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Chapter 121
© Copyright 2003 -
Crimson Dragon - All Rights Reserved
"Eggs," Kate said firmly. Leigh sat quietly to the side, watching
the conversation and trying to remember to keep her legs tightly
together. The Timeman pursed his lips, and shrugged. "I can cook
eggs, I think." Kate hesitated for a moment, then a look of pleading
entered her eyes as she remembered her position.
"Can we eat breakfast, too? Or are you going to make us eat oatmeal
or something?"
He laughed easily. He seemed to be in an agreeable mood. Leigh
swallowed heavily, nervous for a moment. When he was nice to them,
it generally meant that he would offset it with harsher play later.
Her breasts tingled, but she watched his face.
He smiled and nodded. "You can all eat the same breakfast. Bacon
and eggs. Okay? Can you cook that?"
Kate nodded once, and swivelled, pushing her bare legs off the bed,
to stand.
She turned. She raked her right hand through her tresses.
"Can I take a shower first?"
Slowly, he shook his head. Leigh gazed at him, again nervous. He
should want them clean and presentable, shouldn't he? Why didn't he
want Kate to shower before breakfast? She didn't know, but
suspected there would be a reason, even if she couldn't fathom it
immediately.
Kate looked almost like she was about to cry, something as simple as
a shower denied affecting her. Control. Her voice dropped into an
almost petulant tone.
"Please? I feel grimy. I need a shower. You want us to look pretty
don't you? I'll take one with someone else, if you don't trust me.
I'll shower with Leigh, if she doesn't mind."
Leigh surveyed herself. Yes, she could use a shower, too. The warm
water over her shoulders, if he allowed them warm water, would help
work out some of the sleep kinks.
"I'll shower with her, if you want," she murmured.
He glanced between the girls, almost as if he understood something
about them suddenly. Leigh flushed, realising what that insight
probably was.
"After breakfast. I don't mind you like that for a while."
Kate looked about to protest further, but then sighed.
"Don't blame me if I smell," she said mildly. She turned to leave
the room.
To Leigh, who had been near the girl since she'd awakened, Kate
smelt as fresh and clean as she had last night before they had
slept. Except for the wild hair, Kate was just as attractive as she
always was.
Almost as Kate was at the doorway, Leigh lifted her head to find the
Timeman gazing at her. She flushed for a moment, then swallowed
once.
"I could help her, if you want," Leigh said.
He nodded once, and then dismissed her. She thankfully slid her bare
legs to the floor, and hurried to catch up with Kate, heading
towards the kitchen.
<---===***===--->
"Shit. Ouch," Kate yelped before dancing away from the stove. Her
hands rose to her breasts, finally settling on her right, rubbing
nearly absently. Leigh looked up from the mixing bowl.
"What?" A smile rose unbidden to her lips.
Kate scowled, and pointed at the frying pan, where strips of bacon
sizzled and popped over the glowing red element. Even as she
watched, Leigh could see the bacon growing angrier, grease spitting
from the surface of the pan. Leigh sighed. Even as chefs, the girls
weren't allowed protective clothing. And she knew, from experience,
that hot grease stung like a thousand bees when it kissed bare
flesh. Worse, when that flesh represented a girl's breasts.
Taking a deep breath, Leigh stepped towards the pan, carefully
reaching over the bacon to turn down the heat. A few droplets kissed
her chest, and she hissed in pain, but then drew back as the element
began to cool, the grease settling to a dull roar. When she turned
back to Kate, the redhead wore a rueful expression.
"Too hot?"
Leigh nodded, then returned to the bowl where she began to break
eggs.
"Sometimes I think I'm getting to used to this ..." Kate said. She
stood at the stove safely now, gingerly turning the bacon with a
knife and fork.
Leigh settled easily into a kitchen chair, watching Kate move
naturally near the stove. Kate's muscles moved easily under her skin
as she stepped to the side to settle herself against the counter.
Leigh wanted to stare, as she turned, but forced her eyes to Kate's
face. Kate smiled as Leigh's eyes found hers.
"Being naked all the time. It almost felt weird to wear that dress
last night."
"I never wear dresses. It felt double weird to me. Jeans and
t-shirts are more my style."
Kate laughed easily, picking back up the fork and knife.
"You looked stunning in it."
Leigh flushed for a moment, uncomfortable suddenly. The irony wasn't
lost on her. She was more comfortably sitting here in the kitchen
with Kate, without a stitch of clothing on her body, than when she
was at least mostly covered with black evening gown.
On impulse, Leigh rose, and walked over to Kate. The aroma of bacon
made her stomach rumble, and her saliva glands ache. She bent her
head as she approached Kate, and lightly kissed her shoulder. Kate
stiffened for a moment, then relaxed.
"What was that for?"
"I wanted to."
Kate turned, and smiled, almost as if she understood. Leigh wasn't
sure, at all, if she did, but Kate didn't seem perturbed by the
intimate gesture.
"Are you as aroused as I am?" Kate asked simply.
Leigh took stock of herself, almost sighing. Embarrassment
encroached, but she forced herself to raise her eyes to Kate again.
Slowly, she nodded. Kate nodded, too, and turned back towards the
stove.
"Why do I feel free?" Kate said quietly as she carefully extracted
the bacon, crisp and steaming, onto a piece of paper towel to drain.
Leigh began to mix the eggs. A single tear fell from her eyes to
join the mixture beneath her whisk. Kate wasn't alone in that. For
some inexplicable reason, she felt free, too. Somehow, naked, and in
chains most of the time, she felt free.
<---===***===--->
"Can we have coffee? Please?"
The Timeman scowled from the doorway. Leigh turned from the pan
where she mixed the scrambled eggs with a wooden spoon.
"Coffee?"
Kate stepped from the table where she'd perched while Leigh cooked
the eggs. She took two steps towards the man, then hesitated.
"I haven't had coffee in days." He continued to watch Kate, who
flushed. She closed her eyes, then slowly sank to her knees. "I'll
beg, if you want," she said simply. Her eyes remained closed.
He walked up to her until he stood only centimetres in front of her.
Tears welled up as she looked at him.
"Do you want a blow job? Me to kiss your feet? I will. Please. And
the other girls? It's only a cup of coffee. Please?"
He touched her head, ruffling her tangled hair as if she were a
child.
"All right. Five cups of coffee."
"I'll make one for you, if you'll tell me how you like it."
He stepped away from her, and Kate slowly climbed to her bare feet,
swaying.
"I don't drink coffee," he said quietly. He stopped at the door to
watch them for a moment.
"Figures," Kate mumbled, nearly under her breath.
"I don't either," Leigh said softly. It wasn't that she didn't like
coffee, but it was more that she'd never started drinking it, so
didn't miss it. Now, it was more habit, than a concern about her
well-being that prevented her from drinking the brew.
Kate raised her eyebrows for a moment, then quickly stepped to the
cupboard, extracting the coffee maker, and four oversized mugs.
The Timeman glanced at Leigh appreciatively, then tilted his head to
the side.
"I don't drink it," Leigh said easily. "Never have."
"Orange juice?" he asked.
Leigh nodded. Juice, she drank.
"Two. One for me and one for you," he said. Before she could agree,
or answer him, he stepped from the room and headed back towards the
living room.
<---===***===--->
Leigh hadn't quite realised how hungry she was until she finally
settled into the chair to the Timeman's right, the seat feeling
distinctly odd beneath her bare skin. She sighed, and pulled her
plate a little closer. The Timeman mumbled something appreciative as
he shovelled food into his mouth, watching the naked girls as they
began to pick more slowly at their own eggs and bacon and toast.
Leigh sighed, knowing better than to ask for what she really wanted.
She glanced at his cutlery with a touch of envy, then began the slow
task of picking up each grain of scrambled eggs with her fingers,
and popping each singularly into her mouth. The taste was exquisite.
Somehow, in captivity, each meal, be it gruel, or a submarine
sandwich, or a salad, or a plate of scrambled eggs with bacon,
seemed to taste clean and wonderful. Idly, she wondered if this was
what condemned prisoners tasted as their last meals were delivered.
She broke off another small strip of bacon and delivered it to her
tongue.
She became aware of his eyes on her, and she slowly turned towards
him. His plate lay empty, and his knife and fork lay haphazard
across its surface.
Despite the fact that she was nowhere near done, she sighed and
spoke.
"Do you want me to get you some more?" she asked. Kate had insisted
on making extra, in case he wanted some -- mostly in the hopes that
he wouldn't punish the girls if they could keep him satisfied, at
least in this small way. Leigh was suddenly very glad that Kate had
used some foresight, even if she were the one to have her breakfast
interrupted.
He slowly shook his head. "Perhaps in a moment. Finish yours," he
said.
Thankfully, she picked up a small grain of egg, but it dropped back
to the plate as her fingers squeezed a little too hard. Suddenly,
she felt like crying.
As her fingers descended to fumble at the yellow again, she pulled
her hand back with a surprised squeak. His fork speared at the
fumbled egg, and raised towards her lips.
(Great, now he's feeding us.)
Without comment, she closed her eyes, and opened her mouth. She
accepted the food, then turned back towards him. She could sense
Kate, and Andrea on her other side, watching the exchange.
"It would be simpler if you let us have cutlery," she said slowly,
carefully, trying to keep the accusing nature of the statement from
her voice.
He laughed easily, and Leigh felt her body relax a little. He wasn't
going to hit her for saying what the girls were all thinking. Not
this time.
"I'm sure it would," he said. But he made no motion to allow her to
gather forks for the girls.
After a moment, she lowered her eyes.
"Why do you do this to us?"
"Because I can," he said.
She took a deep breath, then picked up another grain of egg, chewing
thoughtfully.
"Can we earn cutlery?" she asked. The other girls were following the
exchange, but still eating slowly with their fingers. It seemed
almost shameful to ask such a thing, but over the last couple of
days, she found that it was becoming easier to ask and do things
that she would never have considered in her former life.
He shook his head. "I gave you cutlery last night."
Leigh shivered, not liking what she knew she had to say. It seemed
horribly unfair to thank him for what should have been common
courtesy, and normal civilised behaviour.
"And we really appreciated that. You saved us some burned fingers."
That, most of all, seemed unfair. They were human beings dammit.
She shouldn't have to beg for food, or simple, civilised behaviour
like a damned slave.
The eggs had cooled sufficiently for the girls to touch them before
Leigh had even delivered the plates to the dining room. So there
wasn't the same issues of heat as there were last night. On the
surface, Leigh understood that, but her mind still screamed at her
about the shame of it -- her utter lack of control of the situation.
"We didn't attack you with them. You know we won't," she said, her
voice edging into the defiance that she knew would sink her, and
perhaps the others. She willed her mouth to stop moving.
"Why didn't you?"
The question surprised Leigh, and she mulled it over for a moment,
continuing to eat her breakfast. The anger and discomfort began to
seep away from her slowly.
"You would have stopped us, and punished us. Probably more than we
could have stood still for. Or maybe you would have killed one of
us. I don't really know."
He leaned forward.
"I could punish you for merely asking for cutlery. Or for nothing at
all," he mused. He leaned back into his chair. More than anything,
Leigh hoped that his words weren't forecasting a dim outlook for
this third day of her captivity. But she was enough of a realist to
recognise the danger in his words. She shivered.
"I haven't asked for any," Leigh said quickly. "I was only curious."
As if to show her intent, she picked up her bacon and bit into it,
salty fragrance inundating her cheeks. She lowered the golden meat
back to her plate. After a moment, she looked up, aware that tears
were shining in her eyes, even if they hadn't spilled yet.
"We aren't animals," she said slowly. "We're human beings. We might
be under your control right now, we might have to walk around
without our clothes, we might have to submit to your whims, we might
have to let you tie us up, and gag us, and beg for the simplest
things, and we do, but you don't need to strip everything away from
us. We'll do whatever you want, you know that. But forks and knives?
It's only civilised. It isn't much."
She knew that he wasn't going to understand, or to allow them
cutlery -- not today. She didn't understand why, but she didn't
really need to. He had the gun. He had the handcuffs. He had control
of her universe. Somehow.
She supposed that she should simply be glad that he hadn't made her
wear the steel bracelets, like he usually did. Having freedom of
her hands, even to eat, was actually a gift, and she understood
that, at least. She lowered her eyes, wanting very much to let the
conversation drop. If he wasn't going to give the girls forks, then
saying anything further only improved her chances at discomfort. She
sighed.
He smiled, and touched Leigh's cheek. It felt like a snake reaching
out and caressing her skin. She shivered for a second, but he didn't
seem to notice. Her sex pulsed at his touch -- her body fighting
again with her mind.
"Control," he whispered.
She sighed, and picked up her toast. She supposed that she knew that
all along. She'd tried, and that was all she could do -- for now.
And there were worse things than having to sit naked at a real
table, eating with one's fingers. In a way, it was freedom. Kate
would probably agree with her. It was better than lying naked on a
table, tied to it, having her breasts whipped instead of eating
bacon and eggs, free and relatively comfortable.
When she looked up. Kate winked at her from across the table.
Nobody but her seemed to notice.
Chapter 122
© Copyright 2003 -
Crimson Dragon - All Rights Reserved
The Timeman abruptly rose to his feet and paced down the table. The
girls had finished eating and were quietly talking, mostly relating
various aches and pains in their limbs from the uncomfortable night
in bonds. For her part, Leigh's arms ached a little, but overall,
she didn't feel incapable of moving.
The Timeman stopped behind Andrea, and stood with his arms clasped
behind him. In a way, he looked almost like the girls did, when they
were bound with their hands behind their backs. Of course, he
wasn't naked, nor truly restrained, and he wore a smile, or a smirk,
upon his face that Leigh really didn't care for.
(Watch out, Andrea.)
Slowly, Andrea turned, her blonde ponytail swivelling as she looked
up from her chair to the Timeman.
"Can I do anything for you?" she asked. She didn't seem overly
frightened, but Leigh could tell from the set of her jaw that she
was uneasy. Leigh would be uneasy if their captor was standing
behind her, silent.
"Stand," he said.
Without hesitation, Andrea stood, her bare body unfolding, and then
standing, one hand resting easily on the back of the chair upon
which she had been sitting.
"Are you going to hurt me?" Andrea asked. She still didn't seem
frightened, but Leigh was frightened enough for both of them.
Slowly, he shook his head, and reach towards the table, brushing
past Andrea as he did. She stepped back to avoid his arm brushing
across her bared breasts. She needn't have bothered. He wasn't
purposely brushing her skin.
Some of the girls, Leigh noticed, had eaten their eggs with ketchup.
When she had been small, Leigh had eaten her scrambled eggs that
way, too, enjoying the tang that the tomatoes lent to the meal.
Andrea, and Kate had both poured small amounts onto their plates, as
had the Timeman. It was this oversized squeeze bottle that he
reached for, and then held up to Andrea's face, the cap still open.
Andrea tilted her head questioningly.
"What? Do you want me to take this back to the kitchen?"
He laughed, then held it out to her. Slowly, carefully, she took it
from his fingers, holding it out in front of her, but a distance
from her bare belly.
"Not into the kitchen."
Andrea looked confused, but still not frightened.
After a moment, almost as though he were tortured by the need to
make a decision, he sighed.
"Pour it over yourself."
"What?"
"You heard me. Pour it over yourself."
"What? Why?"
Her voice wasn't angry, or frightened, but merely puzzled.
"Do I have to hurt Monique? Or Kate? Or Leigh before you do it?"
Leigh paled at the mention of her name, but the notable absence of
Nicole's name spoke volumes.
Andrea swallowed heavily. "Of course, not. There's no need to hurt
anyone. It's only ketchup. I'll do whatever you want. You know that.
I just wanted to know why."
"I doesn't matter. It wouldn't make sense to you."
Leigh believed that. She couldn't understand it either. Why make a
naked, cooperative girl dirty herself with ketchup? It made no
sense at all.
"On your knees."
Andrea swallowed -- Leigh could see her throat muscles working in
harmony. Without protest, the blonde girl slipped to her knees,
still holding the bottle of ketchup upright between both hands. Her
hands seemed small and delicate upon the plastic of the bottle.
"Please, why?"
