I felt someone watching me in the dark and immediately sat up to look around. He was standing by the door of my cage with his hands in his hoodie pockets. I recognized him as one of the men from before I met Marlben. He would come in to watch me or to beat me.
He noticed me looking at him and slowly moved closer to me. I scooted back until I felt the cold concrete against my skin.
"Th-they said you can't touch me anymore... I-I'm your boss's soon to be wife... Th-that means you can't touch me," I stuttered as he moved closer.
"Boss doesn't even know you exist yet. I'm sure he won't mind," the man said smiling as he slowly removed his belt. He folded it over in his hand, ready to use it as soon as he was close enough. I moved to the other side of my cage, realizing just how small this place really was.
"He'll find out!" I said ducking under his arm as he tried to grab me.
"Will he?" He said with a smirk. I felt like a cartoon rabbit trapped by a hunter and the pace of my heart matched, but there was no way to escape this.
He grabbed my shoulders and shoved me hard against the wall making me hit my head. "Will you tell him? Tell him and risk me coming for you, or him not wanting you after you've been touched and just killing you?"
"I-I," I hadn't thought about it. If I told him that I'd prefer to be killed, then there was no chance of talking him out of this. "If he finds out, he will kill us both. Not only me. He will make sure your death is painful, for touching what is his."
As I spoke, I stood up straighter and prayed what I said was true. He stopped for a moment, considering what I'd said.
"He may," he spoke softly, more to himself than to me. Then he pushed himself closer up against me as he spoke. "Then again-"
I interrupted him by hitting him as hard as I could in the stomach. He stepped back for a moment and grunted in pain. I took this opportunity to grab the key hanging from his pocket. I rushed to my cage door and finally opened it, freezing for a moment at the opening. I hadn't left my cage yet, so I was afraid of what consequences Mr. Marlben may lay out for me.
As I heard the man behind me come closer, I quickly forgot any possible consequences and rushed out towards the door, noticing how sore my leg still was. I shoved past the guard and took two stairs at a time until I reached another door. My leg felt like I'd been shot all over again. Pain shot off from the wound in every direction.
I opened the door and found myself in a large black and white kitchen. It looked like something right out of a magazine.
I could see trees in the distance through the windows and the sun was shining in like a piece of heaven on my skin. I felt temporarily frozen in bliss only to be interrupted by the downstairs door opening again, I started to run again, only to bump right into a man wearing a white apron, knocking us both down. He looked to be in his forties and had dark, graying hair and soft blue eyes.
He looked at the door, then to me before nodding. He grabbed me by the arm and shoved me into a large, dark pantry before closing the door without a word. I watched through the small crack in the door. He started working around the kitchen until the man came up the stairs.
"Where did she go?!" He asked. The chef shrugged and turned back to his pasta. The man grabbed him and shoved him back. "Where?"
"Who?" The chef asked innocently. The other man tried to grab him, but the chef hit him hard in the face. The chef hurried to pull a large knife from the block and rushed at the other man. He froze suddenly and at first, I wasn't sure why, until I saw the gun in the other man's hand. The chef dropped his knife and stepped back with balled fists.
"Where did she go? I know she came through here."
"I don't know who you're talking about, I just got in from collecting herbs in the garden." The chef lied as he gritted his teeth. His eyes held pure hatred for the man that held a gun to him. The other man stepped closer.
"If I find out you're lying, it'll be your end." He said.
"Even if I was lying, you don't have the guts." The chef glared back. The other man stomped out of the room and the chef rushed back to me. He stepped into the pantry with me, closing the door.
"Are you alright, darling?" He asked in his thick southern accent.
"I'm okay. I'm Jade. I'm supposed to be here to learn to be a good wife.." I said quietly.
"I'm Galel Fellers. Or Chef Fellers. I prepare all of the boss and family's meals. The man who chased you up is Chance. He has a history with this sort of thing." Chef Fellers said opening the pantry door. He grabbed a small uncut loaf of bread and handed it to me. "Now I'm sorry, but you'll have to be going back downstairs now."
