The corperate underworld, A beauty to be tamed (open)

[DeathsKnight]

Allen Brown

"Sharks, the ultimate hunter in water, dead meat out of water. Me? I feel much more like a wolf, gathering a pack to take down a bison."

He finished his meal and leaned back in his chair,

"Problem with 'Nique is that I have offered her freedom, but she decided to stay. Said something about honor and me living like a bachelor. I must admit that by now she is a much valued friend and employee. So maybe when she believe her debt to be paid she will have to envy you no more."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy shook her head focusing on Nique again with an expression of pity

"sickness, to envy what is very well within ones grasp is madness. I hope that eventually she finds happiness in the fate she has chosen for herself or finds the ambition to pursue a fate that suits her tastes"

She chewed on her lip and looked to Allen again. "Am I permitted to know about the Bison you intend to take down?"

 

[DeathsKnight]

Allen Brown

He motioned to 'Nique with his head,

"Who do you think taught me Gaelic? 'Nique is a woman that keeps herself prisoner, or am I wrong?"

Dominique smiled and pushed her empty plate away,

"Perhaps I have lived here long enough for it to be my home Allen. I can see past the image and I know more about you than you think."

Allen frowned and then realization hit him and he forced a grin,

"Well then you will know when to run."

He turned his attention to Ivy,

"You have been in the belly of the beast and I know that you will be the one that can help me to cripple the Bison enough for it to be taken down. Now ladies if you will excuse me, I have a meeting to attend."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

"I suppose it is a waste to ask why you would need to run?" she half said offhand to Nique when Allen stopped talking.

When he mentioned her time in the "belly of the beast", Ivy's gaze dropped to the table cloth and her expression darkened momentarily with thoughts she would rather erase from her memory.

"It has been longer than I can count in days since I have felt real grass" She pointed out suddenly a small smile on her lips as the window managed to occupy her focus once more. "Even just looking at it is rather invigorating"

 

[DeathsKnight]

Allen Brown

He paused momentarily and turned to Ivy,

"You are allowed outside, just stay away from the dogs."

With those words he left, he was still early and he wanted to keep it that way. Ivy was an interesting woman. It seemed that when she was not under the sedatives she was much better to handle. He got into the waiting car and left

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy brightened considerably and she thanked Allen with a smile that remained when he left the room.

"Do you enjoy being outside Nique?" she asked turning to the quiet woman who had more than peaked her curiousity by now. She couldn't help admiring the grace the woman held herself with, and it was apparent to Ivy that she was a bit of a mystery and quite a story herself.

"I didn't realize you spoke gaelic" she said offhandedly as she rose from the table.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Dominique smiled,

"I love being outside, my people live outside. We are almost what you would caal nomadic...gypsies. Yet we toil the ground and tend livestock. I was captured and sold into slavery. Allen saved me from that live before I broke down. That is why I speak Gaelic and it is one of the reasons I stay. I am honor-bound to Allen as I owe him my life."

She got up as a young woman came in and started to clear the table,

"Come, let us walk on the green grass and you can tell of the green grass of home."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

A faint smile crossed Ivy's lips and she nodded at the term nomadic "I understand" she said. Her mind raced but she thanked the young lady clearing the tables before they left the room.

"Would you go home if you could?" She asked following Nique and paying strategical attention to the placement, postures, and attitudes of the guards and the staff.

"Did everyone hear come to be employed through similar circumstances?"

 

[DeathsKnight]

"I...I can't answer that. Perhaps I will be forced to, or perhaps I will stay. It all depends. But to once again see my people? It is something I would love."

Before exiting she pulled off her shoes and placed them on the floor before stepping out onto the grass,

"Most of the service staff have been pulled from the dregs of society and given purpose and live by Allen."

She suddenly stopped and turned to Ivy,

"Now before you tell me of home, why do you keep making mental notes about where the guards are?"

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy did not respond at first, removing her shoes with haste that was verging on clumsy. "Force of habit" she said dreamily, her eyes glazed over and her voice came out a whispered choke.

It had been so long since she had seen grass and space and sky, she couldn't even bring the memory of outside to mind since being taken from her home and the blur of her transport to this property. She was overwhelmed and as she breathed in the fresh air and scents she struggled with allowing herself to see it as a reality.
She appeared to have not a thought in her mind as she reached back and undid her braid. Her hair spilled wildly down her back as she stepped onto the grass, she practicly crumpled to the ground with first contact.

