Dark Façade: When the Dark ComesBook Two Word Count: 21K (est)| Chapter 13-20
Synopsis: Maxine, an AA graphic designer who has no life, realizes that her best friend and coworker disappeared the day after telling Maxine she was going out on a hot date with a man she met on the Internet. Now it's up to Maxine to find out what happened to Lisa and who was this mysterious man, who emailed his picture to her friend that Maxine just can't stop thinking about.
As the saga continues, Maxine infiltrates The Masquerade, an underground secret society of wealthy men who believe money can buy everything, including treating women however they please. When her membership application is accepted, Maxine braces herself for a weekend where she will have to spend without any contact with the outside world. What Maxine never thought to encounter was the mysterious stranger was now … her master. Maxine breaks the rules determined to find Lisa. Yet she never expected punishment like this.
ALREADY PUBLISHED
Book One: Dark Façade: Let The Party Begin
COMING SOON
Book Three: Dark Façade III - The Evil Behind the Mask
DARK FAÇADE © 2007 Sylvia M. Hubbard
Published by HubBooks Literary Services
Cover design by @PaytonLeaf
Photography Unknown frm iStockPhoto
All rights reserved.
Dark Façade II © 2013 digital Sylvia Hubbard
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual person, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
License Notes
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For information address:
Sylvia Hubbard
PO Box 43439, Detroit, MI 48243
Visit her website at:
http://SylviaHubbard.com
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:As we enter part two into the dark world of The Masquerade Society, I implore you to open your mind.
Darker hours are ahead for Maxine and I hope you continue the journey down the rabbit hole with me.
If you haven’t read Part One, Please please please take a moment and purchase that version because you won’t enjoy this one without it.
Your Author,
Sylvia Hubbard
CHAPTER 12
The knock startled her, but Maxine stood up and carefully felt her way to the door to open it.
Sitting there for almost a little under half an hour gave Maxine time to assess her plan of action in order to find Lisa. As soon as she could talk to everyone, she would get a feel of the place and then try to find where they might be hiding Lisa. This place could be humongous and maybe it would take more than just one trip here. Maxine was willing to give it a couple of weekends.
WHORE! Her thoughts sneered. You’re only using that excuse to see him again.
Maxine pushed this accusation away because she just knew in her heart she wasn’t going to feel anything for this Philippe. He was some weird white man that got his kicks off degrading black women.
Yet as much as she wanted to be alone, she found herself enjoying the attention he gave her when she followed his rules. Would he be pleased to know she had followed his rules to the letter when he returned?
YOU’RE CRAZY, her thoughts screamed. Now you want to obey a master? Do you know how many of your ancestors died-
Maxine quelled these thoughts as well because she was not about to have this discussion with herself.
Lisa’s life could be at stake and she was going to focus on that. Maxine was determined to get as much information as she could for Lieutenant Heart and if she could do a reconnaissance to assure Lisa was here to make the lieutenant’s job just a little easier she would make a mental sacrifice to her conscious.
Upon hearing the knock, just as Philippe had instructed, Maxine stepped out and let the door close behind her. Feeling the doorknob, she saw it locked from the outside and she was glad she had brought the key and hoped it opened the door to the chamber.
The familiar voice of the driver was heard along with someone quietly crying nearby.
“Face your left, put your left arm out and slowly walk until you touch the back of the person in front of you,” the driver ordered. “Put your hand on their shoulder.”
It took her seven steps to reach the next person and after a second, she felt someone touch her back and then rest their hand on her shoulder.
They were guided to an elevator and then walked some more until Maxine could smell food again. Breakfast! Her senses were alive at the smells of bacon, eggs, toast, syrup sweet waffles and more.
“Remove your blindfold,” the driver’s voice ordered quietly.
She did and adjusted her eyes to the room’s lighting. They were in a large hall with tables. Briefly, she wondered was this the room where she had come to when she had snuck in and looked around for some familiarity, but really wasn’t sure. The room had no windows and the walls were sheath in peach and white long drapes, while the floor was wooden. In the middle of the room was a buffet of food. Some women were already in line, while others sat eating.
In all there were about fifty black women of different shapes and sizes in the room dressed alike with a gold mask on their face. Yet, Maxine noted that not all had crest on their dresses and some of the crests were in bronze and silver thread. There was one other girl who had a golden crest on her dress, but each crest was different.
Maxine understood immediately what Philippe meant by her crest granting her certain provisions. Women with crest were seated together. They didn’t have to get in the buffet line. Their food and drink was brought to them by other black women who didn’t have nice clothes on and looked… worn and used. These women kept their heads bowed all the time, yet looked eager to please the women who had crest.
