Story - Sisters of the Heart II - Resolutions by Shadowkeeper

[center][u]**[size=14pt]Sisters of the Heart II Resolutions

By Shadowkeeper[/size]**[/u][/center]

[center][u][size=12pt]Part One – A Sudden Void[/size][/u][/center]

[size=12pt] As I sit with my cell-phone in hand and wait for my sister Kate to answer, I can’t help worrying about her. It’s late Christmas morning, and all of my gifts are opened and carefully organized beside me; my other sisters are at home with me and are doing their usual routine of picking on my OCD tendencies by moving things when I am not looking so they can giggle as I unthinkingly nit-pick them back into place without really noticing. It’s all in good fun, so I don’t really mind; besides, I’m too busy worrying as the ringing stops and I get Kate’s annoyingly perky voice mail greeting.

I leave a message, trying to sound cheerful as I ask her to call me back as soon as she can. Sarah, the perceptive one of my siblings, comes over and gives me a hug. “Don’t worry about it Bets, Katie always has to pass out for the morning after Christmas Eve, you know that.”

I look at my big sis and give her a half hearted smile; I appreciate what she’s doing, but she doesn’t know what I do – sometime before dawn, I woke up feeling an emptiness I couldn’t explain, only to realize that I couldn’t feel Kate anymore.

Kate is my fraternal twin officially, though we think we might be this weird theoretical blend of identical and fraternal called Polar-Body twinning, since we each have always had a weird knack for knowing how the other one was doing. Anyway, my whole life I have had that awareness of my crazy counterpart, and now – nothing, zilch, nadda; there’s just this empty place where she used to be. My instincts are telling me that she’s never going to get my message, that I’ll never hear her childish voice again, while my rational mind is doing everything it can to convince me that everything’s going to be fine – after all, my connection with her is usually fuzzy on Christmas Eve, when she goes a little insane.

I don’t want to get anyone else worked up, so I swallow the lump in my throat and turn back to my gift cache, which is once again in shambles. As I go about carefully arranging everything just so, I give silent thanks to my sisters for providing me with this cover to do some planning.

I don’t personally have much money, and I know my parents don’t have anything to spare (think about it, six daughters, only one out in the job market and one a senior in high school, the rest all good enough students to get into good, expensive colleges), plus I don’t want to clue anyone else in that there might be a problem, so I’ll have to figure out an excuse to go away for awhile, and then get some cash for a plane ticket and spending money from an unconventional source. The first part I think I have figured out, and the second is percolating in my brain when my cell phone rings.

I quickly step outside, hands shaking, and answer without taking the time to check who’s calling – I’m too frazzled to think of it. “Hello?”

I deflate as I hear the rather geeky voice of Brad, my friend and modeling agent of sorts. “Hey there beautiful, how’s your Christmas going?”

I have to smile a bit at his earnest tone, he really has a thing for me; it’s so cute. “Hi Brad, things are…” I hesitate, trying to figure out how much I can tell him. I don’t want to lie to him; he’s just too sweet. “Actually Brad, I need to get to my sister, and funds are kinda short right now, do you-“

Brad is pretty quick on the uptake; there’s a reason why I use him to get me gigs. “Say no more, I can tell you’re upset. Let me just check and see what job offers are laying around.” The next minute or so is filled with the sounds of him flipping through papers, and me pacing back and forth. Finally he comes back on. “You’re not gonna like this Elizabeth…”

I roll my eyes; he’s so afraid of offending or angering me that it gets annoying at times. “I’m a big girl Brad, I think I can handle it.”

He really sounds hesitant now. “Well, it’s just that the only one that is available on short notice isn’t very nice.”

I laugh at that one. “Honey, I do at least one shoot a week where they tie me up and whip me, how much worse can this one be?”

My smile disappears as he responds. “Well, you see this one involves sex…” He knows that I am saving myself for marriage; in fact, it is a subject that seems to awe him.

I chew on my lip, undecided. Finally I get an idea; it’ll be painful for me, but I’m used to that, and I can’t leave my sister waiting, wherever she may be. “Brad, give them a call and tell them that I’m in, as long as they promise no vaginal. Everything else is fair game; anal, oral, whatever.”

Brad seems to lose his voice for a minute, not too surprising since I’ve always been clear that oral (blow-jobs or cunt-licking - I’m mildly bi) is as far as I will go with anyone until that veil comes off, and even that isn’t allowed on film. “Are you sure about this? It’ll only be a week or so before I can get you some of your regular gigs, you know how much they like working with you.”

My voice is quiet but firm. “Brad, this really is important, Kate…” I suddenly can’t talk anymore; I really would love to talk to him about it, but I just can’t get it out. Probably just as well, I’m afraid I would sound like a panicky whack-job anyway.

Good old Brad reacts like the overly nice guy he is. “Shhh, it’s okay, I’ll get them on the phone right away, and I’ll get them to agree; you won’t have to worry about a thing. I assume you want to try and get this done tonight?”

I take a moment to plan things out in my head, and then respond. “Yeah, that sounds about right, thanks buddy, this really means a lot to me.”

“No problem Elizabeth, just arrange things so you’re free tonight, and I’ll call you back with the details…oh, do you want me to set you up with a flight tomorrow while I’m at it?”

I tell myself that the next time I see Brad, I owe him a nice sloppy B-J. “Sure, that would be really great of you. You’re the best, I’ll talk to you later.”

I hang up, and then steel myself for my next task of lying to my parents and sisters convincingly enough that they won’t get suspicious…[/size]

[center][u][size=12pt]Part Two – Empty Nest[/size][/u][/center]

[size=12pt] As I ride in a cab from the airport to my sister’s apartment, I keep having to shift positions, grimacing at the pain in my ass. My precious hymen may still be intact, but it feels like it might be days before I will be able to shit right again. The cabby, surprisingly not stinky, sleazy or even particularly hairy, keeps looking back at me and making like he wants to ask if I’m okay, but luckily I’m good at giving evil looks, and he manages to hold his curiosity back.

Brad had been as good as his word, setting my shoot up for early evening, so that the unusually long session would end soon enough for me to take a red-eye flight without having to rush. His foresight was vindicated, as during my shoot they really worked me over, especially my ass and mouth. I think they figured that they had to make up for the lack of pussy-plowing, but it was worth it to me, especially since I found out late on that they were into cream-pies and I’m not exactly on the pill right now. It took me an hour to get composed and cleaned up enough to leave the studio and drive to the airport.

The scene at my parent’s home was much easier, yet somehow more stressful at the same time. Convincing them that my gig was going to involve a session out of town, and that I really needed the money for school books was surprisingly simple, they bought it hook, line and sinker, but it was really distressing for me to lie to everyone like that – especially my sisters; we had an unspoken policy of total openness with each other, and I had never violated that bond of trust before. It didn’t help any that the whole time I was fighting an urge to break down as that aching hole in my mind and heart kept gnawing away at my emotions.

My recollections of the last pain-filled twenty-four hours are interrupted as we finally arrive. The ride costs me more than I would like, but that session paid even more than I had been hoping for, so I don’t really mind. As I tell the cabby to keep the change, he finally works up the courage to question me, now that he doesn’t have to worry about losing a tip. “Miss, are you gonna be alright? You look pretty upset, and kinda in pain…”

I just smile tightly, nod and turn to walk towards the dark house. I have never seen the place before, so I’m surprised at how nice and large the place is, especially since it isn’t split into multiple apartments. One or more of my sister’s roommates must be loaded.

No one answers the doorbell or my knocks, the lights are out and the shades are down, so I try the doorknob. It’s locked, so I sneak around back and try the door there. That one swings right open for me, and I take a tentative step inside. I don’t know the layout of the place, and the sun isn’t really up yet, so I turn on the light.

I’m in the kitchen. It looks pretty innocuous, other than a half eaten pizza sitting on the counter, going kind of funky. I walk over to the offending food item and draw in a hiss. It has mushrooms and hot chicken strips on it – Kate’s favorite. I’ve seen her chow down on one of these all by herself until there was nothing left; she’s nuts about them, and there’s no way that she would let one go to waste if she had any choice.

Really antsy now, I walk into the next room and turn on the lights. It’s the living room, and everything looks all right until I glance at the far corner and see a pile of my sister’s favorite blankets piled next to an overstuffed chair.

I’m starting to panic now. I start rushing through the house, turning on all of the lights as I go. When I get to my sister’s room, I recognize it instantly by the pictures of our family scattered along the walls and on the dresser. Next to her computer monitor is a snapshot of the two of us at prom – we took each other just to piss off our possessive boyfriends of the time.

I look at that picture for a long time, then turn away fighting back tears. Taking a deep breath, I calm down and take stock of things, reviewing in my mind everything that I have seen, including things that haven’t really registered until now. There are no purses in the house, and no jewelry boxes (an impossibility in an apartment with four college-age girls); all of the bedrooms are unusually messy, even for students. There are barely discernable footprints all over the house, prints that are way too large to belong to any of the girls that live here. Finally there’s the pizza and blankets…

It seems obvious to me that there was a break-in, and my sister was caught up in it. I’m pacing back and forth, telling myself over and over to stay calm, that if they were going to kill her as a witness, they would have just done the deed here, that them taking her is a good sign…I’m not believing any of it, there are just too many reasons I can think of for her to be taken elsewhere before being disposed of, and none of them would be pleasant for her.

I jump and gasp as the sound of a door downstairs opening, and then closing startles me out of my reverie. My heart is pounding as I creep out of my sister’s vacant room and towards the stairs. I try to calm down, telling myself that it must be one of Kate’s roommates returning from their holiday.

As I reach the stairs, I can hear someone throwing out the pizza and taking the garbage bag out of it’s can, and I start to relax; who ever heard of a burglar coming back to the scene of the crime to clean up some raunchy pizza?

Just in case, I try to creep as quietly as I can as I make my way down the stairs. I’m almost at the foot of them when I stop in shock as a huge man steps through the doorway from the kitchen not ten feet away and turns to look right at me.

I’m rooted to the spot, frozen with terror as I take in the sight of him. He’s truly massive, well over six feet tall and built like a linebacker. There’s not a trace of fat on him, and his face is striking as opposed to handsome; right now that face is looking just about as surprised as I feel, but there’s something more in his eyes: recognition. He knows my face, and that can only mean one thing.

I suddenly burst into motion as an out of control, desperate rage overtakes me. I’m seeing red as I throw my infinitely smaller body at him, screaming almost incoherently. “WHERE IS SHE? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER? GIVE ME BACK MY SISTER YOU BASTARD!”

He steps back in astonished surprise as I hit the solid mass of his chest, bounce off and immediately come back at him, flailing at him with all of my meager strength. Some distant part of my mind is telling me that this is not my best course of action, but I’m beyond caring. Everything that I have bottled up in the past twenty-four hours is exploding out of me at once, and I’m totally out of control.

Finally the intruder gets over his surprise and grabs me by my elbows, pinning them against the sides of my chest. Undeterred, I kick impotently at him as he easily lifts me up and carries me over to the nearby couch and pins me down on it, sitting on my legs and still holding my arms in his massive hands…[/size]

[center][u][size=12pt]Part Three – Hole In My Heart[/size][/u][/center] [size=12pt]

I glare up at the huge stranger and squirm around in his grasp, grabbing hold of his rock hard forearms and gouging at them with my black-painted fingernails in attempt to make him loosen his grip from the pain; I needn’t have bothered, I break a few of my nails and don’t even earn a wince.

He speaks for the first time and the deep, rich baritone of his voice sends an unwilling thrill through me. “Miss, you need to calm down. I’m not here to hurt you.”

I really hate the fact that he’s making my pussy wet with that voice and his easy control of the situation, so I spit in his face. “Bull shit! You did something to my sister, I know it! I’ve never seen you before in my life, but you recognized me, I saw it, I know what that means! NOW LET ME GO AND TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED TO MY KATIE!”

“Look, I’ll explain everything I can, but you have to calm down and be more quiet. I need you to understand that I won’t hurt you, but others might if they know you are here.” The soft sadness in his eyes and voice makes me stop all movement, all breath. Not only is it at total odds with the situation, but it can really only mean one thing.

My voice is a whisper and my heart aches unbearably. “She’s really dead. I didn’t imagine it. I’m never gonna see her again, am I?” I see the confirmation in his eyes, and I deflate like a balloon. There’s no fight in me as he gently adjusts our positions so that I am suddenly in his lap and cradled in his arms, my head back so that I can look up at him through eyes that don’t seem to be working right. There’s a ringing in my ears, and everything seems distant, unimportant. As my vision tunnels down and I lose consciousness, I feel a detached amusement at the sudden concern and alarm on his face.

I’m flying over an endless lake, the waters so smooth that I can see myself reflected in them, along with my companion. I study our reflections as we smoothly glide along. Kate and I are both naked, but that really doesn’t seem strange at this moment so I ignore it. We have nearly identical faces and builds, our bodies petite but well formed, faces pale, freckled and pixie-like. Our eyes and hair are at odds with each other, her hair thick, long and red, perfectly set off by playful green eyes, while my own hair is relatively short and smooth, like a shiny black cap, and my own gray eyes are filled with turmoil.

We are holding hands, and she is smiling at me. I want to smile back, but the sight of her has me in tears; I don’t know why.

I have to close my eyes when she finally speaks; her voice is so painfully wonderful to me. “You know you’ll have to go back soon sis; they won’t let you come with me.”

I’m filled with confusion and desperation when I finally open my eyes to look at her again. “But where are you going? Why can’t you stay with me?”

Suddenly we are on a train, lying together in a small berth. I can see mountains passing in the distance as my twin gives me a sweet, lingering kiss; she is stretched out on top of me, our legs intertwined and breasts touching. This should probably seem erotic, but instead it just feels wonderfully intimate. She looks deep into my eyes as she caresses my face softly. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back when I can. You just go back and make him happy for me.”

I start to cry as it all starts to fade and she floats away above me. “Who are you talking about? Why are you leaving me? Come back, please!”

When I come to I am still sobbing for her to come back. I’m curled up on the overstuffed chair that I had noticed earlier, wrapped up in Kate’s blankets. I pull them closer and take a deep breath of her scent from them, and I find myself calming down.

I look around and notice that it is now fully light out. I can hear some movement upstairs, and I assume that it’s the man cleaning up the messes in the rooms there. Somehow I just can’t bring myself to move or even care as I see him come down the stairs a moment later.

When he sees that I am awake, he comes right over, a look of such pure concern on his face that I have to smile through my sniffles. He kneels before me, hesitantly touching my leg through the blankets. “Are you okay – wait, of course you’re not…I mean, are you well enough to go get some coffee? I’d rather do our talking somewhere else.”

His question has the sound of a nervous boy asking a girl out for a date, and somehow that sets me at ease. “Yeah, I could use a cup right now. We take a cab though.”[/size]

[center][u][size=12pt]Part Four – Fill in the Blanks[/size][/u][/center]

[size=12pt] As we wait for the cab, I try to think of something to fill the uncomfortable silence without breaking our unspoken agreement to leave the subject of my sister for our destination. “Um, so what’s your name; I don’t want to go around saying ‘hey you’ all the time.”

He laughs lightly and casually brushes my arm with his hand. A tingle goes up that limb at his touch, and up my spine at his laugh – it’s a really nice easy one. I fight off my sense of arousal, feeling like I’m betraying my sister by feeling attracted to this man who, one way or another, has been involved in her death. “My friends call me Max. That’s short for Maxwell, but only my parents and bosses get to call me that.”

I’m trying not to feel at ease with him, but it’s getting hard, especially since I just can’t ever seem to resist harmless banter. “Oh really, please don’t tell me that your last name is Smart, or I’m going to have to keep at a safe distance.”

There’s that laugh again, making my stomach flutter – damn, I feel like I’m a schoolgirl crushing on her teacher. “Nope, no worries there. I have a suitably pretentious last name to go with it.”

“And what do the girls call you?” Oh shit, I’m flirting; I even have my hand on his arm – god that’s a solid bicep.

He looks down at me, all serious but not at all threatening. His voice is quiet and gentle, but even so it feels intense and makes me shudder. “Master. They call me Master.”

We stare at each other for a frozen moment in time. My breathing is shallow and my heart is pounding as I helplessly wait for him to make a move. I jump as the cab out front honks its horn, and the moment is shattered. I step back from him and struggle to get my composure back. I tell myself that I have to keep strict control of myself around this man; I just came way too close to submitting to him, and I can tell he’s not like the part time players at the BDSM club back home. This guy’s the real deal, and if I give in to my impulses, I’ll be his for good.

