The Game - Chapter One

Chapter One

"Come on, Brooke. I don't have all day." Marcus soon grabbed my arm, dragging me through the glass doors of the home he'd driven me to after we'd left the airport

The place was more like a mansion, the floors in the front hall white marble and the walls a rich cream. There were small tables spread around in the hallway, nothing but papers atop them. There were also pictures on the wall, but when I looked at them, they were only frames. Marcus dragged me up the white marble staircase and into a hall with brown marble floors, then down that hall and up another flight of stairs. Like the others, this hall was equipped with marble floor, a deep red. We stopped in front of a wood door. Marcus rapped on it with his knuckles.

"Leon, open up." After a moment, I heard a sigh, then the door swung open. Standing in front of me was a boy. A shirtless boy.

He was tall and built like a football player, his arm muscles tensing as he put a hand on the doorjamb. He looked down at me with blank but vivid blue eyes. His face was just like I expected a teenage boy's to be; strong jawed, straight nose, and full lips. He didn't seem like the kind of person to take any crap from anybody, and I felt like if they decided to give him any trouble, he would just beat them to a pulp and go about his business. He looked back up at Marcus.

"Who is this?" His voice was just as detached as the rest of his face.

"Brooke Lesley. The girl I told you about a couple days ago." Leon looked back down at me, then stepped aside.

"Come in," he said. Marcus let go of my arm, pushing me slightly. That got me moving, and I stepped past Leon and into the room. Once I was inside, Leon stepped out into the hall, shutting the door behind him. I stood there for a few seconds, listening to the low murmur of their voices before I went further inside.

The room was fit for a prince, the walls painted a creamy-gold and the floors, marble, of course, a golden-brown. There was a bed against one wall and a dresser next to it. On the other side, opposite the bed, was a tall dresser, with a full length mirror beside it. On one side of the room, there was a big entertainment center, with a game consol on one of the shelves, the controllers wrapped up neatly and placed on top of the consol.  I only briefly wondered what this Leon played, but my attention was quickly directed toward the bathroom.

I had to use it.

After doing my business and marveling at the white marble bathroom, I came back out to see Leon standing in the middle of the room, looking into a manila folder. He glanced up, then looked back down again. I nervously approached him.

"Brooke Melody Lesley, aged 19, birthday March the twenty-third. Parents are Evan and Catherine Lesley, and you have no siblings. You're visiting from college, and you live at 4560 Yules Lane. I believe your parents room is on the second floor? Their window faces the street, right?" Leon didn't wait for me to answer, nor for my shock to wear off. "That's good then. We have a sniper living in the house across the street from yours, just in case you mess up." He looked up from my file. "But you won't do that, will you?"

"N-no," I stuttered, still shocked. They could still kill my parents at any time, and I had to do everything right, or else this whole thing would've been useless.

"Good. I know that Marcus didn't tell you anything about what you had to do, so I'll do it for him. Come on." He tossed the folder onto the bed, pulling a shirt over his head as he did so, then started to walk out of the room. I followed quickly, making sure to keep up as he walked at a brisk pace through the halls.

As we walked, I wondered what else he knew about me. Did he know everything? Did he know anything about my personal life, the boys I'd dated, the girls I hung out with? Would they threaten my whole family if I refused to cooperate? I felt a slight headache start at my temple.

Leon led me to a set of double oak doors, pushing them open to reveal a study. He walked in, flipping on the light and going to the desk. He motioned for me to shut the doors, then for me to sit across from him, on the other side of the desk. I did both things quickly, sitting with my hands clasped in my lap. I stared down at them until I felt that Leon's gaze had become impatient. When my eyes met his, he started to talk.

"Marcus has a big job he needs to complete, and he needs all the help he can get. I'm going to be collecting some valuable information over the next few months, and since I'll be getting this information from rich snobs during big parties, I'll need a female partner." He let the implication hang in the air, leaving me to complete the puzzle. I stayed silent, shocked by what he'd just told me. "Now, this agreement will only be in place when we're in public. Any other time, stay away from me."

"Oh no problem," I muttered, having gotten over my shock fairly quickly. He didn't hear me.

"We're going shopping in two minutes. Just sit there until I finish this." As he spoke, leaving me no room to protest, I might add, he pulled the cap off of a pen and set a sheet of paper in front of him. He started writing something and I sat back in the seat, taking a look around.

The study was lined with bookshelves, papers all over the floor and tables spread throughout the room. The window to the right of the desk was covered by the drapes, only letting in a filter of sunlight, making the floor seem a little yellow. As my eyes traveled around, finding that the study wasn't really all that interesting, they landed on Leon, staying there.

