Dark Facade (Book Two) (Dark Facade Series)

by Hubbard, Sylvia

  “Oops,” Anna said, although her eyes displayed humor. “I’m so clumsy.”

  Maxine stood up and glared at her before turning her back to the woman and her childish behavior.

  When the lesson was completed, they were allowed to shower, which was located right next to the dance room and then returned back to the dance room to await their handler.

  Derrick came in to retrieve her, but Nicole asked if he could take the two others back to their room first. “They’ll just stay until you return,” Nicole said.

  Even though he looked doubtful, he obeyed Nicole and left with the other women. Nicole looked at the three that were left. “Another handler will be here shortly,” she said sternly. “Stay in this room until your handler arrives. Stay quiet. If you must speak, whisper. I don’t need to remind you are not supposed to walk around unescorted, do I?”

  “No,” all three of them said unanimously.

  Nicole went over to take her shower.

  “How is she able to walk around here unescorted?” Anna asked peeved with a lot of jealousy for Nicole mixed in.

  “Nicole has been here for over thirty years. I heard she was one of the first slaves and stays to take care of the women. She got lucky and was bought by one of the founding members,” Carla explained.

  “I thought Devon’s father owned this place,” Maxine assumed.

  “No,” Carla corrected. “There’s a board chosen every four years, who selects the owner. An owner can be re-elected, but other masters can vie for the opportunity with the board as well. It usually is from a founding member’s bloodline. I think Devon is like the seventh owner, but I heard Ewan, who’s a founding member is recommending his son in the next election.” Carla looked delighted by this.

  Maxine curiously questioned, “Why is that so interesting?”

  “The place runs according to the owner’s taste and true love of black women. Some masters really adore black women and treat them like queens. He pushes his expectations onto other masters. And then there’s some owners like Devon.” Her tone grew harsh. “Where they could care less and believe we are no better than animals to rut with.” She sighed. “I for one liked the previous master who was here when I first started.”

  Another handler came in and grunted for Carla.

  Now Maxine was alone with Anna.

  “You don’t belong here,” Anna said very quietly with disgust.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’ve been watching you. Watching you walk and talk and how you interact with everyone. You definitely don’t belong here.”

  Maxine knew she looked confused. “I was invited just like all the others-“

  Anna cut her off. “Liar. I heard you said Lisa invited you here, but I know Lisa and you would never stoop so low as to hang around the places Lisa goes. You are too high and mighty to even think about being around a woman like Lisa.”

  Not knowing how to really address this without trying to tell a fib, Maxine decided avoidance would be a better way to divert from the truth. It was true she would never hang out where Lisa would hang out. She only knew Lisa from work and Lisa had never invited her to ‘this life’ ever! “You seem to know me very well, Anna.”

  “I don’t need to know you. I smell your shit. I’ve been cleaning toilets for offices all my life. I handled chemicals so raw with these hands they made the flesh almost peel off and I know your shit. Your executive college hoity bitch ass that wouldn’t give women like me the time of day; thinking your shit smells like roses as you flit around your men thinking you got them. I know your kind and you don’t fool me.”

  Maxine didn’t speak because she really wasn’t a good liar and she wasn’t going to try to lie her way out of this. “I’m not trying to fool anyone. I filled out the application and I got in like everyone else. I’m sure if they thought I had other intentions –“

  “I could give a fig about your intentions,” Anna railed cutting her off again. “I just know you ain’t like us and you don’t belong here. You don’t deserve the privileges we get because of who you are. ”

  Anna’s handler entered the room and beckoned for her.

  “This ain’t over,” Anna sneered cutting her eyes at Maxine. “You think you’re pretty special with that gold crest and shit, but that don’t mean bad things can’t happen to you here.” She smiled like the Cheshire cat that clearly said she was going to be up to no good, before leaving with the handler.

  Maxine was pretty much left alone in the room and glad about it. Anna’s animosity toward her terrified her.

