Chapter Seven:
"I need your help," Mokuba repeated when Roland failed to respond.
"Mr. Kaiba, I don't get what you need from me."
Mokuba sighed, hoping that Roland would just catch on. "I can't live with Gozaburo anymore."
The expression of shock that appeared on Roland's face made Mokuba believe that the man would not help him. Mokuba found himself chewing on his lip nervously waiting for the security officer to say anything.
"If you leave, Mr. Kaiba will just find you and bring you back," Roland stated.
Mokuba shook his head. "Not if I can get away first. Please, I can't keep doing this. He is abusing me, Roland."
After his confession, Mokuba lifted a hand to feel the fading bruise beneath his eye. It had been expertly covered, but Mokuba knew it was there. He wanted Roland to see it too.
So Mokuba moved his hand to his mouth and licked his finger, then used the moisture to rub away the layer of makeup. As he did, he watched Roland's face fall. Mokuba didn't try to get all of the cover up off, but just enough to prove his point. The light purple color must have shown Roland that he was telling the truth.
"Mokuba," Roland began, but didn't complete the thought. Instead, he placed two fingers on the bruise, causing Mokuba to flinch slightly.
"Mr. Kaiba did this to you?"
"Yes sir. He did it to Seto too."
"Then the letters," Roland said, his sentence paused momentarily, as if he was considering carefully his next words. "Then Seto was referring to Gozaburo abusing him." It wasn't a question.
"Roland, please."
"What will you have me do?" Roland asked.
Mokuba smiled and threw his arms around the man's neck. "Thank you." When Roland returned the hug, Mokuba held on a while longer, relishing in the first hug he had received in over four years.
When Mokuba finally pulled back, he said, "I need to find Sharon Embry."
"Who is that?"
"A social worker who came to talk to me about the abuse rumors. She gave me a card, but Gozaburo has it now," Mokuba said. He chose not to mention the fact that he had been the one to hand Gozaburo Embry's business card.
"Do you know where she works?" Roland asked.
Mokuba shook his head. "I didn't even look at her card."
Roland glanced to the computers on the desk in the room. "If I look for her here, your father will certainly find out about it."
"I don't want you to get fired," Mokuba said.
"Then we can't do anything here. Once we are out of the building, I'll make some calls."
Mokuba looked up at the wall which was full of screen monitoring the building. As far as he knew, there was not a single inch of KaibaCorp that was not being filmed by the extensive numbers of cameras. And although Roland's office was the main security room, there were others. Someone else would see Mokuba if he tried to leave the building. Gozaburo would be informed immediately.
"How will I get out?" Mokuba asked. He knew that the security officers stationed around the exits had orders not to let him leave without verbal permission from Gozaburo. It had never been given.
Roland tapped his fingers on the desk while he thought. "If I can angle the cameras away from you, then I could make sure that you get to the parking garage unseen."
"But there is a guard there."
"I'll call him away for something."
Mokuba nodded. "Roland, are you sure you want to do this? Gozaburo will be incredibly mad."
Roland widened his eyes and his mouth fell slightly open. "Do you honestly believe that I won't help you?"
The more Mokuba considered the question, the more he came to believe that no one would help him. No one had since Seto, so why would it be any different now? Gozaburo had made sure that everyone knew better than to even talk to the young Kaiba.
Instead of answering, Mokuba just shrugged.
"Go ahead and start walking to the garage. I'll handle things here, then go tell your father that I'm leaving," Roland said.
Mokuba got to his feet and hugged his brother's letters close. He was nervous to have to try to escape the building against his father's orders. His bruises had yet to fade from his last beating, and Mokuba had no interest in acquiring any new ones.
Roland pulled open a drawer on the desk and took out a set of keys. He quickly sorted through them and held one out to Mokuba. "This is my car key. Wait for me there."
Waiting no longer, Mokuba took the keys and went to the door. Roland held up a hand to stop him while he adjusted the cameras in the hallway, then waved Mokuba out.
Mokuba walked very slowly through the hall. He was certain that at any moment, someone would appear to catch him in the act of leaving. What if Roland was unable to hide him from all the cameras? Could Roland get the guard away from the door to the parking garage? Then what would happen if Gozaburo wouldn't let Roland leave work early? There were too many variables in the situation for Mokuba to feel safe.
He tried to act as though everything were normal, as if he was supposed to be walking in his current direction. Perhaps if he moved with confidence, no one would question his actions.
The first person that he passed just sent him the same sad glance as all the other employees had done. However, Mokuba found himself relieved this time, as that was normal. The man hadn't noticed anything was wrong. He didn't even seem to note the bruise that could now be seen under his eye.
