The
Chronicles of Jerry O’Connell
This is the second part of
an intended chronicle detailing the works of a rather unpleasant man
by the name of Jerry O’Connell. ( the first part being “The
Object of His Affection”) Jerry is a physician, of sorts, who
deals in the art of women, modifying them to suit the needs of his clients.
He has a long and sordid history, which should be detailed in future
installments. Some installments of this chronicle, such as this, will
feature Jerry as a major character, while others will not. The storyline
will, obviously, dictate this.
Before I continue, I must
pay honors to Michael Moorcock, one of my favorite fantasy authors.
It was from a series of books called “The Cornelius Chronicles”
that I got the odd doctor’s name and the inspiration for the banner
under which these stories will fit.
I will admit that this story
is a bit of an experiment. Also, future installments will be a bit repetitive
as I intend on making each one independent, so as not to lose new readers
as I chronicle each “adventure”.
I also wish to thank “Banfann”,
an author of absurdly excellent tales within this genre. His latest
series “The Exposition of Modified Women” is one of great
imagination. Before seeing this series I had imagined this tale to be
quite long, and I was severely struggling with it. His display, that
shorter can sometimes be better gave me the necessary mindset to present
this as a short.
Finally, as this is an experiment,
future installments will rely greatly on reader responses. I’ve
no plan in beating this horse onward if it is dead, no matter how much
I am enjoying its misery. That said, I present to you, dear reader,
the second installment of “The Chronicles of Jerry O’Connell”.
One
Man’s Art
Prologue:
The girl on the closed circuit
monitor was beautiful Her long auburn hair and flashing eyes gave way
to a face of pristine innocence, coupled with fiery sexuality. She was
one of those rare girls who had “It”. Her bust was full
and proud, standing out from her chest at constant and full attention.
Her slim waist gave way to robust and full hips, and led to long muscular
legs, capped off by a posterior that seemed impossibly round and full.
If an artist had depicted the perfect woman, it would have been her.
Yet, she was here to be changed, modified forever.
Jerry broke his gaze from
the monitor and thumbed the file at hand. A long time client had brought
her in for modification. Clearly, this was to be another of his household
treasures. Exactly what, he had no idea as yet. So it was that he departed
his office and made his way to receive his guest.
“Francis, how are you?”
Jerry issued as he cheerfully entered the client waiting room.
The girl was seated in a
restraint chair beside a well-dressed man. She had been carefully bound
arms, legs and head to the sturdy chair. A gag fit into her mouth, cutting
off any possibility of speech. She watched, fearfully, as the men joined
in discussion.
“I see you have another
girl for us to work on for you. Though, I am curious what you could
want this time. Your house must be full of our creations.”
Francis smiled, proffering
a hand to the man in the white cravat. He had never seen Jerry fail
to wear it and wondered if it were attached to him. “I’ve
something a little different in mind, Jerry.”
“Let’s see, we
have made a chair, a desk, a coffee table, a lamp…we even crafted
a nice couch for you out of a couple of girls you brought in”,
Jerry stated, reading from the contents of the manila folder he carried.
“We are even making a statue for you. What else could you want?”
The girl’s eyes grew
wide with Jerry’s utterances. She tugged at her bindings, her
attempted screams issuing forth like a ragged voiced seagull.
“Art”, answered
the man. “I have furniture, but no art for my wall.”
“She seems to be a
work of art already”, Jerry replied. “What could you possibly
have in mind?”
“Have a look”,
Francis said, pulling a piece of paper from his coat pocket. “I
want that.”
“This is quite an interesting
drawing. Where do you intend on putting it?”
“It should go in my
main room.” Francis responded. “Right in the middle, where
it can be admired properly. Can you do it?”
“You’ll need
to alter the room a bit. A piece like this needs a place to house the
waste disposal unit and the other electrical equipment that goes with
it. You will also need to be able to access it readily, to maintain
it. It can be done, though”, Jerry said as he folded up the drawing
and slipped it into his pocket.
Francis smiled, knowingly.
“I’m way ahead of you, Jerry. I already have the plans drawn
up and inspected. It should be ready in six weeks. How long do you think
it will take you to finish it?”