He crouched, and whispered something to her. Andrea nodded, and then
closed her eyes. As he rose back to his feet, she held the bottle
over her head, and then, with only the barest moment of hesitation,
she pressed. A thin jet of ketchup fell into her hair. Leigh watched
as a single tear traced down the girl's cheek, only to be
obliterated as Andrea brought the stream across her face, then
across her breasts, and down her bare belly to pool in her belly
button.
She set the bottle down on the tiles between her knees, then used
her hands to rub the red mixture deeply into her hair, then into her
breasts and across her belly. The acrid smell of vinegar wafted to
Leigh's nose, and she closed her eyes for a moment.
It wasn't so much that Andrea had to endure the feelings of the food
across her skin, but that she had been forced to do it to herself.
Leigh shuddered. Given the same situation, would she have poured the
red goo over her head? She didn't know. She didn't know what the
Timeman had said to Andrea to make her do it without further
question. But Leigh suspected that she would. Ketchup was relatively
harmless in the grand scheme of things. If pressed, Leigh would
have done the same, she was nearly sure.
Andrea continued to spread the ketchup over her bare skin. Dots of
red decorated her bare thighs, and her cheeks were smeared with it,
almost giving her a Native charm. Even through the chaos upon her
body, she still emanated femininity and grace.
"Good enough?" she asked. Her voice was steady, but she consciously
seemed to be avoiding the other girl's eyes. She was looking at the
Timeman.
"Hold out your hands."
Andrea obeyed, her hands dripping in red, almost looking like blood.
"Kate?" he called slowly.
Leigh glanced across the table, as Kate rose from her chair.
"Please, no," Kate whispered.
The Timeman laughed easily, and motioned her over. As Kate rounded
the head of the table and passed Leigh, she trailed her fingers
across the nape of Leigh's neck. Leigh nearly cried out, but managed
to stifle it. The Timeman flashed her an odd look, but seemed to
ignore the gesture, if he'd even seen it.
Kate stood by him, her eyes downcast, inspecting her toes.
"Please, I don't want to do that," Kate said, her voice falling
easily into a begging tone.
He laughed again.
"Knees."
Kate flashed him another pleading look, but lowered herself to her
knees.
"Andrea saved you a breast whipping, for now."
Kate blanched for a second, but then recovered. She stole a glance
at Andrea and mouthed a thank-you to the red covered girl. Then she
looked back up at her captor.
"Why are you doing this? We've been cooperative. We've done
everything you asked. Even cooked you a nice breakfast. Please."
"Preparation," he said simply. It made no sense to Leigh, and she
was sure that Kate was similarly mystified by the comment. He
continued, ignoring her pleading eyes. "Hold your hands behind your
back. I don't want to tie them there, yet, but I don't want them to
move. Understand?"
Silently, Kate moved her hands behind her bare back, lightly
clasping them together of her own accord, fingers interlaced.
Andrea's hands wavered in front of Kate.
"Lick her fingers clean."
"Ewww." Kate whispered.
"Lick her fingers clean. I don't want her to soil the walls when I
allow you two to shower. Understand?"
"Ever heard of a napkin?" Kate said.
He laughed, and Leigh let her breath out, sure that he was going to
punish Kate for the offhand comment. Perhaps he still would, but it
didn't appear that he was willing to do it immediately.
"You, my dear, are the napkin. Now, do I have to hurt Andrea to make
you do what I ask? I can start by squeezing her nipples. Surely not.
Not the girl that saved you from considerable discomfort."
Kate flashed him a look of displeasure, but leaned forward and began
to clean Andrea's hands, one finger at a time, the pink of her
tongue flashing over and between Andrea's reddened fingers. She
grimaced through it, but managed to clean Andrea's hands as well as
any cat. When Andrea's hands were devoid of red to the wrist, he
motioned the girls to their feet.
Andrea glanced down at herself and shivered.
"Please, can we shower, now? God, please? I can't stand this much
longer." She raised her hands towards her now red stained hair, but
stopped short realising perhaps that Kate would need to lick her
hands clean again, if she touched herself.
He made them stand there for a full five minutes, until a tear
traced through the red of Andrea's cheeks. Then he let them go with
a dismissive wave.
Both Kate and Andrea fairly ran for the doorway, as soon as he
turned from them.
The Timeman returned to his seat with a goofy grin across his
features. Without being bidden, Leigh stood and began to clear the
table. Monique joined her, and only the Timeman's words brought
Leigh's head up to see that Nicole had struggled to help, as well.
"Nicole, sit down."
The injured girl slowly shook her head.
"Please, I'd like to help. Leigh made a wonderful breakfast, and
it's the least I can do. It doesn't hurt that much, and I have a
feeling that clearing dishes will be easier than what you are going
to expect from all of us later today."
Her words brought a kind of foreshadowing across Leigh's mind, and
suddenly she was sure of it, too. They would be tested today. She
didn't understand what, how or why, but there was a difference
today. Something not quite right. His seemingly random actions with
Andrea and Kate pushed doubt into her mind. The Timeman seemed
almost preoccupied, tormenting Andrea and Kate more from a desire to
keep the girls off balance, and confused -- almost by rote -- than
any sexually motivated desire. No doubt, he was aroused by the
control of the women, but the seemingly disjointed, undeserved
torment -- random torment -- had purpose. Of that Leigh was sure. He
hadn't hurt Andrea or Kate, merely reminded them -- all of them --
who was in charge of this strange world. She hoped that she'd
survive whatever was in store for her -- that all the girls would
survive. Somehow, glancing at Monique and Nicole, and seeing the
running images of Andrea and Kate in her mind's eye, she knew they'd
all survive. Somehow.
The Timeman shrugged, and didn't insist with Nicole. Neither did he
offer to help clear -- but then, Leigh supposed, why else have an
entourage of naked females around if not to do all the work. She
fought the bitterness down, and concentrated on the task before her.
One task at a time. One task at a time.
As she bent to pick up the strangely lighter bottle of ketchup from
the floor, all she could see was red. Red on her breasts. Red on
her belly. And red on her fingers.
At least she hoped they'd survive. Somehow.
Chapter 123
© Copyright 2003 -
Crimson Dragon - All Rights Reserved
She found him lying down in the pullout bed that they'd shared last
night. He lay staring up at the ceiling, hands interlaced behind his
head. She swallowed heavily and turned towards Monique and Nicole
who had followed Leigh from the kitchen. Leigh's hands felt soft
and clean from washing dishes, and she clenched them now beside her
bare thigh wondering whether she should disturb her captor or simply
leave him to brood.
Monique shrugged, and turned away. Nicole raised her eyebrows, and
looked equally as helpless.
The word stung her tongue, but she had no other way, short of
touching him, to possibly get his attention.
"Sir?" she said. Inside, she cringed. Kate seemed to have nearly
become accustomed to addressing the man in this way, but to Leigh it
still represented a final act of capitulation. She would have
preferred to use his real name, first or last, but he still hadn't
deigned to reveal that much about him. In truth, she knew damn
little about the man -- only what he appeared to like sexually. And
that was her, calling him: "Sir."
He didn't react to her voice, and she couldn't bring herself to
repeat the call. Instead, she slowly lowered herself to her knees,
and stared at the carpet. Dimly, she was aware of Nicole and Monique
following her lead, lowering to the carpet beside and behind her a
little.
She didn't like the role of leader here, but she supposed if only by
virtue of her tenure in this strange universe, she had been elected
chief of the breakfast cleanup crew.
After a time, he stirred, but didn't rise to look at the girls.
Leigh glanced up, but only his reclining silhouette rose above the
sheets above her.
"Sir?" she repeated. Her mouth felt furry, protesting the word
again. This time, she sensed that he was listening, even if he
didn't acknowledge her presence. She plunged on, hoping that it
wasn't a mistake not waiting for his approval. She fervently hoped
that the punishment wouldn't be the big red ball shoved between her
teeth for hours.
"We've finished cleaning up," Leigh said into the empty air, hoping
that he was still listening. "If you allow us, we'd like to shower."
After another minute, she added, "Please?"
He sat up for a moment, and leaned on his hands, looking down on her
kneeling form. He smiled, and Leigh felt her heart settle a little.
"No girl showers alone. Okay?"
Leigh pushed herself to her feet in one fluid motion. She sensed
Monique and Nicole rising as well.
"Of course," she said simply, though she could feel a flush rising
to her chest and face. The Timeman lowered himself back to the bed,
interlacing his fingers behind his neck again, a peaceful expression
crossing his features. Quickly, before he could change his mind,
Leigh stepped from the room, her bare feet whispering across the
floor. Nicole and Monique followed quickly, not glancing back at the
Timeman who seemed to ignore their passage.
<---===***===--->
Kate looked up from drying her hair as Leigh gingerly pushed open
the bathroom door. It felt odd to enter without knocking, but in
this universe, there was really no such thing as privacy and the
door hadn't been completely closed as if in deference to that fact.
The Timeman could walk in on the girls at any point, and indeed did,
often enough to be unsettling and dangerous. Kate didn't seem
nonplussed by the intrusion, and she flashed Leigh a smile. She ran
the brush through her clean hair one more time, then stepped away
from the sinks, placing the hair drier down with a clunk. Steam
billowed from the shower enclosure where Andrea stood, naked and
head tilted back under the spray.
Kate sighed, and twisted towards the shower.
"Time to come out," Kate called playfully to Andrea. Andrea looked
up from under the water, and blinked, taking in Leigh and the other
girls entering the small bathroom. The Timeman hadn't followed the
girls up, for which Leigh was somewhat thankful. Instead, he lay
brooding, eyes closed, in the living room, perched on the pullout
bed upon which Leigh had slept last night. He'd almost seemed to be
searching, though if asked, Leigh wouldn't have been able to
pinpoint why she had that impression.
Andrea tilted her hair back into the shower for one last minute,
sighing, running her hands through her water darkened blonde hair.
Then she turned and pushed open the door, stepping out dripping onto
the bath mat. She looked scrubbed and clean, no trace of the red
ketchup gracing her skin. She flashed Leigh a smile, and grandly
gestured for Leigh to replace her under the still splashing water.
Truthfully, there was only enough room for two comfortably in the
shower, and while she would have jammed herself in with Monique and
Nicole, if necessary, the Timeman hadn't instructed them to all
shower together, only that they each wash one another, not showering
alone -- standard rules. Instead of stepping into the shower, Leigh
moved off towards the small window by the toilet, perching herself
on the seat and waving Monique and Nicole into the enclosure ahead
of her. Monique flashed her a smile of thanks, and grasping Nicole's
hand, led Nicole into the shower.
Andrea began to towel off, as Kate twirled, and waved before leaving
the bathroom and disappearing down the hall. Leigh felt a dull ache
in her heart as the redhead pranced out. After drying herself,
Andrea let the towel drop to her bare feet and began to brush out
her hair.
"You don't mind being naked," Leigh said quietly. Andrea didn't even
miss a stroke on the brush, though she grimaced as an unseen knot
pulled at her scalp.
"Why would I? The world can't see me -- only you and the Timeman."
"You don't mind that he's forcing you to be naked?"
Andrea shrugged. "I mind when he forces me to cover myself with
ketchup, and I don't like it when he hurts me or hurts anyone else,
but being naked is easy. It's just skin. I suppose I'd prefer
clothing, but I'm not overly uncomfortable without. Not here."
Leigh sighed, and turned towards the window. Andrea's image
reflected in the glass there as she continued to brush her blonde
locks. The sounds of water splashing and Monique washing Nicole
lightly exuded from the shower. Occasionally, Nicole whimpered as
Monique hit a sensitive spot.
When Leigh turned, Andrea had knelt beside the toilet, her hair
still wet and hanging plastered to her head and over her shoulders.
In fifteen minutes, it would be loose and clean about her head,
probably pulled back into a ponytail. Andrea looked up at Leigh.
"We don't have much choice, do we?"
Leigh smiled and nodded. "Didn't I tell you that once?"
"And I believed you. I think something important is going to happen
today," Andrea said. Idly, Leigh wondered if the Timeman had said
more to her while she knelt with that ketchup bottle than simply
that he would hurt Kate if she didn't comply.
Leigh nodded. "I think so, too."
Andrea looked like she was about to get up, to join Kate wherever
she'd disappeared to. Instead, she placed her hands on her knees, an
apprehensive look crossing her face.
"Leigh?"
"Mmmhmmmm?"
Leigh tore her eyes from gazing beyond the window. The world stood
still and quiet beyond the glass -- a world that she wasn't allowed
into without permission, without guidance. She could look, just not
touch. Not without approval, permission, control. It felt wrong.
"I don't understand completely."
"Understand what?"
"What's happening here."
"He controls time, Andrea. You know that."
"No. I understand that. And I even understand why -- I study
psychology at school. At least, I did before all this." Leigh
nodded. "I can even understand, a little, why he keeps us like this,
controls us. It's part of his nature, born into him like the shape
of his nose, and the set of his jaw."
Leigh glanced at the girl on her knees in puzzlement. Andrea took a
deep breath.
"I don't want you to take this the wrong way ..." Andrea hesitated
then, as if internally debating continuing. Then she plunged. "If I
offered to have sex with you, right now, would you say no?"
Leigh automatically began to protest, then pressed her lips
together.
"Sex? With me? Why?"
Andrea watched her knees for a moment, glanced over at the shower,
then looked up.
"Leigh? I haven't been here as long as you, but ... he's never let
you climax here, has he? I mean sexually. You and him have never
..."
Leigh slowly shook her head. Had Andrea heard the exchanges last
night? Obviously, she had. A embarrassed flush rose to Leigh's
cheeks.
"I haven't been here as long as you, and I ache. Far more than I
should. I've never been into girls -- experimented in my freshman
year, but ..."
Leigh nodded slowly. She understood that sentiment.
"But I'd have sex with you in an instant," Andrea said. "I might
protest if he ordered me to, but I would. And I wouldn't hate it. I
ache. My breasts, my vagina, even my damn toes."
Leigh swallowed. She knew that feeling -- truth be told, she was
feeling it now. In an abstract way, she wanted the girl, naked and
kneeling in front of her. She wanted Kate. She wanted Monique. And
she wanted the Timeman. She closed her eyes, her breathing
accelerating. It made some sense, but not a complete sense.
"It's simply the situation, Andrea. He keeps us aroused. Who
wouldn't be? We're human. And we're walking around all day without
clothes, places where we shouldn't be, exposed all the time. He
ties us up, teases us, shows us things that we might never have
imagined. We have no control over this -- and he's taking control
away from us -- even control over our own sexuality. It's sexual
overload. And then he denies us release. And I think he knows
exactly what he's doing. What do you think is going to happen? Of
course, we're sexually aroused."
Andrea sighed, and slowly climbed to her feet. Her breasts jutted
towards Leigh, and Leigh had the insane urge to reach forward and
touch them, lick them. But she didn't. Instead, she crossed her arms
under her own breasts and looked up to Andrea's face. A tear traced
down the girl's face.
"I ache," Andrea said.
"I know. But we can't. Even if we both simply want the release. If
he comes in, he will ..." Leigh let her voice trail off.
"I'm going to explode. It's not fair."
Leigh smiled, and touched her fingers to her lips, then reached up
and touched Andrea with the tips of her fingers. The girl shivered,
and slowly turned away.
"Me, too, Andrea. Me, too. And it is frightfully unfair."
Andrea nodded, and seemed to gain control of herself. The old Andrea
reappeared behind her eyes, and she smiled.
"It's more than that, Leigh. This time control shit is playing with
our hormones or something."
Leigh sighed. That had occurred to her, too. Many times. Her
breasts ached, and her clitoris was nearly always swollen down
there. She shrugged.
"Either way, we're not really in control of it, are we?"
Andrea smiled again, and ran her fingers over her nipples before
turning and stepping from the bathroom. A gasp escaped her lips.
"We'll survive, I suppose. Thanks for talking to me," she said
airily as she stepped from view.
Steam, the smell of peaches, and Nicole's soft voice reached for her
from the shower.
The image of Andrea naked and kneeling, the water from the shower
streaming across her bare skin, her lips kissing Leigh rose unbidden
in her mind. Leigh shook it off, and turned to regard the world
outside, shivering. And aching.
<---===***===--->
Leigh sat up straighter, sure that something had moved at the edge
of the garden. From the bathroom window she could see the wide
expanse of perfectly manicured front lawn and the edge of the
massive brick gate that protected the mansion, presumably keeping
watchful eyes away from Nicole's torments in the real world.