He was a handsome man, his face scrunched up in concentration as he wrote whatever it is he was writing, his brown brows furrowed together and his nose wrinkled. "How old are you?" The question escaped my lips before I could stop it, and I bit my lip as he looked up.

"Twenty," he answered after a momentary silence, staring at me. I found myself not able to look away, even though I felt like I should. His eyes held me in place, not letting me even think correctly. When he broke the stare, he quickly finished what he was doing, then folded the paper and slipped it inside an envelope. "Come on," he said after a moment, standing. I followed suit, and he lead me out of the study and down the hall, to the stairwell. I contemplated knocking him down and trying to make a run for the front door, but then remembered that all he had to do was make a phone call and my parents would be dead. I suppressed the urge to scream.

"Will you hurry up?" I jumped, realizing that I had stopped walking, and was standing on the steps, one hand resting on the rail. Leon was already at the front door, looking at me with a blank expression, although he sounded annoyed. I started to wonder if he knew how to smile, although I had given him no reason to do so as of yet. I swallowed and hurried down, slipping past him and onto the front porch. He closed and locked the door, then lead me to the Corvette waiting in front of the house, practically shoving me into the passengers seat.

Moments later we were off, the car dead silent. I tried not to think while he drove, but my mind betrayed me, going back to my parents. My mother was probably still crying her eyes out, and my dad was more than likely trying to calm her down, telling her that everything was going to be okay. I hoped that he was right, and that everything would be okay, that I would be able to go home when all this was over and live a normal life again, forget about the whole thing.

"Leon?" My voice cracked.

"What?" I swallowed.

"Are my parents okay?" He stayed silent for a moment, and I thought he hadn't heard me, so I looked up, intending on repeating my question, when he spoke.

"Yeah. They're fine." I nodded, letting out the breath I didn't know I'd been holding.

"Okay." I tried to breathe deep and calm myself down, not knowing why I was so worked up in the first place. Leon had told me that as long as I didn't mess up, then my parents would be fine. I hadn't done anything wrong, or at least not yet, and I shouldn't have been freaking out. I stared out the window, forcing myself to stop thinking about it.

Leon pulled into the parking lot of a mall a few minutes later, cutting the engine after he'd found a spot. He turned to me, and his eyes locked onto mine. Once again, I couldn't look away. He started to speak.

"I have my cell with me, and if you mess up in here, what I just told you about your parents being fine is going to change; I'll be telling you instead that it's over for them. If, for some reason, you see anyone you know, what are you going to do?"

I swallowed, my mind quickly forming the answer I knew he wanted to hear. "Lie and not tell them what's going on." He nodded slowly.

"Right. And what will you say if they ask who I am?"

"Tell them that you're my boyfriend," I whispered. He nodded again.

"Right. Get out of the car." He reached behind him and unlocked the doors, and I climbed out quickly, already nervous beyond belief. What if I messed up? What if I accidentally slipped up and told somebody something? I jumped when I felt a hand slide into mine, then tensed when I realized that it was Leon's. "Don't  do that," he muttered. "Relax. We're supposed to be together, remember?"

His words didn't help; his tone was nowhere near encouraging or relaxing, and as he led me toward the front door, I felt like pulling my hand out of his and running. I took a few deep breaths, trying to settle my nerves. Leon sighed, and it sounded annoyed, which got my blood pumping again.

"Will you just relax? Look, pretend that we're playing a game, alright? You and me. No one else knows what we're playing, and we can't tell anybody because then the game would be ruined. Alright?" I nodded, and the thought of playing a nice, non violent game calmed my racing heart. My hand relaxed in Leon's as we neared the front door, and he opened it for me, following me inside.

The mall was huge, the ceilings vaulted and made out of glass paneling, so that sunlight flooded the walkway. The stores on both sides were bustling with people, going in and out, some carrying bags and some not. A kid ran past me, his mother chasing after him, calling him and telling him to stop.  Leon started to pull me away from the door.

"Where do you want to go first?" he asked, his voice somewhat calmer and holding more emotion than earlier. I shrugged.

"I don't know. I've never been here before so - "

"Brooke? Brooke is that you?" Leon's hand tightened around mine, and we turned at the same time, a brunette running up to us. She smiled brightly and I did the same, feeling like Leon would break my fingers soon if he didn't stop squeezing them. As if reading my mind, or maybe watching my face as my smile turned to a wince, his fingers loosened and I felt the blood rush back into the numb appendages. 

