Untouchable Beauty

by Meraki P. Lyhne

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Untouchable Beauty

  The Cubi: Book 1

  By

  Meraki P. Lyhne

  Untouchable Beauty

  1. edition

  Copyright © 2016 Meraki P. Lyhne

  ISBN 13: 978-87-997289-1-6

  Cover design by Jay Aheer

  www.simplydefinedart.com

  Edited by Tash Hatzipetrou

  www.wickedprideediting.com

  Find more about the author

  www.merakiplyhne.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations included in critical articles and reviews. For information, please contact the author.

  This book is a work of fiction.

  That means I made shit up. All of it.

  Awesome people have helped me get this book ready in one way or another.

  Jex Lane has been an all-around support and sparring partner, helping me with all sorts of things.

  Ceri Sell and Jex were my final eyes before Tash Hatzipetrou whipped it into final shape.

  Susanna Hays and Louise Bentholm have been the cheerleaders to keep me writing when real life sucky situations demanded attention.

  And Jay Aheer did the visual magic.

  And then there is my Atlas.

  My husband who carries the whole (real) world while I make up new ones.

  Thank you all for helping me get this beauty ready.

  Chapter One

  Mirrors never lie. Daniel smiled at that thought, running the comb through his auburn tousle of hair to make it look just right. Green eyes sparkled back at him, and a Colgate-perfect smile rounded off the look. If the mirror lied, then the camera didn’t, and his motionless face from last week’s cover of Teen Model foretold a great future.

  Daniel hummed a tune and danced along to it as he grabbed his backpack and leather jacket and made his way downstairs to the kitchen.

  His mother sat at the table, still in her robe, with a cup of coffee and a crossword puzzle.

  “Morning.” Daniel sat, pulling a bowl and box of cereal closer. He glanced at his mother as she barely looked up, grunting something in the line of a response.

  “By the way, Dad said to tell you that he’ll be driving you to that college interview on Friday.”

  “What?” Daniel exclaimed, putting the carton of milk down hard enough for it to splash a few droplets onto the table. “I can go on my own. I’m nineteen for crying out loud.”

  His mother looked up from the puzzle with a skeptical expression. Wow, nothing got past her. When did that tired expression become so permanent on her face? Probably long before he had called off the appointment because he had other plans for his life than Business College. Beauty like he had now didn’t last. He had to make enough money to be set for life, while he still had the looks. Couldn’t do that sitting in a classroom listening to a boring professor yap on about inventory. He’d wither.

  “Whatever!” Daniel finally said and got up, leaving the cereal and milk in the bowl untouched. He grabbed his backpack and made his way to the front door.

  “Don’t worry about the dishes, I’ll get them!” his mother shouted as he left the house and slammed the door behind him to let her know just what he thought about her little plan.

  They didn’t understand. He’d have thought his mother would since she had once been a model. Didn’t pan out because she became pregnant with him, and he knew that he wasn’t planned. She was even pregnant in the wedding photo and Daniel sometimes wondered whether they married because of him. Another factor was that apparently, a woman’s body couldn’t do the whole bikini thing without putting the retouchers on overtime after having carried a kid. No more catwalks. Was it because her own dreams had been demolished by having him that she wouldn’t support him? Was she getting back at him for putting stretch marks on her belly or causing her tits to sag?

  He huffed, thinking she might be. So fucked up.

  His dad certainly didn’t understand. If it didn’t have anything to do with his job at the store, then it didn’t register as important or worthwhile. Daniel was going to have to put all this in motion on his own. Go the distance alone. A few of the kids at school had bundles of support from their parents, but not him. He’d heard some of the others tell how they were going to buy their parents huge houses when they made it big as some sports star. He wasn’t going to send his parents a dime. If they couldn’t support him in his dreams, he wouldn’t support them when he made it on his own.

  He’d been on a TV show, but his parents didn’t give him the backup needed to go the distance. Instead of cheering him on and fighting for his role, they kept yapping on about how sometimes things just weren’t meant to be. And drama class at school was not for people like him. He needed more professional training than to just be some tree in a school play like he had been in the third grade. A teacher who couldn’t even see his talent only years before he landed a role on TV wasn’t good enough to teach him.

  Daniel stopped at the corner of his suburban block to look toward where the school bus would pick him up in fifteen minutes. He then turned his head and looked toward the city where the skyscrapers and office buildings rose toward the sky.

  He needed to clear his head and get his plan straight. He needed to set things in motion. Since his dad wanted to go with him to an interview he had canceled almost two weeks ago, things needed to speed up a bit. Time was suddenly against him, and his plans to date were far from ready to be put into play, thanks to his parents holding him back. He had expected to have all of summer before announcing to his parents that Business College and working with dad at the store wasn’t to be. Instead, he wanted to announce that he had been accepted to Carnegie Mellon, or had an agent and a part in a big movie.

