Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Author: Ribeye98
Title: Thornwood Episode IV - The Champion
Part: 11 - 15
Summary: Does Rachel have what it takes to be a champion?
Keywords: fsolo, mast, exhib, voy, humil, nc, mf, Mf, 1st, bd,
blackmail, toys, nosex
   ************************************** Author's Note Copyright 2013 all
rights reserved.  Please do not repost this story on other sites without
permission (ribeye98@gmail.com).  By accessing this story, the reader
hereby certifies that he/she is of an appropriate age to access adult
material and that such material is permitted in the locality or country
where the reader resides.  The following is a creative work of fiction, and
the characters or incidents described do not resemble any persons or events
in the real world.
   You can read the rest of this series at https://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Ribeye98/www/
**************************************
   Thornwood Episode IV - The Champion Part 11
   Pip asked Ellie to personally deliver the message after Thursday
practice.  Rachel would be less suspicious that way.  Friday was the start
of a four day weekend for most students.  But there were still various
activities going on at the school every day.
   Coach Ron couldn't hold practice on a teacher service day.  So he gave
them the day off to rest up for the tri-county meet on Saturday.  His
captains had acted responsibly at the midnight swim a few weeks ago and had
been asking for another.  He thought they would use the time for more team
building exercises.  How could he know they only wanted his school keys so
they could prepare Rachel and Oliver's elaborate hazing?
   Ellie informed Rachel that she was to report to the aquatic center at
4:00am tomorrow morning for what Ellie called a "team meeting".
   "How Mysterious!  Ooh, is it another one of those midnight swim things?"
   "I'm not allowed to say," Ellie answered robotically.  Rachel should
have caught the distress in her friend's voice.  But she was too swept up
in her own excitement to notice the unusual behavior.  She was finally
getting to spend some quality time with her teammates outside of practice.
Nothing else mattered.
   Rachel excitedly made plans.  "Four o'clock?  That's really early.  Do
you want me to stop by your house in the morning so we can walk together?"
   "I'm not going - swimmers only." Ellie was nearly in tears by this
point. There was no team meeting.  She was sending Rachel into a trap, but
Pip had forbid her from revealing anything about it.  Pip had pumped Ellie
for information; anything they could use against Rachel.  Then she ordered
Ellie to keep away from the school fearing she would try to interfere with
the operation.
   From what little they had told her, there was potential for the whole
plan to blow up in everyone's faces and land the whole swim team in a lot
of hot water; not to mention the great personal humiliation Rachel would
suffer.  Ellie objected to the plan, but was overruled.
   Pip insisted, "If she follows our instructions she will survive
unharmed. If not, then she is not a team player and will deserve the
consequences." That just worried Ellie more.  Rachel was team player, and
very loyal.  But the girl was more apt to get into trouble than out of it.
   Ellie reluctantly agreed to deliver the message.  She couldn't warn
Rachel, but when she saw her, she knew she had to do something.  "I will be
at home if you need anything," she emphasized that last word in the hopes
that Rachel would take the hint.  But she couldn't tell if the message had
struck home.  "And be careful."
   "Sure, whatever" it seemed Rachel hadn't caught the nervous tone in her
friend's voice.  Ellie turned and walked away before she broke down.  She
could only hope now that Rachel would not blame her for what was about to
happen and that she would remember the offer for a lifeline if she got into
any serious trouble.
   Neither Ellie nor Rachel slept much that night.  One spent the time
wallowing in guilt that she had betrayed her friend and sent her into the
jaws of a cruel trap.  The other stared at the clock and watched minutes
tick by; too giddy with excitement to sleep.
   **I wonder what time I should show up.  I don't want to be the first one
there or anything.  But I don't want to be late either.  Just because Coach
Ron won't be there, Ellie still called it a team meeting.  She was sure
acting strange this afternoon.  Maybe when it's over I should stop by and
try to cheer her up.
   **I should have asked her what we were going to do.  It could be
anything!  She didn't mention swimming.  I better bring my uniform just in
case.  Why do they need us there so early?  Maybe we're going to drive over
and prank Eastern or something and we need the cover of darkness.  I should
apologize to the others for getting suspended.  That one captain has been
giving me dirty looks ever since the loss.  What's her name?  I can never
remember.  I think it starts with an "M".