Max has a small, knowing smile on his lips as he offers me his arm like a gentleman. “Shall we?” I’m more than happy to take him up on the offer as he leads me from the back of the house to the waiting cab; I’m still shaking a little and my legs don’t feel very stable at the moment.

I have to smile a little as I see the driver of the cab; it’s the same one that had dropped me off, and he’s gaping at us in surprise. I can’t really blame him; we really do offer quite the visual contrast, what with Max being this huge bear of a man towering next my little, barely five foot frame – at least I have the four inch heels on my boots to make me look a little less out of scale.

Max opens the door for me, and then goes around to the other side to get in. The cabbie looks a little chagrinned, and I have to wonder if he had requested to take this trip in hopes of a date or something. The thought helps to ground me back in normal reality, and I give the poor guy a grin and a wink.

Max names a random diner, and we set off. I’m sitting ram-rod straight, looking forward, trying not to look at him, and holding back the urge to just melt against his side, when Max leans towards me and whispers in my ear, sending shocks of arousal through my body. “You know, I can’t go saying ‘hey you’ all the time either.”

I’m breathless, actually fucking breathless from such a simple move. “E-Elizabeth.”

He’s sliding his arm around behind me now, drawing my tense body in closer. I single-mindedly keep my eyes locked forward. “And what else do people call you?”

I shudder and close my eyes as he places his free hand flat over my stomach, then lick my lips and remember that he just asked me a question. “My s-sisters call me Bets.”

Thankfully we arrive at our destination right then. The cabby is looking at me all worried now as we exit the vehicle; he must think that I’m some kind of prostitute with her pimp or something. I’m flushing with embarrassment as Max pays the guy off, and then he’s gone and my companion offers me his arm once again. I take it thankfully and just concentrate on walking straight as he leads me inside.

I find myself sitting at an isolated table in a typical greasy spoon diner as a young waitress with bleached hair makes her way over to us. Max is sitting next to me with his chair pulled in close to mine and an arm thrown possessively over the back of my chair. The waitress seems to know Max, and doesn’t seem to appreciate my presence. “Hi honey, what’ll it be today?”

Max gives her a smile that seems to make her melt. “Just coffee and a bagel for me dear; make sure it’s nice and soft and that they pre-butter it.”

The girl grins at him as she writes his order down, and then remembers that I am there and reluctantly turns to take my order. “And for you sweety?” Her tone screams that she thinks I’m just a child and don’t deserve to be with ‘her man’. Luckily I’m used to being underestimated like that by other women.

I smile at her sweetly, and then machine-gun my order at her in a no-nonsense tone. “Steak and eggs, the steak on a separate plate, rare enough to moo at me, no sauce. Eggs sunny side up, and they better be runny, with white toast, really lightly toasted, lots of butter on that. On a separate plate I want some home-fries with provolone cheese melted on them, ranch dressing in a separate bowl.” She stares at me all bug eyed for a second, and then starts to furiously scribble. “Oh yes, and a cup of coffee with extra sugar packs, the real thing, not those cancer packets, and an empty bowl for the empty ones.”

Max is quietly laughing as the waitress walks away. “So are you actually going to eat all of that, or were you just showing off?”

I give him a cocky grin. “Both, actually. And yes, I’m always that high maintenance when I order food; it’s the OCD.”

He looks at me thoughtfully. “You know, I’ve never seen someone with that Sub; really I wouldn’t think that would work too well.” Somehow he just seems to know that I play in the scene, and what role I like to take when I do. “I also don’t see how a little thing like you can eat that much.”

Now I’m feeling really cocky. “You’ll find that I’m just full of surprises.” I wipe the grin from my face. “Now, about my sister…”

He waits for our waitress to drop off our coffees and leave before he answers. He doesn’t look at me, instead concentrating on my movements carefully as I fold a spare napkin in half and place it between my cup and saucer, before starting my sugar adding ceremony. “Your sister, um, Kate, she got caught up in something…well, something some not so nice people were involved with. See, there wasn’t supposed to be anyone at that apartment when I went in there. I was just supposed to get in, find a specific item, and then do whatever I could to make it look like a standard break in.” He definitely looks uncomfortable now.

I find myself glaring at him now. “So you were the one who took her…”

He sighs. “Yeah, she was sitting in that chair, naked except for the blankets and scared out of her wits. My orders were no witnesses, so I couldn’t really leave her there unless I-“ Max clears his throat. “If it had been up to me, I would have just had a little fun with her – god she wanted it, right from the start – and then left, but since I couldn’t, and she was submitting to me so perfectly, I thought that if I took her back with me, I could, well, take her as my slave or something…I know that sounds bad, but it would have been better than-“

My hands are clenched together on my lap, and I’m looking down, trying not to cry. “How did…how did she go? Was there any pain?”

Max takes a long shaky breath, his eyes haunted as he looks at me. “No, no pain. She just went to sleep and never woke up, I promise.” He smiles in a puzzled way. “Actually, she went happy; she said something about a Christmas wish…”

I have to smile through my tears at that one. “That sounds just like her…she hasn’t ever been able to sleep on Christmas Eve because of this weird phobia she has, so knowing her she decided to look at her- her death on the bright side.”

I’m losing my fight with the tears as Max gently turns me towards him. “Please, I really need you to believe me when I tell you that I absolutely did not want her to die…In that last hour or so, I think I almost started to love her. I-I’ve never had anything like that happen to me before.”

I start to search his sad eyes, trying to see the truth in them. “You’ve killed girls before, haven’t you? And you didn’t regret it.”

He hesitates, and then nods. “I’ve done things you couldn’t imagine to girls for my employers – hell, for myself even, and I never felt any remorse. Don’t get me wrong, I felt for them, I’m not heartless, but it always felt good doing it – really good. And then there was Kate…”

We pause in our discussion as our food arrives. The smell reminds me that I’m starving, and I start in on it with single-mindedness. I look up and start talking with my mouth full. “You want me to trust you? Fine, tell me about your job, your employers. And tell me why some college girl had something important enough that my sister had to die for it.”

He sits frozen for a minute, bagel paused halfway to his mouth, and struggles to make a decision…[/size]

[center][u][size=12pt]Part Five – Down the Rabbit Hole[/size][/u][/center]

[size=12pt]Max slowly lowers his bagel to its plate and turns to look me in the eye. “First I have a question for you, and yes, it does relate to my decision.”

I start sawing at my steak with vigor. “Sure, shoot.”

He leans a little closer and I have to really concentrate to maintain my eating ritual. “I just told you that I do horrible things to girls and kill them – girls just like you. You should be screaming for the cops, or running to the bathroom to go puke, or at least look a little worried; instead you’re sitting here eating like we were talking about the latest sports scores. Why is that?” I notice that he doesn’t seem surprised by my lack of reaction, as if he had predicted it, but is just puzzled by my motivations instead.

Cutting of the steak complete, I start eating the bloody meat with relish, and talk between bouts of heavy mastication. “Well, you see…mmm, that’s good…Kate had a lot of fantasies about this kind of stuff, but me…yum, you should try this…I obsess about it, always have…I even put up stuff on web sites and such, you know, stories and pictures and even did some role-playing….give me a little bit to come to terms with all of this, and I’ll bet it starts getting me hot.”

He nods and lets me go back to my feeding frenzy while he finishes his own light repast in about the same amount of time. Finally, after the fake blond takes our plates and leaves the bill, he stretches, stands and offers his hand to me. “Let’s take this to my place, and I’ll tell you…well, even show you, what you want to know. First I need to test your seriousness though.”

I take his hand and stand, looking up – way up – at him with arched eyebrows. “A test huh? Something tells me it won’t be multiple choice.”

He gives me that low, sexy laugh again…yummy. “It actually doesn’t take much effort on your part, but it will make you an accessory to…something – you’ll figure out what. All you have to do is call for a cab, request the same driver, have him drop you off at your sister’s place, and at some point get his name and number. After that just wait around the corner for me to pick you up – don’t go in the apartment, whatever you do; in fact don’t go near it at all.”

I let Max go pay the bill as I consider his proposal; there’s no doubt in my mind what his plans are for that poor cabby, nor why he needs to do it. What I have to ask myself is if I can really put someone’s life into the hands of a killer, especially someone who had shown real concern for me when he really didn’t have to. I have to wonder if I really want to know any more than I already do; if I am about to go past the point of no return and disappear into Max’s world, never to return. What chills me, other than the fact that I decide that yes, I can assist in someone’s demise, is that I am starting to develop an unhealthy attraction to the idea of giving up my current life, and placing myself entirely into his hands.

Max picks me up near my sister’s place not ten minutes after I was dropped off. He pulls up in a huge Dodge Ram Cummins Diesel, and quickly jumps out to help me get in. As he wraps his huge hands around my tiny waist and lifts me easily up into my seat, I find myself being glad that my skirt is black leather and so won’t show how badly my pussy is juicing up right now. I can’t decide how much of my arousal is from the man, and how much is from the overall situation, and then decide that it’s all pretty much one and the same.

He gets in and turns to me. “Did you get it?” I nod and pull a slip of paper out of my shirt. “Good, put on your seat belt.” I hastily comply and we are off.

He doesn’t talk on the way, so I turn on the radio and search for something decent. By the time I find a classic rock station we pull into the double bay garage of a large, old but well kept up house set far from its nearest neighbors. Max turns off the engine, jumps out and comes around to help me out. This time when he grabs my waist, I take advantage of my position to wrap my arms around his neck followed by my legs around his waist. “Gotcha! Now take me inside and tell me what I want to know so we can get to the fun stuff.”

As he carries me through the house, I am continuously impressed. His kitchen is huge and well equipped, with a lot of commercial equipment and a full walk in cooler to boot. I notice that the door to his basement stairs is heavy and equipped with a digital lock, and I have no doubt what I might…no, will find through there. His dining room table is made of thick cherry and could probably sit at least a dozen people. Finally we reach his huge living room, complete with sixty inch TV and such, and he sits down on the large leather couch with me still wrapped around him.

I decide to start things out easy for him. “So I see that they pay you well for your services.”

He shrugs. “Put it this way, if you wanted to make sure that your staff was totally loyal, and completely confidential about things of a nature that the term illegal doesn’t even begin to qualify, paying poorly would be a bad place to start. Of course, they don’t just use carrots to keep us in line.”

I look at him with concern, knowing the answer to my next question already. “And the stick is?”

He grimaces. “They keep close tabs on all of our closest family. Do you remember that university student that got car-jacked and then shot in the head for a few hundred bucks last year, the one that was pretty hot yet they didn’t sexually assault her at all?”

I gulp and nod. How could I forget such a waste of a beautiful, intelligent and genuinely nice young woman; when they were covering her life and death on the news I think I fell in love with her a bit…talk about a doomed affair.

He sees all of that in my eyes and has the grace to look uncomfortable about it. “Yeah, well, that was done by some of our guys and pinned on some druggies. She had an uncle that is staff that screwed up, not badly, but enough to tick someone off. They promised him that next time, it’ll be his daughter, and she’ll be spending her last two weeks with me.”

“You mean you’ll…”

“Yeah, by the end she’ll beg me to kill her. And then a couple weeks after that, he’ll receive a big box with a collection of expertly edited DVD’s and her carefully preserved head, complete with last expression. Like I said, I work for people who aren’t very nice.”

I take a deep breath; time to get out of the shallow end of the pool. “Right, these people…details, pretty please.”

He lets out a deep breath. “You know if I continue from here, your life is in serious danger.” I just shrug and give him a look that says my life is probably fucked over by this point anyway. “Right, so I work for a network of clubs, really well hidden ones, with a very exclusive membership. No one gets in, staff or member, without getting blood on their hands that the club has proof of. Well, except female staff, they usually don’t last very long. Members and staff also have to deal with the fact that their families are hostage to their good behavior. Needless to say, our security has rarely been a concern on the inside.”

I look at him with concern. “And who do you have to worry about all the time?”

He tries to look away but I don’t let him. “I have a sister and two nieces. I try to stay away from them, just in case, but they’re still very important to me.”

My mouth tightens as I realize just how much he is doing for me here. “And I’m putting them in danger, aren’t I?”

He shakes his head. “You should have figured out by now that I’m not letting you go without some very strong…assurances that you won’t be a problem. Mind you, if it wasn’t for your sister, I would have knocked you out when I ran into you at her house and by now you would be down in my basement, begging for me to kill you.”

I lick my lips. “Yeah, that’s about how I saw things. So these clubs, they’re into snuff I take it?”

“Snuff, slavery – the real thing, not that fake crap at the regular BDSM clubs, cannibalism, all the stuff that the FBI pretends doesn’t exist.”

“And you get to take home toys to play with. Not just the ones that count as work, either.” He nods and looks at me hopefully, like he’s hoping that I can accept that. He needn’t have worried. “And your assignment at the apartment?”

“One of those girls is the daughter of a member who makes decisions about membership applications and potential slaves. She seems to have taken the wrong portable hard drive with her the last time she visited her dad’s house.”

I nod, makes sense. “So you were to go in, get it and then make it look like a robbery so that she wouldn’t think anything of it. And then Kate was there…”

“Yeah. You know what happened there.”

“Okay, so why did you come back and clean up?”

He looks really uncomfortable now. “Well, first off, Kate made me promise to make sure there were no clues for you to follow; I guess she knew you would be showing up to look for her.” I have to grin at that. “Anyway, there’s a bit of a problem that turned up with that drive; the girl accessed it.”

I sit up straight. “Oh shit, your gonna grab them all, aren’t you?” He nods. “And then they’re gonna be examples.” I’m not asking a question here, I already know by the look in his eyes.

He sighs, and seems to expect me to flip out. “Is that going to be a problem?”

I grab his face in my hands. “Fuck no!” Suddenly I’m sucking face with him and grinding my crotch on his denim clad dick; I’ve never been so hot in my life…[/size]

[center][u][size=12pt]Part Six – An Empty Ring[/size][/u][/center] [size=12pt]

As Max picks me up and starts walking towards his bedroom, kneading my ass with his hands as he uses my buttocks to support me, I start dry humping his amazing six-pack stomach and rubbing my painfully erect nipples on his chest. I’m totally out of control with lust; kissing and biting anything I can get my mouth on and doing my best to rip his shirt off the hard way.

Before I know it I’m on my back on his huge bed, legs spread and skirt hiked up on my hips to reveal my soaked little thong panties. Max is standing between my thighs, pulling the tattered remains of his shirt over his head. I mirror his action, ripping open my silk blouse, popping all of the buttons off in one go; my breasts are perky enough that I only need a bra for exercising and aesthetics, so my move has brought them into play before he even finishes baring his massive chest. I start kneading at them, only to have my hands replaced with his hot mouth. I arch my back and groan, pushing them at him, offering my tits up to him like a sacrifice as he kisses and bites at them, coming dangerously close to drawing blood.

I hold onto his head and close my eyes, lost in sensation as he makes his way down my stomach with his mouth, ripping my panties off with his hands at the same time. By the time he starts kissing my thighs I’m delirious, tossing my head and swearing up a storm.

He pauses with his mouth just millimeters from my overheated mound, teasing and tormenting me until I lift my head and look at him. “You told me what everyone else calls you, but not what you want ME to call you. What is your name?”

I know what he’s asking, and it comes out of me in a hiss. “Sssslllaaavve…”

He dives in and I start cumming buckets, jerking my hips at him so hard I’m afraid I’ll bust some of his teeth. One of his thick fingers enters me, and I groan in pleasure and pain as I slowly stretch for him. Suddenly he hits my hymen and freezes as I let out an involuntary squeak.

In an instant we’re both moving. He jerks his finger out of me and pulls back as I scramble away from him and crouch at the headboard, hugging my knees to my chest. He stares at me in surprise and amazement then hurries over and hugs me as I start to angrily wipe away tears of frustration. “Damn, damn, I’ve ruined everything again. Why is it always this way?”

Max cups my face tenderly in his big hands. “What’s ruined? So you’re a virgin…I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone that plays in the scene that was one, but there’s nothing wrong with it…”

I’m starting to sob now. “You don’t understand…I can’t lose it until…and you guys always get mad when I won’t…and I don’t want this to be over…I want to give myself to you, but I just can’t…”

He’s petting my head and wiping at my tears now. “Shhh, it’s alright, this doesn’t have to end. There are plenty of ways to enjoy ourselves without you losing it. I’m not like those boys. I have discipline, I can wait until you’re ready.”

