by Sera, Drew
Much to my dismay, our evening was coming to an end. We were in the kitchen and Anthony and I noticed Sydney eyeing the sandwiches again. Anthony grabbed a plate for himself and handed one to Sydney.
“Come on, sunshine. Lets eat some of this food before Colin tosses it out.”
He knew that Sydney would have been too shy to say something about liking another sandwich on her own. But when she saw Anthony was eating, she helped herself to another one. The three of us filled our plates and sat down.
“Did you enjoy the evening, Sydney?” I asked as we ate.
“Yes, everyone was really nice and easy to talk with. I had a really good time. Thank you for inviting me. Your home is beautiful.”
After we ate we walked towards the entryway and Anthony got her jacket from the closet and then his blazer.
“You sure you don’t mind taking her home? I don’t mind, I can take her.”
I really would have liked the opportunity to talk with her one on one again but I couldn't look like a dick.
“I don’t mind. I know right where sunshine’s place is and I’m only fifteen minutes away.” Anthony said while twirling his car fob. “Ready, sunshine?”
Sydney nodded but looked sullen. I walked them out and made sure she put her seat belt on before I shut the car door. Anthony was already half way around the car but stopped to look at me before getting in.
“Let me know when you get her home.”
“Yes, dad.”
With my arm resting on the roof of his car, it was easy to flip him off without Sydney seeing. He laughed and said he'd text me in a bit. I moved away from the car and waved as he backed out of the driveway with the fragile kitten. At least I knew she was safe and in capable hands.
Chapter 22
Sunday, October 20th
Anthony
I thought the party had gone well and let my mind wander back to this evening as I drove fragile kitten and I out of Colin’s neighborhood. Sydney seemed pretty quiet and almost appeared more nervous now than she had been on our way to the party.
I thought maybe she and Colin might have had a disagreement when he took her around the house to talk with her. She seemed to be on good terms with him when we left, but she was distant and bothered about something now though. I couldn’t help but worry about whatever is going on in her life. When Colin came to my office that morning after talking to her about her wrist and said that she was doing something stupid when she got it, I knew something bad had happened. I just didn’t know how recent.
“Quarter for your thoughts, sunshine?”
“Isn’t the saying ‘penny for your thoughts?’”
“It is. But I figured that if I offered you a quarter, you’d think it was a great deal and share what was on your mind.”
She laughed but this time it wasn’t full of pep like it had been earlier. She looked out the window and had her arms folded in her lap across her midsection. What was going on with her?
“You tired, sunshine?”
“Some, yes.”
The playful, flirty girl that had been in my car hours ago was gone and in her place was a nervous, shy girl. I was worried about her, so I decided to push a little.
“Are you eager to get home? Did the older crowd bore you?” I hoped my playfulness would spark some dialogue. Instead she shook her head and stared at the floor of my car. She was scaring me some. I kept looking over at her even though I knew Colin would blow a gasket and tell me to keep my eyes on the road.
“Hey, talk to me, sunshine. What did you think of everyone?”
“They were all so nice to me. Mr. Everett’s house was beautiful. And the food was really good.”
“It was just finger foods, nothing extravagant. And it’s Colin. Not Mr. Everett.”
“That was just for the party tonight. I don’t belong in the circles you guys keep. But, I still had a great time.”
What the fuck? This girl thought that just because we were in different tax brackets that it mattered.
“Here it is for you in plain english, sunshine. Everyone at Colin’s party tonight are nice people. None of them are judgmental and if you think any of them care about how much or how little you have, then you're wrong. And another thing, this wasn't just a one time thing. You’re into kink and the lifestyle. You now have like minded friends you can do stuff with and talk to.”
She was quiet for a few more minutes and then said that she liked Gina and thought she would be fun to hang out with.
“She’s quirky and was funny with Matt.”
“Yeah, she keeps him busy. He loves being her Dom.”
“I can tell that he’s good to her. I thought it was sweet that he called her ‘pet.’ He loves her a lot,” Sydney observed.
“You have no idea.”
This girl needed Colin’s hand for some confidence. She thinks little of herself and I know Colin would really be able to help Sydney. She might be a challenge at first, but I think the extra work and effort would be well worth it.
I pulled up in front of the apartment building and quickly glanced around. Sydney didn't seem concerned with the area though. I guess she’s used to it. The apartment building was poorly lit. I glanced at my watch. 12:20 a.m.
She and I walked up to her door and I stood on her doormat waiting for her to get the lights on. I put my hands on the side of her doorframe and smiled at her. Sydney stood in the entryway staring at me with her dark blues. She thanked me for driving and for staying close to her tonight. I felt my dick stir some as I gazed at her. She glanced down at the ground and then back up at me. She was something. She looked innocent but obviously had some kink to her otherwise she wouldn’t be interested in BDSM. A cutie with some kink.
“I had a great time tonight. You made it less awkward for me, thank you.”
“My pleasure, sunshine. Now, you’re heading to bed and I’m headed home. I’m going to wait out here until I hear two deadbolts click into place before I leave.”