   A hundred thoughts flew through her mind until finally, at 2:00am on
Friday morning, she gave up trying to sleep and decided to start her day.
With nothing scheduled, she could catch up on her sleep that afternoon. 
She was young enough to recover and it shouldn't affect her performance
Saturday.
   The house was dead silent with everyone sleeping soundly.  Not worried
about being seen, Rachel stripped off her nighty and went to the bathroom
to get ready.  Eric's door was closed as usual but she did hear snoring as
she passed.  In the shower she shaved her legs including the tender petals
between her legs.  The stimulation added to her excitement.
   When she was finished she stood in front of the mirror and sampled her
boobs.  Her physical maturity was the envy of every girl in her school and
most of the female teachers.  But it wasn't just their size.  It was the
way they stood so high and proud and as if introducing the rest of her. 
Her whole body was built to allure and seduce; from her flawlessly
constructed chest with rock hard nipples to the perfectly symmetrical
curves of her torso and the sculpted muscles of her ass and legs.
   The unfulfilled sexual need deep within her was so constant and strong
by now that it permeated through to the surface and caused all her outward
signs of arousal.  The ever present moisture glistening on her mound sent a
message of erotic desire.
   Rachel would love to give up the futile search for relief and return to
a normal life.  But her body would not let her rest.  It remained in a
constant state of lust; begging for release.  She didn't know where it
would come from or in what form; only that individual efforts were
fruitless and she could not stop searching until her need was met.
   Her final preparation consisted of fixing her hair and make-up.  Even if
they were going to mess it up in the pool, she wanted to look good
initially.  Back in her room, she commenced to picking out an outfit.  She
laid both her dresses out on the bed as if she were getting ready for a
date.  With only two to choose from, it shouldn't take long to pick; though
it was a little more complicated than it seemed at first.
   While her bra was a necessity for the orange cream dress, it absolutely
could not be worn with the wonderland dress.  She had tried it once with
poor results.  The yarn made her chest look lumpy beneath the fabric.
   The panties weren't as bad.  They had shrunk a few sizes since she first
wore them and now hugged the curves of her bottom just right.  So Rachel
settled on a combination.  Eschewing the bra with its infernal itching, but
keeping her panties on, she went with the wonderland dress.  It was a
comfortable yet relatively modest compromise.  Her strength trainer shoes
completed the outfit.
   At 3:20, Rachel emptied her backpack and packed her uniform.  Before
heading downstairs another idea struck her.  She had already cleared the
meeting with Susan and explained that she didn't know how long it would
last.  So if it ended up being short, she had a free pass for the rest of
the day.
   She had already decided to visit Ellie after the meeting and try to
cheer her up.  So why not hang out with her all day?  They both had to be
at the school at the same time the next morning to go to the swim meet. 
Why not go ahead and spend the night?
   Happy with this new plan, Rachel added her nightie to the backpack.  She
left a note for Susan on her bed which said she was sleeping over at
Ellie's house that night and not to expect her back until after the swim
meet.
   It still very much felt like the middle of the night outside.  The moon
cast enough light to see by.  There was no traffic or activity of any kind
as Rachel walked to school.  She glanced up at Tommy's house as she passed
and was reminded of the time she had peeked in his window.  Now all the
lights were off.
   A few blocks later she passed Ellie's house.  Everyone was asleep there
as well so she kept going.  It wasn't until Rachel reached the aquatic
center that she realized how fast she had been walking.  Her excitement had
quickened her pace and now it appeared she was the first to arrive.
   She was going to wait outside for the other team members to start
showing up, but then she checked the door and found it unlocked.  That
meant someone had arrived before her after all.
   With no way to check the time, Rachel decided to head inside.  She
didn't want to miss any of the festivities because she was waiting outside.
   All the lights around the pool were off except for a couple emergency
signs.  That was fine.  By now Rachel could find her way to the locker room
blindfolded.  She was in no danger of falling in.  She found it a little
strange that no one was setting up for the team's arrival.  But that was
usually Ellie's job and she had not been invited.  The accumulation of
oddities gave Rachel pause that something strange was afoot.  But her
suspicion did not pique in time to prevent her from wandering right into
Pip's trap...TO BE CONTINUED
   Thornwood Episode IV - The Champion Part 12
   They pounced on her just inside the locker room.  They held her tightly
and led her across to where a spot had been prepared.  Sparse candlelight
provided the illumination and threw eerie shadows on the walls.  Rachel's
pulse started to race.  She was more confused than scared.  She recognized
the boys holding her as team captains, but it was still weird seeing them
in the girls' locker room.  Looking around she saw only captains.  Where
were the other team members?
