Chapter Two

ANNIE 

    A week had passed and I had been locked in a room which I guess was my room. The weather seemed rather temperate and I liked it just fine. Having been detached from the outside world, I used my time to clean and reclean the room which was boring.

  I checked the time, it was almost time for dinner, my food was always served in my room by a servant I knew to be Sophia who lived in this estate. Suddenly, the door clicked open and I was brought back to reality. Sophia stood there with no tray of food in her hand.

“Is anything wrong?” I asked and she smiled a little. “Dylan is back”, she said making me roll my eyes. Who cared if that bastard was back or not, I just wanted to eat.

“So…” I said as her lips spread even more that I thought if it hurt.

“He wants to have dinner with you”

“No”, I said quickly without processing the situation that I was a mere captive who could be tossed at anytime.

“No?” She asked quite taken aback by my response. “Yes. I don't want to eat with him, tell him that I would rather go hungry”, I said as my stomach growled giving me out. Sonia cocked her brows and moved her head to the side probably to have a better view of me and my ‘stupidity’. 

“Tell him I can't eat with him”, I repeated not giving in to my growling stomach.

    She nodded her head slowly and walked out clicking the door shut. I slapped my cheeks trying to process what I had just done. I remembered he had called me his toy and wondered what punishment I would get for defying his orders or he could be like those ruthless but sweet lords and drag me to have dinner with him.

I waited.

    I looked at the time, it was already past twelve and wondered what was taking him so long. Maybe he just didn't care or had better things to do, after all, he was Dylan Xavier, the most feared mercenary and mafia lord in this dark world.

As I shut my eyes to sleep but then the door cracked open slowly. I looked at the door to see him, the one I was waiting for come in and shut the door behind him. I felt fear creep into my soul as the hairs on my body stood.

“You… you came back. How're…”. I didn't know what to say so I just shut my mouth. He was holding a gun. His face wore an expressionless mask and that made me more than scared, he was a psycho.

“ How's my toy doing?” He asked as though he meant it.

“I'm good”, I said hating the fact that he called me his toy.

    Dylan walked to the bed and held my chin kissing me slowly. I succumbed to this pleasure, his lips were tempting but had this metallic taste.

Blood.

  I wanted to push him away,but he just stood there kissing me, he had but my lips making it bleed and it hurt. He finally left me and I held my lips to stop the bleeding.

“Monster”, I muttered and he smiled.

“You didn't come to welcome your master, flower. I was waiting for you but you didn't come”, he said looking at his nails smirking. “You fucking locked me up!” I said defending myself though knowing even if he didn't I would never come to see him. 

“Oh Annie, but I invited you for dinner and you declined”. I watched him closely waiting for the moment he would pull the gun and shoot me, but he didn't, instead he placed it on the table and removed his jacket. “I rather starve”, I hissed hating how domineering he was. 

   His once expressionless face was replaced by a mask so serious and dangerous. One that carried a certain aura that instilled fear in anybody… in me.

He pressed a certain button and chains appeared from the ceiling. He smiled.

“When I tell you something, little milkweed, you do it!” He growled.

I nodded shutting my eyes. I knew I was going to die. 

I'm sorry Jesus for not going to church.

“Strip”. I heard him say and I opened my eyes and looked at him.

“I said fucking strip!” He growled and I nodded unbuttoning my shirt. I threw it at a corner and removed my bra. I stood there and he looked at me as if I was a dumb ass and naive kid.

“I said strip”, he said calmly and that made me more afraid as I quickly pulled down my jeans and panties.

I was totally naked. 

    When I was younger, I read so many dark romance books and thought what if this was me? What if I was the protagonist in this book and I loved it… I had wanted to feel it. But here I was shivering with fear, now I understood what those girls felt at first,  just that I would eventually die and not find love.

I watched him look at my body not saying anything and I suddenly got irritated.

He doesn't like what he's seeing?

“I know, I'm not sexy, I'm just a plain white girl and thank you, I like it like that”, I said and this time he smiled. 

“I like you, toy, savage”, he said and took a chain and chained my hands, I struggled but he was stronger.

They were always stronger. 

“I just want to go home”, I muttered and he laughed. “Home? Baby girl if you leave this estate you become a criminal”, he said and I didn't quite understand. I didn't care enough to understand what he had said. 

“You didn't come to have dinner with me and I felt bad and prepared a little something for you”, he said and took the gun from the table and shot my arm. I screamed trying to hold my arm but I was chained.

Screw him. 

   “I fucking hate you!” I screamed and he smiled. “You don't, my love”. He said it like he meant it.