She nodded and smiled. I leaned closer and then moved my head to the left and kissed her cheek. When I stood upright, I saw that her cheeks were a nice shade of red. She was blushing and smiling. I reached out and tapped her nose with my index finger and reminded her I was waiting until I heard the locks.
“Goodnight, sunshine. Sleep well.”
I heard the locks click and then headed down to my car. After I started it and locked my doors I sent the keeper a text.
AG: Fragile kitten is safe and tucked behind two deadbolts. I’m headed home.
I got in my car and took a deep breath. My car smelled like vanilla. Must have been her perfume. The scent of her made me smile. Simple, but sweet. I decided to just stay on Las Vegas Boulevard to get to my high rise. As I was moving at a snails pace my car rang. I knew it’d be Colin and I pushed the phone button on the steering wheel.
“Didn’t I just see you?”
“Yeah, but I was curious. How was she on the way home?”
“She was quiet for a while. She seemed preoccupied with something, though I couldn't get it out of her. She did say she had a good time. She’s afraid she doesn't fit in because she isn't wealthy. I told her she was being ridiculous.”
“I worried about that possibly coming up. So what was her place like?”
I didn’t want to tell him but he’d be relentless for the info.
“It’s small. Just a studio apartment so you can see the whole thing from the entryway. Furniture is tattered but she tried to brighten the place up. She had a bowl of M&M’s out.”
Colin laughed. Sydney ate M&M’s like a caffeine addict drank coffee.
“Well, listen to this…”
As I made my way home, Colin told me about their conversation in the guest room about aftercare. It sounds like Sydney has scened before but has never experienced aftercare. That’s unacceptable and fucking pissed me off. As a Dom, if you had the balls to dominate another person emotionally and sexually and push their limits, you better have the balls to take care
of them afterwards and put them back together. I was fucking pissed at that news.
“Hey, by the way, I saw part of the scar on the way to your place. But you were wrong about which wrist. It’s the left.”
“No, it’s not. It was the right. I don’t get things like that wrong.”
“Col, I’m afraid in this case you are mistaken. She put her hand up through the mood roof to feel the wind move through her fingers. It was the hand closest to me, which would be the left.”
Colin seemed bothered by our discussion about the wrist scar. I didn’t take it as anything other than him just not caring for conversations about her wrist. But, I was right, it was on her left.
When I arrived at my building’s valet, I tossed my fob to my usual attendant and walked in a funk to my elevator. I was still seeing red when I got into the elevator alone. Suddenly I noticed that my blazer smelled like vanilla too. My anger had subsided by the time I made it to my stark condo. I had the scent of Sydney with me and it struck me funny how something so plain could smell so exotic to me.
Chapter 23
Sunday, October 20th
Sydney
I woke up to a pounding headache. Fogginess surrounded me and I was trying to clear my head. It hurt to just partially open my eyes so I let them close again. My stomach felt awful and I was experiencing terrible cramps. It was unlike any stomach pain I’ve had before. Howard likes to punch me or kick me there sometimes and it’ll hurt for a few days. But this was something else. I’ll feel better when I get up and eat.
My intention had been to get up and eat something and hope I’d feel better, but I had fallen asleep again. The next time I woke up I was greeted with the same severe stomach pain. I blinked a few times trying to clear my foggy memory. Anthony left not too long ago. He had kissed my cheek. I smiled as I thought about his tenderness but then followed it up with a frown. He probably didn’t care though and was just doing it to make Colin happy.
No, wait. He was a Dom and a good one from what it sounds like. He was a Master at Club Irons. I can’t see Anthony doing anything that he didn’t want to.
My stomach felt horrible and I knew I needed to get up. The movement of my hands was met with resistance. I tried to move my hands to rub over my stomach and that’s when I realized that I was in the usual Sunday nightmare and began to panic. As the panic seeped in, I felt the familiar pain and burning in my wrists and ankles. I was chained to the old, hot radiator heater and a small space heater. Again.
“No! No, not again!”
I began to cry as I tugged on the chain. It didn’t matter though, no one would hear me. No one ever did.
My arms were cuffed in metal at my wrists and there was a chain attached to it in the center with the other end attaching to the radiator. There was also a chain attached to ankle cuffs that attached to a small space heater.
Howard.
Over the years, this has become a game to Howard. He comes over Saturday nights and does whatever he wants with me. He forces me to take some pills, has sex with me, beats me and binds my wrists and ankles in metal and then chains it to the heater. Usually I’m out of it and fuzzy towards the end when he’s shackling me to the heater. I think by then the drugs have taken their toll. I usually wake up in my own blood, vomit or urine. And by glancing around, I was in that mess right now. He puts my phone at a distance that I could reach if I tried hard enough. Then when I wake up I’m supposed to call him for the info where he’s put the key to the cuffs. It’s also always within reach if I stretch and try. But usually my head is in such a fog when I wake up that just dialing him is a huge task. After I’d get out of the hot metal, I’d go sit in the tub and let the water run over me. Sometimes I’d cry in there. Okay, most of the time I’d cry.
The first time I woke up it was just a few hours after Anthony had dropped me off. Thinking of him again brought more tears to my eyes. He was so nice and kind. He was a good Dom and I was stuck with Howard because I can’t behave right. I started crying, which made my stomach hurt more. Tears were now running down my face and I yelled at myself for giving into the tears now.