   An ominous voice came from a dark corner, "Water warrior, the coaches
have honored you with a spot on the Thornwood Varsity swim team.  But thus
far you have squandered that honor on selfish endeavors.  Therefore the
captains have declared you unfit to be called our teammate until you prove
your mettle."
   **This must be some sort of initiation ritual!
   A shape rose from the corner.  The voice now had a body to go with it.
"A challenge lies before you.  Do you accept?"
   The mysterious person stepped out from the shadows; another captain. 
This was the girl who had been punishing her at practice all week.  She
must be the ringleader or master of ceremonies.  Rachel never felt in real
danger.  She assumed she could say "no" and they would send her away
unharmed.  They probably didn't have the power to kick her off the team. 
Coach Ron was the real authority.  He would back her up.  But she was tired
of being an outsider.  She was also eager to prove her worth in front of
her teammates; and this girl most of all.  She didn't hesitate, "Yes!  I
mean, I accept."
   Suddenly there were hands all over her body.  They started undressing
her.  Rachel instinctively resisted at first.  No one likes the feeling of
being stripped against their will.  But it was a planned part of the
ceremony so she settled down.  They had all seen her naked before anyway.
   The leader kept speaking as they were prepping her, "Water is our arena
of battle.  In water we were formed.  It is our master yet it is also ours
to command.  There are those who would seek to destroy our sacred
fellowship.  We survive by banding together when one is threatened.  The
strong must protect the helpless.  You are strong, but you only act to
protect yourself.  Only when you are willing to lower yourself and give all
for the sake of your brother will we count you as an equal among us."
   Rachel was naked by now and tingling with excitement.  She got the gist
of the pep talk about banding together.  But why wrap it in such grandiose
and arcane language?  Other activity was going on behind her that she
couldn't see.  Those in charge of holding her in place took their job
seriously and prevented her from turning around.  She had worn her hair
down.  One of the girls went at it with a brush.  She tied it up into
pigtails to keep it out of her way for the task ahead.
   "In a very short time, a lamb, one of our own, will be sent to the
slaughter.  Your fate is bound to him.  Only by yielding to the lamb will
you find salvation."
   She sensed movement at her feet.  They attached nylon zip ties around
each of her ankles and cinched them tight.  Two more were threaded between
them to form a loop so she could not pull her ankles more than about a foot
apart.  For the first time Rachel felt nervous.
   "A water warrior must be keen of mind and sound of body.  That is all
you should need to face the task ahead.  Therefore that is all you shall be
equipped with; nothing more."
   In coordination, her wrists were pulled behind her back.  She had never
been handcuffed before, but recognized the ominous sound of metal clicking
shut.  It wasn't painful in the least.  In fact she only felt a soft downy
substance around her wrists.  Though she couldn't see them at the moment,
she correctly pictured something like novelty cuffs.  And though they may
be wrapped in pink feathers, any sort of tugging on her part confirmed that
there was real metal underneath.  Two more tiny zip ties cinched her middle
fingers and thumbs together just above the knuckle so that her palms were
inseparable.  Rachel started to panic.  Not content to stand by and let
them immobilize her, she struggled against her bonds and spoke up.
   "Ok, this isn't funny." She tried to sound calm in the hopes of talking
her way out of the situation.
   But it was no use.  They passed Pip something behind her back as she
stepped up to claim Rachel's personal space.
   "Relax, little water warrior," her voice was unnaturally calm.  But then
again she wasn't the one who had been stripped naked and bound hand and
foot, "you should be proud to have been given the honor of renewing this
challenge.  While yours is the first attempt in years, many who came before
us have undertaken it.  Compared to them, you're not worthy to wear a
Thornwood uniform.  Some rescued the lamb earning great glory while others
failed in disgrace.  But take heart.  More than a few reported it to be
quite an enjoyable experience.  And from what I understand, you should
enjoy it more than most."