Pine trees towered near the property line, probably serving both as
privacy shields as well as sound shields, keeping prying eyes, and
noisy vehicles from intruding, reinforcing the functions of the red
bricked gate.
Something was wrong -- different -- something not in sync with the
rest of the universe, strange as it was. Outside, the trees stood
still, and the silence was nearly overpowering. Leigh could almost
imagine that she was alone here, nobody to hurt her, nobody to
insist that she walk without her clothes. Alone in a universe
without judgement, without worries.
Andrea had been right in that. If it weren't for the others here --
especially the Timeman -- she would probably choose to go without
clothing. In a strange way, it represented freedom, and the
silliness of societies norms. But she'd never get used to it, not
like Andrea had -- not here, not while she was captive and forced
into capitulation. No, given the choice of going bare and donning
her comfortable jeans and sweatshirt, she knew what her choice would
be. She thought wistfully of her clothing, stripped off in a
hallway of a high school that she could barely remember anymore.
She'd done it to make things easier. It had been three days without
them. Three long days, broken only by a flimsy black evening gown
against her bare skin that had aroused more than her nudity alone
ever had.
Again, something caught Leigh's eye, and she shifted her gaze.
There. Near the pine trees. She squinted, and realised that the
window glass was fogging up, the steam from the shower finally
condensing upon its surface. Briefly, she considered asking Monique
to turn down the shower, but then simply opted to rub her bare
forearm across the glass. It streaked, but she could see between the
watery lines. Near the pine trees.
A shoe? A running shoe poking out from beneath the branches near the
fence? She peered towards the branches, imagining all sorts of
scenarios. A gardener, caught in the time freeze? A trespasser? A
police raid?
Leigh shook her head. Undoubtedly, whoever it was, would be frozen,
along with the rest of the world. She glanced back at the shower.
Nicole almost seemed ready to exit, to clear room for Leigh. Leigh
was looking forward to that spray of warm water across her bare
skin. The shower represented a semblance of routine, of normalcy,
even if she had to shower with another human being, never alone
anymore, not even allowed to wash herself.
Movement caught her eye again, and she turned quickly. A flash of
dusty blonde hair, and a feminine calf clothed in blue denim seemed
to float for a moment through the branches of evergreen. Leigh
gasped, and instinctively drew her arms up and across her bare
breasts. Who?
And she blinked. The girl was gone, like so much smoke into a
non-existent wind. Who? Who? Who? And why wasn't she frozen?
Leigh nearly called out to Monique and Nicole, but then clapped her
mouth shut. Calling attention to the girl couldn't be in anyone's
best interest. If it was someone that the Timeman was playing with,
then he didn't intend for the girls to know about her. If she was a
figment of Leigh's imagination, then all that would result was
embarrassment, and perhaps derision.
The girl, if there had been one, was gone, melted into the
undergrowth near the trees. Leigh watched for a while, until wet
fingers gently touched her shoulder.
Leigh whirled, crying out and raising her hands in a defensive
posture, knowing that if it was the Timeman, she would probably be
punished. Today was an odd day.
Instead, Nicole stared down at her, her hair plastered to her head.
"Are you all right?" she asked quietly. Monique remained in the
shower, perhaps only because she knew that Leigh wasn't allowed to
shower alone -- none of the females were.
"All right? I saw ..." Leigh began. Then she glanced back out the
window. She nearly screamed when something small and black exploded
from the undergrowth where she'd seen the girl's blonde hair and
denim clothed leg. Leigh's heart leapt into her throat, until she
realised at what she was looking. Suddenly, she felt foolish, a
flush rising into her face.
The squirrel -- the one that she'd asked him to free yesterday --
ran across the lawn, nosing for food, oblivious to the eyes upon it.
"Cute squirrel," Nicole said quietly. "I used to watch them from my
window. I thought they had the best life. Free, and carefree. The
only concern they have is finding enough food. No whips. No chains.
No bruises."
Leigh slowly turned. It had only been a damn squirrel, her mind
playing tricks on her. Disappointment flooded through her.
(What did you think? A denim clad blonde super-girl wearing Nikes
was going to rise up magically and save you all?)
She glanced at the squirrel again. It stood on its hind legs, almost
watching her through panes of glass. It hadn't even occurred to
Nicole that the sight of a squirrel running through the grass was
itself unusual in this silent world in which they lived. She held
her tongue, not pointing out that cats could be easily added to the
squirrel's survival concerns. Leigh allowed Nicole her fantasy of
normalcy, and slowly rose.
"My turn?"
"What?"
"In the shower?"
Nicole stepped towards the window, her skin dripping droplets of
water to the tile beneath her bare feet, watching the squirrel until
it dashed out of sight around the corner of the house.
"Monique's waiting for you," Nicole whispered. Then she reached for
a dry towel, and began to gingerly dab at the discoloured skin near
her right side ribs, wincing a little as she did.
Leigh glanced once more through the glass before turning.
A blue denim calf, and Nike running shoes.
Confused with a squirrel? Or simply a wistful imagination?
With a sigh, she stepped towards the shower door, her heart lighter
than it had been earlier. Monique stood beneath the warm spray,
obviously enjoying the touch of the water against her bare skin.
Monique's nipples stood erect, and her breath came raggedly. At the
inrush of cooler air, she opened her eyes, and stepped from the
spray, offering her spot to Leigh.
(More than simple situation, Leigh. Andrea was right. Even
Monique is feeling it. Tread carefully.)
"You ready?" Leigh asked Monique.
Monique nodded, and picked up the soap. Leigh's skin tingled
insistently as Monique's slippery hands found Leigh and began to
work the soap deeply. The smell of peaches rose up and infused her,
the smoky memory of the denim calf and Nikes fleeing as Leigh tried
to ignore the sensations of Monique's hands and fingers.
Chapter 124
© Copyright 2003 -
Crimson Dragon - All Rights Reserved
It was a bad idea -- a terrible idea, in fact -- but as usual, Leigh
stood quietly, unable to do anything to avert the course of events
that shaped her new life. At least he hadn't bound them; all three
of the girls were free -- at least physically -- to stand awkwardly
in what Leigh thought of as the Chamber of Horrors.
In front of her stood the biggest horror in the room, far more scary
than the whips, the clothespins, or even being tied naked in front
of a crowd of high school spectators, some of whom she knew, to a
basketball net, praying that a naked girl would be able to squirm
her way across the hardwood to kiss her feet. Oh yes, the man
standing harmless in front of her scared her more even than the
Timeman himself.
She wanted to turn around, and flee, running as fast as her bare
legs could carry her, out, through the door, down the hallway, and
even further. As far as she could go. Mexico wouldn't be far
enough.
She swallowed. Fleeing was not an option, and she knew that. Oh,
how she knew that. She shifted her weight uneasily to her right
foot.
Beside her, Nicole stood, every bit as naked as she, but perhaps
more frightened, more uneasy, more sick. Nicole actually shook,
holding her thin arms under her breasts, as if hugging herself, her
entire body trembling, unable to tear her eyes away from the man.
Kate, on Leigh's left, had closed her eyes long ago, and whimpered
once. But beyond that, hadn't said a word.
The Timeman stood easily, seemingly out of place in front of them.
Ironically, Leigh only saw concern upon his face. He'd been the one
to put them here, and he was the one orchestrating this new torment,
though in his mind, she doubted if he saw it that way; he wasn't the
one naked and vulnerable standing in front of a monster, either. The
Timeman literally held their lives in his hand -- he could free the
bound man standing in front of them, oh, so easily, allowing him to
kill the girls, slowly and painfully, or he could keep the madman at
bay, maintaining control of the situation. Leigh fervently hoped that
the Timeman would do everything in his considerable power to ensure
that she wouldn't have to feel Maurice's hands on her throat, and
between her legs.
She tried one last time, trying to keep her voice steady.
"Please, sir," and the word slipped between her lips easily this
time. Her control was slipping, even as the deep unease refused to
displace her arousal. "It's not a good idea."
"She needs this, Leigh."
She felt like screaming at him, asking in the very least why she had
to be here. She'd caused those deep scratches down the animal's
face. She'd kicked him, hurting her bare feet in the process. She'd
debased herself, allowing herself to give into her anger. Her and
Kate. The girl become animal, if only for a while. And the man in
the ropes has caused her short transformation; his anger, his
misogyny, his existence. And here they stood again, in front of the
man, frozen still, for now, who hated them. Because she owned
breasts. Because she owned a vagina. Because she was undoubtedly
female. And so was his daughter.
Instead, Leigh looked down, past her breasts to her toes.
"Please, don't," she whispered.
From beside her, Nicole's small voice wavered, but didn't break.
"I think I need to do this," Nicole nearly whispered. The Timeman
moved back another step from the girls.
Leigh closed her eyes. It was going to be hard. So hard. And there
wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.
<---===***===--->
Leigh had no idea where he'd come up with the capsule held gingerly
between his fingers. It wouldn't have surprised her if the animal
had kept some on hand, somewhere in the house, for those times when
Nicole passed out from his ministrations, but he wasn't yet ready to
stop listening to the girl scream. Leigh shivered, but watched as
the Timeman closed his eyes.
Suddenly, Maurice's chest began to rise and fall, though his eyes
remained tightly shut.
"Ready?" the Timeman asked.
Leigh shook her head, but he wasn't paying attention to her. His
eyes were on Nicole. Out of the corner of her eye, Leigh saw
Nicole's head bob once in silent affirmation.
The capsule broke in an audible snap, and a moment later the acrid
fumes of ammonia tickled Leigh's nostrils. She flared her nose for a
moment, then settled. The Timeman waved the concoction under
Maurice's nose, then stepped back as the man's eyes fluttered open.
"What the fuck?" the bound man muttered as he awakened. As he
remembered where he was, his eyes narrowed. As of yet, he hadn't
seen Nicole who had stepped behind Leigh, almost as if she wanted
some protection from the animal's feral eyes. Unprotected, Leigh and
Kate burned into his line of vision as his eyes swept towards them.
"You fucking fucked up cunts," he said. He pulled at his bound arms,
then relaxed, a smile finding its way to his lips. To him, it was
still a day ago, when Kate and Leigh had thrown everything they had,
and then some, at his resisting form. Deep red scratches remained on
his face to prove their anger. Surely, his balls still ached from
the kick that Leigh had placed between his legs. Her face burned,
both in shame at what she'd done, but also that the man was watching
her, his eyes heavily upon her chest. "I will kill you both, you
know that, right? I'll listen to you scream first, but I will kill
you."
The Timeman edged further away from the confrontation, moving
towards the doorway.
(Don't leave us here. Don't leave us here. Don't leave us here.)
But he didn't leave, electing to lean against he doorjamb like a
sentinel. He watched, but didn't say anything.
"You won't hurt them. You can't. And you know it."
The voice came from Leigh's right, where Nicole gingerly stepped
forward, revealing herself to her father, her hands held at her
sides. Leigh noticed the clench of her small fists, and the shaking
of her calves, but Nicole didn't really hesitate.
As she stepped forward, his eyes widened, and then narrowed.
"You brought them here. You fucking stupid cunt."
"Please don't call me cunt, Daddy."
He reared up as much as the ropes would let him, then nearly spat at
her.
"Cunt. Cunt. Cunt. You fucking stupid cunt. Do you think that you'll
get away with this? And by the way, nice fucking bruises. They make
you look better, you fucking small titted bitch."
Nicole sighed, and Leigh saw her eyes closing, almost as if she
didn't want to look at the man. Leigh couldn't blame her.
"I didn't bring them, Daddy." Then showing insight beyond the
possible, she continued her voice still soft and gentle. "You did.
Somehow."
He shook again, his face twisting.
"I'm going to take your skin off, bitch, and then I'll really start
hurting you. When I get out. And I will. You and your fucking
friends will pay the ultimate price."
Leigh felt her sanity slipping, a giggle rising to her mouth. The
ultimate price. The ultimate price. Step right up, Bob Barker.
Nicole is going to pay the ultimate price. What price would you
guess on a life without pain? What price? The ultimate price, of
course.
She struggled for breath, and noticed the Timeman's gaze shifting to
her face. She straightened, and forced her hands down. The red
scratches. Her fingernails. Anything but the drama unfolding in
front of her in vivid Technicolour. She'd hurt Maurice, and enjoyed
it. Oh, yes. She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened
them, the Timeman had taken a single step towards her. But his face
didn't register anger, or intent to punish her, but instead concern.
She inhaled deeply feeling her breasts rise, and Maurice's eyes
shifted to them as her chest rose with her breath. Kate's fingers
touched her arm, and she grounded -- the room swimming back into
focus. She waved at the Timeman, and he almost reluctantly returned
to his post. The ultimate price. Oh yes, Leigh knew about ultimate
prices. So did Nicole.
Kate withdrew, flashing her a puzzled look, but then stood easily to
the left, again watching. Nicole didn't seem to notice the slight
commotion behind her, her eyes riveted on her father.
"Daddy, I didn't deserve this," she said quietly.
For a moment, the man stood scowling, and then he growled.
"Cunts were made for me to whip. That's all you are."
Nicole closed her eyes again, swaying. For a moment, Leigh was sure
that Nicole was going to faint, but when she opened her eyes, they
hadn't lost their sheen.
"I never asked for it to be this way," she said.
Leigh looked up with pure surprise as Maurice spoke. His voice had
dropped, and had taken on a semblance of serenity.
"Nicole?"
Nicole looked up sharply, too, distrust echoing across her face. But
she held his eyes.
"Untie me. Please? It hurts."
Leigh swallowed, paralysed. The Timeman watched warily from the
doorway, but made no move to interject.
"Baby? I didn't mean to hurt you all those times. I'm sorry. Please
untie me, now, and we can talk about all this."
Nicole shook, her face a mask of indecision, her eyes leaking tears
down her cheeks.
"Why, Daddy? Why?"
"The ropes, Nicole. You know how much they can hurt. These animals
left me here for hours. Please. We can talk, father - daughter, if
you'll just let me go."
In horror, Leigh watched as Nicole stepped forward. Kate began to
step towards the girl, but held back as the Timeman motioned her
from the doorway. Leigh couldn't get her legs to move, even if
Maurice himself had been free and stood in front of her with a meat
cleaver. Her eyes followed Nicole, who walked almost in a dream
towards her father.
"I'm sorry, Daddy," she whispered.
Leigh felt the gorge rise in her belly, but it never made it to her
throat. She forced her eyes away.
"That's it, baby girl, just a few more steps. Then everything will
be all right."
His eyes held maniacal glee -- the gaze of a super villain,
believing that he was about to finally kill Batman, or James Bond.
His body fairly shook as Nicole approached. His eyes riveted to
first Nicole's breasts, then Leigh's, then Kate's, then back to
Nicole's.
Leigh moaned, the sound cutting through the quiet of the bedroom
"Everything will be all right," he crooned.
Nicole approached, and reached up, almost like a sleepwalker, rising
up on her toes. Her breasts brushed his face, and to Leigh it seemed
like Maurice fought a huge internal battle to restrain himself from
licking at the bare flesh, taking Nicole's nipple in between his
teeth and tearing it from her body. She touched the ropes wrapped
around his wrist, almost caressing the bonds there. Leigh wasn't
sure, but she thought that she heard Nicole moan.
Despite her injuries, she moved like a cat. One moment, she was
nearly rubbing up against him in a parody of desire, the next, her
fingernails raked across his face, welts of blood rising up. It took
a moment for the pain to hit him, but when it did, he howled.
Nicole closed her eyes, swaying. Drops of red dripped from her
fingernails.
"You fucking cunt. You fucking cunt. You fucking bitch, cunt,
whore."
Without opening her eyes, Nicole spoke, her words cutting through
his flurry of curses.
"No, Daddy, nothing will ever be all right. Soon enough, you'll have
me again -- I'll have to do whatever it is you want me to. Cry. Beg.
Suck your cock. Suffer. But not now. You won't do this to me. I'm
not your cunt. I'm not your bitch. I'm not your fucking whore."
Tears dripped steadily down her cheeks, but the shakes had left her
body. Kate began to move forward towards Nicole, ignoring the
Timeman's gestures. Leigh felt her own legs moving, without her
conscious direction.
"This is for everything you've ever done, to me, to Kate, to Leigh,
to mother, to every sick fuck that you ever had here."