  That was the plan, and now he had to set things in motion.

  Other than Teen Model—the latest climb up the ladder of success—he’d now had four commercials and a recent TV spot, assisting Get Lucky Gerard in handing out the checks and gift cards. Gerard had praised him, telling him he was just what his show needed. Others would pick up on it too.

  So he turned his nose toward the city instead of catching the bus to school. No time like the present to make dreams come true.

  Daniel sat at Starbucks, drank his second Vanilla Bean Macchiato, and leafed through the e-paper on his iPad in the hope of finding some inspiration to help his mind kick into gear on the plan for his future.

  And there it was. An ad taking up half a page for the award winning photographer Heimli opening the doors to new models, and he was looking for young models with that little something extra. Daniel smiled. He always knew life would present him with what he needed. Reading through the details, his heart sped up. Opening from today? Could he be that lucky? It was even in town. Checking the time he saw that he had plenty, but he had to be there early. No sleep for the determined.

  He laughed out loud, getting the attention of some of the other patrons, but he didn’t care. Luck was on his side, so he finished his coffee and left, beaming at a world ready to kneel at his feet.

  Half an
hour later he stood in front of the photographer’s address with twenty minutes until the appointed opening. He took in the rundown building, wondering whether this could really be it. But it had a sign. A new, clean, and gleaming sign, so he knocked hard on the metal door. A minute passed, and he knocked again, hearing someone on the other side yelling that he was on his way.

  A tall and handsome man opened the door, smiling. “Hi.”

  “Hi, I saw an ad in the paper.”

  “Wanna be a model?”

  “I am, actually. Cover of Teen Model last week.”

  “Ah.” The guy smiled bigger and stepped aside. “Well, come on in. I’m Chas, Mr. Heimli’s assistant.”

  Daniel entered, wondering whether Heimli had picked his assistant amongst the models because the guy looked like he could be.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Daniel Evans.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Nineteen.”

  “No school?”

  Daniel sighed, thinking he’d slap the next person thinking him some average Joe without a plan or enough sense to make plans for his own life. “Winners in life start young,” he said instead.

  “Indeed they do,” Chas said, sounding like he agreed. “And early.” Chas pointed to his watch.

  Daniel beamed at being praised for his foresightedness. It would also explain the lack of hopeful young people lining up outside the building. Another half an hour and Daniel would probably have joined a rapidly growing line out front.

  “Parents don’t always agree,” Chas continued chitchatting as he led Daniel through the building. It was just as empty and rundown as it looked from the outside.

  “Tell me about it.”

  “So they think you’re at school or out hunting for a job as a busboy or something?”

  “Yup.”

  “Where were you supposed to be?” Chas asked, smiling as if he’d seen his fair share of misunderstood talent.

  “School.”

  “And your school thinks you’re home?”

  “Don’t know, don’t care.”

  “Hmm…well, trust me when I say that Heimli knows what that’s like. He only had my and Rosa’s support when going after his dream of becoming a photographer. Sorry to hear you don’t have any. Or do you?”

  “No. No one understands.”

  “You won’t be alone anymore if the camera loves you, Daniel,” Chas said, and Daniel once again smiled at how much things could change just because he opted to go for his dream and not for the school bus. Meeting someone who understood and recognized talent and potential was just what he needed to turn all this around. The fact that the interior of the building remained rundown, and he hadn’t found anything to indicate a studio finally registered, though.

  “Where does he take the pictures?”

  “Upstairs.” Chas led him to a filthy staircase, and they climbed it together. “He likes the ruggedness to contrast beauty.”

  Daniel stayed clear of the railings as he didn’t want his clothes covered in cobwebs before the shoot. They finally found a man with three cameras, the usual backdrops hung up, props, a bed, chairs, an ottoman, and a makeup desk.

  “Heim, got an early-bird for you.”

  The man turned and smiled. He looked like a Viking. Tall and broad and his biceps were the size of Daniel’s thighs. Well, maybe not that big but he was fucking huge. The blue eyes and long reddish-blond hair rounded off the Scandinavian look, but what made him Viking-material was the full beard with three metal pearls. Daniel had never been a fan of beards on young men—and Heimli looked late twenties—but it suited him.

  “Hey, kid. Let’s get you ready, I’ll be done in a sec.” Heimli pointed toward the makeup desk where a classy young woman sat, looking like she belonged in front of a camera, too. She was tall as she stood to guide him into the chair—almost as tall as Daniel. Her hair was colored a warm chestnut, her eyes brown, and her figure one to make most men drool. He sat back and relaxed, enjoying the familiarity of being pampered.

  “I’m Rosa.”

  “Daniel.”

  “Oh, don’t you just have the most beautiful green eyes,” she said. “Better close them, though, so I can get on with this. I’m glad you came so early. Gives us plenty of time.”