   With a sly smile Pip lifted her hand onto Rachel's breast.  Resting the
tip of her index finger just beside a nipple, she traced few circles around
her areola.  Rachel was taken aback by the girl's forwardness as much as
the warm rush of arousal her stimulation produced.
   "Not everyone who has undertaken this challenge was as endowed with such
natural...ability.  I'm sure someone with talent such as yours can handle a
few extra obstacles."
   The purpose of Pip's actions became apparent when she lifted her other
hand into view.  Suspended between her fingers on an almost invisible loop
of line was a little brass round bell.  Rachel's fully erect nipple made an
easy target for the loop.  Before the girl could recover from her
confusion, Pip hung the bell and drew the knot snug.
   "We've thrown in a few personal touches to even the playing field.  Call
it an added degree of difficulty for our team mascot."
   **...!
   Rachel's heart stopped.  What did she mean by mascot?  Were they
dressing her up to look like some animal?
   Rachel backed away as Pip produced another suddenly ominous looking
bell. But it was too late.  With a smooth flick of her hand, Pip deftly set
the second bell in place.  Rachel's nipples were so stiff by now that the
trinket hung easily; no tightening necessary.  But Pip set the knot with a
tug anyway, just to be sure.
   "Ow", it didn't hurt but still she cried out "Let me go."
   "Let you go?  I thought you were committed.  No.  You already accepted
the challenge.  If you back out now, you might as well quit the team too.
Besides, I couldn't unlock you if I wanted to.  The only key to your cuffs
is with the lamb in the art department.  Now, we're leaving.  I suggest you
get going as well.  You have quite a distance to cover and your lamb will
only be there for another hour or so before the slaughter begins."
   "This is your real tryout.  If you return triumphantly with him safe and
sound, your things will be waiting for you.  If you fail, don't bother
coming back because he will probably never forgive you for abandoning him.
And we will not give you another chance either."
   With the ceremony at an end, Pip pushed a stunned Rachel out to the pool
and closed the door behind her.  "Cheer up.  You'll do fine, Slutty
Bunny."...TO BE CONTINUED
   Thornwood Episode IV - The Champion Part 13
   **Slutty Bunny.
   The words echoed in Rachel's ears.  The cruel nickname invented by
Brenda the Bitch had just been uttered by her captain.  Did that mean
Brenda was somehow involved in this task?  Was she waiting in ambush around
the next corner?  The thought was enough to make her break out in a cold
sweat.
   **That's too crazy to believe.  Brenda hates all swimmers.  She would
never cooperate with a team captain.
   But if they weren't working together, how did her captain come to learn
about the nickname?  Brenda had coined the name while bullying Rachel near
the aquatic center.  The story was so humiliating that Rachel never told
anyone about it.  No one except...Ellie!
   **Did Ellie betray me?  No.  She wouldn't do that.  The captains must
have coerced the information from her.  And then they made her stay home.
Unless...oh my God.  What if Ellie is the lamb?!
   **That would explain why she was acting so strange yesterday.  She was
trying to warn me.  And I wouldn't pay attention.  Poor Ellie!  What have
they done to you?  I have to save her.
   **Wait a minute.  Didn't the captain say the lamb was a `he'?  Ugh. 
Does it even matter?  How can I go wandering through the school like this?
   They had gone to great lengths to strip her of her dignity and transform
her into a helpless and vulnerable creature.  There was no telling what
other surprises they had in store.  No doubt they were setting her up to
fail; expecting her to give up somewhere along the way and let the lamb be
slaughtered.
   The desire to prove them wrong strongly motivated her to persist.  Even
if she was mistaken about Ellie being the lamb, she was still duty bound to
save it.  And she wasn't the type to back down from a challenge.
   **Slutty Bunny.  They think a little ridicule will break me.  Well they
have no idea what I've been through.  I will prove them wrong.  I intend to
represent myself with pride in everything I do.  If this is to be my
tryout, then I will give it my best shot.
   Her mind made up, Rachel strategized over the task at hand as she moved
toward the aquatic center exit.  Her first concern was one of direction.
   Old Thornwood high school was laid out in the shape of an X with four
symmetrical wings made from quarried limestone.  The school had long ago
outgrown those first facilities.  The most affordable way to keep up with
population growth was incremental expansion projects.  Always subject to
available funding, these projects tended to be smaller and lacking in
continuity.  They also lacked the majestic architecture of the original
building.