  Women like Anna blamed society for failing when it was her all along that didn’t prepare for opportunity when she had it. Maxine prided herself on not letting past events keep her down. Maxine’s past have given her some awful lemonades, but she had not allowed the things that had happened to keep her from some success.

  True Maxine’s last foster parents cared enough to leave some money for her to help her out in life, but Maxine went to public high schools and took advantage of opportunities. She also studied her butt off once she decided to get serious about school and was able to get small scholarships that really helped her.

  Anna didn’t really scare her because she was simple and shallow to Maxine.

  Maxine pressed her ear to the door to hear if anyone was outside the door or coming down the hallway. When she felt the coast was clear, she slowly turned the knob and stepped out in the hallway.

  ***

  Ewan’s voice on his cell phone yelling at the top of his voice was not a surprise. When did Philippe not upset his father about something? Ewan could go off about the littlest thing and for a long time. All his life, Philippe had disappointed his father about many issues.

  True, Philippe had improved Ewan’s company by almost sixty percent. Ewan had never made this much business nor improved services this well while he had ran the company.

  Yet, Philippe’s success with the company didn’t matter if Philippe still wasn’t doing all the things Ewan wanted his son to do.

  When Philippe had gotten the call he was just stepping foot back into Detroit and wanted to actually go find something nice for Maxine to show he had been thinking about her all day.

  On his plane ride back to Detroit, he’d gotten a call from his new business partner William Stone asking to meet in Detroit in two weeks for an update on their venture. William’s wife was already in town working on a project and William missed her enough to come up from Ohio to see her. The opportunity to finally meet the woman who tamed this man was very intriguing to Philippe and he even thought about bringing Maxine to the meeting.

  “It’s not bad news already for us to meet so soon, is it?” Philippe asked.

  “No, it’s actually some good news. A lot of companies have been waiting for me to expand and now that I have the financial backing thanks to you, I’ve already secured three major contracts that should actually have you seeing triple the return on your investments by the end of the year.”

  This certainly brightened Philippe’s morning and he almost danced on the runway eager to share his happiness with Maxine… Until the call

  It was also no surprised when Philippe was ordered to cancel all appointments and report back to the compound and go straight to Devon’s office, that Philippe knew there was going to be some kind of trouble.

  Cursing under his breath, he did as he was told. Philippe knew he couldn’t disobey his father. Guilt made him do as he was told.

  ***

  Just as Carla had said, Maxine found the steps and walked up the three flights. She clutched her own blindfold in her hand, just in case she was seen she could just slip it on over her mask and just pretend someone had left her there to wait.

  There was complete silence as she opened the door and stepped into the low-lit purple and lavender hallway. Decorated similar to the chamber with the long drapes on the wall, she walked down the thick carpeted floor to thick oak doors. Looking at the other end of the hall, there were sim
ilar doors and she wondered if she had turned the wrong way when she had gotten off the elevator. Going back in her memory, she remembered Carla’s instruction to the letter, and had followed it exactly.

  She didn’t hear anything behind the door although the oak made it hard to hear through. Taking a chance, she opened the door and peeked in. There was no one around, so she stepped in the crème decorated room similar to the chamber she slept in with Philippe, except this one was all crème and the space was much larger and instead of an open upstairs bedroom, this one was enclosed. There was no one around in this room and the stairs were just calling her name.

  Slowly, she ascended the stairs. In the middle she paused hearing a woman’s whimper. It was coming from at the top of the stairs. Someone was in there, but were they alone?

  ***

  Philippe stepped off the elevator and for some reason he thought he could smell Maxine, but he knew she would never be on this floor. He never wanted her to step foot on this floor and if he had his way, he would make sure that she never would.

  “Welcome back, Philippe,” Devon greeted him just a little bit too friendly with a wicked smile. He wore a brown velvet smoking jacket with a thick Cuban in his mouth and some silk brown pants to match. He was casually dressed unlike prior when he was in a suit and tie.

