MARGARET - LOST FROM HER MIND

BY TURNER2CORNERS

[ part 3 ]

Just as I finished speaking to Elizabeth, the motion detector sounded an alarm. I turned on the basement camera to find that Margaret was out of the bed and standing by the bed facing the cell door.

I decided to make her some sandwiches to eat before I would go down to greet her, and so I went into the kitchen and busied myself there.

As I took the sandwiches towards the basement I glanced at the monitor. She was still in the same position, like some automaton awaiting orders.

As I opened the basement door the girl immediately went down onto her knees and placed her head on the floor, this was apparently her standard position.

“I’m your new master, girl. Stand up so I can inspect you.” I had to seem gruff to her. She stood up so quickly that I thought she was on elastic! But she still kept her head bowed as I walked round her.

I could see a wide bruise around her neck where a collar had been tightly placed. Her wrists and ankles were also bruised where she’d been either tied or chained up.

I could see marks all over her body where she had been caned or whipped. There were some scares from where cigarettes had been placed on her, particularly on her forming breasts and immature vulva.

I’d seen work like this before. - No I won’t go into details. Suffice it to say that I had considered that side of my work, before I had my change of heart.

If it was the trainer I thought, then she must have been one of his last ‘batch’ - he worked wholesale and marked his subjects. I remember that the police raided his warehouse and he was shot dead by them after they found his ‘guests’ in training.

“On your back and open your legs!” I told her, again she was down on the ground so fast I would have thought that she would have bruised her back.

Her legs were opened wide apart. the ease with which she did this showed how much training she’d accomplished and that she’d still practised her ballet -Why ballet? Well there were two disciplines that allowed a slave to keep limber, one way was gymnastics which gave leg and arms the exercise to make them limber. Ballet worked mainly on the legs allowing greater movement and flexibility. In it’s way it was another confirmation of her trainer.

“Lift your legs.” I commanded her, and trying to sound gruff added. “Let me see your mark!” She raised her legs and held them with her hands. On the perineum between her vagina and arsehole was a tattoo. “Remain in this position.” I told her and went to get a camera. When I returned she was still in the position, although I could see her legs were trembling with the effort. She was trying hard to obey me. I focused the camera onto the target area and took the picture.

“Well done slave, release your legs and relax.” Again without a word she obeyed. I had to make her talk - this was a break with her training but she would have to obey my orders.

“I’m displeased slave!” I said harshly. “When I give a command I prefer my slaves to say ‘yes master’. Maybe your last master preferred that you were silent and so I’ve ignored you past omissions, but now I will demand an answer. Is that understood?”

She nodded her head, and so I slapped her face - hard! “I asked you a question slave and I want to hear your answer!” I could see her face moving as she worked her mouth, finally she croaked out.

“Y . . . ye . . . ye . . . yes . . . ma. . . mas . . . master.” although it was barely audible I was satisfied with that.

“Good slave. Now are you hungry?” And I looked at her. Sure enough she made a hand gesture before she remembered and said, “Yes master.”

“Very well slave, I have a sandwich here which you may eat.” I held the food in front of her and she looked at it but didn’t attempt to take it. “What is wrong slave?” At her mute expression I continued. “If there is a problem with taking this food from me you’ll have to talk to me and tell me.” I was going to force her to speak more than the two allowed words.

She started to gesture with her hands, using sign to speak. I understood it but this was not what I wanted. “What are you doing slave, I want to know what’s wrong. Stop fidgeting and tell me.”

Success I could see a look of exasperation in her eyes as she realised that I didn’t understand sign. She looked down at my feet and then slowly raised her face.

“Master . . . your trousers are covering you . . . I . . . cannot perform for . . . my food.” I could imagine what performance she meant.

“At the moment slave you’re took weak to perform properly for me. I require you to build up your strength first. So there is no payment required at the moment. Now why didn’t you answer me when I demanded it?”

“Master . . . This slave begs forgiveness . . . but I was answering.” She slowly said while keeping her eyes down.

“No you weren’t. All you did was to wave your hands about!” I said as if angry with her.