   The school had almost an organic quality to it now.  Wings sprawled out
of the old school in every direction; often following the contour of the
surrounding land.  Covered walkways which had connected the new wings to
each other were eventually enclosed into proper corridors.  That left lots
of irregularly shaped pockets of grass which were made into little
out-of-place courtyards.
   The whole campus was a confusing mess that should have been razed and
rebuilt years ago or relocated somewhere more suitable for a large
enrollment size.  In the month she had been attending, Rachel had learned
how to get to her classes without getting lost, but that was about it.  She
wasn't even sure where the art department was located; though she suspected
that the captains wouldn't have picked it unless it was on the opposite end
of campus.
   Fortunately, the captains gave her some help in the form of a sticky
note on the door.  In the glow of the exit sign she could just make out
little wavy lines and an arrow pointing through the door.  A trail fit for
a water warrior.  Now that she had a general idea of which direction to go,
she checked that problem off her list and pushed through the door with
satisfaction.
   Her next concern was trickier.  Time was of the essence and would be
throughout the challenge.  A person walking at a normal pace might navigate
the length of the school in about 20 minutes.  In a hurry Rachel could
normally be to the art department in well under 10.  But the nylon manacles
around her ankles slowed her pace considerably.  It had taken several
minutes just to get to the exit of the aquatic center.
   The captain had told her she had one hour before the lamb was taken to
slaughter.  Rachel could estimate the necessary speed to get there in time.
Good swimmers have that natural ability and are always thinking about pace.
But that skill was useless in this case because she had no way of keeping
track of time in the dark.  Also, she didn't know what was waiting for her
and was sure to encounter other obstacles which would slow her down along
the way.
   She couldn't depend on maintaining any pace.  They had done a good job
of slowing her down.  All she could do was cover as much ground as possible
and hope for the best.
   The obstacles they had encumbered her with were nefarious indeed.  But
perhaps the most nefarious was her own naked body.  It must be around
4:30am.  Rachel was pretty confident that the school was still deserted for
now.  But before long teachers would start arriving for their in-service
training.  And there were any number of other activities that could be
scheduled for today.  School was no place for a naked girl during the day.
As her journey grew longer, the risk of being seen grew higher.  Time truly
was of the essence.
   She saw another sticky at the next door and pushed through to a
different wing of the school.  Looking back she became aware of something.
She could easily push the doors open in one direction.  Fine, but what if
she needed to backtrack at some point?  Could she get it open?
   Rachel backed up to the door.  It had a pull bar, but with her fingers
rendered useless by the mini zip ties, she couldn't get a good grip.  She
would have been able to hook a foot around it, except her those were bound
together too.  The only other tool at her disposal was her mouth.  She
guessed she might be able to grip it with her teeth and pry it open.  But
the thought grossed her out.  She wasn't about to put her mouth on a school
door handle unless as a last resort.  So she turned and resumed her
trek...TO BE CONTINUED
   Thornwood Episode IV - The Champion Part 14
   Down the myriad corridors walked the naked girl.  The classrooms started
to run together after a while.  Time passed, but she couldn't be sure how
much.  As if mocking her, there were an abundance of old analog clocks
everywhere; one in each classroom and many scattered around the halls.  But
it was too dark to read them.  The emergency signs barely gave enough light
to illuminate the sticky notes which were guiding her way.
   For a while it seemed sailing was almost too smooth.  The stairways
provided her only challenge.  She couldn't separate her feet enough to step
up normally and so had to hop.  It was at those times that she felt most
like a bunny.  Her feathery handcuffs provided the tail and her pigtails
were floppy ears.  Only this bunny lacked fur of any kind - the rare
hairless hare.  Rachel surely looked ridiculous hopping from step to step
with her bare body jiggling right along.  She was in good enough shape not
to be winded when she reached the top, but her heart rate got a workout.
   She was thankful that so far she had not encountered even the slightest
hint of another person.  Hobbled as she was, Rachel couldn't run from
trouble.  She couldn't even sneak by an open door if it came to that. 
Because with every step, her little nipple bells tinkled away; announcing
the approach of the buck naked water warrior.
   She despised those damned bells.  Her short halting steps added an extra
jiggle to the natural sway of her unbridled melons.  The tiny brass
ornaments hung from her pointy pink tips; answering every stride with a
happy `tink'.