“It’ll take a
few months. The healing after the internal processing can be most time
consuming”, Jerry told him. “Everyone heals in their own
time, so I can’t be sure; except for allowing that it will take
at least three months. Immobilization might be a problem…at least
parts of it. Incidentally, do you want to allow any head movement or
should that be immobilized, as well?”
More motion and muffled screams
from the girl caught the men’s attention. Francis thought for
a moment as his gaze met that of the frightened girl.
“I’ll leave that
to you. I trust your judgment. I am certain that when you have finished,
she will be an excellent piece of art.”
Jerry smiled at the man,
offering his hand. “I’ll call you with the necessary measurements
as soon as they are worked out.”
Chapter 1
The girl lay naked on the
bed, arms and legs well restrained. She had given up screaming long
since, figuring her best and only method of escape would be one of negotiation.
The room in which she was housed was now empty, those who brought her
in having left long ago. It was a well-lit room, cold and white, featureless
but for the array of lights which shone brightly above her.
During her trip from the
initial processing room to the room in which she now waited, she had
observed several creations that were under process. A weeping girl with
posts protruding from her shoulders had been fit with artificial limbs.
Another was possessed of breasts that were far too large for her stature.
Yet another had been molded as a statue, vulgarly servicing two satyrs.
She closed her eyes, concentrating
on what she might say to whoever would listen. She would be calm, she
told herself. Her argument would be rational and thoughtful. She would
explain how she should not be turned into a piece of art. Her family
had money; more money than most people dreamed of. She would bribe her
captor with that. Should that fail, she could always offer some sort
of sexual favor if they would only let her go. She would get out of
her predicament…she had to.
Jerry’s entrance broke
her from her thoughts. He was smiling, still wearing the white cravat
she had seen him in some days before. She spoke behind her gag, hoping
he would remove it. Understanding her garbled want he nodded his head
and removed the gag.
“Please let me go.
My parents have money…they can pay you more than what he is paying”,
she begged.
Jerry smiled down at her,
his face becoming sympathetic. “How old are you?”
“I’m eighteen.
I just turned eighteen a month ago”, she said, her voice desperate,
sad and fearful.
“Well, child…I
am sorry for you. But it’s already decided. You are going to adorn
his wall for the next…well, for a long time. Do you know what
you are to be?”
She studied his face for
a moment, noting the sympathy in his eyes. “No…no, I don’t”
“You are going to be
cast in a frame. You will be the artwork it holds”, he told her.
“What do you mean…like
a painting?” the girl asked, astounded at the notion.
“Quite…but more
than a painting”, he replied. “I dare say you will become
a most stunning piece of art, my dear.”
“I have money…my
parents have money…whatever he’s paying you we can pay more!
Please don’t do this”, she cried.
“It’s already
done, my dear. You are going to be what you are going to be.”
Again, the girl pleaded.
“What do you want? You can fuck me…I’ll blow you.
Anything!”
“Quiet now, my dear”,
Jerry shushed her. “Open you mouth so I can replace the gag.”
“Please”, she
cried. “I’ll be quiet.”
“Don’t make this
harder, my dear. Resistance is not going to make things any easier.”
Resigned to the fact that
she had little choice in the matter, she relented.
Just then a man with glasses
and clipboard entered the room. Like Jerry, and everyone else she had
seen, he wore a white cravat. “What’s the plan, Jerry?”
“Artificial teeth –
white” he started. “After that, a full internal processing;
sterilization, redirect her urinary tract and the anal valve. Her breasts
are fine, so we won’t make any changes there.”
The man was scribbling behind
his clipboard, ignoring the girl as she screamed behind her gag, as
Jerry spoke. “Anything else?”
“Yes”, he said,
pulling Francis’ drawing from his pocket. “Have one of our
artists draw this up on a large scale. I need measurements and solutions
to whatever problems he thinks might arise. Also, I need suggestions
as to the best way to accomplish this. Also, I don’t want her
to be immobile…I want to allow for movement. I think it will set
off the piece nicely if it has life.”
The man scurried off, taking
the picture with him.
Chapter 2
The girl woke from her dreams, imagining that she was safe in her bed.
Stretching, she opened her eyes to find that she was not at home but
in a room that was completely foreign. Sitting up, she surveyed the
room around her. It was white and completely devoid of furnishings.