“Master . . . this slave is sorry but this slave was using a sign language that she was taught.” She wasn’t looking at me afraid that I was going to hit her again for talking back to me, I should have done but decided not to.

“So? I’m not going to learn that! You have a mouth? You can use that for speaking along with the other things you’ve learnt to do with it!” I was close to her face as I said that.

“Yes master, this slave is sorry for suggesting such a thing.”

“For now I’ll forgive you. But I want you to eat your food before you faint!” I told her, she looked again at my trousers and then raised her face to me as if not believing me. Finally she took a bite out of the bread.

I left her eating the sandwich and started to check out the rest of the cell area, I’d left the door open. Not as a test, as I’ve done before, but secure in my knowledge of her trainer. She wouldn’t move from her position unless I gave her permission. Hopefully at some stage she would start to think for herself. Using her voice instead of the sign language she’d been taught was a break from her training, one wedge into breaking it.

I checked that the toilet was working by using it. I could see Margaret watching me. She looked at the golden stream I produced; she had obviously learnt to be a toilet in her training. Whether she was wishing she was there or glad that she wasn’t I didn’t know.

I made sure I washed my hands and went back to where Margaret had finished her sandwich. “Do you want some more?” I asked her.

She started to sign again and then stopped, she drew in a breath of air before she said, “Yes please master, this slave is hungry.” I rubbed her hair.

“That’s a good slave, it’s your duty to be fit and able to serve me correctly, if you don’t have enough food you’ll never be fit. Now if you’re hungry you will tell me, but remember I will feed you at certain times only. Soon I’ll expect you to cook my meals. You do know how to cook I hope?” I asked her.

She nodded, “Yes master, my master . . . my original master . . . made sure I was able to cook before he passed me on to my next master.” She seemed proud of that accomplishment.

“How many masters have you had?” I asked her.

She didn’t have to think about that. “You are my third master, master.”

“How old are you?” This would cause her a problem due to her training, but she was able to answer me.

“I am 10 years of age and 1 year of slave, master.” Due to her training she would normally age herself from when she was made a slave, but she knew her real age which meant that Margaret was still in there somewhere.

“How do you know that?” I asked her

Her face went blank as she realised what she had said and covered for herself. “I do not know master; I believe my second master had told me.” But the way she tried to hide her eyes from my gaze told me she was lying to me. A glimmer of hope for her.

“Very well slave, I will go up and make you some more sandwiches. While I’m gone you will lie down on the bed and relax, I will not be angry if you fall asleep. I do not expect you to be in position for me when I come back. Do you understand?” My voice was a bit softer when I said this.

She glanced back at the bed, no doubt wondering what I would do to her while she was lying there, then she looked at me. “Yes master.”

I left the cell and went through the door to the stairs, I closed the door and locked it - I’m not that stupid. I went into my room where the monitor was still active, on one part a display showed that the download had finished, the main part showed that Margaret was about to lie down, but then noticed that the cell door was open. I watched happily as she walked towards the door. Would she leave the cell or close the door?

She looked past the bars of the cell and then around the room, she didn’t see my camera as it watched her. She then took a tentative step out of the cell, glancing at the door to make sure it was still closed; she took another step, pausing as if waiting for a thunderbolt or something to strike her. When nothing happened she then moved forward again.

This was an unusual thing for a trained slave to do, it showed a spark of independence I was now sure that she would be salvageable, but how did she break through the conditioning? And would she remember her real name and previous life?

I left her to explore, I wanted her to learn about where she was. In the meantime I glanced through the zip file Elizabeth had sent.

There were three video files along with several documents. I downloaded the pictures I had taken onto the computer. I idly played the first video file, it showed a family group. I could see that it was a birthday party, Margaret’s birthday she was seven years old. She received presents including a teddy-bear - the type of which I recognised, I made a note about it on a pad. Two adults were with her, they had to be her parents I decided. It was a happy group, no sign of the future they were going to experience.

I left the video and went into the kitchen to prepare more sandwiches for Margaret. From what Elizabeth had told me, she hadn’t eaten much while she was at Ropeville. I suppose that the nurses there couldn’t command her, and they wouldn’t think of asking a man to order her to eat.