   **This is the work of that caption.  One of her `personal touches'.
   Rachel would be more than happy to be rid of them.  They served no
purpose other than to annoy and humiliate her.  Removing them would allow
her to better sneak around without being heard.  The only trick was
figuring out how.  With her hands bound behind her, she couldn't just reach
up and untie them.  She had watched them be secured with simple knots. 
Surely they could be undone without too much effort.
   Rachel looked around for any sort of tool which could help her.  Down
the dim corridor a ways she saw some lockers lining the walls.  In such a
sparse setting that was her only tool.
   **If my nipples would take a break once in a while, these stupid bells
would probably just fall off on their own.  Ooh, that's so cold!
   She had reached a locker and was pressing her chest into it.  Her plan
of action was ill conceived.  Mashing her boobs against the locker door,
she moved around for a bit in the hope that contact alone would be enough
to dislodge the bells.  All the while she tried not to think of the
lewdness of the scene.  The naked girl was rubbing her tits all over some
random stranger's locker right in the middle of her high school.  If anyone
found out about it, she would never live down the humiliation.
   The stimulation and contact with cold metal made her more and more
horny. If anything, her nipples got harder the longer she worked at it. 
The knots held firm.  She needed more leverage; something to hold the bells
in place so she could pry herself loose.  It didn't occur to her that
slipknots only get tighter when you apply more pressure to them.
   There was a vent grate half way down the locker about the same height as
her belly button.  If she bent over far enough her chest should barely
reach.  Time was still ticking by.  And getting to the lamb was more
important than personal comfort.  She decided to give it one shot and move
on if it didn't work.  Shuffling back a bit to get the right angle, she
leaned way over and thrust out her boobs as far as she could.
   She had to turn her face to one side and use her stiff nipples as
feelers.  She made a few minor adjustments to position the bells near a gap
in the grate.  Then she slowly dragged them upward.
   "Ow!"
   She felt her right nipple stretching as the line was drawn taut.
   **It's just a little tweak, and a good sign.  One of the bells must be
pulling itself loose.  Just one good yank and...
   "YEEEOOOOWWWWCH!!!  OH ^&#@!" Her chest felt like it had been struck by
lightning.  She wanted to dance around until the excruciating pain
dissipated.  There was only one problem.  She couldn't stand up.  In fact,
every direction she tried to move was met with resistance.
   That last yank had caused the bell to snag on the grate.  A good tug in
the right direction could dislodge it.  But that was asking a lot; seeing
as the line was tied to her tender young nipple.  Too stubborn to give up
just yet, she made several valiant attempts to break free.  She tried slow,
steady pressure.  She tried ripping it off like a band aid.  But every
attempt only caused more jolts until the pain was unbearable.  Only being
perfectly still gave her any reprieve.  That bell was not going anywhere
and neither was the unyielding knot.  Her face was still plastered against
the locker.  She had arched her back to reach it in the first place.  Now
her back muscles were getting tired of standing like this.  But relaxing
them meant adding more pressure to her already taut anatomy.
   Rachel finally admitted that she was trapped and out of ideas.  She
squeezed her eyes shut and tried to hold back the feeling of despair.
   **Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?  Some lucky teacher is going
to show up and see me like this.  Or what if it were a student and this was
his locker?  Oh my God.
   Though she was burdened with stress and the enormity of her predicament,
the pleasure centers of her brain were having a field day.  In the dark it
was easy to imagine all kinds of fantastical scenarios.  She had been
walking naked past the same classes she attended every day of the week.  It
was a personal fantasy come to life.
   Add to that the thought of some cute guy from class being the one to
find her here.  Rachel, one of the hottest girls in the school completely
naked and exposed.  Bound to his locker and unable to cover anything.  Bent
over at the waist with her boobs hanging down in front and her juicy bald
pussy up in the air like some bitch in heat.  It sent her system into
overdrive.  The moisture factory between her legs sprang to life and the
surrounding nerve endings twitched with excitement.
   At this point she would normally be massaging her swollen outer lips
which were growing ripe with need.  But not this time.  Though her hands
were so close to the epicenter, they could not assist.  They might as well
have been miles away for all the good they did.
