The Beast by Jaden Wilkes Page A

larger than a child, but her body was that of a woman, a very beautiful woman. He took her into the room in order to tie her up and interrogate her, but half his brain was being drawn down by one strong undercurrent, the image of her helpless body splayed open, ready for him to use.

Chapter Six – Columbia
     
    Sleep did not come as easily as Columbia anticipated. The kitchen was hot and noisy; people came and went the entire time she was there. That entire staff for one rich prick, it boggled her mind.
    Every time she thought she could doze off, somebody would drop something or scream at somebody else. The worst were the guards who would wander through from time to time and hit on the girls in the kitchen. Columbia ended up pulling her hood up over her head and forcing herself to close her eyes.
    She drifted in and out of sleep. True to his word, she had been stowed somewhat away from the main traffic in the kitchen as far as she could tell. It was loud enough with the cook’s music blaring and the constant chatter that she felt safe to sleep with no fear of being heard.
    A couple of hours into her long day, the door to the cart opened. A smiling young Indian girl popped into view. “Hey, you need a bit of a stretch?” she asked in a crisp British accent.
    “Yes, how did you know I was in here?” Columbia said and climbed out. She stretched and looked at the girl, then peeked around her at the rest of the room. The staff was all out of the room at the moment.
    “Marco told me,” she smiled and walked away. “Come with me if you need to go to the loo. Their break is only about ten minutes”
    Columbia ran after her, she did need to, desperately. The girl was short on information but seemed somewhat interested in the plan, or Marco, so she was helping.
    Five minutes later and the girl was shutting her back into the cart. Columbia had the smallest moment of panic as the door clicked shut again, but soon fell into a dreamless sleep.
    The next time the girl let her out; she paused before locking her up again. “This is the last time, in about an hour we’re going to shut the kitchen down and you’ll be left alone. Sneak out at that time, I’ll make sure to leave the door unlocked between us and the rest of the apartment. Ok?”
    Columbia nodded and said, “Thanks for everything, wish me luck.”
    “Good luck,” the girl replied and clicked the door locked.
    The last hour crawled, Columbia’s muscles ached and her back felt like she had twisted a nerve. She was sweating and could feel a droplet travelling down the curve of her breast, under her layers of clothing. There was no way she could reach it to scratch, so she concentrated on other things instead.
    Like Stuart. How could he have acted that way last night? How could she have acted that way? She wasn’t sure anymore what had actually happened. He kissed her, he touched her, and then he ran his hands along her bumpy skin and recoiled with terror.
    She was a freak; he had discovered that and found her lacking. She thought about perfect Debbie, the bitch, and felt guilty that she had kissed Stuart. What had gotten into her, other than all those beers, but she swore long ago she’d never use alcohol as an excuse for bad behaviour. Not like her father.
    “He didn’t mean it, Daddy was drinking,” had been her mother’s mantra growing up. The problem was, he really did mean it. He liked it. The booze just made him feel less guilt.
    Columbia never wanted to be like that.
    She heard a thump on the outside of the cart and the lock was disengaged. She listened as all the staff left the room and finally it was silent. She would have time to sort her issues with Stuart out later. She thought she heard Marco say the code phrase, but waited ten minutes, making sure everyone was actually gone, and slid her leg out the door. She paused, she thought she heard something, decided it was nothing and continued.
    The lights were dimmed in the kitchen, but she could still