About twelve white men of all body types stood around the room watching intently each woman as if waiting for someone to mess up. Maxine had a feeling none of these men were masters, but they held certain power over the women in the room.
No one spoke at all, but Maxine could tell the new women from the old ones. Despite the masks, everyone looked about twenty-five to thirty-five. The older ones kept their eyes down showing complete disinterest in what was going on with the new girls. The new ones looked curious to others who was whimpering or looking curiously to ones with severe bruises.
The driver stood along the wall near their table and just watched. He had on a hooded black mask that reminded Maxine of Zorro without the hat.
Since all the dresses were sleeveless with low cleavages and a high slit, Maxine also noted other things. Despite the fact that everyone here was colored, except the men that stood along the wall, almost everyone had some kind of bruise on them. One girl even at Maxine’s table couldn’t eat her food because her lips were swollen up so bad. She just sucked on some juice with a straw that was provided for her.
Yet no one cried injustice or even looked like they wanted to leave. She couldn’t believe how calm and relaxed all the females were. They were going about all this as if it were normal.
She didn’t want to roc
k the boat because she didn’t want people to start asking, “Didn’t Lisa tell you?”
To many questions meant that her cover could be blown and she would never find a way to locate Lisa.
Maxine only ate the fruit and eggs. She was too nervous to fill up on anything. While she waited for others to finish, she picked at the money in her pocket wondering why Philippe had given so much and what would she need it for.
The women at her table were beautiful despite the mask they had on. Maxine could tell they were the crème of the crop. Had Lisa picked them all or was there someone else out there as well finding desperate women and convincing them to join this club.
Maxine could only fathom the money and maybe gifts were what kept these women quiet. If other masters were passing out stacks like Philippe then there was a reason to shut up about the treatment they were receiving, if these women had no other income to get. Money and gifts were a powerful entity to make the abused become quiet about things they shouldn’t. The rest were maybe too innocent to know better, Maxine assumed but no woman in there looked too young to understand what was really going on.
This bothered Maxine, but she too kept her mouth closed because she wanted to know what was really going on and where the hell was Lisa.
When their plates were cleared, a large man dressed all in black with a Zorro mask on, tapped a stick on the floor three times.
The driver stepped to the table and ordered everyone to stand up. All the women in the room did so. Maxine looked at the large man with the stick. Behind him walked a white man in a deep brown suit, standing about six feet tall. He had to be in his early forties. He had on a that covered from the tip of his nose to the middle of his forehead.
His presence demanded obedience even before he uttered a word. All eyes were on him. As he stepped closer to her, she observed that he still was in very good shape for a man his age. He reminded her of a masked Bill Clinton, but with a George Bush presence except his hair wasn’t all gray. It was more of a dark blond brown mixed with gray.
“Good morning, Ladies,” the man said.
Immediately Maxine remembered the voice of Devon Walkins from the previous evening.
“I would like to welcome our new recruits. I am very glad about our new selections and I know you all will understand in the end you’ve made good choices to be a part of our society.
Maxine briefly wondered what consisted of “the end” in this man’s mind.
He continued, “This is a rare opportunity that you all come together and eat.” He moved around the room. “For our new recruits, you’ll have a busy day ahead of you. Aside from training, your handler’s will also have to allow you preparation time for tonight’s fest. I will not keep you long.”
Maxine saw the driver, who was the one they referred to as the handler, leave with other handlers.
A chime sounded out of nowhere and over half of the room of women arose from the tables and left. After a moment, the handlers returned each carrying a velvet box. Some of the servers passed out Louis Vitton leather sacks. Inside was a pen and some paper.
“Inside your sacks are forms that must be filled out before the feast tonight and left in the box outside of your chambers or sleeping quarters. The handlers are now putting on your necklaces. Now that you have passed the night within our walls, this is your official welcome into the Dark Masquerade. These chains are specially linked in white gold and silver. You must never take the necklace off. Even once you return to your day to day life, your necklace cannot never be removed, except once a month when it is cleaned by your handler. In order to add value to yourself, your masters would grant you a charm. The larger the charm the more you are worth.”
“That will be me,” the girl with the other gold crest whispered nearby Maxine.
Maxine remembered that voice from the van and looked down at the beauty. She was slim, with black short hair and a face like Gabrielle Union - Gorgeous smile, sultry eyes, and soft Indian hair.
Devon continued as he walked around. “Your handlers will serve as my voice and my command whenever you are away from your masters. Whatever I desire of you, they relay.” He neared and looked over several women, including Maxine.