I went pass the monitor and noticed that Margaret was looking inside one of my ‘toy’ cupboard at the array of whips and instruments I had stored there. I decided that I’d better make a noise when walking down the stairs.

I clumped my way down the steps and rattled the key in the lock of the door, making sure that I took my time before opening the door. Margaret was back on the bed as I entered. She saw me and quickly got up from the bed and stood beside it. I glanced to the door of the cupboard and saw that it was still slightly open, but she didn’t see me do that. I approached her with the food and placed it on her bed.

“There you are slave. You will eat that and use the facilities over there. I want you to be refreshed and clean before you go to sleep. Tomorrow I’ll be checking your training. Remember that I expect vocal responses only, I do not understand any other, is this understood.”

She nodded and also said, “Yes master.” I turned and left the cell, closing the door behind me, but not locking it. As I left the basement she was picking up the sandwich and starting to bite into it. I locked the door and went back to my computer.

I quickly scanned the other two video’s that Elizabeth had sent, one was a school nativity play in which Mary was played by Margaret who smiled to the audience at the end of the production, the other was of the family packing their belonging and starting on a journey away from the camera - obviously not of Margaret’s family’s videos I wondered who had taken these films and how Elizabeth managed to get hold of them.

I read the documents, they were her school record. She was doing well in English and Maths, her History could have done with improvement. She was also an excellent shot and quite good at unarmed defence. (Ropeville had decided that the children, especially the girls, should be able to defend themselves). In all she was a happy student and well liked by her classmates. The reason why her family left Ropeville was due to her father being offered a job away from the County. - Of course this file wouldn’t have been sent to Margaret’s new school, they would receive a ‘normal’ school file.

But I needed more information from other sources. First of all I sent an email to Bill, asking if he had any records I could borrow. These would be of Roger (that was the name of the trainer I mentioned earlier). The tattoo on Margaret gave his Initial and a number 435 - that was her number. Roger was busy with number 450 when the police came knocking.

The next thing was contacting people I never would normally approach - the police. I used my computer to dial the number; in the window a female office was visible.

“Ropeville Police, Marline speaking, what is the nature of your call?”

“Hello Marline, I’m Paul Purple. I’m currently helping Elizabeth with Margaret, I need some information that only the police could provide.” She looked at me and pressed some buttons on her keyboard, no doubt retrieving information on me and my location. Obviously there was a message on her screen as she straightened and looked directly into the camera.

“Yes Mr. Purple, what do you require?” No questioning, no demands on why? I wondered what she’d read?

“Margaret was given to a person who’s name was Roger ********* about 1 year ago, I need to know if the police in her parents city had any deaths during that time, I need to know how her parents died, if they died at all. It’s possible that Margaret was abducted. I also need to know if any information was retrieved by the officers who captured and killed Roger. I need to have the file on slave 435. This was Margaret’s number. I need the information as quickly as possible please. Do you need me to repeat any of that?”

The woman shook her head, “Unnecessary, this call is being recorded. The information will be provided as soon as possible. Is there anything else?” She asked me

“Just one more thing, did Pauline and Billie-Jo arrive safely?” I was slightly concerned as I hadn’t received any message from them.

“They have, and are undergoing medical checks at the moment. I’ll request that they contact you as soon as they can.” She smiled at me, “Madeline also wants to know about her niece.”

I considered for a moment. “Tell her that Margaret is fine at the moment, I am hopeful but I don’t want to raise any hope at this stage, if she’s cured I’ll pass on Madeline’s concerns but I don’t want her disturbed by anything just yet. I hope she’ll understand.”

The officer nodded, “Thank you for being honest with me. I’ll ensure that Madeline receives your message. But from all of us here, we’re rooting for you.” at with that she closed the connection.

Well now I had another reason to succeed, if I failed it was possible that the Ropeville police would be after my head. I sat by my computer and waited for a response, in the monitor Margaret was getting up from the toilet and watching the water flush away before turning to the bed and lying on it, tomorrow was going to be a busy day.