by H. A. Kotys
Mela had gone. Strung up like prime meat in a butcher’s shop and salivated over by the hungry dogs that were Immelmann’s guests. Sold at auction. Katarina couldn’t even begin to imagine the fate that Mela had been sold into but she knew that it rested now on the whims of the striking woman in green. She had been bold to take on Raven, and that couldn’t possibly bode well.
“I believe you’re aware of your morning duties already, my pretty whore.” Yes, Katarina knew. Mela was gone and she was taking her place. She would comply and hoped that her Mistress would enjoy the wake-up call. She would endure it to survive.
== ~ ==
It didn’t take long as Red navigated through the hard-drive. She had worked in IT in her previous life and rifled back and forth with the practiced skill of the professional she had once been.
She knew the impact her looks had with her nerdy co-workers. She’d been a red-haired rose amongst bespectacled thorns but lost in her work and fuelled by a driving desire to succeed, relationships had come and quickly gone. Commitment had therefore largely passed her by, causing a naivety that had allowed her to fall head over heels for the wrong man.
That was well behind her now and she had found her true calling. “Funny how things worked out,” Red observed silently, manipulating files to protect both her Mistress and her future.
The surveillance footage showing their attack on Immelmann was cut from the files and moved to an encrypted private folder. Maybe they would use it later to humiliate him but for now it was safe. She had done it and she knew Mistress Raven would be pleased.
== ~ ==
Stilled and silenced, Mela could only stare straight ahead as the high leather collar fastened her neck and held her head high and mockingly proud. The warm breath cascading over her bare shoulder caused a shiver before a voice whispered beside her ear.
“Take this message to your new Mistress please Mela.” The politeness and use of her name compelled attention. Mela dutifully listened and memorised the message.
CHAPTER XLII – Multimedia
The morning was one of those wet and miserable ones that marked the transition of seasons and Jade woke after the inadequate refreshment of a disturbed sleep. Her adrenalin still seemed to flow hours later, the events of the previous evening tumbling around and around in her head.
“One hundred thousand.” No matter how she said it, the number didn’t get any smaller. Parting with that cheque had signalled a real risk to her future. She had to do it though, she just had to. The anonymous note meant she had no choice. She had felt compelled to act on it and with no more than a deep breath, she had done.
The description of the girl had been good though Jade had been surprised it hadn’t referred to the collared young woman that kept close to that bitch, Raven.
It was the silent plea in her eyes that lured out Jade’s natural desire to help. It was the submissive in her, that and a maternal need to protect and nurture. Even now it quietly nagged away and Jade’s curiosity would not wane, spooling up her mind to chivvy away any chance of more sleep.
“Adrenalin hangovers are the worst,” Jade mumbled to nobody, throwing down two paracetamol and chugging back a glass of water to try to ease the pounding in her head. She sighed deeply as she leant on a worktop in her kitchen, willing the painkillers to kick in.
Her morning routine could now start. Coffee first. Jade set up the machine, grabbing a banana before crossing to where her laptop was charging and firing it up for her e-mail fix.
There, buried between the daily dose of penis extension offers and requests direct from the Nigerian Minister of Finance, sat an email that called for her attention.
The subject line read, ‘Help please Jade’ and she recognised the sender’s email address. It had been included in the scrawled note that had told her of the desperate need to save the elfin girl. Taking a sip of too hot coffee, Jade drew her chair forward, leaned closer to the screen and clicked.
== ~ ==
Katarina’s dreams were confused, and the nearby ticking of a clock didn’t help. In more normal times, she revelled in the visions that visited her but those of the previous night had been full of turmoil.
Her first, she vaguely recalled, had centred on a representation of Mistress Raven, yet it wasn’t quite her. This version was softer, more considerate and Katarina pictured herself happily serving and gratefully treasured. That was nothing more than fantasy, she reminded herself, as the woman on the bed above shifted position, revelling in dreams of her own.
The second dream was more of a surprise, yet no less alluring. Though the whys and wherefores were unclear, Katarina could sense that in it she held some kind of position of power and looked down from what she realised was her throne. Beside her, propped up on one arm, long legs curled under was a leather clad woman. As the woman looked up, the face was framed by Amber’s perfect blonde hair.
Katarina’s heart raced even in recollection of the dream. She wanted it to be recurring so she centred the image in her mind, reaching out as it slowly dimmed before spinning away as the second alarm sounded.
Jarred back to the present, Katarina blinked to try to clear her head. She knew what she had to do and taking a deep breath, tentatively pushed on the door of the cage which, unlatched when the alarm had sounded, allowed her exit.
Slowly she unfurled cramped muscles and stretched herself out of her night-time confines. With her mind still scrambling to fix the image of Amber, Katarina climbed onto the bed to wake Raven in the way that was expected.