The only distinctive characteristics about the room were the two doors,
one with a sign that clearly marked it as the bathroom. The other door,
she knew, led to a horror beyond belief.
Quickly surmising that she
had no way of fashioning an effective weapon from her mattress and bed
sheets, she decided to find if there were something she could use from
the bathroom. Unfortunately, the bathroom was empty as her sleeping
quarters, having only a roll of tissue, the toilet and the sink. As
she exited the room she was graced with the presence of Jerry and two
other men, clad in white cravats.
“What do you want?”
she shot at Jerry, covering her nakedness to the best of her abilities.
“Come with us, my dear”,
he ordered.
“Fuck you!” she
responded.
If anyone had witnessed the
battle between men and girl, they would have said that she gave a good
account of herself, having knocked one of the men to the floor with
a picture perfect right cross. However, the outcome was inevitable and
she soon found herself strapped to a gurney and wheeled into the processing
chamber. In short order she was unconscious and undergoing the first
in a series of procedures that would change her life forever.
Many hours later she was
wheeled, still unconscious, into the recovery room and attached to an
IV. It would be several weeks before she would be allowed to awaken
from her drug induced slumber.
When, finally, she was allowed
to regain consciousness it was to find that she was alone and in the
very same room where she had battled Jerry and two of his staff members.
Remembering Jerry’s words, she quickly took stock of herself.
Nothing she could find indicated that anything had been done to her
and she began to wonder if it was not all a cruel joke.
“My teeth…he
said he was going to…” she thought. A quick examination
of her teeth found no anomalies. Still she was unsatisfied. She quickly
ran to the bathroom, hoping to find a mirror in which she might more
thoroughly examine her teeth. To her disappointment there was no mirror.
What she found, however, was quite odd. The toilet was no longer there.
In its stead was a small padded seat. From the middle of the seat protruded
an odd tapered shaft. Just then, she turned, hearing the creak of her
room’s front door, to see Jerry entering her room. Slowly, she
made her way out of the bathroom, a questioning look on her face as
she moved her hands to cover her intimate areas.
“What did you do to
me?” she asked him, clearly perplexed at finding no visible changes.
“What’s your
name, my dear?” Jerry was smiling at her.
“Lindsey. I thought…what
did you do?” she replied.
“I’m sure you’ve
noticed that the toilet is not as it was before. You will need to be
instructed as to how to use it. And you will have to use it, Lindsey”,
he told her. “Now, you want to know what we’ve done, eh?”
She looked on at the man,
not understanding what use she might have with the odd shaft.
“Well, my dear, your
urinary tract has been routed to your colon. Your colon has been fit
with a valve to prevent any mishaps and your anal sphincter has been
replaced with a sort of elastic “O” ring”, he stated
flatly. “You have been sterilized…actually, you have had…well,
I won’t go into too many details. Suffice to say that your breasts
and vaginal opening are all that remain of your womanhood.”
Horrified, she looked on,
tears forming in her eyes as Jerry continued.
“Your teeth and gums
have been replaced with a realistic synthetic, so as to avoid future
dental problems” he continued. “Also, your intestinal tract
has been modified rather severely. We also took the liberty of removing
your appendix. There is a bit more to it than that, but that is the
upshot. This is usually the first process we put our creations through
since it is the most traumatic.”
The girl had sunk to the
floor as Jerry had spoken of the changes made to her. Now, head in hands,
she wept.
“I realize that this
is difficult for you”, Jerry said, sounding sympathetic. “But,
you must understand that it is all necessary before we complete the
next portion of your processing. I suspect that, once you find your
place in our client’s home, you will think of yourself as relatively
lucky.”
“Lucky?” she
asked, incredulously. “How can I be lucky after all you have done
to me? You bastard! You fucking prick! How could you do this to me?”
Ignoring her angry comments,
Jerry began again. “After I leave the room an orderly will bring
you your meal. It is important that you drink it down. After a few hours
you will notice some discomfort. You will feel a bit gassy, for lack
of a better term.
This is an indication that you will need to void your body of wastes…”
The girl listened to the
man, absorbing his words through the jolts and jerks of her tears, mortified
at his instructions for using the post in the bathroom.
“You expect me to put
that post up my ass and give myself an enema?” she screamed. “Fuck
you…fuck you!”