Her foot rose in a perfect arc, rising from the floor, her instep
rising, rising. He tried to twist, but the ropes held him. Nicole
cried out, in triumph, in pain, in abandon, in freedom, as her toes
unerringly found his testicles, crushing the soft flesh there. In
other circumstances, Leigh might have found his expression funny,
caught between utterances of bitch and cunt, mouth open like a fish
out of water. His scream didn't even register on her ears.
Somehow, Leigh was behind Nicole as she lowered her foot back to the
floor. She was shaking again, her eyes still closed.
"I didn't want it to be this way, Daddy," she whispered.
It took both Kate and Leigh to catch Nicole as her legs collapsed,
her body limp between them, as they lowered her gently to the floor.
Leigh envied Nicole her unconsciousness, as Maurice found his voice.
What emerged wasn't derogatory terms for females, but rather a
wordless scream of defeat and crushing pain.
<---===***===--->
An hour later, Leigh remained seated beside Nicole. She dabbed at
the girl's forehead with a damp cloth. Kate sat quietly, brooding,
in the chair beside the desk. Leigh had no idea where the Timeman
was -- he had not returned since leaving Leigh and Kate to care for
the unconscious girl in the master bedroom.
"She needed that, Leigh," Kate said wearily.
Leigh nodded, still cringing at the memory of the sights that she
should never have witnessed. Kate continued.
"He beat her. Abused her. Will continue to abuse her when we're safe
in our living rooms. She needed to confront that, even if it was
only in this fantasy that forms our reality at the moment. He gave
her that. The Timeman."
Leigh nodded, not able to stop the tears. Nicole hadn't wakened from
her faint yet, though she was showing signs of movement again. Her
fingers grasped at the air almost spastically, then relaxed. Leigh
dabbed at her head again. She glanced down Nicole's body, cringing
at the damage there -- probably a broken rib, maybe two, courtesy of
her own father's shoes, a colourful bruise decorated her face, and a
small round bruise deep into the flesh of her right breast.
"Maurice deserved it. May he rot in hell."
"Do you think he killed the bastard?" Leigh asked. She wasn't sure
that she wanted to know the answer to that.
Kate simply shook her head. "I don't think he wants to kill anyone.
He plays with us, but as far as I know he's never shot anyone -- and
he's been tempted to."
"I know," Leigh whispered.
Nicole murmured something incoherent, then her voice rose in almost
a shriek. "No, Daddy. Please, no."
Leigh pulled Nicole up, and held her, surprised at the force of
Nicole's trembling.
"She needed it," Kate said simply.
Leigh nodded slowly. She supposed that she understood.
Suddenly, she became aware that Nicole's body wasn't quite as limp
as it had been, and a bare arm had snaked up to grasp almost
desperately at her shoulder.
"Shhhh, it's over," Leigh said. "You did good. Somehow, you beat
him. It's over. It's over."
After a moment, she felt Nicole sobbing into her shoulder, the
wetness of her tears kissing her bare skin.
"It'll never be over for me," Nicole whispered. Then after a moment,
she pushed back, her face still bruised and covered with tears. She
glanced around, perhaps assuring herself that Maurice wasn't a
danger to her any more. She sniffled, and incredibly, she found a
smile.
"I needed that," Nicole said quietly.
Leigh wasn't fully certain of what Nicole had needed -- the release
of confronting her father, or the contact of Leigh's skin, the hug
comforting and close, and for once, not sexually charged -- but even
the set of her body screamed that something important had occurred
for the naked girl. Sparks of life had returned to her eyes, even as
tears still fell.
Leigh found a smile, too, and held out her arms. Nicole fell into
them, while Kate watched with a smile from her chair. She mouthed,
"See ..." and Leigh cradled Nicole for a long, long time.
<---===***===--->
"He's gone," the Timeman said simply.
Leigh wasn't quite sure what that meant, but she felt better,
knowing that she wouldn't have to face Maurice again. At least, she
hoped that would be the ultimate result of all this.
Nicole shifted in Leigh's lap, wiping at her eyes. She gazed at the
Timeman, and sniffled.
"Thank-you," she whispered.
The Timeman smiled, and slowly shut the door, leaving the three
girls to recover at their own pace. Leigh had no idea where he would
go, or what Andrea and Monique would be subjected to in their
absence, but she tried to concentrate on comforting the girl in her
lap.
After a time, Kate rose, and relieved Leigh. Nicole switched laps
willingly enough, and Leigh watched them for a long time, Kate
stroking at Nicole's hair.
Finally, the tears stopped, and Nicole sat up. She wiped at her
eyes, and glanced at Kate and then Leigh.
"For everything. Thank-you, too."
Leigh almost laughed, but managed to keep it inside. Instead, she
nodded gravely. For some reason, she felt like it should be
reversed, her thanking Nicole -- perhaps for showing her the real
meaning of courage.
A smile spread across Nicole's lips, and she pushed herself to her
feet.
"I feel a lot better," she announced. Kate uncoiled her legs with a
groan, then stood beside Nicole. "I guess we should join the others
now. Start whatever it is that's supposed to happen today."
Leigh felt it, too. Their confrontation with Maurice was only the
appetiser. It was going to be a long day.
Nicole held out her hands, and without thought, Leigh grasped her
right, and Kate her left. Together, they walked out of the room, and
down the hallway. Soft voices rose up from below, mostly feminine,
but the occasional undertone from the Timeman. At least it wasn't
girls screaming.
Nicole glanced back at her bedroom once, and shivered, but she
continued to walk without breaking her stride.
Somewhere inside that Chamber of Horrors stood a man, his hand
lowering his zipper in anticipation of a soft mouth. Except Nicole
wasn't in there any longer, her hands handcuffed, and her knees
aching. Not yet, anyway.
They descended to the living room.
It had been a bad idea -- a terrible idea -- but it somehow had
turned out. Leigh felt as if a crushing weight had been lifted from
her heart -- a terror faced, a great wrong righted.
She felt like singing as her bare feet danced down the stairs
towards another unknown. But she'd survive. Of that she was sure.
Chapter 125
© Copyright 2003 -
Crimson Dragon - All Rights Reserved
For once, he hadn't made her tie up the others. It was something
that Kate hated to do, and perhaps he knew that -- but it was beyond
her why he had spared her the indignity of binding the other others
this time. In fact, it kind of made her nervous. It was bad enough
that she would be restrained, but to force her to participate in the
bondage of the others seemed unfair somehow. Problem was, her
fingers knew knots -- always had. Kate looked up from her bare
knees, pale against the carpet upon which she knelt. She watched as
the Timeman crouched beside Leigh, whispering something to the other
girl. Leigh shook her head once, but didn't seem to resist, folding
her arms behind her back like Nicole, Andrea and Monique had before
her.
Perhaps, today, the Timeman wanted to be doubly sure that the girls
were secure. Kate didn't understand why -- could only feel the
undercurrent of something important happening. It felt like a train
approaching, rumbling the ground under her, announcing its presence
in a subtle bone rattling gait. One didn't know if it was an
elephant, a rocket, or a train coming, but it didn't matter. Any of
them would crush her, bound to the tracks.
He didn't bind Leigh's ankles, leaving her as Monique and Andrea and
Nicole, kneeling easily, their bare feet obscured by their bare
thighs. Kate shifted her stance uncomfortably. It wasn't easy to
kneel for any length of time. That was one of the unexpected
surprises of this place. One learned that many ordinary things that
seemed harmless, might not be.
She watched as the Timeman wrapped ropes around Leigh's upper arms,
encasing her breasts above and below. Leigh didn't really need a
bra, none of the captives did, Kate noted, but the ropes seemed
almost to be supporting Leigh like the uncomfortable underwear did.
Kate smiled ruefully; she missed her underwear sometimes.
The Timeman ran his fingers over the valleys that the ropes created
across Leigh's bare chest, while Leigh visibly shivered, but didn't
protest. Apparently satisfied, he pushed himself to his feet and
returned to that damnable backpack, drawing out more lengths of rope
from a seemingly infinite supply. Kate felt her sex throb, and her
breasts tingle. She closed her eyes, refusing to watch as he
approached her, swinging the ropes between his fingers. Through the
quiet, only the soft breathing of the girls, and Leigh's groan as
she shifted position minutely, reached Kate's ears.
When Kate opened her eyes, he had fallen to his knees beside her,
ignoring the other bound girls behind him. They weren't a threat.
Even free, they weren't a threat. Kate suspected that he was very
aware of that.
Without being told, Kate shifted her arms behind her back,
uncomfortably aware of the effect it had on her chest. But, as
usual, the Timeman ignored her bared breasts, and kept his eyes on
her face. Kate wasn't fooled. If he hadn't been interested in her
body, she would be clothed right now. He merely kept it civil when
the girls were watching him, she suspected. She had no idea why --
she couldn't do much about it if he chose to rake his eyes over her
nudity. But he didn't, and for some reason it made her feel slightly
more comfortable while she knelt in front of him, arms folded behind
her back.
"I won't fight with you," she said quietly. "But can you tell me
why?"
"Why what?"
Kate glanced down at his jeans, then back to his face. He hadn't
moved to tie her, yet. But he would. And her body tingled
treasonously in anticipation of just that. She hated the feelings
this stirred up most of all.
"Why do you need to tie us up? We aren't any threat. You know that.
We've done everything you asked -- even kept you and Nicole company
with the asshole."
He frowned at her last word, and Kate swallowed heavily.
"Sorry, I meant 'animal'. It just slipped out."
He smiled then, and leaned in somewhat conspiratorially.
"You were right the first time."
Kate smiled, and knelt still. Slowly, he moved around her and began
to wrap ropes around her wrists. Almost out of habit now, she moved
her hands to accommodate his movements, making it easier for him to
wrap the ropes about her limbs.
(I shouldn't be helping him.)
(What will it gain to make it difficult. You'll let him as soon
as he begins to hit Leigh, and you know it.)
Kate settled herself, concentrating on ignoring the sensations in
her clitoris that rose up as her arm movements steadily restricted.
"Why do you want us like this? You're going to hurt us, aren't you?"
He grunted in reply somewhere behind her. After a moment, he began
to move to her right, as free as the girls were not.
Experimentally, she tried to move her right hand. The fingers worked
fine, but the arm itself was securely anchored to her left, folded
neatly and quite uselessly behind her back. She pulled again, and
realised that there would be no escaping this. Not that she would
have tried, even if it had been loose. She felt vulnerable and
helpless -- which of course was only a true reflection on her entire
situation. The ropes only made it slightly more personal.
She felt him begin to wrap her upper arms, in a mirror image of
Leigh. His fingers brushed at the soft skin of her upper breasts,
and then tickled her below. Sparks of electricity raced down her
spine, and she stifled a small moan.
When he was done, he again moved into her line of sight, and
crouched easily in front of her.
"Try to get out."
Kate didn't even need to pull at her arms to know that there was no
hope of that. Not without help. Instead, she arched her back, and
attempted to reach a knot -- any knot -- behind her, stretching her
fingers to their limit. She knew it would be a useless gesture, but
something inside her demanded that she try. And not only because
he'd asked her.
"I can't," she said wearily. Then after a moment, "I wasn't free
before you tied me up either, though."
He sighed, and then lowered himself to the ground, crossing his legs
like an Indian. Kate watched him, envious of his physical freedom,
and wishing that she might shift her stance to mirror his. Two
problems with that, though. First, he might punish her for breaking
the kneeling position that he'd demanded, and second, she would be
frightfully exposed. Not that she had any privacy anyway, and not
that he constantly ogled her nakedness, but sitting cross-legged was
-- pushing her envelope. She would, if it were demanded of her, but
she wasn't about to increase her exposure of her own accord. She was
suddenly keenly aware of the exposure of her breasts.
"Kate?"
For some reason, she had expected him to call her 'Katie', and she
was somehow warmed that ever since that first encounter in the
school's front yard, so long ago -- why had she been under that tree
again? -- and she'd told him off for using the familiar form of her
name, he'd never used it again.
"Mmmhmmmm," she murmured. Truthfully, she was more trying to ignore
the protests of her thighs, and the tingles in her arms, than
anything he was saying to her.
"It's beginning," he said quietly. Kate was sure that the other
girls wouldn't be able to hear his words to her, anymore than she
had heard the words he'd spoken to each as he bound them.
"Beginning?" she whispered.
He nodded, his face pinched almost in pain -- but perhaps
exhaustion, or worry. "The beginning of the end."
Kate's eyes widened. "You're going to let us go?"
He smiled easily, but instead of answering her, he began a new tack.
Kate mentally shifted gears to listen.
"I don't know what's going to happen today, but I suspect that today
may be harder on you, than the others. I need your cooperation --
not only for me, but for everyone."
"I've already promised to do whatever you want ..." Kate said
quietly.
He nodded. "And for the most part, you've done well. Today, I fear,
won't be easy on anyone, but you most of all."
"You're going to hurt me. Aren't you." Kate suddenly knew, with
utmost certainty that her words weren't questions. She closed her
eyes, and tried to control her breathing.
When she re-opened her eyes, she was surprised at his face. It
didn't show eager anticipation as it had in the past; it wasn't the
face of a man who might tape lit cigarettes to a cheerleaders
nipples to scare her for his own gratification. Rather, his face
projected worry, both for himself and for her, as if he were
shouldering a burden that perhaps had grown large for his shoulders.
Almost comically, she felt like offering to hug him, which with her
arms behind her back was physically impossible.
His voice came slowly, and without inflection. Slowly, he shook his
head.
"I hope not, Kate. I don't want to -- not this time. But I may have
to."
It made no sense to her at all, but she nodded anyway. Even while
her previous pain had stirred up frightening sensations, mostly
centred between her legs, she didn't like pain -- it was as if her
body enjoyed betraying her mind -- it was as if her body had found
another mind to control it, one centred outside of herself,
somewhere in the mists of time. Like Leigh, she was nearly
constantly aroused, and her body ached with it. The ropes on her
arms, her vulnerability, her helplessness, her lack of control
didn't help. Not at all.
And out of the five girls here, Kate knew that somehow, if any of
them needed to provide a target for pain, she could bear it better
than the others. And she would -- somehow she was surer of the
outcome of the day than the Timeman even was. She sensed it, like a
medium channelling some kind of psychic flow. Something was going to
happen today, and she was instrumental to it. And she couldn't fail.
She didn't understand how she, a seventeen year old high school
sophomore could make a difference, but it had been thrust upon her
with one short statement: "I hope not, Kate. I don't want to -- not
this time. But I may have to."
She believed him. While she knelt in the safe living room, naked with
arms secured behind her back, she believed him.
Slowly, he pushed himself up, then taking her arm at the elbow,
helped her to her bare feet. Her thighs sighed as they uncoiled,
and she shook her legs as he moved to help the other girls to their
feet.
<---===***===--->
She'd always been taught that she should never wrap anything around
her neck, and as a general rule, she obeyed that wise sentiment.
Unfortunately, she didn't have any mobility in her arms, and when he
lined her up with the others, leading the line, and wrapped the
coarse rope about her throat, she couldn't even find the strength to
protest the danger of it.
Of course, her objections, overall, to the indignity were more based
on her comfort than real danger. Having the rope wrapped around her
throat was probably at the same risk level as walking around with
her hands tied behind her back -- one stumble and she could easily
break bones. She wouldn't stumble. Couldn't.
He tightened the rope about her throat, not tightly, but enough to
make her aware of its presence. It reminded her of a similar
restraint in a school yard, holding her to a wall by her neck,
watching Karen, oh God, Karen, tortured and tormented, unable to
help, or comfort the girl. Karen was, of course, now, blissfully
unaware of any of her suffering, but the association welled up to
grasp at Kate's heart as he secured the last knot to hang in the
base of Kate's throat.
The rope extended back over Kate's shoulder, connected to Leigh's
throat, then back to Andrea's, Monique's and finally Nicole's. Kate
shivered and pulled idly at her arms. They were beginning to ache,
but she knew that they would be screaming for movement if she were
left like this for any extended period of time. While she hoped that
wouldn't be the case, her precognition of the situation was more
realistic.
He gathered up the end of the line, perhaps four paces in front of
her. He hefted it in his hand; Kate felt the movement through her
unprotected throat. If he pulled, she was going to follow him. And
Leigh would follow her, and Andrea would ...
"Is everyone ready?"
Kate swallowed, then found the courage to speak.