I happily took the bread but didn't make any move to go back.
"Please," he spoke quietly. "You must go back."
"I don't like it there though. Sir, just let me up for a moment." I pleaded as I broke off pieces of my bread and ate.
"If you're caught... the consequences aren't worth it." He said.
"It seems like everything here is a punishment," I sighed. "What's the difference if I just speed up the process?"
I heard a growl as Chance lunged toward me. I hadn't even noticed that he had come back into the kitchen. I swooped under his arm and ran from the kitchen, finding myself in a long, poorly lit corridor. I ran to the end and pulled open the double doors. Two sets of stairs wrapped up from the tile floor, to the second story. In front of me were two large doors by a small keypad that probably led to outside, but I knew there would probably be some alarm. It would be stupid to attempt.
I ran up the stairs and went into the first door I came to.
I quickly learned this was a mistake as a large man sitting at a desk and leaped up when he saw me. He grabbed me before I could run and threw me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing. He pulled out his phone as I uselessly struggled. His grip was like iron along my waist.
"Sir... she's escaped.... I've got her... yes, sir." He then hung up the phone. He carried me out of his office and Chance stood there, with a fake look of relief.
"Oh good. You've got her." He said.
The man who carried me didn't speak. Just carried me downstairs. He carried me through the kitchen to the door and Chance followed closely with a smirk on his face. Chef Fellers tried to plead for me.
"Mr Heldon! You must listen, she's not escaped to leave. Chance-" he was interrupted by Chance shoving him out of the way and closing the basement door behind us. Heldon carried me down the stairs and threw me into my cage. I skidded across the paved floor and felt the skin on my arms and hands tearing back.
He pulled his phone out and typed something in. Two more men rushed down the stairs shortly after.
The four of them walked slowly into my cage. I scooted away until an ice cold concrete wall met my back. I started to try to explain, but Chance tied a cloth over my mouth.
One of the men grabbed my arms and brought me to the barred side of my cage. Tying a rope to each wrist and then tying my wrists to the farthest bars they would reach. I was on my knees, facing the bars and I felt someone unzipping my dress. I let out a muffled scream and pulled away from them.
"Stop your squirming, woman!" One of them shouted. They pulled the top of my dress to the side and unclipped my bra, leaving my back exposed. At first, I was confused when nothing happened, but I let out another muffled scream as a crack sounded and my back started burning. I looked over my shoulder after a moment and saw the man rearing the whip back to swing again. I started to hide my face but wasn't fast enough as one of the three edges of the whip hit across the uncovered part of my cheek, the other two successfully hitting my back. I felt blood running down my cheek and one of the men rushed up to me.
"Look at me," he ordered. I closed my eyes and pressed my burning cheek against the cool metal bars as tears ran down my face. He grew impatient and shouted, "look at me!"
"Aaron," Mr Marlben's voice scolded. I opened my eyes as Marlben squatted in front of me on the other side of the cage. He sighed. "Jade... you were doing so well."
I didn't answer and he pulled the cloth from my mouth.
"I'm sorry. I just didn't want him to touch me." I whispered. He looked at the men behind me and touched the mark on my cheek, the sting making me pull away.
"Gentlemen, did no one ask why she was out of her cage?" Marlben asked calmly.
"Chance was by my door chasing her, I assumed she'd rushed by him and got out," Heldon said. Chance didn't dare speak.
"Now, because of Chance's stupidity, she may not be accepted by my son. There is now a mark on her face." He spoke calmly. "Lock him up, I'll deal with it later. I may even let Blake do it, he's due back soon."
He started to leave as they pulled a fighting Chance from my cage. He stopped and looked down at me.
"Stay in your cage." He was quiet for a moment. "I'll call Ronnie for you."
He walked away, leaving me tied there. I just dropped my head and fell asleep. Too tired to keep my eyes open anymore.