“My dear, Lindsey”
he said, “If you don’t you will die a terribly painful death.”
“Then I’ll die.
I would rather die than end up as some piece of…furniture for
some perverts pleasure!” she screamed.
“So be it”, Jerry
spat as he spun and headed out the door.
Some minutes after Jerry’s
departure, the door creaked open. Lindsey watched as a tall woman approached
her, placing a bottle in front of her. “Dinner”, said the
woman before departing.
For the next several hours,
Lindsey ignored the bottle, refusing to drink from it. Eventually, she
gave in to her body’s needs and, after removing the lid, drank
the slightly sweet tasting contents, throwing the bottle against the
door as she swallowed the last of it. Then, exhausted from her trauma,
she retired to the mattress from which she had recently awakened.
She woke to find that, just
as Jerry had predicted, she felt a mild discomfort in her belly. Refusing
to take action she let it build. Before many hours had passed she was
feeling a terrible pain. Still, she was determined that she would die
before she would sit on the terrible phallus in the bathroom. Eventually,
however, it was more than she could take and she decided to end her
suffering.
She stared for many minutes
at the horrible post, generating the courage to seat herself upon it.
Much of her thoughts dwelled on her preference for death. But the pain
grew too great and, before long, she found herself sliding the horrible
thing into her posterior opening. Strangely, she noted, it was not painful.
In fact, she could barely feel it. After she heard the pop that Jerry
had told her would indicate she was properly seated she reached down
and pushed the lever that would release her from her pain.
The sudden outward flow was
nearly instantaneous. So was the sudden inward flow of warm liquid that
followed. Surprised by the uncomfortable inward flow, she attempted
to flee the horrible post but found that she could not. She was, for
all intents and purposes, trapped on the device. She reached out, one
hand against the wall and the other on the sink. Bracing her legs, she
attempted to flee the device that was pumping liquid inside of her body.
“Please…my God,
please…” she pleaded to no one, struggling to free herself
from the device holding her fast.
Still fighting against the
device, she felt the uncomfortable fullness leave her, the liquid being
sucked out of her. Just then, a beep sounded, startling her. Then, as
quickly as she had become trapped on the horrible phallus, she was freed
from it. Slowly, she made her way from the bathroom to her bedding,
where she buried her face in her pillow, crying at the horrible thing
she had been forced to do.
Chapter 3
After several days of interminable
boredom, fear and self-loathing, she was again visited by Jerry and
the two men who had overtaken her before. Her struggles on this occasion
were no less desperate. Nor were they any more successful.
As she was being wheeled
into the room where she was to be fitted with more modifications, she
began pleading with her captors again. More offers of money and sex
were made, as were threats and promises of retribution. These were met
with amused glances and low chuckles.
Jerry left her side as they
entered the room, inspecting the instruments to be used during this
next procedure. After ensuring that everything was as it should be,
he turned to a small plastic box, filled with what appeared to her to
be tiny silver tubes. Turning to her, he smiled an imperious smile,
bringing one of the small tubes to bear.
“You’ll notice
that these fittings are threaded inside. You’ll find out why later.
I want it to be a bit of a surprise” he began. “You will
also notice the small holes in the side. What we are going to do, thanks
to the genius of our art and engineering department, is imbed these
into your skeletal structure. Notice the small lip at the end? This
one will be embedded into your fingertip, the pin will fit through the
bone and the tube, ensuring it doesn’t shift or pull out. Others
will be embedded in strategic places through out your body. Of course,
this will require a bit of reinforcement to your skeletal structure,
but I don’t wish to bore you with the finer details.”
As expected, the girl began
ranting again. Her voice only dying out as the applied anesthesia took
effect.
As before, she was kept sedated
for some weeks after her procedure had been completed. No chances were
taken with the healing process. Jerry had deemed, long ago, that keeping
their projects under sedation following such traumatic procedures was
both beneficial and necessary.
She was lying on her back
when her eyes fluttered open. After many groggy minutes of ceiling staring,
she felt the need to expel her wastes. So, leaving the comfort of her
mattress, she walked to the bathroom and seated herself upon the hated
tube that would alleviate her discomfort.