  Something was up. Devon looked just a little bit too at ease.

  “Ewan has joined us.” Devon nodded to the right where Phillip’s father was watching a monitor.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” Philippe said to his father. “There wasn’t a need to come here and check on me. I’m not a child, Father. I’m a grown ass man.”

  Turning around from the monitor, Ewan was an older version of his son. With a small girth growing on his waist, Ewan still kept in shape for a man of sixty years old. Puffing on the smelly Cuban, he looked repulsed at Philippe. “Grown ass men know how to control their slave,” his father sneered.

  “I can-“ Philippe started to say he could, but as he looked at the nine different screens, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Obviously the bottom ones were showing a replay of what had happened and the top ones were showing what was occurring now.

  “Clearly she is being disobedient. Wouldn’t you say, Philippe?” Devon said too pleased with himself.

  “Clearly,” his father agreed facing the screen again.

  ***

  Opening the door, the smell from inside of the room greeted her nostrils. Repulsive and strong, she covered her nose, but still entered the room.

  “Lisa,” she called out.

  The whimpering increased as Maxine came into the room. There were several incense sticks lit to try to assuage the smell, but it was evident someone had not washed for a while.

  Through the smoky haze of the room, Maxine gasped as she saw a black woman had been chained to the bed lying there with her legs wide open. A mask was on her face covering everything including her hair except her nose. There was a similar leash like Carla’s on her neck to indicate this was one of Devon’s slaves.

  “Lisa?” Maxine asked unsure from the woman’s disarray. She had never seen Lisa naked and wasn’t positive if it was her friend or not. Coming to the bed, she said, “Nod, if you’re Lisa.”

  The woman nodded and turned her head to Maxine’s voice. The mask was tight around her neck, but there was a Velcro opening for the mouth. Removing this so the woman could speak, Maxine asked, “Do you know where the key is?”

  Rasping in a dry voice, Lisa said, “Get out! Get out before they come! Hurry!”

  Maxine desperately tried to get Lisa’s hands out the cuffs at the wrist. Disappointed that there was no way to release Lisa, Maxine had to come up with a new plan. “I’ll be back. I’ll get you out of this,” she promised.

  Getting out of the chamber, she decided to return to the dance room.

  Derrick would definitely be looking for her. Running down the hallway and to the steps, she made sure no one was in the staircase before she opened it, yet just as she got to the second floor, the door opened on the first.

  “Who’s up there?” someone with a deep voice bellowed.

  She put the blindfold on and pressed her back against the wall. The man came up to her and she whimpered as he shook her.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?!” he demanded.

  “M-My handler-“

  “Is right here,” Derrick’s voice said suddenly. “I had to make sure Patterson wasn’t down the hall. You know he’s been stalking me to get her alone.”

  “Ain’t that Philippe’s property?” the other man asked.

  “Yeah. I had to lose my trail, man. You understand.”

  “Uh-huh. I know how Patterson can get when he wants something.”

  Derrick gripped her arm so tight, she thought it was about to break, but she didn’t say anything. He practically dragged her down the stairs and started walking fast. Several times she tripped.

  “Don’t say a fucking word,” he sneered. “Don’t you dare or I’ll beat you where you stand, bitch.”

  She didn’t and just allowed him to drag her along desperately trying to catch up.

  ***

  “Obedience is a must!” Ewan said as Devon gave the order to get Maxine from Derrick.

  Philippe couldn’t take his eyes off the screen as she tried to release the woman. Suddenly, she stopped and left out the room and ran down the way she had come. He almost hoped she could get away, but he knew the inevitable. Fuck! Fuck! What the hell was she doing there?!

  “I can punish my own,” Philippe sneered through clenched teeth.

  “Really?” Ewan asked doubtfully. “Maybe you need a lesson in teaching corrective punishing, Philippe. Maybe Devon can show you the correct way to punish, slaves around here.”