Ivy's fingernails raked into the earth and her forehead rested on the grass. She was silent,a stream of tears dripping off her chin and still past the occasion tremor that rocked her frame.
She uttered her prayers into the blades of grass with reverence and in trembling whispers.

"Bí láidir dom i spiorad
Cróga i mbun gnímh
Milis de chroí
Ceadaigh dom an gníomhú in eagna
Conquer mo eagla agus amhras
Faigh amach mo bronntanais bhfolach féin
Bualadh le daoine eile trua
A bheith ina fhoinse fuinnimh cneasaithe
Agus aghaidh gach lá le dóchas agus áthas "

(Make me strong in spirit
Courageous in action
Gentle of heart
Let me act in wisdom
Conquer my fear and doubt
Discover my own hidden gifts
Meet others with compassion
Be a source of healing energies
And face each day with hope and joy)

 

[DeathsKnight]

Dominique went over to Ivy, clearly the young woman had not seen the outside for a long time. She sat down gracefully and rested a hand on Ivy's head.

"Bendito sexa neno. Vostedes honran a si mesmo como traer reverance para o seu pobo ea nosa nai. Deixe o seu guía e protexe-lo nos próximos días."
(Blessed be child. You bring honor to yourself as you bring reverance to your people and our Mother. Let her guide and protect you in the days ahead.)

She spoke the old blessing and lowered her own head to share in the moment with Ivy.

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

She remained that way for some time, her eyes squeezed shut breathing slowly in and out. After the better part of 20 minutes Ivy sat up and turned her attention to the sky above. A grin brightened her tear stained face as she let out a little laugh as a bird flew over head.

"Thank you" she said without looking at Nique.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Dominique looked at Ivy, the transformation from the woman that came here with Allen, to this woman was phenominal. She smiled and brushed a stray lock of hair out of Ivy's face, a simple gesture, but a caring one.

"You are most welcome."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy remained on her hands and knees for a long moment taking slow breaths steadying her thoughts before realization hit her face that her hands were covered in dirt. She chewed her lower lip and allowed her gaze to travel down the expensive white garment that was caked in rich dark soil and grass stains. The momentary illusion of freedom whisked away from her suddenly and carnal wariness returned to her eyes.

She didn't trust her legs to support standing and with gentle motions she dusted her hands together and began rebraiding her hair. There was no way to stop her eyes from wondering the expanses of the property daring to question how far she would be permitted to venture. An itchy sensation ran through her, she desired to run...but she knew better.

Ivy closed her eyes against the path before her and swallowed the urge. Her mind was conflicted and her face gave away the anxiety in her. It was the kindness being shown that drove her most to flee, it felt more painful to endure these forced luxuries. She silently rebuked herself to be grateful for the comforts that the other girls likely faced uglier realities.

 

[DeathsKnight]

As Ivy rose, Dominique looked up at her, she could see the turmoil inside, but what it was about she could not say. She got to her feet in a fluid motion without touching the ground, she turned to look at the rest of the estate,

"Now tell me of home?"

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy looked up at the sky when she responded dejectedly. "I can never go back" she swallowed and shook her head. "That is beside the point I suppose...home was a lot of grass, dancing, laughing, prayers and colors when I was a child. "
She wrinkled her nose thoughtfully before continuing.
"When I grew into a young woman home was food shortages, spiritual duties, long days dancing on pavement for coins and cheapening my people's wisdom for the thrills of people who may as well be missing ears and have little use for what sets between them...."

Her voice trailed off reminding herself to give as little away as possible. If she had learned nothing else by now it was to keep as much of herself, for herself as possible.

"I wasn't yet 18 when I last saw Ireland and knew then I would not see it again, so that I suppose is the end of home" she shrugged her shoulders and began dusting specks of dirt from her dress.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Dominique listened in silence and then nodded,

"I understand what you mean. I haven't seen my home since I was thirteen, but it is a little something that Allen taught me: Fogar é onde o corazón é.(Home is where the heart is). Your home is never far away my dear."

