Breaking his Mask

Chapter 2

I slowly slipped into consciousness. I softly groaned and touched my head. I had a pounding headache. The spots around my vision cleared. I looked around up to see a dim lightbulb hanging above me. The cold concrete felt cold and wet. I sat up suddenly, I couldn't move my hands or feet. They were tied. The room was quite big and dark. There were five men standing with their arms crossed. One of them glanced at me and left the room with his phone at his ear.
"Boss. She's up," he informed.
"Where am I?" I glared at the four men left standing. My voice felt weak. I felt weak. How could they do this? I didn't deserve to be in this position. None of them answered the question. They looked straight ahead avoiding eye contact.  The door to my left opened up. I refused to look at whoever entered.

"Ms.Richards, fancy meeting you here." a cold voice teased. My head snapped up to the voice next to me. Oh I wish I hadn't because my jaw probably dropped. Dressed in a business suit with a blue tie, the man had a cleanly shaven face with unforgettable eyes. He was  very tall about 6 foot and the suit fit him like second skin. The most surprising of all was that this was the CEO of ClarkeSmith industries. What was Julian Clarke doing here?
"Mr.Clarke, why am I here?" I questioned with wide eyes. This was really bad. Like really bad. The ceo was here. Not just that it was Clarke. The most coldest and scariest business man, according to the magazines Riya forced me to read.
"Ms.Richards I ask the questions around here." He raised his hand to my face. I flinched and squeezed my eyes closed. I felt him touch the spot on my cheek where my kidnapper slapped me. There was a handprint on my face. Breathlessly I opened my eyes to find stormy grey eyes filled with anger. He turned around and looked at each guard.
"Bring me Ben and the two others I gave the assignment to," he ordered. The guard closest to the door quickly left the room in a hurry. Suddenly feeling self-conscious I dropped my gaze from my boss in front of me to my lap. I tugged the end of my skirt down, but I that did not help because my hands were tied. My cheeks burned with humiliation. This is why none of the guards were looking at me. My skirt was still hiked up. I can't sit, looking like this in a room full of men.
"Mr.Clarke if you would not mind releasing me from these ropes, please do," I snapped. Mr.Clarke gestured for the men to cut the ties. After they did I stood up and and fixed my blouse and my skirt. I glanced at him to find him holding in a smirk.

I was opening my mouth to let out a witty retort, but the doors opened to the three men who kidnapped me. They walked in reluctantly and stood a few feet away from me and the boss.
"Did we do something wrong boss?" asked Ben.
"Who laid a hand on this woman?" Clarke demanded the answer. The one that slapped me cowered behind and shot a scowl towards me.
"It was me boss, she was about to scream,"he answered.
"Maybe you deserved more than a kick in your private parts," I mentioned with a grin. I had heels on too, that must have hurt.
"You are fired. My instructions were to bring the subject without any harm," Clark dismissed.
"The subject? I have a name and what am I doing here? I will call the police if you don't let me go!" I bluffed.
"Ms.Richards keep quiet, you are in no position to do anything," Clarke taunted. I absolutely refused to be treated like this. I take in my surroundings. There are two doors in this room. One door guarded by two men. That was the main door. It was the door in which the ceo walked in from. The second door the farthest from all these men was my best shot but it could be locked. I had to take that chance. I placed a hand on Mr.Clarke's shoulder.
"I miss my dog. And my home! This is awful, everything is catching up to me. why am I being kidnapped. Please do not do anything to me. What if you are going to sell me away!" I fake cried. I glanced at Mr.Clarke's expression which did not change at all. Huh, I thought it was pretty convincing. I guess it is gonna take a lot more. The guards around me had dumbstruck faces and were looking at each other not knowing what to do. They probably have only encountered the most hardest and sneakiest criminals. I sobbed into my hands and slowly backed up in the direction to the second door. In a split second I ran, barefoot, and threw open the door. I looked back before I started sprinting into the hallway. Mr.Clarke was caught in an element of surprise but not for long.
"Get her," he ordered.

The dingy hallway was barely lit. This must be a secret passageway that lead to the questioning room. I followed the sharp turns of the hallway. There were no doors that would open to a room for me to hide in. The footsteps I could hear behind me made me panic, slightly. But I cannot let that affect my judgement. Finally there was an intersection of another hallway. Right or left, right or left, right or left. I turned into the left one. If I went straight I would find no rooms. As I went deeper into this hallway it got slightly brighter. I opened the fourth door to find it unlocked to a spacious room. There was a large bed and a bathroom as well as a double door dresser and a walk in closet. I decided I could have more space to hide myself in the closet. I opened the slightly ajar door wider. The sight in front of me was horrific there were so many clothes of different sizes and genders. I wonder how many prisoners Mr.Clarke must have. A small pile of clothes to my right caught my attention. They were drenched with fresh blood. I thought back to the folder page of the pictures with red x marks on them. That motivated me because if I did not find a good hiding spot it would be me. I turned off the lights and positioned the door to how it was before. I crept back into the darkness and squeezed under a low rod with shirts hanged on them. I prayed the shirts would cover me as much as possible. Just as I was in place, the door to the room opened. It gave out a low squeak followed by footsteps of one person. I did not know why, but I felt as if I left a clue to my location. Maybe I am just really paranoid and this person was told to check this specific room. This closet was huge and there was no way a guard would find me. The lights turned on and I held my breath, not wanting  to make a sound. I could hear the person shuffling around and sliding hangers. The footsteps stopped in front of me. I could see the black shoes only two feet away from me. The person bent down and lazily poked his hand through the wall of shirts covering me. He touched my hair and noticed something was not right.
"What the....," I punched him square in the jaw. He fell back, dazed. I took a scarf and covered the guard's mouth. I also tied his arms and feet. That was a close one. The man continued to muffle so I kicked him in the balls to keep him in pain, I am quite sure I did not tie his limbs tight enough. In my defense he was working for my kidnapper. I ran out of the closet and put my ears against the door. I heard a few footsteps and they walked on. Then it was all quiet. I slowly turned the door knob and opened the door. I found myself face to face with none other than Mr.Clarke. It was only inches separating us.