== ~ ==
It was the way of things, Murphy’s Law and all that. Jade glanced at the Wi-Fi box to check that it was still active as her laptop thought long and hard about opening the email. A sip of hot java and she stroked the side of her laptop as if to encourage it to follow her instructions. It seemed to take an eternity.
At snail’s pace, the screen changed as it started to render the message it had finally prized open. She would have to get a new one, but with all the fuss setting it up would take, she never quite got around to it. It seemed an affront to her faithful laptop anyway. It’d served her so well, albeit in its own sweet time.
Empty. No text, just empty. Jade frowned at the screen. Another visit of the coffee cup to her lips and the thought to scroll down emerged in her sleep-dulled head.
There, at the foot of the blank email, was an attachment. She was by no means a computer expert but Jade recognised the file extension as one for video. Clicking on it, she settled back, cradling the precious coffee cup in both hands while waiting for her laptop to download the file and wrestle it open.
== ~ ==
Amber’s sleep had been beyond restless as her mind tussled with the events she had set in motion. The sense of betrayal was overbearing and her conscience fought itself at a standstill. Common decency told her that what she had done was right and the pride in despatching Mela to her new, safer owner reaffirmed this.
It was her sense of loyalty that was killing her though. She had committed to live the life fully, immersing herself deeply in it alongside Red and now, at the first real hurdle, she had spun on her high heels and walked away from that commitment.
What a hurdle it was though, her mind shot back. Abduction, torture, even rape was the bedfellow of that commitment to Raven. She hadn’t known it would be so nasty and had stumbled into it hand in hand with her girlfriend as a giggle, something to do. She couldn’t just sit by and let it all happen, not to anyone and especially not to Katarina.
Katarina. Amber repeated the name to herself; it provided the focus she needed to see this thing through. She had risked everything but in repeating that name Amber knew what she was doing was right. Mela would already be safely at the home of her new mistress and to that thought Amber drifted back into a sounder sleep.
== ~ ==
For the four minutes twenty three seconds of the video, Jade watched with mouth agape, unable to tear her eyes away from the apparently lifeless body lying at the bottom of the scre
en. “It’s finally happened,” she whispered out loud. She was barely able to process it but deep down had known it was always coming. Raven had snapped and taken Michael down.
During the third loop of the video, Jade finally managed to force her eyes away from the man she loved. A naked woman lay on the table between Red and Raven, the girl Jade had first thought was the one to rescue.
The time stamp shown at the bottom of the screen placed events immediately after the ball. Jade had seen some commotion but, lost in the moment of her purchase, she had not really paid due attention. She now realised that commotion had been centred on the girl who had been by Raven’s side.
Who would now moderate Raven’s dangerous excesses? In respect to the one she instinctively knew was already dead, Jade resolved to get involved once more. With a sip from the remains of her coffee, she played the video through again, watching with freshly analytical eyes to ensure she missed nothing that could help.
== ~ ==
In her crate, Mela’s mind cavorted wildly as she waited. If the message wasn’t bizarre, then the originator was. What was Amber doing? She had always been the gentler of her handlers but why the tenderness now?
Mela recited the message to make sure it was still remembered. Sure enough, word for word, it was there. Of course it was. How could something like that not lodge firmly in her head?
Light cracked in and edged further across her until the lid was levered free. Gentle hands under Mela’s arms guided her to unfold her legs and as she rose, the surprising warmth of the smile that greeted her was that of the woman in green whom she knew as her new owner.
Mewling into her gag and mouthing around it, Mela tried to form words. She needed to convey the message quickly, wanting to scream it out loud. With an appreciative urgency, fingers worked the strap free. The gag popped out of Mela’s mouth and bounced to rest around her neck, saliva stringing down to it.
“I have a message from Amber, Mistress,” Mela blurted, scurrying through the words as if her very life depended on it.
“Je connais ma petite…..I know,” soothed Jade. Her spoken English was edged with the lilt of a French accent as delicate as the lace from her hometown of Chantilly. Guiding Mela gently by the elbow, the two women sat as equals and started to talk.
CHAPTER XLIII – A Darkening Dawn
Red yawned and stretched her long golden brown limbs out from under the duvet, pointing her toes to increase the delightful pull. It was days since Amber had last shared a bed with her and while she missed her heat, it felt good to have the space to herself. Perhaps she would share a bed with Raven soon, and the thought warmed her as much as the morning sun which pushed into the room.
She sleepily slipped out of bed to look for Mistress Raven’s instruction on the colour for the day’s outfit. There sure enough, placed on the dresser by yet another of the faceless staff, was the familiar handwriting on embossed notepaper.
Emerald Green was the order. Red was pleased, it would emphasise her mane of red hair nicely. Mistress Raven had probably chosen it as a celebration of her supremacy over the woman she called Jade, the one who had been at the grand ball the previous evening.