After eliminating her wastes
she returned to her bed, pulling the sheets around her. It was then
that she saw the shiny metal lip of the threaded metal tubing that had
been embedded in her fingertips. Frantic at the sight of her finger’s
modification she began a long adventure of discovery. After a long and
thorough self-examination she threw herself down on her bedding, to
cry into her pillow. The implants, it seemed to her, were everywhere.
Over the next few days, great
attention was paid to her new changes. Every six hours, nurses would
come in and inspect the new additions to her body. These were the only
breaks in the monotony of her time in the room and she began to look
forward to them. The nurses would chat with her as they inspected her,
making certain that none of the implants had shifted or became infected.
Most carefully they inspected the inserts in her feet, since walking
on them would make them the most likely candidates to develop complications.
Fortunately, the inserts proved to be quite sturdy and she showed no
sign of infection or rejection.
After several weeks of inspections,
it was deemed that she was ready to take the next step in her processing.
The engineering department had completed their end of the task and she
was ready to be merged into their creation. It was on this day that
Jerry entered the room, smiling as usual and accompanied by the men
who had subdued her on two previous occasions.
Knowing the inevitable, she
did not fight, nor did she attempt to hide her nakedness. She had expected
to be strapped down, once again. Instead, and much to her surprise,
she was led out of the room on her own two feet. Upon leaving the room,
one of the men applied a thick metal collar to her neck, commenting
to Jerry that projects should be fit with such a device immediately
upon entering the Facility. Jerry only chuckled at the man as he rubbed
his jaw in memory of the right cross the girl had felled him with.
She was led down several
different corridors, passing the room where her most recent procedure
had been performed, before entering into a room that was far larger
than any she had seen thus far. Along the far wall and resting on a
wide platform, was a metal picture frame of intricate design.
“It’s eight feet
tall, six feet wide and two feet deep”, Jerry told her as they
approached the construct.
Staring at up at the frame
she took note of the many gunmetal gray spokes hanging along the frames
inner edge. They were no more than an eighth of an inch thick and she
wondered at their purpose. The spokes were most noticeable along the
top of the frame as they dangled and danced, chiming against each other
in a dull metallic symphony.
Just then, a man wearing
a white jumpsuit approached them. “What do you think, Jerry?”
“Excellent work, Bill”,
Jerry told the man. “ I just hope we have the lengths right.”
Smiling, the man winked at
Jerry, “That’s what this session is for. To make any necessary
adjustments.”
“Of course”,
returned Jerry.
Chapter 4
The girl stood atop a wide platform, just inside the large picture frame.
After a moment of uncertainty, she noticed that the man had positioned
himself on the platform and immediately behind her. Then, reaching up
to the top of the box, he freed a long strand of spokes from its secured
position above her, letting it hang behind her.
“Hold still”,
he told her, placing his arm around her, his hand on her naked belly.
She was shocked by the familiarity
at which the man placed his and on her stomach. Then she felt him begin
threading the dangling spoke into one of the many implants in her back.
“No!” she cried
out, bolting forward.
The man in the jumpsuit grasped
her firmly as she began her flight, causing them to tumble to the floor
in a heap. She struggled hard to break free from the man. Just then,
a terrible pain struck her. She screamed and doubled up into a ball
on the cold floor. The pain subsided momentarily and then began again.
“That’s what
the collar is for, my dear”, Jerry informed her. “We need
your cooperation…well, we don’t need it, but it certainly
is easier if we do have it. I would very much appreciate your cooperation.”
“Fuck you!” she
screamed.
“I was afraid of this”,
Jerry sighed, clicking the collars remote. “That was just the
low pain setting. I guess it’s time to try a higher setting.”
She convulsed, violently,
screaming loudly as the collar around her neck sent a powerful electrical
current through her. Jerry watched, seemingly disinterested, occasionally
glancing at his watch’s second hand. Finally he relented, offering
her relief if she would cooperate. Met with a disappointing response,
Jerry triggered the collar another time, watching his watch while she
writhed, screaming, where she lay.
“Is that enough for
you, my dear, or shall we try again?” he asked the girl.
“Please…no more”,
she whimpered.
“Then I will expect
you to cooperate with us. Do we have a deal?”
“Yes…just don’t…please…I
just need…” she let out, her voice filled with defeat.
“Very well then”,
Jerry said. “You’ve about sixty seconds to recover. After
that, I expect full cooperation.”
