It been almost two weeks since she had left the room. One day in the morning after the shower she came down to breakfast in a nice dress she found in the closet. Some maids used to take care of her laundry, placing all her clean stuff where it belonged. Every night, they used to come into her room, pick up the old clothes and return the washed-up clothes.
She was foggy-headed with tears and awoke with a splitting headache, but crying purged her, leaving her eerily empty and ready to face her new future.
After a minute or two of strolling, she entered the kitchen following the sounds of cutlery clinking. Scents of fresh vegetables and meat coaxed her forward, despite trepidation. Her mouth was going wet for some meat. Rounding the corner, she halted in front of the maid standing next to the plates.
Seeing her the maid smiled and asked, "Are you hungry?"
Her stomach growled before she could say anything.
The maid giggled. "Guess your stomach is more honest. But the master has asked for you. He's in the dining room right now."
She shook her head, looking back at the maid. "I'm not seeing him."
"You have no choice. When he summons. You have to go. That's the law." The maid said while taking out a plate and signaling her towards her master.
The dining room was next to the kitchen. Vulture sat at the table with his phone in his hand scrolling through the screen while reading something in it.
"Law?" Her eyebrow twitched. She instantly hated the word.
"Law." A man's voice came from behind. His presence sent chills up and down her spine. She was so scared that she almost jumped but she prided herself on controlling herself and not jumping.
Keeping her head high and back straight, she turned to face her master.
"I obey no such law."
Vulture growled, rubbing a hand over his stubbly cheek. His blonde hair was gelled and combed backward. His bluish green gaze froze her to the core. Dressed in a black suit with a gray shirt and black tie, he looked distinguished, handsome.
She cried out as he grabbed her by the hair. "When I summon. You have to come. That's the only law you need to understand. I am your owner. You have not forgotten your lesson, have you?"
He marched her through the kitchen and into the dining room. Tossing her into a high-backed chair at a table set for twenty people, he breathed hard and leaned over her. "You are mine. You are mine. Repeat that until it gets into your head. You cannot disobey. Unless..." A glint of evil flashed in his eyes.
"You seem to be feeling better." A woman's voice came from next to her. She recognized that voice.
"I just needed a few days to recover." She replied to Jane as she put a plate in front of her.
"The guys told me they had fun." Looking at her Vulture commented.
"I suspect they did. But I didn't."
He chuckled. "Not surprised."
"I did not have fun because they were not you." She tried to sound as convincing as possible.
"Oh, really?" he asked. "Weren't you just as repulsed by me."
"Yes." She tried to make herself believable if she wanted to make him treat herself better and never to suffer that again she had to do it.
"But they did not do things the right way. They did not take me the way you do. They were boys with no idea what to do when their dicks got hard." She kept up the act by eating, pretending everything was perfectly normal.
He felt quiet.
She realized her idea was working.
"When you hurt me, I do not like it. In fact, I hate it. But sometimes..." She brought the glass of wine to her lips.
"Never mind." She took a long drink, needing the alcohol to steel her nerves.
"Go on," he whispered. "Tell me."
"Sometimes...it feels good." She only managed to say that by her determination to survive. She had to do this in order to protect herself. She had to do this if she wanted any kind of future where she was not being whipped and raped.
His eyes darkened with lust.
She cut into the meat in her plate and ate quietly. "They were not real men. They were not what I'm used to."
His hand moved to her thigh under the table.
She turned to him with a glare in her eyes. "You are not going to let me finish eating? Are you that barbaric?"
He smiled before he actually pulled his hand away.
It shocked Regina. She had not thought that he will actually pull his hand away. A sense of self confidence rose up inside her.
"Tell me about yourself."
"About me?" He never asked her questions before. The only time he did was when he asked for her name. Other than that, he had never shown any interest in her personal life.
"Yes. Tell me what is your name?"
She crossed her arms. That was the only thing she owned and which he couldn't ruin so she kept her silence.
"Fine," he barked. "I'll keep calling you bitch, until you answer."
'Why did he want to know?' He had already said that nothing else mattered, her past her name or anything about her, so she got suspicious.
Swallowing the bite in her mouth she chose to ignore his question, and stared outside, toward the terrace.
Vulture put his knife and fork down, placing his hands on the table. She made the mistake of looking at him and they engaged in a staring competition. She yelled and screamed at him inside her mind while he sat there with some unknown thoughts in his mind but she could see the threats in his eyes.
He broke the contest. "Listen I'm going to give you two choices." He said while staring at her in his silent yet dominating voice.
His voice was enough to send chills down her spine but she still pretended to be tough and refused to speak a word.
He continued in his deep threatful voice, "One, I ask those guys to rape you again and again till you break down mentally, and then make you live like a miserable existence."
She shuddered, being raped by those men once again, she could imagine what will happen if they do it again. She swallowed a mouthful and started regretting her decision to start this nonsensical staring competition.
"Or, tell me about yourself, and, if you have any skills that are useful, I'll put you to some work."
Trying to focus, she sucked in a breath. He offered her a choice. If she wanted to escape, she had to bide her time. If he put her to work, she might have more opportunity than being tied to a bed.
She faced him, placing hands on the table, strengthening her resolve. "What do you want to know?"
His shoulders relaxed a little, but the hardness in his pale green gaze never left. "Do you speak any other language except English?"
She shook her head.
"What other education do you have?"
She felt like she was walking in a death maze, one wrong move and she would have no choices except the first one and that was being raped by nine or maybe even more men.
"I left university after a year without finishing my graduation and started working as a pole dancer in a nightclub for earning some money."
He huffed, inspecting perfect fingernails. "You better have some talent, otherwise…"
She rushed, "I have been training to be in property development."
He paused. Interest replaced the hardness in his eyes for a brief moment, before the shutters slammed closed again. "Go on."
There wasn't much else to say, she had just started it after leaving her job at the nightclub. "I've yet to sit in the exams but I am sure I was at the top in the class." She lied.
He leaned back, steepling his fingers again. She fast recognized the trademark move. Vulture moved with power and the undeniable knowledge of perfect control. "Tell me about the time after you kidnapped."
The abrupt change in conversation side-lined her.
She thought she had pushed the terror down deep from being kidnapped and purged herself last night through a wash of tears, but panic rose and roared, blotting out everything.
Vulture shifted, waiting. He neither cared, nor took sadistic interest as she struggled with memories.
She answered in a monotone, pretending She hadn't lived it. Surprisingly, it helped distance herself, and a shot of pride filled her. She had fought and taught those men a lesson or two.
"I was taken from Hawaii. They hurt and knocked me and my boyfriend out, and took me somewhere."
"Did they hurt you too much?"
She nodded.
He sucked in a breath, forehead furrowing. "Did they rape you?"
She remembered the time when one of those men tried to rape her. A cold smile tugged her lips remembering how she beat the hell out of him. "One tried but I'm sure he must have learned his lesson..."
He smiled hearing her that matched hers. Maybe understanding? Maybe respect? Something she said changed the way Vulture thought of her, she thought.
Her pulse accelerated.