   Rachel whimpered; unable to hold back the onset of hormones.  She could
do nothing to help the process along; but neither could she stop it.  Her
body was progressing through the stages toward impending orgasm despite her
lack of active participation.  She wriggled where she stood as much as she
dared; ever mindful that too much movement would result in more pain for
her nipple yet unable to hold perfectly still while the hormones washed
over her.
   After a couple minutes Rachel was so sexually charged that, had her
imaginary classmate appeared for real, she would have willingly turned her
body over to him.  After all, she was in prime mounting position and ready
to go.  She would have begged him to finish the job.  It wouldn't take much
to push her over the top.  One good thrust would bring her that sweet
orgasmic relief her body so desperately needed.
   But that boy did not appear.  And without help, her body's momentum
eventually ran out short of the peak.  Even without release, the exertion
had taken its toll and she suddenly wanted to sit down.  But she was still
firmly stuck to the locker.
   Sexually frustrated and physically defeated, Rachel stopped struggling
and settled in for the long wait.  But just as she was conceding that she
would be stuck like this until someone found her, an unexpected event
caused her to be freed...TO BE CONTINUED
   Thornwood Episode IV - The Champion Part 15
   While she should have been wracking her brain for more ideas on how to
escape, Rachel found it hard to focus.  Her body kept trying to sit or
kneel.  But the grate was too high to allow that.  Any attempt to relieve
pressure on her straight legs put more pressure on her already stretched
breast.  The only option was to wait.  Her pulse slowed.  She yawned.
   It wasn't a yawn of boredom.  Rather, standing still in nearly total
darkness for several minutes reminded her that she hadn't gotten any sleep
last night.  Many of her joints were stiff.  She had to keep unlocking her
knees for fear of passing out.  Bent over as she was, her hands were higher
than the rest of her body.  Her fingers were losing the battle with
circulation and falling asleep.  The wait was excruciating; worse in many
ways than the arousal.
   Her erotic reverie had been replaced by a soul crushing weariness.  The
leftover hormones would take time to disperse.  She would have used a
mini-bate to mitigate the surge.  But that remained impossible in her
current state.  The yearning in her loins had become a constant affliction
in her life.  It distorted her perception of the world.  Sometimes its
presence affected her decisions in obvious ways.  Other times the effect
was more subtle.  But the backdrop was always looming over her.  She forced
it to the back of her mind as she had so many times before and tried to
concentrate on escaping.
   **With my luck it could be hours before anyone comes down this
particular hallway.  I don't know if I can survive that long.  Even then
they still have to figure out how to get the handcuffs off without keys. 
That will take even longer.
   Her knees gave out for a second and she swayed off balance.  She would
have stumbled to the ground if the line attached to her supple breast
wasn't holding her up.  Rachel cried out in pain and frustration.  "WHY
CAN'T I EVER CATCH A BREAK?"
   Fate must have heard her.  It answered her question with some good
fortune in the form of the school bell.
   "BRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG"
   Rachel jumped out of her skin as the deafening sound of the echoed
through the empty halls.  The jump was just what she needed to dislodge her
roundbell from its vice and, just like that, she was free.  Then she let
out a deafening sound of her own.
   It felt like her nipple had just been ripped from her body.  Rachel
danced and cursed; anything to ease the pain.  Then for good measure she
cursed the captain who had put the bells on her to begin with.  She
couldn't see it in the dark, but feared the worst and kept waiting to feel
blood running down her chest.  But that didn't happened.  The pain slowly
waned to a manageable level; allowing her to calm down and assess her
situation.
   **You're ok, girl.  A bell ringing doesn't mean anything.
   The school bell was automated and probably scheduled not to sound
overnight.  She could deduce that it was probably now 5:00am.  She couldn't
be sure though.  School bells followed the periods and rarely rang exactly
on the hour.
   The sudden noise and subsequent pain had given her a jolt of adrenaline
that mustn't be wasted.  Now freed from her locker prison, she was eager to
put the whole incident behind her.  Distancing herself from that spot was a
good start.  She had been walking briskly all along, but decided she could
risk going a little faster even in the dark unfamiliar territory.  The odds
of crashing into furniture or another object were slim in barren, sterile
hallways.
   She set out at a slightly faster pace; twisting her hips in an abnormal
gait somewhere between a walk and a jog.  Any faster and she was afraid of
losing balance.  If she fell, it would be very painful since she had no way
to catch herself.  She was like a wind-up toy expending lots of energy for
not much added speed.  But speed was still speed.
