Branded To Him (On Hold)

Chapter Nine ~ Who's a good kitty? ~

“Don't do it again, got it?” His peppermint breath washed over my face in waves.

“Yes Master.” My back slammed into the wall as he pushed me away from him.

“Now, feed Syrup and then come to my office.” He ordered turning around to leave.
“Yes Master.” I turned to the door, touching my pounding forehead in the process.

“Oh, Brandy?” I gasped, turning around to find him right in front of my face. I held back a scream and curled into the floor, cradling my eye. “Don't ever do that again.” He shook out his balled fist and then left with a small smile on his face.

I laid on the floor for a few minutes after he disappeared.

“Why?” I asked myself again and again. He always punished me for such little things. It made me scared to find out what would happen if I messed up big time.

My left eye stung every time I tried to open it, but I refused to keep it closed. Already feeling a bruise forming, I stood up and went in Syrup's room. She meowed at me happily before pawing at her food dish.

“You know, I wish I was you.” I told her in a flat tone. “You wanna know why?” I asked her. She meowed at me and started to purr. “He actually loves you.” I dumped the can of food in her dish angrily. “He loves you! A cat! Over a human being who follows his every command and takes his beatings.” I grumbled to her, only to realize she wasn't even listening.

I felt stupid for complaining to a cat. Out of all the living things in this world; I complained to a cat. She bopped her cold wet nose against my leg in a 'thank you' for the food, but I ignored it. Picking up her brush, I brushed her angrily. In the process, I ended up hitting her head. She hissed at me but I just stuck out my tongue at her.
“Serves you right anyway.” Childishly, I pushed her away from me and left for Master Carthwrite's office. He chooses to love a cat over me. I was better than any cat in the world. He treated her like a human and me like an animal!

“Did you feed and brush her?” He asked the moment I opened his office door.

“Yes Master.” I mocked his tone, but he didn't seem to notice.

“Good, now clean my office.” He commanded and threw a rag at my face. Holding back a bunch of resorts, that were on the tip of my tongue, I started dusting.

Dusting in a timely manner, I finished by nine o'clock. Master Carthwrite inspected each piece of furniture.

“You forgot to dust the paintings and my desk.” I worked on the paintings, only spending a half an hour on them. Master Carthwrite's eyes were glued to mine when I finished. I wondered if he planned on moving while I dusted his desk but the way he gestured to his desk and leaned back in his chair, had me guessing he didn't plan on moving.

Nimbly, I started at the corner farthest away from him and worked around.

“Be sure to do the drawers too.” Nodding, I wiped the place in front of him, trying my hardest not to bump his arm. I could feel his stare while I bent down to dust the drawers on the side of his desk. “You forgot one.” He pointed to the one right in front of him.

His stomach was too close to it. I knew my hand would end up brushing against his stomach. My eyes pleaded with him to move, but he only smiled. I reached out to do one quick swipe, but his hand caught my arm.

Staying frozen, I watched his dark eyes stare intently at the long scar on my arm. I shivered, disgusted, when he feathered kisses over the scar before dropping it.

“You may go. Bring me lunch at noon.” I rushed out of the room and let out a deep breath.

“What was that?” I ask myself quietly. Rubbing away the strange feeling from the kisses on my arm, I made my way to the kitchen. It was only ten, so I had about two hours to kill.

Changing my mind, I turned around and went to the front of the mansion.

“Hello Brandy. You're looking much better today.” Patrica smiled kindly at me.

“Thanks.” I muttered, falling into the nearest chair.

“Oh my! Your eye.” She stood up but then fell back into her chair when her pager beeped.

“Send Parker to my office.” Master Carthwrite's voice filled the silence.

“Right away sir.” She replied back before standing. “Comm'on, we'll put some ice on that after I get Parker.”

I noticed the familiar hallway, but we didn't go to the end like I had last time. She knocked on the first door and Parker opened it.

“Master Carthwrite would like to see you.” He nodded, giving me a short tip of his head before leaving.

“Is he always quiet?” I found myself asking as she took me around the bend in the hall.

“He's been that way since he got here. Nobody knows why he's that way, but we figure that he'll tell us when he wants to. The guys don't want to drag it out of him.”

“When did he first come here?”

“About a two years ago. Master Carthwrite got him from the same place he got you.” My eyes widened.

“He did?!” My lips trembled at the thought.

“Yeah, he was in worse shape when he first came than he is now.” I realized we had stopped in the kitchen. Patrica grabbed a rag and placed a few chips of ice in it before handing it to me.

“I could imagine why.” I muttered more to myself than her. The ice stung against my eye, but still felt soothing at the same time.

“Why do you say that?” She asked, patting a chair next to her.

“When I was there, they would beat you with anything they had. I was beaten with chains, sticks...you name it, they probably had it. Then they would have a doctor check your wounds before throwing you back with the others. They only allowed the doctor to fix broken bones, which almost everyone had. They never gave you pain killers or anything to numb the pain...” I trailed off, remembering all the awful beatings I had.

“They're favorite one to use on me was chains. I was beaten until I couldn't cry or breath anymore. Sometimes bad enough, I'd black out before they were finished. My worst beating was when they used a whip with spikes. They dug into my skin so deep, shredding most of my back. Then they tied me down on a metal table.” I started to cry as memories started flashing back.

“Tie her down!” The man sneered at his men. I coughed out a mouthful of blood before they chained my hands and feet to the table. “Lets see if you like this.” Every smack from the chain against my stomach jolted my body against the cold table. Every hit became harder and harder. I could hear the pants coming from the mans mouth as he struggled to hit me with more force.

“Sir, stop.” One of the men that chained my hands down, called to his boss.

“She's fine.” He bellowed through another bone breaking hit. You couldn't even hear the snap of my bones through his irritated growl.

“You'll kill her!”

“Good.”

“I blacked out half way through.” I sniffled. “The doctor said he broke four ribs and my stomach had horrible swelling for a month.”

“Dear Lord!” Patrica cried, touching my shoulder. “I'm so sorry Brandy.”

“It's alright. I'm still alive to say the least.”

“Patrica! There you are. Master Carthwrite's been paging you for the past hour!” Patrica muttered a curse and thanked Gretta before leaving, but not before squeezing my hand.

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I apologize for the shortness. I hope this is at least two pages. I'll try to make the next one longer. :)