"Is this really necessary?" she asked. The arms were probably
unavoidable, but the throat tether seemed excessive. "We'll follow
you willingly, you don't need to leash us like this."
He hesitated for a moment, and Kate's heart skipped a beat, honestly
believing that he might reconsider the rope joining the girls.
Instead, he shrugged.
"I could use nipple clamps to string you all together."
Kate gulped, and shook her head quickly. Her nipples ached even
thinking about it, and the shivers of anticipation through her body
bore testament to her growing arousal. While she might be able to
take nipple clamps, she doubted if the rest of the girls would
appreciate it. It was beyond her perceptive abilities to know that a
similar shiver at the suggestion had flowed from her, along the rope
at her throat and into each girl behind her, to more or less
degrees.
"Please, no. The throat leash will be fine, sir," she said quickly.
She still didn't understand the need to connect them all, or lead
them, but it wasn't unusual for her to be confused by her captor.
Most of the time, she believed that he did it on purpose, to
intentionally keep them all off balance. And even knowing this,
didn't help. Kate felt off balance.
He nodded, and repeated his first question:
"Is everyone ready?"
There was a low mumble of assent, some of it tinged with an edge of
discomfort -- Kate's arms weren't likely the only ones that ached
already from the restraints.
"Why are we doing this?" Kate asked once more as he tugged the rope
connected to her. She stumbled into motion, her feet automatically
finding the pace. The other girls fell into step behind her.
He stopped for a moment, and Kate felt Leigh nearly bump into her as
she halted as well.
"It's the beginning of the end," he said.
It made no sense to Kate, but she nodded anyway. This time, she
began to walk before the rope tightened against her throat.
As she stepped across the threshold, still following the Timeman,
fresh air caressed her face and filled her lungs. And while it felt
nice to be outside again, she was suddenly conscious of her
nakedness, her vulnerability. She glanced around, as he halted for
a moment at the top of the marble stairs.
Somewhere, she felt eyes upon her -- and they didn't belong to the
Timeman or the other girls behind her. Something. Somewhere.
She shook off the feeling, as she descended the stairs, her bare
feet registering the texture differences as they moved from the
marble to the rougher concrete of the walkway.
Somewhere to the left, a black squirrel scampered through the sea of
green that was the lawn.
Kate tilted her head up as she walked, soaking in the sunshine. At
the gate, they halted for a moment, while the Timeman glanced up and
down the road as if expecting an ambush, or something. His demeanour
worried Kate for a moment, but then he relaxed, turning to look at
the mansion, and then across the grounds. Nothing except the rogue
squirrel stirred.
"Where are you, little minx?" the Timeman murmured.
Kate ignored him, understanding that the comment wasn't really
directed at anybody or anything in particular. She looked up at the
house, wondering if she would ever see it, or its interior again. If
not, she would miss it; it had been home of sorts, and she was
finding that stability, above all else, was important to her. What
else did she honestly have?
Then the rope tightened again, and Kate began to move, away from the
mansion, and away from certainty. Her heart beat insistently in her
chest, and her clitoris sang out to her. He guided the girls out to
the middle of the road, where the asphalt soaked up the unchanging
noon heat and radiated it back into the soles of her naked feet and
toes. It felt comforting, if a little harsh. She would have
preferred to walk on the grass, or better yet in running shoes, but
in the Timeman's agitated state, she was loathe to capture his
attention any more than necessary, with useless protests and
complaints. If he wanted to walk down the middle of the road with
his train of naked, and barefoot, beauties, then that is precisely
what she'd do. She pulled once more at her bonds, but they remained
infuriatingly secure.
She didn't know where they were going, or what she'd find there, but
it was the beginning of the end. Whatever that meant.
Chapter 126
© Copyright 2003 -
Crimson Dragon - All Rights Reserved
In each passing moment, Kate's arms protested more and more loudly.
She shifted, and tried rolling her shoulders, but the steady ache in
her upper arms, and the numbness invading her hands rose in a
constant clamour of discomfort bordering on pain. Perhaps the
Timeman wasn't aware of what he had wrought upon her, and likely the
rest of the girls in the small train, but Kate suspected that even
had he known, it would either have made him aroused, or he simply
wouldn't have cared. They were tied like this for a reason, even if
it was a reason that would make no sense to her, or anyone else but
the Timeman, himself.
With a groan, she dodged around a Ford pickup, a small stone
catching the ball of her right foot. She stumbled, and cried out,
but the stone worked loose, and as far as she could tell, hadn't
broken the tender skin of her feet. The asphalt was beginning to
feel like sandpaper beneath her bare feet, and her throat was dry.
The noon sun beat down on her exposed skin, evaporating any hope at
coolness from her mild perspiration. Her breathing had steadily
increased in tempo until it matched the beating of her heart,
struggling to keep ahead of the fairly quick pace set by the
Timeman.
In the Ford, a man bearing the typical look of an urban blue collar
worker -- a soup strainer moustache, and a cocked, and dirty
baseball cap topping blue overalls, sat frozen, staring out at them
as they passed quietly, only the patter of bare feet and the rasp of
inhalation marking their passage.
Earlier, they had passed a red bus, stopped for passengers, a pretty
blonde girl about to board. Kate had dodged around countless cars,
and even pedestrians when they had been forced to move from the road
to the sidewalk for a while. But mostly, she followed the dashed
yellow markings flowing by between her bare feet, marking off
distance wordlessly as she led the other girls towards their unknown
destination.
She wanted to ask the man leading her where they were going -- how
much further she would have to endure the touch of asphalt, and the
ache in her arms -- but she didn't dare. Besides, she had a feeling
that she might need to conserve her breath; asking useless questions
would use energy, energy she might need later. The pace continued,
gruelling and quick. Mindlessly, she placed one bare foot in front
of the other until she nearly bumped into him.
Surprised, she looked up. The Timeman had halted between a purple
mini-van, and a biker perched on a red and silver Honda motorcycle.
The Timeman glanced almost nervously down the roadway, then ahead
before sighing. Kate's eyes were drawn to the leather clad biker,
shivering. Her immediate impulse was to cover herself, knowing that
if the man was alive, he would probably be drooling over the small
entourage of naked women stopped and nervous beside his bike. She
felt exposed, and anxious, until the Timeman grunted and tugged her
towards the side of the road. Slowly, her breathing was returning to
normal, her lungs drawing in cool air, and settling her heart.
He stopped again, and dropped the end of the rope. It fell to dangle
from Kate's throat, between her breasts to tickle the tops of her
thighs. The girls remained wary, shifting their weight uncomfortably
where he'd left them. Monique's eyes shone with tears, and the
former lawyer pulled nearly constantly at her bound arms. But she
didn't complain, and lowered her eyes as Kate tried to make contact,
hoping that her eyes conveyed a sense of shared misery.
The Timeman seemed agitated, and he nearly danced upon the concrete,
his shoes shuffling as he turned slowly, his eyes upon the myriad of
humanity, cars and pedestrians lining the thoroughfare upon which
they walked.
Kate cleared her throat, and he looked up at her sharply, as if she
should know not to disturb him. She didn't want to disturb him, knew
what the consequences might be of that, but she gathered her courage
and spoke almost in a whisper.
"Please, sir?"
He ceased his scanning and regarded her with almost an expression of
exasperation. Her arms screamed, and her feet ached. She might be
able to deal with one of them, if he allowed it. She glanced around
too, suddenly sure that someone was watching her. Her skin crawled,
but then the sensation eased after a second.
"Please. We need to rest. I know you won't untie us, but my feet
hurt. Can we rest -- just for a moment -- in the grass? Please?"
She hated the pathetic whine that had entered her voice, but he
didn't seem to notice. He waved them over.
"Just keep quiet. Understand?"
Kate gratefully nodded. Since she was nominally in the lead, the
rope still connecting the girls to one another, she stepped off the
sidewalk and into the coarse grass near the boulevard. The grass was
not nearly as fine and well maintained as the lawn of the mansion,
but it still felt like a piece of heaven as her bare feet sank from
the harshness of the concrete into the softness of the green. Kate
sighed, and after ensuring that all the girls had stepped from the
concrete, she lowered herself slowly to the ground, first to her
knees, then to a sitting position. The shortness of the leads forced
Leigh to bend and follow, then the others, all in turn. Kate didn't
think the others would mind, and each wore an expression of relief
as they settled.
Kate stretched out her legs, the grass and clover tickling her bare
thighs and calves. A soft sigh rose unbidden to her lips. She wanted
to lean back on her arms, but even the thought of that made her ache
for the use of her hands, if only for a moment. But while he'd
allowed them to rest, she knew somehow that asking to be released
even for five minutes wasn't going to fly.
She glanced up. The Timeman had moved into the middle of the roadway
again, and was scanning. She has no idea for what he was looking,
but he seemed intent. Then he was gone, she could see his bobbing
head between vehicles as he moved back the way they had come.
A Toyota, similar to the one she had driven earlier to get to the
Westin and the mansion, sat frozen in front of the boulevard. A girl
of perhaps ten watched bored out the back window, her eyes blank and
unseeing.
Kate sighed again.
(What the hell. He's gone for now, and the girls won't care.)
She shifted, and though her face caught a small blush as she moved,
she folded her legs into a cross-legged position. She was very
aware of herself gaping open and exposed, but the position felt
wonderful. She wasn't walking, and she wasn't worrying. Not now. If
he wanted her to act like a fucking lady, then he shouldn't have
tied her up like an animal.
He returned after five minutes, flushed and breathing hard. Kate
wondered idly where he'd run, and how far. But the answers weren't
offered, and she knew better than to ask. He almost seemed angry --
not with the girls, they had followed his instructions to the
letter, not talking, not even crying as they rested in the
heaven-sent grass.
"On your feet," he said. If he noticed that most of them were
careless about their modesty, he didn't show it. His eyes remained
on Kate's face.
She swallowed, knowing that she couldn't rise without help. Not with
her arms like this. Nevertheless, she rocked forward, and tried to
get her feet under her. It failed, and he seemed to come to his
senses without her having to ask for help. One by one, he pulled
them up, almost roughly, and set them all in a row, as they'd been
before.
Monique braved it. As he helped her up, she asked, her voice almost
breaking.
"Please, it hurts. You have no idea how much it hurts."
He stared at her, his face a mask of apathy. He honestly didn't care
if she was suffering. Kate knew this with certainty. As long as they
weren't dying, he had more important fish to fry. And them being
uncomfortable, for some reason, was a part of that particular cruel
plan. Either her suffering was important to whatever twisted plan
he had concocted for them, or he simply had other, more important,
things on his mind.
"Please, at least let us walk in the grass? Please?" Monique almost
begged, but her voice only broke on the last word. It was such a
simple request.
Instead of answering the former lawyer, he stepped back, and sighed.
When he finally spoke, he growled.
"You'll walk where I tell you to." He paused, regarding Monique's
face, her disappointment falling as a steady stream of tears. Kate
felt like crying, too, but she managed to will it back.
(It will be over soon. It will be over soon. Please let it
be over soon.)
Her arms wholeheartedly agreed. Kate shivered. Somehow, she knew
that her arms would be the least of her concerns. Whatever else was
coming, this was only the beginning.
"Please? Damn you. We've done everything ..."
He touched Monique's face, and the naked woman ceased talking. He
leaned towards her, no sympathy evident on his face. Kate hadn't
seen that particular expression on his face since he'd played with
Karen, taping cigarettes to her nipples. His gaze frightened Kate,
and evidently Monique. She whimpered, and turned her eyes away.
"Would you like to be gagged, too?" he asked simply. "And if I have
to gag you, the whole lot of you will find yourselves silenced. I
don't want to, but I need you all to be quiet. Understand?"
Kate shivered. Her jaw hadn't forgotten the taste of the ball,
stretching her mouth wide, robbing her of the most basic
communication. Please, no.
Monique was afraid to even agree verbally. Tears washed quietly down
her cheeks, a flush of anger or embarrassment flooding her face.
Slowly, she nodded. Yes, she understood. Her acquiescence perhaps
saving the rest more discomfort for a while at least.
He nodded slowly, and turned from her. Kate thought Monique would
collapse as he dismissed her, but somehow, Monique stayed on her
feet. Monique's toes dug into the grass, either in an effort at
balance or an effort to remember the sweetness of the soft against
her skin. If she'd fallen, Kate wasn't sure what the Timeman would
have done, but thinking about it only sent shivers down her spine.
Monique, while understandably unnerved, seemed capable of movement.
The Timeman glanced back up the street, and Kate felt unseen eyes
again brush over her. She stepped back as the Timeman reached for
the leash, minimising the contact of his fingers against her belly.
He flashed a quick smile at her, which had more of an effect of
furthering her unease, and then the tug transmitted to her throat.
Kate stumbled forward, her eyes stinging, but not tearing, yet. She
winced as her feet moved from the softer grass to the harshness of
the pavement. Slowly, the other girls followed, Nicole moaning as
she stepped last onto the asphalt.
They moved out into the middle of the street again, the yellow
dashes seeming to fade into infinity. Kate began to walk again,
trying to ignore the ache settling into her arms. She could barely
feel her fingers, and hoped fervently that the ropes weren't
permanently damaging her hands. Her fingers still moved, though, and
she didn't even bother stretching to see if she could reach any
knots. She couldn't.
Kate grit her teeth, and followed the Timeman, the yellow marking
off the paces. Her arms screamed, and her feet complained, but she
felt they were nearing whatever destination. They had to be.
<---===***===--->
It wasn't the same mall that Monique had visited with the Timeman --
this one was an imposing double story structure with vast parking
lots and more expensive stores buried within. There was a theatre
here, along with one of those overbearing book stores, a couple of
anchor department stores, and various boutiques. Kate looked up as
the texture of the pavement shifted, cars parked in neat rows rather
than in haphazard confusion in the middle of major city arteries.
Tall panes of reflective windows greeted the small caravan, as the
girls plodded wearily between Jettas and Civics and Corollas. Kate
wanted to ask him what they were doing here, but her breathing had
fallen into a ragged rhythm, rasping in and out of her chest. It
seemed like too much effort to request information that she knew
that he would not provide to her. She was here, and that was enough.
She could only hope that he might release them for a while, let them
rest.
By dead reckoning, it felt like she'd been walking for hours, but
perhaps it had been the equivalent of an hour at most. She shivered,
her thighs aching now more than her feet. Her arms had fallen numb
some time ago, and the absence of pain there both relieved and
frightened her.
He held the door for them, a testament to their helplessness. In
some ways, it almost seemed chivalrous, but in others, she wished
that she'd been able to open and hold the door for herself.
He picked back up the leash as Nicole passed the doorway, leading
them into the interior of the mall, harsh asphalt shifting to cool,
smooth marble under bare feet.
She had no idea where they were going, but she felt it strongly. It
would be here. Somewhere.
Chapter 127
© Copyright 2003 -
Crimson Dragon - All Rights Reserved
They silently passed a fountain, its water frozen in time, children
surrounding it like a maypole. An image, unbidden rose into her
mind. Monique stood naked and shivering in the middle of the
fountain -- no, not this one -- another fountain -- her hands cuffed
behind her back. Her restraint seemed kind when compared to that
which she now suffered.
She didn't know where the images came from, but she suspected that
something outside of herself, something even outside of the Timeman,
had implanted the vision into her cortex. She shook her head, and
the fountain in the mall, the real one, shifted back into her
perceptions.
There were eyes here, and something beyond the sightless staring of
the thousands of people that she dodged around almost without
thought. Her nudity, and her exposure, and her discomfort all melded
as though she were finally in control of herself. Of course, it was
only an illusion, but the sense of being watched had intensified as
she moved quietly through the concourses.
The rope continued to pull her along, tightening when she slowed.
The mall surrounded her in silent company as she moved across the
marble.
<---===***===--->
The rope leading her slackened, and then dropped. In surprise, Kate
stopped, and Leigh bumped gently into her from behind with a soft
"Oooof."
"Don't do that without signalling," Leigh whispered, and for some
reason the comment brought a smile to Kate's lips. She nearly
laughed, but somehow stopped it before it began. If it had emerged
from her lips, she wouldn't have been able to stop -- she knew that
with utmost certainty. And only God knew what the Timeman would have
done to stop her from laughing. Kate shivered at the thought.
"Sorry," she muttered, and felt Leigh back away a touch.