“I have certain rules, beautiful and wish and pray you obey them”

“Tell me”, I said through my clenched teeth. 

“You don't do anything I wouldn't do or I would do or else I'll break you to the extent you wish for death. But like in the book of revelations, you wouldn't find death. I don't plan on killing you… you're my toy”, he said wanting to leave.

“I don't understand, what do you mean by something you wouldn't do and would do…”

“Just don't do anything stupid, milkweed. Sonia would treat your injuries by exactly 5:00am before then, you stay this way, I like it”. I looked at this man, he was insane but looking at his eyes,I knew he had a dark past that even he was scared to remember. 

“I'll be traveling today to South Africa for business, be back in two days and I'll give you the freedom you want. You can move about the house. You're a secret no one should know of ”,he said and left with his gun in his hand.

“Fuck you!” I said though not to his hearing. I was hopeless.

My situation was damned helpless. 

DYLAN XAVIER 

   I sat on my bed staring at the picture in my hand. She was beautiful. Was? Yes. I had loved her and killed her. She was part of my nightmares and the only thing that kept me sane was her daughter. Our daughter.

My phone beeped. “Hello”, I said roughly but the voice I heard made me calm.

“Do you have to be such an ass daddy? I just called to check on you”

“I'm good quite busy though. Focus on your studies and work, I have some business to attend to”, I said and hung up before she could say anything. I was being hard on her and I knew it. 

I made a few phone calls before going to the bathroom to prepare for my travel to South Africa. 

It was going to be a long day.

ANNIE 

   It's been two days and I hadn't seen Dylan Xavier. Though he had informed me of his travel, I still felt weird but didn't know why. The night was beautiful and it was the perfect night to escape just that I couldn't, not that I cared about whatever he had said, it was just that there was no way out. All entrances and exits were guarded by men who wouldn't even bat eyes at a naked woman. 

   I walked round the house feeling useless as I heard some people taking, I decided to go have a look. I stood at a corner and peeked. Dylan was back!

He was with someone who looked a little like him, they were related but didn't act like they were.

“Thank God for sex if not I wouldn't have had the chance to kill the lady Verona”, the other one said his eyes glistening with wickedness as he spoke.

“Lady Verona had to be killed but sex? That's not Xavian like “, he said and I knew he meant it. He looked so disappointed rather than pleased. “Xavian like you say, I don't really care how I happened to do it, brother, what I care about is that I did it”, he said and Dylan said nothing.

   He suddenly looked my way and I hid. I hoped he didn't see me, I ran quickly to my room and shut the door. These people were deadly and always surprised me in one way or the other. I thought of the so called lady Verona, she must have died in pleasure while having sex with that so called Xavian. I hissed, “what an ass”

“Who's an ass, sweetheart”. Someone said and I looked quickly towards the sound to see Dylan standing there. He always mesmerized me with his beauty that I forgot for a second that he had asked a question.

“Me. I'm an ass”, I said and he chuckled. “That wasn't a question, toy”. He came towards me and pulled me in for a hug. “I've missed you so much, lover”, he said and took me by the hand. I followed him out of the room nervously as we went downstairs. He pushed a door opened and I was surprised, I hadn't seen this place in this house, we entered and I knew why I hadn't seen it.

     There were all kinds of weapons for torture and slow death. Chains, knives, scissors, a shocker, axes… they were many and only a single chair and table stood in the middle.

“I came home with a guest and saw you doing exactly the same thing that landed you here, in my humble home”, he said letting me go and shutting the door.

He had seen me.

 “I'm sorry…”

“I would never apologize, toy. Don't dare me!” He growled and I nodded. “I would never nod like a scared cat”. I said nothing so as not to enrage him.

“And I fucking would not be quiet and let someone intimidate me!” He screamed and I whimpered.

“I want to go home”. I knew that made it worse and couldn't look him in the face. Whatever it is, I would still die anyway, but I remembered him saying he didn't plan to kill me.

I was worried.

“Stand there”, he said and pointed to where an archery board stood on the wall. I moved and stood at the centre shutting my eyes and waiting for my last.

I heard a shot and it almost hit my ear. I gulped shaking with fear.

   I heard him pull the trigger and shoot again, it hit just a cm above my head. I could feel and taste my own tears.

“I don't want to kill you beautiful, you don't have to cry”.  He said it like he cared. My eyes were still shut and I felt a soft lips on mine. I wanted to push him away ,but no one could resist such temptation.

Then he left without a word.

   I sat on the ground weeping. I thought I was going to die but he didn't want to kill me, then what in the world did he want from me? 

Hopeless.