The Chess Club

Chapter 7

Roxie looked around the big luxurious study. A table sat in the middle of the room and a fire place was to the right of the room. There was a fire burning even though it was autumn, a bit early to be lighting fires. The fire dimly light the room because the curtains velvet curtains were closed. Roxie couldn't remember if it was night or day and the closed curtains didn't reveal anything. After reaching home, she saw no one was home. Her aunt Helen was supposed to be home by then. Heading to the fridge, she saw that Helen had left her note saying she would not be coming home for a few days. That happened frequently when they were about to close a case, she was a workaholic. Roxie had turned away from the fridge when she saw a man in full white suit standing in the entrance. She had examined the man carefully before asking what he had come here for. The man in the suit had simply said for her to follow him as the King wished to see her. As per the customary service she was shoved into a black truck with her eyes covered. She had fallen asleep and now she found herself in the King's study.

A man in a white suit entered the study walking as though he were above all humanity. "I see that you are still doing well, Miss Quinn." The man said to Roxie. She sighed and said back, "Do you have to tie me to the chair, Mike?" Mike glared at Roxie using his name so familiarly as though they were old friends. He took his seat behind the big study desk and leaned back on the chair. "We both know that the last time you were here, you tried to stab me with my favorite fountain pen. We don't want a repeat of that, now do we." Mike continued, "And don't call me Mike, little Roxie. Don't forget I still hold the title of King. It's Sir to you who is a mere pawn." Roxie snorted at his words and sarcastically said, "Oh yes your majesty, what do you want from a mere pawn such as me?" Her action only earned her only another deathly glare from Mike Kinghold, the man who occupied the King's seat. "You ae here because you still haven't completed your task. Where is the group that you were told to make? Or have you already given up on the Queen's seat? Well that works-" Roxie interrupted Mike's words with a loud shout of NEVER. Roxie could only see blood. Give up on getting the Queen's seat. Never. If not for that goal she would have been dead already. She would get there and finally find out what the hell it was that Mike did to her parents. Why did her parents die in a fire that they obviously knew was going to happen. They had asked Roxie to go out play in her Aunt Helen's house and when she had come back, all that awaited her was a burned down house and a man in a white suit. Mike Kinghold.

"Hey hey, don't look at me like I'm some kind of monster." Mike chuckled, "Even if I am one." He laughs even louder. "I know you won't give up on that impossible goal of yours. You are throwing away your young life climbing the ranks of the Hex and you don't want any seat, but the Queen's. The highest seat next to the King's. You are a dreamer, girlie." Roxie grinned widely at Mike and said, "Watch me. I will make you fall from that high horse that you sit on." Mike chuckled as he walked towards her. He took handful of Roxie's hair and pulled her close to his face. "Watch yourself, even if I erased your parents as I was ordered to, I'm still the King." He let go of her hair harshly. He rang his fingers through his hair smoothing it out. Clearing his throat he said, "It seems you found a pure blood. He seems rather interesting. I'm having Pawn#6 bring him here. He should be here by tomorrow." All of Roxie's thoughts about her revenge and plan were erased when she heard what Mike had said. She struggled to turn herself towards Mike who was heading for the door. "Why are you bringing Max into this mess? His great-grandfather left the Hex peacefully. He isn't part of the Hex anymore. He doesn't need to know about all this." Mike opened the door, turned his head towards a desperate Roxie and replied, "If you wanted him to not get involved why did you approach him with that contract in the first place? You were hoping he remembered didn't you? Blame your selfish soul not my resourceful informants." With that Mike left the Roxie in an empty study. She couldn't help feeling foolish for thinking that Mike would go by the rules. After all, getting Max, an amateur, mixed up would make things more entertaining for Mike as an observer.

"I just couldn't help being happy when I had finally found where he was that I even moved right next door to him. I was just going to watch him from afar, but then I learned of the situation he was in. I couldn't leave him all alone, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to have him around for a while. I was being idiotic. I wonder how he will take all this because the Max that I knew as a kid is gone. I couldn't find any traces of it in him. The blow to his head must have been really hard. It's all my fault." With such thoughts running through her head over and over again, she put herself to sleep.

When she opened her eyes for the second time, she saw an unconscious Max right next to her tied to a chair. She took a deep breath and with a gentle voice called his name in an attempt to wake him. After a couple of seconds of calling his name, Roxie was able to wake Max. He groaned in pain as he heard the back of his head throb. "Are you okay?"

Max turned to his side to see a tied up Roxie. He looked down on himself and he was in the same situation as her. "Where am I?" Roxie looked away from him and answered with a low voice, "I'm sorry."