"Hi Megan," I said cheerfully, although I thought my voice cracked a bit. Megan didn't seem to notice the panicked glance I shot to Leon, who was staring at Megan with a smile still plastered on his lips. I thought the expression suited him nicely, but the reminder that he was only faking it dulled the brightness coming from his face.

"What are you doing here? I thought you said you were going home for the summer." I laughed, almost nervously.

"Yeah I changed my mind at the last minute," I said, my voice fading near the end. Megan, once again, didn't notice anything.

"Well that's good! Maybe we can hang out after all. Now, who is this?" Her eyes turned now to Leon, who smiled at her again, squeezing my hand briefly but firmly, reminding me of my position.

"This is my boyfriend, Leon. Leon, this is Megan, a friend of mine from school."

"Hi." Megan held out a hand and Leon shook it, looking at me. His eyes were livid underneath his happy expression.

"You didn't tell me you had friends in Miami, Brooke," he said, pretending to scold me. I smiled, hearing the truthful accusation ringing in his tone.

"It kinda slipped my mind. Sorry." His eyes flashed, but he smiled again, turning back to Megan and nodding to her.

"Well, Megan, it was nice to meet you, but we have some shopping to do."

"Oh nice meeting you too. It was good to see you, Brookie. Bye!" Then she waved and walked away, heading toward the door. As soon as she was out of sight, Leon's fingers tightened dangerously around mine, immediately cutting off blood supply and causing pain to shoot all the way up my arm. I tried not to squirm away from him, knowing it would cause a scene, and knowing that would cause him to kill my parents.

"It 'kinda slipped your mind'?" he hissed, somehow managing to keep his face calm. I whimpered softly.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't going to cut it, Brookie," he sneered, taking the time to glance at me. His eyes flashed with anger before he looked away and they returned to their calm ambiance. "Is there anything else you need to tell me? Anymore friends visiting Miami for the summer?"

I quickly combed through a list of the people I knew, trying desperately to calm him down so that he wouldn't cause me to have to have my fingers amputated. Megan was the only person I knew who would be in Miami; no one else from school lived here. Shaking my head frantically but slightly, I whispered, "No. Megan is the only person who should be here." Leon grunted.

Slowly, after a few more moments, his grip loosened and I sighed a shaky but relieved sigh. We walked in silence for about ten more minutes before he pulled me into a Old Navy store, letting go of my hand and nodding his head towards the racks of clothing. I took that as my cue and walked away from him, resisting the urge to run and hide in one of the dressing rooms. I looked back at him over my shoulder, noting that he walked over towards the men's section, then slowly started to go through the racks of clothes.

I spent about an hour picking out at least ten pairs of jeans, twelve shirts and numerous pairs of matching bra and panty sets. I even picked out a few summer dresses and a few pair of flip flops, then, with everything draped over my arm, walked to go find Leon, knowing that if I walked out of the store without him, I would pay for it later.

I found him near the dressing room, talking to a worker about trying some things on. When he saw me, his face did not change from the calm expression he had used to talk to the worker, but when she walked away to go get the key, his face went hard and uncaring. I sat in one of the chairs outside of the hall leading to the dressing rooms, not looking at him. The couple minutes that it took the lady to come back were spent in silence, a nervous one on my part, and when he went in, I felt like a weight had been lifted.

After spending over two hundred dollars on both myself and him, Leon decided it was time to leave. It was about nine-thirty, and the night air was cool against my bare arms.

Leon loaded all the bags into the trunk of the Corvette, unlocking the doors and climbing inside. I slid into the passengers seat, buckling my seatbelt before he started the car. I found myself leaning my head against the cool window, sighing softly. I must've fallen asleep, because the next thing I remember was Leon shaking me, telling me to get up.

I groggily climbed out of the car, rubbing my eyes as I stood next to the door, watching Leon as he walked around the car to the trunk. I dragged myself to stand beside him, holding out a hand for my bags, which I stumbled under the weight of when he handed them to me. I reached out and caught his arm to steady myself, finding my eyes heavy, closing as my forehead leaned against his shoulder. I told myself to get up, to step away from him before he got too angry, but my body wouldn't respond, sagging against him and betraying me.

I heard a light sigh, then felt a strong arm around my waist, holding me up. Plastic rustled as Leon sat the bags back into the trunk, and, steadying me still, closed it with a bang. I felt his other hand grip my arm, then the obvious sensation of being lifted and being held bridal-style. My cheek rested against his shoulder, in the crook of his neck, and I only registered that he smelled good before sleep took over completely.