Master Of None.

CH. 3 Intermission

3:29PM, July 24th, Wednesday.

I was starting to get clammy under the bag when the SUV hitting a pothole woke me up. Its definitely hard to get comfortable bound up like this. 

I guess they finally felt bad after I shifted a few more times. It was finally pulled off after what felt like ages. I gasped like I was a fish out of water; inhaling so much crisp oxygen it made me choke. 

Looking around, my eyes scan over everything desperately. Storing every little bit of detail it can process.

Vince was beside me holding the burlap sack and to his left was a wavy haired brunette about my age. They looked close. Was she the one I kicked? I was kinda hoping so. 

I shake my head at the thought, though. Ignoring her, looking to the front instead. 

In seats ahead of us were three other guys. They all looked fairly similar from the back. All tan with dark hair. Only difference were their hairstyles. Definitely had the same build and broad shoulders. Were they made in a factory or something, sheesh. I roll my eyes.

There were two more people in the front. An older man driving, and a very petite young woman sitting in passenger. Now she had to be who I kick. She was so small and adorable from back here I kinda felt bad. I had to remember she literally helped kidnap me to shoo the guilt away.

They all wore black gear, armed to the teeth and looked well trained. I might be f****d.

"Why do I get the mask off now?" I look to the window, it's not like I can't read the signs. Although I didn't see any around anyways. 

"He doesn't want to see you all bagged up. We will remove the zip ties as well when we pull up. Should you try anything stupid he will have your neck. So tread wisely, darlin. We're in his domaine now." My lips curl to a snarl as, Venom- the older man spoke. That was going to be my name for him. Venom. He was blonde and burley. You could tell he's seen a thing or two and it wasn't pretty.

His words brought on more question than answers, though. Honestly I'd have felt better without any response at all.

"Who is 'he'?" I try to keep my demeanor collected. "And how am I of any importance to 'him', anyways?" 

Venom just smirks and makes brief eye contact with me through the mirror. The brunette woman beside Vince speaks up instead "you're about to find out, pretty little thing. Patients is a virtue." She sounded really cold. If I had to guess, she didn't like me. But that's okay because I didn't particularly like her either. 

I didn't even bother responding or asking any more questions. I didn't care anymore, I just wanted out of the car. And some pancakes. I better be getting a damn breakfast buffet after all they put me through.

Outside the window, the trees and farms rushed by in a blur. Leaving me less than a second to even look at the world we're passing by. Venom must be speeding, it would be a shame if we got pulled over and they found me tied up back here.

We take a few more turns and end up going down a dirt road for a mile longer. Its extremely long to be a driveway but it seemed like privacy was a big factor in location for them. We seemed to be in the middle of a valley. I've never seen so much wildlife in one place before besides the zoo. 

Theres something off in the distance, it looks like a farm house. Its large, white and the roof is kind of rounded like a barns. 

My minds really starting to race now. God, just don't feed me to a pig.

Vince pulls my hands from my lap and breaks the zip ties as we get closer to the house. He dropped them immediately back into my lap and my bottom lip stuck out a bit in a pout. 

I can see horses and other farm animals getting closer every passing second. Why are we at a farm anyways? "Wait, are y'all going to make me work on this farm?!" My face kind of scrunches at the thought. I better not be cleaning goat poop. 

The brunette laughed but it sounded more like a cackle. "You'll be working alright, but not on the farm." She's seriously lucky the threat from earlier has me subdued. I'd have snatched her up by now and cause everyone in this SUV to be in an uproar. 

As we reach the farmhouse and roll to a stop stop, I hear venom shift into park. The doors on every side swing open and Vince ushers me out of the car. When I'm standing outside they cut the ties off my ankles and push me towards the farm house. 

Before we even get to the porch, a tall man steps out. He looked about forty to fifty years old. He clapped his hands together so loud it echoed behind us. I turn around to admire the distance it made but no one else seemed phased. Like this was normal. 

When I turn back to the man who stepped out, he was right in front of me. Staring me dead in my eyes with crisp green orbs. He wasn't bald, but he shaved his hair down to nothing. He was in an all black suit; fancier than the one Vince was wearing over his gear. Definitely dressed for success, like a slick business man. The people who kidnapped me looked more like a militia or straight out of a bootcamp. 

"Hello little one." He said with a devious grin. I didn't like this and I think he could sense that. "Don't fret, I'm Mr. Sully. You're going to do some work for me... Consider it for Veena." His words made me flinch, visibly tensing up at the mention of her name. That struck a cord.

"What do you know about my grandmother. Was it you who ki-" before I could even finish he slapped me across the face. 

I slumped my head, the stinging left tears in my eyes. I didn't want him to think I was crying or hurt so I kept my hands at my side. I cant ever let them believe they have a chance at breaking me. It was really nothing but my bodies natural reaction. 

He pulled my head up by my hair so my eyes would meet his again. "You're going to listen good and listen close because I'm only saying this once. Your late grandmother sold you. You are mine. Now act like it." 