She felt like a piece of meat. There were three women left, other than herself at the table she sat, with a crest on their dress.
The handler moved behind each woman and put a necklace around their neck. It was the most expensive thing Maxine had ever possessed or worn and it was beautiful. Amazingly, it was light and not uncomfortable. The design of the necklace was to fit under any type of clothing without hindrance and without making her feel awkward. Once she became used to the jewelry being there, she was sure she would hardly feel it’s presence around her neck.
She watched as the handler put a necklace on the woman who had spoken in the van and just recently. The woman looked down at the necklace in distaste as if it were some cheap trinket.
“Secondly, in your sack is an itinerary. On the front is your training schedule for this weekend. You only have one full day, which is today in order to learn and train. On the back is our regular schedule of classes. In order to sign up for them, they must be requested and paid for by your masters. This is not to leave this facility. The third and last thing in your bag is a card. This card can be taken with you. There is a phone number that you must memorize. If anything happens to you or you need some help in any kind of way, please use the number. And I mean anything, ladies.”
He looked over the room one last time, meeting each woman in the eye and then nodded at the large man with the stick. A chime rung out of nowhere.
Devon explained. “When you hear the chime, it means several things; From breakfast, to class starting and even dinner preparation. Three knocks on the floor means the room must quiet and everyone stands.”
The large man knocked three times on the floor with his stick.
Everyone in the room stood.
Devon smiled very pleased. “And with that, I wish you adieu.” His eyes came back over to Maxine and he looked her up and down from head to toe.
She broke eye contact and looked down to hopefully deter his attention.
When Devon left the room, their handler approached the table and ordered them to place their blindfolds in their pockets and to follow him. Single filed, they were led to another small room with chairs.
Taking out the itinerary, Maxine saw that they had a class every hour. There was his and her grooming, massage beginning, servitude beginning, chamber duties, and even a class on seduction. There was also two-hour class in dance intro.
Notes were not allowed to be taken. Everything had to be remembered, but there were refresher courses on the back and other classes as well, even down to basic housekeeping duties or how to sew and cook. Maxine couldn’t believe how well organized everything was and she had to wonder how much did all this cost and who was paying for it.
By the second class, she found out a lot of information.
Devon Walkins was a retired businessman, whose father started this organization about forty years ago. Most were close personal wealthy Caucasian friends (judges, lawyers and others) that wanted black women as mistresses, but not just any kind of woman. They wanted the kind that they could control. Just to get in the organization a male member had to be highly recommended by a high status member and highly wealthy because the non-refundable registration fee was $10,000. Afterwards, they paid on an annual basis whatever their membership cost was. There was $5000 (bronze), $7500 (silver), $15,000 (gold) and $30,000 (platinum). The gold and platinum members required other amenities that membership didn’t cover. They were designed a family crest. Depending on how long they were with the organization determined the color of their crest. Gold was the highest.
Private chambers were only given to members with platinum memberships, but they had to pay a thousand dollars a month for that to cover services. When they weren’t using their chambers, they loaned or rented them out to other members.
; By the fourth class, right after lunch, she learned also about the other girls. Philippe had done well telling her to close her mouth and just listen, because Maxine found out a lot of information.
The majority of the women here had children, uneducated, lived on some type of government assistance and really had no real possibility of even getting enough to survive once they reached sixty-five. There was a strict drug and health requirement to get in. Maxine remembered her finger being pricked yesterday, but she didn’t know it had been to test her. Her hair had most likely also been kept just to see her history and if she had been doing any drugs as well.
Most of the women she was around were first timers and either gave a fake name or were given a nickname either by their master or by others. Maxine was ordered never to use her real name or give anyone information about her life outside of the compound except if she had a permanent master, but he was sworn to confidentiality.
The beauty with the other gold crest called herself Anna. She boasted a lot and other girls went into detail about what happened the night before. They were given a half-hour before the next class to start to relax and talk in a private room.
There was a caste system. Women, like Maxine, were called High Slaves, just because a platinum member chose her. She was considered untouchable for other men in the organization until her master decided to give her up. After her position, there was just the Slave title. These were either prior high slaves or women who were used only by gold and platinum members that didn’t want propriety. They could be shared and they lived all together, requested whenever they were wanted. Though they didn’t have a primary master, they could do favors for whatever master had requested them in order to get things like classes or trinkets or money.
After this position there was the servant class. They were more or less extra women they were either on punishment or just extras; Used to do things around the facility. Most times they were blindfolded and if masters requested them it was rare.
Dark Facade (Book Two) (Dark Facade Series) Page 1