Chapter 2

Elise

"Get up," the rhythmic voice said sternly, pulling me from my last memory of my old life.

I grunt as I pull myself into a sitting position.

Her black eyes hold mine with wonder. She leans against the concrete wall just inside the doorway, seemingly relaxed in the suit and tie she's wearing, if it weren't for the tension in her defined jaw.

How is it that I've gone from seeing her once a week to twice in the same one?

"Are you hungry?" She asks, attempting to sound calm but her frustration breaking through it anyway.

I nod my head, feeling the cramps building up in my stomach again.

"Then come with me," she says, pushing the cell door open and waiting for me outside.

I dragged myself onto weak legs and stumbled after her, using the adjacent wall for leverage. I hesitate before I walk through the door, not knowing what lies ahead of me.

Something told me I should stay, better the devil you know, isn't that the saying is?

But another part of me didn't care what happened to me after this, the part of me that has completely given up with the world.

"Are you coming or staying?" She asks with a scowl on her face.

I bite back a retort, not wanting what happened yesterday to happen again. She must see this because a smirk pulls at her lips and she looks at me mischievously.

Screw it, anything out there is better than spending another minute here. I shakily step through the threshold of my prison, and follow her down a concrete hallway.

We approach a flight of stairs leading up to a steel door, much like the one of my cells.

Before ascending she grabs my upper arm closest to her and roughly pulls me so I'm facing her.

"Don't even think about escaping, there is nowhere to go and I will catch you before you can even make your first step."

I nod, flinching away from the sharp claw like nails embedded into my skin.

"Good," her tone changed back into a more friendly and innocent one to the hard, emotionless one before.

I swear this woman doesn't know what she wants to be. I've heard of bipolar but this is something completely different altogether.

She pulls the arm that is still in her grasp and wraps it around her elbow, like she was escorting me rather than ordering me to go anywhere. I allow her to tug me up the stairs and through the steel door.

I feel my next breath getting forced from my lungs as I let my eyes roam around the beautifully furnished hallway.

From this type of interior the house must be huge and expensive. What does she do for a living, because it must pay well, like really well.

Not waiting for me to continue looking around she tugs me along, until we enter two wide open large doors.

The only thing occupying the room is a long mahogany dining table, with chairs lining on either end of it. Diamond chandeliers hang in the middle of the room, reflecting the light and dazzling my vision

She leads me to the table and pulls the chair out for me. I practically fall into the chair from how tired my legs really are from the distance we have been walking.

The woman releases her grip from my arm and walks to the other side of the table, clapping her hands together twice before sitting down.

Footsteps approach from behind me, bringing my attention to a girl, dressed in a typical maid's dress and carrying a silver platter.

She places it in front of me and lifts the lid, letting me see the assortment of vibrant foods underneath.

I look back to the blonde woman who raises her eyebrows in question to me.

"I haven't poisoned it, if that's what you're about to ask."

I reach out for the closest item on the platter, which happens to be a roll of freshly made, still warm bread.

Normally I would have more respect and courtesy, but turns out I don't care what she thinks of me and it is her fault for starving me for so long. Before long half the platter has disappeared and I can no longer fit any more food into my stomach.

I sit back in my chair, rubbing my now sore abdomen.

"Are you finally finished?" The woman asks annoyed.

I nod my head and close my eyes, regretting not stopping sooner, but in a way I'm glad I didn't. If she locked me back in that cell for a month without any food then the more I have now should be better in the long run.

"Good, now that you have filled your damn pit of a stomach, we need to talk business."

My eyes fly open and stare back at her. She leans on the table, her elbows on the top and her chin resting on her fists.

"To answer your question from yesterday, what I want from you is simple. I want you to give me everything about you. I want you to give yourself to me."

"What?"

She nods her head, telling me that she was completely serious with her proposition.

"No," I find myself saying. I don't care anymore if she puts me back in that cell and forgets me anymore. I don't care if she hurts or kills me. I will not give myself up to her, she is my capture and worse, she left you in a room to starve.

"Oh I don't expect you to answer me yet," she said smirking and tapping her index finger against the chin.

What is the point of this? She already took me from my family, doesn't she already have me?

"Why?" I ask, getting flustered by her vagueness. "What's the point of this?"

"The point is, I am deeply fascinated by you," she says nonchalantly.

"Well that still doesn't answer what I'm asking. If you were just fascinated, you could've just been fascinated from afar and left me alone."

Her head tilts to the side, analysing me before she sits back in her chair again, a stoic expression wiping off her smirk.

"Let's play a game," she says standing up from the table and walking towards me. She lifts one leg and sits on the table in front of me, moving the platter aside. "I have a month to make you choose me, using whatever tactics I want, and if you would still rather leave I will let you go."

What? This is so confusing. She would let me go if I refused her, for a month. Something just doesn't feel right at all in this whole situation, aside from being kidnapped, of course.

But she did say she would let me go. And it is only for a month. I could go a month right? I survived this month without food, surely enough whatever else she has planned for me can't be that bad.

"How can I trust you?" I ask suspiciously.

A mischievous grin formed on her lips. "You'll just have to make the leap of faith."

I heave a long breath before agreeing, knowing that I will most likely be sealing off my freedom with this decision.

"What would this game entail?"

The smirk grows as she stands up from the table and holds out her hand for me. I allow her to help me up, but don't let my guard down for one minute. I am going to make sure I stay as clear headed for this next month as possible, besides all I have to do is say one word, and then I'm free.

Her hand burns in mine, as she leads me down several similarly decorated hallways to two french doors that she pushes open with ease.

I freeze in the doorway, but she hardly acknowledges my stoppage as she continues into the room. My eyes fall on the massive bed taking up the majority of the room and then back to her.

She busies herself at a desk, occupying the corner of the room, shuffling through papers, before she turns back to me.

"Get on the bed," she tells me, as if it were the most obvious thing to do in the world.

I don't want to move. My legs won't allow me to step into the room.

"I'm not going to offer this again, either you play the game, or you will never go home."

A new wave of tremors takes over my limbs as she walks towards me.

"If it makes you feel better," she says in a considerate voice, but the evil edge that never seems to go away is still evident. "I won't even lay a hand on you today."

I swallow the bile in my throat as she brushes a stray strand of my chocolate brown hair behind my ear.

"Would you be more comfortable if I told you, you wouldn't even have to remove any of your clothes?"

My eyes switch to hers, but quickly back to the bed. Lifting my heavy legs I walk past her to the object that seems to be the cause of my anxiety. Hesitantly I climb to the middle of the king sized mattress, await for whatever she has planned for me next.

I think I just made the worst decision by agreeing to her. She must have torture or something planned for me.

"Let me explain to you what will be happening," she says, continuing to busy herself at her desk. "I am going to build you up with so much pleasure, that your body will be begging for the release that I will be denying you, until you agree verbally that you are to be mine?"

I audibly gulped as she made her way towards the bed, peeling her suit jacket from her arms. She unbuttoned her top button and loosened her tie, showing me her slim defined throat.

I thought she said she wouldn't lay a hand on me. What is going to happen? Oh dear lord, I made the worst decision in the world. I shouldn't have left my cell.

"Let's begin then shall we?”