She smiled,

"It must have been a shock to Allen that you spoke to him in Gaelic after telling him that you are Tsjegoslovakian."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy's eyebrow arched and she bristled slightly, "Yugoslavia" she corrected in a quiet voice "...is where I said I had come from,...at some point." She licked her lips and seemed to search her mind before continuing.

"human trafficking networks are rather more sophisticated than most would expect. I myself would never have thought that there would be an insurance plan for slaves that may be at risk for rescue"

She smiled but it was a bitter smile and her eyes died a bit as her lips upturned.
"I was taken to Yugoslavia from my homeland before I was put on the market, so to speak" There was venom in her voice that conflicted with the hushed volume with which she spoke.

"After a certain amount of time when those concerned felt that any one who may look for me had given up..." She paused and lasped out of her first person perspective. "Of course before they do release the slave for market in those cases they must be convinced that the slave has been well enough encouraged that the identity they once had is dead...." she didn't finish her thought noticing a lady bug she became fixated and went quiet.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Dominique listened in silence, it seemed that Ivy remembered a lot, perhaps this was what Allen needed her for? She knew about Allen, but he kept his cards very close, so what his game was she did not know.

"And if you are returned to your people they will still not welcome you back as one of their own as my people would?"

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy blew an exasperated sigh and looked up at Dominique. Her eyes were glassy with the effort she took to swallow the emotions she felt. Her voice was hard and sharper than glass changing the nature of the smirk she now wore,

"It would really depend on who answered the door whether or not I was killed on sight..." A bitter laugh ran into her sentence her eyebrow arched.

"...The knowledge that I was alive would be a rather solid indication that many people would be soon getting themselves killed, or hunted down for the chance of their association. You I am sure understand how non discriminate mobsters can be about who or how many are harmed in pursuit of their intentions"

 

[DeathsKnight]

Dominique gave Ivy one of her enigmatic smiles,

"Allen would know that too, I doubt that even under that tough exterior he would leave you in that position. His promises is never empty or not well thought over."

She looked down at the ladybug, bent to pick it up and smiled, holding the little insect up to her eyes and chanted,

"Joaninha, joaninha voar lonxe de casa, a súa casa está en chamas e os seus fillos soa " (Ladybug, ladybug fly away home, your house is on fire and your children alone)

The little insect hesitated and then flew away, Dominique smiled even broader,

"Quick, make a wish."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

"Be happy while living little lady bug, For you're a long time dead." Ivy smiled seeming content to let the topic of discussion shift

"will you tell me more about Allen?" She asked tracing a finger through the blades of grass.

"And yourself as well" She finished.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Dominique looked at Ivy for a few seconds,

"What I can tell you about Allen? I already have told you what I know, there is some that I suspect, but suspect does not make good facts now does it?"

She smiled,

"As you have guessed by now, I am from the Isles, just like you. I am from a small farming village that got raided by these mobsters you speak off."

She grew a bit grim,

"Because of our remote location it was easy for them to just attack us and get away with as many of the women and young men that they wanted, any pursuer was...well killed."

She looked out over the lush grass,

"When Allen found me I was an abused wreck, he bought me out, paid three times my worth. Why, I'll never know, when I ask him he just smiles and tell me that I was worth it. I was a pleasure slave...to be used by men as they seemed fit...it was hell, the purest form of hell there is for any woman."

She fell silent and then smiled,

"Like I said, Allen is a man that looks after people with a kindness that are felt, but not shown."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy shuddered and looked over Dominique carefully. "I don't like the thought of you with such people" she shook her head. "I am thankful you were saved from such a fate."

Frustration was etched into her expression when she turned away and went to tracing in the dirt with her fingers a yawn giving way her continued fatigue. "Can you tell me the things you suspect?" she dropped her gaze and frowned suddenly. "Forgive me, its been so long since I was permitted to ask questions...I'm hungry to understand what is happening around me now...I want some sense of reality back"

 

[DeathsKnight]

Dominique smiled at the younger woman,

"I think that he is not a normal man, he is too rigid, too caring and of course he is too high strung, like a man who is covering up something. Of course everybody knows what he does, but he has made sure that there is no way to blackmail him into anything that he doesn't wish to do. For all intents and purposes I think Allen if that is his real name could be in the law enforcement, but like I said, it is just a thought, if it is true is another question."