Her minute passed quickly,
after which she was repositioned on top of the platform. As before,
she felt the warmth of the man’s hand on her belly as he began
attaching the dangling spoke to her back. When the man had finished,
she had eight strands of metal, finding purchase in her ribs, just beside
her spinal column, and fanning out to attach to the top and sides of
the frame.
After repositioning himself
to the girl’s right, he reached out to the side of the box and
drew out another shorter spoke. “Right arm, out and up”,
he said to her.
“Please…”
the girl said, only to find a sharp tingle emanating from the collar
on her neck.
Prompted by the light reminder,
she obeyed the man, reaching out towards him. The man took her index
finger in hand, pulling her towards him, somewhat. Then, as she expected,
he threaded a spoke into the insert in her fingertip. Horrified, she
watched as, finger by finger, she was slowly incorporated into the workings
within the picture frame.
“Why are you doing
this?” she cried to Jerry. “Please stop. Let me go.”
Ignoring her, the man in
the white jumpsuit repositioned himself, yet again; this time to her
left. Again, he ordered she raise her arm towards him. Crying, she obeyed,
her despair becoming greater by the moment, aided by her growing humiliation
at aiding her captors.
Stepping from the platform,
the man came to stand in front of the girl, noting to Jerry that she
looked like a worshipper awaiting the coming of God.
“How tight is she?”
Jerry asked the man.
“Not very”, he
blurted. “But the spoke tension can be adjusted. Once we have
her completely engaged, we will make adjustments.”
“What about the cross
pieces? I want those to look real”, Jerry told the man.
“Don’t worry,
the cross pieces are going to look real. Like the spokes, they are made
of a titanium alloy that is highly flexible”, he said. “Once
we have the measurements completed and the cross pieces attached, we
are going to spray it with a polymer to keep it from rattling and to
add the proper visual.”
“Excellent”,
Jerry was practically beaming. “Well, you might as well finish
up. We have a rather anxious client awaiting this piece.”
Some two hours later, the
work was complete. The men stepped back to admire their captive, who
now hung in the middle of the frame, her entire weight now being supported
by the frame’s metal spokes.
“You look lovely, my
dear”, Jerry told her. “You were wonderful. I truly appreciate
you cooperating so well.”
As miserable as she had been,
Jerry’s words cut into her, filling her with shame and humiliation.
Though she had fought, she knew she should have fought harder. What
was the pain compared to this torture, after all? It was nothing. And
yet, she cooperated. She was, she felt, as guilty as anyone.
Her self-loathing was cut
short by a loud mechanical noise. Unseen above her, a man had begun
ratcheting the spokes. First one and then another was ratcheted. Slowly,
she felt herself being pulled taught. Finally, when the tension was
deemed proper, she was commanded to move. Obeying, she felt herself
shake amidst the web of metal.
“That’s perfect”,
Jerry blurted. “Now, check the placement of the implant in the
back of her head to the top center spoke and get it ready. I intend
on delivering her next week.”
Entering the frame from its
rear, Bill began screwing a swivel into the back of her head. Then,
after having her lean her head back, he clipped a small swivel to the
strand directly behind the attached swivel and began threading the two
together.
“Alright, do you have
it all?” Jerry asked the foreman.
“Got it”, he
replied.
“Good, let’s
get her down so you can get to finishing this little project”,
Jerry said.
Back in her room, Lindsey
lay on her bed crying. For long and long she pondered her fate, wondering
how she could have cooperated as she had. She had held up one hand and
then the other. Then, as if that had not been bad enough, she had done
the same with each leg, allowing herself to be manipulated as if she
were a puppet.
“It won’t happen
again!” she thought to herself. “I’ll die first!”
Her time to contemplate her
recent trauma was short lived. A woman entering her room commanded she
get up and follow behind her. Then, turning from the girl, she held
up the remote to her collar, requesting she not be forced to use it.
Knowing it was futile and purposeless to disobey, she followed the woman.
“This is your last
stop”, she told the girl, motioning for her to take to the bed
in the room’s middle. Once atop the bed, she was strapped down
and anesthetized.