I sniffle. “But that’s just it, I won’t be ready until I take off the veil. How are you supposed to wait for that…I’m asking too much…you should just take it from me and get it over with…you’re big enough to make me…”

He looks mad. “Listen, you are not one of those girls I get from the club. You’re different, something special. When you decide to give yourself to me, body and soul, then I’ll take whatever I want from you: your virginity, your freedom, even your life if I want. But not until then, not until you agree to wear my collar or my ring, whichever it happens to be.”

I look at him, an idea forming in my head. “Show it to me, the collar. Tell me what my life will be like.” I don’t ask about a ring, I know that would be wishful thinking, with his line of work; it would put my whole family in danger, something I couldn’t tolerate.

Max hesitates, and then goes over to a dresser and looks through a drawer. A moment later he is back, holding the most beautiful slave’s collar I have ever seen. It is purely ornamental, made of gleaming metal, slender, and flexible enough that it doesn’t require a hinge to put it on. The inside of it is padded, and the back of it has a keyless lock-clasp; it is not made to be removed as long as the wearer still lives.

I start to run my fingers along the thing as he starts to speak, his voice calm and soothing. “If you take this as my ring, you will be mine as no bride could ever be. I will control everything, if you want to go to school, get a job, make friends, even talk to your family, you will have to get my permission first, and I may very well deny you. If I want to fuck you, hurt you, breed you, snuff you or even eat you, I will and you will not just accept it, you will take joy in it because it pleases me. Your every moment in life from the moment that is locked around your neck will be dedicated to pleasing me. I will train you, and while I do you will beg me to kill you. I might. If you make it though, you will be the best slave any man has ever had.”

Now he sets the collar aside, and makes sure that I am paying close attention. “There are severe risks that have nothing to do with my whims. I will have to take you with me to the clubs often, and although the staff and regular members will respect my ownership of you, my bosses, the members that actually run the show, may decide to use you, even to death, and there is nothing I can do about it. You will also be entered into any events, games or lotteries that take place while you are there, and more than half of them are lethal to the ‘winners’. And last, if anything happens to me, your life is almost certainly forfeit.”

I’m starting to really calm down now, as the image of me in that collar plays in my mind. “Someone else has worn that collar for you before…”

He looks away. “Yes, my wife…she was my high school sweet-heart. We were only married for a year when I got this job, and we wanted to keep her family out of it, so we dissolved the legal marriage, and started this more complete one…” He stops, lost in memories.

I touch his cheek and gently make him look at me. “Tell me what happened to her.”

He clears his throat. “It was only her third time at a club when she had to enter a hanging contest…she did her best, but most of the other girls were experienced at breathplay…that collar has been in that drawer ever since.”

I suddenly grasp just what he has offered me and gasp. “But then, why me? You barely know me…”

He grins at me. “And you hardly know me, but you seem awfully tempted to take me up on this, even with what I’ve told you. At any rate, I don’t want an answer yet…not until you’ve thought this through. When the time is right, and you are absolutely sure, you can present that to me in the proper way. Until then, I want you to hold onto it for me…call it an engagement of sorts.”

I pick up the collar and run my hands all over it, then look up in surprise as I hear a door opening down stairs. Max holds his hand out to me and grins. “Sounds like our newest pair of toys is being delivered. I think you’ll find this a good test of your ability to deal with this lifestyle…”[/size]

[center][u][size=12pt]Part Seven – Off the Deep End[/size][/u][/center]

[size=12pt] As I get up from the bed, I try to pull my blouse together enough to be at least a little covered, but I have to give it up as a bad job. Max just looks on with amusement for a moment, and then leads me to another room; I stop dead in my tracks at the door and gasp. Not twenty-four hours ago, I was in this room, only it was in a house far from here. Everything from my sister’s room is here, carefully arranged to be near identical in appearance. My legs are unsteady as I walk over to Kate’s desk, set down the collar, and pick up our prom picture, pressing it to my heart.

I turn to Max, my eyes asking the question for me. He smiles and steps over to give me an enveloping hug. “I told you she was special to me, and that you are too. I had the boys deliver this while we were out eating…I assume that the clothes will fit you until I can take you shopping?”

I just nod, and then walk over to the closet and start rubbing my face in Kate’s clothes, hoping to get some lingering scent of her, but all I get is her laundry detergent; smells like something with Febreeze in it. Sighing, I start to strip off as I examine her collection for something that I can get messy in, finally deciding on a pair of ratty jeans and a Van-Halen t-shirt…I hate that band. I dispense with the underwear, as is my usual procedure when wearing skintight anything.

Finally ready, we proceed downstairs, where we are greeted by wolf-whistles from the men gathered there. One of them starts to step towards me. “Hey boss, who’s the meat?”

I hear a bear growling behind me and then realize that it’s Max as he steps in front of me protectively. “Call her that again and I’ll have to start calling your sister dinner, you got me?”

The man puts his hands up in surrender and backs off in a hurry. “Whoa, no offense meant man, just calm down; we’ll treat her as family, won’t we guys?” There is a chorus of agreement, but I notice that one man is silent. He’s leering at me evilly, and seems to recognize me…not good, but I don’t know how to warn Max right now, so I pretend that I don’t notice.

Luckily everyone’s attention is diverted to a pair of huge duffel bags on the floor, which are squirming and emitting muffled cries. Several of the men start laughing and poking at the bundles to increase the struggles. One of them is evil leer guy, and he’s looking right at me as he torments the unseen people, making it obvious that he’s imagining that it’s me inside one of those bags.

I feel Max tense up beside me; he must have noticed the silent communication, because he motions the offender over. The man saunters over with too much confidence for my comfort, and takes the piece of paper that Max hands to him; I recognize it as the one I got from the cabby. “Harvey, this is the info on that driver – you know what to do. I need everything ready in time for the last snatch.”

I shudder as Harvey gives me a last look, one that seems full of nasty promises, before kicking one of the bags hard and stalking out. I find myself holding onto Max’s arm tightly, and he pats one of my hands reassuringly before turning to the task at hand. “All right boys, let’s take this show downstairs so we can unwrap our gifts.”

I forget my worries for the moment and I feel a girlish excitement overtake me as I am led to the basement door. Max blocks the men’s views as he enters the code for the lock, but I notice that he is careful to make sure that I can see what he is doing, and he punches the numbers in slowly so that I can memorize them.

My heart is pounding as we open the door and make our way downstairs followed by the men and their pair of burdens. Lights automatically turn on as we reach the foot of the stairs, and I gasp at the sight of the most well equipped dungeon I have ever seen. It has everything: St. Andrews cross, racks, pillories, a water tank, not just one but two guillotines facing each other, a gallows with a complicated pulley system, electrical equipment, racks of implements…there’s a lot more there, but that is what I take in before a girlish squeal comes out of me and I start to clap my hands; it’s embarrassing, but I just can’t control myself.

The dungeon is quite unlike any that I have ever seen; it is fully finished, with sound-proofing panels on the walls, tile floors with multiple drains, and several areas with comfy furniture and coffee tables for relaxing while watching a victim suffer. There’s even a huge TV and stereo system, along with a number of remote control cameras.

Max chuckles at my antics, and then pulls me aside so that our prizes can be laid out in a clear area near the entrance. The bags are quickly unzipped at his signal, and two girls my own age are pulled out of them. They are a study in contrast, not just with each other but with me as well. The first one out is of medium height, with a ripe, full figure and shiny dark brown hair carefully teased into gorgeous little ringlets. The second one is tall, probably a few inches over six feet, with a toned, athletic figure and waist-length, smooth blond hair tied back into a pony tail.

Neither of the girls can talk, see nor even move really. Each of them has a ball gag and a blindfold in place, and they have leather straps binding them tightly with their legs together and arms trapped along their sides. They are still fully dressed, the brunette in a sexy, silken holiday dress, the blond in little jogging shorts and a sports bra – I’m assuming one was on the way to a party while the other was about to go out running when they were taken.

The girls are squirming and ineffectually screaming through their gags as they are held in place and pawed at mercilessly. Their plight calls to me, and I can’t resist walking up to them and feeling them up myself. The blond freezes as I run my finger nails up her long bare legs, and then shudders as my hands caress her taut stomach. She can tell that another woman is touching her, and she likes it…interesting.

I move over to the other girl, and I’m much more aggressive with her. I weigh her plump breasts and buttocks in my hands, and then start pinching and squeezing them roughly as she squirms and squeals; she’s shaking her head the whole time, but most especially when I’m going at her; she also knows that there is a female touching her, but she really doesn’t seem to like that fact, and the wheels are turning in my head.

I walk over to Max and whisper in his ear. “So are these both spares, or is one of them the daughter?” I’m not sure whether it would be healthy for the men to be aware of how much I know, so I’m playing it cautious.

Max looks at his men and whistles for them to pay attention. “Okay guys, these girls are just collateral damage, so they’re ours to do with as we please. I think we’ll play with them both for a little bit, but then I want to get one of them cooking; I don’t care which one.”

My eyes widen at the thought of eating one of these girls within the day, and then something occurs to me. I pull Max aside and whisper fiercely, “Okay, I need to know – did you eat my Katie?”

He sighs and looks deep into my eyes. “Will you believe me if I tell you that she asked me to? I promise, the way I cooked her, she went just like I told you.”

I think about it, trying to be angry with him, but it does sound like one of Kate’s fantasies, and at least I know her wonderful body didn’t go to waste. That thought brings something really weird to my mind; there are cultures that believe that consuming the flesh of your loved ones keeps them with you forever. “Max, is there any of her left?”

He looks at me strangely, perhaps wondering when I’m going to flip out on him. “Yeah, I saved quite a bit for special occasions.”

I look down, gathering my strength and resolve for what I am about to ask, about to do, and then look back up at him, my eyes demanding and not entirely dry. “Can you have some of her cooked for me? I think I really need to eat my sister…”[/size]

[center][u][size=12pt]Part Eight – Fulfilling[/size][/u][/center]

[size=12pt] Max stares into my eyes for a few moments, searching for something. Finally he caresses my hair and kisses my forehead. “Sure baby, just let me get things started here, and then we can go have a private lunch.”

He turns to where the guys are still tormenting the two girls. “Alright boys, take off the blindfolds and make our guests look at the TV, I’ve got some educational material to show them.”

As the sobbing young women are seated on a couch and positioned correctly, Max programs his entertainment center and stands within their sight without blocking the TV. “Ladies, welcome to the spider web. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, you are the flies in this little play, and nice juicy ones at that. Don’t worry your little heads about getting out of this; you are never going to leave this place, and we are going to have quite a bit of fun sucking you dry.” Max pauses until the girls scream themselves out. “Now, how you spend the rest of your lives is entirely up to you. You can cooperate, and even though we may hurt you, you will experience nothing worse than you would in a regular, legal BDSM club. Hell, we may even make sure that you have a good time through some of this. If you decide to be difficult, you will suffer enough to make Jesus look like a pansy.”

Max looks at the girls for a moment, gauging their reactions. Blondie is slumping in defeat, and seems to have already started to come to terms with her situation. The other girl seems to be in a world of her own, looking blankly back at him with glazed eyes; I don’t know if anyone else can make anything of it, but I sure can’t figure out what she’s thinking.

Finally Max turns back to the TV and presses a few buttons. The screen comes to life showing a girl on a bed being vigorously screwed. Her body is covered in welts, and there is a bag over her head, sealed around her neck by rubber tubing, but she doesn’t seem to mind, judging by the joy on her face and the way her arms and legs are wrapped around her partner, pulling him in closer. Her movements become more and more energetic even as her bag starts to inflate and deflate at a tremendous rate and becomes covered in condensation; it’s obvious that she is running out of oxygen, but she doesn’t try to remove the bag at all. Finally she starts thrashing around in combined orgasm and death throes as she sucks the bag flat against her face, and then after tensing up for a moment she falls limply to the bed, her last joy and agony written clearly on her face.

Max pauses the video. “That type of ending, or maybe just something quick and relatively painless, is what good behavior can earn you. This next bit is what you might look forward to if you choose to displease us.”

The next video starts out bad and just gets worse, as another woman, a bit older this time, is suspended by her ankles in the air. Her body is bruised and bleeding, her hands are missing their fingers, and her facial bones are badly broken. She can still move with vigor though, as several men start working on her, slicing lines down her body, cutting just skin deep, before beginning to peel her like a grape. She lasts a surprisingly long time. Finally she falls limp, and Max turns off the TV.

“Well, you guys try these girls out and see how well they paid attention to my lesson. My lady and I are going to have a light repast, and then we’ll be back to join in on the fun. Try not to break them too badly before then.”

Max offers his arm and leads me up the stairs as the poor flies are engulfed in a pile of horny spiders.

When we get to the top of the stairs and enter the kitchen, he leaves me there to go into the walk in cooler, returning a moment later with a pair of steaks. They are unidentifiable in origin, and I debate on whether to ask for something more recognizable, but then I decide that it’s probably better this way.

Max has me sit at a little table on the back patio to drink some wine and relax while he prepares my sister’s meat. The smell coming from the kitchen is delectable, and starts driving me nuts by the time he comes out to me bearing a silver tray. I sit up and try to control my nerves as he places the tray on the table and sets my plate before me.

I swallow nervously and stare at the meat for a moment. “This-this is really her?”

He gives me a look of pure, gentle understanding. “Yeah sweety, that’s really your sister. I took those from her thighs myself.”

“Oh, okay…well, here goes I guess…” My hands are shaking as I cut off a small piece and place it in my mouth. I close my eyes and wait on chewing, wanting to know my Katie’s flavor intimately before I start in on the mechanics of eating. The flavor explodes on my tongue; it’s fantastic, like nothing I’ve ever tasted before. I sink back in my chair and moan as I start to slowly chew. When I finally finish my first bite, I look up at Max with amazement in my eyes. “Is it always this good?”

He finishes chewing while he thinks about it. “Good, yes…this good, not very often. Your sister really did make for some really good food; appropriate I think.”

I nod, and go back to my eating with enthusiasm, still taking my time to get the most out of it, but now really looking forward to each bite. As I enjoy the taste and texture of my sister’s meat, I also try to feel at the hole in my heart, the one she left behind when she died. It felt a little smaller this morning after I dreamed of her, if that really was a dream, and now…yes, it does seem to be filling in more, at least a little. The ache is still there, I think it always will be, but now it seems just a little more bearable.

Max finishes long before I do, and just patiently waits, watching me carefully. After I get done wiping the plate clean with my finger, he finally speaks again. “Are you going to be alright?”

I consider the question seriously, and then give him a bright smile, the first pure expression of happiness I’ve made since I felt my sister die. “God yeah…just let me take a little nap before I do anything else.”

Max sighs in relief. “Do you want me to lay down with you?”

I shake my head quickly. “No, I think I’ll just go lay down on my sister’s bed for a bit…you go play and wake me up in an hour.”

I’m laying naked in Kate’s bed, pressing my face against the blankets and pillows, breathing in my sister’s scent. I’m drifting a bit, as I feel more secure, more loved than I ever have. I roll over onto my back as I feel the mattress depress with the weight of someone else joining me. I open my eyes, and there’s no one there, but I can still feel a presence with me. I just go with it, closing my eyes and moaning a little as a pair of small, familiar hands run gently along the sides of my arms. Soft, smiling lips touch mine lightly, and I return the kiss, tentatively at first, then with growing passion as those invisible hands start to caress and tease my breasts.

I’m quivering as that mouth makes it’s way down my body, and then I’m spreading my legs wantonly. I feel hot breath on my mons, and hear a beloved voice that sounds like the wind. “Love you Bets…”

The mouth starts to lick, suck and bite just how I like it, and I’m in heaven, cumming endlessly, moaning and sobbing out my lover’s name with passion and longing that are far beyond anything sexual. “Katie, Katie, love you forever…”

Suddenly I feel her stretching her body out on mine and her lips kissing mine, allowing me to taste my own honey, and then she is getting up, drawing away. I open my eyes in despairing panic, and again there is no one there, but this time I swear I can see the indentation of her knees on the bed as she crawls backwards and gets off of it. I’m starting to cry, wanting to reach for her but afraid that will just make things worse. “No, wait, stay just a little longer, please!”

There’s a breath of wind, carrying a voice filled with joy. “Love him.”