She turned her attention to the Timeman. He was moving away from the
girls, stepping quickly, glancing about himself almost nervously.
Kate felt the unseen eyes brush over her skin again, and suddenly
realised that the Timeman, perhaps even more than she, had felt it,
too. She nearly turned to tell Leigh, but then refrained as he cast
her a withering look.
Sometimes, she thought that maybe reading thoughts came as a package
with Time Control, but then she realised that he merely wanted her
quiet as asked -- he'd probably seen her minute movement to turn
towards Leigh, and taken steps to avoid the situation.
In front of the girls stood a small kiosk -- a newspaper stand where
one might buy snacks, or a Star, or Sun, or a Chatelaine. Kate's
eyes swept over the magazine rack, automatically averting as they
encountered various skin magazines -- Penthouse, Playboy, and Gent.
She sighed. He appeared to be walking directly towards the magazine
rack. With a shiver, she suddenly understood -- he was going to take
the publication and make them pose like the models within. Giddiness
rose up in her again, and she had to work to force it back down. She
hoped that her pose wouldn't involve an open crotch shot. The
thought sobered her and she continued to watch as he ignored the
magazines, and slipped out of sight down an aisle.
Kate lowered her gaze. What the hell would he need with skin
magazines, when he had a completely docile train of beautiful girls
standing and waiting for him in the middle of the concourse. She
shivered, and only raised her eyes when she heard the soft patter of
his shoes on the marble.
He eyes lit up as she saw what he carried, an inadvertent sigh
escaping her lips.
He carried a bottle of Evian spring water, it's plastic shiny with
condensation.
He held it up to Kate, and she closed her eyes.
"Please," she whispered.
Her throat was as dry as a desert, almost painful as she breathed.
She heard the top snap as he twisted it.
"Sip. Don't gulp."
She only half understood the word. The half she understood
immediately was that all five of the girls would need to share the
bottle. It was large, but all of them were thirsty. The second half
of understanding only came as the cool, sweet liquid passed down her
parched throat to burn her belly.
At first, she thought that he'd poisoned her, but then full
understanding slammed into her as her stomach convulsed. He pulled
the lip of the bottle from her lips, and stood back watching her
warily. With an effort, she managed to keep the contents of her
stomach where it belonged, but understood that if she'd drank the
water any quicker, she would have been violently sick. He'd saved
her that.
She nearly raised her head to thank him, but he had already moved
past her to Leigh, whispering the same instructions.
He made four passes along their line, feeding the girls sips of
water until the bottle was empty. While it wasn't enough, it helped,
and Kate found that she felt better. Not her feet, or her thighs or
her arms, but her spirit seemed to rise with the small act of
kindness.
Almost casually, he tossed the empty bottle towards the store where
he'd stolen it. Before it touched the ground, it disappeared. Kate
gasped, and then turned towards him. She'd never get used to time
control.
He reached forward, and grasped the leash. Before it tightened again
around her throat, Kate opened her mouth and heard words flow.
"Thank-you," she said quietly.
He nodded, but didn't pull her forward. He seemed to sense that she
wanted to ask something more.
"Please, can we eat something? A chocolate bar? Anything?"
He leaned towards her, his voice only at a whisper.
"There will be time for that later. You only want to rest, and we
can't. Not right now. You've had your rest."
Instinctively, she knew what he'd said was true. She really wasn't
all that hungry, especially after she'd almost vomited. But tears
found her eyes anyway. It wasn't the denial, as her absolute
helplessness that pushed her misery into physical manifestation.
He touched her cheek, almost tenderly. She wanted to twist away, but
she didn't, instead taking whatever small kindness that was offered
her. Her arms ached in the numbness. She was deathly worried about
them.
"Where are we going?" Kate whispered.
"We'll be there soon. I promise."
"I can't feel my arms anymore. Are you going to untie us when we get
there?"
He sighed, and moved around behind her. Through the numbness she
felt him tracing some of the ropes holding her. Her arms felt cold
and dead. Then she sensed him move to check Leigh.
He moved back in front of Kate and shook his head.
"I'm sure it's uncomfortable, Kate," he said. She nodded in definite
confirmation. Uncomfortable was an understatement. It wouldn't have
made any difference, but she almost wished that she'd fought a
little when he'd tied her. "But it's not doing any damage. It hurts,
and your arms are a little red, but it'll be hours more before
anything is in permanent danger. I have no interest in permanently
hurting any of you."
"It's more than uncomfortable, sir. When are you going to untie us?
Please? You don't need to have us like this."
He laughed, but it was kind. "I'm afraid the rest of them are stuck
for a while. You? I'm going to have to untie soon."
Relief flooded into her, until she realised that the rest would
remain like that. Slowly, she shook her head.
"If you aren't going to release everyone ..."
"I know. You don't want to be untied. I'm afraid the martyr routine
won't work this time. Trust me. They won't envy you."
Kate paled, uncertainty flipping through her. She shivered, but
stood still as he reached again for the dropped leash. This time,
he almost allowed his fingers to touch her thigh longer than was
strictly necessary. He smiled at her and held the leash up.
She didn't wait for the insistent tug on her throat. She stepped
forward. She felt a little better, in a way, the water washing some
of her fears away, but she had the uneasy feeling that it was the
calm before the storm. He'd practically promised to make her life
more miserable.
And she had no doubt, whatsoever, that he was capable of that. She
pulled at her bound arms again, wincing, and realised that she
wasn't sure if she could take more misery than this. She placed one
foot in front of the other, and followed mutely as he led the train
of girls towards their ultimate destination.
Chapter 128
© Copyright 2003 -
Crimson Dragon - All Rights Reserved
It was the final straw of humiliation. She watched silently as he
placed the leash easily around the top rung of the bench, knotting
it. It would have been so simple to untie that knot and run, if her
hands weren't numb and the fingers difficult to move. Oh, and if her
arms weren't folded behind her back, thrusting her naked breasts
outward like a stripper parody. The leash reminded her of a dog
leash, nothing but a pretty animal, secured by a tether, unable to
free herself. If he wanted, she would be forced to stand here, naked
and in pain for eternity.
Tears found her eyes, and two leaked past her lids to slide slowly
down her cheeks. She couldn't even brush them away, but she managed
to blink past the remainder, keeping her eyesight for the next phase
of whatever the Timeman had planned for them.
She felt Leigh behind her, touch her bound arms with her breasts, an
approximation of an armless embrace. Nothing more.
Leigh's voice whispered in her ear, soft and gentle.
"Hold on, Kate. Hold on."
Kate suddenly wanted to kiss Leigh, on the lips, her body crying out
to find comfort in the other girl. Instinctively, she knew somehow
that Leigh wouldn't object to such things, but here and now probably
wasn't the right time or place.
"I'll make it. Somehow," Kate whispered back. Leigh didn't move
back, the comforting pressure of her breasts pressing into the ropes
that held Kate. And it was enough.
They were imprisoned in front of the movie theatre. Kate couldn't
tell if it was a Famous Players or a Cinemax, but whatever the case,
it was playing a mixture of shows ranging from the latest romance,
to the "Attack of the Clones." She'd hadn't seen any of the
pictures, but she doubted if she was here to see any show. At least
not any movies that the theatre normally would show. Behind the
girls, the expanse of a Chapters, or an Indigo book store spread
out, the shoppers frozen and staring as they picked through the
myriad of book laid out along the concourse in bins that proclaimed
"Special Sale." To Kate's right, down the length of the corridor,
rose a frozen escalator, whose treads had pressed cruelly into her
bare feet as the girls had carefully picked their way down it. The
escalator had gone up, in a former life, the few passengers on the
now-still staircase faced in the opposite direction to the
descending girls.
The mall seemed a little more populated here than where they'd
entered. Kate glanced around -- noon shoppers, mostly women,
wandered with bored expressions. She would be willing to bet that
the women would be a mite more interested in their surroundings if
they could see the small knot of naked girls standing uneasily in
front of the movie house. A small noise caught her attention, and
she swivelled her eyes to the entrance of the movie theatre.
The entrance of the movie theatre was composed of a raised platform,
ringed by a safety railing of painted wrought iron. Stairs rose to
each side of the platform, as if they were leading to a stage. The
entranceway stood perhaps six or six and a half feet above the mall
corridor in which Kate now stood. If her arms were free and she
reached up, she could probably reach the base of the railing, but
not the top. Surrounding the entrance were perhaps ten posters
advertising coming features, and current shows. The theatre
apparently sported double, or triple, Dolby Digital Surround Sound
-- not that Kate was likely to ever enjoy it, at least not in this
world. Though she knew it was impossible, she thought she smelled
the ever present aroma of popcorn, and it made her stomach growl.
The noise came from within the theatre. Kate presumed that the
Timeman had disappeared up the stairs and into the entranceway,
though she'd been distracted with other things, like tears and
Leigh's warmth behind her when the Timeman had performed his
Copperfield impersonation. Kate didn't miss him.
Again, Kate felt the unmistakable brush of someone's eyes across her
body, and the fine hairs at the base of her neck rippled. But then
the sensation was gone, and the noise from the entranceway of the
theatre became more distinct and identifiable.
Kate lowered her eyes to inspect the knot holding the leash to the
bench. Perhaps with her teeth. But she knew that was impossible,
even if she had the dexterity in her mouth to release the knot. She
wouldn't even try, and that, most of all, caused her heart to skip a
beat.
The noise rising from the theatre continued.
It was the unmistakable cry for help. A female voice, almost
hysterical.
Somehow, Kate wasn't surprised.
<---===***===--->
The girls looked to be nineteen or twenty, and each was attractive
with a girl-next-door appearance. None had the unmistakable girlish
beauty of Karen, or even the inner beauty of the girls bound behind
Kate. They were college girls, all with the vitality and vanity of
youth. Each sported relatively short cropped hair, though the
blonde girl had moderately long locks flowing across her shoulders.
But the girls weren't vain now, as they emerged blinking from the
movie theatre. Their hands rose above their shoulders, each wearing
a remarkably similar visage of terror. Kate didn't even have to look
to know who would be trailing behind them by about four paces, a
handgun lowered at their trembling backs.
It seemed as though their terror increased as the line of naked and
bound girls pushed into view. Kate fervently wished that she weren't
standing there -- not only because of the embarrassment inherent in
her position, but that she was partially the cause of the girls'
discomfort and fright. One girl, a brunette, her hair tucked up with
silver clips, pointed and screamed incoherently as Kate's bound
nudity slipped into view, and as if she had seen her future. Kate
supposed that she very well might have. The brunette girl began to
back up, but stopped short and paled as the gun found the small of
her back. The Timeman whispered something into her ear. She began
to walk again, though her legs seemed more shaky than they had been.
He pushed the girls down the stairs and into the corridor, then
lined them up, as though facing a firing squad against the platform.
The railing above them glimmered like the world's least effective
jail cell.
Kate ran her eyes over the trembling quartet of girls, wondering
where he'd procured them. They might have been serving popcorn, or
might have been patrons sitting quietly watching "Attack of the
Clones" or some other spring picture, only to be confronted with a
gun as the clones finally attacked.
They stood at about Kate's height, all of them tall and slim --
typical fare for Kate's captor, she thought morosely. From left to
right, there were three brunettes and the blonde who wore her hair a
little longer. All of the girls stared openly at Kate, and at the
girls behind. The Timeman stood between the groups of girls, never
wavering with the gun as it settled on each of the newcomers in
turn.
"Please," said the blonde. "What do you want?"
Another girl, in the middle, the one with the silver clips in her
hair, ventured, her voice cracking, "Please, my father is rich,
he'll pay you anything you want. Please, just let us go."
Quietly, he spoke. "Names."
The blonde shivered, and shook her head. The girl to her left spoke
up quickly, her eyes now drawn to the gun.
"Pamela."
"Wade."
"Danielle."
The brunette girls all shivered as they spoke their names in
wavering voices. The blonde seemed to find some courage, and stared
more defiantly out at her captor.
"Why the fuck should I tell you anything?"
Kate could have given her a million reasons, the least of which
involved arms folded behind her back until they felt like sodden
pieces of useless wood. She thought she caught a gleam flashing from
the Timeman's eyes. It screamed: "Challenge!" and Kate inwardly
cringed. It would feel good to challenge the man with the gun --
Kate knew the sensations well -- but it would be short lived.
Fleeting pleasure, that of a hiker finally reaching the edge of the
cliff, seeing the vista, but before falling towards the river far,
far below.
The gun travelled towards the blonde, and she paled, but didn't back
down.
"Shoot me, then, Fuckhead. I don't care," she said, her voice not
rising above a whisper. Kate could see it in her eyes. She did care.
Very much. And much as she hoped not, the Timeman would see it too.
Oh yes, the blonde cared.
The Timeman moved forward, towards the blonde, whistling tonelessly.
Before he reached her, Kate spoke up. As she spoke, the Timeman
stopped his forward motion, but didn't turn from the girls under the
theatre entrance.
"It's only your name, so far. Trust me, he won't hurt you. He'll
hurt Pamela, and Danielle, and ..." Kate struggled to remember the
other girl's name, then it came to her. "Wade. Wade. He'll hurt
your friends. He'll hurt them until they scream. Never you. Trust
me. I have no doubt that you'd let him whip you unconscious. But can
you take Wade screaming your name while he hurts her? Tell him your
name. He'll get it from you one way or the other. Make one up if you
have to."
The blonde girl looked back at Kate, almost with an air of contempt.
She nearly spat at her.
"Who the fuck are you? His fucking accomplice?"
Kate shivered. "You don't want to ..." but her voice trailed off as
the Timeman fell into motion again, but not as Kate expected. She
was going to finish with "swear around him," but he didn't let Kate
finish her warning. Without heeding Kate's words, his hand snaked
out and slapped across the blonde's cheek. Her head snapped to the
side, and she screamed, both in pain and in surprise. When she
turned, the gun touched her nose. The fight left her, but her eyes
still blazed defiantly, her fists clenched tightly at her side.
"Fuck you," she spat. A fine mist left her lips, but didn't strike
the Timeman. "Hitting me isn't going to get you anywhere."
The Timeman grinned, and still holding the gun steadily at her face,
he whispered.
"Don't test me. I will shoot you, because I can. Don't you see
what's going on here, little girl?"
The blonde shook her head. Her entire body shook, probably in anger,
but perhaps in fright, too.
"So, shoot me. I won't be your fucking slave girl."
He sighed. "I didn't hit you to make you do what I ask."
The girl looked at him puzzled. A red mark was rising on her left
cheek.
Without warning, his hand shot out again, but this time, he aimed at
Pamela, the girl beside the blonde. Pamela didn't react nearly fast
enough, but she managed to stay on her feet. Her head rocked to the
side, and a thin scream of pain rose from her lips. Tears sprang to
her eyes.
"I wanted you to know how much pain you were causing Pamela, here.
She gave me her name, wasn't that easy?"
"You fucking bastard."
He reached out, and hit Pamela again. The brunette screamed and
cowered away, sobbing now.
"Kate told you not to swear."
The blonde looked like she was about to call him worse names, then
she glanced at Pamela. Kate watched as the tension visibly left her.
"Don't hit her again. Hit me, if you have to hit anyone."
Kate took a breath. "That won't work. Not today. Please, just tell
him your name. He'll keep hitting her until you beg to tell him.
Trust me. Please?"
The girl turned to Kate, her eyes smouldering again, even with the
barrel of the gun aimed between her eyes. Wade had reached Pamela
and held the sobbing girl in her arms. Wade echoed Kate's words.
"Please, just tell him. Or I will," the brunette begged.
"Listen, bitch. First it's my name, then it's take off your clothes.
Then I'm not any better off than you."
The 'bitch' comment stung a little, but Kate held the blonde's eyes.
the blonde was deceiving herself, and Kate could understand that.
The blonde actually was no better than Kate was. She just wasn't
naked and tied up ... yet. The blonde was frightened, and she had
every right to be. Kate was frightened, and at the moment, she
didn't even have a gun levelled at her head. God, her arms ached,
and she felt like snapping. But snapping wouldn't help here.
"He'll start really hurting Pamela. Then Wade. Then Danielle. He'll
tape fucking cigarettes to their goddamn nipples, and light them.
Can you watch that? Can you? I'd offer myself to save all of you,
but he doesn't want me. Not yet. He only wants to know your name.