  He did, smiling at her flattery. He felt her fingers and brush work across his skin, and he thought the scent of makeup could be one of his favorites.

  “Can’t believe no one supports a face like that, huh, Heimli,” Chas said.

  “Nope, he’s definitely got it.”

  Strong arms grabbed him, and he looked up, seeing Chas with a syringe and Heimli holding him down. Rosa stood to a side, looking on, calmly. Adrenaline shot through Daniel’s system.

  “No, what the hell is that for? Let go!”

  “Don’t worry, you’ll sleep now. When you wake up, you’ll never be alone again, and your beauty will be appreciated.” Chas injected him.

  Daniel fought against Heimli’s stronghold until the world went out of focus.

  Chapter Two

  Everything was a blurry haze when Daniel came to. Everything moved, and there was a low hum and rhythmic clap. The smell of soap and some industrial cleaner tickled his nose. The fluorescent light was dim enough not to cut into his eyes as he focused on it, trying to get some hold on his spinning mind.

  He then remembered the strong arms holding him and the needle coming at him. He jumped up, almost falling off the bed. He was in a room with blank, white walls and no windows. The door was red and had a small window in it. The room held the bed, a small metal latrine and sink, and nothing more. The bed was a thick mattress on a steel frame, and the cover a thin blanket.

  He was naked under it, he realized and gasped, pulling the sheet closer around his body.

  Fear finally registered fully in his dazed mind, and he screamed—the sound echoing in the room. Other voices joined in, and the shock of hearing them made him stop to listen. He couldn’t tell how many, so he bolted from the bed to look out of the window in the door. A hallway as white as the room, with more red doors. The door opposite his own was locked, and a girl stood behind it, looking as frightened as he was.

  “Hallo!” she yelled.

  “Hey! Who are you? Do you know why we’re here?” Daniel shouted, going for the handle, but there wasn’t one. The door didn’t open from this side.

  “No! Are we on a train?”

  That would explain the rumbling. The queasiness and unsteadiness of his legs weren't just because of whatever drug they had pumped into him.

  “Shut up!” someone bellowed, and three men came down the narrow hallway.

  One stopped in front of Daniel’s door while the other men continued down the hallway, telling everybody to stop yelling. “They all awake?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good.” The man adjusted something on his head and then fumbled with something on his belt. A speaker somewhere in Daniel’s cell crackled before the man’s voice sounded loud and clear. “You have been collected to serve us. You are no longer free individuals. You now have three hours to get this through your head, and then dinner will be served.”

  “What the fuck?” Daniel muttered to himself, staring at the man. People down the hall began shouting incoherently. The two other men joined the guy standing outside Daniel’s door, but he couldn’t hear what they were saying because of the turmoil from the other cells. “You won’t get away with this! People will be looking for me!” Daniel slammed his hand against the door.

  The guy turned his head, and Daniel gasped, stepping back from the window. The man closed in, his red, glowing eyes pinning him through the glass. Daniel backed away from the door so fast he overlooked the bed. He fell and hit the back of his head on the wall.

  “No one will succeed in finding you,” the man said matter-of-factly. “No one ever has.” With that, the man left, leaving Daniel with a cold sweat covering his naked body and a dull throb where his skull had impacted with the wa
ll.

  He sat up slowly, rubbing the sore spot. Red eyes? How the hell did someone even get red eyes? The entire eyeball was crimson with the brightest part being his pupil which almost shone. Contact lenses? They couldn’t be shiny like that, could they?

  He finally noticed the sheet he had dropped in sheer panic, and he quickly collected it and covered himself. Not that there was anyone around him to see, but this was freaky.

  The yelling and screaming continued for a long time, making it impossible to collect his thoughts. He had no idea for how long exactly because he had no way of telling time. There was no clock in the cell, and he didn’t feel like peeping out the window again.

  But the men had said something about dinner in a few hours, so he figured it to be the afternoon, and he was starving. He hadn’t had anything since breakfast. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t even had that. One mouthful and then he had stormed out of the kitchen, leaving his mother to clear the table.

  Shit, what had he gotten himself into? Skipping school to go after his dream, and now he sat naked in a cell, kidnapped by a photographer, and left guarded by a man with red glowing eyes.

  He shivered at the memory of it and wondered how the hell he was going to get out of there. He wondered whether his parents had even noticed he was gone yet. Was it about the time he usually got home?

  The red-eyed man’s words came back to him. No one will succeed in finding you. No one ever has. God, this was fucked up. There had to be a way out.

  The others down the hall were settling down—a few colorful words were shouted once in awhile. Some were crying.

  “Hello?” a voice close by called, and he thought he recognized it as the girl across the hall. He went to the window to look out, finding her on the other side with red, puffy eyes. “What are they gonna do to us?”

  “How should I know? How long have you been here?”