I fall asleep then, exhausted, confused and filled with bittersweet thoughts…[/size]

[center][color=blue][size=12pt]Continued below…[/size][/color][/center]

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[center][u][size=12pt]Part Nine – Deeper[/size][/u][/center]

[size=12pt] After a brief, restless sleep, I awake to the sound of a distant cell phone trying to get my attention. I jump up out of bed and run out of the room stark naked, recognizing the ring tone – Stuck in the Middle With You, that’s Brad calling. My little purse is in the living room still, so I jump down the stairs three steps at a time to reach it before he hangs up.

I’m out of breath as I pick up just in time. “Yeah?”

Brad sounds taken aback. “Whoa, did I catch you at a bad time?”

I take a moment to calm my breathing. “Don’t worry about it, I was just taking a nap in another part of the house. What’s up?”

There’s silence on the other side of the line for a moment. “Look, your sisters know what you’re up to…they want an update – don’t worry, your parents think everything’s hunky-dory.” Shit, if they get it in their little heads that I’m anything but completely safe, one or more of them will show up, and I have no idea if I can keep them safe if that happens.

I bite my lip, considering what I can say without directly lying to him; Brad can read me too well for that option. “Tell them that I found her – in fact I was with her just before I took my nap – but she can’t talk to anyone right now…we-we’re at a friend’s house, it’s safe, don’t worry.”

Silence again. “You’re not telling me something. That’s okay, I can deal with that for now…just, tell me that you’re alright, that you’ll be okay.”

I smile; this one is easy to answer. “Better than okay buddy…I-I think I might have found someone, someone that can really make me happy.”

Brad responds, seeming conflicted between personal disappointment that his fantasies may never come to pass, and genuine happiness for his best friend. “Wow, that’s just-wow. So you went to find your sister and found love as well…if only all of us were so lucky.”

That makes me pause and wonder; am I in love? Or am I obsessed with a lifestyle and in lust with a symbol of it? I’m flustered when I finally respond. “Well…I don’t know about love just yet Brad, it’s too soon to say. Look, can you cover for me with my parents for a couple of weeks? I really need to work out what all of this means before I deal with them.”

Brad proves how sharp he is once more. “Look, I’ll tell them all that you and Kate are doing a double shoot in the Caymans, and your cells don’t get reception down there. That’ll deal with your sisters too.”

“Brad, you’re an angel. I promise that I’ll explain things when I can, and I’ll make all of this up to you. Send my love to the girls, and see if you can get some mild jobs for Vicky, she’s been asking me a lot of questions about my work since she turned eighteen.”

“I’ll hold you to that. And I’ve got the perfect starter job for Vicky; all she has to do is pose in some cat suits. Just do me a favor and stay out of trouble, okay? I don’t want to face your sisters if anything happens to you on my watch.”

I’m just hanging up when Max comes into the room. He’s only wearing his boxers, and he’s covered in a thin film of sweat; obviously he’s been a busy boy. “Hey baby doll, I see you’re awake. I was just going to get you before we get to decision time…I thought it would be a good idea to make you a part of that process.”

I’m confused for a moment, and then remember that we have to pick which girl is going to be dinner tonight, and which will live to suffer another day. I’m not sure which is a kinder fate. “Yeah, I just had to check in with my agent so he can cover for me with my family.”

Max looks surprised. “Agent? What kind of agent? And does he know where you are?” He sounds pretty worried.

I put my hand on his arm reassuringly. “Don’t worry about Brad, he’ll do anything for me. He’s been arranging fetish shoots for me since I was old enough to do them, and he’s been my best friend since first grade. Even if he did know where I am, which he doesn’t, not specifically, he wouldn’t tell anyone unless I told him to. Actually, he just made your job a bit easier; he’s going to tell my family that I’m with Kate doing a shoot in the Caymans for a few weeks. I’m sure you can work with that to make us disappearing not be so suspicious?”

Now I’ve gone and confused him. “You…you want to disappear?”

I roll my eyes dramatically. “If I decide to join you here for good…and that’s not an answer, so don’t get carried away…but if I do, I’ll need to be officially dead or missing somewhere far from here, or you’ll find one of my sisters poking around the area, and we’ll start to have real problems.”

Now Max looks thoughtful. “So you trust this Brad guy implicitly?” I nod. “And he works with lots of fetish models?” Again I nod. “Well, we’ll have to talk about him later then. For now, we have to go to the meat market.”

He follows me upstairs and watches with a dumb grin on his face as I dress. I just go with the shirt and jeans, deciding to go barefoot rather than risk ruining my boots or any of my sister’s shoes if things get messy. I can’t help but tease him. “So, you like what you see? I’m afraid that if you want photos it’s gonna cost you…” He just chuckles, picks me up in his arms and carries me down to the basement.

He sets me down at the bottom of the stairs and I’m thankful that the floors are slip resistant tile. There’s water all over the place from the brunette splashing in the water tank. It’s not a playful splashing either; the guys have apparently been playing GITMO with her while fucking her. Right now she’s out of the water, gasping desperately and sobbing for her daddy, tied to a small remote operated platform in the middle of the tank.

Right next to the tank, the blonde is bouncing happily on the dick of one man while she acts as a fluffer for her roomy. It seems obvious to me which one of the girls is a good student, especially when I notice that the brunette has lost her dress to a blade, and it wasn’t done carefully to judge by the slices all over her torso; in fact the tank water is pretty pink, and she doesn’t look like she’s got much left in her.

I make Max lean over, and outline an idea that I’ve had in mind for the girls ever since I started to feel them up. He smiles, and then orders the guys to finish up what they’re doing and put the girls on the floor in an open area. By the time each girl gets one last fuck, blondie has a pretty impressive orgasm, while the brunette comes out of the water looking almost catatonic.

As soon as our little toys are placed on the floor, Max has some of the guys help me tie the girls up in a sideways sixty-nine. I smack around the brunette enough to make her aware of her surroundings again, to her obvious distress, and Max crouches over them to give them their instructions. “Alright ladies, it’s do or die time – literally. We need to decide which one of you gets eaten today, and in the interests of fairness and, well, our own entertainment, you’re going to have a little competition to help us decide. In the next twenty minutes, you need to try to get your partner off. The first one to cum gets to cook, and I suggest that you try your best to make that happen to your friend within the time limit, cause if we go over time then we’ll just have to play a game with the guillotines or the gallows.” I’m starting to soak the crotch of my jeans as I realize that I’ve basically personally condemned one of these girls to death with this game, just for my own personal amusement. The sense of power I’m getting right now is near overwhelming.

As he’s speaking, each girl looks alarmed for entirely different reasons. It’s obvious that the brunette is repulsed by the idea of eating out her roomy and doesn’t intend on playing our little game; the fun part will be seeing what she does when the time starts to run out. Blondie meanwhile is having mixed reactions; she’s obviously been dreaming of getting at the snatch in front of her for a while, and is pretty excited by the prospect of going to town on it, and that helps to account for what’s got her so worried – she’s still aroused from her recent fucks, and the lust she has for her companion has her primed and ready – she’s on an orgasmic hair trigger and she knows it…[/size]

[center][u][size=12pt]Part Ten – Filling the Menu[/size][/u][/center]

[size=12pt] Max lets everybody get comfy on the couches and chairs – I end up between two guys that look like they’re probably brothers, but they seem pretty nice really, and Max doesn’t seem worried, so it’s okay with me – and then starts the counter and tells the girls to get a move on. Blondie goes right to work, licking and nibbling at her friend’s abused snatch, while the brunette looks at the cum-oozing cunt before her with loathing.

Pretty soon the room is filled with the combined sounds of blondie’s moans of pleasure at the act she is committing, the other girl’s gasps and protests, and the crude commentary of the men watching them. My own moans of pleasure enter the mix as the men on either side of me, after looking to Max for permission, start to rub and squeeze my tits and crotch through my clothing. About five minutes in, I can tell that blondie is starting to get somewhere when her stuck up friend starts to twitch and whimper, her head shaking and her protests getting more desperate. “Please Sam, don’t do this to me…God, I thought you were my friend…I don’t want to die Sammie – ohhhh, goooddd…”

At the ten-minute mark, it seems as if the blonde – Sam – is having some problems; her companion is deliberately pressing the oozing wounds on her tits against Sam’s toned stomach, and using the pain to keep her arousal from rising very much. Meanwhile, the touch of those magnificent mounds against the blonde lesbian is driving her up the wall with lust. She’s humping her hips spasmodically without even realizing it, and doesn’t even seem to be aware any longer of why she’s eating her friend out in the first place; it’s all about the pure pleasure of it for her now. My own hips are copying her motions as I watch the pair on the floor through slit eyes, knowing that it’s getting close to the end for one of these girls.

I climax hard right along with Sam as her primed clit brushes her companions chin, setting her off. I’m shuddering in the grasps of my new friends as I watch the long, lean body of the blond jerk and spasm violently, her eyes wide open and sightless with passion and her mouth gaping with a low wail of ecstasy that mirrors the despairing ones of her companion. “Sam! No, not you, please, I can’t watch you die…oh, Sammie…”

There’s still ten minutes on the timer, so we let the condemned girl continue her dream date for our visual stimulation; I doubt she even realizes that she’s a dead girl licking. The brunette surprises us by not just responding positively to the renewed attention to her cunt, but by returning the favor, eating her friend’s cream-pie like it was her favorite desert. Maybe she wants to give her friend her last wish or something – either way, the next ten minutes are hot, and I’m glad that the whole thing is being taped.

Once the pair on the floor gets totally into what they are doing, I quietly pad up to them and cut their bonds. The only notice that they give is to slowly change positions so that they are face-to-face and passionately kissing, rubbing their bodies together and fingering each other to keep their climaxes coming. Eventually they calm down, and the brunette starts to cry. “Oh Sam, they’re going to kill you…why did you go along with them?”

Sam freezes as the words register, and then relaxes into her final lover’s embrace. I can see a gentle acceptance in her eyes that attracts me to her like a moth to a flame. “Don’t worry about me Annie, I’ll be fine.” She’s stroking her bewildered friend’s face tenderly. “I got to live a dream for awhile…thank you for that, I’ll take it with me to the end.”

I step back, startled to realize how close to the pair I had come in my fascination, as Sam smoothly stands up and turns to me, holding her head up proudly and bravely smiling at me. “I’m ready…can you do…well, I’m not sure how you want to do it, but I’d rather a girl killed me, and I don’t think that Annie is up to it.” She’s not kidding, her friend looks like she’s going into shock a little.

I look at Max helplessly…I want to do it, more than anything, but I have no clue how to go about it, or even if I’m allowed. Max smiles at me reassuringly. “Go ahead; I’ll guide you through it.” The guys look surprised at this, and start to look at me like they are seeing me for the first time. “She’s earned a good death, so you have a few options. You can bag her, quick hang her, cut her head off…or we can give her something to make everything into pure pleasure, and she can cook alive.”

I watch the girl before me carefully, also noting the other one’s reactions from the corner of my eye. Neither one seems to like the beheading idea, and Annie doesn’t seem too comfy with the asphyxia route either; strangely, she seems to react least negatively to the live cooking idea. Sam seems intrigued by that as well, though she doesn’t seem to mind the idea of going like the girl in the first video she was shown. I’m torn, but in the end I just have to keep this brave girl alive as long as I can, so I can look in her eyes and try to see her soul.

I keep looking straight up at her face as I speak to Max. “Honey, do you think you can set everything up for the live cooking?” Sam gets a twinkle in her eye and bends down a bit to brush her lips across my cheek before whispering her thanks in my ear. I have to close my eyes and stand perfectly still to keep myself from fucking her right there…as much as I really want to taste her raw, I know that we just don’t have time for that – besides, I’m already getting too attached to my dinner as it is and I can still taste her cooked later.

I’m hardly aware of the burst of activity around me until I feel Max’s huge arms gently engulfing the both of us. “Are you two sure of this? You’re too long to work well in the oven Samantha, and stew is not appropriate for our plans tonight, so that means we’re going to have to spit-roast you.”

The poor girl is looking to me with total trust – how the hell do I get that reaction from people anyway – so it looks like it’s up to me. “Spitting as in tied, or spitting as in run through like a pig?”

Max shrugs. “Your call, really. The first way she’ll last longer, but the other, with our drugs, will make her cum the whole time; she’ll hardly be aware of what’s happening to her. Either way, we’ll keep her high until the heat stroke takes her, and then we’ll do all the messy stuff and put her back on closer to the heat to really get cooking.”

I bite my lip, trying to decide, and then pull Sam’s face to mine for a quick but passionate kiss. I break it off, and with my lips close enough to hers to feel her quickened breaths, I tell them what I have decided…[/size]

[center][u][size=12pt]Part Eleven – Into the Void[/size][/u][/center]

[size=12pt] It’s interesting how sometimes I make decisions that allow me to have the things I think are out of reach, without ever knowing that it will turn out that way until after I’ve set my course.

Right now Max is rubbing oils into Sam’s already golden skin in a manner so sensual, I’m having to fight the urge to be jealous. It helps me that I’m currently getting what I wanted, as I lick and nibble at the tall blonde’s clit and use my oil-covered fingers to stretch her cunt. I’m up to four right now, and judging by how well the writhing, moaning young athlete is responding, I’m figuring that she’ll be taking my whole fist in just a few minutes.

I’m stretching her so that the spit won’t damage her precious cunt-steak as it enters her. Cunt-steak; I’d never heard of that term until Max started to detail the prep work that would be necessary to run a steel pole completely through a woman without killing her or damaging her meat. Being the chef, Max gets the honor being able to oil her up, but since I’m to be the one that will shove the spit through her, I get to fuck the shit out of Sam with my fist – I could really get used to this job.

It’s been awhile since I made my fateful decision on Sam’s behalf. While the guys got our future dinner’s entire digestive tract irrigated, Max was giving me a crash course on the art of impalement. I don’t think I made a bad student, but I’m very glad that Max is my support person; he’ll be holding the rear end of the pole to keep its weight from throwing my aim off, but he’ll also be helping me to guide the thing properly to that I don’t botch the whole job.

Annie’s brown cow eyes are wide with amazement as she watches me pop my thumb in along with the rest of my fingers and slowly rotate back and forth as I work my whole hand into Sam’s pulsating snatch. Annie is standing near me, holding tightly to her friend’s hand. She’s been doing that since the irrigations started to make Sam cry, and apparently she plans on continuing to do it until the meat is in the giant rotisserie.

Pop! I’m past my knuckles, and I make my hand into a fist. Sam’s reaction is quite theatrical; she arches her back and opens her mouth wide to let out a huge gasp. Annie is flinching; I think her hand is being crushed. I’m worried for a second that I went too fast for her, and then Sam convulses and she starts to try to work her hips to take more of my appendage into her…I guess it was all just a scary looking orgasm…not too surprising since she already took her drug injection. Max administered it, and thank god for that.

The guys had to hold Sam absolutely still while a huge needle was inserted into the base of her skull. That needle then delivered a drug directly into her brain stem that permanently rewired how she receives sensory input. Until she dies, any pain or discomfort that Sam feels will be reported to her mind as pleasure of the equivalent intensity. Apparently about half the time when this drug is used during a spitting, the girls die from the intensity of their orgasms as opposed to heat stroke or shock.

The drug certainly lives up to its reputation as it takes Sam through a continuous orgasm for the entire remainder of her oiling and fisting. She should be exhausted by now, but even though she is more than a little dazed, she seems super energized and enthusiastic as Max and I help her up onto the short spitting rig. Much as I would love to watch her splendid body thrusting back at me as I put in the spit, I am glad that she is being strapped down tightly enough that motion is almost entirely impossible for her; I’m nervous enough as it is without having to worry about a stray orgasmic movement putting her heart in the way.

As Sam is strapped in tight, Annie is holding her hand tightly and petting her back, while Max oils the spit right in its next recipient’s sight. She’s smiling as she watches, and I just can’t resist giving her a long, final kiss that tells her without a doubt how beautiful, how irresistible she looks like this. As I pull away, she looks at me with a smile and thanks me. I wink at her and tell her to break a leg, and she giggles a little. We give Annie a chance to exchange a few whispered words and some kisses with the doomed girl, and then Max pets both of their heads for a moment before bringing the spit to me.

My hands are shaking badly as I reach for my end of the spit, so after I take a firm hold of it, and Max gets himself positioned, I close my eyes and focus on my breathing; I don’t move or open my eyes until I have emptied my anxiety and my personal concern for Sam from my mind. When I’m ready, I open my eyes and smoothly place the tip of the spit at the entrance to the cunt in front of me. I no longer see a thinking, feeling girl on the rig; instead all I see is a born meat animal, ripe and ready to be cooked and eaten.

