Leonard's secret

I arrived at Leonard’s home at approximately 8:25 am, I was running a bit late due to the weather, there was supposed to be a major storm tonight. I already knew I might actually have to stay the night once my shift is over. I was a bit nervous. Leonard wasn’t a bad guy, but he had this dominance about him that made me a bit reserved. He always told me I could be myself around him, but I struggled to. He was a bit scary to be honest. But he was a bit of a big deal. He was the CEO of a dating service called “More Than Friends”, so he was pretty intimidating just from that. He was about 6 ft, dark brown hair, brown eyes, and even though I’m only 20, he’s pretty good looking for a 40 year old guy. I’ve only worked for him for about 3 months. He has no wife, divorced 1 year ago. It was a big deal on the internet. He had cheated on his wife. It was so dramatic! 

“You’re late, Brooklyn. I had to make my own breakfast, it’s up to you to clean it up.”

“I know, Mr. Anderson, the weather…” 

“Whatever. I’m now behind schedule. If the weather gets too bad, you’re welcome to stay. But remember to stay out of the room connected to my office, and the basement.”

He tells me the room connected to his office is where he keeps a special expensive collection, so of course I don’t want to mess anything up. The basement is his gym, and he says his equipment there is special and does not need to be bothered. He handles those two rooms himself. I don’t get the gym thing, but whatever, he pays me. So I listen. 

“Yes, sir, of course. Please stay safe out there.”

“Don’t worry about me. You just keep yourself safe.” He was headed to an important meeting about his site. I’ve been on there before. I like it. Met the guy I’m seeing on there now. I just haven’t met him in person yet. He’s a bit secretive, but I get it, can’t be too careful on the internet. 

Before I could blink, Leonard was out the door. I’d never call him Leonard to his face, although he’s told me it’s fine. But it feels weird to me. He’s not a friend, he’s my boss. 

I began to clean up his breakfast dishes and the rest of the kitchen, it was still in good shape from when I cleaned it last night, thankfully he wasn’t a messy man. He’s made himself eggs benedict like he preferred, toast and some bacon. Once I finished there, I headed to his room and made his bed. The place where the controversy began. I actually was pretty nervous when I applied for this job, I didn’t want to end up in the same situation. He’s flirted on occasion but nothing to cause concern. I mean he’s a bachelor, it’s not surprising. I didn’t really mind it, as long as it didn’t go too far. I don’t feel like being slandered on the internet like his previous maid. I’m sure there’s already been rumors. 

I tidied up the living room, went into his office and straightened up his desk. I paused and stared at the door to the other room, I still wondered what he collected. He’s never told me. I guess he doesn’t need to. I’m the “help” after all. 

I went into the room that’s technically “my room” if I ever need it. Not sure why that was a thing in the first place, but it’s always been mine, though I’ve never stayed the night before. It’s meant for emergencies. Hoping I don’t need it tonight. I can’t imagine staying in this big house alone at night. Fingers crossed the weather doesn’t get that bad. 

I finished my rounds at about noon, Without him here, there’s not much more I could do. I peered out of the window at an insidious, unending, grey sky. The wind wildly blew the trees to the point I thought they were going to break. The snow looking more threatening than welcoming, blanketed the ground in icy drifts. It appeared to be about three feet deep. It was getting pretty severe outside. I was hoping it would calm down in the next few hours. We weren’t used to snow around here, so to get hit with this freak storm was more that I could comprehend. 

I plopped onto the La-Z-Boy in the living room, I never got to sit there when he was home. He was very particular about it. I turned the 120” tv on, and turned it to the weather. I pulled up the “More Than Friends” app, and clicked on Jason’s message.

“‘Hey, got Mr. Anderson’s house to myself, wish you were here” and snapped a cute selfie.

Within moments I got a reply, “Looking cute, wish I could be too.” and of course no selfie from him. He has several photos on his profile but he refuses to send me a selfie, I sometimes wonder if he’s actually a catfish, but he seems too sweet, I didn’t think he would do that. 

“Can we atleast video chat?” I ask

“No, busy.”

“What are you doing?”

“Working. But thinking about you.” 

I didn’t reply, I didn’t want to be a distraction. 

The tv told me there was actually 5 feet of snow on the ground. From the looks of it, I’m not going anywhere. Suddenly my phone buzzed.

“You should masterbate in that chair.” 

“Jason! No! What would Mr. A think?”

“Maybe he’d enjoy it, maids are his thing, remember?”

“He wouldn’t have to know *winky face*” 

“Send me a video of you doing it.”

I thought, what the hell, why not. I haven’t been intimate with anyone in months, plus, this felt extra naughty. I put my hands down my pants and pressed play on my camera. I came within ten minutes and sent it to him.

“That was fucking hot.” 

“And it was fun. I’m going to think about it every time he sits here now lol” Then no response after that. Must have gotten busy again.

I went to the bathroom to clean myself up. I peered down the hallways at Mr. A’s office. I looked at the mirror, a grin suddenly spreading across my crimson face.

“I’m still in a naughty mood. I wonder what Mr. A’s hiding in the room in his office and the basement”

“I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“I’m gonna go look.”

“No, dont!”

“Why not?”

“Thats infringing on his privacy.”

“So what, he won’t know”

“I’m sure he will. Do NOT go in those rooms.”

“Don’t yell at me. I’ll do what I want.”

“I’m serious.”

I didn’t reply

I tossed by phone back onto the La-Z-Boy.

“Brooklyn?”

“Hello? Please don’t go in there.”

“Brooklyn!.”