  “What are you going to do to her?” Philippe asked, trying to force the worry out of his voice.

  “Take her to El Dolor Cuarto,” Ewan ordered in an obvious tone of voice and stared at Philippe as if daring him to say one word of defiance. “How long was she disobedient, Devon?”

  “Twenty minutes,” Devon happily said.

  “An hour and a half should suffice in there,” Ewan said. “Don’t you think, Philippe?”

  Philippe flinched only a little and forced his mouth to say, “Yes, Father.”

  “I knew you would see it my way, son.” Ewan turned back to the screens to watch as Derrick picked up his cell phone to hear Devon’s instructions. Going over to Philippe, Ewan said in a low voice, “And for your punishment, you can watch.”

  Philippe stiffened, yet obediently forced out yet again, “Yes Father.”

  CHAPTER 19

  Derrick halted suddenly and answered his phone. “What?…. Now? El Dolor Cuarto? Yes sir. I will release her to your man immediately.”

  Heavy footsteps walked up to them just as Derrick hung up the phone.

  “This the girl?” the strange voice asked sharply.

  “Yes,” Derrick said sounding defeated.

  Someone new grabbed her and started to drag her in another direction. Something wasn’t right. Dolor Cuarto? She knew a little Spanish and it took a long moment before she could figure out…. Pain Room?

  “Where are you taking me?” she demanded to know. “Derrick? Derrick?!”

  The man wouldn’t answer and she tried to wrench her arm away, nothing worked. This handler had a grip like a steel vise and the more she tried to get her arm free the more she felt like she was tearing the skin off her body.

  Something banged open and a gust of cold ventilated wind swept over her, chilling her to the bone.

  Her hands were lifted above her head and tied up to something firmly. She didn’t know what to do and she screamed for Derrick, but had a feeling he was no where around.

  “Where’s Philippe ?” she ordered starting to panic. “He’s my master. Please call him. Please!”

  “Disobedient slaves are punished by the head master when their master isn’t around,” a thick voice said. />
  Punished?

  A paddle stung her behind suddenly and Maxine was more shocked than in pain. Were they serious? Was this her punishment?

  The paddle hit her again.

  She was still in a little bit of shock. Maybe it was because she had been beaten when she was younger that a paddle to her ass was like a tap on the wrist.

  A third hit was even harder, but still Maxine credited the robe and dress underneath from really keeping away the real pain, but she really couldn’t take this that serious.

  Was this the most pain she was going to feel?

  A snicker escaped her nostril and she bit her lip hoping they didn’t hear.

  She was suddenly lifted and then slammed down on a hard firm bed. Before she could catch her breath she was held down and stretched out.

  Maybe she should have pretended the paddle was horrible because this didn’t feel right. The bindings were hurting her severely and she knew she was in real trouble now. Panic returned immediately.

  “NO!” she screamed, feeling the cold irons clamp around her wrist. “No! Please no!”

  Wincing, as her legs were forced open and bent so she couldn’t close them, she blushed in shame as her clothes were ripped off her body, but then something was covered over her mouth. She screamed as loud as she could, but it was to no avail. It was all muffled and she wanted to just die!

  Dammit! How stupid of her to think no one would be watching her and she should have just pretended the damn paddle hurt!

  Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

  “Disobedience will not be tolerated, Maxine,” Devon’s familiar voice said coolly. “And if paddling does not hurt, then shame will have to do.”

  She instantly stopped her fighting and looked toward the voice. He was at the foot of whatever she was lying on.

  “I watched you disobey a direct order. You were not to go anywhere without your handler and you certainly are not allowed in my chambers unless invited.”

  They knew?! She mind cried as she begged a whimper, but she had a feeling that didn’t matter.

  Her blindfold was suddenly torn off her eyes and she looked around the black decorated room. Her hands were in irons and she was naked. She only saw Devon in the room and beside her was a table filled with sexual toys, petroleum jelly and condoms.