“Stop crying, Sydney! Wait until the shower.” I never minded crying in the shower because you couldn’t tell the tears from the water.
After my shower, I’d bandage myself up, try to make myself eat something and then use the rest of the day to recoup and get ready for the workweek. I loved my job. It made me feel like I made a difference and it’s the only place where I knew I did something right and a good job. I couldn’t even wipe my tears since my hands were bound. My stomach hurt so badly and I couldn’t ignore the pain. This wasn’t like other times. What was wrong with me? I rolled to my side just in time to throw up.
Shit, I think I fell asleep again. Or passed out. Same thing anymore. The clock on my microwave said 5:35. That’s odd. I glanced out the window and it was dark. Very dark. It should be getting light out. Anthony dropped me off around 12:30 in the morning. It should be starting to get light out…unless it’s not really 5:35 a.m., but rather 5:35 p.m. I couldn’t help but panic more with the idea that I had been knocked out for nearly fifteen hours. I pulled on the chains as hard as I could but it was no use. All it did was dig into my skin, burn and cut me more.
I was going to die. I hurt from head to toe. Howard got me back for not being here last night when he expected me. I went to a party with nice people and it may have cost my life. I saw my phone a short distance away but didn’t want to call Howard. I don’t want to play like this anymore. Another wave of nausea hit me and I threw up again and tasted blood. Lovely. Something was really wrong. I got really warm and started seeing spots.
I threw up again as I reached for my phone. I felt like I was going to pass out but quickly found a text string with Colin. I was desperate and felt like I was knocking on death’s door. I was forced into doing something that would forever change my life. It would turn out to be the very best thing that could have happened to me.
SB: help
I barely hit “send” before I threw up again. I couldn’t stop throwing up and tasted more blood. This was it. I was dying at age twenty-seven, alone in my apartment while chained to a heater. I closed my eyes in hopes that it would settle the pounding in my head. Faintly in the distance I could hear my phone ringing.
Chapter 24
Sunday, October 20th
Colin
Since Matt had to work a double shift today, it was just Anthony and I for the football game. The game had ended a while ago and Anthony and I were sitting outside on the patio finishing up the pizza we had during the game. As we were talking about last evening and about my discovery that Sydney never had aftercare, my phone chirped.
SB: help
“Anth,” is all I could get out and slid the phone to him.
He and I raced to my Range Rover that sat in the driveway next to his BMW. I tossed him the keys to drive so I could try to reach her on the phone. Plus, he knew where he was driving. She wasn’t answering though. Why wasn’t she answering? We took a chance and headed to her place. I hoped she was at her apartment.
“Why won’t she fucking pick up?”
“Calm down, Col. You don’t even know what’s wrong. Relax.”
I had a bad feeling about it though. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths so I didn’t lash out at him. I needed him and he was just trying to help. Her phone just keeps ringing!
“Fuck! Please hurry, Anth.”
Twenty minutes later we pulled up to a crappy looking apartment building. Fuck, this is where fragile kitten lives? I was out of the car before Anthony was as he hollered out, “upstairs, third door on your left.”
He was right behind me as we reached her door. I knocked frantically. No answer. I dialed her number again and could hear her cell ringing inside, which meant she couldn’t get to the phone. We’d break a window or knock down the door if we had to. Anthony flipped up the doormat and there were two brass keys taped to it.
“Are you fucking kidding
me?” Anthony swore as he tore them from the mat and then jammed them in the locks to gain us entry.
I’d talk to her about leaving keys under a doormat not being a safe practice. But right now, I was thankful for her leaving those keys there.
Absolutely nothing in this world would have prepared me for what we walked in on. Even if there had been someone sitting by her front door that told me what was on the other side, it still wouldn’t have prepared me.
The first thing that hit us was a foul stench. We both called out her name and then our eyes found her on the floor lying in bodily fluids. Blood and vomit was everywhere. What the fuck happened? Anthony brushed past me and knelt beside her, pulling her onto his lap and felt her neck for a pulse. Oh fuck, please let her be alive.
“Sydney? Sunshine? Come on sunshine wake up…”
Anthony trailed off talking to her while I dialed 911. I knelt and ran my eyes over her naked, severely beaten body while I gave the operator the info. Ten minutes at minimum. Where was all that blood coming from? I looked at Anthony and could tell he was as worried as I was. His eyes trailed to find where the chains went. Holy fuck, the chains were attached to a portable space heater and an ancient looking radiator. Her ankles and wrists were cuffed and she was being burned. Fucking burned.
“Col, unplug it. It’s burning her.” Anthony’s tone was ice cold and it was evident that he was trying to remain calm as well.
Well, now we knew what the marks were on her wrist. They were burns. I yanked the plug from the wall and something shiny caught my eye on the counter. I stood and grabbed the tiny key. It unlocked the hot cuffs and chains and Anthony was able to gently pull her closer to his body. Things were moving in slow motion and I was trying to get a grip and piece this together. Someone nearly killed her. As I assessed her condition and the crime scene around us, I decided we couldn’t wait for the paramedics.