Chapter 5
She screamed upon waking
to find that her beautiful hair had been removed. Her screams went unheard,
however, due to the strange obstruction she felt in her throat. Her
ability to speak had not entirely disappeared; she had screamed. However,
she found that her voice no longer had any volume beyond a loud whisper.
It was several hours later
that Jerry came to her room. “It’s almost time, my dear.
Now stand up so I can have a good look at you.”
“What did you do to
me?” she whispered, sitting up on her bed. “Why did you
shave my head? What did you do to my voice?”
“Stand up”, he
repeated, displaying her collar’s remote. She was shaking, tears
flowing from her eyes as she stood, fearful of the pain he could inflict
upon her.
Jerry took little note of
her question, instead focusing on examining the many implants embedded
into her rib cage.
“Why? Why did you
do this to me?” she cried, still demanding an answer.
“It isn’t shaved.
It’s been permanently removed, like the rest of your hair. We
made it into a wig. You’ll be wearing it very soon”, he
told her, his voice seemingly disinterested.
More tears fell from the
girl’s eyes. “Answer me! Why are you doing this?”
“It’s what I
do”, he said. “Sit down, I need to check your feet.”
“Please…please
let me go. I won’t tell anyone. Just please let me go”,
she whimpered, still obeying his commands.
Several minutes passed before
Jerry was satisfied with her state. As he completed his task he smiled,
secure in the knowledge that his charge’s implants had not been
damaged.
It was several days later
when she next saw Jerry. Like his previous visit he reviewed her body,
clinically, looking for any signs that the implants had suffered damage.
Satisfied that they were holding up properly he stood, taking her hand.
“It’s time”,
he said.
Tears fell from her eyes
as she sat staring at the man. She had found the will, for the moment,
to resist him. But after writhing on the ground in terrible agony for
several minutes, her will was less sturdy. Inevitably, she found herself
walking the long walk to meet her fate.
As the door opened to the
terrible room, she saw the frame. Again, she found the resolve to fight
her tormentor, taking flight. She was felled after running no more than
ten paces, whispering her tormented screams. Jerry aided her in regaining
her feet, saying nothing. Then, leading her by the arm, Jerry led her
to stand in front of her horror.
“Ready, Bill?”
Jerry asked the man in the white jumpsuit.
“Bring her here and
we’ll get started”, the man replied.
Lindsey looked up at Jerry,
her eyes pleading. “Please don’t…please.”
Jerry ignored her, leading
her to the man who awaited her.
A sudden chill shook her
body as the other man grasped her arm. She bolted again, determined
not to falter, only to be felled by another painful burst of electrical
current from the hated collar. So intense was the pain on this occasion
that she thought she might die. By the time Jerry relented, she wished
she had.
“Get up”, Bill
commanded.
Struck by the weight of what
was to come, she burst out in tears. She crawled to Jerry’s feet,
grasping his pant leg, begging him for mercy. “Please, please…don’t
make me do this”, she cried.
“Up”, said the
other man, grasping her arm and lifting her from the floor.
She did not fight. She did
not attempt to flee. She merely stood on the wide platform and allowed
the man to fasten the frame’s spokes to the row of inserts along
her spinal column.
“Right arm, up and
out”, she heard him say.
Slowly, she lifted her arm.
As before, he began attaching the metallic tendrils to the girl. One
by one, she watched as the threaded spokes were fastened to her fingers,
until she no longer had use of her hand.
“Left arm, up and out”,
she heard his voice command. Obediently, she obeyed, watching his every
movement until the fingers of her left hand were firmly secured.
After checking to make certain
that all connections were correct, the man stepped from the platform
and ordered, “Right leg, out.”
She stood stock still, tears
rolling down her cheeks. “Please…please don’t do this
to me”, the whispered voice pled.
The familiar tingle from
the collar returned, prompting her to lift her right leg from the platform
and stretch it towards the man. With the proper spoke fixed into the
implant set within her heel, her crying became more intense.
“Left leg, out”,
she heard him say.
“Please!” she
blurted through her tears. “Please, don’t.”
“Left leg, out!”
he demanded, his words in sync with the familiar tingling.
Slowly then, and with tears
running from her eyes, she lifted her leg, allowing the implants to
take her full weight, and placed her foot in the man’s hand. In
a moment, she was firmly secured to the frame, with only a few more
spokes to attach to her lovely body.