Behind the side door lay the dressing area and, to the rear of it, lay a rack of leathers in a rainbow of all conceivable colours. Retrieving the appropriate colour and matching knee high boots from the rack below, Red started to dress.
One of Red’s duties was the morning security check in the same way that Amber’s detail was the last check at night. So, priceless latte retrieved from the kitchens, Red headed to the surveillance room for the first of her morning tasks.
== ~ ==
Amber lay in one of the guest rooms staring at the ceiling though it refused to answer the questions in her head. Her world was turning inside out, and she was the one doing it. She feared the consequences of discovery and failure, yet each time she wavered, her resolve would edge back. Keep reaching, keep stumbling forward to the light.
The four words flashed through her head once again. “I like you there.” Katarina had said it standing above her – she’d lost count of the number of times that’d replayed during the night.
Even bound and naked as she had been, those words affected Amber in a way that Raven’s commands could never do. Brute force and bullying did nothing for her but depth and unique warmth drew her right in, left her wanting more.
More was exactly what she wanted. Amber also knew that Red and Raven stood in her way.
== ~ ==
Red drew the chair forward and started to flip through the images returned by the security cameras. All was fine, it always was, until the monitor labelled number12 was called up. Red saw the body on the screen. It was surrounded by a large puddle of dark congealed liquid which she knew could only be blood.
Grabbing the remote control, her hand shook as she zoomed in. Immelmann was motionless, still right where they’d left him. Red’s eyes darted to the time stamp. The camera at least was live, the second hand of the clock on the wall still moving.
The chill ran through to her marrow. Dead. And by her hand. Raven needed to know. She would know what to do. With that thought as her crutch, Red hurried out of the room and sprinted down the corridor.
== ~ ==
Her wake up had been a little later than usual and Raven noted that as justification for future punishment. The girl had some skill though, certainly worth persevering with, she had learnt much from the videos she watched. She would in time be punctual too, whether by hook or by crook.
Ripples of delight swelled outwards and Raven congratulated herself on how well her training program had first taken root, then grown to envelope the whore.
The crashing of her bedroom doors being flung open though burst into Raven’s warm afterglow. She sat up angry and alarmed.
“He’s dead! We killed him! Oh shit, we killed him!” Red’s face was white despite the run.
“In,” ordered Raven, throwing open the cage door to push the stunned Katarina back into the cage with a foot to her rear. Raven’s air of calm remained firmly in place but beneath her stomach churned. She grabbed her silken robe, too distracted, forgetting to slide home the clip that would secure Katarina’s cage. As the two women hurried out, the cage door swung slightly ajar.
== ~ ==
The commotion in the corridor beckoned Amber out of bed to investigate and she cracked open her door in time to see both Red and Raven disappearing rapidly around the corner at the end of the corridor. The words that trailed in their wake held the real significance though.
While not entirely clear, Amber could make out enough to realise that the images she had transmitted to Jade were not merely of an attack on Immelmann but of his murder. After grabbing a t-shirt, Amber slipped out of the room and rushed in the opposite direction, bewildered at the speed of events that were taking on a frightening life of their own.
== ~ ==
Like the canary that refuses to fly out of an open cage door in case the cat lurks unseen beyond, Katarina sat hunched in the corner of her cage.
Freedom had been everything she’d wished for but now its possibility lay before her, she didn’t know what to do. They weren’t that careless, they were far too good. It was another trial, another trap, and sure in that knowledge, Katarina remained huddled in her confinement.
Footsteps. Yes, they were footsteps and Katarina congratulated herself in passing another of their tests. The coldness of the steel bars seemed to offer comfort and she pressed back into them, knowing she had prevented at least one excuse to punish her. They wouldn’t flay her as they’d clearly flayed Mela. She’d behaved and stayed in place when every normal instinct screamed at her to flee.
Katarina was pleased with herself. She’d out-thought them this time and assumed the position she knew Mistress Raven expected, head bowed and hands placed on kneeling thighs, palms up. Katarina bent as low as she could to reduce the scraping steel of the cage on her back which grazed her skin as she breathed.
Feet first came into view, then unadorned legs which bent before her. A gentle hand cupped her cheek and Katarina looked up in surprise into the smiling face of Amber.
CHAPTER XLIV – Torturous Times
The look that held them together was one neither would forget and the touch of Amber’s hand on Katarina’s allowed the electricity to flow between them unhindered.
“We need to move,” snapped Amber, conveying urgency as she swung the cage door fully open. Halfway across the room Amber stopped, missing the sound of feet following her. Turning, she was stunned to see the cage door wide open and Katarina still kneeling inside, head lowered.
“What?” Agitated with the delay that drove the danger of discovery higher, it was all Amber could manage to say through her confusion. She was answered only by a hesitant shake of Katarina’s head.
Amber retraced her steps and crouched again before the dark-haired woman. “Why?” It was a simple question and the concern in Amber’s eyes implored a proper answer but was instead met with yet more silence.