The animal quivers and moans its arousal as it stretches for the thick pole entering it, and then gasps and tries to wriggle its hips as I feel the tip meet resistance. I cease forward movement and move the spit around a bit until I feel it nudge into the little hole of the animal’s cervix. Using a slow, steady pressure, I dilate the entrance to its womb, making sure to open it up without causing any damage. It’s a slow process, but eventually I’m able to slide enough of the spit in to reposition this portion of the animal’s anatomy. The womb of a woman is not naturally in a straight line along the body, but it helps to minimize damage to use the cervix as a natural pathway for the spit, so I have to stretch and pull things in there until they are in proper alignment. Sooner than I expect, I have reached another barrier, and I know that this is the point of no return; this time when I push through, I will be putting a hole in this animal which nature never intended.

The meat hisses at me. “Do it! Fuck me all the way!” I oblige it, popping the spit through the back of the womb and sliding it smoothly on past the bowels. The intestines were sterilized during the irrigations, so I’m not worried about rupturing the delicate membranes of the things. The hard part is blindly maneuvering the tip of the spit around, trying to find the right spot on the bottom of the stomach so that I can eventually reach the esophagus, the only safe way through the animal’s diaphragm without damaging it.

Of course, when I say that I am doing these things, I really mean we, or mostly Max. He’s subtle about it, but he’s definitely keeping firm control of the situation. Thus the spit does actually make its way into the appropriate channels, despite my inexperience.

The animal is lustily crying out and begging for more the whole time, until suddenly it starts to violently gag. Despite the drugs, the meat is panicking, tugging desperately at its tight bonds. Its mouth opens as if to vomit, and a splash of blood comes out, followed by the gore-covered tip of the spit. After the first few inches, the spit becomes thick enough that the animal’s lips are stretched tightly around it, cleaning the pole as it exits.

As soon as the animal starts gagging, one of the men runs forward and slices a hole in its throat, and then super glues a metal ring in the hole to keep it open. The procedure doesn’t take too long, so by the time a foot of the spit is outside of the mouth, our dinner has calmed down, getting used to the oddity of breathing through its throat.

I leave Max to the task of shoving the rest of the spit through until it’s balanced, and then run around the rig to look into the meat’s – no, I’m done with the spitting, I’ve effectively just killed her, so I can think of her as a person now – Sam’s big baby blue eyes. They are darting all over the place, looking confused, until I come into sight, and then they focus on me and Sam’s body visibly relaxes.

I’m staring intently into her eyes, trying to see into her mind, to know what she is thinking and feeling as the spit completes its journey through her. Her eyes widen momentarily as Max attaches a large, well-greased metal dildo to the spit and slides it up and into her ass, and then she starts to quiver and her eyes roll up a bit as she is overwhelmed by yet another orgasm.

I reluctantly move out of the way as the straps on the rig are removed and Sam’s limbs are tied tightly to the spit; Annie’s hand has to be pried from her friend’s, and that seems to take the wind out of her. The brunette sinks to her knees crying, but Sam doesn’t seem to notice; she’s too focused on learning how to slide her body along her final lover, and finding out how much she can move her hips to add to the stimulation. Her eyes are closed in concentration, so I kiss her forehead and leave her be for the moment.

Once the leggy blonde is secured, several of the guys grab her spit and take her on her final trip. It’s a short one; not ten feet away is a truly immense, custom-built gas fed rotisserie, her final home. The spit ends are loaded into a track system that takes her up, over and then into the cooking machine, where she finally halts fairly high above the heat. As soon as she is in place, the machine starts to rotate her, and Sam starts her final ride.

As Sam starts to really get into fucking her last lover, Max and I gently pull Annie over to the nearest couch. As we watch the athlete’s glistening body sensuously writhe on the spit, we shuck off our clothes and sandwich the dazed brunette between us, kissing each other and her with passion. Annie seems quite confused by all of this, her mind just isn’t here really, but after a short while instincts take over and she starts to respond to us. That’s all the signal we need, and moments later Max has her on elbows and knees while he fucks the shit out of her and I hold her face to my dripping snatch. She is totally pliant, her eyes blank, and we use her for our pleasure shamelessly.

It doesn’t take long before we are both sated, so we turn the broken girl over to the guys and wander, still naked, over to Sam. Her skin is starting to darken now, and the sweat is pouring off of her in buckets. She’s still moving energetically on the spit, fascinating us with her ultimate pole dance, and then I see her eyes open. I rush over and get as close as I can without burning myself, trying to see what’s there. I look deep, and beyond the expected pleasure and lust, I can detect…joyful acceptance. I can’t see even a trace of the fear that I expected, not a hint of regret. I shudder with arousal and start to stroke myself as I look deep into her soul and see that she wants this, and craves the next, inevitable step.

I reach my peak as she reaches her own, infinitely higher one. She goes completely stiff for a moment, and in her eyes I can see a pleasure unlike any I have ever known, and then something changes, and Sam’s eyes fill with a joyful wonder before rolling up into her head as her body goes into an explosive series of jerks and convulsions. A moment later she falls still, but I think she was already gone.

I fall to my knees before this meat that just seconds ago was a living human being, and blow through the most intense climax of my life. As I wind down from it, I crawl over to my clothes and put them on; no sense in giving the guys around me any ideas. Plopping down exhausted on the couch, I try to understand just what it was that I saw in Sam’s eyes as her soul fled the mortal realm. I’m still picturing that final, mysterious look in her eyes when I drift off into sleep…[/size]

[center] [u][size=12pt]Part Twelve – Abyss of Individuality[/size][/u][/center]

[size=12pt] I’m in my high school gym, surrounded by dancing couples. I’m standing with all the wallflowers, so I can see the entire space around me, and quickly realize that it’s my senior prom. I look down at myself, and see that I’m dressed as I should be, in a black silk and lace off the shoulders dress that plunges scandalously low across my breasts. My midriff is essentially exposed as it is covered by see through lace, and the skirt is extremely tight and ends just at the top of my thigh high fishnets. I’m also wearing strappy stiletto heels and tiny lace gloves, and if I had a mirror I’m sure that I would see black lipstick and eye shadow. I’m just as I need to be for this night, but where is my date? I could swear that we should have come here together, but when I look around, the only familiar face I see is a very tall blonde waving to me before disappearing through one of the exits.

I start to make my way over to where I saw the blonde, and then stop and grin as my date appears. She’s dressed to match and yet contrast with me. The style and cut of her dress and accessories match mine, but hers are all in virginal white, an irony considering that I’m the one that is saving herself for marriage. Her hot pink lips curve up in a smile as we meet on the dance floor, where she takes me in her arms.

We’re the exact same height, of course, so I’m able to look her in the eye without effort. “Katie, where were you? I was scared that you wouldn’t come.”

She presses close to me as we slow dance to ‘Sleepwalker’ and kisses me lightly on the mouth. “I’ll always be with you Bets, you know that; why else would you have eaten me?”

I struggle with that statement for a minute. Eat her? How could I have eaten her, she’s right here in my arms, soft and sweet and perfect. I try to voice my questions, but she places a small finger on my lips, silencing me.

We dance on for a bit, and then she starts to whisper urgently into my ear; despite what she is telling me, what she is doing is arousing me, sending shivers up my spine. “You’re in danger. Maybe the whole family. Our love has a viper in his pack, and it will strike at him through you. If it succeeds you will die, and they will hunt our sisters down. I’ll help you as I can, but I see things differently now…it’s so hard to interpret all of it.”

I’m more confused and upset now, and I want to express that to her, but when I try to pull away to say something, she pulls me in tighter, desperately so, and starts to nibble on my ear and neck. I moan and clutch at her, and then the song is ending and the room is spinning and fading and…

I wake up curled on the couch around Annie. We’re spooning, and she’s in front of me, awake and watching her friend roast. From the girl’s condition, the guys put her through her paces for quite awhile before they let her rest, but she must have behaved, because I don’t see any new injuries.

She senses my stirring, and starts to softly speak, her voice bittersweet. “They were wrong. All these years, I believed everything my parents and my pastor said, and they were wrong. I-I hated lesbians, feared them. I was so certain that they were defectives; sub-human and evil and ready to force me to be like them…I never knew Sam was one, never would have thought it. She was so sweet and smart and lovely, she just never fit the image in my head…she never gave me any signs…and she loved me…she loved me and now I’ll always regret that we never had the chance to…but then, without you guys, we never would have done anything at all, I never would have known and she would’ve just gone on hiding herself…”

As the girl is working through some kind of paradigm shift, I study the subject of her dialogue. Sam’s head has been removed, and has been placed on a coffee table for the moment. Her final ecstasy is frozen on her face, and all the more obvious now that the spit is no longer altering the shape of it. Her body is far along in the cooking process, looking and smelling mouth watering, and from the cooking thread running up her stomach and its slightly more rounded than normal shape, I’d say she’s been gutted and stuffed. She’s being basted regularly; in fact the two brothers that got me off earlier are doing the duties right now. They notice that I’m awake, and signal Max, who comes right over.

Annie stops her rambling psuedo-monologue and presses herself more tightly against me as Max sits down next to us and starts to stroke our hair. “Hey babe, you sure you’re okay? That’s two naps in one afternoon…”

I nod and smile at his concern. “Yeah, my first one wasn’t too restful, and then it got interrupted by the phone anyway. I think I should be fine for the night. I could use a shower though; mind if I take Annie with me? I think she needs one too.”

Max rubs his chin. “Good idea; we have guests coming, and you should both be presentable.” I’m intrigued by the fact that he’s including Annie in that statement; I would have thought that she would stay locked away. “Just grab a collar and a leash from that rack over there and use the bathroom off of my bedroom. Take your time, and when you’re done, pick out something really nice to wear from your sister’s stuff – Annie here can stick to the collar.”

At the mention of my sister’s clothing, something from my dreams tries to come to me, but I’m not really awake enough to think clearly. I give it up for later, and then get myself and Annie off of the couch and over to the mentioned rack. There are a surprising number of collars and restraints on the thing, and I shop around for a bit while my companion clings to me and watches the men around her nervously. Damn, I think she’s really damaged in the head now, and apparently I’m the focus of whatever she’s got going on in there. At least that makes her docile as I slip a nice shiny black collar with a single ring and silver cows decorating it.

I attach the leash and tug on it, pulling her along with me up the stairs and through the house. When we get to the bathroom, I’m only half surprised when she insists on taking my clothes off for me. I let her, closing my eyes and enjoying the feel of her hands on me as they take an unnecessarily long time to do it as she sneaks little caresses in at every opportunity.

We start off in the giant bathtub, luxuriating in the heat and bubbles as we relax, play footsy and trade stories about my sister. Annie is shocked at first to learn about Kate’s death, but my calm about it and my story about the effects on me from eating her seem to offer some reassurance; I’m pretty sure she’s hoping to get some of Sam’s meat now.

After a good soak, we move into the shower, which again is huge. It has multiple nozzles, and soon we are surrounded by hot flowing water. Annie insists on cleaning me, and I would have agreed just for the pleasure of it anyway, but I figure that this is a good opportunity to train her in her new reality; I don’t know how long she’s going to be around before she’s snuffed, but however long it is I want her to enjoy the rest of her life as much as possible, and that means that she needs to act the part of the sex slave as well as she can. I tell her that she is now my slave, and the slave of all the others as well, and that she is to see to our needs as much as she can when she’s not being directly used.

My new slave takes well to her current duties, cleaning my body and hair for me as thoroughly and sensuously as she can, taking her time and bringing me to several climaxes at the end as she decides to clean out my pussy with her tongue – for a girl that was a homophobe just this morning, Annie turns out to be pretty good at cunnilingus.

After I’ve been completely cleaned, I resist my urge to return the favor and step out of the shower, tying her leash to one of the hand rails and telling her to take care of her own needs while I find something to wear.

I start to search my sister’s closet while I hum our song, Sleepwalker by Johnny and Santo. As the eerie music plays in my head, I start to shuffle in a little dance, until I come upon Kate’s prom dress. Suddenly everything comes back to me, the whole dream, and I start to shake. I know who that tall blonde was; it was Sam, and I somehow know that she won’t be showing up in my dreams anymore…I hope she visits Annie; that would be nice. My rather one sided conversation with Kate is what has me so upset; I know just who she is talking about – Harvey, the prick scares the shit out of me, and I just know that we don’t have much time to do something about him.

I quickly grab my sister’s prom dress and the matching stuff, and put them on myself; there’s no time to let Annie do her duties this time. I take the time to put on the outfit’s traditional makeup, and then run to get Annie so that I can warn Max before it’s too late…[/size]

[center][u][size=12pt]Part Thirteen – Filling Roles[/size][/u][/center] [size=12pt]

Max meets me at the stairs. He has a huge grin on his face when he sees my outfit, and the lust that I see in his eyes turns me on so much that I forget myself and do a little twirl before pressing myself against his front so that I can feel his hardness against my stomach. I put my hands against his chest and throw my head way back so that I can look up at him looking down at me. His eyes are intense as his big hands encircle my waist and lift me to his face for a passionate kiss. I’m lost in it, all of my previous worries washed away by a tide of lust and need and…maybe love, I’m still not sure yet.

Finally we have to come up for air, and it all comes back to me. He sees the sudden panic in my face and looks alarmed and puzzled. “What’s wrong babe? If you’re worried about me taking you right here and now –“

I shake my head quickly, he should know by now how recklessly I trust him. “Kate gave me a warning…don’t ask what that means, just trust me that this is a real one…Harvey’s out to get you, and he’s going to use me to do it; I don’t know how, but I’m pretty sure we don’t have much time.” Max has a look like he really doesn’t know what to make of this, but he sees how upset I am and to my relief seems to decide to take me seriously.

Max takes me into his bedroom so that he can sit down on the bed with me on his lap. I notice that Annie, whose leash I had dropped, follows us loyally and then stands nearby, watching me with an alarmed expression on her face.

Max cradles me and soothingly runs his hands through my hair. “Shhh, don’t worry about it sweety, I had a feeling that he was going to try to make it two of two, so I sent him on an all night job. We’ll have plenty of time to figure out how to take care of him, don’t worry.”

I sit up straight as an arrow and look at him sharply as something that he said registers. “Wait, what do you mean two of two?”

Max sighs and looks away. “When I took your sister, the guys and I had some fun with her in the Club kitchen. I had her blindfolded, and I should have been able to convince everyone that she could be my house slave here. Then Harvey knocked her blindfold loose – he thought I didn’t notice that, but I did – and then when Kate saw where she was and started flipping out about us cooking her, well, I was still going to try to get her out of there, but then Harvey pointed out that she had seen part of the Club. Since she wasn’t vetted and her relatives weren’t being tracked, that meant that she couldn’t leave the Club grounds alive. He did it on purpose, I’m sure of that after seeing the looks he was giving you; I must have shown too much attachment to her.”

My face and heart turn to stone. “I’m gonna castrate him. I don’t care what else happens to him, but no matter what, I’m going to eat his dick.” My voice is cold and flat, and apparently pretty alarming to both of my companions, but I really don’t care at this point. I stand up so that I can look at Max eye to eye. “What’s he got against you anyway? And if he’s such a threat, why don’t you get rid of him?”

Another sigh. “Well, it’s not really me that he wants, it’s my sister and nieces. He met them once, and ever since he’s been obsessed with them; he wants to take them to the Club as a set and play games with them, but he knows that there is no way that I will ever let him near them, so he’s been trying to get me to slip up so that he can report me and ask for them as a punishment for me and reward for him.” Max is starting to look pretty stressed, so I soften my expression and caress his cheek soothingly. “I can’t get rid of him because there are no other teams in the area for him to work with, and he’s too good at what he does for the Club to let him go to waste…basically we’re playing a waiting game with the same plan on both sides…let me tell you, I would love to take his sisters to the Club as a set.”

I give him a long, slow kiss, filled with my understanding of the risks that he has been taking for me this whole time. “Alright, we’ll talk about him later then; maybe we can do this so that you can get those sisters too.”

Max breaks the kiss after a while and stands. “Our guests should be arriving in an hour; can you show Annie here the basics of slave behavior in that time?”

I smile at him and grab her leash. “No problem, we already started in the shower. I assume that you’ll want us to focus on serving dinner and such?”

Max nods. “Just make sure that she can do the basic postures and whatnot, and can serve the food without breaking her role. We’ll worry about how thorough the rest of her training is when we have more of an idea of how long she’ll be with us.”