Please?" After a moment, she tried again. "Please?"
The tears had appeared, Kate suspected, after the blond had called
her a bitch. But it didn't matter. She could still see clearly
enough to know what was happening. She sniffled, closing her eyes.
She hoped that the Timeman wouldn't hurt Leigh for Kate's
inadvertent swearing. It had come naturally, the words merely
echoing her mounting frustration. She felt for the blonde, as much
as she felt for the girls bound behind her, but the girl didn't
understand. Couldn't. And it wasn't as if Kate could walk over to
her and shake some sense into her. There was a damn gun levelled at
her head, for Christsakes.
"Crystal. That's my name, if it helps you. Crystal."
When Kate opened her eyes, the Timeman had backed away from the
girls. The gun was still trained on Crystal, but he was no longer
close enough to hit them. The blonde visibly relaxed, and turned to
Pamela, ensuring that the weeping girl wasn't seriously hurt.
A clatter against the marble brought Kate's head up again. Four
gleaming pairs of handcuffs slid across the floor to stop against
Crystal's running shoes.
The girl looked down at them, and shook her head.
"No way. I won't put them on."
"I don't want you to put them on, yet. I want you to put them on
your friends."
Crystal shook her head again slowly. "No way. Then what's stopping
you from raping us."
"Nothing," he said simply. "But there are worse things than rape."
Crystal paled, and stood there shaking her head, her blonde locks
dragging across her shoulders.
He shrugged. "I haven't had to shoot anyone yet, but I'll bet a
bullet between the legs is painful. Wouldn't you say, Crystal?"
Crystal paled, and shook her head. "You wouldn't." She turned to
Kate, her eyes pleading.
Kate swallowed, and dipped her head. "I don't know what's going on
today, Crystal. I'm just trying to help you. He'll get what he
wants, and yesterday, I would have said no, but today, there's
something happening that I don't understand. I honestly think he
would. He might start shooting and not be able to stop. The gun
works. I've seen it work. I don't want to be here any more than you
do, but I am. Please, just do what he says. I can't promise you,
but so far he hasn't raped anyone. He'll let you go afterward --
you aren't one of us. I hope. Please, just chain your friends. You
don't want to see the inside of a knee, or an elbow, or that damn
gun between your legs. Please, Crystal. I don't either."
Crystal swallowed, and turned burning eyes to the Timeman, as if
she'd finally decided that hating Kate wasn't going to help her. He
smiled, and Kate was nearly sure that the blonde girl was going to
launch herself at him. She wouldn't have made it, but Kate found
herself almost willing the girl to try it. But in the end, Crystal
feared more for the safety of her friends, and perhaps herself. The
girl crouched and picked up a pair of handcuffs between two fingers,
as if they represented disgusting slime.
"How?" she asked.
"Up and to the railing above you."
Crystal mumbled something incoherent, but urged Pamela to reach up.
The cuffs clicked closed, and Crystal moved on. Pamela's cheeks
burned a fierce shade of red. It made Kate think of Nicole's bruised
face, but those marks on Pamela were made open handed -- painful,
but gone within a few hours. If Crystal hadn't begun to obey, those
might have changed to more permanent issues. Yes this wasn't on the
primary timeline, but pain was pain, and humans were humans. Kate
couldn't watch it, and that she even thought the Timeman was capable
of it, scared her badly.
Soon, all three brunette girls stood hands overhead, cuffed to the
railing. Kate closed her eyes, knowing that they would regret
allowing this, but not seeing any alternative.
"Leave them alone," she whispered.
He turned towards Kate, and found a weak smile. Surprised, Kate
realised that he wasn't really enjoying this -- he should have been
nearly dancing in anticipation, three girls bound for his pleasure
and a fourth damn near broken to his will all in a matter of
minutes. But he wasn't. Kate wondered, suddenly understanding that
this man liked control, yes, absolutely, but not this kind. He
didn't get off on hurting women, striking helpless girls like
Pamela. It was a means to an end, only, and the thought, while it
didn't make her any safer, did console her a little. She still
wasn't dealing with a time travelling Maurice.
He stared around the concourse, only marginally aware of the train
of five naked beauties, and the four new girls. It was almost as if
he were strained beyond his abilities, or exhausted. Crystal eyed
him for a moment, as if gauging her chances at success if she struck
while he was distracted with Kate and the silent concourse around
him. Crystal faltered when he raised the gun to aim at her
flawlessly without even looking at her.
"Don't be stupid, Crystal. If you're a good girl, I won't rape any
of you. If I have to kill you, I'll rape them in the pool of your
blood."
Even from him, the comment seemed overly dramatic. But it stopped
Crystal in her tracks. All the defiance, and the spunk left her
voice.
"Please do whatever you have to, but let them go. I'll do whatever
twisted thing you want."
Kate sighed. That kind of comment was dangerous around the Timeman,
but what else did any of them have. Just themselves. Kate didn't
even have clothing, having lost it for just such a comment -- she'd
stripped to save Karen pain. She didn't blame Crystal. He wasn't
toying with her -- he wanted the girl broken. This girl, he wasn't
going to keep, after all. Kate felt that in her bones. And to her
credit, Crystal hadn't quite broken. Not yet.
"Let them all go. This isn't about them," Kate called quietly. "You
know we'll all do whatever you want. Leigh. Nicole. Monique.
Andrea. Me. We'll all fuck your brains out, if that's what you want.
You don't need them."
He smiled again, almost with a semblance of caring. But his eyes
still held a danger, but something external to him.
"Ah, Kate. But I do need them."
She wanted to scream at him: "Why?" But she held her tongue. For
that was the prime question; the question to which there was no
answer that she might even hope to comprehend.
Of one thing she was sure, though: it wasn't for his satisfaction
that he was going to torment them. No. It was for something else.
Something that might or might not become apparent.
Instead of answering Kate or Crystal, he raised his voice. This
time, it echoed, and the echo startled Kate nearly as much as what
he yelled.
"Are you ready to come out, yet, little minx? You can save them a
lot of pain ..." he called.
His voice echoed, and bounced, but there was no reply.
Kate thought that perhaps he'd lost touch with even this tenuous
reality in which they all found themselves. There was nobody else.
And the fact that he was calling to non-existent entities in this
mall in the middle of suburbia, with nobody but naked,
terror-stricken girls to hear seemed somehow worse than anything
else in this silent, and frozen world. Nobody but them: only nine
terrorised girls, who wished that they weren't there.
The silence descended over the girls, only broken by a small moan
from Monique, and quiet sobbing from Pamela.
Chapter 129
© Copyright 2003 -
Crimson Dragon - All Rights Reserved
"Strip," he commanded the shaking girl.
Crystal stood resolute, and shook her head.
"No way, you sick fuck. I'm not taking my clothes off for you. Not
so you can tie me up like those girls over there."
Kate flushed as she realised without a doubt that she fell into that
category. She pulled at her bound arms, but she could do nothing
about this unfolding drama. She could only stand barefoot and naked,
leashed to a bench in the middle of a mall, and hope that Crystal
would do whatever was necessary to save them all pain. She'd said as
much as she could, somehow understanding that to say more would only
invite the Timeman's wrath. And that wrath would be felt by Leigh,
and Andrea, and Monique. Kate shivered, and pressed her lips
together, watching Crystal.
Crystal watched as the Timeman sighed, and circled her, approaching
the three brunettes. Pamela cringed as he approached, and cried out
as he stood beside her. Crystal's eyes never left the gun, which
remained aimed at her belly.
"I won't strip for you. Forget it," she said. Her voice lacked
conviction, as though she were as aware as he that if he merely
touched Pamela, or Wade, or Danielle, that Crystal would take her
clothing off without any further protest.
He reached up, never taking his eyes off Crystal. Kate watched, as
did Crystal, as his fingers trailed up Pamela's ribs to cup her
breast through her thin blouse.
"Noooo. Oh, God, please no," Pamela whispered.
His fingers traced up the curve of her breast, almost caressing.
Kate watched, fascinated as the girl's nipple reacted -- probably
not sexually, as Kate's would have; Pamela had not been freed from
the time freeze long enough for that involuntary reaction.
Nevertheless, the girl's nipple became erect beneath the layers of
the girl's blouse and brassiere. Pamela moaned.
"Please don't touch me. Oh, God. Please. Please."
He stopped his exploration, and stared at Crystal.
"Strip?" he asked, almost as if it were a request.
"I can't," Crystal whispered. Her entire body shook slowly, her arms
wrapped under her breasts.
He shrugged, and placed his index finger to one side of Pamela's
nipple, and the thumb to the other side. Pamela moaned, visibly
bracing herself.
"Please, don't," she moaned.
But he did. Kate could see the pressure building as he pinched the
girl. She twisted, but that only caused more pain. Kate's nipples
ached in sympathy, and she closed her eyes. Kate wished that she was
able to cover her ears, as well. To her credit, Pamela held in her
scream as long as Kate figured was humanly possible. But it was her
nipple, and even if it wasn't bare, his fingers were crushing the
sensitive flesh without mercy. He wanted the girl to scream --
needed her to scream. And she did.
It was a strange scream that didn't echo, unlike his mad calling
earlier.
"Ahhhhhhhh. God. It hurts. Stop. Please, stop. Ahhhhhhhh."
Kate cringed, and felt sick.
A small tired voice cut through the scream as Pamela paused for a
moment to catch her breath.
"Stop. I'll strip. I'll do whatever the fuck you want."
And Pamela stopped screaming, though her sobs continued to cut
through the silence of the world. Behind Kate, she thought she heard
Andrea crying, too. The softness of Leigh's breast left her arms
briefly, and she almost immediately missed the human contact, though
she knew that Leigh was trying to help Andrea, as much as she was
able.
Almost in a daze, Crystal kicked off a running shoe. It twirled
through the air to drop near the Timeman's shoes. The other shoe
followed.
"No, Crystal. No," Pamela mumbled. But Crystal ignored her, as Kate
knew that the girl would. Crystal was strong, but even Crystal
wasn't as strong as the naked girls tied to Kate -- and to a one,
every girl behind her would have removed her clothing to help a
stranger. Kate's heart ached as she watched Crystal disrobe, pulling
her socks off and pushing her jeans to her ankles and stepping from
them. Her blouse fluttered to the ground at her bare feet, and then
she straightened, her eyes blazing.
"Is that enough, you sick fuck?"
Kate wanted to laugh, but she didn't. The girl remained standing in
her bra and black panties, high cut Kate crazily noted, and both
Crystal, and Kate, knew that it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough
until your heart stopped beating.
Diametrically, Crystal looked both incredibly vulnerable and
incredibly strong standing barefoot staring at her captor, her blue
eyes flashing.
Abruptly, without waiting for an answer, she slowly unclasped her
bra and let it fall to join her blouse and jeans. Then she pushed
her panties to her ankles and stood with her hands covering her
breasts.
"There. Now let them go," she whispered.
Slowly, he shook his head, and Crystal paled, casting a longing
glance at her former clothing. Kate looked away, knowing that he
wasn't done with the blonde. Not even close.
<---===***===--->
"You have to be joking," Crystal whispered. Her hands remained
against her breasts, and her legs remained crossed tightly as she
stood vulnerable in front of him.
Instead of repeating his command, he reached towards Pamela's
breast. The girl screamed, and twisted her body, but the cuffs would
only let her go so far. He waited a moment, then reached up and
captured her nipple again. Pamela moaned.
"Crystal, no. Don't."
"He'll hurt you. Then move on to Wade. And Danielle," Crystal
whispered.
Kate nodded, knowing that the Timeman could easily rip open all the
bound girls' clothes, attach clothespins to sensitive flesh. Crystal
had stripped because Pamela had screamed. She would do as he asked.
There was no doubt.
"Don't hurt her. I'll do it," Crystal whispered.
Pamela moaned as the Timeman released her nipple. Her legs buckled
and the girl hung for a moment from her bound wrists, until she came
to the inevitable conclusion that this was more painful than
standing. Somehow, she pulled her legs back under her and
straightened.
"How do you want me," Crystal asked dully. "On my front or on my
back?"
Kate shivered, the lack of emotion in Crystal's voice frightening
her. She sounded like a war survivor, and in a way, Kate supposed
that Crystal just might be.
"Whatever way you normally do it," the Timeman said. He leaned up
easily against the firing squad wall, beside Pamela. He crossed his
arms, and Kate was relieved to see that the gun was no longer
pointed at any of the girls. The Timeman wasn't really watching
Crystal as the blonde sank first to her knees. He stared up the
corridor, his eyes scanning.
"I don't," Crystal said.
He turned his attention back to the naked girl kneeling in the
middle of the corridor. To her left a mother with a stroller walked
unaware of the girl in her path. To Crystal's right, a boy of about
fifteen, who probably would have sprayed his shorts to see Crystal
like this, ran to catch up to his buddies down the mall. Crystal
ignored all of them, if the unusual situation impacted on her mind,
it wasn't apparent in the set of her body. She only watched the
Timeman, his gun, and sometimes Pamela.
"You won't?"
Crystal sighed. "No. I don't. I've never done this before. Period.
With or without a fucking audience. I don't even know if I can. But
I'll try. You don't need to hurt her."
He didn't seem concerned about her inability.
"I see," he almost looked like he believed her. Truthfully, at this
point, Kate couldn't see why the girl would lie, either. The Timeman
waved to Crystal, and the girl lowered herself to the marble, a look
of distaste across her features. A dirty mall floor probably wasn't
her idea of an ideal location to begin this sort of thing. Kate
shivered. She had done this before, well, without an audience, and
she couldn't imagine trying to do it in the middle of a mall, in
front of friends, her face pressed against a dingy marble floor. It
seemed too much like a juvenile fantasy, but there the girl was,
large as life, pleading with her eyes to be excused from this
humiliation.
But she found no mercy there; there couldn't be, not today. Kate
struggled to understand, but her arms ached, and her her body
trembled as she tried to remain on her feet. Leigh's warmth and
softness again pressed into her arms, and she noted that Andrea
seemed quieter.
Crystal cast one more pleading look towards her tormentor, but then
evidently deciding that it might be slightly more modest, she turned
over, pushing her bare breasts into the marble, and rising up on her
knees. If she didn't know better, Kate would have said the girl was
preparing for sex, doggy-style.
"Please don't make me do this," Crystal begged.
He didn't answer her, only stared at her until she looked away.
Tears streamed down her face.
"I can't," she whispered.
But she did.
With a moan, and last convulsive sob, she reached back between her
legs, her cheek pressed into the floor, her eyes closed. Her fingers
touched between her legs, stroking and teasing herself. A flash of
her peach coloured nails peeked between her swollen lips, and then
disappeared rhythmically.
The Timeman stopped glancing around the corridors, and finally paid
attention to the naked blonde at least mimicking pleasuring herself
in front of him.
<---===***===--->
Kate thought that she saw movement, like a ghost, out of the corner
of her eye. Crystal remained on her knees, her bum raised slightly,
her fingers working between her legs slowly. The girl was moaning,
but it didn't sound like sexual abandon. Nevertheless, the slight
musk of her, and Kate's uncontrollable arousal reared up like a
lion, grasping her and shaking her, almost forcing her to watch,
seeing herself there, touching herself, feeling the sensations. Kate
moaned.
But the flash of motion wasn't from Crystal, or the Timeman, or any
of the other girls. Kate snapped her head up and focused her eyes
down the corridor. Somewhere down near the escalator? A flash of
white? Moving?
She shook her head. Seeing things. When she returned her gaze to the
naked girl on the floor, she noticed that the Timeman was looking at
her intently. He started to take a step towards her, and Kate had an
insane impulse to run. Of course, her leash would stop that in a
hurry, so she waited quietly. Instead of approaching her, the
Timeman leaned back against the wall, and returned his eyes to
Crystal. Crystal's fingers slipped between her lips, rubbing and
stroking, slowly, then quicker. Crystal moaned, but again, Kate
doubted if the girl had entered any sexual fantasy, positive that
the girl was merely touching herself for effect, hoping that the
Timeman would release her from this task if she followed his
direction, or at least made the attempt. She was probably unaware of
anything beyond her own suffering and sensations of humiliation.
Pamela moaned, and when Kate drew her gaze from the bare skin on the
floor, she gasped. The Timeman had unbuttoned Pamela's blouse, and
pulled aside the right side of her bra. One naked breast peeked out,
and Pamela had averted her gaze, as if doing so might negate what
was happening to her. Pamela moaned again, her nipple rising
involuntarily as the cool air of the mall kissed her bare flesh.