 I’m sure he won’t be back for a while. I mosied down the hall and entered his office. I grabbed the door knob to the extra room leading off of it. Shit, locked. I turned to his desk and searched it for a key. Nothing. I then noticed the elephant ears in the corner. I grinned again. I lifted it up, and BINGO, there was a key underneath it. Why on earth would he not take it with him? I unlocked the door and walked in. I couldn’t breathe, what I saw was too much to understand. Before me was a wall, and on that wall were eyelids, all with long, thick, and luxurious eyelashes in rows and rows. And on the right side of the room was a desk, with photos on top. As scared as I was, I entered this room, and approached the desk. My breakfast was threatening to come up. The stench of the formaldehyde filling my nose. I don’t know what was worse, the visual, or the smell. I picked up the photos and looked through them. There was something familiar about all of these girls, they all looked exactly like the maid he cheated with, and they all looked like me. I was in shock, I couldn’t move at first. I had to get out of that room, maybe I was just imagining it. 

I finally gained my bearings and bolted from the room faster than I’ve ever ran, I don’t know where I was running to, but somehow ended up in front of the basement door. I don’t know why I decided to come down to the basement. Morbid curiosity I suppose. I still had the key in my hand and tried it on the basement door. It worked there too. I creeped inside, it was dark and I heard a mysterious dripping. 

It also smelled of formaldehyde but there was an even worse stench, it smelled like death. I flipped on the light and the first thing my eyes landed on were chains attached to the bricks in the wall. Next to the chains there was a table. My legs carried me to the table, there was a knife on it, plyers, and weirdly enough, make up. He dolled these girls up before killing them,it explains their appearance in the photos. I slowly made my way through the rest of the basement where I found a surgical table, and some rusty surgical equipment. The table was covered in blood and many other bodily fluids. My stomach continued to churn, I needed to get out of this room, and out of this house. But how? 

I heard a car pulling into the driveway. I jumped and hit the table with the equipment on it. Shit! I leaned down and rushed, putting everything on the table and ran upstairs and grabbed my phone. I sat down on the couch and watched some more of the weather. The storm had passed about an hour ago. How long was I down there? I messaged Jason.

“Help”

No answer.

“Please.” 

Leonard walked into the house, looking at his phone. He placed it into his pocket and looked up at me. I don't know what it was I saw in his eyes, but it was cold and calculating. 

“Everything okay, Brooklyn? You look a bit shaken up?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, it’s just the storm.” He didn’t say anything else. He headed straight to his office and closed the door. Thankfully, I got the key back under the plant.  

After a few minutes he came back out, “You didn’t go in my collection room did you?

I shook my head no. He then headed downstairs to the basement. Why was he checking those?

The door slammed shut, and he stormed upstairs.

“You sure you weren’t in those rooms?”

“Yes, sir.” 

“Oh, because my elephant ears look like they’ve been moved.”

“I vacuumed in there.” 

“I see.” He licked his lips and walked towards me. “Stand up please.”

I did as he said, maybe as long as I do what he says, he won’t hurt me. 

He grabbed some of my hair and tweaked it between his index finger and thumb.

“You have very pretty hair. And gorgeous eyelashes.” he let go of the hair and cupped my face. 

“You remind me of someone. Someone I liked, that I thought liked me. But she screwed me over. She cost me my marriage. I’m sure you’ve seen it on tv, read it in the news. I’m sure there's alot about it online.” I couldn’t speak or move. I felt his hot breath on my face, it smelled like a breath mint and eggs. It wasn’t pleasant at all. 

“A lot of my stuff has been moved around, Brooklyn. I know you’ve seen my collection, and did you like what you saw? The lashes are pretty aren’t they. But you also saw my other room. That’s where the magic happens.” his speech pattern began to change, it began to get louder, and began to sound more unstable. His eyes were wide, the pupils nearly cancelling out the brown irises. He was cracking, and I wasn’t sure not if I could get away. He knew it, I couldn’t lie.

“I told you not to Brooklyn, I told you not to. Before I left. I even texted you not to.”

Texted me, he wasn’t texting me. The only person I was texting was Jason. Wait….

“Jason.” I managed to whisper.

“We had such a connection, I just couldn’t tell you. I loved what we had. I was planning on telling you, but I didn’t want you to reject me. So many before you rejected me. Rejecting me is the worst thing you can do. You got that, BITCH.”I jumped when he yelled, my ears ringing, but his voice calmed back down, “But you won’t, because you really like me, right?”

“Y..yes.” 

“Good!” He grabbed my arm and dragged me across the living room, then down the stairs. “You can’t reject me now.” He cuffed my hands and threw me to the ground. “FUCK YOU! You loved Jason, not me, but you’ll love me. I loved what you did with my chair. Hope it smells like you.”

I don’t know how long he’s going to let me live, or if I can even get away. 

I’ve been down here for a very long time. He comes down and talks to me every night, and it’s like I’m a chained up pet. I’m still waiting for him to free me. It doesn’t seem like he’s going to kill me yet. I try my hardest to be obedient. And he rewards me even. I feel like I’ve been down here for years. But I’ll do whatever it takes to stay alive. I hear he’s got a new maid. I also hear she listens better than me, but I’m starting to do better. Whenever I don’t listen, he slices my arms. But he also bandages them when he’s finished. He hasn’t broken my fingers yet. He keeps threatening to if I don’t get better. I feel like I’m losing my mind. I don’t know how much more I can take. I’m to the point I’m ready for him to kill me, I just can’t do it anymore. 

I ask him if we will, he says no, he won’t, he loves me. Maybe he does, he just doesn’t know how to show it. I wonder if my lashes are good enough for the wall. I even try to convince him they are.

He unchains me and gives me a kiss on each eyelid, “It’s time.” he says. He helps me onto the table and I stare at the ceiling. Finally, I get some peace. I close my eyes. He pauses. What is he waiting for. I open my dry mouth to speak, “I’m ready, sir.” And just like that, darkness.”