As he leaves the room, I turn to Annie with an evil grin. “You’re going to make me proud tonight, aren’t you slave?”

Annie beams at me; she really seems to like the idea of being owned by me. “Yes Mistress.”

When the doorbell rings, I leave Annie in the kitchen and go to answer the door. I open it, and there is a tall, handsome man in an extremely expensive suit. Standing next to him is a young woman my own age, who looks to be his daughter. She’s wearing a sexy little baby blue cocktail dress and is cute, blonde, and perky looking, with endlessly long legs, a slender figure and big gravity defying tits – your basic nightmare of youthful sexuality. If I didn’t know that she was the final target of Max’s assignment, I’m sure I’d feel threatened – as it is, I’m just getting horny.

I give the pair my brightest smile as I gesture for them to enter the house. “Welcome Mr. Harrison, I hope that Max’s invitation wasn’t too short of notice for you?” The ‘invitation’ was actually an order given from much higher up than Max or this guy, and we both know it, but it’s only polite to help him save face with his daughter while he still can.

He gives me a very sexy, charming smile; I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a bunch of illegitimate children running around. “Oh, no problem at all Miss-“

I offer him my hand in the classic fashion and keep an eye on the girl while I make my response. “Thompson, Elizabeth Thompson. I assume that this is your daughter Amber?”

We turn to Amber, who is staring at me in shock. “Wait, Thompson as in Kate Thompson?”

I widen my smile and nod. “Yes, she’s my twin sister. And you’re her roommate.”

Amber’s curiosity is up now; this is so delicious, I can’t wait to see if she figures things out before the big show at the dinner table. “I thought you looked familiar. Is she here? She wasn’t home when I called yesterday…what are you doing here anyway, I thought Kate said that all of her sisters were spending the holiday with her parents?”

Max comes into the room with impeccable timing. “Ah, I see our guests have arrived, and just in time for dinner. Elizabeth, could you please show them to the table while I get things ready to serve?” Out of the corner of my eye I see Amber staring at Max with undisguised lust – I really can’t blame her, he looks damn good in a dinner jacket. I can see the wheels turning in her head as she obviously plans out some way of getting into his bed, and I have to fight to keep my smile friendly; I can’t wait to teach this spoiled bitch the price of being a stupid slut.

I get them settled at the table facing the kitchen door with little fuss, and then swing the kitchen door open. That’s Max’s signal, and he proceeds through the door, holding onto Annie’s leash; the slave is in turn pushing a cart in front of her, which has a giant silver tray on top of it. On the tray is Sam’s golden, perfectly roasted body, laying on it’s back with it’s legs spread and lifted, the hands and ankles tied together, and her uncooked head in front of her crotch, staring blankly at us with her amazing hair no longer in a ponytail, instead arranged around the head and body in a golden cascade.

I hear a chair crashing behind me and turn to see that Amber has knocked hers over, and is backing up into the corner of the room, covering her mouth with her hands and staring wide eyed at what has become of her roommates in horror. She’s hyperventilating, and her legs give out just as she bumps up against the wall. She slides down it and tears start to slide down her cheeks.

Mr. Harrison watches his daughter impassively. “Amber, I’m afraid that your incessant curiosity has finally come back to bite us all. We know that you took my hard drive, and we know that you took the effort to hack the passwords for it. I told you a long time ago that it was dangerous for you to ask about my work, but you just wouldn’t listen. Now look at what your irresponsibility has cost your friends; from what I understand, even this nice young lady’s sister has been killed. All because of you. What do you have to say for yourself young lady?”

Amber is staring at her father in horror. Her hands drop down, but she can’t seem to get out any words. Finally her father gives her a disgusted look and signals to Max, who goes over to her and lifts her by the shoulders to deposit her in another chair. The brothers from Max’s crew rush up with leather straps and quickly secure the stunned girl until she can’t move anything other than her head.

Max signals Annie, and she brings the cart alongside the table as the rest of the guys find seats at the table. Max sits at the head of the table, but not before gallantly pulling the chair to his left out and inviting me to sit.

As Annie carefully serves out bits of her friend, I glare daggers at Amber, letting her know with my eyes how much I want to watch her suffer. Once I have her attention, I make sure that she understands her situation. “You got my sister killed for your stupidity bitch. You are the lowest piece of scum I have ever seen, and I’m going to enjoy sharing your last two weeks on this earth with you…”[/size]

[center][u][size=12pt]Part Fourteen – Gazing into the Abyss[/size][/u][/center]

[size=12pt] As I slowly savor a small bite of Sam’s left breast, I take a bit of calf meat and feed it by hand to Annie, who is kneeling like an obedient dog at my side. She closes her eyes and shudders in bliss as she eats her lost lover’s flesh, and I know exactly what she is going through. Across the table, Amber is being hand fed as well, but she isn’t enjoying the experience; her guilt and horror make it impossible for her to appreciate her friend’s meat. It seems an awful waste to me, but then again, it does seem to be making for an effective punishment, and she is only getting the less desirable cuts anyway.

Amber’s father has ignored her for the most part, enjoying the wonderful meal and chatting with the guys and me. It surprises me when he includes me in the discussions, but then I notice the looks that he is giving my body and the carefully hidden resentment on Max’s face, and I can’t help feeling flattered and more than a little playful. I’m careful to stay within certain bounds – I know better than to allow someone like Mr. Harrison any openings to try and seduce me, and I have no intentions of giving myself to anyone other than Max – but I do flirt pretty outrageously.

Amber finally finishes her plate and we all turn to her as she starts to plead with her father. “Please daddy, get me out of this, I know I screwed up, but I don’t want to die! Please don’t let them do this, I’ll be good from now on, I promise!”

Her father doesn’t look at all pleased with her display. “Amber, have some dignity and shut the fuck up. You are a snuff doll now, and there’s nothing I can, or want to do about it. I’m just glad that Max here has arranged for your apartment to be incinerated so that I don’t have to explain to your mother and sister what happened to you.” He turns to Max. “Can you gag her and secure her somewhere so I can get my last use out of the bitch? You all should watch; I want her humiliated for what she’s done to my reputation.” Oh shit, he’s gonna fuck his own daughter! I start juicing up like crazy, this is just too close to one of my own fantasies…except for the lack of a sister of course; Kate and I were such daddy’s girls.

I think that everybody is happy when the stupid girl’s whining is cut off by a ball gag; we’ll have plenty of time to enjoy getting some real begging out of her later. Max unstraps Amber and carries her, kicking and, well, sorta screaming, down into the basement as everyone gets up to follow. I let Annie finish one last bite of Sam, and then tug on her leash so that she’ll follow me as I get in the back of the line; the guys are a little too worked up for me to want to get in the middle of them in this getup.

When I finally enter the basement, I see that Max already has Amber secured. Chains have been secured to four eyebolts in the floor, and clipped to cuffs that are now around Amber’s slender wrists and ankles. She’s still fully dressed, and I wonder what her father intends to do about that. I get my answer pretty quickly as he wastes no time; releasing his sizable meat from his pants and getting down on his knees between her legs, he pushes the skirt of her dress up to her waist and rips her little silk panties off. As Amber tries to talk through her gag and stares at her father in horror at his actions, he sniffs at the small garment and smiles. “The bitch is all wet for this…fucking slut, it’s probably a good thing this happened before she ended up with AIDS or something. Here, take a whiff of that and try to tell me she doesn’t want this.” He tosses the torn panties at me, and he’s right; they’re soaked, and the smell of girl juice is strong on it.

Amber squeals in protest as she feels his cock head rubbing at her nether lips, but her father pays her no mind, thrusting all of it into her with no warning or mercy. The girl responds by screaming into her gag and arching her back, thrusting her tits up delightfully for us. As Mr. Harrison gets into a good, angry pounding rhythm, I get an idea and walk over to Amber’s head. Her father looks up at me with a question in his eyes, and I give him an evil grin. “Wanna have some more fun? I can make her really work for you, but I’ll have to use her mouth.”

He gives me that seductive smile again; shit, I’ve gotta watch myself around this guy. “Sure sweet cheeks, go ahead; you’ve been hurt by her as much as anyone, so have a ball.”

I grin and slide the skirt of my dress up my hips until my dripping sex is exposed, and lower myself down over the blonde bimbo’s shaking head. Holding her steady with my knees, I remove Amber’s gag. She barely gets a sound out before my cunt is covering her mouth; the vibrations that her screams are making are amazing. “Alright bitch, start licking like your life depends on it – fuck it, your life does depend on it, so get going!”

Amber doesn’t seem to keen on this idea, so I motivate her by pushing down the top of her dress until her magnificent tits are exposed, and then twisting and pinching her surprisingly small, hard nipples. The girl beneath me is trying, I can tell that, but she’s just not doing a good enough job, so I give up and move on to the next stage of my plan – I carefully position myself so that I can cover her mouth and nose with my cunt while still maintaining pressure on the sides of her head with my legs, and put my full weight down on her face, smothering her with my pussy.

My co-rapist groans and looks at me with new found respect as the asphyxiating girl thrashes and twists within her bonds, futily trying to escape, and her cunt does wild things to his cock – I know it is because I’ve been on both ends of face sitting before in several shoots, and when a girl can’t breath her pussy and ass muscles go nuts. I wait until Amber’s movements start to slow and become random, and then let up enough for her to breath. As she gasps and sobs, I twist her nipples again and tell her to start licking; she doesn’t seem to notice that, so I order Annie to get me some long, thick needles.

As soon as I shove the first needle into one of the girl’s big tits, she starts to scream and I take advantage by pressing down on her for the vibrations. She pretty quickly gets the point, no pun intended, and starts to eat me out.

For the next hour or so, I alternate between smothering Amber and getting head from her while torturing her tities, climaxing constantly. Several times she manages to cum, confirming my guess that she’s a closet pain-slut. Finally Mr. Harrison starts to get close, and he orders me to stay down until he finishes, no matter what. I look to Max, and he nods his okay to snuff the bitch if it comes down to it; I’m tempted to do it anyways even if he does cum in time.

Before I smother her for the last time, I look down at Amber’s face. Tears are streaming from her eyes, and when I look into them all I see is sadness and a hopeless despair; she heard what her father said, and she knows what it means.

I want a true, total cut off of air when I sit, so I order Annie to sit on my shoulders; it’s uncomfortable, but necessary in other ways as Mr. Harrison grabs his daughter’s hips and starts to really pound away at her, and her thrashing reaches an intensity far beyond anything she has managed previously. Amber’s rapist starts to grunt and swear as her struggles reach a peak, and then her whole body stiffens and he moans as he starts to fill her with his incestuous seed. He gives her a few last thrusts, and she jerks twice, and then he starts to swear as she pisses on his nice expensive suit. She twitches a few times, and then falls limp just as he pulls out and wipes himself clean on her tits. I roll off of the unmoving girl and look into her wide, staring eyes. The horror on her face is just stunning in its intensity, and I cum right there without even touching myself.

Max gently moves me out of the way and starts to administer CPR as one of the guys rolls a crash cart over. I get up and rearrange my dress, and then ask Mr. Harrison if he needs to get home right away to change or not. He answers in the affirmative, so I tell Annie to start making the rounds with the guys to relieve their sexual tensions, and lead him out of the basement on the way to the door. Neither one of us seems to care if his daughter lives or not…[/size]

[center][u][size=12pt]Part Fifteen – Falling Down[/size][/u][/center] [size=12pt]

As I open the front door for Mr. Harrison, he stops and turns to me, looking hesitant for the first time. “Look, I know it’s none of my business, but you really are an amazing girl – if you weren’t with the most dangerous man in the state I’d be all over you – and I don’t want to see you wasted on some stupid snuff game…tell me you’re trying for a ring, please.”

I’m totally taken aback; I was expecting him to hit on me, or cop a feel, not try and cement my relationship with Max. “Well, um, you see we just met this morning and…well, I really don’t know what I’m looking for right now, it’s a little confusing really…”

He smiles and lightly touches my cheek in the kind of fatherly gesture he can no longer give to Amber. “Look honey, I see how you two are together, I’ve seen it before, and let me tell you, there are only two paths that you’re going to find acceptable…and I have the feeling that you guys have already talked about them. Just do me a favor, and really think about the ring…I-I know that what you saw here tonight probably turned you off to the idea, but believe me, this is a very rare occurrence; there are a surprising number of us in the area, and Max only has to do this type of thing maybe every two or three months, if even that often.”

He kisses my forehead gently and leaves me standing in shock. I stay there in the doorway thinking about Max and I until long after Mr. Harrison’s Lexus has disappeared, and then finally turn to enter the house, and that’s when the bag goes over my head. I try to reach up and remove it, but someone is suddenly hugging my upper body tightly from behind, pinning my arms to my sides. I’m lifted bodily, and start to kick and scream, but I know that no one can hear me; everybody’s in the basement, and it’s soundproofed.

Something hard presses against my side, and it feels like fire is entering my body from it. My body goes spastic, jerking and twitching for a minute, and then everything goes black.

Everything is dark, and I’m not touching anything, just floating in a void. The temperature is absolutely neutral, and the air is totally free of scents. I try calling out, and my voice is severely attenuated by the atmosphere.

I call for minutes on end, and then finally there is a response, a distant voice, directionless, hard to identify. I call again, and the response seems closer, with greater clarity. “Bets…Bets…where are you…I can’t see you anymore…what’s happening…Bets!”

I start to cry as I recognize the bodiless voice. “Katie! Help, I don’t know where I am, I’m scared Katie!”

We keep calling to one another, but although at some points she sounds closer, she can’t seem to find me. “Oh god Bets, you can’t die on me…fight, you need to fight to go back…please!”

I have no idea what she’s talking about, but I feel myself responding to her pleas anyway. I can feel myself struggling against…something, and then everything goes white and loud and painful…

My eyes pop open and I let out a gasp as if I haven’t breathed for a good long while. Everything hurts, especially near the center of my chest. Everything’s bright and fuzzy, and I have to blink my eyes rapidly to get them to focus properly. When I do regain use of my sight, I automatically look at where my chest hurts so much, and try to scream; I’m only trying because there is something round and hard in my mouth blocking the sound, and I’m screaming because there is a huge, empty hypodermic stuck in my breast bone. A hand grabs the thing and, using one of my tits for leverage, pulls it out of me. The sensation is excruciating, and I find that I’m beyond screaming.

There’s a painfully loud voice, familiar and somehow also speaking quietly at the same time. “So the little princess has finally decided to grace us with her presence. How wonderful for us – too bad she doesn’t seem too happy right now.”

I look up, and see the hated face of Harvey looming over me. I’m scared right now, sure, but strangely enough I’m more pissed than anything else. I focus my anger, and am able to push back the pain enough to take stock of my situation. I’m stark naked and strapped onto a gurney on my back, and I appear to be in some kind of infirmary. Harvey is standing above me, giving me his trademark leer, and behind him I see several men and one woman, all in expensively tailored suits. The strangers are studying me with a cold clinical intensity, like I’m a gourmet dish that they are critiquing.

The woman speaks. She’s got a really sexy British accent, but her tone is distant and uninterested. “Very well then, she survived your bungled snatch job. Now you need to prove your allegations to us – Max is far too valuable to us to just casually snuff out one of his toys without his permission.”

I find myself being glad for the gag, because I wouldn’t be able to hide my smirk without it as Harvey looks surprised and none too pleased. “But – I mean, she’s not in the database, she knows about us, and she’s now on Club grounds…that should be a death sentence.”

The woman seems to be the voice of the group, and she’s not so distant sounding now. “Might I remind you that you yourself brought her here against her will, and that we have no idea what her relationship to Max actually is…I would also like to add that there have been no reports of security leaks associated with her…and that you have shown a history of antipathy towards Max for several years now.” Her voice goes hard. “No, we will send a message to Max asking for his appearance, and you will stay away from the girl until then. You have until we question him to come up with somebody worthwhile to back up your accusations.”

Harvey looks chagrined and chastened for a moment, and then his eyes get that sly look to them, and he backs away, bowing his head slightly in respect to the others. “Alright, I’ll go do that then. Even without back up information, I think that you will find your questioning of the girl will be damaging enough. I’ll leave you to it.” He gives me a look filled with unpleasant promises, and then stalks out.