So Mokuba breathed deeply to calm himself while he continued on his way. By the time he reached the back exit, the only sign of nerves he displayed was in his tight grip on the letters. But anyone who spent time with him over the past months would know that was the norm.
Roland had done as he said he would and there was no one standing next to the door. Mokuba glanced up to where he knew a camera was located, and he saw it facing the other direction. To help keep from drawing unnecessary attention, Mokuba exited the building quickly. He made sure to close the door behind him.
Mokuba looked at the key he held. Roland had said that it was for his car, but he never specified what type of car he owned. Of course the key couldn't have any type of identification, for that would make it all too easy. Mokuba had to walk among the rows of expensive cars to look for the one with the security decal.
It took him several minutes, but eventually he found it on the lower floor. When he did, Mokuba slid into the passenger's seat and locked the doors. Until they were out of sight of the building, Mokuba knew he would not be safe. And even then, he couldn't be sure of that.
His fingers tapped lightly over the top of the notebook in his lap. He was unaware of how long it would take for Roland to make his way out, or even if Gozaburo would allow him to leave. Mokuba had never been more afraid. Neither of his options were positive. If he remained with Gozaburo, then the abuse would continue. And if he left, then he would have to admit to the entire world that both he and Seto were abused orphans. One option was pain, the other embarrassment.
Seto had put up with both. Under Gozaburo and this new kidnapper, Seto had handled it. Mokuba didn't understand why both he and his brother had been cursed with such unfortunate luck, but such superstitions would do nothing for him.
Mokuba had a moment of regret for including himself in the group with Seto. There was no possible way that he could even imagine what all his brother had gone through. There were parts that he didn't have to imagine. His brother tried not to mention the darker parts of his captivity in his letters, but Mokuba remembered one which solely focused on it.
That was a letter which Mokuba rarely read. As he sat in Roland's car waiting, he debated over reading it again. The words on the page broke his heart every time he looked at them. He wasn't sure if he could handle reading them in such an intense situation.
But then, wasn't Seto always in intense situations? If Seto could put up with them, Mokuba should be able to.
So he flipped open the notebook to a page almost halfway through. Mokuba took a deep breath before beginning.
Dear Mokuba,
I don't know what has become of me. Never before have I been more humiliated, and this is of my own doing. Oh Mokuba, I cannot believe I have fallen so low. I am losing myself. Not losing, but giving up who I am voluntarily.
I have been debating whether or not to write about this to you. The better part of the time since the incident has been spent in inner conflict. I don't want to tell you, but at the same time, I feel as though I must.
I woke up just the same as the hundreds of times before. He was lying in front of me, but not asleep. It is a common practice of his, watching me sleep. Upon my waking, he told me that he would be gone for the day. I wasn't sure why he was telling me that. He is gone most of the time.
But he apologized. He said that he knew I must be bored in the hours he was gone. He made me an offer then. He said that if I kissed him, he would move the bookshelf to where I could reach it.
The offer was so tempting. He was right in that I spent the days in boredom. His bookcase is filled with so many books, and I haven't read anything in so long.
I did it. Mokuba, I voluntarily kissed the man who kidnapped me, just for books. What would I be willing to do to remove the chain? Now that I have compromised myself, he is going to make me do it again. He got me to submit to him for entertainment.
I haven't touched the books. I don't deserve them. I deserve all manners of horrible things. Maybe I deserve to be here. How could I do such a thing? And what will happen when he tells me to do it again?
-S
Mokuba's eyes lingered over his brother's signature. He knew that it was the first time that Seto hadn't signed a letter with his name. And from that letter on, none of the letters bore his signature. This letter was the beginning of his brother's change in character. None of the rest of the letters sounded much like the Seto Mokuba knew.
The car door across from Mokuba opened, and he looked over to see Roland enter the car. A sigh of relief escaped Mokuba's lips as he closed the notebook.
"Gozaburo just let you leave?" Mokuba questioned.
Roland shook his head. "I had to tell him that my wife had gone into labor."
"Isn't she only at eight months?" Mokuba asked.
"Which made it sound all the more urgent."
"I'm sorry you had to lie to him for me."
Roland started the car and began to back out of the space. "I'm sorry I didn't notice your abuse before. Buckle your seatbelt."
Mokuba did as he was told. As they pulled out of the parking garage, Mokuba started to calm down, but just slightly. He wouldn't feel safe until Gozaburo was locked away. But even then, Gozaburo still would have a reach outside of prison. He had men who would do anything for him. A few bars would not stop the CEO.
Mokuba doubted if he would ever feel safe again.