Sold me? That can't be right. He drops my head down but I look back up at him slowly. Part of me wanting to say something that will get me hit, the other just wanting food.

"Feed me, then." The look of confusion on his face was all I needed to feel bold enough continue "I'm yours? Your little gang here refused to let me eat before dragging me here. Their lucky I didn't eat them on the way" I look over at Vince at that last part and send him a wink. If I'm going to be stuck here a while I might as well piss everyone off and add to the tension. I really don't mind the bodily harm that could come of it, I felt worse just training.

"You're perfect." He grabs me and kisses my forehead then turns to the group when he pulls back. "Get her inside and dressed, Dalia. Then all of you meet in my office to discuss the mission." With that, he was off. Not even mentioning the food or my dumb comment. I stood their kind of dazed. I think everyone else noticed because laughter broke out between the group as they nudged me forward. 

Dalia, the brunette, linked arms with me and dragged me inside before everyone else. "You really like testing the waters, huh new girl?" She had no idea.

 I began to wonder why I needed to get dressed so nice. Nice enough that a messy bun or sweats I had on wouldn't suffice. I'm not here to please these guys.

We walk down a long narrow hallway until we reach the end. We enter the room on the left and Dalia sits me in a chair next to her vanity. I'm assuming this is her room, there are pictures pinned to the wall of her and Vince. Its overly pink in here, like the room is assaulting my eyes, it's so bright. 

"Alright." She gets behind me and begins taking my hair down "First we're doing your hair, you need something besides that rats nest." I thought my hair was cute. Whatever, though. No big deal. 

She starts combing out the tangles "wow your hair is so thick." I can't tell if she's actually complimenting me or just making a statement so I don't say anything back. 

She continues brushing my hair for a minute longer then began to straighten it. I haven't done my hair like this in years, it looks so long and slick. It falls down my back, midway. The black always stands out with my fairly pale skin. 

As I'm admiring myself, she turns the straightener off and begins digging through a really big makeup bag.

I try to stop her  "Oh I don't wear makeup" finding any excuse I can come up with. Its a lie but I don't want to look plastic like her either. I'm more of light eyebrows and liner look. Bold isn't my thing but I have a feeling I'm about to look like goth Barbie. Not a bad thing but I cant pull that off.

"You don't have a choice and neither do I." She sounded so calm. I cant imagine how long she's been here.

I stop resisting and her words resonated with me for a moment. I look at her through the mirror "were you sold too?" I asked.

The second she looks up she bursts into a fit of laughter. "Girl, you know you're so funny when you're clueless." What was so funny about any of this? But she kept brushing eyeshadow on like it was nothing. "You weren't actually sold to Mr. sully. Your grandma just put a huge debt against your family. Now that she's gone her oldest kin has to pay for it. Aka you." 

"She did WHAT?!" I felt my blood start to boil "how did this debt come about?" I'm tired of all this new information yet getting nowhere. If anything I'm taking three steps forward and five steps back.

"Sully-bears specialty." She said "Poker."

Poker. The word bounced through my head. My grandma was recovering from her gambling addiction but I didn't know she fell back into it. I should've noticed. Maybe she would be here still if I did. 

"Do you know how much she owes?" I honestly wasn't so sure I wanted to know the answer to that one. And if I did there's no way to get out of paying it.

"You'll have to ask sully that one. He doesn't talk business with anyone if it doesn't concern them." She finished my eyeliner and made a kissy sound "viola. You look so killer, you might get charged with a homicide tonight." 

When I look at the finished product, she wasn't wrong. She really took advantage of the way dark makeup looks on my light complexion. "Thank you" I say genuinely, slightly poking my face "I didn't think it would turn out this amazing." 

"What can I say? I'm good at what I do. Now, we need something cute to put on you." She had her hands on her hip, proud of her work. "Please be a dear and get out of those rags." 

She goes to the closet and I begin stripping off the only clothes I had with me. When I was down to my panties and bra, she poked her head back out. "Might as well lose the knickers too. You'll be getting into something a little more provocative here soon." She sounded too gleeful about all this. 

I pile my clothes and stand there for a minute, feeling a little awkward. After digging, she brings out a small black dress with straps all over it. A little redundant for something that barely covers anything. But I take it, anything is better than naked in front of strangers, I guess. She tosses a blue thong and lace bra that matched onto the bed then goes digging for socks. Honestly if her taste in clothes were a tad more modest, I'd have her do this for me everyday. 

When I got the dress on, she brought me knee high socks and black boots to match the outfit. Putting the final touches on my look before bringing me back to the mirror to see my reaction. I was honestly shocked, I couldn't even recognize the person I was looking at in the mirror. The dress hugged my curves tight and the shoes made my legs look sleeker. 

Dalia leaned in close to my ear, "you look sexy." She flashes me a smile before pulling me away from the mirror, "I think you're ready." And just like that, we were headed straight to Mr. Sully's office without a final thought.