The woman makes a gesture, and someone comes around from outside my field of vision. He’s slender, greasy haired, and nerdy looking…and something in his eyes scares the living shit out of me. He removes my ball gag gently, and then pulls a cart over that is covered with wires and clamps and weird looking electrical devices. He rubs his hands together theatrically as he lets me work my sore jaw muscles. “Now my sweet, we have a few questions to ask you. Don’t worry, it’s okay to scream the answers…”[/size]

[center][color=blue][size=12pt]Concluded below…[/size][/color][/center]

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[center][u:stjwvjk0][size=12pt]Part Sixteen – At the bottom[/size][/u:stjwvjk0][/center] [size=12pt]

I can feel my heart losing its rhythm again. In the hours? days? weeks? that the nerdy guy – he told me his name is Vincent at some point between screaming sessions – has been working me over, I’ve gone arrhythmic three times, and shortly thereafter, Vincent’s equipment made my heart stop. Twice they managed to restart it immediately, but the third time, I ended up back in the Void again. Kate was in shambles, panicking and crying in the distance, as I slowly fought my way back to life with the assistance of Vincent’s expertise and some very experimental drugs injected straight into the offending organ.

Every fiber of my being is screaming out in agony, but it’s my heart that has my full attention. I turn to Vincent as he fiddles with some new way of getting me to say the same damn things over and over, and mumble through the gag that he applies each time he is about work on me again; he says if I bite my tongue off it’ll make the whole exercise a moot point, and I can see the logic in that, but right now I really need to get his attention, and the gag isn’t helping things any.

Finally my torturer notices my efforts, and rolling his eyes at the inconvenience, he removes the gag. “This had better be good little lady, I’ve still got half the cart left to try on you, and it’s getting past my bedtime.”

“H-heart…not….rhythm…can’t…no-no more…can’t come back again…”

I’m frustrated and exhausted and scared out of my mind as he shrugs, not understanding me, and starts to put the gag back in. I’m balling like a little kid – I know that this is it, I won’t make it through another session, and my poor heart has taken all the restarts that it can…actually, I’m starting to hope that if it does stop again, I don’t wake up, because brain damage is starting to look like a pretty likely result if I do.

“Stop! Enough!” What the hell is Mr. Harrison doing here? And what’s got him so worked up? I open my mouth, waiting to welcome the symbol of my death, of an end to the pain, but it doesn’t come.

Vincent’s moving away from me, sounding annoyed. “What do you want? I’m in the middle of something here, and there’s a time limit.”

“You idiot, you’re torturing our newest member to death in here.” Member? Where? I didn’t know Vincent was working two of us over…I feel a little jealous. “Get her the fuck out of here and into the member’s ward – I want a full report of the damage you’ve done by morning, and I swear to god, if there’s anything permanent, I’m gonna send you to Max, and if you think I’m taking this personally, then you really don’t want to know how he’s going to feel.” Vincent’s just standing there with a horrified look on his face. Must be nice to be that other girl. “Come on, move!”

Vincent bursts into motion, and I feel all of the…things in and on my flesh being removed. I close my eyes and cry as I wonder what new treat he could have for me that would require so much open flesh to work with, and then I feel myself being wheeled out of the room, and I break down completely…I barely hear Mr. Harrison urgently giving orders to Vincent. “You are to erase all records of this session, and you tell no one what she told you, understand?”

Next thing I know, I’m in a bright room, and someone is jabbing something into my arm. I barely even notice it. A hand squeezes mine. I weakly turn my head and Mr. Harrison’s gently smiling face swims into view. “Mr…H-Harrison…don’t watch them hurt me…please…”

“Call me Uncle Jack honey, and nobody’s going to hurt you anymore…I’m here to make sure of that.”

Warm, numb, floating goodness is flowing through my arm and on into the rest of me. “What’s goin’ on…”

Mr. – I mean Uncle Jack is stroking my sweat soaked hair. “Everything’s going to be fine now honey, just rest while we find out how you are…” he looks around, then leans over to whisper in my ear. “I made Max a member, I should’ve done that a while ago, and told the committee that the dress you were wearing was a wedding dress…that I was on my way to get a Judge to marry the two of you when you were grabbed. Needless to say, they were a little upset with Harvey after that.”

My eyes start darting around, expecting my nemesis to appear out of nowhere and ruin this moment. “Harvey…where?”

Uncle Jack looks a little upset now, but he’s trying to hide it. “We don’t know. Max is headed to his sister’s house to make sure she’s secure, and there’s a team in your home state that has to set up to track your family anyway, so they should be safe…don’t worry, we’ll find the bastard.”

My eyes widen as something he said finally registers. “Marry?”

He’s got a shit-eating grin plastered on his face now. “Yeah, we’ll have to delay it awhile until you’re all sorted out here, but yeah, you’ll have to inform your daddy that he needs to get here to give you away…that should help make things easier for your family anyway, what with the explosion that killed your sister and her room mates and hurt you so bad…”

Explosion? That doesn’t make sense to me, but the floating has reached my head, and it feels so good, and I’m thinking about a veil and a collar, and so I let the peace of sleep wash over me…

I can’t tell how long it’s been since I’ve felt so relaxed and happy. I’m lying under my favorite tree in my grandparent’s huge yard. It’s a cherry tree, and I’m cushioned by a bed of blossoms. There’s a small hand holding mine, and I turn my head to see just who I expected. Kate is lying next to me, and we’re both dressed in exquisite wedding gowns.

She smiles at me, and runs a finger along my cheek. “I wish I could let you rest here Bets…but you need to get moving. Brad and Vicky aren’t home…and the viper has your cell phone…”

I sit up, the peace of the afternoon gone. I can feel a wind blowing up, and the sun is disappearing behind ominous black clouds. “Katie, tell me how to find them, help me!”

She shakes her head. “I told you, I don’t see things the same anymore…all I can tell you is that Vicky is talking to a man with an eagle on his back, and Brad is watching them…he looks uncomfortable.”

“What the crap? How could Brad let her shoot with that guy? She’s too green to be doing breath play, not with him…I gotta go.”

I give Kate a deep, loving kiss, and then close my eyes and concentrate. Wake up, come on, let me wake up… [/size]

[center][u:stjwvjk0][size=12pt]Part Seventeen – If You Go Chasing Rabbits…[/size][/u:stjwvjk0][/center]

[size=12pt]I’m so tired. My body feels like it’s made out of lead, and my eyelids feel like they are glued shut. I’m so tempted to drift back into some kind of eternal slumber, and then I remember why I fought so hard to come back to the waking world in the first place. I start to mumble, reminding myself of why I need to open my eyes. “Vicky…Brad…”

A hand squeezes mine, and it grounds me enough to finally get my eyes open to half-mast. The lighting is dim, and my eyes are having trouble focusing, but I recognize the worried, crying face above me instantly. “Annie…how…long…”

She smoothes my hair back gently and kisses my forehead. “You’ve been out for three days Mistress…I’ve been so worried…oh, Mistress, they hurt you so bad, we weren’t sure you would wake up, and then Mr. Harrison had to leave, he said someone was missing, and I begged and begged for them to let me take care of you…please be better Mistress, please!” Poor, loyal Annie is starting to break from the strain; perfect. She’ll follow my instructions regardless of what anyone else has told her, I know it.

“No one…else…here?” God, I hope I can get better control of my voice soon.

A tear falls on my face. “No Mistress, it’s just you and me right now, it’s the middle of the night, and the security people are out patrolling the perimeter…the nurse wanted to stay, but I made her show me what to do so she could see her kids…was that okay?”

I smile – it hurts. “You did great…sweet slave…need to get up…”

Annie looks torn. “Mistress! The doctor said total rest for a few weeks – your heart…”

I frown – that hurts too. “Now annie-slave, now…”

As I thought, she can’t tell me no…that poor nurse is really going to be in trouble come morning. My limbs are almost useless, so poor Annie has to do all of the work for me; at least I don’t weigh very much. She sits me up straight, and the world starts to spin as my heart does a hummingbird impression and my ears ring incessantly. “Ooohhhh, fuck…” I close my eyes and try to control my breathing until my heart slows down and the universe decides to sit still. “Gurney…get a gurney…need to go…”

Annie’s eyes are desperately pleading with me. “Mistress, please no! You’ll die!”

I lean against her plush body and sigh as she hugs me tight. “Do you love me annie-slave?”

She starts to kiss me all over my face. “Yes, yes Mistress, annie-slave loves you so much, don’t leave her all alone!”

I do my best to support myself. “Get a gurney…find a car…need to go…sister in danger.”

I almost collapse when Annie steps away, but luckily I am able to avoid showing too much weakness to my slave. She hesitates in the doorway. “Mistress, once we are out of here, please call Master Max…he loves you, and he was so good to let me stay with you…please don’t make him worry…”

I close my eyes and picture my Max sitting in the bed with me, holding me. “Of course I will…I-I love him too…” My eyes fly open and I look at me slave in delighted surprise. “OH! I DO love him! Thank you sweet annie-slave, thank you! Now go…”

I’m staring at the dark shapes of trees in the distance as the steady hum of the ambulance’s engine tries to lull me back into sleep; I’m only able to stay awake because I took some stimulants over the strident protests of my slave – I did give in to her enough to use only mild ones, but even so I can feel my heart thrumming and it makes me want to cry. I still have very little strength, so I’m leaning my head against the window and allowing my well-tightened seat belt to keep me upright.

I sigh, dreading what I need to do now. I open the cell phone that Annie stole, and with my hands shaking I dial Max’s cell number. He picks up right away, and I have to fight back my tears at the sound of his voice. “Yes? Who is this?”

My voice is choked. “Hello darling, did you miss me?”

He sounds shocked and delighted; he’s breaking my heart and he doesn’t even know it. “Elizabeth? You’re awake, thank god! How do you feel? Have the doctors told you anything yet?”

I close my eyes and start to speak as quickly as I can, racing the lump in my throat. “Max, love, I don’t know what the doctors think, I’m not at the Club anymore.”

Anger. “WHAT? Where the hell are you? What do you think you’re doing? Damn it, Annie said she would keep you safe!”

I shush him. “Don’t blame her, you know she can’t deny me…she’s doing her best, even demanded that I tell you what’s going on…I’m so sorry lover, I would have been so happy to be your little virginal bride…”

Apprehension and fear – fear for me. “Where are you? Where are you going, and why…and please don’t tell me goodbye, I’m not about to let you go…”

Driving one handed, Annie slips her free hand in mine and gently squeezes, lending me strength. “I-I don’t really know where we are right now, some highway, I can’t keep track right now, but we’re headed for the breathlesspain.com studio in Kansas. Vicky and Brad are there, and Harvey knows it. I think I’d probably be headed there even if it wasn’t for that dick – I really don’t think those two know who they’re dealing with…those guys, I’ve known some people that worked with them, and they’re dangerous. If Vicky can’t handle it – and she can’t, she’s too new to this stuff - they’ll let her die and take the film underground.” My voice starts to crack. “Please, please understand…I can’t lose another sister, not like this…if I have to die to keep her safe, that’s okay…I’m not afraid…I have to go now…I’ll always love you…”

I hang up as he tries to protest, and Annie pets my arm as I sob and the miles drop away behind us…

It’s dawn when we pull into the long driveway of the isolated converted farm. I just shot myself up with some much more potent stimulants and pain killers so that I can be ambulatory; I don’t care what they do to me at this point, and that’s just as well with the way my heart is protesting – I just hope that I can make it long enough to see my sister safe.

We pull over near the converted barn, and I take my time getting out while Annie crawls into the back to grab the equipment we pilfered from the Club. We couldn’t get our hands on any guns, but that’s probably for the best; neither one of us knows how to use them.

As I lean against the side of the vehicle, breathing hard, Annie attaches a tazer, a cattle prod and a tranquilizer gun to a belt and puts it on me over my sister’s dress – it was the only clothing in my size that we could find. Annie then repeats the process with another belt and puts it on over her stolen nurse’s outfit. I note that she has put her collar back on, the one that I first chose for her ages ago in Max’s basement, when I made her mine.

As we try to muster our courage, a whip crack comes from the barn, and I hear the sound of a young woman singing the bittersweet, wordless song of helpless pain, before her cries turn into desperate choking sounds.

I stagger towards the front of the barn, and Annie tries to follow me. I turn my head to her and point towards the rear of the building, and she reluctantly heads that way, remembering my last orders.

As I approach the big, open doors of the makeshift studio, I pull out the tranquilizer gun and pray to any god that will listen that I have enough left in me to pull this off…[/size]

[center][u:stjwvjk0][size=12pt]Part Eighteen – By a Thread[/size][/u:stjwvjk0][/center]

[size=12pt] There are some sights in life that horrify us, and yet fascinate us, even turn us on. As I peek around the edge of the door, I’m greeted by one of those sights.

My sister Vicky, senior in high school and well on her way to valedictorian, is in the middle of an open, well lit area, with four stationary cameras and two handheld cams focused on her; there’s tape on the floor to show the line of sight of each stationary camera, and the men with the handhelds are carefully navigating around them as they seek various close-ups of her suffering. She’s hanging from a noose by her long, slender neck, held just low enough that her quivering dancer’s legs can just allow her to breath if she stands en point like the ballerina she used to be. Her hands are tied behind her back by a silk rope, which also runs from her struggling wrists down between her buttocks, up the middle of her shaven pussy, and on to loop securely around her tiny waist – as her hands tug and twist in their efforts to gain free, she is stimulating herself mercilessly, and I can see her juices running down her thighs as her hips twitch and jerk in her unwilling arousal. Her perky little tits are quivering with her efforts, and her stomach muscles are tight and perfectly defined by her forced posture. Her pale skin, set off nicely by waist length black hair to match mine, is criss-crossed with red, bleeding lines. Finally, her angelic face is distorted with pain and frantic desperation, her eyes wide behind her wire frame glasses and staring at nothing, her mouth gaping with her need for more air. In short, she is a living, somewhat breathing work of art, a masterpiece of suffering beauty, and she takes my breath away.

I briefly notice that Brad is tied near me, blindfolded and helpless, and become even more scared for my sister – and guiltily aroused – as I realize that this is definitely intended to be a snuff shoot. Mostly though, I’m just standing there in awe of my sister’s magnificently erotic peril.

I’m startled out of my reverie as the one man not working with equipment – big, shaved head, naked, well endowed and sporting a huge eagle tattoo on his back – strikes at her with a bull whip from out of the line of sight of the cameras. Vicky’s taut, lithe body jerks away from the blow, which leaves a fresh line of blood across both of her breasts, and she is airborne, kicking her feet desperately for a moment as she is strangled more fully, before she finally finds her footing again.

I wait for the man to strike again, and just as the whip and my sister’s struggles are filling the studio with sound, I run towards the little tableau. As I planned, my footsteps are disguised, so before the men even know that I am there, the handheld guys and the operator for the stationary cameras are all clutching at the darts sticking out of them; these darts are made for urban captures, so the needles are more than long and strong enough to penetrate the men’s clothing – a lucky break for me since my aim even this close is lousy.

I get the microphone guy before it all goes pear shaped. I have no experience with stuff like this, so it never even occurred to me to see how many darts the stupid gun holds; I find out the hard way as I try to shoot the guy with the bull whip – I think his name is Steve – I hear a click, and nothing happens. I look down at my suddenly impotent weapon, I hear an immense CRACK! and something slams into my forehead.

Next thing I know, I’m on my back, staring up at my sister’s tities. I admire them in a daze for a moment, and then I’m being rolled over, and someone is taking off my belt. Something red and warm and sticky is getting into my eyes as I start to mumble. “Hey…no nookie on da firs’ date…” My hands are forced painfully up between my shoulder blades and then secured there, and then I am lifted by them and forced to stand on my shaking legs.

The ringing in my ears and the sounds of my sister gurgling next to me almost hide a sound that makes my stomach sink. I’ve heard Annie screaming behind a gag before; I’d recognize the sound anywhere. Through the red curtain of my vision, I see a man dragging my slave along the ground by her bound hands. My vision is too blurry to make out any features, but I easily recognize the voice – Harvey, the fucking prick. “Here I was, hoping to just get revenge by killing your sister and friend, and what do I find, but your little puppy girl sneaking around in the back, and the little princess herself making friends with my buddy here. My, my…just for being so nice as to hand me a late Christmas present, I’m going to have to be a gentleman and have you for dinner, ha!”

Harvey reaches me, and drops Annie; she curls up around her stomach, which is sporting the handle of a hunting knife – her uniform is swiftly turning bright red. My nemesis ignores his latest victim and has his buddy, Steve, turn me so that I am looking at my suffering sister. I’m not sure that she’s even aware that I’m here; her eyes are clouded by pain and confusion.