“Remove the collar,
get the cross pieces and her hair on, secure the waste control valve
and get her boxed”, Jerry told the man. “I want this to
slide into place and be hooked up and ready by the weekend.”
“No problem, chief”,
Bill replied.
Jerry turned and strode towards
the door. Then, just before exiting the room, he turned to face her.
Admiring his creation he smiled. “You look beautiful, my dear.
You will fit in quite well.” Then he turned and was gone from
her sight.
The majority of the anxiety
she felt left her after Jerry’s departure. She had managed to
find that place of self-preservation that humans are blessed with. It
was a place of solitude and numb acceptance of whatever was to come.
Within that temporary state, she was barely aware of the men who applied
the finishing touches to the prison in which she now lived. Neither
did she take much note when the waste control valve was installed within
her posterior opening.
Finally, upon her being boxed
in a large wooden crate, she slept, dreaming of more pleasant times
when life was life and horrors like this were unknown to her.
Chapter 6
The girl woke to find herself
in a large and warmly lit room. Across from her, she could see a wall
adorned with rich paintings and antique rugs. The floor, what she could
see of it, was carpeted as decadently as the walls, in deep reds offset
by intricate patterns of various colors. In the far corner to her right
stood a statue. It appeared to be made of marble and, despite its vulgar
depiction, merged well with the ancient feel of the room. She had seen
it before but could not recall where.
As seemed to always be the
case, Jerry was there. He was directing the activities of the workers
who were installing the frame she inhabited into the wall behind her.
The whirring sound of drills brought her more fully awake and she realized
that the frame was being fixed to the wall.
“Alright, bring in
the back, secure it and we’re done”, said an unseen voice.
Behind her, she heard the
scraping of metal against metal as the men pushed the back piece into
place behind her. More whirring of drills could be heard as they fastened
the back piece in place.
“Bill, check to see
that the stimulator is working”, Jerry called out. A moment ticked
by. Suddenly the girl stiffened, her body tensing from the low amperage
current flowing through her body.
“That’s good.
Now set the timer for regular nightly intervals”, he told the
man. “We don’t want the poor girl’s body to atrophy.”
“Is it ready?”
asked an unseen voice.
“Ah, Francis…yes,
it’s ready”, Jerry responded. “Come see what we have
wrought.”
She watched then, as the
man who had commissioned her horror came to stand beside Jerry. For
many moments they stood, silently admiring the girl. Then her eyes lost
focus and she drifted into daydreams, thinking of the things she should
and should not have done. She never should have been out alone on that
night when Francis had picked her up, nor should she have accepted his
offer of a ride. She should have turned him down. She should have been
more cautious. Above all, she never should have cooperated with Jerry,
no matter how much pain she suffered. It had been a terrible pain, but
not so terrible as this.
“I deserve this”,
she thought. Then exhaustion overtook her and she closed her eyes, praying
for the release of sleep.
“I’ve one last
thing to show you, Francis”, Jerry said to the man.
“What is it?”
“We needed an artists
rendering of your drawing…something our engineers could more fully
grasp. It seems that our artist got a bit carried away. At any rate,
it was so strikingly beautiful that I decided to have it framed for
you. I think you’ll like it”, he told the man, ripping the
paper from the formerly unseen painting.
Within a frame exactly like
the one that now decorated Francis’ wall, was a painting of brilliant
tones. Set against a midnight background was a mass of three spider
webs. Trapped within the strands of web was a girl. She was well shaped
and beautiful, her muscles straining to free herself from her predicament.
Spread out and clinging to the web holding her fast, were tresses of
long auburn hair. Most striking, however, were the girl’s steely
gray eyes. Filled with sad resignation, they held fast, staring into
nowhere.
“It’s marvelous!”
Francis whispered.
“Do you think she would
agree?” Jerry asked the man.
After placing the picture
within sight of the girl, Jerry reached out, tickling her right foot.
Her eyes opened slowly at the surprised stimulation.
“I want you to see
something”, Jerry told her.
She focused on the painting
across from her. Slowly, the visual of the artists rendering sank in.
Staring into the depths of the painting, she gave a brief inward chuckle.
“How horribly and ironically artistic”, she thought. Then
she joined the girl, staring off into nowhere.
End