial load.

The reality of missing my momma used to hit so hard, that I desperately needed a break away from my own mental…

Coke did that for me…” I whispered the last part of my sentence looking away from him.

“I never felt like I overused, I did when I was in foster care because just a bump wasn’t enough for me. In my adulthood all I would need most of the time was a small bump…just enough to feel light, numb to the bullshit and alive.” I looked back up into his dark eyes.

He didn’t speak, and I was happy that he didn’t. I wanted to keep talking right now, because there was so much more that I wanted to say just from his loaded question.

“You know, Grand? Being here, confined and against my will, forced me to be open. I never acknowledged my drug habit because I didn’t see a problem with it.

The difference between me and the fiends that you lock away is that their addiction has an effect on the people in their lives, from kids to family members.

My habit,” I paused to let the word habit sink into his brain.

“My habit was my temporary escape to shut away accountability…Being here opened me up to my own problems to face them without escaping with a sniff. It forced me to realize that I purposely ignored all the red flags with Darius because I wanted him to desperately be my crutch. He made me feel less lonely when he was acting like he was super in love and into me. I got cravings but those have changed since being here…seeing things that I’ve been surrounded by in the community but not thinking much about it.

” My words trailed off as I touched my chest.

Grand’s thick brows lifted slightly but still he chose not to say a thing.

“I crave peace, Grand. Real peace…In this short time, I finally realize that I won’t gain it from getting high from a small bump of coke.” I smile weakly.

Instantly, it felt like a weight had lifted off of my shoulders.

It felt good just to express some of the many thoughts that had been circulating through my mind since being here.

I didn’t even know what Grand’s silence meant in that moment, but I accepted it.

He stepped closer to me and simply nodded his head.

“I like your answer, little owl. Accountability is very rare in adults…You don’t have to numb yourself with drugs to make yourself feel strong.

All of what you just said and admitted to most people couldn’t.

A lot of people walk through life with pointed fingers; I call it the blaming system of life.

They need their parents, the streets, God, and the fucking wind to blame for their poor decision making. ”

I saw a flash of anger zap through his eyes; he lifted his hand and swiped it across his nose.

“Once you own the cause of your pain, and a better understanding of your past, it can turn into power…that’s where your inner strength to keep pushing comes from, Mira.

Nobody can ever take that shit away from you.

I can blame my parent’s until I’m blue in the face…

When I was young.” He swiftly looked away from me.

“I thought about picking up a fucking pipe to see what all the hype was about… I couldn’t bring myself to do it, I remembered the disdain and disgust that I had towards the drug itself…

I wanted an escape so fucking badly but knew that it couldn’t be that.

I took on my parent’s accountability first, then later my own…

I found the power in that…it later turned into a grand masterpiece…

that’s what I’m getting ready to show you. ”

He nodded his head before walking away, the chain on his wrist reminded me that he had me chained to him, unable to run. I picked up my feet and followed behind him down another dimly lit hallway.

I stepped out behind him and froze. It wasn’t a basement…

I didn’t know how to describe what I was seeing.

It looked unreal like something out of a fairytale Disney movie.

The ceiling stretched so high that it looked like it was never ending.

Rows upon rows of glowing white flowers swayed gently from the powerful air vents that made me shiver soon as we stepped out of the elevator.

Is this one of the reasons why he keeps this building so cold?

The flower petals looked perfect almost glowing. The light inside wasn’t harsh either, it came from panels that I zoomed in on that looked hidden between steel rafters that bathed the flowers with a soft glow giving them a shimmering glow.

The space was massive like an underground warehouse that had gotten swallowed by Grand’s dream.

Industrial fans hummed in the corners, circulating air that smelled like a cross between jasmine and clean rain.

The floor down here was perfectly polished concrete, made into a perfect chessboard with tiny owls engraved.

“Grand…Th—this is beautiful…It doesn’t make sense to me though…Who are you?” I rambled, not knowing what to make of all of this.

“A chemist.” He stated flatly. I blinked my eyes over at him, I instantly couldn’t believe how unimpressed he sounded when he answered me.

He stepped beside me, his hands clasped loosely behind his back. I looked up and watched his dark orbs take in the space before him. The sharp features of his face relaxed as he visibly inhaled the air then released it.

“Every flower here is grown in a controlled medium. No soil, pests, nor decay. I made my first version of these flowers when I was young. The petals weren’t as soft as these, but my mom was amazed.

I still can’t believe something so beautiful first bloomed inside of a fucked-up trap house.

” He picked up his feet and walked forward.

“Touch one, be gentle.” He said in a soft raspy tone.

I gazed at it amazed; I touched one and gasped.

The petal was iced cold but felt smooth like silk.

Amazingly crazy! I thought as I touched another petal to see if it felt the same as the first, and it did.

This space felt like a breath of fresh air.

It made breathing feel enjoyable, surely a mastermind had to create something so beautiful.

“What are they?” I asked as I stepped away from the flowers.

He looked down at me with a faint glint in his eyes. Was that pride I saw?

“The base for my work is stressful. These flowers are lab created like I mentioned; it took years to perfect it. I distilled them into a compound…powder, pill, vapor…I’m currently trying to create a liquid source, but I always end up burning myself up badly.

” He shook his head and looked at his arms.

That explains the burnt marks…

“You need some type of shea butter or coco butter for that, so it won’t scar badly. The butter will slowly aid in your skin tone evening out after it heals.” I said lowly looking at his arms.

“Noted.” He simply said as he took a step away and walked down another row of flowers that had colorful butterflies stuck to them.

“These flowers are meant to calm the body. It clears the mind by pulling the poison out of people too far gone on the hard shit.” He took his eyes off the flowers to stare at me with an intense look that stole my breath away.

“You mean…drugs, right?” I replied looking up into his eyes.

His smile was slow, and deliberate.

“Yes, drugs. Owlette, is a healthy drug. It’s clean. A person would never come down from their high feeling like they need more. It doesn’t rot a person from the inside out. No dying in alleys, leaving kids behind.” His gaze remained on the flower as he talked.