Harvey caresses my cheek, and then turns to Vicky. “You know, it seems a waste to snuff this one so soon, but I wouldn’t want you to die without knowing that you’ve killed her. Now be a good girl, and watch your sister suffer and die.” He draws his fist back and punches her in the gut, hard.

Vicky manages a tiny ‘oomph’ and her body tries to double up on itself as she swings away from the source of the blow. Before she even swings back, her legs are bicycling in the air. Her motions are not as energetic as they were the last time she was in the air; she’s weakening, becoming exhausted from all of the abuse she has taken.

My sister finds her footing once more, and stands there sobbing. My own tears are flowing as I break down and say the most painful words I have ever said in my life. “I’m sorry Vicky, I’m so sorry…just give up baby, he’ll only hurt you more if you fight it…”

That really seems to piss Harvey off, and he responds by jabbing me in the chest with my own taser. I jerk and shudder in Steve’s strong grip, and I can feel my heart stutter…[/size]

[center][u:stjwvjk0][size=12pt]Part Nineteen – Fall to Pieces[/size][/u:stjwvjk0][/center]

[size=12pt] As my heart tries to find its rhythm again, I see that either Vicky heard me, or the poor girl has just had enough; either way, my sister’s feet are no longer supporting her weight. She’s kicking her legs randomly, and her face is changing colors rapidly, but what’s really drawing my attention is what she’s doing with her hands – she’s jerking them up rhythmically, purposefully, using the rope to try to get herself off one last time, her hips humping in time to the motions of her slender final lover. The sight is more than Harvey can take, and he pulls out his little dick – seriously, the thing’s like four inches stiff, no wonder he’s got an attitude – and he starts to jerk off, while Steve just satisfies himself with rubbing his hardness against my back.

The men are spellbound by the teen’s lethal sex show, and so don’t notice the motion at our feet, not until Steven stiffens and lets go of me. I fall to my knees as the big guy just falls flat on his face, like a tree falling down. There’s a familiar looking hunting knife sticking out of his back, and Harvey just stares at it in shock. I want to check on Annie, but there’s no time, this is my only chance.

My hands are useless to me, and I don’t have the strength left to do any fancy shit with my legs, so I use my only remaining weapon. Before my nemesis has a chance to react, I dive forward, take his cock into my mouth easily, right to the base, and bite down hard. His resultant screams are reminiscent of a child’s as he reflexively drops the cattle prod, grabs my hair in both hands and tries to pull me off of him. I’m pissed, and I’m not about to give up - I just bite down harder, tearing through skin and blood filled tissues as I shake my head like a dog.

Suddenly I’m on my back, and Harvey is writhing on the floor, clutching his bloody crotch and squealing like a pig. I suddenly realize that I’ve got his dirty prick in my mouth, and spit it out – I’ll clean and cook it later when I’m not in a life or death situation.

I turn to check on Annie, and see that I’m too late to tell her goodbye. She’s lying on her side, eyes wide open, with a smile on her face. I give her a quick kiss on the forehead. “Oh annie-slave, you made Mistress so proud…”

Then I’m pushing myself to move again, trying to get to my sister in time. Vicky’s legs are no longer kicking, but she’s still trying to jerk herself off with the same single-minded determination that has made her a straight A student and head cheerleader. She’s so focused that she doesn’t even notice when I come up under her and shakily stand between her legs so that she can sit on my shoulders.

The contact of my hair on Vicky’s primed cunt, combined with a sudden if still limited access to oxygen sends her into orbit, and it takes all of my strength to avoid dropping her as she bucks and writhes on my shoulders. By the time she winds down, I’m sweating like a pig and my heartbeat is all over the place. I know I can’t keep this up for long – hell, I don’t even know what’ll happen to me when the stimulants finally run their course – and I have no idea what to do from here…everyone in the studio is knocked out, dead, dying or tied up.

I sense that my sister is starting to come to her senses. “Vicky? Vicky! You’ve got to listen to me, we don’t have much time…”

She’s still dazed, and more than a little confused. “Bets? What-what the hell are you doing here?”

I roll my eyes even though she can’t see it. “I should ask you the same thing, and I will later, after we figure out how to not fucking die.”

She stiffens as she realizes the gravity of her situation. “Oh shit…OH SHIT, WHAT THE FUCK, GET ME DOWN!” She’s starting to panic, and her motions are making my legs threaten to give out.

My heart is starting to race dangerously, but I fight to keep my voice calm. “Vick, VICK! Calm down, you’re going to kill both of us if you don’t stay very still.”

She freezes. “What-what do you mean both of us? Why can’t you just let me down long enough to untie the rope or something…I promise I can last…”

It’s so good to be with family again, even in these circumstances, and I start to use my habitual bantering tone. “Sorry bout that sis, kinda tied up at the moment…some pricks got kinky with me when I shot up all their friends.”

I can feel her looking around, and I definitely hear her gasp as she sees the rather surreal, macabre scene around us. “Holy crap Bets, did you do this?”

I grunt as my left leg tries to collapse. “The dart guys and the dickless wonder over there, yeah…the other guy my Annie got; she’s the one with the red nurse’s dress. Now that introductions are over with, I suggest you figure out a way to save your life before my bum ticker gives out, cause I’m out of ideas.” I take some weird pleasure in the fact that I actually got to use the phrase ‘bum ticker’ in a real sentence.

We rack our brains for a solution, but none present themselves in the short time that I have before my heart starts to finally give in. It races for a minute, then just stops for a few beats as I feel the most total, enveloping pain in my life, and then it goes back to the races. This happens several times before my legs go AWOL, and I start to sink down. “Oh…god…so sorry…Vick…can’t make it…”

I hear her starting to strangle as a dual roar fills my ears. I fall to my back, my heart seeming to beat in slow motion, and I watch with detached fascination as a pair of dainty feet kick just a foot away from my head, and a sudden powerful wind starts to throw dirt into the air.

A shadow falls over me as my vision goes red and the world goes silent, and those pretty feet disappear from sight. A moment later, and I know that I must be dead in heaven; Max and Uncle Jack are kneeling close to me, speaking, but I can’t make out the words. My chest explodes with pain and then the darkness closes in and I’m falling into the void…[/size]

[center][u:stjwvjk0][size=12pt]Part Twenty – Whole Again[/size][/u:stjwvjk0][/center]

[size=12pt] “Katie?”

“Yeah Bets?”

“How long have we been here?”

“Almost too long…if you plan on going back, you should do it soon.”

“But…I DIED Katie…how can I go back?”

“If you’re thinking of The Crow or something like that, then you need to watch less TV. You’re in some kind of a holding pattern. Whatever they did to you back there, it was only enough to keep you from dying…it’ll take something from you for your body to live.”

“But it hurts Katie.”

“What does?”

“Living…there’s so much pain…”

“What about Max? Mom? Dad? Our sisters? If Vicky made it she’s gonna need you.”

“You had to go there…sneaky bitch.”

“Thank you. While I’m at it, you’re still cherry. You wanna die without ever taking a prick? It’s…kinda pathetic.”

“What about you? I can’t lose you again…I just can’t.”

“And you won’t. I’m going with you.”

“What? How? You don’t have a body to go to, remember?”

“How could I forget, you helped to eat it…and I’m glad you did. That’s why I can go with you…I’ll be passive, but you’ll always be able to feel me there; you’ll never be alone again.”

“Oh…um, so no more making love? I’m gonna miss that…”

“Don’t worry sweetheart, I have a feeling that we won’t go unfulfilled. Now let’s get a move on…we’ve got our wedding to get to.”

“Oh, wow, that’s right…we gonna commando the ceremony?”

“Of course…we’ve been planning that since we did it at Prom, remember?”

“Okay, so what do I do?”

“Just center on someone or something important enough to live for, and keep focusing on it. I’ll get your back, don’t worry…just don’t waiver, no matter what.”

“Right, got it…let’s get back before my tits start sagging…kidding…here we come Max…”

Waking up is like coming up to the surface from the deepest depths of the ocean. I have to do it gradually, in stages, or it gets painful. Finally though, I do break that surface, opening my eyes to a fuzzy, distant world.

My senses aren’t used to being used again yet, so I take the time to feel at my internal world. Kate was right, the hole that had been making my soul bleed since she died is gone, filled once again by a definite sense of HER…and she’s just as puzzled as I am when I notice that there’s something that feels…off, foreign, in the center of my being.

I’m getting anxious as my heart speeds up – and it feels unfamiliar. I lift my head as best I can, ignoring the waves of vertigo as best I can as I clumsily push at the front of the flimsy gown on my chest with thick, unresponsive fingers. Finally I get the damn thing past my tits. I look down at my chest, and start to sob. Straight down the center of my chest is a vivid, thick line of ugly scar tissue. “Nooo, nonononono…”

My low wail draws someone’s attention; as I let my head fall back to the pillows, staring through my tears at the ceiling, a hand takes hold of mine and squeezes. “Oh my god, Elizabeth, you’re awake, you made it! Don’t cry honey, everyone’s going to be so happy, we’ve been so worried…” Déjà vu…I find myself wishing that it was my Annie talking to me now, but of course it isn’t.

“B-Brad? Oh god, don’t look at me Brad, I’ve been desecrated…”

He strokes my hair soothingly as another pair of hands – female, I think – gently tug my gown back into place. Brad’s voice is gentle, filled with concern…he really is going to make some girl very happy someday, if he can ever get past Kate and me. “You’re still beautiful Elizabeth…and they have treatments here you wouldn’t believe, I’m sure they can take care of the scar once the rest of you is better…”

I turn my head to look at him, curious in a distant sort of way. “Where am I? What did they do to me?”

“We’re at the best Club hospital, I’m not even sure where; they won’t tell me. Y-your heart collapsed, they had to replace it…um, they’ve got some meds you’ll need to take from now on…” I’m not surprised that I have a new heart, it was kind of obvious really, nor am I surprised to find myself at a Club facility…what does surprise me is that Brad is here, and knows at least something about the organization.

I’m starting to get the feeling that things have greatly changed since the barn. “Brad, how long has it been?”

“The operation was just over a year ago…actually, it’s New Year’s Eve right now, good timing honey – we all just happen to be here for you to wake up!” He’s trying too hard to be cheerful; I can tell that he’s afraid that I’ll get upset. Can’t blame him, I am kinda feeling a bit off center; a year is a lot of time to just lose all of a sudden.

I take a deep breath; I need to know what’s changed…especially for Max. “Who’s here?”

Brad smiles encouragingly. “That’s my girl…well, Max is here of course, he’s somewhere on the grounds, hunting up some fresh flowers for your room. Jack Harrison is here with his daughter Melody – you’ll like her, she’s a little spitfire like you…she’s using the visit as an excuse to play in her first Club game tonight, so I’ll make sure you get to meet her soon, just in case. There’s me, of course…ta-da!” He sees my quizzical expression, and actually starts to blush. “Actually, I should be thanking you, I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for the good word you gave to Max about me…when they showed up at the studio, he gave me a deal I couldn’t refuse, so now I’m a scout and recruiter for the Club; I work a lot with Jack…I’ll admit I’m not too keen on the chance that my sister could end up in a bad way because of me, but at least I’ll always know where she is, eh?”

I smile weakly at that one, and then turn serious. “Vicky?”

“Right here Bets…god I’ve missed you!” She leans over me and gives me a big hug, and I realize that she was the one who fixed my gown. “You saved my life Bets, you literally gave your life for me…” She’s trying to say more, but she’s too choked up.

“Hey, don’t sweat it, any time.”

She shakes her head angrily. “No, it’s all my fault, I got your friend killed, and almost the three of us as well…Brad tried to warn me, but the offer was just too good to be true, and I didn’t stop to think about why they use that phrase…I’m so stupid…”

I start to caress her smooth cheek. “No you’re not you’re-“ I freeze. There on my little sister’s neck is a slender, shining silver band that I would recognize anywhere. I start to see red. “That bastard, I can’t believe he would do this, I’m gonna kill him…why you, it should have been me…”

Vicky looks confused for a moment, and then sees where I’m looking. “Oh god Bets, it’s not what you think, I promise!”

I really don’t feel like listening to excuses. “It looks to me like the man I love, the man who I thought loved me, took advantage of the situation and enslaved my sister…not just enslaved – he made you his slave wife, didn’t he?” I’m sounding a little hysterical, even to my own ears.

She’s crying openly now, shaking her head and gripping my right hand in both of hers. “No! He didn’t do anything other than tell me about the two of you, and what you might have done if that guy hadn’t…Max was so upset, and he needed to talk to someone about you, and when I saw the collar, and heard what it meant, I just had to…I’ve been waiting here this whole time so that I-I could ask you to close it…” I look at her in total bewilderment. She kneels down next to the bed, turns around, and clears her long hair from the back of her neck, and I see that the collar has not been locked. “I’m yours Bets – I always have been, but now more than ever. You gave your life for me; now I’m giving you mine.”

“You-you don’t have to do this, I don’t need paybacks-“

I can’t see her face, and I so want to right now. “You’re right, I don’t have to. I want to – I want to be yours forever, no matter what you decide to do to me. Please…please don’t abandon me Bets…I’ve dreamed of this for years…”

My hands are shaking as I reach for her neck. I can feel Kate purring inside me – she always was the one to jump into things. “Vick, are you absolutely sure? If I close this, you’ll have no say in anything. I will literally own you, and hold your life in my hands.” She just nods. “Last warning Vick, slaves on Club grounds have to participate in the games, no matter what. You could die tonight.”

She takes a shuddering breath. “Do it. Please.”

I’m sitting in a wheelchair in the Club’s great ballroom. Jack, Brad, Max and I have front row seats to the unique spectacle that is about to occur on the stage in front of us. I fiddle with my new engagement ring, made to match the collar on my victoria-slave’s neck as she joins the rest of the girls in front of the gallows and allows her hands to be tied and a noose to be carefully positioned around her swanlike neck. Standing proudly next to her, grinning excitedly like a girl half her age, is Jack’s daughter – Brad was right, she’s quite the handful…I hope she survives this so Max and I can get her in bed.

My future husband looks at me fondly. “So, what resolutions are you making tonight?”

I smile like a cat with a canary; I’ve been waiting for this question. “First off, we’re going to get you in that church back home as soon as we can…and then I’m finally going to fuck you.”

He laughs and pulls me onto his lap. “Okay, that makes two of us…”

I nip at his nose, and then turn suddenly serious. He’s startled by my mercurial mood – he’d better get used to it. “Max, it was Annie’s heart, wasn’t it?”

He’s really off balance now. “Um, well, yeah…I thought it would make both of you happy…” He’s looking worried now.

I brighten up considerably. “Good, that’s what I wanted to hear. Did you know we shared a certain fascination?” He shakes his head, totally lost. “We both want to know what it was that Sam saw when she was on that spit, right at the end…and some day we’re going to…that’s my second resolution.”

Max looks like he wants to protest, but I shush him as the countdown to midnight and the New Year begins at ten. With each number yelled by the crowd, the girls on the stage grow more and more nervous, and at five a little blond on the end starts to sob, but our slave, my sister, just stands there calmly, proudly lifting her chin as she stares me in the eye.

The countdown reaches zero, the girls are lifted into the air by their necks, and I share my final resolution with Max. “In the morning, we’re going to unthaw Harvey’s cock, you’re going to cook it, and I’m going to eat it…I told you back at the house that I would.”

He blanches, and then we turn back to the magnificent display of suffering, writhing female flesh on the stage, and wait to see who will die tonight for our pleasure…[/size]

[i:stjwvjk0][size=12pt]Definitions of resolution:

The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination. A resolving to do something. A course of action determined or decided on. A formal statement of a decision or expression of opinion put before or adopted by an assembly such as the U.S. Congress.

Physics & Chemistry: The act or process of separating or reducing something into its constituent parts: the prismatic resolution of sunlight into its spectral colors. The fineness of detail that can be distinguished in an image, as on a video display terminal.

Medicine: The subsiding or termination of an abnormal condition, such as a fever or an inflammation.

Law: A court decision.

An explanation, as of a problem or puzzle; a solution. The part of a literary work in which the complications of the plot are resolved or simplified. Music: The progression of a dissonant tone or chord to a consonant tone or chord. The tone or chord to which such a progression is made.

The substitution of one metrical unit for another, especially the substitution of two short syllables for one long syllable in quantitative verse.[/size][/i:stjwvjk0] [center][b:stjwvjk0][color=blue:stjwvjk0][size=14pt]Finis[/size][/color:stjwvjk0][/b:stjwvjk0][/center]