Everything He Touches...

I remember as a child, my mother reading fairy tales to me. They always had happy endings, no matter what happened. Snow White found her Prince, as did Cinderella and Aurora. My fairy tale turned out to be quite different...

As I stood in front of the large building, I stared up at all the windows above me. The guy who contacted me about the modeling gig used this address, so here I was.

I walked through the gold-trimmed doors and into the open marble and gold reception area. The desk was empty, and there wasn't anyone around at all—not a single employee in sight. Who the hell runs a business like this?

I was about to leave and head home when there was a ding from one side of the large marble room where a row of elevators sat. A young man hurried toward me, adjusting his glasses and tie at the same time. I wasn’t about to inquire as to what he had been up to, but I will admit that a tiny part of me was curious.

"I'm so sorry I'm late. Got caught up in something upstairs, and the staff are all on lunch at the moment," the young man said. He had the complete nerd look going for him—high-water pants, horn-rimmed glasses, and a pocket protector in his shirt pocket.

"My name is Linus Pentangle. My uncle, Victor, owns the company. I'm his assistant."

I shook his extended hand and smiled. "I'm Rachel Murtaugh. It's a pleasure to meet you. Your uncle sure likes gold, doesn't he?"

We got into the elevator, and he pushed a gold button to get us moving upward.

"Yes, it's his favorite color, along with marble," stammered Linus as the elevator came to a sudden halt. We stepped out of the elevator, and I gasped at the sight before me. There was a long stripe of deep burgundy carpet that led to the door opposite me. On either side were life-sized gold statues of men and women in various poses.

I stopped in front of one and looked at it closely; the details were amazing. "She's beautiful."

"I agree with you there; she is very beautiful," came a smooth voice from beside me. "You must be Rachel, the freelance model Linus corresponded with on ModelSearch. I'm Victor Rogers. Why don't you come into my office so we can talk?"

This man was very handsome, despite his wearing black from head to toe. His long black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and his blue eyes sparkled in the overhead light. He wore black gloves on his hands.

In his office, there were more statues, this time a woman with three children. These were not happy ones like those in the outer room; their faces bore looks of fear and terror.

I followed behind him quietly, Linus walking behind me. I sat in a black leather seat on the other side of the desk, while Victor Rogers sat in his seat behind it. Linus sat in the seat next to me, looking at his hands in his lap.

As Victor took his gloves off, he dropped them onto the desk. "Linus, get us a drink, please. Tea sounds good right now; is that OK with you, Miss Murtaugh?"

"Of course, it's all I drink."

We spoke about the job position that was available—private secretary to Mr. Rogers himself. The pay was more than I had ever made modeling, and there was travel involved. Luckily, I had trained as a secretary as a side job to modeling.

Linus came back with the tea and set the two cups on the desk—one in front of me and the other in front of his uncle. Both cups were sitting fairly close to each other. Before I could take the cup in front of me, Victor grabbed it and set it next to him. I took the other and sipped the chamomile tea.

Once the meeting was over, I followed Linus to the elevators, and he escorted me out of the building. As I was getting into the elevator, I glanced up to see Victor Rogers watching me from his office window.

I had been working for Victor Rogers for about two months when I noticed a few strange things taking place. New statues were appearing throughout the building. Linus had an entire floor for his office, and, as per Victor, I wasn't allowed on that floor at all. Victor was becoming a bit protective of me. He put me up in an office right next door to his, with a large window between the two offices, and Linus wasn’t allowed in my office when the boss wasn't in his, which was frequently.

I had stayed late one night to get some files ready for Victor. He was on his phone, speaking with someone from France. I glanced through the window and saw Linus enter the office. Victor put the phone down, and the two of them seemed to get into a fight of some kind.

I finished the files and gathered my things. I stepped into the other office and cleared my throat. "I'm done with the files, so I'm going to head out."

Victor looked up and smiled. "That sounds like a good idea. I have to go out of town for a few days, so I'm going to give you some time off until I come back. Give me a minute, and I'll drive you home. Linus... end of conversation."

Linus nodded and gave a fake smile before stalking out of the room angrily. Victor smiled and grabbed his coat and briefcase. "He wanted to come with me, but I said no."

The drive home was quiet. He pulled up in front of the apartment building and turned off the engine. "You are not to go into the office while I'm gone. I will call you when I get home to let you know when to go in. Take time off and have a good weekend." I got out, and he drove off.

After the weekend, I was going nuts sitting at home and doing nothing. I received a text from Victor telling me he was back and to come into the office. I got dressed in my work clothes and went into the office. The building was usually closed on Sundays, but for some reason, he was working. Linus met me at the door and let me in, and we went to the elevator.

The elevator stopped at the 3rd floor. Just as the doors began to open, I felt something sharp in my neck before I fell to the floor.

When I woke up, I was strapped to a bed with my hands at my sides. I was wearing a nightgown with ruffles around the neck. Linus stood at the foot of the bed, smiling. In his hand was a needle filled with a clear liquid.

"Hello, darling. Thank you for coming in. I took the liberty of writing a letter of resignation to Uncle; it's on his desk. I did forge your signature, of course." He sat next to me on the bed and pressed the needle into my arm, releasing the liquid. "It's OK, honey, this won’t hurt. We would have been together sooner if my uncle hadn’t decided to keep you for himself."

"Let me go, Linus. I promise not to tell..." I couldn't get the words out as sleep started to overtake me.

"Oh, don't go to sleep yet, darling. I have something to show you."

There was a television screen on the wall. It was on, and there was a woman tied to a bed. She was sleeping just like I had been.

"That's my other sleeping beauty. Isn't she lovely? I have you now, so I don’t need her."

Linus walked through a doorway and laid his hand on her cheek. She immediately started to turn to gold. By the time the gold overtook her, she resembled a gold statue, just like the ones that stood in the halls around the building.

The last thing I saw was him leaning over me, smiling.