He reached forward and teased the nipple, then grasped it lightly.
Pamela cried out, and Crystal's eyes fluttered open. When she saw
what was going on with her friend, she pulled her hand from between
her legs, and pushed herself up. She crossed her legs as best she
could, and sat up. She looked at her right hand with disgust, and
held it out from her, almost as if she were ashamed that it was
attached to her body.
"You promised not to hurt her," she said accusingly.
The Timeman smiled, and tilted his head.
"I promised not to hurt her if you pleasured yourself. You're
simply going through the motions. You aren't even trying."
Tears formed in Crystal's eyes.
"I can't," she whispered. "I can't. I've never done this before, and
I don't know how. I swear, I was trying. Please don't hurt her.
Please."
He twisted Pamela's nipple a little, though Kate could see that it
wasn't anywhere near enough to cause the girl any real distress.
Pamela groaned, and tried to twist, but he didn't release her bare
nipple.
"Oh, God. Please. I tried. I'll try some more if you like, but don't
you understand? I can't. I don't know how. And even if I did, I'm
scared. I'm scared to death of you, of that gun, of being naked in
the middle of a goddamn mall in front of my friends. Scared of you
raping me. Scared of what you are going to do to us. Even if I knew
how to climax, I couldn't do it. Don't you understand that? I would,
if I could. I swear it. Please don't do this to her. I'll try as
long as you want." As if to punctuate her words, she ran her left
hand over her bare breasts, toying with the nipples. "I'll have sex
with you, if that will help. I swear. Just stop hurting her.
Please." With a grimace, Crystal uncrossed her ankles and edged her
legs apart, exposing her vaginal mound to him.
He still didn't release Pamela, but his gaze softened. Again, Kate
was struck that he wasn't doing this primarily for himself. She
couldn't imagine who else he was doing this for, certainly not for
her, or for the girls he'd captured. While the image of Crystal
fingering herself and crying would be forever burned into her mind,
and if she was honest, was driving far too much desire into her,
fuelling fantasies of herself where Crystal was, the Timeman was not
doing this for Kate's benefit. She pulled again at the ropes holding
her arms. It felt like she'd been tied for hours, and she supposed
that she had been. It was going to hurt as much coming off, as it
did now, if he ever deigned to release her from this torment. His
gaze had softened, and that might be a promising thing.
"All right, Crystal. Would you do something else for me, instead?"
The Timeman glanced up the hallway, but it remained still and quiet.
"What is it?" Crystal asked. Hope had touched her eyes.
"Would you stick the fingers of your right hand in your mouth, and
suck them?"
"What?" Crystal stared at her hand, her brow wrinkling in distaste.
Her right hand had been between her legs, rubbing.
He nodded, and she stared at her own hand as though it was a
poisonous snake. She closed her eyes, and then, slowly, she brought
her hand to her lips. She gagged, but then slipped her two longest
fingers into her mouth, almost in a mime of oral sex with a man.
Tears fell from her eyes, but after the initial shame, she seemed to
figure out that this was far easier than masturbating fruitlessly in
front of her friends. She sucked quickly for a minute or two, long
enough to cleanse her scent and her moisture from the tips of the
two fingers. She grimaced, and opened her eyes, pulling her fingers
from her mouth.
She sighed in relief, as her eyes fell to Pamela, who still stood
with her breast exposed, but his fingers were no longer grasping her
reddened nipple.
Then she pushed herself up, and stood, wavering for a moment. Kate
thought Crystal might collapse, but then she found her balance, and
looked up, her eyes dull, but still alive.
"Thank-you," Crystal whispered.
It wasn't a gesture of true appreciation, that was clear enough, but
merely an acknowledgement of what he might have forced her to do.
Chapter 130
© Copyright 2003 -
Crimson Dragon - All Rights Reserved
Crystal stood in her former place, her arms extended above her,
lifting her bare breasts, the last pair of handcuffs adorning her
wrists. Kate might have been mistaken, but Crystal seemed to be hung
tighter to the railing than the other girls. To Crystal's credit,
she didn't complain about the treatment, even though she, currently,
was the only one of the four new girls to be lacking her clothing.
The Timeman stood back, surveying the new girls, tapping the gun
against his left hand. Once in a while, he glanced up the corridor,
an expression like that of a fox. Kate again wondered what he was
looking for in this frozen world.
Kate jumped, as he approached her. He addressed her, but the other
girls bound behind could hear.
"How are you all holding up?"
It seemed like such an ordinary question, something one might ask
the bridge club during a mild thunderstorm. Kate swallowed, willing
her voice to remain even and neutral. A scream threatened, but that
would only cause her, and possibly the rest of the girls, grief.
Keep it civil, even when one is tied up and naked. For it truly was
all she had left. She sensed that, today, he might actually grin if
she lost it.
"You mean other than witnessing torture while I'm standing here
naked and tied up like an animal?" she asked, almost pleasantly.
He smiled, as if he were aware of her efforts at keeping calm,
and saw through them.
"Other than that, yes."
"We're alive," Kate said easily. "But you don't need to do this to
them." She nodded towards Crystal, and Wade, and Danielle, and
Pamela. "You don't need to do this."
Ignoring her plea, he tilted his head. His eyes shone, but Kate
couldn't tell if it was anticipation, or sheer madness that burned
there. She hoped that it was anticipation.
"I need to push her," the Timeman said. Kate didn't understand the
statement -- she was reasonably certain that he didn't mean Crystal,
or any of the girls bound behind her.
"Push her?"
The Timeman nodded thoughtfully, then changed tacks.
"Are you ready?"
"Ready for what?"
"Your part in the ending?"
Kate had no idea what he was talking about, but nevertheless, the
answer seemed obvious. She didn't really have any choice. If he
wanted her ready for the ending, then she would be ready. She pulled
vainly at her arms. Perhaps what he had in mind would involve the
release of her aching arms. Please.
Slowly, she nodded, aware that a tear had escaped her eyes, and
traced down her cheek. Almost tenderly, he reached forward and
brushed it from her skin. She didn't flinch, but his touch
frightened her.
He was keeping them all off-balance. She didn't understand why, but
that's exactly what he was doing.
He turned from her and bent to the ever-present blue backpack. He
rummaged in it, finally straightening with something tucked into his
right palm. Kate shivered, suddenly certain that she knew what that
object was. She'd seen it before.
The click and the snap confirmed her fears. In the dim lights of the
mall, a flash of burning light reflected from the switchblade as he
balanced it on his index finger. Every female pair of eyes watched
as he approached Danielle. The girl cringed back, her eyes following
the wicked knife as he came close.
"Please, no," she whispered. "I don't want to die. Not like that."
She rattled the cuffs above her head.
He didn't answer her. He didn't reassure her. He didn't do anything,
until he stopped perhaps a pace in front of her. Kate heard Crystal
praying quietly from the other end of the line, her bare body
shaking.
"If you don't want to be cut, you should stand still," he said
easily. Danielle stood rigidly, like a toy soldier, or a wooden
doll. Perhaps for effect, he trailed the knife down her cheek, from
Danielle's right eye, down her soft throat, and then toying with the
collar of her sweatshirt. She moaned, but managed to do it without
so much as a drawn breath.
"Please, no," she whispered as the knife left her throat.
In one smooth motion, he slipped the knife under her shirt and
pressed downward. A tearing song, like a bed sheet ripping, flowed
across through the corridors. Somehow, the blade had hooked the
girl's bra, and it separated, pale skin peeking between the white
remains of the underwear. Danielle screamed, but didn't move a
muscle. Kate silently applauded her. In her mind's eye, she could
see far too clearly what might have happened, if that knife had
slipped, or Danielle had panicked at the wrong second as the cold
steel kissed her chest.
It only took a moment until the girl stood nearly naked and sobbing,
the knife safely away from her trembling skin. Only her pink
panties remained about her hips, the remainder of her clothing in
tatters surrounding her ankles.
<---===***===--->
One by one, he stripped them, ignoring Crystal's pleas to leave them
alone. Kate knew better than to protest. If he wanted them naked,
they would be naked.
He returned to the pack, emerging with a roll of silver duct tape.
Kate blanched, realising what that meant. She only hoped selfishly
that she would be spared the indignity of the tape. Even though her
body clamoured to join Crystal's ineffective protests, she forced
her lips to remain quiet.
On the way back to the handcuffed girls, he bent and picked up
Crystal's high cut black panties from the floor where she'd dropped
them before he'd made her masturbate.
He approached the blonde girl.
"Open."
Crystal stared at him, and lifted her chin. She shook her head, and
pressed her lips tightly together. Kate closed her eyes, hoping that
Crystal would see the futility of the gesture before someone felt
his wrath. A short scream kissed her ears, and when she opened her
eyes, she could see his fingers grasping Crystal's bare left nipple
twisting, twisting. Tears ran down Crystal's face, and while Kate
watched, she screamed again, her voice small and pitiful. The girl
had risen up on her bare toes to try to avoid the pain, but of
course, that was never effective. Yet, her body still tried. Kate
knew the feeling, and her own nipple throbbed in sympathy.
"Please. It hurts. Please. Please."
Somehow, she managed to stop begging, and opened her mouth wide.
After a moment, he released her nipple, and she sighed, keeping her
mouth open. She closed her eyes, crying as he gently pushed her
panties into her open mouth. When the black fabric had disappeared,
she closed her jaws, holding her panties in her mouth, her eyes
pleading with him.
Almost dispassionately, he stripped a piece of tape from the roll
and placed it across the girl's lips. She moaned, and worked her
jaw, but the tape held. She tried to say something, but he merely
smiled and patted her cheek. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she
stared quietly down at her bare breasts, or perhaps beyond to her
toes.
He turned to Pamela, and with a smile, held up the knife, touching
her hip. She stood still, and though she cried, she didn't protest
as Crystal had as her panties were secured in her mouth.
Kate closed her eyes, not even watching, as Wade and then Danielle
all lost their primary mode of communication along with their last
shred of modesty, all in one snap of a sharpened blade of steel.
Kate's sex throbbed, and her nipples ached. She could feel her pulse
in her bound arms, and, worse, in her clitoris.
She didn't understand it. The girls' torments really didn't turn her
on, but it was as if her body understood better than her mind that
something was approaching like the inevitable rising of the sun.
Something she couldn't stop, nor control. It was as if the nexus of
the universe, both the new one where she was tied, and the normal
one where she was a typical, if popular, high school student whose
biggest concern was finding better grades, were joining and the
nexus was sucking on her, using her hormones to feed itself.
Christ, she needed to climax, and she was ashamed of that fact,
perhaps more than she hurt from all the other indignities forced
upon her. She wished he would touch her. She wished that he would
force her to lie on the floor, her hips raised, her fingers buried
sweetly between her thighs. Kate moaned, and her voice almost
sounded like the muffled tones emerging from the handcuffed girls by
the firing squad wall.
The end was approaching like the coming of the dawn. Except here --
dawn never broke.
<---===***===--->
When she opened her eyes, the now naked girls, three brunettes and a
blonde, stood silently sobbing, their legs bound apart by the
ankles, lined up like an obscene chorus line. Each girl stood
helpless, rising up on her bare toes to lessen the strain upon her
bound wrists, her arms bound above her head, the chains of the
handcuffs wrapped around the newels of the safety railing. Each
naked leg stretched to her neighbour, ankles joined by other
handcuffs, the end girls, Crystal and Danielle, spread using a
length of rope to the railing of the stage staircase to each side of
them. Their vaginal lips spread with their legs, pink splashes
peeking from between their stretched legs in feminine beauty.
Silver sparkles of light reflected from the places where their lips
should have been, only muffled moans emerging from their direction.
Crystal watched the Timeman, her eyes burning almost in defiance
even through the tears running down her cheeks. The other girls hung
their heads, staring at the floor between their spread, bare feet.
He approached Kate, and again she was struck by the lack of emotion
upon his face. He should have been at least as aroused as she, but
he didn't show it, somehow fighting the images as she could not.
Again, she saw something deeper, infinitely more important than the
torment of nine naked girls, etched across his features. She
couldn't understand it, but she dared not ask. She merely stood up
straighter as he approached.
"It's begun," he said simply. Kate nodded slowly, not understanding,
but hoping that he knew what he was doing. She couldn't see the
other girls that she was tied to, but she suspected that his
harshness here was sending them as off-balance as she. In her heart,
she understood that Crystal, and Wade, and Danielle, and Pamela
would be free after this, and as such, their fright, and their
torment were fleeting; it didn't make it any less real. The girls
tied up in front of her were as human as she was, and she acutely
understood what they felt. Kate only hoped that she could endure
whatever it was that the Timeman needed from her. If it was worse
than what Crystal had gone through, Kate wasn't sure that her sanity
would survive, even if her body did. It was that uncertainty that
really frightened her. She willed her body to cease its shaking.
He held up the knife, its edge burning into her memory. She couldn't
help herself, even though she knew her words were useless.
"Please, no. I don't want to be cut," she whispered.
He laughed, and the laugh projected his unease, his worry. It wasn't
a worry for himself -- at least not wholly -- but a worry that
included Kate, Leigh, Nicole, Andrea and Monique. His laugh
enveloped even the girls spread out by the entrance to the movie
theatre that weren't really a part of this.
Kate stood still and closed her eyes, not even daring to breathe.
(Crystal felt like this. Oh, God. Crystal felt exactly this.)
She struggled not to cry out as the blade touched her skin, kissing
her close below her right eye. Her body wanted to shake in pure
fear, but she somehow willed it away -- not the fear, but the
reaction to it. Her muscles remained steady. If she lost an eye
here, she honestly didn't know if that extended to his time control
ability to help. There were no doctors here, no paramedics, no
hospitals. She was here, bound naked in a barren world where her
life, and her sight depended on a steady hand, and her ability to
control her muscles. Time seemed to stand still for her, as much as
for the frozen shoppers by the sale racks. Leigh, or perhaps Andrea,
moaned quietly behind her somewhere.
(Oh, God. Oh, God. Not my eyes. Please.)
And then the knife was gone. No trailing of the point across her
breasts, or down her tummy. No cold sensation as it kissed her bare
skin. It was simply gone. Her voice rose of its own accord.
"Oh, God," she whispered.
She opened her eyes in time to see the knife descending towards her.
Flashes of light, many times more powerful than those reflecting
from the blade, burned into her eyes. Tears sprouted, inexorably
descending to splash from her cheeks to her bare chest, absorbed by
the tightness of the ropes holding her immobile and helpless.
She screamed as the blade came down towards her face.
(He's going to kill me. He's finally going to kill me.)
The thoughts flashed through her mind like fireworks.
(If he kills me here, do I survive? Oh, God.)
At the last second, the knife twisted, searing hot pain turning from
her wet face. It missed her shoulder by millimetres, the image of
his maniacal features grinning floating in front of her blurred
vision, almost like an angel.
The rope around her throat tugged, choking her for a moment, then
clear, unobstructed air flashed down her windpipe. She gasped at it
like a drowning sailor.
Her legs threatened to collapse under her, and she dimly heard him
laugh -- guttural and close, nearly in her ear. When she finally
focused her eyes, she saw him standing there grinning, holding a
short piece of rope in his left hand.
"I wouldn't have cut you," he said simply. "Not yet."
She simply tried to glare at him, but she was sure that it wasn't so
much a glare as a pathetic plea. Her legs felt like Jello, but she
was pretty sure she wouldn't fall. Not yet. While the knife had
descended towards her, she must have pulled desperately upon her
bound arms. They screamed at her with renewed violence. And her
nipples ached. Badly. She lowered her eyes, to regard her prison. A
moan escaped her lips.
The leash still led from the base of her throat to the bench. She
could walk, but not escape. Behind her, a curious lightness radiated
from her shoulder where the rope had continued on to join her to
Leigh. She brought her eyes up. He grinned at her. Nausea
threatened, and she lowered her eyes again.
In his hand, he held the rope that had joined the girls. Kate was
alone, now, disconnected from the warmth of Leigh, and the comfort
that the others provided merely by their proximity.
When she lifted her head again, she watched as he led the bound four
girls, Leigh now leading the pack, towards the entrance, and the
other four naked, waiting girls.
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