   Her bells went crazy.  With her breasts bouncing all over the place,
they sang out a joyful refrain.  Anyone within a block would have heard her
coming, but right now progress was more important than stealth.  The only
way she could go any faster was to hop like a bunny.  And she wasn't sure
she could keep that up the whole way.  But it was an interesting thought.
   **That's probably what they expected me to do; hop all the way across
the school.  The lamb is probably not even a real person.  Just a prop or
something.  I bet they're all at the finish line waiting for me to show up
all worn out and humiliated so they can laugh at me.
   As the physical, sexual, and mental exertion took its toll, her acuity
started to break down and paranoia set in.  Lack of sleep can do that to a
person.  She grumbled to herself as she jogged.
   **...making me follow their trail like a trained animal.  They've
probably been watching me this whole time.
   Suddenly she froze; half expecting to catch the kids snickering behind
her back.  But she heard only silence.
   Despite the lack of evidence of a trap, it still concerned her that she
was blindly following the path the captains had laid out.  Could they
really be trusted to get her there safely?
   When Rachel reached the next crossroad, she stopped to think for a
moment.  She was more familiar with these parts of the school.  It didn't
look the same in the dark, but she felt confident of where she was now.
   **The sticky says to go right.  Why do they want me going that way?  It
leads through the atrium at the center of the school and past the
principal's office.  I've got to be smart about this.
   **If I go left instead, I can circumvent the atrium entirely and come
out on the other side.
   She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of trapping her.  Rachel took
the left hallway.  As she neared the main entrance, she looked out through
a wall of outer windows.  The world outside was as inky black as the school
inside with no signs of life in sight.  It was a positive omen that she
could still complete her task on time.  Sunlight was her enemy.  With it
came all kinds of complications.
   Rachel worked her way through some side corridors which ran parallel to
the atrium.  The going was slow and arduous.  To conserve energy she
alternated between her pseudo-jog and the halting wind-up toy shuffle.  She
had to carefully hop down a grand staircase to reach the door that led into
the adjoining wing.  Once she passed through that door, her journey would
officially be more than half way complete.
   Proud of how she had cleverly thwarted the captains' plan, Rachel
triumphantly shuffled to the door and turned her hip to push it open.  But
it was locked and refused to open.
   **What?  No!
   She checked every door down the line with the same result.  Looking
through a small window, she saw a sticky hanging from the exit sign.  She
needed to be in that hallway.  Because she had only encountered unlocked
doors so far, she had assumed they were all that way.  That was not the
case.  The captains had used Coach Ron's keys to unlock only the doors she
would need.  They did not allow for alternate routes.  She could not get
there this way.  She slumped against the door, unsure if she could
persevere after yet another setback.
   But strangely, Rachel found clarity in that moment.  Wrapped in all that
flowery language about being a water warrior, Pip's message to her had been
one of humility and trust.  She pondered that message and began to
understand.  Only now, in her time of utter helplessness, did she truly
realize how important it was be able to rely on those with more ability. 
If she was meant to be one of the strong members of her swim team, she owed
it to those weaker to stop acting in her own interest.
   She should have trusted the captains to lead her to safety.  But she
chose to make her own way.  The roundbells had been her burden to carry,
but she tried to shun the responsibility by taking them off.  And the
result was more suffering.  The path had been laid out for her from the
beginning.  Her instructions were to walk without questioning.  There was
no trap.  There was no scheme.  Only an innocent lamb.  And a task that had
been entrusted to her alone.
   Rachel did indeed find clarity as she stood in that darkened hallway. 
The apparitions of her own design stopped haunting her.  She had found
peace in the journey.  Unfortunately, she had lost a lot of time in the
process.  The price for her wandering still had to be paid.  For her
foolishness, the water warrior was condemned to suffer the rest of the way
without her last form of covering.  For in an instant the veil of darkness
was taken from her.
   The poor girl had taken no more than two paces toward the staircase when
the lights came on.  And the nature of her surroundings were suddenly
transformed in very challenging ways.  A new day was at hand for Thornwood
High School.  And the apparitions were about to become very real...TO BE
CONTINUED
  
thornwood-ep4-part-11-15